Sisters

Here's Madison the day we brought her home from the hospital July 2008...

Here's Savannah the day we brought her home from the hospital November 2010...

Maddie loves watching her little sister, helping me by bringing me diapers and bottles, and she loves singing to Savannah.

Maddie brought her Bible over to Savannah's crib today and read her the "Happy Daddy" (Prodigal Son) story. It was so sweet!!

So Much To Be Thankful For

It was such a blessing to spend Thanksgiving Day with the whole side of my family. What a treat and sweet surprise to be together!

Ben and Melissa were so kind to drive all the way from Arizona to be together.

The cousins meeting Savannah for the first time. Maddie just jumped around the house with excitement to see her cousins!

Auntie Melissa couldn't believe how tiny Savannah is!

So thankful that Jesse is my husband and the father of my girls. What an unspeakable joy it is to live life with this man! He keeps me on my toes, keeps me laughing, keeps me well taken care of, and keeps me growing in the Lord- now that's my man.

So thankful for this precious new one!

Four on a couch!

These girls LOVE each other.

Charis was such a great older cousin this trip. She played so nicely with Madison and helped her. She also held Savannah with such care.

Yummy dinner! My mom went all out making us the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had! Thank you mom and dad for making this day so memorable!

The older cousins had fun making turkey crafts together.

We were able to spend Friday with the James as well!

Sweetness..

The biggest pizza box ever!

Savannah's First Visitors

When Maddie walked in the hospital room, I couldn't believe that she was ever as small as Savannah! We are pretty happy to be a family of four :)

Maddie is loving being a big sister...most of the time! As you can see, she and Mimi brought a party to our hospital room! It was so sweet- they made chocolate scones, sparkling juice, and special cups!

Three generations of girls!

Papa came too!

Wyatt, who works with Jesse in the outreach department, came to meet Savannah.

Mike and Rachel brought Savannah this adorable bunny. It's her first stuffed animal!

Auntie Sarah came with a huge smile!

Steve and Holly were so kind to bring Jesse and I dinner in the hospital. Let's just say Glendale Adventist delivers babies well, but doesn't do food well at all!

We are so happy the Archers are in town from South Africa! They paid a visit to meet little miss Savannah.

And the biggest surprise of all....the James came to town!!!! My sister and her family live in Arizona, and they surprised us by driving here on Thanksgiving!!! It was so special to have them hold our little blessing. The cousins had a blast together.

Thanks to everyone for welcoming Savannah into our lives. We are full of joy!

Savannah Day Two

Here's a few photos Rachel Ferkovich took when she came to visit us in the hospital. We just love them! Thanks Rach- we loved seeing you and Mike.

Introducing...Savannah Grace Johnson!

After 11 hours of labor, our sweet little Savannah Grace was born on November 22, 2010 at 9:45pm. We couldn't be more thrilled to meet our little girl!

Daddy had a smile from ear to ear until he fell asleep! Here's Savannah getting cleaned up. She weighs 7 pounds and is 20.5 inches long.

Our favorite Dr. Frields- we are so thankful to have him as our doctor!

Here's the sweetie sleeping this morning.

We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for this precious gift. God is so good to bless us with another daughter. We prayed last night that we would raise her well and be good stewards of the gift He's given us.

Thank you to so many of you for your thoughtful prayers and messages. We are blessed by your love for us. There is so much to be grateful for- God is faithful!

Just the Three of Us

Here we are dropping Maddie off at my parents' house to spend the night because tomorrow we have a 7am appointment to be induced! It's exciting to think we'll meet Savannah tomorrow, but I must admit I'm a little emotional about the days of just the three of us coming to a close. God is so good to bless us with Madison, and we are confident Savannah will be an added blessing to Team Johnson. We look forward to being a family of four now :) Madison is excited about having a baby sister. She talks about helping me, holding the baby, and wants to be a big sister. Can't wait to see the two of them together!

A little Mommy and Maddie time reading Fish out of Water (one of her favorite Dr. Seuss books) in "the big bed" as she calls it.

Daddy and Maddie love reading the Story Bible together- some of her favorite ones to hear are: The Happy Daddy (Prodigal Son), Tummy story (Jonah), Noah (the Flood), Bad Men (story of the Pharisee's not forgiving the sinful woman who came to Jesus with the perfume).

CSUN Baby Shower

A few weeks ago our college CSUN Bible Study gave Jesse and I a co-ed baby shower. For most of the guys, this was their first shower ever! We had a fun time with everyone- here's some of the pictures from the morning...

Here's most everyone that was able to come. Thanks for hosting, Karina!

We ate some yummy snacks.

And visited together for a while.

Then the games began...we played quite a few! The first was a name game where you picked some one's name and then gave them a nickname.

For the next game, we passed 8 brown bags around, each labeled with a number. By feeling the object in the bag we had to guess what kind of a baby item it was (for example: baby pin, band aid, or hand sanitizer).

Then we had the milk chugging game- who could drink the mink from a bottle the fastest. Jesse said it was actually really hard and he had much more of an appreciation for all it takes babies to eat! Maddie wanted to be a part of this one :)

The next game was a matching one, where you had to match the Biblical mother's name to her child's name. It was actually quite challenging!

We were able to use our Bible for this game.

Drew and Sarah

Anna and Allen

Then it was time for gifts...I loved seeing how the guys wrapped or didn't wrap their gifts :)

When it came time to tear open the bows, we had a large knife...not something you see when it's just girls at a shower.

Karina and Hannah played with Maddie all morning :) She loves these girls!

Madison loved the shower party favors...ring pops!

Steve and Holly were really thoughtful to give Mads a little doggie since all the other gifts were for the baby. She has slept with it ever since!

Thank you CSUNers for all you did to shower us with your love!!!

A little baby update...I'm 38 weeks now, so only 2 weeks until my due date. I'm starting to feel really tired. I find myself needing to do a little less than I have been. We are so excited about this little girl's arrival! We'll keep you posted when the big day arrives :) You can be praying for a safe delivery, and that we find an affordable home to rent in the area.