And we waited...

I guess my womb is pretty comfy for little Eisley, because she does not want to come out!

My parents came the day before my duedate and left 6 days later...Eisley didn't come. Then Brian's parents, sister, and our neice came 4 days after my due date and left 4 days later....Eisley didn't come.

We had a great visit with both families, spend the time cooking, decorating for fall, laughing, picking fruit in hood river, fighting (you know those hormones), watching the swifts, going to the zoo, eating at lots of Portland restaurants, yelling at Eisley, walking, and trying lots of old wives tales to coax her out. In the end family came and went and Eisley didn't get to meet any of them!

Watching the swifts

Penelope wasn't too sure about the swifts

The kitties got a taste of their future.

some monkeys at the zoo.

Picked the best peach i've ever had from that tree.

Picking corn and staying happy.

In-law's making the tough decision of what ice cream to get at Salt and Straw

The zoo and it's results

She is so loved part 2...

My second shower was in Portland. Our wonderful friends Sarah and Joel threw us a co-ed shower full of home brewed beer, sangria, corn-hole, and lots of yummy food. I was blown away with the thoughtful and handmade gifts, I really do have some creative friends! Again, it is best to show you how great it was with a bunch of pictures!

Joel dominates at the corn-hole

The ladies and Cooper

Hipster boyband?

The lovely host Sarah, who is expecting a little one of her own soon!

We are so thankful for all of our great friends!

She is so loved part 1...

I had two amazing and wonderful baby showers to celebrate Eisley!

My first shower was in Reno in my parents backyard. My lovely friends Cassie and Andrea threw it for me, my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws made delicious food, my mom crafted, and my dad made cute little cupcakes. It was an exciting and magical shower. I was blown away at all the beautiful details and how much it reflected me and my plans for Eisley's little nest. The best way to show off how wonderful it was is to show you tons of pictures!

Paint a onesie station

Wonderful woodland creatures

Lovely mason jar drinks

So magical

EAT!

Everyone filled out their wishes for Eisley.

Loved reading all the wishes for Eisley

FOOD FOR DAYS!

Mushroom cupcakes

Love handmade gifts!

Andrea, Cassie, and me...some photo booth fun!

What...I'm having a baby! Her Aunt is excited!

Thank you succulents!

 

The last image is a picture of the corsage I wore. This is a really special corsage made out of baby socks that my mom wore at her baby shower for me.

It was such a special day and I am honored to have such wonderful friends and family around to support and celebrate Eisley!

When will she come?

I am now offically 2 days past my due date.  My family is here and more are coming this weekend in hopes that Eisley will decide to make her grand apprentice into this world.

To help pass the time my family started a baby pool. They put in some money and all placed their bets on the day and time she would come and what her length and weight would be. It is fun to hear all their guesses and imagine having her at those times.

So I thought it would be fun to have a little guessing contest on the blog! Place your bets below for the time and date, and weight and length. I will mail at two little prizes to whoever guesses closest.

Here is a hint...I met with my midwife yesterday and she said that there are no real signs that labor is happening anytime soon for me, however, sometimes there are no signs!

So leave a comment with your guess and if you win you will get a fun little prize, I promise it will be cooler than a dirty diaper.

Gender Reveal

We knew we wanted to reveal it in a special way (because we are sappy like that), so we had the ultrasound tech write the gender on a card, then we gave that card -- along with a boy and girl outfit -- to a lovely friend and she wrapped the right outfit up for us. Then later that day we opened the gift together! I really thought I was having a boy, all my dreams were about a little boy (even that night we found out I still had a dream it was a boy), but when we saw that pink little dress we were both so happy!

Here is the video that we made to announce if our little one was a girl or a boy. Also there are dinosaurs! 

Baby Johnson gender reveal!!! from Andrea Johnson on Vimeo.

Hello Hormones

First Picture

Pregnancy…it’s a crazy wild ride. As a first time mom I had no idea all the changes my body would go through. I am not sure why our society is so quiet on pregnancy-- there are so many things I never knew about! My first trimester was pretty easy compared to some. For the most part I just slept the whole 3 months. I definitely slacked on my share of the house work, good thing neither of us cares too much about that! 90% of the time I was a hot mess, I was bloated, had oily skin, never-ending headaches, my body was sore, and I was crying at commercials and lost animal posters.

The second trimester was awesome, I felt amazing and all these great things were happening with my baby. I started to feel her move, and Brian could feel her move too, I think that connected him to her more and it was amazing to just sit in silence with both of our hands on my belly waiting for her to do something. More people could notice that my belly was due to a baby and not a large burrito or overindulgence in a tub of ice cream.  The most exciting part of this trimester was finding out if our baby was a girl or boy. We found out in a special way and though the old wives tales said it would be a boy we found out that we would be having a little GIRL! this made things much more real, to call her a her and connect with her in a deeper way.

'Merica

This third trimester has been an up and down experience. For the most part I felt great. It was an exciting time to really prepare for her arrival, getting her room all together, going to some amazing baby showers for her, taking a child birthing class, and just the overall feeling that I was going to meet my little girl soon! Now that I am less than a week from my due date I am feeling ready to git ‘er done! My body feels like it has taken a beating, no position is comfortable, and there is no room for either of us. But I wouldn’t trade these feelings for anything in the world, I am so blessed to be able to carry a child in my body, it’s an amazing experience and a miracle in itself! Lastly this trimester has left me unable to use my brain (which is not good when your in Grad school). I always thought this was fake, so I repent of my thoughts to the many pregnant women who said they had pregnancy brain and I thought they were making it up...I now understand, and take my punishment in full!

All the hand-me-downs we got!

These last few weeks we have been working on our baby bucket list, doing things that are a little easier with an inside baby before she comes out. We waited in line for the popular breakfast places in Portland, went for long drives, berry picking, spending lazy days watching cheesy Netflix shows, eating out at nice restaurants, going to concerts, staying up late with friends, and just enjoying our last few moments just the two of us.

How it all started

The story of our soon to be born daughter Eisley started a long time ago. Brian and I met in 2003, started dating in 2004, were married in 2007, and now we are adding a new human to our family! But let’s back up a little bit….If you would have asked us a couple years ago when we were planning on having kids we would have told you, “oh in a few years, we’re in no hurry”. I would tell you that I was too selfish for a kid and that I just wasn’t ready (are we ever?).

These feelings started to change last June on a 10 hour road trip in the middle of nowhere after spending some time with family, friends, and our adorable niece, Penelope. We talked about all sorts of things from what animal we would like to live as, our favorite childhood memories, embarrassing moments, and what we wanted out future to look like. That is when we both shyly admitted to each other that we wanted make our family of two (well four if you count the cats… and we do) to three. This was a scary and exciting conversation, so much unknown, so many what-if’s. But when we really searched our souls, we felt at peace, it was the right time and we knew God would iron out the wrinkles along the way.  

And wrinkles there were! Just a few short months after that long road trip we saw two pink lines on a stick I peed on (that meant we were pregnant!). We were over the moon, we planned Skype dates with all of our family to let them know the good news and we just couldn’t hold it in.  Yet for reasons we will never understand, when Brian was out in the Nevada desert hunting with his dad, I was alone in Portland losing our first baby to a miscarriage. My heart was broken, and again I was filled with so many what if’s and unknowns. But I have amazing friends and family and they all supported and loved us during this hard time.  I don’t know how I would have made it through without their care and kind words.

We decided to keep trying and move forward in hopes that God would bless us again with another baby that we could spend more time with. And one cool January morning, while not trying to get my hopes up, I waited for those two little pink lines again, and Holy Cow there they were! Now I decided to wait ‘til Brian’s birthday to tell him in a special way. This was the longest 3 days ever! I got him a subscription to his favorite fly fishing magazine and I wrote “I know September is your favorite time to fish, but you will have to stick around for the catch of your life!”  Watch the video below to see how it all plays out. Also, excuse the fact that I sound like a chipmunk on helium, that’s just how I roll. 

Brian finds out what is happing fall 2012 from Andrea Johnson on Vimeo.