My Baby Shower/Blessing

(Warning. This is a long posting.)

I have the greatest friends in the world! I do. They threw me the most eclectic, spiritual, unique baby shower I've ever been a part of. Instead of showering me with gifts (I don't need much for baby #2) they showered me with blessings, pampering, amazing food and drink, and other rituals to show their love and to welcome baby #2 into my life and theirs. Liza made the most amazing Carribean-esque spread complete with roasted apricots and goat cheese and home-made ginger beer. Here are some of the events of the shower and some photos.


I loved the simple things like washing our hands before entering the room.


Jessica gave me a sage blessing, a native Santa Barbara tradition dating back to the Chumash Indians.


We did a ceremonial washing of each others feet, as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.


The ultimate pampering: I had a neck massage, my hair played with, my fingers and toe nails painted, and arms and legs massaged, all at the same time. Awesome.


My friends beaded a rosary for the baby (almost none of them are Catholic...so it was really special how intentional they were with it being about Me and my family) With each bead they shared either a blessing or just thoughts of love and friendship and all kinds of emotional things that women like to share with each other. Yes, there were tears.


Cynthia, Joyce, Jess, Liza and me.


Me, Beth, Jos and Leanne.


A couple of nuts.... I mean, Lindsay and Lina.


A couple of days before the shower, Josephine painted this cool original henna drawing on my belly. It's still there almost 2 weeks later, but fading.


A highlight of the weekend was visiting with Jess. She's due about 1 1/2 months after me. It's fun to be pregnant with a friend, even if they live 6 hours away.


Okay, enough about ME, here's some more of Finn and family.

Here's a random fun video of Finn reading. I just got a kick out of it and happened to have the camera nearby. Notice that all of the animals in this book "snort".




I love Santa Barbara, if not for the sun, surf, mountains, shopping and farmer's markets, then for their PARADES!! It seems there's a parade down State Street for every major holiday.....but last week it was the annual Dog Parade. While there was major demolition going on in our bathroom (see photo below) Nate and I took Finn and his buddie Thomas to see the crazy dogs and dog owners in all their canine glory.


The Greyhounds.


We ran into Finn's little buddie Reese riding with her dog, Georgia. So cute.


Finn's favorite. Dogs, bike and helmets, all things Finn likes to point out whenever possible.


Thomas' favorite. The hot dog.


My favorite I think.


Nate trying to let the boys see. A heavy load.

Here's our old bathroom. Hopefully we'll have a new one before the baby comes!

Thomas helping out with the 1st day of demolition!



The end of day 2. Yikes.

A Lovely Weekend

Trying to keep up with our weekend excursions to fun hikes in the area, last weekend we frolicked around the Monarch Butterfly Reserve and Elwood Bluffs. It was a beautiful day. Finn enjoyed "seeing" the ocean. (He's pretty scared to get close.....even to touch the wet sand sometimes.) He enjoyed throwing rocks and just playing in the sand after the walk through the Eucalyptus forest.


Finn was a trooper on the long walk.


Yes, sometimes he claims to have a baby in his tummy too.


The SB airport is nearby, so every 2 minutes a plane flies overhead. So naturally this led to playing "airplane" with daddy.


Finn finds a buddy at the fence checking out the surf at Shoreline. I bet the conversation went something like, "So, you like stripes too huh? That's cool bro."


A friendly game of croquet at Shoreline with Jared and Josephine.


35.5 weeks and counting!


Back at the homestead, a quick ride on the tree swing.

Memorial Day Weekend
We started the weekend off right, with a troop of about 8 mommies and their toddlers caravaning down to Thousand Oaks Civic Center for a live performance of Sesame Street! Finn has never actually seen Sesame Street, but we've got an Elmo book or two at home, so he knows Elmo, Big Bird, Bert & Ernie and that's about it. It was a bit overstimulating for 2 year olds perhaps, but a good time. It was fun to see a big auditorium full of wide-eyed little people. Finn sat there staring at the stage with almost no expression on his face.....but just about cried when it was over, asking, "Where'd Elmo go? Where'd Big Bird go?" He's such a sweet boy.


Giovana, Finn, Olivia, Vanessa and Charlie waiting for the show to begin.


Giovana and Finn pose with Elmo (and overpriced merchandise.)


A glimpse of the show.


In the parking lot after the show, a big yellow fire truck parked to do some training. They let our kids crawl all over the truck and gave them Jr. Firefighter badge stickers and said "Now go be brave!". (Finn still won't take his off of the hoodie he wore that day.)

Then "Aunt Jo Jo" came to visit with cousin Wyatt! Nate was out of town with his "fellas", so we had the house to ourselves. Just us sisters and our boys - our little boys. Joanne and I had a lot of fun just jabbing away the whole time about our pregnancies. (She's a couple of months behind me) We also spent a fair amount of time exchanging maternity clothes, baby clothes, and what-to-wear-when-you-aren't-pregnant-anymore- but-you-still-cant- fit-your-normal-wardrobe-clothes. Finn loved playing big brother to Wyatt, bossing him around a bit. Wyatt didn't seem to mind. They played so great together. Highlights were our trip to the zoo and walks downtown, riding on the State Street Shuttle, and eating some grubbin Indian food.


Pregnant sisters with our hands full!


Two baby burritos!


A fun new attraction at the Santa Barbara Zoo, a play area for the kiddos with giant eggs, a giant nest and a cool hill with fake grass perfect for sliding down (if you aren't weak-sauce like our little Finnermagoo)

Train Ride to "The O.C."

Last weekend we took the Surfliner to Tustin to visit Tía Lina. (Congratulations Lina on finishing your Masters degree! Woohoo!!) It's a sluggish 4 hour ride from Santa Barbara, but a great view of the surf for the first 45 minutes and no stress of traffic. I enjoyed many Sudokus, Nate got some work done on his laptop and Finn was thrilled to not be strapped in a car seat. We spent a chunk of time playing our own version of Old Maid. Finn has a fascination with trains, so we thought he would get a kick out of it. He did. The conductor even let him blow the whistle (push the button) when we left Santa Ana. It absolutely made Finn's day.


Here's us leaving Santa Barbara. Finn was glued to the window until we hit L.A. (No offense, L.A. but the train doesn't go through the prettiest side of your city of angels.)


Finn's first view of our incoming train. "Toot-toot!"


We met some really friendly strangers on the train. Finn was charming all of the middle-aged ladies. When the lady who took this picture left, he asked another elderly lady rather loudly, "Where did the old lady go?" Ouch, Finn. (When you're two and cute, you can get away with anything.)


Finnegan giving Tía Lina some frisbee-disc lessons.



A natural athlete, I must say!


Finn loves his Papa Tom.....and the swing.


We had a great visit with Granny Peg and Papa Tom. It's not easy to get Finn to look when theres an airplane in the sky, okay?


A couple of happy campers. (This is Finn with too much sugar and no nap.)

Mother's Day & Nate's Birthday
Nate was slammed this weekend with writing papers, reading, masters project and school plans, but we did manage to fit some time for celebrating Mother's Day and Nate's Birthday. My man can bust out several chapters of reading (dry material probably), 14 pages of writing (riveting stuff I'm sure), and make his weekly teaching plans (challenging yet fun no doubt) and still made time for outings with me and Finn and a killer breakfast in bed for ME this morning! In the evening, we celebrated Nate's 32 years of life the best way we know how...with a group of our closest friends at Zodos Bowling and Beyond! "Mark it eight, Dude." (The Big Lebowski)

Awww. Flowers for Mommy.




Finn, Ramona and Thomas just taking in the glorious bowling atmosphere at first.


I tried to recreate Nate's childhood birthday treat.


Finn blew out Nate's candle first midway through the song, the little stinker. I re-lit it to give Nate his rightful turn to make a wish.


Fun for the whole family!!!


Okay, its way past bedtime for both of these guys.



My two bowling balls.


Good buddies, Shane, Jos, Jared & Bdog

Tuesdays are generally fun. I don't go in to the office to work (I try to work from home while Finn naps) and Finn and I just really hang and out and have a ball with Thomas & Ramona next door. After the nap we walk down to the Farmers Market, the park, and if I'm feeling extra adventurous...the gym (can't beat the $2 daycare there while mom gets to swim or workout and then relax in the hot tub!) We end the day with dinner for 2 (Nate has class at UCLA that night) and then it's bathtime, lots of reading and off to bed for Finn. I get to clean up our messes, maybe do a session of Hypnobabies and then play (movie, read, computer....shower.)

Today was like any other Tuesday except Finn "bonked" into his little buddie Thomas and ended up chipping a tooth. He's okay. But now I guess our little cutie will be sporting a Lloyd Christmas smile for the next 4-5 years. (That's a "Dumb & Dumber" references to those of you non-movie watchers.) Enjoy the photos of our fun little Tuesday.

We have a new book, "Walk Santa Barbara" which leads you to all of the nature walks and hikes in the area. We've sort of vowed to hit them all before we leave Santa Barbara. We've discovered some real gems, and Finn has really enjoyed it too.

Here are some photos from our visit to Aunt Jen and uncle Karl in Kentucky in March. It was a great time with 3 Summy sisters together and our 5 boys, and newborn baby Grace - the first girl of the clan. Finn wasn't so sure about the snow at first, but after making about 85 "Frosty the Snowmans" outside, it started to grow on him. I guess at heart he's still just a California beach kid.