Dallas trip

We spent the last two weeks in Dallas as I taught a class at DBU for the first week and then Eric flew in to recruit baseball players all over the Dallas area the second week. Since I was driving and needed help with EJ while I was in class, my mom came to Lincoln for the last baseball series of the year and then her, EJ and I drove to Dallas. EJ did a great job during the ten hour drive. He enjoyed toys, treats and books without fussing!






Our time in Dallas started out at Kaye and Rick's house. EJ loved saying "KK's house" because there were so many fun things to do there. He loved their pond and feeding the fish. He thought they needed to be fed every hour and even knew where the fish food was kept. It was hard to explain that they only get food every other day...he didn't like that but somehow managed to still be entertained by the school of fish and rocks!



We were able to celebrate Kaye's June birthday and hit our many of our favorite places including the Crate and Barrel Outlet, Taco Cabana and Chick-fil-a. She also made her fabulous enchiladas and the best chocolate cake ever! We were able to combine that with Blue Bell ice cream and watch the finals of American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. True indulgence!



Halfway through our time at Kaye's, her son, Nate came back from college. EJ met Nate last summer when he was in Lincoln for a baseball tournament and he loves him! It was a fun reunion and Nate played and read to EJ which he thoroughly enjoyed.




Mom and EJ would play while I was in class and then they would pick me up. Here's EJ "chillin" while he waits for me to get out of class. I know you can't see his face but I couldn't resist posting his laid back posture!






One day after class we stopped for groceries and the grocery store had "EJ-sized" shopping carts. No stores in Nebraska have them so EJ was super enthralled with his cart. He did a great job navigating the store and he only pulled one thing of the shelf to put in his cart...a cake mix!


My class went well and I received a lot of positive feedback. It was a great week and it will go a long way towards helping us pay our two mortgages. We don't have renters in our house right now so if you know anyone in the Dallas area who is looking please keep us in mind.

On Friday, Eric flew in from Omaha and we moved to a hotel and then went to one of our favorite places for dinner.

I'm continually amazed at how well EJ does at nice restaurants. He is very well behaved and usually ends up making friends with everyone who works there.

Staying in a hotel brought new "toys" to play with. EJ found the little hairdryer most intriguing.


Mom, EJ and I got to spend a few fun days playing in the hotel pool and visiting friends. We had the hotel pool to ourselves which was really fun and EJ seems ready for summer fun. He did great jumping in the water and kicking his feet. He will blow bubbles in the water occasionally so this summer we have lots of skills to work on.




On Sunday Eric, EJ and I visited with the Barringtons and Kendalls at the Barrington's house. John grew up with Brent Kendall in California and went to college with John and Amy Barrington. Between us there are seven kids and they all enjoyed the Barrington's new pool. The only picture I got was of Brent playing with EJ. It was really neat for Eric to be with his old friends and we sure miss the fellowship we had with them on a regular basis. The Barrington's sent us home with lots of toys their kids had outgrown and we are super thankful!



One day, I met up with my friend, Debbie, and met her son, Dex, for the first time. We prayed long and hard for this little fella and he is absolutely adorable! He has the most precious demeanor and I loved every minute of snuggle time with him!



On Tuesday, Grandma Carol came to visit us before we headed home. EJ loves her dog, Max, so she brought him along for the visit. EJ did a great job walking Max on his leash. He also loved pushing the elevator button.


This was the first time EJ has been with both grandmas at the same time since he was born. He didn't seem confused by them both being called, "grandma." Here we are playing at Northpark Mall and having lunch.







Before Carol headed back to Austin, we went to Palomino for dinner. All in all, a great couple weeks in Dallas. Thanks to everyone who hosted us, my mom for taking care of EJ and Carol for making the long trip up to see us!


We had a nice homecoming as all of our roses are in bloom. Now it's time for summer to begin! We are excited for our trip to Minnesota to see family and Chalayne's new baby due any day and for our trip to Denver to see friends and family along with seeing Danni's triplets when they arrive. Lots to look forward to!

Play Date

EJ's friend, Anika, came over for the day and we had lots of fun. We played all morning and then Rachel came by for lunch to celebrate her birthday as she will be heading out town after finals week. She will be studying for Italy for first part of the summer and then back in her home town. We will miss her!



After naptime I showed my only lapse in judgement of the day when I took them for a ride in the bike trailer. It seemed like a good idea until I hit the first incline. Not even a hill...just an incline. What was I thinking? I was pulling at least 70 pounds behind me! I may not be able to walk tomorrow as my legs were burning so bad. I'm sure I was comic relief for anyone watching. Thankfully, the kids were sitting happily in the back eating their goldfish "nacks" and chatting away. Thank goodness I found the baby chicks out with their momma so we could get out and feed them some Cheerios. It provide the break I needed before peddling us home. When we got home they had fun playing with the cars.

Mommy's Day

Today was a fun packed day. EJ and I started off "Mommy's Day" at Sammi's Baby Dedication. Check out her dress and bow...absoultely adorable! It's obvious that EJ thought so too as there was a little PDA going on after the service!!

Here's Sammi's dad, RJ, handling both kiddos at once. He was on daddy duty as Eric was already at work.


After the game (yes, another loss...can the season please end!), we went downtown to an area called the Haymarket. We had a few minutes before our reservation so we walked around and looked at the fountain and "choo-choo." We have a lot of trains that come through Lincoln and EJ is starting to recognize the sounds from miles away. When he hears or sees a train he yells "shoe-shoe" and runs around trying to find it. He is also starting to really like his toy trains and plays with them frequently.



We had a nice dinner and EJ did a great job at a fine dining restaurant. It was so "nice" that they didn't have a kid's menu but he did just fine sharing our "big" food.

After dinner we went for a long walk, where we saw all the mommy ducks and chicks out. We fed them all the animal crackers we could find in the stroller and then came home and put EJ to bed. Eric then went down the street to Cold Stone Creamery and brought back some ice cream. It doesn't get much better than that! I hope that you had a great day and that you were able to celebrate the women who are special to you.

Today was a beautiful day for a Husker baseball game. Cal State Bakersfield took a two run lead in the 8th and we had a chance to tie up in the 9th with bases loaded and one out but we couldn't pull it off. Much like the rest of the season. Sigh.
It was a nice day to sit outside as you can see with EJ and Sammi as they "read" her Who Loves Baby Book. I put the book together for Sammi before she was born for moments like these! Yay!



After the game was a Junior Home Run Club camp. I got this picture of Eric and EJ on their way to the festivities. What a heartwarming picture of my boys.

ELEVEN new babies to love!

No, I'm not the next Octo-mom...or more correctly, "hendecagon-mom." I just fell in love with the baby chicks we see at the pond near our house! Check out these shots we got today on our walk. These eleven little chicks are so adorable!




EJ has been able to say "duck" for a while now and today he must have said it 4 dozen times. He was so excited about the ducks that we had to park the stroller and get as close as possible. Thankfully, neither of us fell in and Forsberg didn't chase them away.


Is the "dad" actually sleeping in this picture? Only a man could sleep with all those little ones "running" around. Men!

We've had bunnies and chicks so far this spring and we now know who's coming along next...



Our neighbor found this Robin's nest on his side of the fence. The eggs are the most beautiful shade of blue! I'm concerned for the baby birds because the nest doesn't seem secure and there's no protection from the elements. It's not surprising since the Robin who laid the eggs flies into our window ten times a day. A real bird brain, if you ask me! All jokes aside, keep your fingers crossed that they make it!!

Ali's Visit

Last week, Ali was here visiting from Oregon. Ali and I met our freshman year at Colorado State and have been great friends ever since. Her husband pastors a church in Eastern Oregon and she has three great kids. Thankfully, they survived a few days without her so we could have some much needed girl time! We did some shopping, went to some baseball games and treated each other to pedicures for our spring birthdays. It was no surprise that we had to have the same colors on our toes as we've had similar tastes as long as we've known each other!!




EJ loved hanging out with Ali and I learned a lot of good tips for life with a toddler. Ali is a child development specialist (not to mention a mom of three!)so I was really blessed with all the information she has.
For those of you who have been following and praying for her daughter, Chloe, she is doing really well and is cancer-free. Now they are able to minister to others and provide encouragement and insight to other families who have children with cancer.

Saying Goodbye to Grandpa Newman

Eric's Grandpa Newman passed away last week and his funeral is today in Turlock, California. Eric is there but EJ and I couldn't make the trip. EJ did get to meet his great-grandpa last year when we played Stanford. That's when we had this picture taken.
Grandpa Harold was born in Sand Point, Idaho and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941, the same year he married his wife Loretta. After his Honorable Discharge from the Navy in 1946 he worked for his father in Turlock as a butcher. He lived in Denver for 20 years and then moved back to California to live with Gale in his later years. They said goodbye to Loretta in the fall of 2006 when she went to be with the Lord. Surely, they have had a sweet reunion in Heaven over the past few days. Harold loved to fish and was a very sweet man.

"Bobbie!"

My mom came to visit this weekend which was great with Eric on the road. The highlight of her weekend was EJ calling her "Bobbie." The way he says it is super cute...sounds like, "Bah-Bee." He hasn't said, "Grandma" yet but surely he will soon. He is calling me "mommy" more and now he only calls me "honey" when he needs help.




Mom took EJ to the Train Event at Toys-R-Us on Saturday while I was throwing the Sip-N-See for Andrea. They had a great time and played trains for the rest of the weekend.



My mom and I were able to refinish our deck on the one nice day we had while she was here. It rained the rest of the weekend but thankfully the deck dried before the rain started. EJ was glad we put the water seal on the deck so there were "puddles" for him to play in with his rainboots.


Before we took mom to the airport we had lunch with Kelly, Sammi and Nana Kay. Kelly and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of having our moms in town at the same time. Kelly offered Sammi a lemon and you can see the adorable pucker face she made after trying it.




All in all, a very fun and eventful weekend that went by way too fast! Thanks for everything mom!

Welcome Baby Karis!

Today I hosted a "Sip-n-See" party for my friend, Andrea. I learned about Sip-n-See parties when I lived in the south. They are like baby showers but you wait until the baby is born so everyone can come "sip" coffee or tea and "see" the baby. It's great for second and third babies when the mom has what she needs but you still want to celebrate. Baby Karis is super sweet and smiles a lot! Everyone had fun holding her and playing with her big sister, Erin





I didn't get a picture of the cake but it had brown frosting with pink polka dots. When we picked it up EJ was very interested in it and called it "gook." He wanted "gook" all the way home and I kept having to tell him that the cake wasn't for him! He's not used to that!! :-)

A big thanks to my mom for helping me get ready for the party and to Katy for sharing her Devonshire cream recipe with me. It was a hit!

Spring!

We had the most beautiful Nebraska day today! It was in the low 80's so Kelly and I took the kids for a walk to soak in the sun (with sunscreen, of course!) I also found a plant blooming in the backyard that I thought I killed off last year with my not-so-green thumb. And, I found one loan tulip...a sure sign of spring! The hydrangeas that my friend, Kaye, lovingly planted for me last summer are also blooming. Eric mowed the lawn and while the lawnmower was very scary to EJ, he was intrigued by the whole thing!


This is the plant I thought I had single handedly killed. Welcome back pretty flower!!! Note: Shortly after posting this picture Kaye emailed me and told me it's a Bleeding Heart. She also sent a link to the garden.com page that tells me how to take care of it. Thanks Kaye!