The baby is coming! The baby is coming!

Baby J is due in 4 days. FOUR DAYS!!!! Lately the baby has been moving like crazy. I've spent hours holding Gigi's stomach feeling the baby's movement. A few times I thought for sure it was trying to figure out an escape route. It is seriously the most excited I have ever been. The anticipation of his or her arrival is killing me. I cannot wait to see it, let alone hold it! While I know it will turn my world on it's head, I am looking forward to it more every day.

Okay, enough of the doting dad going on about how excited he is, let's get on with the fun stuff. There are only a few days left to submit your guess for the baby pool! While some of you have submitted your guess, there are still quite a few of you who haven't. Let's get those guesses in people!!! You don't want to miss out on changing the first diaper the prize we have for the winner! If you need a refresher on the rules, click here for the orignal post.

Since we can't tell everyone everything all of the time, if you are wanting up to the minute updates you can follow one or both of us on Twitter. Click here for Gigi's page and click here for Josh's page. If you aren't so curious about our mostly meaningless ramblings, just keep checking back here and we'll keep posting pictures and sharing what we can!

the time change

our "nightly walks" are no longer in the dark. now that the sun is still out after work, we're back at the park for our family time :-)

i had the most wonderful honor of throwing my beautiful friend, alyssa, her first bridal shower this past weekend! from what i hear, she really enjoyed herself. (YAY!/phew...) but who wouldn't when surrounded by friends and family that adore you and can't wait to see you jump in with both feet to a blessed marriage?!

the setting was intimate, the food was scrumptious, the decor was bright and uplifting, the presents were plentiful, and the chilled mimosas kept flowing! not to mention, you're always ensured a blast when you cram 15 crazy women into a small room :-)

here's the beautiful bride-to-be, alyssa!

the girls seemed to thoroughly enjoy the breakfast spread...

alyssa got lots of great gifts!

and what's a shower without the cheesy games?!

thanks to all the guests that came...

ALYSSA,

WE ARE ALL SO VERY EXCITED FOR YOU AND YOUR BIG DAY!!

WE LOVE YOU TO PIECES--ALWAYS!!

rounding third...!

i absolutely cannot BELIEVE that we are just a mere 3 weeks away from welcoming baby j into the world. we are excited, to say the least, but still have lots to do before baby comes! keeps it interesting, in my opinion.

i have felt surprisingly good this last trimester. i know the next 3 weeks really have the ability to change my mind about how well these last few months have gone, but i really feel like i can handle another 3 or 4 weeks of this thing called pregnancy (which is good, because from what i hear, first time moms usually deliver up to a week late)! although not as active as i'd like to be, josh, june and i still manage to squeeze in a 30 minute walk 4 or 5 times a week, and i'm not scared of stairs or long walks through parking lots and malls. i see joggers taking advantage of this great weather lately, and it makes me miss working out, but i'll have no excuses to not want to work out after baby comes, since it's been so long since i've had a good, sweaty workout!

sleeping is a bit harder these days--the bathroom calls my name a few times per night, and my mind races with predictions of what life-after-baby will be like. i DO miss sleeping on my back and stomach, but i've never been more thankful to have a tempurpedic bed than i've been these last few months. that bed makes sleeping feel like a 7 hour trip to the clouds and back. (have i mentioned i'd recommend this bed to ANYONE? that's right, even YOU. no, i'm not getting paid--i just really believe that bed is the best one ever made... i'll probably send this post to tempurpedic soon, though, just to see if i can get a little dough of out it...... hey, anything helps, right?)

i'm still not a huge fan of this pregnancy thing--i'd prefer to be more mobile, active, and fit in my normal clothes, but i must say, feeling baby j all day long is pretty dang incredible. this little one has a mind of it's own. between the punches, kicks, hiccups, rolls, turns, stretches, and nap times, i already feel like i'm getting to know the munchkin's habits and schedule. and it's sweeeeet. i am beyond excited to meet baby soon--to see if we've got a little boy or a little girl joining our family, to see who he/she looks like, to wrap my hands around it's little body, and to cuddle with the bundle of joy for hours on end. i'm already falling in love with him/her, but am greatly anticipating getting to know every little thing about this baby. not to mention, i think seeing baby j with his/her dad is going to be incredible. josh is already so great with babies and kids, but when he gets to hold, love, and cuddle his own, i'll just get to watch and relish in the beauty of it all.

overall, this third trimester has brought incredible experiences with it. i'm ready for it to come to a close, mostly so we can begin life together as a family, with everyone OUTSIDE the womb... (my womb, to be exact.........)

thanks for following the quirky little stories of my pregnancy. hopefully the next pregnancy post will be about being done with it, and welcoming baby j into our lives.

belly: revealed (big time!)

a lovely friend of mine, the talented mr. kevin kach, graciously spent his saturday morning snapping away at my belly, my baby's-daddy, and me. 7 1/2 months of baking a kiddo, and this is what we have to show for it!

i absolutely ADORE every single one of these photos. they were taken at a trail and stream behind our house that josh, june and i walk all the time. i cannot wait for baby j to join us on these walks in just a couple months...!

kevin, you rock, buddy.

thanks a million, from the bottom of my heart...

now we've just got that one, classic photo left to take. shhhhh!

oh, and i mustn't forget to thank kevin's lovely assistant, and one of my all-time besties, "auntie dani". LOVED that you were able to join us and help kev, and i think these pics are of us are priceless!!

Oh, June....

Hi!! I'm ready for our date. Do you like my hat???

i woke up this morning...

to find this hanging in the bathroom doorway...

so, of course, i detoured. on the computer, i found this...

i yanked off the post-it, shook the mouse, and found this...

there's nothing like a valentine's day morning scavenger hunt
to start off my day!!

i just adore the
thought and creativity
put into this little gem.

thank you, sweetie, for loving me the way you do.
...xoxo...

a mental breakdown or two, just in time for baby...

my, oh my... have we been on a little roller coaster or what?

i don't know if it's the ticking time bomb in my belly, the time of the year that brings with it all the leftover holidays, or the many changes looming ahead, but i must say josh and i are more thankful than ever to be tag-teaming life these days. this past week brought a culmination of events that, while individually assessed, seem like pancakes, but when taken together and under consideration of "ahhhhhhhhhhhh! there's a baby on the way, too??!! are you kidding me?!?!?!", we were knocked off our feet nice and hard. go ahead, take a moment to picture josh and i with our hands in the air running circles around the living room, heads bouncing back and forth between our arms like macaulley caulkin in home alone (1, 2, OR 3)... yup, fun stuff.

this may come as a shock to you, but i enjoy feeling like i have a certain sense of control in my life. whoa, i know, right?

i manage projects for a living. schedule, budget, process--all these those things are important to me, and somewhat define what it means to feel like i have things "under control". therefore, when i'm presented with unexpected budget busts (i.e. potentially having to spend thousands of dollars on a plumbing disaster...), unexpected schedule adjustments (i.e. not REALLY knowing when baby j will arrive...early? late? on time?), or an out-of-whack process (i.e. where do we put all this new stuff that we have absolutely no space for?!), i often begin to--what do you call it--stress out. i don't mean to, and i KNOW it's not good for baby j, but sometimes i can't help it. that being said, i had a fantastically cliche pregnant-woman-breakdown driving to a client's office last thursday, in which i was forced to speed-dial the husband, as i knew he was one of the few that could really understand what i was going through. amidst my tears and frustrations, he was able to calm me down enough so i could show up to my meeting free of blood shot eyes. (thanks, again, honey...)

josh, although not as uptight detail oriented as me, still likes to have a handle on those everyday life things. (thankfully so, too, because if not, i don't think we'd be married.) but, in knowing how stressed out i've been with work, he's taken the reigns on everything house-related...including managing the 4 different repairmen that continue to show up for our bathroom, the crazy HOA office that is entirely unresponsive, the uverse installation guy who had to reinstall his original installation, the remodeler that's throwing new ceiling lights in for us, and the folks coming to pick up craigslist items as we try to make room for baby. on top of that, he works during the day, has school at night, and tries to stay sane with the occassional visit to the rockcliming gym. oh, and his love for cuddling takes up some of his free time, as well, especially since our cuddle time lately includes a love-kick from our little one... so when he hit a wall on an unusually tough assignment sunday night and was up until 3:30am, he was not a happy camper the next day. but josh came to me that night looking for a little pep-talk from me (probably in return for his on thursday), and although there wasn't much i could do to physically (or educationally) help, i was able to just be there for him, tell him i loved him, and encourage him a little bit.

thankfully some of the stressors have subsided as this week has progressed, but there's no denying that an overwhelming sense of "can this nonsense be over yet and can we just have our baby now???" has made itself known. OF COURSE baby j will make our lives more busy, our daily activities more challenging, and our ability to jump back on our feet a little more difficult, but he/she will also bring incredible joy, excitement, and fulfillment to our lives, and for that, we cannot wait! the recent curve balls thrown our way are wonderfully frustrating examples of God's little life lessons, but they are helping us prepare for the insanity we will soon experience. so with that said, we'll continue to take 'em, one by one, and do our best to knock 'em out of the park.

what're those johnson's up to?!

wow. disappointment has set in as to how far behind we've fallen on blogging. i miss it!!

"we're busy" would be an understatement. regardless, here's a little update for those of you far away that may not know the latest happenings in the johnson family.

#1 - we're doing good! we're healthy, we're happy, and we have lots to look forward to... well--one thing specifically... baby j is on schedule to arrive 3/27/11. just a few more months!

#2 - the holidays came and went, and as usual, reminded me of how great some time off to spend with family and friends can be! we celebrated thankgiving with the johnson and seuc family together (although, mom spent thanksgiving with her family in puerto rico, and we missed her terribly...). we spent christmas eve with the seuc's doing dinner, church, and presents (santa comes early to the seuc house every year...) and spent christmas day with the johnson's doing breakfast, gifts, laker game watching, hanging out, and dinner. it was REALLY fun to have our 14-month old nephew joel around this year, especially because he was much more active than a bag of potatoes this year! new year's eve was spent with our close friends jana, brian, nicole, and baby hunter, and we spent new year's day watching comedian jo koy at the improv with our friends craig and zsa.

#3 - josh has had a 3 week break from school, and he's loved every minute of it!! 1 of those weeks were combined with time off work between the holidays, so he's really had it nice these past few weeks. he's slowly but surely getting back into climbing, visiting the gym here and there and trying not to forget how to do the dance. i know he's super excited to show baby j how to climb...!

#4 - work is all consuming for me these days. it's stressful, to say the least, but i feel like i only have a few more months to make work a priority before baby j comes, so i might as well! after long hours at the office, and a few extra hours of work at home, i'm left with little time for much else. josh, june, and i squeeze a nightly walk into the just-before-bed-routine, and i do my best to leave the weekends for time to focus on baby (okay....shopping), spend with freinds and family, and mentally rest.

#5 - what's next? well, josh's birthday is right around the corner....! our anniversary follows shortly after, in mid february, and i'll likely have a little baby shower or something in the next few weeks. i'm hoping to make it to our company trip to vegas this year, but that's just 3 weeks before my due date, so it'll be quite the adventure! baby j is looking healthy, according to doc, and i continue to pray for a fairly comfortable 3rd trimester.

we'll try to get back into the swing of blogging. we got a new camera for christmas, so hopefully sharing photos will become a more regular thing for us.

oh, btw, a 28.5 week belly pic just landed on the blog. click on the "that belly" tab to see it!

The Happiest Place on Earth

For a while now, Gigi and I have been trying to figure out how to get away. Every weekend we think about turning off cell phones, piling into the car and driving away for a couple of days. We talk about it every week it seems, then the weekend comes and goes and we haven’t gone farther than Irvine. When Thanksgiving came and we had an extra day we decided that we weren’t going to go anywhere. We would just stay home, but we would do something fun to make it an a-typical weekend. We decided we would go to Disneyland! Lately Gigi had been telling me how “magical” Disneyland had sounded so it was a perfect thing to do. A good friend of ours (Hi Jim!) works for the park and graciously took time on his day off to lend a hand with the admission costs and warned us that the day after the holiday would likely be CROWDED. We were up to the challenge though and braved our way into California Adventure.

Gigi and I have always had different thoughts about Disneyland. She goes for the roller coasters (of which Disneyland has few of), and I go for the experience the park has to offer. This trip I was determined to show her the experience side of things. Especially since she is pregnant and there really aren’t too many rides we could even go on. We had about an hour before our dinner reservations so we took a little stroll through the Bugs Life area of California Adventure. I mentioned to Gigi that I loved the details like that the building that housed the restrooms was made to look like an upside down box of tissues and the signs for the rides were discarded plastic spoons. She gave me a weird look and said, “I don’t get it.” I gave her a weird look back and said, “Honey we are bugs in a bug world.” She looked around a bit and as she did her eyes got bigger and bigger, then her smile got bigger and bigger. “OH MY GOSH! You’re right!” Her eyes had been opened and from that point in the night she started realizing that Disneyland wasn’t all about the rides.

Thanks to our friend Jim, I know my way around the parks pretty well, and I dragged Gigi all over the park that night. Much to our surprise the park was EMPTY. The longest wait we had was for the Toy Story ride and that was only about 45 min. The rest of the rides we went on, we practically walked right to the front of the line. One of our favorite areas was in California Adventure. It had a netted suspension bridge, a rock-climbing wall, tire swing races (we didn’t do that, but it looked like a TON of fun), and a nature trail. We will definitely have to go back there when we are a bit more free to behave a little more recklessly.

As the night progressed, we realized exactly why the parks were empty; it was about 40 degrees out! Luckily, we dressed warm, but we never imagined it would get that cold. By 11 pm we were cold to the bone and ready to head home. As we walked back to the car we talked about how much fun the whole night was and how much we want to go back… soon! I had so much fun showing Gigi all the little things that make Disneyland fun for me and she had a ton of fun enjoying the park in a whole new way. Together we just enjoyed a night of goofing off together getting away from the same old thing. It was a much needed and much loved night out.

rounding second

Everyone and Their Mothers said it best. "you'll feel great during your second trimester." months ago, that was all i could think of, and even hope for. and i am BEYOND thankful that They were right!

month 6 is soon approaching (christmas day = 2/3 of this crazy journey down, 1/3 to go!). the past few months really have been much more pleasant than the first. for example, food tastes good again, sleeping seems to only be necessary at night, and nausea only makes itself known when i regretfully skip a meal. as a matter of fact, i feel so good so often, that a whole week will go by without me even noticing. so although i'm not constantly reminded that i'm pregnant because i'm feeling so good, the definition of the "second trimester" seems to be that OTHER people are realizing and being constantly reminded that i'm pregnant. i can no longer hide it...

josh and i will be walking the dog together, and a neighbor will come up and say, "oh, wow, when are you expecting?!" i have yet to respond with the awkward line of, "me? expecting? expecting what? do i look pregnant??? oh my goshhhhh, i look pregnant!! i'm not pregnant....!! (LONG PAUSE) just kidding, due in march!" i just can't get myself to take it there. but everytime we walk away from that person, josh shakes his head in disappointment and says, "bold. so bold. just TOO SOON, in my opinion." i often think he says that just to make me feel better (i'm definitely becoming self concious about my growing self...) but he seriously thinks people should NOT be guessing...in the mere case they are just way wrong. it's humorous to me, especially because it really gets him going sometimes.... hehe

the pants no longer zip. my regular tops are...phasing out. jackets don't button. and. AND. i bought a new bra today. :-/

i can ONLY IMAGINE what the next 3 months have in store for me.

They say it will be uncomfortable. They say i won't be able to see my toes. They say i won't want to walk anywhere or do anything. They say getting off the couch will be hard. They say i'll start waddling soon. and you know what? i don't doubt Them. They've been right so far.

so i'll raise my sparkling water glass to a solid 2nd trimester down, and do my best to welcome the upcoming third "semester", as my mom would call it--until it finally clicks and she decides to correct herself--with open arms.

oh, and baby j says hello from the depths of my tummy!! see, he/she is waving at you! :-)

--YUP, STILL NOT FINDING OUT THE SEX. RELAX, YA'LL. WE'LL KNOW SOON ENOUGH!--

(21 week ultrasound)

**pages**

hey ya'll (3) dedicated followers.

so i have lots of people asking where the belly pics are. i know it's practically rocket science, but there are tabs at the top of our blog leading you to different blog pages of ours labeled "meet the johnsons" and "that belly...". has anyone noticed these?? if not, this is where you can gather background on our little, but growing fam, as well as track the progress of my ever-expanding belly!! so far we've got photos from 15 weeks and 19 weeks, and you can expect more in the next week or so, as we approach 23. no, there's no rhyme or reason to when we update--it's more just laziness on my part to get in front of the point'n'shoot lens... i'll get better as progress starts showing more... promise.

anyway, be sure to keep checking the "pages" for updates as the johnson family continues to evolve :-)

it's that time of year!

l-l-laker season!!

twice a week we come home from work, speed dial the pizza guy, throw our feet up, and enjoy a nonstop blur of purple and yellow for a good straight three hours. oh, a small amount of our weekend is consumed with similar activities too, thanks to sunday games...

this is becoming a familiar view :-)

bless you!

my dad can stop traffic with his sneezes. in addition to being able to spread my toes like a gecko, his sneezes are yet another lovely trait i was blessed to have had passed down to me... thanks, dad :-)

growing up, there wasn't a sneeze in the house that wasn't immediately followed by a "God bless you!", "salut!", "ay, ay, ay...!", "bless you", or "geeeeeeez loiuse, are you okay?!". i guess one could say sneezes were an attention grabber, as well as an opportunity for someone to tell you they heard ya, were worried about ya, or just plain impressed! in any case, it seemed normal to me to hear a reaction to my sneeze, and i'd always follow with a, "thank ya!"

then i got married. and just like that, my sneezes went unnoticed. and let me tell you, people don't not-notice my sneezes. that'd be like not noticing an elephant stepped on your toe. but i would sneeze, and nothing would happen. hmmm. finally, (about a year later) i brought it up to josh. "babe, how come you never say 'bless you' when i sneeze? i always say it to you, and you sneeze three times in a row!" babe replied, "i dunno. i figured you knew i knew you sneezed. it's not exactly the silent, honey. i'm just not a 'bless you' kind of guy. why do you care so much?" aw bummer. "i dunno, i guess i just see it as a sign of...showing someone you care. so... sometimes it just feels like you don't care that my head almost exploded into a million pieces right in front of your eyes!" (i know, a bit dramatic, but what else is new?) poor josh is just blown away by this time. i can see it on his face. "seriously, honey?? um, okay..... would you LIKE me to say 'bless you' to you EVERY time you sneeze??" okay, that was plain sarcasm, and he expects me to say noooooooo, it's just.... so i say, "yes, please" with a sh*t-eatin grin on my face :-D "thanks, honey!".

i thought he'd push back, maybe say i was ridiculous, maybe continue with a more detailed explanation of why it wasn't important to say it every time someone sneezed, including me, and why i should just knowwww that he hears me and OF COURSE wants me to be BLESSED every time. but no, he just smiled, chuckled, nodded, and said, "alright, babe."

fast forward a few months and josh has NEVER failed to say 'bless you' after i sneeze. and i'm not kidding, i sneeze more now that i'm pregnant, so i'm rather impressed. he yells "bless you!" it from inside the shower. he'll pat my leg and say "bless you" when i accidentally sneeze in his ear while we're cuddling on the couch. a few weeks ago, i sneezed at 5am because i was super hungry (don't ask--different story, different day...) and i hear a half-asleep "blssyu" come from my right (your left). like, seriously!? you freaking ROCK, honey.

so, not only is every "bless you" followed by my "thank ya", but every "bless you" reminds me of how this guy DOES NOT STOP trying at our marriage. it may be a small gesture, but it's beautiful, and it only encourages me to try just as hard at the big things in our marriage, as well as the little things, every single day.

...josh is out of town this weekend. when i sneezed about 20 minutes ago, the silence was painful. i was reminded of him (yet again, for the 67th time this weekend) and just had to share my newfound appreciation of him and his sweet, sweet commitment.

yup, i'm gonna go there.

i've got the holidays on my mind. i just went for a morning walk and i could see my breath. the grass was frosty white with morning dew, and i was truly cold for about 3 minutes. i welcomed it gladly. not to mention, i've utterly enjoyed this past week of rain and thunderstorms. i got to wear a coat this week.

for josh and i, the holiday season is LONG. always pleasant, but LONG. it starts with the publication of the google docs christmas list. josh's sister, jacqui, never fails to have the template posted by late september, in giddy anticipation of her own mid-october birthday. she's like a loaded gun, cocked and ready to fire HOLIDAY everywhere. low and behold, this year's christmas list was posted in late august. soooo, i've been preparing myself for months already.

we're not huge on halloween, mostly because i'm never creative enough to come up with a good halloween costume, so i always feel lame with my last-minute creation and am ready to go home as soon as we leave the house. but i will say i've enjoyed seeing the pumpkin patches pop up in mall parking lots and strawberry farms. i might buy one this year. a pumpkin, not a parking lot. but i highly doubt we'll carve it. you know what halloween is really great for?? the reece's. yup, reece's figures out a new way to pair peanut butter and chocolate just about every october. and i dig it! so as halloween comes and goes, i'll be more sad to see the creative minds at reece's exhaust their newest heavenly combination than i will to see the 3-foot-6 costumed trick or treaters retire.

thanksgiving will be PURE BLISS this year. not only does it go down in the books as my "favorite holiday", but i truly believe my appetite will be ready for what my eyes choose by then. two dinners in one night usually scares me. this year, though.....BRING IT ON. i love thanksgiving because it's like christmas in the sense that it's cozy and all about family, family, family, but it carries less stress and fewer expectations than christmas strictly because of the no-gifts policy. oh, not to mention, the food comas are incredible!!!

after thanksgiving comes christmas and new years, and that usually wraps it up. but NOOOOO, the johnsons don't stop there. mid january we hit josh's birthday, mid february is valentine's day, late february is our anniversary, and this year, the excitement of the holidays will stretch out to late march, when we welcome baby j. so our holiday season goes from september through march. yup, 7 months of "the holidays".

and i can't wait!! let's do this.