Tuesday, December 30, 2014

The 5 of us!


Here is a little peak of life for the Johnsons as a family of 5 so far...

This was our first few minutes home from the hospital.  I love the pride beaming from her face.  She LOVES her sister!

I almost always have a buddy during any given part of the day.  I'm not sure if they want to be closer to me or to Tiegan but it's sure sweet.  Lots of requests to hold her and kiss her and share things with her!

Jed is bound and determined to get this baby to take a bottle so we've done one almost every day since being home and she is doing GREAT!

Lots of cuddling and snuggles!

Christmas Eve morning her umbilical cord stump fell off and then she peed all over herself and her clothes so we decided it was bath time!  She loved it!  It was so calming to her and she did awesome, which is good because with all of that hair, she's going to need baths more than the other two did as infants.  See my buddy there helping me out? :)  

More snuggles!

More holding!

More buddy time during feedings!



I think this picture represents life as the third child well.  Just trying to catch a nap in my mom's lap while amongst the chaos of opening presents on Christmas morning!

Things are going pretty well here at home, despite some night time day time confusion, which is to be expected.  I am soaking up and enjoying the snuggles, even if they are at 1 am!

Welcome Miss Tiegan!


On Wednesday, December 17th at 8:11 PM we welcomed our third precious Johnson baby, Tiegan Marie into our family!
After a relatively tough pregnancy and a history of large babies with big shoulders, the doctors suggested induction and we decided to induce at 39 weeks.  I was really hoping to go into labor naturally this time around but when the time came, we knew this was probably the best decision for us.  I was given a window of time to wait for a phone call that morning and the time came and went.  I spoke with the charge nurse and she said I was next on the list but it could be awhile later or even the next day.  At that point, I had resigned to mentally preparing to be pregnant for one more day - Jed was off of work anyway, Wyatt needed a hair cut and we could just enjoy the day together.  Shortly after this mental shift, I got the phone call to head in.  So, back to plan A we went.  We packed the kids up, dropped them off and got checked in at the hospital at about 11:30 AM.
The last (and one of the only) belly shot(s)!
I think I mentioned this before with Wyatt's birth day but I feel like with your first baby, things are somewhat scary because you don't know what you're in for but with subsequent babies, you know exactly what you're in for and that in itself is a little unnerving.  Thankfully you also know the joy of the ending and that is what pushes you through the not so fun stuff... like nearly passing out while getting the IV and the epidural.  There were also the mental distractions of my own expectations (I thought things would go a bit faster than they did) and the fact that I was away from my big kids for so long (they were in FABULOUS hands but I still missed them of course).  

Everything went relatively well until the very end.  I was stuck at 8 cm for quite awhile before reaching 10.  Once I did, 3, yes only 3 pushes later, we had ourselves another sweet baby girl!  


She weighed in at 9 lbs even (my "smallest" baby yet :) and was 21.5 in long.  Therein lies one of the reasons I'm thankful we chose to induce when we did.  In addition to size, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice and Jed was unable to cut the cord.  You just never know what could happen in situations like that.  So thankful the Lord was protecting her.

What you can't see in these first few pictures is her beautiful dark thick hair!  What a fun surprise!  I have actually hoped with each baby that they would be born with lots of dark hair but didn't get my wish until now.  Third time's the charm!

This guy.  He is the best support through labor and delivery - extra encouraging, knows just when to lighten the mood and really good at fetching popsicles!  I love this picture.  He looks so proud and I do believe you can see a little tear twinkle in his eye! :)

It is so amazing to look at your new baby.  All of those distractions and worries melt away in light of their perfection and sweetness.

A bit about her name...  we threw around TONS of names this time around once we knew she was a she.  Some of them I really liked and Jed was just okay with... others, Jed liked and I didn't love.  We made the mistake of sharing a few of our ideas with Lainey and she was absolutely adamant about what her name should be, even spilling the beans (very proudly) to a few of my mom friends.  Toward the end, as was the same with the other kids, we found the name Tiegan.  Jed actually found it and loved it.  Jed is a man of few preferences and doesn't get overly excited about much.  Since he loved the name so much, I thought it would be nice to go with it.  I liked it before she was born and I love it now.  We are totally aware that she'll be spelling and pronouncing it for people the rest of her life, that was my hang up :)  Her middle name is Marie, which is my middle name and a family name from my mom's side of the family.

Our big kids ended up staying overnight with some wonderful friends so Jed stayed with me pretty late before heading home.  It's funny with your third baby... with #1 I never let him leave my sight let alone go home to sleep but I figured my nearly 6'2'' husband would appreciate a night in our own bed and be much more rested and helpful with the kids if he didn't have to sleep on that little pull out sofa.  So Tiegan and I got to snuggle and get to know each other a little bit.  She did a fabulous job of nursing right away after birth and has continued to do well each feeding.


She got her first bath the next morning and I couldn't wait to see what that hair was going to do once it was clean!


Sweet girl,  Wild hair.
Jed picked the kids up the next morning, took them home to eat and get dressed and then brought them to meet their new sister!  I was so excited they were able to visit - I was afraid of cold and flu season ruining our plans but they didn't!

And this picture pretty much sums up Lainey's feelings about Tiegan.  She totally adores her and has had a hard time leaving her side.

Wyatt was rather pleased as well.  He is so proud to be a big brother!
OH MY GOODNESS, I HAVE 3 KIDS!!!!
Tiegan got her big sister and brother some fun play sets with a story, figurines and a play mat.  Big hit, well done Tiegan!

We had a few visitors in the afternoon while Jed took the kids home for naps and then returned to join us for a fabulous hospital dinner and then we had a few more visitors.  That evening and the next morning, I got to do more of this... I really enjoyed the peace and quiet of the hospital stay.  I knew when I got home, things would be a little crazy so I tried to soak it all in!

And then it was time to go home!  We dressed our newest little lady and headed out!
Look at that hair!  That bow!




We are so thankful and so excited about our sweet new baby!  Life as a family of 5 is sure to be MORE... more challenging but much more sweet.  More bodies to clothe and mouths to feed but more joy to share together!  Looking forward to this next season of life!

Friday, December 26, 2014

Thanksgiving [2014]

We had a nice, low key Thanksgiving this year.  We stayed here in Des Moines because we felt like it was too close to baby time to travel very far and had a great day... our last holiday as a family of 4!
The Macy's Parade on tv was a big hit with this guy.  Especially the Thomas the Train balloon and the marching bands!
We got the Christmas tree put up and decked the halls... minimally.  I didn't put a ton out this year as I was thinking ahead to how I might manage putting it away in a few weeks with 2 toddlers and a newborn!

I really wanted to take the kids to the Festival of Trees last year but it just didn't happen so this year, we made sure to go!  Let's just say it was a hit.  And we lucked out because it was not very busy on Thanksgiving Day.  Lainey loves all ,sparkly decorated things of any kind and Wyatt found quite a few trees that he enjoyed... one with IPTV characters and one with lots of cars and trucks.
She posed and asked for her picture in front of several trees.
Very proud of this super cute craft!
Wyatt was digging the farm themed tree.
Wyatt agreed to get close to Santa only because he was giving out candy canes.  Both of my kids have an extreme fear of the jolly old man.




They took a ride on the Christmas choo choo too!

We made a little mini Thanksgiving dinner to enjoy too.  I'll take any excuse to eat things like green bean casserole and mashed potatoes!

We started a new tradition and got the kids new Christmas jammies and wrapped them up and let them open them that night to enjoy all throughout the Christmas season!



So much love!  Glad we got to enjoy Thanksgiving Day together!


Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Life lately {November}

Life with 2 (almost 3!) kids just doesn't slow down.  We like it that way around here.  We enjoy our busy, fun filled weeks.  I can't believe how quickly November passed us by!
When I take out a learning activity, no matter what it is, Lainey just devours it.  I love this about her.  I was busy folding laundry the other morning and let her do her thing with these letter tracing cards.  Back in September, she was really slow with these.  I don't mean that in a bad way, because it was new to her and even holding a writing utensil was not very natural.

It's incredible what can change in just a few months.  She worked much faster and traced, then wrote her letters more efficiently, even grasping her pen correctly.  It was so fun and encouraging to watch!


Wyatt is a riot right now.  110% boy, loves his momma, loves his trucks, trains and cars and LOVES to nap.  I cannot believe how big he looks in this picture.  I know he's 2 but he is just still my baby.

Wyatt did his annual croupy cough in the middle of the night a few weeks ago.  This time I had a few tricks up my sleeve and didn't panic and drive like a maniac to the ER.  Luckily he improved and we held out until our doctor's office opened the next morning.  He just took a day or two to recover so I am hoping mayyyyybe he will grow out of this tendency.  I was also thankful to (hopefully) get it out of the way before the baby arrives.

He's pretty much attached to my hip most of the time when we're home.  He's constantly grabbing his blankies and climbing into my lap for a snuggle and is more and more interested in things I'm doing in the kitchen, helping with chores, etc.


Our community group and our church held two different events this past year to pack shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child.  This is such a fabulous ministry to be a part of and support and it was really fun to involve the kids more this year, especially Lainey.  She carefully packed at least 8 boxes herself this year, meticulously choosing each and every item and making cards to put in them too.  Such a fun way to teach kids about the blessing of giving to those in need!


November brought us a couple of fun snow falls and our kids LOVED every second of it!





Love those red cheeks after playing outside!


And hot chocolate is a must!

And this is how we ended many, many November days.  To say we are excited and ready for her arrival is an understatement!