Just in case you were wondering

For those of you that can't stand to wait 8 more days to see what little Nathan will look like, here is a sneak peak. I am sure this is all very scientific. Maybe even the same technology that says that Beyonce is my celebrity look-a-like :). Who knew John and I would get such a blondie.

What do you think about my little new baby Nathan?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

Merry Christmas!!

Well, I hope that everyone is having a wonderful day! John and I have had a fantastic Christmas so far and it's not over yet.
Most of you know that John is horrible about keeping secrets/surprises from me and you all know how much I adore presents. So, yesterday John had to go and pick up my stocking stuffer items after leaving work early. He got home and said 'Oh, I got you something while I was out.' He proceeds to go and get a hoodie sweatshirt and bring it to me. I had to laugh. I have not let him give me my Christmas presents early, so he actually went out and bought something in addition so he could give me a present early. It wasn't technically a Christmas present so he felt great about that. As you can imagine, I was fine with that. I think next year I'm going to institute The 12 Days of Christmas here at the Johnson residence.
This morning we woke up at 7:30am, went to open presents and then went back to bed for several more hours until waking up to cook Christmas breakfast. Does it get any better than that? Fantastic.
John managed to keep surprises for today and I was quite thrilled with my new Paddington Bear coat. I tried to include a picture, but no go. Just use your imagination. I got some great sweaters for post-pregnancy as he wants me to have new clothes and not feel like a stuffed sausage. Good plan! It is hard having new clothes and not being able to wear them, but soon enough, right. I also got my fancy face moisturizer that makes me feel like a super star. My stocking was full of wonderful goodies and Amanda was a happy camper Christmas morning.
I feel like even with the sleeping in that a nap is in my future. We have friends coming over for dinner at 5pm so I will need to hustle at some point, but I don't think I'm there yet.
Well, that's all for now folks. Lots of love and Merry Christmas.

This Week's Joyful Weather

Our 10 day forcast includes most days over 30!!!! WAHOOO!!! What am I going to do with myself? I am so thrilled. Not that I'm going to pull out my shorts and go for a walk, but it is so much nicer than -9. Joy to the World!
Oh, P.S. The Mystery of the Frozen North
There is a man who must live in my neighborhood because we are on his running route. The only problem with this guy is that I ONLY see him running in the winter. I have never once in my years here seen him running during the spring, summer, or even fall. He waits until it is literally - degrees before he will venture outdoors. I think he finds a special kind of joy when the roads are covered in ice and snow. What is wrong with this picture? Any ideas about his kind of crazy?

My December

Does anyone else feel like December has flown by? Wasn't it just Thanksgiving? That just reminded me that I forgot to get more egg nog at the store just now! Sadness for my Christmas day, unless I can convince myself to go out with all the other loons tomorrow and do last minute shopping. Just maybe. If anything is worth it, it is the beloved egg nog. I don't think anyone that reads my blog would agree with that, but egg nog=joy. Look it up.
Back to the point of this post.
I feel like December has flown by, so I thought an update on my month would be called for. Here's what's been happening in my neck of the woods.

1) High levels of productivity. If you know me well, you know that this is not generally part of my disposition. Especially not since becoming a woman of leisure. I have not only done some great deep-ish cleaning, but also managed to realize that if you wash the dishes everyday, you feel happy. Then I realized that I wanted that kind of happiness even when there was ice cream in the freezer. So, if I have a pop in visitor anytime soon, I'm ready. Let's take a tour of the kitchen before we sit down. This productivity has also expanded to include the task of folding AND putting away laundry. I know, just call me Super Woman!

2)My obsession with genealogy. Hours and hours each day sitting on my butt, attached to the computer. It has been quite lovely. I've even felt organized and focused on which family I'm working on, etc. Until the other day. My brain fell out of my head and I spent probably 45 minutes shuffling papers on my desk.

3)Daily baths. Hours and hours sitting on my butt, lead to lots of long baths to make it feel better. Bouancy is a wonderful thing. Next time I'm pregnant I'm buying a bathing suit and going to the indoor pool everyday. I know that that is probably one of the least attractive things in the universe, but I don't really care. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

4) Trying to quit the Pepsi. I read the new article in the Ensign about how caffeine can kill you and rot pure steel down into a ball of putty (j/k) and gave it a really valiant effort. John and I both did. We were good for about 1 1/2 weeks and then I had some sadness one day (who knows) and I begged for a Pepsi. Since then I've been sipping away. One of these days I'm gonna kick it. Any advice for an addict?

5) Pretending that I'm a scrapbooker. I went to a scrapbooking night at church at the beginning of Dec and I've been giddy with picking out cute scrapbooking paper. It's the quilter in me coming out. I love matching up all sorts of different patterns and designs. I have 3 pages partially started, but I can definitely tell that I am going to have to hang out with more scrapbooking people and just steal all their ideas as I have a mental block for all things really cute. I just need a little baby now to photograph so I can really get going.

Well, there is my month in a nutshell. I went to the doctor today and I am in just about the same condition that I was 3 weeks ago. No real progress. I'm mostly okay with that because the numbers don't mean much and I really feel like he is going to be a January 10th baby. So, everyone get ready. I'm technically 10 days away from my due date today so let the countdown begin. Anyone making a chain? Rachel?

Just in Case

Just in case any of you is planning on becoming pregnant now or in the near future, I feel it my duty to make you aware of some very serious limitations of pregnancy. Read and enjoy!

Things You SHOULD Do• You Should Get Regular Medical Exams
• You Should Get the RDA (Reccomended Daily Allowance) for Folic Acid
• You Should Check Your Immunity to German Measles (Rubella)
• You Should Take Prenatal Vitamins
• You Should Eat Plenty of Protein
• You Should Eat Well and Get Plenty of Exercise. Can't be bothered and Nathan seems fine
• You Should Be Sure to Get Enough Fat in Your Diet
Fat and cholesteral, which you normally try to avoid, are important for absorbing the fat soluable vitamins (A,D,E, and K) and for strechable skin. There are so many fat-free foods on the market today (fat free milk, butter, ice cream, meat, bread, cookies etc.), it is very easy to consume a fat-free diet without realizing it. Really? Is it that easy? Without even realizing it? Hmm...sounds a little fishy to me.
• You Should Do Kegal Exercises
• You Should Use House Plants
• You Should Focus on Your Child and Avoid Negative Thoughts and Actions This is why I have stopped hanging around annoying people.
• You Should Take Care When Traveling
• You Should Talk to Your Doctor about Existing Conditions and Your Family History
Things You Should NOT Do
• You Should Not Smoke or be Around People Who Do
• You Should Not Drink Alcohol
• You Should Not Take Illegal Drugs
• You Should Not Take Presecription Drugs or Over the Counter (OTC) drugs, Including Aspirin, Unless Told to Do So by Your Doctor
• You Should Avoid Hot Dogs
• You Should Avoid Caffeine
• You Should Avoid Contact with Reptiles
• You Should Avoid Tick Bites Whereas unpregnant ladies, go get 'em!
• You Should Avoid Fish
• You Should Not Eat Junk Food Wait a minute. I thought I was supposed to get enough fat? I can't do both, so anyone for a bowl of ice cream?
• You Should Avoid Vitamin A Supplements
• You Should Avoid X-Rays
• You Should Avoid VDTs Video screens, just like the computer screen I was staring at while writing this. Run away!!
• You Should Avoid Microwaves Um, just plain no on this one. I will avoid sticking my head in the microwave while it's on though. How about that? I think that is what they really mean anyway.
• You Should not Use an Electric Blanket
• You Should Not Use a Water Bed Most especially because after 4 months, you would be there for the duration of your pregnancy. I wonder if there is a youtube video of a 9 month pregnant woman trying to get out of a water bed. I think I might pay money to see that.
• You Should Avoid Drinking Tap Water if Possible
• You Should Avoid Stress Quitting your job helps on this one.
• You Should Not Expose Yourself to Pesticides
• You Should Avoid Fumes from Paint, Paint Thinner, Household Cleaning Products and so on
• You Should Avoid Raising Your Body Temperature
There is a potential danger to the developing fetus if your body temperature rises above 102 degrees. You can raise your body temperature to this level by getting a fever, by exercising too strenuously, working outside on hot summer days, and so on. While I can't control whether or not I get a fever, I take the council to not exercise too strenuously, very seriously. Before, during and after pregnancy.
• You Should Not Use a Sauna, Hot Tub or Take Long Hot Baths This is the sadness of my life right now.
• You Should Avoid Cleaning Cat Litter Boxes. You Should Avoid Uncooked Meat.
• You Should Avoid Herpes Now, do they really need to say this one? Is there any moron out there that doesn't avoid herpes? I think this is just one of those common sense rule of thumb things. Everyone avoid herpes!

Well, hopefully you've all been informed and feel a little smarter for having read this.

Nesting is the bomb digity

I don't even know how to spell digity, or course I don't think it get written too much. But I am nesting anyway. It's fantastic. Really everyone should give it a try.
I just have this inner push to do random things like was the walls and dust the tops of things I've not looked at in quite some time. I even want to do a bunch of rearranging, but stop myself because I can't actually move anything that weighs more than a book.
It's been amazing. I think I have a tiny, temporary feeling of what it might have been like to be Wendy back in the days of yore. I was a dish right away and wipe of the counters constantly and just casually walk around throwing in laundry, so my home has been a well oiled machine this last week. Since the dishes are no longer overwhelming, I've moved on to lots of other little projects and boy am I feeling satisfied.
I do of course know that this is a temporary state, but seeing as I've never been this way before, I am really enjoying it.
So, having nested for an entire week, I am wondering when this fella is going to come for a permanent visit. I go to the dr again tomorrow and I'm hoping she says something exciting like 'Wow, you are almost 5 cm dialated, we better get you over to the hospital.' If we could all say a silent prayer for that today, I would appreciate it.
I actually feel like he is just snuggly and perfectly happy to stay awhile longer. I think he senses that it is only 1 degree outside today with a 'feels like' -19 degree wind chill. I don't blame him for wanting to stay put. I do have some really fuzzy blankets for him though. That really should be enough to coax him out. I'm going to start a little dialogue with him this morning about getting a move on. I'll let you all know how that goes.

The Difference that 5 weeks makes

Well folks, this may be one of the last pregnancy photos you get to see of me. Hooray for the excitement of really cute pictures to put up. Who else is super excited to see what my little Buster looks like? Anyone? Well, either way in a matter of weeks, you will have your fill. But for now, you get to see yet another picture of me in perhaps the only shirt that still fits.

I'm actually feeling really good and don't anticipate that Nathan is going to make an early arrival, so officially 2 weeks 6 days until his estimated arrival. It's all very scientific I'm sure. I must admit that while I'm excited to have a little better mobility, I think that I am really going to miss being pregnant. The further along I have gotten, the less weird it all seems. I see pictures of newborns and realize after feeling a foot or knee through my stomach, that he's really in there and he's a big, almost fully baked baby. He is head down and I regularly pat his bottom until he kicks out a little leg to my right side.

John is getting just as excited to meet his little buddy. Today he said 'I just can't wait to teach him how to catch a ball.' Seeing that we're not a very athletic family, that was cute.

This week has been one of cleaning/nesting. It's been great. I not only am keeping up on all the dishes and laundry (major miracle) but I am getting some deep cleaning done and some de-junking. I don't know if this technically qualifies as nesting, but I realized last week that when Nathan arrives, so will visitors and I won't be in the mood to clean, nor will I be in the mood to be embarassed by my house. Quite motivating really.

We are all ready for Christmas here as both John and I are both finished shopping and all the decorations are up. John is so funny, in that he can't keep secrets very well. Almost daily he brings up my Christmas gifts and gives away some clue. Who wants to place bets about whether or not I'll have any surprises left for Christmas morning?

I also must mention that winter in the frozen north is much less depressing when you are not working at a job you hate. The snow isn't nearly as horrible when you don't actually have to drive in it and you can just heat up some hot cocoa and curl in bed while watching People's Court. I actually saw a man this week try to sue a pet store for $1500 for selling him a girl instead of a boy dog. His main claim was that he had to go out and purchase a whole new wardrobe for the dog once he realized the error. Hmm... I don't think people who buy clothese for their dogs deserve to be taken seriously. No offense because I have many friends who do, but really??