life and the zoo

Recently we finally made it out to the Sonora Desert Living Museum in Tuscon. It was really cool! Bryce was great and slept the entire time, and Brynn loved the animals (especially the otter). Oh, and we got to try out the new double stroller - I can't believe I have two kids!

(Prairie Dogs)

This is old news, but I am becoming quite used to being behind on everything. In early May, we had an early heat wave. 14 strait days over 100 degrees. In May. Ugh. Soon after we had a couple of cooler, overcast days, so of course we spent LOTS of time at the park. I do NOT take cool, or even COLD weather for granted. Here in Arizona, NO day is too cold for me!!! I love them all, they make me feel less homesick. I can't say the same for Utah's cold days....

See the clouds? Hooray for clouds! Sometimes I get sick of the sun.

I guess Bryce didn't care about the cool weather. Sleeping as usual. During the DAY. And NOT at night, grrr.

As you can see, we are ALL suffering from lack of sleep. It's usually been extremely rare for Brynn to fall asleep anywhere other than her bed, but not anymore!

On another unrelated note, Marty and I had a fun date tonight! We saw the movie "Night at the Museum 2" and really liked it! I love movies like that, and Marty (the history major) especially does. It's not like we expect a comedy to be historically accurate or deep, but it's just fun to see how they depict the characters. And then I have fun picking Marty's brain later about some of the different people and hearing about what they really did, or were really like. We discussed it over awesome burgers at Johnny Rockets! It's a fun 1950's-looking diner. I told Marty that this is our big date of the month and that I was going for it - I was getting a root beer AND a strawberry shake and no one was going to stop me! But then I saw that shakes were 5 bucks and I stopped myself. Of course my SWEET and WONDERFUL and THOUGHTFUL husband picked one up for me later on his way home from grocery shopping. Even though he hasn't been eating sweets and ice cream is his favorite thing in the world. Sigh. I love my husband.

Well, that is my random post. :)

New smile!

Over the past couple of days Bryce has been finding his smile. Here is what the process looks like:

I think seeing your kid smile for the first time is one of the best mommy experiences ever!

Close call

On Sunday, Marty was asking Brynn about nursery.

Marty: Brynn, did you have fun in nursery today?
Brynn: Ya!
Marty: What did you do in nursery?
Brynn: I played with poo!
Us: Uh..........
Me: Brynn, did you go poo-poo in you panties?
Brynn: (silence)
Marty: Brynn, did you go-
Brynn: Winnie-the-pooh!
Us: OOOOH! That's great!

Alaskans

My brothers and sister-in-law flew in from Alaska last weekend and spent a couple days with us before heading up to Utah (my freaky-genius brother had a physics convention and he brought Corey and Helen with him). We had so much fun! We played games, and ate TONS of ice cream...I mean we REALLY pigged out on it.

Apples to Apples (fun game)

Alaska is so far - I am SO glad my brothers have been able to see both my newborns

I like these guys :)

They were here for Mother's day, and it was SO great! I think I need to have three awesome men around every Mother's day. Marty made a fabulous breakfast (as usual), and the boys and Helen made the BEST BBQ salmon dinner that night. All I had to worry about that day was the baby, and it was wonderful.

Then they surprised me with the start of a garden. I keep saying I am going to start one, and since they are really into gardening (they are building their own greenhouse in AK!) they really helped me out. I love the pics of Brynn helping. I wish I could have been there to see it, but then that would have spoiled the surprise. :)

I wanted them to try out the popcorn game they gave us, and Justin became the first person ever to make a basket.

They entertained Brynn with some partner juggling...

she cracked up every time they dropped a ball
and then she tried it, too.


They gave Brynn these really cool window markers, which I think will come in very handy when I am trying to get anything done in the kitchen (which just has NOT been happening lately).

I get the feeling they like their niece and nephew. Which is a really fun feeling to get.

More random Mother's day pics

Also random, Daddy and Brynn had a really fun time washing the cars together.

Something to show for it

Well, at Bryce's two week check-up, he was already 9 pounds - an entire pound more than he was at birth!





Check out the rolls on this kid! I love the feeling that I have something to show for all that feeding, since I am pretty sure that's all I EVER do, day OR night.

Double chin!

Leg rolls!

My sleepy guy can't even stay awake for a bath!

Marty and I fight over who gets to part his hair after a bath!

My first day outnumbered

Since my parents left Sunday, yesterday was my first day alone with the kids. I wanted to keep a detailed journal of what my first day alone with two kids was like so that I could always remember it. Although, maybe I'd rather forget it. No, actually it wasn't too bad, we survived. Here it is.

Sunday night: Good, the baby slept well between feedings, but was ready to greet the day bright and early at 4:30.

5:15: Still wide awake, so I decide to take a shower, since I can't figure out how to take one without Brynn torturing Bryce. Marty interrupts to tell me that Brynn is crying for Grandma and Grandpa and offers to go get her. I hustle out and get dressed so that Marty isn't late for work.

Brynn is good for quite a while and Bryce and I take it easy.

7:00 we go downstairs to get breakfast. But Bryce wants to eat first, so it's puzzle time for Brynn while we both start to get pretty hungry. While I'm feeding Bryce, Brynn climbs up on the coffee table and gets time-out...then realizes Mommy can't put her in time-out while nursing and continues to climb up while I give out empty threats.

During breakfast I find out Bryce likes his swing. It's the first time I've been able to put him in since Brynn is contained in the high chair and can't "help" push him.

The rest of the morning goes pretty smoothly, with Brynnie and I pretty close to our old routine (except scratch the housework - my poor body is still recovering).

By 9:30 I start to feel pretty ambitious, so I get everyone and everything ready to go down the block and to the park. But by the time all that work is done, I'm all tuckered out, so we settle for running through the sprinklers in the back yard instead.

More smooth time. But I can't ever for the life of me remember to drink water until I'm all settled and nursing and can't go get it.


Ahhh, Bryce is asleep. In a desperate attempt to keep Brynn stationary and out of trouble for just a few minutes, I offer a bath with her special new Cinderella soap from Grandma and Grandpa. She falls for it (Mwa ha ha)! I get my pillow and thow it down in the hallway where I can watch her. The hard floor has never been so inviting! Arg, baby screaming. Hmmm...how do I wash Brynn's hair one-handed...there are remnants of her last four meals in her hair, I really should wash it....I'm going to call Rachel and have her remind me of the baby store that sells baby slings.

Lunch-time: corn dogs and yogurt, anyone? Here is where I start counting down the minutes until Brynn's naptime (and mine). So far I have managed to not clock-watch, but now that I have given in, I think Brynn's nap will never come!

1:00 Ahh...we're all ready for a nap. Bryce is asleep in the cradle, Brynn is in her crib, my bed is so soft. Brynn plays/cries in her crib for an HOUR and a HALF and I find out that a toddler who is up at 5:00 and doesn't nap is almost as cranky as a post-partum mommy who was up all night and misses a nap. But Brynn, being too smart for her own good, showers me with kisses and all is forgiven.

4:30 The last few hours of juggling nursing Bryce and playing with Brynn have again gone well, but now I am counting down the minutes until 5:00 when Marty gets home. My body is screaming at me now, so...another movie, Brynn?

5:00 I love Relief Society!!! Dinner comes to my door from my sweet visiting teacher, and not a minute too soon.

The rest of the night is kind of a blur as my mind stops functioning and I stop journaling. My hero, Marty came home and to the rescue taking care of diapers, dishes, tantrums, and Brynn's nasty poopy panties. Although later that night a miracle happened and she went into the bathroom and pooped on the potty all on her own! Let's see, I also remember Marty doing FHE and...more and more nursing....ya, my brain really did turn off. And if you can't tell, it is now shutting off again. This is the last time I try to put down coherent thoughts after 8:00 p.m. That is until Bryce is a little older.

And that's my first day being outnumbered by kids! We survived!

Today went even smoother. The question I am left with tonight is, WHEN do you EVER get anything done between entertaining kids? Hopefully I'll keep growing into this mommy thing and figure it out.

On another note, I took Bryce to the doctor for his weight check today and he was 7lb 15 oz! So we no longer have to worry so much about his weight. It feels so good to know that all of my hard work nursing is paying off!

I'm back...sort of

Bryce Allan Johnson

First few days at home...
















sleepy....















and mellow.

So far we've been really lucky with this sweet little guy. He's not much of a crier yet. Usually when he cries it's something legitimate like he's hungry or needs a diaper change or a burp. And then as soon as you take care of it he's mellow again. He is SO sleepy, too. We have to set the alarm at night to wake him up to get him to eat.

We were so lucky to be able to have my parents come out on Saturday, the 25th. My dad stayed for a few days, and my mom was able to stay until today! I don't know how I could have survived without them! The first couple of nights my mom kept Bryce with her and just brought him to me when he was hungry, which was a life-saver. And of course she worked her fingers to the bone and put up with Brynn's tantrums all day so I could have some quality time with Bryce. I love you, Mom and Dad! It absolutely kills me to think that the next time my parents see Bryce, he will no longer be a newborn, but I am counting down the days until we can visit them in a couple months.

Brynn is trying to make adjustments. Considering what a light sleeper she is, I have been surprised at how well she is doing at night. Bryce's crying still hasn't woken her up. However she is always a little too excited to have a baby brother. Whenever he is asleep she gets up in his face and laughs and laughs and then laughs harder when she startles him. And then tries to tickle his tummy and then gets sent to time-out and so on. But so far, nothing too brutal.

Sunday, April 26th

So here are the details of Sunday. We went in to be induced Sunday morning at 5 a.m. I was dilated to a 3, so we were hoping this time around would go a little faster. And it definitely did! Things were progressing and going smoothly for a couple hours until Bryce decided he didn't care much for contractions, and his heart rate was going way down. Our nurses said it was a good thing we were getting the little dude out of there that day, poor guy. He was probably pretty unhappy on Wednesday when I was having all those big contractions all night long. I love my doctor. She really has a good poker face. Being busy with, you know, labor and everything, I guess I missed a lot of the exchanges going on between the doctors and nurses, and had no idea until after he was born how close I came to a c-section. Marty caught it all, and thankfully he had a pretty good poker face, too. But they held off and before I knew it, it was time to push and he kinda just flew right out! I think this guy was READY. My doctor was teasing me later for being the only patient she's ever had who has given birth and then as soon as my mom came in the room I guess I said, "That was so easy!" But, ya know, I only had Brynn's torturous labor to compare it with, and it was not at all the same.

And so, little Bryce was born at 1:56, happy, healthy, handsome, and with a stylish little part in his hair. We just spent Sunday night at the hospital and then went home Monday evening. And we all lived happily ever after. The end.