Going Home!

We were so excited to go home! We wanted to sleep in our own beds and get Julia home to start our new life as a family of 4!

This is Julia in her car seat and ready for the trip home. The bottom picture is of Eliana the day we went home from the hospital. They look a lot alike huh, more than we thought at first.

Our First Day Together

Monday... less than 24 hours old
About 2 hours after delivery I lost a lot of blood all at once, thus the pale complexion.

My two girls!
The four of us.

Julia Alysse is Here!

Julia Alysse was born on Sunday, 2/24/08, at 5:44 pm. She was 7 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches long. (They orginally told us 18.5 but was remeasured at 20) She was 12 days early, but obviously right on time for her. The following is the in-depth story of my labor, so if you aren't interested, just skip down to the pictures.

We went to Chuck E' Cheese with our good friends, the Sinks, Saturday night and that's when my contractions began but they were very random and just strong enough to make my face red. When we got home, I packed up everything for the hospital so we'd be ready if we needed to go and we went to bed. I had regular contractions all throughout the night and by 3 am they were 10 mins apart. Because my contractions never got regular until about 2 hours before Eliana was born, we decided I had better get checked; I wasn't sleeping anyway. They checked me at around 4 am and I was only a 3. I didn't progress in an hour so they sent us home. We came home and tried to sleep. My contractions were still regular and strong enough to wake me up but not close enough together to warrant another trip to the hospital. We decided to send Eliana to church with the Sinks and go for a walk to see what would happen. Before we left, I showered and my contractions got to 5 mins apart. Since I was to deliver at the Jordan Valley hospital in West Jordan (about a half hour drive), we decided to walk closer to the hospital. We went to the South Towne Mall in Sandy walked some brisk laps. After about 45 mins my contractions were really strong, less than 5 mins apart and I was starting to feel naseauted. I was determined to be atleast dilated to a 5 before we went back to the hospital. When we got there, around 3:30 pm I was dilated to a 6 and 100% effaced. Summer, my good friend and doula (more to come about Summer and Doulas) met us there then and the real laboring began. I had decided to go natural and Summer was there to help Christian and I know what to do to make things go more smoothly. I spent about an hour in and out of the whirlpool tub and then got checked, I was at a 9.5. I got on my side in the bed and got ready to push. At this point, I had a moment of doubt in myself and just wanted the contractions to stop! Summer and Christian reasuured me and reminded me I was almost there. My amazing Doctor, Dr. Hansen got there just in time, I pushed once and Julia's head came out and pushed again and the rest of her body came out! It was amazing! The first picture is of Julia right after coming out! It was so amazing to hold her right away! I felt so grateful that she was here! It is a feeling like no other!

Dr. Hansen with us! He is the BEST doctor ever! Christian giving Julia a Biment... (Danish for eskimo kiss, I think!)

Looking up at me! "So this is who I've been with all this time!"

Eliana brought Julia a teddy bear! She is SO SO SO SO excited to be a big sister!

I've Been Tagged...

So I have been tagged by Sheri....

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? I was in my 3rd year at the University of Maine at Farmington.... that makes me sound OLD.... ekkk!

2. 5 things on my to-do list today. Relax, finish packing for the hospital, vacuum, do a photo shoot if the sun ever comes out, organize and clean! (I'm nesting!)

3. What snacks do I enjoy? Apples, crackers, nuts, cereal, fruit snacks.... :)

4. What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire? Pay off all our debts, buy a bunch of camera/lighting equipment, buy a new big house with an amazing backyard, attached photography studio and a barn with acres of pasture, buy several horses, fund and help run a private school.

5. 3 bad habits? Chewing too much gum, not picking up after myself, starting projects and not finishing them.

6. 5 places you’ve lived. Shirley, Maine; all over Utah (mission and recent); Fontana, California; Maple Shade, NJ; Hackensack, NJ; okay so there are atleast 5 more places I've lived too!

7. 5 jobs I've had? Mowing Lawns, Customer Service at a nutrional/supplement co., Teacher in traditional public schools and charter school, Private tutor, Freelance Photography

8. 5 thing people don't know about me: I grew up in a town of 200 and graduated with 24 other students, I rode horses and competed in horse shows when I was younger, I was on the ski team in high school, I backpacked in Europe for 3 weeks when I graduated from college, I served a mission in the Utah Provo Mission!

I tag....Jessica C., LaCee, Laura H., Rebecca L, Cassie (can I do that if she was already tagged by Sheri?)

She's Almost Here!

Hopefully this image isn't too much for any of you, it was taken yesterday, just about 38 weeks pregnant... today I am officially 38 weeks. Although my due date is March 7, exactly 2 weeks from today, I think this little girl wants to come early. I am already dilated to between a 2 and 3 and 80% effaced. I am hoping that she will come in about a week... next Wednesday would be convienent. We'll see, she'll come when she wants to I guess. Thank goodness we are all pretty much healthy in our house now... just some lingering congestion going on. Hopefully when she comes we will all be 100%. Some of our friends have already guessed her birthday and weight, feel free to make your guess and we'll see who's the most psychic!

Travis and Berkeley

Travis and Berkeley have now left but here are some pictures we took when they were here. I wish they lived closer! We had so much fun! Isn't Amara a cutie? She is talking so much and has grown up so much since we last saw them! Thanks for visiting guys! We can't wait to see you again! Maybe we will actually live near each other SOMEDAY...

Johnson, Mini-Reunion

While Travis and Berkeley were here, we decided to invite all the Utah relatives over to our clubhouse for a family potluck dinner. It was a lot of fun and great to connect with our family that we haven't seen for a long time. Grandma Johnson was even able to come up from St. George for the occasion. Christian and I are excited now about hopefully keeping in better touch with our relatives here. Thanks to all of you that brought food to share! We definately had an abundance of desserts! :)

Travis and Berkeley's Visit

My brother Travis, his wife Berkeley and their daughter Amara have been visiting us for about a week now. Eliana and Amara have been having a lot of fun playing together! Here are a few pictures. The first is from Jump On It! where they had a lot of fun playing on the trampolines. Travis and Berkeley have been camping out in our family room and the girls love to play in their bed.

Addie's Baby Shower

Today was my baby shower hosted by Tierra and Sheri with some help from Sheri's sister Sami. Thank you so much! I am now 36 weeks pregnant and considering the baby has dropped and I am tall I don't think I'm THAT small..... I felt blessed that some wonderful friends and family were able to come and celebrate the upcoming birth of our little girl. As you can see from the pictures, we played a game of trying to figure out what candy bar was melted in the diaper....pretty fun... kinda gross looking! Amy won! Good Job Amy... she guessed 8 of the 10 correctly and I only guessed 4 right. My cousin Rachel brought a present for Eliana, a new summer outfit. Eliana had to put it on right away as you can see from the picture. This was a wonderful idea, Thanks Rachel. So we are pretty much ready for our new baby, just need to get a few last things, pack our bags, say lots of prayers and wait. It was a fun morning and now it's time for a nap so that I can continue to get over my nasty cold!

Winter Colds

So, I just wish that Mom's would not bring their sick kids out to infect the world of other children and moms! Eliana got sick last week... it started out as a cough and turned into pnemonia. So, after being up with her all night for several nights and having her cough and vomit on me, I got sick too of course. We are just hoping we are all better before the baby comes. I am sure we will be! I am now 36 wks, so sometime in the next 3-4 weeks hopefully we'll meet our new little girl. The picture is of Eliana in the shower getting some steam and having fun too. She has spent quite a bit of time in the shower over the past few days trying to get better, at least she enjoys it!