That Didn't Take Long

I think Joe has already gotten bored with us.

This morning his sweet Dad told him that he was looking less and less like an alien, so that's nice. I'm enjoying his jowels in this picture. Like a little uninterested bull dog!

He's Heeeeeere!

Joe Caleb Johnson

Born December 23rd at 10:55 am

7lbs. 7oz., 20"

Minutes old... Yes, we're sitting on the bathroom floor, it's a long story.

The lovely Amy (holding Joe) who has now delivered both the Johnson kids and McKayla standing behind her.

Having some hat difficulties on the ride home. He didn't seem to mind since he was asleep.

Hanging out with big sister Blythe who already adores him and wants to hold him all the time. We've been having trouble finding a hat that will stay on his head, but suspiciously this Tech hat keeps appearing even though it slides right off.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers during labor and Happy Birthday wishes for Joe!

D-Day

Today is my due date and, as most of you know, I'm still pregnant. I went in for my appointment today and we are 100% sure that I will go into labor and have a baby, but I can't give you a lot of details outside of that. Baby Joe and the Lord Himself are the only ones who know when this kid is coming and neither of them are talking!

Here are some reasons I love the women of the birth center...
Two weeks ago, Becky and McKayla (Becky owns the birth center and McKayla is their office manager) told me I had the look about me and they thought I would have him anyday. So last week when I walked in still pregnant McKayla gave me a big hug and goes, "Well, we called that wrong!" McKayla is British and thus has the cool British accent that makes everything sound better. This week when I walked in, still pregnant mind you, she just goes, "What are you doing?"
Since it is D-day, Amy did the usual blood pressure, listened to Joe's heartbeat, and measured my belly and weight, but then also checked my cervix to see what, if anything, was going on. She then helped me back out of the chair and turned her back so I could get dressed and goes, "I'll give you a little privacy." Which made me laugh. This is the woman who delivered Blythe and just checked my cervix so me putting my jeans back on is one of the least intimate things we've done together. So I just replied, "Really Amy, at this point in our lives together, what's the point?" And we had a good giggle.

Thanks to everyone for the phone calls and emails checking up on me. Sorry, I'm being really bad about returning said sweet calls and emails cause I really don't have anything to report. Still pregnant, he's still kicking the tar out of me every chance he gets, and Caleb is still pretty jumpy anytime I call his name.

Happy Birthday, B!!

Yesterday Blythe turned 2! We had a little party at the house with pizza and a banana monkey cake. Mine didn't quite turn out like Martha Stewart's, but I have a feeling that is a common occurrence, so I'm not too upset about it.Blowing out the candles

Rocking out on the new pianoThe reaction to opening presents

Thank you to our dear sweet family and friends who celebrated with us. Ya'll made Blythe's day, as you always do!! Love you guys!

Baby Joe

I had my 36 week appointment today and Joe seems to be on the move. He's already dropped which is why I'm not measuring that big, so for everyone who keeps seeing me and saying that I'm not very big... there ya go! He's not playing around though, so I was advised to take it easy for a week. I did not know this, but apparently boys lungs develop a little slower than girls, so he needs at least another week. I really don't think he's coming in the next week, but we're playing it safe anyway. Besides, I'm never one to argue when told to sit down and take it easy!!

I also went to the chiropractor for the first time in my life today. Little known fact about me, I hate having things popped. I don't pop my fingers, and I hate having my back popped or anything else. For this reason, I've always been a little wary of the idea of being adjusted. However, in the last month, the rib that Blythe moved when I was pregnant with her has been really sore and uncomfortable. The very first thing the chiro did caused a big pop that made me grind my teeth together, but after that no more popping and Viola! Rib back in place after 2 years!

We're battening down the hatches around here. This weekend we need to get the bassinet put in place and the Christmas tree up and we'll be as ready as we'll ever be! Thank you to the Sears for all the baby boy clothes a little one could ever need!! I was going to include a pregnant picture with this post, but I couldn't find one. I'm almost always the one with the camera and if I don't have the camera then I have B and you can't see my belly anyway. It's on my list of things to do, but Caleb keeps wanting to take pictures when I'm eating a brownie or something equally picturesque. He says that would be a true picture of pregnant Courtney, but I don't think ya'll need to see that.

What We've Been Doing

Here's some pictures from our adventures of late...

We went to the State Fair with Grampa and Valera (AKA Pa and Lala)

Here she is having a chat with the blue ribbon barrow. A little disconcerting, the sign said this pig had been sold to Tom Thumb for $10,000. The pen was right by the Helping Hands activity so "Hey kids, here's a pig... you can buy him at the grocery store soon!!"

Here we are in the Helping Hands place. It's really cute, they go around and plant seeds, pick vegetables, feed chickens, gather eggs, but from the get go she had her eye on this tractor. Being a Ram

Pa causing a ruckus at the bird show

Next up... we had a day at the zoo

My tour guide for the morning

She was more excited about the animal statues than the actual animals themselves. Probably because she could hug them.

Playing in a giant turtle shell


And finally... as a Bumblebee for Halloween

Yes, she was a bumblebee last year as well, but it still fit.

Our sleepy bumblebee at the end of the night.

Hope this appeases the Grandma!!

The Ricardos

I am now about 32 weeks pregnant. My belly is getting big and my body is getting tired of carrying the extra weight. Joe is really active, especially at night, and it's been frustrating trying to go to sleep. I end up tossing and turning trying to find a comfy position and unbeknownst to me this has been annoying to Caleb.

Last night, the usual routine of trying to get comfy was going on and in the thrashing I accidentally banged my knee cap into Caleb's. This progressed into what can only be categorized as a slap fight which ended when Caleb's grotesquely overgrown pinky toe nail threatened to amputate my leg below the knee.

Caleb: "I don't know why sleeping in the same bed is a requirement of marriage."
Court: "You want to get two twin beds like Lucy and Ricky?"
Caleb: "No, I just want you to get your own single bed over there (guestures toward the corner)."

We then scooted to the far edges of the bed and held hands in the middle... which would have been a sweet moment if it hadn't been for the "I want you to go sleep in the corner" comment that preceded it.

I'm Nestin'!!

Blythe has officially switched over to her big girl bed to make room for Joe. Oh yeah, we're having a boy and his name is Joe! I'm pretty sure everyone who reads this already knew that, so I'm not too worried about forgetting to put it on here. We set up Blythe's new big girl bed a couple weeks ago and she loves it! Had I known it would be that easy to get her to take naps and go to bed in it I would've switched her long ago. She now pretty much tells you "Night Night" and waves you out of her room. We inherited this bed from the Johnson's and at one point in time it slept all three of the Johnson brothers. Right now that ladder goes to no where, but it will eventually have a top bunk. Blythe is using the trundle so another bed can go on top of hers. This made way for the crib (AKA Joe's bed) to fit in the same room, because Caleb is still officing out of the guest bedroom. This last week we moved the mattress back up and put the mobile up. Blythe never really cared about the mobile when she was a baby, but she loves it now. She spent most of one afternoon sitting in the crib just playing it over and over again.
Next on my list... going through and finding what clothes we have that aren't pink. Luckily, between Em and Erin I'm not too worried about my boy clothes supply!!

Blythe's Newest Musical Venture

Mac "Genius"

Caleb dropped and broke the screen on his Iphone. He was in Houston from Sunday to Wednesday and couldn't get an appointment at the Apple store or they didn't have the right part to fix it, which is how we ended up at the Apple store in Charleston Thursday night.
Caleb went on ahead and Hayley, Blythe, and I brought up the rear, so when we got to the store he was already sitting at the help desk sharing a hi-five with his genius. I wandered up as they were reading off a serial number which included letters. This sparked a conversation about the military alphabet. They had to repeat the letters to make sure they heard right and the guy said "Sorry, I don't know all that Alpha, Bravo stuff." I made the comment that very few people outside the military probably knew the whole thing so he could've just made something up and we wouldn't have known. Caleb and I started to go through them until we hit G... actually Caleb skipped from E to R because he couldn't think of Foxtrot and I guess he thought no one would notice the half of the alphabet he didn't know. I threw out Gamma and Caleb quickly ruled that out because he said Gamma rays were not discovered until after the military alphabet was put into place. There was a pause after this statement and I noticed the 3 geniuses nearby kind of knodding their heads. I took this opportunity, as I often do, to let these poor guys know that Caleb is full of crap. He has no idea when Gamma rays were discovered, but he says things like this with such resolution that people just assume he must know what he's talking about. He doesn't say, "No, I don't think Gamma rays were discovered yet." He says it as a statement... as fact. So what I find interesting is that people are not mad when they find this out. The general reaction is laughter, and then this group of yahoos were impressed. They all made comments about how they totally believed it, or how they thought it sounded right. So then our personal genius said something about how he wondered when they were discovered, and there was another pause before we all realized we were standing in a room full of computers. So while our genius looked that up, the other 7 of us (by this time we had 4 geniuses and 2 other customers involved in the discussion ) took over under bets. Caleb said he thought it was the last 30 years and then the geniuses and other customers ranged between 20 and 50 years. I said I thought it was gonna be something ridiculous and they were all off.
SURVEY SAYS: Gamma rays were discovered in the 1850's by some French dude. I win.
Also: G is for Golf.

An interesting side note: The 2nd customer that joined us came in a little late for his appointment because he said his uncle had just been shot somewhere in Charleston. I know nothing else about this other than he's OK, because none of us could be pulled away from our all important Gamma ray discussion.

Day one in Charleston. Walked up and down King street 4 times, seafood dinner on a rooftop deck, and Apple store shenanigans... good times.

Blythe's First Plane Ride

Greatest Wedding Entrance of All Time

Syd put this on Facebook, and I stole it, but it's such a happy way to start the day!

Pickle Heaven

You are looking at my favorite food. These are Aunt Tate's pickles. Aunt Tate is my mom's aunt and when I was little I would eat entire jars of these pickles in a sitting. Who am I kidding I still do it. Sadly, Aunt Tate passed away years ago, but she left us with the amazing gift of the pickle recipe. I have made them 3 or 4 times since receiving this gift, and actually my sweet mom gave me 8 jars for my birthday one year. However, while always being some of the best pickles I've ever tasted, they were never quite up to Aunt Tate par.

For our 5 year anniversary this year Caleb got me a pickling cucumber plant. It has gone crazy and I have been swimming in cucumbers just begging to become the greatest pickles of all time. I have just opened the inaugural jar, and brace yourselves, I think I've done it!!! If my taste bud memory serves me correctly, these are bonafide Aunt Tate pickles, ladies and gentlemen!

The interesting thing is that for the first time I did not follow the recipe exactly. Which brings me to this topic of conversation... I sometimes have to wonder if the older generation is simply just forgetting the actual recipe and passing down what they think they are doing, or if they want to hold the title of, for instance, greatest pickles of all time, so they finagle the recipe so that you get something good, but not great.

Case in point #1 I have been blessed with the greatest mom-in-law a girl could ever ask for. We share a love of many things and she's just one of the coolest ladies out there. She makes something called dream cookies. Caleb loves these cookies and he doesn't really like sweets so it's a big deal. I was given the recipe when we got married, but have failed many times to make them correctly. I love you Gwenda Cheree Johnson, but I'm going on record that I believe you to be witholding dream cookie recipe information. I believe one Alli Cooper will second that statement.

Case in point #2 Grammie Lou is a fantastic cook. She blessed me with a cook book of all our family recipes when we got married. However, it includes such things like her recipe for roast. Which includes a list of probably 10-12 different spices/herbs followed by the words, "Just throw any combination of the above ingredients into the pot." No amounts, nothing. I will admit though most everything I've made out of this book tastes great, so I can't complain too much.

I got a little off topic there, my apologies. Anyhoo, I'm swimming in the greatness of Aunt Tate pickles. Still have more cucumbers to pickle and I make no promises about sharing any of them even though I'll have close to 20 jars by the time the plant stops producing. Ya'll wouldn't like them anyway so don't get mad at me.

Caleb's Final Is This Weekend

He claims this is studying...

Check it out... Sasquatch is getting her PhD!!!

Things I Love About Blythe

1. She follows Caleb around the kitchen closing all the doors and drawers he leaves open. This makes my heart happy and proves she is mine.
2. She is showing all the signs of being an organizational guru. Yesterday, she was playing in our shower while I got dressed, and when I took a shower last night all the bottles that are usually all over the bench were neatly stacked in the corner.
3. She can shake it with the best of them and loves all music. However, last week a Britney Spears song came on and she immediately started going "No No No NO NO" until I changed the station. This proves she is Caleb's.

Just a few things that have made me smile in the last couple days. We go for the sonogram on Monday!! We are kind of stumped on names at the moment, especially if it's a boy. Caleb likes Johnny and I like Smith... but Johnny Johnson and Smith Johnson are just too mean.

Givin' the People What They Want

Blythe Walking Her Dog

Caleb's Man Crush

As I type this he's playing an Ode to Roger Federer on the piano. I think this may be where his recent obsession with bandanas has come from.

I Have a Complaint

I've grown up in Texas, went to A&M, so I am no stranger to the giant truck. They no longer annoy me. I usually just ignore them or at the most roll my eyes. If you want to spend that much money on gas and get a stepladder to get your girl in your vehicle that's your choice. My complaint is this. If you are going to drive such a monstrosity then MAN UP AND DRIVE IT ALREADY! I just got stuck behind one of these guys who practically came to a full stop before gingerly going across railroad tracks. Railroad Tracks. Are you kidding me? Your wheels come up to the bottom of my window and if you weren't in my way me and the CRV wouldn't have so much as batted an eye at said railroad tracks. If you're gonna drive like that get your self an Oldsmobile some blue hair and slump down until you can barely see over the wheel. At least then I would know what I was dealing with.

18 Months O' Fun!!

A couple weeks ago Blythe turned 18 months old! In the melee that has been our June it kind of got overlooked, but here is a little insight into all her toddler glory.

This is her serious face. She gets very intense when she is sorting things or coloring or such.

I think she must have just woken up in this picture. She's getting pretty tall, and can climb on the couch, chairs, and piano bench all by herself. She then gives herself a round of applause if you are not quick enough to do so yourself.

She loves being outside and we try our best, but it's just so stinkin' hot these days. Here she is on her tricycle. That's a piece of bamboo which Dad is pushing from behind. Her legs are almost long enough, but not quite there.

Potty training is going good. We still aren't very good about being consistent. We pretty much just go when she says she needs to which means some days we go 3 times and others we go 27 times. I think her main motivation is to get her diaper off so she can streak through the house like so....This I'm throwing in for Caleb. He, all the sudden, is really into bandanas and wants Blythe to wear one all the time. Sometimes she'll leave it on, but in this picture she looks less than impressed.
I think the biggest change is the chattiness. She is talking a lot! Many words we can understand and then there are entire monologues in which I have no idea what we are discussing, but she is so serious about what she's saying that I just act like I do. Some of her favorite words are Sas, Mama, Dad, cheese, juice, outside, shoes, and apple. Lately, she has been yelling at Sas to stay which is funny cause she usually does it when Sas is asleep and thus not moving.

That's our girl! She's so much fun and makes us laugh all the time. We are so very grateful for our little blessing. We love you, B!!

The Triathlon

Success!! I had two goals for this triathlon...

1. To finish.

2. To do so without throwing up.

With those parameters in mind it was hugely successful! This weekend, myself and two of my wonderful friends did a sprint triathlon in Austin. A sprint tri consists of a 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run, in that order. This morning at exactly 7:42 for me and Hayley and 7:45 for Cassie (affectionately dubbed C-Mase) started the swim. Here is Hayley and I's wave taking off...

The biggest problem or hurdle was that the race took place in Austin. This made the course hilly and I would go so far as to say borderline MOUNTAINOUS. I would guesstimate that about 1/2 a mile of the 12 mile bike ride was flat. The other 11-1/2 miles were up and down. Some hills were long, some were steep, and some were ridiculously long and steep at the same time... Good Times!!

All said and done it took me 2 hours and 45 minutes which is not impressive. In comparison, the two rock stars who were doing it with me finished under 2 hours. Cassie finished in an hour and 35 minutes and Hayley finished in an hour and 55 minutes. They are amazing!! The one good thing about coming in last (other than getting to go much slower) is that when you finish you have quite the cheering squad yelling for you! Here I am about to cross the finish line, and I'm pretty sure those are Hayley's hands clapping for me!

Here we all are after we finished. I should sleep good tonight and if you see me in the next couple days I'll probably be walking funny cause my legs feel a bit like jelly. In the end, I'm proud of myself for finishing and unbelievably relieved it's done with!

Preggers...

That's right folks, we've done it again! I'm officially 11 weeks pregnant and have had my first appointment. We heard the heartbeat and everything is perfect with the baby. This time around I have been much more sick than with B which has really thrown me off. I'm hoping to almost be done with that part though nearing the end of my first trimester.

I'm due December 21st, adding to the mayhem of Decembers for us. Poor Caleb, even Sasquatch's birthday is in December. We're still getting settled in the house and now have some stuff to accomplish with B before the new addition arrives! We've been half-heartedly potty training for awhile now, so we'll have to get serious about that. And she's gonna have to give up her crib and become the big girl in the house it looks like.

What's funny is one of the first things to cross my mind when we found out was how MacFest was going to work that soon after the baby. So don't you MacFesters fret... you haven't been forgotten!

My New Hero

Tasty

Our New House!

We've moved! We moved in last Tuesday, Wednesday morning Caleb left for Houston, Thursday afternoon I left for Menard with my parents, and then Friday Caleb met us down there for Brandon's wedding. It's been a bit of a whirlwind, but the weekend was really fun. Unfortunately, in the car swapping my camera was left at the ranch with Sasquatch, so I don't have any pictures, but Valera was gorgeous, Brandon was smiling, and it was an all around perfect weekend.

So the above is the house. I kind of hope Grammie doesn't look at this, because that is one of the nice dining table chairs on the front porch. I guess Caleb and Clay don't like to sit on the swing together so I keep finding it out there. We are slowly getting unpacked and settled in. The fantastic thing is the house doesn't need any work. We'll probably paint in the next month or so, but that's about it. Contrary to that fact, Caleb insisted he needed work boots for this house. I think it may have to do with all the cowboys we were around last weekend, but whatever the reason he got him some work boots. Here he is in the backyard surveying the projects and giving Squatch's head a scratch...

The Christmas Tree skirt that wouldn't die...

Caleb and I got married 5 years ago this May. That same year I fell in love with a Pottery Barn tree skirt. As we all know, Pottery Barn is a little expensive so the $65 or $75 price tag seemed a little high for something that I would only see about a month of the year. Being the new little wifey that I was, I said to myself, "I can make that for waaay less." So in September of 2004, I started working on a tree skirt for my Christmas tree.

Well, today, April 21st, 2009, I finished it. That's right it took almost 5 years for me to finish it. Turns out, I had to hand sew the ribbon on which took forever! I would get bored or frustrated and stop working on it for a year at a time. Caleb has been randomly bringing it up since I started it too. Just every once in awhile he'd throw out a, "How's the tree skirt coming?" Sometimes in the middle of June he'd ask about it. It would make me so mad and about 2 years after I started it he told me to just go buy the thing, but I refused. In retrospect, I would've paid $100 for the stupid thing, but I had to finish it on principle alone!

So without further ado.... TADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

Don't look too closely, cause the lines aren't all straight, and as you can see it doesn't actually even form a circle. Maybe one day I'll add some more panels, but most likely my Christmas tree will just always be in a corner. How ya like dem apples, Johnson!

We've been at my parents for almost a month now and it definitely has its perks. Caleb and I are getting lots of free babysitting which means we've gotten to go on many dates! Blythe is also enjoying having Lainie and Grampa around and will definitely miss them when we move out!

Using Grampa's new rolling cooler as a wagon. I think Grampa is enjoying this just as much, if not more, than B!

A flower planting assembly line. She got a little impatient when Gramps wasn't ready to take the flowers from her.Talking to the gnome. She was a little wary at first, but they're friends now.
Bath time in the sink.

Pretty sure this is against every safety regulation out there...

Dancing in the kitchen with Lainie.

We almost officially have a house. We close on the 27th, but that weekend is Brandon and Valera's wedding so we won't actually move until the 9th. We love the house! It's actually the house of the people who out bid us for the Woodland St house. They are friends of Em and Clay, so when they came down to tell Emily they were moving she immediately told them we would probably be interested in the house. Yes, when I say "came down to tell Emily" I mean they walked down the street. It's, I think, 5 houses down from Em and Clay and around the corner from Hayley which are HUGE perks to an already really cute house! So now I owe Em for meeting my husband and finding me a house!

Where did we go???

We are at my parents in Wylie. Today marks a week since we packed up and moved. We have, yet another, offer on a house in Denton, and should hopefully have an answer in the next couple of days. If this one doesn't work out I think we will be renting a house until we can buy something we really love.

We're trying to relax and enjoy the built in babysitting while we're here, but are looking forward to having a place of our own!

B's New Shoes

Today we went to get B's first pair of real shoes. Gramma Lainie gave us a gift certificate for Christmas, but since Blythe wasn't walking yet we waited to get fitted. She took her first steps about a month ago, but just started really walking around about a week ago. Here are some pictures of her first walk in her new shoes...

Thanks Gramma Lainie!!

Dirty Baby

Blythe spent most of the afternoon in the backyard digging in the dirt. Mama J will be so proud!
Dirt on the hands....
Dirt in the mouth...

Dirt in the air...

Dirt on the head...