Bracken Clay Johnson

We have a new little member in our family! Bracken Clay Johnson was born Tuesday, February 24th at 6:52pm. he weighed 6lbs 8oz and is 18 1/2 inches long. He is so perfect and beautiful! I can just sit and hold and look at him for hours-- his tiny hands, fingers, ears and face. Brian is so excited to have a little boy, or as Brian calls him, his little man. It's so fun to watch him with Bracken.

He was born at my parents home in Richfield and my mom was our midwife. The labor went so well. In fact, I didn't realize I was really in labor until about 4 hours before he was born. I'd had a few contractions throughout the morning, but I didn't think much of it. I went to the gym, got a massage, went to Wal-Mart and the bank and called my Mom around 2:45. When I told her the contractions were grabbing me now, she told me I'd better get to Richfield. By 3:00 I decided, "okay, I think I'm really in labor." We left for Richfield and I had contractions every 2-3 minutes the whole way there. That was the longest car ride ever. I was so relieved when we arrived in Richfield at 5pm. I needed Brian by me all the time. Just having him there helped me so much. Everything went so quickly. When my Mom told me it was time to push I was surprised it was time already. And after just a few minutes of pushing I was holding Bracken in my arms. We stayed in Richfield for the rest of the week and my family and Brian took care of me. It was so fun to see my little brothers and sisters with Bracken. Tyson (2 years old) couldn't get enough of him. Now we're back in our own little home and everything is going great.

We love Bracken so much. Everytime I look at him I just think, "what a miracle!" He is such a good baby and it's so fun talking to him, singing to him, cuddling, nursing and even changing him. We love being parents!

We love you Bracken!

Proud Daddy!

This is one of my favorite pictures. I’d just finished nursing Bracken around 5:30am, but he was wide awake and kept whimpering and then cried when Brian put him back in his crib. After just a couple of seconds, Brian got back out of bed, picked up and cuddled Bracken who quickly stopped crying. Brian brought him back to bed, held him in the crook of his arm, and the two of them fell asleep for the next two hours. I had to take a picture it made me so happy. In fact, it made me feel like crying a couple of happy tears to look at my two boys sleeping so contentedly. The two people I love the most in this world.


One day old
Grandpa Clay and Grandma Lisa -- that's pretty fun that my parents are a grandpa and grandma now!

Looking at Mommy

Family Photo -- 5 days old

Snowman Family

Brian and I were bored last Saturday until he came up with the brilliant idea of making a snowman. Then once we got started we had so much fun we made a whole snowman family. You can't really see it from the picture, but the Mom and Dad holding hands cause they're Valentine's snowmen too. We laughed a lot while we made them. Pretty soon our family will have three too!

36 Weeks!

Only 4 weeks to go! I still feel good and haven't gotten uncomfortable yet. I've been cleaning, looking at baby stuff, going on lots of walks, and just getting excited for our baby to come. At my first doctor's visit the heart beat was at 160, which made us think it was a girl, but now it's down to 145, so maybe it's a boy after all. It's been fun guessing and hearing everyone's predictions of whether it's a boy or girl throughout the pregnancy. I've had everyone from friends, family, people at the grocery store, and strangers at the gym guessing what it's going to be and telling me why. From how I'm carrying to what my cravings are. It's pretty funny. But only a few more weeks and we'll all find out!

Christmas Fun

My family all went to California for the week before Christmas. It was the first family vacation we've been on in years, and we had a great time. We went to Disneyland, Universal Studios, California Adventure, the beach, 6 Flags and Sea World. The first few days it rained pretty hard. Caleb and Linsy went to Wal-Mart at 6am to get us all rain ponchos, but they had to go to 4 or 5 stores before they had any luck -- everybody else near Disneyland wanted ponchos too I guess. The day we went to Sea World it poured. Since we were already in full rain gear we decided it was the perfect time to sit in the "Soak Zones" of all the shows where the whales, dolphins, and sea lions splash you.

At Disneyland I went on all the rides we figured were okay since I'm pregnant, and then I hung out with Caleb, Linsy, Sarah, and my two littlest brothers, Dallin and Tyson. Their favorite rides were the bumper cars, the swings, and Heimlich the Caterpillar. I got sick on the little kids rides while I'd been just fine on the bigger rides. The whole trip was a ton of fun!

My First Blanket

I think my Mom about fell over when I told her I wanted to sew a blanket for our baby. After a unhappy experience sewing a 4-H project, I haven't touched a sewing machine. But I actually had fun with this. It's a safari rag quilt. You'll have to zoom up so you can see the cute animals. I'm really happy with how it turned out! I'll have to sew a girl blanket too so I'll be prepared either way. P.S. Thanks for your help Linsy!

Baby Bump!

I officially have a baby bump! I'm five months along tomorrow. I can't believe we're more than half way there. We've decided to not find out whether it's a boy or girl, we'll let it be a surprise. But sometimes I get really impatient to know! I feel it kicking all the time now. The other night just after Brian and I got in bed, our baby decided to do some karate moves --for forty-five minutes! He just kept wiggling. Brian said it must be a girl because I wiggle around for forty-five minutes every night before I fall into a sound sleep too. But we'll see. I'll probably start growing pretty fast now. Right now I'm still in my jeans, but without any extra room. Sometimes I use a ponytail or tummy sash to give myself a few more inches. I'm definitely more comfortable just wearing Brian's pajama pants when when I'm just around the house. He thinks it's pretty funny that while I have at least twice as many clothes as him, I've started wearing his clothes. It's so nice not being so sick anymore too. It finally let up around 17 weeks. Yea! So life is great.