Sunday, August 30, 2009

New house, waiting for a new baby

Thanks to everyone that helped out and pitched in with our move this weekend. We still have to clean out the fridge but the cleaning ladies come tomorrow morning. Now we just need to start unpacking in our new house. Our landlords in our old house brought in an army of people this weekend to completely redo the landscaping. We're not very good gardeners, I must say. They are preparing to sell the house so they've got some work to do.

Our new house is alright. We've realized how spoiled we were in the last house though with all of the built-in amenities. Now we have to buy a bunch of stuff: rug for the living room, lamps for the living room (who builds houses without lighting in the main living space?!), media center, units for Piper's books, clothes, and toys, a hose for the yard, etc. We bought a box fan yesterday because there's no A/C either. At least it's the end of summer, right? We'll do fine in this house. I mean, c'mon, there are four bedrooms and a playroom for Piper. We have an attached garage too which will be awesome come wintertime. We have a newish stainless steel fridge and microwave. Rick was able to score us a one-year old washer and dryer too, essential for when you have a newborn.

Nothing much new to report on the babyfront. I'm due tomorrow and have an appointment scheduled for Tuesday. If the baby doesn't come before then, they'll induce me on Wednesday. I'm not thrilled with the idea of being induced but Rick has started his paternity leave already and my mom comes on Tuesday. We wanted the baby to wait until the move was over but he can come anytime now. To think that I once assumed that this kid would come early, like two weeks ago early. We'll see.

I do have recent pics of the Pipes but I'm on Rick's computer and can't download them to his laptop. Soon enough we'll have pictures to post of our little guy too.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Baby/Housing Update

Since I faked you out on the "new addition" post I thought that I'd actually share some news on the baby front. I'm due on August 31st. I went to the doctor today and she says that nothing's changed since last week. I'm currently three centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. Other parents out there will know what that means. I'm feeling stronger and more frequent Braxton Hicks contractions but nothing else.

We are still looking for a new place to live. We have to move out by the 31st. We thought we had a place and then had it swept out from under us. We're looking and looking. Something has to happen soon or I will be up to my ears in boxes and still as pregnant as ever. Unfortunately I haven't been able to start packing the house up because we don't know when we're moving yet. I haven't got the whole moving boxes thing sorted yet. Hopefully by tomorrow I will. I'm anxious to do something but things are slow going.

A New Addition

No new baby, yet. Piper won this goldfish at last week's Primary Fair. She named him, appropriately enough, Fishy.

Primary Fair

Last Saturday we attended a tri-ward Primary Fair. It was so much fun. They had tons of games for the kids as well as crafts, treats, a caricature artist, and a balloon-making clown. Piper made a tiger mask, won lots of tickets, ate popcorn, played with her friends, got a flower balloon, and her portrait done. Our Primary President dressed up like a clown and handed out lollipops. It was a great activity.




Friday, August 14, 2009

More Strawberries

It's happened: we finally grew a strawberry in our little garden. I had a feeling that today would be the day since we've had great rain and sun and it's been humid. We took pics and then proceeded to eat it up. Yum.

(Please disregard Piper's silly Dora knee pads; we were about to do some bike riding and she's loved having them on lately.)

I love, love, love this cutie's little face.



Baby Shower

My awesome friends Anne, Emily, and Jodi were kind enough to organize a little baby shower get-together for me. I keep thinking that this baby is going to come early so I just kept telling myself, "gotta hold on 'til Thursday, just wait until Thursday." Well, obviously Baby Boy Johnson hasn't made his appearance yet so we were able to enjoy a fun night together.

It was held at the Melting Pot where we had four different kinds of chocolate fondue. It was so, so good. I especially liked the s'mores fondue.

We chatted for a couple hours, ate and ate, opened gifts, and just enjoyed being together. I was sad to see the evening end but I had such a great time. Thanks everyone for coming and for being such good friends to me.

Jodi and Emily watching our server handle all of the hot plates


Kim (and Ella), Shay, and Jodi. Jodi and Anne put together the adorable diaper cake.


Action shot of me and the chocolate. L to R: Jodi, Emily, Maria, Lauralee, and me


The lot of us, minus me of course. L to R: Kim and Ella, Shay, Jodi, Emily, Maria, Lauralee, Anne, and Candace

Greek Salad

Lately I've been wondering what to do with the plethora of vegetables I have on hand. I got inspired from watching the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten whom I love, to make a Greek salad for dinner. The cucumbers and red onion are from our farm share. The tomatoes are from our garden. I bought the red pepper from a farm stand and purchased the olives and feta from the grocery store. Stir together with a bit of Italian dressing and ta-da, a lovely dinner salad just for me.

Going to the Pool

Along with our access to the beach we also have a beach pass to our local pool. Piper loves to go swimming. It's nice for me to be able to get some of the pressure off my burgeoning belly. We frequently see friends there and almost always have a Chipwich ice cream. It's an amazing facility and they always have at least six or seven lifeguards on duty. It's also cool because the majority of the pool is only two feet deep so Piper can walk/swim over a large area. There's even a gentle slide for the toddler set though Rick prefers the tall big-boy slides. Here are some shots of Rick and Piper swimming together.



Our Afternoon at the Beach

Piper and I recently took advantage of our exclusive use of one of Lake Erie's beaches. You have to have an issued beach pass and live in certain areas to access these little grottoes. For most of the time we were there we were the only ones there besides the two teenage lifeguards. The sand was a bit disappointing because it was rather pebbly. The same could be said for the sand in the water too; it hurt my feet to go in very far. Piper had fun digging and trying to skip rocks. Not a bad way to spend a warm afternoon.