Here are some pictures of the limited Christmas decorations I have put up this year. Given the fact that we have a newborn baby in the house, I'm not up for much work this year. I even had David buy a piddly little Christmas tree instead of a nice tall one. I do have to say that it was nice only taking an hour to put on the lights and ornaments. I made an executive decision and only put on the ornaments we had received from our Johnson-family ornament exchange. Life was much easier!
Here are Viggo's ornaments:
From Auntie Erin and Uncle Luke

From Mormor and Morfar


From Mommy and Daddy


Here are Ian's ornaments:
From Auntie Erin and Uncle Luke

From Mommy and Daddy

From Mormor and Morfar


Here are Emmaline's ornaments:
From Auntie Erin and Uncle Luke

From Mormor and Morfar

From Mommy and Daddy


Here are my ornaments:
From Erin and Luke

From my Mom and Dad


Here are David's ornaments:
From my Mom and Dad

From Erin and Luke

From Me


And here's our Christmas tree!!:

Here he is folks! As is the custom with all of our children, Viggo was born on a relative's birthday. So...Happy Birthday, Elin!!

Viggo was born 12:21 this morning, weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and was 20 inches long.

Labor started around 8 o'clock last night, so all in all, a four and a half hour labor is pretty outstanding. More to come when I have the energy to relive it all!

This week has been somewhat exhausting. We started it off with Emmaline's birthday on Sunday, Ian got sick Monday night, Emmaline was sick Wednesday night, and I was ill all day Thursday. Thankfully, the bug we got seems to be the type that worked its way out of our systems pretty quickly. However, I have been doing a lot of laundry and keeping late hours at night. After finally feeling better from yesterday, I pretty much decided to laze about the house today. I have gotten a few things done today like one load of laundry and a load of dishes put into the dishwasher. Not much to claim, but at least it is something.

On another note, I have accomplished a few other things this week, including a loverly apron for Emmaline!

I had recently purchased some aprons at Ross; once Emmaline saw me wearing one, she had to have one on too. Needless to say, my aprons were filthy within their first day of use. So, I decided to make some for her.

I used a McCall's Pattern for this apron. Very cute set of aprons.

I've decided to only make the two on the side. I have one more to make with different fabrics in the same style as the one I've finished, and I got a pretty green fabric for the one above it. We'll see how they turn out!

I've also been attempting to bake gluten-free products for my family. Since my kiddos seem particularly sensitive to gluten and certain starches, I have to be mindful of how much of those particular items they consume during the day. So far I've made an attempt at Irish Soda Bread

which tasted more like corn bread than soda bread, still have to tweak this one, and some biscuits

which I think turned out pretty well, all things considered. Paired with the sausage gravy I made, I could barely tell a difference. I'm sure it will take me a while to get used to the slightly different taste and consistency of the different flours I am using, but I hope the effort will be well worth it.

Here are some photos from Emmaline's birthday. We stayed pretty low-key this year. The kids ate cupcakes for breakfast, followed by an omelet made by master-chef Daddy. We let Emmaline open up some of her presents before going to church. However, we held back the toys for later, figuring that giving her those presents before church then refusing to let her play with them til later would just be torture to her. So, Emmaline got to open the boxes of her birthday outfits instead. She took her time opening them and wasn't super thrilled about the contents, but that's the way it goes with children. After church we met up with my parents who came up for the day, we had lunch then got Emmaline's Three-Year-Old pictures taken.


After that excitement we headed to a paint-your-own pottery place. David helped Emmaline pick out a bowl for painting, I pulled the colors she chose, then helped her with the finishing touches after she was done painting. Her bowl won't be glazed and fired until this coming Monday. It will be really neat to see how it turns out! Towards the end of the painting session both kids started melting down, so my Father and David took Ian home while Mom and I finished up with Emmaline. Home we headed afterward for a lovely dinner and more present opening. Emmaline got a few Hot Wheels tracks from her Daddy along with some cars, and I got her a baby doll she can play with. So far she has played a lot with both gifts, so David and I are pleased that we didn't waste our money. It was a really nice day, though Emmaline still doesn't quite understand that she had her birthday that day, and she is officially three years old. I'm sure it will sink in gradually; growing older is hard work!

I know I am way overdue for posting belly photos, so here they are.

This one is to give a better view of the little cardigan my sister knit! Isn't it pretty. She had originally knit it for herself, but something didn't work out (not sure what). Now it's mine! Isn't it cute? Thanks, Erin!


I'm due for another appointment this Tuesday to get the results back from my second GBS test. Obviously, I'm hoping it comes back negative. As, I've reported before, I've been extremely exhausted the past couple of weeks, so much so, that even my midwife noticed. I didn't think it was that obvious...anyhow, she got the results back from the blood test she ordered and said everything was great there. I think I have figured out part of the problem: my prenatal vitamins or supplements. There was a day when I was out and about all day long, and I forgot to bring along my pill case. I noticed toward the end of the day that I was still a little worn out, but it wasn't anywhere near the exhaustion I would start feeling around 9 o'clock in the morning. I've gone two days without taking anything and am going to reintroduce one supplement at a time to try and figure out which one is the culprit. I need to talk to my midwife and get her opinion.

At my last appointment I discussed a natural way of attempting to induce labor and my desire to go through with it. The exhaustion had gotten to me by that point, and I was (and still am) ready to be done with this pregnancy. It is so nice to have a midwife who is a fellow follower of Christ, because while discussing inducement we also discussed the timing of God and how that plays a role in things. As she said, "If God wants it to happen it will happen, if He doesn't, it won't matter." That is exactly one of two points with which I struggle when it comes to the end of this pregnancy. As much as I want this to be over and feel kind of like my old self again, I have to leave it up to God. He knows what is best for me and this baby; who am I to try to force the hand of God?

On the topic of this baby's name, we still haven't decided on the name, but Emmaline is slowly wearing David down for me. And I am patiently waiting him out...hee hee hee. So far, Emmaline has won Michael (David's brother) and Lucia (David's mom) over to the side of "Viggo", because, as they say, "She just says 'Baby Viggo' so cutely." Even David agrees with them on that issue. And in the first milestone of victory, David called him "baby Viggo" today!! (Accidentally, of course) The full name I have picked out is "Viggo Anthony Gustav". I think David is an awesome Dad, and therefore have given our second son David's middle name as a way to honor him. Unfortunately, the name "David" didn't quite seem to fit as a middle name for Viggo, so I had to go with David's middle name. Gustav is one of my father's middle names. We'll see if this in the end is Viggo's full name.

I haven't been very consistent with blogging about this pregnancy...as I only have a few weeks left, I'm not really expecting that to change.

I had an appointment with my midwife this past Wednesday. My GBS test has come back positive, so we are trying to get rid of that. My midwife also drew some blood; she was concerned about my lack of energy of late. It pretty much takes me all morning to gain enough energy to actually get stuff done in the afternoon. That supply of energy lasts me about an hour, and then I go kaput again. Needless to say, the kids and I are pretty miserable.

I feel as if I could go into labor any minute now. I'm not sure if that is due to the weariness, or just my mind playing tricks on me. Either way, I am ready for this to be over. I don't think I was ever this tired with my previous two pregnancies.

On a related note, David and I have yet to agree on a name for this baby. He has his heart set on Eric, and I just don't see this baby fitting that name. I have chosen the name Viggo Anthony, but David hates that name, absolutely hates it. However, since I haven't budged on the issue (even after having perused a million baby names with David), I think David is starting to resign himself to the fact that this baby's name will be Viggo. He says, "You can call him Viggo, and I'll just call him Eric." Fat chance of that happening!

Here are some pictures of the "coming home" outfit that has been made for Viggo. My sister Erin knit the pants and hat, and I actually had the energy and interest to pull together a sweater for him. So, now he will have a mostly handmade outfit for arriving home. I'm not about to sew him a shirt. A Gerber onesie will do just fine.


I've gotten my bags mostly packed. I am sure there are still a few last minute things and lists I need to pull together, but I am lacking inspiration now that I am mostly done. I'm sure when the day arrives, I'll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Hopefully, it won't be too bad.

That's all I have the energy for tonight folks. Take care, and hopefully, I will have some pics of our new baby to post soon!

House Gnomes

Here's Ian wearing a hat I knit for him while I was pregnant with him. It was supposed to be for a newborn, but turned out way too big. Now it fits him perfectly, and it is the only hat he hasn't immediately pulled off.

Here are some pictures from our adventure this Sunday. We traveled north to Table Rock State Park in SC to take the kids for a swim. They didn't really swim, but they definitely got wet!

We went for a short jaunt over to Lake Conestee Nature Park this afternoon. The park consists of four or five really nice trails. They are all paved or boarded, depending on the terrain, and mostly shaded. It was lovely.

Ian got a big kick out of "inspecting" the yellow poles that were on either side of the boardwalks. He would laugh as he patted them, then jibber jabber about something or other. Emmaline actually walked most of the way, instead of lazing about in the stroller. I showed her a leaf that was suspended in midair (she didn't notice the string of spider web holding it up), and picked a flower for her. She picked up a pinecone (a porcupine, as she calls them), and David picked a blade of grass that had gone to seed for her. She had a nice collection by the time we were done.

So I completely failed to get any pictures from Ian's birthday. I'm waiting on my little sis to send me the ones she took. So, here's a video of the little one after we'd eaten all the cake and were ready to play.

A few months ago Ian noticed that I had left one of my cupboards open. Of course, he had to immediately investigate, as he often doesn't get the chance and he is very curious about what is in our cabinets. He pulled out ever single pan, then placed himself inside and told me about what he was going to make for dinner.

Emmaline and I got to attend a Princess Tea Party to celebrate one of Emmaline's friends' birthday. Emmaline was so excited to have a butterfly headband and magic wand, plus a new tutu! She demanded upon wearing her new galoshes along with her ensemble...

They drank tea and decorates pictures of Disney princesses with jewelry. This was Emmaline's handiwork.

Overall the girls had a lot of fun eating cake and ice cream, and wearing tutus!