Ryan #1

He's 1!  Lucky Ryan's birthday fell on Good Friday, so all his party guests were able to make it to his day-long party.
First act of the morning -- the toilet paper caper.

 Doesn't this picture just say, "Good morning!  Happiest breakfast, birthday boy!" (Note Maddie with her slept in clothing, ribbons and offended cry.  Poor little dear.  Ryan seems more concerned about her than my camera.  Sweetest baby.)

 All clean!

 The Coons cousins joined us for his party.

 We spent the evening pushing around the shopping cart.  He can barely see above the handle.  I know the feeling.

After "da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba," his best new word is, "Cheese!"  All the family and I laugh when it's time to take a picture because he knows just what to say and how to pose.  We love our little boy.  We know that God does, too.

Big Baby

This is the last night before my baby is a toddler and turns one.  We took a couple selfies.

 Night, night, baby.  Mama loves you.

#3

BAM!  Just like that Eddie is 3!  We spent the morning opening presents and eating strawberries and cream.  We spent the mid-morning playing with new toys and swinging on the swings.  We spent the afternoon napping and attending Meg's soccer game.  We spent the evening eating Pablo cake and reading books.

 3!  When did he get so big?

 Maisie is already reading that new book from Grandma Kim.

 Breakfast.

Mandatory sharing.

 Rainbow Pablo cake.

We love Eddie because he sings the alphabet song, he yells "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie" as loud as he can in every public restroom, he greats Ryan with a slobbery kiss and "Hi, Cutie!", he eats mush like a champ, he gets his own water from the fridge, he walks into nursery calmly (only the past two weeks), sings "Bye, Bye Birdie" at the top of his lungs, and calls our prophet dear, Thomas.

Growing Up

Weaning my baby is one of the hardest mothering milestones, and it has begun.  Ryan's pack-n-play is now empty and sits unoccupied in storage.  Baby Ryan sleeps far from me in his crib all night long.  My heart still pines for him when I awaken at four am, so I often walk to his crib and watch him dream.  I think he dreams about milk and is comforted by angel Grandma Guymon.

 This is what I find when I hear his tiny squeals in the morning -- a sweet boy ready to be kissed by all.  I quickly snatch him out of his bed and kiss him all over; I've missed him.  It's sure hard to grow up.

This week we also dyed Easter eggs.  On purpose we dyed them when Ed was sleeping.  (I'll help him individually.) 

St. Patrick's Day

Many family members posted silly leprechaun tricks.  No leprechaun visited here.  But, this rad girl managed to pack a green lunch for eight eaters, take a rainbow fruit skewers and a pot of gold candy into the office, pick up the middles from school, attend the eldest's soccer game, cook dinner for guests and eat no sugar.  There.  My trick is that I created happiness in others today.

Bentos. (Missing in the photo is the green cupcake.)

Breakfast.

Mustaches.

End of the day top off.  We also wore green today.

San Francisco 2015

Spring Break 2015 is already over, and we traveled 2100 miles by car.  Every mile was worth it because we experienced San Francisco like a true tourist group/family.  Funny, though, that many of the tourists paused to gawk at us.

 Lyndsey made us the most delicious food -- including home made waffle cones that we filled with luxury ice cream.

Jelly Belly factory was next.  We toured the plant and ate tons of jelly belly beans.

Then we visited Uncle Cecil and Aunt Nona.  It was a real treat to catch up with them.

 Then we climbed on the rocks at the top of Mount Diablo.

 Next day was touring Alcatraz.  We did not leave any children on the island, but Eddie did manage to run straight into a cell bar.  A giant goose egg and a long nap were his consequences.

 Fishermans Wharf up next.  Austin bought us doughnuts, a ride on the carousel and clam chowder.

 Eddie, the happy rider.

 I stepped back to see why many were stopping to point at us.  This is what we looked like.  Relatively normal.

 Thursday found us hiking in Muir Woods walking across the Golden Gate Bridge.

 Our bus certainly proved to be a commercial carrier.

 Tree hugger.

Friday was Capitola Beach!  A chilly day ocean side, but that never detours the children.

Boy Scout Andy made a fire on the beach with an old sock and litter.  The kids used towels as a wind guard.

 Matching cousins.

 This baby ate handfuls of sand, and pooped handfuls of sand.

This girl wanted to record her natural beach curls.

 Pizza finished off the perfect day.

 Well, kids crashing in front of a show truly finished off our day.

A brilliant vacation.