You knew I was pregnant right?

We've gotten a few comments from people we don't hear from too often that didn't know we were having another baby so I thought I'd post a picture to make sure there was no doubt in everyone's mind! And even though I certainly look like I'm due any day (and plenty of people remind me of that everyday!) this was taken at about 27 weeks (I'll be 30 weeks this week). 

The Nursery!

My husband is incredible! While I was in San Diego he got started on the nursery and totally surprised me. I kept thinking that we'd never get anything started until it was actually time for her to be born, we've been so busy lately. I've been pretty frustrated that nothing seems to be coming together, we hadn't started the nursery, we're no where near having her named, I haven't picked out bedding, I haven't even gone shopping for her yet! And now I am so excited that something is happening and that it will be completed (fingers crossed) before she comes! There's still quite a bit to do, though. We need to patch up all the seams in the wood, get it sanded down smooth, and a whole lot of painting. There's also that part of the room where we didn't do paneling and it sits back a couple feet, we're planning on putting in some built in storage there and a built in changing table. Maybe this means all the other stuff will start coming together, too. So excited! 

San Diego

I was sent to San Diego this past week for a work conference and I was lucky enough to have my mom come with me. I couldn't believe the sun still exists! It was incredibly beautiful. I'm never great about taking pictures so there's not much to show but I really did have a great time. We stayed at The Omni Hotel, which was easily the nicest place I've ever stayed. We found some yummy places to eat, good dessert, did some shopping, walked around some great little tourist shops on the bay, and just enjoyed not having to wear a coat!

Baby GIRL Johnson!

Inauguration Day

More Pictures of Inauguration Day

4:11 am in the metro

4:32 am waiting at the Silver Ticket Gate

The sun joins us at 7:14 am

9:10 am

Good Eats in Washington DC

We ate a lot of amazing food on our trip. Even the cafes in the museums had pretty incredible food. We had a pretty interesting experience one of our first nights at Marrakesh, a Moroccan restaurant. None of us had ever eaten anywhere like this so it was new to us all. No menu, no prices listed anywhere, just a set 7 course meal to share between us with no silverware. 

Oh...and belly dancing!

Mt. Vernon

Mt. Vernon is where we traveled the furthest to. It's right on the Potomac river and really a stunning place to see. It was quite large even though it only comprised of a portion of the land that George Washington actually owned. This is where he retired to after being President and very much loved his life there. 

Here is the Mansion.

The back of the Mansion.

And the line to get into the Mansion. Needless to say we didn't wait in line.

This is a small monument dedicated to George Washington's slaves, and their burial place.

The burial place of George and Martha Washington.

Other Outside Attractions

As I'm sure you will see, we weren't very good at taking a lot of pictures. We feel like we saw just about every monument and site you could possibly see while in DC but it was so cold and we were so bundles up that it took too much effort to take pictures! Ah, excuses. 

These first couple pictures are at the World War II Memorial. These cold winter pictures don't do it justice, it's a beautiful site that I'd love to go back and see in warmer weather.

Here's Kara with the Washington Monument in the background. This is the same spot we took the picture of the White House (below). It's really cool how all these places, along with the museums, are all relatively close to one another. 

The White House, the place that's not decorated with cheap stuff like Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, you know, the places where I dream to one day shop!

I could have sworn we took pictures while at the Jefferson Memorial but, alas, they are nowhere to be found. We were there the day of the big concert but we thought it started a whole lot earlier than it actually did! We were just about as close as you could get but when we realized it wasn't for another 4 hours and we hadn't eaten anything in hours we decided to leave. 

Smithsonian

The Smithsonian wasn't too high on my priority list for this trip, I basically thought it was just some old building with old paintings in it. Little did I know, literally, that it was made up of several different museums each incredible in their own respect. 

Seriously?! The ruby slippers?! Sure, they're really not very stylish, and sequins haven't been used in how many years, but certainly a sight to see. This was in The National Museum of American History. 

This is what you walk in to see when you enter The National Museum of Natural History, by far my favorite museum. There's no way you could see it all in one day, or maybe even two! Such a great place to  take kids to with everything from gems and rocks to whales and dinosaurs, Jack and Owen would have loved it!

Here's the Hope Diamond, in the same museum.

Still in the same museum we spent way too much to watch a 40 minute 3D movie on Dinosaurs. Oh well, experiences. 

The US Capitol Building

It's pretty dang impressive standing on Capitol grounds, it's an amazing building.

Here's Kara, looking fab, right before the tour. The statue in the background is Lady Liberty, the same statue that is on the top of the outside of the building.

Nick and Kara outside the Capitol after the tour. It was such a beautiful day, great for pictures. 

This is inside the Capitol and it's called the Crypt. It was built to bury George Washington in but he died before it was ever finished, he was instead buried at his home at Mt. Vernon. 

This "compass" is where the four zip codes of DC intersect, it's also where the President Elects' sign papers for their Inaguration. 

Kara, Keara, and Jayme standing on the "compass".

This is the inside of the copper rotunda; it's absolutely amazing. There's a whole explanation to the painting on the ceiling but do you think I actually remember it? I just know George Washington is up there somewhere. 

Hail to the Chief

This is how it was for us.  Well, actually, run your hands and feet under ice cold water until they ache, then stick them in the freezer, then watch this.  THAT'S how it was for us.

More Headlines

These are from fark.com's headline of the year contest.  I am deleting those that aren't that funny and that are overly inappropriate.

Also, we had some unbelievers last time, so let me explain how fark works-- it's a news aggregator, with submissions from all over the world.  People find stories, create their own headlines, and then submit the original article.  So the stories are real, headlines are made up by non-journalists.

Here we go:

One armed girl swims circles around competition

Two swimmers dead, Juan Moore missing 

Disagreements shake Djibouti. Shake, shake, shake. Shake, shake, shake. Shake Djibouti 

Now that certain words -- like the other word for donkey -- must be filtered on the Internet: President Abraham Lincoln was buttbuttinated by an armed buttailant after a life devoted to the reform of the U.S. consbreastution

Father of two crushed to death after falling into printing press. This story is continued on Pages 3, 4, 9 and 10

Last German WWI veteran dies at age 107. WE WIN

Four ex-AOL executives reach plea deal with SEC, must surrender stolen money and perform 5,000 HOURS OF FREE SERVICE

General Motors post a $15.5 billion second-quarter net loss. Sales plummet like a rock. Oooooohhhhh, Like a Rock 

QVC to lay off 6 percent of workers. But if you call in now, they'll cut another 10 percent 

Halliburton bidding $3.4 billion for Expro, which is the first time in years Halliburton actually bid on something

Ticketmaster fires 300 employees due to financial crunch, collects 10 percent of their severance in convenience fees

Not ones to deviate from their business model, GM admits that they "wont make a dime" from the Chevy Volt

Stark candy heart plant is closing. It must be a DREAM. This pink slip can't BE MINE. Guess nothing lasts FOREVER 

3M sends 1800 employees pink post-it notes 

Krispy Kreme loss widens in 3rd quarter, hindquarter

Sony makes 8000 walk, man 

Scientists create rubber that repairs itself. Your parents wish they had had this

Schoolboy collapses and goes into convulsions playing World of Warcraft, which inadvertently gives him more exercise than he's had for months 

Alaska's black population says he has felt ignored by Palin

Not one to stall for time, Larry Craig intends to tap out his memoirs

"Obama tax plan will retard growth, job creation" as opposed to Palin's plan of job growth and retard creation

Anonymous package of bacon closes congressman's office, which marks the first time in history a politician ran away from pork 

Suri Cruise named best-dressed tot in show business, just barely edging out her dad Tom 

Supermodel sorry for disappearance, promises to never turn sideways again

"24" executive producer Joel Surnow opts to leave the show after his contract RAN OUT OF TIME 

A little more of our Christmas