a year of happy blessed-ness

Asher Clark (our happy and blessed little boy). It was just one year ago today that you and mommy were in an ambulance on our way to Abbott hospital in Minnesota from Covenant in Waterloo Iowa. Why? Because one year ago today, at 6:30am you tried to come out. Mommy was having contractions, you were head/face down and pushing.

This is you, Asher -19 weeks and 1 day old.  May 29, 2010

Through tears that Saturday morning Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Andrew and Aunty Liz and Grammy and Papa and Aunty's Cal, Anna and Bird were so scared and prayed that our Mighty God would keep you inside; growing healthy, big and strong. We all wanted to be able to meet you, and kiss and hug you- because we already loved you!


And after many tests, procedures, 8.5 weeks of total bed rest and an additional 4-ish weeks of modified bed rest and the answered prayers from and ARMY of PRAYERS (from all over the US and around the world)- guess what? Jesus did a miracle last summer and allowed you to stay growing inside until over 37 weeks!  You were born. And we gave thanks! He gave us YOU!

Asher Clark,  May 28, 2011

Wow!!! What a difference a year makes.

We're just overflowing with thankfulness for our Little Mr. Asher Clark Johnson today! Oh how God has shown himself powerful and faithful and merciful and loving through it all. Every time I'm out on a walk or laughing with our Blessing - or taking a shower for that matter-- I'm extra grateful.


I'm thankful for the privilege of holding you. Kissing you. Having you in our family. Playing with you. Listening to all your new noises. Laughing with you. Praying and singing to you. I'm thankful for the community of friends that came along side us and carried us through some rough months. I'm grateful for how last summer and you joining our family has strengthened Mommy and Daddy's marriage. It grew us in our relationship with God. Begun to help heal broken hearts.


Baby Boy, through you we're learning to give thanks in all things!
Praise the LORD!


סֶלָה


selāh

Showers of Mercy-drops

Showers of blessing, Showers of blessing we need: Mercy-drops round us are falling, But for the showers we plead.

There shall be showers of blessing: This is the promise of love; There shall be seasons refreshing, Sent from the Savior above.

1. There shall be showers of blessing, Precious reviving again; Over the hills and the valleys, Sound of abundance of rain.
2. Now as to God we’re confessing, Now as on Jesus we call!
3. There shall be showers of blessing, If we but trust and obey; There shall be seasons refreshing, If we let God have His way.

Mercy= "a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion" 

The last few weeks have come upon us like a refreshing shower. (sometimes rather heavy, literal, rain showers too! yesterday parts of the metro got like 5-9 inches of rain!) God has been so good to us. He has used you, our friends and family, over and over again to remind us that he loves us and does have compassion on His children.  


Honestly, it's been hard at times throughout the past year or two to feel that mercy -tangibly- we know each day comes as a new mercy (it just doesn't always feel like it to me). But God has gotten us through! 


Just in the past two weeks we've had two baby showers- each celebrating God's gift of goodness to us in allowing Little Mr. to grow so strong and long in the womb, and to one day VERY SOON to hold our precious baby boy! And on top of that Charlie changed jobs (well, officially starts on the 30th); God opened doors for him to work as an "in-house attorney" at a large local/national company. (This brings him one step closer to his career goal of becoming general counsel at a company one day).  God's timing and ways are so mysterious sometimes, and this summer has brought us nearer to to Him- through prayer and dependance, and faith building. (It wasn't fun btw, but good). 'God has had His way and now it feels like a season refreshing'- as the song above states.

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 106:1 

Two Saturday's ago both of our families and MANY extended family members came from all over. -Iowa, Wisconsin, and the greater metro; because I am unable to go much more than 40 minutes from home (because of the cerclage). We felt so incredibly loved by their kindness and thoughtfulness, toward us and time spent with us and getting here. Elizabeth and Bridget hosted a really darling "Little Mr." shower. (I actually don't have many pictures of it... but you can go to Liz's post about it for a few more). They had the napkins folded as ties, and the cups had mustaches, and lots of really yummy food. Thanks sisters!

And then last Saturday (top left picture below) Nichole Wells, Anne Golliher and Andrea Brogle hosted a baby shower for our friends celebrating our Little Guy! These girls are precious and treasured gifts in my life. They made Charlie and I feel so blessed! -Actually everyone who came made us feel that way. THANK YOU over and over again! There were friends from college days, book club, small group, Titus 2 group, neighbors, friends from the area and even one surprise friend from California! What an amazing day. Maryann gave a wonderful devotional, and we all enjoyed yummy food. (After completing a rather disgusting baby food guessing game)... good times.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 1 Chronicles 16:34 

We're feeling as "ready" as new parents could. I'm 36 weeks today! I've had a few practice tummy tighteners, but nothing terribly serious yet. We're positively elated at the prospect of meeting our precious son in as soon as a few short days or weeks! Sometimes I can't believe it's all really happening. 

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalm 34:8

Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  Psalm 147:1, 3

are there "normal" dreams?

OK, I'm thinking weird sleep and sleep patterns are a normal part of pregnancy. I've heard of crazy dreams, dreaming of your baby, etc. But I tell ya- I'm losing it. 'Cuz I've been dreaming REAL things.

-The most frustrating is the "To-do" lists or how I'll go about accomplishing a project. VERY VIVID and detailed. In the dream (apparently- cuz when i wake up nothing is done) I either write it down or do the project... so now when I wake I'm upset because can't remember the whole list of to-do's so I can write it down quick or if I did indeed just dream it. It usually comes back to me throughout the day in parts and I rush to write it down.

Dreaming fake things, or about our Little Boy or a weird list would be fine. But not the real stuff I need to do or remember, etc!

AHHHHHHHH!

As a side note, Little Mr. isn't waking me up as much these days, has definitive patters of sleeping and MEGA play/kicking time, gets the hic-up's 1-2x's per day and has gotten super big in the past week. We go for and ultrasound Friday and they'll do measurements, weight, etc.

The 29th is the day my cerclage will come out (week 36, day 4). And I'm generally off of bed rest- with the exception of lifting and exercising.  Charlie and I have started going for slow walks this week, and are starting to lengthen them. It's so great to get out and DO something again! WOW!

33

The two of us on 33 weeks and 1 day:

I'd post one with my head attached but for some reason charlie didn't take one.   Oh well.

Sweet corn has really been hitting the spot lately! And it's super sweet this season too!) Yummy!

I've been drooling over a few of these. -The latest addition to VS's PINK collection.

And in love with this Bengals sweatshirt by Firedaughter.

This week it's been cool, and definitely more fall like. I've pulled out a couple sweaters and comfy sweatshirts.  And we've had fun enjoying a few football games. Thursday night we're headed to a party to watch the Vikings opening game- against the dreaded Saints.  I hope they're nice to Farve, cuz when there not, it makes me say naughty things.

tum tum pics et cetera

Quick update on the little boy living inside me.

Left: My caring sister-in-law and her kiddo's sent me a countdown paper chain weeks 30-38, it serves as the only decoration specifically for Little Mr so far.  -yeah, not even started buying anything, or decorating anything for baby or his room. I figure he won't notice anyways, right?

Right: Baby bump at 28 weeks 5 days.

This is Little Mister's quilt I've been slowly working on when my back permits. (That's been the only tough part lately- fairly uncomfortable back pain. I bought a brace and that helps some. -Probably a fairly normal pregnant mom problem, huh?)

Left: Little Mister hanging out inside at 30 weeks 2 days. He's really moving all the body parts now, not just hands and feet...I feel shoulders, backs, bunzies, elbows and he's discovered my ribs. Um yeah. 

Right: Little Mr. at his Dr.'s apt yesterday- 30w 3d. He was looking rather squished in, and insisted on keeping his face squished against the placenta so we couldn't get a good picture of him. His stats were fabulous.  He's weighing in at 3lbs. 14 oz., (measuring about 1-2 weeks ahead) and is in the 70th percentile for 30 week babies. (OB says it's cuz Charlie and I are so tall). His heart rate was 153. 

Charlie and I spent the remainder of the day yesterday at our favorite beach, soaking in this amazing weather we've been enjoying- mid 70's and a breeze and sun. It's PERFECTION.  Last week I braved my bikini and have since decided I may not do that again until after I have my body back. LOL!

I love relaxing there, yesterday there were two 8 year old boys fishing off a nearby dock all afternoon, and they were equipped with a tape measurer, poles, and TONS of spirit. Every 10-20 minutes one would yell "I got one!, look, look!, It's a HUGE one!"  I had to laugh. Oh the charm of a sunny, boyhood afternoon- and the thrill of catching 5 inch sun fish! LOL! Charlie said he spent many afternoons at the cabin doing the same thing, (but he said catching 30-50 per afternoon). -I love imagining Charlie as his sparky little boy self from years ago.  I can't wait to watch our Little boy enjoy such innocent pleasures.

Today my husband woke up energized to do house projects. So I'm posting this while he's on a home depot run. We're going to attempt to spruce up our deck. I'll post pictures sometime if it turns out.

Enjoy your day!

ohhhh, one of THOSE

It's come to that. I'm (it's) one of THOSE blogs. Kids and baby updates and pictures.

I promise I do have other thoughts, but this season has been a little consuming. And I'm not sure how to share with the "blogosphere" my other musings right now. There's a lot spinning around in our lives. Sometimes I wonder what my life will look like in just one short year...oh how things can change- and FAST. (yet sometimes not fast enough). hummmm...

So back to the blog I've become. (happily, btw):

In this picture you'll see a paper chain hanging from the window- this was lovingly made by my niece, Emma and my nephew, Elliott. They made one for each day to help me count down the weeks until Little Mr. turns 30 weeks. So fun; and the chain is rather short now! YAY! And then we have a couple of things we've bought/made for our little son; and I hung them in the closet, it really helped me to get excited about thinking about this little guy coming to our home one day.

A close up of some cute little clothes for him:

I ordered this very newborn little outfit for Little Mr. to wear right away. It's SO tiny and cute. I also crocheted a cotton blanket to coordinate.

This is us at 26 weeks: (yes, they're self portraits. Do you wanna know why? 'Cuz I usually get dressed if I have to run to the Dr. or something and then I get home and slip comfy clothes right back on, and so if I wanted a picture of real clothes I couldn't wait for Charlie to get home.)

Week 27, 4 days: (Tuesday, yesterday)

Seeee, this is me, in said comfy attire... no makeup and all. See what I spare you by doing self portraits when I'm presentable!? LOL!

Our little boy is really growing on us, it's almost like he communicates through the kicking sometimes. (He still is super powerful and active). But seemingly responds to our touch and voice. We already love him so much- and we tell him. We're getting so excited to SEE his little face and touch and kiss those busy little hands and feet.

About 2 1/2 weeks ago I got to start "modified bed rest". I can sit up, walk around more and even have 2-3 outings a week (to go out to eat or the movies or some other low key activity)!!! I just also need to make sure I'm resting lots, and not lifting or exercising, etc. PRAISE THE LORD! Being up has been so wonderful. I've not been having contractions, and baby is growing and measuring perfectly. I've just had back pain and random other muscle pain, probably from being sedentary for so many months.

I've been sewing. This is some of the fabric I'm going to make a baby blanket with. And pictured are a few of the other things I've made. (diaper bag, and blanket, and burp cloths). And my friend Sarah surprised me with a darling taggie blanket and two burp cloths she made with "Little Mr" embroidered onto them. SO thoughtful and cute! Such a good reminder of the story we'll get to tell our son- about the ARMY of friends and family and acquaintances who prayed for his life before anyone ever met him.

Hopefully one day soon I'll be able to write about a non-baby something or other.

I've been reading a couple of books. This one on Grace Based parenting is really good so far. -good for parents at any stage. (here's my post about it).  And for fun (book club) we're reading Second Time Around...an easy summer read.

We've been able to go sit at our favorite spot on Lake Minnetonka a few times lately too.

mover and a shaker ---already

If you take 40 seconds you'll see that our Little Mr. is already a mover and a shaker. Look out world. And take my word for it, it feels much more powerful than it may look, -ask Charlie.

viability and fireworks

We have the sweetest, most supportive, caring and go-out of their way to love, awesome friends. Thursday and Friday we gave steroid shots to our Little Guy. (These will help his lungs and tummy, etc if he happens to be born in the next two weeks- we hope he isn't. The shots weren't bad at all, with one small exception- I couldn't sleep at all the first night, Charlie called it "roid rage").

So anyway.... Both of those days we had little celebration parties for our Little Mr. Nichole, Andrea, Stephanie and Anne came out to encourage and celebrate this (big) milestone (for this baby) that the Lord brought us to. Nichole even made this delicious oreo ice cream dessert (below). Um---YUMMY!

It was a much anticipated milestone. At 24 weeks babies are most likely viable. After all we have been through the past month +, we have had moments when we didn't think we'd make it to this week. But here we are, all three of us, at home, happy, healthy, and kicking like crazy. (well the boys currently feel better than I do from time to time. Baby has such a way of making me incredibly dizzy and passy-outy when he decides to move [his body] and karate kick [my cervix]).

For the first time I actually felt like I could REALLY dream about having this baby- in my arms and bringing him home. Charlie and I even bought a few things for him this weekend. It was soooo fun and relieving and hopeful and, on some levels- scary. Scary only because I've not really even thought at all about the nursery, baby necessities, clothes, strollers, registries, etc. But over the weekend, I started to do a little bit on online shopping. I love amazon.com! I guess bed rest from this point on could get VERY expensive. Hahaha! It will be fun to begin dreaming.

Charlie's parents came up for the weekend, It was nice to hang out with them. They helped us cut and trim trees, vacuum, and laundry, etc. We had yummy meals and played domino's together. This is what the night of the fourth looked like at our house:

We randomly discovered that our nearby neighbor put on a fairly decent firework show. It was perfect for us; we walked out to our driveway and watched the celebration of our countries freedom. No fighting traffic or bugs! (and I could be up long enough to enjoy them).

I guess in one of the previous pictures I posted people thought I cut my hair. Well, I hadn't- I just had it pulled back in my bed rest pony tail. BUT-

Today my dear Katie and Mike came out to our house. And they cut Charlie and I's hair ('cuz I still can't be up long enough to go anywhere)! YAYAYAYAYY! I hadn't had a cut since January. It's so refreshing to have freshly cut hair, and they're both great stylists. It was so sweet of them to come out to do that for me (us)! Thanks guys!

This isn't the greatest portrayal of my great hair cut (I had just got up off the couch). But it does accurately show the size of Little Mister and I at 24 weeks and 3 days today!

Katie and Mike brought these gorgeous, colorful and day-brightening flowers.

What a good week it's been so far. God has held our Little Guy inside the womb, and continues to grow him bigger and stronger!

23 weeks and growing!

Charlie and I like to go to Lake Minnetonka and sit by the lake on Main St. It's one of our favorite spots two weekends ago we took a short trip there, Cally was here and she took a couple pictures. ;-)

It was an interesting week emotionally. So many things going through my mind all the time. It was good to remember Bennett one year later, it was good to know we were so close to viability, so hard to still be in bed... trying to balance all those things and remain hopeful for our Little Mr.

24 (not the suspense/action tv show)-but close

He has done marvelous things, He has remembered His steadfast love and faithfulness; break into joyous song and sing praises to the Lord. Ps. 98. Thank you Lord for 24 weeks with Little Mr.!

I'll update more soon... been a little off 'cuz of the steroids I think. But all is well!

a year later

It was one year ago today that our son Bennett Torger Johnson was born, and immediately went to be with Jesus.
What a journey this year has been. God has been good to us.

tid-bits from 22

It's been another quiet week! That's a great thing. We went to the Dr. on Monday and it went pretty well. My cervix is the same as last week, and the cerclage is holding everything closed. Sunday evening and Monday I was having some small contractions, and small amount of pain, so she put me on the contraction monitor for a while. It ended up being mostly a couple small contractions and some irritation contractions while I was there. She said it looked MUCH better than when I was being monitored in the hospital. She said just keep doing more of the same- laying and staying put.

This is what I'm looking like:

Some days or moments throughout the day I feel like I'm going to go crazy. I have come to appreciate shower days and Dr. days, and have no problem with getting stuck in traffic along the way. -prolongs my outings! ;-) Hahaha.

Our small group came out to our house to meet this past Sunday, thanks guys; it was so good to see you all!

Charlie has been my sanity. The moments I break down into tears, and think I can't do another minute-or day of this, he's there to hold me, listen, and remind me that it won't be forever. And in the especially tough times, he takes me to the DQ or makes cookies (above) at 10pm.

Baby was looking great at in the ultrasound. We could see how he was gaining more and more chubbers even since last week!

^Little Guy had his patty's up by his face and eyes that day.

And even though our Little Mr. is putting on weight, and getting bigger now... he's got NOTHING on his 2 month old cousin, Landon. (This is Bird's baby boy at a baseball game on vacation last week out east): Talk about Mr. CHUBBERS!

Mmmm I love it (him!). It's hard to believe he was just over 7lbs when he was born a few weeks ago. Love you so much precious nephew! Kisses!

Oh July 1 and 2 we get to have a shot of steroids to help Little Mr's lungs develop. (that's week 24)!!!!!!