The Chain

Last year, we made a family countdown chain for our big California trip. Yesterday, Kimble helped me make a countdown chain for the new baby. It was Kevin's idea to make one and I figured it might help the kids get a little more excited about the arrival of their brother. I was worried that seeing a long chain of paper hanging on the wall would only remind me how much longer I have to be pregnant; luckily, it is not nearly as long as I had anticipated. I think that it has actually helped us all get more excited- weird, I know.

Let the Baby Countdown Begin!

Just 4 weeks until baby Koltyn arrives! (yes, Kevin won the name game) I feel like those short weeks will take forever, like time has slowed down as much as I have. I am definitely starting to feel like I have been pregnant forever and will never get a good night of sleep again- especially after a late night run to triage this weekend because of some major abdominal pain. On a positive note though, some of Kevin's colleagues were more than generous to have a small baby shower for us last week. With all the gift cards we received I was able to get almost everything on our "Need for Baby" list. This has greatly reduced a bit of the stress I have been letting get to me...now if only I could get Kimble to start going #2 on the toilet instead of in her underwear I would be one happy mama.

Easter Day

Happy Easter!! All in all, we kept it simple and had a great day as a family. We hope that your Easter celebrations were just as wonderful as our own.

An Easter Celebration

Due to the rainy weather yesterday, the annual Johnson Family Picnic was cancelled...bummer! Instead we headed over to Peoria to spend the day with Kevin's family. The kids were able to hunt for eggs in the living room (Kimble had me put her eggs in her bag and Karter was eating candy as soon as all the eggs were found), we took Kimble to a movie with a couple of Kevin's brothers and Kevin was able to play a game of air hockey with Karter, kind of. We had a great time as always!

Easter Pageant

Since we were already in Mesa on Friday, we decided to combine trips and head to the Easter Pageant to see the Pratt Boys. Luckily, my parents offered to watch the kids so that Kevin and I could actually enjoy it. We had no idea just how crazy it would turn out to be. It was sooo crowded, we actually had to sit on a little patch of grass, in a corner of a sidewalk intersection, behind people who were smart and brought their own chairs. We could see only pieces of the stage and the angels on top. Our view wasn't great, and I was distracted by all the people walking in front of us, but it was still nice to be there.

Unfortunately, after fighting the crowd when it was over, we were not able to find the boys to get a picture. Next year, back to dress rehearsal night for us.
We did get one picture, although it didn't turn out great. But I am 5 weeks from delivery, so I will give myself a break this time.

Handy Man

My dad decided that he was going to take on the huge task of putting on a new roof for their house. It has turned out to be a bigger headache than he expected. Luckily, he has gotten help from my brothers and Kevin thought that he should have a turn too. They spent nearly all day up on the roof, working hard. Hopefully, Kevin will be able to help again- I am sure that there will be plenty of opportunity for him considering there is still a lot of roof to go.

Spring Festival

After our disappointing 20 minute visit to the horse park, we headed down the street to the Queen Creek Spring Festival. We thought that Kimble would enjoy participating in the egg "hunt" so we stood in a long line waiting for GO. When it was finally time to run, Kimble just stood there watching all the other kids get the eggs. We ended up with one egg that was left behind after I had to drag Kimble out in the field. Hopefully Easter morning will go a little smoother. While waiting, the Easter Bunny made an appearance, freaking Kimble out (even Kevin was a little weary of him).

After the unsuccessful egg hunt experience, we saw the tee-pee, some bands perform and, the kid's favorite, played on the playground. We didn't stay at this event long either, but it was nice to get out of the house for a little while.

Horseshoe Park: Round Two

Saturday, between conference sessions, we ran over to Horseshoe park. They were having an Arabian Horse Show this weekend and I thought Kimble might enjoy seeing the horses again. It turned out to be pretty boring, unfortunately. We had more fun watching the horses in the warm-up ring than the actual competition- which was basically an announcer calling out an action, the horses performing it and the judges making marks quietly.

We did notice these HUGE fans in the arena on our way out. I could not believe how big they were and had to take a picture for evidence. I won't tell you name of the fan company, but I am sure you can imagine what they are called.

Teddy Bear

Karter has recently started to grow attached to a teddy bear. It is actually the bear we made with Kevin's family at Build-a-Bear before he was born. Although he is not as attached as he is with his blanket, he now likes to sleep with, carry around and examine this bear. It was so cute I had to get a picture.

Our Little Photographer

So, Kimble asks me almost everyday if she can take pictures with "my" camera. She has figured out that it is more fun to take pictures and see them on the screen than it is to pretend with our old camera without any batteries. I have actually let her use it a couple times, I was in the room with her of course. Although she gets a lot of shots of the TV, me and Karter, she has taken some cute pictures. We definitely have enough evidence of her horses and the TV for now.