It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

We had a break from the spring rain the other day, so even though Kiersa was still a bit sick and had a rash from her reaction to the antibiotics, I took the kids to the park. Well, actually, our naughty dog, Indian, made a break from her kennel, so we went on a walk throughout the neighborhood to find her (which we did), and then we just continued our walk to the park.

The kids played on the swings.





I got on the extra swing to show Talea how to go from a stand-still to swinging, but in my attempt, the swing broke! Am I that fat?


In my defense, I inspected the swing and found that someone had broke it previously and had just set the swing up to look repaired, so I was the poor soul who got it next. Luckily, when it broke, I had a good grip on the chains, so I only dropped to my knees. Kiersa was next to me in the baby swing, so when it happened, she looked over at me kneeling on the ground and said "Ah oh!"

Since Paisli can't sit yet, she just slept in the stroller while we played.


I finally let Kiersa go on the merry-go-round, and she thought it was pretty fun. I don't know how much longer Tilly will be able to go on merry-go-rounds without getting sick. She gets motion sickness like her dad, and so does Hyatt.

This park really is pretty wimpy. All the equipment is old and all it has is a merry-go-round, a tall slide, some old monkey bars,

a small kiddie structure with slides and climbing stuff,

a couple of swing sets, lots of lawn, and a nice tennis court. But, the kids don't mind.

Paisli spent her time eating or hanging out in the stroller while I helped Kiersa play on the play structure.


I had all kinds of things planned to do during the day: cleaning the bathroom, cleaning the fridge, doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, sweeping, etc, but after getting most of it done, I postponed the laundry for the park, and I'm so glad I did because the rain started the next day again and my kids needed some time out of the house.

Thursday and Friday were my first official days back at work with Hyrum since I can use a toilet and toilet paper like a normal person again. It was nice to be back there with Hyrum all day. I didn't realize how much I enjoy it, though I don't like getting up early. Paisli sleeps much more and much better at work because I can turn off the light in the playroom while she naps, so she thinks its nighttime and doesn't want to eat every few minutes. Let's just hope more people start remodeling their kitchens!!!

Traveling up north

I know I've been dwelling on the southern region of my body lately, or is it the middle? And in the process, I've grossed out many a reader. I do feel a slight twinge of remorse for inflicting such sickening feelings in the pits of those stomachs, but in reality, I really don't care if anyone was offended or grossed out because this blog is my journal. Each year I'm making it into a book (with Hyrum's computer genius help), so it's for my family to look at and read. My kids aren't grossed out by it. Talea even asks me if she can check on my bum to see if it's improving (okay, I can hear the dry heaves now and the mouses clicking off my blog), so I'm not worried about them being sickened by my surgery tales.


I did visit the surgeon on Thursday. Things are healing well, but he did finally admit that I still have one hemorrhoid left. Drat!!!! I'll go back in 6 weeks and if it's still lurking around, he said he could band it. What am I, a goat? How do you poo in that situation? My aunt castrated our pygmy goats once by banding their testicles, so all I could picture when the surgeon said that was a banded testicle! When I was pregnant with Kiersa and had that pyogenic granuloma growth on my nose (stinking pregnancy side-effects!), it would grow so rapidly and bleed so profusely that I had no choice but to do my own "banding" by tying a thread around it and choking it off. I couldn't get in to the dermatologist for 2 months, and I couldn't live with a huge, bleeding growth on my nose during the wait. I must have "banded" it 2 or 3 times. So, back to my posterior...it appears the saga is not complete. I still have more pain to endure in the future, it appears.

Now, traveling up north, I've mentioned how I've had three clogged ducts from nursing. Starting with week 2 of nursing, I've been jinxed enough to get a clogged duct each week. If you've never had one, they're really painful. When the baby latches on, you feel a sharp, burning, shock of pain for a few seconds, and you get lumpy and engorged because the milk is backed up behind the clog. Yesterday, I got clog #4 (since Paisli is 5 weeks old now), but this time I couldn't manage to unclog it no matter what I tried, so I ended up in the early stages of a breast infection. I took a hot shower to try to unclog it, but it didn't work, so by the time the hot water was waning away, and I got out, I was struck by the infection. I felt miserable and I had no energy. All I could do was lie down. Then the chills started. I had goosebumps and was shivering like crazy, and even with Hyrum giving me a hot water bottle for my feet, I couldn't warm up. So, off to the bath I went. My teeth were chattering as I made my way to the scalding hot bath Hyrum had started for me. An ultra hot bath is the only way I can warm up when I have the chills. I think it must have helped my duct, because after that bath, things started to improve. I took an ibuprofen for the pain and I was able to sleep. When I woke up, I felt like I was 1,000 degrees, and poor Paisli who was lying next to me, nursing, was surrounded by a pool of her own sweat. I got up and felt as sore as though I'd just ran a marathon with no practice or training, but I felt okay. I was so glad I caught it before the red streaks showed up, which means I'd need antibiotics.

Hyrum says he doesn't think my body was made to nurse children, or else our children were never made to breast feed, and I have to say I agree.

I had all kinds of problems with nursing Talea. By the time she was a month old, she hadn't gained enough weight, even though she ate for an hour at a time and only went 10 minutes between feedings, so I had to start seeing several lactation consultants. They weighed her before a 40 minute feeding, and then afterward, and she'd only gained an ounce when she should have gained 3 or 4. I was put on every drug, tincture and herb you could try to increase your milk. One of the pills made my sweat smell like root beer. I was given a fancy breast pump that I'd have to use day and night. They eventually even told me to drink root beer each day! I had to tube feed her formula while she was breast feeding until her weight picked up to a reasonable level. She was born 5 pounds 8 oz, and was only barely 8 pounds by 2 months, when they said her weight had picked up enough that I didn't need to tube feed her formula anymore.

I took her off the formula, but her weight didn't continue increasing as fast as it should, so I needed to put her back on formula. She refused to take a bottle, but we were desperate with her screaming fits and all, so we kept trying to get her to take one. When we finally got her to accept a bottle, she gulped it down like she'd been starved to death her whole life, and once she'd take a bottle of formula, it was as though we had a new baby. The baby who cried constantly became a happy baby! I got a clogged duct when she was 4 or 5 months old that led to a breast infection with chills and red streaks and antibiotics. That clog never went away, so I only nursed her until she was 9 months old, and I couldn't nurse her on the clogged side very often because of the pain.

When Hyatt was born, I was nervous that I'd have the same problems.

He unclogged my duct for me somehow (that was still visibly clogged 14 months after weaning Tilly) the first time he latched, and he was actually pretty kind to me. No clogged ducts. No infections. At least none that I remember. After being put through the ringer with Tilly, I knew what things to look for to know if I was producing enough milk. I could tell he wasn't getting enough, so we introduced a bottle to him instead of a feeding tube, and Hyrum would feed him bottles when I was empty. But when he was 7 months old, he was done nursing and refused to continue. I was surprised because he was my gentle nurser, but he didn't want anything more to do with it.

Kiersa started bad and ended bad.

Well, actually I thought I finally had a good milk supply because she gained a pound a week for over a month (remember, it took Talea 2 months to gain 1 and a half pounds), but then it tapered off to my low supply at 2 months. I mean, Kiersa was a chunk! Here she is at about 6 weeks, with an eye cold.

And here's Paisli at 4 weeks. Not near so chubby.

I say Kiersa started bad because she was ALWAYS painful to nurse. She has a fetish with her tongue, so maybe that was the problem. She probably just latched weird with her tongue, but I couldn't ever get her to latch comfortably no matter what I tried. She gave me a lot of clogged ducts and a couple of infections. When she was 3 months old, I got pregnant with Paisli (oops), so I was told I needed to wean Kiersa when I was 4 months along so Paisli would get what she needed. Therefore, Kiersa was weaned at 7 months. It was really easy to wean all of my kids because they were all breast AND bottle fed, so the transition to a full-time bottle at 7 or 9 months was a piece of cake. And since I never get engorged, feel milk "let down", or leak milk all over my shirts (since I have a low milk supply), it's never uncomfortable for me when my kids quit nursing. I had WIC with Talea and Hyatt, which was so nice since formula costs an arm and a leg. I didn't have WIC for Kiersa, and we were spending $80-100 a month on formula. Ouch! We found out she was lactose intolerant when she was put on formula full-time at 7 months, so we had to switch her to soy formula.

So now Paisli is starting off worse than any of the others, as far as clogged ducts go.

If I had WIC, I would seriously consider putting her on formula full-time right now and just wean her off of me. I love the bonding of nursing, and I know it's the best for a baby, but something's got to give when I can't go a week without the threat of infection. We'll see...

Seeing red

Hyrum has always had a thing for red-heads. His mom is a red-head, so it probably stems from that.


His brother also favors red. Funny thing is, neither Hyrum nor his brother married red-heads.



Hyrum WAS once engaged to a red-head, until he broke it off. Hyrum's mom is bright red, and she had 8 children. Not one of her children has red hair.



Susan and her girls aren't in the above picture, but none of them are red. Susan is engaged to a red-head, but can't have kids anymore. Hyrum gets red hairs in his beard and sideburns, but that's the most red that showed up in the family. Now, with all the Johnson kids being parents, not one of them has had a red-head. Elisabeth married a red-head, but her daughter is blonde.


Hyrum really wanted a red-headed daughter, but we seem to have dirty blonde kids...until Kiersa. We've been suspecting for a long time that Kiersa was strawberry blonde, but with her dark lashes and with her hair so short, it was hard to tell. Her eyebrows always looked a little red, but I thought it was just an optical illusion. If you click on these pictures, you can see the red in her eyebrows.



As she got older and got more hair, we really saw the red in her hair. When morning light shines on her hair, there's no mistaking that she's a strawberry blonde. Other people have noticed it now too and have commented to us about how we have a strawberry blonde.







So Hyrum got his wish and got his red-head, and I got my wish and got kids with dark lashes.

Kiersa learned how to do stairs while at the Bandon house (and she fell halfway down the flight of stairs while there too). So now she likes to go up and down our stairs at the apartment.


She's a super happy girl. Even when she was sick and was covered with a rash, she still played games with her shirt and gave me smiles.


If you say "on your mark, get set..." she says "Go!" She says down, tries to say Paisli, and has a tender place in her heart for her Nana.


She recognizes your facial expressions and responds to them accordingly. She's super cute and sooo sooo fun now! She's at the adorable stage where she interacts a ton, talks a ton, and plays with you like crazy. She has her daddy wrapped so tight around her finger that he can't resist her and her expressive eyes. She loves to watch Tilly and Hyatt play and joins in when she can. I can't wait until Paisli can play with her, since Tilly and Hyatt are so close and don't really care to play with others as much as each other.

Running out of time

I was given an invitation to a birthday party for a little girl who was born a month after Talea. The party is in 2 months.
2 MONTHS!!!!
How in the heck is anyone organized enough to plan that far in advance? How do they know the health of the family will be good enough for a party in 2 months? Maybe I just think that because my family always seems to be sick lately. Hyatt is full blown SICK now...again, and Talea just caught it. They both just puked today, are coughing like seals, and have runny noses! Give me a break already!!!! We've already missed church for the past 5 weeks and it looks like it will be yet another week before we make it there again.

I just realized today that Hyatt's birthday is in exactly 2 weeks. He'll turn 3!

3!!!! Where did time go?

I haven't planned a dang thing or even thought about a party, and it's in 2 weeks! Uh, who will come anyway? We don't have any family out here (John and Maren are back in Utah), and there are no little boys Hyatt's age out here. Hmmm. Last year we invited a family over to jump on the trampoline since that's what Hyatt got for his birthday, but I have NO clue what to do for Hyatt's birthday this year!
I stink at making cute cakes.
I stink at planning things in advance.
I stink at surprises.
Where is Daisha when I need her?! Or Annie! Or Teresa! Or Kylene! Or Marcee! Or any of the other people who are so amazing at throwing parties together or decorating or planning? Ugh...
I'd make a good Jehovah's Witness for the fact that they don't celebrate holidays. Or is that a different religion?

Well, maybe I'll get some ideas online. I'd better get cracking. Poor Kiersa already had a last minute party since I came home from the hospital on her birthday, so I don't want to repeat that for Hyatt.

I had to throw this picture in because I love how newborns always go cross-eyed.


And here are my other girls.

After living here for 5 years we explored around Winchester Bay for the first time (and Hyrum got pulled over for going 49 in a 25 but only got a warning...we were seriously oblivious to the signs!), and we went to the Muntifering's ATV shop to chat with Kevin (Kaylynn's lover-pie) and the kids got to sit on the little ATVs. Good times.

When it rains...

...it pours the Johnson Jinx!!!

In case you were wishing you could be a part of our family, here's a Johnson Jinx health saga that might make you change your mind.

Since around Feb 12 (just a month ago, mind you), we have been plagued by a number of health problems. I'm beginning to think that our family will NEVER all be healthy at the same time again. We've been to more doctor visits in this month than I've ever been to my whole life. It went like this...

Talea got sick, then passed it on to Hyatt. They were both getting better by the time Paisli was born, but still had to wear masks at the hospital to keep germs at bay.



I gave birth and spent several days recovering from it. (No, Paisli doesn't stick her tongue out all the time. Kiersa does. I just found a couple of pictures where she was sticking it out and thought it was cute.)



I saw my OB on a sort-of-emergency visit since I couldn't sit or get relief from my hemorrhoid. I was referred to the surgeon since everything they'd prescribed and could think of or look up on the internet wasn't doing a dang thing to help me.

I saw the surgeon and was told I should to wait for surgery until my swelling went down or my scar tissue would be too severe.

I caught the kids' cold.

We took Paisli and Kiersa to the doctor for Kiersa's one year check-up and shots, and for Paisli's weight check.

Paisli's poo turned black with blood. I was put on a strict no-dairy diet for 3 weeks to see if that improved Paisli's poos.

I got breast infection #1. Well, a clogged duct really (forerunner to a breast infection, but very painful just the same). Finally, by baby #4, I have learned how to unclog it before it becomes an infection and needs antibiotics. Each baby has given me several clogged ducts and/or infections, but Paisli is by far the champion at giving them to me.

I saw the surgeon again (a week later) and set a date for surgery in a few days.

I went to the OB to have a 2 week postpartum check, then had to rush home to take some powerful laxative stuff in prep for my surgery, which trapped me in the bathroom for the rest of the day.

I had surgery (hemorrhoidectomy to be exact).

Paisli's poo turned green and hasn't been baby-poo-yellow since.

I spent 2 full weeks recovering from surgery. Thank goodness for Relief Society and all the meals they sent during those weeks!

During the recovery, we took Paisli to her second doctor appointment...her 2 week check-up.

I had to return to the surgeon for a post-op check up 6 days after the surgery. He was NOT gentle when checking things. It was pretty much "drop the drawers, bend and spread 'em". Ouch!

I got clogged duct #2 during my recovery.

Hyatt got another cold, and passed it on to Kiersa.

Kiersa was hit hard by this cold. She had a cough, runny nose, fever, etc...then it went to her ear. She is our first child to ever have an ear infection.

We took Kiersa to doctor appointment #2, to have the ear infection diagnosed and to get antibiotics. They put her on Amoxicillin.

Kiersa suffered from a terrible diaper rash and raging diarrhea during the antibiotics. Her suffering was so horrible to watch. I HATE it when our kids get sick! I feel so bad for them.

I got a serious headache that literally felt as though someone was drilling a hole through my temple. I don't get bad headaches or migraines, so I just about couldn't handle the pain. Some ibuprofen, leftover Norco from my surgery, and an ice pack finally enabled me to fall asleep. I've only had one headache that was worse, and it was when my mom overdosed me on myrrh (yes, like the gold, frankincense and myrrh variety). I was pretty delirious with that pain, and this one got close to that.

Hyrum woke up early before church feeling pretty bad, and ended up erupting out both ends all morning. We have no clue what caused it.

Kiersa followed in Hyrum's footsteps the following morning by vomiting.

Paisli has been suffering from constant diaper rashes (my newborns always do), and we've discovered (after trying all brands of diaper rash ointments, vaseline, nipple cream, monistat, etc) that if we wash her at the sink rather than using baby wipes (even the sensitive kind), and then use Johnson's baby powder, we can keep the rash pretty much under control.

Paisli caught the cold and had a cough and stuffy nose.

I got clogged duct #3. It's been the same duct every time. I'm getting so tired of this! I'm not so sure that I love the whole nursing thing, other than the bonding. I have very little luck with nursing and barely manage to keep them nursing for 7-9 months before I can't take it or the baby can't take it and weans on it's own.

Kiersa was still sick 6 days after being on medication, so she went BACK to the doctor for an ear recheck. Her ear still wasn't normal, so they switched her antibiotics to Cefdinir.

Kiersa broke out in a body rash after one dose of Cefdinir, so they took her off of all medicine and we're hoping her ear will heal on it's own. We have to take her back in, AGAIN, on Monday to see if it's healed. In the meantime, her fever finally let up today, after more than a week of suffering.



Each time we take the kids to the pediatrician, it's a $30 copay. Over this last month we'll have spent $180 in copays!!! Things have GOT to improve soon or I'll be broke!

I have to go back to the surgeon tomorrow for a follow-up and then to the OB next week for my 6 week check-up. Oh, I can't wait for the appointments to end!

By the way, I've been concerned because it seems to me that they missed one of the three hemorrhoids, but I'm NOT going through surgery again. I was told something today that makes me feel a little better about it though. I was told that they can't take too much tissue off that area or else your sphincter won't let you know that you need to poo, and then you'd poo in your pants. So, it's better to leave a little than take too much off. I'd like to NOT poo my pants, thank you very much! I'll leave it alone!

Hyatt started coughing again last night and having a runny nose, so it looks like he's caught yet another bug.

Anyway, I'm sure I've missed some ailments or problems, but you get the jist of it. If you can spread it, we'll catch it!

PB and J burger

On Saturday, I wasn't feeling up to getting out of bed. Hyrum went to the drugstore to get me more drugs with Hyatt and Kiersa, and while he was gone, Talea started complaining of hunger, so I told her to make herself a sandwich. I normally don't let her make her own food because I dread the mess, but this day I didn't care.

So, being the big girl she is, she got a chair to reach the jam off the top shelf of the fridge, got a stool to get the laundry basket off the counter so she could get the peanut butter out of the cupboard, and she got her own bread (did she know it was hamburger buns?). I could hear her in the kitchen working away, so I drug myself out of bed to grab the camera so I could document her first sandwich done 100% on her own. (She's made her own sandwiches before, I but I always get the ingredients down and help her with the lids and sometimes with the spreading since I'm so meticulous about how the PB and J is spread.) Oh, wait, I did open the jam lid when I got up since I knew the ring and lid would be stuck, so I guess she did it 90% on her own.

I love that she's getting old enough for me to trust her with helping me out with cleaning, laundry, and now food prep. I think she was ready for all of that before I was ready for her to be. She's growing up too fast!

One month old already

Paisli turned a month old today. Where did the time go? Why is it that the month AFTER the baby arrives is 1,000 times faster than the month BEFORE the baby arrives? I haven't posted any pictures of her lately because I've been down and out, but now that I can be up and at 'em again, here's some catching up.

After a year of growing her hair, Kiersa barely has more than Paisli was born with.





Sometimes she gets ticked off and screams.


But usually she just scowls. Talea always made this same face at this age. Luckily, Talea outgrew it, so hopefully Paisli will too. If I knew this Mac stuff better, I'd post a picture of Talea's infant scowl, but I don't know where it is!


She scowls when she looks around. She scowls when she hangs out. She even scowls when she eats.


But she does make silly faces too. Lots of them!


Mostly you will see her wrapped up like a little burrito because it keeps her happy.


She's a sweet little girl and I still can't figure out which of my other children she resembles the most. I keep seeing all three of the others in her at different times. She has lots of hair like Hyatt did, scowls like Talea did, and yet she somehow looks like Kiersa too. She's been very good to me during this recovery, and even though she joined our family far sooner than I'd ever have planned, she's adored by her siblings and loved to pieces by her parents. It's so fun watching her grow! She smiles a lot now. She's even starting to track me with her eyes as I move around now that she stays awake more. I forget how fun the milestones are after I pass them with the previous child. Kids are so much fun!