Summer Fun

Holy hannah! Where do I begin? My last post was all about Brantman who has already been apart of our family for 6 months now! Let me just say that life with two kids under two is busy, busy, busy! I am almost always needed by one or the other or both at the same time. I have officially not slept through the night in over 2 years and most days my lunches consist of eating whatever is leftover on Kyler's plate (which is often a lot because have you ever tried to feed a picky two year old? I'm not very successful at it most days!) It had been such a whirlwind the last 6 months, but I love both my boys! 

We had such a fun summer! Kyle was done with school the end of May but then he was busy, busy, busy teaching summer school through the month of June, working on the 3rd grade curriculum board for six days and tutoring one of his students twice a week. Once he was finished with all of that we headed over to visit Brielle and Jared in Boise for the 4th of July. Parker and Kyler had a blast playing with each other for a whole week. We went to their favorite parks, played in the pool, jumped on their trampoline, went to the zoo, had a few water fights and celebrated the 4th of July with a small town parade, a BBQ, playing in the water, and lighting off our own fireworks after we put the kiddos to bed. It was such a fun vacation! 

Trying to get 4 kids under the age of 4 to look at the camera was no easy task!

 We had lots of fun at the Boise zoo.

Then we came back to Rexburg and spent a few days with Kyle's mom and Jonah who were up visiting for a few days while Kyle's younger sisters were at EFY. We spent the rest of July enjoying having Kyle home to play with us all day. He got a little taste of what it's like to be a stay at home mom and lets just say he's pretty excited to go back to work! I loved having the extra set of hands to always help with the boys and housework. We played outside, went to the park, played in the water, and just had fun relaxing at home with dad. The last week of July we snuck into Kyle's classroom to start getting his room ready for the new school year. Technically the teachers aren't supposed to be in the schools in July because they make it an energy conservation month, but we just worked by the light let in by the windows. He wanted to get some stuff done because we were leaving for Colorado for Stacey's farewell and wouldn't be back until right before school started. We drove down to Utah after we taught our primary class on Sunday the 3rd and spent the night at my grandma Allred's. Then we drove over to Colorado on the 4th. It was a long drive thanks to lovely Wyoming construction and weather, but thankfully both the boys did awesome! 

 We spent two whole weeks in Colorado enjoying all the time we could with our families. Brielle and Jared drove over on the 13th so we got to spend more time with them too. We had a joint birthday party for Kyle and Kyler with both of our families. The original plan was to have a BBQ at the park since there are so many of us, but a couple of hours before the party there was a huge flash flood, so we threw together a plan B and had the BBQ at my parents house. It was lots of fun. Stacey decorated an adorable mickey mouse cake for Kyler and Kyle made a mickey mouse pinata. Kyler got spoiled rotten by all of his aunts and uncles and grandparents. I cant believe he is already 2 years old!!

 Stacey gave her farewell in church on the 17th. My mom, stacey, and I sang together and lets just say it sounded much better the way we practiced it without blubbering through the end! Stacey gave a great talk on courage and then we had a big family dinner with all our family from Denver. Then that night we went with Stacey to get set apart which was a really neat experience for our family. The next day we all drove over to Utah together and spent another day together then on Tuesday Brielle and Jared had to head back up to Boise and we had to head back up to Rexburg. It was hard to say goodbye to Stacey, but she will be such a great missionary! She has such a strong testimony of the gospel and she will be such a great example to those she serves and teaches. My parents dropped her off at the MTC on Wednesday and now we're all just anxiously awaiting the first email from her. 

See you in 18 months mija!!

Kyle started teacher in-service meetings today and although we will miss having him around he is excited for a new school year. I cant believe hes already starting his second year teaching! Life sure does fly by when you're having fun!

Baby Brant

Guess who made his debut into this world! 

Brant Steven Johnson was born on February 1st at 9:07 pm. He was 7 pounds 5 ounces and 20.5 inches long. I had been going to the doctors twice a week so they could make sure I didn't develop preeclampsia again. When I went a week before my due date everything looked good with me and the baby but I wasn't showing any signs of labor and the doctor said it wasn't looking good for me to go into labor on my own by my due date. So she said we could either schedule a c-section for Thursday or the following Tuesday. Kyle and I decided if it was going to end in a c-section anyways we might as well get it over with and schedule it for Thursday so that Kyle wouldn't have to take as many days off from work. So Thursday morning came and I had one last appointment Thursday morning to see if I had made any progress or not. If I did, we would wait on the c-section. Well I had barely dilated to a 1 and things didn't look quite as hopeful as I wanted them too, but everything looked fine with me and the baby so the doctor said he was ok letting me go through the weekend to see if I went into labor on my own. We rescheduled the c-section for Monday and crossed our fingers something would happen before then. I walked 2 miles both Thursday and Friday trying to get this baby to come! A few of Kyle's coworkers told him that eating fresh pineapple is supposed to help induce labor, so Friday night we cut up a pineapple and I ate so much of it my tongue was raw! I don't know if it was the walking or the pineapple, but by 4:30 Saturday morning I started having contractions. They started getting more painful and by 7:30 we decided it was time to go to the hospital. When the nurse checked me I was only dilated to a 2! I thought for sure they were going to send me home and tell me to come back in a little bit, but the doctor was concerned about how much pain I was in for barely being dilated. He was worried my scar from my c-section could be tearing, so they admitted me and the waiting game began. I got an epidural (that is definitely one of the best western medicine inventions!) and once I reached 5 centimeters the doctor felt comfortable giving me a small amount of pitocin to try to help move things along. Every couple hours the nurse would come check me and I would barely be dilated another half centimeter or so. It was such a slow process! I finally dilated to a 6 by 5:30, 13 hours after my first contractions. I thought it was going to take me forever to finally reach a 10, but when the nurse came back at 8:30 I had reached a 10! She called the doctor and after 16 hours of labor and 25 minutes of pushing (the nurse said I'd probably push for a couple hours and I said no way, I'm getting this kid out!) he was born!! He had already had a bowel movement and had swallowed some of it before he was born, so they had to suction out his stomach and he was having some trouble breathing so they took him to the NICU to help stabilize him. After about 15 minutes the let Kyle go in to see him and about 15 minutes after that they brought him to me so I could hold him! He was perfect in every way!! He looked so much like kyler did when he was first born, but he has since developed his own look. Since it's RSV season the mom and baby unit wouldn't allow anyone under 18 in for visits, so kyler didn't get to come meet Brant. I was a little bummed because I was missing my little man and I was so excited for him to meet his little brother. But luckily they let us go home the very next night so we weren't gone too long! My mom stayed with us for 2 weeks and was a HUGE help! I have no idea how I would have manage two kids under two by myself those first two weeks. Then Kyle's parents and younger siblings came to visit and so did my dad and grandma Allred for the weekend so we could bless Brant. Brielle and Jared were also in town so they could bless their little girl so it worked out well that so many people got to meet Brant and we finally got to meet Brooklynn. Kyler and Parker had a blast running around and playing with each other. I sure miss having them live right around the corner from us!

Brant is now almost 2 months old and getting so big already! He has been a really good baby so far. He is way happier than Kyler ever was, which I am so grateful for. I don't know what I would do with myself if he was as colicky as Kyler was. He is starting to smile and coo which melts my heart, he's adorable! He is just barely figuring out his nights and days! Up until about last week he would start being wide awake sometime between 5 and 7 in the evening and would be awake until about 2 or 3 in the morning (some nights it would be as late as 4 or 5!). Then since he was up all night he would sleep all day! It was awful! It was exhausting to be up with kyler all day and then have to be up with Brant all night. Luckily, though, I think he's finally starting to figure it out. He now usually goes down between 1 and 2 and last night he even was a sleep by midnight and slept until 7!! It was a miracle! 

Kyler LOVES his little brother. He always gives him a kiss whenever he walks by him and lately he's been wanting to hold him a lot. He loves to sit on the ground and then pat next to him to tell me he wants me to hold Brant sitting up next to him. It's pretty cute! I was so nervous about how Kyler would react to having Brant here, but he's adjusted so well! I sure love my boys and I can't imagine my life without them! (although I'm sure it would involve a lot more sleep and a much cleaner house!) 

Let the Countdown Begin

I can't believe its been almost five months since I blogged! I thought after I was done with school I'd have a lot more time to blog. Turns out I also have a lot less to blog about! Being a stay at home mom sure has been a change of pace from being a mom and a student. Although I don't miss having to leave Kyler, I definitely miss being a busy student! 

Kyler has gotten SO big! The last few months have been so much fun with him. I think 10 to 16 months has by far been my favorite! He learned how to walk two weeks before his first birthday and has been a busy mover ever since! He is learning so much and it's been so fun to see him learn and grow. He doesn't say many words (mama, dada, no, "ba" for ball, and "ga" for go) but he babbles all the time! I love to watch him explore and figure out how things work. He especially loves balls and mickey mouse clubhouse. He loves to dance to any song on the TV and clap whenever anyone else claps. He loves the song "If you're happy and you know it" and once you start singing it, you better be prepared to do so over and over again about 20 times! He seriously is so cute. We have, however, started to get a taste of what's coming with the "terrible twos" the last few weeks and I am not a fan! He has become so opinionated, which isn't a bad thing, but he can't communicate what exactly it is that he wants and it can be SO frustrating for both of us! He also has begun throwing little (sometimes BIG) tantrums when I tell him no to something. He's a big fan of hitting and throwing any object near him when he's mad. Kyle and I are trying our best at finding the best way to discipline him, but we are flying blind since he's our guinea pig child. It's making me nervous since he's just starting to get into this oh-so-fun stage right before the new baby comes!

[please enjoy a blog post intermission by viewing this photo dump of our adorable Kyler boy!]

Speaking of new baby, only THREE more weeks (at most!) until baby boy #2 joins our family!! I can't even believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by. I thought for sure since I wouldn't be as busy with school and work that it would go by slower, but keeping up with Kyler boy has kept me so busy that the last 8 months have gone by so quickly!! I am so beyond nervous and excited and anxious (and every other emotion you could think of!) for him to come. I know this time around that the newborn stage eventually ends. We'll eventually sleep through the night again and we'll find a new normal, but I am just so nervous for the first few weeks...months...year. I have no idea how Kyler is going to react to having a new little dude around, but I am pretty sure he's not going to be too big a fan of me having to share my attention with someone else. Kyler has always been a pretty needy boy and even though he's become much more independent as he's gotten older, he still LOVES his momma and having her full and complete attention. I think it's probably going to be a pretty rough adjustment for the poor kid. I'm trying my best to enjoy the last few weeks we have together just the two of us, but I'm also just ready to start dealing with the chaos of having two kids under two so that we can move on to finding a new normal again. I don't know how it will all work out, and I'm preparing myself to have a pretty rough 2014, but I am excited for our family to grow and meet this new sweet spirit who will help teach me so much! 

Kyle is LOVING his job as a third grade teacher. He always comes home with some pretty great stories. It sure does keep him busy, but he loves it and is such a great teacher. The first few months of Kyle's new school year were nice for Kyler and I because the school he teaches at is just a few blocks away from our house. It's a quick 10 minute walk so Kyle could drive to work in the morning and then when Kyler and I were up and moving we could go on a walk to get the car and have the car for the day. We also spent a lot of time at the park and Kyler loved exploring the playground! But now it is WAY to cold and snowy for us to go outside most days, so cabin fever kicks in pretty fast. Kyler and I are always dying to go out and do something in the evenings after Kyle gets home. I can't wait until the sunshine and warm(er) temperatures come back, but by then we'll have another little baby, which will make simple outings a difficult task on my own! 

As for me, I'm not sure I'm ready to be the mom of two, but I am definitely ready to not be pregnant anymore! Sleeping has become difficult, the baby has expanded his living quarters into my rib cage and chosen to learn karate in the womb, and my available wardrobe options are quickly dwindling. I am, however, feeling better than I was last time around at this point. My ankles are a little bit swollen by the end of the day, but nothing like they were when I was pregnant with Kyler! My blood pressure has stayed down so far which is a major plus since I do NOT want the complications I had with Kyler again. We've got our fingers crossed that I can do a VBAC and not have to have another C-section, but it all depends on what happens the next few weeks. Since I had a C-section with Kyler I can't be induced so I have to go into labor on my own. They also won't let me go much longer than 40 weeks so I'll have to show some decent signs of labor, or progressing towards it, by the 3rd or else the VBAC idea goes out the window. But as for right now the doctor said he is very happy with how things look and has no concerns at this point. I do have to go in twice a week from now until the baby is born to do a non-stress test and an ultrasound to make sure all stays well with the baby. They are watching everything super close for signs of preeclampsia, but so far all is well and fingers crossed it stays that way! 

hello again

Wow, it sure has been a while since I posted on here! SO much has happened since April.
Here's a quick recap on what's happened over our summer:

I ran my first 5k. I ran the Teton Dam 5k in June and am so glad I did. It was nice to be in a regular running habit. Next year I'm going to try to run the 10k.

Kyler learned to crawl AND walk. He now walks around like he owns the place and we couldn't imagine him being any cuter!

Kyler is finally cutting his teeth. Around 10 months his two front top and bottom teeth showed up just under his gums, but by his first birthday they still hadn't cut through. This last week we noticed one of his top and one of his bottom teeth have finally cut through. It will be nice once he finally has some teeth to chew up some food.

Stacey moved in with us. She was going a little stir crazy at home after graduation and since she wasn't finding a job anywhere in Colorado, she decided to move up to Rexburg early and look for a job here. We converted our formal dining room into a third bedroom with some sheets for a wall and door and she landed a job at Kiwi Loco, thanks to some great connections there!

Kyle finished his time as manager at Kiwi Loco. We are so grateful for the blessing and opportunity that Kiwi was for our family, but we were SO glad when Kyle's last day came. Before he was done he was in charge of putting together the float for the the Rexburg 4th of July Parade and we all were in the parade.

Kyle got a teaching job. After submitting dozens of applications and a handful of interviews, Kyle was offered a 3rd grade position at Kennedy Elementary here in Rexburg. Never thought we'd be locals in Rexburg after we finished school but it looks like we'll be here for at least another few years. He is so excited for this job. We've been busy getting his classroom all set up and ready for the students who come on Wednesday!

We went to the Allred family reunion in Heber, Utah. We had lots of fun jet skiing on the lake, visiting park city, playing at cherry hill water park and spending lots of time with our family.

We found out we're expecting baby number 2 who is due February 3rd. Kyler and this baby will be just under 18 months and although the thought just about makes me hyperventilate most days, we are excited that our family is growing.

Kyler turned one. We survived a whole year with him and we can't even imagine our lives without him. We had a small party with a few friends and family. He absolutely loved his smash cake and we had fun celebrating both his and Kyle's birthday.

I graduated college. I absolutely loved my internship working with the elderly, but I was very excited when graduation day came! Even with getting married and having a baby I still graduated right on schedule AND graduated magna cum laude! I was pretty excited about that one. I couldn't have done it with out the help and support of my wonderful hubby.

It's been a very fun and busy summer for us and we have had so much fun. Now we jump into the new adventure of Kyle's first year teaching. Hopefully now that I don't have school anymore I'll be able to stay up on this blog, although I think the exciting events will slow down a little in our lives.

How do they grow so fast?

Holy hannah, it has been a couple of crazy months around our house! Kyler boy has been growing so much. He is now oozing with personality and it has been so much fun watching him learn new tricks and skills and see his personality develop. I never posted his 6 or 7 month pictures, so here's the pictures from the last 3 months.

He is moving like crazy which has made taking pictures with his monthly sign a little difficult because he always wants to just play with the paper.

Exhibit A:

He is one determined little army crawler. He will crawl over our legs just to get to the laptop or ipad. It is so fun watching him move, but now he is into everything!! We have some major baby proofing to do around our house. The last few days he's started getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth so I can't imagine it will be long before he figures out how to crawl for real. He's also started standing by himself on the couch. I can't believe my baby is growing so fast!

He still puts EVERYTHING in his mouth and the last few days he's been chewing on the table whenever I feed him baby food.

So he usually looks like this by the end of a meal.

He has been such a good eater though. He loves everything we give him, even all his veggies! (He does not get that from me!!) 

Lately he's been making the same cheerio face that he made when he was a newborn. 

It melted my heart then and it melts my heart now! The other day I started laughing at something he was doing and he started laughing back at me, it was seriously adorable. 

Now that Rexburg finally has decent weather again we have been busting out the stroller a lot! Kyler and I have been going on a lot of walks enjoying the sunshine! Occasionally Kyle gets to join us and I love spending that time with my boys. 

I started my 10th and final semester this week!! It is my 7th semester in a row now in 2 years and I am so excited for graduation to come. I only have two classes and an internship. I got an internship working for Eastern Idaho Public Health. They have a program called Fit and Fall Proof Program which helps improve fitness for older adults in order to help prevent falls and reduce injuries that occur from falling. So I will be teaching fitness classes at senior and community centers in Rigby, Ririe, Idaho Falls, and Rexburg. I am so excited! I hated working with the elderly when I was in high school, but now I love interacting with them. I team teach the classes with two other people and we start next week.

Janae and Reggie (Kyle's sister and brother-in-law) had their baby this week!!! He is so tiny and precious. Kyle and I have been reminiscing about when Kyler was first born since they had their baby. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I guess we just kept waking up day after day doing the same thing day after day and now I have an 8 month old! I was telling Kyle how I love how tiny and sweet newborns are, but I love this stage so much more. Seeing Janae just starting out as a new momma makes me realize how much I love where I am at. I love that Kyler sleeps through the night, I love that it doesn't feel like I'm preparing for battle just to take Kyler to the store, and I love that I get rewarded with smiles, giggles, and love from Kyler in return for playing with him, feeding him, and loving him. I feel comfortable and confident in my role as a mother and I'm grateful to be in this stage of the mommahood. This stage has its own struggles and I know that eventually I'll be back at the start with future children, but right now I am trying to enjoy where I'm at and spending as much time loving this sweet boy as possible!

How do they grow so fast!

A Sleeping Miracle

Check out this handsome fellow.

I know, I know. This picture is a liiiittle bit late considering he will be 6 months tomorrow!! (Seriously can't believe it!) But we've been a little busy around here. We moved into our new apartment just a few days before we went to Colorado for Christmas (which we had such a fun Christmas break!). I went back to school for my LAST full time semester!! If I wasn't a mom, this semester would probably actually be pretty easy. But alas, being a full time mom and a full time student is difficult, no matter how easy the semester is. With the way my classes are scheduled Kyle can only work night shifts on Tuesdays and Thursdays so in between my morning class and afternoon class on those days I bust out as much homework as I possibly can so that when I am home, I can be the best mommy possible. Occasionally I have to do one or two assignments at home, but I can usually get a lot done on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was telling Kyle that I should have done this my entire college career because it is SO nice to not always be worrying about homework when I am home. I also only have one class on Friday mornings which ends at 8:45, so I basically have a 3 day weekend every week...which is pretty awesome! I miss my boys when I am gone, but it has been so good for Kyle and Kyler to spend some time together. Kyle has been such a great help as I finish up school!  

As for this little guy, he is getting SO big and SO much fun! He is sitting up by himself really well. The only problem is he wants to move so bad that when he's sitting he'll sometimes try to reach for something to far and tip over. He is so wiggly and always wants to move around. He wants to crawl so bad, but every time we put him on his tummy he just rolls right over to his back. Silly kid. 

He is loving rice cereal and we just started giving him green beans....mmmm! He still isn't sure if he likes them or not, but he'll usually eat a few bites. Since he is such a wiggler, by the end of a meal there is usually rice cereal and green beans all over his face, arms, legs, the table, his bumbo, and me! 

Remember when I mentioned something on this blog about how Kyler was a pretty decent sleeper? I must have jinxed us because for the last 3 months or so he has been an AWFUL sleeper! It started just before Thanksgiving break. I think he had a growth spurt so he woke up more at night. Then we traveled for Thanksgiving which threw everything off. I thought when we got home things would get back to normal, but  then we got home and he got a cold that lasted for about 3 weeks. Then we moved, traveled again for Christmas, and then I started school. All the while he got worse and worse at sleeping. I figured maybe once things settled down and we got into a routine with me going back to school it would get better but over the last 3 weeks or so it got miserable! At the beginning of this week we had two nights in a row where he only slept in his car seat and swing for an hour or two at a time. Kyle and I were exhausted, frustrated, and dying to figure out what we could do. 

We've been pretty against the cry it out method thanks to my many classes talking about how that leaves a baby feeling abandoned and yada yada yada. So Kyler has been pretty darn spoiled because of my fears of him turning into a juvy junky if I let him cry for too long. Not to mention that I've heard horror stories of babies crying for 3 or 4 hours before finally falling asleep. But after two nights of BEYOND MISERY I was willing to try just about anything! So we decided we would give him 30 minutes to cry in his bed before we went to go get him. I was worried he would cry for hours, but after 25 minutes he fell asleep! And then he only woke up twice that night to eat!! Last night he only cried for about 10 minutes then only woke up around 4:30 to eat and went back to sleep until 8!!!! ANNNND he just woke up from a TWO HOUR nap in which there was ZERO crying involved!! PEOPLE!!! THIS IS A MIRACLE!!!! 

I've always loved him when he wasn't sleeping, but he really is so much cuter when both he and I get some good sleep!! 

Learning New Tricks

Check out how big this handsome dude is getting!!

Height: Kyler stayed pretty consistent in the 56% for his height.

Weight: He dropped from the 35% all the way down to the 10% in his weight, but he had a stomach bug the week of his appointment so the doctor didn't seem too concerned.

I can't believe we've survived four months already! He has become so much fun the last month. He has learned all sorts of fun, new tricks.

He has found his voice, which I think is adorable!

He also loves to roll over. He usually only rolls from his back to his tummy, but occasionally he'll  roll from his tummy to his back. He absolutely loves to move. Whenever I lay him down on his back his lifts his legs up and down which either turns him in a circle or scoots him downward. 

I originally put him on the play mat with his feet where his head is and he just wiggled himself around in a circle.

He has also learned the inch worm! I have a super cute video of him inch worming along, but for some reason blogger won't let me upload it. So a picture will have to do.

I promise we didn't just lay him down like this, he got himself in that position on his own! He pulls his knees up under himself and then pushes himself forward, but then his arms stay in the same place and he just gets stuck and frustrated. I think as soon as he figures out how to lift himself up on his arms he is going to be a crawling machine!

Anything and everything goes right to his mouth these days. He loves sucking on his hand and tries so hard to fit his whole fist in his mouth.

He also loves to look at that adorable baby he sees in the mirror.

He's started to grab a lot more and he loves to grab this little white receiving blanket.

And he has discovered how to play with his toys. Most of them go right to his mouth, but at least he is playing with them!

This last month has been my favorite of all four months of Kyler's short lifetime so far. The first three months as a new mom were pretty tough for me. As any mother could probably confirm, motherhood is a big adjustment. And I was not only trying to adjust to being a new mom, but I was also doing school and Kyle was gone 60-70 hours a week and when he was home he had so much to do for teaching. But in the last month I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this whole mom thing. I know what works well for both Kyler and I. I've become more confident in who I am as a mother and I feel less overwhelmed by all the demands that come with being a mom. This next semester I am going back to school full time and I'm sure that will bring a whole other wave of struggles and adjustments, but for right now I am loving where I am at with my small, sweet family.