5 Years

   I haven't blogged in a long time.  So long that I haven't even updated our family photo to add our newest baby, Korey.  There is little time for blogging now with the new baby but I felt I needed to write something special for today and if I had to lose an hour of sleep at night to do it I would.  Please note that I am not a writer and don't pretend to be.  I am just a mom who wants to get the stories of our experience out there.  It was 5 years ago today that Kyle received his new heart.  5 years.  It has gone so fast and yet so much has happened in those 5 years.  Kyle is now 18 and a freshman in college.  He is on his own and flourishing.  5 years ago as we went through the transplant experience with him he was only 13, still my little boy.  There are so many special and wonderfully amazing stories to tell about our time in St. Louis.  So many it would take me a long time to tell you all of them.  I can tell you that if a person didn't believe in God and miracles before going through the our experience they for sure would afterwards.  So many things that couldn't have been just coincidence happened.
  We had got the call in the morning of December 4th that they had found a heart for Kyle.  We were sent to the hospital where he spent the day doing tons of tests, blood work and procedures, all the time waiting to make sure the donor's heart would be compatible.  Kenton and I sat in a little spot by ourselves in the  quiet surgery waiting room that evening when we heard the helicopter come in, knowing it was probably the one carrying Kyle's new heart. He had already been in surgery for hours as they prepared him.  Several of our family members where there too.  Some of them were sleeping and the waiting room was so quiet compared to the hustle and bustle it had during the daytime.  By 3:00 a.m. Kyle was out of surgery and our family went to their hotel rooms to get some sleep.  Kenton and I went to the ICU to finally see Kyle.  He still had tubes everywhere and was intubated so he could not talk.  They wanted him to keep quiet and not talk but he was too excited.  He kept trying to tell us something so we gave him a notebook.. He kept writing us messages.  I still have that notebook.  Those moments with him were life changing for us.   He told me how warm he felt. ( I thought this was from his medication but now looking back wonder if he finally had a good heart pumping blood throughout his body, maybe that is why he felt warm).  He told us how much he loved us.  Some of the words he wrote to Kenton were so special.  It was their conversation and I don't want to write it all down here but I think it was because of that conversation that we decided to have another baby. (Little did we know, we would get two!)  Once we finally got Kyle to go back to sleep Kenton went back to the hotel to get some rest.  I couldn't sleep.  After the nurses left the room I just sat and watched Kyle sleep, like I had done so many times before.  I saw a stethoscope hanging on the IV pole and couldn't help myself.  I took it down, put it on and then put it on Kyle's chest to listen.  The sound of a normal heart is what I heard.  It was so quiet, rhythmic and beautiful.  Tears rolled down my face for the 13 years of listening to sick heart were gone.  13 years of dealing with his illness passed by my eyes.  I saw the moments when he was a baby and sick and I would lay by him with my hand on his chest so I could feel his heart beat as we slept so I would know he was OK.  Gone were the days like when I took him to the ER and the doctor frantically asked, "Can you get the baby to stop crying so I can hear better, it sounds like a train wreck in there!"  Hearing his new heart was one of my greatest life moments!  Later after his transplant the nurses told me I smiled all day the day after his transplant.  I am sure I did.
  Today I still smiling.  I am feeling so blessed and thankful that Kyle is doing as well as he is.  My thoughts go to the donor family and I am so ever grateful for the choice that they made that day.  I pray for them that they find peace and joy in their lives.  I pray for others who are put in the situation to make a choice about donation.  I especially pray for all the little kids who are there at St. Louis Children's waiting for their second chance at life.  I ask that you pray for them too. There are so many of them.  And I pray by telling some of our story, others will consider signing up to be an organ donor!  Happy Heart Birthday Kyle!

Korey Leo Johnson is Here

 I know updates on my blog are getting fewer and fewer.  When you think things couldn't get any busier they usually do.  I just wanted to post a short update to let everyone know we had our little baby boy on July 16, 2013.  Little Korey Leo Johnson weighed in at 9 lbs and 4 oz. and was 22 1/2 inches long.  Yes, a big boy for being born a few weeks early!  He is amazing and doing well.  We are all trying to adjust at our house and find some kind of routine.

With this little angel now in our lives I know I will have even less time for blogging.  I would like to invite those of you that follow our blog to follow me on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.johnson.3532.  I hope to atleast have some time to post a few photos and updates now then on facebook!

What is Going on Around Here

The past month has been so very busy.  I kept wanting to write a blog post but there just wasn't time.  We celebrated Kyle's graduation on May 19th.  We are so very proud of him.  I was afraid I would cry quite a bit as it was such an emotional day, but I did better than expected and only shed a few tears.  Mostly it was just a very happy day of celebration. 

We have been busy planting garden the past week or so.  Hopefully all the rain has not hurt it too much. We would still like to get a pumpkin patch planted for Kaleb and hopefully we can get that done as soon as it drys up a little.   Kaleb loves gardening.  It is one thing we do together as a family and all enjoy.  As I sat weeding the flower bed the other day I thought to myself what great therapy gardening is, and cheaper than a therapist also!  Here Kenton and Kaleb are planting sweet corn.

The last couple weeks we have also enjoyed the return of our humming birds.  I love to sit outside in the evening and watch them come to the feeder.  We have also had cardinals, blue birds, blue jays and gold finches that we have enjoyed watching.

My favorite part of this time of year is the blooming of our iris.  They are such a pretty flower.

We have so many blooming right now that you can go and walk through the garden path and you are just hit with the beautiful fragrance from them.  All of our iris come from Rainbow Iris Farm that is owned by Kenton's sister and her family.





We have tried hard to not let all the rain this past week get us down.  As soon as the sun comes out we put on our boots and head outside.

Kaleb turns 3 on this Sunday, June 2nd.  It is hard to believe it has been three years.  He is excited for his party that we have been planning.  

After Kaleb's birthday I hope to starting focusing on getting ready for the new baby.  He will be here in 9 weeks or so!  Oh my!  So much yet to do.  I am tired most all of the time and uncomfortable but very happy.  Feeling so blessed right now.  

Kaleb's First Time Fishing

What a beautiful Sunday it was today.  The boys and I were outside almost the entire day.  This evening we went down to the pond for Kaleb's first time fishing.  He got a fishing pole from his Aunt Krystal and Uncle Kenny and has been wanting so bad to get to use it.  Fishing has always been a big thing for my boys.  It was actually Kyle's idea to go.  He has always enjoyed to fish.

     Kenton is such a great daddy.  Here he and Kaleb are reeling the fish in.

Here is the big boy with his pole.                

And here he is with his first catch!  Kaleb was so excited!  

       Here Kyle is with his first catch about 14 years ago when Kenton took him fishing for the first time.

We found this photo of Kenton with his dad .  This picture and the one above already decorate a shelf in our home.  I can't wait to add Kaleb's photo.

Hope everyone had a beautiful Sunday!  Kaleb had no nap today so he was asleep by 8:00 pm.  Highly unusual for him.   I'm off to bed too!

Random Inspiration

Unfortunately we caught the bad respiratory virus that has been going around.  Kyle had it for two weeks before he got to feeling better.  Kaleb had it a little over a week.  I am now into the 5th or 6th day of it.  It has honestly been the sickest that I have ever been.  That and the fact that Spring is taking her own sweet time getting here has really got me down lately but I am still finding inspiration here and there.  I am especially excited that spring is coming and I should soon be feeling better.   I thought I would share some of what is inspiring me lately.  

Photography:  I can't hardly wait for warmer weather to get back outside to do some photography.  I love the outdoor light and natural settings.  I am hoping to upgrade my camera here soon, at least before our new little baby comes.  I was looking back through some older pictures and found this one of Kaleb.  I love how it looks in black and white.  I am thinking of making it into a canvas.  Although I don't have a designated laundry room I hope to some day and think that a canvas of this shot would look so sweet there.

I have been finding lots of inspiration off of Pinterest also.  I love that sight.  For me it is like shopping without spending any money.  Some things I am loving lately are of course all about Spring.  We had a lilac bush that Kenton's Gram gave us when we got married but it died a few years ago.  I am hoping to replace it with a couple more this year.  I won't have blooms to enjoy but I hope to get some off of friends or relatives to pretty up our table.  I love the beautiful smell of lilacs.

Source: yourcozyhome.blogspot.com via Marilyn on Pinterest

I also found these rainboots on Pinterest.  There is no way I would pay that much for rainboots but you gotta love how cheerful they are.  These just seem to go on a happy gardener!  If you would like to follow my Pinterest boards here is the link http://pinterest.com/johnkd/.

Source: softsurroundings.com via Marilyn on Pinterest

I signed up for The Art of Spring by Junelle.  I love her art classes and her photography of the baby lambs beats all others.  Since I have been sick I haven't got to participate much with the class but the good thing is I will have access for a year so there will be plenty of time.

Junelle

Source: christytomlinson.typepad.com via Ellen-Mary on Pinterest

At home I have been enjoying decorating Kaleb's room.  As a baby he did not have a room of his own.  Our house is small and we had to put the crib up in our room.  I take heart in the fact that my Grandparents raised nine children in a house smaller than mine.  After Jessica moved away to college it took me a while to get to converting her room to his.  Anyway, Kenton and I plugged along with repainting walls and cleaning the carpet last fall.  Slowly the room is coming together.  We purchased him a big boy bed this past weekend and he was super excited to get it.  Kenton, myself and Grandma Johnson have all had a part in decorating it.  I have a few more things I want to add to it but will be sure to post some more pictures of it in the future.   Kaleb's room is my favorite room in our house right now.

The next few weeks things will start getting pretty busy.  I am so excited and ready for it.  We have lots of outdoor projects planned along with Kyle's graduation in May.  Hopefully this Easter weekend will be a nice one.  I would love to hear what is inspiring you right now.  Leave a comment if you like and let me know.

Bonus Baby

       I have been absent from my blog for quite a while now.  I haven't posted much on facebook lately either.  I had a good reason.  I honestly haven't felt up to it.  Most of you know by now, but some of you out there might not, that we are expecting another baby!  Our bonus baby if you will.  I planned everyone of my other three children, even little Kaleb.  He was our joyous celebration of life after Kyle's transplant.  This baby surprised us.  Last fall was a whirlwind and passed us by so quickly.  I was so busy taking care of Kyle when he in the hospital and was sick.  When things finally settled down around Thanksgiving,  imagine our surprise when we found out that we were having another baby!  We were shocked.  Well, at least I was!  I quickly got used to the idea though.   We are all so excited for our Bonus Baby (as someone at work called him) to be a part of our family.  I am 19 weeks and our little guy is due here August 3rd.  It has been a rough pregnancy.  I have been sick and extremely tired ( thus the lack of blog posts) but everything is going good otherwise.  I had an amniocentesis last week and the results so far have came back all good.  And we found out that we are having another boy!  I am already looking forward to my little boys playing together, continued camp outs, fishing and playing outdoors!  Little ones are such joys.  With Kaleb around it is never a dull moment.  The other night we told him he was going to get a little brother.  His response, "Well..........I would like a new cat!"  We are so excited for all of the fun we will undoubtedly have with another little guy around!  I hope to post more soon!

Love Does

   Many of you know that why I have been absent from the blog for so long.  For those of you that don't our son, Kyle, became sick back in the end of September and we spent most of the month of October in and out of the hospital.  Since Kyle's heart transplant almost four years ago he has done very well, and despite being immunosuppressed due to the anti rejection medications, he has been very healthy.  We have honestly bragged about how well he has done.  This illness reminded us how even though he has been so healthy, we must always remember how easily that can change.  It has been a pretty tough past few weeks but we are cautiously hopeful that things are finally getting better.
  I happened to have started reading a new book that had been recommended to me about the time Kyle got sick.  Love Does  by Bob Goff.  It is such an amazing book that I am reading it for the second time.  Bob is a gifted writer, someone who really gets life and his book is a little about some of the things he believes, stories and how he has lived his life.  Bob believes that love is not just a thought or feeling.  He believes it takes action.  It is a book about hope, inspiration and faith.  As we start this month of Thanksgiving I am so grateful for all of the LOVE we have in our lives.  In the last month we experienced so much of it.
  Love does......is my husband taking care of our little Kaleb as I stayed with Kyle in the hospital, driving 2 hours late a night to check on Kyle and bring us clothes and then coming down and driving us to St. Louis because he thought I was too tired to drive.
It is Kyle's gramma who helped with Kaleb, brought Kyle snacks when she visited him in the hospital and had home cooked meals for us when we got home.
  Love is the grandparents who came to sit with Kyle and I in the hospital.  It is the aunts and cousins who came to visit, the cousins who saved us one night by doing our laundry and bringing it back to the hospital late that night, prayed over Kyle and continued to ask their families and church to pray for him.
  Love is the high school coach who drove 2 1/2 hours on a school night to visit with Kyle in the hospital and talk football with him. Love is his teammates who sent a card and let him know how much they missed him.
  Love is my friends who left one Friday after work, drove 600 miles when we were transferred to St. Louis, even though they don't like city driving, brought Kyle and I stuff, and then gave my husband a ride back home.
 Love is the church members who donated gas money for us to get back and forth several times a week for labs.
  Love is Kyle's classmates, friends, and our family friends who visited him in the hospital and at home, and sent him cards and gifts.
  Love is the guidance counselor who made a special point to text Kyle while he was in the hospital to let him know he was accepted to the college he wants to go to next year.
  Love is the little town continues that to prays for him.
  Love is the nurses and doctors who have worked so hard to help Kyle get better.
  Love is the special nurse who Kyle liked so much.  This nurse brought Kyle movies to watch and video games to play and even stayed over one night after his shift was done as he was willing to play a video game with Kyle.
  Love is the cafeteria woman who for 17 years I have seen almost every time that Kyle has been in the hospital. As she rings up what you have bought, she always ask " how is it going?", if it isn't going well she tells you she will pray for your child and if things are going good, she tells you, "Praise God!"  Her little gesture has always meant so much to me.  This time I told her.
  Love is all of you who have messaged me or called me letting me know that you cared.
  One thing is for sure.  We know that we are loved.  As we start this month of Thanksgiving I want you to know that I am so thankful for all of you.