Lincoln Children's Zoo

Lincoln has a precious zoo for little ones right in the middle of town! It's a great zoo where you can feed goats and ride ponies. We went for the first time this weekend and EJ was mesmerized by all the animals and the huge sandbox for kids to play in. He loved it!!

Hello Holders!

Last weekend, Drew and Courtney came to Lincoln for Drew's baseball team to play the Lincoln Salt Dogs. It was a great weekend for Drew with 3 homeruns! Courtney and I had lots of fun and EJ fell in love with Courtney!!

Baby Shower for Kelly & Sammi

Last weekend we celebrated the upcoming birth of Samantha! It was a fun celebration! Since we have had a lot of "blue" in our house with EJ being a boy, it was fun to do pink decorations...everywhere! :-) All of Kelly's family and friends were so nice and it was so fun to celebrate this new chapter in Kelly's life. EJ even sported a shirt saying "Sammi's Boy."

I met Kelly when I had EJ last summer. She was my nurse every night during my hospital stay. One night she even went with me to the continuous care nursery to hang out with EJ under the jaundice lights. God simply blessed me with a wonderful friend right upon moving to Lincoln. I will never take that for granted and I'm so glad EJ will have a little buddy to grow up with!

Rachel comes to visit!

Last weekend included a visit from Rachel and Katie from North Platte. Rachel has been EJ's babysitter since he was a few weeks old. We met at Nebraska Wesleyan, where she is a student.

Rachel and Katie got to do bath time with EJ, which is super fun these days. All on his own, EJ started drinking from the water spout. We finally caught it on camera. I have no idea what prompted him to do this or where he learned it. Crazy.

It was great having them in town for the weekend!

Fresno State Wins CWS!

As you may know, Eric played college baseball for two years at Fresno State. In that time he made many wonderful friends. One of those special relationships was with Mitch and Jamie Ribera and their family. Mitch Ribera was Eric's pastor during college. Mitch and Jamie's son, Jordan, now plays baseball for Fresno State and they were in town for the College World Series, which they WON! YAY!!!

While in Omaha for the series, Mitch, Jamie and their daughter Jenna drove to Lincoln to see us and meet EJ for the first time! They have prayed for us to have a baby for many years so it was so sweet to be able to introduce them to Eric's "mini-me"!!!! It was a wonderful time of fellowship and celebration!

Meeting Lynette

Our friend, Lynette, was in town for a family reunion and we finally got to introduce her to Baby E.J.!! It was so special because Lynette and Gary have prayed for years that God would bless us with a baby. It was a sweet moment to introduce Lynnette to God's answer to her prayers!!

Their son, Garrett, played for Eric at DBU and is now in the San Francisco Giants organization. We also got to meet Lynette's cousin, Carol, who lives here in Lincoln. Carol had us all over for dinner and EJ decided to take five unassited steps on his own in her living room! He will be running soon!

The Sheltons Visit!

Kaye and Nate Shelton were in town for Nate's baseball tournament in June. It was a fun week as we celebrated Nate's high school graduation and Kaye's birthday. We toured the UNL campus and feasted at all my favorite restaurants in town. Kaye was wonderful with EJ and taught him how to say "uh-oh." EJ took a sweet liking to Nate and wanted Nate to hold him whenever he was around.

Kaye blessed me by helping me add flowers and plants to my front yard and she did mornings with EJ so I could sleep in. She also found a corn head for EJ which he gladly played with!

Their trip ended with a visit to Butler Junior College where Nate was signed to play college baseball! Congrats to Nate on his achievement!

First Father's Day

Happy First Father's Day to Eric! I can already tell there is a special bond between Eric and EJ by the way EJ's face lights up when Eric walks in the room. They have A LOT of fun playing together and I know that Eric prays for EJ each and every day. EJ takes after Eric in so many ways, from the obvious (looks) to sweet little gestures and expressions. He also took his first steps (3 of them!) from Eric to me this week. Any day now he will be running!

Minnesota Fun!

Today, several of my mom's side of the family got to meet EJ for the first time. My cousin, Chalayne, along with her daughter (Ally) and her niece (Leah) took us to the Como Zoo in St. Paul. It was a great zoo and beautiful garden. You can see a picture of us in one of the gardens at the zoo. It was a beautiful day and the kids really liked the animals. This was EJ's first zoo experience and while I don't think he gets it yet he did have fun watching all the people watch the animals.

Tonight we had a BBQ at Chalayne's house with my some of my aunts and cousins and their families. EJ got to meet his great-aunt Judy (pictured bottom left) and his great aunt-Marian (bottom right). He took a liking to both of them! Maybe it's because they look so much like Grandma Bobbie!! The other picture is of EJ and Ally along with my cousin Rob's daughter. She loved EJ and played with him for several hours which allowed me to catch up with everyone. Eric had to recruit all day but he was able to stop by the BBQ for a little while. It was a fun day in Minnesota! A big thanks to Chalayne and Dirk for hosting the BBQ!!!

Ten Months!

E.J. is 10 months old today! He has really progressed in his ability to walk since my last post. He took three steps from me to Eric this week!! He will be walking soon.
This weekend we are in Minnesota as Eric is recruiting at a big tournament at the Metrodome and I will be visiting family. Two of the pictures are from our road trip from Lincoln to Minneapolis. E.J. loves "driving" while we gas up and I had to get a shot of him actually sleeping since it is so rare!
Last weekend we were in Colorado and you can see how EJ loves to stand (with my parents) and wave (picture with Eric and I). Now that he can wave we are going to start working on clapping and high five.
And finally, a shot of E.J. with his buddy, Forsberg. I found them together in Forsberg's kennel one morning. E.J. just made himself at home. I'm not sure how Forsberg felt about it but he was sweet to his "house guest" nonetheless. Now that E.J. is pulling up he tends to use Forsberg to balance. Thankfully, Forsberg is very gentle with him but it isn't without benefit. Forsberg gets plenty of food from E.J. when he sits in his highchair and tosses food his direction. A mutually beneficial relationship for sure!