100th Post & A Thyroidectomy

It has only taken me two and a half years to get to this monumental post....my 100th! Ha! I started this blog in November 2007. Kensi was 5 months old, Kobe was 7yrs and Maddie was 5yrs. Clearly I am not on top of my game with this blogging thing. ;) I am thankful for the (little) time I have taken to document our journey. I have had a great time reading back over it and remembering. Funny how quickly details fade and its all brought back as I read thru.

So happy 100th to me! Any guesses on how many years it'll take me to get to my 200th? Kobe's graduation? :)

Onto current events.....

I made it thru and am on the other side....without a thyroid!!! Wooooohoooooo! I never thought I would be so happy to have lost a bodily organ. But overjoyed I am!

Thursday morning at 4am we made the trek to Charlottsville. I was thrilled when I got the news the day before that I would be the first case of the day. No time to think. Anylize. Worry. Think some more. Just get there and get it done. I had some dear friends who had prayed with me and over me. Although I had a few jitters, overall I was very, very calm. Aaron was able to stay with me until right before they took me into the OR which was wonderful for me. The last thing I remember is the residents talking to me about where I live. I said Harrisonburg and one of them said "Oh where JMU is....thats a party school, huh?!" And I was gone. Don't remember another thing until my Mom and Aaron were there with me waking up in recovery. General anesthesia is a beautiful thing. :)

The doctor said my surgery went perfectly. He was able to get the thyroid out, leave the parathyroid glands in tact (they control all the calcium in your body and if damaged during surgery would result in taking a ton of calcium pills every day for the rest of my life), and didn't even touch my vocal cords or cut thru any neck muscles. He also told me he would be shocked if it was cancerous, said it looks completely benign. A perfect surgery. A complete answer to prayer. God has been so good to me.

The recovery took me by surprise. I think I have worried and thought thru this surgery so much that I didn't spend much time thinking about the recovery. The first two days were way more painful than I could have ever imagined even with the morphine and percocet. On Saturday when I woke up, I noticed I was in a little less pain and yesterday I noticed a huge improvement. Yesterday was the first day I was really able to talk normally.

One of the most painful things for me the first two days was the soreness from where they had put the breathing tube down my throat. Holy Moly. They said 'you may be a little scratchy or have some soreness from the tube for a few hours after surgery.' Uh, not for me. It felt as though an elphant had kicked me in the throat and then decided to sit there for a day or so. SO incredibly difficult to swallow and so painful when I did. It also hurt when I talked. It felt like a super bad case of strep throat. Wowser.

The other thing I didn't anticipate was how incredibly stiff and sore my muscles in the back of my head and neck were. My mom and Aaron , bless their hearts, have been massaging my neck non-stop. Evidently after they 'put you out', they tilt your head all the way back, almost till the back of your head touches the back of your shoulders. And thats how I stayed for two and a half hours! Ouchie! Its still hurts so much and I don't have much movement yet. I guess the most important thing is that the doctor can see clearly, but man I wasn't expecting this kind of stiffness. Icy hot has been my best friend!

And my Mom and Sister have been our heros. They have totally taken care of the kids and house while we were gone. Our little Peach put on a show for them. Oh man. I knew it would be a rough 24 hours, and she proved me right! She has a stubborn streak and just wouldn't take a bottle and was just 'off' '. She was so aware that something was going on and could sense it. Precious girl. I don't know who was more excited, me or her, when I got home. I have never left any of my kids overnight being so young, so I definitely just wanted to get home as quick as possible. But man I am so thankful for a mom and sister who are so willing to help, even with a screaming baby!

So here it is Monday. I am feeling so much better than even a day ago. I have pretty much been curled up on the couch watching life happen around me and watching HGTV. Its been fun, but I'm ready to get back to normal!!! I'm still stiff and aware that my neck feels really 'tight' due to being taped up with steri-stips. I'm ready to get to this time, next week! I think I will feel a little closer to normal.

I am so thankful to Jesus for carrying me thru this. He is faithful. He cares. He comforts. He has been in the details. I am more aware of all these things about Him having gone through this experience. His ways are better than mine.

I am extremely thanful for my precious husband. He has been my rock. Completely unwaivering through all of this. He stayed by my side and has taken care of me 24/7. He is such an example of how to love like Jesus loves even when its not the most, um, pretty of jobs. He does it with such grace.

And my Mom has once again been amazing. She took her whole week of vacation from her job just to stay with us and help as I recover. I can't even begin to explain how incredible she is. She is so wonderful and keeping up with all the house work, kids, cooking and everything while I am recovering. Her and Aaron have been an amazing tag team. They are the best.

So thats the story of the Thyroid That Is No Mo! Not quite as fun as writing a birth story, but its part of our journey all the same!

Its Raining, Its Pouring

Thats what life is feeling like right now. Like I am in the middle of a downpour. Sometimes I feel like the old saying " when it rains, it pours" pretty much sums up this season of my life. My surgery is coming up next Thursday. In the midst of gearing myself up for that, I got news from my dermatologist this week that a spot she had removed from my skin last week was 'severely abnormal cells' and they needed to go back in and take out more. She said they weren't able to rule out it being Melanoma. Yuck.

This year has just been crazy for us with health issues. This is probably the biggest area in my life I find it so difficult to not let fear rule me. Its a constant battle in my mind. So many things are going on with me, Maddie's cardiologist appointment is coming up for this year and that makes me nervous everytime and then we are headed back to UVA in August for Kobe's ear surgery. I'm just ready for September to be here and have all this behind us!

I'm really working hard on choosing what thoughts I dwell on. Weeding out all the thoughts that are not from the Lord and filling my mind and heart with His truth. Speaking that truth to myself about 289 times a day. And what great opportunities I keep being provided with to walk this out. I hear you Lord, I get the message, please let it stop soon! :)

As I'm walking thru this crazy time in my life, I'm so thankful to have Jesus. What would it be like to go thru these things without the hope He brings? He is my rock. My fortress. My strength. I admit I feel weak and helpless. I can't think about this stuff without panicking most days. I get frustrated that I still let fear have a place in my life. But time and time again when I run to Him, He fills me with His perfect peace. Sweet peace. I'm hanging onto the precious promises in His Word.

I know that 'this too shall pass'. Its not fun walking thru this stuff. But I'm learning what it means to fully trust Him! And I'm looking forward to the sunshine and rainbows after this downpour.

Downtown for the Fourth!

This year for the Fourth of July we headed downtown for all the festivities. It was such a fun evening just hanging out, listening to the bands, walking around downtown and doing all the activities for the kids, dinner at Jess's and of course the fireworks! But mostly I had fun taking lots of pics of all my kiddos!

This girl is just so happy to be slurping that icee down! The blue icee's are also responsible for all the blue lips throughout the pictures. :)

And Presley is partied out and Aaron is whistling at the Kenser.

Happy Birthday Kensi

The Kenser turned 3, thats right THREE, in June. My little girl is becoming such a big girl! Feels like just yesterday she was the baby around here. This is the first year she really understood and was fully into her birthday. She was so excited leading up to the big day. Every time I asked what she wanted for her birthday she said, "A cake." :) The cake is her favorite part. Ahhh, I love the simplicity of these young years.


The night before her birthday, I was tucking her in and told her this was the last time ever she would be 2 and when she woke up she would be 3. She said to me, " I be a big girl when I wake up?" I told her yes she would be a big girl. The next morning she ran in my room very early and woke me up and said, "I not big." Ha. Evidently she thought she was going to grow really big over night. Precious girl!


We had a party at the park with our family. It was a perfect evening filled with food, relay races and games and playing with cousins.


The big 3 year old playing on the playground.
Daddy & Presley on the playground. (I think they look EXACTLY alike in this pic).

A little playground action for all the little kids. I love how this pic captures Kensi mid - air. :) Finally... the all important cake!

And super Dad capturing it all on video.
New Dora video...woohoo!
We played the Farmer in the Dell much to Kensi's delight. This is a favorite of hers. :)

And this one just because she is so cute! Those lips just look so kissable!

Kensi doing the egg relay race. Notice how the egg is no longer on her spoon, but that didn't bother her a bit. She kept right on going.

Kobe bought her this gatorade and a pack of skittles for her birthday with his own money (so sweet!) and she would not let that bottle go. It was funny. She was sucking it down like she was afraid someone was going to take it from her.

Kensi-girl, the past three years have been so amazing and fun since you came into our life. Your zest for life is a breath of fresh air. You seem to have no fear, throw caution to the wind and are always ready for a new adventure. You are such a lovely girl inside and out. I love what you bring to our family. You are one of a kind, sweet girl. I love you so much and thank God for choosing me to be your mom! Happy 3rd Birthday!

Bringing Presley Home

Somehow we were able to manage to keep the gender a secret from the kids for the whole 2 and half days I was in the hospital. It was so hard to remember to say 'the baby' when talking to them on the phone instead of 'her.' But somehow we kept it a secret.

Aaron had gone home a few times while I was in the hospital and had shown the kids pictures of the baby. In one of the pics we took her hair was all spikey and somehow that convinced all three of them that it was a boy. All three of them all along had said they wanted a boy. Every time I talked to them on the phone (which was alot! They loved calling. ;) ), they kept begging me to tell them what it was. But I held strong!!!

So on Wednesday we were discharged and came home around 11:00 while the kids were in school. Kensi and Mom were here to greet us. Kensi was so, so excited to see 'her baby'. It was absolutely precious watching her see Presley for the first time. She was absolutely in awe and giddy with excitement.

Side note : I totally didn't plan for their outfits to match! Completely random! The outfit Presley is in is the same outfit I brought Maddie home in.

Once this girl held Presley, she didn't want to let go. Ever. She was completely obsessed with her. Didn't want anyone else to hold her and would get upset if anyone tried! It was so funny. I was just glad that she wasn't jealous. It was kind of nice to come home when she was the only one here and let her have that time by herself with the baby. Especially since she was being bumped from 'the baby of the family' position. However, she was not, nor ever will be bumped from her position as The Goose. ;)

After we were settled in, Aaron went and picked Kobe and Maddie up early from school. They were so excited that they got to come home early. We had told them we would either dress the baby in pink or blue and that is how they would know what it was.

When they got home, Presley and I were upstairs in my room . I laid her on the bed and pulled the covers over her (don't worry, I was right there holding them off her face so she could breathe). They came barreling up the stairs and in my room. Kobe had this huge grin on his face...it was priceless. I told them to pull the covers back. We were watching Kobe to see his reaction, and bless his heart, he was totally shocked. He was convinced it was a boy. When he saw the pink, he kept that smile on his face but his shoulders dropped. It was like he was trying to be happy and didn't want to show the disappointment. We told him not to worry, it was fine if he was disappointed and that he would like her in a few days! Of course it only took minutes for him to be totally smitten with her. He even said later that week when someone asked him if he wanted a brother that he wanted to keep Presley, but wanted me to have another brother for him. This little girl has a way of working herself right into your heart and taking up residence!

And of course it took Maddie ZERO seconds to be ecstatic over another little, baby sister! Her motherly instincts kicked in and she was completely in love with this little ladybug. Those first few weeks she would be holding her and would just keep kissing her all over her face and she would just say, "I can't help it. She's just so cute." It was so cute to see her so overwhelmed with love. Those first few days and weeks are a time I will always treasure. Aaron was off with us for a month and we had no agenda at all but to just be together and get to know our little girl. I'm pretty sure she wasn't set down for longer than 2 minutes at a time before one of us would snatch her up and just snuggle her. She has been loved on every minute of her little life by the five of us.

~ Other things to remember ~

* At her 2 week appointment she weighed 9lbs! She had no problem at all eating. I fed her immediately when she was born and from that moment on she has been such a great eater!

* She got up about 2-3 times a night to eat until she was 8 weeks old. After that her times of sleep kept stretching out. When she did wake up to eat, I just put her in bed with us and fed her (ssshhhhh...don't tell the doctor!). I know they say not to do that, but for us it just works. It doesn't 'fully' wake her up and she would just eat and be back asleep and I would put her back in the cradle (which is right beside me). I actually enjoyed those times of snuggling with her when everything was quiet.

*Her first smile was also around 8 weeks. I love all the firsts. Aaron and I got so excited when she would smile and then try and do whatever it was we did that got her to smile again. Oh, those first smiles are just enough to melt me!

*Somehow I've lost her weight and length for her 2 month checkup....ack! Thats what I get for documenting 4 months late!

*At her 4 month appointment she weighed 14 lbs 12oz! My baby is chunkin up! I went back and looked in Kensi's baby book and she weighed 14lbs 8 oz at her 2 month check up! So Presley is lagging behind her big sis a bit. Not to worry, she has lots of beautiful baby chub to go around!

Some pics from the first few months....

Sleeping with Daddy. 3 days old.

It was amazing to me how HUGE Kensi suddenly looked. She looks like such a big girl here laying beside Pres. I remember thinking and feeling the exact same way about Maddie when we brought Kensi home. ( 3 days old.)

Oh she has her big brother smitten with her for sure! He is such a great big brother. Love this picture of them. Its fun to see the different relationships they each have with her.

First bath at home! It was a family affair. Aaron did the honors of taking the lead, while I assisted because I can't do the umbilical cord. Well, I guess I can, but it seriously makes me queasy....yuck! I know, thats so lame, but its true. Dad of the year award goes to Aaron Johnson!

First time meeting her cousin Pierson who was born just 3 weeks before her! 3 days old here. What a difference 3 weeks makes. Pierson looks so alert already and looks like he is ready to give somebody a pound with his fist...ha!

And I just wanted to include this pic because I love, LOVE this outfit! So adorable! Definitely one of my top 3 faves of her outfits. I would wear it if I could find it in my size although I'm sure it wounldn't look nearly as cute. (around 3 weeks or so)
My foursome! What a crew. Kobe is certainly going to have his hands full as the big brother to these 3 ladies.

I think this pic is around 2 weeks old. I took pics every week, but forgot to tag what week it was at first...ack! (that cute little outfit is from Aaron's Sargeant. Who knew a Sargeant for the state of Va could have such good taste?! ha!).

Some more Maddie loving...

This could be one of my favorite pics. Makes me laugh everytime! Apparently she wasn't having as much fun with our photo shoot as I was. Her little head looks so tiny next to Aaron's.

This was such a cute night. She 'found' her hand for the first time and just kept trying to focus on it. I wonder what goes on in their little minds as they start to figure out and find all these parts and sights. Check out the cross eyes! She did this so much for probably the first 2 months. To the point I was really worried about her eyes. But, just like everyone said, she totally out grew it.

So little! She is like the lengeth of that blanket now. Man they grow so fast. I think this was taken around a month old or so.

I finally got smart and started writing the weeks!
She looks like a sweet, old lady in this pic! Love it!

We have had so much fun the past few months. Too bad I stink at documenting it! This little girl has brought so much joy to our home. What a beautiful way to complete our family. Feels awesome knowing we are now complete!