A hazy shade of parenthood

So we've officially entered that "hazy" phase of parenthood where you are so sleep deprived that everything is kinda soft around the edges. You feel like you could take a nap at anytime, anywhere.

You see a bench in the park and think "sure I could sleep on that."

You see a corner in a room and think "sure I could prop myself in the corner and sleep there."

You see a street performer laying on a bed of nails and think "sure I could push that man off his bed of nails, lay down on it and fall asleep, heck, people could even stack cinder blocks on me and I probably won't even wake up." Did I just come up with an additional source of income?

Moving on. Summer is here (kinda), one day it is 80 and the kids are enjoying the sprinkler, then next day it's like a monsoon. I guess the weather could be worse (I'm think East Coast) but I'm still tired of this on-again off-again thing.

Maddie is doing well, we took her to her first parade (Whaling Days in Silverdale) and she had a blast. Ate tons of candy and did not want to leave.

Piper is also doing well. She is getting bigger and bigger and has actually started to cry a bit. Still not much but I'm glad she cries a little because it was almost creepy how quiet she was (did I really just complain about how quiet my newborn is? Shame on me).

Funny thing is, Maddie cries more than Piper. Weird.

Both girls have come down with a little bit of a cold the last few days. For Piper that means she's a little fussier and makes more noises at night (aka freaks us out at night). For Maddie that means it brings her from a 10 to a 7 which is just fine by us.

We're taking Piper on her first camping trip in about a week out at Prineville Reservoir just north of Bend, Oregon with Dianne's family. It's always a good time but I am a bit nervous taking a newborn out there. Luckily, we'll have tons of family to help out.

I'm trying to think of something else interesting to say but I'm pretty much tapped out. I am wearing cool socks which is something.

Anyways, best to all and I'll check back in later.

Life at home

So Maddie turned three yesterday and Piper turned one month. We have had birthday parties for Maddie three out of the last four days and she is LOVING it. Her party last night was a big step for us, namely taking her to Chuck E Cheese. I'll be honest, I wasn't looking forward to this at all due to my memories of CEC being crazy loud and smelling of urine. But what do you know, it was sweet! Cheep, fun, not too busy, no urine smell. What more can you ask for? The best part was that Wchunkle Dave was up from Cali and came with us to CEC and swim class after.

As for Piper, she is doing great! She had her one month check up and is doing well on all levels. She was up to 6lbs 10oz and so far and has no ill effects from the premature birth. Having her home has actually been a lot easier than we imagined it would be. One thing that helps is she NEVER cries! Well, not never, when the doctor gives her a shot she can wail like Axle Rose, but other than that not a peep.



She loves to be held but doesn't need to be which is really nice. I think this is good for Maddie because she doesn't always have to deal with a crying baby and Mom and Dad are free to still play with her.

Also, since she was in the hospital nursery for a week surrounded by crying babies, you don't need to be quite around her. She rarely wakes up at a loud noise and is really hard to startle (I once sneezed around Maddie and she started crying hysterically).

We're trying to get some sleep but that is always tough with a newborn. On a good night, we get to bed around 10pm, wake up at 2am and get back to bed at 3am, then wake again around 6am. Unfortunately the good nights are usually only ever two or three days but such is life.

Other than that, we're taking it pretty easy. Family and friends are stopping by every so often which is really fun. Soon Piper will be strong enough where we can actually travel with her and maybe bring her over to Seattle or down to Oregon. We're looking forward to introducing her to you all.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

It’s been awhile and I know what you were thinking: The Mini-Johnson Blog is dead. Well you were wrong my friend. The MJB was just taking a vacation but due to the recent arrival of Piper Belle Johnson, we’ve decided to blow off the dust, gas up the engine and fire this puppy up!

Now I don’t know how many people actually read this, and frankly I don’t care. Towards the end of the last MJB run I realized that this blog wasn’t so much about informing the masses as it was about recording a time in my life that passes all too quickly and often in the haze of exhaustion. So please excuse my rambling and tangents as they may seem odd and unnecessary to you, but to me they are memories that I document now so to be able to relive them later.

Now on to the update!

First I’ll start with Maddie since she was the star of this story, and it seems only fair to introduce new characters as gently as possible. Maddie is almost three now, and all-in-all is a pleasure to be around.

That’s not to say she doesn’t have her moments:

• Screaming “No!” when she doesn’t get her way
• Getting out of bed 1,2,3,4,5 times to use the bathroom but never actually going
• Asking “why?” 300 times a day

but the negatives are far overshadowed by the positives:

• Walking into our bedroom asking to snuggle
• Saying the cutest things like “glue will fix anything Daddy”
• Singing “Twinkle Twinkle” to her little sister
• And hundreds of other things...

Maddie is a great little girl (but perhaps I am just biased): She can play on her own and with others. She not only say “please,” “thank you” and “I’m sorry” but understands the reason behind saying them. She is intelligent and able to make connections you don’t expect from a almost 3 year old. But most important, she has a kind heart.

Maddie is the type of child that makes me proud of myself.

And then there were two.

Now on to the catalyst for the revival of the MJB, Piper Belle Johnson (or our little PBJ). If you haven’t heard, PBJ was born five weeks early on Father’s Day, June 19th 2011. She was 18” long and 5lbs 8oz.

Here is a quick timeline of the “Marathon Birth” as I experienced it:

Thursday, June 16th: Dianne goes into the hospital but is told that it’s just a false alarm and returns home.

Friday, 11am: I receive a call at work from Dianne that her water just broke and her friend Katie is driving her to the hospital. I freak out and race to the ferry to miss the bout by two minutes. I head back to work and gather all of the stuff I forgot, and catch the next ferry.

12:30: I Catch the ferry. Call family and friends. Stop freaking out.

2:30: Get to the hospital and see Dianne. She is doing well, pain is at a 2 (from 1 to 10, 10 meaning the baby is coming ASAP).

3:30: We wait. We eat. We call family.

4:30: We wait. We eat. We call family.

5:30: We wait. We eat. We call family.

6:30: We wait. We eat. We call family.

On and on and on...

Skip ahead 40 hours. And some point Kay and Minna (Dianne’s Mom and Sister-in-law) come up from Oregon and help out. Minna is a doll and watches Maddie (who was with our friends the Karosichs and then the Matthews who were both awesome during this whole shin-dig), and Kay and I tag-team help Dianne with all she needs. My Mom and Sister also come down and help us out with odd’s and end’s plus helping clean the house.

Sunday, 7am: Dianne is doing great, no meds and her pain is at about a 7.

8:06am: Dianne say her pain just reached a 9, so we call the doctor and I step out to use the restroom thinking we have about 1 hour left (based on when Maddie was born).

8:08am: I get a text message saying “Come Back Quick.” So I come back quick.

8:09am: I get to the room and it is pandemonium. Nurses are running around, the doc is telling Dianne to not push yet, they’re not ready. I wiggle my way to Dianne, Kay and I hold her hands and she gives one push and Blamo! The baby is here, not 45 seconds after I came in the room.

Piper Belle was born but we weren’t out of the woods yet. After Dianne got to snuggle with her for about a minute, PBJ was rushed to the nursery because it is common for premies to not be have there lungs fully developed. For awhile we thought that she was going to be flown to Tacoma or Harborview which was freaking me out, but she is a little trooper and was doing just fine.

Over the next week, Piper stayed in the nursery and we stayed in the hospital checking in on her every three hours or so. Initially, she was kept on oxygen, being heated and fed through an IV. Slowy over the week, the cut back the oxygen till they turned it off completely. Dianne started breast feeding and eventually the IV was shut-off. And finally she was moved out of the incubator. On Saturday the 25th, we took her home.

That time for Dianne and I is a blur, time seemed to stand still and we were constantly tired/scared/happy/everything else. We had some amazing support from our friends, family and employers. Not to mention the fantastic staff at Harrison Silverdale.

Our little family unit is now at home and doing great. I’ll have another post soon on life at home with two kids. Hint: more poop.

Chicken Dancin'

Maddie shows off her chicken dance move while she enjoys the warm weather (and not wearing pants).

Now I Know My ABCs...

Easter!

We headed out to Grayland for Easter with Grandpa and Grandma, but forgot to bring the camera! However, we also had Easter Egg hunt last weekend with Collin and Keller where we snapped tons of photos. Check them out here.

Priming for Easter Egg Painting

Maddie and Keller were pretty pumped for their art project. One ended in tears and the other ended covered in paint. All in all, a pretty funny event! Happy Easter!