The Johnson's Journey

Meet The Jetson!

2011-06-30T20:23:00.004-05:00

In honor of of him turning 4 weeks today, I decided I should catch up my blog and post about his birth (you know, to make it official and all...)

My mom flew in to help May 30th, (Memorial Day). That is also the day I had my last prenatal check-up and talked to the dr about being induced. Betsy was 2 days late. I went into the hospital with regular contractions, but other than that my body was not making any progress into labor. If I hadn't been past my due date, they would have stopped the contractions and sent me home. I was pretty miserable the last month of Jetson's pregnancy and was SO READY to be done. So I talked to the dr about the possibilities of being induced. He said he'll induce after 39 weeks. So Memorial Day I was 38 weeks and 5 days. He said to come in Wednesday to be induced, but I asked to make it Thursday so Eric could just take off Thursday and Friday and be with us for 4 days straight.

So Thursday, June 2 we went into the hospital at 6am to be induced. There were several things about this hospital that I wasn't crazy about, but one good thing is you can have the epidural WHENEVER you want... pretty much as soon as you walk through the door if you want. So they started the pitocin drip to start the contractions and asked if I wanted the epidural, but I said I was fine. With Betsy before the epidural they put me on Stadall (sp?) for the pain and it made me really out of it. Apparently with Jet I wasn't on any pain meds until the epidural. At 8:45am the dr came in to break my water and by asking I found out that is usually when the pain kicks into overdrive. Up to that point I wasn't in any real pain, mostly discomfort. So when he broke my water I went ahead and requested the epidural to try and beat the pain to the punch. Totally worked! After the epidural, during the contractions Jetson's heart rate was dropping so they came in and made me lay on my side and switch sides occasionally to reduce the effects on him. At 1:05pm I was dilated to 5cm and 90% effaced. Shortly thereafter, I started feeling pressure and they told me when they did the epidural if at any point I could feel anything let them know and they would up my dosage. So I buzzed the nurses and told them I was feeling pressure. 40 minutes later no one had come and the pressure was getting pretty strong, so Eric buzzed again. 10 minutes later at 2:50pm they finally came in to check me and were like, "O wow, you're ready!!" Me: Gee, you don't think maybe that could have been the case for the past 40 minutes! So they went to get the dr and at 3:09pm Jetson made his grand entrance into the world weighing 7lbs 12.8oz and 19 1/2" long.

When they discharged us from the hospital he had slightly elevated bilirubin levels, so they told us to stick him in sunlight as much as possible and to bring him back in to have them rechecked at 4 days. When we took him in for his check up at 5 days his levels had risen some, so they sent me to have them checked again. The next day they got the results and they were still rising so on June 7 they readmitted him to the hospital to be under a bili-light to treat the jaundice. We were in the hospital for 36 hours before his levels were back down and we finally got to go home and begin a normal life. At his 2 week check up he weighed 8lbs 8oz and was 20in long. My mom stayed with us until June 18th and was heaven sent. She was the biggest help with Betsy, she helped Eric and I with projects around the house and she took Jetson for the night feedings and let me sleep! I was extremely sad to see her go!

Adjusting to 2 kids has definitely been a challenge. Betsy has been great as far as being a big sister. She absolutely adores Jetson. If anyone refers to him as "their baby" she quickly pipes up with, "No, that MY baby!" We're working on the gentleness factor. She loves to kiss him, hug him, and just touch him in general, but isn't always the softest. She is really helpful and will get anything I need for "baby Jetson".

I'm goin' home...

2011-06-30T17:07:00.006-05:00

ok, so I already went, but I'm trying to catch the blog up...

Again back in March, my sister-in-law Johanna and I loaded up the kids and drove the 16 hours sans husbands back to Mississippi to visit. She has two kids, Evan (4) and Lauren (2). The kids traveled A LOT better than we expected! I spent two weeks in Tupelo with my parents and Johanna split her time between my parents and hers in Alabama.

Betsy doing what Betsy does best... sleeping. I'm not saying she was a perfect angel on the trip, but I am so glad she sleeps so well!
This is the only picture I have of Lauren on the trip... She wasn't like this the whole time, but she has trouble sleeping in cars and 16 hours is a LONG trip for anyone, especially a 2 year old.

Evan was amazing! This is what he did the WHOLE trip... sit in the back and stare out the windows.

This is what my mom and dad's living room looked like the WHOLE time we were there... They spoil the grandkids and let them get away with murder...

Even on vacation Betsy can't get away from work... (she's on a toy laptop)

Gillian and Betsy LOVE eachother!

Betsy enjoyed driving the car in Grandma and Papa's front yard.

We went to the Easter Egg hunt at church while we were there.

She played in the pool in April. I wasn't about to get my 8 month pregnant self into a swimsuit, so she had to settle for the little pool.

She played house.

And finally, Fiesty Betsy found herself in Time Out quite frequently during our visit... She coped by watching TV...

Aunt Hi-Yee!

2011-06-30T15:37:00.005-05:00

Back in March, Eric's sister Heidi came for a visit. She drove all the way from Utah by herself and brought us many of our belongings we had left behind back in 2007! We had a blast while she was here and Betsy LOVED getting to spend time with her Aunt Hi-Yee! Here is a picture series of the many things we did while she was here:

They fit all this in her little Chevy Malibu!

We went to the park...
We saw Yogi Bear in 3D...

We went to story time at the library...

We swam in the pool...

One day Eric took the day off and we drove to Corpus Christi. We hit up South Padre Island and spent the morning at the beach. It was a BEAUTIFUL day! We played in the ocean...

Aunt Heidi and Betsy built a sandcastle (Betsy still talks about this)...

and we flew kites.

Family picture at the beach.

We went to the Texas State Aquarium right after the beach. Betsy fell asleep on the way and didn't quite get her whole nap in, so at first she was not very excited, but she did warm up as we saw the fish, especially the dolphins. She LOVED the dolphins!

Baby Boy Johnson

2011-03-24T16:53:00.004-05:00

OK, I started this entry back in March, but am just getting around to posting it. I know, I'm a slacker... Not much has changed except I am now 34 weeks.

I am currently 29 weeks along with baby boy. The sickness of the 1st/beginning of 2nd trimester is gone and I feel fine aside from being tired all the time. I remember with Betsy after the sickness passed the pregnancy was a breeze. Even up until my due date I had no real complaints and was perfectly fine being pregnant the rest of my life... not so much with this pregnancy. I don't know if it is because this time I have Betsy to chase after all day or what, but I just have ZERO energy, ache a lot, and am ready for this little guy to be OUT!

His official due date is June 8. All of my doctor's visits have gone fine. We had our 4th ultrasound of the little guy yesterday and it was in 3d! It was really neat to see his little features. She said he is measuring perfectly on schedule and weighs about 3lbs right now. He is head down, but was facing my spinal cord yesterday so it made it hard to get a good shot of his face. She spent quite a bit of time prodding my stomach trying to get him to turn around. Anytime he would finally turn over he would put his hands in front of his face like he knew that's what we wanted to see! He's EXTREMELY active, especially anytime I try to lay down whether it be for a nap or at bedtime. If his activeness and stubbornness from the ultrasound are any indication of what to expect from this kid, I'm already starting to get overwhelmed about being a parent of 2! Betsy is already a handful! We are super excited about his arrival and can't wait to hold him in our arms.

Presenting Betsy: The Terrib...errr... Terrific Two Year Old!

2011-03-24T16:10:00.005-05:00

Betsy on her 2nd birthday!

Betsy turned 2 on Mar 4th. We had a small birthday party for her at Josh and Amberly's house (we currently don't have a dining table, so it's hard to host things at our house). Her cousins in Laredo were all in attendance. While we were living with Josh and Am last fall Betsy really got into the show Team Umizoomi on Nick Jr. So I decided then I would make her cake the character Milli from the show.

This is Milli from the show... and This is the cake I made.

Betsy, in my unbiased opinion, is a complete doll, FULL of personality, hilarious, and extremely stubborn. She likes to put things inside other things... for instance, toys into the laundry hamper, legos into her purse, etc. She is totally a little girl and LOVES all things princess, to put bows in her hair, dress up, and have her nails painted. That's not to say she doesn't extremely enjoy cars and balls, which makes her daddy happy too. She loves to play with her cousins and asks for them each day, but plays well by herself as well. She finally has the attention span to make it through a movie. Her favorite tv show at the moment is "Duper Why" aka "Super Why" from PBS. She asks for it SEVERAL times a day. She talks up a storm and can say anything you can imagine... she surprises me often with her vocabulary. She LOVES music. She requests that we sing with her often and anytime music comes on TV or radio she just can't help herself and her little hips start shakin'. She's so funny to watch and she has got some moves.

She has many quirks which crack Eric and I up. She is very sensitive to the way things feel. She still doesn't care for sticky things, such as stickers and freaks out if one touches her. She rubs things on her lips absent-mindedly. She HATES tags in her clothes and complains that they "hurt". We try to explain to her that they don't "hurt" they are "itchy"... we're making progress here. She is a child of routine! We started saying prayers before bedtime a couple of months ago. She is very good at repeating them and has even started to add in her own thoughts every now and then and can foresee where you're going and sometimes complete the thought on her own. Last month Eric's parents got us the animated scriptures as part of her b-day present and so we added in reading scriptures each night. She'll repeat anywhere from a few sentences to a paragraph depending on her mood. So each night I'll give her the cue and say "It's time." and she knows to go get her diaper and pjs. As soon as she is changed she says, "skiptures, skiptures" and after we read scriptures, she immediately begins asking for "pers". After prayers she runs to climb into bed. For all the heck she gives me during the day and displays her little defiant personality, she makes nighttime a dream. She has also gotten to where she demands to say prayers before her nap in the afternoon.

As far as her physical appearance goes, she's finally starting to grow a little hair. The back is FULL of curl when it's wet or if I put product in it, but if she sleeps on it she flattens it out and she just has a mullet. She's still a pretty petite child. She weighs 24lbs and can still wear some 12 mo clothes. I just barely moved her out of size 3 diapers and we are hoping to get the potty training thing underway soon.

That is basically my Betsy in a nutshell. She takes up all of my time and I wonder how she will adjust to the new baby... Time will tell. We talk to her about him a lot, but I don't think she really grasps the concept.

I know... You'd written me off as dead, so to prove you wrong....

2011-01-17T16:36:00.002-06:00

Here's a post!

Alright, when we last left the Johnsons they were plunging head first into craziness... and not much has changed!

In two weeks time we received a job offer, accepted job offer, rented our house, and packed up and moved 16 hours to Laredo, TX. Here is a fun bulleted list to summarize our lives from then to now.

We moved in with my brother's family while we looked for a place to live... this arrangement lasted 4 months, which was longer than we actually lived in the house we owned in Tupelo...
Eric started his new job as office manager for Southern Tire Mart, same company he was working for, just a much better position. He loves his new job and that makes us all happy.
Laredo is less a city in Texas and more a city in Mexico and Mexico isn't really a stable place right now so we had to be pretty selective in our housing... we decided to stay safe and look for houses in the same neighborhood as my two brothers.
We found the perfect house on the same street as one of my brothers and just a street over from the other! We closed in December and have been settling in since... Yes, we do own two houses at the moment, not ideal, but something we felt necessary.
In October, Eric and I celebrated 5 years of marriage by getting away for a weekend to San Antonio... It was fabulous! We had even bought season passes to Six Flags and had planned to spend a whole day there, but...
The weekend before our anniversary we found out we were expecting baby Numero Dos! We are super excited, but it kinda put a squash on our Six Flags plans... oh well....
For two weeks after we found out we were pregnant I was feeling just fine and pretty confident I was going to skip the sickness I experienced with Betsy...
The last week of October the sickness hit and boy did it! I was grateful we were living with my sister-in-law... she took care of Betsy and I everyday on top of her five kids and everything else she does... She was amazing!
This time the doctor prescribed me some medicine to help with the sickness. It didn't do away with it, but I was able to eat and hold it down most of the time, but the nausea was still ever present.
As I said earlier, Laredo is pretty much a part of Mexico and if you don't speak Spanish you are in the tiny minority. Eric and my two brothers who live down here speak it, but none of us wives do... it makes things interesting sometimes.
When we moved down here there were 3 branches in the church in Laredo and we are only a district... I'd never even heard of that before we moved here... Two of the branches were Spanish speaking and one was English. They struggle for leadership down here so if you are white they attack you immediately... Within one month of moving here all of us had at least one calling... poor Eric had 4!
In November they redid boundaries and added in a 4th branch, now it is two English and two Spanish speaking branches... they are trying to get people to use their English more and quit relying on their Spanish. We are in the branch that used to be Spanish speaking, but is now English speaking (by definition of the Church), but they really struggle with stepping out of their native language, which results in many lessons and talks being given in Spanish, which means Sarah no understandy...

Ok, that gets us pretty close to present day... I'll do separate posts about Betsy and our new house, but just quickly... Betsy is growing like a weed and becoming a little person, not a baby anymore. We spent Christmas in our own home for the first time in our marriage just our little family and it was nice. My parents came to visit for New Year's and it was so good to see them again. Betsy is CRAZY about her Papa and Grandma Brown and was heart-broken when they left at the end of the week. While they were here I had a doctor's appointment and found out Baby #2 is a BOY! We are so excited to have one of each... Eric is on cloud 9. He is due sometime in June, but they keep changing the date, so only time will tell... We do have a name picked out, but are not sharing at this time... My sickness has FINALLY started to subside... Some days are still no fun, but I'll take what I can get. That's it for now and if you made it this far you OBVIOUSLY had nothing to do with your time... haha, j/k. Thanks for caring enough to read!

Here we go again!

2010-07-21T10:11:00.002-05:00

So my last post was about how we just bought a house, repainted the WHOLE thing, and were finally settling in for the long haul.....

In this post, I have an important announcement to make...

WE'RE MOVING!

Close your mouth. It's gaping a little.

Yes, it's true. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, we are insane. No, I don't know when the madness will stop.

So, Eric was offered a job in Laredo, Texas that was basically just too good to turn down, even if we did just buy a house. We are definitely sad about leaving our first home (even if we did only live here for 3 months). We will miss my family here, but we are super excited for this new opportunity. So if you know anyone wanting to move to Tupelo, MS. We have a super cute house for sale....

The Future is Looking Bright in my Rose Colored Sunglasses

2010-05-05T22:19:00.005-05:00

Ok, so the Rose tint was actually from Betsy's bout of Roseola a few weeks ago, but the future is looking good!

Since my last post, we have bought a house, repainted the whole interior, and have begun to get settled in. We absolutely LOVE our little house. It is our first one and most importantly it means we should NOT be moving again ANY time soon (This was our 8th move in 4 years of marriage). It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, perfect little starter home. I'll post more pictures later, but here's the outside of the house.

And so begins the never-ending list of projects. I can't wait until Eric is out of school for the summer, so we can really get some stuff done! As I said we have gotten the whole inside painted, but with Eric at work all day and school all night, it was up to me (and any help I could enlist (Thanks Mom, Becky, and Johanna!)) to get the job done. Then in the middle of it, Betsy got sick with Roseola so it took a little longer than anticipated, but we did FINALLY get moved in! We're still getting settled, but we do sleep here now.

The first full weekend we were in, Betsy woke up in the middle of the night coughing really bad and wheezing. So after some searching on the internet, a call to my parents (my dad is a respiratory therapist), and sitting in a steamy bathroom with a hot shower running, we put her in bed with us so NO ONE would sleep. The next day was Sunday and we didn't make it to church, so my dad came by after sacrament meeting to listen to her breathe and suggested we take her to the Emergency Room for them to at least give her a breathing treatment. So off we go, and after a couple hours, a breathing treatment, a steroid shot, and LOTS of screaming by Betsy, we went home with a diagnosis of croup.

So the past month has been an eventful one for us and as Eric finishes his finals we look forward to the month of May and a trip to visit his family.

Where has the time gone?

2010-03-09T12:35:00.004-06:00

So, as predicted it has been awhile since my last update. Eric had yet another birthday (he loves it when I tease him about getting old). AND a major milestone just occurred with Betsy turning 1! She is so funny and such a joy in our lives.

A couple of weeks ago, she was not acting like her normal, happy self, so we took her to the doctor. She checked her ears and said they weren't infected but didn't look normal either. So she put her on antibiotic to help clear it up. Last week she woke up in the middle of the night almost every night screaming, but as soon as we got her out she was fine as long as we let her just walk around and play (in the middle of the night). That was not my idea of fun. So we took her in Friday for her 1 year check up and told the doctor about our nights. She checked her ears and informed us they were pretty bad and put her on a stronger antibiotic and gave us ear drops to help with the pain. We have to take her back in when she finishes the medicine to see if it cleared it up or not. She said after 3 infections in the same season or 1 infection they can't get rid of, they put in tubes. I really don't want her to have to get tubes, so we're praying this new antibiotic works!

In happier news, her stats for her checkup: 20lbs exactly and 28 1/2 in. She's in the 25-50th percentile in each category. The doctor said she's growing fine, but she'll never be a big child. A few days before her birthday we went ahead and switched her car seat to face forward and she LOVES it.

We had a party for her on Saturday. My cousins Valerie and Janeen came over for it and we had a blast with them this weekend. My sister's family and our friends Matt and Jennifer and their kids came as well. It was so fun. We had a ladybug theme and I made her a ladybug cake. She was pretty much oblivious to the whole "it's a special day for me and they are all singing to me", but she devoured the cake and made quite a mess! Here are some pictures from the occasion:

The Sickness Saga...

2010-01-11T14:43:00.003-06:00

As said in previous post (which you probably haven't read yet), this holiday season was one to be remembered in the Brown household.

It all started on Monday the 28th of December with the expected arrival home of Caleb from his mission. Mom wanted there to be a grand welcoming home party, but since he got home on a Monday and everyone is pretty scattered and couldn't take off work, Mom did the best she could and brought home as many of the grandkids from Arkansas as she could. Thank goodness Amberly decided to abandon her husband and accompany her kids to help with chaos control! So Caleb arrived home Monday night to the empty (and I mean EMPTY) Tupelo Airport. (Hey, how were we supposed to know his flight was 30 minutes early?) So Tuesday as is customary, he had to meet with the Stake President to be released, well a month ago that would have been pretty easy, as it was our Dad, but the new Stake President is my brother's father-in-law and they live 2 hours away. So my dad and Caleb head to Florence, Alabama to get him released and naturally stop in on my brother's family to see them... AND HERE'S WHERE IT STARTS....

My brother's son Evan, had the stomach virus the day before that he got from his mom's side of the family (it should also be mentioned that Evan is my mom's favorite grandchild, and his presence in our house is sought out every chance they can get (I will also note this is no fault of Evan or his mom, his dad also happens to be my mom's favorite child)). So of course Evan comes home with Dad and Caleb to play with the cousins. I'll be honest and say I was not pleased with this decision (nothing against Evan personally, just viruses) and decided to keep Betsy in our apartment as much as possible for the rest of the week despite my parents' reassurances that he was "better". So "mysteriously" Wednesday night Caleb gets sick, with symptoms an awful lot like, you guessed it, the stomach virus. Thursday (the day EVERYONE is supposed to arrive for Brown Christmas) Johanna, Evan's mom, comes down with it and decides to postpone their trip over until Friday. Let me take the time to inform anyone who doesn't know, when all together and accounted for there are 35 people in the Harry Brown family. So Friday afternoon, Andrew and Johanna arrive and yep, Friday night Andrew is sick. Saturday morning goes pretty well, all the guys are making preparations to watch the Arkansas football game, and all the ladies are trying to figure out what to do with 19 kids to keep them out of the guys' way during the game... well mid-game Carson starts feeling not well, quickly followed by Edyn, Peyton, and Ryan. During an after puke shower for Edyn, her mom discovers HEAD LICE! So a quick trip to Wal-Mart is made to buy out all Lice Killing products and they are quickly distributed out and kids are immediately treated. During treatments 3 more kids get sick... and so the night continued.... by 3am Sunday morning there are a reported 24 cases of the stomach virus in the Brown family AT ONE TIME!! That was no night for the weak, I'll tell ya that! Betsy and I both got it that night, but miraculously Eric was able to dodge it and take care of Betsy for me. He was a LIFESAVER! Needless to say, no Brown attended church on Sunday and each family headed home as soon as they felt well ENOUGH to travel... I do not envy those road trips. I will also throw out there was a case of Thrush in the mix as well... it was one HECK of a weekend! There are talks of shirts being made, "I survived Brown Christmas 2o09".

Christmas is over... Now what?

2010-01-11T14:17:00.003-06:00

The holidays are done and life is back to semi-normal. We had a blast over the holidays and it was definitely one to be remembered... but that will come in its own post.

With almost all the kids in my family married, we have a rotation that works out quite nicely. We trade off Christmas and Thanksgiving every year with "the in-laws". So this year was supposed to be in-law Thanksgiving and Brown Christmas. Well, my youngest brother (and only unmarried sibling) Caleb returned home from his mission to Korea on Dec 28th, so my mom opted to put off Brown Christmas until he could be home, so everyone just did their own thing Christmas day pretty much. Christmas Eve my brother Daniel and his family came over to stay the night before heading down to his wife's family's for Christmas day. Eric's sister Sarah is here in Mississippi so Eric invited her down to have Christmas with us. We played games, ate junk, watched A Christmas Story, continued the Johnson tradition of chocolate milk, and Hostess cupcakes, and put the kids to bed. Daniel and Lacey have 3 boys so they had plenty of presents to spread out under the tree for the boys to wake up to. Eric and I didn't see much need in a lot of presents when the idea is basically lost on Betsy. We did get her a Playskool Busy Ball Popper and Eric's parents got her a Step Start Walk 'N Ride. So we start putting them together to be set under the tree and wouldn't you know the little stinker wakes up! So she came down to help us set up her toys and try them out.

I don't know what it is about Christmas morning that is automatically programmed into kids to wake up early, but even Betsy the late sleeper was up by 7am! The Busy Ball Popper was a little too loud for her first thing in the morning and she wasn't impressed. She didn't quite "grasp" the concept of holding the handle on the walker to push it, but she loved watching the boys play with their gifts! Eric and I opened our gifts to each other. We had bought our big gifts on Black Friday and had been using them since, so Christmas morning was small. On Black Friday Eric bought me a Cricut, and I got him an iPod Touch and 1TB external hard drive he wanted. Christmas morning he got me pens to go in the Cricut to make it write, a thread organizer, and curlers... all things I had been hinting at for months, so Good Job Eric! It was awesome! I got him some cologne that he had been hinting at and a new wrist watch.

Presents were followed with the traditional Johnson aebleskivers (Danish pancakes in the shape of balls). Eric's mom got me an aebleskiver pan for Christmas so I could carry on the tradition! After a trial and error with the recipe, breakfast was delicious! Daniel and his family raced out the door immediately after presents to start making the rounds of Lacey's family. Mom and Dad packed up after breakfast and headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for the weekend. We stayed behind to allow more time with Eric's sister Sarah, but sent Betsy with Mom and Dad to allow us to fit in Daniel and Lacey's car when they came back through on their way home.

The weekend in Arkansas was fun! We had the Sherwood cousin party on the 26th and stayed up WAY too late playing games, but had a blast. We stayed with my cousin Valerie and always enjoy that. We got to visit our friends Joe and Celeste and see their adorable little girl Liz for the first time! Sunday was my niece Deserae's baptism and that is always wonderful. Then after church Eric and I headed home for him to be ready for work on Monday.

I'm terrible....

2009-12-15T16:43:00.003-06:00

about updating. When we last saw the Johnsons things were crazy... well, not much has changed. The last month and a half has been one long whirlwind. From everyone being home for Halloween, then Eric's brother, Ben, and his wife, Hayley, came to visit us from Utah - which was a BLAST! Then everyone was back home for my dad to be released as Stake President (I've never seen the man so happy, j/k he enjoyed the past 10 years). Then it was Thanksgiving, and since then church has kept us pretty busy.

We did hit up the Black Friday sales and scored some pretty cool stuff. Christmas shopping was completed on that day and then some! Betsy has been sick since the Tuesday before Thanksgiving with a BAD runny nose. The poor kid sees a tissue and starts waving her arms automatically to block any wipes. I took her into the doctor for her 9 month check up and it turns out she has a left ear infection. Poor kid! She never complained much and takes her antibiotic like a champ. Her nose has cleared up immensely as well! And of course at the doctor's visit they measured and weighed her. We didn't get to see our usual person, and this guy didn't tell us the percentiles, but I came home and found a website to plug in her info. She weighs 18lbs 12oz and is 26 1/2 in long. According to the website that puts her in the 12th percentile for height (my family likes to tease us about our heights and just told us "duh" to this news) and the 42th percentile for weight. Other than the ear infection she is amazing! Back in November she started standing by herself and in December she added steps to her resume! She is pretty steady on her feet and will take 3 steps consecutively before deciding it's easier and faster to crawl.

She is a lot of fun right now. She is very interactive and loves to play. She can't wait for her daddy to get home at night and will try to jump into his arms (from mine) when he walks through the door. Unfortunately, Eric comes home filthy from head to toe and can't hold her until he showers and she gets a little upset at that. She also says "da da" now and at night when she is in her crib going to sleep I am grateful she can't say "ma ma" yet, because it absolutely breaks her daddy's heart to hear her calling his name from her crib... he's a softy.

Her first Christmas is around the corner and we are excited. Not that she knows what's going on, but it is a different dimension to our Christmas. I might as well say it now, because let's face it, I probably won't blog again before then, Merry Christmas!

If it's not one thing, it's another....

2009-10-29T16:15:00.002-05:00

This week we've been keeping my brother's two youngest kids, Gavin (4) and Londyn (20 months). Today I was watching them while my mom went shopping. This morning they were pretty easy. Then I got both girls down for a nap and told Gavin I would make him Mac 'n cheese when I got out of the shower. Well, Betsy was awake when I got dressed, so I took her down to check on Gavin, who had fallen asleep. So I sat down to feed Betsy. A few minutes later Londyn woke up hungry. So I gave her a little bag of pretzels she had gotten at the fall festival at church last night to tide her over until I made the Macaroni. I finished feeding Betsy and gave her some fruit puff snacks to keep her busy while I made lunch. I started the water boiling and went to load the dishwasher. While doing that, Gavin woke up with a bloody nose and blood all over his arms, hands, and face. So I get him cleaned up and dump in the macaroni. I give Gavin a package of fruit snacks to hold him over. Then I go to check on Betsy. She has PUKED all over her tray and is PLAYING in it! SICK! It is ALL over her. So I start cleaning her up and find pretzels amid the puke.... now where would she have gotten pretzels... LONDYN! During all my trips back and forth to the sink to rinse out paper towels Gavin is following me telling me what each of his fruit snacks is. By this time I'm REALLY frustrated and say to myself, "If it's not one thing, it's another." To which Gavin inspects the fruit snack in his hand and says, "It's one thing."

Auction for Benson and Claire

2009-10-24T00:19:00.003-05:00

My friend posted this on her blog and asked for us to spread the word. Her niece and nephew were born with a rare genetic disease called Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 1 (PH1). Their whole story can be found here. I know how lucky I am that we were blessed with a healthy baby girl and cannot imagine being in that situation. I can only imagine how much help they really need. My friend has put together an online auction to help raise money for them. I placed the link on the side of my blog. They have some REALLY neat stuff. Some of it is localized in Idaho, but a lot can be shipped to you. Just a thought with Christmas coming up, get gifts and help someone in need.

Wow, I'm a slacker!

2009-09-23T15:18:00.005-05:00

So Betsy is 6 months old now and A LOT has happened since I last blogged (shame on me). We are back in Tupelo again and back to humdrum life. Eric is now working towards his bachelor's degree at Ole Miss. He's taking 15 hours this semester and works about 55 hours a week. He leaves for work at 4:30am and gets home around 3:30pm, with enough time to shower and get his books together for school from 6-9pm. This leaves Betsy and I with a lot of time to spend together! We miss him a lot during the day, but are really proud of him for working so hard for us!

Labor day weekend we went to Arkansas to visit family and friends. We got to see Celeste (who was just 3 days shy of having her little girl), Katie (who's daughter, Brynlee, is a month younger than Betsy), and even Britney (who we never get to see), and her little boy Pierce who is 4 weeks younger than Betsy. It was a fun weekend for sure! We even got to take Betsy on her first boat ride and she even rode the TUBE!!!! Granted she fell asleep during the ride, but all in all I think she was pretty excited. We also got her 6 month pictures taken by my ever awesome cousin Valerie. We just got to look at a few last night and are SO excited to pick a few and order prints.

(This stunt was performed by professionals on a closed course and should not be tried at home)

We also went for 6 month shots and check up. Betsy was in the 60th percentile for head, height, AND weight! That was quite an interesting doctor's visit. The electricity went out after we had been there awhile and they started sending people home because they weren't allowed to open the fridge to get out vaccines. Luckily, they came and told us they had already taken ours out. Unfortunately, when the nurse came to give them, she informed us she hadn't gotten one of them out and we would have to come back the next day to get the last one! Poor Betsy had to go through the horrible ordeal TWICE, but she handled it like a champ each time and never let it bother her after it was over.

You would never know this little girl was ONLY in the 60th percentile for weight by the way she eats! She eats a full jar of fruit WITH cereal for lunch and then half a jar of veggies WITH cereal for dinner. She gets so impatient between bites waiting for the slowpoke who is feeding her to get with the program!

She has become quite content to sit and play by herself on the floor with toys. Sunday Eric had to travel to another unit in the stake to speak, so I had her all by myself this week at church. During Relief Society I have to take roll and do other secretary duties, so I set Betsy down on the floor next to my chair with a few toys and she sat their the whole hour perfectly happy! She has also started to get on all fours in the crawling position, so we know it is only a matter of time.

My next project is getting her to hold her bottle and feed herself, giving me extra time to get things done. Not that I don't absolutely love the time we have together during feedings, but for example, Sunday mornings would be a lot less stressful, if she could feed herself while I get ready since Eric is gone to meetings every Sunday morning. So we'll see how long it takes her. I'm pretty sure she knows how, but now it is a matter of breaking her will. She would much rather me hold her and do it for her, because she has on occasion done it for herself. She just won't be consistent.

proof that she DOES know how it do it and is just being stubborn!!! Wonder where she got that quality.

And our last note worthy of mention... she FINALLY has a TOOTH! Just yesterday I was showing mom how you could see her two bottom teeth right below the skin. This morning I rubbed my finger across there and the right one had popped right through! So the other one should be right behind!

That was an extremely long post and if you made it this far go get yourself a cookie with milk! That is what we have been up to the past two months. Lots of stuff has happened, small stuff in the grand scheme of things, but exciting to us! Oh yeah, AND I've gotten pretty good at exercising regularly (which is HUGE if you know me) and I made drapes for our apartment!!! Eric was VERY excited about that. Have a good day!

Visitors and the end of summer

2009-08-06T11:32:00.003-05:00

My cousin Valerie and her husband stopped in for a day or two earlier this week on their way home from their cross country vacation where they saw everything the United States of America has to offer (well at least the western half, they did the eastern half the past two summers). The day after they left Eric's sister flew in for a week visit and is with us until Tuesday. This weekend we are driving to Arkansas with a carload of stuff to meet my parents and trade for their suburban to be able to get all packed up next week. Betsy will stay with Heidi while we make the quick trip over so she doesn't have to endure too many long car rides back to back. It will be the first time we spend the night away from her and I'm a little nervous. I know everyone will do great, but still, I don't like the idea of leaving her, but it's in her interest. Eric last day of work is the 19th, then we finish packing and get home some time that weekend, and school starts for him on the 24th! I try not to think about it all or I get a little overwhelmed, but I am definitely excited to be back home and have a room and a crib for Betsy and get on a normal schedule. If I can just make it through these next two weeks I think everything will be ok...

5 months...

2009-08-06T11:21:00.003-05:00

Betsy is a 5 month old now! Time is flying! She has mastered rolling from her back to her belly, which took her awhile. We were getting a little worried. She also sits up by herself now. She still tumbles to the side eventually, but can last for quite awhile. She's still as happy as ever and sleeps great. We're just wondering when those teeth are finally going to pop through, since she's been showing all the signs for about 2 months now. She chews on EVERYTHING like crazy and is a drool factory. She's funny to watch when she's just playing by herself with her toys, her tongue is always going crazy in her mouth rubbing her gums. So any day we expect to wake up to find a shiny white tooth poking through!

The other day I had her in her swing while I went to shower really quick and when I got out she was sitting forward in the swing playing with the buckle, like she was trying to figure out how to unsnap it! I'm not so worried about her unsnapping the buckle, but any father forward and she would have toppled out! So she's pretty much outgrown the swing and can only use it with adult supervision!

Meet the Johnsons

2009-07-29T12:55:00.002-05:00

Earlier in the summer, the owner of the company told us to choose a week and he would come work for us so we could take a vacation. So we decided to take him up on that last week. We were supposed to go to THE Sherwood Family Reunion in Arizona, but decided it would probably be better for Betsy to get to meet Eric's family. So last Wednesday we flew out to Utah. Our flight left at 6:30am and we didn't get off work until 12am, so we decided it would just be easier to pull an all-nighter. (Easier meaning we weren't exactly packed, had loads of laundry to do, and were going to TRY to clean the apt (that didn't happen)). So after packing all night and getting showered/bathing Betsy at 4am so we wouldn't be stinky when we got there, we drove to my brother's hotel where he woke up early to drop us off at the airport. (Big thanks to Josh!)

Getting through the airport on the way to Utah wasn't too bad. We packed all three of us in one suitcase and one carry on (plus diaper bag, laptop bag, and carseat). So we got rid of the suitcase at check-in, which didn't take too long and we got to take a shortcut through security. Our itinerary showed only one layover in Phoenix, so we thought flying shouldn't be too bad. What we didn't know is that Southwest will make stops in between and as long as you don't have to deplane, it doesn't show on your itinerary. (We call these "not-layovers".) So we had a "not-layover" in El Paso on the way to Phoenix. She did REALLY well between Dallas and El Paso, but I fed her right before we landed in El Paso and after sitting in the same spot for so long and was tired she was quite fussy after take off. The flight attendant asked if we could give her a bottle or paci, but since I had just fed her and she won't take a paci the answer was no. So the solution to the problem.... the flight attendant took her! After about 10 min she was returned to us and I was able to finally get her to fall asleep in my arms. From Phoenix to SLC she was pretty good, just whimpering.

Eric's dad had gotten back from a business trip earlier in the morning and had decided to wait the extra hours so he could meet us at the gate! He immediately removed Betsy from our arms and we made our way to baggage claim. On the way there, I hear "Sarah?". I turn around and see my aunt and uncle from Arkansas getting off their airplane... talk about a small world. Eric's sister met us down at the baggage claim while his mom drove around the airport waiting for us. Our first stop in Utah was at Wal-Mart to buy the essentials we didn't see much point in packing (diapers, baby food, etc.). Then on to the house where Eric's other sister and her husband were waiting for us.

The trip was exactly what we needed. Eric and I were SO burnt out from our schedule and definitely needed a break. His parent's house is so low key and relaxed. Betsy went down for a nap almost as soon as we got there and slept 5 hours, which allowed Eric and I to get a much needed nap. The rest of the trip was spent doing very minimal. Friday we did a little shopping with Eric's brother and his wife. Saturday we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple tour. Sunday we went to Eric's parents' ward. Conversation on the way there was about where Betsy would spend 3rd hour: Relief Society, Elder's Quorum, or High Priest Group. Sunday night Eric's parents invited anyone who wanted to come over and see their grandbaby. It was fun to see so many people again and meet some new people. Monday was spent packing and enjoying our last day of freedom before our flight back at 6:30am Tuesday. We were trying to pull another all-nighter to get everything ready. We went through a lot of our stuff that is still in Utah and were able to pack two extra bags to bring home with us. (Big thanks to Southwest for still allowing 2 bags per person FREE!) With everything basically packed at 2:30am, I was not feeling well at all, Eric and I both hit a wall and decided to lay down for a couple hours. We woke up a couple minutes late and between waking Betsy up, feeding, and getting her ready and the last minute things it was 5:20am before we left the house. It takes 45 min to get to the airport and our flight LEFT at 6:30am and THIS time we had 3 suitcases, carry on, carseat, laptop bag and diaper bag. Thank goodness for curbside check-in and family line at security. We hurried to the gate and were able to make it!

This time I planned her bottles around take-offs and landings and got her to at least chew on the paci during the in-betweens. The flights went pretty smoothly. We had another "not-layover" in Amarillo, but Betsy did really well. We landed at 12:05pm, made it back to the apt around 1pm and Betsy and I layed down for a nap and Eric got ready and went to work (sucks to be him). Betsy took a 5 hour nap waking up at 7pm. Stayed awake until 8:30ish when she started acting tired so I put her back down. I planned on waking her up around 10pm so she would sleep through the night for me, but Eric got home around 10pm so we decided to finish a movie we had started before our trip. We fell asleep during the movie and crawled in bed around midnight. First I got a bottle ready because I was SURE I was in for an early morning. After getting up several times between 6am and 8am to check on her, Betsy finally decided to crack her eyes open at 10 min to 10am! (I REALLY love that kid.) Then at 11am she does her tired signs, so I lay her down and at this moment it is after 2pm and she is STILL asleep. You would think I've gotten a lot done with all this alone time, but I've just enjoyed sitting on my couch, watching TV, and getting showered/dressed for the day. But alas, laundry calls.

Lessons of Motherhood : Lesson 1

2009-07-17T16:29:00.003-05:00

"Any bath is null and void if given before baby food."

exhibit A:

(yes that is green beans on her forehead, up the left nostril, and by her eye.)

I wake up this morning, give Betsy a bath, feed her a bottle and put her down for a nap. She woke up hungry, so I pull out the Green Beans she loves. I undress her before feeding because green beans and peas do not come out of clothes easily (which I guess would make this Lesson 2.) By the end of the bowl, this is what I have sitting in front of me. So now I have learned, do not bathe before eating; it is useless. You end up with a kid that looks like this and smells like green beans NOT Baby Magic.

Baby steps

2009-07-10T18:50:00.004-05:00

Betsy turned 4 months old on the 4th of July! We started her on baby food, but she is still learning how a spoon is supposed to work. She still has yet to roll over, but Mom and Dad brought over a toy kind of like a walker, but with a bottom that is attached to the legs by rubber straps and whenver she pushes down it makes "boing" sounds. She loves it. She almost refuses to be in any position other than standing up and sitting straight up. She will not lean back in your lap, she strains and strains to be in the up-right position. She does like to lay down but not for extended periods of time like sitting up and standing up. Eric has been working with Betsy for a bit on walking... yeah, I know. She's 4 months old, but has been able to stand up in front of him holding his fingers and step forward with her right foot. Her left leg gave a little resistance in bending at the knee, which we were a little concerned with, but Eric has successfully gotten her taking steps with both feet. She had been doing it for awhile before I got the phone out to record her (we can't get video off our video camera onto the computer, so our phones are our only way to share such things.) So she was a little tired when I first started recording, at about 20 sec she starts doing it again... and I don't know how to flip the video... sorry, if anyone does please share.

Family Fun

2009-07-10T18:22:00.002-05:00

My parents and my brother Josh and his family came to visit 4th of July weekend. Mom and Dad got here Thursday with Taryn and Edyn in tow. They were super excited to see Betsy, but Betsy had other feelings. For some reason anytime they would touch her she would scream at the top of her lungs until Eric or I came and got her. It was a little ridiculous! I was really worried about how she would react when 4 more people showed up the next day. But Friday she woke up in a better mood and even when the additional 4 faces appeared (making a total of 11 people in our 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment) she was not phased at all. The rest of the weekend she was her usual happy self.

We took the kids to Going Bonkers a huge play place that is any kid's dream come true. Saturday we went to The Stockyards in Fort Worth. It's like stepping back in time to the 1800s. They have a cattle drive and everything. The kids loved it, but it was unbearably hot! We forgot our camera, but snapped a couple on Amberly's but forgot to get them before they left. Hopefully I will get them soon and can post them.

Mom and Dad left Sunday morning, but Josh, Am, and kids hung out until Wednesday morning. Monday we took the kids swimming. The water was considerably warmer this time and Betsy seemed to enjoy it more. That night Am took Taryn, Edyn, and Gavin to Hannah Montana, while Josh, Eric and I hung out at the apartment with Londyn and Betsy.

Tuesday I took Am and the kids to Ikea for their first time. The kids had a blast playing with all the toys set out for them. Then that night Eric and I kept the kids so Josh and Am could go to the movies. It was really fun having them here to visit. It kept me and Betsy entertained. Now we are back to our usual boring lives and waiting for our week trip to Utah for Betsy to meet Eric's family later this month.

June update

2009-07-10T17:59:00.003-05:00

Ok, I did it again... I went way too long without posting.

June was a good month. My cousin Valerie came to visit for a few days. It was fun to have her here. While she was here, we took Betsy swimming for the first time. The water was rather cold that day... it took all of us quite some time to lower ourselves into the water. Betsy was a trooper though. She never once cried. After 30 min I decided that was enough time in the sun for her... I'm afraid she has my skin and will burn easily and don't really want to deal with a little baby miserable from sunburn... so I put her in her carseat under the porch and she napped while we swam some more. Valerie also took more pictures for us. A few family pictures and of course a lot of Betsy pictures. We love Valerie. She is so awesome! The rest of June was pretty ordinary. Work, work, work. Here are a few pictures Val took:

This is probably my favorite picture of all time!

Family picture
Eric with Betsy
Me and Betsy
Just plain ol' Betsy

12 weeks!! (updated)

2009-05-27T11:37:00.007-05:00

YAY!!! We finally got internet at our apartment yesterday AND they found a new office lady!!!! So we are at home, Betsy is napping and I should be cleaning, but decided to do this first. Betsy is 12 weeks old today... Holy Cow! She is so awesome... We went to Wal-mart Monday night to get groceries and we literally got stopped by at least 20 people to ask how old she is, tell us how cute she is, ask where we found her hair bow.... it was fun. Seriously, I thought it was awesome, friends and family have to tell you your baby is cute, but for strangers to stop you in Wal-Mart is pretty flattering. She is growing so much and reaching little milestones... she hasn't rolled all the way over yet, but tries really hard, so it is only a matter of time. She really doesn't like being laid back anymore, she strains really hard to sit up... It's really cute to watch. She laughed for the first time last Friday. That was AWESOME! It is so exciting watching her get personality... sometimes she has too much personality... but at nighttime she is a perfect angel. I was reading this blog of things pregnant women get tired of hearing and one of the most agreed upon lines
(in different variations) was, "Enjoy your sleep now, because as soon as the baby is born you won't sleep for 18 years." The first week or so that was true, but since about 2 weeks she would only wake up once in the night and at about 7 weeks she started sleeping through the night (about 6 hours) and since about 8 weeks she has slept at least 8 hours a night. So to all those who told me I would never sleep again... I stick my tongue out to you... Eric and I are definitely grateful and have just decided Heavenly Father must have known we wouldn't be able to handle it any other way... We need our sleep. haha... She also coos all the time which is so cute... We've tried getting video of it, but every time we pull out the video camera, she stops and stares at it, trying to figure out "What the heck is this thing they keep pointing at me and shoving in my face?"

Since 8 weeks we've tried to take a picture of her every week to track her changes... we missed last week and the 8 week ones are on the card in our car (which Eric is gone in) and I have yet to bathe her today and get her dressed (since she woke up at 9:30am took a bottle and went back to sleep) So here are 9 and 10 weeks and I will post 8 and 12 once I get them... Oh yeah and she no longer fits into 0-3 month clothes... that was the official sign that my baby is growing up...

8 weeks, she's very pensive

9 weeks old, she's tired

10 weeks old, "solid"

12 weeks, she's very happy

Dallas

2009-05-17T20:09:00.002-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I blogged, we don't have Internet at our apartment in Dallas yet. I have access at the office, but every time I think about it I'm like "No, I have pictures I want to post. I'll wait until I can post them." But that has proven to take longer than we thought, so I'm giving a quick update and as soon as we get the Internet I will post pictures.
So we've been in Dallas for two weeks now and LOVE it, well love Dallas the city, the experience has left some to be desired... Three days after we got here, they fired one of the office girls and asked if I would fill in until they found a replacement, so I'm like, "Sure, no problem." Because the owner did specifically tell me "Betsy comes first." So I think, extra money is always good and a few days shouldn't be too bad... well, they finally started interviewing people Friday, which is about three days after I was put on suicide watch.... so they can't find someone quick enough for me... I'm ready to be Betsy's mom again and not have to leave her in the swing for hours at a time, and to be able to stay home with her and just chill. But she is needing to be fed now, so I will leave it at that, hopefully I will have more time on my hands soon and Internet at home and we can get some pictures posted.

Chub, Chub

2009-04-28T18:21:00.002-05:00

So Friday we took Betsy for a check-up. She was 7 weeks old and weighs 10lbs and is 22in long! She is getting so BIG! We can't believe how fast time is going by. I was looking at her hospital pictures today and noticing the huge difference! She is definitely getting more personality and smiling more. She has lately been having a problem spitting up, so they switched her to lactose free milk and she has eczema, so we can no longer use scented lotion on her, which makes me really sad because I LOVE how babies smell after a bath and lotion!!! Now I have to use expensive non-smelling lotion. So this past week came with some adjustments, but we are still totally loving our little girl!!!

What do we do all day??

2009-04-27T12:38:00.004-05:00

Since Betsy was born, it seems like everything has been nonstop!!! Eric was in the middle of Midterms when she finally decided to grace us with her presence. After that it was getting used to having a baby, then Eric's parents came for a visit, then it was Finals, and now we are packing to move... with all that, someone asked me the other day, "What do you do all day?" and I was speechless because I couldn't hardly think of anything "productive" that I did in my 24 hours each day... I do know that in Betsy's 7 1/2 weeks of life, I've only gotten to take a nap 3 of those days... and it just flabbergasts me when I can't think of WHY I didn't get to nap more!!!!

Every weekend it seems there has been something going on, when Eric's parents were in town my mom's family had a reunion Easter weekend, so we headed over for that so we could show off our beautiful baby, the next weekend my awesome cousin Valerie threw me an amazing shower (due to the fact that we just couldn't get a convenient date before she was born). Then his past weekend we actually got to stay home, but my brother's 4 kids came over for the weekend since he and his wife were in Hawaii, and my other brother and his wife and 2 kids came over. Their little girl Lauren is 3 1/2 weeks older than Betsy and had to spend half her little life in the hospital, so we were so excited to get to see them before we move THIS WEEKEND!!! Johanna (mother of said Lauren) bought the girls matching dresses, so we put them in them yesterday for church and couldn't resist pictures...

This one is my favorite for obvious reasons... my kid is the one smiling... (not that Lauren's not happy, it was just hard to get one of them smiling together, so obviously I choose the one of Betsy smiling)

So Eric is taking his last final right now and then the rest of this week will be spent PACKING!!! YAY!!! My favorite thing to do in the whole world is pack all my belongings, sort out the necessary ones to take with us and leave the rest behind and move yet again!!!! (please note sarcasm of previous statement). No, I am excited about the move. I love getting to be different places and experience different things. We're both SO EXCITED about Eric being employed again!!! Well let me clarify, he's been employed at H&R Block, but due to slow times hasn't gotten any hours since February, so we're both excited about income again!!! So we will be packing this week and take off for Dallas Friday!!!

Blessing Betsy

2009-04-27T12:18:00.005-05:00

Ok, so this post is a little late, but that's the story of our lives...
Eric's parents came to visit for a week in the beginning of April, while Betsy is the 19th grandchild on my side of the family, she is #1 on his side, so his parents were SUPER excited to come see her. Since they live in Utah they won't get to visit often and had to make the most of it while they were here... I don't think she was put down the whole week!!! Which was good for them, but after they left it was a bit of a nightmare for us...
While they were here, we got to bless Betsy so both her grandpa's could be there.

You can't tell he's overly proud at all....

We are so grateful for both our parents!!!

It's that time again!!!!

2009-03-27T18:06:00.002-05:00

As most of you know, Eric and I have yet to live anywhere longer than 9 months, and that time is rapidly approaching, so... yes, it is time to pack up again and move.... as you can probably guess, we're doing the pest control thing again... (Who can turn down easy money in this economy??) so the big question you are wondering is.... WHERE will we be going????

Well let's recap, so far we've worked for them in Richmond, VA, Baltimore, MD, Orlando, FL, and West Palm Beach, FL... not enough variety for you??? Alright, we'll switch things up... this summer we will explore the thriving metropolis of Dallas, TX! I've been to Dallas a few times, but Eric hasn't even been to Texas aside from driving through on the way to Utah, so we're really excited to spend time there this summer!!! However, for the first time, we will actually return to the same place after the summer is over. Eric has been accepted to the Ole Miss accounting program and has promised no more transferring schools until he at least has his Bachelor's degree... and I totally plan on holding him to it, we are tired of school and ready for graduation!!! Just 2 years to Bachelor, another year after that for Master, then HELLO WORKING WORLD!!! ok, enough of living in the future, back to the present and Dallas for the summer! All visitors are welcome!!

Hungry, Hungry Hippo

2009-03-27T17:55:00.003-05:00

So my life lately has consisted of little other than feeding Betsy, burping Betsy, and changing Betsy... but mostly feeding Betsy! That little girl can eat!! At her two week doctor appointment she weighed 8lb 4oz... she weighed 7lb 3oz when we left the hospital... in two weeks she gained over a pound!!! The doctor asked us how much she eats a day and when we figured it up he questioned us on it and then told us to try and cut her back... of course that's easy for him to say, he doesn't have to listen to a hungry baby that's screaming!!! Plus, chubby babies are cuter anyways... He also told us her height and weight are in the 50 percentile, but her head is in the 25 percentile... haha, she's my little peanut head, maybe that is why labor wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting!
On another note, she was getting kinda high maintenance for awhile. She cried unless she was being held, being fed, or asleep. So I told Eric we needed a swing for her, to which he replied, "We don't NEED a swing, it would just be nice to have one." (For those of you who don't know... Eric's a little on the cheap side.) Well her high maintenanceness continued so I called my sister-in-law to see if we could borrow her swing for awhile. The night we got it, I put her in it and she started her crying routine, but only for a few seconds and suddenly she was calm! To this Eric replied, "How much do these cost?? $700? LET'S BUY TWO!!!" He's so funny, but this thing has literally been a lifesaver!!!

Favorite Cousin

2009-03-16T22:17:00.003-05:00

This weekend Andrew brought Lauren over to introduce her to the family. She is so cute!! She had such a rough start to life, but is healthy now and we are so grateful!!! Josh and Amberly and their kids came up and we haven't seen them since before Christmas. Amberly and kids are staying for the week since they are on spring break. But best of all, Valerie and David came over! Valerie has always been my favorite cousin... we're only 3 months apart, but when she came over this weekend she solidified her position. She did a photo shoot with Betsy and Lauren and did an AWESOME job!!! I am so excited to have pictures like this of my little girl!!! Here are a few of our favorites...

Just to give credit where credit is due... (and it is definitely due!) here is her website... www.valeriekeithphotography.com

She is ALWAYS sticking her tongue out... it was literally the first thing she did when she was born!!! So my family calls her Elizzardbeth...

She's HERE!!!

2009-03-07T20:52:00.003-06:00

Tuesday, I was contracting all day. Around 5 o'clock they started becoming more regular, but weren't quite close enough, so we watched American Idol and continued timing them. Finally at 10:30pm I decided it was time to go. We got to the hospital and were put in the observation room. I was still only dilated 1cm, but she stretched me to 2cm. We sat in observation for about an hour and then I was at 3cm and they moved me to Labor and Delivery. At about 3am I got my epidural, after that it was smooth sailing. Around 6am they came in and I was 10cm and at 6:44am she was here!!!! She weighed 7lbs 6.8oz and is 18 1/2 in long. We got out of the hospital Friday afternoon and are loving being home together. Of course Eric and I think she is the most beautiful thing ever, but other people say she is pretty too, so maybe we aren't too far off.

Interesting....

2009-03-03T11:16:00.002-06:00

Apparently when you go past your due date, the baby counter starts counting up! We learn something new everyday... So yes, I am still pregnant, just kinda sitting around waiting for the big event. The doctor said they won't let me go more than a week past my due date and I have an appointment this Thursday again, so I know we'll get to see her soon, just not sure if she'll come on her own or if she will have to be coaxed out into the world... I think she must be like her mom and not like change, and that is why she is refusing to come out. Eric keeps telling her to hurry so we can hold her and that it is not so bad out here, but she must not believe him. I am starting to feel quite a bit of pressure, so who knows how much longer she plans to stay in there. Today was technically her first due date, before they changed it at the 20 week ultrasound, so maybe we just didn't tell her that she was supposed to come yesterday, maybe she thinks she is still on time.... OR she is just more like her parents than we thought and she will be late to EVERYTHING! This is not a good habit to form this early in her life... Anyways, the point is, I am still pregnant and I'll be sure to let you know when that status changes.

This week in my pregnancy....

2009-02-19T14:39:00.003-06:00

We went to the doctor again today. It was actually the fastest doctor visit ever!!! I was in and out in 20 minutes!!! So she checked me and I am still dilated one cm and 80% effaced, but she said she has dropped significantly, so things are still progressing I guess, just not as quickly as some would like.... I'm not talking about me, I'm fine with whenever she decides to come.... just call me chicken. Anyways, that's all that has really happened... exciting stuff, I know.

The Latest and Greatest

2009-02-11T16:03:00.003-06:00

So I went to the doctor today.... DRUM ROLL PLEASE......... I am dialated 1cm and have started to thin... it's only a matter of time people... I'm a little nervous.

Random things to update about

2009-02-09T14:42:00.005-06:00

So I am 37 weeks today, making me officially full term, which means she could come at anytime now. My ankles started swelling really bad this weekend and I've started cramping every now and then. I am SO FLIPPIN' HUGE at this point. I get tired really easily, but other than that things are going well. I go to the doctor this week (and I'm guessing every week after this) maybe I'll have some news to share, but maybe not, who knows. At this point I just assume she will come when she comes, and that will be the right time. I'm not particularly excited about labor, but I am excited to see her and hold her.

We also painted this weekend, which is a first for us, we've never painted anywhere we've lived. It's pretty exciting to me. I like putting "my touch" on things even though "my touch" is nowhere near as good as other people's I know. I actually picked out the paint color all by myself, and did it in less than 5 minutes... If you know me that is a HUGE thing, because I am the most indecisive person in the world. Once we got it on the walls, the color wasn't quite what I thought it would be, but everyone says it looks good, so we'll go with that.

I'm almost done sewing a quilt I made for her crib. Actually, I'm done sewing, I just need to tie it. I spent forever trying to figure out what colors I wanted her stuff to be. I like the pink and brown look, but that's so common I didn't want to go with it, so I finally decided on purple, black, and white. Here's a picture. I took it with my cell phone so the quality isn't that great, but then again I made the thing, so the quality isn't that great...

A stolen Survey

2009-01-13T22:51:00.002-06:00

I stole this from Britney....

About Eric

1. He's sitting in front of the tv. What's on the screen?
ummm.... Discovery channel, military channel, a movie, Seinfeld or Lost, but we haven't had a say about what's on tv lately...
2. You are out to eat. What dressing does he get on his salad?
It depends on his mood, he is always changing things up and trying new things... he likes everything, but I guess he gets ranch most of the time, because that's what I like, and he's a good sharer.
3. What's one food he doesn't like?
Even he couldn't come up with an answer to this one... I told you, he likes everything...
4. You go out to a bar. What does he drink first?
Strawberry Lemonade or thanks to the Brown influence Dr. Pepper
5. Where did he go to high school?
Bingham High School
6. If he were to collect anything, what would it be?
He has a coin collection, so I guess that answers that.
7. What shoe size does he wear?
8
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Again, he eats anything and doesn't have favorites, it's just a matter of what he hasn't had in awhile.
9. What would he eat every day if he could?
See answer to #8
10. What would he never wear?
Camo and plaid shorts, but we're working on the plaid shorts...
11. What is his favorite sports team?
He doesn't really follow sports, (I know, I lucked out), but theoretically he likes BYU
12. What is something you do that he wishes you didn't do so much?
Ask him to do stuff... I have a really bad habit of asking him to do favors...
13. How many states has he lived in?
Utah, Mississippi, Virginia, Mississippi again, Maryland, Utah again, Florida, Mississippi again, Arkansas, Florida again, Mississippi again, yeah everything after Virginia is since we've been married... it's sick. but to answer the question 6 different states
14. What is his heritage?
European-American
15. You bake him a cake for his birthday.
again, he doesn't have a favorite, he'll eat anything and be happy... I really did luck out.
16. Did he play sports in high school?
Soccer
17. What could he spend hours doing?
Sleeping

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! (Warning: It's a long one)

2009-01-08T13:41:00.004-06:00

Ok, so I'm finally updating about the holidays... A lot has happened and I can't really think of where to start. Eric finished his semester of school!!! Woo-hoo! Now just seven more to go... We flew out Christmas Eve to Eric's family in Salt Lake (a HUGE thank you to Lacey for dropping us off/picking us up at the airport!!)
So this was my first Christmas since being married away from my family. I'll be honest and admit I was a little hesitant about spending two weeks somewhere else for Christmas, (I'm a little set in my ways.) but I can also honestly say that we had a good time. Aside from a 3 day trip this summer for his sister's wedding, we hadn't seen Eric's family in almost two years. A lot has changed in that time, mainly the fact that I am hugely pregnant... It was fun to spend time with his family again. I could have done without the cold and all the snow, but some things take sacrifice... We didn't do anything huge, we just spent time with his family the whole time, it was actually very relaxing. We did get to drive down to Pleasant Grove and hang out with our friends Brent and Angela on New Years Day. It was fun to see them again.
Also, before we left, Eric enrolled in the H&R Block tax class and applied for a seasonal tax job. They told him they would get back with him after Christmas. Finally on New Year's Day, we get the phone call that he has the job... can I even express how excited that made me... we are finally employed!!
We also sorted through all our belongings which are still in Utah from when we lived there. We came to grips with the fact that most likely we will never get them back without spending WAY too much money, and they are crowding Eric's relatives' homes. So we donated QUITE A BIT of furniture to Deseret Industries and dejunked a lot of clothes and other belongings. It was sad to get rid of so much, but a relief to finally be done with it. We brought back as much as we could (50lbs) in our extra suitcase only to have the airline lose it... only we are that lucky. However, we did luck out that my sister-in-law was dropping my aunt off at the airport the next morning and they happened to find our luggage before then, so things did work out that we didn't have to drive ALL the way back to the airport to get it. We finally got home yesterday and Eric started work an hour later. We are so excited for the New Year and hope everyone had an awesome holiday season!!!
Last note: I am now 8 months pregnant and wonder if I will make it.... I probably will, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it.

Thanksgiving Holidays

2008-12-02T08:43:00.002-06:00

We left Wednesday afternoon for Arkansas to spend Thanksgiving with family. Eric and I rode over with Dad, and he promised if we were ready to leave by noon he would take us a longer route but get us the best burger ever made... who would have guessed a little mom & pop burger place in Oxford, MS would be closed the day before Thanksgiving???? haha, a little duh on our part, that added extra driving time and got me a sonic burger... o well, food is food and we made it eventually. My grandparents left town Wednesday morning for a 6 week stay in AZ so we were able to stay at their house, however expecting your grandparents to have internet, especially your grandparents that live in the middle of literal nowhere is a little ridiculous, so Eric and I went over to Valerie's house to bum her internet and turn in his assignment that was due. Thursday Eric drove to Cabot to play in the Turkey Bowl then we drove out to my cousin's on my dad's side for Thanksgiving lunch... I've never been much of one for crowds, and I get tired easily now, so soon after we finished eating I talked Eric into going back to Grandma's to take a nap and take advantage of the quiet time to work on his paper he had due over the weekend as well. Friday we did not go Black Friday shopping... we were both too tired and didn't really NEED anything and driving to civilization was just too far, so we slept in. Friday night we got together with Colby, Katie, Valerie, David, Andrew, Johanna, Stuart, Whitney, Emily, and Jake and had dinner and played games. It was really fun to hang out with people our own age again! After we got back to grandma's my siblings were playing games, so we joined in and stayed up until 4AM playing cards... yeah, that's got to be some sort of pregnancy record... Saturday we borrowed Valerie's house again for Eric to turn in his paper and take a test... Valerie literally saved his butt this weekend... THANK YOU!!! Sunday our new little nephew Ryan was blessed in church and then we drove home... We were so tired after a long fun weekend! It is always fun spending time with family and friends!

overview of the things I've skipped...

2008-11-18T13:42:00.006-06:00

ok, so I've been really lazy lately... for Halloween all my family got together (minus Daniel and Josh, they had to work) and let the kids dress up and trick-or-treat together. It was a really fun weekend. My sister LOVES Halloween and went all out for decorations and food for a party for all the nieces and nephews.

Eric and I dressed up for Halloween. Eric isn't much of one for costumes, so I had to go simple.

Becky and I also made matching dresses for all the girls to wear to church on Sunday... they were so adorable!

Oddly enough Johanna and I happen to dress alike on Sunday as well, so they made the two pregnant look-alikes pose together too.

The weekend was a BLAST and I love spending time with my nieces and nephews. Since then nothing exciting has happened. We went to the doctor again, everything is right on cue... I'm now 25 weeks and have to go back tomorrow for the glucose test... not looking forward to it. I'm debating about whether or not to get a flu shot... I HATE shots, but can only imagine getting the flu would be absolutely miserable! Eric is getting more and more excited as the days go by... he's so cute when he talks about how he can't wait to hold her... He started finals yesterday and will have all but one taken before Thanksgiving! I can't wait until this semester is over! We registered him for classes last night... next semester is not looking very appealing, but to me none of them ever do. He is excited to be able to start his actual major classes and learn about accounting??? I married a weirdo.

99 Things

2008-11-06T17:01:00.002-06:00

I haven't posted in a while and a lot of things blog worthy have happened, and I still haven't posted the ultrasound pictures proving we're having a girl (I will get to this... eventually), but I've been too lazy to blog lately, but I found this and it appealed to me for some reason, so....

Bold the things you've done:
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (then again, can't really afford not to)
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain (I don't think it was technically the required height of a mountain, but it is named mountain.)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (in primary, talk about scarring)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (turned another one down this summer, thanks to Betsy)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (signed up for a scuba diving class at BYU, but dropped it)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (another promise Eric has yet to fulfill)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (almost)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (Eric planned on proposing there... I messed that up)
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (Do you know me????)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one (not since I've been old enough for it to affect me)
94. Had a baby (working on this one)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (my mom has)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

3 years....

2008-10-19T20:56:00.002-05:00

Wednesday was our 3 year anniversary, so we went up to Memphis for the night. When we were dating Eric promised he would take me to a Memphis Grizzlies game, so 3 years later he decided to make good on his promise. We drove up and checked into the hotel, then drove over to Beale street. We went to the mall and bought our first little girl baby clothes... they are so cute!!! Then Eric bought me a rose and off to the game we went. After the game was over we walked to Hard Rock Cafe, and then back to the hotel. After we woke up in the morning we headed back to Tupelo for Eric to study for his midterm the next day. It was a short trip, but gave us a much needed break. We haven't gone out since before we got pregnant. It was so fun! We also got new phones with new phone numbers, so no more outdated Utah numbers! yay!

IT IS A GIRL!!!!

2008-10-14T17:18:00.002-05:00

So this past weekend my brother, Josh, and his family came up friday. They have the cutest little kids. My parents went to visit my brother Andrew on Friday. Saturday Josh, Amberly, my sister Becky, and her husband Jermaine drove to Birmingham for the day leaving me with nine kids until Eric got home from playing basketball and my parents got home around 1pm bringing home Andrew's little boy Evan. Needless to say, I was exhausted at the end of the day! Sunday we all hung out together, then Monday I was 20 weeks... HALFWAY!!! Monday was also the big day of going to the doctor for an ultrasound!!! We got to see the baby moving around and sucking her thumb and were finally informed it is a GIRL!!! Little Elizabeth "Betsy" Sahara Johnson. We are both absolutely thrilled!!! Finally we can quit speculating, or calling her an "it." I'll have Eric scan the pictures and post them later. Monday evening we got in the car and drove Evan back to Andrew and Johanna's, then turned around and headed home first thing this morning so Eric could take yet another midterm today.... yes, I took a LONG nap this afternoon. Well, that is it for now.

Is it a girl????

2008-10-09T09:18:00.003-05:00

So this past weekend we went to Arkansas. It was a fun, hectic weekend! We couldn't leave until Eric finished his homework on Friday, which took longer than expected, so we arrived later than expected. Friday night there was a get together for my grandparents anniversary... I'm not sure what year it was, but it is well over 50, I think 57 or something close to that... We didn't get there until after 9pm so most people had already left, but we did get to see the new babies in the family. After 10pm we headed to David and Valerie's for the night, but then had to wake up EARLY the next morning to be at my niece and nephew's soccer games in Cabot. It had been over 6 months since we'd seen them... They've gotten SO BIG. Eric loves soccer and really enjoyed watching them play. It brought back memories of when he played. It started to rain, so Dawn, Deserae, Tallin, Brodie, and I headed back to their house, while Nathan and Eric toughed it out through the rest of Jalen's game. After the boys got back, we ate lunch and then met the rest of my family (the one's in AR anyways) at the house of my cousin on my dad's side. We spent a few hours there before heading to Daniel and Lacey's for dinner, then it was back to Cabot for the men to go to Priesthood. We had planned on going back to Rose Bud that evening to spend more time with Valerie and hopefully see Colby and Katie, but Eric didn't get home from Priesthood until after 10pm, so we stayed the night at Nathan's. Then woke up in the morning and headed to Daniel's for breakfast and Conference, then drove home to Tupelo.... it was a packed weekend and we didn't get to see everyone we wanted, but it was fun to see those we did.
This week Eric has two midterms and a paper on top of his normal class work, so he's been really busy... I'll be REALLY glad when we're done with his school... that's just 3 years away (insert longing look).... but he did make time to go with me to the doctor yesterday, which made me one of the two out of ten people in the waiting room who had the father of the child with them... the highlight of the visit was hearing the baby's heart beat, reaffirming that everything is OK. The lady announced its heart rate was 160 and it was probably a girl.... Eric looked quite disturbed and later questioned me how much I paid her to say that. After the appointment we set up another appointment for an ultrasound... FINALLY!!! They asked me what day next week would work and I quickly informed them Monday would be great (if it had to be next week)! My sisters-in-law have been quick to comfort Eric and tell him the heart rate was wrong on all their kids, but Becky, who enjoys seeing Eric squirm, keeps reassuring him that it's a girl... until Monday, I guess that is what we will go with.... Oh yeah, I also think I felt the first kick last night... so that's pretty exciting too!

Sinking in...

2008-10-02T09:37:00.002-05:00

So this past weekend my sister and I went shopping and I bought some really cute maternity clothes... which are now almost a necessity... this whole thing is finally sinking in and seeming more real. It is still weird because we don't know what the sex is, so we can't pick a name, and that will definitely make it sink in, but we don't have our doctor's appointment until Oct 8th, and then that is when they will schedule our next ultrasound, so I still have to wait what seems like FOREVER... but I guess if I've made it 18 weeks, I can make it a couple more. That is about all that is going on right now...

exciting weekend...

2008-09-21T21:35:00.003-05:00

This weekend was stake conference for Tupelo. Elder Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Gay an area Seventy were the visiting authorities. Mom has been freaking out all week because they were eating their meals at our house and she stresses easily, not to mention dad was on edge all week because they would be here. So while it was AWESOME to have them come, I am glad this weekend is over. There were 17 people staying at my parents' house this weekend, and that number only doubled at meal times, so it was a little overwhelming at times. We did get to see Andrew, Johanna, and most of all EVAN!!! He is such a cute kid!!! I just have to deprogram him from his Aunt Beck... We also got to see a lot of people in the stake we haven't seen in a while, so that was fun to catch up with them. My stomach is starting to show; I need to get Eric to take a picture so we can compare it to what is coming. I'm curious how big I will get... I'm also curious what we're having... Tomorrow I am going to call and set up our doctor's appointment. Hopefully we can get in for an ultrasound quickly and find out what it is!! Then I can start buying clothes and quit calling it "it" and pick out a name!! Anyways, this has been a random post full of random thoughts, but that's what you get when I feel obligated to blog...

We moved... SHOCKER!!!

2008-09-09T13:55:00.002-05:00

So this is our 7th move in less than 3 years of marriage... yes, I am aware of how sad that is, but we have gotten to live in some pretty cool places. We've been in Tupelo for a week now, but still haven't found a place to live. We're trying to focus on getting Eric caught up in school and getting me to the doctor. Eric is back in school after taking a year off, we're excited for him to get closer to graduation again. I am practicing being a stay at home mom right now. The sickness has almost completely left now, which I am REALLY excited about! We're really excited to be back near family and spend time with them.

The Truth comes out....

2008-08-26T14:53:00.004-05:00

Ok, so the real reason I haven't been blogging is because I only had one thing to blog about... being sick...For the past, wow, almost two months now, I've been laying in bed trying my hardest, but not always succeeding, not to throw up everything I eat (which isn't much). Eric and I found out on the 4th of July we are pregnant!! YAY!!! We are so excited!!! Eric is better at showing it than I am, mostly due to the fact that it is hard to be excited about vomiting... We are due on March 3rd and can't hardly wait! Right now we (we meaning Eric, as most days I'm still pretty sick..) are in the process of packing everything and getting ready for the long drive back to Mississippi. We both are having pretty mixed feelings about this. Before the whole sickness thing, we were having a BLAST in Florida, but now we are both ready to call it a summer and go home; however, the fact that I get carsick without being pregnant, is really not making the 12 hour drive home look very enjoyable. We are going to break it up as much as possible. We are stopping for the night in Tallahassee, then at my brother's house to visit their family a couple of days, then finally to my parents house in Tupelo! We're really excited to see family again! Just a couple more days, but what hectic days they will be. Eric has a lot of end of summer stuff to handle in the office before we leave, and pack the house, and do his school work, and take care of his pathetic wife... he's feeling a bit stretched right now and I feel really bad, but most of the time standing up alone causes other things to "come up". I just can't wait for the 2nd trimester when supposedly all this goes away... anyways... here's a picture of our little alien-looking-angel...

Way past due update

2008-08-15T10:47:00.003-05:00

Ok, I figure I can't get frustrated at people who don't update their blogs and keep me entertained everyday if it has been so long since I updated... so here it goes (not that I really have anything to update about...). So the beginning of July we flew to Utah for 3 days for Eric's sister's wedding. It was a fun trip, but a little on the short side, but it was good to see Eric's family considering it had been about a 1 1/2 years since Eric had gotten to see them. We're planning a longer trip this Christmas. Our flight left at 6am and Eric and I didn't get off work the night before until 3am, so we decided it was best not to go bed. It was that morning that I realized my Sherwood genes can only get me so far in this world, and I am not capable of sleeping on airplanes... upon arrival in Utah it was a whirlwind of activities to get ready for the wedding and try and spend as much family time as we could, before leaving the day after the wedding at 10am. Once we got back to Florida my cousin, Valerie, and her husband stopped in for a visit. I was sick the whole time they were here... I felt so bad!!! Eric and I had all these things planned to do with them and were excited to go to the beach, but dumb Sarah had to get sick and ruin everything. Since then, nothing has really happened. Eric and I are pretty excited to move back to Mississippi in a couple of weeks. I am really going through niece and nephew withdrawals!! But that is our update... just boring life...

Awesome bosses

2008-06-27T21:11:00.002-05:00

This post is to awesome bosses everywhere, because not many of them exist... j/k. So Tuesday Eric and I had planned on driving down the Boca Raton for the evening. On Monday we found out that the owner of the company would be arriving Tuesday night and popping into the office. So we called him Tuesday morning to make sure it was ok if we still went to down to Boca and he was not only ok with it, but offered to work for Eric so we wouldn't be interrupted by phone calls the whole time. So on the way back, Eric called to say we were almost there and Shandon (boss man) tells Eric not to worry about coming back in. Except Eric and I had planned on working on a map code project that was assigned to us and has to be completed by Saturday night, so Shandon realized he didn't have a key to the office and so he told Eric, "Just drive up here, and seriously dude, throw the key at me and run!" So when we get to the office we explain that we have to work on the map codes and he's like, "No way, you guys deserve a night off, I'm here, I'm going to do your job, and you're going to leave or you're fired! Go out and take Sarah to dinner and a movie." So then as we're walking out the door, I jokingly say, "Are you kidding? Do you know who I'm married to? I don't even know what a movie is!" Shandon yells, "STOP! WHAT? HERE! and throws his credit card at Eric and insists we go out on the town that night. Then he clarifies, "and I don't mean Applebee's... you take her someplace nice." So Eric looks at me and jokingly says, "Right, so Ruth's Chris it is..." For those who don't know Ruth's Chris is a ridiculously expensive steak house. Eric and I have been wanting to go for two years now, but just can't ever justify spending THAT kind of money. Anyways, so to our shock, Shandon is like "YES!!! RUTH'S CHRIS GO GET OUT OF HERE!!" Eric and I are both in shock and like "No way, we aren't going there, we were just kidding." Anyways, long story short he insisted and told Eric to bring him the receipt the next day and if it was some place like Applebee's that we went to, we were fired. So Eric and I leave still not sure if we should take him seriously on the whole Ruth's Chris thing... but then decide, "what the heck, if we don't go now, we never will..." Oh my gosh... Those were the best steaks we've ever eaten in our lives!!! Eric and I felt so out of place there. But it was AWESOME! I highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you can get it for free! Afterwards, Eric was feeling really guilty about how much it cost so he decided to slip some cash folded in the receipt when he handed it to Shandon the next day just before he was leaving.... It was the funniest thing ever! Shandon just slipped it in his pocket and walked out the door, got in his truck and started backing out.... at which point, he slammed on the breaks, came running back in the office and threw the money at Eric, yelled, "What the HECK is THAT?" and ran back out the door. Eric and I were rolling on the floor laughing. We LOVE the guys we work for, not to mention the other owner Tom is coming next week to cover for us so we can fly to Utah for Eric's sister's wedding. We have the best bosses in the world!

My mom and dad came to see me!!!

2008-06-12T15:52:00.007-05:00

I'm a really bad procrastinator, but this was one of the highlights of my summer, so I can't leave it out. My parents came to visit over Memorial Day weekend. At first we were a little worried they might not make it! Their plane caught on fire shortly after taking off in Memphis and they had to do an emergency landing on the FEDEX runway! After a short delay, they ended up putting them BACK ON THE SAME PLANE!!!! but they did arrive safely so we were really glad about that. Once they got here the fun began... we took my mom to get a mani/pedi for a late mother's day gift, and hit just about every beach on the eastern border of Florida.

We also drove down to Key West over the weekend to see what it had to offer... which we found out wasn't too much. I think we spent a total of 30 min on the island. We did have authentic Key Lime Pie which was delicious!

Then we went and took an airboat ride through the Everglades. That was really fun! There was this cute little boy on the boat with us and all the alligators kept coming on mine and Eric's side of the boat, so we asked his mom if she wanted him to come sit with us so he could see. So he ended up sitting the rest of the ride on my lap and asking Eric "Do you see any crocodiles??" every 30 seconds... he was so cute! He cried after the ride was over because he didn't want to leave me. On Memorial Day my parent's bought the stuff to barbeque for all the sales reps and it was a blast! The next day we went to Orlando for the day and visited Deseret Ranch. The church has a 312,000 acre ranch just outside of Orlando... WHO KNEW??!?!?!

I got tagged... maybe you will too!

2008-05-31T14:27:00.000-05:00

I feel special that out of all the people listed on the left hand side of her page... Britney tagged me!!!

Here's how to play: List 3 joys, 3 of your fears, 3 of your goals, 3 current obsessions/collections and 3 random, surprising facts about yourself. At the end of your post, tag more people.

3 Joys:
1.I love my family. I am convinced Eric is the greatest guy ever. He handles my quirks so well. I also think my parents are awesome! Eric and I get along so well with them. I adore all my nieces and nephews and hope my kids are half as cute/smart/funny. I also get along surprisingly well with my siblings and enjoy spending time with them.
2. I like cooking. Growing up my mom always cooked at least one meal a day. Anytime company would come over they would always rave about how good the cooking was and my mom can whip up a huge meal for millions of people all by herself and have it all get done at the same time. I am working on being able to do that one day. For now I enjoy cooking for Eric and myself and anyone else I can invite over. It makes me feel good when something turns out right.
3.Learning new things. This is not to be confused with school, which I openly despise. I love reading books that I choose to read and learning about historical people, places and events and not have to worry about if I will remember the right things. I started learning how to sew last summer and want to learn more. I like seeing the results at the end of something and taking pride that I learned how to do that.

3 Fears
1.I think my biggest fear is Eric dying. I honestly don't know what I would do if it happened and it scares the crap out of me for him not to be there.
2. I, too, am scared of the unknown. I don't like the dark; I refuse to watch scary movies, they give me nightmares; and I can give myself the creeps in any situation and literally scare the mess out of myself.... Eric laughs when I scare myself for no apparent reason, but then he feels bad and tries to make me feel safe.
3. When my kids become teenagers..... THAT SCARES ME TO DEATH.... how will I not screw that up???

3 Goals
1.I want to be a mom. I don't know when, but that is my ultimate goal in life. I really want to be a good one, too.
2.I want to learn more hobbies. I started scrapbooking today, but I'm not sure how good I will do or how long I will keep it up, but I really want to stay on top of it. I also want to become proficient at sewing and lastly I want to be as good a cook as my mom.
3.I would like to find a way to lose weight while sitting on the couch and not cutting back on Dr. Pepper and ice cream.

3 current obsessions
1. Sleeping... I really like my sleep.
2. Movies... Eric and I LOVE movies.
3. Scrapbooking... Eric took me to buy supplies last night and I started today... we'll see how long it lasts.

3 Random and surprising facts about myself
1. I like the beach... I'm paler than an albino after winter in Alaska, but this summer I have gained an appreciation of the beach. We used to go every summer when I was a kid, but I never liked it because you could never get the sand off, but I've realized this summer that I like the beach.
2. I hate driving... when I was a teenager I loved it and drove everywhere. I was constantly driving to Arkansas or Memphis, but now I refuse to get behind the wheel. I am terrified of driving, I guess it goes along with the fear of the unknown, I don't know if there is construction on the road ahead, I don't know if the guy next to me is driving drunk... there are too many unknown factors and I can't handle it.
3. I LOVE checking the mail. It is the highlight of my day and holidays like Memorial Day really mess that up. I love seeing which movie we got from Netflix or if there is a Better Homes and Gardens magazine in there. Eric sends in rebates a lot, so those are always fun to get.

I'd like to tag:
Johanna
Rebecca

Random...

2008-05-08T18:48:00.000-05:00

When I got my camera out to post my b-day pictures I found a bunch of old pictures on my card that are pretty random and funny.... so I thought I would post them for the heck of it....

Yes, those are pictures of the Girls Gone Wild bus driving down I-40 in between Conway and Little Rock..... Eric thought it was hilarious....

On a more wholesome note......

That's me and my homemade chicken pot pie.... It was so pretty.... and good too!!

It's my Birthday!!!

2008-05-08T17:26:00.000-05:00

So Eric woke me up this morning with a big box in my lap.....

So naturally I started opening it....

and what was inside......

A Generic CHI!!!!

I was so happy!!!!

Then he took me to Chick-fil-a for lunch and now we're back at the office for the rest of the night....

I'm as happy as a clam.... Notice my amazingly straight hair in the above photo!!!!!

It's been awhile....

2008-05-07T12:43:00.000-05:00

I just realized how long it has been since I updated in here. Nothing has really happened... Eric did go out and sale on Saturday and got a sale... WHOO-HOO!!! There's a little extra money for us. My parents are coming to see us Memorial Day weekend and my dad said it is my job to plan what we will do... so I started looking up things to do in Florida, and aside from the beach, EVERYTHING IS SO FRICKIN' EXPENSIVE!!!! I don't know what we'll end up doing. I feel really bad though because we don't even have local tv channels, so I'm really afraid they will come for 6 days and be bored out of their minds! Everything that I've found to do is at least $20 per person for admission... therefore if we only do ONE thing per day, not including gas to get there and food to eat, that's $40 per couple, then they will be here 6 days, so that is at least $240 per couple and if anyone knows my mom you know she's not up for spending that kind of money, and I don't really blame her... so then that reiterates my point... WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO???? I'm a little stressed out about it. I'm really excited for my parents to come, but I'm worried they will get REALLY bored... I mean, here is my daily schedule.... I wake up at 9 when Eric gets out of bed... he then wakes me up at 9:45am when he's leaving for work... I usually roll out of bed around 11am then I shower and get ready and mess around on the internet until Eric comes home for lunch around 3pm. Then I go back to the office with him and we sit up there until about 10pm when we come home, eat dinner, and go to bed.... I'm really not thinking my parents are going to be down with that schedule.... o well, I have a couple of weeks more to stress about it.

Niiiiiice.....

2008-04-18T11:21:00.000-05:00

So we are finally settled into our apartment. It is really nice, but the best thing about it.... there's a mall less than 2 miles away, and 3 Targets within 10 miles... that I know of! I am in heaven.... We are really excited for the summer ahead of us, but really miss all our friends!

Relocation

2008-04-14T16:48:00.000-05:00

So after a terrible week of packing, we finally got on the road Saturday around 2pm to head to my parents' house. We got there a little after 6pm but didn't finish unloading until after 10pm that night. Then we stayed up talking to my sister until 1am, before waking up at 7am the next morning. We went to church, but left after sacrament meeting, but it took us awhile to get everything loaded into the car, so we didn't end up leaving until 1pm. I had planned on us staying the night in Jacksonville, but where we didn't leave on time we only got as far as Valdosta,GA... I WAS SO GLAD TO GET OUT OF THE CAR!!!! We got on the road this morning aroudn 9:30am. We called the owner of the company and he informed us he wasn't expecting us for 2 days (miscommunication between him and Eric). So our apartment isn't ready so they are putting us up in another hotel... I would rather be able to unload my car and get settled, but we get to do that tomorrow and have the day off... so I can't complain, but I am so tired!!!

Irony Bites

2008-04-01T22:25:00.000-05:00

ok, so two summers ago a friend of ours told us about this Comedian Brian Regan and let us borrow his CD. We listened to it for like two weeks straight before returning it and he is like the funniest guy ever! So tonight after we got off work, we were on our way to my cousin's house to watch American Idol and the radio announces Brian Regan is coming to Little Rock. Eric and I get really excited and as soon as we get to Valerie's house I got online to see when he was coming since we're moving on the 12th. Unfortunately he isn't coming until the 18th, which really bummed me out.... so after Idol was over we went to Wal-mart to do some grocery shopping. On the way home the radio says they're doing the Top 5 songs of the day and caller 10 gets two tickets to Brian Regan. I look at Eric and jokingly ask if I should try just for the heck of it and he laughs and says sure.... so we listen to the songs and I call in.....and wouldn't you know the one time in my life I ever win anything it's when we can't even go!!!! Ironic, no? Anyways, just a funny little anecdote I thought I would share, because really.... there's nothing else to talk about.

The Just of it...

2008-03-28T17:53:00.000-05:00

OK, every month my family sends out a family newsletter to keep everyone updated on what everyone else is doing; so basically this will just be our portion of the newsletter and then anything else we can come up with to put in here in between. Just a fair warning... we are very boring people.

So right now, we are in the process of deciding what we are going to pack and leave behind (yet again) and what is important enough to take with us. Eric got a job offer the first week of March for us to work in Orlando, Florida. It is a really good opportunity; so we accepted, and they said they needed us there by May 1st. Yes, I know this is a shocker to all who know us.... we will once again fail to break our record of being in one place for more than nine months and are making our 6th move in less than 2 1/2 years.... SICK! Anyways, Tuesday we got a phone call from the owner saying they needed us there by April 15th, and we are now needed in West Palm Beach... torture, I know ;). So we now went from having a month to sort our stuff, pack, and train someone, to two weeks... and it's getting a little stressful, but such is life! I'll give updates as they come. For now we are excited for the future, but sad to leave Conway...