Pumpkins

The cutest baby boy EVER

My super long baby!
With gigantic feet like daddy!

The birth story (short version)

Contractions started at 6am sharp. They were every 10 minutes and I knew it was the real thing after about an hour. It was crazy because we were trying to decide if Travis should go preach at church or stay home! At 7:30 we decided he should go at least do the 9am service. I knew he was conflicted as he walked out the door, but I knew it is what he should do. My contractions stayed constant and if I was moving around they were every 4-5 minutes. If I was sitting they were every 10 minutes. I called Edna (the best midwife EVER) and we arranged for when she should come over.

Travis got back from church around 10:30 and Edna came around 11:30. She checked me and I was 5 cm. She took my vitals and told me to go walking. Then she set everything up and left for a while so I could just keep walking. Travis and I headed outside to walk... and then quickly turned around when we realized how dumb it was to walk at noon in South Florida (and how much we DIDN'T want to run into neighbors). So I did laps in our house with Kourtney (good thing our house is big). She was a great partner. I would stop for a contraction and she would rub my back and pat me and then start walking again! Travis asked at what point it was inappropriate for him to keep watching football. I told him to watch away and I even watched a few drives with him - very fitting that his son would be born on a football day.

Edna came back and checked me around 2:30 and I was 6-7 cm. The contractions were getting more intense and I was starting to feel a little crazy with them. At 3:00 I asked if I could get in the tub so they began to prepare the water. My water broke at 3:15 before I got in the tub. When I got in the water it felt awesome for the pain. I didn't want Travis to touch me during contractions. I just wanted to squeeze his hand off. He was a great coach and did everything I needed without me even telling him.

The water wasn't working for me because there was nothing really to hold on to. So I got out and he was delivered on the bed!

Blake Matthew Johnson
October 21, 2007 at 5:40 PM
8 lbs, 14 oz
22 inches long

Of course the first thing I did was look to make sure it was a boy! The goods were there and he was so perfect! I think I pushed for a little over an hour. Travis cut the cord, they wrapped him up and put a hat on him. We called the family up and the girls came to meet him first. Everyone was so excited. We gave everyone a chance to meet him and then the midwives and the family went down for a snack while I nursed. After he nursed they came up to weigh and measure him and check me out. We both were great! It was a great experience and we have a beautiful baby boy!

If you are one of my girlfriends who wants to hear the full birth story email me at kjohnson@life-pointe.com!

Laboring in the water (7 cm)

Checking Blake's temperatureReady for a check upDressing Blake
The big weigh in
BIG baby!
Everything looked great!and sounded greatAll THREE of my kids! (This picture is for everyone who said how great I looked after I gave birth... I looked like a hag!)

Blake Cake

Yes - I am a total cheese ball. We made a cake and sang happy birthday to Blake. It was more for the girls than me... sort of.

Cute things said around the house...

Kourtney: Mommy, why is your tummy still fat? Do you still have a baby in there?
Me: No, it just takes a while to go away.
(she presses on it and feels around)
Kourtney: I think you still have a baby in there, I feel a foot

**********************************************************

McKenna: What's that? (looking inside of Blake's diaper for the first time. She then pinches it. From across the room daddy says...)
Daddy: Hey, don't pull that off, we worked hard to get one of those in this house!

The Big Sisters

We have two great big sisters...

I thought that we may have trouble with McKenna just because she is so needy sometimes. Quite the opposite. She LOVES Blake. She tells him she loves him, and asks him if he loves her. She loves petting him, touching his hair, and holding him. Several times a day she plops down and says, I want Blake in my lap! Then she just sits in awe. She is so gentle.

Kourtney is always checking on him too. She is always looking out for him... how is his cord?... He's hungry mommy... McKenna BE CAREFUL!... does he have a dirty diaper?...

He sucked my finger!

He is finally here!

My computer crashed the night he was born, so I have not been able to come downstairs and get online until now! If you have sent me an email or a message thank you! I will try to get to responding as soon as I am back online! Travis is taking my computer to Best Buy right now, hopefully he will come home with it fixed! However, I fear I will lose all of my outlook emails and addresses.

So... Blake Matthew was born at home on October 21st, 2007 at 5:40 pm. He weighed 8 lbs, 14 oz, and he was 22 inches long - we make um big! Labor was actually easier than I thought without drugs. It was the pushing that killed me. But he was born healthy and I am doing great! Still sore and only on Tylenol (I guess midwives don't pass out narcotics), but over all things are awesome. He eats and sleeps great so far - just like a new born should! We all think he favors Travis and has his eyes. I have a few pics and will post more when I can edit them on a normal computer (Travis has a mac and I can't stand it!). I will also post a G rated birth story! LOL!

Blake Matthew Johnson

Want to see him? Go here.

Mom's Overture

I saw Anita Renfroe sing this live at Women of Faith and it is so hilarious I had to share...

Yep... still pregnant

At least I got another date out of it!

Crafty Divas

Thanks Erin for making me this cute page (I am not an online scrap booker, so I don't know the word for it). You rock!

For all of you wondering...

YES, today, October 16th, is my due date... NO, I have not had the baby yet... YES, I am ready to have him.

My mom got here yesterday so now we will hit a different mall every day this week and walk, walk, walk until he comes! Maybe I will get one more pregnant picture on my blog before he comes out.

Thank you everyone for all of your calls, texts, and emails checking on me. My blog will be the first place I let everyone know that _____________ has arrived!!! I just hope it is this week and not next!

Story Time

We did story time at the Homestead Library again today and took Meredith with us. The girls had a great time. They made pinatas for craft time. Kourtney is dying to hit hers (it's just a brown bag with candy in it :)). I told her she had to wait until tonight.

Erin and Caden were there along with their friends Julie and Max (I hope I got their names right!). Thanks for the pics Erin!

Baby Brother's Blue Bear

McKenna snatched this out of a bag of gifts my mom sent for her brother. She has been attached ever since. She doesn't leave the house without it! When you ask her who the bear belongs to she gets a sheepish grin on her face and says, "Baby Brother." I guess he is already sharing with her!

The Park

It is absolutely blazing hot outside, but I am trying to walk this baby out this week! So we drug ourselves to the park again. After about 15 minutes in the smoldering sun, even the girls are ready to leave. They always have fun though!

Kourtney snapping some shots on the way home...

Target Update

I could not believe how many friends have shared with me that they had a similar experience at Target with either their baby or wedding registry. On my "mommy boards," myspace, and a few on this blog. They were all as frustrated as I was and have also spread the word to not register at Target.

Seems Target doesn't care too much. They obviously have had enough complaints to know what a bad policy it is for registered customers. I have not heard back from them either after my last email.

I did receive good advice about a loop hole in the policy. Travis will have to be dragged kicking and screaming to Target so I can get the rest of my money!!! Too bad it took a loop hole, and not good customer service, to resolve my issue!

Ticking Time Bomb

Well here I am at 39 weeks... one week away from my due date.

I was a week late with both girls, so my last two pregnancies went to 41 weeks. It just could be "any day now." Every morning I wake up and think, this might be the last day I am pregnant... or this might be the last time I have to wear the SAME stinkin maternity clothes... or I might have a baby sleeping in my room tomorrow. And then I go to bed and think, thank goodness I didn't have him today... I needed to wash those bath mats... or I didn't have my camera charged... or I had a return to make at Wally World... or life group is tonight...

I feel like a ticking time bomb. My body is just waiting to go off! I know no one is pregnant forever... but I REALLY don't want to be 41 weeks pregnant again. God know's _____________'s birthday! I just can't wait until I do!!!

Do NOT register at Target for your wedding or baby shower

I don't often blog about anything but my family. However, my recent experience at Target has prompted me to warn everyone about their new policy that took effect on August 1, 2007. I hope you will share this with your friends and family to save them the headache of dealing with Target's poor customer service when it comes to the baby and wedding registries. I would never be able to stop shopping at Target as it is one of my favorite stores, but at least I can influence others about where they register. Their customer service to me regarding this matter was terrible. At least I have some small influence in life! Thanks for reading! It was my therapy!!!

Here is part of the email I sent to customer service...

Between my baby shower and gifts that my friends purchased off of my online registry, I received around $80 worth of duplicate items that I did not need. While I was opening my gifts, I announced to the women there, "Don't worry, Target is really good about returns. It should be no problem to exchange it for something else." I am a huge Target fan.

However today I learned of a new policy that Target has.

"You cannot return an item without a receipt more than twice a year and not for more than $20 per time."

That policy seems fair and I can understand why policies are in place. However, in the case of registered customers I think it is a bad policy. Everything I was returning matched up on my registry, but because my gift givers did not include the receipt with the gift, I could not get a store credit. All of the gifts I had were still in there original packaging, nothing had been opened, and they all had there bar codes.

The best Target could do for me was return $40 worth of merchandise for a store credit and send me on my way with $40 worth of merchandise I did not need.

It is my feeling that if someone is registered and they receive duplicate items, there should be no question about a store credit. What if it was the cashier's fault for not properly scanning the gift registry sheet when my friends checked out? I am faulted for your employees mistake? Or for my friends not knowing or forgetting to hand in the registry when they checked out? Then I am stuck with $80 worth of things I do not need, when I could be purchasing items that would be very useful for me.

This was the response I got from them...

If you don't have a receipt, we still have a few options for you:

- Your Target store in Miami, FL will accommodate two no receipt returns a year for you on small gifts under $20.
- We have the ability to look up a receipt's information for the gift giver, so they can make a return on most purchases, provided they purchased your item with a check, Target GiftCard, credit or debit card within the past 90 days.

- If the gift giver still has the original receipt for the item, they have the ability to reprint a gift receipt at the Guest Service desk next time they visit Target.

And part of what I said back to them...

You are still telling me I am out of luck here. You want me to ask my friends to remember the exact items they got me (among several little baby items) and then go through their receipts or go back to Target with their credit card so I can get credit for my purchases? Doesn't that sound a little ridiculous to you?

As I stated before, I did receive the two credit returns for $20 each and I still have $40 worth of merchandise that I cannot use and that Target will not take back.

I understand why you have these policies. They are for people who abuse the system. I obviously am not one of those people because you can clearly see that my registry matches the UNOPENED items I am returning. Again, what if it was YOUR store employees fault for not scanning the registry? I am being faulted for their mistake.