First comes ... Lucky?

It never starts how you think it will.

You could say Gavin and I started a couple years ago at our local Applebees one very cold January night. He was informing me that the guy I was seeing at the time was sleeping with the entire Eastside and I was drinking whiskey like it was water. The bartender asked us if we were on a date and we both laughed. Me and Gavin dating? Haha! No. We were just friends who happened to work together and who's parents were good friends. I don't even think either of us really wanted to be at the bar that night -at least not for that particular reason. No, Gavin and I weren't dating.

Fast forward to October. That night at Applebees is just an amusing memory and a lot had happened in the span of just 10 months. New relationships, breakups, moving back in with the parents, cross country trips, you get the idea. Most life changing though was the newest addition to Gavin's life: Lucky.

This little monster is how Gavin and I really started. He was about 3 months old and had already had a hard little life when Gavin took him in. I was head-over-heels for the big brown eyes and the furry, little, four-legged body that loved to cuddle all day. He's just so freaking cute!

Seems so stereotypical now that I think about it. Guy uses puppy to lure girl in, girl takes the bate, then BAM!, she's trapped by some odd maternal instinct to nurture and care for them both. I'd watch Lucky while Gavin was at work so he wasn't cooped up all day. We'd go to the dog park or on car rides, then eventually I ended up sticking around for dinner, then movie nights, then nights out. Before I knew what was happening I had a key and closet space, and Gavin was coming over for family dinners and introducing me to his friends. He had captured me and his weapon was this little furry Husky-mix. Now the two loves of my life.

So as nursery rhymes go, our is more along the lines of "first comes Lucky, then comes love, then comes the baby we were surprised of ..." (I'll work on it.)

Weekly Update: Week 29

My hips don't lie, but right now I really wish they would. The aches and pains from having to be a side-sleeper have given me horrible hip pain. 11 more weeks until I can be a tummy sleeper again!

Results from last weeks blood draw confirm that I don't have gestational diabetes, but I do have super low iron levels. Hello iron supplement and a huge "Thank you!" to the Safeway pharmacist who saved me $10 by grabbin' me the generic behind-the-counter brand for only $2.50.

Quick after work tummy shot.

• Baby Girl's size: a butternut squash
• Baby Girl's weight: 2.5 lbs.
• Cravings: Chewy Runts
• Best part: She gets more and more active every day.
• Worst part: I get more and more tired every day.
• Her development: She can hiccup (I feel it as a little twitch in my tummy). Otherwise she's just packin' on the baby chub, getting ready for her debut. 
• My development: As she grows, my body has to carry more oxygen and nutrients to her little body, which causes fatigue to set in faster and more often. My small coffee in the morning wears off by about 3pm now.

Michelle and Jason Pregnancy Moments

Michelle and Jason are two very amusing kids -and by amusing I mean smart ass, clever, witty, little humans.

Today's post is dedicated to the awesome conversations I've with them (so far) about the pregnancy and Baby Girl.

(Brain storming things Karie can do with a giant belly. Thanks guys.)
Michelle: She can be a coach potato!
Jason: She can use it as a drum!
Michelle: She can use it as a table!
Jason: Even better, Gavin can set his beer on it!
Gavin: I think we're gonna stop at table Buddy ...

Michelle: What happens when you can't walk anymore?
Karie: What?!
Michelle: When you get so big you won't be able to walk ... what will you do?
Karie: I'll still be able to walk ...
Jason: You won't be able to go up stairs though.
Michelle: You'll have to have Gavin carry you.
Jason: Or you could get one of those chairs, like the one in Up.

Michelle: What colors do you want for your baby shower? I was thinking pink animal prints.
Karie: No pink animal prints.
Michelle: Well how about just a bunch of pink then?
Karie: How about a little bit of pink, and maybe some yellow and green?
Michelle: Mom and I talked about a lot of pink ...
Jason: What about blue??
Karie and Michelle: Blue is a boy color! She's not a boy!
Jason: I meant baby blue ... she IS a baby you know (insert Jason eye roll)

(How Jason answers the phone when I call my parents home #)
Jason: Oh hello Pregnant One

HAPPY 10TH 

BIRTHDAY JASON!!!

Weekly Update: Week 28

28 weeks means I'm officially in the third trimester. I had a doctor appointment on Thursday and had to do the glucose intolerance test. It's been nice to not be poked or prodded the last two appointments, but alas, a blood draw was needed this week. My doc said that she would call me if there was anything abnormal with the test and thankfully Friday came and went without a phone call. No gestational diabetes for this girl! Heck yeah!

Dressed up for Blue Friday! Go Seahawks!

• Baby Girl's size: an eggplant
• Baby Girl's weight: 2 1/4 lbs
• My tummy length: 28 inches long (right on track)
• Cravings: Grapes, Carrots, Banana Bread
• Best part: She moves a lot, which can be fun to watch.
• Worst part: Her favorite things to kick is my ribs; I'm up every hour during the night and falling back asleep is not easy.
• Her development: Her eyes and brain continue to develop, and she has a more regular sleep schedule -though she only sleeps for like 20-30 minutes at a time. She could survive outside the womb (with a little medical help) if she had to. Her eyes can sense light now too.
• My development: Braxton Hicks contractions have increased a little and my tummy continues to grow. 

Only 12 weeks until D-Day ... 

Guess what? IM PREGNANT!

Alright, alright, you may have already known I was pregnant, but how else was I supposed to start this blog?

I decided I wanted a fun way to documents this new chapter Gavin and I are about to embark on, especially since our family and friends are spread all over over the country (except Serena, who is all the way in South Korea!). Here I'll try to keep everyone updated on our adventures with blog posts and picture, maybe even a video or two once I figure out the new digital camera Gavin bought me for Christmas.

At the Watershed Music Festival the day before we found out.

Now seemed like a good week to start the blog since I'm officially in the third trimester of my pregnancy. Gavin and I found out about Baby when I was about 4 weeks pregnant. The first three weeks or so we were in total shock. We had talked and joked about having children, but that wasn't supposed to be for a few years. There were a lot of things we wanted to do before we had offspring running around. Marriage, travels, careers, house ... all these things were on our list of things-to-do-before-children.

But God and fate had other ideas, and during my seventh week I heard the heart beat and that was that. We were having a baby.

We decided to keep Baby to ourselves for a while because the chance of a miscarriage goes down significantly at 12 weeks.The first trimester was like a 24-hour hangover. It was a little tough to hide the all-day sickness and people probably though all my Gatorade was the result of a crazy night, but with my friend Kelsey's help, the secret was kept until we were ready to tell our families. And boy was that an experience. Grandma Tunie wins the prize for Best Reaction -she screamed and jumped up and down when I told her she was going to have a third great-grandchild. After the initial shock wore off everyone was pretty excited for the newest addition.

It's a girl! Her profile and little feets.

The second trimester was better than the first. No more hangover, but the aches and pains of a growing baby started to set in. We had an ultra sound October 1st and we were excited she looked like a human instead of the little bean she was at the end of August. The next ultrasound was the week before Thanksgiving and we were able to find out we were having a girl! Another fun announcement for the families -especially since we have two other beautiful new baby girls on the Johnson side.

Now going into the third trimester the stress is setting in. There is so much to do in so little time it seems. We registered at Babies R Us and Target, went on the hospital tour, signed up for the newborn class, and started looking for a new place to live. And there is still so much more to do.

So, I hope you enjoy the blog. I'll try to post at least once a week and they shouldn't all be this long. I'm pretty sure I enabled the comments so feel free to leave them if you want. I also set up an email subscription so you can get blog posts right to your email -it's on the right, under the picture of the week.

We love you all and we hope you know how much we appreciate your support!