Hope everyone had a good Christmas.
Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm leaving for Dallas early in the morning so I thought I'd update real quick. I wanted to post pictures but I have not pulled pictures off of my camera yet so when Greg does that for me I'll post some Christmas pictures.
We had a great Christmas with Greg's side of the family. Kayla had a lot of fun opening presents and even more fun playing with new toys. She especially liked her stacking rings and her John Deere tractor but she also loved the books and horsey balls and many other great gifts she received. Thanks to all who gave her a gift she is very spoiled. We came home from Austwell Christmas afternoon in time to see our good friend, David, who stopped by and visited for a while. Kayla had so much fun she didn't want to sleep but she is catching up on missed sleep today.
Also today was Dr. appt day for both Kayla and myself. Last week we saw a substitute Dr. who seemed concerned about her weight for her age. I really didn't think it was an issue but when a Dr. makes such a deal of something you start to wonder. I did everything she said to do for a week and today she still hadn't gained even an ounce. My Dr. and the PA both saw her today and both think that she is fine and told me not to worry about her weight. They are both impressed with her developement (doing most of the things they expect a 2 year old to do) and told me she is just an active healthy child. I was relieved to hear that so now life can get back to normal.
The good news of the day is that
we heard the fetal heartbeat today! Yay! It was 160 bpm and the Dr. is content that this is a healthy growing baby. And yesterday morning an extra little Christmas present was that I felt the baby move! I turn 35 tomorrow and it sure feels old to be pregnant with a toddler but I couldn't be more thankful.
Enjoy the end of the year and keep checking back for pictures coming soon.

Merry Christmas

We finally got our Christmas tree up and decorated. We chose to make our dining room the "Christmas room" this year since we have that room gated off and we can see it from the living room but Kayla can't get in too much trouble. All of our shopping is done except Kayla's Christmas present isn't available in our area and to have it shipped would delay it's arrival until the middle of January. We have tried buying it over the phone and having someone else pick it up for us but that hasn't worked either. Oh well, She will either have to wait for it or get something different.
Trying to make Christmas gifts this year has posed its own challenges since I thought I had the supplies and found some of them didn't work right so I have had to improvise and I'm not as happy with the results.
Christmas cards came in and now I just have to go buy the stamps and hook our printer up and print the letter to include. Maybe they'll leave here by Christmas eve but you should receive one eventually. If you don't get one we must have missed you on our mailing list, please let us know so we can add you.
We will be going to Greg's mom's in Austwell on Christmas eve and will come home on Christmas afternoon. Kayla really understands the concept of opening gifts so I'm sure this will be an exciting time for her. She has been enjoying singing Happy birthay Jesus and loves the lights and decorations.
We are 15 weeks pregnant now and both Kayla and I see the Dr. on the 26th so we'll update the medical progress then.
We wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas filled with Christs Love, this wonderful season of Celebration.

It is harder to keep this blog updated than I thought it would be. I feel as if our life activities aren't really that interesting to people but I have been getting emails asking for an update so here it goes.
We had our Christmas musical at church sunday and it turned out so well. We all really enjoyed being a part of it and it was a special day for us as we looked out into the congregation and saw a larger group of people than normal all sitting in beautiful brand new pews. God is so good!
I am nearing the 14 week mark in my pregnancy now. Some days I have less morning sickness than others and I do think it is getting less and less all the time but it is still there. I am starting to really feel pregnant. I still haven't decorated for Christmas or done the small amount of baking that I want to do. I can't even seem to get my dishes done! Hopefully today I will make great progress in getting the house cleaned because I have set aside most of the day just for that.
Greg continues to work long hours and we all seem to be exhausted by the time he gets home. Kayla has been going to bed at 7pm and some days like today is still asleep at 8am. She plays hard during the day. She is talking more and more each day. She loves to go outside and play and she has an amazing ability to find water! Her favorite activity at the park playground is to pick up gravel and put it in a cup or even better her friends Tonka dumptruck. She still loves bracelets but she also loves to be a tomboy. Animals seem to be one of her favorite things right now. Yesterday we took our big fuzzy dirty dog, Chuwy, to the groomer to have his hair shaved. The groomer wasn't able to fit all 120lbs of him into her sink so she shaved him and I brought him home and bathed him. It took up the whole day for me but it was all worth it because now I don't mind him being in the house as much. Kayla is so excited to be able to crawl all over him and I'm glad that she isn't getting dirty when she does so. Our other dog, Oscar, felt rather left out and has been bouncing around like a pingpong ball.
We hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season. It is still possible that we might get some Christmas cards out before Christmas but if not you might expect one before the New year. Maybe.

Todays Dr. appt

Well today I went in to see the Dr. for a routine pregnancy checkup. Kayla was happy to have her Grandma Johnson come and stay with her so she didn't have to go with me. Well actually I was as happy as she was because I was able to think while I talked to the Dr.
It was dissappointing that we still couldn't hear the baby's heartbeat. Dr. McLeod said that I am always stingy with sharing my baby's heartbeats with him. He wasn't worried about it and said that next time we're sure to hear it. (I think he said that last time too!). I'm 12 1/2 weeks pregnant and I can sure feel it. I have lost weight but my clothes are shrinking. The baby should be about 3" long now and looks much more human than in the beginning. I think it is interesting that the baby can now cry (silently) and can feel pain. Hands have feeling now and thumb sucking is common even at three inches long. How tiny must that little thumb be?
I will go back to the Dr. on Dec. 31st and I better hear the heartbeat then.

The Johnson household is back into fullswing activity this week with appointments and committments everyday. Greg has been working long hours. Even our 4 month old calf has been busy turning all the water faucets on. I guess its time for her to join the herd of horses. That will keep her busy for sure.
This week we are busy preparing for our Christmas musical at church that we will perform sunday morning. We have worked long and hard at it and we are excited because we will also have new carpet and pews in our church by this sunday. If you live in the area be sure to come watch this sunday at 11am.

I think its naptime for a worn out 16 month old sitting next to me so I'm off to get her to bed and who knows I might take a nap myself.

Puppy Love

Aren't they cute?

yummy thanksgiving dinner

Finally getting around to posting pictures from Thanksgiving. Kayla thought the feast was Very yummy! I'll try to get more pictures posted tomorrow. It is late tonight but I wanted to post while I was thinking of it. I'll post some pictures of Kayla with the puppy soon so stay tuned!

Tomorrow we will be 12 weeks pregnant and all is going great. Last week Kayla, Mommy and Daddy all had the stomach flu so we weren't much fun but this week we hope to get back to our adventures.