Luke Newel Johansen

Announcing the arrival of an angel to earth: Luke Newel Johansen!

He came at 8:57am on Wednesday, March 28 weighing 8lbs 10oz and 21 inches long.  He cried right away and was calmed for the first time in Tyler's arms.  He has been a dream since and we are absolutely in love.

It took us a while to decide on a name, but we are thrilled with it now that it's chosen!!  Luke is a classic name that we just like and originates with the gospel writer who recorded the Savior's life, was physician and a Seventy.  Newel is after my grandpa who passed away 3 years ago this April.  We were very close and I miss him.  He was a great example of many many things but I think most memorably of loving so well and treating everyone with kindness, warmth and interest.

He is healthy and I am too.  This labor was MUCH easier than my experience with Caleb so I feel good.  More details to come.  Here are a few pictures from his birthday!

A hospital photographer took some pictures for free and you can view them here:

www.bellababyphotography.com with the password: 0328babyjohansen

Pittsburgh Zoo

Tyler gets one day of Spring Break each year and this year we spent it at the zoo!  It was a little cold, so we mostly stayed in the aquarium, but that's okay cause it's awesome!  Here are a few cute pictures.

These shark tunnels are so cool.

 I love his look of awe here.

 

 Even though this is basically the same picture, you can see this adorable smile of Caleb in the reflection.  I love that!

Gasp!

A helicopter flew over and caught both Caleb's and the polar bear's attention.

Caleb walked almost the whole zoo trip himself.  He's getting so old!!

I find the layers of teeth so fascinating.

The penguins are always so fun to watch.

Touching the stingrays. These two boys had so much fun with this!!

More Nesting

Not really surprisingly, our little man missed his due date.  Tyler and I did too (as well as Caleb).  We are a family of procrastinators.

So we keep finding things to do to get ready!  Gardening, selling on Craig's List, preparing move stuff, replacing our garage door (since I ran into it...), dealing with the insurance, throwing stuff out, using stuff up, cleaning, scrubbing, sweeping, dishes, eating, playing with Caleb who is SO CUTE right now, and oh the laundry, laundry, laundry!!  We are in an ultimate nesting phase because we're moving in two months.  Everything's got to be cleaned! 

Caleb helping clean out our medicine closet.  He also discovered our laundry shoot (that we never use).  Tyler hasn't even graduated yet and I have more toothpaste samples than I know what to do with.  Sensodine anyone?  Biotene?

Going for walks.

Finishing sewing projects.  This is my new nursing cover!  I made it double-sided and therefore kind of reversible!  I also made it huge which I'm excited about.  And I added a pocket at the bottom for my nursing pads or whatever else.  I wanted the fabric to be kind of boyish for my son, but not too boyish for me... I'm happy with how it turned out.

Poor Tyler scheduled out starting last Thursday on the due date and I'm afraid might be getting a little bored, so we'll probably have more projects tomorrow ... unless of course our little man decides to arrive tonight! :)

Still Waiting

Despite lots of walking and some middle-of-the-night contractions, I have yet to begin real labor!  Luckily we've been enjoying great weather and the blossoming of trees and flowers to distract me (a little).  I keep doing stuff and wondering if this is the last load of laundry or trip to the grocery store before I head to the hospital.  The good news is that I will be induced no later that March 28-30 (somewhere in there) if he doesn't come on his own by then.  (My resolve to begin labor naturally is slowly deteriorating.)  We're hoping for a due date baby this weekend, but it doesn't seem realistic.  However, this baby is definitely lower than he was 48 hours ago; I can just tell!  So maybe that means something.  Hopefully my next post will be MUCH more exciting!

The Neighborhood

I want to remember this evening and ones like it forever so I'm writing it down before it's forgotten.  This post is really just for me, and a little for Caleb to read someday and know how much he was loved here.  Sometimes I feel ready and excited to leave our neighborhood of potholes and smokers, but usually I feel incredibly blessed that we have lived in this neighborhood and so sad to be leaving.  Tonight's a good example why.

It began with a late afternoon walk up to Dorothy's to return two dinners worth of pans to her.  As she reminded me today, she was pregnant four times and knows how it feels.  That's why she sends her daughter or granddaughter down the street with dinner or invites us up to share it with us now and then.  When I came to say thank you she kissed me and had nothing but praise and smiles for Caleb.  She invited us for Easter, but mom will be here so we'll probably stay home.  Dorothy is the visiting teacher I should learn how to be!!

When we got home Tyler was there and ready to head up to The Boulevard to get his hair cut and we decided to go with and get pizza at Antonio's for dinner.  The pizza guy and I had a nice chat about our soon-to-arrive little man and life with 2 kids since he has a 2-year-old son and his wife is expecting boy #2 in June.  Nice guy.

While waiting for our pizza to cook we walked up to the hair salon and watched while Tyler got his hair cut.  Caleb was actually mezmorized and just sat it my lap watching (very unusual for him).  It was just us and the hairdresser in the place so we had a nice chat.  I saw feathers in her display and casually brought them up in conversation.  Before I knew it, I was sitting in her second chair getting a free feather placed, "because [I'm] pregnant and deserve to feel pretty."  So nice.  And YES, I have a white and grey feather in my hair.  Never would have thought that would happen.

While walking the Boulevard we got some awesome comments like, "Your son should be a model, seriously" and "How many more days?!"  It's amazing how pregnancy, little kids, and good weather get strangers talking!

So then off to pizza dinner where Caleb has graduated from the high chair and sits in the booth with us.  Next Tyler took us home and he headed off to a CPR class in Dormont.  Caleb played in the front yard (because it's been a beautiful warm day!) while I ate another piece of pizza.  Our neighbor to the left randomly stopped by with a cute little plastic lawn mower and gardening kit as a gift for Caleb which he LOVED.  He's obsessed with anything that has an engine, including lawn mowers, so that entertained him in the front yard for a while.  She has a nephew Caleb's age (and another nephew on the way!) so she knows just what he would like.  Then she came back over with a t-ball kit and a new water bottle!  What?  So generous!

So with a zillion new toys to entertain him, along with the enthralling ants that are everywhere, we stayed outside for a while.  Next Donna came home, got her cute little dog Princess, and came over to chat.  Caleb LOVES both Donna and Princess.  Just a few minutes later Mandy came over to chat as well.  We all had nice talk about how to get this baby OUT, what to name him, how adorable Caleb is, what our other neighbors are up to, who did what home-improvements when, how much we all want to kill the stray cats, and what their kids are up to.  They decided they are going to take Caleb hostage so we can't move. :)  They already tried telling the buyers of our home that we have termites and ghosts, but it didn't work.  I wish I could keep both of them as neighbors forever.

While we're chatting other neighbors drive by and honk and wave.  Every time Caleb exclaims, "Isssacar!" Meaning, "It's a car!"  What joy for a little boy!

Donna went home after a while and Mandy stayed.  Ian and his friend from up the street came over and hung out as well.  Ian was so sweet playing ball with Caleb and catching ants with him.  Caleb just ate up all the attention.  We talked about Mandy's efforts to adopt after her miscarriages and more about baby names.  I asked her what we can do for her husband Joe as thanks for doing the required Dye Test for free (and really going to bat for us with the city) and she said, "Stay. Don't move."  I really will miss her.

When Tyler pulled up we realized it was 8:30 and Caleb was up way late!  So we said goodnight and finally put our little man to bed.  I recognize that it's Caleb they are all in love with, not me or Tyler, but I still cherish their friendship.  I wish I could take them with me!!!  I feel very luck and blessed.  Neighborhood, we will miss you.

Christmas 2011

This last Christmas was one of my all-time favorites.  Caleb understood about opening presents, although he was very patient about it.  He loved the lights outside and on the tree and all the family time.  He even got into a sleeping-in routine during the break which we all enjoyed.  He still hated Santa and seems to have very little understanding about Jesus, although he does say his name which is adorable.  We enjoyed lots of time with friends and neighbors and phone/skyping with family.  Here are a bunch of our favorite pictures from the month of December.

Christmas Eve breakfast with friends at the church.

Christmas morning with my little boy.

I love holding him. :)

Oh the Christmas lights!

 Discovering ornaments together.

 

 Our Christmas Eve Family Photo.

Christmas Eve girls

Christmas Eve boys

There are few things I find more beautiful than a Christmas tree. :)

One day I decided I wanted to do a Christmas activity WITH Caleb, so I decided to try stuffing oranges with cloves.  Classic Christmas craft, right?  Well I was SO happily surprised to find that he was really good at it and we totally did it TOGETHER!  So fun!  (I told him to smile and show me the orange and he thought that meant: lick the orange...)

We got to spend Christmas day dinner with lots of friends: our neighbors Dorothy & Bud and their family, the Cannons and their other guests and the Bushmans.  It was so nice to feel so loved and included on Christmas.  Nadia of course took care of Caleb for us while we ate at the adult table and Caleb had a ball chasing and tackling poor sweet Harry.

Tyler very specifically wanted to get Caleb his first BYU shirt for Christmas this year and Tyler got a new one from my parents.  So they put them on for some game after Christmas.  I think they look pretty cute here!

Some bath, I don't know what day... maybe Christmas since Tyler was trying out his new camera!

This is one of the HIT toys from Grandma.  It's a little CD player with two karaoke microphones.... toddler heaven! We've had to talk a lot about not playing with the actual CDs and scratching them, but now that he understands that, it's a great toy!  My mom also sent lots of new children's CDs that he loves.

Testing out the new camera...

Does it get any cuter??

Now some photos not edited by Tyler and/or taken with the snap 'n shoot....

So glad the Reiks moved into our ward!!

Caleb & Harry

Christmas Dinner, adult table

Out on a date!  We saw A Christmas Carol on the stage.  LOVED it!

What's Christmas time without a trip to Costco??

We went to a mall north of town we haven't been to before so I could cash in on a Groupon massage and found this store.  Classic.

Lunch at Panera one day.

 Jamie's Baby Shower @ Cheesecake Factory

The Goods from the youth service project we organized.  We sent all this stuff to some military personnel for Christmas.  Tyler and I got to do the final sorting, packing and shipping.  It was quite the job in the end!!

Driving a huge lights show with the Pringles in Wheeling.  Caleb was pretty entertained!

Eating at our favorite place Thai place downtown on a date!

I've decided that eating a classic German dinner is part of our Christmastime traditions.  Breaded, pan-fried beef, kluse, mixed cooked veggies and gravy over it all.  YUM!

Treat-making and delivering.

Our sweet neighbors, Mandy, Joe & Ian, stopped by one day with presents for both of our little boys.  Caleb got 2 hats and 2 trucks and our little baby received his first onesies just for him.

Showing the truck to Ian, even though he picked it out.  The Steelers were playing that day and I WISH I would have gotten a picture of Mandy with her outfit - Steelers all the way to her earrings!

Just about to eat our Christmas Eve fondue.

Cheese!  I love Christmas!

(This was actually at Eat n Park sometime during the break... We decided we had to eat there once before leaving Pittsburgh.)