Time in Utah 7/16-7/31

We went to Utah so that Cody could stay in Arizona to study and take the bar... had lots of fun playing with Valerie and Nathan, and some of my cousins. We even got to hang out with the Hoggard family :) We also visited with some of Cody's family, and just had a grand old time! It consisted of the park, the pool, oatmeal banana facials, playing wii, playing games, talking, eating out, watching "Switched at Birth", going shopping, movies (Me going with my brother Nate and Dad to see Captain America- p.s.-Dad is the champion at air hockey) (Me taking Valerie to see the last Harry Potter)...Of course we desperately missed Cody, but we are so glad the bar is finally over! He came up on Friday night, and we left on Sunday. On Saturday we went and saw Cody's grandparents, went out to Gandolfo's for lunch, went ice blocking, went out to Rodizios Brazilian Steakhouse for dinner, and then the adults went to see Cowboys and Aliens.

Thank you to my family for all your help with the kiddos!!!

more pictures to come... doing photoshop and my blog takes forever with 4 kiddos around ;)

6 day old candids

My very talented sister-in-law, April, took pictures of Weston. Here are a few of them... isn't he just precious??? Thank you April!

Weston's Poem

Weston Philip

Weston Philip you chose from the start

To enter this world with a pure heart.

The sun wasn’t shining, as night still abound,

But joy filled each soul when the news came around.

A healthy boy with hair galore;

As black as the evening sky

Ten fingers, ten toes, an adorable nose

And dimples that make you sigh!

Well, the world doesn’t know all the things that you know,

Though a babe, it’s made very clear

By the way that you stare and the way that you smile,

Heavens angels are really quite near.

So now that you’re here and you’re ready to grow

There is something I need to say.

You’ll have choices to make and lessons to learn

That can help you along your way.

Oh, you’re not alone on this journey of yours,

You have parents who really care.

They will help you and teach you the gospel of Christ;

To choose right with a desire to share.

Learn all you can about Christ and His ways

Go to church and be a friend

Serve a mission, be a scout, and remember to pray

For His love will never end.

And if you do all these things that I mentioned before,

And learn to obey the Lord

You’ll find peace in your life, and joy your heart

And Eternal Blessings will be your reward.

I love you Weston

Love, Gramma Heather

First Week with Weston

This first week has been lots of fun. I've had my family here, and have been getting to know baby Weston. My mom has been such a gem, and once again... as she's done with all my other kids, took the baby during the night so that Cody and I could get some sleep. My Dad and Valerie took Hailey and Xander to a hotel during the night, which they LOVED and always let them go to their favorite place, McDonalds and get a happy meal... I always heard them talking about how they got to stay up as late as they wanted, ate tons of candy and treats, went swimming, and got to go to the "Continental Breakfast" at the hotel. They offered to take Brielle, but as she is teething, we thought it would be best if we kept her at the house.

When Hailey and Xander came back, Valerie took them swimming in the pool and Brielle joined them. It has been so nice spending time with my family. Especially since Cody just started working and is studying for the Bar Exam. We'll be leaving tomorrow (except for Cody) :( for Utah so that he can finish studying and take the exam.

Happy Birthday Brielle!

Brielle is 2 years old today! She came into the hospital to see her birthday present... a new baby brother :) And she opened her presents while in the hospital room. I can't believe she is 2 years old already! Even with just having a new baby, seems like she just came yesterday! She is such a happy girl with a great disposition and loves to be like her older siblings. We love her SO much! Thank you for being a part of our family Brielle!!!

Welcoming Weston Philip

I dropped off the kids at Traci's house yesterday and left with her telling me to take my time...little did she know...

I went into my doctors today and measured a 1-2 and was 30% effaced. She did a check on the baby's heartrate, and it was low... so she had me go into the ultrasound room so they could get a more accurate reading. Sure enough, it was 105-110... it's supposed to be a lot higher. So Dr. Hartzfeld told me to go to the hospital to be monitored for a while. She said it should be nothing to worry about, but they wanted to make sure the heart rate would go up...

I got to the hospital and phoned Cody whom I told not to come, cause they were just monitoring the baby's heart rate. I was having contractions, but nothing I thought needed to be talked about.

Before they were going to release me (since the baby's heart rate would go up in between contractions) the nurse wanted to check me again. I jumped to being dilated 4 and 60% effaced. She then told me she was going to call my doctor to see what my doctor thought.

As I waited to be released, a different nurse came in the room. She told me she had orders to bring me up to labor and delivery. I was like WHAT? I'm in labor? Her reply was, "You aren't? ... You're in denial!"

So I called Cody again, and told him he should come.

I got to the room, got my IV in, had them redo it because it was right next to a nerve, and waited... since I was Strep B positive, I had to be on penicillin for 4 hours before they could give me any pitocin. It hurt so bad.

Right before they broke my water, I got an epidural, and then waited some more... I was dilated 6 at this point.

Finally was given pitocin and hoped the baby would be born before Brielle's birthday... but alas, midnight passed.

Just before 2 in the morning, I was checked again. still a 6, but 100% effaced. 2 minutes later I felt a lot of pressure. The nurse checked again, and I jumped to a 9 1/2. She called the doctor, and I was ready to push.

Weston Philip Johnson joined our family at 2:12am... he was stubborn and wanted to be born on his sister's birthday :)

Weighed in at 8lbs. and was 19 3/4in. A gorgeous healthy baby boy with lots of dark hair. I couldn't be happier! And by the way, I would recommend Dr. Kimberly Hartzfeld to everyone!

We are so excited for him to be part of our eternal family!

Dust Storm

Tonight when my in-laws came home from their Temple Night, she told me to come look outside. A dust storm was brewing off in the distance. After Cody realized Brielle would not go to sleep yet, he came out with her. I ran to grab my camera so I could get some decent shots before the sky was completely covered by dust. The storm was 150 miles long, 2 miles wide, and went 69mph. We stayed outside just before the big hit so I could get a pic of Cody and Brielle in the beginning stages of the wind :) It's crazy how nature does things! One minute it's calm and peaceful and blazing hot outside, and the next, it is pitch black with wind and dust! You would never see anything like this in Florida!

Another thing you wouldn't hear in Florida... my kids came inside today saying, "We found a baby scorpion!" and "Aren't you so proud of me for not touching it?" and "Aren't you so glad I came inside and told you?"

Independence Day 2011

This morning Cody took all the kids swimming.

Then we got ready and Grandma and Grandpa Johnson took Hailey, Xander, and I to see Cars 2 (Cody stayed home with Brielle so he could get some studying in). We met up with Traci, Conner, Kylie, Colton and Cannon. We went to the Disney Store and the Pet Store while we waited for the movie to begin... the one we were going to see was sold out :)

Then we went to the Payne’s house to get Conner's bathingsuit, headed back to Mom and Dad Johnson's so Hailey and Xander could get their swimsuits on, and they headed out to SunSplash - a reward for Xander getting his cast off and something fun for them to do since they didn't get to go to Lake Powell this year. I stayed home to watch Brielle while Cody did more studying... we had fun before she finally took a nap... including letting her put makeup on me :)

The kids came home telling us all the rides they went on (all of the tube rides available, the lazy river and the wave pool) Xander told us about a big bucket that dumps after it fills up with water, and it fell on him taking his bathingsuit off with it...lol! They were exhausted, but we went outside for a few minutes and watched a few fireworks go off before getting ready for bed.

It was a fun Independence Day :)

…Well, despite some intense contractions for me, but nothing ever regulated... guess he's not coming today!...

Only 8 more days till I'm induced!

Discovery...

We have 8:30am church in the mornings. I woke up and got the kids ready, and at 8:15, realized Brielle was still fast asleep... I had laid out her clothes and stockings, and asked Cody to wake her up and quickly get her dressed for church so we could leave. We went to church, and the kids were sitting in the row behind us with their grandparents. I looked back, and something looked odd... realized what it was, and leaned over to Cody and said, "That's what I get for asking you to get her dressed... you put her dress on backwards!" We both started laughing and trying to be quiet. Our laughter turned into our shoulders shaking. Cody worse than me :) After sacrament, he took her out and fixed her dress :)

Anthem Fireworks

We went to Anthem tonight to watch the Firework Show with Ryan and April and their kids, and Traci and John and their kids. It was lots of fun hanging out with them. I'm so glad we were able to find Colton twice and Kylie as well! But all in all, it was loads of fun! Too bad I didn't bring my camera!

Lost Tooth #3

Hailey lost her 3rd Tooth! She pulled it out herself this morning. She begged me not to pull it out... she wanted to do it by herself. Last night she was wiggling it with her tongue. This morning I told her, just grab it and pull up. She did, and lightly too... it came right out!