My new favorite song is Darius Rucker’s, It Won’t Be Like This for Long (click link to listen for free). I’ve always been a closet Hootie & the Blowfish fan, but when I heard this for the first time..I cried uncontrollably. Blame it on the hormones, or whatever…but it’s a seriously good song. Especially for those of you that have kids, or are expecting. I can’t wait to see and hold our little miracle, but at the same time I realize it’s never going to be the same again. We will no longer be just Leah & TJ, but a family…with an amazing little daughter that will become our lives. I’m ready, but also trying to enjoy these last few months of “just the two of us”.

I’m currently 27 weeks and 5 days along – only 86 days to go! According to my pregnancy book, Kenley is opening and closing her eyes, sucking, swallowing, hiccuping (which I can sometimes feel), and growing. She’s about 2.5 pounds and around 15 inches head to toe. She’s kicking up a storm and twisting and moving, mostly at night and early morning. I think she’s going to look like a little monkey when she’s born, based on the horrible heartburn I’ve had lately. Also based on the fact that her mommy was born with a black streak of hair down her back, and her daddy is pretty hairy now! All I can say is I’m sick of Tums! Our birth classes start in January (Sundays…during the NFL playoffs!), and our next ultrasound is at the end of February (35 weeks 5 days).

My biggest accomplishment…the nursery! It’s finished! I bought Dreft a few weeks ago and washed all of Kenley’s clothes, sheets, towels, and blankets. I love that fresh baby smell! Everything’s put in it’s place (for now) and ready for us to bring her home.

Christmas Break was much needed, and I’m happy I still have a week before I go back to school. We spent Christmas Eve in Elkhart, Christmas in Noblesville, and the days after with extended family. I’m excited to start our own family traditions next year. Hopefully it will include a tree. This year I just didn’t have the energy to get all the Christmas gear out of the attic then have to put it all back. We were somewhat “Bah Humbug” this year, but hey…at least my house is clean.

Here’s some pictures from the last month. My niece, Kendall, is growing up fast, and I only hope Kenley has half the temperaments that her cousin has. She’s such a good baby! I hope everyone had a great Christmas & New Year. TJ and I are very excited for 2009!

This one’s for Elsha….Kenley says “Thank You” for my super cool t-shirt! 🙂

So maybe I’m not the most punctual on this blog, but most of you already know…It’s a GIRL!  We went in for the 20 week ultrasound on Nov. 3rd…our 1 year wedding anniversary.  We had the ultrasound tech tell us when she was looking for the “goods” and we turned our heads.  She wrote down on a piece of paper the sex of the baby and sealed it in an envelope.  I’m proud to say we actually made it out of the parking lot and to Maggiano’s before we opened it.  I let TJ open it since I feel like I get to experience all the fun stuff like feeling her move, and watching her (and me!) grow.  I’m sure I’ll be singing a different tune come time to push.  Then I’ll gladly let him take over. 

I decided long before I ever got pregnant that I would like to name my first girl, Kenley.  Why?  My grandfather was a huge part of my life and I find myself missing him and thinking about him often.  He was a great person with an amazing heart, and I was definitely a “Grandpa’s Girl”.  I’d love for him to be here now to share all these milestones with me.  He would love TJ (although I think politics would have to take a back seat in all conversations)!  His name was Orville Kenneth Bannon, although those close to him called him Ken or Kenny.  I wanted to honor my grandpa, but also use a unique name, and came up with Kenley about a year ago.  I love it and can’t wait to meet my little girl.   Her middle name will be Rae…my mom’s middle name.  Another huge part of my life.  🙂

So without further ado…pictures from her 20 week photo shoot.  Kenley Rae Johnson.

That’s kind of what I’ve been feeling for the last week or so.  I’m 16 weeks along and we went to the doctor yesterday and heard my new favorite sound ever…the heartbeat.  She (I think it’s a girl) has a heart rate of 141, and I’m beginning to feel the tiny butterfly movements.  I actually thought I felt more this morning just as I woke up, but I’m not 100% sure.

Here’s the picture from the 12 week “Photo Shoot”.

We took a belly shot at 8 weeks and 12 weeks, but today I decided since I was going to post this for all to see, I’d leave the shirt down.  When the belly gets cuter, maybe I’ll get a little more brave.  Here’s my 16 week shot (with the other two “babies”)…and since our water heater went out this morning, I don’t look so “refreshed” or “glowing”!

Our next appointment is November 3rd…our 1 year anniversary.  I am scheduled for an ultrasound where we finally will find out if it’s a boy or girl, but we are going to have the dr. put the picture in an envelope which we will open together during our anniversary dinner.  We can’t wait!  I’m so ready to start putting the nursery together!

At the end of September, TJ and I headed to Newport Beach, CA for the wedding of Eric & Erin (both were in our wedding). Before we left, I took it upon myself to find a few places on the internet to visit in L.A. that might make my fellow 90210 fans a bit jealous. We arrived in Santa Monica at 11AM on Thursday and spent the day driving around southern CA. If you never watched Beverly Hills 90210, these pictures will mean nothing to you.

First up on the tour…West Beverly High School.   It is actually in Torrence, CA. And don’t worry…I DID NOT wear that shirt the whole time in LA, just for this shot. We left Torrence and headed to The Strand on Hermosa Beach…better known to fellow 90210 fanatics as “The Beach House”. We found out 2 nights before we left for California that we could actually rent this place for $500 a night. Girls trip anyone??

We were unsuccessful at finding California University where they all managed to go to college, but wound up on Melrose Ave. where the front of “Now Wear This” (Donna’s store in the later episodes) was filmed. The outside has been remodeled and I hardly recognized it…plus we had to take the picture from the car.

Next we went to Hollywood Boulevard to see Grauman’s Chinese Theater.  They were actually having a premiere party for “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”.  We opted to skip out on that and just walk around and take in the scene.

Altadena, near Pasadena, was our next stop.  First we saw Dylan McKay’s house then a few houses down was “Casa de Walsh”.  Amazing.  I wanted to go sit in the grass and get my picture taken, but I figured the cops might be called. It was on a pretty busy street and we couldn’t park, but definitely the highlight of the trip.

Friday TJ went golfing on Laguna Beach with the guys, while I went shopping in Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.  Saturday was wedding day, and I got to spend it poolside while TJ was getting ready & posing for pictures.  It was a beautiful wedding!  Congrats Eric & Erin.  Thanks for having us be a part of it!

Yep…it’s true! Johnson & Johnson will have a new addition sometime next March!  I found out I was pregnant while visiting my aunt in Michigan City during the beginning of July.  My mom and I had gone on a “mini” vacation, and had left TJ home with the dogs.  I knew something wasn’t right, but my mom and aunt were sure I was just exaggerating. (I sometimes do that.) Finally, I  made my aunt drive me to CVS.  After the first pregnancy test, I came out of the bathroom and shouted, “Told you so!!”  I then called TJ and told him over the phone.  He was very excited, but after learning it was a off-brand test, he advised me to go buy another one…just to be sure!

One more home pregnancy test, a blood test, and an ultrasound with a healthy heartbeat later….we are convinced…and VERY excited!  We can’t wait to be parents!  We just hope the dogs are equally excited. 

Although you can’t see much in the first ultrasound, I am still a very proud mom and have to show off my baby..even if he/she looks more like an alien shrimp than a human baby at this point.

I am 7 weeks and 1 day today, and I am due on March 25th.  Perfect timing for a teacher if you ask me!  The end of the year when all my other teacher friends are stressing about grades, report cards, meetings, conferences, etc…I will be happily home with my new little miracle.

We can’t wait!  😀

Stay tuned…

Considering I haven’t posted anything ALL summer…I thought a new post was due. Our summer has gone by way too fast. This has been the first summer I haven’t worked, so I had this crazy idea that it would slowly pass while I relaxed at home or by the pool. Not so much! That theory has been proven false. I am in disbelief that school starts in a week, and my classroom is proof of that.

Our summer has been pretty uneventful (but make sure you read the next post!)…so here’s some pictures to kind of tell you what’s been going on.

Many concerts out at Deer Creek: Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Brooks and Dunn, Brad Paisley & Toby Keith…

Babysitting my new niece, Kendall…

MANY, MANY hours spent cleaning up the yard, landscaping, power washing the siding and deck, pruning trees, pulling weeds, laying pea gravel, etc…

Starting a new hobby of designing & painting Adirondack chairs…

Letting the dogs be dogs…

TJ’s 29th Birthday…

and Beautiful sunsets…

That’s basically our summer in review, and like I said before, you don’t want to miss our next post…

I’ll keep you waiting in suspense. 🙂

After many late night & early morning hours at Community North Hospital, Summer and my brother, Brady, had their second child this morning at 5:54 AM. Kendall Reese Harvey was born after about 7 hours of Summer being in the hospital. She weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20 in. long. We started off as a pretty crazy crew in the maternity wing around midnight. There were a few times I thought we might be asked to leave because of all the laughter coming from Summer’s room. (Hey, it happens to the best of us after no sleep!) After making Summer laugh so hard she (sort of) broke her water, we some what quieted down.

I left around 3:45 AM to catch a few zzz’s before the big Bradford Creek Community Garage Sale I had to open up at 8 in the morning…and got a phone call from my mom that Summer was going to start pushing around 5AM. (I watched the video tape of the birth from home, then visited later.)

She came into this crazy world rather calmly and quickly…once Summer reached 10cm. Our biggest concern of the night…Grayson! He crashed on the couch inside the delivery room around midnight and did not wake up during the whole process (including our rowdiness) until 9AM. He took one look at his baby sister upon waking and said, “Her feet are so TINY!”

My mom asked him if she could just take Kendall home with her. Grayson looked at her (with only a face that Grayson can give) and said, “NO…She is MINE! She goes with Mommy and Daddy and Me. Her carseat is in Mommy’s car. It’s right next to mine. She sits here (pointing) and I sit right next to her.”

Well…at least he seemed ok with taking her home. I really thought he might say, “OK Gwanma…Take her.” Poor kid…he has no idea how his little world is going to change.

Here is some eye-candy of the perfect little girl that I can proudly call my niece. (Don’t worry Abby…you’re still my FIRST niece!) I also put in a picture of Grayson’s first day in the hospital. I think you’ll be able to tell these two are siblings!

Much love to Brady, Summer, Grayson, and Baby Kendall!

MOHAWK courtesy of Aunt Leah!

Uncle TJ & Kendall. I love this picture…so sweet! I told TJ…”Get ready Buddy…you’re next!”

So PERFECT!

“oooh…I have SUCH a headache!!”

A sweet smile. Kendall Reese Harvey…10 hours old.

FLASHBACK to Grayson Layne Harvey…1 hour old…..

Well we’re back from our vacation, and time must be on a different schedule in the Caribbean because it FLEW by! So sit back, grab your favorite tropical drink, imagine the sound of the ocean in the background, and get ready for a long post!

We kicked off our honeymoon with Stacy and Dean’s wedding celebration in Key West. This was the 2nd best reception I’ve ever been to, only behind my own. I absolutely LOVE the beach…throw a great party in the mix, and you’ve got some amazing memories! (Bethany’s crazy idea to run in the ocean with our bridesmaids dresses on around midnight!) Best wishes Stacy & Dean! Thanks for the fun time!

After Key West, we had to sadly return our rental car back to Miami. I fell in love with this car. It takes me $90 to fill up my Durango, and we made it to Key West and back on less than a tank of gas in our little Spyder convertible. I’m thinking…trade in? Too bad I wouldn’t get anything for mine right now.

Anyway…we boarded the Carnival Triumph in Miami and set sail on Sunday.

Our first stop was Cozumel. We signed up for the sail & snorkel tour, followed by beach time at our own private beach. This was our least favorite excursion, but for different reasons. I thought the snorkeling was mediocre, and the “free” drinks were even more so. TJ was bummed on this one because he lost his wedding ring. When we first got in the water to snorkel, I was looking down and saw TJ sporadically swimming towards something shiny slowly floating to the bottom of the ocean…his wedding ring. I actually took it a lot better than he did, but we ended up buying a new ring once we returned to the Cozumel shops. Oh well…life goes on.

Our 2nd stop was Cayman Islands. This was TJ’s favorite stop, and since we’ve been home he’s already looked up places where we can stay “next time” for a whole week. We started off by going to Turtle Farm, where we actually got to hold the baby sea turtles! I love animals, so this was the coolest excursion ever!

Then we went to Hell. Yep, Hell. It was somewhat of a worthless 15 minutes, but the rock formations were kind of cool. Hell is basically a corner of the world where there are these crazy rocks and three gift shop shacks and a post office. That’s it. It all would fit inside a gas station convenience store. I’m just glad when our bus driver finally said, “Let’s get the Hell out of here!”

Finally we took a boat out to Stingray City. This is hands-down the coolest experience I’ve ever had. We were both leery at first with the thought of stingrays (with their stingers intact) swimming around our feet. After our guide, Dayton, assured us that they would not sting by LICKING one of their stingers…gross!…we became more relieved. We held them, kissed them, and even let them give us back rubs. The large ones are full grown females, while the little ones (that I thought were babies) are the full grown males. Dayton explained to us that the males have both an “Oscar” and a “Mayer”…use your imagination.

As we were leaving Stingray City, I took this shot. It couldn’t have been any more perfect than this!!

Our last stop was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I have been to Jamaica twice before on mission trips with my church back in 1996 and 1998. I love this country. Granted, everywhere you go there is someone asking you to step into their shop or get your hair braided or asking if you want some “herbs”…but I still love Jamaica. I guess it’s just the connection I have back when I stepped into the small village of Gayle 10 years ago to help the lowest of the low. Even though most local Jamaicans are struggling to get by, they have a spirit that no one can take away. They truly believe in the words of Bob Marley, “Don’t worry about a thing. Cause every little thing’s gonna be alright.” Ahh…Jamaica, mon.

Our excursion was aboard the Reggae Baby boat, which is the definition of “Party Cruise”. We took a cruise around Ocho Rios that started the party with a song called “Big Bamboo” by Horace Peterkin. If you’ve never heard it, search for it on iTunes. It’s a good one. We headed next to Dunns River Falls. Back in the day when I’ve climbed this before, we all just went up on our own. Granted, we had many bruises and scrapes when we were done, but that’s the only way to do it in my opinion. This time, the guides made us all hold hands. This was nutty. My hand holding partners were TJ, and a 60+ year old autistic man. I was constantly being dragged down and away from TJ. Finally, the guide saw my frustration and let me go off on my own for a while to catch up.

We got back on board the Reggae Baby and were invited to come down to the lower level, drink all the rum punch we wanted (151 proof…so we didn’t need much) and watch the “show”. We thought they’d maybe teach us some Jamaican moves, but we were in for a surprise. There was this guy on board that started by doing the limbo, then lit it on fire when it was only 12 inches off the ground, and went under unharmed. This was all while the driver was trying to hit the largest waves he could and the DJ was pumping out some great tunes. I knew this guy had a few screws loose when he started putting the fire all over his body, on his arms & feet, in his mouth, and down his pants! The pictures don’t even do this crazy guy justice. (I have videos but couldn’t figure out how to put them on here.)

After the party boat, we headed out of Ocho Rios in a cab for the best jerk chicken and shrimp we have ever had. This was by far the best meal during the whole vacation (We weren’t too impressed with the food on the ship). We also stopped by Margaritaville and had a drink. We managed to stumble our way into every Margaritaville at every port. My favorite…Jamaica, mon.

We had a blast on our cruise, and recommend Carnival to everyone. We both wish we would have had more time in Cayman Islands and Jamaica…so we’ll just have to visit for a week next time. I’ll leave you with some pictures we took on the boat. If you want to see all the pictures (all 250+), check out my facebook page. TJ’s back in the grind of work, and my summer officially began with yardwork yesterday! Take care!

The weekend started at with a very rainy Friday night at Deer Creek for the Tim McGraw concert.

Let me just say, this was one of the worst concerts I’ve been too.  Not because of the rain (I’ve stood in many rain showers…and thunderstorms…at Deer Creek), but he just played “blah” music.  All slow songs with a few upbeat ones here and there.  I was pretty disappointed.  I rank it 25 out of the 30+ shows I’ve been to out there.

Saturday was our catch-up day, and believe me I needed it after White Castle at midnight the night before.  Sunday we woke up bright and early at 3:30AM to meet our caravan for the Indy 500.  We ended up in the “outfield” this year, but still had fun…and the weather was beautiful!

Monday wrapped up our weekend with Brees’ 2nd Birthday!  I know she’s a dog..but for now, she’s one of our kids.  Both Madchen and Brees LOVE their birthday cakes from Purrs and Gurrs Pet Bakery.  “Yappy Birthday Brees!”  Next time I post something, it will be after our Key West Trip/Carribean Cruise.  Can’t Wait!!!

In 9 days we will be on the beautiful beaches of Key West. One of my best friends since 6th grade, Stacy, is getting married in St. Lucia on May 24th. Her reception party is at Southernmost on the Beach on May 31st. We are staying two nights in Key West at the hotel where the party is.

We then will board a Carnival cruise in Miami that will head to Cozumel, Ocho Rios, and Cayman Islands. FINALLY…we get to take our Honeymoon!!

We are so ready to go. I just bought our snorkels and goggles today! I’m sure many entertaining pictures will follow in the next couple weeks.

As much as I may say I can’t wait for this school year to be over, (and TJ can admit I’ve said that a few times!) I really will miss (most of) my kids this year. This has been the best overall group of kids I’ve had so far in my 5 years teaching, and I can’t wait to see their happy 1st grade faces next year. But man, am I ready for a summer break!! Did I mention this will be the first summer I will not hold a job of 50+ hours/week? TJ says I’m our own personal landscaper this summer…I think someone is trying to get out of yardwork.

More posts/pictures of our honeymoon will follow soon!