Party, Part 2

Today was such gorgeous weather! Perfect for taking the kids to the West Coast Game Park! First, we took advantage of the weather and I mowed while Hyrum went crazy with the weed-eater. He rototilled for a garden too. Though it was hard to pry ourselves away, we cleaned up and took off for the Park.




We finally arrived at the West Coast Game Park at 1:30, giving us 3 hours to play with the animals. When you first arrive there, you get bombarded with animals that are all trying to get your ice cream cone full of animal food.


I thought it was interesting that Hyatt wanted to come here again, because the last time we came here when he was 17 months, he was freaked out by the animals all crowding around. This time, he did much better, as long as I was close enough that he could grab my hand for courage if needed. Notice his hands balled up in fists when he's nervous.


The nursery is always popular because they get to hold ferrets, albino skunks and opossums. The freaky, bulgy/cross-eyed opossum died so we didn't get funny pictures with it. As you look at these pictures, keep an eye out for Kiersa's 6 adorable teeth. Oh, the opossum is yawning, not getting angry.




The kids got to pet a lot of things, including kids (baby goats), llamas (who were terrified of Kiersa), emus, and the world's largest rodents.



There were some freaky four-horned sheep,


adorable wallabies with babies in their pouches (click on it to see the baby peeking out),


and a Cluff favorite: the groundhog.


I just love pictures of my kids lined up together. I can't wait until Paisli is standing there with them instead of her weight being strapped to my aching back. The baby stage is fun, but it's not my favorite stage. It's fun having so many ages of kids right now because I can experience several stages at once and not feel longing for a stage that is gone forever.



Hyrum caught the baby goat for the kids to pet, but in doing so, a big goat butted him in the rear end while he was bending over. It was pretty funny to watch. Sadly, I didn't catch it on video.


We got in the car and Paisli started screaming. I had just fed her, so I gave her a bottle. Kiersa, sitting right next to Paisli, felt betrayed that she didn't get the bottle and started a fit of her own, crying "bobbow! bobbow!". Poor thing is having a hard time transitioning out of the baby stage with a new one constantly reminding her of baby comforts. Our sympathies won us over and the sippie was traded for a bottle.


After fun with animals, we thought we'd let the kids play at the park. The elementary school in Bandon has a really neat wooden castle, so Hyrum played with the big kids there while I took the sleeping babies to a garden nursery to get ideas for my landscaping.



Overall, I'd say Hyatt's birthday was a blast for everyone, not just him. I'm looking forward to Tilly's now because she wants to go camping at Arizona beach and visit the dinosaurs at the Prehistoric Gardens. That's much more fun than a kiddie birthday party, for me anyway!

Happy Birthday, Hyatt

Hyatt turns


1...


2...


3!!!


3 years ago today I gave birth to a troll, I mean baby boy, who thankfully turned out to be such an adorable boy! His personality is completely different than my girls. He's quiet, shy, extra loving and quick to obey. He always says things like "Mommy, guess what. I love you." He expresses his affections easily and makes everyone feel special. He plays well with others and is rarely bossy (unlike his big sister that he's so attached to). I feel bad that he doesn't have any brothers to play with, but he melts my heart so easily that I'm kind of glad that I can tell him he's my favorite little boy (rather than how I have to tell my girls they're my favorite oldest daughter, or middle daughter, or youngest daughter). He's not just sweet to his family. He melts EVERYONE'S hearts, and they tell me so. I get stopped everywhere I go by people telling me he's so cute, and anyone who spends any time around him gets an "I love you" or 10 from him and cuddles and cuteness. I don't know that he irritates anyone because he's very sensitive and is careful to be a good boy.

This year for his birthday, he wanted to go to the West Coast Game Park in Bandon to see the animals and also play at Outdoor In (a small scale, wanna-be Chuck E Cheese). Sounded good to me instead of planning a party! Since he's only 3 and has enough toys already, I checked craigslist and found a few simple gifts for him. We found a bunch of brand new-looking name brand clothes for super cheap that he's been needing really bad, so we got him those, and he LOVED getting them! He had a blast trying each thing on and he'd say "Thanks!" when we told him they were cute. The bonus is the lady we bought the clothes from is going to save all her hand-me-downs for Hyatt now. We also found a cheap, huge canister of Play-doh and accessories that was lightly used one time. We actually bought him a kiddie-pool from Costco and bought the Play-doh for Talea since she's a Play-doh addict, but since the weather is a bit questionable still, we swapped the gifts ahead of time. They'll share them anyway. So you know what Tilly's getting in a month!

Poor Hyatt is still sick, and Hyrum woke him up before he was ready (DO NOT wake up Hyatt before he's ready unless you want to deal with a grouch for hours), so for pretty much the whole day Hyatt was either scowling, crying or whining. You could tell he just didn't feel that good yet. We had to go to work today, so having the Play-Doh there helped a little bit to cheer Hyatt up. They spread it all out on the island and had a blast.



Maybe this scowl reflects Paisli's opinion on not getting to play with the other kids yet.


After work, Hyatt wanted to go to Outdoor In, so we ran a few work errands in Coos Bay, then we went there for dinner and playing. We ate the cheesiest, stringiest pizza I've had in my life, then the kids went wild.



Again, Paisli missed out. Next year, Tayli!


We stayed for hours and hours until the littlest ones were dead tired. Way easier than a planning-challenged mom trying to plan a party, and he enjoyed it as much, if not more!!




Such a cutie!!!


I had Hyrum take a couple of pictures while we were there of two of my favorite baby items that I highly recommend to anyone.
First, my sling. It's called a Maya Wrap, and Tasha introduced me to it. I have 2 since Tasha gave me hers now, and I use them CONSTANTLY. I couldn't survive at work without it. Paisli wants to be held constantly, so to keep her quiet for customers and to keep me hands-free, I just wear her! When we're out and about, I carry her in the sling, and Hyrum carries her in the baby Bjorn. It makes for easy breastfeeding too. By the way, even while nursing, I've shrunk at least 2 bra sizes since having Paisli, thus making my wonderful bras I blogged about not so wonderful anymore. That didn't happen with Kiersa. No wonder Paisli's staying petite and I have to supplement her with 2-3 bottles of formula a day now just to keep her satisfied. It's amazing to me how a bottle can turn a fussy nursing baby into a quiet, content one. It's wonderful!


Second, I love this Bebe Au Lait Hyrum's mom gave me! It gives stylish privacy while nursing without having to use a blanket that constantly falls off your shoulder. I never had one with my other kids, and I wish I had! It's wonderful! Every nursing mom needs one.

The top of it even allows you to look down at the baby while you're nursing and still be covered. Genius invention!

I must have NO shame

I hope at least a few people get some amusement out of this post, rather than get disgusted...yet again.

Everyone should have a daughter as "considerate" as Talea. The other night she said family prayers and asked "Please help Mommy's tummy to get shorter so it doesn't look like a bum bum anymore." Hyrum and I couldn't help but bust up laughing after that. Previously she prayed for her Daddy to get skinny and Hyrum suspected I had coached her on that one, but after Tilly prayed for her Mommy to lose tummy weight, I think Hyrum's convinced that she just thinks these things up on her own. What a helper! Isn't the faith of a child supposed to be really powerful? I hope hers works for us!

In case her prayer baffles you, I'll give you some background. Now that I have so much excess skin and fat from 4 kids born in my late twenties and early thirties (which if you've had your kids at that age you understand how much harder it is to drop the weight afterward), when I try to squeeze my gut into my SIZE 12 (oooohhh Nelly!) pants, it buckles my tummy into 2 bulging...well...cheeks. It looks like a rear end! I guess it didn't help that I stacked Paisli's baby weight on before I had a chance to lose Kiersa's. Don't I have such great excuses for my pudge?! If I could exercise as good as I make up excuses, I'd be 140 by now! Anyway, I showed Talea my tummy-butt, so then she was "thoughtful" enough to remember it in her prayers. She cracks me up.

Here's a little something to sharpen your mental picture and to scare you awake at night.



The saddest part is that I wore these jeans as my "fat" jeans 2 weeks after I had Talea, and there were no bulges. In all fairness, I am sitting in a slouch to get my belly to do this, but it's funny all the same, and sad that I have this much bulge just 3 kids after Talea. Ah, the sacrifices.

I keep thinking I'd look more presentable if I just went up a size, but my jeans fit everywhere except for my belly. If I could just buckle down and stop finding such undeniably excellent excuses for why it's too difficult to exercise, I just might save myself the misery of looking at my rear in a store's full length 3-paneled mirror and actually fit comfortably back into my "skinny" clothes that have been quietly hibernating in storage bins for years. Hmmm. Crunches anyone?

Mommy quiz about Paisli

1. WAS YOUR FOURTH PREGNANCY PLANNED? No way!!! Aside from sort of planning Talea, none of our kids have been planned. I never got pregnant before my previous baby was a year old, and I never used any birth control, so I didn't think I'd get pregnant so soon. Kiersa was 3 months old when I got pregnant with Paisli.

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes.

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Shocked! Sort of surprised/sort of not. Concerned. Scared. Happy.

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Never in a million years.

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? A couple months from turning 32.

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? My carpal tunnel was getting really annoying at night, and even though I was running (trying to lose baby weight from Kiersa), I was gaining weight.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Hyrum. I got up early on Father's Day and took a test since my carpal tunnel had been so bad that night. It was positive, so I took it to Hyrum. I put the test on his pillow and woke him up by saying, "well, you did it again!" He opened his eyes, saw the test, looked at it, then said, "oh no." We weren't mentally prepared to be pregnant so soon while still in our tiny apartment. We had actually thought we were done having kids.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Sort of. It was really fun having a surprise with Kiersa, but it's always such a temptation to find out the sex. We got to our ultrasound and told the tech not to tell us, but by the end the suspense was killing us so we told him to check it but not tell us, and we'd see if we could tell. We could tell it was a girl and the tech said it definitely was.

9. DUE DATE? Feb. 23, 2008. A year and one week exactly later than Kiersa's due date.

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Not at all.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Nothing in particular.

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? My varicose vein in my leg that started with Talea and worsened with each baby.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FOURTH CHILD'S SEX? Girl.

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Yes and no. I wanted a boy so that Hyatt would have a brother that wasn't too far away in age from him, but I wanted a girl since this baby would be so close in age to Kiersa, and they would most likely be really close friends. I was fine either way.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 24 lbs. Started at 155, ended at 179.

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes. Maren threw a combined one for Teresa, Meghan, Olga and me at Thanksgiving.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew because Hyrum suggested it to Maren since 3 girls in the family were pregnant and we'd all be together. I caught Hyrum talking to Maren about it so he spilled the beans.

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? No. It was fine. It was my most uncomfortable pregnancy, but nothing strange happened. I did get a couple of weird mole things on my face, but one is gone now and the other is going away.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Bay Area Hospital, Coos Bay, Oregon

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? I noticed I had started labor when I woke up on the 11th at 7:45 and I was having contractions 10 minutes apart. We were in Portland for Hyrum's DeWils meetings, so when they got a little painful and got closer together and I started dilating more, we left the meetings and drove home. We got home and I labored a little longer until I was dilated to 4cm, then we headed off to the hospital, arriving at 8:30pm. I wanted to make sure I got enough antibiotics in during the labor since with Kiersa I had waited too long to go in to the hospital. When I told the nurses about how they'd taken too long to give me antibiotics last time, then gave me my IV in a flash. I got my epidural at 10pm since things were progressing quickly, but then I got stuck at 7cm for quite a while. Once I'd had my 4 hours of antibiotics, they broke my water at 1am. The pace picked up again and I delivered at 3:17 am.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Hyrum

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Hyrum and Maren. Talea and Hyatt were there too, but they were too tired to wake up for the delivery since it was at 3:17am.

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural.

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? I decided not to even try any alternative pain relief this time since I always end up stuck in bed, so I had an epidural. It was my most painful one to get, but it ached the least after it was removed.

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 8 lbs, 4 oz and 20 1/2" long.

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? February 12, 2009. 11 days early, and 2 days before Kiersa's 1st birthday.

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Paisli Taya Johnson. We really liked Paisley, but Hyrum wanted to spell it with an "i" at the end. Taya was just another one we thought was pretty. We had a really hard time deciding which one to put first. We thought it would be cute to combine the two for her nickname: Tayli.

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FOURTH BORN TODAY? 7 weeks

Mommy quiz about Kiersa

1. WAS YOUR THIRD PREGNANCY PLANNED? No. Again, we were banking on infertility. Luckily, nature spaced our kids 2 years apart. After 2 surprises, we figured infertility wasn't an issue anymore.

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes.

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Surprise. Should have known. Happiness.

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Never in a million years.

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? A couple months from turning 31.

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? I was a bit emotional, and again my bust seemed larger, plus my carpal tunnel was acting up, so I took a home pregnancy test, and it was positive.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Hyrum. He was around when I took it, so I showed him it said positive.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? No. Since we were prepared for either a girl or a boy, we wanted to have a surprise this time.

9. DUE DATE? Feb. 16, 2008.

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Nope.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Nothing in particular.

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Smokers. I found out my little brother smoked by smelling it in my house when he moved in with us for a short while. I about blew my top and all but kicked him out right then and there. I CAN NOT tolerate cigarettes and smokers who think others should just tolerate their poisonous secondhand smoke as though it doesn't exist.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR THIRD CHILD'S SEX? Girl.

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? No, I had my finger's crossed that it was a girl because I had a girl name picked out and absolutely no boy name options. Plus, I wanted Talea to have a sister before their age gap got any bigger.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 27 lbs. Started at 145, ended at 172.

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? No.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I didn't have one.

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? No. It was completely uneventful. There was maconium in the water when my water broke, so a pediatrician had to suck her out before she took a breath, but other than that, things were fine.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Bay Area Hospital, Coos Bay, Oregon

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? I started laboring sometime around 2 in the afternoon on the 13th while we were moving things from the house to the apartment. I went in to the hospital at around 10:00pm, got an epidural at 12:40am and gave birth at 2:34am. So it was about 12 hours of labor with around 4 hours of it at the hospital, and about 2 hours of it really hard labor. It only took a few pushes to get Kiersa out, and I pushed in a semi-sitting position.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Hyrum

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Hyrum, Talea, and Hyrum's mom

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural.

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Epidural of course! I was going to try natural so I got the room with a tub, but just before I arrived at the hosptial, the hot water was shut off for repairs, so I only got a few inches of warm water, and the nurses tried to fill it more by hand with hot water from the tea maker, but after a while of laying in 99 degree water (not near hot enough...not even hot tub hot), I couldn't take the pain and annoyance of not being submerged and I got out and had an epidural.

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7 lbs, 10 oz and 21" long.

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? February 14, 2008. Valentine's Day! 2 days early.

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Kiersa Milly Johnson. We created the name Kiersa and Milly was picked to rhyme with Tilly, but also because I love the movie "7 Brides for 7 Brothers", and Milly is a main character.

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR THIRD BORN TODAY? 13 months

Mommy quiz about Hyatt

1. WAS YOUR SECOND PREGNANCY PLANNED? No way! I didn't think I could get pregnant without the assistance of fertility drugs, so this pregnancy was a total shock. 2 1/2 years of infertility, then 14 months after Tilly...surprise! How did that happen?

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Absolute shock. Disbelief. Excitement.

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Never in a million years.

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? Was turning 29 that month.

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? I thought my bust felt bigger, and that only happens when I'm pregnant, so I took a home test.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Hyrum. I showed him the stick after I saw it was positive.
We took several more to make sure it was correct.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes, in case we needed to prepare for a boy.

9. DUE DATE? April 10, 2006.

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Nope.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Fruit.

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Crying.The behavior of the nieces and nephews I was taking care of. I had no patience or energy for their issues, and unfortunately couldn't tolerate their behavior without irritation. I'm not as patient while I'm pregnant.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR SECOND CHILD'S SEX? Boy.

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? I had hoped for another girl so Talea would have a sister close to her age, but I was excited to have a boy since I already had a girl. Hyrum wanted a boy, so of course that's what it was.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 24.5 lbs. Started at 135 and ended at 159.5.

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes. The first scheduled one was postponed due to the fact that a girl in our ward commited suicide the day before and everyone was in shock and it felt wrong to be celebrating at that time. The one that finally happened only had 4 attendees I think. Baby showers aren't that great in this area.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew.

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? No. This one went fine. He came a week early on his own, though we went to great lengths to get him here early since Hyrum had to attend the Home Show on the due date.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Bay Area Hospital, Coos Bay, Oregon.

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Several days off and on, then 20 hours in the hospital, with pitocin and having my water broken to finally speed things up. I was in and out of labor from March 31st until April 3rd. I was in active labor on April 2nd from 9am-2pm at home, then it quit. It started up again at 6pm and lasted until 3:18pm the next day when I delivered. I went to the hospital on the 2nd at 7:30pm because I was dilated to a 4. I tried the tub, then started bleeding at 11pm so I was put to bed and had an epidural at midnight. I peed the bed at 1 am because they forgot my catheder. My contractions slowed to 10 minutes apart, so they broke my water at 7:20am and started pitocin at 10:30am. Even though the labor was long, the pushing was only 15 minutes (on my side this time) and he was born at 3:18pm. I don't think he wanted to come out yet, but we had the Home Show hanging over our heads and had to get him out beforehand! It is SO not true for everyone that each baby gets faster. I was in tears of frustration by the end.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Hyrum

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Hyrum, my mom, and my sister-in-law, Karen.

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural.

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Yes! I love epidurals! I actually wanted to try to do this one natural, so I tried the heated tub, but I started bleeding mysteriously so they strapped me to machines in the bed, and I can't take laboring in bed without pain relief.

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 6 lbs, 13.75 oz. A pound bigger than Talea. 19 1/2" long. No cord issues other than it was wrapped around his neck twice, so that stressed him out during the labor and I had to wear an oxygen mask during most of the labor and the pushing, and he had to go to the nursery for 3 hours until they got him to cry and sound normal.

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? April 3, 2006. 7 days early.

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Hyatt Dennis Johnson. I didn't want a 5th Hyrum, so we compromised by finding a name that started with H-y so Hyrum could have his little Hy still. His middle name is my Dad's name.

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR SECOND BORN TODAY? In 2 days he'll be 3 years-old.