1!

Today, June 18th, marks our first anniversary of being husband and wife! It is hard to believe a whole year has passed - sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday and other times it feels like we've been married for much longer -- I mean both of those things in the best way possible! Jed is a truly wonderful husband and challenges me in so many ways. I'm thankful to be married to a man who is devoted to loving Christ and loving others so sacrificially. Some highlights of our first year as Mr. and Mrs. Johnson...

1. Actually getting married!
2. Honeymooning in Lake Tahoe, California - I'd really like to take another honeymoon. Like once a month or so would be great.
3. Visit to MN for Emily's baby shower
4. We're an aunt and uncle, round 1! Meet Jaylen!
5. Round 2! Meet Claire!
6. Longest road trip EVER to Niceville, Florida. (Totally worth it)
7. First Thanksgiving - stranded in Des Moines! This was the weekend we found out we were expecting!
8. First Christmas!
9. Share the baby news!
10. Pa Johnson comes to help with the bathroom remodel! Sarah decides she will leave town next time there's a project. :)
11. Simon joins our family.
Of course, there were many other note worthy events and these are just a few to share. I'm so humbled to look back on the past year and think about how blessed we are - God is so faithful and kind to us. I can't wait to see where we are in another year, 5 years, 10 years, etc!

Showered

Last weekend some of my sweet friends here in Des Moines threw a beautiful baby shower for baby Johnson and me. Everything was decorated so fun and the food was so creative and delicious! Allison really has a gift for throwing parties! I was very excited that my mom was able to come down from Minnesota to be there as well as my Grandma Charlotte, Aunt Barb, cousin Lauren and sister-in-law and niece, Cate and Jaylen!

We were incredibly blessed with wonderful company and gifts! Here are some pictures from the fun afternoon!
YUM!!!
Baby Jaylen!
There were LOTS of other moms and moms-to-be at the shower - Meg's and my due date are just a few days apart!
Baby Laehn and Baby Johnson - they are really going to be best friends!

Thank you so much to everyone who hosted, helped and came to celebrate with us! We are so grateful and blessed!

This is why...

I can't sleep! But I wouldn't have it any other way! Baby Johnson's video debut...

Beginnings and endings...and stuff in the middle

There has been so much happening in the life of the Johnson's ...

• Jed started his new job on May 2nd and has really been enjoying it. He has enjoyed getting to spend more time with his friend Nate, checking out West Des Moines during is whole HOUR long lunch and getting used to his new duties. He is really kept busy and is learning a lot!
• The last few weeks of school are always wild and crazy for me with report cards, meetings, YCamp, etc. but this year was especially busy as I had to do all of that, in addition to packing up my classroom and saying lots of goodbyes. It was an emotionally draining week but the Lord has been so faithful through it all and Jed has been so great and supportive. He keeps reminding me that my new job will be way better and I get to be the boss. :) We had a really busy weekend and start to the week so my classroom is currently sitting in the porch and it looks like this... ha!
• During the last week of school, I had my students make "affirmation cards" - at the DTC, in many different Bible studies I've been in, we've done "affirmation circles" where we sit in a circle and each take a turn affirming one another one by one. It's always so encouraging and a special time. I started with having the kiddos brainstorm and make a list of positive comments, compliments and nice things they could say about one another... I did this so they didn't write "You're nice," on every single person's card. A few of the comments made me laugh and a few of them were so genuine and thoughtful ... I am thankful that the Lord gave me this class to "end" with - they were really, really wonderful.
  
  
  
• The beginning of summer meant the beginning of Mission to the City with the DTC - a 5 day "mission trip" to Des Moines designed to reach out to our own city in a unique way. I wasn't able to participate last year because it was during the last week of school and this year, I wasn't able to do quite everything the rest of the group did due to being very pregnant, but it was a really encouraging week. Plus, there are actually 2 other pregnant gals in my Bible study so we were able to do a lot of the meal prep and cookie making together. I am so thankful to be a part of a church whose mission is to really love people, believers and unbelievers, at all costs and lay down their lives for one another. Some of the highlights of our group's week was volunteering with Operation Christmas Child packing boxes and organizing materials, organizing books for a book sale at Iowa Right to Life and doing yard work and having a Memorial Day bbq for the gals at Ruth Harbor. We also made A LOT of cookies ... A LOT.. for a free concert we're hosting on Friday night at the DTC featuring Aaron Gillespie. This is what Jed did the moment he got home this afternoon from weeding at the Easter Seals camp...
• The end of spring and beginning of summer mean my favorite flowers are in bloom... PEONIES! I feel like they didn't bloom as well as they did last year in my yard - I think I need to split them but I don't know how to do that or when... advice? They are so pretty and they smell so good!
• A new week means more changes and a bigger belly! We had another appointment this week and all is well with baby Johnson! The doctor said I am measuring right on track and everything looked great. I will start going back every 2 weeks now ... that must mean the end is getting closer... Here is what I'm looking like these days. (Oh, and what Jed looks like too... in case you were wondering! :)

Signs of the future...

Our house seems to be taken over lately...
Baby gifts and assorted items ... such a blessing!

I cleared out a shelf in the linen closet for wipes, towels, bath soap and lotion, etc. for Beanie Baby that I received at my shower...Mother's Day flowers! So sweet!A quickly growing belly... feels like I'm growing by the hour some days...
A happy puppy! (Just had to throw that one in there -- he's pretty cute!)

April Showers...

Last weekend, some of my cousins and aunts in Minnesota threw me and beanie baby Johnson a shower to celebrate his or her arrival coming up in August. It was so much fun and such a huge blessing to receive fabulous gifts and spend time with family. I hadn't been home to Minnesota since Christmas so it had been quite some time since I had seen even my mom and of course my sister and Claire bear who live in North Carolina. It was awesome that they were able to fly in for the weekend.
My cousin Betsy loves to plan showers and does a great job. She knows I like to craft so she planned for some crafting activities for us to do as stations after we ate all of the yummy food. We decorated onesies and pinned fabric on cloth diapers to make burp rags. It was so fun! Here are some pictures from the shower...
My aunt Barb has a friend make these awesome decorated cookies! They are SO CUTE! And delicious!

My oldest godchild Isabel looking extra sweet and excited.
Some of the onesies. Mine is on the left - I painted the DTC symbol! So fun! Emily made the "wiggle worm" onesie with Claire bear's toe prints and my cousin Lisa made the one that says "Claire's cousin." :)

The burp cloth station!Our pinned projects ready to be sewn!

The rest of our weekend truly revolved around Claire and Simon. They provided all of our entertainment for the weekend (especially since the Twins managed to lose every game all weekend long...).
Simon looking oh so excited during our road trip north!
Claire checking out Uncle Jed. She thought he was pretty great! He's going to be such a fabulous dad!
Sweet baby smiles!
Claire doesn't particularly like anyone other than her mommy and daddy but there were a few occasions in which she'd led one of us hold her and play with her, so we had to really soak it up! I just love my niece!

Cute OVERload!

Here's just one picture from the weekend for now... more to come. I don't know how you get much more cuteness into one picture -- a baby AND a puppy? Claire LOVED Simon (almost as much as Emily did). She got really excited when he would come up to her and loved his kisses. It was so sweet.