Tahoe and the Prince

We just got back from our trip to Lake Tahoe with Andrew's family. Wow did we have our ups and downs, but overall a fun trip. We left late Friday because we thought Hayden might need the extra time to get there. . . . lets just say the rest of the family left the day after us and we got there only hours before everyone else. To put it nicely it was hellacious getting there. We joked that we'd have to stop at the rest stop by the lavas, not so funny when we actually had to stop there because Hayden was absolutely maxed out already and screaming. We noticed later in our trip that he had a diaper rash and so we think that's why he couldn't handle it. Poor little guy I don't blame him.

All smiles before the trip

This mirror saved my back so I didn't have to dive over the seat every 5 minutes to check on him.

Content. . . .

. . . . wait for it. . . .

This says it all

So at one point in the drive Andrew looked in the mirror and he said " Oh, no Price Hayden is waking up." I don't know why I found that so funny, but I laughed so hard for so long. After that we started calling him Prince, because we were catering to his every whim. Then we started joking and saying that he needed to be fed grapes and fanned with a leaf. We had to find something funny about the situation. We got about half way and then stopped at a hotel in Elko. None of us could take it anymore.

We joked that "Prince Hayden" didn't have enough room in the king size bed so he made us sleep on the floor. We love this picture!

Disgusted with the service :)

The next day we got up and drove to my friend Lindsey's house in Fallon. It was a welcomed stopped as well. They cooked us lunch and we got to visit with them for a couple hours. Thanks Abe and Lindsey!

Hayden's future friend Crew

Lake Tahoe was SOOO pretty! The water honestly reminded me of the Caribbean. It was so blue and clear. It wasn't quite as warm but so nice to be in. We got to go boating for a couple days, took a road trip to the Donner museum (you'd think we'd learn not to do that),went golfing, ate yummy food, hung out with family, and enjoyed being on vacation!

Donner monument. That's how high the snow was. 22 feet

Andrew and Mrs. Donner ? ? ?

Emerald Bay

We went golfing and hiking all in one. I was actually sore the next day. It was so woodsy!

Todd, Andrew, and Dave

Hayden LOVES the boat

Jamie having fun ? ? ?

A great way to end the trip. He was awake about an hour of the 11 on the way home. It was AWESOME!

We took Hayden in for his doctors appointment today and he weighs 10 pounds 5 oz (15%) 22 1/2 (28%). So he's still a little guy to everyone else, but big to us. We told her about our trip and the concerns we had about the fluctuating elevation on his ears. She said his right ear was red and he could have an ear infection coming on. She told us that it's hard on babies ears when you change elevation a lot. She also said that she noticed a slight heart murmur that she hasn't noticed before. But she's not worried about it. We decided not to give him his shots till next month which we're glad we decided before hand after hearing all of that. So all in all Hayden did really good considering everything that the little guy was going through. Now we just understand a little better :) We had fun and are looking forward to our next big adventure!

Blessing Day

Hayden was blessed on Sunday August 1st and it was a great day. He even knew it was a special day because he woke up smiling. Andrew did a great job and I'm so thankful that he was able to do that for him. It was such a nice day and we were able to have a luncheon afterwards at my parent's house. We SO appreciate everyone that helped out and came and supported us. We couldn't have done it alone and that's for sure. We have such great family and are so blessed!

The little man of the hour

Andrew gave him a pep talk telling him to be a good boy and not to cry during the blessing. It was his big day and he didn't want him ruining it. He must have listened to Dad, because he slept through all of church. But that's really not unusual :)

This is a neat picture because it's a 5 generation. Hayden, Me, Dad, Grandma Sargent, Great Grandma Call

At the luncheon. It was so nice outside and there was a little breeze which helped.

It wouldn't be a LDS event unless there was food involved

 Aunt Kinz. . . trying to be his favorite :)

All tuckered out. Sleeping with cousin Jace. So cute

We're so grateful for the gospel in our lives and the knowledge that we belong to the true church. It's a special event to be able to have Hayden blessed. We're so happy to have his sweet spirit in our home and continuing to enjoy our little addition.

Is this all we do? Pretty much!

I wanted to post random pictures of Hayden, but after going through them I noticed that a ton of them are us all sleeping. Hence the post. Hey, this is real life. Maybe we'll throw in a few when we're all awake :) And in the future I'll have to catch some of those cute, hope they stay, blue eyes!

Little peanut at 2 weeks old

After Andrew had worked all night. Who put who to sleep?

 

LOVES sleeping in his bumbo

Maybe it's Hayden, maybe it's that chair, but the Sand Man got them both!

First boating trip for Daddy's birthday. Boy did Hayden have fun. If it involved heat and sleeping he's there.

Hailey, Kinz, and Andrew

Jumping tubes

Enjoying the boat ride

Sleepover at my parent's house after boating. . . how ironic.

Loved the sleep over too

Like father like son

There's some eyes! This is how we get him to sleep sometimes.

Loves to be curled up in the smallest ball possible

Oh his sleeping power got Mom too

In between the sleeping is bath time, which he loves

I didn't realize how much he sleeps but he definitely is a sleeper. He started sleeping 5-6 hours during the night at a month old and now will sleep about 7 hours through the night. It's not every night but he does really good. We're really lucky! The nights he does sleep that long I get up thinking I've slept 12 or more hours. He's so nice to us. When he wakes up in the morning it's usually with a smile, however if I don't give him food fast that smile turns quickly into a screaming wail! He's been growing and getting big fast. At his 1 month checkup he was 8 pounds 4 ounces (13 %) and 21 1/2 inches long (38 %). After our trip we go in for his check up and shots. Not looking forward to that one. But we're doing SO good and enjoying our sleepy, little family.

What we've learned so far

Hayden has been here for almost a month and we're still learning new things about him. Here are some things that we know so far:

*We love him SO much. How can you love something you've only known for a month? But we do and so does everyone else.
*He is so noisy. He grunts when he wakes up, does a slight buzz or hum when he sleeps, and then makes squawks or grunts when he's awake.
*Along with being noisy he sounds like a squeaky wheel when he eats. He makes food sound really good.
*He is a big snuggler which I love. He would if I let him sleep on my chest every night or nap time. Sometimes he likes to just lay there wide awake. I hope he doesn't grow out of that soon.
*Cold is not his friend. He likes to be swaddled and warm. It's a good thing he was born in the summer.
*Likes the bath and his hair washed and "styled". Getting dressed ruins the bath because he doesn't like it.
*Has been going about 3 hours in between feedings but just recently has started going 2 hours during the day and 3-4 at night. He must be growing.
*Is spoiled already. Everyone likes to hold him including his parents and so he hardly ever cries. We know he's either hungry, or has a tummy ache when he does, because he is a very content baby.
*Likes it when Dad changes his diaper because Dad isn't as fast as Mom and he gets to spray at him. Man does that boy have some distance!
*Hardly ever spits up and is a VERY good burper. He can put grown men to shame with the sounds that come out of a tiny little body.
*Started smirking and smiling when he was only 1-2 weeks old. It's so cute.
*Doesn't like his car seat that much. We hope he grows out of that one fast because next month we're driving to Lake Tahoe. . .  it could be a long 10 plus hours.

I take him in next week to see how much he's grown. It still amazes me that he's probably like 8 pounds or something and that's what a lot of women's babies come out weighing. I love that he's been small because he seems like he's stayed little longer. I have loved the newborn stage and am trying to enjoy every moment. Even though I don't get as much sleep as I used to I don't wish this stage of his life to pass. We're just trying to enjoy our little man every day. We love you Hayden!

 We had his pictures taken and here's just one of the many cute ones that were taken. When I get them all back I'll post them. Oh another thing we know about him. . . he doesn't like photo shoots :)

A week old and just in time for Father's Day!

What a fun time we have been having! Our little guy, Hayden Thomas Johnson is finally here and we couldn't love him more. He was 6 lbs 10 oz and 19 1/2 inches long and came on June 11th at 2:10 a.m. It's crazy how you can instantly love something in that short amount of time. The story behind how he got here:

Before there was three of us

Finished baking

I had a doctors appointment on Thursday June 10th. That day I woke up ready to have a baby. The whole 9 months I was fine, but for some reason I really wanted him here. I told Andrew that if they said I could go in then lets do it. I had planned on not getting induced the whole time through the pregnancy, but in the end I was SO glad I did. When I got in to the office he asked how I was and so on. And I told him that I wanted to have a baby today. Another reason being Andrew had 6 days off because of how his schedule worked out so it would be perfect. So he checked me and after he got done he said "lets send ya over you're good to go. You're at a 3." It was crazy and we were so excited. He told us to go home and get things ready and eat something and then head in.

When we were driving home we both thought that it wasn't real. We had a lot of people texting us asking how our appointment went, because they knew that we had one that day. We had to tell a few little white lies and say that our appointment had been changed and we didn't know anything yet. (Sorry to those we lied to :) We got home got everything ready and when we were about to leave Andrew gave me a blessing that was so awesome and gave me a lot of comfort and eased my fears of the unknown. Thank you Andrew! I'm so glad that you're a worthy priesthood holder.

"Laboring"

We got something to eat and then headed over. It took awhile it seemed for the nurses to get me all hooked up on IVs and monitiors. We found out after the monitors were on that I was already having contractions. I guess he wanted to come that day too. I started progressing really slow at first. I kinda got worried that it was going to be a really long labor. Dr. Leavitt came in at 10:20 p.m. and broke my water. I was at a 4 at that point. I'm so glad that I asked to have the epidural when I did because I went really fast after he broke my water. I feel like I felt what labor was like and it was plenty long. Hats off to all those pioneer women that didn't have the option of modern day medicine! I could still feel the contractions and so I had to have another dose of medicine. The nurse told me that I was progressing really fast and the epidural couldn't keep up with me. I went from a 4 to an 8 and basically ready to have the baby in around 40 minutes.

I started to push a couple times and then the nurse made me stop and went to call the doctor. She turned my pit down and said that I was going to labor down. I labored down for about 45 minutes and pushed some more. Then I had to wait for about 10 minutes for the doctor to come. After he came I pushed like 3 times and then our little guy was here. It was not bad at all and now I feel like I should get paid to have babies. Andrew was able to catch the baby and he gowned up and everything. He said it was a really neat experience. I'm glad that he was able to do that.

What he has been doing for 9 months inside me

Very 1st family photo

1st real bath

We put aloe vera in his hair to see if the curl would stay. . . it sure does. We had to slick it back later because it was a little unruly. Of course Andrew had his comb on hand ready to do the job.

Andrew has been worried this whole time about what his hair was going to look like. When he saw his head he immediately said to me " Steph, he has curly hair." Now he is TOTALLY obsessed with it. He loves to comb it and he always makes sure that before anyone sees him his hair is combed. My sister-in-laws gave us the comb and brush and Andrew has used that multiple times a day. Thanks Jackie and Jamie that was a perfect gift, more for Andrew than Hayden I think :)

I tease Andrew that he should just clip it to his belt because he uses it so much!

Such a good baby!

I have recovered SO good and have no complaints. I think the after labor effects were more painful than the actual labor (breast feeding and having my uterus contract back down). Those were a little toe curling for a few days buy totally worth it. I call myself Bessy the Jersey cow because I can pump that grade A stuff out! I'm afraid Hayden's going to be chubby really fast because there's a thick layer of cream on the top of the milk when it seperates. Andrew jokingly said that we should scrape it off and make baby butter :)

He has been eating really good and sleeping soundly. Usually Andrew doesn't even know when he gets up to eat because he doesn't cry when he wakes up. Just starts with the little rooting sounds. So basically right now he's been doing what all little babies do: eat, sleep, and poop, and of course make his parents love him more and more every day. We're so grateful that he is here and in our lives. What a miracle little babies are. Now that we have him we couldn't imagine him not here with us. We love being parents and have a lot to learn probably, but we'll for sure learn along the way. It's been so fun working as a team with Andrew. He has been so amazing with him. He helps me out so much and is very selfless. I'm so grateful for the wonderful husband and father that he is. What a great example Hayden has to follow. I love my boys!

Happy Father's Day Andrew!