The Bain of my existence

  We've just gotten back from Blythe's 4 month check up with Dr. Bain.  It didn't go so good.  The doc uses a laptop instead of charts, probably most drs. do that these days, but she just kept typing on it the whole time.  I had to repeat every question I asked, because she would be typing and not listening to me.  Afterwards, I heard her say something in the hall to one of the nurses about her email running slow, so I'm pretty sure she was emailing and not doing anything related to our visit.  She really was completely unhelpful when it came to my questions about starting solids.  The longest she talked about anything was when I told her Blythe had gotten the Rotavirus vaccine at 3 months which got me a 10 minute lecture!  One of the highlights was that I told her right off that Blythe was rolling from back to front and asked if it was ok for her to sleep on her stomach (I don't know why I asked cause there's not much I can do to stop her from sleeping on her stomach, but I asked anyway).  She said it was fine, then at the end of my 15 minutes with her she proceeded to tell me that in the next couple months the main thing I should be watching for was for her to roll from back to front and sit up.  Oh really, I should be watching for the thing I just told you she's already doing??  Good, check, I'll do that.  

  However, my favorite thing is the horribly unfriendly nurse who calls Blythe he and him the whole time we're in there.  I can overlook the fact that she's wearing a onesie with strawberries and cherries on it.. whatever, but HELLO!!  you are holding a laptop with all her medical information on it.  Are you telling me that you can not look down and see that you are dealing with a GIRL!  I will not pick "him" up or move "him."  "He's" not eating just fine... because HE is a SHE!!  For the love of all that is good and holy she's a girl!

  So from now on I will be going to the county clinic for well baby visits and vaccines.  I feel this is safer for the entire staff at Healthy Kids Pediatrics.  

What can 1 dollar really do?

I keep forgetting to post this, but it's a really cool idea that our friend Ben is a part of.  You can read about it on this website Big-ish small news - What can 1 dollar really do?

You know you have an extra dollar lying around and I just read on Ali's blog that they have another backer so they need another 500 people!  Please pass the word.  It's simple, it's easy, and it can make a huge difference in someone's life.

God Bless Herman!

Where do towns go when they die?

  This weekend we went to my Gramma K's 95th birthday party in Wellington, Texas.  Wellington is in the panhandle which is lots of cotton fields and dead or dying towns.  It's really sad actually.  Every town has a square with cool old buildings and siding houses, which I love.  But I guess people just start moving away and businesses close down and eventually they just die.... so strange.

  I would have to say the highlight of the weekend was probably playing 42 in our hotel room with Brandon and Valera.  Brandon and I have had our rough times as brother and sister, but have gotten over it and now I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with him.  I won't comment too much on the 42 game, because it turns out V is just as competitive as Brandon, but suffice it to say O'Corby rules!   It's always good to see the extended family, but we always seem to end up just hanging out with our inner circle.  

  As I was in the car for close to 9 hours this weekend I had lots of time to think and it turns out I want many conflicting things.  It's a wonder how 1 heart could want so many different things, but I do, so there it is.  Here's my plan for one of the things I want though.  I would love to live in an old town with 1 grocery store and every one knows each other's names.  However, I want to take my friends and family with me since there aren't any people in these towns from what I can tell.  So my plan is that when we all retire, we choose one of these old towns and all just move there.  We'll fix up the old buildings and at Christmas and Thanksgiving all our kids and their families will come to this old town and hang out together.  We can have all kinds of stupid holidays and festivals, ala Stars Hollow, cause we'll be the only people in the town.  And I think I will be mayor.  Or maybe sheriff.  Anyhoo... who's coming with me?!?!?!?

My Archnemesis

  Meet Colonel Stumpy McRootface.  He wears this pot as a helmet and uses that hose to whip puppies and bunnies as they go by.  In other words, he's evil... and ugly... and he's been mocking me ever since we moved into this house.  However, on Sunday, April 6th, 2008, he rooted his last stump as I destroyed him.  Interestingly, it only took me about 45 minutes.  His bark was much worse than his bite (HA, bark).  He was so incredibly dead that he wasn't even that heavy to carry to the curb.  With the fall of their leader the remaining three stumps surrendered very quickly on Monday afternoon.  So as of Monday the War on Stumps is over, with a resounding V-I-C-T-O-R-Y for the home team!

Jesus spent Saturday with us

  Not that Jesus.  Jesus the painter.  I thoroughly enjoy writing that because no matter how many times you read it or even if you know I'm talking about our spanish painting friend it still throws you off a little. 

  I'm sure many of you have noticed that all the doors in our house are a lovely yellow color whilst the trim is a nice white.  I should say were a lovely yellow color cause they ain't no mo!  It's funny how you get used to things like yellow doors, but I'm so incredibly glad to have that done!

  While Jesus painted, Caleb and I worked on the guest bathroom.  The weekend before we ripped everything out of the bathroom and discovered there was some wallpaper that was kind of peeling up.  We decided we would just put wainscoting over that part and move on with life.  The only problem is I started messing with it.  I, Courtney Allison Johnson, started to peel the paper.  I know I shouldn't have, but it was sitting there all curled up and just begging to be peeled.  So I did it.  Ya'll know I have no self control!  Unfortunately, under the paper, I found sheetrock.  Whoops.  So then we had to spend this Saturday fixing the lovely hole I had made and evening out the wall so it can be painted.  I finished fixing it today.  I have had my project decision making privileges revoked and must now run everything I'm about to do through Caleb.  I can't say I especially blame him for this new ruling.

Always wear a baby if you're in the need to haggle...

  We woke up Friday morning to a very dreary looking College Station.   We drove through more torrential rain to get to Warrenton, one of 5ish little towns that make up the Round Top Antiques Fair.  It rained on us most of the day and got cold so it wasn't the most fun I've ever had in my life, but we found some good stuff and overall it was a success.  

 I wore Blythe in her carrier most of the day and you wouldn't believe the oohing and aahing that caused.  The first place we stopped to make a purchase the guy ended up just giving me one of the bottles I wanted.  Technically, he gave it to Blythe.  I was severely groped by a large black woman who wanted to see Blythe's feet.  Unfortunately, I had the carrier and B on the inside of my jacket which meant she had to go fishing around my waist for them and don't worry she wasn't shy about it.  She frisked me better than airport security in London!  We came home with some ball jars, apothecary jars, a shelf for Blythe's room, a mirror for the guest bathroom, and a tricycle.  

  On a side note... I have always wanted rain boots, but could never justify them because when do you ever wear rain boots?  Well, you wear them when you're tromping around a muddy field in the rain... that's when you wear them.  There were tons of people with cute rain boots on and I felt left out.  However, now I have an excuse to buy some!!

The Business of Being Born

I have much to report but don't want to write just one giant blog, so I will start from Thursday and give you a recap...

  On Thursday I watched "The Business of Being Born" with Jillian and it was really good.  I usually try and stay quiet about the whole birth center or home birth/natural birth vs. hospital/medicated birth because I would never want anyone to think their birth was less than perfect.  In the end, if you get a baby I say job well done!  This movie is amazing though and I wish more people would watch it if for no other reason than to understand why I had Blythe that way and to prove I'm not crazy.  It also made me remember Blythe's birth and the way it made me feel afterwards which was BADA$$!  Not in an "I'm so cool, I gave birth naturally" way, but in an "If you attack me I guarantee you will lose" way.  I understand how those moms pick up cars and move mountains off their children, because I felt like if I could do that I could do anything.  I also felt violently protective of my new baby.  I'm pretty sure if Fezzik had come at me with those giant paws of his I would have rampaged on him and won.  

  The thing that most stuck out in my head was someone in the movie saying something along the lines of "You go to the doctor or hospital when you are sick or injured.  Pregnancy and giving birth is neither a sickness or an injury... it's just life."  

  Then we loaded up the car and drove to College Station in what can only be described as a torrential downpour.  To be continued....