Here's the Additional Pictures of the Carriage House

Louis got the one side to collapse by just pulling out one board on the side! I missed the "show" so only have pictures of it being lopsided.

To get the rest of the building down our wonderful neighbors, Mark and Joelle, lent their van to do the pulling. Louis wrapped a heavy chain around one of the corner support posts and then to the hitch on the van. It worked pretty good to get the rest of the building to collapse. It sent up a pretty good cloud of dust!

In the process of pulling it down.

Now we just had to figure out how to get the roof off the tree so it would be flatter on the ground. We figured the city would not like us to leave it so kids could crawl under it. So, once again we hitched the van to a corner and pulled. It didn't move very far, so Louis actually just split the roof ridge so it would fall to either side of the tree. It worked pretty good.

Before the snow and cold weather, we were able to remove all the shingles. Now we are in the process of slowly burning all the unusable wood of the structure. Since the building had been in a previous fire, most of the wood is badly damaged and not suitable for reusing to build Caisha's club house. Hopefully this spring, we will be the rest of the wood cleaned up and be able to start digging up all the bricks that were used as the foundation for the structure. I will be putting those bricks to good use as a border for my (hopefully newly expanded) garden.

As I am writing this right before Christmas I will wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope to get a few more posts done in the next couple weeks. Check out some of my older posts as I have updated a few of them with corresponding pictures.

Long Ways to Go!

Saturday I found out just how much I have to learn in my riding lessons! I attended a workshop at the riding stables Saturday afternoon where we got to learn a little more about horses, women's connection to horses, and the benefits to riding horses. We got to ride for almost 3 hours in the indoor arena. The horse they assigned to me was not one of their lesson horses. She is a 1st level dressage horse that they have for sale. I learned a lot by riding her, though. She was very sensitive to leg cues and shifting of body weight and tension in the reins. I found out that I tend to sit "heavier" on my right side, which caused Ginger, the horse I was riding, to shift her weight more to that side, making it harder for her to stay walking in a straight line. I also found that I am not very steady or relaxed in my arms and shoulders. Ginger was very sensative to the give and take of the reins. I need to learn to relax more and move my arms forward and back with the natural rhythm of the horses head when they move so I don't put undo pressure on their mouths when their head naturally moves forward. It was a lot to think about! I ended up mostly walking, just trying to get intune with Ginger. I think I needed about another 2 hours! We were doing pretty good towards the end and I trotted with her a little bit. I think I probably frustrated Ginger. *laugh* I also learned that I need some new boots for riding. The ones that I have just aren't flexible enough. I realized how forgiving my lesson horse, Emmitt, really is after riding Ginger. But now I know what I need to concentrate on to get the right cues to Emmitt so he will perform for me. I think I might have to go in and practice on my own every once in a while, too. Maybe while Caisha is taking her lesson...as long as she isn't riding Emmitt for her lessons. That is what Santa is giving her for Christmas this year. Riding lessons! She will be sooo excited! And I found out that for every 10 lessons that you pay for in advance, you get one free! So she will be getting more lessons than originally planned.
I had a great time meeting other women with the same interest in horses as me and maybe I will run into them at some shows down the road!

Riding Lessons

Yesterday I had my first horseback riding lesson. I have wanted to do this for a very long time and have finally decided to just do it! I am learning how to do dressage and event jumping, so it is totally different from any riding I am used to. I grew up riding Western style where you want a lot of slack in the reins and you sit deep in the saddle. Dressage, or English, style requires tension in the reins at all times (always in contact with the horses mouth) and sitting as lightly as possible in saddle. I have always loved to watch the cross-country eventing on TV and thought it looked very exciting! My instructor is younger than me by about 15 years, but she seems to know what she is doing! She has competed in numerous events. She was pleased with how naturally I sat a horse and has great faith in me that I will be able to master this! The hardest thing for me to remember was to keep my heels down and my toes pointed slightly in with the most pressure on my big toes! It was exhilarating to be back on a horse again! I wasn't sure who's heart was beating faster...mine or the horses! If you are familiar at all with English riding, you know that they "post" at the trot. That is where you rise up and down in the saddle in rhythm with the horse. My instructor, Maggie, said that I should be using my calf muscles, not my knees or thighs, to rise up out of the saddle. I must have been doing it right, because my calves were pretty sore afterwards and my knees and thighs didn't bother me at all. Usually it is my knees that hurt after riding for any length of time. Today, the front hip area that connects my legs to my hips is kind of sore. I suppose from the constant rise and fall of posting. I have my lessons in an indoor arena that is heated to about 40 degrees, so it is not bad at all for riding in the winter. I was actually getting warm half way through my lesson.
I will be having a lesson twice a month for 30 minutes each session(can't afford anymore at the moment). I will probably up my lesson time to 45 minutes once my body catches on. Hopefully that way I will keep myself from getting sore after each lesson. I would love to have a lesson every week, but I don't think that will ever happen. It just isn't in our budget. I am hoping to compete in some events this next summer if things go well. I can use one of the lesson horses and they will haul the horse to and from the event for me. I can't wait!!! I am sure I will be competing against little girls, but I have to start somewhere! Maybe some day (hopefully soon) I can actually get my own horse!

On a Sad Note

About a week ago one of our cats, Badger, ate something he shouldn't have. We took him to the vet and they sedated him so he wouldn't have anymore seizures. The vet figured he got into some nuts that are laced with strictnine (rat poison). People put this stuff out to kill moles, rabbits, squirrels, etc. Anyway, I noticed that Badger was having small seizures last Sunday night so we took him into the vet clinic right away Monday morning. He stayed at the clinic until Wednesday afternoon when the vet felt that he was well enough to go home. Badger had eaten some food and was drinking plenty of water on his own. He was still pretty shaky on his feet, but otherwise seemed fine. The vet was optimistic that he would have a full recovery. Louis had to work through Thanksgiving, but the kids and I (and the dog) went up to Milford, IA to visit Grandpa Jack and Grandma Lynne. We had a great extended weekend. Louis called us on Saturday to ask his dad (a vet) about Badger. It seems he had thrown up and now had stopped eating(as well as Simba, our other cat)...who, incidently, avoided Badger and growled and hissed at him when he did come in contact with him. That was the start of Badgers decline. By the time we got home Sunday afternoon at 2pm he had bloody mucus coming out of his nose and mouth and he couldn't control his mouth enough to even drink water. We tried to make him as comfortable as possible. I gave him some aspirin, hoping to get enough into him to help him fall asleep, but he had difficulty swallowing, so I think all I accomplished was to take away any pain he was feeling. Caisha was by his side the rest of the evening until she finally crawled into bed, exhausted, around 11p. Badger would purr whenever we were with him, so I think he was pretty content at the end. Around 4am(Monday) Louis checked on him and was going to take him to the vet college in Ames to have him euthenized, but as he was walking down the stairs, he said Badger looked up at him, meowed one last time and took his last breath. They never made it to the vet college. It has been heartbreaking for all of us to say goodbye, but I think Badger held on long enough so we all could say goodbye. Once he knew everybody had said goodbye, he let himself go. He was only a little over 2 years old, so that makes it very hard to accept. We will all miss him terribly!

Carriage House Update

Here is the latest on the Carriage House. As you can see it is finally on the ground!!! I do have more pictures of the whole process, but can't find them at the moment. When I do find them I will add them to this post. Now it is just the slow process of cutting all the wood down to size and burning it or salvaging pieces for Caisha's "Club House".

New Pictures

Both Caisha and Zach are a huge help with Wyatt! He lights up whenever he sees them and will usually let out a squeal of delight when they walk in the room, especially after a nap!

Here are the kids dressed up for Halloween. Caisha was a vampire, Zach was a bandit cowboy and Wyatt was a bear dressed as a pumpkin( or a pumpkin dressed as a bear?) The weather was beautiful! so the kids didn't have to cover up their costumes this year!

Here's Louis' little drummer! Louis played drums in high school and was hoping that one of his kids would play drums. Nala chose to play tenor saxaphone, which she is very good at. Caisha plays the trombone like her dad, Jim, and her Uncle Tom and Zach is interested in the clarinet (which I play) or saxaphone ( I also played this for pep band & contests).

Yes, Wyatt is a thumb sucker. Notice that it's his left hand?! He does a lot with his left hand, so it will be interesting to see if he will write with his left.

Prayers Needed!

My mom told me some very sad, devastating news yesterday and I would like to enlist your help. Her sister, Sharlet, has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. They believe it started as cervical cancer and has since moved to her utereus, lymph nodes and possibly her lungs. The doctors have told her that none of the options will extend her life, so she has opted not to undergo any surgery or chemo/radiation. She (Sharlet) wants to enjoy what time she has left as well as she can. She is currently taking medicine for the pain and taking herbal supplements to help her body fight as much as it can. She needs your prayers, as well as her family. Her husband, John, is having a hard time, so please pray for him so that he can be there for Sharlet. They also have 3 children and a couple grandchildren. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they go through this. And lastly, please pray for my mom! I can't imagine how I would feel if one of my sisters called me and told me they had terminal cancer and did not know how long they had left with us! As far as I know, this will be the 3rd person that my mom has lost to cancer that she has been real close to. She lost her mother to lung cancer when I was about 7 years old and one of her best friends to breast cancer while I was in high school. I am sure she would appreciate your comforting words and support.
We love you, Sharlet!

Cars!?@!?@!

I am no longer a fan of Saturn! Especially their SUV the Vue. I have had 2 of them now which I bought both brand new. The first one was a 2004. About 1 1/2 years after I purchased it the clutch slave cylinder went out on it so I could no longer shift. It was a 5 speed manual, which is one of the reasons I bought it. The Vue is the only SUV that comes with a stick. Anyway, the factory warranty expired at 30,000 miles. I had close to 60,000 miles on it so it was 100% out of pocket to fix. It was going to cost me over $600 with parts and labor, but I got them to drop the labor charges and ended up paying around $275. Shortly after that we traded the 2004 in on a 2006. Well, now just a mere 1 1/2 years later something major goes wrong with this one!! The Body Control Modular went out! This nifty little (computerized) gadget basically runs the car! It is going to cost us $550 to fix this! And of course, I have too many miles on the car so the warranty no longer covers it!! I now no longer have any money for Christmas, which I had been saving up for a year now! We were lucky that Louis' car had not sold yet so he is able to drive that in the meantime. I give up on buying new! I thought I would avoid costly "fixes" on a new car! Doesn't seem to be working that way. I am just sooo frustrated right now. I really don't want to pay the $550 to fix the Vue, but we still have over $12,000 left to pay on it and I don't think I could even get that much if I sold it private party! The trade-in on it is only about $11,000 which we have no reason to trade it in because we still have Louis' Taurus. I am very disappointed with Saturn. It seems that when something goes wrong it is always something major! Just ask Colette and Nathan!
Anyway, that is my piece. Don't buy an SUV from Saturn!!

Family Updates

Wyatt is now almost 7 months old! How do they grow up soooo fast? He has his first two teeth and he is already wearing 12 month size clothes! He has started to pull himself up on stuff now, so it will only be a matter of time before he is cruising the furniture and then walking. AAAACCCKKKK! I am not ready for that!
Caisha and Zach have auditioned for a couple plays now. Caisha got a role in "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" with one of the local Children's Theatres. It was her first audition ever and she did amazing! I was so proud of her! She was pretty nervous and almost didn't even try, but I convinced her to at least go to the audition and see what it was all about. That way she can't beat herself up later with "Why didn't I just do it?" or "I wish I had done it anyway!" She was offered a non-speaking role as one of Aslan's followers (w/ a chance of a line or two). The other play is a locally written script with our community theatre in Boone. Both Caisha and Zach auditioned. Caisha was much more confident this time and has been offered a speaking part. Zach psyched himself out pretty bad, but still auditioned. He did very well for his first time. He has been offered a non-speaking part. I just found out this morning that they have been offered these roles, so the kids don't know yet. I know Caisha will be thrilled! I am not sure how Zach will feel. He wasn't too sure he wanted to sing and dance, which is what his part would require. He'll have to decide.
Work is REAL slow right now and I keep contemplating going a different route with a career. I am just not sure what it would be. I feel like I am not doing what I absolutely love! I don't know if it is because of the economical slump in the region or if it is because I would rather be home with Wyatt? Or both, I suppose! I've been thinking about being around horses a lot lately and wonder if I shouldn't find a job related to that? I've wanted a horse my entire life and I am starting to feel like I will never have one while I can really enjoy it! I had thought (and hoped) that I would have a horse by now, and I don't see being able to get one any time soon! It is rather depressing. Money is a struggle right now, so I feel a little trapped in my job because without me working we could not make ends meet. But I think the biggest factor in how I am feeling right now is how stressed I am about refinancing our house. It has taken us almost 3 months to get it done....and we still haven't finalized it yet!! I was so excited about being able to paint the house, fix the crawl space, replace our doors with more energy efficient ones and to re-roof the kitchen! Now I am almost ready to just forget it all if it will speed up the refinancing process! Buying a house wasn't stressful for me at all, so I didn't think refinancing would be that big a deal. Now I know that it is a big deal!
Other than the stress factor, we are doing great! Wyatt makes me laugh every day! Caisha and Zach continue to make me proud and Louis is always there to support me. I suppose with all that and God, I will survive and thrive!

Weekly Schedule

Hey Everybody! Now that school has resumed for the last month or so, the kids and I have sort of settled into a weekly routine. Louis still has mixed feelings about all the "running around" that I do each week, but honestly, I don't think it is that much. Especially compared to some of my co-workers and friends! This is a run-down of a typical week at the Johnson household! For the sake of clarity I will start on a Monday.

Ok, Monday morning the kids and I are up around 6:30am. Me....sometimes I am up by 6am if Wyatt decides it's time to rise and shine! I try to be downstairs to eat breakfast by 7am, but that doesn't always happen. There have been many mornings that I don't get breakfast at home. I much prefer the mornings that Wyatt sleeps in. Although, I do miss seeing his smiling face before I leave for work! If Wyatt is awake before the kids and I leave (by 7:20am) then Louis has to wake up. As you know, he works evenings (3pm-11pm), so this is not his favorite time! Caisha has to be to school before 8am which is the start of her first class. So far we have managed to only be late 2 times this year. Zach doesn't have to be in his classroom until 8:15am so most mornings he will choose to eat breakfast at school. Both kids are much better about being organized to head out the door in the morning than they have been in the past. They have also been a big help with Wyatt if he is awake that early. After dropping off the kids, I head to work, many times stopping at the gas station or grocery store on the way. I'm at work by 8:30am. At 2:25p I head out to meet Louis at his work to "exchange" Wyatt as he heads into work. Now the days for that vary depending on when Louis has his days off. Some days, if he is off, I work until 2:45p then pick up the kids, unless it is Friday, in which case, I work until 4p because Zach has soccer practice right after school until 4:30p. Caisha will spend that time with her friend Nancy. If Louis works that day, I meet him to get Wyatt then run errands until I have to pick up the kids at 4:30p. Ok....confused yet? I know, I know, I jumped ahead to Friday! Most weeks, Monday and Wednesday we are home by 3:45p. Tuesdays both Caisha and Zach have soccer practice and Zach has piano lessons. Caisha has soccer at 5p - 6:30p and Zach has piano at 5p -5:30p and then soccer at 5:45p - 7p. Tuesdays are our late day home. Wednesdays are our "free" days. Thursdays Caisha has soccer at 5p-6:30p. I will pick up the kids right after school and head home for about an hour to get something to snack on and a little downtime before we have to head back to Gilbert for Soccer. Zach will usually come with to Gilbert and play at a friends house while Caisha is at practice. Wyatt and I tend to go for walks or just hang out in the car and park. Sometimes I might have and errand or two to run in Ames during that time. Saturday mornings Zach has his soccer games. Then the afternoon and evening are open. Caisha has her soccer games Sunday afternoons. Because her team is one of the better teams in the area her games tend to be near/in Des Moines where the bigger schools are. Louis really doesn't like that I drive her almost an hour to her games! I love to go to her games and I am really starting to enjoy going to Zach's, also. It's fun to see them play and improve each week!
Well, there is our typical week until the end of October......then soccer is done and the only after school activity will be Zach's piano lessons on Tuesdays. Louis will be a little happier then. Neither of the kids have much interest in any of the sports offered in the winter, which is just fine by me. It gives me a couple months of no running around for them until Spring sports start up! Then it's back to busy, busy, busy! I'm enjoying all of it! I'd rather be busy than bored!

Back to work :(

It was back to work for me on July 16th. I cried that morning.......It was sooo hard to leave Wyatt! My boss, Mike, has been great, though. He has allowed me to come back to work 30 hours a week instead of 40 hours. I work 8:30am - 2:30pm. This way Wyatt doesn't have to go to daycare at all! I meet Louis at his work around 2:30p to pick up Wyatt, then go pick up the other kids from school. I am really enjoying these hours. I am able to get the kids to school in the morning & not have to feel rushed to get to work, and then I leave work at about the time I start to feel sleepy. It's amazing how quickly I wake up once I step outside! I'm getting more time with the kids & I have more time to work in my garden now! I know my stress level has gone down, which makes us all happier! You know the saying: "If Mama ain't happy, nobody is happy!" I still don't get as much sleep as I would like. Mostly because of Wyatt, but sometimes, the only time Louis and I can connect is late at night! We are making it work, though. In the long run it is saving us money. If I worked 40 hours/week, Wyatt would have to be in daycare and the other kids would have to go back to Kids Club and I would make around $150 less a year! It just doesn't make sense to me to go back to 40 hours! I really hope things stay pretty slow at work so Mike won't need me to come back full-time. If he requests that I come back 40 hours/week, I will have to tell him it's either a minimum $2/hour raise or I leave. I can't make it make sense otherwise. Another plus at work right now is that Mike has taken on a few residential homes projects. They give me the opportunity to design kitchens again! I'm loving that!

Family Vacation?

June 10th we all headed up to Jack & Lynne's for a month. Louis worked extra hours at his work to be able to take of an entire month of paternity leave. It was a real treat to see him every day! All I had to do was step outside! I even got to work along side him; working on the fencing with Jack. It was a nice change for us. And one that I think we needed! The girls, Caisha and Nala, would watch Wyatt for me so I could go out and help with the fences and general clean-up of the farm. Many times I brought Wyatt out with me. I didn't get much work done, but he was so fascinated with the work Daddy and Grandpa were doing! He watched them VERY closely! It seemed like he wanted to get in on the action!! Zach was a big help as he filled the role of errand boy. He enjoyed running to get supplies, water, etc. Grandpa Jack would "time" him to see how fast he could retrieve the item needed. It really became a game for them and Zach tried real hard to beat his previous time! Caisha and Nala came out and helped quite a few times, too. I think Grandpa Jack really enjoyed having his grandkids working along side him! Nala's favorite new skill was driving the lawn mower with a little wagon hitched behind, to feed the cattle. Her and Caisha made a pretty good team! They literally took over that chore, morning and evening, so Grandma Lynne didn't have to do it. I am sure she enjoyed that little reprieve. Caisha also got to learn how to drive Grandpa Jack's truck! She drove it from the grain shed to the barn. She had a grin from ear to ear! I also got into learning new skills. I became pretty adept at swinging a hammer and driving tractor. I grew up on a farm but never learned how to drive the tractors, so this was a treat for me!

After putting in some long, HOT days, we would all go to Lake Okoboji to swim. We even got Grandpa Jack to go with a few times! Nothing like cowboy boots and swim trunks! :) ! It was so neat to see Jack and Lynne playing in the water like kids! It was an inspiration for marriages. Wyatt had his first experience with the lake. The water was pretty cold the first time we went so he preferred the sand to the water. He enjoyed the water more and more each time we went. He did take a few good naps at the lake. We found that he slept better outside! Wyatt was outside so much that he got a little farmers tan! Louis got REAL dark! We both ended up getting sunburnt on our shoulders & upper back one day. We both even had sunscreen on! There were a few days where it was unbelievably hot!

I hope the kids come away from that month with lots of great memories! Even though we were "working" on the farm most days, I thought it was a great family vacation! Maybe I am the only one who looks at it that way. Most farming is not work to me. It's just something I enjoy!

Neglect

I know I haven't been real good about updating lately! It's been hard to find the time between Wyatt, the kids & school/sports, work and trying to catch up on yard work. When the weather is nice I use all my spare time outside. I hate to sit in front of the computer on a beautiful day, which there have been many! I hope this weekend I will get the chance to catch up. The rest of my week is full. Today (9/25) after work the kids have piano lessons and soccer practice until 7pm. Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment to fill a cavity, Thursday Caisha has soccer until 6:30p and our basement contractor is stopping by after 7pm. Friday Zach has soccer until 4:30p so I will have a little free time, but it is suppose to be real nice weather so I will be planting all my spring bulbs! That leaves Saturday where the only thing going on is Zach's soccer game at 10am. Of course, Scott and Karen may be coming for a visit this weekend, so I may not get it done anyway! I have so many pictures to add and events that have happened to talk about since June! I'll try to keep you posted, but it may take a few days.

Wyatt's Baptism June 24, 2007

Family Photo

Grandpa & Grandma Diers, Mom, Dad, & Wyatt, Grandpa & Grandma Johnson, Great Grandpa & Grandma Leininger

Wyatt's Sponsors are Nick Grossman (L) and Brooks Borrell (R)

All the kids and Sponsors

Nick, Mom, Dad, Brooks

Caisha, Wyatt, Nala, Zach



Pastor Solmonson and Pastor Dahle

Wyatt 2 1/2 months

Wyatt was completely fascinated with Grandma J's phone!

Baby Pictures

IT'S A BOY!!

He has arrived! His name is Wyatt Jack Johnson and he weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 1/2" long. Labor and delivery was VERY quick! It was all done in an hour and a half! Louis had come home from work and woke me up around 1 am on Friday the 13th and we were talking for a bit when I shifted my weight and we both heard this 'pop' sound. I thought Wyatt had punched me because I felt it in my lower abnomen. But soon after contractions started and the bed was getting pretty wet, so we got the kids up and dressed and dropped Zach off with Great Grandma and Grandpa (Caisha witnessedWyatt's birth first hand!) and sped to the hospital in Ames. Louis had called ahead to let the hospital know we were coming and also called the dispatch center where he works to let them know what route we were taking in case the police saw us speeding through town. We hit almost every red light, but only slowed down. My contractions were less than a minute apart at this point. We got to the hospital around 2:30am where they wheeled me up to my room and at that point I started pushing. Of course, the nurse kept telling me not to push since she hadn't checked me yet to see how dilated I was. Once I got onto the bed she checked and I was at 7cm, so, of course, they told me not to push! I told them "I"m not pushing; my body is!" Three more pushes and Wyatt's head was out. That was a short relief for me, and then the Dr. said I needed to push one more time and Wyatt was welcomed into this world at 3:03am! I will fill you in on more baby news another time as I am off once again!

Pregnancy Dr. Appointment Update

I just wanted to update everybody on how things are going with the pregnancy. I had a Dr. appointment today. I am 3cm dilated and about 85% effaced, so I don't think the baby will be here on my due date which is tomorrow (Friday the 13th!) but it is possible that there might be a baby by Monday! The weather is suppose to warm up by this weekend, so I will get the opportunity to get out and get moving! Yeah!! The kids have soccer games Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon, so I will be driving back and forth for those this weekend.
As a side note, as of right now, we are thinking of having the baptism on June 3rd, so if you are immediate family, please keep that date in mind! We would love to have everybody attend!
As always, I will keep you posted on the newest developments as they happen!

Dr. Appt.

Well, I don't have much to report. Not much has changed. I am still about 80% effaced but now about 2 cm dilated. I also lost 1 pound. I suppose if the baby decides to wait until after my due date of the 13th, it won't be so bad if I start losing a pound a week instead of gaining a pound a week! I still have my fingers crossed that there will be a baby before the 13th. I'll keep you posted!

Dr. Appt. update

Well, I really don't have much new news. I am still 1 1/2 cm dilated but am now about 80% effaced, so when the baby does finally decide to make an entrance it should all go fairly quickly. I only gained 1 pound over the past week, so that brings me to a total of 32 lbs, I believe. Dr. Lines doesn't see anything happening before Easter, but as with every pregnancy, things can change quickly! I will keep you all posted!

Quick Pregnancy Update

No, the baby has not arrived yet! But I will be surprised if I make it through the week. I know my due date it April 13th but I REALLY doubt that I will make it to that long! The baby just keeps dropping lower and has now reduced me to "waddling". I try not to, but my hips and legs just don't move the way I would like anymore! I'm trying to take it easy to see if I can at least last until the first week in April, but I really need the hours this week at work, so I will be attempting to get in 40 hours.
This past weekend we did finally get the library set up nicely. We moved the queen size bed that was in the babies room downstairs into the library, so it is now a real nice guest room, so when people come to visit (hint, hint) they will almost have their own little Suite to stay in since there are pocket doors leading into the piano room that can be opened to enlarge the room. We still need to find a door that goes on the opening into the library from the kitchen hallway. Hopefully it is one of the 5 doors in the garage. Louis was also able to rearrange our room to allow for the babies bassinet. The arrangement turned out very nicely. I even ( finally) planted the iris' that mom had given me last fall. They survived living in a bucket, in the house all winter! Caisha and I also finished up scraping paint off and cleaning all the hinges and doorknobs for the built-in cabinets in the baby room. All that's left is to hang the doors back up. I still have a long list of things I would like done before the baby arrives, but fear that there is just not going to be enough time! Most of it is cleaning type stuff.... sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, dusting, etc. The kids have been a big help with a lot of that.
Wish me luck and pray that I make it through the week!!
As a side note....I won't be posting as often for awhile, since we do not have a computer at home. I will be going to the library occasionally to check email, etc.

Baby will be here soon!

I had a Dr.'s appointment today. So far I have gained a total of 31 pounds, which my Dr. is very pleased with. At this time I am about 1 1/2 cm dialated and about 70% effaced. Dr. Lines says nothing will happen within the next week, but it is very possible after that. We will have a better idea after my appointment on the 28th. I am hoping the baby will be born the first week in April (not April Fool's Day!) Dr. Lines says that once I do go into labor she fully expects me to go fairly quickly as everything is very soft and it shouldn't take much to dialate all the way. I liked to hear that! Today I am feeling pretty good. I slept pretty well last night after Louis snuggled with me for awhile. Monday night I didn't sleep much at all. My whole body ached! Both Monday and Tuesday were hard days for me. I am pretty sure it was because the baby was dropping further into position. I think it was hitting some nerves into my legs and putting a lot of pressure on my pelvis area. I woke up this morning and was actually able to lay on my back for a little while! It felt great to be able to stretch that way!! I am getting very excited for the arrival, but I am content to wait until the first week of April. Hopefully it won't be too much later than that if it doesn't happen then.

Updates

Well, we survived the 2 weekends in a row of ice and snow! The first weekend we got about 3/4" of ice and then it snowed about 10" on top of that! Louis had to prop up some of the branches on the pine trees to keep them from potentially snapping our power line into the house! The 2nd storm actually happened on a Thurs. & Fri. We got more ice and then another 8"-10" of snow again! We hadn't even dug ourselves out from the weekend before. Needless to say, I did not venture to work those two days. The first attempt at getting out was on that Sunday and then I still wasn't able to get out! Both Louis and I managed to get the Vue stuck in the driveway! Louis did go to work since the dispatch center really needed him there to answer 911 calls, but he had the police driving him back and forth between Ames and Boone. The kids (& the dog) had a great time with all the huge snow piles in the school parking lot! We were lucky in that we never lost power, but I know a lot of houses were not so lucky. We also only had 2 branches on our lilac bush break off, while lots of people around town were losing entire trees! It was a mess for quite awhile. The last couple days we have had 60-70 degree weather, so all but the biggest piles of snow are gone. Now we just have mud everywhere!! I am hoping since we are already half way through March, that we are done with the snow storms for this season! The pictures above are of the lilac bush and it is usually standing pretty upright! There was a lot of weight on those branches.

In other news, my pregnancy is progressing quickly! The baby dropped this past weekend, so I have been pretty uncomfortable the last couple days. It's the worst at work, since I don't have anywhere to lay down to relieve some of the weight on my hips and back. I've been experiencing Braxton hicks for about a month now which adds to my discomfort. I've been trying to tackle unpacking all the boxes we still have in the library and piano room but it is pretty slow going since my movements are pretty awkward. I did get all our books organized and put on shelves along with sorting through all our video tapes and DVD's and getting those organized. My stash of "garage sale" items is getting quite large. The kids are very excited about having a garage sale this spring and hopefully we will get it done this year! Both kids, especially Caisha, are always looking for ways to earn a little money, so they have been pretty good about going through their toys and weeding out the ones they really don't want anymore. Louis and I are planning that I will take 3 months off work (as long as money holds out), and in June, Louis will take a month off and spend it up at his parents (Jack & Lynne) along with me and the kids. I will probably be making a few trips back to Boone just to check on the cats (neighbors will be caring for them). Bronx (the dog) will be with us up at the farm. I don't think he is going to want to come back after an entire month there! Sometime in April, after the baby is born, I hope to get my garden started and planted. So far I have sweet corn, beans and carrots planned along with some flowers to plant around the dog run. Some day I hope to put in a sand box for the kids where the (very sad) pine trees are. Hopefully we can get someone to come out and cut the trees down for us. Louis has gotten a good start on clearing the branches off, so it will just be a matter of cutting them down without taking down the power lines that run through them! If anyone has the inclination to do a little manual labor (I don't have a tiller) I could sure use the help breaking up the ground in my backyard for the garden! Over the years I plan to expand the garden and flower beds to take up most of the backyard, that way we don't have to mow very much lawn! The biggest chore to tackle will be digging up the bushes in front of the house and transfering them to the back yard. I am hoping Louis will get the carriage house completely tore down this spring, too. Any help on that would be greatly appreciated, also! I would love to have visitors after the baby is born. If you are going to be in the area or just need a short vacation you are here-by invited to stay at the "Johnson Manor"!

Professional Pregnancy Pictures

When I was 28 weeks, Louis and I took a trip up to Minneapolis and had some pictures taken with a great photographer, Paula Preston. I met her through my pageant endevours. She is sooo much fun to work with! Here are a few of the pics.

Plumbing Experience

A couple weeks back, I decided to fix the leak in our kitchen faucet. After testing the existing parts as being the culprit for the leak, we found that they were not the problem. The hot water side was the side that dripped, so we had to always keep the water turned off under the sink. It was a pain every time I wanted to run the dishwasher because I had to reach under the sink and turn the hot water valve on, which is getting more and more uncomfortable as my pregnancy progresses. I finally decided that I would just replace the whole faucet. I thought, "How hard can it be?" ! It wasn't hard to do, but when you get the wrong parts, then misplace a part, then buy that part, then find the original part....it got to be a little frustrating! Not to mention trying to fit under the sink, inside the cabinet, to unhook pipes and then re-attach them, without a good angle to get at them!.....The story is this. I purchased the new faucet and finally wrestled the old one out to find that the whole faucet was made of plastic, including the part you attach the water pipe to. That would explain why it was leaking. It was a piece of crap! Anyway, I got the new one put in place without too many difficulties, had everything hooked up and turned on the water. No more dripping!! I was so happy.......until I looked underneath and saw water leaking out of the connection(compression) joint! As you will find out if you do some reading, compression joints are a one time deal! If they fail, you have to replace them, so I ran the 15 miles to Lowe's to get a replacement compression joint. If I had been smart, I would have brought the "failed" part with me. I didn't. I ended up with the wrong part. So the next time I went in to Lowe's I took the compression joint, the adapter that it was attached to and the copper water pipe. I figured that way I could not lose it! It was about 18" long. WRONG! I get home with my new parts, which now consist of flexible hose instead of the copper pipe, which eliminates the compression joint dilemna. But the part that I really needed to keep track of was the adapter piece that everything connected to, and I managed to misplace it! I looked in the car, on the ground, in the house and even had the store look for it! To no avail. So I drove the 15 miles to Lowe's (because I was determined to finish this!) and picked up a new adapter piece. Of course, that is when I find the original piece! So back to the store to return the new part. It was a long and drawn out process that, in the end, with all the right parts, only took me 20 minutes to complete! I really like the new flexible hose instead of the copper pipe and thought maybe I would replace the cold water side, but decided that I am not going to fix something that isn't broken! Not after my experience! I will be staying away from any plumbing renovations for a while!

Dog Run Update

This is the original height that Louis built the Dog run. Bronx just sailed right over without any effort.

This is what the Carriage House looks like now. Hopefully Louis (& friends) can get it all down this Spring. I would like to start preparing the ground for a future garden and transfer the bushes in front of the house to the back yard as a barrier between us and the school parking lot.

The Dog Run is finally complete!! Louis had to keep building it higher to keep Bronx in. All the materials used to build the dog run are from the carriage house you see in the top photo. I plan to plant flowers that like to climb to cover most of the walls. If you know of any plants that would be good for this, and aren't totally invasive, let me know! It will be interesting to see how it all looks in a couple years! The first photo is the start of the shelter within the Run for Bronx to keep warm in this winter. (If/when it turns cold!) It will be raised off the ground and "insulated" with sheetrock, carpet and blankets...If Bronx would ever leave the blankets alone!

Long Awaited Pregnancy Photos!

I finally got around to having some pics taken. Caisha did the honors one morning when I had an audition in Des Moines. (Which I got!)I am about 24 weeks along.