Merry Christmas!

EJ was up bright and early to see if Santa made a visit! He wasn't disappointed as Santa brought the construction site he asked for.




Once everyone else was up, EJ helped open gifts with his scissors.




Later in the day the guys braved the cold to sit in the hot tub. Here they are watching deer make their way by the property.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we got ready and went to dinner and church service. Here we are before we left.







Here is EJ at the service with his own candle. He did a great job holding it still during silent night!



When we returned back to the house EJ and Grandma made cookies for Santa and then EJ got to open a present.








We've been tracking Santa on the Norad app. He's almost to Texas!

Texas Fun

We had a fun day traveling to Brenham, Texas to see Kaye. We looked through some fun antique stores, where EJ found an antique ride-on car. For a quarter, he got bounced around really good!

We had lunch at the Brenham Inn.

Kaye gave EJ the Hot Wheels that connects on the wall. When we got back to Grandmas Uncle Brian and Daddy put it together for him. It's a hit!

That night we went to see a light show in San Marcos. EJ loved having Grandma's dog sit on his lap for the ride.

Texas

Were in Austin for Christmas. Our first stop was the mall to see Santa! The wait was long but the guys were kept busy by their phones and EJ got to ride the train.

Early Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my parents since we won't see them later this month. EJ loved decorating the tree. He did nearly the whole tree by himself with ornaments and candy canes. At one point he stopped and said, "this isn't going to look so good since I can't reach too high." Thankfully, Grandma was right there to help. The baby seems to love candy canes since I can't help but take them from the stash on the tree every day!

EJ's big present from my parents was a new CARS bike. He had outgrown his first bike so the timing was perfect. He took it right outside and took off. He was more than ready for the challenge of a bigger bike.

We finished our Christmas celebration with a trip to Del Mar for the Holiday of Lights. You drive around the Del Mar Racetrack and look at 400 lighted displays. It was really neat. We ended up singing Christmas carols but EJ only knows Jingle Bells so that one was in the mix quite a bit.



Santa was at the end of the journey. EJ was hesitant to go near him but yesterday he told me in a matter-of-fact tone that "Santa is our friend." Where he gets this stuff is beyond me! I installed the NORAD app tonight so we can follow Santa's journey on Christmas Eve.

Weekend Fun

We were so glad Andy's team had a game over the weekend. It was the first time my parents got to meet Kellie and see his team play!

Before the game, Andy lowered the hoop so EJ could take some shots.





Have you ever seen a 4 year-old dunk?



Once Andy headed to the locker room EJ got to show his skills to my parents. They had lots of fun playing one-on-one.



He shoots, he scores!

Thanksgiving Fun

We had a fun Thanksgiving with my parents here. Here's our little turkey. He wants to make a funny face in every picture we take these days.



It was such a nice day we were able to head to the park and play football.



Eric did turkey carving duties. This year we tried the focaccia stuffing from Williams Sonoma. It wasn't bad but for the price I paid it should've been better!



We took time at Thanksgiving dinner to tell my dad we are naming our baby after him. It's John Andrew Newman and his nickname is Jack. John means "gracious gift of God" and we felt that the name was very appropriate for it's meaning and it's honor to my dad. Andrew, is in honor of Eric's brother. We shared the news with him over the weekend and he was also touched by the gesture.

Here we are after our bellies were full. I was exhausted but happy to have EJ give the baby some kisses before I took a nap.

First Fulfer Visit

Grandma Bobbie and Grandpa John came for their first visit to see us. My mom cried at the airport when she saw my belly. I think it really hit her that were having a baby! We started our 6th month this week!

The first thing we did was celebrate Grandma's birthday. EJ was so excited to give her monster trucks that they could paint together.

We celebrated with cherry cheesecake and EJ did a good job singing happy birthday and helping blow out the candles.



The next morning we took them to Caroline's Cafe for birthday brunch. It was cloudy but still beautiful at the coast.




Next to the cafe is a rose garden where the two stopped for some cuddle time.



After brunch we showed them the beaches in La Jolla. At La Jolla Cove Grandma and EJ did some successful rock climbing.


More fun family photos.

Once the sun came out EJ was finally able to take Grandma to the train at the mall. He got to ride it twice that day!

Halloween!

This year we had Spiderman in the house! Here he is showing his muscles and practicing climbing the walls with Eric.





Here's a mask he made all by himself at preschool. At pick up time the kids all put their masks on and sang the parents a "spooky" song.


Time for Trick-or-Treating! We went to Coronado Island with the Avila's for the festivities.





Here are the Avila's girls ready to go. Violet is a princess and Elaina is a ballerina. EJ could've been dressed up as Goofy with how silly he was.



Some of the houses were really decorated elaborately. Here's EJ carrying his candy loot from one of them.

We ran into Elmo on the street! Right after the picture Elmo took his head off. The teenager inside obviously doesn't understand the trauma of headless Elmo!



Lots of hold handing tonight! EJ sure loves these girls!