4 months old!

We couldnt be having more fun with this adorable little dude! He is so fun and smiley and just a blessing to have around. We love him SOOOOO much.

Luke likes to mimic faces that he sees. Here is his dog face. What a smart little kid! This is also his first week in the BUMBO. He doesnt quite fit in it yet, and only stays in it for a few minutes before folding over, but he is definately a cutie patootie in the big seat:).

WOW, get a load of that slobber! Luke hardly ever spits up, but he sure is a slobber king! His clothes are always soaked! But at least they dont stink like puke like all my other kids:).

Michayla's photography skills.

Love it.

The after church shirt on the head pose. Everyone has one of these as a baby, right?

The happiest baby on the block! Here he is sporting his bouncer, his most used seat in the house.

Handsome little dude.

His monkey blanket is another favorite spot, and is usually accompanied with toys, and brother and sisters entertaining tirelessly:). We miss them when they are at school.

Just for journaling sake, notice the binky to the right of cute baby....its a MAM. He loves his mam, and will probably use it like my other kids until he is forced to give it up:) We love our binky babies.

Blakes T-ball career

Blakes finished his season strong! He had 2 home runs, one being a grand slam! Go Blake!

If you've seen one...

You've seen them all! All of our babies have pretty much looked alike. I'll see if I can figure out how to get pics of Blake and Michayla when they were babies on here (they werent digital babies:)). Here's a taste of how alike they are.

Luke

Ally

Summer has finally come!

Because of snow days this year we had to go to school until June 3rd! The kids are so glad to get to stay home:) We've already been to the pool 3 times. We love summer!

This is taken on one of the last days of school. Cutie Patootie's!

Photo torture

I cant believe this kid is almost 6 weeks. He is such a sweety! We love love love him......and cant wait for him to sleep a little longer:)

Cutie Pie

My friend Mandy shot some newborn pics of Luke. They turned out SOOOO darn cute!

This is just the first of them. I just can't look at them enough:)

Drowning out the noise

Our smart little man here has figured out a way to keep the noise on the down low by sticking his finger in his ear. This affords him at least some peace and quiet during the chaos that accompanies living at the Johnston home.

Little Luke

Our sweet little man

Big brother and me
We had to get a pic with this "future MVP" outfit. MVP is the law firm that Brent works at.

First bath at home....obviously didnt go so well:)

The sweetest baby ever! He is so fun to just hold and kiss on!

Luke Steven Johnston

The finale

So....my epidural stopped working. What a nightmare! They had to come reinsurt it and couldnt get it in. I thought I was going to die. Long story short, after about 4 more tries, and me in pain more than I could bare, I finally got some relief, and it was time to push. 10 min later, we had a little Luke! He is 6 lbs 15oz, and is just a bundle of joy. We will post pictures some other day, but I just wanted to let you know that mom and baby are now doing well. We are both exhausted, but doing well:) On the up side, Brents epidural went perfectly. They will take it out when its time to go home. He is not looking forward to that, as it keeps him perfectly relaxed in moments of craziness.

He and my mom were both amazing coaches, as were the nurses that we had. I couldnt have been luckier to have such a great team behind me. Yeah for babies, and yeah for getting delivery over with!

Update #3 - We're Stuck

Michelle's been dialated to 9 cm for about an hour. Apparently, she still has a "little cervical lip" that we're trying to work through. I'm doing whatever I can...stretching, drinking lots of fluids, and anything else I can think of to let gravity work it's magic...but for some reason, this last little bit is not coming easy. I better get back to coaching!

Update #2 - Not feeling a thing

Michelle has been a trooper. They've been increasing her poticin dosage every 30 minutes. The anesthesiologist administered the epidural about an hour ago. Initially, this caused Michelle's blood pressure to take a nose dive. As a result, Michelle experienced a lot of dizziness and wooziness for about 45 minutes. Fortunately, the nurses were right on top of everything, and Michelle is feeling much better now. She's numb, she's looking forward to moving towards the delivery.

We are just about to find out whether she has progressed at all. She is currently dialated to........6 cm. That's some progress! She usually goes quickly from 7 to 10, so it could happen soon!

Update #1 - Not starting out "the right way"

We arrived at the hospital at 7:05 and checked in. We were literally one of 4 cars in the entire parking lot of the labor / delivery building. Apparently, Michelle is the only person being induced today, so we basically have the entire floor to ourselves for a while.

When we arrived, the nurses were extremely friendly. Our attending nurse is named Lindsey. She is very friendly, and apparently has access to all of Michelle's personal information. She's already talked about Michelle's piano lessons, her adoption / birth mom, our kids, and the fact that she was a full tithe payer last year. Wierd :-)

Our first funny experience happened when Lindsey was putting the monitors on Michelle's belly. Michelle was having a hard time keeping her gown on while the monitors were being put in place, and she said, "I'm sorry that this gown is so revealing." The nurse very nonchalantly responded, "well, most people put the gown on the other way." Funny! Michelle put the gown on the right way during her next bathroom trip.

Michelle has her IV in. The nurse was able to get it in with one poke, although she had to do a lot of wiggling after the initial poke to actually get the needle into the vein. Michelle got pretty light headed and dizzy during that process, but she is better now.

They just started her on pitocin and Dr. Morris stopped by and broke Michelle's water. I better stop writing and get back to taking care of Michelle! I'll be back!

We're on Our Way!!!

We're just about to go to the hospital so that Michelle can be induced. We check in at 7:00 a.m. At her appointment yesterday, she was dialated to 3 1/2 - 4 cm and was mostly effaced. I'm praying that Michelle will be given strength to endure what lies ahead. She is amazing, and I'm confident she will breeze through this miracle. We are extremely excited to welcome little Luke into our family! I'll post more after the delivery! Wish me luck (or Michelle)!!!

Prego Pics

My talented friend Mandy Beyeler took some almost 37 week prego pics for me:) I figured since I didnt have any shots of this pregnancy I better get some before its all said and done. She does a GREAT job! Also, here's a shout out for her crafting blog.

www.craftedition.blogspot.com

Thanks again Mandy!

Ally's Party Week

Holy cow! This girl was spoiled this last week! I cant believe she is 4 already....seriously.....time has FLOWN since she was born. Anyways, lets get down to the nitty gritty.....

What party would be complete without a pinata?

Michayla drew the horse for pin the tail on the horse game. Below are the cutest girls to ever play pin the tail on the horse. They were so cute!

We decorated horse shoes that Ally and I spray painted pink.

A quick game of freeze dance always makes for a great time killer.

Look closely and you'll see the girl's cute horsey ears headbands. Ally has so many girls here her age.....what a blessing!

What did Ally want the very most for her birthday? Just a horse ride, thats all! Ally met and loved this beautiful Buck skin named April, and has asked to go back every day.

Ally's birthday outfit this year. Dont you just love it? She wears her hat around to all the stores with me, and of course we get many comments. Who knows when and if this passion will pass, but I sure do think its cute for now! Happy birthday my little 4 yr old cow girl!