Team Johnson

Connor playin

2010-06-30T14:55:00.003-04:00

Now when Jordan is in class I will normaly take Connor into the gym with me and i'll hit baseballs while Connor plays around the gym. I've done this pretty much since Connor was 6months old. The other day when I was hitting Connor went into the baseball closet and when he came out he had a helmet on and had a bat (a big bat). It was so cute and so I stopped what I was doing and just kept watching for his next move. He ended up stumbling over to where I was, grapped a baseball and put it on a "T", stepped back whipped his bat on his shoulders, and took a hack. Surprising enough, he hit it solid-just like daddy :-). He did this routine for the next 15 minutes.
So today we all went to the gym to play and we thought it would be fun to try and capture Connor in action.

Connor and Dad Playing Baseball

2010-06-16T18:22:00.003-04:00

Its so crazy how time has flown by. We haven't written in this in well over 6 months and the only excuse we have is that life was really hectic last year. These are the most up to date talents that Connor possess. He absolutely loves anything with a ball, but especially baseball. This is the first time we have been able to get Connor to play while the camera is on. I'm thinking of sending in the video to ASU and tell the head baseball coach there to keep a spot open in 17 years because this kid will be doing it all (j/k).

Connor also has a lot of new words. Some are words that only we can understand but they're words. :)

Halloween & Chicken Boy

2009-10-31T21:21:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone! Here's our Halloween post. JAke and I were in Old Navy a month ago and saw this chicken costume and couldn't leave without it! It is so adorable so Connor was a chicken for his first Halloween. The festivities started Tuesday when we went hunting for a pumpkin to carve-and I mean hunting. Nobody had any left!!! We finally found a couple at Kroger and this very nice, but crazy lady gave me an $8 pumpkin for $5. She was telling me all about how she wanted to be Abby from NCIS for Halloween and I was like, "Dude, you're like fourty..." haha...sometime I speak before I think...good thing she didn't take offense. So we went home and carved our pumpkin. I think it's a little gobblin-I don't know, but it's cute.
So last night we went to the Buena Vista Halloween party. For those of you who don't know, we live in such a small town that every holiday they close down Magnolia Ave. and have a party. One of the things they were doing was a costume contest ages 0-6 years. We decided that it would be fun to enter Connor.

How could you not love those big chubby cheekers huh? Well, there were about 35-40 kids in the 0-3 year age group that were in the contest. You had to wait in line til your number was called and then you walked up past the judges table and showed off your child and his costume. As soon as Jake walked up with Connor and his chicken suit it was all over from there. He tied for 1st with a little girl and got this awesome V-Tech helicopter that lights up and makes noise and does all sorts of cool stuff. Good job Connor!
Here he is giving Mommy kisses. He wasn't cooperating in hardly any of these pictures-he just wanted to keep kissing mom. It was so sweet!

After the victory at the town party, we went to our ward's 5th annual Chili Cook-off and Trunk-er-Treat. We had a great night and I think Connor had a fun first Halloween.

A couple things...

2009-10-24T15:18:00.003-04:00

Well my parents bought Connor this ADORABLE winter coat and we got it in the mail last week. So we had to put some pictures up of it. He doesn't like to wear it very much and will crawl around making this pathetic little whining sound when we put it on him. He also has recently started doing his "Game Face" where he'll scrunch up his nose, squint his little eyes, purse his lips, and start breathing in and out of his nose really fast and loud. It's so dang cute and he's starting to do it on command which is fun. The first picture is of his game face. :)

Connor now has four teeth-two on top and two on bottom-and is teething the the tooth on either side of his top front teeth. He's getting into everything now like cupboards and climbing the stairs. He doesn't like to play with any of his toys but instead LOVES to play with the little white tags that are attached to them. He doesn't like to have his right sock on. Everytime we put socks on him he pulls the right one off almost immidiately.

Anyway, life is good. We just got done with midterms and are happy about that. MY wonderful husband did some cleaning projects around the house today which was super appreciated. You know, I love that guy! He's pretty much the best ever. He's doing school, ROTC, student government, is in a bishopric, and is a loving husband and father. He's busy, but he always makes time to do things with his family.

I'm loving school right now but am pretty busy between that and the little dude. Next semester is going to be pretty hectic, but we can do anything-we're Team Johnson! :)

Connor + Dead Spider = YUCK!

2009-10-17T22:30:00.003-04:00

So my friend Holly told me I needed to blog this story so I thought I'd hop on and do that real quick. The other day I was sitting on the couch reading the Ensign and Connor was doing his own thing playing on the floor. He's now begining to show us everyday why we can't leave werid things within three feet of the floor. Well I knew that there was a dead daddy-long-leg spider on the windowsill, but I was waiting for Jake to get it. It'd been sitting there for like a week and Connor can't see that high, but he can definately reach the window sill when he stands up. So I look up after a minute of him playing and notice that the spider is done. I start looking on the floor and in the vent on the floor and can't find it. Well then I notice our cute little dude chomping away on something and see a little spider leg coming out of the corner of his mouth. SICK!!! Now me being the wonderful mother I am thought, "I'm not reaching in his mouth to get it! He's probably already swallowed it. It's good protein anyway." He won't remember it anyway right? Poor little guy. I promise, I'm really not a bad mom, I just don't touch spiders w/ my bare hands. I guess I should judt pick up the dead spider next time before Connor gets to it huh?

Summer has come and gone

2009-08-25T20:31:00.010-04:00

Well, it has been quite the eventful summer, and it is hard to believe that it is pretty much over. Over the course of this summer I traveled to and from Canada to swap vehicles with grammy and grampy grant. It was a pretty cool experience because I got to dive through my mission and visit with some of my favorite families before returning home to my beautiful wife and baby boy. I also got to do a lot of cool jobs, one of which was to build a staircase outside of a house. About halfway through the summer I went to Ft. Knox Kentucky to endure through 4 weeks of Army training. It is basically like basic training only it is controlled by ROTC cadets and supervised by drill sergents and officers.

For Jordan, she worked her tail to the core and took a full load of summer credits to make up for what she missed in the spring. On top of that she got straight A's. She is such a good student. I just marvel at how committed she is to her schooling. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with her this year. The greatest thing about it is that she put herself into a position to graduate at the same time as me. We both look forward with enthusiasm to the day we both graduate, and I get commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant. That will be an incredible day. Not only did Jordan work super hard in school, but she got to go up to Alaska with Connor to visit her family while I was at Ft. Knox. While in Alaska we decided to get Connor on formula, and get him eating baby food. Since then things have been great because Connor doesn't have hardly any gas and he sleeps so much better.

As a family this summer was a lot of fun. Going 4 weeks without seeing each other was really hard-nothing compared to our friends Holly and Spencer who spent a whomping 4 months apart(you guys are idols to us).
Connor is now almost 8 months old. He is well over 20lbs and is just getting bigger. Connor's new tricks are that he likes to army crawl to everything he is not supposed to, and everything he is allowed to play with he loses interest within seconds. Connor's favorits things include Daddy's guitar strings, the computer buttons, cell-phones, USB cords, and tags on the toys....not the toys. Connor likes to climb on eveything now as well. Last week he learned how to get up onto his feet and now it is the only thing he does. When one of us hold him, he starts to put his feet on us like he wants to stand up on us. It's really funny. Anyway, here are some pictures for your enjoyment. There is even a video at the end! :D. Jake going through Field Training Exercises at Ft. Knox

Peekaboo!!!!

Out playing in the rain.

Jordy with her mom and Grandma Jones with Connor

Way too long!

2009-06-28T18:20:00.006-04:00

Woah! Okay, I promise that I have a good reason for not posting in almost two months! I have been working hard at school during May and June. It's been crazy. I've taken two classes each month and the amount of work that goes into taking a whole 3 credit class in a month is astounding. Anyway, that's what I've been doing. Jake has been doing handy man type stuff for a guy in our ward and he just got done building a staircase outside of one of the many houses this dude owns. I'll post pictures. Anyway, this week Jake goes to LCT in Ft. Knox, KY. He's way excited about it too. He'll do so good. Anyway, here are the pictures and videos. Enjoy!

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T22:34:00.003-04:00

First of all, Happy Mother's Day mom!!! I love you and you're the best mom I could ever have asked for!
Secondly, I would like to say that my husband is the best one in the whole world. This week was mother's day week. WEEK! Most other moms get mother's day, but I got mother's day WEEK! Let me expain...everyday this week I got a puzzle piece with a sticky note on it saying, "On the first (or second, third etc...) day of mother's day week there was..." and it would go on to give me a clue as to where a gift was hidden in the house. It was so thoughtful!!! Jake is the best husband ever, and I'm so greatful that we have such a wonderful little boy together. Life is just great! :)

Our Friends!

2009-05-03T06:49:00.002-04:00

Jake and I just wanted to say congratulations to Pete Hansen and JJ Holt on graduating from SVU yesterday! We were busy all day with check outs and check ins that we weren't able to go, but we are really proud of you guys! Great job! We also want to say that we have had the best friends this year. We organized an FHE group at the begining of the year with the Hansens, Hirts, Holts, ans Evans. It was a great group and we love you all! We'll miss you JJ, Christanie, Brady, Pete, Sara, and Haylee! And we look forward to seeing Spencer, Holly, Jacob, Cory, and Lindsay after the summer. Good luck to all of you over the summer! Again, we love you!!! :D -Team Johnson

Pics & Videos

2009-04-21T19:59:00.006-04:00

Some pictures and videos for your enjoyment! :)

Recent Happenings

2009-04-16T22:39:00.002-04:00

Well! Team Johnson has been very busy lately and we have a few updates. About two weeks ago Jake signed on w/ the VMI ROTC program to pay for the rest of his school. Once school is done, he's committed to 5 years in the ARMY. After that he can get out, but we're looking for a retirement so he'll probably just stick it out. The ROTC program has great benefits and helps you to enter the ARMY as a commissioned officer so he won't have to start at the bottom of the food chain. Yay for us! haha It was kind of funny a couple of weeks ago because he came home and tried on his camo stuff and I thought he looked so much like my dad when he was younger. I said to my self, "Self-we're like totally living my parents life!" I was just seeing Jake in that uniform and thinking about how when my dad got in the ARMY they were just a young family too. Crazy how life comes full circle like that sometimes. :) Anyway, we had talked about the military on and off since we got married, and after hearing about the benefits of the ROTC program and prayerfully listening to General Conference, we felt like it was the best route for our little family. Since the ROTC program is a 4 year program, Jake has to go to a leadership training camp (LTC) July 4-Aug 2 in Ft. Knox, KY. When he gets back, he'll start in as a Junior and in two years we'll be outta here and in the ARMY. He's really excited about it and has always had a desire to serve his country so I think it'll be good for all of us. I don't have a problem with it all because I guess when I was little I always dreamed that I would grow up and marry someone in the ARMY because my dad was. So now I'll get to be an ARMY wife as well as brat.
More news...last week Jake was called into the University 1st Ward bishopric as the 2nd counselor. So weird right?!?!?! I thought it was really neat. We went to church and Jake was starting so sweat during the opening prayer and hymn. When it came time for the stake business and the new bishopric was put in I'm sure he felt like it was the longest walk up to the stand he'd ever made. The new Bishop is the financial aide man at our school. I we think he's going to be an awesome bishop because he's one of the nicest people we know and his wife is a gem. Jake is stoked to be in there supporting him and is already being assigned duties and things that bishopric members do. Last Sunday he and Paul (the 1st counselor-also an awesome guy with a great wife who I'm good friends with) got to learn how to do tithing and got to take it to the bank. Did you know that they have to be together the whole time they are in possession on the tithing so that there are two witnesses to everything and to keep them safe from temptation? I didn't know that, but watching them on the errand of the Lord in their suits and ties really strengthened my testimony. I could just feel the power of the priesthood and knew that they were doing good. It was really awesome. In Sacrament meeting the old and new bishoprics all got to share their testimonies and it was awesome to hear how much those people care about those that they have stewardship over. I can say that it was probably one of the more testimony strengthening Sundays that I've had. It was neat to get to listen also to the setting apart of the new bishopric. They were eached promised things that were very specific to their roles and positions in life and it was just the cherry on top of the meeting. Very cool!
So on Tuesday Jake and I got to go visit my Aunt Barbara who was in Charlottesville visiting from Alaska with a group of her students. We were able to meet her up there and got to spend about 2 1/2 hours with her walking around Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. We got so show off Connor and walk around and see the slave quarters and the gardens and most of all just spend time with Aunt Barbara. It wass exciting to get to do that because we don't get to have family out here very often so it was a special treat to get to see her.
Well, Connor is doing well. He's giggling so much now! We just love it! He's the most precious little person Heavenly Father had up there. I'm convinced of it! We tried to weigh him the other day in the weight room and thought he came out at about 16 lbs, but couldn't get an accurate number. We'll see at his next appointment though-it's on May 8th. He'll be four months on the 3rd! How crazy is that?!?!?! I feel like we've had him forever!
Anyway, I think that's all I have to say for now and I need to sleep anyhow.
Peace out from Team Johnson!

Bath Time

2009-03-17T21:17:00.005-04:00

Well tonight we video taped some of Connor's bath. He's so funny when I put him in because he makes this horrible face and I think he thinks he's going to drown. He's so adorable! As he gets used to the water he starts to smile and splash with his legs. So here goes!

Connor

2009-03-12T16:08:00.004-04:00

Well I have a couple cute pictures of the little dude. He's just so stinking cute! I love these jammies too because they're from the Moose is Loose in my hometown. This little guy is so happy! Here's an update on him. He loves to have his legs played with and loves the little piggies. He sleeps very well through the night with a 3:30am feeding probably every other night, but won't let me put him in his own bed to sleep. He is now starting to actually look at the toys that I show him and he's starting to smile at them. He loves to look at mobiles. There is one in his pack n' play and one on his swing and he loves to laugh and giggle at them. He's just discovered that his left hand is his and that he can bring it to his mouth and suck on it if he wants-he hasn't discovered the right one yet though. He is starting to stick his tongue out a lot. He squeals with delight when I pick out the sock lint from between his toes-yeah, total weirdo. He's happiest right after he has been fed and loves his mom and dad!

You all probably get so tired of seeing Connor all the time and hearing about him but I know his grandparents appreciate it so you'll have to deal. One of these days though, I'll post about something different. haha

Rolling Over & Laughing

2009-02-27T20:01:00.004-05:00

Well Connor will be 8 weeks tomorrow. Here is an update on what he's doing. He's now smiling up a storm and starting to laugh. Today though, I laid him on the floor for some tummy time and he rolled onto his side. I called my mom and dad to tell them and we decided to get on skype so they could see. For those of you who aren't familiar with Skype, it's an internet program where you hook up your webcam and you can make calls to other people's computers. So it's like talking face to face. It's way awesome for both sets of grandparents because they get to see their little grandboy. Anyway, we got on Skype and I set him down on his belly and he just flopped right over onto his back! I couldn't believe it!!! I don't think he is supposed to be able to do that at this age. He'll be two months on Tuesday. Anyway, tonight when we got home from an appointment, we put him on his belly again so Jake could see and he rolloed right over again. We got it on video so that's the first video. The second is of him in his swing. Thanks to our friends Christanie and JJ for letting us borrow it. It's been such a lifesaver! He absolutely loves it! Every time we put him in there he either falls asleep or just lays there and looks at the mobile. The last couple days, he's started laughing at the mobile while he's in there. So that is the second video.

Massive Dump!

2009-02-24T08:46:00.003-05:00

Well we've come to find out that Connor has a knack for ruining onsies. I don't know if it's the type of diaper we're using or what, but he always seems to do this when he's wearing a white onesie so I can never fully get out the stain. I tell him to do it in the toilet, but he doesn't listen. I think he does it just to spite me sometimes. ;)

Anyway, things are going well here. Jake is rockin the baseball feild and Connor and I stay home and play everyday. Fun fun! It's going to be so hard next semester not to be home with him full time. I just love it! We play and nap all day, what better life could there be?? haha Anyway, not much news with the Johnsons!

Turning Head

2009-02-01T22:40:00.003-05:00

I was finally able to get Connor on video picking up his head and turning it the other way while he was on his tummy. He does it all the time but when I pull out that camera he refuses. Anyway, he's much more alert now and is starting to be awake for a couple hours at a time. He's been sleeping great at night, but last night was tough. As soon as he fell asleep I went up and set him down in the bed and laid next to him. His little eyes popped open as soon as I laid down. So I picked him up and laid him on my chest and no sooner did I do that did he puke all over me. Good times...then he proceeded to cry for the next hour and we didn't get to sleep finally until about 2:30am. It was great...anyway, this morning he was so happy and was trying so hard to smile but just isn't there yet. I think he'll be smiling in no time though...I can't wait! :D He's always smiling and laughing in his sleep and it's just gorgeous so I can't wait til he does it on purpose! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D YAY for squishy, cute, wonderful, baby Connor!

Little Dude

2009-01-26T21:49:00.006-05:00

Alright, these videos are mainly for the grandparents because I don't think anyone else would enjoy them quite as much. However, I liked making them. This is all Connor and I do all day- make videos, sleep, and eat. Much fun, much fun. Anyway, we did these videos today while Connor was in a good mood. He was talking and chatting and smiling. I don't think he's smiling on purpose yet, but he might've been pooping. Also-I watch Dr. Phil on a pretty regular basis and today I had it on in the background while we were doing these videos. I didn't realize that he was playing video clips of people arguing the whole time so you can here bleeping in the background. Sorry about that! I guess the episode was how to "fight fair" and he was talking to a couple that were obviously not very good at it. Enjoy!

Connor's Blessing Day

2009-01-18T15:44:00.003-05:00

Well, today was Connor's blessing day. We decided we wanted to do it while my mom and dad are still around so my dad could stand in the circle too. We had some of our friends from FHE stand in too. Thanks to my dad, Spencer, Pete, JJ, and Corey for helping. Jake was so nervous, but he did a great job. I wish I could remember the blessing better, but I just couldn't help but open my eyes and see that little circle of guys using their preisthood to bless our little baby. It was just an awesome sight to see. I couldn't stop thinking about how Jake will get to do this for all of our children. Cool stuff! Anyway, it was a great blessing and Connor did really good. He just slept the whole time. He looked so cute in his little blessing outfit. Thanks goes to my mom and dad for buying it for him. He was adorable. Before we had him I wondered if it would be too big for him, but it was actually a pretty good fit because Connor is such a chunk. Everyone at church today kept saying that he doesn't look like a newborn because he's such a big boy. Anyway, it was a great day. :D

More Connor Pictures

2009-01-09T22:34:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Connor's first week home. He's just a doll! He's been holding up his head since he came out. He started smiling yesterday because he had gas. It's adorable! We've had so mnay wonderful people come and visit and they've all been so considerate about not overwhelming us by their numbers. I'm still not up to having a million people over everyday, but we've had one couple come to visit every day this week. It's nice to have such sweet and good friends here who care about us. We just appreciate everyone here so much. I've also really enjoyed having people come to visit beacuse I haven't left the house all week so it's nice to have the company.

Anyway, besides having a gorgeous child, Jake started this new semester yesterday. He's pretty excited about his classes and about baseball that is about to start. He's also very happy that he is in his very last semester of Spanish ever! I was going to take a couple classes if Connor had come earlier in the break, but since he didn't make his debut until 5 days before school started, I decided I needed more recovery time than that. I was a little bummed at first because I love school so much, but I'm looking forward to spending my days with our squishy little dude. He has me wrapped around his finger already. Even this morning after he puked up his whole meal down my front, I still thought he was awesome. I wasn't so fond of the puking part, but I loved him enough to clean it up...deep huh? haha I just love the guts out of that little dude. Jake and I are so happy that Heavenly Father blessed us with the most special little person he had up there.

Anyway, more to come later! :D

Connor Grant Johnson

2009-01-05T22:16:00.006-05:00

Alright everyone! Here is the most beautiful baby in the world! We went in Friday morning the 2nd at 8am. They gave me this little pill that usually puts people into labor and when it didn't work, they tried it again four hours later. So, the first eight hours of being in the hospital were spent eating and watching tv and waiting for something exciting to happen. At 6pm that night my dr finally broke my water and after that everything went on it's own. I had the epidural by 11pm and we mostly slept and rested throughout the night. At about 5am I was at 8.5 cm and the contractions were getting so strong that the epidural wasn't really helping anymore and from then one I could pretty much feel everything. At 8am I was at 10cm and started to push. I pushed for four hours and finally ended up with the most beautiful baby boy in my arms. He was 9lbs 1oz and 21 1/2 in long. As soon as he came out, they put him on my chest and I could feel legs kicking at my hip and I blurted, "Where does he end!?!?!" He is a big boy! I couldn't believe how big he was. So after that we just spent the rest of the time in the hospital enjoying our little dude. He loves to have his hands by his face and actually came out with a hand next to his face. He has a little red tint in his hair and I think he looks more like a Grant than a Johnson but you can see the Johnson side in him too. He has Jake's mom and grandma's chin and of course the red in his hair comes from the Johnson side too.

So, we're home now and have been chilling with my mom and dad. I think they are in love and want to steal Connor and take him home with them, but we love him too much. It's nice when I get to feed him because I get my time to hold him. He's just a sweet little guy. :D Anyway, I could ramble forever, but I'll stop and save some for another post which will probably come soon. :D

Who doesn't schedule their labor???

2008-12-31T12:13:00.002-05:00

Due to the rapid influx of inconsiderate pregnant women going into labor on their own in the Augusta and Rockbridge counties, our induction is postponted until Friday now-assuming that another wave doesn't come and knock us out of our place in line. We got the phone call about a half hour ago and now are back to playing the waiting game. There's the most current update...hopefully we'll have a baby Friday but we shall see. Until then.

Baby Update!

2008-12-30T13:36:00.003-05:00

Alright everyone! We've been waiting forever for this baby. And...he's still not here. So, at my appointment on Friday they scheduled me for induction this Friday. We got a phone call this morning saying that we could move it up to tomorrow and so that's our news! We have to call tomorrow morning at 7am to make sure everything is still good and then we are off to the hospital to have our little one. YAY! Everyone has been texting me and calling to see if we've had him and how we're doing, but now we're running very low on texts and minutes. So, Jake will be making phone calls to people (during the evening when minutes are free) and updating our blog after we have the baby. We're so excited to have him and will post again as soon as we can to keep everyone updated. :D Love you all!

Christmas

2008-12-25T21:20:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone, I just thought I'd post about our little Christmas. We had kind of like a family night last night with Jake's coach's family and it was really fun. Last night we got home and we were just hanging out and were about to go to bed at midnight when I got the crazy idea..."Let's go open our gifts!" In my mind, it was Christmas starting at 12am so why not? So we came downstairs and opened our gifts. My dear sweet husband got me a very sweet present. You know those little willow tree statues? He got me the one below and I started to cry before I even opened the box. It's so sweet and I just loved it!It was a nice Christmas. I woke up yesterday morning crying because it's the first Christmas I've not been with my mom and dad. It is tough not to be with them but at the same time I have Jake and that makes me feel great. It's wonderful to have him because he's all the family I need so as long as he's here I'm okay. I don't know what I'd do without him. He's just wonderful!
Anyway, it was also nice because we were just going to have spaghettii or something but were invited over to our Bishop's house for dinner tonight. It was really nice because it felt kind of like home with all the yummy food and great people around. Me and bishop's daughter hit it off and pretty much talked the whole night. It was too fun! There were lots of people there and it just felt like a big house full of love and good food and great feelings. I know, I'm pathetic, but I miss my family and it was nice to be somewhere the felt kind of like home.
With it being close to Christmas and me being due at any minute, I've had a lot of time to think about Mary and how she must've felt at about this time 2000 years ago. I sit and think about this little boy we have on the way and all the responsibilities Jake and I have to raise him correctly. It makes me feel inadequate sometimes-like who am I to have this job? How must Mary have felt knowing that her son was going to be the Son of God and that she would have to raise him as such. What a huge job!!! It makes me appreciate her so much for being the mother of my Savior and raising him in the way he should be.
Just a few rambling thoughts...hope they made sense...Merry Christmas everyone! :D

Any Day Now...

2008-12-23T09:15:00.002-05:00

Well, this was taken at 39 weeks, so on Friday-you can totally see the droppage in this one I think. My due date is in 3 days and we're going crazy! We want to see this little boy so badly! Even Jake is getting impatient. He's so sweet. We watched Spencer and Holly's baby the other day while they were moving to a new apartment and Jake had that little guy asleep in 5 minutes. He's so good with kids and I'm so excited that he's had so much experience with younger siblings, whereas I've changed a total of like 10 diapers in my life....sad...I know.
Anyway, school got out last week and we're getting our grades back and we both did great this semester. Does everyone remember a post a while back where I talked about what a hard time Jake has with Spanish? Well he ended the semester with an A- in spanish 3! How awesome is that!!! Now we only have one more semester of Spanish left and we can be totally done with it. WAHOO! Fall of next year will be nice because we won't have to take dumb spanish anymore and we'll both be pretty much done with GE's so we can get further into our major programs. I've decided to take 6 credits next semester-3 classes-so I can still do what I love and go to school while we have our little dude. I'm so excited for this semester because Jake will be playing his (possibly) last season of baseball and he will have two fans in the stands! How cool is that?
Anyway, we've just been hanging out since last week waiting for baby!! I've been reading and sewing to keep myself busy and Jake's been playing video games and working out to keep himself busy. We're definately running out of things to do, but hopefully we'll be making a trip to the hospital soon and then we'll never be bored again!!!

Ward Christmas Party

2008-12-13T22:23:00.005-05:00

Well, tonight was the annual ward Christmas party and there was a talent show and everything!! Neat! So, Jake and his friend Josh decided that they were going to do a number. Amidst all the Christmas songs, magic tricks, comedic acts, and dinner, they sang their little ditty-which had nothing to do with Christmas! I was greatful because I don't do Christmas songs until the week of because they're so overplayed. It was fun though. We got there an hour early to help set up and then stayed like 45 minutes after to help put away. At the end, while I was stacking chairs, the Bishop came over and started laughing at me. I was like what the heck yo? He was totally laughing at the sight of an extremely pregnant woman stacking chairs. I told him that's just the way it works...just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I shouldn't do my part to help clean up. He just kept laughing at me. So Jake and I were there until the bitter end and they rewarded us with a gallon sized bag of ham to take home! They had so much leftover that they gave it to the people who were still there. Goes to show that the Lord blesses those who serve! We are getting ready for Christmas break where we'll actually have to cook for ourselves so the ham is much appreciated! It was neat. So here are our videos from the evening! Enjoy! :D

To see his performance you'll have to go to youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYvZOA0TqXg

Baby Bump Week 38

2008-12-11T15:22:00.002-05:00

Well everyone, here is the most recent picture of the bump! I've been getting comments this last week that it looks like I've dropped a little. My parents don't think so but evreyone here does so maybe I have maybe I haven't? Hopefully he'll come soon though because I'm dang ready!!!!

Baby Bump week 37

2008-12-02T21:05:00.003-05:00

I took this picture today for all to see. I keep getting comments to post a picture of me so here it is. I'm 37 weeks in two days so I'm almost there. :D:D:D Yay for baby Connor!!! We love him and are so excited to meet him!

The House

2008-11-29T21:08:00.004-05:00

My mom and dad have been wanting to see pictures of our house and we haven't posted any yet anyhow, so here they are. I got distracted because I was on the phone w/ mom so I didn't take pictures of the upstairs, but there's the jist of our house. :D

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T20:43:00.002-05:00

Jake and I were talking on thanksgiving morning before we got up and he said something really profound. He said that, "being greatful is being a good steward over the blessings that Heavenly Father has given us. I thought that was a really interesting idea. And it's totally true. When we are good stewards over the things that we've been blessed with and share them with others, we are really showing how greatful we are for those blessings. We sat and talked about how we can be better stewards over our blessings and it was just a great note to start our day out on. After that, we had lots of friends over-everyone brought something and the food was great. We ate, had a lesson from the sister missionaries, and then spent the rest of the day playing games and just enjoying each other's company. It was a really great Thanksgiving and it's nice to know that we have a family away from home. I made my mom's stuffing and it was yummy-I think Jake and I were the only ones who thought so because we were the only ones who ate any, but we had so much fun making it the night before that it was worth it. I got Jake to try a raw oyster and he was so grossed out. It was hilarious. :D:D Anyhow, here are some pictures from the Thanksgiving festivities.

Baby Shower

2008-11-29T20:16:00.005-05:00

First of all...huge THANKS to Sara for throwing me a great baby shower. Secondly, thanks to Lindsay and Christanie for helping her with the invitations and food. And thirdly, thanks to all the people who came. It was so nice to be able to hang out with everyone and I'm so grateful that everyone brought something for Connor. It helps out so much. I have some of the best friends in the world here. :) So thanks to everyone!!! Anyhow, here are a couple pictures of the decorations and food and stuff.
These next pictures are of the baby's room with all of the awesome gifts that he got at the shower. I came home and showed Jake each and every one of them and told him who they were from and every detail I could think of. He was so sweet because I was just talking his ear off-like I always do-and he seemed like he was enjoying it. It was nice. :D We then went through and took off price tages and put everything away. Jake was having fun and that made me happy. :D:D

Unfortunately, everyone's camera's were out of battery including mine and so we never got any pictures of people at the shower. Sorry about that!

Twilight!

2008-11-22T08:09:00.004-05:00

So my wonderful husband came home from math study hall two nights ago with flowers, candy, and the idea to go see the midnight showing of twilight to celebrate 11 months of being married!! :D He knew I was dying to see it and that I was going to go with some friends of mine, but he wanted to take me instead. Sweet man! So we drove to Roanoke and went to see it. It was probably one of the funnest movies I've ever been to because the crowd was so into it. Everyone was wearing their "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" shirts. When the movie started, the theather busted into applause and the second Edward came on screen, all the girls started screaming. It was just fun! The theater completely sold out the 6 screens that they were showing it on. Awesome stuff. I enjoyed it very much. You can tell it's a low budget film, because I don't think anyone was expecting it to do that well, but I bet the next one is going to have a much higher budget because of how much this one made at the box office. I thought it stuck to the story line well and was overall pretty pleased with the actors they chose to play the characters. My one critiscim is that in parts it was a little corny or over dramatic, but hey, so were the books. Overall, if you haven't read the books, it would probably be unimpressive and you could wait until it came out on video. However, for people who have read the books, it's way exciting, nice to see it dramatized, and easy to overlook it's "blah-ness". Yay for twilight!

Too Big for the Desk!!!

2008-11-18T16:04:00.003-05:00

Oh man! Yesterday I went to my first class and when I sat down my belly rubbed against the desk. I looked down and was like, "It didn't touch the desk on Friday!" Today it was even more noticable. I can't believe how big my belly is getting, I felt like it couldn't get any bigger and then it started hitting the desk when I sit down in class. I think Connor is going to be a big boy! :D I'm just ready for him to be on the outside of my body now. Only 5 more weeks! :D:D:D We can't wait to meet him!
Also, this morning when Jake and I woke up there was a very light flurry of snow falling. It was very exciting!!! I miss Alaska where there is LOTS of snow!!! I love Virginia, but I can't wait until we move back to Alaska someday and get to stay there forever and ever. It's a lovely place! :D

Connor's Room!!!

2008-11-09T20:43:00.003-05:00

Oh my goodness!!! This weekend Jake and I had a project! My mom and dad bought us a beautiful crib, changing table, and dresser for Connor and we put it them all together Friday, Saturday, and today. It was so much fun! Jake and I are a good team. Go team Johnson! Anyhow, here are the pictures of Connor's room. :D:D This dresser was a pain to put together! We put it together last and had a little mix up with the back, but you'd never know it because we're Team Johnson and we're amazing and we fixed it without really fixing it! Yeah...you'd have to see it. It's the epitimy of awesome.

The crib is gorgeous! I love it! That blanket was made by my aunt Barbara and I think it's Jake's favorite. I wonder why? ;) He's so cute! He wants to find a Chicago Cubs mobile to put above the crib too. :D

The changing table is so cute too. The company that manufactures them makes these little braces for the underside of each layer, but they drilled the holes for the screws too far apart and so the brace for the top part where the baby actually lays isn't on there. We'll have to drill a new hole, but other than that it's exciting and will be finished soon.

That is the best picture I could take of the whole room. It's kind of cramped so I couldn't really take a picture of it all together that well, but you get the idea. Anyway, that project was awesome and we have to say a big THANK YOU to mom and dad grant for buying us a gorgeous set for Connor's room. We love you! :D

Stroller & Car Seat

2008-10-31T17:49:00.002-04:00

Well! My mom and dad sent us an awesome little car seat/stroller system and I thought I would post pictures of it. I just got done putting together the stroller which took like and hour. I also put the car seat in the car and that's where it's going to stay because I'm so excited!!! :D:D:D

Baby Bump week 23 vs. week 32

2008-10-29T15:45:00.007-04:00

This picture was taken at about 23 or 24 weeks.

Below was taken this week at almost 32 weeks.

So! As you all can tell I've gotten quite a bit bigger!!! I've been being asked to put more pictures up or even post more than once a month. Anyhow, Jake and I are very excited about our little guy that we have on the way. Two weeks ago he had an abnormal heart beat when we went to the dr and so today we went to the University of Virginia Medical center to have a fetal echocariogram done. Basically it's a long name for an ultrasound that they do only on his heart. We went in and we got to see a little glimpse of his face and his little Johnson. We also saw some toes and of course his heart. He was all twisted up in there. While the ultrasound tech was looking at Connor's heart, she said it looked textbook and she didn't see any problems with him. His heartbeat also sounded MUCH better! It was such a relief to get the good news. The dr came in to check the tech's work and decribed what could've been the problem and that anything that it could've been, was no longer an issue. He said that Connor's got an awesome looking heart and that he's just fine.We took this picture along with a couple others this morning on our way to UVA. One thing that Virginia has that Alaska doesn't is a beautiful fall season! The trees turn orange, red, yellow and then some are still green and it's just grorgeous. I love it!
So anyhow, Jake and I are doing well and are having fun. We are both doing well in school and are enjoying our alone time together before the baby comes. We are so excited for him to get here though. Mom and dad ordered us a gorgeous crib, changing table, and dresser for Connor and Jake is so excited to put it together. It's like a manly thing to do or something. He's so cute. He's started talking about it more and more. On Sunday we were leaving lunch and he kicked the ground like he was pouting. I asked him what was wrong and he looked at me and said so sincerely, "I want our little guy!" I guess he had been looking at all the babies at church that morning and was feeling Connor doing flips and just wanted him to come out so he could hold him. What a sweetheart. He's so excited and so am I. We can't wait to see what he looks like and be able to count fingers and toes. :) Anyhow, we're all doing well and getting along great. We'll post again soon with a picture of our price of gas. It's pretty exciting! :D

Long Time, No Post...

2008-09-25T23:14:00.003-04:00

Well, it's officially been forever since we last posted. We've been busy with school, church, and baseball. Jacob's grandma and grandpa Skinell came to visit us from Phoenix this last weekend and it was great to see them. They treated us to a couple of meals and some new maternity clothes for me. Sweet people they are! It was a great blessing to have them here. Sometimes we feel like we're so far away from anybody that we'll never see family again, but it was so nice for them to stop in with us while they were traveling. :)
Jake is having a blast with fall baseball. He's hitting better than ever and loving the outfield. He reminds me of a little kid when he goes to practice because he's so excited.
The other night we decided to run to walmart to look for a few things for Connor. We found some cute little onesies that had baseballs on them and one says, "Little slugger" and has a bat and bal right next to the wording. SO CUTE! Jake was really getting into picking things out for him. He picked out a really soft fleece dog that you pull a cord and it does the melody to a lullaby. He lit up when we found it. You can tell he can't wait to have Connor here. We both see people at church holding their band new little guys and we get so excited for when our little dude gets here. Jake's excited to get to take him everywhere with him, although with me breastfeeding, I don't think little dude will get to be far from mom.
I'm 27 weeks now and getting pretty big. I can't believe how fast it's gone so far. Only three more months!!! The rest of this semester will probably be just as fast. Next week I have to go get a gestational diabetes test done. I guess they make you drink this really sweet syrup-y stuff and make you sit for and hour before they draw your blood and then you're done. Sounds like fun to me...I suppose. After my last appointment the dr. told me that I'm a week further than what I thought I was, so it looks like that bumps my due date up to the 26th of December, but I don't know. I think we won't have a little Connor until the begining of January, but we'll see when he decides to come out.
School is great. We are both up to our eyes in work every night, but I like my classes a lot and Jake likes his too. The only one that we're really not enjoying is our dumb art history class. Jake is loving his Intro to Accounting class though. He had a 50 point quiz today and got a 95%. He loves it because he understands how to do it. He's also not stressing as much about spanish this year. He has such a hard time in Spanish, but this semester has gone pretty smoothly so far. He's understanding the concepts and doing quite well. It makes me happy to see him get Spanish, because usually he has such a hard time, but all is well and we are stoked about that.
Anyhow, we're loving life right now and appreciating all the wonderful blessings that Heavenly Father has poured into our lives. I'm so glad that Jake and I get to be together forever, and that our little Connor will be sealed to our family also. One day though, he'll have his own wife and kids and the cycle will continue. Pretty cool if you ask me!! :D

Baby Bump...week 21

2008-08-26T23:40:00.002-04:00

Alright alright...many have asked when they will get to see pictures of the baby bump so here it goes. This was a week ago, but I feel like I've grown so much since then. Weird how fast it's all going!

Jake was able to feel him move for the first time a couple days after we got to Alaska. It was so awesome for both of us to get to share taht experience. Since Connor started moving around in there, he really hasn't stopped. He goes from the minute I wake up until I go to bed. I'm already thinking that he is going to be a very exhausting little boy, but I'm so excited about that! I just think about how much I already love this little person and I'm so psyched that Jake and I get to be the ones to have him in our family. Feeling him move around in there helps me to have the assurance I need between dr's appointments to know he's okay. Before I could feel him I would worry so much that there was something wrong with him, or that I was doing something wrong and didn't know it. Now when I want to know if he's okay in there I just sit still for a minute or so and he starts to wiggle and it lets me know that all is well. Jake and I just can't wait to meet our little Connor! :D:D

A few pictures from Alaska

2008-08-10T21:19:00.005-04:00

The following pictures are from our trip to Alaska that we took July 27th-August 12th. It was so nice to get to spend that time there with my family. The pictures are pretty scrambled because I haven't figured out how to get them on here the way I want to have them yet. This blogging thing is still kind of frustrating. Anyway, these should give you a general idea of our time in Alaska-hanging w/ parents, fishing, and playing with dogs...it was so relaxing. We loved every minute!! Above is myself and my mom right before we went out on Ressurection Bay.
Below is my mom and dad's new little baby-Lexie. She's so pathetic. She is so sweet too. She's a little boxer, which is nice for our older one-Chloe-because now she has someone to play with that knows all her tricks.
The two pictures below are of our little apartment in Robey Hall. This was our first home...in a boys dormitory. It was small and squishy, but it was home. While we were in Alaska we found our that we got the Resident Director position at the Carriage Town Homes off campus so now we have a three bedroom and two bathroom place that the school lets us stay in. It's really nice to have the space...especially for our little Connor who will be here in January. Anyway, we had to take some pictures to remember our Robey home by. :D

Below is my fantastic husband and my wonderful dad right be for a day out on the Kenai river for King Salmon fishing. Right there it was about 5am. We were in the water by 6am and were pretty much there until midnight. All day we only got one real good bite. I had the dang thing on for like 30 seconds before it snapped my line. I bet it was a world record fish too... :D
This little fish below is one of the only two fish that Jake was able to catch in Alaska. It was a cute little guy, but we sent him back out in the water to get bigger. :D
Below is an interesting scene. For those of you not from Alaska...this is a razor clam. We go out to the ocean, waiting for the tide to go out, which is easily predicted with a tide table. You wait for the tide to go out far enough and then you start to look for little dimples in the muddy sand that is left when the tide goes out. Then, you take your "clam gun" (which is an 8 inch wide in diameter metal cylinder) and shove it down in the mud over the dimple. You put your finger over the hole in the handle to create a suction and then you pull up the mud. The clams are so fast at digging deep into the mud that it usually takes three or four tries to actually reach the clam. When you've caught your limit of clams, you take them home and to expedite the cleaning process, you put them in boiling water for about a minute and a half just to get them to open their shells. Afterwards you open them and cut out anything that isn't white. The final product usually ends up taking FOREVER to clean, but if you have a good clam chowder recipie, then it makes it all worth it. YUM!!! Clamming is truly one of the funnest things you can do in Alaska!
This is Jake and I right before we went on the long voyage into Ressurection Bay in Seward, Alaska. The plan was for us to catch something, but once again...skunked...

IT'S A...

2008-07-25T11:21:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone! Jake and I have some very exciting news for you all! We had a dr appointment yesterday and they wanted to do an ultrasound first. So we went in, and the lady asked me if we wanted to know what it is. Of course I was like, "Heck yes!" So she showed us and took a few pictures. So here they are. Yep, it's a boy! It's neat because this time around it looked like a little baby in there instead of just a little gummi bear. The first picture is a profile view of his little face. At the bottom you can see a little forhead and the rest of his little face. Then in the second picture, his legs are crossed at the ankles and yout can see his little calf and thigh bones and then the little Johnson! The ultrasound tech had to dummy proof it for me and lable so I could remember where it was when I showed it to other people, but there it is next to the little arrow. Jake and I were really surprised when we found out because we just knew it was going to be a little girl, but nope. We are very excited to have a little boy join our family though. Jacob was sitting over there sniffling and I think a tear or two escaped. He's so excited that we're having a boy because he feels like he knows what to do. I'm excited, because Jake will have a little baseball buddy and hopefully someday we'll have a little missionary and all the cool things that come with having a boy. I know that this little boy is going to be just like his daddy and that means LOTS of energy and an exhausted mommy! ;) We're very excited!!!
Anyhow, just thought we'd let you all in on the news! :D:D

A Word from Jake

2008-07-22T12:13:00.005-04:00

This is me on Saturday's.... bring on baseball!
Jordan told me that I have to start writting on this thing as well so I am gonna give it a whirl. Being back in VA has been great. Since being home all I have really done is work on a couple houses on campus, and help paint a friends home. It's been a lot better than selling. Yeah, I don't get paid as generously, but at least I am sane and feel like I am getting somewhere. I have no complaints.

Last week Jordan and I went to see The Dark Night on opening night! I recommend it to anyone. It is hilariously, suspenseful. With a bit of psychoticness. We loved it. It wasn't the best night in the world though. At the Lexington theater there isn't a lot of room and they only show a movie twice a day. The movie opened at 7pm on Friday, and we tried to get to that showing but it ended up selling out, so we had to wait til' 10pm for the final showing. On the way back to the theater that evening I ended up getting pulled over and getting a speeding ticket. It was REDICULOUS! On the way to Lexington the speed limit is 55mph then just as your driving into town it goes to 35 and then right to 25. Now I can admit that I was trying to get to the movie to get a good seat, but just as I was driving into town Jordan freaked out and told me to slow down and that a cop just flipped a U-ee after me. I wasn't even aware of how fast I was going. evidentally I was going 38 in a 25. It's not that I was driving recklessly. COME ON!!! That's just the way things are in these small towns. Cops got nothing else better to do. Needless to say I am still a little upset about it.

In other news we are pretty excited about this week because we are going to get Jordan another ultra-sound possibly to see what the baby is going to be. I'm pretty stoked about that because I can then identify the child rather than just saying "baby." On top of that we are leaving for Alaska on Sunday, and I am going to get to go fishing for the first time in 4 years. This time I get to go for the real fish. We are going King Salmon fishing and then I am going Halibut fishing with Jordan's Dad and brother Jesse. Bring it on! I am hoping to catch a 100 lb fish. And we will post pictures after the trip.

Finally, Jordan got a hair choppin' the other day and she looks quite cute! Dashing if you ask me! And this is a picture of her.... after seeing it you have to say awwwww!!!!

SAY IT!!! AWWWWW!!!

Nice to be Home

2008-07-06T15:19:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone! We just thought it was time for another one of these little things so here we are. On Wednesday of this last week we decided that it was time to go back to Virginia. Working for APX wasn't bad, but it really wasn't for us. So on Thursday we spent the day packing and getting ready for the 7 and a half hour drive home. After we had packed our buns off, we went to see downtown Nashville for the first time all summer. We walked all over that place. There were so many cool things to see. On every block there was at least 3 or 4 bars with the doors wide open with young aspiring artists jamming their country songs, trying to be heard by someone important. There were also a bunch of gift shops! We went in a couple and tried on their cowboy hats-which looked awesome. However, besides all those cool things, my very favorite part of the whole trip was that when we walked by one of the breaks between buildings, we saw two bums! Now Jake has lived in the city his whole life and this was no new thing for him, but to me, it was one of the weirdest things I'd ever seen. Now you're probably wondering why this-of all things-was my favorite. It was because it made me realize how fortunate I am to have a place to live that isn't a cardboard box. It maybe almost as small as one, but it certainly is way better than one. This experience was just such an eye opener, that it really made me more grateful for what I have. We had a great night in Nashville though.

The next day we were on our way-hey, I'm a rhymer...we packed up and headed out. I love to go on adventures like that with Jake because he's so much fun. We laughed and talked and laughed and talked the whole way. Well, we started seeing cars on the side of the road and thought to ourselves, "We should stop and help someone!" So, we came upon this car that was pulled over and so we stopped and Jake got out to go see if they needed help. The lady in the car seemed really freaked out and mad, so Jake turned around and we realized that a police man had pulled up right behind us. The police guy told us we could go. I think what had happened is that the couple had been fighting and one of them had called the police. Hey, maybe because we were there it stopped them from totally killing each other before the police man got there? It was funny.

Anyhow, we kept driving and when we finally pulled into BV and smelled that nasty stinking river, it never felt more like home. Jake and I are so glad to be back. You know, Alaska will always be my home and Pheonix for Jacob, but when we pulled into town the other night, I just knew that this is our home together. I think we'll be here for a long while and I'm pretty excited about that. Going to our own ward today felt like home too. Anyway, I think we both came to realize, that while it's nice to go on vacation, it's even nicer to get home afterwards. :D

Thoughts

2008-06-20T19:16:00.003-04:00

Well, Jake and I have officially decided to start this whole blogging thing. We've had it up forever, we just hadn't posted anything, so after the prodding of Whitney and Katie, I decided I'd start. We're in Tennessee for the summer and are having fun. I like it here because it's so green and pretty that it reminds me of Alaska sometimes. :D Jake is working for APX alarms and that's been quite an adventure. I don't think we'll do it again next summer, but we have met a lot of great people here.

So two mornings ago Jake and I decided we are going to visit Alaska July 27th-August 4th. We are so excited!!! I just can't wait to be around my family and I know Jake is just as excited. We're also pretty excited about school starting. I've always gotten kind of restless during the summer. I just love the craziness and busy-ness that the school year brings. I like to go to class and I like to learn new things. I think Jake is pretty excited about his classes this semester too. We're both elated at the fact that we only have to suffer through Spanish for one more year! YAY!!! Jake has a harder time with it than I do, but he does a lot better than he gives himself credit for. I love being in school with him because we're both so competitive that we push each other to get better grades and it helps a lot. He's really sweet to me and makes stressful days wonderful and bright days even brighter. We're also very excited for this coming baseball season. We love it! I never was a baseball fan until I married Jake and saw him in those cute pants, but now it's great! It's fun to see him do what he loves to do and I can't wait for this season. I always wear one of his jerseys and bring a big, embarassing sign so all those girls know he's already got a number one fan. :D We love baseball!

So as far as baby news goes, we're pretty excited about that too. Today is our six month anniversary and we realized that I've been pregnant for half the time we've been married. Funny little fact...anyhow...everyday when we wake up we play with the little bump on my tummy. It's weird but way awesome. Today I'm pretty sure I could feel it moving around in there because something was going crazy and I was pretty sure I didn't have gas. It was like butterflies that wouldn't settle down. I'm pretty excited about this, but I'll be even more excited when I don't have to guess if I'm feeling gas or my baby. haha It'll be fun. Jake likes to look at my belly everyday and always tells me how great of a mom he thinks I'll be. He's so excited to be a daddy too. My mom and dad sent him the cutest card for father's day that he just adores and swears he's going to keep forever. He plays everything like he's a tough guy, but everytime he talks about the time that he finally gets to hold his little baby for the first time you can tell he's as soft as mashed potatoes. He'll be an awesome daddy.

Anyhow, I figure this is long enough for a first post, but we'll post again soon. Maybe even with pictures! :D:D:D