Some weekend pics

Gotta love 3-day weekends!

Miles got a new bike (He's growing up way too fast!)


Oliver takes his first ride in the jogging stroller (and passes out for 45 min ... the good life!)



My dear family...


My sweet Momma's Boy Miles...

The Next Jerry Garcia?

We just got Miles this new guitar and he loves it. (We will see how long that lasts).

Last night he said "I need to get a guitar case." And we asked him Why. And he said "So people can put money in it." LOL. I guess he thinks he's already good enough to get tips!

Our chunky monkey's 6 month stats

We took Oliver in for his 6-month checkup this morning and he's a healthy, big boy! :)

Weight: 20 pounds
(She didn't bother to tell us ounces. I guess once you hit 20 lbs, who cares, right? This explains why I get so tired holding Oliver these days!)

Height: 27.5 inches
(He's still in the 90th percentile for height, but only grew 1.5 inches in length, so he's growing faster in weight than height... sounds familiar, lol)

Head: 17.5 cm
(His head is growing... good sign.)

We love our Xiao Pang Pang (which means little chubby guy in a very cute, playful way, in chinese)! :)

Uncle Buck (aka Kevin or Da Bo Bo)

We live next door to a very sweet family (the McKee's) who moved here from Texas about a year ago and we just love them. They have two great boys (Robert and William) who Miles adores. Anyhoo... they recently told us that they nicknamed Kevin (Derek's brother) "Uncle Buck" and we didn't quite get it at first. Well, Terry (Mrs. McKee) explained to us (in her sweet Southern drawl), "Haven't y'all seen the movie Uncle Buck with John Candy where the uncle comes to take care of his brother's kids?" She said that, while Kevin looks nothing like John Candy, he always seems to come over hung-over, or sun-blown from surfing, etc. And, he always plays with Terry's boys - teaches them a trick on their skateboard or how to shoot hoops and then, after about 10 minutes, he has to go lay down on the couch because "he's exhausted". We quickly learned to love the nickname "Uncle Buck" for Kevin.

Other Uncle Buck'isms:
- Kevin belches loudly in Miles ear and wonders why Derek and I think it's inappropriate.
- Kevin is eating a popsicle and Derek overhears him offering Oliver a lick of it and Derek turns his head and see's popsicle stick in Oliver's mouth. Kevin doesn't understand why Oliver (6 months old) cannot eat popsicles. LOL
- Kevin picks up Miles from daycare and gets all of the other kids totally riled up by playing with them wildly for 15 minutes (and then says he is "exhausted"). The next day our daycare provider said that Kevin wasn't welcome there anymore. LOL. Apparently the kids were super hyper after we left.

While we are poking fun of Kevin, we have to say that he's very thoughtful to our boys. He always brings gifts for Miles - VERY BIG GIFTS - a huge stuffed bear and a huge stuffed lion. I will try to take a picture sometime and post it. He's a great uncle and we sure hope he has kids someday so we can pay him back! :)

We love you Kev.

Grandma and Papa Ramstetter

Last weekend my parents were in town visiting the Bay Area with their good friends from Germany, Herbert and Annetta. We had them over for lunch before they made their way up to San Francisco and Napa. I just had to post these amazing pictures of Oliver with each of his grandparents. They are two of my favorite pictures!

Oliver and Grandma - Could he look any more content???


Oliver and Papa - I love this picture! :)

Auntie Cristina

I want to give a special shout out to my sister, Cristina, who surprised me this past weekend by coming from Colorado for a weekend visit. She coordinated her plans with Derek and it was such an awesome surprise (by the way, I generally hate surprises, but I loved this one). It meant so much to have her out here. It was her first time meeting Oliver and he LOVED her, as does Miles. We had a great weekend drinking margaritas, running Pat's Run, getting pedicures (and drinking wine) at a spa in Los Gatos, and eating mexican food. :)
I admire so many things about my sister - she's a brilliant business woman, an incredible mom and wife, and a wonderful sister and friend. She's done so many thoughtful things for me and my family over the years and this was another amazing thing. Thanks so much Cristina. I love you.

Happy half birthday, Oliver!

It's hard to believe that Oliver is 6-months old today! And it's amazing how much he has changed in the past 6 months! He's such a happy, content, and smiley baby these days. He also babbles a lot these days -- I think we are going to have another talker on our hands. :)

This morning I was feeding Oliver and he stopped eating and gazed at me and gave me the biggest, sweetest smile. We sat there for 5 minutes while I tickled his cheek and he smiled his incredible smile and I really can't think of a better way to start a morning. Derek and I are really cherishing this time with Oliver, as we most likely wont have another baby, and we know how quickly this time passes and how easily we forget the cute little things they do at this age.