Sienna Michelle Johnson

My best friend had her baby yesterday, Sienna Michelle Johnson. This baby was born quick!!! I called up Heidi in the afternoon yesterday and she had had some contractions for an hour or so earlier but they stopped. When I was talking to her she was for the most part fine. So I was quite shocked and excited when an hour later I got a text saying she was in the hospital and they were going to keep her there. I called Kelvin and told him the good news so we were thinking we would get a phone call in about 5 hours or so because she goes a little faster than most women. Well, I got a call about an hour and a half after the text from Jeremy telling me that the baby was here. I couldn't believe it. She was in the hospital for an hour and a half and pushed for a total of 3 min! That baby really wanted to get here. We are so happy that it went so quick for her and excited that the baby is here. Can't wait to meet you little Sienna!

The proud parents Jeremy and Heidi!


Mom and baby are doing well!


She was 8 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches long. Her poor little face is bruised because she came so quickly.


I told our little baby that her friend is now here so she can come anytime now! Heidi was going to be induced on Friday which was her due date, and the funny thing is that we all thought that I would deliver before her. But this child is making it very clear that she is not going to come until she is ready!

Just for a Laugh....

Because we can all use one everyday!

School Projects

Well we have a group project in one of my classes where we have to build a little robot that will basically grab a doll and climb up a building. We call it the King Kong competition, since the robot grabs the doll and climbs up the "Empire State Building." My teammates built a prototype, which left something to be desired... well a lot to be desired. But we won't dwell on that, today with the help of my Father-in-law we built a new and very much improved version of the original design. We sure missed my dad, I think he would have had fun too. Steve and I had to have a good enough time for him as well. It took quite a bit longer than originally expected, but the time was well spent I think.

Here's a picture of Steve with the finished project! Thanks a lot Dad 2, couldn't have done it without you!



Here's a top view of the little bot, the wires are actually neatly organized despite what it might look like to the novice bot builder.



This is a back isometric view, note the awesomeness of the treads and the huge robot motors!! 0 to 60 ft/hr in like 1.5 seconds, boo ya! That grabbing mechanism is driven by a servo motor [it grabs the Fay Wray doll (Fay Wray was the original actress in King Kong)] and has a cool hinge design for horizontal to vertical transitions.



Front isometric view, the sensors you can see coming up from the front, the are infrared emitter/receiver sensors. Pretty snazzy!



As per my mom's request I am now including pictures of the robot before the remodel:

This is the basic layout of the course. The "Empire State Building" goes in the middle, they hadn't installed it yet (obviously). The corner boxes are where the robots start out, they follow the black lines around and there are sensors on the black lines that relatively tell the robots where they are. The little cubbyholes on the sides of the square are where the dolls are located. The robot has to reach in and grab the doll, find it's side of the building and climb with the doll.


Here are some pictures of the original robot made by my group. This is the isometric view without the battery or sensors, it still looks pretty messy. You can see all the extra holes on the side where they were trying to figure out where to put stuff.


Okay here's a top view, if you look closely you can see that the motors weren't secured well. The back wheels kept falling off because they weren't put on well. Note that the tread tightness isn't equal.


Note the cardboard being used to hold the sensors in place... yeah... no, cardboard isn't generally used like this.


Once again, what's with all the holes in the side? The bottom was falling off, but you can't see that very well. By the way Steve, like me, they didn't know they were directional tires! :) Thanks again for the remodel help!

Dr's Appointment

So I just got back from a Dr's appointment and it didn't go too well. My blood pressure has gotten a a little too high for my Dr's comfort and I have to go back in a few days instead of a week. I have had a TON of water weight gain with this pregnancy and continue to swell. I am so swollen it's almost staggering to see and my Dr even say's that most of the weight I've gained is probably from water. A few weeks ago I was at a 2+ for pitting edema (ie: swelling in the extremities) and the scale goes from 0-4. I was told then that even being at a 2 was not a good thing and I am bigger now than I was a few weeks ago in that department. I gained 2 pounds of water just this week and that is more on the lower side of what I usually gain between appointments. They say that the blood pressure limit is 140/90 in pregnancy and mine was 133/90. Bad news for preeclampsia! So now we have to be very careful and watchful again and go into the hospital if I experience some particular signs; headache that doesn't go away with Tylenol, dizziness, etc. Oh well. At least this will all be over soon. If my blood pressure cooperates and I go full term I only have 2 weeks and a few days left. If it doesn't cooperate, then we might have a baby here next week as I will have to be induced or have a c-section (I really don't want the later). For now, I will continue to take it easy and we will hope for the best!

Was I Really That Skinny?

So I was looking through old photos today and I found myself thinking that I was really skinny not too long ago. I have had self esteem issues when it comes to weight for quite a few years with some incidences that happened to me as a child so I have never really felt like I was skinny or thin my entire life. But looking at my very pregnant self now where it's hard to roll over or walk and looking at the pictures of me then, I find that I really had nothing to worry about. Kelvin thinks that the Lord has allowed all this water weight to come during this pregnancy so if I ever feel "big" again or overweight after all the weight of this pregnancy is lost, he can just direct my attention to those pictures or the memory of this experience and I can't say another word! Although we have always had a deal that I'm right about everything as long as he gets to be right about anything that has to do with my self esteem. I guess it's just funny to me how our perspective can change. Pictures that I thought were terrible I am looking at now thinking "they aren't so bad". I have been enjoying reminiscing about our first couple years of being married and looking at the pictures that proves to myself now that maybe one day I will look like that again (right now I feel as if I will be pregnant forever)! So bring on the cardio and strength training (after the baby is born of course) 'cuz I'm gonna be a workout-aholic to get back to my pre-pregnant self, and this time, I'm gonna feel really good about it!

Chilean Family Update

We have heard from Chile again and everyone is now together and safe. We were worried there for a bit because of the massive looting and violence that was happening, but the military responded quickly and neighbors banded together to protect one another and their homes. They caught the looters and were holding them in a park among cheers and clapping from the people all over! Peace has been restored and a curfew put in place so the military can go from home to home and address the needs of the people individually without being overrun with desperate people and give packages to help each home.

Our family, thank goodness, has plenty of food and water and Kelvin's grandma's house is still standing. There are a few things broken, but nothing that can't be replaced. Once again the phone conversation was not long, but parts of Concepcion already have power back so hopefully in a few days the phones will come back on in their area and we will be able to get lots more details. We are so thankful for all the prayers that have been offered in their behalf.

With this disaster that has happened, I keep thinking about food storage and how it is a commandment that is never fully appreciated until it is needed. My parents are experts at food storage and are very well prepared to handle a disaster if it should come to them. I learned to be prepared from them and have always tried to have as much stored away as possible with my little space. People used to laugh at me for having food storage and a supply of water but at least I know that if something happens, we will be able to address our physical needs. Bringing a new baby into the world also makes me more inclined to be more diligent with this commandment. Taking care of my family is my number one priority and the saying "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear" keeps coming back to my mind as a comfort. There is nothing we can't go though if we are prepared. Just like the 10 virgins parable of being prepared spiritually, we also need to be prepared physically and that includes food storage. It brought about less suffering to our family in Chile and we know that the Lord has provided them with more spiritual comfort and blessings for following this commandment as well.

Chilean Family

For those who don't know, Kelvin's family lives in Concepcion, Chile. His mom and aunt are in America but his grandma, aunts and uncles, and cousins are living right where the 8.8 earthquake hit on Sat in Concepcion. We were woken up by the news early Saturday morning and went to spend the day with Ed and Marta (his aunt, from Chile, and uncle). We watched the news most of the day and were worried sick trying to get a hold of someone there to tell us how everyone is doing. (One of his uncles has a cell phone as well as one of his aunts and that's how we were trying to communicate with them.) Well, on Sunday morning we got the first word from them. His uncle Fabian was finally able to get a signal for a few minutes after trying all day and called Kelvin's mom. We found out that everyone was fine. The phone call only lasted for a min or so because his batteries were dying, but at least we knew everyone was alive. We are now praying that they all have food, water and shelter to last them until the military can come and help restore order from looters and other organizations can help them rebuild.

Even though I haven't met his family in Chile, I feel a very special bond and closeness with them that is hard to describe. I truly think of them as my own family and am so grateful for the miracle of their safety from the destruction. Kelvin's dad said it right when he stated that the "Lord isn't through with Concepcion. The church is building a temple there and that will not not stop." I agree with him and know that the Lord is very mindful of the people there including our family. Hopefully we will be able to know more about their situation soon so we can send relief as needed and have some peace that their physical needs are being met.

Bridges and roads are crucial to get into Concepcion so the destruction of the roads has proved difficult for the authorities to get to the people there, let alone get supplies to them.


Chile has strict building codes because of earthquakes in the past. If this earthquake could do this, imagine what it would have done had they not had the building codes in place!


Not only did they have an earthquake, but a tsunami also hit the city. It was a double disaster that ended up costing more lives.


I saw this picture this morning and I think it conveys most people's thought. Vive Chile!