I've moved!

....blogs, that is. Giving iWeb another try. And also trying to restart my blogging. We'll see.

Come for a visit!

P.S. If you need/want the login info, email me for it cajohansson@me.com

Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde

There has been a strange creature around our house recently. He goes by the name of Matthew, but lately his more devilish side has been surfacing. I couldn't resist taking this picture of him in a most appropriate shirt from Chicago's Shedd Aquarium that says:

"Sometimes crabby, but always cute."

Although as of late I think I would reverse "crabby" and "cute"!

Jokes on me

Ah, the mysteries of children. They fight like cats and dogs for half the day, then miraculously, when put in the same room for nap time, you wouldn't recognize them. There is incessant laughter, constant giggles, even inside jokes (for some reason, if they say "cotton candy" they both break out in a belly laugh). I'd really like the secret here- but maybe that is just between them- on how to get them to love each other that way all day... not just when mommy says to go to sleep! I'll count my blessings, though. They could fight like cats and dogs during naps too!

It was bound to happen at some point

A bright blue non-washable crayon. In a dryer full of clothes.

Hurumph.

Does anyone have any laundry fairies I could borrow?

Flashback to June 30, 2001

1. Where/How did you meet? In Moscow. Russia. Totally the hand of God. Both of our families were living there as expats and we went to the same high school.

2. How long have you known each other? Since 1995.

3. How long after you met did you start dating? Three years. Despite what you might think, we did not date in high school. But I remember my mom saying then "What about that Erik Johansson? He is such a nice young man!" I'm sure that comment was followed with eye rolls at the mere thought of mom's dating advice. We didn't start dating until a year and a half into college. And by then we were at different ends of the United States. Go figure.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? About a year and a half, all long distance.

5. How long was your engagement? 11 months

6. How long have you been married? 9 years!

7. What is your anniversary? June 30, 2001

8. How many people came to your wedding reception? About 150. It was an army of Erik's family, my family and a fair amount of our friends from a far.

9. What kind of cake did you serve? Oh, the cake! I'm drooling at the mere thought of it nine years later. It was Lady Baltimore cake, buttercream frosting with fondant icing. I'm trying to figure out how to get some for our 10th anniversary!!

10. Where was your wedding? In Minneapolis in the same church that Erik's parents were married in, his great uncle designed, his grandfather preached at, and he was baptized in. Lets just say they have deep roots there!

11. What did you serve for your meal? The most delish food stations. Not a buffet, food stations. :) It was so good, I'm only sorry that we were scarfing it from take-out containers later that night because we were so busy at the wedding!

12. How many people were in your wedding party? We kept it small and sweet- my sister as the maid of honor and Erik's brother was the best man. His other brother was a reader, as was my best friend from college.

13. Are you still friends with them all? Lets hope so!

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? His voice cracked several times. I did not cry, even though I thought I would. I think I was concentrating on not tripping or passing out!

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? It was all so wonderful, and went way too fast.

16. Any funny moments? Erik's Uncle married us, and out of nerves he forgot to say "You may now kiss the bride". But Erik was by no means going to pass that up, and he planted a big one on me before we walked back down the isle.

17. Any big disasters? Not really. Our parents did a wonderful job of keeping things under control. I'm sure stuff happened that I still don't know about or have forgotten.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? The Carribean

19. How long were you gone? Two glorious weeks. It was our last hurrah before we had to change cities, move into a new condo in Chicago, and both start work. I didn't want real life to start.

20. If you could get married again, would there be anything you would change? I would have our reception video taped because it all went so fast, there is a lot I don't remember. I also wouldn't leave at the crack of dawn the next day for our honeymoon. I wish we had spent more time with all the dear friends who had flown in for the event.

21. Greatest strength as a couple? We really balance each other out and like/dislike the same things. Just last week I made a comment about something I didn't like, and Erik said "I really don't either- its a good thing we got married!" :) For example, we both don't like mushrooms. Neither of us are huge fans of the beach (it is beautiful, but so hot, and what's with that salty water? Give me a pool any day.) We both like fun, fancy food when we go out. I could go on. Also, my emotional and highly worked up response to unexpected things is evened out by Erik's cool and collected response. He's saved me from freaking out multiple times (or at least let me have my moment, and then makes me see that it will be alright).

22. Greatest challenge as a couple? This is easy- neither of us likes confrontation with others, which can mean we get walked all over sometimes. Also, I am very indecisive. If Erik happens to be so at the same time, it can prevent us from making hard decisions until time makes the decision for us. Right now we are struggling with pre-school for Grace.

23. What did you dance your first dance to? "The Way You Look Tonight" by Frank Sinatra.

24. Describe your wedding dress: Well, you can see the picture of the top. It also had a chapel length gown and veil, which was quite heavy when all pinned up for the reception. It was not bright white but not ivory- perfectly in the middle. I loved the dress. I wore my mother's pearls and pearl ear rings that my fiance had given me the night before (what luck!).

25. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? Blue hydrangeas and yellow roses. Still my favorites.

26. Are your wedding bands engraved? Yes. "EJ to CW 6-30-01 Ecc. 4:9-11". A really sweet Bible verse.

27. How old were you when you got married? 22 years young

Growing, growing, grown

This was a traumatic realization for me: on the left is what William started out as. On the right is what he is now. In two months!! How can this be?
I know my kids are growing, but whenever I have to switch out their clothes, it is a depressing time. I realize how big they have gotten over the last year, six months, or month as the case may be. I will recall hanging up the new pants thinking, "these are huge!" and now I am putting them away because they have turned into capris.

You probably think I'm nuts. (I am.)
By the way, this "Chunker", as Erik affectionately calls him, now weighs 11 pounds, 10 ounces. You may remember he started at 6 # 2 oz! They like babies to double in weight by 6 months. I think we'll make that mark. :) He now fills Matthew's lap.
His first chin is now being eaten by his second chin. And I wish I could put a discrete picture of his thigh rolls on the blog. Rolls! And they thought there was something wrong with him in utero... he just wanted to be outside eating!
Big sister is still totally smitten.

Working on a new skill set. I can tell Grace is going to be the one to teach him to crawl. And then be sorry she ever did!

More garden fun

Erik and I were left with a dilemma. More strawberries from our garden than we could eat plain, with ice cream or in a pie. What to do? We decided to try our hand at makes preserves. It took us two tries, but the results were scrumptious. Enough to make me go buy more jars and lids to see what else I could can.

Hey, I've got a friend who is growing wheat in her kitchen and another friend who butchers her own meat. I'm just trying to catch up! :)

"Empty Nest"

I had a bit of an empty nest last week for a few days because Erik took the two older kids on a trip to Maine to see his brother graduate from college. I stayed home with my attached-at-the-hip newborn. It was a really nice time just to snuggle and coo at William, a chance that doesn't come along very often with three kids. But I will say that I got very little of my uber long to-do accomplished. I greatly underestimated the amount of time that a nursing child takes, even though his two older siblings are gone!

In order to make myself feel more accomplished, I thought I would post some pictures of our most recent projects. Before William came, we switched around four rooms of our house. It was like moving, but not changing houses! Grace's room turned into the nursery again (its nice to be back in there, since Matthew never had it). The guest bedroom turned into the older kids' room (we took the plunge and put them together). The office/Matthew's room turned into the guest bedroom. And the computer/office moved from our bedroom to the basement.

The old guest bedroom, with a test paint swatch:
The chaos that poor Matthew slept in (used to be the office):
The new guest bedroom (still needing some finishing touches, but much improved!):
Grace and Matthew's new room. Grace took the top bunk, and eventually Matthew will take the bottom. He tried it a few times, but decided he preferred the crib, so we left it in there for now:

Please note that I was able to take the "after" pictures of their room because they weren't home and it actually stayed picked up! :)

Strawberry patch

We started a raised garden last year with all sorts of things- cantaloupe, zucchini, watermelon, tomatoes, rhubarb, jalapenos, bell peppers... and strawberries.

We got one tiny watermelon, a mouse or something ate our one cantaloupe that we waited all summer to grow, we had more zucchini than we could give away, more cherry tomatoes than my kids could eat, and had so many jalapenos we made a spicy jelly out of them for cheese and crackers.

Then there were the strawberries. We didn't get a single one last year. But the plants took off. In fact, they took over where the cantaloupe, zucchini, and watermelon were planted. And I was ok with that.

And here are the rewards so far, after just one evening of picking:
I'd say two thirds of our garden this year are strawberries. In fact, I wouldn't call it a garden, I'd call it a strawberry patch. Which for us, is better than a garden! Don't worry, we'll still have those tomatoes, peppers, and jalapenos, but if you want zucchini, this year it won't be me sneaking it into your car at church!

Six weeks

I can't believe that William is six weeks old today. It really seems impossible (prepare to hear that a lot over the next year!). He has been smiling, especially at his mama. He has been smothered with love by his siblings- even Matthew wants to hold him and wants to pray for him every night! It is hard to believe that if I was a working mother I would be back at the office, a reality that I am blessed not to have to face.

I must say that the transition from one kid to two was a whole lot harder so far than from two to three. Of course, I am still living in la-la land. Meals delivered by sweet friends and only just went to the grocery store myself last night. I did take the kids to get the oil changed in the van, hauled them all to Grace's ballet class, and got Matthew's hair cut, which I saw as a huge accomplishment for the week! :) Mind you, it did take me two trips each time we had to load into the car and out of the car. I did get a look with the baby in the car seat sitting in front of store as I went back for another load of little ones!

Check back here in a couple weeks when I am sure to be pulling out my hair... :) Meanwhile, here is the sweet smiling boy (in an outfit that swallowed him just three weeks ago)!

Month in review

I can't believe William is four weeks old! How many mothers have lamented how quickly time passes?

William has gone from a delicate baby in need of extra care to a normal baby. Two weeks ago he was given the all clear to nurse full time, and he took off with it. No more pumping and bottles. He regained ounces to surpass his birth weight. Basically, they said, "See you at his two month check up!" What a blessing.

A week after the surgery my incision started opening up and developed a hematoma. After removing that, it had to be packed daily with a special gauze until it healed from the inside out. This led to daily nurse visits or trips to the doctor. Apparently this is common for any type of surgery, and with three c-sections, my number was up. It set back my recovery, but this past week has seen much improvement and it was nice to start to feel normal again.

The last month has been full of feeding, snuggles, diapers, bonding, laughter and tears. It has occurred to Erik and I that we are now officially outnumbered. But it sure feels nice! :)

Weeks one and two-

Size of diapers: Premie

Size of clothes: Premie

Number of heel pricks: 10

Number of baby IV sticks: 6

Number of adults needed to run household: at least 3

Number of adoring big sisters: 1

Number of brothers needing some encouragement and extra love: 1

Number of doctor visits after hospital discharge: 4

Official date of Easter: April 4

Our date of Easter: April 10




Weeks three and four-

Size of diapers: Newborn

Size of clothes: Newborn

Number of adults needed to run household: 2-3

Number of adoring siblings: 1 1/2 (unless Grace can count for 3)

Number of real baths: 3

Number of healthy, normal babies: 1

Number of nurse/doctor visits: 13

Number of nightly feedings: 2-3

Moments spent falling in love: countless

The Middle Brother turns two

I know you may want to hear more on how things are going on the baby home front, but I didn't want to let an important milestone slip by un-noticed.

Matthew, ie the Middle Brother, turned two this month on April 18th. You may remember that my due date was his birthday... at least now we know the two boys won't share an actual birth date! (Don't rule out combo parties- I'm thinking this could be a serious advantage to having two boys so close together!)
We did a simple evening at home with the family. Look at the smile on that face. Do you think someone was happy to have some attention, especially in the form of singing, just for him? :)

Matthew is the family comedian and keeps us in stitches constantly. His current favorite phrase is "No way" when he is shocked by something (like every 10 minutes). He is obsessed with cars, hence the "we-o", or car, themed party and just this morning was making his waffle vroom across his plate. He follows his sister everywhere and wants to do anything she is doing. He loves to snuggle, and we spend at least 30 minutes after nap time just sitting together on the sofa. I love his chubby little feet and hands, and the goofy smile he does for the camera.

We love you Matthew and can't imagine our family without you!

Home Sweet Home

We got to bring William home Monday night!

On Sunday they removed the IV to see how he handled his only source of nutrition being from the bottle. He is only a s0-so eater, due to his being early and not having the brain development, and from the jaundice. He has lost weight since then, but it is about 8% today, so not quite the 10% that would require him to be readmitted.

They were hesitant to let him come home, but in the end we think it was miscommunication between the pediatrician and the NICU nurses. The nurse who discharged us said that she felt comfortable sending us home as long as he continued to eat the minimum amount and was seen every day for check ups. So now we just pray that his weight loss plateaus and he learns better how to eat so we can avoid the dreaded re-admission to the hospital.

The kids were thrilled to get to go back and see baby William and do the "one finger touch". Check out the cute shirts that Daddy got for them, Big Sister and Middle Brother.

Oh, how good this home cooked food tasted! And to be back home as a family felt unbelievably joyful! Grace and Nana made a birthday cake for William (the candle was a zero :) ).

Welcome William!

First, some pics, then the story.

Where in the world does that dark, full head of hair come from?!?

Getting to hold William for the first time since he was born, about 24 hours later. What a sweet moment!

Thank you all so much for your prayers!! Yes, we had a little boy yesterday, April 1st. He was 6 lb 2 oz and we decided to call him William Robert (Robert was my beloved grandfather's name, so now each of our boys have a middle name of one of our grandfathers). He was born at the end of a very crazy day a little after 4pm.

My ultrasound on Wednesday afternoon showed that the baby was at the 11th percentile for weight (they guessed 5 lb, 14oz). If he had been at the 10th percentile, they would have put me on complete bed rest and delivered at 38 weeks. But with the extra percentage point, they were willing to put me on modified best rest and twice weekly Non-Stress Tests. I wasn't thrilled, but I wasn't worried either. I just figured we had a little baby since everything else so far looked so good.

I started out with a Non-Stress Test at the hospital in the morning. While I was sitting there I was having a lot of contractions, and the tech was concerned. Secretly, I was hoping she wouldn't notice the contractions because I had no intention of delivering a baby that day! :) She took the results over to our OB's office and they wanted to send me down to triage at the Family Birth Place for more monitoring to see if the contractions would slow down. After several hours, they were still very regular so they decided to move up the c-section to that day. It was the longest we have had to wait in the hospital, (about 5 hours in triage) but God was so good to give us his patience and peace- and time to figure out a name :).

The surgery went well, but William came out with a lot of fluid in his lungs and unable to get enough oxygen on his own, apparently common for a preemie baby (the pediatrician said today that there is a remarkable difference between a 37 week baby and a 38 week baby). He has been in the NICU since delivery, and I am hoping and praying that they will discharge him tomorrow or the next day or so that we can finally hold and feed the little peanut! (They don't want any stimulation- holding, touching- to raise his heart rate and breathing because he is already working so hard.)

His vitals are all good now and today he is breathing on his own without the oxygen tent, but he still has a high respiratory rate which they will have to wait for him to get under control. We have been told that babies at this age have not mastered the tasks of swallowing, breathing and eating, so he has to be on an IV for now.

We covet all prayers. The older kids are doing well with all the sudden changes. We look forward to being able to bring everyone home, and start our new, "normal" life! :)

Full term

It is nice to hit that milestone of "full term", which always seemed a little odd to me at 37 weeks and not 40, but I guess the point is that if the baby came today, their lungs would be ready and hopefully Mommy and Daddy would be ready. :) But that's a post for another day!

I am still measuring small, about three weeks behind, which may account for all of the "you are so tiny" comments. I guess I feel smaller than with Matthew, but honestly, who feels small in their last month of pregnancy?!? At this point the doctors want to check on things and we have had to wait a week for an ultrasound to check on the baby and all that sustains him/her. They will combine that info with the fact that I don't have small babies (hello, Matthew at 9 lb. 7 oz. !), and they may decide to move the c-section date up earlier. We shall see...
Meanwhile we have been keeping ourselves busy with Spring time activities, like a picnic at the park and some good ol' rock throwing into the river.

Anyone remember Grace at this age would not even dream of going down the slide?? And check out that hair. I promptly gave him a hair cut last week after this photo.

Dying Easter eggs... and remembering why a almost-two-year-old should probably not be handling real eggs.

Grace, the artist in the family.

Cathryn at 33 Weeks

We have a date now of April 12th... only 5 1/2 weeks before Baby comes!

Snowy week

We are supposed to get another couple of inches of snow tonight and it reminded me that I wanted to blog about our BIG snow last week. I actually had no idea it was coming until someone mentioned it at church and I said "yeah, yeah... that's what they are always threatening and it never happens." Turns out the weather man was right this time!

We are those weird people who actually enjoy the snow and being out in it. Poor Erik was in Pittsburgh for a few days so he missed the fun. After a couple of days Mommy and kids were ready to get out of the house, but my car couldn't clear the driveway. Probably not the smartest thing to shovel a driveway full of foot-and-a-half snow at 31 weeks pregnant, but lets just say I was highly motivated by the idea of "kids eat free" at our Chick-fil-a on Tuesday nights! You can see how deep the snow was: the part to the left of Matthew was our walkway to our front door that we didn't shovel yet. After a few swipes with the shovel, Grace announced, "I think this must be very hard work" and quit. :)

Dixie was not so keen of having to wade through snow to go outside. And I was not about to shovel the back patio for the dog.

That weekend after Erik got home he and Grace headed out to make a snow fort before the snow melted. With two brothers growing up, this is a specialty of his. And of course the hard work was rewarded with chocolate chip cookies!