Harmony Joy Shipman!!!!

I am pretty sure i will be floating on cloud nine for a long time to come. On November 20, 2007 at exactly 12:57, Harmony Joy Shipman graced the world weighing 7 lbs and 2 oz, 21 inches long. In the words of Mary Poppins, she is practically perfect in every way.

I received a text at 4am on Tuesday morning that said only one word... LABOR! not a minute later my mom called to let me know her and allison were on their way to Pittsburgh. I let her know that the soonest i could be there was Wednesday evening after church. I had a very hard time going back to sleep. i was consumed with thoughts of rachel and harmony. I prayed for a quick easy labor and safety for my family. Once i finally fell back asleep, i dreamed that harmony would come out with red hair like my mom. I woke up early that morning and called mike to see how rachel was. I got ready and headed to work but obviously i was very distracted! Allison called in the middle of my class and that is when it really hit me that i was missing such a huge moment in my sister's life. And i did not do well at all with that realization. When denis called soon after allison to see how denis was. When he asked me how i was doing with it all, i broke down. I absolutely lost it. All i wanted to do was be with rachel and mike.

After my class was over denis called me back and asked if i could leave ASAP, would i. i freaked out of course and said HECK YES! he then purchased me a plane ticket and i was rushing home to pack my bags. Let me pause my story for a moment and say that i am married to the most amazing man in the world. Babe...thank you so much for understanding how much i needed to be with my family.

anyway...to make a long story short, i should have been in Pittsburgh by 5, but after a crazy day of delays and missing my connecting flight, i arrived at 10:30pm!!! it was crazy.

visiting hours didn't start till noon the next day, so needless to say we arrived just shortly after. Seeing harmony for the first time was a moment i will never forget. It is an instant love i had only heard about. She is so beautiful and such a good little girl! we spent the entire day with her and mike let me stay the night with rach and harmony.

Since rachel did end up having an emergency c section, she wasn't supposed to come home until friday, but the doctor said...and i quote "since it is thanksgiving i will let you go home early" When rachel heard those words, she became a different person. she was up and in the shower and we quickly got everything ready to head home.

around noon today harmony was in the comfort of her own home with her proud mom and dad. Kemper was so excited about the new arrival. it was adorable to see them meet...even though harmony slept through it!

we have been enjoying a wonderful, quiet Thanksgiving day here at the Shipmans. I am blessed beyond words to have been able to be here for as much as i have.

Denis arrived around 4 today. We will be staying through saturday morning.

Here are a few pictures of the beautiful baby girl. Look for more soon!

A "Wonder"ful weekend

This past weekend had to have been one of my favorite weekends in a LONG time. If you were to ask Denis or I what concert we would pay ANYTHING to go to, (besides kenny chesney and rascal flatts...but that is another story...) it would be Stevie Wonder! we are HUGE fans. So this past weekend we were able to live out that dream, thanks to wonderful friends and family. It was a weekend we will never forget. Here are some pictures

*the pictures of stevie wonder were taken on my cell phone seeing how we had Mr. wannabepoliceman at the door who made us take our camera's back to the car... i am still about sour about that...






Here are a few pictures of the crazy gang :)







AND NOW............ BABY BUMP!!!



i can't wait for her to just be here already! hopefully my next blog will be annoucing her arrival!!! :)

now you know my ABC's...

I stole this from heather's myspace as well...not because i want to be like amy, but because i am trying to keep up with this blog and i don't have much to say about my life right now. so enjoy! :)


A - Age: 26
A - Annoyance: my alarm every morning
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B - Best feature: elbows maybe... i wouldn't lable anything "best"
B - Beer : gross
B - Birthday: april 16
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C - Crush: nick stokes on CSI
C - Car: 2002 Toyota Rav 4
C - Career: Teacher
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D - Day or night: neither
D - Dream Car: Jetta
D - Dogs or Cats: dog FOR SURE
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E - Egg nog: gross, but i love the season it's in
E - Mail: i have a hard time keeping up with it
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F - Favorite color: red
F - Favorite Band: christopher hopper band! :)
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G - Guilt: taken away
G- Gummy Bears or Worms: bears!
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H - Hair Color: blond
H - Happy: extreemly
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I - Instrument: used to play the trumpet. but i consider my voice my instrument
I - Idol: my mom
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J - Jewelry: i love a good necklace or a nice pair of earings
J - Job: teacher, afterschool director, and worship leader
J - Jail: what about it?
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K - Kids: love them, but don't have any of my own yet
K - Kickboxing or karate: i am a lover not a fighter
K - Kindergarten: i remember being very anxious about learning to tie my shoes
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L - Longest Car Ride: from my parents house to PEI
L - Last Tear: yesterday...
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M - Milk Flavor: chocolate!
M - Most missed memory: all 6 of my family members in the same house
M - Movie Last Watched: Transformers
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N - Number of Siblings: 3
N - Number of Tattoos: none!
N - Nickname: bucky, freer, airhead
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O - One wish: for mike and rachel to move to rochester
O - One regret: not going to my cousins wedding in october
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P - Piercings: ears
P- Pizza: um...yes please. it is best eaten in amy's living room while watching grey's
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R - Reason to smile: salvation
R - Reality TV Show: american idol
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S - Song Last Heard: fresh price of belair theme song
S- Smile Most when: let's face it, i laugh alot. doesn't take much for me to crack a smile
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T - Time you woke up: 7:30
T - Time Now: 3:17 pm
T - Time for bed: anytime can be bed time
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U - Unpredictable: not normally
U - Underwear: yes...
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V - Vegetable you hate: tomato ( in the sause on my PIZZA!)
V - Vacation spot: my dream vacation? Mediteranian Cruise
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W- Worst habit: interupting someone while they are talking
W- Where are you going to travel: to pittsburg on thrusday!!!!!!!!
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X - X-Ray: my ankle once, and my knee too i think
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Y - Year it is now: 2007
Y - Yellow: "it's the color of the sun sun sun" - Barney the Dinosaur
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Z - Zoo Animal: elephants are my favorite
Z - Zodiac Sign: Aries

Happy Birthday Love

Today is the Love-of-my-life's 27th birthday! Happy birthday Denis. I love you more today than ever. 5 days till Stevie Wonder!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Karaoke, grills and uh-oh's

We have had quite the eventful weekend at the Johnson Household this weekend. i am trying to say true to my promise and blog more. And just so everyone knows, since i wrote that blog i have been doing ok with my no more soda comment. I have actually cut down quite a bit. but andrea (my blog stalker) insisted that i crack down on myself more. So i actually haven't had a soda since my dinner with her saturday night. and that is BIG for me folks. HUGE!

ok..on with the story

Friday night denis and i decided to go to a dinner party with friends from church. i wasn't really in the mood to do much since the only thing i really wanted to be doing is driving to my parents house to see them. but i made the decision last minute that all that driving (cause they went to pittsburg) would make me even more exhausted than i already am. So come friday night, i was regretting my decision. But i sucked it up and we ventured over to our friends Nick and Sharon's house for a dinner party. Their house was beautiful and dinner was AMAZING! we were spoiled for sure. After dinner, WE SANG KARAOKE! Now this may come as a shock to you, but you couldn't get me off the microphone! SHOCKING! here are some of the songs i sang:

my baby loves me just the way that i am- Martina McBride
overjoyed- Stevie Wonder (denis and i sang this together....so sweet...)
joyful joyful- from sister act
any dream will do- from joseph
endless love- luthur vandross (i sang this with trina!)
my humps- by the black eyed pees (i sang this with bekah, and though of rachel the ENTIRE time)

i am sure i sang more, but i can't remember what they were...

the performance of the night though was when Leandra sang "gold digger" by 50 cent. ALL of us were on the floor bent over in laughter. could have possibly been one of the funniest things i have EVER witnessed...ever.

Saturday came and we layed around the house, went to the market (this weekend was the last weekend for the season...denis was sad...you should see our freezer. it is packed with amish goodies) then denis decided "lets go by a grill" he actually wanted a smoker, but i wanted the grill. so off we went to home depot and purchased a grill/smoker. Denis then proceeded to say " I am going to smoke everything" such a silly man.

Saturday night was church, and then we went out to an AMAZING restaurant called Edibles with Livi, Matt and Andrea. I had the best salmon EVER. the company was the best though.

I actually was able to sleep on in Sunday! but i did sing the last two services.

I spent the afternoon shopping with heather for invitations for her wedding. I think we finally feel like we have found what we want. so now...we just have to make them!

The weekend over all was relaxing, which was nice. but everything in me just wanted to be with my family. I was able to talk to them sunday a bit while they dined at my favorite Pittsburgh restaurant, Max and Ermas. I just miss everyone....sigh.

but yesterday (now onto my uh-oh) i realized that it was a very good thing that i didn't take my car to my parents house. Denis was driving the car back to church after dropping me off at home, and as he pulled into the parking lot, OUR CAR CAUGHT ON FIRE!...well the tire to be exact. yes...i said fire. there were apparently flames shooting out of the tire. It had been making a high pitched squeaking sound for about 2 weeks, but we brought it in and they said it will be ok for now, but we made an appointment for this wednesday. wednesday wasn't soon enough. we had to get it towed to our dealer and they currently are figuring out the problem. i don't know what i would have done if i had been driving it home and flames just started shooting out. i would have freaked. So i thank God for keeping me safe and denis safe.

this week as already had it's ups and downs...and it's only tuesday.

oh...and i decided what i am going to be for halloween...right rach :) hehehehe

ta ta for now

Top 5

i have been trying to post pictures that i took with my new camera for days now, and i can't get it to work. but i have really neglected my blog lately, so i will post without pictures....i know...shocking. all my posts have pictures. So i will just give a little update on my life and the craziness that seems to follow me :)

Top 5 wonderful things happening:
1) Denis and I just celebrated our 1 year anniversary at the Father's House. i can't believe it has already been a year since we have been on staff. We are so in love with this church and it's people. It is a feeling that is pretty much indescribable. We have found such a family there. we are just loving it.
2) i am almost an AUNT! i can't wait to meet that beautiful little girl. as i wrote previously, i have alot of people around me that are either expecting or just had their baby. Still to go: Rachel, Nanette, Shira, and Sarah. babies babies babies. i love it
3) I just finished another great read by Nicolas Sparks. I just wish he wrote faster...we most likely have to wait until spring for another. write on nick. write on.
4) as i mentioned before I GOT A NEW CAMERA! yep. i purchased a Canon 20D. It is the same camera rachel shoots with. It is a great camera. Soon...i will show you a few pictures....soon...i hope....
5) I AM GOING ON VACATION! well...not for like 2 months, but still. Tickets are purchased. Hotel reserved. and i am counting down the days...

5 not so wonderful things happening:
1) the weather is getting cold....crud
2) i spend most of my days exhausted and dreaming of my bed.
3) i feel like i am missing out on so much of rachels pregnancy. i hate that she lives so far away...
4) my car is making funny noises. now i have to get up early and take it into the shop...i have never done that before. i mean i only just learned how to pump gas. geesh.
5) my husband is cheep. he would say he is money conscious. but really... he's cheep. so because he is cheep, our house is freezing. It is a bigger house and so i know it will cost more to heat, but really, do i have to walk around in layers so we can save a buck or two...

5 things that are really bothering me
1) John knows my nieces name
2) John knows my nieces name
3) John knows my nieces name
4) John knows my nieces name
5) John knows my nieces name

5 things i am going to try to start doing more often
1) visit my parents
2) eat healthier
3) blog more
4) putting in baby name guesses to rachel.
5) keep in touch with old friends

5 things i am going to stop doing
1) saying yes to everything
2) commenting on john's blog. he hasn't commented on mine in SO long. so i am done with his too. It can go both ways bucko. :)
3) drinking soda (this is going to be SOOOOOOO hard...)
4) hoping the eagles will win a game.
5) worrying

look for pictures soon

peace

best commercial ever

this is by far the cutest commerical i have ever seen. Amy and i were talking about it, so i thought i would share it with all of you! ENJOY!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Happy 1 year Anniversary to two of my favorite people. I can't even believe that it has been a year already. I truly think that this holiday weekend is the best weekend of the entire year to get married. I have been to a wedding on this weekend for the last 4 years and every wedding has had beautiful weather. John and Amy had a picture perfect day. I love you both! enjoy your special day.

I'm a BIG girl now :)

This post is LONG overdue, but life has been a whirl-wind of craziness since school began in September. But i did want to share with you my exciting news! no... i am not pregnant...BUT i do have a new baby... A NEW CAR! I am blessed beyond words and i still can't believe i am not only a lisenced driver, but that i now have my very own car. It is a 2001 Rav4. Denis and I love the fact that we now have a depenable car. My mom and dad came up last tuesday so my dad could test drive it and look under the hood and all that guy stuff. I just thought it looked cute. Denis just wanted something i felt safe in. We all won in the end. Thanks to my mom and dad for all your time and effort. I PROMISE i will come home more often now... i fear the lecture from my dad if i don't! YIKES! So here are a few pictures.



The last time i posted pictures of the inside of the house, but none of the outside. So i thought i would add it into this shot.



It's she a beauty. mom...while your in canada, i need a moose for my car. THANKS!

until next time...

The Baby Madness begins!

Congratulations to the my dear friends Laura and Marc and the birth of their precious baby boy, Malachi Isaac Falco. He graced us with his presence three weeks early on September 20th. He was 7lbs 5oz and 21 inches long. He is perfect. A full head of dark hair and the most perfect skin. Denis and I went to visit the new bundle of joy on Saturday before church and i did not want to leave him. Not one bit. He slept so peacefully the entire time we were there. The new mommy and daddy are wonderful, just a bit tired. They are all home safe and sound.

This is the first baby of 5 on their way.

Still to go:
Rachel
Tanya
Nanette
Sarah

Looking forward to posting pictures of all the new babies! Congrats again to Marc and Laura. Malachi doesn't even know how lucky he is to have you as parents!

An afternoon to remember

This past sunday we celebrated a very special occasion with a very special lady. My sister is just weeks away from bringing in to this world what is sure to be the light of many lives. I think about this baby often. I wonder what she will look like, or what her first words will be. I think about the things she will enjoy doing, or what it will be like to see my dad as a grandpa. I was recently at a wedding...megan george's actually, and i got very emotional during the father daughter dance because all i could think of was mike someday doing the same thing with this precious little girl inside my sister's belly. I know that when i see rachel, all i do is call her fat :) (it is simply out of love!) but the fact of the matter is i can't think too long about what a miracle this really is without feeling a wave of emotions that i dare not let out. I can't wait for the day that i get to hold this little girl in my arms and introduce myself. I hope she likes me. i look like her mom... so i think she will. Rachel, i hope that you enjoyed your special celebration. I love you with all my heart!
here are some picture's from the day....


the best surprise ever... an unexpected guest that made the pregnant mom to be RUN to greet her... christy you will never know what that meant...



one of our crafts for the day. the guest book complete with a picture, a name for the baby and a note to the momma. allison LOVED getting that ready :)



our cupcake tree. i was very pleased with how they came out. The best part... those where brownie cupcakes. Thanks Jaime. It was the perfect touch.



mom-to-be, grammie-to-be, and aunt-to-be!



We had a onesie decorating contest! This was my original design! better see that baby wearing it!



another game had to do with babies frozen in icecubes. Megan GEORGE won that game.



The momma-to-be herself! looking beautiful at 7 months!



The White's! i am pretty sure Momma white is yelling at me because i MAY have said something about puerto ricans...but i just can't remember....



this is the worst part of living far from my mom...the goodbye's. they suck...

overall the day was quite a success thanks to Amy for the use of her home, to jaime for all of the last minute "chores" i gave her. To Allison for her scrapbooking skills, and to my mom for making the trip for the day. Thank you to all who were able to join us and to those who where there in spirit. Thank you most of all to mike for knocking rachel up! :) hahahahahaha

Heather and Tony

Recently (last sunday) one of my closest friends in the whole world GOT ENGAGED! and boy did she find an incredible man. The more i get to know tony, the more i love him. They are absolutly a perfect fit for eachother. They have planned a wedding for May 31 and i was honored to be asked to be a part of it. Here are a few engagement pictures that i took for the happy couple on saturday.

The Johnson Crib

that title was just for you ashley

*a little blog disclaimer: I am not posting these picture IN RESPONSE to rachel's recent house pictures. I was planning on posting these pictures on the weekend, but after rachel posted her pictures, i did not want to seem like the "one up" girl. :) so now that rachel has posted a belly update, i am free to share my pictures!

ok

now on with the show

Denis and I just recently moved about 5 houses up the street from our last house ( our 4th house in a mile radius...so pathetic) but we are LOVING the new house. We will be here for a while for sure. i will put some before and after pictures up. Before i do i have a few people that i need to thank. 1) My mother. she has been a trooper. she has been up twice since the move and she has made things happen. She unpacked my kitchen, painted our downstairs bathroom, helped me decorate and brought yummy snacks! (that is very important! I am sure Amy agree's!) It was just a great excuse for us to see eachother! Thanks Momma! 2) Marc and Andrea. They took an entire day and painted our bedroom while denis and i were at work! Thank you guys! I owe you.

This is the living room


The Dining Room



The Downstairs bathroom



The Upstairs bathroom



This next room had the most dramatic change, so i will put a before and after photo.

Before



It had that ugly green carpet that made my allergies go bonkers. The people before us had a cat, not that i have anything agaist them, i am just allergic to them. Thanks for the good genes mom! :) Plus it had that terrible wood paneling... so outdated... so...we made a few changes...

After



We put in new carpet and painted! it is still in great neeed of new curtains and decorations. It is still a work in progress, but i just love it! it is my favorite place to be. You can't see but the room is quite long, not in the picture is denis closent and a little reading nook with a chair in it.

Moving was the most stressful thing i have ever done, but it was so worth it! COME VISIT!

"Just short of a Decade"

"Just short of Decade"...The words that came out of Ben Faro's mouth when he found out i had PASSED MY DRIVERS TEST! That's right folks. I am now a lisenced driver at the rip old age of 26. I don't feel too busy to be completly honest. My sister seemed to have no problem handing over her keys just hours after my test. Neither did Leandra. So if you have read john's blog at all lately, you will already know the story i am about to tell you. Leandra went with me to take my test because i was the most comfortable with her car. So we went to the test site and i left leandra there on the side of the road in the middle of no where while i took my test. the test guy was super nice which was an answer to prayer. The test itself went quite well. The only thing i didn't do correctly was stop at the white line in an intersection, i stopped at the crosswalk instead. BUT in my defense, the light had turned yellow as i was approching and i didn't think it wise to try and make it, so i slowed to stop and i didn't want to slam on my breaks, so i didn't stop in time. oh well.. I STILL PASSED! BUT the story doesn't end there. i went right to john and amy's house to tell them and rach the good news, and leandra turned to me as we got out of the car and said, "since you are a big girl now, you can be in charge of the keys." so i put them in my purse. Then moments later i said to myself "self, you don't need to bring in your whole purse, just your phone to call denis, larry and andrea" so that's just what i did. i left the keys in the car. and got out. i DID NOT press a lock key though, so i thought i was safe. we hung out for a bit, then i had to go to work, so i went to leave. WELL... apparently leandra's car locks after like 20 second of the door closing automatically. so...the keys were locked in folks. Rach had to use her AAA to get the door unlocked. She took the blame for me...well acutally i think she told the guy it was her baby's fault! nice rach, nice. But since then, i have been doing pretty well.

here i a cartoon i found that i feel is suitable for this blog:

Leandra's spare keys...in the car.... sigh


Also, denis and i just got back from Dallas, a blog about our amazing trip is soon to come.

Denis and i are also in the midst of moving into another house, so things are wild and crazy in these parts. I will post pictures of the house too when we are moved in.

I will see you all on the road :)

Now that's talent....

Talk about alot of talent in a little body. I saw this and immediatly thought about my neice. I can't wait to meet her... so this video is dedicated to her.

Kristen and Adam 7/7/07

Since i have failed to blog recently, i will post a few pictures from the wedding for your enjoyment, since i don't really have anything exciting to tell you ...besided that we have a phantom pooper roaming among us at summer camp... i will just have pictures until further notice :)

The Happy Couple

Here are the pictures that i took myself ...notice i am in them all... :)

A few detail shots

Congrats to the Happy Couple. Your next job as a married couple is to move back to New York!