St Patty's Day

Dublin, the town we live in, is all about Irish heritage, shamrocks, you name it. They throw an annual St. Patrick's Day weekend full of festivities from a parade, to a festival full of games, rides, Irish food, Celtic music, Irish dancing, a 5K walk/run and so much more. 

We decided to give it a whirl. We headed out at 8:30 for the 9:30 parade. It was so cute - very much a smaller town parade feel. I think every organization and school possible (there are a TON of schools around here) participated. We had a lot of fun and Ella and Kellen stole the show. I think they received more beads and goodies than any other kid around us (Brian said he started to feel bad, ha!). The parade lasted about 2 hours then we headed to the festival. Of course, most of our time was spent riding rides. And, boy did it get toasty. It was so cold in the morning that we all had jeans or pants on. By noon, we were quite hot. And, when I say hot, it was only 72. Seattle has KILLED us Southern folks. We are not used to hot weather anymore and it will get 100+ here in the summer. Brian and I joked that we are going to die when that time comes. And, our skin...well, we are going to have to be extremely careful. We were out much longer than planned and Brian and I got a little burned because we waited too late to put sunscreen on. We got home about 4 and were worn out from all the fun!

 She wanted this but once the "smoke" went up her nose, she threw a crying fit and 

was over it!

 Ella loved it! It was super fast, too! It took me 3 tries to get this shot.

A Little Here, A Little There

President's Day weekend, we headed to San Fran so Ella could see the sea lions. We had also planned on riding the trolley but the line was so long we convinced her to go to the aquarium. I loved seeing water again but wow, it took over 2 hours from the time we left our house til the time we parked to get there. It's only 30 or so miles away, too. Yes, it was a holiday weekend but the commute by car is pretty painful no matter what day it is. I'm glad we were able to go because there is no way I would take the kids down there myself. There were a lot of weirdos:) But, I love San Fran and can't wait to explore it sans kids.

He loves to sleep with his booty in the air

 Passed out cowboy

 My sweet girl looks so old!

Kellen 9 Months

MONSTER. WILDMAN. MUNCH. 

Those are just a few names Kellen has acquired. I'm not kidding - this child is everywhere! When I picked him up the other day from daycare, his teacher and the Director commented on how he is fearless. Arianna, the director, said "I just want to put him in a bubble sometimes" because he literally tries anything and everything and hurts himself, mostly his huge head, in the process. On Friday, I told his teacher "now you know why I don't want him to walk." She completely agreed.

I don't have any stats since he doesn't have another well check until 12 months. I cannot believe he turns 1, yes ONE!!, in 72 days. His first year is going by so fast.

What Kellen has been up to...

~ Still no teeth

~ He loves all food. Some of his newest favorites are salami, frozen yogurt, vanilla yogurt, wild and spanish rice, goldfish crackers, cornbread, you know all the really healthy stuff. I basically shove whatever I'm eating in his mouth so I won't have another picky eater.

Interruption - as I write this, I look over and Ella is bedazzling brother. Poor guy has sparkly heart stickers around his head.

~ He will try to stand from the squatting position and no, he isn't holding onto anything when he tries this.

~ No new words. Just babbles, mama, and dada.

~ He knows his "baba" and when I ask if he wants one, he gets whiny until I have a bottle for him (he's  our whiny kid).

~ His hair is starting to get little curls. I cannot wait for it to grow longer and hope it's curly back there. It's getting blonder, too. He'll fit in well here in Cali.
~ He knows how to throw a ball.
~ He's learning "gentle" because he likes to grab and slap faces way too hard. His teachers are also working with him not to throw everything:) I'm told repetition. So, we're working on it at home as well.
~ He is a super fast crawler.
~ He loves the sandbox at the playground.
~ He loves chewing on his rubber spoons.
~ He loves his sissy's toys. She does not like that at all.
~ He loves to suck on our chins when he's hungry.
~ Bathtime is his favorite.

He seems to be liking daycare. The downside is that most of the kids are part-time so there are days when he's the only one there or one of two, and the other child can't crawl yet. There are maybe 8 kids total in the room and there's never a full 8 day. But, I hope as more and more people learn about the center, his class will fill up. I want him to be able to interact with kids, not teachers all day:)

Kellen is such a mess but we're loving him to pieces.

Where Has Time Gone?

Wow, is it really March? This year, especially February, has flown by. It needs to slow down! And, so do we!

I don't think I've even mentioned why or when we moved to California. I think I just posted a bunch of pictures with no explanation.

We packed up our house and moved to San Francisco, Dublin specifically, on January 25th. The reason being more sunshine and new jobs for both of us. Of course, we thought our next move would be closer to home, friends, and family, but let's face it, there are no jobs that way that fit our experience and career paths. So, we decided to stay out West and move south.

Brian joined a start-up, Rocket Lawyer, as their Director of FP&A. Don't ask me exactly what he does because I don't know, ha! He is based downtown in San Fran. I joined eBay's merchant development team as Manager, Strategic Accounts for the Electronics vertical. I'll be working with some of our top accounts to help them grow their business on the platform. My office is in San Jose but the plan is to work from home most of the time. Brian can ride the BART train in every day and get work done while on there. I have to sit in standstill traffic for, on average, an hour. Towards the end of the week, it can take up to 2 hours one way. My commute is like 30 miles yet it takes that long. So don't ever complain about your traffic because mine is much worse people! Thankfully, eBay is super flexible and said I can work from home. However, I like people and need my people time so plan on going in 2x/week.

I can't speak for everyone b/c I'm in a hotel right now and don't have them by me to ask, but I am loving Dublin. You cannot beat this weather! It was 73 Sunday and it's been warm every day since we moved here. Nights are chilly (high 30's) but it doesn't bother me. We're already in sandals and I've only see rain once. Yes, ONCE! Yay! And, I'm loving the little town. I'm Irish and love seeing all the Irish details. The signs have shamrocks on all of them. The streets have lots of Irish names. There is a Kelly park (obviously not spelled the right way but that's ok). There's a street in one of the developments we like called Kelly Canyon Dr:) On St. Paddy's Day weekend, they have a huge celebration with a parade, 5K run, and activities such as Irish dancing, food and drink tastings, etc. My Granddaddy Kelley would be very proud!

My favorite thing about this area is the valley. We are right in the middle of it so as we're driving, there are beautiful, picturesque, bright green rolling hills on both sides. Some have cattle, some have horses, and those enormous mansions on the top, WOW! There are specks of trees on them. The best part are the birds. I'm mesmerized by them! They are huge and look so pretty and effortless flying among the clear, blue skies. Even though my commute is brutal, the scenery is the best part. I've had to slam my brakes a few times because I get distracted by those dang birds! They're amazing.

Our hope was to buy a house as soon as we got here, but that didn't work out. The housing market is insane here. There is no inventory on the market (unless you can afford a $1MM+ home) and when there is, it's a crazy bidding war. We've gone through it twice and it sucks. You might as well put your house up for sale for a $1 bc it will sell for $900k+ easily. One house we liked had 18 offers! So, we're on a waiting list to build or if some houses come on the market that work out, we'll go that route. Until then, we moved into an apartment. It's nice and fine short-term. We signed a 6 month lease. It has a lot of perks like being on top of lots of restaurants, a coffee shop, yogurt place, grocery, cleaners, etc. It also has a really nice pool. Downside is it's small for us, the kids are sharing a room, and Brian won't let me hang any curtains, so I get to stare at stark white walls while working from home!! I will be hanging up pictures because I need a lot of color in my house!

Other than that, work is busy, kids are enjoying school, and on the weekends, we spend our time at the gigantic park across the street. It's about the only thing to do in the area but it's nice. I refuse to (and don't trust the crazy drivers around here w/ my kids in the car) go far on the weekends due to traffic. We went to San Fran a few weekends ago and it took almost 2 hours from the time we left our house til we parked. it's only like 30 miles away! Craziness! Traffic is really bad here.

We have a lot of upcoming events - my friend Jessie's wedding in Laguna Niguel, Disneyland for Ella's birthday (postponed World til her 5th due to the craziness), Ella's birthday party, and Kellen's birthday party. This Momma needs to get busy!

I still haven't picked up my DSLR since Christmas. It's terrible! So here are my 'subpar' iphone pics.

 She hit the jackpot 2 times. One time she got 25 tickets, the next 50! I'm taking her to Vegas.

I always say this and will say it again...this kid has no chance.

Love this dress on her.

 This is right before I take my eye off her for 1 second and she jumps in not realizing it's much deeper than she thought. Her dress was floating on top of the water. I think we were both in shock because we just stared at each other with our mouths wide open then both started laughing. That water was cold!

Where we live...Emerald Green Park.

 Our 7:40 a.m. Sunday morning while everyone else was still asleep. Snuggled outside staring at the palm trees and rolling hills.

 Getting curls! Can't wait for his hair to get longer.

 Passed out by 8 on a Friday night. Unheard of. Yippee for us!

 What Kellen does for entertainment.

 And, some quotes from Ella...

Why does that lady have half black hair and half white? (at a restaurant looking at an older woman behind us).

Why isn't she wearing shoes? (in San Fran behind a homeless woman).

Definitely "shhhhhh!!" moments.

"He throws away these toys because they're drunk." - Toy Story movie (the toys were junk not drunk)

"I'm the giving man" - she always says this whether she's making cards and giving them to one of us or passing out tea to us.

E: Daddy, I know everything.
D: You do? What's 10x10?
E: Eh...uh...go in there! (as she points to her playroom like she's punishing her Dad for asking such a dumb question)

"Those are her idiots" - the witches servants on Sleeping Beauty

"I don't like CA macaroni. I only like Seattle macaroni." - story of our life because this child doesn't like anything!

I have a few cute San Fran pics I'll post once I'm home and have my Mac:)