Thanksgiving!

Warning: This may after some time begin to feel like a Christmas post, due to the fact that Thanksgiving is completely overlooked in popular culture, Disney has been celebrating Christmas since the day after Halloween, and I am writing this post on December 29th. Apologies for the procrastination. The Christmas post will be coming shortly.

Sean and I were under the sad impression that we would be spending the Holidays alone together this year. We were surprised and grateful to enjoy a visit from Ashley on Thanksgiving! We were happy to show her around Florida and introduce her to Lincoln. Thanksgiving itself was a little unique, but I'll get to that.

Ashley arrived late Wednesday night, and the next day was Thanksgiving. Tragically, our Thanksgiving was not very well documented. First we caught a showing of "Catching Fire," which was Lincoln's first and last movie for awhile. He did really well, but I was uptight the entire time. Great movie though. For Dinner, (Lunch, really.) We ended up going to Animal Kingdom Lodge to eat at an African Buffet called "Boma's." It was a little unconventional for Thanksgiving, but it was SO good! At least we got a picture of Sean and Ashley in front of the awesome Christmas tree they have there.

On Friday, Ashley and Sean took an air-boat ride (Since we deemed this an unacceptable activity for a newborn, Lincoln and I stayed home). After the ride, they got to hold live alligators. We've had opportunities to hold them before, but never did it. This was particularly exciting because the gator's mouths weren't even bound shut like they normally are. Yikes!

Ashley must have been inspired by this trip, because she expressed interest in eating Gator. So we took her to the most hole-in-the-wall hillbilly joint we could find. The menu consisted of just about anything that lives in fresh or salt-water, deep fried. We just ordered everything that looked interesting. Since we are in the swampy south, we also deemed it necessary that we try frog legs.

ew.

Ok so it didn't taste that bad, but there were gross veins and stuff in there that made it unappetizing for me. Gator still tastes pretty good.

The next day we took both Ashley and Lincoln on their first trips to Disney World! It was so cute to see them in their matching "First Visit" pins.

We spent all day at Animal Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios.

The Safari

It's pretty rare for the Lions to be out on the Safari. They sleep most of the day. So it was a huge deal that Sean and Ashley got these pictures.

LOVE this roar!

In line for the Bug's Life "It's tough to be a bug" show

This is what Christmas (Ahem Thanksgiving) looks like at Hollywood Studios.

Oh, and the lights dance.

Favorite Souvenir find

The "Drive-in movie" themed restaurant we ate at in Hollywood studios

The next day Ashley attended church with us, then went home. Thanks for an awesome Thanksgiving Ashley! In gratitude I will reward you with the most precious picture ever.

Lincoln McKay

FINALLY!!

Our little boy is here! Prepare to be assaulted with pictures of our newborn.

But, as with any story, I have to start at the beginning. As a first time mom, pregnancy was not everything I expected. First of all, I was under the impression that as a body-conscious athlete, I would exercise the entire time, eat well, and only gain weight in my stomach. Intense morning sickness, a cross-country move, and sugar cravings completely foiled that plan. Sean and I started taking weekly pictures to track my progress, but when it became clear that I was slowly turning into a humpback whale, this activity stopped. I did permit my mom to take a final belly pic the day before Lincoln was born, so if you want progress, here are my first and last pregnancy pics.

delicate, naive, barely pregnant flower

Small Planet

So you can understand that I was ready to get this baby out of here. Which brings me to my second unmet expectation, that my baby would arrive some time before or on my due date. There is no way this kid was going to keep me waiting any longer than that. But he DID. 

On 10/14/2013 my mom arrived in Florida, and I decided I was going to go into labor. Nature completely ignored my will. Instead, my mom was forced to sit on the couch for an entire week and watch my belly, while trying to keep me from spiraling into depression because of my lingering condition. I'm not going to bore you with the details of my birth story, but I was at the end of my rope by the 18th. Crying every morning, etc. etc. I finally went crazy and ended up going to the hospital to have a non-stress test performed. The moment I arrived, I decided I wasn't leaving without a baby. One vigorous 2 hour walk around the hospital and a determined, sympathetic triage nurse finally put me into labor.

You will never see another person THIS happy to be admitted to the hospital.

and 8 hours later...

Lincoln McKay Johns

Born 10/19/2013

7 lb 8 oz

19 inches long

My dad arrived in Florida that day, so Lincoln got immediate grandparent affection in the hospital. 

His first night was a little difficult, only because he wanted to be held and would cry if he was set down in the bassinet. Fortunately, as new parents, we were happy to cuddle him all night.

We are fortunate to have a very calm baby. He sleeps and eats like a champ, and stays on a consistent schedule. He loves to cuddle...

And he'll pretty much tolerate anything we make him do for the sake of a cute picture.

Thanks, Jyssica, for the bear!

After a week, My parents were out, and Sean's parents took over. We are so grateful for all the help we've received from both of our parents. 

3 generations of Johns men

HALLOWEEN!!

We've been looking forward to Halloween since the moment we found out our baby was due in October. It was not quite what we anticipated, since he was too young to take out, and we didn't get any trick-or-treaters. But we dressed him up anyway.

Yes, I did make this costume with a hat loom. It's possibly the most creative thing I'll ever do.

Now Lincoln is almost three weeks old, and we have managed to capture a couple of firsts on camera.

First car-seat Pic (A Stephanie Walker Tradition)

First tummy time

First tantrum

First day at church

First sink bath

First censored photo.

Not being pregnant rocks!! I can use my abs again, I'm losing weight, my appetite is normal, and I get to look at THIS all day!

We love him! Thanks for your support everyone!