Boy, what a week!

It was a busy week last week. In addition to nursing our various illnesses we did manage to enjoy a few activities.

Sarah was well enough to participate in her school's Christmas program. She and the other kiddos did great with singing Christmas songs. I got verklempt this year just like last year as they were entering the church and going on stage. It just hit me that she is growing up so darn fast! Kirk just laughed at me. Nothing like a pregnant hormonal mother tearing up as her 2-1/2 year old daughter sang Christmas songs.

On Friday we enjoyed the Polar Express in Durango. I yet again got verklempt as the train pulled up to the station and flashes were going off from everyone's camera. I was so excited for this event and wanted it to be very magical for Sarah. I kept telling myself to pull it together and again Kirk thought I was off my rocker. Thankfully Durango had several inches of snow on the ground to help with the Christmas atmosphere. The train ride to/from "the North Pole" was fun. I think Sarah just sat back and tried to absorb all what was going on. We had hot chocolate, cookies, caroling (led by two very energetic college girls as our car's hostesses) and a visit with Santa. Sarah was able to ask Santa for Woody and Buzz Lightyear as her Christmas wishes this year.

We were slated to attend the COP holiday party on Saturday evening but opted out since neither Kirk nor I were up for the event. Instead we were in bed by 9:30pm. ha!

One big accomplishment that has happened since Thanksgiving is Sarah has graduated from her crib to toddler bed. We took the front face off the crib and replaced it with the toddler rail. We didn't want to make too much of a fuss about the upgrade with fear she would think it was so cool she would show off her escaping talents. But so far so good. She goes to bed like no big deal and calls when she wakes up. One morning she did get out by herself and I heard her rustling so we met at her door. I told Kirk the night she will try to get up would most likely be Christmas Eve. Wouldn't that be something?

Sarah playing and modeling her Santa hat. Too darn cute!

Big girl in her big girl bed getting everything just right.

Polar Express Pictures - Sarah and I with the huge Santa outside the train depot.
Hello Frosty!
Family shot in the train car.
Meeting Santa and being so overwhelmed. He gave her one of his reindeer's bells.
Waiting for the train to pull up at the depot.
Christmas Program

21 week Ultrasound

The baby is a...drum roll please... girl! Or we think it's a girl. The ultrasound nurse/tech was pretty sure and even took a picture of the baby's bottom from below to show there wasn't anything in the middle. But at the same time she gave us her disclaimer of sometimes being wrong. So for now we are having a girl. We are very excited to have another daughter and Sarah will be a wonderful role model. Kirk was always destined to be surrounded by women but he will have his hands full with at least 2 if not 3 red headed women. ha! The ultrasound went well and all other parts/pieces are normal. I do have a low lying placenta once again so I have to go back in 4 weeks for another ultrasound to make sure the placenta is heading north with all the other bits as mother nature designed. We did see the baby in action showing us just how she was creating the thumping feelings I've been having near the cervix. Sure enough, she had her hand down there and appeared to be punching as well. Damn, it's already started...the kid is fighting back.

I'm staying on track with the weight gain which is a good thing. I decided there were a few things I needed to cut back on. With Sarah, I had a clean diet with tons of dairy, no caffeine, no soda, no chocolate and limited sweets in general. This time around I've been good about the caffeine up until 4 weeks ago and am now up to 1/4 cup of coffee per day (still within acceptable limits I might add). I drink the occasional caffeine free soda which I need to stop and chocolate has not been an enemy this time around. I decided I needed to chill on the chocolate as well. That will help limit the Christmas treat consumption, I hope. :-)

The whole family is nursing some sort of illness these past few days. Sarah has an ear infection and what appeared to be the beginning of pink eye but is on the mend with antibiotics. Kirk and I started out with colds mid-week last week and felt horrible all weekend long. My cold has transpired into a doosy of a sinus infection which I'm finally on antibiotics to eliminate. I look and sound like Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer. Kirk seems to be doing better without having to seek drastic measures...so far.

Mental Recalibration

I was sitting here today at lunch going through email. I received my weekly update from the Baby Center which is a great site. When I opened the note it said "Congrats! You are at 20 weeks and are half way there". I had to take a deep breath when I read that...wow! Really? I'm half way there? It's amazing with this pregnancy how fast the time is flying. We are so preoccupied with Sarah and the daily grind that we don't have the time to dwell on the everyday changes that we did when I was pregnant with Sarah.

Then I pulled out my thumb drive to download files for a co-worker and came across a bunch of pictures of Sarah when she was an infant. I took the thumb drive down to Kirk (we work in the same building) and showed him the pictures as well. We had our 5 minutes of walking down memory lane for a mental recalibration. All of the experiences of dealing with an infant were flashing through our minds and we looked at each other thinking "here we go again?". The drool, sleepless nights, breastfeeding, burping, spit up, dark circles under my eyes with bad hair days, teething, etc., etc. We wouldn't change anything for this experience but had to step back to recalibrate.

All is well and I can't wait for next week's ultrasound. I think the little one's legs/feet are hanging down because I've been feeling quite a bit of thumping in the lower areas including the bladder. But all is great and life is good.

Copy Cats

After discussing with Kirk, we plan to copy our friends in an effort to control who views the blog. We will be going 'private' on the blog at the first of the year. That means I need your email address so that I can make sure you still have viewing privileges...just in case I have the wrong address. Please send me a note to reginamjohnson@hotmail.com or leave a comment with your information. Thanks!

(and thanks to the Yancey's for the idea and allowing us to beg, borrow and steal)

Happy Turkey Lurkey Day

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Kirk’s parent’s house in Delta, CO. It was great to see family (aunts, uncle and cousin) and just enjoy a departure from the daily grind. It was also wonderful that the Broncos won on Thanksgiving night!

We tried a couple of firsts with Thanksgiving dinner including a cranberry/apple sauce and rye bread dressing, recipes courtesy of the Food and Wine magazine. I found a picture of cute turkey chocolate cupcakes and made an attempt to replicate. They were a hit especially with Sarah. She isn’t much of a cake fan but LOVES frosting and candy corn. This pregnant lady was in heaven as well though I had to monitor the intake. We also celebrated Kirk’s dad’s 70th birthday on Thanksgiving though the true day is later this week. He was a good sport with some of the gag gifts but did enjoy the real gifts which included a new fishing net from Kirk. Kirk and his dad were able to get out on the stream for a bit of father/son fishing which was nice. We also hit the stores on Black Friday, which I've never done, but had a plan to get in and out before the lunch hour. We were successful and are now proud owners of the $19 Black and Decker griddle from Target. I guess it’s the little things that make you happy. Ha!

We came back Sunday night and I proceeded to pull out the Christmas decorations so that I can slowly set things out. The first thing that went up is our new Pottery Barn Kids advent calendar which I’m excited to use. I told Sarah that everyday in the month of December Santa’s elves will leave something in the slot on the calendar for her. I’m trying to figure out what goes in day 1’s slot...maybe Jelly Beans. I’ve been collecting treats and gifts so it’s hard to pick the right one to start the tradition.

We are set to have a busy 3 ½ weeks coming up including Sarah’s Christmas pageant and a trip on the Polar Express (Durango train) with Santa himself next week. We also plan to attend the COP holiday party that we missed last year. We have cookie parties and other work parties as well throughout the month. Before you know it, Christmas will be here! Yikes.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving Day Smiles!

Yummy Chocolate Turkey Lurkey Cupcakes

Life is good with a little chocolate...love the tongue lick of the lips!Playing with PapaSarah and Daddy playing the piano. This was her favorite thing to do all weekend. She and Gaga (aka Grandma) would play and sing Christmas carols.

All is well

All is well in the Johnson household. Wow, I'm 19 weeks already? The kid is going to be here before I know it! I had my 16 week check-up along with the second round of prenatal testing and all came back normal. Great news! We have our next appointment on the 14th of December which will be the big one...we can't wait to find out what's cookin inside and make sure all the parts and pieces are developing well.

Sarah is doing great and is in full Christmas spirit. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or Frosty are viewed on a regular basis which I hope won't make for a long 4 weeks. She is enjoying a big bag of Disney Princess dress up clothing our co-worker's daughter handed down. She is Tinker Bell in the picture above enjoying a nice chat with her peeps.

So far so good

We received the results today from our early screening and NT scan of the baby. All is normal from round one. I go in for my 16 week appointment next week for round two of the screening. So far, so good.

The pooch has grown to the point of being in full maternity garb. I also get the occasional shot of the double chin in the mirror and see a hint of J-Lo in the back surfacing. I did make it to the gym prior to our trip to Phoenix which felt great. It was nice to be in the pool and back on the treadmill. Now I have 3 weeks to get back in the routine before the Thanksgiving feeding frenzy.