The McGinnis Family

Well, Santa officially visited the McGinnis household and rewarded CJ for being such a great kid in a tough year. CJ was delighted by his new kitchen and loved his Tonka dump truck. He has spent hours playing cars on his new full service car garage and ramp. He can already kick his new soccer ball like a champ! Overall, we'd say he had a wonderful Christmas. He wasn't much interested in Mama's spa present, but Daddy's new drum is really exciting. CJ made sure Santa had cookies and then strangely insisted we put them on a plate in the tree to make sure Santa didn't miss them. The picture shows CJ with his beloved sprinkles making the cookies Christmasy. He even managed to sing a rousing Jingle Bells for Mama as he worked. Right now we're at the hotel in Philly ready to get on the plane in the morning and fly to Kansas City. CJ is excited about the trip and can't wait to see his Pop Pop, Nana, Grandma, and all his aunts and uncles. Mama and Daddy are ready fo...

Well, we survived. CJ survived. We made it. Casey finished his last final on Tuesday night in American History. I submitted my final paper on Wednesday! I think Casey is more excited than I am. He has been such an amazing support over the last four years as I struggled to get through. Speaking of support...we can't forget our number one trooper, CJ. Yesterday I was so tired I could barely see straight. CJ told me to go night night and kept saying shh...mama sleep. What a great kid. We're always amazed at how truly smart he is becoming. Casey was driving me to work on Tuesday and CJ says from the back seat, Hey, Mama. Today is Tuesday. Then yesterday after I finished at the law school, he sighed, laughed, and said Mama's last year of school! I definitely think he's a listener. The picture is from a few weeks ago when we had our first snow. That is one thing CJ loves! Snow and snowmen. He cannot wait until there is enough snow to build the best snowman ever. He immediatl...

We just want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We are holding up. We dn't really have words for you all right now, but we're going to be okay. This weekend we ran away to Lancaster to try to distract CJ. It must have worked a bit because he's still asking to go back to the hotel. This kid is such a traveler. We took him to the Strausberg Railroad to ride on an old steam engine train. He had a wonderful time. Here are a few pics of him in his conductor hat. He also has some very cute conductor overalls that we will feature in a photo later on.

Here is CJ at Halloween with his second cousins Dakota and Cheyenne. He had a great time trick-or-treating with them. He came home dumped out his candy and was ready for another round. He enjoyed his trip to Kansas City and loves his Superman outfit. He was supposed to be Curious George, but the store Mama ordered it from sent the wrong size so Grandma (Edie) and Daddy ran out to save the day.

We had a wonderful time in Chicago. We met up with Christy who showed us around the city. CJ was especially impressed with the Lincoln Park Zoo and Navy Pier. She was a great tour guide. We took a water taxi down to the Sear's Tower, but decided not to go up since CJ was passed out cold. He really loved looking at all the buildings and people. On Friday night when we were walking back from dinner, a very impressive looking Marine came over to us. He was young maybe early twenties, but extremely decorated. He asked us if he could give CJ his old Lieutenant bars. He pinned them on CJ and saluted him. It was a pretty neat moment. We thanked him and he said, "No, thank you for being the best parents you can be." What a neat experience. The pictures are of CJ at Navy Pier.

I can't believe its been a month since we updated. Well, actually I can. It's been a month full of adjustments between moving to Newark and Mama and Daddy both in school. We are a bit crazy. Mama has school Monday and Wednesday during the day and Tuesday and Thursday nights. Daddy has school Tuesday and Wednesday nights so needless to say it's a bit crazy. As most of you know, we are also very excited that CJ will be a big brother in May! It's amazing how fast time passes. We can't believe that our CJ baby is a big boy who will be a big brother soon. CJ seems very excited and loves to kiss Mama's belly and talk about the baby. Casey has taught him to refer to the baby as a brother so he's always saying baby brother. We've been in Chicago the last four days for a conference. Casey and CJ have roamed the whole city. The first picture is from Thursday night when CJ passed out at dinner before the food even arrived. He looked at me and blinked twice, laid hi...

We have officially moved back to Newark! We have a lot of work to do before we can say we're moved in, but we're getting there. It was a long weekend of moving and cleaning and running after a filthy little boy. CJ started us off by packing one of his shoes in an unknown box that we have yet to find. He went around in his socks until Mama could go to buy him some new sneaks on the way to the new house. He loves the house and spends all day going HOUSE! HOUSE! For that I am grateful. He did cry when he had to leave his friend, Deandra, across the street. We vowed to keep in touch though and are planning on taking her with us to the zoo in a few weeks. As for the rest he has settled right in. We've enjoyed lunches together all week. Of course, he loves the backyard and the stream that runs along the edge (Did we mention that we have a little stream?). He has been investigating everything and is constantly covered in dirt. No longer is this kid afraid of the grass. Last night ...