Watch Me Grow

I have not been very good about recording my pregnancy, but I have tried to take weekly pictures.  See below to watch me (and Carter) grow:

He should be here by tomorrow!  Yippee!

The Mystery Has Been Solved!

We drove to Temple this evening to "reveal" Baby J's gender to our family in person.  Kim & Kirby were kind enough to host our gathering on The Porch.  In attendance were Mary Helen, Tyler, Pat, Melissa, Sally, Lee, Jenna, Kim, Kirby, Nelwyn, Eldo, Tanner, Betsy, Alana, Jerry, Jana, Natalie and Lance.  It was such a fun evening!  We made everyone wait in suspense during our dinner (pizza & salad) before we cut into the mystery cake to reveal if we would be having a baby boy or girl...

On our way down to Temple from Dallas, my very creative husband came up with an idea for an activity that would entertain everyone while we ate dinner.  Yes, Tyler is much more creative than I am.  He tends to remind me that he was Art Student of the Year at Bonham Middle School two years in a row quite often!  I loved his idea, so we stopped at the Temple Target and bought a game of Scrabble.  We then placed the letters to the baby's first, middle and last name, along with a few extras to make it fun, into a bag.  Tyler placed the bag on the coffee table and let them have at it during dinner!  A few people came close to guessing the correct name, but no one got it exactly right.  They did guess the middle name correctly though.


The icing inside the cake was either pink or blue to reveal the gender...

It's A Boy!!!

We revealed the name to everyone afterwards...

Carter Lee Johnson

Doesn't he sound like such a gentleman already?!?!

We could not have asked for a more fun evening.  I would love to do this for each child that we have!  We even enjoyed keeping the secret for a few days in order to build up the anticipation, although it was hard not to accidentally let it out.  I knew it would be hard especially for me not to tell Sally and I slipped during one of our conversations on Thursday and said "his room" to her, but played it off like it was no big deal.  Well...she heard me, but didn't say anything until Friday night after we cut the cake.  She was right all along, but my big mouth confirmed it for her a little early.  It is hard to keep something so special from your twin sister for 3 days!!!

Thank you to everyone for making this such a special evening!  We cannot wait for Carter to meet all of you!

Introducing...

Below is an email that went out to our friends & family earlier this evening.

We are excited to announce that we are having a baby...


BOY

Tyler and I are beyond thrilled and wanted to share the big news with all of our wonderful friends & family! Our ultrasound and doctor appointment was actually on Tuesday, but we waited to announce the gender until we could tell our family in person, which we were able to do this evening in Temple. Our due date is still February 2nd.


We have also decided on a name for our precious child...

Carter Lee Johnson

He will share a middle name with his daddy. Thank you for your continued prayers and support during this special time in our lives! We appreciate all of you so much.


Blessings,
Mary Helen & Tyler

One down, two to go!

Now that I am 14 weeks, I am through the first trimester and onto the second!  Here are a few shots and notes from my first few weeks.  I was not very "disciplined" about taking the pictures, so I only have a few.  I promise to be better in the 2nd trimester:

5 Weeks - Please excuse the crazy hair!

5 Week Tummy Shot

6 Weeks

8 Weeks

I have not been "sick" at all for most of my first trimester.  The main symptoms that I have experienced have been fatigue, complete & total exhaustion, a few upset stomachs and my burping has multiplied...and did I mention that I am ALWAYS tired?!?!  That is the only complaint that I have from these first few weeks.  I have been going to bed earlier, taking naps on the weekends and just skipping tasks/activities that I usually do in order to rest more.  It has been an adjustment for me, but it has taught me one way to put someone else before myself.  I rest so that the baby can grow!  Supposedly it goes away during the second trimester, so I am looking forward to that for sure.  It has been a wonderful experience so far and one that I am very thankful for.  Tyler has been a trooper and has pitched in to help me with so much around the house without complaining one bit.  I am so thankful for a wonderful husband.  I know he is going to be such a great daddy!

Only 26 more weeks to go until Baby J is in our arms!!!

Happy Independence Day!

We are so blessed to live in the United States of America!  Thank you, Lord for our freedom in Christ and for the freedoms that we enjoy because we live in the USA!

And thank you to all of the amazing men and women who protect our country on a daily basis.  Words cannot express our gratitude for such sacrifice.

I hope you all have a great day and get to spend it doing something fun and relaxing with friends and family.  We will be in Temple celebrating with our families!

I am so proud to be an American!  Happy 4th of July!  May we all reflect on what the Lord has done for us and pray that He would work through our country's leaders!

First Craving

Well, today I had my first "craving".  Food has not been sounding that great to me recently and I have had a hard time finding anything around the house to eat for dinner, so...

we went and picked up a Box Combo from Raising Cane's and it was delicious!  I had been wanting some type of fried chicken for a couple of days and this was a great solution!  We'll see what else this baby comes up with over the next 31 weeks...