Tyler's New Ride

What is wrong with this picture?

I'm the one who has to get up in the middle of the night to tend to baby Claire and looks who is snoozing the afternoon away...

First Swim

Today was our first swim of....Spring? It was hot today and Travis decided to let the boys go swimming. The water was still a little chilly, but once you got in and got used to the temperature it felt good.

Cooper squirting Papa with the water gun.

Gram and Claire enjoying the shade.

1 Week

Today Claire is 1 week old. We took her to the doctor this morning for her checkup and she is doing great! She has regained her birth weight and then some. She currently weighs 8 lbs. 6 oz. Needless to say she is a fabulous eater! She is a very sweet baby and we are enjoying every moment with her. She is a great sleeper at night (Praise the Lord!) and goes back down easily. Last night she slept a 4 1/2 hour stretch! I'm hoping this continues because I'm already becoming spoiled by her nighttime habits. Gram arrived late Wednesday night and we are enjoying having some help around the house. Papa flies in tomorrow and everyone is excited to see him. Her are some pictures from today.

Tyler wanted to hold her for a picture and she decided she didn't think that was such a great idea!

Somebody else decided he wanted to be in the spotlight! Tyler showing off his muscles!!!

Claire Elise Johnson

Claire Elise Johnson made her grand entrance into this world on Friday, April 16 at 12:35 am. She weighed 8 lbs. and was 20.5 inches long. I had gone to the doctor on Thursday morning for my normal checkup and she stripped my membranes which is supposed to help bring labor on, but I was skeptical. I have heard several people who had theirs stripped and it did absolutely nothing. So I went about my day and ran some errands while the boys were in school. I went and picked the boys up from school and brought them home for naps. Luckily Tyler took a nap that day and so I decided I would lay down for awhile and rest. I feel asleep but woke up about an hour later feeling some strong contractions. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for awhile, but these seemed stronger. I timed a couple of them and they were around 6-7 minutes apart. I got up and decided to get some things done around here just in case it was the real thing. I still had not packed my bag for the hospital so I got everything together and called Travis to let him know I was having stronger contractions and to be prepared to leave work just in case. The boys woke up from their naps and Tyler was asking for something and I tried to get up during a contraction and realized I couldn't get up while I was having one. I started timing them again and they were between 4-5 minutes apart and feeling stronger. I decided I was definitely in labor and by this time Travis was on his way home. We called his dad to come watch the boys and by the time he got here my contractions were consistently 4 minutes apart.

We got to the hospital and had to wait to be seen for about 30-45 minutes and my contractions were getting closer together. About 8 pm we got called back to my room and I got checked, but I hadn't really progressed much since my appointment that morning. I was dilated to about a 3. My doctor ordered me to walk for an hour and see if I made any progress before they were going to officially admit me. So as I began walking my contractions started getting really strong and about 2 minutes apart. I had to stop during each contraction and breathe and hold onto something to get through them. I was really annoyed at this point because they still hadn't admitted me and I knew I was in true labor because I already wanted my epidural!!! They finally came and checked me again about 9 pm and I was at a 5. They agreed I was in labor and started the process of admitting me, starting my IV, and getting ready for a baby. Travis asked them about my epidural and they told me I had to get at least one IV bag through me before I could get the epidural. They also mentioned that the Anesthesiologist just went to surgery with a C-section and it would be awhile. UGH! During this time I continued progressing and was around an 8 before I finally got my epidural. I was definitely hurting at that point and was SO glad when the Anesthesiologist finally showed up. About 11:55 I started pushing and at 12:35 am we had a baby girl! We were surprised at how big she was and how big her cheeks were! She was the biggest of all of my babies.

After being in recovery for 2 hours we finally got moved to our room around 3 am just to begin all the lab work, Claire's bath and vital checks. It was a long night and between people coming in and feeding Claire I probably got only about an hour and a half of sleep that night. The second night wasn't much better. Every time I would get Claire settled and asleep somebody would come in to check vitals and wake her up and she would start squealing and I would have to get her settled again. I was very frustrated. I hate being in the hospital because they are constantly coming in at night and interrupting your sleep. They never try and group procedures together so they are constantly coming in and out of your room. I think I got less sleep the second night than I did the first! I was very ready to come home to my own bed!

The boys were so excited to see Claire and have us home. They have been so sweet and want to hold her all the time. We owe a huge thanks to Travis' dad for watching the boys while we were at the hospital. The boys had a great time with him, but I think they might have driven him crazy yesterday asking him a million times when Claire was coming home! We had a great first night at home. She woke up around every 3 hours to eat and went straight back to sleep without any problems! I was very thankful because I needed to sleep. Here are some pictures from the last couple of days.

Me after finally getting my epidural. Minutes earlier I was literally in tears because I was hurting so bad. Let's just take a moment to thank the good Lord for epidurals!

Claire getting cleaned up right after she was born.

Chunky Monkey being weighed.

Holding Claire for the first time. Somehow we never got a picture of Travis that night with his little girl.

The hospital doesn't allow anyone under 16 to visit so after asking the nurse about it she told us we could take Claire to the nursery and have the boys look at her through the window. The boys were so happy to be able to finally see her.

A close up of her cheeks! They are really kissable!

Getting ready to go home.

Sweet baby girl!

In the car on the way home.

The Johnson kids! The boys were so happy to have her home.

Tyler holding her for the first time.

Cooper holding Claire for the first time. Cooper has been the most interested in Claire. He sings to her and asks to hold her all the time. He likes to pat her and tell her that he loves her.

Claire brought the boys fishing poles. They have been practicing casting them in the pool and they are going to the beach this afternoon with Daddy and Grandpa to try them out!

Cooper holding Claire this morning.

The boys wanted to put Claire on the playmat this morning and Cooper wanted to lay with her.

The boys laying with Claire on the playmat.

Needless to say, we are all in love with our precious baby Claire. My mom is coming down on Wednesday to help out. My dad is coming on Friday and then my sister is coming on Monday. They are all going to stay until the 29th. We are very excited to introduce them to Claire. It was a little strange to not have them here when she was born. Travis' mom was in Florida when Claire was born because Travis' sister Kristi just had her baby on the 5th. She is coming back on Tuesday, so Claire has a lot of people to meet.

I have to say Travis has been a HUGE help. He is a great dad and husband and I'm so thankful for him and to have him by my side. Gotta run and make the boys some lunch.

What's that saying?

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree! My family is going to get a huge kick out of this story about Cooper, but first I need to give you a little background into my life growing up. I was THE PICKIEST eater you have ever met! There are many stories that my family just loves to tell about my antics with food. For instance:

• One day there was the hot dog incident where I took a bite of hot dog and wouldn't swallow it for hours, and I actually liked hot dogs.
• My dad once moved the couch from against the wall to find a stash of Flinstone vitamins that I had taken out of my mouth and thrown behind the couch.
• My elementary school served up cinnamon rolls that were DIVINE! They sold them for a quarter and in order to get one you had to eat your main course and show the teacher once you had finished so you could go get in line for a cinnamon roll. Well one day they served up chicken fried steak and I decided I would rather have a cinnamon roll so I chunked the whole chicken fried steak under the table when the teacher wasn't looking and raised my hand to go get a cinnamon roll. She let me get up and as I was coming back to my seat she was asking around to see who threw the steak under the table. I think she was interrogating some poor little innocent boy. I sat quietly enjoying my cinnamon roll and was never caught!

Anyway, so this leads me to today. The boys and I were running around all morning and we get home in time for lunch. The boys requested their usual lunches- Cooper asked for chicken nuggets and Tyler wanted peanut butter and jelly. I fixed lunch and the boys found some Sprite left over from Tyler's party and asked if they could have it. I said that was fine and they began eating while I fixed something for myself. After Tyler had eaten most of his lunch he asked if they could have some candy from the pinata at the party. I told them that they had to finish ALL of their lunch before I would let them have a piece of candy. So after a few minutes Cooper comes over and tells me he had finished his lunch. I went to go inspect his plate and it appeared as if he had finished all of his chicken. I noticed he had spilled some Sprite on the table and as I began cleaning up I noticed this....

Cooper had stuffed the remaining pieces of chicken into his can of Sprite creating the mess that was on the table. So I continued to clean up his mess and told him that he didn't get any candy because he didn't obey me and he lied about it!

I guess I'm just getting paid back for everything I put my poor parents through! I'm sure my family will have plenty of comments about this post. Bring 'em on!

Party Time!

Today we celebrated Tyler's 4th birthday with a "Lightning McQueen" party! He was very excited and kept asking this morning when his friends were going to be here. We had pizza, cake, a bounce house, and a pinata! The kids had a great time in the backyard jumping in the bounce house, playing in the sand box, and climbing in the tree house. I was totally exhausted this afternoon because we have been working really hard this week trying to get some things finished on the house, getting everything ready for Claire, and getting ready for the party. It feels so good to have the party behind us! Now I can have this baby!!!

The main table outside decorated with the boys "Lightning McQueen" toys.

Tyler in front of the bounce house waiting for his friends.

The cake! I made his cake and it only took me 3 hours to decorate yesterday! It turned out really cute, but oh my gosh it took forever. I hope Tyler knows how much I love him!

Tyler trying out the bounce house! We had a bloody nose before the party even started. Tyler and Cooper ran into each other and Tyler got a head to the nose!

Daddy even got in on the action!

Cooper playing in the bounce house!

The kids enjoying some pizza on the deck.

Tyler's friends Lilly and Ashley chowing down.

Tyler ready to blow out the candles.

Cooper began asking right after breakfast when we were going to eat cake. He finally got come and was stuffing his face!

Tyler opening presents after everyone left. He got lots of fun trucks and pool toys.

Cooper had a VERY hard time understanding it was Tyler's birthday. I think he opened half of Tyler's presents for him. Luckily, Tyler was very gracious and didn't mind that Cooper was opening presents with him.

Opening the last of the presents!

We have the bounce house all day so the boys are still out in the backyard jumping around. Bedtime should be pretty easy tonight! :)

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

Today we celebrated Tyler's 4th birthday! To say that Tyler was excited is an understatement!!! He has been talking about his birthday for months. He kept asking what month it was and when April would be coming. April finally arrived and then the question was when was April 8th going to arrive??? This morning he woke me up at 4:10 am and was devastated when I told him he had to go back to bed. He then came back at 4:30 and I told him I did not want him to start his birthday off with a spanking, so he went back to bed... pouting all the way. Here are some pictures from our day:

We started off the day with belgian waffles before school.

We let him open his gift from the Hoovers before school.

After school we watched his new "Cars" movie and played outside until Daddy got home.

Daddy got home and he opened presents from us. Grandpa came over soon after and he got to open one more gift- his pirate ship.

We headed out to Logan's Roadhouse for dinner, or as the boys say the place with big rolls and peanuts. Here are the boys showing me their peanuts.

Grandpa with the birthday boy. Tyler loved when the waiters came over to the table and made a big scene about his birthday!

Cooper LOVES peanuts! Here he is devouring one at dinner.