Six Months!

Here's our cutie pie at 6 months!  He is doing great!  He has started sleeping in his crib without a swaddle and he has started eating baby food.  He has lots of personality and I can tell he is going to be a very busy little boy.

Lincoln Visit

My mom got an offer for free airplane tickets to Omaha so she invited me and the boys to join her.  She knew how much it would mean to me to go back to Lincoln and visit the friends we left a year ago.  I was so touched by her sweet offer.  Mom flew to San Diego to take care of the boys while Eric and I celebrated his 40th birthday and then we flew to Omaha together the next day. 

EJ & Jack on the luggage cart at the hotel.  Boys love anything with wheels!

My friend, Kelly, hosted us while we were in Lincoln.  I met Kelly two weeks after I moved to Lincoln.   She was my nurse when I had EJ. We hit it off and became friends.  She didn't have any children then but now she has three adorable kids!  Even though she has three kids ages four, two and 12 weeks she welcomed us into her home and was a wonderful host.  She's amazing! 

 Here's EJ, Sami & Jack.  Sami is a beautiful girl with a sweet heart.  Her and EJ hit it off so Kelly and I may end up in-laws in 20 years!

 Here are our kids.  Between the two of us we had five kids in five years!  What a blessing!

 The newest of the crew....Jack and Drew.  John Andrew and Andrew Joseph.  We put the two "Andrews" in matching outfits!  They didn't have any say in the matter but we sure loved it!

 Next we got to visit the Covert Family.  EJ and Will were in preschool together last year.  His mom, Julie, was my saving grace last summer.  She would come and pick EJ up and take him to play with her kids while I managed our garage sales and packed my entire house.  It was such a gift to us so EJ didn't have to see the grief and heartache to a great degree.  What joy it brought us to be reuinted!

 Here are all the Covert kids along with EJ and Jack.  Soliel loved Jack and did a great job "watching" him while we visited.

We also got to visit our house in Lincoln and our neighbors. Here's EJ with Jayden.  It was so great to see her and her family again.  We also saw our house.  The new owners let us come into the house and walk through.  We had been in touch by email over the year so it was fun to meet them.  They are a sweet family with two young boys.  The house looks the same as we left it.  EJ didn't seem to remember any of it but it was great for me to be there without all the drama and heartache of packing and leaving.

I didn't get any pictures of our friends Jeff and Andi but we got some good time with them.  We saw the new house they are building and they treated us to a great dinner at one of my favorite Lincoln restaurants.  They got to meet Jack and EJ got to reunite with their dog Cluny who he loves!

Big Boy!

Check me out! 

Jack is sitting up all by himself now.

He also had his first tooth break through and he is saying "Da-da" now. 

He's still a chunky monkey!

Eric's Birthday

Eric's 40th birthday fell on a Monday. We had a fun-filled weekend with family but I still wanted to celebrate on his actual birthday. 

 On the morning of Eric's birthday I got up early with the boys so he could sleep in.  We got in the car in our PJs (and stompez slippers!) and went to Krispy Kreme to get Eric a birthday doughnut (and a dozen more!).  EJ asked why we had to go through the drive through and not go in to to get our doughnuts.  I told him that mommies in their jammies weren't allowed...lol!

As I was preparing for Eric's birthday, I thought it would be fun to have a night away from home (read: no kids).  Last year when we were looking for a place to rent we had stayed one night at a really neat hotel with fun water slides and an amazing view.  I had got the place on priceline.com with a really "low" bid.  I thought it would be fun to go back there again this year.  So, I got on Priceline.com and I bid on a four-star hotel in the same area and right before I clicked on "submit" I prayed and asked God for the same hotel.  Amazingly, a few seconds later I got a confirmation and it said the same hotel I had prayed for!  I was SO excited!  When Monday came, Eric had to work so I took EJ and his friends to swim and slide all afternoon and then texted Eric the address where to meet us for his "surprise birthday."  In the meantime, my mom flew into town to watch the boys overnight. 

The small slide was a piece of cake for EJ. He even went down head first!

EJ was so afraid to do the "big" slide.  I waited for him at the bottom and after the first time he wanted to keep going....over and over again!

I didn't get anymore pictures after this. We sent the boys home with my mom and Eric and I went out for a great dinner in Little Italy and then slept for 10 hours straight!  The first time we've slept through the night since before Jack was born.  It was blissful!

Eric's 40th Birthday Weekend

Eric turned 40 in style! 

His mom and brothers came to town to celebrate. The guys played golf at Torrey Pines on Friday while Carol, the boys and I did party preparations.   

Here are some pictures when we met up for dinner on Friday night.

Here's the scene for Eric's 40th birthday party.  It was at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, the only private beach in San Diego.  One of Eric's friends is a member and treated us to a fun night on the beach.  It was so fun to have tables and chairs on the beach just a few feet from the water.

Here we are as the party is getting started. I have a great mother-in-law & sister-law.  Carol provided the dinner for the whole party. We really appreciate her generosity!

 Carol and I are so excited for the next Newman baby!  Kellie is about 16 weeks in this picture.  She was glowing beautifully!

Carol and I had to "grill" the dinner so the aprons seemed like a fun way to give Eric a little bit of a hard time.  He took it well.

Eric had lots of friends and family attend. Here are a few pictures. 

Uncle Tim, Aunt Lynn & Allison's husband, James

Cousin Allison & Brother Brian

Cousin Lauren, her husband Kellen & me

Friends Will & Lisa

Friends Vernon & Tali

Andy, Kellie, Lauren & Allison.  We are so happy to live near such fun family members!

We had lots of kids at the party.  I brought each one a red bucket to play in the sand with.  The beach is a great place to keep kids busy!

Here's the kids' table.  Kellen grilled all the hot dogs for us which was a huge help as we got dinner ready for the adults.

Here's Kellen having some fun with his son Charlie.  I know from our experience how much little boys love being thrown in the air.

The sun hadn't come out in three days so I prayed that we would see the sunset and thankfully my prayer was answered.  The clouds broke and we saw a beautiful San Diego sunset. 

Eric's Aunt Lynn and Cousin Lauren made their fabulous chocolate cake and our friend Tali brought Butterfinger Blondies and Smores. The desserts were amazing!

After the sun went down we sang Happy Birthday to Eric and enjoyed the desserts.  Eric had a great time and was so thankful for all of his friends and family who made his birthday so memorable.

Five and Five!

EJ just turned 5 and Jack is now 5 months!  Here they are the morning of EJ's 5th birthday.  EJ got a Krispy Kreme sprinkle doughnut for breakfast.

Yummy!

EJ was at the YMCA Rookie Sports camp all day and then we went to Red Robin for his birthday dinner.  His favorite part was the sundae and singing.

Here are the guys after dinner.  Full bellies=happy boys!

Jack's 4th month flew by and now he is vocalizing a lot, reaching for things and occasionally rolling over.

Here he is at church putting the "hurt" on another boy who was trying to eat his bumbo chair.  The funny thing is that Jack's legs are so fat he barely fits in the chair!

Here are a few more recent pictures. The summer is in full effect so we like to spend as much time as we can at the beach and pool.  Now that Jack can wear sunscreen I feel more comfortable taking him out.

A BIG thank you to our friends and family who celebrated EJ's birthday with us--both near and far!  He had a great birthday and is so blessed to have wonderful people in his life!

A Spidey Birthday!

We celebrated EJ's 5th Birthday with a Spiderman Party!

We see lots of birthday parties with bouncy houses at our park so when we talked about options for his birthday (Sea World, Legoland, Disney, etc) he chose a bouncy house park party.  We invited our family and all his friends from preschool and kindegarten.  

After playing at the park and bouncing for over an hour it was time to sing "Happy Birthday."  We had pull apart cupcakes.  It looks like a cake from the top but they are cupcakes below.  It made serving a cinch.   I also got red velvet cupcakes for the adults in case they didn't want their teeth stained red by Spiderman frosting!

Eric got all the kids to line up for cupcakes.   It's amazing how well kids listen when sugar is involved!

Here he is eating his cupcake with Lyla. 

EJ opened his presents with lots of "oohs and ahhs" from the partygoers.

Each guest got a spiderman box with candy, a book of mazes and some small toys.  EJ put all of the party boxes together and all I had to do was help close them.  Here he is after giving Aiden his; he was so proud!  I was so impressed with all the effort EJ made to help with his party.  We put a list together on the white board in his room and he got to mark things off as we accomplished them.  He always knew what was on the agenda each day as the party got closer.

My friend Sandy came to hold Jack during the party. She really has the touch as Jack slept through the whole party!  It was such a relief for me to not have to worry about him.

A BIG

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to my sweet son! 

He's an awesome kid and I love him to pieces!

Colorado Visit

My mom threw an open house for friends to meet Baby Jack. It was a fun afternoon reconnecting with family friends.  She did an amazing job on the desserts and they were a hit. Guests also left with boxes of Cracker Jacks in celebration of our little guest of honor.  He was a real trooper getting passed around all day with only a few rest breaks.

Here's my friend Katy as she was leaving the party.  We will be celebrating her new little one this fall. 

Here's EJ with Katy's son, Bobby.  We will be passing the Big Brother t-shirt onto him in a few months when his little sister arrives!

We got to spend some good time with Tricia on our visit.  Here we are at the Pancake house for our breakfast tradition. 

I got to see some high school friends.  We got to spend time with Danni and her kids and a fun ladies night on her mom's deck (I didn't get pictures, unfortunately).  These are the daughters of my friend Amy, who I haven't seen in over five years.  We met at a really fun splash park. It was so fun to reconnect and meet her kiddos. 

EJ loved the ropes course at the splash park. 

Here's my friend Jenny.  We met at CSU as freshmen.  It was great to see her and her family!

Tricia and I threw a 50th birthday party for Craig.  It was great seeing our friends and meeting his friends from work.  Here we are as the festivities got started and yes, I had my baby in a bar.  Thankfully, he slept in the sling I was wearing most of the night. 

EJ found his Spiderman costume and he was so excited.  I'm not sure Jack was as excited.  In fact, he was probably a little "freaked" out.  EJ also found his little Lightening McQueen suitcase that we left there last summer.  He pulled the suitcase around with him everywhere so he wouldn't forget to bring it back home with him.  It was really sweet.