Inspired

I had been wanting to write this post for some time. Back this fall I had the opportunity through my work to listen to a wonderful speaker, John O'Leary. His story is amazing. At 9 years old his body was almost 100% burned. He was given less than 1% chance of surviving. He went through numerous surgeries and hospitalizations, losing his fingers and suffering many scars. He spends his life now speaking, inspiring and motivating others. He is the most inspirational speaker I have ever heard. His parents wrote a book, Overwhelming Odds. They tell his story about the fire and John's recovery. I was fortunate enough to get a copy and get it autographed by John. But listening to him speak it himself is life changing. His story is not only about himself but about those people along the way who made a difference for him. It proves that by reaching out to others in your words or actions you can be the one who makes a difference in someone elses life. If you ever get the chance, go and listen to him. It is so worth the time. You will laugh, cry and leave with a new motivation and outlook on life. It is has been 3 months since I heard him speak but his story and his message are still with me. I would go listen to him again in a heartbeat. He has a magic about him that makes you feel you are really in the presence of an angel. You can read more about him at his site http://www.rising-above.com/.

He.

He is 7 months old now.

We haven't had him weighed since the first of December but he weighs somewhere between 18 lbs. and 8 oz and 20 lbs.

He is wearing 9-12 months clothing.

Most of his clothes I have bought online through Old Navy.

He is taking 7-7 1/2 ounces of formula about every 4-4 1/2 hours.

He is taking fruits, veggtables and cereal. He doesn't like peas at all.

He sleeps through the night most of the time, have some bad night here and there where he tosses and turns in his sleep. We think it is related to his teething.

He has his two front bottom teeth and is getting atleast 4 more on the top that we can see coming in.

He crawls easily now. He pulls himself up to things and can stand by himself for a few seconds.

He took one small step the other night.

He crawls and climbs on everything.

His favorite toys are his bike and fisher price keyboard that he can stand up to.

Other things he like to play with include mom's cell phone, the remote control, and the laptop computer.

On Sundays we now go help Daddy check cows.

He recently discovered riding in the clothes basket while someone pushes him is fun. It quiets him right down. Kenton finally got to the point he tied a belt to it so we can pull him around and not have to bend over.
He just started talking more last week. He can say "ba ba", "da da" and "ma ma".

He is working on waiving "bye-bye".

Daddy calls him "sledgehammer" and mommy would like to get him a helmet!

Everyday is something new for us!

Johnson 2010 Slideshow

Jessica put together this video of photos that Kyle and I picked out. We had a blessed 2010. We are so grateful for our family, friends, health, and all of the other gifts that God has given us this year. Looking forward to 2011!

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him...

Before the snow came last night we took the kids to Lenox to see the Christmas lights in the park. I will share more pictures later, funny ones of Jess and Kyle, but today this picture seemed most appropriate. Like most people these last few days have been busy with last minute preparations. Let us not forget though the true meaning of the holiday. Merry Christmas to you all from the Johnson/Yehle's.

Christmas Photos

Thanks to Kenton helping me, I got a few minutes to play tonight with my camera and get some Christmas pictures of Kaleb.

I have lots more ideas to try but I was excited how these turned out.

We really don't let him play with Christmas lights all of the time, just for these photos!

He.

He is now 6 months old.
He weighed 18 lbs. and 5 oz. at his doctor visit last week.
He was there for an ear infection.
He now has two bottom teeth.
He is wearing 6-12 months clothing. Most of them I bought recently at Old Navy, love their baby clothes.
He wears size 3 shoe.
He is crawling all over the place, using furniture, toys, what ever he can find, to pull himself up to a standing position.
He loves his books and right now is really into his farm book which is all about animals.
He is really into animals-loves the cat and the dog.
He has been crazy clingy with Mommy lately, probably due to the ear infection. He only wants to sleep on top of me or with me holding him.
He loves to watch and interact with dad while Mommy holds him.
He made his first visit with Santa Friday night.

Daddy holding Kaleb as we waited in line. Right after this picture Kaleb proceeded spit up a large amount. We quickly wiped him off just in time to sit on Santa's lap.

He did a great job. No tears and no spit up on Santa!

Afterwards he got a candy cane and I wanted to get a picture of him holding it but he dropped it on the side walk and by the time we had him in his car seat he got it open and into his mouth.

First taste of peppermint! He obviously liked it!

He is always on the go. Kyle had Kaleb on his bike the other day and I came into the room to this:

Not so sure that is safe for a six month old to do Kaleb!

We had his 6 month old pictures take the beginning of the month. I will try to post them when we get them back.

Two Years

Kyle before going home from Children's Mercy 12-2-10.

It has been exactly two years today that Kyle received his new heart. He is doing so well. We went to Children's Mercy this past week for his cardiac cath, biopsy and check up. We got great news. Kyle's new heart continues to do well. His biopsy showed no rejection and his labs were as Dr. Simon put it "perfect." She told Kyle she wished more of her transplant patients were as good as Kyle is. I am very proud of him. He does a great job remembering to take his medication each day, getting enough rest and using his hand sanitizer. He has grown up so much since his transplant. It is hard to believe that it has been two years. To me it seems like it was yesterday. I commented that fact to Kyle and he told me to him it seemed like 10 years ago. That made me feel good. He has adjusted so well. For me the memories of the time we spent in St. Louis and the emotional events we experienced with be forever with me. I think about the other kids and families we got to know while we were there, some who didn't make it. I think about Kyle's donor and her family, and about all those children and their famlies who we left there in St. Louis, those who were still waiting for their own miracle to happen. It can be very overwhelming to think about all of it. I have always promised though to not dwell on the worries about the future or the sadness of the past. I know that is not good for Kyle. So we instead celebrate life.

We gave Kyle an "Anniversary Card" with a gift today. I had to edit the card to say "Happy 2nd Anniversary for your new heart! I will go to bed tonight feeling very grateful and blessed.