7/31-dinn with friends

^Earlier in the day- daddy with his 2 kiddos. :)

Each month we have a couples dinner with some friends. Having Julia and Jona in town was a perfect reason to get together. Always good food and good company. :)

^Kaylynn & Brook

^Julia & The Nixons

^Jona & The Bakers

^ And us! We left the kids for a night out. Very important!

Revisit the past

Last week I cut some bangs. I haven't had them since high school and I felt like a change. Loving them so far! :) Thought I'd share a picture.

^My blonde twin Morghan

While Ed spoke at a conference in Tahoe, the kids and I headed to Reno to spend the night at Duke and Morghan's.

Look a little closer

Are you ever eating breakfast and you notice a darker piece of cereal amidst the rest and check just to make sure it's just a piece of overcooked flake or whatever? I'm really happy I did this today. I had taken one bite of cereal and then noticed this...

...a little closer and this is what you see.

Yes my friends, that would be a dead spider in my cereal!!!! Any of you who know me really well, know that spiders are probably my worst phobia. Just looking at this picture gives me the willies!! Do I throw the rest of the box away? Or just scout my cereal every time I pour a bowl in the future? Pretty sure I'll be examining all my food for bugs! Nightmare come true!!

OCD

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and behind due to the fact that I think I'm a little OCD when it comes to cleaning. It's starting to be a problem especially with a newborn. I almost can't function if everything isn't in it's place. Sure my house gets messy, but before I feel like I can move on to doing anything else-scrapbooking, blogging, reading, sometimes caring for my kids, etc- I have to have everything picked up or I get grumpy. Just ask Ed. He's baffled at what is upsetting me most times. Really? A clean house is that crucial to my happiness? TV, email and food are the only other things that stay at the top of the list. It was great when the season ended to all the spring tv shows. I was much more productive. Isn't that sad. My priorities... Anyone else this way?

JUNE catch up

June was much busier than it needed to be. :) We moved from our apartment to renting a house (which we LOVE- pics to come as soon as we're completely settled). Note: Moving 8 months prego is not a good idea! :) Ed had a busy work month, I had a ton of hair appointments before I took some time off, Ed took a quick trip with one of his friend for a weekend, and here are some pics from other times in the month:

^ Sarah loves music! She sings almost any song she's heard me sing, she loves going to the music store with Ed (taking up guitar), and loves to play on piano's and drums. What kid doesn't like to make noise I guess? :)

Some pictures Ed took of Sarah that are adorable- while I got a weekend getaway with some girlfriends (see below) before baby boy arrived.

Slumber Party with Kristen and Maren in San Fran for the night!

^Plenty of shopping. Not much for me and my belly.

^Pretty sure I'd gained weight. :)

^ What great friends

^Had to take some silly shots in the hotel! ^Lindsey

^Maren

^Kristen

We did an overnight camp trip.

^Laytons, Harmans, Drummonds and Shafers

Duke and Morghan moved to Reno (much closer than Denver) so they came down for a weekend to have lunch and hang out. Happy Bday Morghan!

^37 weeks prego picture. Not as cool posted months later. :)

The bad and the ugly

Much to catch up on as usual, but I thought I'd post about some bad and ugly stuff since it's usually about the good. :)

Life is crazy! Sarah is approaching her 2nd birthday and has decided to do it with a bang. I'd like to give her a break since we have had so much change in the last month, vacations, company, no routine per say, however, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go crazy if the whining and tantrums don't stop!! She has developed this high pitched scream and decided her means of communication will be whining and repeating herself 1 million times. Yes 1 million! No more listening... this girl has her own agenda. Is this normal? Is this a phase? How to stop the whining? Ideas please?! Im getting less and less patient. Who's in control here? Who is the parent and decides the rules? She thinks she should. Wish us luck on this new phase. We need it!! Big time!!

Kai Edward Harman

We are so happy to introduce our baby boy Kai Edward Harman! 

He arrived July 8, 2009 (07/08/09) at 7:51 a.m.  (due date July 19th)

7 pounds 1 ounce & 19 inches long

^Our most recent family picture. :)

^Sarah's first time meeting and holding her brother Kai. She's adjusting well to him, but it will be a process for all of us in dividing our time. ;)

^Proud Daddy showing off some resemblance. :)

^Proud Mommy with her little guy! I feel so heavily rewarded! 

Read on if you'd like to know the somewhat graphic birthing details. :)

My Story of Kai's arrival!!

On Wednesday morning (July 8th) my first contraction started at 4:45 a.m. Not knowing if it was just cramps or whatnot I tried to fall back asleep, but kept note of the time. I would wake every 10- 20 minutes and feel similar pains, but held off, still not knowing if this was really it! By 5:30 I woke Ed (who had worked 'til 1:30 a.m. the night before) to let him know today would most likely be the day. After some good signs of being in labor (similar signs with Sarah) at about 6 a.m. we called the doctor. She gave us the go ahead to head to the hospital. By now my contractions were anywhere from 3-8 minutes apart. My friend Kristen came over by 6:30 a.m. to watch Sarah while Ed and I headed to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 6:45 and they got me all set up. 

Because Sarah's birth went so quickly I had her naturally with no epidural. (Her labor was under 4 hours start to finish- there was no epidural option by the time I got to the hospital). Knowing my labors go quick, and after doing more research about my options, I put together a birthing plan and I decided that this time I wanted to 'go natural' again. Ed was a great coach and helped me breath through my contractions that were beginning to pick up.  

The first time they checked me I was dilated to a 7. Things progressed well although painful, but definitely bearable. I kept asking what would happen next. What needed to happen before the babe was born? Breaking water was the next sign that would tell me we were moving along. When I felt the need to push, I did and sure enough my water broke. :) Shortly after my water broke and some very intense contractions my doctor came in to assist me in my first push. It was a small push, but when I looked in the mirror I could see the babies hair and I knew his birth was close. This gave me much determination to end the pain and get him outta there!! As soon as the doctor could get her gloves on and with my next push (which Ed says is really my first "real" push) the babies head was born. With the next his shoulders and the rest of him was born. I tore a little less than last time- which was to a 2 I think. 

I was admitted to the hospital at 6:45 a.m. and Kai was born at 7:51 a.m. I feel very blessed to have such good pregnancies and quick labors. Although I was only in the hospital just over an hour before he was born- it was a rough hour!! I have much admiration to those able to have natural childbirth's with long labors. Not sure I could do that. An hour felt like forever! :) It is a mind over body thing though. 

Recovery has gone well. Kai had a check up today and he's gaining weight and looking good everywhere else. Physically I feel almost better -other than it feels like I'm making milk for 3 babies. :) Emotionally we're doing some adjusting as a family, but we'll get it down. :)

I really can't imagine life without Kai. With each new addition to our family, life truly feels a little more complete. Makes me wonder how many more babies will come before we've decided family life is complete. :) Not that I'm already thinking of more- one at a time. I feel like my ability to feel love is stronger than I have ever felt and I love it and welcome it. Welcome baby Kai! We love you and we're excited to be your parents and big sis!

Crying and such

Last night I went to the movie "My Sister's Keeper". It was really good and I cried. Although it's a sad-ish movie, the crying that went on was more of a 'feeling of abundance of love' cry than a sad cry. Hope that makes sense.  I was feeling so much love for Ed, Sarah and our (soon to be born) boy.  Anyway, it felt really good to cry. Even on the drive home I cried. I wanted to and welcomed it just because it felt so good! Is that weird? :) It's not that I don't have struggles in my life or that my life is perfect, but I really don't ever cry anymore. If I do it's usually sparked by someone else crying. I really feel like I'm happy about life. There's not much to cry about. (I hate to say that for fear that something will happen now to warrant crying.) I really think Ed, Sarah, family and friends must do a great job of helping me be happy.  That, or maybe I just hold back when I feel like crying other times? Either way I'd like to cry more. It's such a great feeling to me. It gives me such a great release. Maybe it's just 'happy' crying I'm talking about too? I don't think it's a hormonal pregnancy thing either. Do you like to cry too? 

Another tidbit- It's weird that I'm starting take the perspective of the older character in shows as opposed to younger. In this case the mother. It's neat to be experiencing that side of it. My ability to love has definitely expanded since being a mom. Not just for Sarah either. Seeing Ed as a dad makes my love for him stronger. Even on rough mothering days, I am really grateful to be experiencing motherhood. Try it out if you're already not! :) And to those trying... best of luck!

On another subject- 

I was really sad on Sunday after getting home from church when I realized that (even though I'm pregnant) I didn't fast. Fasting can still have meaning even if you have to eat. I didn't have a prayer in my heart. I knew it was fast Sunday and didn't do a thing about it. I felt so selfish and ashamed that I didn't think of anything to fast for. I have plenty of things I could have fasted for.  Where has my desire gone? I feel a little spiritually depressed. Definitely not something I'm proud to say, but it's true. I wish being good, kind and thoughtful came more natural.

Updates from June to come... Sarah is a chatterbox!!

Showered for Baby Boy Harman

Baby boy Harman (due July 16th) was showered with gifts from great friends!

The food and set up was delicious!

^ Some of the games played at the shower looked gross, but tasted okay. :)

Rebecca, Kaylynn, Maren, Kristen, and I. (I look extra big, ya?)

^These are the thoughtful, talented lovely ladies that spoiled this baby boy we have yet to meet! I have some great friends! Thanks girls!

A cold day at the beach

Ever since our Johnson family trip Sarah has been saying, 'beach' and 'ocean'. Ed had a day off so we decided to pack lunch and go to a beach in Santa Cruz. Unfortunately we didn't check the forecast until we got there. :(

^Sarah very anxious to get to the beach

^Not interested in the camera when there's sand around.

^ We invited some friends Joel and Kadin.

^ Whitney & Oliver Shafer

^ Even though the sun never showed up, we still had a good time playing on the beach. Instead of using towels to lay out, we used them to cover our bodies from the cold wind. :) 

Just some other random cute pics of Sarah. ;)