Lt. Col. James Gordon Johnson: 9/16/22 - 11/20/08

For those of you that have not heard, my Grandad from my mom's side of the family passed away recently. It was a bitter sweet end to a long illness as we were all brought together for the Thanksgiving weekend which was filled with some tears, a few stories and lots of laughs. Here is a video I put together a few years ago. It's a family history based on his autobiography and I thought you might enjoy it.

Georgia Speaks: The Movie

Here is some random footage I shot of Georgia over the Thanksgiving weekend. I'm experimenting with the video embedding feature of this blog so please provide feedback on how it performs so I may adjust accordingly. Here you'll see a typical conversation between us and Georgia. She loves to talk while laying down and we usually get a bunch of smiles, but this conversation was more of a spat, most likely pertaining to her being hungry and having a camera shoved in her face instead of you-know-what!

Georgia Signs Modeling Contract!!!

We've been trying to postpone the inevitable, but much to our apprehension, Georgia has signed her first modeling contract. We're unable to disclose the terms of the deal, but People magazine has reported the figure to be in the 6-7 digit range and will include appearances at Nordstrom's, Macy's and the new Snoqualmie Casino. Also, it hasn't been confirmed, but rumors hint at an album including a duet with Hannah Montana! We're actually quite relieved as we were worried that she'd have to tour the pageant circuit for a while before hitting the runway. Now, all we have to worry about is trying to find black stilettos in a size 1! Here you'll see her modeling REI's Winter '08 'Little Miss' collection. See how she works the camera with that seductive stare. I think its going to be her signature look!

Madsen Costume Party

Here we are all dolled up for the big night at the Madsen's house for their costume party. I'll spare everyone the suspense by saying that I'm Johnny Cash, Julie is Little Red Riding Hood and Georgia is decorated in a pumpkin laden onesy. I even found a real pair of black cowboy boots and a hat at Value Village for only $15 and they were in my size and the only pair. I guess you really can't take the country out of the boy. Anyways, we had a lot of fun and there were some very creative costumes and spooky food (the spider-covered devilled eggs were especially scary).

Mystery Solved

The debate is finally over and this picture is the proof. Georgia officially takes after her Dad. This fact is even more obvious when we attempt to watch anything on the TV. It's a riot watching her squirm and wriggle her neck in a zealous effort to get a glimpse of what's on. Looks like I'm going to have to start reading again. I hope it hasn't changed much since High School.

Georgia Continues to Take Shape

Georgia continues her development through a self-motivated regiment of diet and exercise. We hadn't noticed until recently that Georgia has took it upon herself to get in shape by eating well and working out. To assist her in this crusade she has instituted a regular regiment of 'Five-Finger' sandwiches (in addition to her steady diet of free-range breast milk) and twice-a-day work-outs on her exercise mat. Pictured below you can see her knocking out some leg lifts which I can only imagine was a result of our leaving the Palates DVD playing during a restroom break. All kidding aside, the 'Five-Finger' sandwiches are actually Georgia's way of working out her gag reflexes and the exercise is real, but its what we've come to label as 'tummy time'. This is when we put her on her stomach and encourage her to work out those neck muscles. She's been quite successful from an early age - relatively speaking. Dad tried taking her on one of his bike rides, but she couldn't keep up on the hilly stretches so we'll stick to the 'tummy time' for now.

Georgia's Speaks!!!

This just in!!! Georgia has spoken her first word(s)... And, as I'm sure, much to the surprise of everyone the word was "GAAGAOIEOWAGAE". We're still not quite sure the language of origin, but we think it comes from an ancient Gaelic dialect. We've narrowed down the meaning to either "I'm hungry Mom...give me milk!" or "Dad, you need to shave 'cause you're scratching my face...". Its now just a matter of time before she starts speaking English or even Danish but, while we have the opportunity, the two of us have taken up this rare language in an attempt to communicate with Georgia more clearly. So far the results have varied... And if her speaking skills weren't enough, she's also showing signs of super human strength every time she kicks dad in the gut while he holds her upright on his lap...OUCH!!! Anyways, I thought everyone would be excited to hear the wonderful news of little Georgia's amazing talents.

Pumpkin Patch and Carving

In this blog entry I just wanted to show everyone how much Stronger I am than Katrin...Actually, we went on our first family pumpkin patch trip. Katrin went with us and was very excited to get into the spirit of Halloween like a true American as its not widely celebrated in Germany. We went to the aptly named, Mount Si nursery, as you can see in the background. We spent an hour or so comparing our Pumpkin treasures until we decided on 5 worthy candidates to take home. Once there We exposed Katrin to the art of cutting holes into a giant orange squash...or 'Pumpkin Carving' as its also know. Well, my tutelage became rapidly unnecessary as Katrin took to carving her first pumpkin like second nature as you can see by the results. She chose the more conventional 'Jack-O-Lantern' approach, while Julie and I tried our luck at some of the more sophisticated designs from a book. That's my Alien on the left, Julie's ghost is in the center and Katrin's is on the right. All in all, it was a valiant effort on everyone's part and we were all very proud. However, our timing was a little premature as this morning I finally had to scrape off the rotten remains of our beautiful creations before the trick-or-treaters got to see them. Oh well, it was still fun. Then we capped off the day with a nice dinner and Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert...Mmmmmmmm!

Georgia in California

I'll have a glass of the '98 Chateau and she'll have 2 ounces of warmed breast milk... I should have known that Georgia would be fine dining with the Grandparents during her trip to Cally. I just hope the restaurant they chose was black tie optional. Well, some of the family got to meet Georgia for the first time last weekend as she and Julie flew to the Golden State for a quick visit. Everyone had a blast as expected and Georgia aced her flying exam extending her perfect track record for passing tests. Julie, on the other hand, had a bit of a snag when it took 3 flight attendants and a couple of other crew members to unstick the carseat from the plane seat causing them to be last off the plane.

Georgia Gets a Bath

Georgia is really enjoying her bath time. So much so, in fact, that we've had to stop using the kitchen counter on account of the liquid shrapnel that litters the vicinity. Her favorite antic is to vigorously kick in the deep end of her infant hot tub causing the need for me to change my shirt (coincidentally, I'm usually wearing the shirt I had just changed into due to the spit up). As you can see in the second picture its quite a fun time for all. We've since moved the operation to the bathroom tub in the hopes of salvaging our hardwood floors, but its only a matter of time before you'll see us wearing rain suits for future bath time pics. Once again Katrin is the photographer for these as she has quite a knack for capturing Georgia's infectious smile.

More 'Georgia Smiles' Pictures

Georgia has become quite the smiler as you can see here. Unfortunately, it mostly occurs in the morning after Dad's gone to work, but he gets a few grins in the evenings. Mom even admits to hearing the occasional giggle while Georgia's sleeping (she must be thinking of the way Dad looks and acts when trying to get her to smile). Its only a matter of time before she's starring in one of those "baby smiles" calenders...July of course. She's also become quite photogenic. So much so, in fact, that she was complimented by the passport agent at the post office as being one of the best ten week olds she's ever taken a passport photo of. She even gave us the extra five tries it took get a keeper, so that should explain the contents of this years Christmas cards.

Katrin Visits

Katrin arrived Sunday night for a little over a weeks stay and we immediately put her to work. She even went with us to the Post Office to babysit while Julie and I filled out the paperwork for Georgia's first passport. Not to brag, but the city of North Bend experienced unusually delayed mail delivery today due to the popularity of Georgia with the Post Office staff...we understand. Katrin's been to Northwest a couple times before so this trip will mostly be filled with Georgia time and shopping for her Abercrombie & Fitch hungry brother Thomas back in Wuerzberg, Germany. Although, all of the Grandparents will be happy to hear that she is taking lots of pictures and has a knack for capturing that georgious Georgia smile.

Grandma Feeds Georgia

Georgia has started taking from the bottle and, as luck would have it, Grandma got to administer the daily dose during her last visit. As you can see, its quite a bit of fun, but beware when you run out 'cause she'll be wanting more in a hurry. She's become quite the eater. But with all this consumptive success comes the downside...more product returns in the form of spit up. This would explain why if any of you see me more than once in a day, I'll be wearing a different shirt each encounter. Apparently dad hasn't learned that spit up is non-ddiscriminatory when it comes to clothing. By the way, for those of you not in the know, the "Boppy Pillow" - pictured here - was the single most useful tool ever invented for parents. On the contrary, its the single least liked invention by all chiropractors.

Georgia Smiles (kinda)

For all of you who haven't heard, Georgia has started smiling (sort of). It's not ear to ear yet, but its still pretty darn cute. Her best grins are in the morning so sadly dad doesn't get to see them, but he gives it his best shot in the evening! Georgia is now approx 8 1/2 lbs and growing which has started to show as she is becoming chubbier by the day. Everything else is great and Mom has started attending the "1st Weeks" class available for all new moms to have a support network. They discuss everything from feeding techniques to the best places for diapers and its a great place to learn from others as well as dawn a bit of your own wisdom. That's all for now, but please follow the slide show links to view our photo albums.

Georgia's First Days

Here is one of the first photos of the new family. We had a wonderful and exhausting experience through labor and the birth (refer to "birth story"). Ballard Swedish is truly an awesome place to have a kid. The nurses were all helpful and very involved, even to the extent of filling in for baby sitting duties whenever needed. In fact, the beanie Georgia is wearing in this picture was a gift from the nursing staff. That being said, it was a long and foreign road home from the hospital and we were on our own.

The Birth of Georgia Marie Sauvage (through the eyes of “Doula Deana”) July 25th-26th, 2008

When I arrived at Swedish around 10:40, the nurses at the nurses’ station greeted me warmly and got me a pair of footies…good thing since I arrived in heels! I was debriefed by Sally (although I didn’t know it was her at the time) about how the labor was progressing. She indicated to me that she had just broken your water and that Georgia’s head was a little cockeyed in the pelvis. She told me that you were in for a long, hard labor. Boy, did you prove her wrong! Little Georgia came just five hours after she made that statement.

I was eager to see you, and when I got in your room you were just headed out for a walk down the hall. I remember being so impressed that you weren’t hooked up to anything…you had a heparin lock in your right arm, but that was it. I will never forget the first moment I knew you were glad I was there. I was walking a bit behind you when suddenly your hand shot out from under the gown/blanket. I just was this had appear, and you said “Deana”. That was all the coaxing I needed. We held hands, walking slowly and pacing while Brad used the restroom. You said very little, but you did tell me that the contractions were harder after having your water broken.

Suddenly you headed into the Jacuzzi room and just said “I want the tub” or something very brief like that. You shed your gown and kept pacing on the tile at first. This turned out to be a blessing since you threw up a couple of times there, and it happened outside the water. By this point Brad was back, and he held the container for you to get sick in and just swayed back and forth with you. He was so amazing at supporting you and you made a beautiful team. Once you caught your breath you got in the tub.

In the tub, I really noticed how much you used movement to cope with your contractions. You rocked indistinctly—back and forth, back and forth—and it really seemed to help you. When you were not in the tub, the walking and pacing seemed to serve this same function for you. Of course, you weren’t focused on this at the time, but it was truly the best thing you could have been doing. The way Georgia was positioned; she needed a lot of motion to help jostle her through the pelvis and underneath all your bony structures. Your body was telling you to do exactly what you needed…it was amazing! You were moving almost constantly. The tub was also the place where you got into a rhythm of communication with everyone as well. From this point on, you only used head nods or one word instructions to us. For example, if you needed a drink you just said “thirsty”. If someone offered you a cold cloth and you didn’t want it you just shook your head “no”. It seemed you simply didn’t have the energy for more than that as all your efforts were focused on bringing Georgia out. But it worked wonderfully and we were all able to decipher your needs just fine.

During this time in the tub, you slept little in between contractions. It was so cute watching Brad reach out his had to catch you “just in case” as your head slumped forward toward the water! The other way we could tell the sleeping spells was that it was the only time you weren’t rocking… J You asked what time it was at one point, and Sally said it was midnight. We didn’t know this at the time, but now it was Georgia’s birthday… There was plenty of listening to Georgia’s heartbeat while you were in the tub. You also got a round of antibiotics for the Group B strep. Sally and the team did a great job of trying to interfere with your hard work as little as possible.

Then it was just the three of us again…Brad you and I. You worked through some pretty challenging contractions and said “I’m really not sure how much longer I can do this”…I remember thinking “that’s good, this is probably transition.” Then you asked Sally if it was too late for an epidural, and I knew we were close! J Sure enough, in a couple contractions you said you felt like you needed to push. I went out in the hall and got Sally. She declared you complete (fully dilated) at 12:50 a.m. We got you out of the tub, and on the walk back to the room you said softly “I’m a rock star!” I had to agree.

Once back in the room, you got down to the hard work of pushing. Georgia still had some turning to do, so it was tough. First, we paced around—you in the middle, Brad and I on each side. Whenever you had a contraction, we would squat and you would push. We moved to the toilet after this with you facing backwards. Lots of rocking and pushing took place here. Then we went over to the bed and tried lying on your side with one leg up. Then back to the toilet, facing forward this time…then on the bed using the squat bar. That seemed kind of challenging to get the hang of, but you were a trouper. Then Sally and the nurses rigged a sheet over the squat bar for you to hang on to and let your body weight be against while you pushed. You made some great progress this way, but unfortunately only about every third contraction was a super productive one. Therefore, after two hours of pushing, you were given a small pitocin drip to help foster some more effective contractions. I knew it was something that you originally didn’t want, and I could tell you bolstered up some great pushes right after hearing that. Luckily, they kept the amount of pitocin to a minimum and it did seem to help.

You went back to the toilet one more time…it was a long walk for you. But we took it slow and in between sips of Gatorade and a cold cloth on the neck, you made it. You sat forward again and got back to pushing. Sally was encouraging you not to rock so that you could put all that energy into pushing. She also really encouraged you to slow down your breathing because you got dizzy at one point. She offered lots of supportive words. Finally, we went back to the bed for what proved to be the last time. Sally had been listening to Georgia frequently, and declared her a “steady eddy”. This was super encouraging, especially since we were over two hours into pushing.

You were making great progress, and Georgia was finally cooperating with all your efforts. She finally came under the pubic bone and stayed put. We could now see her head even between pushes and soon we saw a little bit of here forehead…she was posterior! You were doing amazingly, but Sally did say that if Georgia didn’t come soon, she would need to do an episiotomy. At this point, I whispered in your ear on the next push “show her you don’t need an episiotomy.” And you did! You seemed to get a renewed burst of energy, and you pushed her even further with every effort.

After a few more strong pushes, her head was out…then the shoulders. Then Sally said, “Julie reach down…here she is…get your baby!” and you pulled her up onto your tummy. She popped out right at 3:45 a.m. It was amazing…she started crying almost immediately, and we were all just staring at her. She was tiny and perfect. Her head was a bit misshapen and bruised from the ordeal, but otherwise she was unaffected by it all.

Within a few moments, a hat was on her and she was handed to daddy. Brad did great, rocking in the chair with her and pacing the floor. You were getting the placenta out by this point, and it came out fine. We all looked at it and admired the baby’s thin cord and the tiny calcium deposits on the placental surface. You also got stitched up during this time. The tear was through four layers of skin, so the repair and stitches took a full 10 minutes or so. You seemed most surprised by the discomfort of the uterine massage as they “mashed” on your belly. But after that, you were calm and serene; you even ate some crackers and drank a little juice. Georgia was brought back over to you and you got to nurse…beautiful. The nurse really helped with getting Georgia latched on, and then she seemed like a natural. She popped off a few times, but with some “sandwiching” of the nipple, she got the hang of it. After a snack, she was weighed. She was a perfect 6 lbs. 10 oz.! I only stayed a bit after that since you were so sweetly concerned saying things like, “you know you don’t have to stay!” At about 5:15 I finally departed leaving the three of you to enjoy getting to know one another.