Birthday boy

Eddy's birthday is the day after St Patty's Day.  Always.  And this year we celebrated with Eddy's family the day before the Irish holiday, to kill 2 birds with one rock.  We served Corned Beef and cabbage, at Eddy's request.  (I wonder if being born that close to March 17 automatically means you love corned beef and cabbage?)  And then we had birthday cake and ice cream.  Very Irish, right? Thanks for coming to help us celebrate Bayer family!

"new" bouncy house that was given to us by our neighbors whose kids have outgrown it…score!

 And then on Eddy's actual birthday, it was a normal work day for us, but we grilled some burgers for dinner and had more leftover cake and ice cream as a family.  And of course cards and presents, for which the children were extra helpful with opening for Eddy.

K has got the hang of it!

silly boy

We love you and all that you do for this family Eddy!  Thanks for working so hard, and for being so funny (that's a quote from Ry).  You are the best husband and dad we could ask for!

another one of Ry's shots…he's getting better

snug as a bug

We had our friends the Westcoats over for dinner last weekend…and their girls Macy and Zoe got along so swimmingly with our kids.  It was so enjoyable for the kids, and for the adults to have some real conversation while the kids were entertaining each other.  In fact, the girls didn't quite want to leave at the end of the night…and we found this scene in our guest bedroom.

At what age do sleepovers start happening?

a family that bikes together...

….definitely laughs together.

We took a family "ride" on Sunday, along the water at the Richmond marina.  Definitely wasn't a long ride as far as mileage.  But there were enough twists and turns to make it fun, and gorgeous views of SF, and sunshine, and a playground stop halfway to get some wiggles out.  A fun family outing.

being out of that bike seat is SO much more fun!

loving all the California poppies

Ryan has recently gotten very interested in taking pictures of us….he clearly needs some practice

photo dump

I guess we've been busy, unpacking, organizing, cleaning, chasing after the littles.  And I guess I've forgotten to put the photos from our real camera onto the computer.  So here are a few from the last month…

Valentine's Day

Ryan was a lucky boy who got the Lego logging truck that he has been wanting since seeing cousin Connor's at Christmas

and Kaitlyn got a pack of toy eggs 

figuring out the ol' raspberries on the finger trick

couch sillies

"helping" unload the dishwasher

offroading

backyard explorers

Cousin PJ time!  Despite the look on all of their faces, they were having fun, I swear! 

a quiet moment, for a very busy girl.  Note the book is upside down…she still loves to look at books upside down.  Wonder when she'll figure that one out.  

movie night

Eddy and I got the chance to have a date night (well, afternoon) with just Ryan.  We took him to see his first movie in a theater on Saturday, the Lego Movie, while my good friend Cristen was kind enough to stay home with a napping Kaitlyn.  Now Ryan is somewhat of a sensitive kid….really doesn't like movies where people are mean to others.  And that's pretty much any and every movie.  I keep trying to explain that there is usually a mean character, but hopefully, in the good movies anyway, the mean guys usually end up learning a lesson of sorts.  Ryan is getting better at watching the parts he doesn't like (no longer hiding under the coffee table like he used to).
All in all the Lego Movie was great….there is definitely a mean character in it, but Ryan sat still through the whole movie, didn't talk too loudly, and even climbed into my lap for the last 20 minutes….for which I will cherish in my memory forever because I know a time will come when he won't even want to be seen with me at the movies!  He laughed out loud at the silly parts, as did Eddy and I (at different parts of the movie that Ry was laughing at, of course).  We all had a great afternoon.

the only lame pic I could manage to get.
Sorry for the horrible shot of Eddy, promise he wasn't this tired or stoned in real life!

easy like Sunday morning

Lionel Ritchie definitely said it best.  Easy….easy like Sunday morning.  Especially in the spring like weather we had this weekend.  Sunday mornings are pretty great.  And I am also a big fan of our new backyard…easy to play in.  So I thought I'd share a few shots of yesterday morning at our house.

this little beauty popped up the other day

backyard pj bike races in full effect

K had to resort to pushing it (with Stella in her seat), as her feet don't quite know how to operate the pedals yet

okay, this was from Saturday, but too cute not to include

viva las vegas

2 weeks ago, Eddy was star dad of the year and managed to keep our house running while I scooted off to Vegas for 3 days.  It was for a physical therapy conference, so it wasn't too exciting.  But I did get to spend some fantastic girl time with 2 of my favorite people, my roommates from PT school, Katie and Cristen.  So we learned a little, laughed a lot, and all in all had a fabulous trip.  And of course, it was pretty amazing to come home to the 3 people I love most in this world.  Always good to leave, and even better to come home!

we were a Vegas anomaly…spent around 5 dollars total, amongst the 3 of us, on gambling.  But Katie did manage to win $5 back.  Way to go Williams!

very very cool decorations at the Wynn hotel for Chinese New Year (most of it made of flowers)

caipiroscas -- some Brazilian drink that was very tasty, no matter how you pronounce it (Told you I'd put this on the blog Katie)

Love you girls!  When's our next get together??

in the circle

It seems like Kaitlyn is more and more ready for preschool every day…yet she's still got another year and a half until she starts!  This girl loves all the kids, the toys, the stories, the teachers, and most importantly she loves the stickers she gets after Ry's school day!  Today she and I got there a little early to pick up Ryan, so we sat in the back and listened to story time, until she just couldn't take it any more and got up and marched right up to Ryan and sat down by his side.  Then the two of them held hands to walk back to Ry's classroom, she sat right next to him on his mat to sing the goodbye song, and then she marched herself up to his teacher to get her goodbye sticker.  Like.She.Owned.The.Place.

sitting with big brother on his mat at circle time

She also had her 18 month well check today, and passed with flying colors.  It always makes me smile to fill out the questionnaire before the visit and realize she's been doing most of the things they ask for a little while…."Can your child point to at least one of her body parts when asked?"  Check.  "Can your child go get her shoes when asked?" Check, and then she will take them off and put them away in the basket when asked as well.  Double check.  "Does your child say at least 6 words?"  Check.  And then some.

• "A-bawdy kween up, kween up, kween up" -- translates to "Everybody clean up, clean up, clean up", she loves to sing!
• "Rock a baby, on da twee top" -- "Rock a bye baby, on the tree top"
• "I wansome"
• "cool", "cute", and "chocolate" -- really, what 18 month old says that?  
• she has started counting, and I swear she gets to about 5 or 6 accurately every time

She is still tall and lean on the growth chart, 30th percentile for weight at 23 lbs 8 oz, and 85th percentile for height at 33 inches.  And man did she learn how to give her doctor a mean mug face!  She was a bit hesitant of him this time around, not sure if it's because Ryan wasn't there, or if she's just hitting that age (which is a good thing in her case! A little stranger danger is good for the girl who smiles, waves at, and hugs just about everybody she sees).  But Dr Tran had her laughing by the end of our visit, as always.
Overall, KayGray is a tough little cookie.  She will hang in there with her brother's tough games without a peep, she'll dive face first off the couch into a pile of blankets (on purpose) and then repeat it over and over again for fun, yet she still loves her stories and hugs and kisses, loves to help me sing her to sleep at night, and sleeps like a champ through naps and nighttime.
Hard to believe we've rounded the corner of the baby years and the 24 month age milestone is in sight.  Almost makes me think about wanting to start all over again….but then I remember how tired we are and I realize that will never be.  Two is good, actually it's perfect.

best birthday gift ever

We had plans awhile ago to spend my birthday weekend in Tahoe.  But plans change, right?  Timing worked out just right, so instead we chose my birthday weekend to move into the new house!  Good thing there wasn't any snow in Tahoe to tempt us otherwise.  It was an exhausting, overly tiring weekend.  So for my actual birthday, we didn't do much other than unpack some boxes, find some plates to eat off of, and Eddy and Ryan picked up an ice cream cake for us to celebrate with.  Along with take out Thai food, and my dear friend Cristen's company for dinner, the day was complete.

More pics of the new house to come later!  But here are a few from the birthday celebration.

And then this past Friday night, what else does one do with new hardwood floors, but enjoy a little game of blanket slide?  Ryan started it, but quickly Eddy and I got roped into pulling them both around the house.  Good way to make sure those floors stay clean, right?