Happy New Year

Well, after a looooong break, I’m blogging!  Happy New Year everyone!

We’ve had an eventful 12 days.  I was off work from 1pm December 21 to today.  I cannot explain to you how wonderful and much needed that break was.  I was burnt out, and I really wanted some time to rest, relax and unwind.  I’ve got about 5 months of nonstop work without a day off coming up and I really wanted to enjoy this last Christmas with Cooper before his brother or sister comes.

Speaking of brother or sister….. My anatomy scan is scheduled for January 14 so we are hoping to find out the baby’s gender that day.  Yippee!  Only 12 days away.  Back to our break….

We got to visit lots of family, the weekend before Christmas we visited Tim’s family in Ohio….

All of the cousins

The Johnson Siblings

Then, on Christmas day, we open presents at our house, then we visited with my dad at his house, then my mom at her house.  My brother and his family visit with us at dad’s then mom’s also.

Christmas morning at our house

At Dad’s house Christmas day

At Mom’s house Christmas evening

Our Christmas was wonderful, we are truly blessed.  Time with family was the most precious, and Santa went above and beyond, as usual.

After Christmas, we spent the rest of the week hanging out around the house.  We had about 7-8” of snow on Christmas night, so Tim and Andrew spent the majority of the day after Christmas snow blowing the driveways of our neighbors and our house.  Cooper and I spent the day inside enjoying new toys and watching too much television.

We finally left our house on Friday, only because Tim and I both had dentist appointments.  We were home by 1 and Cooper and I did our normal daily nap from 1-3.  Boy am I going to miss those naps.  Saturday and Sunday we spent at home, not leaving for anything. 

On Monday, New Year’s Eve, Tim went to work for 1/2 day, and while he was gone, Cooper and I cleaned some and ran some errands.  Then Tim picked up Kampbell and we spent the rest of the day hanging out with the Coop and the Soup.  That night, we had some friends/family over.  Erica and Mel, Andrew’s friend Garrett and girlfriend Hannah, and Stephanie and Ryan of course.  We played a euchre tournament and had lots of good food.  We also let Cooper stay up until after midnight, it was almost 1am before I put him to bed.  It was the first time he has stayed up that late and he did great.

Yesterday was spent catching up on sleep, laundry, cooking breakfast for all of the overnight guests and getting the house back in order. 

All in all, it was a wonderful break.  I’m so glad I was able to start the New Year fresh and relaxed!  I’m glad to be back in the blogging world too!!  I’ve been reading blogs so I hope to get back into the groove of writing! 

Happy Wednesday ladies and Tim :)

Holiday Vlog Linkup

 

I'm linking up today with Sarah for her holiday link-up.  I decided to vlog my answers since I haven't done a vlog since the Turkey Trot. 

Here goes nothing....

I used my webcam on my laptop it doesn't seem to be as good as the camera on the iPhone, but I wanted to give her a try.

I cannot wait to read/watch your vlogs about Christmas! :)  

Have a Happy Thursday everyone!!

Baby Johnson: 14 Weeks

Well, nothing majorly notable happened this week, but I did take the first bump picture!  This was a self taken picture because Tim has bible study on Friday mornings, so I'm hoping that we'll figure some way to do these pictures before he leaves.  Hence this picture not being exactly "quality."

This week’s happenings:

• My insulin requirements have not changed.  I have been able to lower the amount that I take at night.  I have been able to sleep this week, it's been WONDERFUL! :)
• I have been staying up past 8:30 this week!  I feel like I've had a bit of energy this week - I've been able to get a few things done during the weeknights.
• I cooked!  I haven't been cooking much in the last several weeks, but this week, I did it!  I got my butt back into the kitchen.  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn, comfort food and delicious.
• My belly has really started to stick out.  This has just happened in the last couple of weeks.  It's craziness.  I asked the doctor yesterday about it and she said it was perfectly normal for the bump to stick out faster with the second child.  I haven't gained any weight yet, and looking at me, you'd think I'd have gained about 20 lbs.
• Baby's heartbeat was in the 150s and 160s when I got to hear it yesterday.  Made my day, make that my week to hear that heartbeat!

I should be scheduled in 4 weeks to have the anatomy scan and to find out the baby's gender.  I cannot wait!  Sometime during the week of January 7-11 hopefully! :)  So quick!  Yay!

So, I did a comparison collage of my pregnancy with Cooper and the pregnancy now.  Both are first bump pictures, however, one is at 22 weeks with Coop and 14 weeks with the little pumpkin.

So, I'm pretty sure that I'm just as big now as I was at 22 weeks with Cooper.  I'm really not sure what to think about this, since the doctor says it's normal, I'll just go with it!  I cannot wait to see how this progresses and how big I'll be at 22 weeks to do comparisons!

That's it folks.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend, ours will be super busy, but we'll be home, and that's exciting.  I need that.  A weekend at home before the crazy Christmas celebrations begin! :)

Christmas Tunes

This is my favorite time of the year, no question about it.  I love Christmas music, and I love that I can turn on the radio and listen to it on a Christmas music station.  I also have a playlist on my iPhone of Christmas music and I listen to that at work, and also in the car when I am out of an area that has a Christmas music station or when I don’t want to listen to commercials.

Some of my family (Steph/Tim) and friends (Erica) don’t particularly care all that much for Christmas music, but when they are in the car with me driving, it’s just too bad.  I’ve even gotten Cooper on the Christmas music bandwagon (although I’ll admit, he’s obsessed with about 3 songs and wants to hear them over and over again).

So, I thought today, I’d share some of my most favorite Christmas songs with you.  I would love to hear yours as well, so please comment and share your favorites with me, I love adding to my playlist each year!

In no particular order……

The 12 Days of Christmas by Straight No Chaser – this is a classic that this male a cappella group has added to and changed and made wonderful (at least in my mind).

O Holy Night – Straight No Chaser/Home Alone Soundtrack/Celine Dion/Norman Rockwell: Christmas Memories

Little Saint Nick – The Beach Boys/Straight No Chaser

Silent Night – Straight No Chaser/Norman Rockwell: Christmas Memories 

Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Bruce Springsteen

All I Want for Christmas is You (not the Mariah Carey song, completely different) – Vince Vance and The Valiants

White Christmas – Home Alone Soundtrack

Please Come Home for Christmas – Home Alone Soundtrack

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee

Happy Holiday – A Swinging Christmas – 1940’s Style

Jolly Old St. Nicholas –  A Swinging Christmas – 1940’s Style

Up on the Housetop -  A Swinging Christmas – 1940’s Style

A Holly Jolly Christmas – Burl Ives

Here Comes Santa Claus – Gene Autry

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Gene Autry/Burl Ives

All I Want for Christmas is You (different song than above) – Mariah Carey

Sleigh Ride – Ella Fitzgerald

Frosty the Snowman – Gene Autry

Merry Christmas Baby – Bruce Springsteen

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Andy Williams

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Carrie Underwood

White Christmas - Bing Crosby 

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Frank Sinatra

Home for the Holidays – The Carpenter’s

I’m sure I’m missing some,  but that’s a majority of my playlist right now.   I would love to hear yours as well, so please comment and share your favorites with me, I love adding to my playlist each year!