Welcome Caleb Forster Johnson!

Little Caleb was born on January 23, 2008 at 9pm via c-section. It was a long and difficult labor and after 16 hours, it was decided that a c-section would be best for both mom and baby. Caleb was 6 lbs 13 oz. and 18 inches long.

Caleb was born on the same day as his great Grandpa Pinkley and named after his great Grandma Hazel who passed away last October - her maiden name was Forster.

He is such a precious little baby - loves to sleep a lot (just like Mommy) and eats a lot, sometimes demanding to be fed every hour. Here is a picture of him getting a sponge bath this morning. I will post a link to more photos online at a later date.

Love,

Stuart, Beth and Caleb

Large And In Charge!

I'm now about 36 weeks along. Sorry it's taken so long to post another belly shot but you can imagine I've not been chomping at the bit to post another fat pic. I've left the featherweight class behind and now entered heavyweight status with a 40+ lb. weight gain. I guess you could say that Thanksgiving was more feast than famine and Christmas baking has been more than good to me and the little guy.

I had my first real craving the night of Thanksgiving. We were watching an episode of The Office and in the background there was a vending machine with a Cup O'Noodle in it. I had it have it. Well, Stu wasn't too happy about making a 10pm run to the local mini mart so we toughed it out and I bought about 8 of them the next day. Also been loving the Totino's party pizzas with the square pepperoni on it. Totally not healthy and totally delicious - I haven't had these since college. I'm salvating as I type...

The holidays were great - we had Stu's parents in town for an entire week which was AWESOME! My mom's best friend was also in town for a week at the same time and it made the holidays less painful without mom around. Stu's dad helped prep the nursery with a new closet system. Once we get it completed, we'll post some pictures of the done deal.

My family (sister Christina, sis-in-law Agnes, Dad and mom's best friend Janet) threw us a baby shower after Christmas and it was great to have my in-laws there for the occasion. My sister made a great window valance, bumper cover and crib skirt for the nursery, too. It looks so good with the dark walls. She really outdid herself. There was tons of good food, no baby games (yeah!) and lots of fun opening gifts. Costco erroneously added pink booties on the cake instead of blue - do they know something I don't?

Now on to the bad part - the swelling. Things have taken a turn for the worse in the last week. Edema is taking it's toll on my feet and legs and my lower half is swelling like a drowned pig. I feel like an extra in the movie Shallow Hal. Because I have zero shame, and think it's pretty funny, I've attached a picture of lovely said feet. Enjoy. (Sorry about the lack of a pedicure - will get on that right away.)

More good times ahead - we have our birthing class this weekend, an office shower next Tuesday and my friend Emily is throwing a shower next weekend. Can't wait because my two best friends are flying up for the weekend to attend. Should be a great time!

All our love,

Stu, Beth and Sweet Baby J

Nothing to do with Baby J but I couldn't resist...

Ok, so it's been a while since we've posted a new picture of my larger than average frame...we'll get around to doing that in the next day or so. But I couldn't help but share this photo from a recent Christmas party that Stuart and I went to in our neighborhood. It was an ugly Christmas sweater party and Stu almost won Ugliest... Anyway, enjoy!

Let the Countdown Begin!

I've officially entered into my 3rd trimester this week (29 weeks along). I'm getting bigger and slower by the day but still feeling pretty decent. My next doctor's appt is next Tuesday and after that I start going ever 2 weeks instead of monthly. It's hard to believe that there's only 11 more weeks - maybe a bit more but also maybe a bit less.

We started officially prepping last week. Stuart started priming the nursury and we are going to paint it a dark charcoal grey with white wainscotting along the bottom. Decided against a theme for the room so that we could just keep it simple and not get overwhelmed.

We also began the long drawn out process of registering. A close friend helped us out by telling us about the essentials that needed to make our list as well as those items that are unnessary and cost a ton of money. Fortunately, we have been getting lots of fun hand-me-downs as well which is really cool.

Lastly, we finally signed up for our 2-day birthing class at the hospital. Seems like things are starting to fall in place and hopefully we can wrap up all our prep work soon before I start losing steam.

Looking forward to the holidays and having Stuart's parents come out for a week. It's been over two years and we are really excited for them to be with us over Christmas. I'll have my first baby shower while they are here too! Super fun.

That's it for now...time for a nap.

Happy thanksgiving,

Beth, Stu and Sweet Baby J

15 More Weeks To Go!

I'm 25 weeks along tomorrow and doing as well as to be expected. My back hurts and I'm tired a lot but overall can't complain much. I can feel him move around much more than before and it's comforting to have the movements.

I had to take a glucose test on Thursday to see if I had gestational diabetes. It can back negative so I was relieved to not have to take daily injections in my belly. PHEW!

Here is a picture of me from this week. I think I still have gained less than 20 lbs so far which is good considering my eating habits as of late. I love chocolate, cinnamon rolls and chicken McNuggets. Yum! It's good to eat whatever you want and not feel guilty.

And the belly gets bigger...

Here is a shot of me at 20-21 weeks. It may not appear that I'm much bigger than the last shot but I sure feel that way. To date, I've gained about 12 lbs. But I've been indulging a lot so we'll see if I start gaining more. My next OB appt is next week so we'll know how much I've gained for sure. I'm trying not to overdo it but it's hard when you feel like you're starving all the time and sugary treats seem like they are everywhere.

I feel "full" all the time (despite always being hungry) and I have to wake up a lot in the middle of the night because I have to use the bathroom or move around because I am uncomfortable. I'd be lucky if I can stay asleep for 3-4 hours. Most of the time, I am up every 1-2 hours.

I think I'm starting to feel some movements but since it's my first time, I can't really tell what I'm feeling. This week I'm starting to feel more "rumbles" in the abdomen area especially in the evening and after I've had a little bit of sweets.

We're busy putting the final touches on the Shoreline house before it goes on the market. So we haven't had a ton of time to do any planning yet. But we are starting to talk boy names, nursery plans, and look at stuff online to prepare for registering. Lots to do but we still have plenty of time!!

Until the next posting,

Beth, Stu and Baby Boy Johnson

We were wrong!! We're having a boy!

Well, our assumptions that it just had to be a girl were completely wrong. When we went for our first "fetal survey" ultrasound, she showed us what looked convincingly like baby boy parts!!! She wouldn't give us evidence on the photos, however, so you'll have to take our word for it. The 3 pictures she took weren't that great so this is the best of them. Hopefully that won't be the only ultrsound we have so we can post even more!

After a full day of disbelief and giggling, we are finally on board with baby boy Johnson. I'm super excited that a couple of good friends in the neighborhood are having boys also (one next week and the other in December) so our kids can play together and attend school together. That will be fun. We're now talking about boy names and nursery preparations. It's going to be a lot of fun... and a lot of learning. I know nothing about little boys yet!

Much love,

Beth, Stuart and Baby Boy Johnson!