Vivian Reese, Camille Sofia, and Charles Dale

Vivian went to see Santa for the first time today. She went to the Children's Museum and was a very big girl!! The girl right before us, who looked to be Viv's age, was screaming and we thought this was a preview for us. However, Vivian liked Santa, looked up at him and even smiled at the end...all very cute. We had a fun day at the museum and Mom will put some cute pictures up later.

Vivian is feeling much better and has her appetite back (times ten)! She is eating and drinking better than ever. We are down to 3 bottles a day (no morning bottle) and will probably be down another bottle after next week. Yeah, but a little tear because she is growing up so quickly!

Well, we will take lots of photos at Christmas and post them next week. Until then, have a very Merry Christmas!

Luv, the Johns' family

Well, this isn't a doctor's visit today, but I have been very bad at updating the past few weeks as Vivian has been feeling pretty bad :( She started getting sick about 2 weeks ago with a cold and then last Thursday she was diagnosed with RSV (a respitory virus). She was home with us until Tuesday and during that time she was also diagnosed with pneumonia. So, needless to say it has been a rough couple weeks for the little turkey. Vivian has been a champ throughout all this (breathing treatments, lots of drugs, etc.) and we are happy to say that we are on the way to being a well baby soon. Hopefully this will make a happier holiday for Vivian's 1st Christmas!

Well, hopefully more pictures will come soon. I haven't been taking any (it is hard to take pictures while holding a sick baby)...Now that she is back on the mend, she is back to smiling, laughing, and growling a lot, which we missed greatly over that past few weeks. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. We will update with Christmas pictures this weekend and next.

Merry Christmas!

Another new tooth today...that makes 4! I think we are working on a few more on bottom.

Well, I should be fired on this updating...it has been forever! Since she started walking about a month ago, the world was turned upside down. She is into everything and it is fun - but challenging! For all those out there pushing for your kids to walk, enjoy those last few days, weeks or months where you can walk away for a few seconds because as soon as they walk, those days are over! She literally finds everything on the floor...every crumb, leaf, ribbon, paper scrap, etc, etc. Needless to say, the dust buster has become our friend. We sweep the floor constantly. She is also into every cabinet, drawer, nook and cranny :) We have some locks on, but not all of them, so this is very challenging.

She is also getting teeth, which makes her a little grumpy :( I can't wait for these teeth to be done...this is not a fun process!!

She enjoyed thanksgiving and ate some turkey, sweet potatoes, and noodles...she really enjoyed the noodles. She got to hang out with lots of family and we had a good day. Oddly enough, she also got to play outside a lot this weekend because it was so nice. She loved walking around in the grass and chasing leaves...it was so cute (of course until she started trying to eat the leaves).

She is babbling constantly these days and she is close to actually making some words that mean something to us. She knows da da and knows ma ma, but doesn't always say it. She is trying to say cat or kitty cat. She also started clapping this week. It is cute, when you clap and say "yeah", she starts clapping and saying it too. Quite the little ham she is becoming...

Well, we are gearing up for Christmas (can you believe it?) and can't wait to see Vivian open her presents (or play with the boxes and paper). Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and we look forward to seeing many of you soon!

We finally got another...top front left tooth came in....left to follow shortly I am sure!!

Happy Halloween!! Our little fish did awesome tonight! She went to 10 or 15 houses and made our neighbors smile. She was so cute :) She then came home to play with our neighbor's daughter (the bunny) and hand out candy to other kids. They liked shaking the Mike & Ikes and chewing on the Twizzlers (in the wrappers, of course).

She is super tired and crashed out a little bit ago. We had a great time...enjoy the pictures!

Ok, so I think we officially have a walker!! At daycare today Mrs. Baker informed us that she is walking 75% of the time and crawling (or some other mode of transport) the rest of the time. I could hardly believe it, but when we got home, it was true! We video taped her new thing last night...DANCING. Mommy is so proud :) We also got a few pictures of the walking...tomorrow night we will video tape the walker and hopefully upload for all to see. I really can't believe it...9 months yesterday and walking?!? As many have told us...we are in for it! Wish us luck:) Many bumps and bruises to come...

Another weekend to practice my walking skills...this is what is apparently going through our little Vivian's head. She is taking more than 10 steps sometimes!! She also stops, picks up things and continues to walk. All very cool, but very scary. Vivian also will stand up in the middle of the room and just start walking. At this pace, she can run the mini marathon with daddy this May :)

She has also mastered waving bye-bye this weekend. Not only will she wave if you are leaving and waving at her, but she will also randomly wave when you ask her to go bye-bye. So it is our new entertainment...we just say bye-bye and she starts waving.

She still doesn't say much except for dada and various other babbles; however, she is starting to try to mimick what we say. She was trying to say "cat" this morning. I am sure we have a ways to go here...but we are continuing to teach simple words every day. Tomorrow we will be beginning our new word and gesture - TOUCHDOWN. Hopefully there will be a lot of practice during the Colts game (only for Colts TDs of course).

We love watching her grow-up and hopefully you are able to get a glimpse of this through our stories. Have a wonderful week!

Well, we are not officially walking...but we took 3 steps to Mommy tonight. I am sure it will be a bit until we get a full time walker - but keep a look out because little Viv is about to take off!! We will try to get video of this over the next week and post it on the web. She gets really excited and it is very cute :)

Vivian also attended a princess birthday party this weekend for Taylor Smith. She turned 3! We had fun with Taylor and her sister Kylie (who is the same age as Vivian) dressing up like princesses and eating balloons.

We also took our 9 month pictures this weekend. They turned out really cute...hopefully I can post them online soon. For the family, I will be sending them out soon.

Well, it has been a busy weekend, and Mommy & Vivian have colds, so I am off to bed! Thanks for checking in and have a great week!

Vivian has been mastering this over the past week, but she can now stand herself up without support and she thinks this is quite fun! She does it and then proceeds to grin and bounce while standing...then eventually sit or fall down. It is fun to watch :)

I also added pictures of her play date with Carter last weekend. She only made him cry once, when she screamed in his face playing with the learning table. He isn't used to the little girl "squeal" yet. Otherwise, we all had a fun time!

The bottom right tooth came in today...yeah! Hopefully we will take a little break now :) I don't see any activity right now.

Have a great week everyone!

We haven't updated lately, so a quick few notes before the weekend...

Vivian continues to "crack us up" on a daily basis. She is a real nut! One of her favorite things to do is stand up on her knees and wave her arms up and down (all while panting like a puppy dog). She almost hops across the floor while doing this and grins ear to ear the entire time. She also loves to climb the stairs. We try to put the gate up every time we come down, but occassionally, we will forget. As soon as she notices there is no gate, she makes a quick escape toward the stairs. The whole time she is smiling and looking back at us with that "I know I'm not supposed to do this" look. So cute :)

She is getting stronger and faster walking with her walker every day. She is starting to get brave and transfer from one toy or piece of furniture to another while standing. She can stand on her own for almost a minute, but falls on her bottom when she trys to take a step.

We are also finding out that Vivian is the bully at school (and around the neighborhood). She will go to other babies (of all ages) and take things and crawl away with them. She also thinks it is fun to thump (not hard, more like patting) other kids on the head. She laughs, but the other one usually ends up crying. She is a determined girl and knows how to get what she wants...I have know idea where that comes from?

Anyway, everyone enjoy your weekend. Vivian will be cheering for the Colts on Sunday in her cheerleader outfit. We will try to get some pictures!

I am a little slow on the update, but on Friday, September 8th, Vivian cut her first tooth :) We can't see it in pictures yet, but give it a few more days! She is also working on another bottom tooth, probably early this week. She has been quite a trooper, but we had a few days with bad afternoon napping (which turned to good evening sleeping), so it wasn't too bad...so far.

She is really just a very happy baby and we are so blessed!! The only time she really gets angry is when you make her put clothes on in the morning...she apparently thinks she can run around the world naked...even without a diaper. Crazy girl!!

She is really starting to get the standing and walking thing better these days. She can walk around with the walker...until she hits a wall, toy, chair or other roadblock...and then she wants me to turn her around. She'll get the hang of it sooner or later. She also is starting to try to cruise the furniture. She really amazes us with her strength every day!

Well, back to work...have a great week!

We are back from vacation (on the beach in Florida)and we had an awesome week with Miss Vivian! She loved the sand and water and mostly just hanging out with mom and dad :) Going back to work and school is not going to be fun tomorrow!

Vivian is now babbling a lot more than just a few weeks ago. She doesn't really say much that makes sense to us...but she is really happy just jabbering away. It just cracks us up! We went to the Children's Museum today for the first time and she was talking to all the other little kids (and adults). She had a lot of fun watching people and playing in Playscape (an area for little ones to roam freely - mostly padded for bruise free fun)! We will definately have to do that again soon.

Well, off to take care of the baby. Another update soon. Enjoy all the beach pictures...she is a real ham for the camera!

Well, after a few days of getting around, we decided we might as well pull up on some furniture! Watch out world - Vivian is fearless!! She can't stay up for a long time (10 to 20 seconds), but she can sure get herself up! I can only imagine how much she is going to learn on vacation next week with an 11 month old, 22 month old, and 3 year old.

She is such a happy girl and we are so blessed - if you haven't seen her for a while, come by and see us. She will light you up with her smile and crack you up with her snarl and giggles. I will try to get some new pics up soon. Also, I have a video of the crawler...but still trying to figure out how to post the videos....

Well, mom is a little slow on the update...but on Saturday Vivian started crawling!! She is not an expert yet, but she is improving by the day. This morning she was getting braver and started trying to get the cats...the cats were pleased to find that she is mobile :)

On another note, poor little one is still not feeling well. The whole family has been sick with a nasty summer cold :( Hopefully we can all get well before vacation in 2 weeks!

We had a good doctor's apppointment last week. Vivian is growing up as she has in the past - tall but not too round in the middle. She is growing out of 12 month stuff - length wise - so we are looking at 12 to 18 month stuff for fall/winter (seems crazy)! We may be taking the waist in to hold everything up, but we will figure it out :)

She did great for her shots, but had a pretty good fever on Saturday and Sunday morning as a result of them. I hate those shots, but I know they are for her own good. We have a break next appt - YEAH - no shots until 1 year.

She is still trying to crawl and now trying to pull-up on everything. I found her in the crib last night on her knees holding on to the bars. I told her to sit down because she is too little to do that - ha, ha. This little girl is determined (imagine that) and gets what she wants one way or another!

Well, that is pretty much it. She has a little cold this week - hopefully it doesn't turn into more than that. Colin and I continue to love every stage of Vivian as she grows up (way to fast)!

Ok, just a quick update...mom is slacking lately. Vivian sat herself up for the first time on Friday afternoon. She has been sitting on her own for a few weeks and now has mastered sitting herself up! Every morning since Friday, we have found her sitting up in her crib...how cute :)

Full update to come Friday...after the big 6 month checkup!

Well, Vivian is growing up so fast we can hardly keep up. She has more than doubled her birth weight and growing up like a weed. She is wearing mostly 9 to 12 month clothes now and is starting to fill them out!

She is also getting ever so close to moving...scary :) She is getting up on her hands and knees and rocking (and usually laughing or giggling while doing it). She is also sitting up on her own and getting closer to being able to sit herself up. She tries really hard, but her little arms can't push her all the way up yet. This is very frustrating to her, but we try to help her out when she needs it :)

She received a nice toy, a jumperoo, from our neighbor (who is letting us borrow it) last week and has been in love with it ever since...she just keeps jumping and jumping. She just cracks herself up when she is doing it!

Well, pretty soon we will have the 6 month check up and prof. pics...I can't believe we are half way through the first year!!

Well, unfortunately Vivian and I (mom) had to take an early trip to the doctor's office on Friday morning. We went because Viv cried for hours at daycare on Thursday and then was up crying in the night later. She was also running a low grade fever on Thursday and Friday morning it started to rise. At the doctor's office we found out that Viv had her first ear infection (and based on the days to follow, we hope her last :)). She really didn't sleep well on her back the past few days, so Colin and I have been taking shifts holding her to sleep. She did sleep in her bed from 11:30 to 6:30 last night, so we have hopes that she is feeling better and she will be able to sleep tonight. Time will tell...

Despite her illness, she has been pretty happy (once we started the pink bubblegum meds). She loves playing with other little kids and also loves to stand up. She is really close to sitting on her own...she can do it for 5 to 10 seconds and then she usually goes diving towards a toy and loses her balance. She can get most anything she wants by rolling and "scooting" on her stomach. She really wants to get going, but mom and dad are really scared of that thought!

Well, that is all for now. We look forward to a long holiday weekend! Hopefully the week will go fast :)

Well, you've seen the pictures and Vivian is officially eating cereal every evening. So far, she seems to really like it :) She opens right up for the spoon and seems to be eating more than I expected. She also gets excited when we put her in the highchair. The good news is that we are not seeing a reaction yet, so keep your fingers crossed :) If all continues to go well, we will probably start feeding her cereal in the morning, as well.

If you haven't seen her in a while, she is getting to be quite a big girl. She loves to stand up and sit up(with assistance of course) and listen to music - especially Dora music for some reason. She absolutely adores other babies and kids and is especially fond of our neighbor's little boy, Gabe. He is 8 months old and she always gets really excited when she sees him. It is really sweet :)

Vivian is also getting quite a large sound gallery...she is doing the "alien", razzing, squeeling, and other cute noises. Before we know it, she is going to be telling us all what to do!

Well, I think that is pretty much it for now. We are feeling lucky and blessed every day watching Vivian grow up. It is amazing how fast she grows and learns. We are looking forward to putting her in the baby pool this weekend....so look for pictures in her polka dot bikini (orange, not yellow) next week :)

Just a little tid bit for those of you who have heard about our baby that doesn't like her tummy...she has been waking up at night when she rolls to her stomach as she has never really been fond of it. This has been going on for a little over a week. This morning, Colin went to check on her and she was sleeping on her belly :) So cute...and really good so that we won't have to flip her over anymore. She can actually roll over on her own, but rarely does it, so we end up flipping her over.

Well, I think that is pretty much it for now. Mom is looking forward to a 3 day weekend with baby since we are all taking Monday off! Have a great weekend!

It has been a nice long holiday weekend, hard to take the baby back to school this morning :( She has been a little fussy this weekend due to our shots on Friday afternoon and our first cold (or at least I think that is what it is). For all this activity, she has been a good baby - which is no surprise to us!

She was great at the doctor's office and is continuing to grow like crazy...she is 26 1/8 inches long and weighs 13 pounds 11 ounces. She is on track developmentally and does new stuff every day it seems like :) She is starting to love her saucer - now that she figured out how to turn and is strong enough to grab all the toys - and is reaching and finding toys without us helping her...very cool, but sad that she is growing up so fast!!

Well, I will put some new pictures out there soon. Hopefully, we will have highchair pictures (her first real food) in the next month or so. She is very interested when we are eating and would like to participate. As soon as we get the go ahead from the docs, we will start this up.

Well, hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. Thanks for checking in on us!!

Ok, so it has been a while again...we are so bad! She is just growing up so fast and we are trying to take in every minute of it :) I haven't really talked lately about how good our baby is, but she is awesome. She has been sleeping through the night for a while, but now it is more consistent. We have been hesitant to say this, but it has been going on for a few weeks now... She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 and sleeps until 7 or 7:30. She is a little thumb sucker and this keeps her happy until we feed her in the morning. Many mornings we actually wake her up!!

She is also continuing to be our little wild one...she has rolled over - both ways now! She rolled over first 2 weeks ago (from back to tummy) and then this weekend from tummy to back. It is really cute to watch her grow and learn. She is absolutely awesome!

Well, pretty soon we will see how big she is now as we have her 4 month appt coming up. For those of you wondering, we think she is probably around 13 to 14 pounds and 25 to 26 inches. She is growing like a weed and is already growing out of her 3 to 6 month clothes!! Length wise, of course :)

Well, thanks for checking in on us...have a great week!

It has been forever since we updated...however, it has been a busy month. We have officially made it through 3 weeks of school (daycare) and Vivian seems to love her new friends. She goes to school around the corner with five other very nice children. She loves the other kids and the teacher tells us she smiles and coos all day long. We couldn't be happier with this news!

She is growing...faster than we could ever imagine. She is only wearing 3 to 6 month clothing now and is growing out of most of her 3 to 6 month sleepers. We have graduated to 6 to 9 months for a few already!! This of course is all length as she is still a slim jim :) We are guessing she is probably around 25 to 25 1/2 inches long and probably right around 13 pounds.

She is a happier baby now as she is on special formula for her milk protein allergy. We discovered this problem around 3 weeks ago and ever since we made the change Vivian is a happier baby in the evening. She was always happy, but she is even more content these days!! We are still fighting the weaning, as we had to stop "cold turkey"...but it is getting better every day.

She is very close to rolling over, but still doesn't like her tummy very well so we don't get too much practice. She is grabbing and pulling toys to her mouth, but mostly likes to chew on her hands (especially her thumb). She still loves music and loves it when anyone talks to her - but you better put her down first as she is a little Miss Independent and does not like to be held very much. Funny how the little personality is starting to show :)

Well, I'm sure there is more but that is all I can think of for now. We love her very much and if any of you are feeling neglected these days, we appologize. We spend most of our time in Vivian's world because it is just so much fun :)

It has been an interesting few days. Vivian had her two month appointment on Wednesday. Along with a clean bill of health, came FOUR shots. Either of us would have been happy to take those shots for her. She was not pleased with them. Thursday was actually worse. She was cranky all day. Today she seems to be back to normal.

This week she started grabbing objects. Her fish chair is her new favorite place to be. She grabs her seahorse and goldfish all of the time.

Mom goes back to work on April 10th. It is going to be tough. We are just starting to settle into a routine and we are getting ready to change it again.

Well, Vivian and I (mom) have been having fun hanging out at home the past few weeks! She is smiling all the time, which is awesome, and crying less, which is also good :) It seems we are starting to learn what Miss Vivian likes to do during the day...I say day time since she has been sleeping really good for mom the past few weeks. We go to bed around 10 or 10:30pm and wake up between 2:30 and 4:00am. Then we wake up at 7:30am to start our day! I consider this to be excellent since she is only 8 weeks old and still breastfeeding! She is also sleeping in her own bed...what a big girl :) In case you didn't know, up until last week she had been sleeping in the bouncer or swing. We made the big switch and she taking it in stride (so far) - cross your fingers for us!

We also made another big decision last week to change Vivian's day care situation. She will now be going to the Baker Christian Academy starting April 10th. It is a wonderful place and we think she will be much happier there (compared to KinderCare). As a result of the change, we will be able to spend more time with our little bug (since it will save us about 40 minutes of driving time each day).

Well, I think that is all for now....we will put an update here next week after the big 2 month check-up.

Well, we have a very healthy, growing baby girl. She was awesome at the doctor's office today and didn't cry at all - until she had to get a shot :( Then she and mom both shed a few tears for that...just one for mom, but a few more for Miss Vivian. She is gaining weight right on track and growing up like a weed! She is on track developmentally too! She is 9lb 10oz and 23 1/2 inches long!

She is growing up so fast...but it is exciting to see her grow and do new things! She is my little "smile bug" these days and we are enjoying our time together.

We will be getting 1 month pics on Friday and send an update for those when we have them!

Well, been a while since we updated, so I thought I would tell everyone what has been happening here at the Johns' residence...

Everyone has begun to settle into a bit of a routine...if there is such a thing at 4 weeks old. Mom is getting more sleep and everyone is happier :) Vivian is growing up so fast...she is now smiling a lot more and making Mom feel really good! She is also awake a lot more, which is fun too.

Vivian is growing like crazy and has already grown out of a few outfits (length wise, not width). She just keeps getting longer it seems. We will know for sure next week when we visit the doctor again.

She is also enjoying her playmat more these days. She really likes the purple elephant and the mirror...yes, she already likes looking at herself quite a bit. We understand this because we really like looking at her too :)

Anyway, hopefully we will get some new pics out there soon. She is getting bigger and more beautiful every day!

Today was our first adventure to the Mall. We had pictures taken today of Vivian. She seemed to smile during the picture which was pretty awesome. We thought that it may have been a fluke. After three and a half hours, we finally decided to come home in the snow. Later this evening she smiled again on the changing pad.

Vivian is developing some consistent patterns in eating and sleeping which makes Mom's life a little easier. We all seem to be getting into a routine that will certainly change shortly.

Another good night. Our little princess is sleeping much better than when we first got home. She wakes up every two hours for Mom to feed her. Her umbilical cord fell off last night. Of course, we have to save it. It does make changing diapers easier.

Bath time is a family affair. The first couple of sponge baths had some crying. Last night, she really seemed to enjoy her bath. We can't wait to put her in her tub.

It seems like our little girl is growing up so fast already. Her head control is awesome. Tummy time is Dad's favorite. She moves her head back and forth to show us how strong she is.

We apologize for not updating. Sleep deprived, overwhelmed parents don't always remember to update their website. More later.........

Thank you for the offers to date our daughter. We will be taking bids for the next 30 years. Carter and young Pipkin, get out your checkbooks. She will be 30 before she is allowed to date.

Seriously, everybody is doing great. Vivian is eating well and Mom is feeling pretty good. We are hoping to go home tomorrow evening if everything continues to go as planned. We will put pictures on as soon as possible.

Our beautiful baby girl was born at 5:46pm on January 24, 2006. We are all doing well and thank all of you for all you love and support throughout our entire journey. We are at Clarian North hospital in suite 18 until Thursday evening.

Thanks again and we can't wait to show off our beautiful baby girl, Vivian!

For everybody that checks this compulsively, we are at the hospital. We will keep everybody posted.

Just wanted to let everyone know that we made it through the weekend...

Don't worry - when it comes, we will let you know!

Everyone is still feeling good, including dad - who is getting the husband of the year award :)

Well, the good news is that everyone is doing well...but it looks like we are still in a waiting game for our precious piglet. After discussion with the doctor, we will all be more comfortable waiting for nature to take its course, at least for now. I have never been a big fan of being "induced", so we will be waiting until next week to see what happens. After that, we may have to look at other options.

Just so everyone understands a little more, the c-section rate goes up tremendously when you are induced and it will also make it more challenging to have a natural birth. I am not sure if that is the route I will go, but I like to have my options.

And I almost forgot, I have progressed to almost 4cm and still around 80% effaced. So, the doctor gave me a 60 to 70% chance of delivery before next Wednesday. Pretty much any more dilation will put me into active labor :)

So, we will keep you all posted. Thank you for all of your thoughts and well wishes, as I have heard from many of you over the past few days. I am still feeling good and apparently piglet is too - so don't worry about us.

Another doctor's appt, with a little more progress this week...which is always good. Mom and baby are doing well and we are around 3cm dialated and 75 to 80% effaced. Yeah...finally a change, even if it is a small one :) We saw our doctor today for the first time in 3 weeks and got the low-down on his thoughts about the baby. We will be going in next Tuesday to see him again, and with any progress, we will probably be induced on Wednesday (my due date). This is only if I make it until next Tuesday...which I probably will, so don't anyone get your hopes up too much!

Stay tuned...we will keep you updated!

Well, piglet is officially the most stubborn baby of all...our neighbor and friends, Katie and Mike, had a beautiful baby girl today at 11:23am. Kylie Morgan Smith weighed in at 7lb 1oz and is 19 1/2 inches long. Both Mom and baby are doing well. Katie and I were due on the same day, so maybe piglet will take the hint and come a little early too :) Anyway, congratulations to the Smith family on their newest addition!

Another doctor's appt down, only a few to go - maybe less if we are lucky! It was a good appt as my blood pressure is staying low, piglet's heart rate sounds great, and mom is hanging around at 2cm and 75% effaced. Also, we didn't see my doctor, but the doctor we saw told us the philosophy of the office on how long they let you go, which is 41 weeks. So the end is near...in 3 weeks or less we will have our little piglet. Mom and Dad are still hoping for a little sooner, so keep your fingers crossed!

This is just a little news update for those of you who know my good friends Tracy and Andy Lieninger (or have met them over the past few months of our pregnancies)...

Today, January 2, 2006, Tracy and Andy became the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy, Carter Ross Lieninger. He weighed in at 6lb 11oz and 22 inches long! Mom and baby are doing well and we wish them the very best!

Congratulations Tracy and Andy - we can't wait to meet Carter!