Bennett is so freakin awesome

I LOVE BENNETT.
Top 10 things i love about Bennett:
  10. Bulging biceps
  09. Amazing aroma. Like a mixture of fresh rubber and dandelions.
  08. Rhetoric comparable to Walt Whitman and Chevy Chase.
  07. He is my daily inspiration. I constantly find myself with a dreamy gaze upon my face pondering how he has made my life so wonderful.
  06. He rescued me from a roving band of village sacking saxons.
  05. He is going to punch me 10 times in the ovaries. Because yes in fact that was a Beaver, not a stupid bear.
  04. He is an amazing kisser (not that I know) but my sister Katie tells me about it all the time.
  03. Wit to spare
  02. Bulging biceps
  01. Eyes like a deep forest pool, so enchanting I get lost in them.

Baby Pictures!

I had another ultrasound today and I got to hear the baby's heart beat.  It was so neat!  It's beatin fast!  He/she was also moving around, arching back, moving arms and legs, mooning us...  I just wanted to share the latest photos of Baby Johnson.  When looking at the last two photos, I told the doctor it looked like our baby has a wig on.  He informed me that that is the baby's skull in pieces because it hasn't fused yet.

A funny thing happened on the way to Mt. Hood

A few days ago Katie and I both had the day off and she, feeling tired of sitting around doing nothing, felt that it would do her some good to get out and about for a while. You know, eat some cucumber sandwiches with a sip of merlot while sitting in the shade of lilac bushes, gazing out on a moor in the light of a setting sun, that kind of thing. So she decided to accompany me on a drive to Mt. Hood to take pictures and go for a short hike. We got about 35 minutes from our home when she promptly decided to puke, so we pulled over and she puked. Then she thought it might be easier if she drove (less car sickness), and we were on our way again. About ten minutes later we found ourselves in the middle of three lanes of traffic with no way to get to the side of the road and an impatient amount of stomach stuff looking to come up for a spot of fresh air. So I held a plastic bag for her and she proceeded to drive and puke into her feedbag at the same time. Then I noticed that the bag had a rather large whole on the bottom and the stomach stuff was coming out as fast as it was going in right into her lap. This resulted in me laughing, gagging and dry heaving and getting all teary eyed at the same time all while trying to help Katie hold the bag, which was actually useless. Needless to say we never made it to Mt. Hood. Hope everyone else had a great weekend.

It's not just my imagination

So, ever since I became pregnant, Bennett has been taking up the whole bed.  I told him this and he said it was just because I'm pregnant.  Well, now I've got proof.  I took a picture of our bed last night.  You can't tell me he's not taking up the entire bed.  I oranged out his cute bum cause I thought you didn't want to see it.  Try sleeping with this octopus! 

A Trip to Stansbury Island

Jake and I (along with Daniel's dog, Oliver went to Stansbury Island Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. We had planned to take the ATVs but it was too cold so we went in my Jeep. There had been a ferocious wind storm in the Salt Lake area during the week with winds up to 100 mph. It blew out all the pollution and left us with incredibly blue skies. Stansbury Island sticks out into the Great Salt Lake on the south shore. Its about 10 miles long and 4 miles wide. It's stark beauty speaks for itself. Be sure to check out Jakes blog, I.0E-9 to see his pictures.

Introducing our baby!

Our baby is 2.5 centimeters long (about the size of an olive) and has little arms and legs.  The due date is 6/30/12 (even though it says 7/1/12 on the photo below).  I'm 9 weeks and 1 day along.  We got to see the heart beat and I started crying.  He/she is so beautiful!  I'm grateful for technology and that there was only one baby in there.  Here's a close-up of the top photo which is measuring how long the baby is:

 

Showing!

So I'm 9 weeks pregnant and I've got a little bump!  It's pretty high though.  I thought it would start where my uterus is but this is starting just above my belly button.  It probably looks like nothing to everyone else but I can tell there are some changes!

Baby

5 to 7 business days until our baby arrives.

Thanks to Justin

House Color Change

There is still some painting to do. I am grateful to Justin, Julie's brother for letting me borrow some scaffolding to paint the 2nd story in the back.

The Old Color.
The ole homestead has undergone a face lift. (At least 2/3 of it has been painted. I will finish the main level sides and back in the spring.) Do you like it?

Elise Noel Is Here!

The Joy of Barfing...

Are you getting tired of talking about nausea? I was researching online about how soon the calories we consume become part of our bodies. Basically, I've been waiting as long as I possibly can before barfing and I want to know how many calories I've consumed by that time. I found this statement on a bulimia help website. Let me know what you think. True? Not true?

"Purging isn't effective at getting rid of calories, which is why most people suffering with bulimia end up gaining weight over time. Vomiting immediately after eating will only eliminate 50% of the calories consumed at best - and usually much less. This is because calorie absorption begins the moment you put food in the mouth."

I'm hoping my baby is getting the nutrients it needs but sometimes I just have to barf. Am I still consuming enough calories by waiting as long as I possibly can?

Off to the fabric store

Bennett and I took a trip to our local fabric store. We each created our own fabric palettes for the nursery. I think we were both trying to choose neutral colors but Bennett's turned out more masculine than neutral.

#1 Here's a sample of Bennett's fabric choices (he picked this one because the colors reminded him of the beach and it looks like the colors aren't really showing up very well with our camera and computer):

Here's the photo of the colors he really liked:

This is Bennett's pick number two (that is #2, fyi). This one is also based on the ocean:

Here's Bennett's choice #3. He wanted something "sleek" and city sophisticated. He didn't want the usual baby fabrics.

#4 Here are my choices. I wanted bright, fun and gender neutral.

Let's take a vote. Which one do you think we should use in our nursery?

Update: Vomit #2

Side note: 10 pm is not the time to be getting upset about whether or not I'm going to the Celestial Kingdom.

Another note: what is the point of puking during pregnancy? Sure, I feel much better but now I have nothing in my stomach. God should probably re-think this whole nausea thing.

Occupy My Couch: Because I am the 50%

Katie and I went downtown the other day to get lunch at the Portland food carts, which is the greatest culinary experience ever. While downtown we stopped by the Occupy Portland protest encampment which takes up almost three city blocks. It was like entering an alternate reality where a tear in the space time continuum caused Woodstock and a prospectors camp from the Alaskan gold rush to converge on the same location at the same time. (I think that was an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation actually). It was a very interesting experience strolling through this small bit of democratic squatting. There were more available amenities than I expected there to be; there was a kitchen area, garbage dump, information booth, even a library was set up. There was also a plethora of smells as you strolled through this small city within a city and people of every type imaginable, but I'll only post pictures of the crazier ones because sensationalism is all the rage these days.

Not sure how I feel about the Occupy movement, I find it  commendable and deranged at the same time. However, they have inspired me to start my own protest.

OCCUPY MY COUCH

I am the 50%

Because I am tired of Katie taking more than her share of the couch and hogging the TV.

(just like the occupy Portland protesters I will also be using questionable hygiene as a means of emphasizing my message)

Addendum

Let me retract my previous post about not being too nauseous. I'm pretty nauseous. I haven't puked yet but the desire is definitely there, all the time. Let me tell you though, Christine and Emalee told me about vitamin B6 and it's amazing! Just a little bit of that at meals makes a world of difference. Hopefully it doesn't get worse than this because it's taking away all my desire to do stuff.

Joel, Tyler and Isaac at Halloween

Here are the boys.

Not really sick yet...

Hey-o! I just wanted to let you know the status of my nausea thus far. I'm working on my 6th week of pregnancy and feeling pretty good! The nausea has been hitting me a little harder each day but it's not that bad. I haven't puked or sat around because I don't feel well enough to go do something. I'm hoping this continues! I could live like this for the first trimester (that's what I say now...). The only symptoms I've had from pregnancy so far are cramps, feeling like my clothes don't fit because of lovely bloating and not feeling like eating food. Although, I had a pretty good veggie bowl from the Portland food carts for lunch today. Mmmmm! Bennett got the pulled pork/onion ring/flat bread sandwich thing. He says his was good but I think mine was better. Anyway, I wanted to leave you with a picture of what our baby looks like so far. (This isn't our baby, I just found this picture of a 6 week old embryo on line).

Yes, we are having an alien. We will call her Sigourney for now.