Winter Hardships

January and February were difficult in the Johnston home.  We kept getting and giving each other the Bronchitis bug of the winter months!  Poor Mason was hospitalized for a week when he was 2 months old...he got bronchilitis and could not breathe :(  Patrick had it too and so did I, but poor little baby could not breathe because of it so he had to have his lungs suctioned and be on a breathing machine, then on high flow oxygen, then down to normal oxygen, then ween off all that so we could go home.  I stayed with him the whole time so it was once again hard on Patrick too, once we come home with a new baby and he is almost getting used to the new routine we leave again!  I can only imagine what he thought about it all.  I was of course uncomfortable but mostly worried about and just wanting to take it all away from poor little precious Mason.  Since I couldn't take it away I was just there by his side to comfort when I could.  I am so thankful for Health and when you don't have it is when you are most aware to be thankful for it. 

The Ronald Mcdonald house across the street is the only place I did go once Mason was feeling better while the nurses watched him I took Patrick across the street to play on some toys and we ate a free lunch, that was sure a blessing! 

Christmas 2011

Christmas this year was at home!  We just had new little Mason so we stuck close to home.  We had a fun family Christmas.

We decorated the tree...

Tried to get some cute santa hat pictures!

And made snow man ornaments at our friend, Adam and Kim Nisson's house

I am thankful for my little family and the fun times we have together and also thankful for all my extended family and the times when we can get together with them too.  Christmas is a special time of year that makes me more thankful for all we have. 

Quick update

I have gotten teased about my very out dated blog.  Then we had a releif society class on blogging and journaling.  I am not doing either!  And I have two adorable kids that I need to remember things about.  So I am making it my goal, yes once again, to do this a whole lot more often.  I have two sister in laws that I know of that do awesome blogs, they are great examples to me too. 

So, I will start with the amazing event in our lives that occured last year, early December!  Mason Reed Johnston was born 12-5-11, he weighed 5lbs 2oz. 21 inches long.  He was born at 36 weeks, here is what I looked like.

On Dec 4th I was at a bbq at my cousins house and playing with Patrick in the backyard but my back was aching a lot. That night I could not sleep very well because I could not get comfortable with the bach ache and contractions I was having. The next day I just got up and tried to go on with my day, but as the day went on the contractions seemed to be getting more close and more intense. So I decided to get driven to the hospital and get checked out. They checked me out in triage and then sent me to a room to wait and see if i progress, my doctor came to check on me about 5pm, I had been there for about an hour. She said I had progressed since I first got there so she was taking him that night, when the shift change happens I will be the first in the operating room. So they preped me, I walked to a table laid down and they gave me a c-section to give me our sweet baby Mason!

He was super small, but all healthy and strong.  The NICU people were standing by and checked him out first, but he never had to go with them and he didn't have to stay in hospital at all without me. 

 Happy Mama!

Patrick got to come see his brother the next day!  He was happy with it, but I don't think he quite understood everything.  We had Ian going home some but Gary and the Johnston Grandparents really made Patrick feel better.  Staying home with Gary kept his life and schedule as normal as it could be and going to sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa Johnston was an adventure he could have! 

My dear sweet friends from my ward came and said hi too, Robyn Welcker has a birthday right after Mason and Debbie Douvaghapivong is another sweet friend that we love. 

We had many great visitors...the Johnston grandparents visited and also helped with what ever they could and so did Gary.  He helped a lot with Patrick and also visited with flowers:) So sweet

He was still super small when it was time to go home, so the clothes were big, but we just bundled him up and brought him home so happy to have him in our home!

Welcome Spring!

Since my last post we have enjoyed St. Patrick's day...I made corned beef and cabbage for the first time ever and I thought it was good, but it made a lot so we were all eating it for a while. Patrick and I went to San Felipe Mexico for a long weekend, we went to the desert for my cousins and nephew's birthday, and Ian got to go to Utah for the weekend of his mission reunion.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Spring has come and daylight savings time has been in affect so it stays light a little later. Last Friday a girlfriend and I went to the beach for sunset, it was nice end to a week of hard work. We have had some rain here and some cool nights, but mostly great weather as usual. Ian is still working hard to get more side jobs and I help him with them. I also work for All Clean Sweeping as their marketing person and I also try to sell things that everyone else buys!

Patrick is growing up so fast. He is almost in Nursery and talks pretty clear...he screams very clear! Loves balls and cars, we have fun, he likes it most when we get to play with other kids. Till next time, Love the Johnstons

This week has been full of work and as much play as possible. Patrick and I went to play group our ward does on Tuesdays. He really likes to play with the kids. For the weekend we had lots of fun including my uncle Gary's birthday party. Ian also did the swap meet all morning Saturday, he is trying to sell some things he bought at a storage auction...so far its going slow.

Happy Birthday Gary!

Patrick loved all the kids he had to play with...

but none as much as his friend Ethan! He was kissing and hugging Ethan :)

Our sweet friend Robyn Welcker made Gary a cake that looked like a sand dune with a couple buggies, so cute and Yummy!!

Sunday we went for a nature hike at Black's Canyon. It was beautiful and had lots of water running since we have had all the rains lately.

Another friend Patrick is most fond of is Jordan...she can make him laugh just by looking his way with a smile!

Our friends that came were; Paco Jordan Kim Madison Ian Gary Patrick Robert and myself. I love this beautiful earth Heavenly Father has created for us to enjoy.

I looked at my last blog and realized...I gotta get better at this blogging, so that will be one of my new goals! As you can imagine MUCH has changed in my cute little Patrick man since the last blog. He is 16 Mo old, walking all over the place...he really took off with that during Thanks giving in Arizona. I have taught him some sign language so we can communicate simple things he needs so he says Please, Thank you, More and All done in sign language. He says, "Thanks, This, Mommy, Daddy, Up, Some, Yumm, Wow and Uh-Oh" verbally too. He blows kisses and waves Hi and Bye too that makes me melt of course!

We had some really warm weather just before Christmas so we went to the beach one sunday morning and had fun taking christmas card photos. We enjoy living in the sunshine of San Diego. Ian loves to be close to the ocean for early morning surfing sessions before work. We are both working hard every day to better our lives little by little. We love the adventures we get to have with Patrick and other family and friends.

8 Months Flys By

I can't beleive it has been 8 months already! Our little Patrick man is so adorable and smart we enjoy him so much every day. Some funny things he is doing these days are he sings real high pitch and then goes to a growl real deep in the same sentence. He smiles so easily and is very friendly to passers-by that stop to tell him how cute he is! He makes motor noises with his mouth like a pro and even does the lips up and down with his own hand. I'll have to show you video!

He loves things dangling above him, (like the string for the fan), keys, steering wheels, and markers or remotes are the toys of choice!

We went to Idaho for my little brothers wedding in April...

so he learned what cold really feels like! We were sure thankful for the Cozy Cover;)

He is eating more and more solid foods...he loves avocado, bell peppers and grahm crackers. Otherwise he eats the baby food meat and vegtables and oatmeal and fruit in the mornings.

He LOVES to stand up to things...he crawls backwards or on his tummy, but he prefers standing. He doesn't quite get how to pull the legs forward to go forward when on his hands and knees so that turns into fussing frustration. Just stand him up and he starts moving those legs where he wants to go!

He checks things out with his thumb..it is really funny. Quite often we see him thumbing things.

Over all we are so happy together as a family and love our little happy Patrick man! We are looking forward to the next 8 months too!