Maddie's Heart

It seems as though time is marching on with or without me blogging! Iyiyiyi. I have the best blogging intentions, they just never seem to work out. Oh well. Just wanted to record some of the things that has been going on the past few months.

We have had been on quite the roller coaster since the beginning of August. I just reread my last post about my crazy day with the Goose. Little did I know how crazy our whole life was about to get the very next day. Looking back, that day with the Kenser doesn't seem so bad now.

August 3 was Maddie's yearly cardiologist appointment. Let me rewind and bring you up to date : Maddie was born with a hole in her heart and we see a pediatric cardiologist once a year. This is not something that is uncommon as many people are born this way. In fact, they told us when she was 6 months not to worry about it because most of the time the just close up on their own as the child grows. But last year at her yearly physical the doctor was listening to her heart and heard her heart murmer pretty vividly and suggested we see the cardiologist again to get it checked out.

So we made the appointment and saw him last summer. He did an echocardiogram and saw that her hole had not closed up like they initially thought it would. After checking her out thoroughly, the plan he made was for us to come see him every summer to take 'measurements' on her heart and keep an eye on it and when she was older we would decide what and if anything would need to be done. The impression we got was this really wasn't a huge deal and she would probably be just fine living her whole life with nothing ever being done.

So back to August 3rd. Maddie and I go for the appointment. I was expecting to pretty much hear the same thing as last year. I was extremely anxious to get it over with. We went in and Maddie helped hook herself up for the EKG. She enjoys putting the stickers all over her body...haha. And then we went in the room for the echo. He looked her over for quite sometime and kept checking and rechecking things. I was growing a bit antsy because he wasn't just saying, "ok got the measurements. See you next summer. "

Instead he said that he was concerned a bit. What he found was that the right side of her heart had gotten slightly larger since last summer and that he had tried 4 times to find the pulmonary valve return to her heart and just couldn't see it. My heart just sank. Never in a million years did I dream he would say such a thing. I tried to keep my composure (mostly for Maddie who was sitting right there) and ask what all this meant. He explained to me that her heart could possibly be abnormal and not have the all 'the right parts' as well as some of her blood was flowing in the wrong direction and he couldn't see how it was getting there. He said sometimes people can have whats called "anomolies"(sp?) which is basically strange or not -normal vein that grows.

I literally cannot explain the feelings that came over me. I felt like in that instant my whole life had changed. I just remember thinking, "we got to get out of here. And NOW." I didn't want to sit there a second longer and listen to anything else. I couldn't imagine the things he was saying were true about my precious, little girl. I wanted to run out of there with her and protect her and keep her safe and never let any doctor tell me something like that again.

Instead, I calmly made a 'tentative' plan with him. He explained to me that he thought we needed to do some sort of intervention now and not wait any longer. I asked how soon he was thinking as in a year or 2. He said possibly by Thanksgiving. Talk about getting hit by one truck after another. First he wanted us to have an MRI done at UVA so we could get a solid idea of what the anatomy of her heart actually was and then we could talk about whether she would need open heart surgery or if they could repair the whole by catheterizing her thru her left leg, which is MUCH less invasive.

Its crazy how literally a 30 minute doctor appointment can turn your world upside down. On the ride home, Maddie was asking some questions about what he had said. I was just honest with her and said yeah you may have to have surgery because of that hole. She asked why and I explained if we went ahead and got it fixed we wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Her response to me was, "Worry? Why are you worried about it?" I love her innocence. She has always just accepted it as part of who she is and its never crossed her mind that it may be worrisome. How I wish I could just protect her from all of this. So I explained a bit more and told her that we were just going to pray for her. She said, "Well if Jesus knows my hole is there, can't He just fix it?" To have the faith of a child. Leave it to my 8 yr old daughter to get my mind and heart back on track. Because let me tell you, fear and terror were pulsing through my veins pretty much since the doctor opened his mouth. But her Maddie, who sat and listened to everything had the simple solution of lets just pray for healing. Bless her. I told her that was exactly what we were going to do and thats where our focus would stay.

When we got home, I just went straight to my room and shut the door and literally wept. Never in my life, accept for when Maddie was born prematurely, had I felt so utterly helpless. I came undone. I thought it was unfair and I was mad and terrified and angry. Questioning how could God allow this to happen to my little girl. She had come thru so much in her short life and now she was going to have to walk this painful road.

Aaron came in and just hugged me. He is such a rock. Solid. Unwavering in his faith. He told me we were going to be fine. That God wasn't shocked by all of this and that we would pray for her and no matter what He was with us and would walk with us thru whatever happened. He prayed for Maddie and for us and then he had to leave for work....ack! What a gift he is! A treasure given to me. A true man of God. I'm blessed.

I called my dear friend Beth and poured my heart out to her. It was so good for me to just talk about it and cry. She has walked beside me these past two years thru all the craziness and has been an incredible friend. There was something so good about just saying it all out loud to someone....kind of took the power and some of the fear out of it for me. In my mind things can be so huge and I get fearful and irrational and want to keep it all inside. So I knew I needed to just get it out there and talk about it.

Never could I have imagined when I got up that morning that by the time I went to bed my whole world would be so shaken. As I tucked her in bed, I struggled not to cry and wonder if she was going to be ok. If she was going to make it. I wanted to just hold her tight and never let her go. My mind was going crazy. But I was also trying to keep all these emotions in check so I didn't scare the poor girl.

It was a rough few days for me. I struggled with fear and anxiety like crazy. I had to choose what my mind was going to dwell on. I had to speak truth to my spirit.

Two days later, we were finishing up shopping at Costco and my cel phone rang. I answered it and it was my sister. She said that something terrible had happened and that we had just got word that my cousin, Brian, was one of the ten medical aid mission workers killed in Afghanistan. Brian. Sweet Brian was gone just like that.

Life, I have learned, is so fragile. In a moment it can be shattered. But thru all of this, its amazing how I have seen and felt God at work. The devastation our entire family felt and continues to feel to this day is unthinkable. I saw God in how Brian went Home serving and loving others to the end. I saw God when I was at the graveside and looked at my aunt's face and saw a grieved mother, yet there was such a peaceful look. I saw God when at his graveside service his parents and brothers and sister read a statement of how they forgave his killers, just as they had been forgiven by God. I saw God when I read Brian's facebook page with tears streaming down my face at all the lives he has touched. He was suddenly everywhere I looked even in the midst of all this craziness. And it was comforting.

God walked me thru the next few weeks. Or I think it would be better to say he carried me. I was feeling overwhelmed with everything. I had only had my Thyroidectomy surgery a week and half before Maddie's appointment, so i was still recovering from that and had appointments at UVA for me. We also had Kobe scheduled with an ear specialist at UVA because his ear drum hasn't ever healed from being burst a year and a half ago. And then we had Maddie scheduled for her MRI on September 17. I had to mentally just get thru one thing at a time. So I was a little on edge, or maybe a lot on edge, until September 17 finally came.

This is a note I posted to all our friends on Facebook who had been praying for us:

THank you all so much for praying us through these last few weeks. It has been a stretching time for all of us and especially me. Today we had Maddie's MRI at UVA. We had a good visit and she did fantastic. She was so calm and not scared or fearful at all. As I was talking her thru what would happen last night and going over how they would put her to sleep and wake her up and all the details she said to me, "Is it ok that I'm a little bit excited about tomorrow?" hahaha. Only Maddie!


She responded perfectly to the anesthesia with no complication at all. The MRI was about an hour and 45 minutes. So the results are all of her valves and pulmonary veins are present and functioning prorperly. I could have cried when he told me that. It has been weighing so much on me since the initial echo when the cardiologist could not find the Pulmonary Valve return and obviously would have been a much more complicated case of having to reroute veins and put in shunts. So basically her little heart is just perfect, minus the little hole she has at the bottom. And the only way to fix this is thru surgery, as they suspected. Evidently, where her hole is is pretty rare and only 5% of people with holes in their heart (i'm sure their is a more technical term for that, just don't know it!) have it located in this region. But it is 100% fixable!!! Thank you Jesus!! He said its a small enough hole that he feels the surgeon may even just be able to sew together instead of having to put a shunt in. This will fix the issue of her blood flowing in the wrond direction and causing the right side of the heart to be larger. He even said that probably a few months after the surgery the right side may go back to normal size.

So, surgery it is. He said their isn't an immediate urgency and if we wanted to wait until next summer he felt that would be fine. Obviously, the final word won't come until after Wed when he takes the results back to the team of cardiologists that meet to discuss cases and they collectively decide the best time. I asked what would happen if we did nothing and he said there's a possibility she could live her hole life and be fine OR that over time she would get pulmonary hypertension that would be irreversible and that results in a 25 -30 yr old having cardiac arrest, heart attacks, etc. In other words not good stuff. This is a preventative surgery for her future to fix this problem before she becomes symptomatic. If they all agree, we have decided to do the surgery next summer. This seems like a much easier time than rushing to have it done this fall. That way she will have the summer to recover and little Presley won't be so little anymore and will be able to be away from me for a week or two.

I feel a total peace about it, which is a miracle in itself. I would be lying if I didn't say I have had days of being a total wreck in my mind the past few weeks so to feel this peace is a breath of fresh air and definitely God at work. God is so good to us and has been so faithful. We know He will walk us thru this next leg of our journey. Thank you all so much for your prayers. I have felt them in such a real way. Thanks also for caring and all the calls and emails. We feel surrounded and not quite so alone in all of this. We are so thankful to Jesus who loves our little girl more than we do and has had His hand on her life since she was born. She has been thru a lot in her short life and she is a fighter and I know this will be no different.

I cannot explain that type of relief that flooded me when the doctor said her heart was normal except for the hole. What an answer to many many prayers. So as of now, the plan is they will call us in May and we will schedule pre-op appt and we are planning to have her surgery the beginning of June so she has the whole summer to heal. I still hate the thought of this surgery. The doctor explained to me that its a pretty straightforward surgery once they get in, which is good. But the thought of how they have to open her is still a little to much for this Mama to bear. So I'm just leaving it in the Hands of my Father and not trying to carry that burden thru all these months. He will provide for us.

One other story I want to write about before I end. I'm recording this for Maddie because I'm sure she will love remembering this when she reads thru this when she's older. We had to be at UVA the morning of her MRI at 5:30am. It was very early and we were all a bit groggy. The nurse came and called us back. We were in the room and Maddie was on the bed and the nurse was explaining how they would put her to sleep and what they would do, when all of a sudden her pants literally dropped down around her ankles. It took her about 5 seconds to realize it and Aaron and I were just speechless. We didn't know what to say. Bless her heart, once she realized she jumped into action putting herself back together. I felt so, so bad for her, but I was literally having to bite the inside of my cheek so I would quit laughing. And Maddie was just watching it all in amazement. It was just the funniest thing. We are having this serious conversation and then suddenly her pants are not there anymore. hahahahhaa. Talk about a great icebreaker. She had scrub pants on and evidently she hadn't tied them tight enough. She was a good sport about it all and apologized all over herself. But man, it was funny. And when people asked us about how things went at UVA, that is the first thing Maddie told them about. Classic. :)

We have talked to Maddie about the surgery and what will happen. I don't think she fully grasps the seriousness of it all, which I'm grateful for. She's excited to be able to order food there and watch movies all day. :) Her doctors are top notch and we feel very confident in them. I know God may use these very doctors to bring about healing in Maddie, but as I have told Aaron, until they wheel her away to the OR this mama will be praying for Jesus to completely heal her heart before that.

Oh, and I seriously have peace. Its crazy. Sometimes I feel like "I should be more worried than this. Why am I not freaking out? " But I know that is God. His peace is deep inside me. And it feels so good.

What a Day

Today has definitely been one of those days where I have just been counting down the hours until bedtime. The Goose was in rare form today. That mixed with me being pretty tired due to my thyroid meds not being the right dosage made for one irritated mama.

She has been so mischievious lately. A couple weeks ago, she took scissors and cut her hair. Right on the top. In plain view. I have done my best to hide it with barretts, but its quite a doozy. Then this past weekend she colored on Presley with a permanent marker. All over her arms and legs. Poor girl. It seems as time goes by, she thinks up more and crazier things!

As I was getting ready this morning, I couldn't find my make up anywhere. I started finding different pieces in a certain Somebody's purses. I'm telling ya, this girl is into EVERYTHING! I found my deodorant in the toy basket this morning. And I still can't find my lipstick. Argh!

After a quick trip to the hospital to visit a friend and her baby, I came home to find Kensi protesting nap. She kept running out of her room. She would peek her head thru the railing and say " you can just put me to bed early tonight." Ha! That girl can make us laugh even when we are so frustrated with her. Finally after a while all was quiet and I thought 'finally, she has fallen asleep." WRONG!

Aaron went upstairs to get ready for work and said, "Um, Kristy. I think you better come up here." I went up and we found this ...

Nail polish. NAIL POLISH!!!!!! RED NAILPOLISH all over my cream carpet!!! She had gotten into my nailpolish drawer evidently saw the carpet as her blank canvas and went to work. UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

All in the hallway and then continued it into her room. Deep Red. Why couldn't it be the pail pink?!

She also had emptied her dresser and spread the clothes around (as well as packed some in her suitcase! ha! I guess she wanted to be ready to make a run for it in case mama lost her mind :) ).

But it didn't end there. She went in Maddie's room, got her Bible (that we just got her for Christmas) and tore a few pages of Genesis out and spread them amongst the chaos.

What in the world must go on in that little head of hers?! And how does she come up with this stuff. Today is a day that will go down in the Johnson Books as most damage done in a single day. Needless to say, I was thrilled when bedtime rolled around. And yes it was an early bedtime night! She was in her bed only 3 minutes and she was asleep. I guess all that hard work wore her out.;)

How is it possible that this sweet, little, angelic face is capable of wreaking so much havoc?!

Ah man. What a day. Thank goodness tomorrow is a new day. His mercies are new every morning. Good news for me. And Kensi. :)

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!