What a wonderful Christmas...

We have just returned from a whirlwind of traveling... we traveled from Austin to Cisco to Roswell to Lubbock back to Roswell to Alto to Cisco and back to Austin. Wheewww, isn't that exhausting just reading it?!?

We spent a couple of days before Christmas with my family in Roswell, then headed to Lubbock for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day with the Johnson side and what a Christmas it was! There was the Blizzard of Cisco 2009 that stranded my in-laws on I-20 only 10 miles from their house for 4 hours, not moving. Thankfully, they ended up making it to Lubbock 9-10 hours later!!! Keep in mind that it is a 3 hour trip! The Wilcoxen/Collier clan was stuck in Cisco until Christmas day, but thankfully everyone made it safely to the Penas in Lubbock. Ryan and I enjoyed spending Christmas afternoon with the Grahams/Weathers/Blanns! So much much fun and so many laughs! On the 26th we headed back to NM and spent a week in Alto with my parents and enjoyed more snow! We were gone for 2 weeks and our sweet Gage is only 4 weeks old! Boys been traveling half of his life! We had a wonderful time sharing Gage with family and were so thankful that we had the opportunity to do so. It couldn't have been a more special 1st Christmas with our son.

Gage is doing awesome and is such a sweet baby. He's eating up a storm and has began to smile at us when we talk to him. So exciting! For the most part... he's sleeping really well at the night and only wakes up 1-2 times. Gage is quickly outgrowing many of his clothes. He's wearing a few newborns sleep n' plays, fits well into 0-3 month clothes and actually fits into a couple 3-6 month outfits! I guess everything/brand fits very differently.

We are so in love with Gage and are so thankful for him. It's so true when people say, "You really never know how much you can love someone until you have a child". Now I realize how much our parents love us and would do anything for us. Pretty amazing. We have a beautiful life.

A precious gift...

Gage Matthew Johnson arrived on 12-5-2009 in Austin, TX at Seton Medical Center via c-section. He was 9 lbs, 1 oz and 22 inches long. We couldn't be more ecstatic, blessed or thankful.

I began having contractions on Friday evening, December 4th (my due date). I tracked them for an hour, with contractions coming every 3 minutes. We were admitted to the hospital around 9pm. We were joined by Ben, Jamie and Ryan's parents. It was a long night, and short story is, I spiked a high fever, pushed for 1.5 hours and Gage wasn't coming out. The doctor decided a c-section was the only way our little guy was going to come out. I also ended up having an infection in my uterus and was given 3 antibiotics during my hospital stay. Most importantly and thankfully, Gage was a perfectly healthy big boy. We stayed at the hospital for a total of 4 nights. We were greeted at the hospital by Aunt Sharon, Marcia, Melissa, Andy and Little Emily. Sheila aka "Honey" has been wonderful and has been staying with us cleaning, cooking, washing clothes and dishes and helping out with Gage. What a relief! Thank you Honey! We love you!!!

Yesterday we took Gage to his first doctor's appointment and the doctor said he looks wonderful! Thank you Jesus for our sweet Gage.

More to come later, just wanted to get out a little update as well as some pictures!
Thank you for your sweet comments, thoughts and prayers.
Ryan, Sara & Gage.

40 weeks

Today is my due date. I have completed my last day of work- only working 1/2 a day. I am very uncomfortable to say the least. I'm at home, relaxing until Baby Boy J arrives. If I don't have the baby this weekend, I have an appointment on Monday at which time I will beg for an induction. Hope to post some baby pics soon of our precious little boy.

Please pray for us as we complete this last leg of my pregnancy. Lots of emotions to go around. Please pray for a healthy baby boy, safe delivery and recovery for us both.
Love,
R&S

39 weeks & I'm posting an eviction notice...

Nothing to report... no changes signaling the kid will be exiting soon, unfortunately. I was told by my doctor that he's "about 8 lbs"- and he's not even showing one sign that he will be out soon--- ugh! "Home remedies" are all a lie- don't waste your time. I had to schedule another doctor appointment for Thursday, December 3rd... the day before my due date. That was depressing. It's been a rough week or so. Lots of tears. I'm just done. Tired of everything. Definitely loosing my sense of humor. Cannot wait to see and hold our baby. I REALLY hope this is the last pregnant photo you will see... I haven't gained any weight in about 3 weeks, so there's not much difference other than maybe my belly rounding out a bit. Ben is here and will be my other coach in the delivery room. He's camping out in the baby's room on an air mattress. VERY happy he is here. Hoping my next post is a announcing the birth of a little boy...

Thanksgiving 2009 in Austin

Being 38 weeks & 6 days pregnant, I obviously wasn't going anywhere for Thanksgiving... so my sweet in-laws, brother-in-law and Grandmommy-in-law came for a visit! We had wonderful food prepared by the women: turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, squash casserole, hash brown casserole, broccoli cheese casserole, sweet potato casserole, rolls, relishes, butter milk pie, pumpkin pie and sweet tea. We had/have MUCH to be thankful for. We have a healthy baby boy coming at the greatest time of year, a roof over our heads, I have a great job, Ryan is attending graduate school at one of the best schools in the country and we have the best families anyone could ever pray for... just to list a few. Words can't measure how blessed we are. Ben made it in Thanksgiving evening and will remain until this little boy decides it's time to come out. Mom and Dad spent Thanksgiving in Alto, NM with Cali (the wonder poodle), and childless. I HATE not being with my parents during the holidays. I hate that I wasn't there to cook my dad a Thanksgiving meal. Hopefully next year. Other than that, Thanksgiving was great!

38 weeks and black is no longer slimming...

Hummm, well I guess black doesn't help you look thinner when you're 38 weeks pregnant. Oh well. Just get this kid outta me and NOW.

I continue to be utterly amazed by the bluntness of people and their rude has heck comments. Last night, I told Ryan I wanted to go to dinner, but that I didn't want to go inside a restaurant because I didn't want to see people staring at me or hear any comments. However, I heard Ben & Jerry's has a new ice cream called "Cake Batter" so I wanted to give it a whirl. So, we ran into the grocery store before going to the P. Terry's (burger joint) drive thru. At the check-out the guy behind me said, "That's definitely a girl!" I said quickly, "Nope! It's a boy!" He said, "Well, I thought girls were carried low and boys were higher up, but maybe I have that backwards. Well, you've managed the keep the weight off everywhere else!" I looked at him and said, "Yup, just a basketball." Really dude? What were you going to say if I had gained weight everywhere else including my ear lobes? Then what? Were you going to say, "Wow, you've really packed on the pounds?!" Sheesh.

I see why God makes the end of pregnancy so completely miserable... because by the end of it, you don't give a crap how much delivery will/could hurt, you're just ready for it to be OVER. Well, I'm there. Thank you Lord for blessing us with a precious baby boy... BUT I'm done. I'm over it. I'm ready. Little boy, begin your decent and NOW. Come out, come out, come out!!!

What a difference 10 weeks makes... a shocking look back

16 weeks...

26 weeks...

36 weeks...

36 weeks & I'll do anything to get this kid OUT!!!

I know when you just opened my blog and saw this picture you thought, "HOLY CRAP!"... "GEEEZ"..."*(*@#(&?!"... that's okay, I thought the same thing when I saw this picture.

It's venting time: I swear, people really have no filter. People have no commonsense. Some people are just morons. Nothing really set me off today... just thinking of all the strange looks, gasps and comments I have received over the last 8+ months. Ryan and I were walking into Wal-Mart on Saturday night when two females walked past us, one of them turned to the other and in a voice that a deaf person could hear said, "WOW, she's definitely having a boy!". Really lady? I never knew pregnancy was supposed to affect your hearing, because I sure as hell can hear pretty darn well. Daily, I have women (the species which should be more sensitive than the male) asking me "woooooow, when are you due?"... "you are done aren't you!?"... "gosh, I bet you are ready, huh?"... "it's a boy isn't it?"... Ladies, rude people, wipe that shocked and horrified look off your face when you hear how much further I've got... it's NOT okay to ask strangers rude questions, especially pregnant ones who already feel like a friggin' cow. Yes, my belly looks like I have a watermelon patch growing inside of me... you think I don't already know that? You think I haven't noticed the 30-35 pound melon hanging off my abdomen? I guess not. Women who have made similar comments like the ones above (none that read this blog of course!!!) shame on you. Other than the guy that said "Gosh, when are you due? Looks like that baby is going to fall out!" the men have been much nicer to me these past few months... probably because (God bless em') they know nothing about pregnancy. They usually have comments that every sea monkey carrying chick wants to hear like, "oh wow, that's not long at all! You're almost done!". Thanks boys.

I will be 37 weeks on Friday. I go back to the doctor on Thursday... if something hasn't changed, I'm gonna... well, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I've already asked my dad to send me some petocin today- which he refused. It was worth a try.

I'm getting sick of posting bizarre looking pictures of myself, so I'd really appreciate it if this sweet little boy with the last name of Johnson, would kindly, and gently make his appearance ASAP so I can post pictures of HIM! I know you can't wait either- I don't blame you! Just keep your negative comments to yourself! =)

You know you're either pregnant or just need to lay off the donuts if...

1. Your stomach sits on your thighs when you're seated...
2. You can use your belly as a table for any, all, but definitely not limited to the following: remote control, drink, food, arm rest, catch all for spills, etc, etc...
3. You can no longer see "yourself" when you look down...
4. Your boobs, belly and thighs have almost become one piece...
5. People stare, then ask in horror, "when are you due!?" You say, "six weeks". They say, "OH MY GOSH, it looks like that baby is going to fall out!"... (yes, a guy really said this to me, then his girlfriend slapped him. No lie.)
Note: there will be an alternate ending if you aren't pregnant...
6. Your belly button is now an "outtie" and not an "innie"...
7. You've developed strange red marks (in places I'd rather not say, but they aren't on your belly) and you ask you husband "what the heck is this!!?" and he says, "I think those are stretch marks"...
Note: not everyone is "fat" that has stretch marks!!! They are a doozie and can strike anyone at anytime.
8. Your back constantly aches b/c of the excess 30+ pounds you've managed to pack on in a matter of about 8 months...
9. You know you're fat or pregnant and you don't care b/c you are STILL going to Value Size it at McDonald's dammit! Heck yes!
10. You've sectioned off your closet of things that you can wear b/c you've gone there too many times and tried on too many things that didn't work, so it was easier to just put the things that do work in their own section...
11. You may or may not begin to waddle...
12. You cannot sleep on your stomach!!!!!!!
13. You can't hop up off the floor like you used to, you have to roll to one side, get your knees and legs under you, grab onto something stable, and pull yourself up off the floor...
14. Your belly hangs out from the bottom of your husbands size LARGE shirt...
15. You see pictures (or a reflection) of yourself and still cannot believe how strange your body now looks...
Note: this can happen to anyone, whether you are not even pregnant or fat.
16. You weigh almost as much as your husband (or at least it seems like it)...
Note: Some husbands are tiny, so this isn't accurate for all cases.
17. You sit on the couch and eat a pint of Blue Bell Moo-llinium Crunch ice cream in a matter of minutes and don't even think twice about it- actually you laugh when you are finished...
18. You get up from a table and realize how close everyone's chairs are... you try to "suck in" to pass by so your belly doesn't hit the guy in the back of the head, yet that doesn't seem to work...
19. You drop something on the floor while sitting in a chair and you have to physically get out of the chair, squat down (holding onto something stable) then pick it up- all b/c your stomach is too big to bend at the waist...



I could go on and on... Hopefully I didn't offend anyone, I've just barfed 2 times today and I am almost 35 weeks pregnant, so I need a little humor in my day. If anyone would like to pay me to do a public service announcement of how "morning sickness" never ends and there is NO cure to it, let me know... I'm your girl.

Photos...

Just in case she ever tries to sue me for using her wonderful pictures (just kidding), I need to thank Janelle for taking ALL of the great shower pictures that you see below!!! Thank you Janelle for capturing so many wonderful moments for us to look back at and enjoy!