this past weekend was very relaxing because we didn’t have a lot of plans. the only thing scheduled was a very special event for our little friend josh: his first birthday party! we had some gorgeous weather on saturday, too, especially out in livermore, so it was a great day for friends, cake and presents.

the party was construction-themed, so josh’s mommy stefany made an amazing chocolate cake that looked just like a construction site. not only did it have all the details, from chocolate rocks to sugary sand, but it tasted delicious, too :)

ellie and i sat in the shade and enjoyed several slices of french bread (our favorite, mmm) while ryan went around snapping pictures. he really captured the joy and chill vibe of the day in all the photos he took, and i know he was happy to help so chris and stef could focus on the birthday boy.

the kids played on the grass for awhile and then it was time for presents! josh got all kinds of new toys to play with. after presents, everyone went inside to sing happy birthday and eat cake. the birthday boy was in heaven :)

great party, moenich family! thank you for including us in josh’s special day <3

…a GIRL! she simply couldn’t wait another two weeks to find out from the doctor, so this morning she and travis went to womb with a view. we asked her to call us after her appointment to share the news, and we were lucky enough to be her first phone call :D we’re sooooo excited to be an auntie and an uncle, and for ellie to have a brand new baby cousin. congratulations, carerra & travis! she’s gonna be one pretty little lady <3

happiest of birthday wishes to our good friends josh and riette!

josh is my wonderful friend stefany’s son. we both got married in 2007 and had our first babies in 2009. we’ve known each other since the mid-90s (OLD!) when we worked at bath & body works together as teenagers. memorieeeees! josh is the perfect mix of his mom and his dad chris. he has an AWESOME head of full, brown hair (even AFTER his first haircut, which he happened to get today), and he weighed more than 30 pounds at his last weigh-in. he’s tall, too, towering over ellie’s average 2’6″ :) and you should see his hands — they’re almost as big as mine, no joke. happy birthday, handsome boy! we can’t wait to see you at your party on saturday, where ryan will have the great honor of being the official photographer <3

riette is the youngest of our friend summur's two beautiful daughters. they live in the valley, so we haven't had a chance to meet miss riette yet, but we're planning a playdate on the 21st and we're looking very forward to it! riette's birthday party was a couple of weeks ago. it was an owl-themed family occasion at a park where summur and her sister kori used to play when they were little. from the pictures we could tell it was a lovely time :) happy birthday, pretty riette! we can't wait to meet you next week!

it's also worth noting that both josh and riette's families will be moving to the great state of texas within the next month. isn't it ironic? oh, and one more special note:

one of stefany’s best friends had her baby girl today! christy, aaron and landon welcomed little payton victoria just after four o’clock this morning. you picked a great day to make your entrance, miss payton! big congratulations to the getreu family from the lacks <3

happy birthday, everyone!

last saturday we went to a pottery painting studio in lafayette called color me mine, but we couldn’t blog about it now because we made presents for ellie’s grandmas!

it turns out ellie’s a little too young to paint on small objects without making a huge mess (duh), but we attempted to get her handprints on a couple of mugs with the help of a nice girl in an apron.

once she had her painted hand on the mug, all she wanted to do was wiggle her fingers, which is why the prints look … a little funny. but she tried her best, we had lots of fun in the process, and we know her grandmas are going to love their special mother’s day mugs :)

we really enjoyed color me mine and look forward to taking ellie again when she’s a little older :)

we decided to try our luck with ellie’s pool again last weekend. we knew it was going to be a warm day, so we put the water in early and left it in the sun while we went to the park for a picnic.

hours later, after we’d been home for a bit and ellie awoke from her nap, the water was the perfect temperature for an afternoon dip (i know because i toe-tested it and wished there was enough room for all of us). we didn’t give ellie a chance to sit down by the water and ponder her surroundings this time – we just brought her outside and stuck her in. luckily, she loved it right away … maybe because she was NAKED!

at least we know now it’s not unfamiliar bodies of water she’s afraid of … it’s just cold water!

a few weeks ago we bought ellie one of those little plastic swimming pools for the backyard, but it hadn’t been warm enough to use it until this past weekend. sunday was the most beautiful day of the spring so far, so we decided to put ellie in her bathing suit and break out the pool.

unfortunately, she wasn’t really into it. she wasn’t into it at all. it may have had something to do with the fact that water from the hose is pretty darn cold, even on a warm day. or maybe it was because a vast and unfamiliar body of water is just plain intimidating. who knows?

but she did enjoy sitting next to it and splashing the water around!

next time we’ll leave the pool in the sun for awhile before we attempt taking a dip :)