5 weeks until eviction day!

That's right!! In about 5 weeks (I'm thinking less!!) we will add a new member to our family/group of friends. I CAN NOT believe it! I kinda feel like it was yesterday that I found out I was pregnant and here I am staring down the tube at delivery day! I'm really thinking that he will be early. I don't want him to come early because I still have a lot of school work to get done (as I sit here blogging), but I don't really think Zach cares about that!
The doctors appointments have been going well. Last blog I wrote that we would get an estimated fetal weight on him, which we did. So about 3 weeks ago...ish...he weighed 3lbs 13 oz. I think he's much bigger now!! I go again this Monday, so we'll see what she says. I'm kinda hoping that she will check me to see where things are. How much time I have left. I like to know things! I'm a planner!
School is going pretty well. I had all A's and B's at midterm time, plus and incomplete (which I'm still waiting for a response on that reason!). I've started observing in the classroom and still have a lot of hours to do. It's hard to get them all finished when you don't get your classroom assignment until October and you have until November to complete them!! If I didn't have any other classes or work, I could probably get it done! Doug's doing pretty well in all of his classes too. He's not really liking the philosophy class, but I know he can get through it.
My family threw me a baby shower this past weekend (10/10/09) and it was amazing!! I had such a wonderful time!! All of my friends were able to come as well has family that live long distances. My mom's 2 sisters came with their little girls, my grandparents came from SC, my cousin Susan from NJ, my aunt Mary came from the Eastern Shore (Hi Aunt Mary!), my cousins from N. VA, Lauren and Beth, plus numerous other wonderful people. This little boy got TONS of gifts!! He's so spoiled and he's not even here yet! I'm still working on thank you notes. I thought 2 packs of them would have been enough, but I had to go out and buy some more! Here are some pictures from the shower.
Well that's it for now I suppose. I'll try to write again before the little man gets here! If not, the next will be all about his arrival plus some pictures!!

Love,
Sarah

The Race Is On...

Has it really been over 2 months since I wrote last?! I guess not a whole has happened!! NOT! Let's see. The biggest thing is school started back last month and I wasn't the only one to go back. Doug started ODU in August as a Political Science and Geography student. So far he is really enjoying himself. I think he's taking 5 classes. I'm taking 5 classes as well. I'm taking an online History of VA class, Teaching Social Studies in elementary schools, Music Appreciation, Teaching Literacy, and a multicultural diversity class. On top of that I have 50 hours of student teaching observation time I have to do before Zach gets here. Can we say STRESS?!
My niece turned 1 this summer. Where does time go?! It seems like yesterday I went to see her for the first time at the hospital!! She is quiet the diva as you can tell!!
Other than that I guess not a whole lot has happened! All of my doctor appointments have gone pretty well. I have been measuring small the last 2 visits, so I am going to have an ultrasound at my next visit. Hmm...That means I'll have more pictures of him! They should be able to give me an estimated weight on him too! My midwife says I am nothing but baby!
Doug and I are going to have my friend Tracy take maternity pictures for us a week from today. I'm pretty excited about that!
Until then...here's a couple of pictures of the belly so far. These were right around 28.5 weeks pregnant.
That's all for now. I'll write again soon.

love
Sarah~

What is it...?

Since the last time I wrote a lot has happened. On June 22nd my baby brother graduated from high school!! Where has the time gone?! It seems like yesterday I was moving to VA Beach and leaving my little 7 year old brother behind to live with his dad. Now when I look at him I see the little boy who has grown in to such a wonderful young man. Our mom would be so proud of him.
Onn July 4th Doug and I went to my family's house to celebrate. We of course had wonderful food and then went to downtown Norfolk to watch the amazing fireworks show.

Who remembers what was supposed to happen 2 days after this?!! We were supposed to find out if we were having a boy or girl!! And we did! If you know me at all, you know that I am hardly ever late to anything. I'm usually always on time or way early!! That being said, I was awake at 0430 for my 0900 appointment. I could not sleep!! The feeling was literally that of my childhood waiting on the top of my steps for my mom to give the ok for us to come down to open presents on Christmas day!! We got to the appointment right on time. I waited FOREVER it seems like. I watched people who came in after me go back before me. I felt myself tearing up because I felt like I was getting slighted somehow. Aaahh the hormones. So after snapping at Doug a couple of times (bless his heart for having to put up with me!) and waiting for what seemed like an eternity, we were called back. I sat up on the table and waited for the ultrasound tech to start the show. It really is a show! If I wasn't crying so much I could have eaten popcorn. Doug saw it before I did, but I told him to keep quiet. She asked if I wanted to know what the sex of the baby was (umm...duh!! again...if you know me, then you know I can hardly stand the suspense of surprises!! I have to find out everything! I'm EXTREMELY hard to surprise!). Then she told me what I had been feeling for the last 5 months. It's a boy. He is a perfect, beautiful, healthy boy. I had to pause the crying for a second to ask her if she was 100% sure it was a boy because now I can start shopping and I don't want to get a bunch of boy things for a girl! She said she was sure, and the crying resumed. All I could think of was that I'm going to have a son. Watching him on the screen was amazing, as usual. He's so beautiful already. His name is Zachary Ethan Johnson and I'm his mommy.

Lastly, we attended our good friends wedding on July 10th. Remember the red head at my wedding who caught the bouquet? It was her!! Laura and Mike got married down at the oceanfront this past Friday. She was absolutly stunning!! The wedding was beautiful and Mike wasn't so bad himself!!
That's all for now!!

Love,
Sarah, Doug and Zach...Rowan and Abby too!!

~June Updates~

I totally wasn't creative with that title!! (that picture above was taken the day of our anniversary)

Since the last time I wrote we have been to Pennsylvania and to a friends wedding and Doug and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary!! PA was fun and the wedding was beautiful.

We went to PA to visit Lara, Emily and crew and to celebrate the upcoming birth of Lara's little girl. What was most exciting about this trip is not only was my brother able to make it, but my aunt Pat and uncle Don made the drive from Va Beach as well as my cousins Susan and Mitch from NJ and my grandparents from Myrtle Beach! Lara was very excited to see everyone. The weather kind of hindered everyone from being able to go outside on baby shower day, but we made the most of it.

Doug and I had a doctors appointment on June 8th and we heard the heartbeat again (and the baby was moving around so much the doctor kept having to move the doppler to find the heartbeat again!). We scheduled our next appointment for July 6, 2009 and on this day we will find out if we are having a boy or girl! Doug says it's just confirmation that I am having a boy, but we'll see. If you feel the earth shake a little that day, know that we are having a girl! hahaha!!

I put some pictures up from our trip. Enjoy. Sorry I don't have much else to say!! I will next time because I will be writing about our next visit and about Tommy's graduation!!! That's right people!! My baby brother is graduating high school this month! The crazier part is that on July 18th he will be 18 years old!!! Where has time gone!!
Until next time!!
love,

The Johnsons

~The wild child~

So much to update on this month!! Lets see. School is out for the summer. Thank God!! This semester was a pretty tough one for me. I haven't gotten my grades yet, but I'm almost positive I'm going to have to take economics again! Yuck. Oh well.
We had sad news this month as well. Doug's mom and dad had to put down one of their dogs. Carra got extremely ill and the doctor didn't know what else to do for her. They could have tried one more option, but Carra's quality of life would have been poor. If any of you have made it over to the Rush home, I'm sure you have met Carra. She was the white Scottie dog who was often on the sidelines watching her sisters play with the ball in the backyard and at times she was timid but always loving. Carra was usually always the first one to meet me at the door so she and I suppose myself, could get some TLC. She will definitely be missed.
We do have some good news to follow the sad. Doug and I heard the babys heartbeat for the first time on May 4th 2009. So amazing!! When I turned to look at Dougs face and saw the huge smile he was wearing on his face I started laughing!
This past weekend was pretty low key. Dougs parents had an oyster roast on Saturday which was fun. I know I know...oyster roast in the spring?! They decided to make this one smaller so that they had a chance to spend time with all of their guests, which was nice. I did have a scare on this day. I was at work and I kept getting sharp shooting pains in my lower abdomen. One was so bad I doubled over in pain and started crying. My boss and co-workers decided it was best for me to leave, so Doug came and picked me up. I called the doctor and they told me that if I wasn't spotting or vomiting I could either go to the ER for a checkup or wait until Monday to come into the office. We decided to wait it out until Monday. So on mother's day I spent the day on the couch with my feet up trying to relax and wait for Monday to come.
Monday finally came and it was great!! I know Monday's usually stink, but mine was great!! I called the office and they said they could see me at 1015. I took my friend Heather just in case I got bad news (Doug had to work and I know I shouldn't think like that..buuuut). I sat for less than 10 minutes before they called me back. Donna, one of the midwives, examined me first and then listened to see if we could hear the heartbeat. And we did!! Oh Glorious sound!!! She said that the pain I was experiencing was due in part to the baby growing, but also to the fact that I had been on my feet so much over the weekend and working, so I over exerted myself. She told me I need to take it easy and gave me a list of restrictions. Then came the good part. She knew of my cyst that my old doctor thought she felt, so she decided to check on it a week early to see how it was growing or shrinking. She took Heather and I into the ultrasound room and we waited and watched. The ultrasound tech was probably one of the sweetest women I have ever met. She checked the cyst first and indeed I do have one on the left side, but it's only 1cm across and it's shrinking. So after that she showed me the baby. Oh dear lord I nearly fell off the table!! It actually looked like a real baby instead of a little bean!! I could see its head and nose and hands and feet and belly and cheeks!!! My baby is beautiful!! She took many pictures of him or her and some in 4D. In one of the pictures the baby has both fists balled up on its head almost to say "stop pushing on me lady!!". She called the baby little monkey. The baby kept rolling over when she was trying to take pictures and measure it. The baby is 2 inches from top of head to butt. She let me watch the baby for a few minutes to see what it was doing in there. That child can move!!! I laughed and cried as I watched it move all around and kick its little feet all over the place!! It was so cool!! Since Doug couldn't go to the doctor, I drove the pictures out to him. I think it made his day to see his little butter bean looking like a big kid instead of a blip on the screen. In one picture Doug said the baby looked like a safety monitor because the umbilical cord is up over its tummy. He's such a goober! I spent the rest of the day looking at that beautiful face and fantasizing over what it would look like in 4 weeks when we go back for our next visit. I think this is all for now! Enjoy the pictures!!

Love, ~The Johnson's~

Where's Waldo?

So we got to see the baby on April 7th. It was so cool! When I first saw the baby pop up on the screen, it kind of took my breath away! I didn't see the heartbeat at first, but Doug did. He said "Oh! There it is!" I didn't really know what he was talking about. Figured he was just noticing the baby for the first time! lol! My heart kind of sank because I couldn't see the heartbeat and she was just all over the place taking pictures (remember the doctor thought I had a cyst?). I said "shouldn't we be able to see the heartbeat?" Her and Doug both were like "We already saw it!" She went back and put the pointer over this little tiny flickering white light and said "honey, that's your baby's heartbeat". SO AMAZING!!! I cried! I felt a trillion times better seeing the baby and heartbeat! I told her that people keep making me feel like I should be knocking on deaths door, but I feel ok for the most part! She said to count my lucky stars! I do...everyday...for so much more than not having that much morning sickness!
Other than that wonderful piece of news, we celebrated Easter yesterday with the family. We had a great dinner at Don and Cindy's with tons of cake!! Doug keeps telling me to slow down on the sweets! We also celebrated Mitch's 16th birthday on Saturday with the whole family at Shorebreak. Great food and of course, again, a great cake!! yummm!!!!
Here are a couple of pictures if you haven't already seen them!

love
johnson's x4 +1 in November!

It's going to be....A BABY!!!

I bet I caught your attention huh?! For those who don't know...I'm going to be a mommy in November!! Can you believe it?! I can't!! I'll be 7 weeks tomorrow!! It's amazing to even think about! I took my first pregnancy test on March 14th and took 6 more after that!! They all came back positive, so you would think I would have believed that!! We saw the doctor today and after having blood drawn, waiting, waiting, seeing the doctor, waiting, waiting, having the exam, waiting, waiting, waiting, and seeing her I would believe it, but I asked her probably 3 or 4 times if I was really pregnant! I told her that I feel great and no morning sickness so I must have something wrong with me! She laughed and said I was legit and I would be a mommy around November 19, 2009!! I feel like I can finally breathe and be excited about it! I can't even tell you how over the moon excited I am about the baby and all the possibilities. What a wonderful new chapter to start in our lives! **sigh inserted here** I had hoped to see the baby on an ultrasound today, but no go. She said that they don't typically do them this early, but since she felt something like a cyst (which she said was normal...no worries) she could justify me having an ultrasound this early. So on Tuesday the 7th we will get to see the baby...I hope! I go back again on May 5th to hear the heartbeat. Needless to say, Doug and I couldn't be any happier!!
I guess other things have happened over the past month that I can talk about! lol! Kammy and I went to South Carolina to see my grandparents and to see a friend for a weekend. I told my grandparents while I was down there and for those of you who know my grandma you know she is never one who is lost for words, but she was and it was classic!! We had a great time while we were there and saw so much and ate even more. I came back not even wating to look at food!! It was a great time and it gave me and Kammy a chance to catch up with eachother. Oh...by the way, we went to this place called Boone Hall Plantation (beautiful home and grounds) and we learned that some of the scenes from the Notebook were filmed there!
I also had a conference near Roanoke VA this past weekend. It was for an organization called the SVEA. It's a student group for teachers. It was a good time! My friend Jen and I drove up on Friday to Mountain Lake resort. Sound familiar? It's where Dirty Dancing was filmed!! It was a good learning experience for us and we left with a lot of good ideas!
I think I have one more good news bulletin. Doug got accepted to Old Dominion University!!! He will start this fall and I believe his major is going to political science. We are all very proud of him!!
Well I think that's it for now. I'll keep everyone posted over the next 9 months!! Well...almost 7 now, but who's counting?!

love,
the mommy, daddy and baby makes 3...well 5 because we CAN'T leave out Rowan and Abby!! love to everyone!!!

Fall in L*O*V*E with February

I'm such a huge dork for making that my title! LOL...Oh well! So today is the last day of February!! I can't believe it. Where does the time go?! I'm glad though because that means I have 1 more week of school before spring break and 2 more full weeks before me and my friend Kammy head to SC for the weekend!! We are planning on stopping in Myrtle Beach to visit my grandparents and have lunch/dinner and then head to Charleston to hang out with our friend Mike. I hear Charleston is a great place to visit (based on reports in my Southern Living magazine! lol) We are very excited to go. Due to school and work and of course life, Kammy and I don't see each other as much as we would like to, so this is going to be a great chance for us to catch up with each other and let loose for the weekend!!
My wonderful friend Jen celebrated her birthday this month. We all went out to dinner at Joe'sCrabshack and then to a place called Saddle Ridge to do some country line dancing. It was a ton of fun!!

This past Monday (the 23rd I believe) I went to the Williamsburg Prime Outlet Mall with my mother in law Charlene, sister in law Jan and my little niece Maggie. It was a pretty day, but a little chilly. We stayed for about 8 hours. Yes...you did read that correctly. Those two do it every year and this year I was included in the sport! It was fun, but I hardly bought anything. Just a couple of things for the kitchen. Imagine that!
Maggie is getting so big. She is six months now and she tries to talk to everyone and smiles a lot! She's very fun to watch and play with.
School is going ok I suppose. I really don't feel motivated this semester. I'm taking 1 online course and 4 classes at school and I guess technically a lab added to that, but we don't do anything for it. There is a TON of work for every class. I feel weighted down. My Science for Teachers class has a ridiculous amount of work and it seems like it is truly just busy work. My Microeconomics class is giving me a hard time. My teacher just teaches out of the book and it's very difficult to understand him, but I'm trying. I have a meeting with him Monday. My history teacher is crazy. It's supposed to be history from 1932-present which sound very interesting since I love that time frame, but she teaches it from a governmental point of view, which is hard to follow unless you are extremely up to date on your history and politics and I'm not! Doug's helping me a lot which makes it easier. He is so smart that he can fill me in on details that I'm lacking. Just a few more weeks left of this semester!!
I registered to take my PRAXIS exam again. This is an exam that teachers have to take to obtain a teaching license. Hopefully this will be my last time having to take it!! It's on March 12th...so thoughts and prayers or whatever else you use to give and wish luck would be most appreciated!
Before I go...2 great things happened this month! My aunt Lara found out she will be having a girl in July and my cousin Donny got word that his cancer is now in remission!! YAAAAAY!!!!
Well I should go since I need to get ready for work.

love to everyone!!
Sarah

Happy 2009!!!

2008 has come to a close and it was a fantastic year! So much happened within one years time. Doug and I got married, my niece was born, I finished two more semesters of school, my cousin Megan and a few great friends of mine got engaged!! Those are just the highlights!! 2008 did have its hard and sometimes sad times, but I don't really want to dwell on those. Lets recap on this past month...
December came and went so quickly! I can't believe Christmas is over! I'm kind of glad because if I had to hear 10 million versions of every single Christmas song again I was going to pull my hair out!! Aaahhh...gotta love retail.
I finished yet another semester of school. One more down and hopefully three more to go with a possibility of a summer class. This semester seemed so hard. I took four online classes and one I had to got to school for. My online classes seemed so unorganized and became extremely frustrating. I got through it and finished the semester with all A's and B's and a 3.2 gpa. I'm pretty proud of that! I just finished my registration for spring and I think I'm taking 6 classes (1 is a lab) and I'm thinking about putting in one more. I know...I'm crazy! I just want to get it over and done with. I really have my heart set on graduating in Spring 2010. Consider this your invitation in advance for a HUGE graduation party!! hahaha!!
Christmas was wonderful and Santa was very good to me this year. Doug got me a gift certificate for an hour long massage and a facial, a new karaoke game for xbox, 2 subscriptions to magazines that I wanted (Rachel Ray and Southern Living), and he got me my favorite perfume (Ralph Lauren-Blue and for some reason they don't sell it in stores anymore...poo on them). Santa was good to him also. He received (from me) 2 shirts, xbox points, flip flops for next year and an electric saw for his grand ideas! We did receive gifts from friends and family, but it would be too much to list! I'll just say they were awesome gifts!! This was also Maggie's first Christmas and she made out like a bandit from everyone!! Auntie Sarah and Uncle Doug gave her lots of new clothes and toys and a music player that displays images on the ceiling or wall. Her mommy says she loves it. Here are some pictures from my friend Kammy's annual Christmas Eve get together, our Christmas tree and our Rockband Christmas at Doug's parents house.


We also celebrated Charlene's birthday on our Rockband night. We had spaghetti made by Anthony, salad, bread, lots of good wine and a delicious cake.
Doug and I brought in 2009 at our house...with each other. I made homemade stuffed shells and we had wine (does anyone notice my trend with wine? I think I like it!) and by 1030 we were both in bed! At least we were with each other!!
I think this is all I will write for now. I'm sure I'll write again this month. Hope everyone is well and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Love,
Sarah