The Big Utah Wedding

Thanks to Uncle Cole and the miracle of the "Buddy Pass," our family had the pleasure of flying home to be a part of Uncle Kory's wedding. That's right, Uncle Kory finally tied the knot. Here's a picture of his lovely bride Misty, his new daughter Jett, and the two awesome families. Misty and her crew are from Australia and we loved every minute we spent with them. Her dad totally reminded me of Croc Dundee.

The ceremony was so beautiful and special. It was so nice to be able to make our way back to the Manti Temple. Kolby and I haven't been back for almost 10 years - when we got married. We carried a bit more baggage in the form of three rug-rats this time. It is still our favorite temple.

The reception was great fun. No standing in line to greet this couple. Those Aussies know how to entertain. Singing, dancing, even scary island warrior dancing. Winn had to cling to her twin, Aunt Rylee, for safety from the island dancers, and we all kept our distance from the kilted didgeree-doo player.

Me and my four Johnson sisters. I sure do love these ladies.

After the wedding, we had a few days to hang with the fam. It's never enough time, though.

All the grandmas, grandpas, and aunties and uncles got to meet Klive. I think he was a hit. However, they created a monster. He now won't let us put him down and yells at us if we dare try.

I should also mention that we were lucky enough to stay at the Washburn's lovely home. It was better than the Ritz. They made us breakfast, shared their craft room and home theater, and brought Cousin Conzo over to entertain the girls. AWESOME!

On our last night there, the kids carved pumpkins from Grandpa Kyle's garden.

It's always hard to say good-bye to the fam. I wish I took more pictures, but it's not easy when my arms are always full of baby.

First milestone

Klive started smiling yesterday. I've been exhausting myself trying to get him to crack a smile for weeks now. So of course he gave his first real smile to his Daddy, just like June and Winnie. Looks like Kolby now has three kids that adore him. And he didn't even have to try! He's been gone for two months doing an ER rotation in Tulsa. I guess that was just Klive's way of telling us that he's so glad when Daddy comes home. Well, at least he takes after me in the smile department. He only grins with one side of his mouth. That's all me!

A little of this and that . . .

Here's a little bit of everything that happened post-baby birth.

Auntie Audra came for a little visit to see the baby boys. She hadn't yet met Ossian, so she got lots of luvs and gerbs.

June started first grade. She has Mrs. Schukert and I would love to report that she is loving school. She's had a little struggle getting used to the longer days, and has had a few break-downs because she misses her mama. But things are getting better.

We write secret messages to each other that we read at lunch. This helps us make it through the day and not miss each other as much.

Klive finally took a bath. I have to admit, with kid number 3, he's lucky if I find time to bath him a couple of times a week. Boys are supposed to be dirty, right?

He also got thrush his second week home. Our pediatrician gave us this lovely purple-dye medication to treat it. We now have a lovely purple mess on everything. I thought he looked like the Joker. Why so serious?

And my sweet Winnie turned 4. We had a zoo trip planned, but then I got sick. I didn't have much time to prepare after getting out of the hospital for the second time, so Nana and I threw together a princess party to make the day special. She was overjoyed. That's my Winn - always happy.

My mom has some sweet cake-baking skills. Not just anyone can make a seated Barbie cake.

A party's not complete without the cousins!

She got lots of good stuff: princess crayons, dolls, even a new bike. But I knew this would be her favorite present. Press-on princess nails that cost $1.50. She loves being a lady!

Cousin Amos happens to be the love of Winnie's life at the moment. Someday we'll have to explain why you can't marry your cousin, but right now, we just let it go. Being the thoughtful boy that he is, he picked out this particular princess flashlight knowing it would be everything Winnie had ever dreamed of.

Daddy's been gone a lot these past two months, but he made it back from Tulsa after several night shifts to celebrate. Just look at him, the life of the party!

Nana and Papa have been working their fingers to the bone to look after my children and help me get back on my feet while Kolby's been gone. My dad's been keeping our yard up in the sweltering heat. And my poor mom is working full time and still kept the kids while I was in the hospital. She also stayed up every night for over a month to help me with Klive. We are one lucky family to have them.

So that's Winn's big day. I can't believe she's 4. I'm so thankful for her kindness, her humor, her awesome imagination and her big beautiful smile that she wears from the minute she wakes up in the morning until she hits the pillow at night.

Daddy also kept his promise to do a birthday dinner at Winn's most magical place in the world - the Olive Garden. Like I said, she easy to please.

We were also lucky enough to talk Yaya Julie into coming out and helping with the new baby. Little did she know that we planned on working her to death. Klive thought she was the perfect sleeping spot, so when she wasn't doing my housework, she was snuggling this little guy.

The girls got a little special time with Yaya, too. We wish we could have locked her up and kept her as our own personal slave, but she had to go back to her paying job.

And lately we've been trying to get by on our own. Everyone takes their turn feeding Klive, who wants to eat every hour and be held every second. The other day he was throwing a fit because we put him down for a couple of seconds. Winnie tried to console him with his binky, but he wasn't having it. I told her to just let him cry and she said, "But mom, he's ruining my duty!" She takes her job as a big sister very seriously.

June's an old pro with sibling #2. Always the multi-tasker, she can hold brother, watch t.v. and pick her nose all at the same time.

And Dad takes a shift with his boy when he's in between shifts at the hospital. I'm pretty sure Klive was upset that Daddy was heading back to Tulsa that night. He's a pro at the pout.

Couldn't resist throwing in this shot of the cousins getting to know each other. Ossian is the sweetest boy. I just know these two were buddies up in heaven last year and are destined to be best pals.

Beautiful Baby Klive: First Photo Shoot

We know how to make friends with the right people. Poor Stephanie Crandall, she's been forced to take more pictures of our family than she'd probably like to, but she just keeps coming back. We must just be that awesome, or maybe the cute new baby had something to do with it. Steph, as usual, you are amazing with the camera. You even made me look good in my pajamas with no make-up and going on 3 days without a shower - thanks buddy! Don't be surprised if you see a few of these on our christmas card this year.

KVJ number 5

Kolby's dream of getting a little more testosterone in his family finally came true!

On August 5, 2010, Klive V. Johnson joined our clan.

This is one proud Daddy! He's always wanted his own boy with big, bad sideburns!

He arrived at 7:50 p.m. weighing 7 lbs. 5 ozs. and was 19 inches long.

Here's the girls rallying on the Afternoon when I was without food and water and super nervous to go have my big surgery. They were excited to get to spend the night at Nana's house, so they gave baby Klive belly one last hug and sent us on our way.

Last pregnant couple shot! Yay!

We got to the hospital at 3:00, but didn't end up in the O.R. until 7:30 that night. Kolby could have used a smaller pair of scrubs, but these did the job.

Here's my brave face on the operating table. The C-section actually went super fast -I swear my Dr. had the baby out in about 5 minutes. The tummy tuck, however, lasted a few hours longer. I'm just proud of myself that I kept my cool and didn't freak out through the ordeal. I just tried to focus on my beautiful new boy!

Mom and Klive - glad that's over!

I can't believe he only weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces! Definitely the runt of our litter. I guess there were a few more brownies and pints of ice cream in that belly than I'd like to admit.

He was a trooper, too. It couldn't have been very warm in that operating room, and he stuck it out with me. They had to suck his lungs out a bit to get him breathing well, but other than that, he did awesome!

The next day, Klive got to meet his big sisters. I'm happy to report that June and Winnie have been nothing but super helpful with their brother, and they are being so sweet to me while I try and recover.

They can't get enough loves from their new bro.

I tried to find a nice picture of Kolby and/or me holding the baby, but our eyes look tired and terrible in pretty much all of them. We're a bit out of practice with a newborn - especially one who has his days and nights confused.

We were told by many, many, many people that the third baby is a walk in the park. Well, so far, Klive has been the best baby. He only cries when he's wet or hungry, he's a great nurser, he's very snuggly, and we think he's the most beautiful baby in the world.