Thanksgiving and Tree Hunting!

This past week was Thanksgiving!  So much to be thankful for.  My handsome healthy little boy, and my wonderful husband Paul who provides and takes care of us!  So thankful for our families as well, all they do for us and are willing to do for us at the drop of a dime!  Thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and to know that we are always being watched over and blessed!  We are blessed and hope you all are blessed as well!

Here is a picture from Thanksgiving....

Garrett slept most of this day, and this was a quick wake up photo we were able to get.

Next....Christmas tree hunting!  This is a tradition Paul's family has been doing for quite some years.  We went up into Idaho this year down Emigration Canyon.  There was some snow up there and we climbed up into the mountains to find our perfect tree.  Garrett got to come along and Marianne (Pauls mom) had just bought Garrett a warm fuzzy suit for him to wear.  We were all bundled up.  Temperature up there was about 25 degrees.  Here are a few pics from that adventure..

It was very bright up here so some of the pictures are kinda washed out.  Garrett slept most of this day as well.  Even being all bundled up...

With some trees in the back ground...we climbed up into this forest.

taking a break and laying in the snow.  Garrett still asleep after hiking through the mtn. 

Once we got home we just set the tree up in the garage so we could prep our house to set up the tree.  We sent the tree up on Saturday after the house was clean and ready to go.  We made an evening out of decoration...

B.E.A.U tiful tree...and fresh!

Garrett and I watching dad cut the tree to fit in the stand and take into the house.

Paul cutting the tree so it would fit in our house. 

Garrett sure likes to sleep....he was out before we even started decorating.

he didn't sleep long this time...but we kept him out on the couch so he could still be part of the evening.

Getting the tree decorated!  Half way done with lights!

Took a break to enjoy some Hot Cocco. (for me) and Herbal Tea (for Paul)

The final product!  We had a fun evening!

Next up.....CHRISTMAS!!!!

Just loving our little man!

So Here are some pictures of our little man....

In the Hospital bed

His going home outfit!  A little bit too big! 

Daddy ready to take him home!

Newborn Pictures...so happy!

Little Sleepin man

Mommy and Daddy with G-Man!

I am gonna grow up to ride bikes with Dad!

Time for my first bath!  I loved it!

getting out of the bath wasn't as fun!

I was a pumpkin for Halloween.  Here I am with Grandma and Poppo!

Uncle Cee's Birthday!  I helped him blow out the candles

Today was my blessing day...Nov. 4th 2012.  I was a perfect Angel!

Just hanging out in my onsie!

Dad wanted to try out my Bumboo seat...I did pretty well, I have a strong neck!

Saying goodbye to Uncle Cee's.  He is leaving for his mission!  See ya when I am 2!

Hope you enjoyed some pics of our little man...I'll try to keep this updated more often!

Garrett Paul

It has been almost a year since my last post....a lot has happened since then.  We had a baby!!!

Garrett Paul Johansen

Born: October 8th 2012 at 6:25pm

22 inches long and 9lbs 6 oz

It was a long day... I started having contractions at about 2am on Oct. 8th.  I wasn't sure what was going on, so I thought I'd count it out to see if they were real. They were about 40-60 sec long with about 8-10 mins inbetween each one. I did this for about 2 hours and finally decided to wake up Paul.  We called the hospital and asked what we should do, and they told us to call the Dr's office.  Well it was 4 am...the Dr's office was not open.  So we decided to just head to the hospital.  The contractions got worse and worse as we drove there, and I was getting a little hungry.  Paul suggested that we stop to get something to eat, but I was in pain and just wanted to get to the hospital.  BIG MISTAKE!!!!  (always eat before you go have a baby, because they will not let you eat!) 

Once at the hospital they took us in and I had to change into my gown and they checked my contractions and dilation.  I was only dilated to a 1, but was effaced 90%.  So they decided to admit me.  They took me to the Labor and Delivery room and started the Epidural right away.  Thank Goodness!!

All I could eat was lollipops and Ice chips....booooo!

I took a nap for a little while, since I hadn't fallen asleep at all, but then I could start feeling the right side of my body.  And the contractions were worse by this time.  They adjusted my epidural, but it didn't help.  The anesthesiologist had to come back in and re do the epidural a second time.  This time my left side was incredibly numb and my right side was the right amount numb.  Weird feeling.

Around noon the Dr came in and broke my water because I still wasn't dilating.  Then around 2:00 the nurse came in check my dilation and it was at a 9!  She said she would be back in a half hour to start pushing.  When she came in I pushed for about a half hour and then was exhausted and wanted to take a break.  Because I hadn't had anything to eat my body was faint and weak.  I had already threw up 3 times! They gave me a 30 min break, and then I started to push again...FOREVER!!  I didn't think that I would make it...multiple times I kept saying, I can't push anymore, I am too exhausted!  around 4:45 you could see his head starting to come down, but he still didn't arrive till 6:25!  It felt like forever!  But finally there he was...our cute little man!

Right after this picture I threw up again!  He was heavy and I was completely exhausted!  Not that I had anything to throw up.

After they cleaned him and me all up, we moved to the room we would be staying in for a few days.

Here are a few pics of him at the hospital:

Happy Grandma and Aunt!

Proud Mom and Dad

Our not so Little man...Garrett Paul!

So happy to have this guy in our lives!  He is so much fun!

Bringing in 2012!!

So I totally am skipping over Christmas, because I never pulled my camera out for pictures.  But we Celebrated with Paul's Family on Christmas Eve, that is their family tradition.  Then celebrated with my family on Christmas Day.  Both were a lot of fun, and very nice hanging out with family for a few days and relaxing.  Paul got a Kindle Fire, which has been his latest joy and distraction.  Its a pretty neat thing, and when you get it you get Amazon Prime for 30 days for free...so we are going to try that out and

For New Years Eve we went to Pauls parents for the night.  Had some friends and family over and had a nice spread of food.  My parents were able to come also, so that was a lot of fun to have both families there...

Happy New Year 2012!

Mom and Dad for New Years!

Hope everyone's New Year brings them lots of new adventures!  Love you all!

Dickens Festival

During the Holidays this year, Katie's family all went down to see the Dickens Festival.  They had people dressed up from that time period and then just a lot of booths and food to go around and look at.  They had a few musical performances and acting performances, but we didn't stop to watch those for long.  It was a chilly night, so we were all bundled up, but it was a lot of fun!

We got locked up for bad behavior...

Steve and Mitzi in front of the Christmas tree...such a cute couple!

Paul and I getting our pose on!!

Mom, Dad and Kara

~Thanksgiving~

This year for Thanksgiving we got together with both families.  My side of the family was willing to change the time to earlier so that we could make it to Paul's families a little later.  Needless to say they were both filling and fun!
Since my family is a larger family..as in more people...we met at a church to celebrate.  Here are some pictures from that:

Dad was growing his mustache out for Prostate Cancer awareness.  Missed the rest of the family!

And Grandma and Grandpa Garrett...Love them tonzzz~!

Here are a few pictures from Paul's parents for Thanksgiving:

With Savannah and Laura, pre thanksgiving outfits.

Laura is all ready to eat!

Very grateful for 2 wonderful families that we get to be part of! 

Head Light Lens Cleaner

So recently Paul and I were driving around in his car in the snow and rain.  I've been saying this for awhile, but Paul needed to clean off his head light lenses so he can see at night or in bad weather when he is driving.  We went shopping around and watched a few videos to find out the best way to clean your head lights...here is what we found:

Turtle Wax Headlight lens restorer.  This is mostly everything that came in the box.  There was also a glove included and a final wipe that I didn't get in the picture.  The results were quite surprising....

This is a before picture

This is during the cleaning and scrubbing process.

Then you have to wax it and let it sit until dry.

Then you get this!!!  It looks soo much better!  So if you are looking at your head light lenses and think you might need to try this, its very inexpensive (I think we paid $8.75) and doesn't take more than an hour.  Give it a try