Closing up shop

We should probably just be better at writing in our journals, but Jenni and I have decided to start printing our blog posts as a book to help document the things that are happening in our lives/family. In order to make this easier, we've decided to merge our two blogs, so I won't be making anymore posts on this blog and from now on you can find my random thoughts interspersed with pictures of Charlie on Jenni's blog (but I guess "our blog" would now be the proper term.

Also, for anyone interest in my thoughts on computers, programming, and other technical mumbo jumbo, I'll still be posting on my Code by Dave blog.

Where did 7 months go?

A few weeks ago Jenni posted about Charlie being 6 months old and this past Sunday he turned 7 months. It made me stop and think about how much the little guy has already grown up and changed from the tiny bundle of joy that we brought home from the hospital (just look how little he was).

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing the little guy recently, he's already sitting up, expresses his curiosity by grabbing at everything, and still smiles at everyone like their his best friend. He's even started to take an interest in being involved with the things that Jenni and I do (even though it's usually easier without his "help"). Jenni and I have loved every minute of it (especially now that he's sleeping through the night thanks to a book that I now swear by) and we hope that the the rest of his first year is just as fun as these first 7 months have been.

You can check out the first set of pictures on the PWA or Facebook, and the second set here on the PWA and Facebook.

A day at the Zoo

So a few weeks ago we went to the Tucson Zoo during one of my Off-Fridays. Jenni and I had a lot of fun, but Charlie wasn't overly excited about the experience. Even though I had driven by that area more times than I can remember, I never realized that there was even a zoo there. I think that Jenni summed it up really well when she said, "I never realized that there were llamas so close to In-n-Out." We got a family pass, so hopefully Charlie will start enjoy the experience a little more. You can check out all of the pictures on PWA or Facebook.

I'm it

Jenni tagged me, so here's my answers.

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago (1998):
1. Hanging out in the MTC
2. Trying to learn Portugues
3. Recovering from a sprained ankle while walking everywhere
4. Getting some strange allergic reaction on my face
5. Lighting stuff on fire to celebrate milestones on my mission

5 Things on my To-Do List:
1. Fix up the budgeting program I'm making
2. Make a GUI for said budgeting program so people other than myself can use it
3. Become a good drummer/guitarist in Rock Band (I'll leave the singing to Jenni)
4. Have a fun weekend with Jenni and Charlie
5. Get back to work

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Fruit
2. Pie
3. Ice cream
4. Caramel
5. Peanut Butter

5 Things I would do if I were a Millionaire:
1. Pay off house
2. Pay off student loans
3. Quit job
4. Do contract work
5. Work on all of the ideas I have floating around in my head

5 Places I have Lived:
1. Sahuarita, AZ (near Tucson)
2. Provo, Utah
3. Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
4. Shingle Springs, CA (near Sacramento)
5. Carrolton, TX (near Dallas)

5 Jobs I have had:
1. Multi-Disciplined Engineer at Raytheon
2. Research Assistant at the BYU MAGICC Lab
3. Software Engineer at TALL
4. TA at BYU
5. Delivery Boy/Cook at Rico's Pizza

I tag Bryce and Devin.

Recent Happenings in Action

So in the theme of my last post (a really long post with all of the recent happenings in the Johansen family), here are all of the videos that we've taken over the past several weeks.

Charlie decided that it's time to become mobile and here's a video from the first day that he really started to figure it out. He would roll across the room until he bumped into the wall and then would look at us to move him back to the middle so he could do it again (he was quite impressed with himself). Unfortunately, by the time we got the camera out, he was starting to get wore out, but it was still cute to see the little guy. You can also check it out on Facebook.



Charlie and Payson Lewis had their first play date together. Jenni said that Charlie loves playing with Payson and just watches every little thing he does the whole time he's here. Unfortunately, this is an experience that I miss out on while I'm at work, but here's the little glimpse into the moment that we can all see. You can all check it out on Facebook.



We have also started the nightly tradition of feeding Charlie solids and that means that we had to get the little guy a high chair. He actually picked it up pretty quickly and has become a good little eater. This is a video of the first time that I fed the little in the high chair. You can also check it out on Facebook.



One day when we were hanging out, Charlie decided that it would be fun to start panting (or at least that's what we assume, because he just started doing it and laughing afterwards and then he's never done it since). Here's the video, and you can also check it out on Facebook.



One beautiful Sunday afternoon, we went to the park with Brian, Mindy, and Co. All of the Burns grandkids were in the swing at the same time, and it was nice to enjoy the wonderful weather now that the Arizona summer heat has worn off. You can also check it out on Facebook.



Obviously, on that same day, Charlie got to try out a swing for the first time, and he enjoyed it a lot more than I expected him to. I thought that he'd start squirming and that we'd have to pull him out, but he actually enjoyed the experience quite a bit. You can also check it out on Facebook.



The final video is us singing Happy Birthday to Charlie when Mindy and crew made him a cute puppy dog cake for his Half Birthday. Of course he had no idea what was going on, but he still enjoyed the cake. You can also check it out on Facebook.

Recent Happenings

Charlie just turned 6 months last week and Jenni and I have been even more picture happy than usual, so here's a quick run down of our recent happenings.

So Jenni tried putting Charlie in a basket to get one of those "look how small and cute" pictures, and I think that the cute probably worked out but the small thing probably backfired. Charlie also had a play data with Payson Lewis and started eating solid foods. You can check out the pictures on PWA or Facebook.

Charlie also finally learned to like tummy time, and was showing off his new "NASCAR outfit" (sorry I don't know who to thank for the outfit). He has also really started to enjoy sitting in his high chair and eating (and I'm sure that Jenni has also started to enjoy me helping out with the feedings/night time routine every now and then), and the little guy also enjoyed his toys so much that he just decided to talk a nap right on the floor. You can check out the pictures on PWA or Facebook.

We also spent my last Off-Friday hanging out and we took some pictures up at the La Encantada Mall. Charlie was having lots of fun and being really cute, so we got some really good pictures. You can check them out on PWA or Facebook, and you can get Jenni's perspective on this here.

We also got all dressed up (well, I put on an orange shirt) and went to the Ward Halloween Party. There were some great costumes and it was a lot of fun, but I swear that's a sucker, not a cigarette. You can check out all of the pictures on PWA or Facebook.

In addition to eating solids, taking a bath has become a part of Charlie's night time routine. He loves splashing around and playing with toys, but most importantly he has started to sit up in the tub. It usually turns into a wrestling match after a few minutes because he wants to roll over and play on his tummy (which is when he gets pulled out), but we're just glad that the kid enjoys being cleaned off every now and then (at least for now).You can check out the pictures on PWA or Facebook.

A few Sundays ago, we went to the park with Brian and Mindy, and Charlie was able to get his first ride in a swing. He really liked it and actually lasted a LOT longer than I thought he would. Brian also beat me at Boche Ball, and there was fun had all around. You can check out the pictures on PWA or Facebook, and you can get Jenni's take on this here.

Since Jenni already posted the picture of us, here's the picture of me and Charlie all dressed up. If you're wondering, we're supposed to be 50's guys to go along with Jenni's 50's girl costume (which won Prettiest Costume). The Elams did a great job and it was a blast to watch the little kids play musical chairs (and the adults weren't too bad either). I also recommend that you check out the picture of Incredi-Mom, because it was a GREAT costume and Mindy definitely deserves some recognition for being brave enough to really getting into the Halloween spirit. You can see the pictures on PWA and Facebook.

We went with Brian & Mindy and Patrick & Erica to Buckelew Farms. It's a Pumpkin Path west of Tucson with lots of interesting things to do. Unfortunately, Jenni wasn't able to hold a chicken again like last year, but Charlie was a good sport and was fine with being lugged around in the sunggly. You can check out the pictures from PWA or Facebook.

For better of worse, I'm a Raiders fan and that means that Charlie has also been cursed to be a Raiders fan as well. To help ease the pain of this curse, Grandma and Grandpa Johansen sent him some fun toysand his first Raiders outfits. He looks really cute (I mean hard core). You can check out the other pictures on PWA of Facebook.

Jenni already posted about this, but Aunt Mindy and crew made Charlie a cake for his Half Birthday. It was a really cute cake and Charlie loved grabbing at it and enjoyed the tastes that his Mom snuck for him. We even sang the little guy happy birthday (I'll post the video later) and it was a fun experience. You can check out the pictures on PWA or Facebook.

Jenni got a bit of a cold earlier this week and Charlie caught a bit of it. The two of them decided to take a little rest together. You can check out the other picture on PWA or Facebook.

Mindy already posted about this, but Charlie got to enjoy one of the benefits of living in Arizona (the wonderful fall weather). The summer can definitely be grueling at times, but when we're walking around in T-shirts and going swimming to weather reports of snow and cold across the nation, it feels like the heat was worth it. Most of the pictures actually aren't of Charlie, but Jenni's gotten pretty good with the camera and I just wanted to show off her picture taking abilities. You can check out the pictures on PWA or Facebook.

Something to scare the Grandparents

As I've discussed previously, I feel that it's my personal responsibility as Charlie's dad to mess with the little guy every now and then and to bring a little excitement to his life. So my new thing to do is to wrap him up in a blanket, swing him around, and then play with the little guy. Obviously, it makes Jenni get a little tense and I'm sure I'll be hearing about it in a phone call, but the little guy loves it and it always gets a good laugh out of him. You can check out the video below (or on Facebook).

Catching Up

I've been slacking off a bit from my regular Charlie updates, so here's a post to catch up the last month or so.

Jenni's Mom came out to visit for the weekend. There was obviously some mandatory garage saleing on Saturday morning and we spent a lot of time hanging out and having fun. You can check out the pictures on PWA or Facebook.

Then Charlie decided that he wasn't happy being rolled up like a burrito when he slept, which was fine, but then he figured out how to flip from his back to his front before he could roll from his front to his back. This made for some VERY long nights when Charlie would wake up screaming because he was on his tummy. Fortunately, some intense and focused tummy time sessions have helped remedy the problem to some degree and he only occasionally wakes up screaming. I'm sure the novelty will wear off (especially once we have to chase him around), but it's always funny to leave him in the middle of a blanket and then come back 5-10 minutes later to see him half way across the room. You can check out the pictures on PWA or Facebook.

Then one night, we decided to make churros. The first batch turned out pretty good, but the subsequent batches quickly went down hill (I thought the batter needed more water, but it turns out that it didn't). But we had fun and we got some really cute pictures of Charlie that you can check out on PWA or Facebook.

And finally, we got Charlie his first Halloween Costume. Jenni had found a really cute lion and lobster costume online, but they were both sold out in his size, but he makes a cute bat so we're happy. He has also started to sit up enough so we can put him in the stroller without a car set. He can't last too long, but he likes being able to look around and see what's going on. You can see for yourself on PWA or Facebook. Oh ya, he's also started to get shirts stuck on his head on a fairly regular basis, but I'll refer you to Jenni's blog for that one.

Prop 102

I decided to take a break from my usual fair of exciting posts full of pictures and videos so I could talk about a little bit more serious matter, so here goes.

For those not in the know, Prop 102 is the proposition to amend the Arizona Constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. Brian and Mindy were recently asked to be the advocates for Prop 102 in our ward, and it got me thinking. I had previously been somewhere between neutral and pro gay marriage (or at least some type of civil union). I always figured, "how does it hurt me?", but some interesting articles swayed my opinion.

The first article is a "amici curiae" issued by the LDS church, the Catholic church, the National Association of Evangelicals, and the Union of Orthodox Jews stating. I wasn't familiar with any of this before, but basically an "amici curiae" is a filing by a party not involved in the case stating additional considerations that they believe should be included in the final decision, and there are some very interesting arguments in the briefing.

The second article is an article on NPR about how court decisions are starting to influence the actions and policies of churchs and other religious organizations.

I agree that defending the institution of marriage is important, but I believe that there's a MUCH scarier issue lurking underneath everything that's happen. The church realizes that some of the current court decisions are not too far of a step from courts dictating what churches and other organizations can do on a large scale. All too often the argument of "separation of church and state" is brought up in these types of debates (I know that I used to buy into that argument), but I think that it's too easily forgotten that the "separation of church and state" was created to protect churches from the government just as much as it was created to protect the government from churches.

Sac Town

So Jenni got sick of me being lazy and already posted about our trip to Sacramento, but I wanted to chime in with links all of the pictures (the plane ride (PWA, Facebook), boating (PWA, Facebook), The Mountain Fortress of Solitude and Fun (PWA, Facebook), everyone dressed up (PWA, Facebook), and rocking out with the old PVille crew (PWA, Facebook)).

I also wanted to post some videos of the "slide of death" that my parents made. So there's actually no death involved, but you do pick up a pretty good clip. I guess I should just show the videos and let you be the judge (we took more videos than any human should be forced to watch, so here's the highlights).

Jenni gives the quick tour of the pool and slide (Facebook)


Cody is the first to jump in (Facebook)


Maybe the running start wasn't the best idea for my first time down the slide (Facebook)


There are a bunch of people in this one, but my bonehead move in the middle is good for a laugh (Facebook)


Cody riding Mike down the slide (Facebook)


It took some peer pressure, but even Jenni went down the slide (Facebook)

Picture Tag

This is how it works: For each question look up the answer on Google image search. Choose your favorite picture from the FIRST page only.

My age: 29


My favorite color: blue


Favorite vacation spot: outdoors


Where I live: Sahuarita, AZ


Where I grew up: Utah, Texas, California


Where I'd like to travel: Deep Sea


Favorite Food: Crab Legs


Favorite treat: Pie


Favorite animal: Saber Tooth Tiger


Past Love: Nintendo


First name: David


Middle Name: Linn


Last name: Johansen


What I'm doing right now: Watching Football


And I tag Bryce, my one and only guy friend whose secure enough in his masculinity to blog, or at least that's what I tell myself when I wake up crying in the middle of the night.

The sky is falling!

So last night Jenni and I were driving home and we noticed that there was a funky blue streak in the east part of the sky. We snapped some pics with our cell phones and since we were driving near our house, I stopped by and grabbed the camera. It was a pretty unique looking occurrence, but after doing some searching on the internet, I discovered that it's actually an anti-crepuscular ray (Wikipedia). So I guess it turns out that the sky wasn't falling and it's actually a normal/natural phenomeum, but it was still really cool to see and I'm glad that I was able to snap a picture.

Our own Dr Seuss character

I don't know if it's the outfit, the look on his face, or the way he's standing, but I just think that Charlie looks like he should be in a Dr Seuss book in this picture.

But anyway, Charlie hits the 4 month mark on Saturday and he's still growing like nobody's business. We'll get the official numbers at his doctor's visit on Monday, but I'd be willing to bet that he's well over the 50th percentile that he was at for his 2 month visit. But for anyone interested you can see the most recent set of pictures on Facebook or the PWA.

Also, here's the latest set of videos that we've snapped of the little guy.

Charlie's starting to learn how to laugh and it's usually pretty funny to see how excited he gets (Facebook):

He's also gotten a LOT better at the Jumperoo compared to tiny little movements that we were so impressed with before (Facebook):

And here's a video of him playing in the "hanging jumper thing" with his cousins, Carter and Wyatt (Facebook):

More videos

So here's the next wave of videos of Charlie that I had promised. There's nothing too groundbreaking here, but they show off a bit of Charlie's emerging personality. But here goes.

Charlie in the "hanging jumper thing" (Facebook):

Charlie getting rolled around the bed (and I'm not sure what kind of crazy noise I'm making) (Facebook):

Charlie in his favorite outfit (just a diaper) (Facebook):

Charlie giving Mom a kiss (Facebook):

Almost 3 Months

So it's been almost 3 months since Little Charlie joined the world, and even though it's been a LOT of work, it's been worth every minute of hard work and missed sleep.

A couple right by us just had their baby and it was eye opening to go see how little he was. Charlie is still pretty small and has a LOT of growing up for us to enjoy, but it was just shocking to see how much he's changed in less than 3 months. Jenni and I both had commented that we thought we'd never forgot how small he was and what the initial experience was like, but it definitely showed both of us how quickly everything goes by and how important it is to appreciate every day with the little guy. And it definitely helped me remember why they call it the "miracle of life".

But anyway, here's the mandatory set of recent pictures (Facebook, PWA). I'm also working on uploading the recent set of videos with Charlie showing of his "tricks"/Jenni and I messing with him, but those will just have to wait for another post.

Not quite nunchuk skills, but close

Charlie has started to develop some new "skills", and here are the videos for him to show them off to the world.

Charlie sitting up and showing off his smile (Facebook):

Giving his Mom a kiss (Facebook):

And swinging like a madman (Facebook):

Charlie and the Jumperoo

So while we were in LA, we noticed that Charlie was starting to want to stand up a little and he was definitely getting a lot better at holding his head up, so when we got back we stuck him in the Jumperoo and watched him go. He's still figuring it out a bit and can't completely support all of his weight for too long, but he really enjoys it. You can see the video below (or on Facebook).

Here's a video of him standing (Facebook).

And here's a video of him showing off his dance moves without my help (Facebook).

Happy Birthday to me

Ok, I know it's kind of dumb to wish myself Happy Birthday online (especially since it's late), but I mostly just wanted to say thanks to Jenni for getting everyone together to celebrate the beginning of the last year before I'm officially old (i.e 30).

Thanks a ton, Jenni, and of course it wouldn't be a real post from me if there weren't pictures (Facebook, PWA).

Living the high life

During the week of the 4th of July, we took a trip to LA to show off Charlie and check out some of the sites. We went to a Dodger game (Facebook, PWA, YouTube), saw Wicked (which I enjoyed finally being able to see after hearing about it for so long), introduced Charlie to his extended family on Jenni's side (Facebook, PWA), went swimming at Kenny's with Aunt Judy and Chad (Facebook, PWA), saw the Bodies exhibit at the California Science Center (Facebook, PWA), went wakeboarding at Lake Arrowhead (Facebook, PWA), and hung out at Jenni's old stomping grounds (Facebook, PWA).

We learned a few things (listed in no particular order):

• Always make sure you are getting on the right bus (we end running just over a mile and barely making it to Wicked just before it started)
• 2 months old don't love the beach as much as adults
  
• Strollers and sand don't really mix (carrying a stroller, diaper bag, beach bag, and fussy baby across the hot sand wasn't the ideal way we had imagined the time at the beach ending)
  
• Be sure to know all the rules on a private lake (like driving counter clockwise in Lake Arrowhead so the Police boat doesn't pull you over)

But we had TONS of fun and Jenni did a GREAT job of making sure we had lots of fun things to do and never wasted any of the precious vacation days. We also owe a HUGE thanks to Jenni's grandparents and Kenny and Kristy for the help with Charlie and for letting us crash at their place.

Can't sleep or the dinosaurs will eat me!

Last Friday we went to the T-Rex Museum (a room and hall way with some dinosaur crap and a digging pit) and now we'll know why Charlie has night terrors later in life (I kept "feeding" him to all the dinosaurs). I can't say that it was nearly as cool as some places, but it was a fun experience to be able to spend sometime with the little guy and my wonderful wife.

You can check out the pictures on Facebook or the Picasa Web Album.

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing

So as Charlie's Dad, I feel that it is my responsibility to mess with the little guy on occasion and bring a little excitement/adventure to his otherwise calm life. And one of these activities is helping Charlie "dance". I basically just make stupid noises and move the guy around like a goofball. It really is as funny as it sounds, but don't take my word for it, you can check out the video below (or on Facebook).

Charlie meets the family

So Jenni already posted about this, but I just wanted to put the links to the pictures up for those that were interested. All of my family and all of Jenni's family were in town, so the little guy got to meet the whole lot of the Johansen and Burns family in one action packed weeked. We went minuature golfing and from what I remember, Devin won overall, and I came in next to last place (right in front of Jenni, so I guess lack of sleep isn't good for your short game), but the best part was seeing Kenny lose to Kristy (something that Kristy enjoyed thoroughly). I also saw Iron Man (which wasn't amazing, but was definitely enjoyable) and Indiana Jones (which was actually even worse than I expected).

Anyway, if you're interested you can check out the pictures on Facebook (first, second) or the Picasa Web Album.

Our Little Muscle Man

We went and had some pictures of Charlie taken on Saturday and did some family pictures while we were at it (I'm sure they'll end up on Jenni's blog as soon as she gets some time). But after taking the "naked pictures", we joked that it looked like he had little muscles when I held his arms up, so I couldn't resist taking some pictures of the little guy showing off his stuff. It's also funny to see how the little guy is all belly, and he's definitely inherited my long arms and legs.

But the most exciting occurence has been that the little guy has already learned to roll over from his front to his back. I got home from work yesterday and Jenni said that she decided to give him a minute or two of tummy time to see how he'd do, and the little guy rolled over (with a small nudge from Jenni). She thought it was probably just a fluke and that her nudge made it possible. But then we gave it another try and he pulled it off, so we decided to bust out the camera and see if he could pull it off again and luckily he did. It wasn't quite as good as the first time, because he had his arm underneath him, but it was still pretty impressive. Here's the video, or you can check it out on Facebook.

We then tried to get him to do it a third time, but he just wasn't going for it. He did however pull off a push up near the end of the video. It probably doesn't sound like much, but you just have to remember that most kids his age are just working on picking their head up (or check it out on Facebook).

Charlie takes a bath

Once again there's nothing major to report, but it was bath time for Charlie today and Jenni had to take chance of the oppotunity to dress the little kid up, so here's one of the pictures that we snapped of him I guess I should just be glad that he's not being dressed up in girl clothes (like my Mom did to me when I was a little kid).

Like Father, Like Son

Some people had been asking who little Charlie looked like and I just wasn't sure at first, but then I busted out my old baby album to check out what I looked like as a baby, and I think that it's pretty obvious that the little guy definitely got my nose, mouth and chin. I think that he got Jenni's eyes, ears, and forehead but we'll have to dig up her baby pictures to be sure.

I've also just included some other pictures of me as a little kid for fun. I think the craziest part is that one day we'll probably look back at all of the pictures that we're taking now and think that everything looks so goofy (or maybe the 70's/80's really were that weird).
But how about all of that hair? My aunts and uncles used to call me the sasquatch baby, but I think that we got lucky that the little guy came out early or else we might not have ended up with a bald baby.

His first day without Dad

I had been fortunate enough to be able to take most of this week off of work, but I ended up having to go in for a full day today. That meant that Charlie would have to face the dark and dreary world without his Dad for the first time. Luckily, he's got a GREAT Mom, and his Grandma was able to take the day off of work to help out as well.

The day started out with Charlie getting all cleaned up by taking a bath. It all went really well, but it wore out our little pharoah.

He then had to go and get his foot poked for a blood test. Jenni said that the nurse guy was pretty harsh with the little guy and that it upset him quite a bit. Mom helped the little guy calm down and brought him home to tend to his little foot. From the picture account, it turned into a sort of spa day for the little guy that he seemed to really enjoy.

As usually you can check out the rest of the pictures on the Picasa Web Album or on Facebook.

And here's a video we made of when we were messing with the little guy trying to get him to smile (Jenni said that he had been cracking some really big smiles during the day when I was gone, but unfortunately he wasn't up for putting on a show).

More Charlie

Nothing too amazingly ground breaking to report, but I just wanted to add the latest batch of pictures and videos of Little Charlie. I gave the little guy a bath for my first time, and despite the fact that he wasn't a huge fan of it, everything went well and the little guy is all the cleaner for it. As usual, you can check out all of the pictures on the Picasa Web Album or on Facebook.

Like new parents that are so fascinated with every little thing, we took a couple more videos. Nothing all that special, but there's still funny nonetheless.

Charlie gets the hiccups

Charlie having a little snack

And Charlie gets the hiccups again

RSS Awareness Day

I know that I'm a total goon for posting something like this, but today is RSS Awareness Day and if you're not using news feeds to keep updated on blogs, then you're missing out. It allows you to spend your time on the internet actually reading content instead of just surfing around to see what's new. If you're interested in finding out more, then just check out this post or ask me a question. I always LOVE helping somebody discover something new like RSS feeds, Picasa, or some other nifty little thing.

On a semi-related note, I have the feed for this site now going through Feedburner, so you can subscribe to the posts via email, if you're not feeling brave enough to deal with an RSS Reader yet.

Also, for anyone interested here's the RSS feeds for my stuff:
This Blog
Picasa Web Album
YouTube Videos
What I'm Reading
What I'm Digging