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| hanging out on the couch |
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| staring contest with daddy |
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| tummy time (Kaitlin thanks for the blanket) |
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| I will eat my fist |
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| wide awake |
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| Number One daddy |
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
2 and 3 weeks
Our sweet little boy is three weeks old which is crazy. Last week we went two the doctor and he was up to 9 pounds 6 ounces and 21.5 inches long. This week we started tummy time and he "loves" exploring the world from his stomach. Here are recent pictures of the last few weeks.
Since our blog has been covered by one topic the past few weeks I wanted to add a little bit outside of Ethan. The last few weeks have been a tough adjustment with everything new but I would say this has been a super sweet time in our marriage. From the moment I woke Chris up on July 12th at 4:30 to go to the hospital, he has been awesome ( not that he wasn't before). He embraced being a father fully and also has been a doting husband. He didn't sleep in the hospital or the last three weeks yet sends me to bed when Ethan is screaming and just wants to be held. He hugs me and assures me when I am loosing it and don't know if being mommy is all I though it would be. He has sacrificed to give us so much. Chris, I have fallen more in love with you everyday and I know the days are hard but the fact of having you by my side makes it easier. You are a reflection of Christ and I am grateful for the man of God you are. I love you honey!
Monday, August 5, 2013
The Tica Tias visit
This past weekend two of my best friends from Costa Rica came to visit. I have known Carol and Emily for about 18 years as we calculated this weekend which makes them my longest and dearest friends. These girls know me inside and out and have been through the good, the bad and the ugly and what's best is we survived all of this and love each other and can laugh about most of our crazy teenage years.
A couple months ago Carol asked if they could come meet Ethan in August so on Friday afternoon after hours of waiting they arrived. We had an awesome time. We talked and talked and talked some more, we laughed and they held Ethan and loved on him like true aunts and went on a walks. We went to Chick-fil-A to give Carol the full experience since they don't have it in Washington. It was sweet to have them here and we were all sad to see them leave.
More pictures to come from Carol.
A couple months ago Carol asked if they could come meet Ethan in August so on Friday afternoon after hours of waiting they arrived. We had an awesome time. We talked and talked and talked some more, we laughed and they held Ethan and loved on him like true aunts and went on a walks. We went to Chick-fil-A to give Carol the full experience since they don't have it in Washington. It was sweet to have them here and we were all sad to see them leave.
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| waiting patiently for them to arrive |
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| Carol, Emily and Ethan |
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| tia Mle |
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| tia Carol |
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| Carol, Ethan and mommy |
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| saying hasta luego is no fun |
More pictures to come from Carol.
My prayer, my fear
A couple mornings ago I read my devotion from Proverbs 31 ministries. It was very fitting as it was about letting go of our fears to God for our children and answering the question will you give me your son? It seems so easy to say with my mouth yes Lord here take my son but so hard to do with my heart and truly trust God. This didn't start today either. During pregnancy it was the fear of getting to the second trimester, I am spotting is everything ok, I fell down did I hurt him, we can't see facial features does he have downs, I don't feel him kicking is he ok, will I make it past the risky time or deliver preterm (haha funny after going past my due date), will I ever have this baby, will we survive labor and delivery, can I really get this baby out, etc, etc, etc. You get the picture I can come up with fears for every step of the way and that was before he was born. Now there are different fears, is he gaining weight (yes in two weeks over a pound), is my milk supply ok, what if I drop him or mess up as a parent, is he thinking he didn't sign up for the inexperienced parents he got, will we raise him in The Lord, etc, etc, etc. As I have focused on this devotional throughout the week, I've realized that I can fixate on these fears or I can wake up each morning and pray to turn him over to God. This has to be a daily decision right now to trust that He already knows the plans he has for Ethan. This is my prayer as we start this adventure:
Lord, take our child and use him. Help us to focus on you and trust you in everything. Calm these fears with your truths and guide us in the process. Lord, we pray that he know you at a young age and live his life for you. We pray that he impact the world for You and your kingdom. Amen.
Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
For I know the plans I have for you, "declares The Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Lord, take our child and use him. Help us to focus on you and trust you in everything. Calm these fears with your truths and guide us in the process. Lord, we pray that he know you at a young age and live his life for you. We pray that he impact the world for You and your kingdom. Amen.
Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
For I know the plans I have for you, "declares The Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Monday, July 29, 2013
Visitors
We have been very blessed to have so many friends and family over to see us. I've tried to get better at documenting. A couple highlights were grandma and grandpa Johnson and Ben and Rebecca meeting Ethan in the hospital. This is the first grandchild so they are excited. We have enjoyed having them over several times and the time they've spent with Ethan.
Tito, Tita, Peter, Betsy, Sam, Marina and Liza all came for a visit. It was sweet to watch my brother hold his first nephew on our side. I've enjoyed being a part of their kid's lives and hoping that Ethan enjoys his cousins and aunt and uncle. We are all excited that he and Liza are two months apart and can be buddies. Ethan will probably also enjoy tagging along with Sam.
Pictures of some of our other visitors below. I am trying to be better at taking pictures.
My best friend Amanda made Ethan this onesie before he was born in hopes that he'd come around or before 4th of July. He didn't quite get to wear it then but he did look pretty cute in it.
The night we got home our friends and mentors, Jason and Jennifer came over. We are excited for there new baby Paige and are thankful for all their support and encouragement.
Tito, Tita, Peter, Betsy, Sam, Marina and Liza all came for a visit. It was sweet to watch my brother hold his first nephew on our side. I've enjoyed being a part of their kid's lives and hoping that Ethan enjoys his cousins and aunt and uncle. We are all excited that he and Liza are two months apart and can be buddies. Ethan will probably also enjoy tagging along with Sam.
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| with tito |
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| with tita |
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| Peter, Betsy and four kids |
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| Cousin Marina holding Ethan |
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| The two youngest: Liza and Ethan |
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| All four kids |
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| tito and tita with the four grandkids |
Pictures of some of our other visitors below. I am trying to be better at taking pictures.
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| Marella with Ethan |
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| Suzie, one of my coworkers with Ethan |
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| JP and Kaitlin and soon baby Beth |
First two weeks home
Our first two weeks have gone really well. Tito and Tita from Costa Rica via Virginia arrived Monday afternoon to help us out. They were amazing and cooked, cleaned, grocery shopped, reminded us to sleep and took pictures and held Ethan whenever they could. They enjoyed meeting Ethan in his first week. For the other three grandchildren they have been 6 weeks old or more so this was a treat for them.
Peter, Betsy, Sam, Marina and baby Liza came down on Thursday to pick Tito and Tita up and to meet and introduce Liza and Ethan. We enjoyed seeing them and meeting Liza. They all left Friday and we were sad to see them leave.
We are now enjoying the second half of Chris's time off. He is off until Thursday...yay! We are super excited for this time as a family of three to bond.
Peter, Betsy, Sam, Marina and baby Liza came down on Thursday to pick Tito and Tita up and to meet and introduce Liza and Ethan. We enjoyed seeing them and meeting Liza. They all left Friday and we were sad to see them leave.
We are now enjoying the second half of Chris's time off. He is off until Thursday...yay! We are super excited for this time as a family of three to bond.
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| bath time at home. all hands on deck |
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| he gets out of all swaddles |
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| with uncle Peter |
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| Handsome like daddy. |
The first days...the hospital
Ethan is over two weeks old now. We have spent the last two weeks on an intense crash course of parenting, baby and everything that is Ethan. For the most part he is a content baby and he knows what he wants when he wants it and will let you know about two seconds before he expects it.
We spent his first two days in the hospital which was wonderful. We loved our experience and had great care throughout. The first night was tough with nurses coming in every couple hours to check or poke one or both of us. We would finally fall asleep and we would hear the door open. Chris and I survived somehow and tried to make the best of the situation. Throughout the night every time they would do something to Ethan they would tell me to feed him to help him calm down. So there we were attempting to feed our newborn and we were three inexperienced exhausted people. God is good and we survived. The second day was easier but exhaustion was a huge factor and thankfully we were able to get some sleep later in the day courtesy of the nursery staff.
We had visits in the hospital from grandma and grandpa Johnson and Ben and Rebecca. They all enjoyed meeting and being fascinated by our newest family member. He is longer and bigger than most Johnson or Rice babies at birth so the family decided we should contact Roy Williams early on to talk basketball and scholarships. :)
We went home on Sunday to try to figure out how to survive without nurses at every call.
We spent his first two days in the hospital which was wonderful. We loved our experience and had great care throughout. The first night was tough with nurses coming in every couple hours to check or poke one or both of us. We would finally fall asleep and we would hear the door open. Chris and I survived somehow and tried to make the best of the situation. Throughout the night every time they would do something to Ethan they would tell me to feed him to help him calm down. So there we were attempting to feed our newborn and we were three inexperienced exhausted people. God is good and we survived. The second day was easier but exhaustion was a huge factor and thankfully we were able to get some sleep later in the day courtesy of the nursery staff.
We had visits in the hospital from grandma and grandpa Johnson and Ben and Rebecca. They all enjoyed meeting and being fascinated by our newest family member. He is longer and bigger than most Johnson or Rice babies at birth so the family decided we should contact Roy Williams early on to talk basketball and scholarships. :)
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| First picture in the hospital |
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| First bath. He enjoys getting his hair washed |
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| Mommy and Ethan |
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| With Grandma and Grandpa Johnson |
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| With Daddy, grandma and grandpa and Ben |
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| The Johnson Men |
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| With Daddy. |
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| Getting ready to go home |
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| Happy in the car seat for a minute before screaming the whole way home. |
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Ethan William Johnson
Ethan William Johnson was born on Friday July 12th at 10:07 am. He weighed 8 pounds 3 oz and 20 inches long.
We had quite the week leading up to Friday and an even more exciting labor and delivery. After our due date coming and going we decided it was important for mental sanity for me to keep working a couple hours every day last week. On Thursday I went to work and left after half a day. After work I came home and then went for a walk with Jessica for an hour. We ended up speed walking at the end of the walk to keep her baby awake. I headed home and we ate dinner and went for another walk. We talked with my parents and watched a couple episodes of Everyone Loves Raymond. Nothing really was happening other than the usual random contractions so we went to bed. About an hour later with sleep not happening and more contractions I got up and moved into the living room hoping that Chris would sleep and I could figure out if this is the real deal or another agonizing bout of Braxton Hicks. At about 2:30 am I decided this was real and set my out of office for work to maternity leave and emailed some coworkers to let them know I would not be back on Friday.
Being slightly stubborn, I still didn't want to wake Chris up because one of us needed to sleep. Finally at 4:30 with contractions 5 minutes apart, I wanted a hot shower and woke Chris up. I told him I thought I was in labor (no duh) and wanted a hot shower. He was going to sleep longer and then get up when I got out. For about 15 minutes in the shower I had contractions 3 minutes apart. When I got out Chris suggested calling the midwife so I did and she suggested coming into the hospital to see where we were but to take our time. We got to the hospital about 6 and the receptionist asked if I was there for an induction and then saw me double over with a contractions and decided I was in labor. After what seemed like an eternity they got us into triage. Much to our surprise they told us that we were 9 centimeters and 100% effaced. We were heading straight to labor and delivery and not going to the car to get our stuff. Baby was coming and fast.
After 3 and a half hours at the hospital and 2 hours of pushing Ethan was born. The 3 hours were quite eventful and involved lots of painful contractions. I screamed repeatedly and told Chris and anyone that would listen that we were never doing this again and to get the baby out now and I didn't care how. I told him I hate this and squeezed his hand almost off. Thankfully anything said in that room can't be held against you later on. We enjoyed marveling over our sweet boy and called our parents. Chris told both sets of grandparents that we probably should have gone to the hospital earlier but oh well.
We are now home enjoying all the new adventures with a newborn including lots of interrupted sleep. We are also enjoying having tito and tita from Costa Rica for a couple days. Below are some pictures. also visit http://www.mom365.com/newbornportraits/babydetail.aspx?birthid=5b4151cc-06d9-4df3-85f3-4bf18972d8b7&utm_source=wnshare&utm_medium=email&utm_content=wnshare_mom_babylink&utm_campaign=wnshare_buttonand use password ethanwilliam to view the pictures.
We had quite the week leading up to Friday and an even more exciting labor and delivery. After our due date coming and going we decided it was important for mental sanity for me to keep working a couple hours every day last week. On Thursday I went to work and left after half a day. After work I came home and then went for a walk with Jessica for an hour. We ended up speed walking at the end of the walk to keep her baby awake. I headed home and we ate dinner and went for another walk. We talked with my parents and watched a couple episodes of Everyone Loves Raymond. Nothing really was happening other than the usual random contractions so we went to bed. About an hour later with sleep not happening and more contractions I got up and moved into the living room hoping that Chris would sleep and I could figure out if this is the real deal or another agonizing bout of Braxton Hicks. At about 2:30 am I decided this was real and set my out of office for work to maternity leave and emailed some coworkers to let them know I would not be back on Friday.
Being slightly stubborn, I still didn't want to wake Chris up because one of us needed to sleep. Finally at 4:30 with contractions 5 minutes apart, I wanted a hot shower and woke Chris up. I told him I thought I was in labor (no duh) and wanted a hot shower. He was going to sleep longer and then get up when I got out. For about 15 minutes in the shower I had contractions 3 minutes apart. When I got out Chris suggested calling the midwife so I did and she suggested coming into the hospital to see where we were but to take our time. We got to the hospital about 6 and the receptionist asked if I was there for an induction and then saw me double over with a contractions and decided I was in labor. After what seemed like an eternity they got us into triage. Much to our surprise they told us that we were 9 centimeters and 100% effaced. We were heading straight to labor and delivery and not going to the car to get our stuff. Baby was coming and fast.
After 3 and a half hours at the hospital and 2 hours of pushing Ethan was born. The 3 hours were quite eventful and involved lots of painful contractions. I screamed repeatedly and told Chris and anyone that would listen that we were never doing this again and to get the baby out now and I didn't care how. I told him I hate this and squeezed his hand almost off. Thankfully anything said in that room can't be held against you later on. We enjoyed marveling over our sweet boy and called our parents. Chris told both sets of grandparents that we probably should have gone to the hospital earlier but oh well.
We are now home enjoying all the new adventures with a newborn including lots of interrupted sleep. We are also enjoying having tito and tita from Costa Rica for a couple days. Below are some pictures. also visit http://www.mom365.com/newbornportraits/babydetail.aspx?birthid=5b4151cc-06d9-4df3-85f3-4bf18972d8b7&utm_source=wnshare&utm_medium=email&utm_content=wnshare_mom_babylink&utm_campaign=wnshare_buttonand use password ethanwilliam to view the pictures.
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