She's Here!

I am pleased to announce the birth of our baby girl, Annika Evelyn!

Annika was born on 12/23/07 at 4:13pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs and 1 oz and 20.5 inches long.

Labor and Delivery was a piece of cake - especially after the epidural!! I was able to get a good night of sleep before my contractions started the morning of the 23rd. Oke was a fantastic coach - he kept things lighthearted and easy. He continues to be a wonderful husband and father each and every day!

As each day passes, we continue to grow more and more as a family. Annika has already gained a pound and continues to flourish. Her big sister, Abby, is a wonderful companion and stays by my and her side during the day while Oke is at work. I couldn't have asked for a better gaurd dog!

The weather this week has been glorious - in the 60's and 70's. Oke, Annika, Abby, and I took advantage of this break from the cold and took our 1st neighborhood walk in our new jogging stroller. Yes, I felt silly 'walking' using the jogger, but maybe one day I will jog!

Thank you to everyone who has sent their well wishes and good thoughts our way - we have a beautiful and healthy baby girl and can't wait for everyone to meet her!

Less than 45 days to go...but whose counting?

We're in the home stretch now!

Weebs, as we've fondly taken to calling the baby [short for weeble] is an amazing acrobat and enjoys kicking and rolling around inside of me as though it was a full contact sport! It is mostly active when I am sitting at work trying to concentrate on something or laying on the couch relaxing. Lately, hiccups have become a daily ritual - and now I can even see the movements on the outside as much as I can feel them on the inside.

Oke and the weeble have found some time to bond as well. My favorite time of day is in the evening when we sit on the couch together and Oke puts his hand on my belly to check out what's new with Weebs. One time, Oke put his ear to my belly and got a surprising kick in the face. It's amazing how strong the baby's movements are becoming!

Although nothing is in its rightful place yet, the house has slowly been taken over by baby items. Abby seems to be fairing pretty well with all of the new additions. I don't think she has any idea of what is to come - and maybe she has it right, ignorance can be bliss!

A few other things we've been up to:

--Oke has been taking advantage of our fabulous fall weather and taking hikes with a few friends, and Abby, in the national parks near our home. I take advantage of his early morning departures by sleeping in!

--We [as in someone we've hired] are painting the rest of the upstairs. So far, the baby's room, hall bath, and stairway/hallway is complete. Master bedroom and master bath should be done by Saturday. We'll post some pictures once everything is back in place.

--Our crash course childbirth class is this weekend; 2 days at 4 hrs each day of non-stop labor and delivery information...what a treat! Hopefully neither one of us will run for the hills afterwards....

Thank you to everyone for your words of wisdom, love, and support. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!

With Love,

Liz

You have to be in it to win it.

Everyone has heard the saying that you have to be in it to win it. Well, with the powerball over $100,000,000 I decided now was the time to get involved. I called a co-worker in DC and ordered up $10 worth of powerball tickets. With 10 tickets and 6 numbers on each ticket I was sure to win something.

Unfortunately, out of the 60 numbers (actually 38 unique numbers), I matched 3 of them. Early retirement will have to wait. It amazing though, how the simple thought of winning the lottery can brighten your day. Hopefully there won't be any winners and I can play again for the Saturday drawing.

~Oke

Kinda Freaky...but so cute!

As promised, a picture of Baby Johnson...



If you can't tell, this is a picture of the wee one's head and it's right arm curved up to its mouth; maybe it's sucking its thumb? Baby has Oke's nose - and hopefully daddy's eyes too!

It's amazing the detail you can see during the ultrasound appointment. You can see every bone and even the vertabrae along baby's spinal cord. According to the the medical professional performing the sonogram, all is normal with Baby Johnson. And even though we didn't want to know the sex of the baby, whatever it is, it is normal - they even check for that!

We are so excited about welcoming the wee one into our world - with every movement inside my belly I'm reassured that Baby is excited too!

Molly's new home...sort of

For those of you waiting anxiously to find out how Molly's relocation went I have some news.

Unfortunately, her affect on Jean was not expected. Jean thought Molly needed some walks and was very determined to get her into the hallway. After a few close calls and some tense moments Molly is off to a new home.

Luckily for us one of the nurses found Molly to be irresistible (something about not having any teeth). She took her home on Friday and we are waiting to hear how that is going. Hopefully it will be Molly's last trip for a while, she doesn't like cars.

On a Lighter Note...

Our 1st pictures of baby is scheduled for 8/13 - sonogram here we come!

We think we've found a good home for Molly...we're going to see if she likes staying with Oke's great-aunt Jean. Molly moves next week!

Ashburn? or the Wild West?

We all know that I enjoy playing some poker. The in-laws are coming to town this weekend, so I wanted to get my poker in before they got here. I have heard about the Monday game for a few months now, but never had the opportunity to play. This week would be different, after a quick email I confirmed the game was on and that there was a spot for me.

The game itself started out as I expected with 2 people going all-in within the first 4 hands and 1 guy buying in for $400 (more than you can buy in for at a casino). By about 12:30 the game was in full swing with 30 players, 3 tables and plenty of money in play. I was up a few bucks when the poker scene in Ashburn was significantly changed.

3 guys dressed in all black and wearing ski masks or bandannas on their face busted through the door yelling for everyone to get down. At first everyone thought it was joke since no one saw a gun and 2 of the guys appeared to be using their hands as the guns. We started diving for the floor when one of them pulled out the first gun and yelled for everyone to hit the floor.

The robbers didn't stay much longer. They saw $380 in cash on the first poker table, grabbed it and ran out the door. I have a feeling that they did not expect to find so many guys playing. A few guys chased after them to try and get a license plate number, but everyone got away. Those of us who stayed in the basement had another brief scare as a commotion started again on the basement stairs, but it was nothing. These were clearly amateurs who missed out on a much bigger score, by my calculations there might have been $10,000 in that basement. With 30 people playing and everyone bringing on average $300, with some bringing much more, the bank was very healthy (one of the reasons I chose this game to play in).

We called the police and spent the next 90 minutes reliving the event for investigators and getting to know some of our fellow players. This game has developed from 1 table of guys who know each other to 3 tables of strangers. I have been playing in Ashburn for about 2 years and only knew about 10 of the people in attendance. Therein lies the problem with success. Our poker game has been growing in size and stature. I have actually met people who have heard of our game in Brambleton. Many of the players in the Monday game were younger (one of the players just finished high school) than our standard group and didn't seem to fit. Only a few weeks ago several of us were talking about how the game was taking on a life of it's own.

No one seems to know who did it. I like to assume the best in people and think that a few of the players were running their mouth in a bar or to their friends about how big this game was. The other option is that someone who was not a regular player or who may have even been in the game that night was in on it. We probably won't ever know, but a lot of speculation has been flying around.

The few of us who host the Brambleton game started talking immediately about the changes we needed to made. The first was to pare down the guest list. At last count more than 100 people were getting a weekly email about where the game would be. That list has been chopped in half and will only include the people who regularly play. We will keep the game limited to the players we know and trust. If someone has been playing in our game for 2 years, chances are pretty good they aren't going to be involved in setting up a robbery.

We will probably avoid having a big (read 30 person) tournament and cash game for a while. There is no reason to put ourselves in a bad spot. Even with a smaller game there is some risk and that means tightening up security. We won't actually be hiring guards, but we will certainly be locking doors and keeping the loitering to a minimum. The constant smoking room that is the back yard will go away and people will have to wait for their cigarette.

Poker will continue in Ashburn, but we will have to be more careful. The games are going to be smaller, with less money to win. Those of us who like the big fields will have to go to a casino to find the bigger games. In the long run the change will probably be a good one.