It's Been a While

Hello slacker!

It has actually been 114 days since I posted last, but let me tell you, SO MUCH has changed! So where do I start??

Lets start where we left off..BABIES!!! Jamiee and I have decided the path we will take to complete our perfect little family! We have decided on a sperm bank that we will use and are going to be sending in our application in order to receive the donor profiles very soon! We are leaning towards using our tax returns to complete the process (which is a hefty little penny). We can’t wait; I tell Jamiee all the time that I actually have pretty much everything from the telling our friends and family, sharing the news on social media, to the baby shower planned out! Last night for instance we were at Taco Bell, while we wait on our food we like to read the sauce packets (You know you do it too!) and I found one that said, “Good things come in small packages”! I actually took it home just incase we wanted to use that for some special reveal in the future! We haven’t decided yet if we are going to invite people into our journey from the very start and let you guys know when we actually are ready to take the steps with the whole “we are now trying for a baby” or just surprise the heck out of everyone one day with a “HEY WE ARE HAVING A BABY!” Either way we can’t wait and we already have the names picked out, which leads me to my next big thing!!

Recently, I have been very into knitting! I have done different variations of it from loom knitting, to arm knitting, even boring ole knitting with needles (which takes a great deal longer than the other two). As I complete a project like a scarf or a hat I upload it to social media.

Turns out I’m not the only one who thinks that they actually look good!! HAHA I have gotten a lot of questions from friends about price, color, and if I can make one for them! This got me thinking…I enjoy making things and apparently I am not terrible at it sooo why not sell them and actually make some extra money on the side?!?! (Which I can save and put towards a sweet little baby.) So I went to Barnes & Noble, bought a book called The Girl’s Guide to Starting You Own Business and jumped in feet first..scared out of my mind! I am in the process of opening an online store through Etsy and a website! Which I hope to have up and running by the end of the day, if not I will be sitting in front of the computer all day tomorrow (Saturday) and it WILL be done! I hope to not only have scarves, hats, and other fall accessories but also jewelry and some other hand made things like personalized coffee mugs and rustic home décor *one thing at a time Kaela* Back to the baby name thing, when it was time to come up with a name for my new adventure I had no idea where I was going! One thing I did know was I didn’t want anything with my name in it like Kaela’s Knits or Knick Knacks. So I thought to myself, “If years down the road this thing does take off and I become the next Rachel Zoe *LAUGHS UNCONTROLABLY* what is a name that I would want to still be around and be proud of and still had some spunk to it?” I have known since I was about 12 that I want to name my daughter Emerson Mae (my mothers middle name) and Jamiee and I have decided we want to name our son Joseph Curtis (after her great uncle and grandfather) knowing that one day we will have these children in our lives I thought what better than to name my company after children I don’t have yet! Actually I thought that might be a little crazy and creepy, but after getting advice from some awesome people I decided why not! These are the names we will name our kids and why not have them come into this world with a (hopefully successful) mommy who named a company for them! So I give you EmmieJo Accessories, or EmmieJo for short!! I am so excited to be taking this next terrifying step in my career! I am taking something that I love and enjoy doing and turning it into a possible moneymaker, plus it’s a great way to pass the time at work! Which…

TRICIE’S TREASURES HAS MOVED!!! We have moved and expanded to a much better location! We are now on Stage Road verses on a side street off of Stage Rd. We have expanded to an actual antique mall rather than my mother in-law’s stuff with a few consignment pieces! We have about 50 vendors with 4 suites (soon to be FIVE)! All of our vendors are so sweet, some of them are experienced and have had booths before and some are newcomers, just now getting their feet wet in the antique world! We all work together to help each other out and its been such a blessing the past two months getting to know all of them! Jamiee and I have a booth, its so fun having another little thing that we do together in our spare time, plus that’s extra money in our pocket each month (refer back to baby funds)! I am learning so many cool things about antiques and collectibles!

We have also been redecorating our house, room by room and sprucing it up a bit! We just redid my closet/room, yes I’m spoiled but our closets are tiny! Next we are working on our laundry room area! It’s going to be so cute!

That’s about all the updates in the Johnson household! I swear I’m going to stay on top of this blog stuff and get back to my regularly scheduled posts! :)

Baby Fever!!

When it comes time to think about having a baby, there are very mixed opinions! Some say wait until you have been married for at least a year to enjoy the “newlywed” phase, others say at 25 and 27 go for it! So the question I have is I know you’re never REALLY prepared, but when is it time to start our journey of becoming parents!?!?

Jamiee and I have only been married 6 almost 7 months but we have been together for 3 years. We have always been the “old married couple” of our group of friends, happier staying home watching a movie than going out and partying. We have both decided we are ready to start a family! So where do we even start?!?

Being two women trying to conceive a child is going to be a little harder than your average heterosexual couple. So obviously we are going to have to take different steps to achieve our goal of having a bundle of joy to call our own! There are a few different options that we have to consider.

As much as fostering or adopting a child would please us both, I want so badly to be the one to carry! Plus adoption can be a long waiting game for a newborn baby, which is what we would hope for! We both want to experience all stages of life with our child. As much as I believe those children all need loving homes, I don’t feel like, for our first child, adoption is right for us.

The option Jamiee and I are leaning towards is IUI or intrauterine insemination; it was where sperm is inserted into a woman’s uterus. The next question is a donor, do we use an acquaintance or go through a sperm bank. Each one has its very own list of pros and cons.

If we use someone we already know, the cost will be a little cheaper and we will already know a lot about him. The thing that’s holding us back from using a friend, even though they will have to sign their rights over and not be a part of the decisions in our child’s life, you never know what circumstances can change. The donor could one day decide they want a child of their own and that they don’t like the way we parent and take us to court and take our child.

If we go with an anonymous donor through a bank, we will be able to have a full medical background, be able to personally pick out what features we want in a donor. Since I will be the one to carry we can choose a donor that has some characteristics of Jamiee, the gorgeous greens eyes, the Irish heritage, the loveable pale skin and dark curly hair. We won’t have the worry of having a man control the life of our baby, though one day when the child asks about their father we will have to discuss the option to let them seek out the donor or not. The only real snag we hit when it comes to a sperm bank is that it is rather costly, and its not guaranteed that we will get pregnant from the first round of IUI. The average success rate for IUI ranges from 10-20% in one cycle and my family has a history of having difficulties conceiving, so on top of the already low success rate, going through a sperm bank makes me that much more nervous.

I have an appointment coming up in July with my OBGYN just to make sure everything is good and we have the green light to go ahead and start planning. Before that we are going to sit down and re-prioritize our finances, I know we will never be 100% financially ready for a child but honestly not many people are!

When the time comes and we begin our journey to motherhood, I will be starting a new section of my blog and bring you guys right along with us! Jamiee and I can’t wait to expand our beautiful family! <3

Georgia on my mind!

What a great weekend!!

Wednesday night Jamiee and I went to her parent’s house and curled up in a (not so big) RV! At about 3am Thursday morning we rolled through and picked up my brother and sister in-law and hit the road! It was a long LONG 13-hour ride to Ludowici, GA! Once we finally got there, we said our long over due hellos and grilled some burgers for dinner! Meaghan and Trevor, Jamiee’s oldest niece and her now husband, had to drive in from Jacksonville, FL so they got there about 8 Thursday night. We had such a blast laughing and talking all night!

Friday morning when we got up, Jacque, Jamiee, Kayla, and Jamiee’s parents all went to Wal-Mart and the grocery store to grab some things for the weekend festivities! Jacque’s husband, Mike, is retired military so we went to the store on base! It was my first time ever being on a military base so they drove me around and showed me where they lived when they did live on base! It was really neat!

They have an area of trees planted for the fallen soldiers from that base; it was really upsetting seeing how many trees there actually were!

When we got back to the house we got to hang out and relax for a little while, I made Michael a slideshow for graduation. It was so much fun to make because I was able to go through old pictures and since I wasn’t around while they grew up, I felt like I was there! HAHA They really enjoyed watching it and I just loved being a part of it! Friday night Michael graduated from Long County High School!! He looked so handsome in his cap and gown and we were all so proud of him! He is a BADASS guitar player with incredible dreams of making it big, which I have no doubt in my mind he will conquer those dreams! I can’t wait to be in the front row screaming, “THAT’S MY NEPHEW!!!” We are definitely proud of that young man.

We had a graduation party for Michael on Saturday; it was such a fantastic party! We set up a volleyball net and Michael brought out his guitar! We all just sat around and relax, had a few drinks (and by few I mean we went through a few coolers full of drinks). It was just a great time getting to relax and catch up with the family!

Jacque and Mike have some friends named Cory and Mary; they’re the definition of a badass!!! We love them! They have the most precious one year old named Serenity. Mary made some Apple Pie Moonshine Saturday afternoon for the wedding on Sunday, 3 gallons of it! It was delicious, although I was only able to have a few sips, just to say I’ve tried it!

We had a pretty relaxing morning Sunday, or at least as relaxing as you can have before setting up for a wedding! Jacque, Jamiee’s mom, and my other sister in-law went about noon and met up with Meaghan and Kayla at the hotel to help them get ready. Michael, Jamiee, and I went to Trevor’s parents house to finish setting up. We had gone over the day before to get as much done as possible so all we would have to do was set out the flower arrangements the day of! Her theme was kind of country/rustic and she did SUNFLOWERS!! It was absolutely beautiful! The weather got a little cloudy and thundered for a few minutes but all in all it turned out perfect! Meaghan looked breathtaking and Trevor looked so handsome! They make a wonderful couple and I’m so glad I can say I was there and got to help out for the wedding. 

I made a slideshow for Meaghan and Trevor as a little wedding present and we played it during the reception! It was so fun to make and watch. Everyone really loved it!

We loaded up the RV Monday morning and headed home, it was definitely hard saying goodbye to the Frey family! Michael actually came back with us and is going to be staying for a month or so! We are incredibly excited about that!!! :)

When I got to work Tuesday, the air conditioning was out and it is now Thursday and we are FINALLY getting it fixed!! Needless to say….I am melting!

Overall we had a FANTASTIC little Memorial Day vacation and got to some long overdue family time!

I can't wait for the next few weeks, we are going to the Sevendust concert in Tunica, and we will be doing a lot of fun things with Michael being in town!! It's going to make for some awesome blogs! Stay tuned!<3