It's a....

We had our anatomy scan ultrasound last week for sweet junior Johnson #3 (I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that we're going to have 3 kids soon...).  Usually this is scheduled around 20 weeks but I had to wait until 22 weeks just based on how my appointments landed this go around.  TORTURE!

I went in to the past month or so not sure whether or not I wanted to know the gender.  We loved the surprise with Lainey.  We loved knowing the gender with Wyatt.  We have one boy and one girl so essentially we have what we need clothing and supplies wise.  I was really adamant early on in the pregnancy that I didn't want to know.  But then, I kept going back and forth, back and forth...

Jed however, was not even close to being on the fence about knowing the gender.  He wanted to know.  Bad.  But since I'm the one carrying and birthing the baby, he said I got to make the final call.

But, my sister wanted to know.  My friends wanted to know.  And Lainey had her heart set on a baby girl.  That was my real deciding factor.  I realize she probably would have been totally fine either way but I thought it might be beneficial if, in the event that it was a boy, we had some time to prepare her.

So, we dropped Wyatt off at a friend's house (thanks again Allison) and Lainey joined us for the big appointment.  I've never been one to want to find out in that little ultrasound room... seems not as exciting, so we devised a plan.  We'd have the tech write it on a sheet of paper and put in an envelope.  Then, I'd part ways with Jed and Lainey after the appointment and they could open the envelope to find out first, then go pick out a blue or pink surprise.

So, they headed to Target and Jed let Lainey pick out some new bows for her baby sister!!!  She walked in the door after they got home and proudly declared, before I could open the bag, that they bought new bows!  So cute!

She's thrilled.  We're all very excited.  Wyatt has no idea but he's soooooo sweet with baby dolls and every time we get to spend time with the little babies in our community group, he does seem to gravitate towards them so I know he'll be a great big bro.

Like I said, we mostly have what we need but the seasons don't exactly match up since Lainey was a summer baby so I hit up a sweet consignment sale last weekend and stocked up on some fleece jammies and these adorable items...

Since we didn't know the gender when I was pregnant with Lainey, I've never really gotten to shop for sweet itty bitty teeny tiny baby girl clothes!  Talk about fun!

Excited to meet our baby girl in December.  Now to figure out her name...!

Lainey is 3!

(Okay, so I wrote this post on Lainey's actual birthday buuuut I'm just getting around to posting it.  OOPS!)

I've heard it said about life with kids that the days are long but the years are short.  I couldn't agree more with that statement today as we celebrated Lainey's 3rd birthday.  That steamy weathered, long, long summer day I spent 3 years ago in a hospital room seems like just yesterday.  Never would I have imagined what life would look like being the mom of a 3 year old girl - a sensitive, bright, intuitive, early rising, princess loving, soft hearted girl.

We started out the birthday celebrating the weekend before with some family time.  My parents came down with my niece Claire.  Unfortunately, my nephew Will was sick so he and Emily had to stay back :(

Lainey's birthday dinner choice was Hickory Park.  No complaints here!

Birthday treat #1...

And #2.  I tried my hand for the first time at homemade buttercream.  Um, yes.  Never buying a can of frosting again!

 

Excitement abounds.  It was as delicious as it looked!

Lainey's 3rd birthday also marks the 1 year of anniversary of us living in our new house, which seems CRAAAZY to me because it still feels new.  Though, the scuff marks and hand prints on the flat painted walls remind me otherwise...  Since last year, we couldn't really offer her the celebration we would have liked, we hoped to make up for it a bit this year.  

Our little early bird was up with the sun.  How can you sleep when you know it's your birthday?!

We let her enjoy opening some birthday presents right away.

Princess helmets are pretty cool when you're 3.

You can see in her right hand is a roll of bubble gum.  She had been asking for months to try gum and we said we'd let her try when she turned 3.  Yeah, don't do that.  She swallowed it.  A few times.

7:00 AM scooter ride!  She scored this sweet scooter from her Ma and Papa over the weekend.  The helmet really completes this ensemble I'd say.  Safety first!

Jed took the day off and we decided we'd take a family day to the Iowa State Fair!  We headed to the Capitol complex to park and ride because when you're 3 and 1.5, the bus ride to the fair is almost as exciting as the fair itself.

(They look so big in this picture, I can't even handle it.)

We hit all of the great kid spots - Animal Learning Center, Little Hands on the Farm, etc.

 Then, Wyatt had had enough.  Passed out with cotton candy in hand.

 We took the birthday girl for an ice cream treat while Wy snoozed in the stroller.

But even the sugar rush couldn't keep her awake.

Then Wyatt woke up!

I'm proud to say we actually lasted over 6 hours at the fair.  My expectation was 3, maybe 4 so I was excited.  It was nice that the kids napped at different times so that we could do and see more and we gave each kiddo a special experience and treat (Wyatt got a fair square but I didn't get a pic :).  The pregnant lady got a treat too... mmm... cheese curds. :)

We rounded out the birthday with some bike practice.  The helmet gave her some crazy new confidence and she's a pro now!

Like I said, last year Lainey's birthday was overshadowed a bit with the move.  I don't remember exactly how the conversation flowed but Lainey pretty much decided on and planned a birthday party all on her own.  I don't even remember if I offered to throw her a birthday party to be honest, but she had the idea and we went with it!

Her requests were "just girls" and she wanted to "paint nails" ... easy enough!

So with a little help from pinterest, we kicked the boys out of the house and went with a spa theme!

A little craft to make some fancy flip flops!

The nail station complete with a foot bath!

Lainey has some of the cutest little gal pals!  The girls all had a really fun time and it was so cute to watch them play together - many of these little ladies have siblings and several of them have brothers so it was extra fun to have just mommies and girls I think!  I can't wait to try to recreate this picture in 5 or 10 years!

All in all, we had a fabulous time celebrating our sweet girl.  Birthdays are so fun to me.  It was especially fun that she had a greater awareness of the fact that it was HER day and we were celebrating her.  She was incredibly thankful for each gift she received and has been so excited to enjoy them too.  Blessed to be her mom and excited to see what the Lord has in store for her life this next year!

July Whereabouts

July was all about being outside for the Johnsons.  In fact, there are only a few pictures of the indoors included in this post (and they were for a good reason!).

We haven't had a long stretch of really hot weather here in Iowa yet, just 2 days at the most.  Maybe that's coming our way in August, we'll see.  There were even many COOLER days that felt unseasonable.  This all makes it really hard for me to believe that July is already over and August has begun.  Here's what we were up to in July...

I found a really great deal on a patio table at Target and we have enjoyed many meals and activities on the deck.  I bought a few learning activities for Lainey and I to do together since she and I usually have at least a good 1-2 hours to ourselves in the morning before Wyatt wakes up.  She is loving it.  I, on the other hand, love it too but it has tested my patience in incredible ways.  There was a reason I chose to teach upper elementary.  As you can see, she's over the moon proud of herself.

Most evenings we meet Daddy outside when he pulls in.  Lainey's been practicing riding her bike more and more.

You know how you "pin" all of those great ideas on Pinterest but you rarely follow through with them?  At least, that's how it is for me.  This one was a fun one thought we'll definitely do again.  Sidewalk Paint is 1 part corn starch, 1 part water and then a few drops of food coloring.  I NEVER let Wyatt do crafty things because they always end up in his mouth or on the floor but he had a BLAST with this.  They started painting the sidewalk, then went on to decorating the rocks in the landscaping.

Wyatt has indeed mastered the "cheese"... and being ridiculously adorable.

The highlight of July for Lainey was Princess Camp.  I signed her up for this 2x/week for 2 weeks dance and gymnastics camp to see how she'd do and how she'd like it because we had talked about enrolling her in a dance class in the fall.  Turns out, she loved it.  She wasn't always super keen about me leaving but every time I picked her up and peaked through the little viewing window she was having an absolute blast.  There's just something about watching your child enjoy something, all on their own, apart from you and having so much fun.  It was so great and a little bittersweet.  I'll be the first to admit I don't love being away from my kids.  I was so thankful she loved it since dance was a huge part of my life growing up.

Each day included a different Princess.  Let's just say she loved that!

She was beyond excited to put that leotard on for each day of camp.

What says "summer in Iowa" more than sweet corn?!?  We've gotten it twice now and each time it's delicious!

We've enjoyed discovering and exploring so many new parks this summer.  I can't say for sure since I don't know much about other big cities parks and rec systems, but Des Moines has really gotten it right.  There are TONS of parks with family friendly features for all ages ALL over in different metro neighborhoods.  We never have to drive very far to find a new adventure.  This picture above was from McHenry park on the north side.  There was a fun splash pad and a little man made creek.

We had a great time with some friends at the Indianola Balloon Classic.  There's something magical about hot air balloons!  The kids loved it and we had a great time.

Since it's August now, there are really only a few more weeks to enjoy pools and splash parks since school starts soon here.  We are going to take advantage every chance we get.  This particular day we went to "tot time" at the Indianola Pool with a few friends and it was so great!

Lainey's turned in to such a little fish.  I love watching her enjoy the water.  I don't usually get any pictures of Wyatt because most of the time I'm chasing him down.  He likes to explore everything BUT the water usually.

Loved sharing the summer fun in July with my family!  Looking forward to one more month of summer, then my absolute favorite is just around the corner... FALL!