Go LUGNUTS!

So we're finally at the tail end of the holidays and the craziness of birthday party season (seriously, who planned having one kid's birthday in March and the other's in April, along with 75% of our friends' kids too). Somehow in that scheduled craziness, we had to deal with the passing of Grandma Audrey as well as some hard "work" stuff.

Did any of that stop the fun?

Nah.

We packed our time full with date nights, skiing, hanging out with the Balyons on their visit, a trip to the Bans' house in Jackson (such a beautiful home and SUCH great food -- plus, Lisa and I got to ski...together!), a visit from Nana & Papa (which included planes, Fort Funston, Happy Hallow, discovery museum), brewery visits, and Tante Ness' baby shower. Obviously, there were festivities around Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter...all of which revolved around food, crafts, and fair bit of candy. Honestly, folks, I know I'm missing out on 83% of what we did with the time. But you can get the flavor as to why I'm falling behind on the blog posts. Anyhow, on to some of the other fun stuff.

J had a "Donut & PJ" themed birthday party. Of course, this was of her own choosing. At 2, Lisa and I assumed that she'd be indifferent to the Tea Party we'd originally planned. Well, you know what they say about assuming something, right? After reviewing one of those birthday party supply catalogs we get in the mail (if you've thrown a kid birthday party in the last 3 years, I think you know what I mean...if not, it's not hard to imagine a Party City catalog), J found the page with the donut theme, pointed, and declared, "Donut!" And that was that. Yes, she has a strong opinion when she wants, but it seems like she's developing good taste. I mean, the party was so cool. Most people came in their PJs, we had a crepe bar, drank mimosas, played "donut on a rope," and (OBVIOUSLY) had four dozen of the best donuts on the planet: Stan's.

It's official: T-ball has begun. Literally, E made the age cutoff by days to enroll in the 4-5 year olds. At almost 4, he's a head shorter than most the kids, especially those that are going to be turning 6 during the season (I feel like those kids are so big...like I expect to hear their voices cracking or something). He's loving being #1 on the LUGNUTS (go LUGNUTS!) -- he got that number because the shirts were ordered by size, smallest to largest. We all look forward to the games, which happen 1-2 times per week + practice. Even J likes the games, though I'm pretty sure it's due to our routine visit to the "snack shack" and subsequent ice cream and/or hot dog. Really, I'm just excited to see E's progress. For instance, the first time he went to bat, he hit the ball and after everyone reminded him to "run!" he took off for THIRD base. I can proudly say at the game last Saturday, he hit, dropped with bat without a nudge, and headed for first. Progress! And one of the cutest things I've ever seen was him playing catcher (no, there's no good reason they need catching in T-ball other than to get the kids used to the cadence and positions of the game). His shin guards were up to his thighs. He couldn't crouch without  nearly face-planting -- with the coach having to prop him back up. I will never, ever forget that grin when he told me he got to be "Buster POSEY!" His favorite Giant's player.

Guys, a big problem with going so long between the regular posts is that I forget so many of the cute little things that I want to capture. Like...

• J is into "tickling" me now, where she wiggles her fingers & chases me through the house. 

• Or how E asked, "how do they shower the baby if it's in Tante Ness's tummy?" 

• How excited they get every time Uncle Brian walks though the door. 

• How J pets the dogs and tells them that they are "good boys." 

• How our night time routine is that each of the 4 of us picks out a story and we read them in the order in which they were selected. Then J and I go into her room, she has a sip of water, has me sing a song ("Row, Row" or "Old McDonald"), rub her back, and then she goes night-night like a, "big gurrrl."

• How E can name the planets, identify Steph Curry, and know what suspension is...without us having any idea where he learned the info. I mean, a quarter of the time I'm not sure he even hears me talking directly to him...yet he can pull up these facts that he picked up in the peripheral.

• How J over enunciates, "Yes!" with a little lisp so it comes out, "Yes-th!" 

• How E encourages J to follow him around and how she repeats/does everything he does.

• How they love to help me feed the dogs at night and they pretty much do the whole thing...and rarely spill a million pieces of dog food all over the floor.

From here, I'm just going to put up the rest of the pics and videos...since that's the reason that you came here anyhow. Until next time (which will hopefully be sooner): Enjoy!