Ethan comes home!

Ethan was released from the hospital and came home on Christmas Day!

Evie loves "her" baby Ethan.

The Johnson Family:

Ethan Pics!

Here are a couple of more recent pictures of Ethan. When Evie saw these pictures she said, "Dr. P taking care of Ethan" Dr. P is their pediatrician.

Ethan Charles Johnson!

Hi, friends! My nephew, Ethan Charles Johnson, was born on Friday, December 19. He weighed 7lbs. 2oz. and was 20in. long. Though his measurements don't indicate it, the doctors consider him a preemie because he was born 4 weeks early.
Here's a picture of the happy family shortly after his birth:

Evie and Big Daddy (or B'addy, as she likes to call him) watch the nurses tend to Ethan:

While in the nursery, the nurses noticed that Ethan had to work a little too hard to breathe. He made a slight moaning sound with every breath. This noise was a result of his throat muscles working hard to push air into his lungs. The pediatrician decided to put him in the NICU and assist his breathing with a c-pap machine (like the one worn by people with sleep apnea).

Ethan has been in the NICU since that first night. As typical for families with a child in the NICU, we have been on an emotional roller coaster. The good news is that the doctor has not needed to incubate Ethan. He has gone from the c-pap to a vent/hood type contraption to granular tubes that assist with his breathing. They started feeding him yesterday and Cristi was able to hold and feed him last night! Please continue to pray for baby Ethan and our entire family. We are hoping that we will be able to bring him home for Christmas!
Here are a few more pics for your enjoyment:

What a fun week!

I had such a fabulously unique week that I was inspired to once again return to the blogging world. (Well, the fun week, the nagging friends and family, and the small amount of down time I decided to take for myself combined to encourage my return.)

Most of you know that I occasionally 'moonlight' as a doula. My friends, Amanda and Owen Nease, invited me to join them in the birth of their son! Amanda choose to labor and deliver in the water. Having watched a few births, I am convinced that water birth is the way to go!
This seemed to be her most comfortable position in the water. Isn't she beautiful? I mean, the girl was having hard, double contractions and still managed to smile in between.

Owen, Amanda and mid-wife, Cathy.

Owen and I assembled, cleaned and disassembled the pool. We had two different sets of directions and I'm pretty sure Candid Camera taped us for their next episode. This picture marked the momentous occasion of finally getting the pool back in its carrier. Can you see the relief on our faces?

Bennett Owen Nease! 9lbs 21.25 inches

Two days later, we had a rare snowy morning in New Orleans!

Later in the week, my friend Eva invited me to watch Pete Sampras and James Blake play an exhibition match in Baton Rouge. We had floor seats!

Pete's still got it! He won in the third set.

Evie's 1st Tech Game

*A note to my NGCSU crowd....please accept my apologies for not making it to Gold Rush...I just couldn't miss this!*

We took Evie to her first GT game! It was Homecoming, so she got to see the "Wreck" parade, visit a few tailgates, eat at the Varsity, watch 4 paratroopers land on the 50 yd line before the game, sleep through the first half, dance with the band during the 2nd half and cheer the Jackets on to Victory!



Watchin' the Wreck Parade by Big Daddy's frat house; posing with the Ramblin Wreck


Having fun with 'Uncle Charlie' and 'Aunt Herlene'!

My News

So, Kimberly wants me to share the story about the time that I got hit by a car in the Student Center parking lot. Yes-my person, not my car was hit, Yes-it happened last week, Yes- I'm okay, a few bruises here and there, but I'm okay.

Don't worry, I'm gonna give you the details. First, you need to know a little background info to make the story even better (as if getting hit by a car isn't enough of a story). On Sept. 1, I started my new job as the Associate Dean of Students at NOBTS. You can read more about it here http://www.nobts.edu/resources/pdf/Publications/GK37.4Web.pdf (go to page 5)

Yeah, the Associate Dean of Students (that's me.....still really weird to say), is walking from her car to work last Thursday morning when a new undergrad student in an old Chevy pick-up comes tearing around the corner (probably late for class). Now, I'm not hiding. I'm in the middle of the road and I was committed....no turning back....when I realize that this dude's going pretty fast. I think to myself, "Self, surely he sees me." I mean, I'm in a bright pink sweater and I was carrying a bright pink umbrella (cute skirt and heels, too!). The truck gets a little closer, but isn't slowing down. I began to think that maybe it was someone messing with me. You know, acting like he's gonna hit me, but stop right before he gets to me. Well, he wasn't acting. By this time I'm almost in the clear (right in front of the driver's side headlight) when I realize, 'he's not stopping'. Instinct kicked in, and I placed one hand on top of the hood and the other on the side of the headlight and kind of pushed off as the truck hit me.
I took a bumper to the left knee and my right side hit the concrete pretty hard, but no major damage. Just bruises here and there and no sleeping on my side for a little while.
So, I'm sprawled out on the ground, and the contents of my purse are strewn everywhere. The student gets out of his truck and he was FREAKING out. (As he should have been....I mean, really, what a great way to start your academic career....hit the Associate Dean....LOL)
I stand up, check to make sure all of my appendages were still attached, and say, "Did you not SEE me?" (Go back and read that sentence with Liz's 'you've got to be kidding me' voice.) He was like, "n-n-n-o-o ma'am, I was looking to my right for a parking space.....I'm so sorry, are you okay?" I said, "No, I'm not okay you just HIT me. How could you not see me?" He proceeds to pick my belongings up off the ground. He said, "What do we do?" All I could think was, 'I just got hit by a car!' and 'if this guy gets in trouble, he'll end up in my office anyway, just give him a somber warning' So, I dished out a little bit more of a warning, grabbed my purse and went to work.
Of course, I didn't get much work done because everyone wanted to stop by and check on me. At one point our Registrar walked in to talk to me about a student issue. I told him, "I'm sorry, we might have to talk about this tomorrow, I just got hit by a car." LOL.

Well, it's a story. At least I can laugh about it....could have been much worse!

GT vs. ND

*****I wrote this last week, but didn't get the chance to post it....sorry for the delay!**********

Okay, so I know that you thought me updating my blog was about as likely as App. State beating Michigan. Haven't you just had a weekend full of suprises!

Most of you know that I travelled to South Bend for our annual "Tech away game" trip. Can we say FABULOUS weekend? And giving Notre Dame their worst home-opener loss EVER was just lagniappe (or, icing on the cake, to you non-cajun folk). Okay, so maybe it was the best part of a great weekend. But, I'm telling you, we had a great weekend even before the game started!

My Aunt Kim, who lives in South Bend, arranged for her neighbor to give us a golf cart tour of the campus on Friday afternoon. Her neighbor, Brian, really hooked us up! He works for Notre Dame's Mendoza School of Business. He gave us a golf cart tour of campus AND tickets for the ND Pep Rally. YES....you read that correctly. You have to get a ticket to go to their Friday evening pep rally (and they have them before every home game) And there was a line of at least 200 folks who couldn't get in....TO A PEP RALLY. I was WAY impressed with the tradition and sportsmanship at ND. Their fans were great (you know, they didn't yell 'tiger bait', or bark in your face like I've experienced at some lesser universities). And instead of reminding us that they've beat us something like 27 out of the 34 times we've played them, they shook our hands, thanked us from coming to South Bend, and said "Y'all played a great game." I used to get tired of hearing about Notre Dame and their "tradition", but now, I have to say that they are the real deal.

Here are some pics to enjoy!

Brian gave us a parking pass, so we tailgated right outside the stadium! We just HAD to pose with Buzz in front of Touchdown Jesus.

Back by popular demand

Although I am tempted to wait and see just how many comments and memories y'all will leave in my last post, peer pressure wins and I'm updating my blog.

What have I been up to? Well, I joined a USTA league this spring. It felt so incredibly good to get back on the tennis court. Our team ended up winning our local league and competed in the state tournament last weekend! Woo-hoo....way to go Highly Strung! We even won a couple of our matches! (lost a few, too) Here's a pic from last weekend's tournament:

I headed to the ATL this weekend for my cousin's wedding. My cousin, Samantha, married Scott McInturf.

I really enjoyed my time at home this weekend. I even took my niece to one of my favorite places! Can you guess where we went?