Christmas Card Outtakes

We had the best time taking Christmas card photos. Thank you Jenny Barnhart for the wonderful photos!!

The Snowday before Christmas

Twas the weekend before Christmas, and all through DC, the snow was falling, on you and on me!

Drew made snow angels and crawled through a snow tunnel his daddy made. He begged to stay all day in it, despite the fact that his gloves and pants were full of snow.

We had so much fun in the snow that we played sledding inside. Drew begged for ride after ride - Evelyn did not.

Christmas in Texas

We are having a great Christmas in Texas! Evelyn met her cousins Ashley and Camerin!

We are eating our way through the week. Here we all are a Mi Tierra, a delicious TexMex place in downtown San Antonio.

Singing Christmas carols with Grandma at the piano was so much fun!

Drew enjoyed his presents very much, but he really liked picking up the trash from all of the packages. It was like a dream come true to be a trashman for the morning.

The Play Mat Series

We've tried to take a monthly photo of Evelyn on her mat from Aunt Chris to document her growth, so here are a few that are missing!

Three Months: Four Months: Five Months (A little shy of, but I forgot to take one in Oct):

All dressed up

Apple Adventure

Every fall Andy and I drive to Sperryville, VA to buy the most delicious baking apples. This year we really played it up to Drew for weeks. We were going to the mountains to pick apples - out of bins! Yes, someday we will go find the trees where these beauties grow, but it is really much faster to pick them up by the highway, and Drew still had a great time picking out the ones that would go in our bag! And that left us time to drive on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park and play in the snow that had dusted the ridge.

It was a really fun outing, though looking back, we must have been desperate to keep Drew awake if I let him play with these sunglasses.

The hats of our lives

Back again!

Drew and Evelyn's fans have spoken (thank you Mrs. Bartron!!!) and the blog must go on! So here are pictures this week - and now that I've downloaded over 200 pictures from my camera, we'll do some catching up too.

Friday will be Evelyn's 6 month birthday! So here is her playmat photo for the month.

We also thought it was time to clutter up the house again with the exersaucer. Drew was excited to see it - he still loves the button that plays Fur Elise and "The Loud Thingy," aka the spinner toy you see him with here.

Evelyn enjoyed her time, and seemed happy to be able to hold herself up and see the world a little better, but I was amazed at the contrast from Drew's first experience. He bounced and rattled the exersaucer until I took him out for fear he'd hurt his head with all of the shaking. She wiggled a little and explored all of the toys and played very quietly.

Cousin Mike

Rebecca's cousin Michael Boscarino came to meet Evelyn and catch up with Drew last week. It worked out especially well that the Riggs' were passing through the same night. We had a great time catching up and "hanging out."

Drew is never ever spoiled by his grandparents. News reached them that he has been forced to share a chair with his parents when they have visitors in the yard. Drew clearly needed his own chair! He has loved sitting all over the yard in it - not to mention the joy that moving it all over the yard gives him. Thank you Mimi and Bomp!

Hanging out with friends

We love spending time with our little friends! Recently the Morgans and CJ Dunlop were here for the morning. Here are the big boys enjoying a snack.

Matthew and Evelyn didn't get to sit at the table, but they had fun too.

Thank you Aunt Chris!

Drew is finding his artistic side thanks to his Aunt Chris and her gift of paints and sticker books!
I'm afraid that Drew knows that he could be the artist's subject - he seems to be contemplating his own cuteness here.

News From Evelyn

Evelyn is quite a lady in her little bows these days! We just love them!

Drew loves his little sister! On occasion he gets to hold her.

Evelyn has a new trick or two. She lights up when Andy and I smile at her - how wonderful!! And she loves to stick out her tongue - how cute! Here she is playing with Daddy.

Happy Father's Day

Andy was away for the Southern Baptist Convention last weekend, so we celebrated Father's Day a week late. Drew took Daddy out after church for lunch at McDonald's - his choice for celebrating! Drew's Happy Meal toy was an opportunity for a special first, he named his plastic squirrel Toppy. Nearly all of Drew's other toys have names like Bear, Caterpillar etc. It has been fun to see his creativity grow over just the last month or so. He has started "cooking" us things, making up new little games, and adding scenarios to his endless pushing of cars and trucks.

Back on June 20th....

Well, I uploaded these pictures to post to the blog last month - scary! So without a lot of detail - here are photos from our visit with Rebecca's parents and sister Christina at the end of June. Mom and Dad were here to help me while Andy was at the Southern Baptist Convention.


Drew was making up a new game in this photo. He has figured out what it means to be behind another person. He likes to crawl behind, and it is the duty of the person in front of him to "squish" him against the chair they are sitting in. None of us really understand the appeal of being squished, except Drew, who finds it endlessly entertaining!

Aunt Chris came to pick up some things that were stored in our basement before her move to Boston. She got a little snuggle time with Evelyn here - but most of the visit was spent loading the van. Drew was VERY excited to "drive" the big van while it was being loaded.

Occupation Fair

I suppose it is the influence of all the yuppy moms around us in Washington, but I do find myself wondering what kind of occupations Drew and Evelyn will pursue in the future. Some recent photos suggest a few possibilities.

Kick Boxer? Evelyn spends a little time each day working on her right hook and round house kicks.



Chef? Drew likes helping in the kitchen! He likes scrambling eggs and stirring scone batter.

Opera Diva? I would especially like Evelyn to be a singer - just look at those long mouthed vowels!

She Keeps Growing!

If you scroll down a bit, you can see Evelyn on her playmat at one week, and this photo was taken at one month. We can hardly believe how much she has grown! The other shots in this post represent the weeks in between. I'll try to catch up with some more events and hope to not wait a month between posts in the future!

Come see us in the yard!

After nap time the Johnsons can usually be found out in the yard. Evelyn is quickly learning to eat under the nursing cover and bug netting, thanks to her big brother's enthusiasm for the great outdoors and his new wading pool. Come splash or lounge with us!