Enter Niece

What a treat to be there when Paige Louise was born and get to see her when she was only a few hours old!  She is an absolutely gorgeous little darling--and she looks like a girl!  I love it!  I really appreciate her timing--finally a family baby born in cooperation with the congressional schedule! :)

The first picture of the girl, sent to Dad.  Jenny's caption?  "Happy Birthday, Dad."

Birthday buddies Papa and Paige

While Jenny and I had planned for months that our trip to Idaho would coincide with Paige's birth (because when your aunt is the doctor, you can better plan such things!), she made a surprise appearance a few days early while we were up at the cabin for the annual Bunn family get-together!  As it so happened, the road back down to Boise was closed because of forest fires, so Jenny, Chad, and Auntie Fay headed into McCall to the local hospital.  How convenient to have your doctor along when you go into labor up in the mountains!  There were quiet bets on whether Paige would share a birthday with her Uncle Jason or her Papa, but Papa won by about 15 minutes!

With my precious niece

All the Johnson girls!

Nephews and a niece...I think this chaos will be par for the course for a while...

The next morning we all piled into Jenny's hospital room (she is crazy--I could hardly handle ANY visitors, much less six under six!) to coo and admire Paige.  Her biggest brother thinks she is the absolute cat's meow.  So do the rest of us.  And oh how I have waited to buy bows and girl clothes! :) 

Remember this dress?!?

Henry and Paige

Beautiful girl!

It will be so much fun for Paige and Henry to grow up so close in age...although right now he looks like a giant next to her!  Welcome to the family, Little Girl!

A Week with Shaanti and Kade!

Finally, at the end of July, the week I'd been anticipating for months arrived--Shaanti and Kade arrived to spend a whole week with us!  Their family had spent the week in Myrtle Beach with Adam's grandparents and family, and, since Granny and Papa offered to take the other boys up to the cabin for the week, Shaanti and Kade extended their east coast trip and hung out with us.

Enjoying frozen custard at the Dairy Godmother

The boys all ready for a walk.  I love this picture--Kade looks like he's so bored with this, while Henry looks very unsure about being stuffed into a jogging stroller!

We had SUCH a good time.  We didn't do a single tourist activity--never even went into DC, in fact--but just hung out and did "normal" things.  We went to the farmer's market.  We shopped at Ikea.  We had Korean food.  We went on long walks on the path by my house.  We had lunch at la Madeline, where we talked while both our children fussed and cried.  We watched season two of Downton Abbey...and then watched the last episode again.  We went to the mall.  We ate peach cobbler and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  We fell asleep trying to watch the USA girls gymnastics team take gold.  I took Shaanti to Trader Joe's for the first time, and we spent the rest of the week with unnecessary and delicious snacks.

Enjoying Korean Bulgogi--Shaanti's number one request!

Facetiming with Cole and Mason at home

A nice stop on our daily walk!

Snuggling with Aunt Shaanti

Being home with Henry has been an adjustment, and I have missed my sisters even more than I have for the past decade.  It was so wonderful to spend a whole week just hanging out with one of the people with whom I've wished I was hanging out for the past few months!  Her visits are few and far between and I was so sad to see them go, so it was a good thing we were headed to Idaho just a few days later!

7.

There seems to be something significant about seven years of marriage. Maybe it seems solidly settled in. Maybe it's the baby and all. Or maybe it's just that we went out to dinner alone for the first time in three and a half months.

This year I have begun to better appreciate the ways Jason has influenced who I am at 33. The introduction to ethnic food alone has made me a better person! We were laughing over lunch today with my aunt and uncle about how I was hesitant to date Jason because we had nothing in common--when we combined CDs after we got married, we had ONE duplicate! It made me marvel at how much we have in common today. Being married to him is pretty awesome.

Henry at Three Months

Dear Henry,

I haven't done a great job of logging your awe inspiring accomplishments or charting your progress.  You have no baby book and no baby journal.  In fact, this post is already almost four weeks overdue (in spite of my backdating it).  Still, let's talk about you at three months.

We celebrated your three month birthday by putting you in your first 3-6 month outfit (thank you, RaChelle!), since most of your 0-3 month onesies suddenly have the appearance of an overly tight, high-cut legged ladies briefs. At your two month appointment, you weighed 12 pounds, and when Daddy and I oh-so-scientifically weighed you on the bathroom scale at three months, you were up to 14 pounds.  You are still long and lean, but your thighs are (finally) starting to chunk up.  In the meantime, your newborn hair is falling out--and here we thought you were bald before!

During your third month you did all sorts of amazing things.  You started scooting yourself around in your crib (so far only in a tight circle, phew!).  You found your voice and started talking to us while we change your diaper (vast improvement over afore mentioned blood-curdling screams).  You started batting at the toys on your play mat, and suddenly one day you became really interested when we read together.

You are (usually) a good eater, though for some unknown and frustrating reason you tend to scream through your late afternoon/early evening feeding.  I am learning not to panic that you will lose weight and we will find ourselves back at uber stressful Week Two of your life.  You've also stopped eating in the middle of the night, which makes me a much more pleasant mama, and we have settled into a pretty predictable routine of popping your binky back in once in the middle of the night and feeding you between 6 and 6:30.

This month you've also become a better napper.  Suddenly one day you and I were both ready for you to start "crying it out," and after just a few days (which we all hated) you started falling asleep within ten minutes or so--on your good days.  You have also started waking up from some of your naps early, so it all evens out.  You are delightfully readable--you love to play and talk and spend a little alone time right after eating, then you want constant attention, then your eyes turn red and, if I swaddle you and hold you a minute, you often fall asleep while I'm checking Pinterest just one last time--unless you scream like crazy and I put you in bed.

Speaking of screaming, you've added a note to your otherwise really loud cry that makes it sound like someone is torturing you.  For the record, putting you in your car seat or drying you off after a bath is not torture.  Just so you know.

Most importantly, you are an awesome smiler.  You just look around for someone to smile at (usually me!  Yay!), and if you can't find anyone you will just smile to yourself.  It is so much fun to spend the day with you!  You still love music and being outside.  Your daddy and I are clearly your favorite people in the world, and I love the way you look at me.  I just love being your mama.  Papa was right--each stage just gets better and better.

Love,

Mama

Uncle Justin Arrives!

Henry had a fun weekend of spoiling by Grandpa and Uncle Justin.  It was so fun to introduce him to Justin and see the two of them together!

A nice introduction

The weekend was basically a men's bonding weekend.  Henry had his first trip (of many) to Home Depot, watched Grandpa and Dad reseal the toilet, and heard a lot of computer talk.  It was good for Henry, who has attended a lot of ladies' lunches and gatherings in recently weeks, to have a little man time.

All the Small Men

I, meanwhile, was alone in the house for the first time in 11 weeks.  For the first five minutes I couldn't decide what to do--read a book?  do a project?  clean the bathroom?  I quickly opted for eating lunch without interruption and falling asleep in front of the TV without fear that someone would start crying.  Heavenly. 

Uncle/Nephew bonding

Henry is looking forward to getting even better acquainted with Uncle Justin (and his girlfriend April) when we head to Mount Vernon in September!

Lately, around here

Summer is in full swing here, complete with life-sucking humidity, a long string of 100+ degree days, and thunderstorms, some of which knocked out power to most of the region for days (100+ degree days, no less).  I miss Idaho the most in the summer.  But I digress.

Henry was two months old last week, and suddenly he looks much less like a newborn and more like a baby.  I had him in the Baby Bjorn today for the first time in a while, and he was holding his head up and flailing his arms and acting like a great big baby.  He loves to smile and I swear I heard a giggle from him the other day...and then he suddenly hits a point where smiles turn to full on screams.  At least he's predictable.

Henry loves loves the bath...until it's time to get out and get his pjs on.

He's also mostly sleeping through the night--like, he slept nine and a half hours the other night (wheeee!).  Then again, he woke up three times last night, so I'm still nursing a coffee cup pretty closely.  I'm still nervous that he's not eating enough, even though the pediatrician specifically said not to feed him in the wee hours.  I wonder how long that lasts.  That, and worrying that he's not breathing, and questioning our every decision...

Snuggling with Dad

Other things going on around here include:

A growing garden.  Dad planted the most spectacularly beautiful garden this spring.  I can't tell you how pretty and perfect it is...or, rather, was, until rabbits devoured our green beans.  Three times.  It's mid-July, so we've given up on green beans for the summer (SO sad), but the tomatoes are coming in and we're eating lettuce and green onions.

Spinach (which is way bigger now AND going to seed, of course...)

Netflicks.  I know, we are, like, the last people in America to get Netflicks, but we finally pulled the trigger.  Since it's so hot, and since we're still sleep deprived (because sleeping through the night is new and not consistent, and since nursing an infant takes hours and hours of the day, we've become fans of new shows--namely Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother.  Sometimes that is the highlight of the day.

Crazy storms.  Weekend before last, Jason had just left for hockey and I was at the computer, and suddenly the lights flickered and it sounded like a freight train hit the house.  Luckily for us, the flicker was as close as we came to losing power in the storm and all the fallen tree branches went the opposite direction of the house.  Lots of our friends weren't so lucky--a good chunk of the region was without power for days.  We got to host the Gambills and the Harveys until their air conditioners came back on, which was fun.  Somehow we have this magical spot that never loses power (Jason conjectures that it was a former spy hideout), and we'd like to keep it that way!

The extent of our storm damage.  So glad it didn't fall on the new addition!

Running again.  It appears that a routine is starting to emerge from the chaos that has been our lives for the past few months.  Henry seems to like to wake up at 6, which means I can feed him, go running, and at least get out of the shower before Jason leaves for work.  This is only the second week this has worked, so I'm still holding my breath, but oh.  So good.  While I run, I have never loved it, but watching people out running all beautiful spring while I was huge and swollen has given me a new appreciation for it.

The Four Kings

We paid a long overdue visit to Steven and Amy in North Carolina last weekend.  We loved meeting darling little Rusher, who is about three and a half weeks younger than Henry, and it was fun to introduce Henry to Hudson and Rusher, who will undoubtedly be long-distance playmates for years. 

Henry and Rusher--look at those arms and legs moving!

Reading buddies

We remarked on the way home that it's a good thing we are such good friends with the Kings.  The weather was unbearably hot, so we spent most of the weekend sitting around and visiting--which is what we do best!

Sweating it out at the farmer's market

Dads and babies

The other thing we do best is eat, and the Kings gave us a full introduction to southern food--fried chicken, barbecue (we both loved Carolina BBQ sauce), fried green tomatoes, peach cobbler, fried okra...  Mmm, mmm!  On Saturday, we even braved the heat and visited the local farmers market.  There were tubs of blackberries there that I would have paid $22 for if I'd been within a few miles of home...

I could eat all of these...

It was so great to see where the Kings live and get a taste of their lives. Now I can better picture it when Amy tells about how she woke up from a nap at 2:15 pm in labor and had Rusher at 3:36 pm--yikes!  Plus, it's nice to know that even though they no longer life mere minutes from us, we can still share a really special friendship.

Sad, Again

Henry and Nora, enjoying Sunday School

The worst thing about DC (worse than the traffic, the heat, the price of housing) is the way people you've grown to love move away...which is what has happened to us again this summer. Hardly any time ago Brent and Tilly told us he had accepted a job in Arkansas (home for both of them), and already they are gone!

I am so sad. The Gambills have been our dear friends for years, and we already miss them dearly. And oh! We were so looking forward to raising Henry alongside Carter and Nora! This picture, taken in Sunday School a couple weeks ago, is so precious...and makes me sad.

One bonus of the horrendous storm last weekend was that the Gambills, who had lost power during the heat wave, stayed at our house Saturday night, so we got some extra time with them. We're already looking forward to our first trip to Little Rock one of these days!

Happy Fourth!

We celebrated by hanging out our flag and watching the Capitol Fourth and the fireworks over the Washington Monument...on PBS, like most of America.  We also watched the "Independence" chapter of John Adams, just to make up for the fact that we are in Washington, DC, and stayed inside all day.  It is hot, people.

Henry celebrated with this fun onesie, through which he pooped within one hour.  Good times were had by all.  Happy Fourth of July!

Katie's Dream Wedding

I think I talk about my cousins Katie and David and my Auntie Fay and Uncle Charlie on this blog as if they are just part of the family, since that's how I think of them--which is why Henry and I made the somewhat harrowing flight to Idaho for Katie's wedding.  As Casey said, being at Katie's wedding was a no-brainer.

Family portrait (minus Jason!)

Granny successfully kept Henry asleep during the ceremony.

Jen and Casey

Shaant and me

Katie has been dreaming of her wedding almost as long as I've known her (which is her whole life), and she--with lots of help from cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends--managed to pull off her dream wedding on a perfect Saturday night in McCall.  She had a shabby-chic woodsy barn theme that was perfectly complemented by the setting, and absolutely everything cooperated (even the mosquitoes--somehow we got home with nary a bite!).  I wish I had better pictures, but my one goal for the wedding was not to be the lady with the squalling baby.

David, escorting Sarah and Kaylee

Ring-bearer extraordinaire!

Here comes the bride!

Bridesmaids in a row

Uncle Tim officiated

Katie's big kiss!

Bride and her dad, bustin' a move

Spectacular exit!

 

There were lots of friends and tons of family to celebrate--and the Bunn cousins burned up the dance floor, as usual!  Cole was the ring bearer, and he was the star of the show (second only to the bride, of course!).

Dancing with the ring-bearer

Mason and Troy, watching the fun

Bunn Cousin Dancing

My new favorite dance partner

Katie looked absolutely radiant, and I am so happy for her.  I've only met Matt a couple of times (which is weird, that Katie would marry someone I hardly know), but everyone who knows him heartily approves (even my dad, so kudos, Matt).  I am looking forward to watching the two of them blossom together in their marriage!  What a great celebration!