The Johnston Family!

Introducing.....

2009-05-06T23:43:00.003-04:00

Sawyer Gregory Dale Johnston
Tuesday May 5, 2009 3:47pm
7lbs 15oz 21 inches long

Settled and loving our little country town in NC!

2009-04-20T19:45:00.002-04:00

it always seems that i start these things with an apology for not keeping this updated like i promised to do in the blog before. unfortunately, with the new baby just around the corner and jans deploying, time will be limited. i will try to keep everyone updated with whats going on with the boys as best as i can.

our move went as smoothly as to be expected, we actually lucked out and only had our coffee table broken, our dining room table "dinged" and our kitchen floor at our house in GA torn when the movers were taking the washer & dryer out of the laundry room. other then that, everything arrived in great condition. during our move we took leave and went to visit jansens parents in PA for 2 weeks. the visit was great, except for the first day we were there and phaelan came down with the flu that made it's way through to all of us in the house. so, that shot our 1st week of the 2 we had out of the water. bless my mother in-laws heart, she took care of each of us as we got the flu, she was the final one to get it. she was such a trooper. i told her after caring for each of us and then chasing phaelan around the week he felt good, she needed a vacation from her vacation.

when we got to our new house after our vacation, we were greeted with a bunch of unpacked boxes stacked to the ceiling. fun! nope, not really while trying to keep your toddler from being buried in the mountains of packing paper, yet still keep him happy and get your house in order with a ginormous belly that limits you from reaching things, doesn't rate high of my list of fun things to do. especially when you have a "slight" case of OCD. once we finally got the house to a functioning state, things felt a lot more at ease and this momma was a much happier person! our neighborhood is wonderful, we are really happy with where we chose to live. we're about 20 minutes from base, out towards the country. it's nice to hear the birds sing and see the stars at night. we made friends with the neighbors across the street, they are a really nice couple and they have a daughter that is phaelans age. they play together just about every day. he's become quite the stalker though, if he see's them pull up in their driveway, he starts trying to find his shoe's while saying "sides, sides". it's adorable! he's always trying to give her kisses and hugs, he's such a ladies man.

over the last few months i've been going back and forth weather or not to start a new home business to run along side the one i already have. after talking to several family members and friends about the company, i decided that i would go ahead and give it a shot. tastefully simple is a gourmet food company that makes preparing meals and entertaining "simple" by just using one or two ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen. from delicious dips to desserts and even marinades, there is something for every ones taste buds. i've only been selling this for a month and have had a pretty good response so far. if you're interested in just seeing that products we have to offer, you can check out my personal website at: www.tastefullysimple.com/web/jjohnston

as we all know, sawyers arrival is rapidly approaching. when we arrived here, i had my first doctors appointment at womack army medical center. the experience was one to remember, that's for sure. after arriving and being taken back to get my vitals by a nurse that had the personality of a corpse, i was then taken to a room where a lady in scrubs was reviewing my medical records. as she began to ask me questions, i had to stop to ask her if she was my doctor since she didn't introduce herself before helping herself to my personal medical file. she said that she was "a doctor" here, but not necessarily mine, that i would hopefully be seen by all of the doctors (20 of them) before delivery since they didn't know who would be there on "d day". AWESOME!! i asked her various questions and she was the same as the nurse who took my vitals. other things that went on during that appointment made me feel extremely uncomfortable. they treated me as if i were just another number. i never experienced this type of coldness at ft. gordon. so after a phone call to tricare, i found out that since i live so far from post, i can go to a civilian doctor and so can the boys. needless to say, i was extremely happy to hear this. i had my first doctors appointment with my new civilian doctor and she was wonderful. she was one of those people that have that calming sense about them. the minute she walked in the room, i felt at ease and comfortable that she would be delivering my son. she told me all about the maternity ward at the hospital i will be delivering and she spoke very highly about the hospital and its staff. she asked me about my concerns and i told her that we just moved here and that jans is scheduled to deploy the week that sawyer is due, and that i was nervous about going into labor with my husband gone, a toddler and the closest family being more then 5 hours away. she explained that she didn't believe in "social inductions", however when it came to military, she didn't consider it "social". she and i agreed that if i didn't go on my own, then i would be scheduled to be induced on may 4th, so that we could have family here, but most importantly that i had jans here with me. finally, a light at the end of the tunnel...no pun intended.

well, i think i've filled you in on pretty much everything that has been going on here. i hope all is well with everyone and we'll be in touch soon.

Where did the time go??

2009-02-12T13:00:00.002-05:00

holy crap!!! it's february!! as you can all see, i haven't been blogging, the last blog was during phaelan's paci intervention, which he ended up doing great! no more face plug! have i mentioned why he was a devil for halloween??? he has entered the terrible two's early. he does everything from throwing himself on the floor, beating his head against the wall or screaming at the top of his lungs when he's upset about something. he also likes to pull all of the rocks out of the gas fireplace when you aren't looking and try and feed them to reese, hang from the dining room chandelier, pull jaegers tail, instigate growling matches with reese, all in the name of fun! still think he's sweet?? he is a handful but it's a part of him growing up.

we move next week to ft. bragg and i just can't wait for it to be over. after months of waiting for our orders, we finally get them last wednesday, and guess what?? we need to be there next week. gotta love the army! so here i am, searching for a place to live, that isn't far from post, a nice area and big enough for our growing family and i can't seem to find a realtor who gives a crap. i've explained that we need a house by next week, that i am 28 weeks pregnant with a toddler who needs a nice safe neighborhood to call home, since my husband deploys in 3 weeks, and we will be alone most of the time in a new area without a familiar face. you'd think that would trigger something to say, self? this lady needs alot of my attention and time right now, but if i am too busy, i should pass it on to someone who does, right??? noooooo....apparently not. ARGH!! once we find our place, my stress level will drop. i just want to get there, drop our stuff up and head to pa to visit my in-laws. i love it there, not only the company, but the stress free atmosphere. it's gorgeous where they live and it always seems to calm me when i'm there. i' can't wait!!!

as most of you know, we are expecting another little boy. during my ultrasound, they said that he was measuring big. when asked what that meant, they said either i would be due around may 5th (which was phaelans original due date) or that i will be having another big baby. given the fact that we were in total shock phaelan was born 9lbs 3oz and it seemed that i gave birth to a 2 month old, we are going with "another big baby". my dear friend stephanie gave me a shower last sunday and it was wonderful. we had alot of fun, but it was bittersweet due to the fact that would be the last time i'd see some of my friends before we move.

well, i think i've pretty much filled you in for now. i will write again after our move, i'm sure i'll have a "doozie" of a story to tell then. bye for now!

Paci Intervention - Day One

2008-11-06T12:28:00.004-05:00

so we decided that it was time to really get serious about getting him off the "pac-" as we call it. i took the advice to give him one of his stuffed animal pals in place of it, yeahhhhh....he threw it back at me. so then i was in a forum on cafemom searching for solutions. i saw many different ways of people getting the "pac-" out of the picture and it being so easy. HA! yeah right!! not MY kid!! i saw one suggestion that really stuck in my head, every day cut a little piece of it off and give it back, until he doesn't want it anymore. well...thanks to our puppy reese, we didn't have to cut back the nipple, she did it for us. so, i thought to my self, self? this is the only "pac-" in the house (that i can find any way) here goes nothing. i rinsed it off and proceeded to lay him down for his nap. i gave him his MOST prized possession and eagerly awaited his reaction. PRICELESS is all i have to say about that. he got this puzzled look on his face, pulled it out and looked at it. i said "pass is broken baby, mama can't fix it" he looked up with the most pitiful look and put it back in his mouth. this time, when he took it out, he was continuously sticking his tongue out as if he tasted something unpleasant. after MANY tears, he finally fell asleep. when he awoke, you would've thought we unearthed a banshee. he screamed and cried for the next SEVERAL hours. last night when he went to sleep, he was exhausted, probably from all the crying and not sleeping as well without his faithful companion. i said to jans "this should be an interesting night", to my surprise he woke up at 6am. i went and got him and brought him in to bed with us to go back to sleep for a little longer (part of our morning routine), well let's just say, that went over like a lead balloon! he cried and cried because he was without his sidekick. thank god my husband is the best, he got up with him and left this mama to get some much needed extra sleep. finally after a long period of phaelan crying, jans couldn't take it anymore and came and got me. our poor son is going through withdrawl. the rest of the morning went on with more and more tears, but we're staying strong. hopefully when he wakes from his nap, he'll be in a better mood.

Halloween......

2008-11-01T12:59:00.010-04:00

so originally we were wanting phaelan to be a leprechaun for halloween, but there were no costumes out there for infant/toddlers. so with the way phaelans behavior has been over the past 3 weeks, we decided that this would be the best costume for him.

don't let those baby blues fool you, he's a "lil devil" alright!

see what i mean....up to no good!

this was the deciding factor for his costume caught on camera.

he had a blast trick or treating. we only went to a couple houses, but he was so cute about the whole thing. the first house we went to after he got some candy, he was trying to get in the house, apparently he wanted to hang out for awhile. lol one thing i liked this year, was that people we taking into consideration that children under 3 do go trick or treating, so they were prepared with mini packages of teddy grahams and raisinettes. i really thought that was nice and i truly appreciated it. i hope everyone had a safe & happy halloween, now on to thanksgiving!! YAY!!!

AdSense???

2008-10-31T16:58:00.004-04:00

So I hear so many stories of people earning tons of money through Google AdSense. I figured I'd give it a try and we'll see what happens. I know that my home business is a sure thing, but not sure about this thing. Have you heard of ChaCha? It's a service that people text ANY question that is going through their mind, and within minutes they get a response back. A friend of mine is what they call a "guide", they pay her 20 cents per question she answers online. She made $200 just this week. Sounds interesting?? Let me know if you do or have done any of these, I'd really like to hear what your thoughts are.

Our first encounter with the elusive south Georgia tub snake....

2008-10-23T21:04:00.002-04:00

tonight's bath was no ordinary bath, it was a night for the baby book!!! yup, you guessed it, he pooed in the tub. i was in his nursery getting his night clothes ready, while jans was in the bathroom with him. he yells to me that phaelan is turning red and making grunting noises. i just shrugged it off to phaelan making phaelan noises, because he does it all the time. (well...i certainly learned my lesson.) the next thing i hear is jans yelling for help and that he spotted a "bogey" lurking beneath the water. LOL so, that was the belly laugh for the evening. good night ya'll!

Mi Vida Loca

2008-10-21T14:10:00.012-04:00

wow, where do i begin?? sooo much has happened with our family since the last blog. i know, i know...it's been forever, but i have good reasons!! hahaha!

for starters, we got a new addition to our family in september, the small 4 legged kind. her name is reese, a 3 month old "jack-rat" terrier. we rescued her from a local shelter. she's a riot and such a sweet girl. we've got her potty trained and she is spoiled rotten!

speaking of new additions, we'll be expecting another one next spring. yup, that's right, a little sibling for phaelan. they will be exactly 2 years apart. this baby is due may 12th, the day after phaelans birthday. we're hoping this baby comes a little early, but not scary early. we're hoping for a girl this time around, but will be happy with a healthy baby!

we're MOVING!!! jans has decided that he is going to do 20 years in the army and is re-enlisting in december. we will most likely be at our next duty station the 2nd week of december and then jans will be departing immediately to meet up with his unit overseas. yup, you guessed it, he will most likely miss the birth of his new son or daughter, but that's the life we live. before we leave from gordon, jans will be going to the promotion board for his E6, once his classes are completed, he will be putting in to be a warrant officer and we'll be off to yet another duty station, this one looks like europe. (WOOHOO!!) our new duty station will be ft. bragg in north carolina. this is good for us, because my family is only 4.5 hrs away and his is only 8, rather then 12.

phaelan and i were planning a visit in november, one reason: my 10 yr class reunion and also to see my brother before he deploys with his job. but...now that we've gotten these recent new developments in our lives, there is just no way that we can possibly throw that in mix, when we've got packing & clearing to do to get ready to get out of here. the good thing, is that since we'll be MUCH closer, thre will be more trips home for visits, especially when jans is deployed. i'm not staying there by myself for 6 months, are you crazy?? haha!

phaelan is such a character, let me tell you!! he is ALL boy and into EVERYTHING! you've got to make sure to keep one eye on him at all times, because you just might find him hanging from the ceiling fan. why are you laughing? i'm not kidding!! he's insane and has no fear. here is a picture of a knot he got while climbing out of his toy box.
here he is terrorizing the ducks...

reeling in the elusive south georgia dogfish...

finally, being a sweet boy!
well...that's all i've got for now, i think i here my munchkin stirring from his nap. i'll hopefully update sooner rather then later.

Long time, no...blog??

2008-08-17T09:41:00.007-04:00

See, I told ya'll I wouldn't be good at updating this thing. We've done so many things since I was last on here. Went to PA to visit my fabulous in-laws, I went to Chicago for my national conference while Jans & Phaelan stayed at Nana & Pap's house. It was a blast. My family is healthy & happy, my business is doing terrific, what more could a girl ask for? Phaelan is CRAZY!!! He is working on his bottom two molars, it's been the top two the last two weeks. He doesn't want to sleep and by 6:30pm, he goes into "whiny pants" mode. I cannot imagine how painful this must be for them. I am going to find a video camera to use to tape Phaelan "breaking it down". Yup, the little turkey dances. It doesn't matter if it's music, a commercial or the sound of the AC blowing. It's a riot! The cutest thing is that he knows the difference between R&B/Pop & Country/Easy listening. If it has R&B/Pop sound, he bops his little head and bounces up & down. If it's Country/Easy listening he sways, it's too cute! Phaelan has a little girlfriend across the street, her name is Anabelle (Bella). He likes older women, she's 5 months older. LOL They love to play together and he loves to do what little boys do best....antagonise little girls!!! Phaelan has a thing with wheels and Anabelle has a stroller with a baby doll. We were playing across the street and Phaelan started playing tug of war with Bella over the stroller, I stood back and watched for a second for them to "work it out", when my son had a brainstorm...He took her doll out of the stroller, tossed it across the room knowing that Bella would go after it, flipped that stroller over and began to spin the wheels. I could not stop laughing, what a typical "boy" move, and for him to figure that out at 15 months, I was impressed. Well, that's about all that has been going on lately, I will write more later.

What's with all the hype on Blogging???

2008-06-17T11:45:00.002-04:00

Obviously this is new to us! I've never really understood what the point of blogging was until recently, more and more of my friends have started doing it as a way for their families & friends from all over to catch up of what's been going on in their lives. Ahh Haaa....Now it makes sense! Yeah, I know, "Blond Moment" but I'm entitled to one every now and again. I have found myself being obsessed with reading my friends blogs. I feel like I am able to catch up with them without actually picking up the phone in my recently hectic life. Is that lazy of me? I don't think so, I think it's proactive, I am still able to take care of Phaelan, clean the house, make meals, spend time with Jans, do my business stuff & get this....CONNECT WITH MY FRIENDS!! Pure genius, I say! So, I cannot promise how often I will remember to update this thing, but I will try my hardest to stay on top of it. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy reading mine, as much as I enjoy reading yours.