Some of you may know that my brother and sister-in-law, Dan and Abby Person, lost their baby girl at 24 weeks pregnancy. Please pray for Abby, Dan, and big sister Ayla during this difficult time of loss, that they may be embraced in God's comfort, peace, and love.
Evelyn "Eve" Dorothy Person
Friday, October 22, 2010
10:30 pm, 1.68 lbs.
Eve's name means "Little bird, Gift from God"
We love you, Eve. You will always be in our hearts.
Matthew 19:14
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
* More pictures of Calla Marie *
We've been home from the hospital now all afternoon and evening, and so far, things are going well. Mckenna seems interested and at times excited about her new baby sister. All four of us sat down to dinner tonight, Calla sleeping in her little rocker, and even Nemo laid down near Calla - maybe her protective instincts are already kicking in. Matt and I just looked at each other while we ate and talked to Mckenna... are we really sitting here with our TWO girls? Kinda crazy, but overwhelmingly satisfying in a very loving way.
Here is a beautiful slide show of photos of Calla, taken when she was one day old. Thank you to Jessica Person (our wonderful sister-in-law) of First Day Photo for taking these pictures - we love them!
For some reason blogger isn't letting me put the direct link on here at the moment, so you'll have to copy and paste the link into your browser. The pictures are set to music, so you can turn your speakers on if you want. Enjoy!
http://video214.com/play/qZ0t1hIw7UoWg4lODAN6ew/s/dark
Here is a beautiful slide show of photos of Calla, taken when she was one day old. Thank you to Jessica Person (our wonderful sister-in-law) of First Day Photo for taking these pictures - we love them!
For some reason blogger isn't letting me put the direct link on here at the moment, so you'll have to copy and paste the link into your browser. The pictures are set to music, so you can turn your speakers on if you want. Enjoy!
http://video214.com/play/qZ0t1hIw7UoWg4lODAN6ew/s/dark
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Calla Marie Johnson
Here are some first pictures of Calla. More to follow later on, but for now, enjoy seeing these first peeks at this sweet girl! :)
This frame was on the wall in the first room I was checked in to to be assessed. A very perfect thought for what was soon about to happen...
She's here!
Proud Daddy...
Happy Mommy...
Calla Marie - the name Calla means "Beautiful" and the name Marie is my middle name.
Happy big sister Mckenna meeting her long awaited and anticipated baby sister for the very first time - it was such a sweet, tender moment. :)
The official "big sister" bracelet that Mckenna got when she came to the baby floor at the hospital. I'm pretty sure she felt really special!
More pictures to come, but maybe not for several days. We have some family bonding to do and adjusting to our new family of four! Stay tuned...
This frame was on the wall in the first room I was checked in to to be assessed. A very perfect thought for what was soon about to happen...
She's here!
Proud Daddy...
Happy Mommy...
Calla Marie - the name Calla means "Beautiful" and the name Marie is my middle name.
Happy big sister Mckenna meeting her long awaited and anticipated baby sister for the very first time - it was such a sweet, tender moment. :)
The official "big sister" bracelet that Mckenna got when she came to the baby floor at the hospital. I'm pretty sure she felt really special!
More pictures to come, but maybe not for several days. We have some family bonding to do and adjusting to our new family of four! Stay tuned...
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Baby Girl Johnson has arrived!
We are blessed to announce the birth of...
Calla Marie Johnson
Born 10/19/10 at 3:13 am at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina, MN
6 lbs 12 oz, 19 inches long
Proud parents Matt and Julie and big sister Mckenna
Labor and delivery went smoothly and quickly, and mom, dad, and baby are doing great. We thank God for our healthy and beautiful new baby girl!
Thanks so much for all your prayers. We will post pictures on here soon.. stay tuned! :)
Calla Marie Johnson
Born 10/19/10 at 3:13 am at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina, MN
6 lbs 12 oz, 19 inches long
Proud parents Matt and Julie and big sister Mckenna
Labor and delivery went smoothly and quickly, and mom, dad, and baby are doing great. We thank God for our healthy and beautiful new baby girl!
Thanks so much for all your prayers. We will post pictures on here soon.. stay tuned! :)
Monday, October 18, 2010
Maybe having a baby?
Just a quick update for Monday, 10/18/10 - 7:45 pm. Went to the OB today, we scheduled an induction appt at the hospital for this Wednesday night. But I started having contractions several hours ago, called into the doctor to let them know, and they said that I should head on in to the hospital to be monitored and to see if I am indeed in labor. Mckenna is down to bed for the night, and Matt and I are just waiting for my parents to come over and stay with Mckenna. Please say some prayers, and we'll keep you posted - so excited! :)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
39 weeks and counting!
I can't believe that my due date (Oct. 13) is now less than a week away! We are so excited, we can't wait to finally meet this little girl face to face. There are so many questions floating around in my mind... when will she come? How will my labor be? What will it be like to have another child in the house? How will Mckenna react to the new baby? I'm trying to take a deep breath and relax as much as I can in these last few days, but I can't help that my mind keeps coming back to these questions and more.
On Wednesday (my 39 week mark) I got a prenatal massage, which was absolutely fantastic! (For those reading this that have never done that, it is so fabulous - I highly recommend it!) Matt took this picture of me on our deck after I got home, so I was majorly relaxed and probably look like it (or just tired, which I am too), and my head had been massaged by oiled hands, so my hair was in fine form. Oh well, I guess I have the look of a worn out mom-to-be. :)
As I was pulling the car out of the garage to head to my massage appointment, Matt urged me to not think about overwhelming thoughts during the massage, but rather think happy thoughts and try to relax. One might think that this goes without saying when heading to such a fun appointment, but I did really need the reminder. So for the hour plus I was there, these are the happy thoughts that were swirling around in my head:
*I have the best, most supportive husband in the world. He loves God, loves me, loves his family, is a wonderful husband, father, son, and friend, is honest and trustworthy, is kind, caring, and sensitive, is strong and reliable, is a hard worker and an awesome teacher, is really a funny guy that loves to make people laugh... and the list goes on. How I got so lucky, I have no idea. But I am so thankful and blessed to have him in my life.
*Mckenna is amazing. She is sweet yet tough, smart yet silly, loves her parents and bigger family, loves her dog, loves her friends, and even seems to love her baby sister in mommy's belly that she has yet to meet. She loves to read, and especially loves her children's Bible and all of the interesting stories in it, and her newest and cutest phrase is, "Love you, Jesus!" My heart literally feels like it will burst when I think about how much I love her, and I'm excited to see her in the new role of big sister. How will I love another child as much as I love her? It's hard to fathom, but I know my heart will grow tenfold to house all the new love coming my way.
*I already love this new baby girl so much, and I haven't even met her yet. I talk to her, write to her, watch her move in my belly, give her little love rubs, and think about her all the time. How can I not, especially when she is with me 24/7? :) This little girl is coming in to a family full of love, and I can't wait for her to be home with us soon and very soon! I know life is going to get that much more busy, but I feel ready as I can be, and welcome this new change with open arms.
*I love to teach, I enjoy my job, and feel blessed to work somewhere that I really believe in. My students are great, and even though I'm going to be home for several months with the new baby and it will be wonderful, I will miss them and miss watching them learn and grow. When I return to school after our Christmas break, I know I will be sad knowing that my time at home with my girls is over until our summer break, but I also know that I will be excited to get back to the routine of work that I love and seeing all the students and my co-worker friends again. Now how many people can really say that? I'm guessing not too many...
I thought about a few more things during my hour of extreme relaxation than the above, but to sum it all up? I feel loved, happy, excited, blessed, and lucky! To some this all may sound like cheesy optimism, but to me it is my honest and truthful reality.
So... we will keep you posted! And keep checking our blog to see any news and updates - we will definitely keep everyone informed. And we have a lot of fun pictures to share from our vacation in Mexico in July, so that's my next blog task. Hopefully I can conquer that in the next few days. Until then... happy Thursday and weekend ahead everyone!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Looking back... June 2010
June was actually a bit slower month for us than the rest of the summer, mostly because we were finishing up the school year and staying around home the rest of the month because we went to Mexico at the beginning of July. Below are some pictures from our June - enjoy!
Several times this summer Mckenna and I drove to Bloomington for a summer program they had going called the "Monday Morning Kids Series." Every Monday morning during the summer the various parks in city of Bloomington hosted a different show especially geared towards young children. The shows were about one hour long or so and included music, magic, juggling and outdoor activities. It was fun for Mckenna and I to get out of the house, and Mckenna is always about hearing music, dancing, and being active, so it was perfect. A few times we met Abby and Ayla, and a few times my mom came with us - fun! Below are some pictures from our summer Monday mornings.
Mckenna LOVES her cousins! She talks about all seven of them quite a bit (Gwen, Sonja, Ayla, Jacob, Thomas, Sarah, and Joel.) Here is Mckenna enjoying some time with her Aunt Abby and Cousin "A-ya." This show was a one-woman kids music act, and the girls were standing up dancing, eating snacks and drinking from their sippy cups most of the time. I was able to take a few pictures of them taking a break and sitting down... cuties!
This Monday morning my mom came with us and it was a juggling man that also brought lots of other fun activity toys for the kids to play with. I liked that he kept his "show" short and then had about 45 minutes that all of the kids could just run around and play - Mckenna loved it!
Matt, Mckenna and I went to the Mall of America to look for a few things for our trip to Mexico and stayed for dinner. Mckenna was a good girl, as always. Gotta love that face, those cheeks, and those sweet eyes! :)
And another picture of her cleaning obsession... she's so funny about wiping things!
Grandma Karen and Grandpa Craig came for a short visit in June. Mckenna always has fun playing with them whenever they are together.
At the end of June we went to Dan Patch Days, the popular annual summer festival in Savage. In our five years of living in Savage, this was the first time we've been in town to go, so we were really looking forward to it. It is held in the park that is connected to our neighborhood, so it's perfect just to walk a few blocks there and not have to pack up the car or deal with parking.
Mckenna had fun riding on a pony. At first she seemed a bit overwhelmed, but Matt was walking with her, and she relaxed quickly. It was so fun to watch them doing this!
She also loved riding on this little train, and was pretty upset when the ride was over and she had to get out. We'll have to remember this ride for next time!
Matt got to be with her while she rode the pony, so I got to ride the train. :)
These last two pics are random ones of Mckenna. These storage crates were in our basement, and we decided to bring them up to our room to use them. As Matt was putting them up, Mckenna wanted to climb right in... little monkey!
Our neighbors, Tim and Nicole, had a water leak in their house and they had to shut their water off for a day or so while it was being repaired. So Carter came over one night and the two friends took a bath and played in their PJs together for a bit. Mckenna loves playing with Carter, as you can very sweetly see here.
We have a lot of fun pictures from July of our trip to Mexico... stay tuned! And also, I'm a week and a half from my due date with baby girl #2, so we'll of course post an announcement on here when she arrives... we're so excited! :)
Several times this summer Mckenna and I drove to Bloomington for a summer program they had going called the "Monday Morning Kids Series." Every Monday morning during the summer the various parks in city of Bloomington hosted a different show especially geared towards young children. The shows were about one hour long or so and included music, magic, juggling and outdoor activities. It was fun for Mckenna and I to get out of the house, and Mckenna is always about hearing music, dancing, and being active, so it was perfect. A few times we met Abby and Ayla, and a few times my mom came with us - fun! Below are some pictures from our summer Monday mornings.
Mckenna LOVES her cousins! She talks about all seven of them quite a bit (Gwen, Sonja, Ayla, Jacob, Thomas, Sarah, and Joel.) Here is Mckenna enjoying some time with her Aunt Abby and Cousin "A-ya." This show was a one-woman kids music act, and the girls were standing up dancing, eating snacks and drinking from their sippy cups most of the time. I was able to take a few pictures of them taking a break and sitting down... cuties!
This Monday morning my mom came with us and it was a juggling man that also brought lots of other fun activity toys for the kids to play with. I liked that he kept his "show" short and then had about 45 minutes that all of the kids could just run around and play - Mckenna loved it!
Matt, Mckenna and I went to the Mall of America to look for a few things for our trip to Mexico and stayed for dinner. Mckenna was a good girl, as always. Gotta love that face, those cheeks, and those sweet eyes! :)
And another picture of her cleaning obsession... she's so funny about wiping things!
Grandma Karen and Grandpa Craig came for a short visit in June. Mckenna always has fun playing with them whenever they are together.
At the end of June we went to Dan Patch Days, the popular annual summer festival in Savage. In our five years of living in Savage, this was the first time we've been in town to go, so we were really looking forward to it. It is held in the park that is connected to our neighborhood, so it's perfect just to walk a few blocks there and not have to pack up the car or deal with parking.
Mckenna had fun riding on a pony. At first she seemed a bit overwhelmed, but Matt was walking with her, and she relaxed quickly. It was so fun to watch them doing this!
She also loved riding on this little train, and was pretty upset when the ride was over and she had to get out. We'll have to remember this ride for next time!
Matt got to be with her while she rode the pony, so I got to ride the train. :)
These last two pics are random ones of Mckenna. These storage crates were in our basement, and we decided to bring them up to our room to use them. As Matt was putting them up, Mckenna wanted to climb right in... little monkey!
Our neighbors, Tim and Nicole, had a water leak in their house and they had to shut their water off for a day or so while it was being repaired. So Carter came over one night and the two friends took a bath and played in their PJs together for a bit. Mckenna loves playing with Carter, as you can very sweetly see here.
We have a lot of fun pictures from July of our trip to Mexico... stay tuned! And also, I'm a week and a half from my due date with baby girl #2, so we'll of course post an announcement on here when she arrives... we're so excited! :)
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