California Adventure

Not long ago, my parents surprised me with the news that they were going to fly Elizabeth and me out to California for one last visit. I had been despairing that, with the coming of the triplets, I'd never see my beloved So Cal again, let alone my new nephew and my parents' new house. And of course, by seeing So Cal again, I meant eating In n Out. So I was thrilled when they told me the news and prayed that I'd be feeling better by then. And I was! Here's a few pictures from our wonderful week.

Elizabeth got to run through the sprinklers for the first time in her life.

I got to visit Dawn, my good friend from high school. She and her family live in Long Beach, one place I'd be happy to live in someday.

The babies checking each other out.

Her son, Wesley, is only a few months younger than Elizabeth. They had a great time fighting over toys and trying to poke each others' eyes out. Things got better when we let them run around the nearby playground.

This video cracks me up. Watch how happy and giggly Wesley is, swinging away, compared to Elizabeth. She looks like she's going to toss her cookies!

Speaking of babies, we got to meet Daniel Ashton, my youngest brother's baby. I can't describe how weird it was to see my baby brother being a daddy.

Unfortunately, it rained most of the time we were there. But we tried to make the most of the sunny days.

At the beach? No way. Too cold! Playing at the playground by Grandma and Grandpa's new house.

On our last day in town, we visited the LA Zoo. We had to get a wheelchair for me so I could last the whole day. At one point, my mom had to leave so my dad pushed me in the chair, while I pushed Elizabeth in the stroller. I'm sure we were quite the sight to see. But it was worth it to see Elizabeth's reactions to all the animals.

Peering intently at the ducks.

So much to see!

Elizabeth said, "wow!" a lot. I think they were looking at these:


Friday night, my mom made a turkey dinner, since last Thanksgiving they had been in the middle of moving. The best part of these pictures is the wallpaper in the background.

Janine, Doug's girlfriend (and Daniel's mommy,) got the night off work to join us.

Daniel chilled while we all pigged out.

Mom and Dad—so mature.

Elizabeth really took to her Aunt Rebecca.

"Sisters, sisters..."

In the end, it was sad to say goodbye but good to get back to Adam. To make it all the better, when I got home, I found that he had totally taken on all the little chores I'd been wishing I could get to lately. He even fixed a leak under our kitchen sink (where he found the following growing in our recycling... Ew! Is it time to move or what?)

Why I Liked Michigan

by Elizabeth Johnson

I got to play outside in grass! And I got to jump on this big round bouncy thing.

Sticking out my bottom teeth.

I got to use my favorite word, "shy," especially with my cousin Taylor. But I wasn't too shy to pet the dog he walks.

We ate a lot of yummy food.


I got to play with my cousins.


Daddy showed me how to throw rocks into a lake.


And we got to visit Great-Grandma Paxman.

But something seemed strangely familiar...

Looks like Adam and Taylor have very limited wardrobes.

Feeding Her Majesty

Elizabeth is generally a good eater. But sometimes it takes a while to figure out what she wants.

One word she has no trouble communicating is her favorite food: CHEESE!



Not long ago, Elizabeth started asking for what sounded like "apple tea." I tried giving her applesauce, and sometimes that would work, but others she was insistent on her "apple-tee." For now, at least, she seems to accept applesauce, though she'll often just eat a little. I'm still convinced that we have yet to discover the true meaning of apple-tee.



She still loves her veggies, especially broccoli and carrots. She now will shout "mang!" when we offer mango. She's also recently discovered raisins. She eats pb&j's without pulling them apart (until the end,) and is learning to use a spoon, with considerable help. She still only drinks a little milk, but I've given up on trying to fatten her up. As long as she keeps eating those vegetables, I can't complain!

It's a Boy! . . .

And a boy! And a girl!

This week, I had yet another appointment with the perinatologist. They did an ultrasound to check for Downs and while she was doing it, the sonographer asked if I wanted to know the gender of the babies. Still too early to be 100% sure, she said, but I didn't mind. (Time to start rounding up hand-me downs!)

As I lay there watching the grainy images of my babies morph and slide in an out of view, and listened to her as she told me each one was healthy, it suddenly hit me: these are my babies. I was overcome with gratitude. They're healthy. They're growing. They have two hands and two feet. What have I been so upset about? This is a miracle! Three babies!

I did start to get a little nervous, however, when one and then another baby were declared to be boys. But the third, the one resting right on top, is a girl. Bless her tiny heart.

So now the clothing gathering begins and also the name game. We've already had a vote for Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey from my nephew. I'm leaning more towards . . .


What do you think?

12 Weeks

Well here I am at 12 weeks and here's what's going.

I went to the perinatologist for a special ultrasound to find out the "synchronicity" of the triplets. They are fraternal, each in their own placenta. Everything looked good, except that I have some wicked cysts on my ovaries. But the sonographer said that's to be expected and said they'd just monitor them.

Monday, I'd made up my mind to stop letting my pregnancy sickness rule my life. So I made a menu, wrote up a shopping list, and wonder of wonder, did all the grocery shopping! I felt darn good about myself that day, let me tell you. But the next day, Tuesday, I started getting sharp, shooting pains in my abdomen on my right side. When I called the doctor, they said he was out of town and one of the other OBs would have to call me back. I started to panic because I couldn't move around without incredible pain, which meant I couldn't take care of Elizabeth or get myself food, (which is a serious thing these days. No food = vomiting nightmare pain.) I called a few friends but no one answered, and I was about to ask Adam to come home from work, when I heard our neighbor, Tito's, voice outside. I quickly called his cell and asked through tears if he could come over for a few minutes. He and his girlfriend, Valerie, came over and she saved the day. I was so embarrassed to ask her, but she very kindly fixed me something to eat, played with Elizabeth, fed her lunch, and stayed with me until Elizabeth went down for her nap. I don't know what I would have done without her.

I finally had to call the doctor again and this time they told me to just come in. Adam left work early and the three of us headed over. I must have looked a sight as I hobbled into the waiting room, doubled over, in scrubs, a rat's nest of hair and not a bit of makeup. They did an ultrasound first thing and assured us that the babies were fine. Then, after asking a lot of questions, the doctor decided to send me to the hospital to make sure it wasn't appendicitis. Oh, goody! We called around and got a friend to watch Elizabeth, and another to meet us at the hospital to give me a blessing. Thank heavens for the angels of the Bensonhurst Ward! What would we do without them?!

Of course the hospital visit was long and boring and mostly unproductive. Luckily, it wasn't my appendix, but my poor cyst-strapped ovaries causing the pain. The doctor on call, who sounded a lot like Elder Uchtdorf, kept saying, "It's not appendicitis!!" but kept on running tests to make sure. In the end, we all got home not long after 10 PM and luckily didn't have to call in the reserves (ie. my visiting teacher, Satomi) to watch Elizabeth overnight. So all's well that ends well, I suppose. I haven't had pain like that since, except if I get up too fast or twist the wrong way. And then it immediately goes away. So I can't complain. What would we have done if I'd had to have an appendectomy?!?

So that's the latest and the greatest. The pregnancy sickness seemed to fade for a few days but is back with a vengeance. Elizabeth had a fever this week. And so the fun goes on. But I am still trying to do more and start tackling the problems that need solving. I scour Craig's List every day for apartments. I'm dying to know the genders of the babies so I can start collecting second-hand clothing. And I am generally avoiding thinking about parting with Pedro. The happiest note, was finding out this week that my parents are flying me and Elizabeth out to visit next month. I'll get to see my parents' new house, meet my new nephew, catch up with old friends, and eat all the In n Out I can handle. So all I have to say is, I BETTER be feeling well by then!

In non-triplet news, we've been having some amazingly good weather. Yesterday, we went to Prospect Park to just hang out.

Playing Take away the binky with Daddy

Our little monkey

Tickle! Tickle!

Every night when Adam gets home, the first thing Elizabeth does is ask him, "Bum bum bum?" her way of asking for a shoulder ride.

What Keeps Me Up at Night

Where should we live? How will we manage having four small children in Brooklyn? And how long will we last?

What will we do for a car? We'll get a mini-van, I suppose. I am anti SUVs. But how will we afford one? We haven't made car payments in forever. And I love Pedro. If we lived in the suburbs, we could keep him...

How will I ever leave the house without help? You can barely fit a regular stroller into some of the stores here. Don't talk to me about triple strollers.

What will we do if I have to go on bed rest? How will this ever work when we live so far from family?

Can my body handle this? Everything I've read says that I'll have to get a c-section--a huge disappointment since I really, really wanted another natural birth--and that the babies will be born premature and have to be in the NICU for some time. How will I deal with all of this?

What is He thinking?!??!?!?

1 in 6,889*

*The odds of having spontaneous triplets

Off the Air

The Johnson family is currently experiencing technical* difficulties. We will return you to your regularly scheduled posts as soon as possible. Thank you.

*"Technically" it's morning sickness. As a lot of you know already, I'm preggo. Only 8 weeks but in too much pain to hide it from the world. Sitting at the computer is now one of my least favorite things to do, as are eating, housework, and changing dirty diapers. So, basically everything I used to do all day everyday. When I get to Heaven, I'm gonna have a looooong talk with HF about this whole "sorrow in thy conception" thing. WTFrknH?

Stir Crazy

Being indoors so much has made us a little desperate for entertainment. Efforts to fend off cabin fever include:

1. An attempt to style Elizabeth's "hair." Sad, I know.

2. Taking Glamour Shots of Elizabeth to send to a modeling agency. (Cuz you KNOW they're totally going to email me back.)

3. An trip outside to "play" in the snow. (Meaning, watch Elizabeth walk back and forth in the snow. Whoopee!)

Snow pants courtesy of Grandma Giovo Gifts, Inc. Cheesy closed-eye smile by Elizabeth. All Rights Reserved.

4. Ruminating on the meaning of life while contemplating the delicate intricacies of a single snowflake.

5. The most bizarre, though, is this weird bird-walk Elizabeth has started doing. She likes to run like this, with her head tilted back and the biggest, cheesiest smile on her face. Cracks me up. And sometimes, we do it together.




Spring, please come. Before we lose it completely!

Mini Mii's

Last Christmas, Adam's family got a Wii and this Christmas, we tried it out for the first time. The highlight of all the gaming was when Adam, who is incredibly competitive at video games, whacked an ornament off the tree, clear across the room, where it smashed into a thousand pieces. Wicked forearm, huh? But the coolest, by far, was how crazy-accurate our Mii's turned out to be. What do you think?


P.S. Thanks to Matt for sending us these pics via his super-awesome iPhone.

A Tribute

We lost the 'World's Strongest Man' on Monday.

Daddy's Girl

A few days ago I sneaked a peek at Adam's journal. (Don't worry; he was sitting next to me. He didn't protest, much.) I was really touched by one part that I wanted to share with you.

Elizabeth has been bumping into stuff a lot lately, and has several bruises on her head. She's been trying to say new things lately. She says uh-oh, hi, mama, dadda, eese (cheese), ba-ime (bath time), two, four, six (approx.), bubble (not for a bubble, though.) She can blow her nose, knows what her hair, head, eyes, toes, belly, shoes are, knows what eating is, hot is (by blowing), can run, bounce, ride her rocking horse, kinda say Jesus (mostly S sort of noise), banana (nana). She's incredibly cute. Sometimes she's a pill though, and can be super picky/terrible when eating.

She's very social and friendly with everyone, even strangers. Loves kids and youth. Can play peek-a-boo, drink from a glass (not by herself, except sippy cup), loves animals (dogs, cats), being outside. Hardly has any hair, (a bit longer in the back though.) Loves cheese and ham, banana, kiwi, apple sauce. Laughs when I give her a bumpy ride on my shoulders. Loves bath time, drinking bath water, giving kisses, hugging from behind when you are near the ground, her IKEA blanket, her stuffed dog, Wilson, her dog pj's, books (to chew), buttons, zippers, pen tops, saying "ooo" at things that are pretty like lights at night. Saying "uh-oh" for attention. Likes attention, missionary tags, screaming when she's happy or worked up, getting her way or whining about it. I love her.

I guess I was touched that he noticed and cared so much about all the minute details of her personality and development. He's constantly taking pictures of her. These are pictures he took of her at bath time. Every night, if he's home in time, Adam completely takes over with Elizabeth. They play for a while, then it's bath time (which they both LOVE), and then story time. They have so much fun together. I love it.


Adam was the first to notice that Elizabeth had discovered her belly button.

Not to boast, but I think Elizabeth has a wonderful father.

Christmas Past

We recently returned from a grand Christmas visit up north at my parents house. If it could be summed up in a to do list, it would look something like this.


I think we did pretty well. Thanks for the swell time.

Christmas Time Is Here

December means. . .

. . . visiting Santa,

At Macy's at Herald Square

. . . bundling up to see the city lights,

On the way home after seeing the store windows on 5th Avenue.

. . . making Chiristmas goody plates. . .

Elizabeth playing quietly on the floor while Mommy bakes. This is her "I'm so cute" face.

Helping mommy clean the batter off the spoon. I should have taken a picture of her screaming in agony when I took the spoon away...

. . .going to ward parties (in a new dress)

. . . and playing in the snow.

What does December mean to you?

Really?!

Two cents?



Maybe they didn't like my sticker . . .?