Stayin' at Home

I've really been enjoying Finnegan and Selah lately, as I'm getting used to my new role as a stay-at-home mom. We've been visiting Nate for lunch a lot at his school, something I couldn't really do before when I was working part time.


Finn has been so quirky lately. He is definitely trying to boycott his nap these days. (I'm not ready to let it go!!!!)I thought this was cute, falling asleep like he's just chillin - with his legs crossed.


On Sunday I said, "Finn, grab your shoes and let's go." He came around the corner wearing his rain boots and Fireman's hat. I wanted so badly to be a cool mom and let him wear them to church. But alas, I was a lame boring mom and didn't.



After church, Finn wanted to try on his new elephant costume. Then he looked in the mirror and got scared (of himself) and then just wanted to cuddle with Mom and Dad. He promptly fell asleep and took a 3 hour nap. I just can't figure this boy out sometimes. I guess the nap protesting just caught up to him, and it took a scary elephant costume to push him over the edge.


Our cute little cottage. This has been the perfect home for us...for now. With just under 700 sq ft we (our friend Doug lives in the studio upstairs) occupy every little corner of this house. But since the weather in Santa Barbara is so great, we basically live in the front yard.


Finn loves it when we play guitar for him (mostly when Nate does, but he'll tolerate my playing too.) He can now do the strumming while I change chords. I hope he's musical when he grows up!


I took this video a few weeks ago. Selah can do the one-eyebrow lift just like me!

Just chillin with the kiddos.

Selah is 2 1/2 months old now and in the 95th percentile in height and weight. She's 13.7 lbs and 24 inches long. She's full of smiles now and so fun to have around.




Nate took this photo early one morning to find the three of us all bunched together in the bed. Finn always gets all turned around. When he climbs into bed with us, I'll sometimes wake up to his feet in my face.



Today our church had a huge BBQ with a fun little kids play area. Here Kirsten just finished painting a SpiderMan on Finn's face. SpiderMan is now smeared on Finn's pillow after he took his nap.


Selah hanging out in the Maya Wrap baby sling. I love this thing.


One of our local parks has a carousel. Always a good time.


Last weekend we participated in the 4th annual Ultimate Race with our friends (much like the Amazing Race on tv, but smaller) organized by our good buddy Brian (Bdog). Nate and I won! So that means we plan next year's race. It's almost as fun to plan it as it is to race. This picture was taken right after the cooking challenge, much like Top Chef or Iron Chef. We all had to create a dish using a breakfast cereal. (The Captain Crunch coated abalone was the winning dish.) The rest of the day was spent rushing around all over town doing crazy things. It was pretty awesome.


Happy kid.

More cute photos!

We are fortunate to have a whole bunch of baby girl clothes from a friend of my sisters. I was organizing the next size yesterday, trying some things on Selah...and she zonked out right in the middle of it all. (yes, at 2 months she's already in some 3-6 month clothes!)



We tried the new swimsuit out at the beach today. She got a lot of whistles from infant boys.


My happy girl.


This sand box used to be crammed with 3 kids at once, sometimes more. Now, theres no one for Finn to fight with over the sand sifter or the coveted sand funnel-waterwheel thing. We miss you Thomas and Ramona!


I've been having fun playing dress-up with my baby girl.

Selah is two months old and changing by the minute.





She cracks up all the time now, sometimes just at lamp or ceiling fan. That's my girl!






Finn watching a movie with Ramona and Thomas, the day before they moved away.
:-(


Ramona "Mo Mo" holding Selah. Next time they meet, Selah may just be bigger than Mo.


Hey Mom, look what I can do!

Visit up North!
With about 10 days of vacation left for Nate, we decided to pack up and head up to the greater Sacramento area to visit Nate's family in Woodland (brother Dominic came home from the Peace Corps) and mine in Yuba and Sacramento (sister Jen was visiting from Kentucky with her 4 kiddos). The 6+ hour journey wasn't bad. Adding a 6 week old to the car didn't pose as many challenges as I thought. Selah's still quite the sleeper, both day and night. (thank God.)


Selah, 6 weeks old.





Papa Tom meets Selah and has yet another child to whom he can show off his Donald Duck impression.


Selah meets her namesake, Grandma Margaret Morgan (Nana.)


Finn and 2nd cousin Michael, sharing grapes at the pool.


I got a good visit with long-time friend Troyann and she met the kiddos. This was at a live performance of Nate's brother Josh's band, Schwamigos. The band rocked and it was great to catch up with Troy.



We tried to take Finn out on the river with uncle Dominic and Cuz-uncle John, but the boat battery was dead. Bummed, we just sat on the dock for a while. The ocean is great, but I do miss living by a river.

After a fun visit in Woodland to see Papa Tom and Granny Peg, we headed to Yuba to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Summy. Then, we joined our extended family on a camping trip to Fort Bragg - gutsy with 5 different cousins bringing their little ones (3 of whom were missing their husbands for the weekend). There were 9 kiddos in all, ages 6 weeks to 7 years old. It was a filthy awesome time. The kids were overjoyed to discover the wonderful world of smores.


Pile of cousins. It was fun to see Finn rough-house a little bit with the boys.


Nate and his Godson, Aidan, sharing the love.


Finn and cousin Luke, timidly enjoying the slip n slide.


Sister Jennifer and baby Grace on the beach in Fort Bragg.


My sister Joanne (8 months pregnant with boy #2!) and cousins Alisha and Tristan. It was so fun to catch up with my cousins now that many of us are mommies.


Baby Grace (7 months) and baby Selah (6 weeks). They will be BFFs for sure! Just give it a year or two.


All the cousins' kids on the Kellogg side of the family. More kids to come!

LOTSA VISITORS!!!

We are having so much fun showing Selah off to friends and family who have come through. Showing her off usually results in passing her sleeping butt around and listening to her grunt in her sleep. Finn has enjoyed playing with some old buddies and we've been really enjoying our summer as a family, with Nate only working a few hours. Life is good right now.


The Glogers come back to SB for a visit! Ruby and Finn were born just weeks apart, and so were baby Kai and Selah. We miss them!!



We used to have to stand on our heads to make Finn smile for a photo. Now we have the opposite problem. Here's our little cheeser with Ruby Joy.



Finn and Giovanna. Yes, this was somewhat staged.



Aunt Jo Jo meets Selah. Instant connection.



Cousin Wyatt and Finners on the neighborhood shark. These two kiddos had a blast together.



Now on dolphin.


Selah and her cool Tye-dye sleeper. Thanks Cynthia!



Mommy and Selah hanging out on the bed.


Special time with Daddy and the Economist.


And the smiles begin!!!