Blog

I have to admit that I am only blogging right now out of sheer boredom. Today was declared pajama day in the Johnson residence and I am still sporting my very flattering grey polka-dot maternity sleepwear along with my ultra-comfy new house slippers. Most of the afternoon I have spent sewing bathrobes for the kids to open on Christmas Eve; it won’t be a surprise for them because I kept having Syd and Isaac try them on. When choosing the sizes of bathrobe patterns to sew for them I totally skipped the step of measuring my children – these bathrobes are going to fit them for about five years each! I ended up taking up the hem about four inches on each one, explaining to the kids that it could be let out as they get taller (getting taller is not something that happens much in this family). Isaac let me know that the correct phrase for the extra hem length was an adjustable hem. Thank you Isaac. I love it when the kids use power words.

Last week I pulled out a scarf I began knitting while still in Florida. After a few minutes of some practice I realized that knitting and purling were still in my fingers. I am trying to finish a red, white and blue scarf for Isaac’s Christmas stocking; I have found that while I sit and help Isaac practice the piano is a great time to pull out the knitting – that way I am multi-tasking! Now I just have to learn how to end a project or “knit off.” Thankfully there are some excellent web sites with demos AND we have some fabulous knitters in our ward. I’m sure I’ll be able to figure it out with some help.

The next two weeks we are taking a break from school and I have a quilt to finish. Sydney helped pick out the material (hot pink and brown – it’s for her bed) and she also sewed all of the strips together and then I sewed them into blocks and finished the quilt front. Now I need to add the borders and then put the fleece backing on it and machine quilt it together and bind it. I need to convince the dog to not lay on the floor for a few hours while I am laying it out to pin it together…

Right now I am just over 26 weeks pregnant – almost ready to enter the *twilight zone* of the third trimester. My hip flexor at the top of my left leg was bothering me for a few weeks but thankfully it has eased off a little but I’m sure that the third trimester will bring all that “fun” back in no time. It was a minor problem during Sydney’s pregnancy but quite a bit more painful when I was pregnant with Isaac.

Yesterday I spent my first REAL cold day traveling to Fairbanks. The thermostat on my mini-van ranged between -19 and -36 degrees during late-morning into the afternoon. We packed extra food, blankets, snow pants, etc to make our trip. Our day included a trip to the library, going out to lunch, picking up a prescription and taking the kids to their Taekwon-Do lesson. And after was all said and done it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be; not as easy as a winter day in Florida but very do-able. There are some interesting things that happen in -30 degree weather: after your first breath outside the contents of your nostrils freeze to the hairs; if you wear a scarf or neck warmer and cover up your nose then the warm air you breath works its way up to your eyelashes, forming little ice crystals on them – you have to blink carefully when entering a building to thaw them out; you can SMELL the cold air; you end up driving 35-50 mph all the way into town on a sheet of ice that is covering the freeway. I don’t know if we can call ourselves real Alaskans now, but at least we’ve had a good start!

Peter is enjoying his work schedule since the busy summer time is over. He is able to make it home most days by 5:00-5:30 and has been spending more time with the kids than he has ever been able to. Isaac, Sydney and Peter have all signed up for Taekwon-Do lessons and are sometimes able to make it to a family class together. Peter says he has had to suck up his adult pride a little bit while learning a new skill but he has enjoyed it so far.

Sydney has been reading so many books I can’t keep up with her. She is currently reading the Fablehaven and Artemis Fowl series; fantasy books with plenty of fairies, dragons and elves always tickle her fancy. Last Sunday she was able to play an arrangement of The First Noel in sacrament meeting; she has this amazing quality of not experiencing stage fright – WHATSOEVER. Even if she skips a measure or trips up she just moves on and doesn’t let it phase her. Her mom wishes for that same talent.

Isaac moved on from a pre-level piano book to level one. He goes around letting people know he is in the RED book now. Then mom has to explain what that means. Isaac is doing an excellent job reading and is making his way through the first few Magic Tree House books.

Sydney has been making a list of boy names for us to choose from – she has even taken name ideas from kids and teachers in primary. She seemed a little disappointed when we told her the name we are most likely going to use is not on her list (we’re not spilling the beans on the name until the little bambino is born).

This month has been very busy and we have not even approached mid-month. Peter and I evaluated of our food storage and stocked WAY up – now we have to eat most of it before we move from here in about 18 months. We have discovered that no one looks at you funny in Alaska when you fill up two flat bed carts at Sam’s Club; however, you might get asked if you live out in the bush.

Our ward had a children’s clothing exchange and I was able to find several outfits for our baby boy ranging in sizes from newborn to 18 months. I love hand-me-downs! So much less fuss when the clothes get dirty or soiled. We are going to be very brave and use cloth diapers for this baby; I have already ordered them so there’s no getting out of it now. I took some time to look back at our budget when Sydney and Isaac were babies and was astounded at how much money we spent on disposable diapers and wipes – now (at least here in Alaska) diapers are about 30-40 percent more expensive. Since we mooch off the average tax payer living in base housing and do not have a water bill, we don’t have to worry about the extra expense with cleaning them. Wish us luck… or just shake your head back and forth and think the words “crazy people” in your mind. I won’t blame you.

I am now 21 weeks along and feeling pretty darn huge; I spend way too much time thinking about how huge I’m going to eventually get and it’s not a happy thought. Cumbersome is the word that best describes my current situation; with all the snow and ice around here during the rest of my pregnancy I’m going to have to be very careful. It is nice, however, to not have to carry in all the groceries from the van or lift heavy things around the house; as long as I am feeling uncomfortable I am going to exploit it.

Sydney and Isaac are having a blast in the snow; sledding, throwing snowballs, shovelling pathways through all of our neighbors’ yards (Isaac), and making forts have been some of the favorite activities. I love to go walking outside when it is dark and see the snow glitter and glisten in the light radiating from houses and street lamps; it is a pleasant side effect of snow in a very dry climate. This year I finally convinced Peter to help me hang up Christmas lights inside our house windows; he absolutely refuses to hang them up on the roof so this is our compromise.

I seriously need to take some pictures of the kids; since we moved here I have taken only a handful. Peter and I purchased a new digital camcorder a couple of weeks ago and haven’t even used it yet. Yes, we’re pretty lame.

It’s a boy!

Ultrasound on Wednesday (October 27th). Stay tuned…

Isaac: My Uncle Tyler doesn’t wear braces anymore. Now he just wears an antenna (that’s retainer for those of you above six years of age).