Special Pink Shower Times

So my moms' group (I've told you about them before) threw me this totally hilarious shower. Everything pink. I don't even know where a person finds pink "Baby Boy" shower signs, but I guess if anywhere, it would be in San Francisco. Everyone greeted me at the door wearing pink, all the decorations were pink. I was cracking up. Also, there were crustless tuna and cucumber sammies on white bread, which, if you ask me, is the surest sign of a quality shower.

Everett was all in his Euro boy outfit...

But the ladies provided him (and all the toddler attendees) with more appropriate gear.
As you can see, the boys were STOKED!

No, seriously, later they got into it. All boys here:

I got a funny crown and even some really swell gifts, which I thought was really nice, because it was my understanding that second baby = no gifts. And I love gifts!

Especially you can tell I love this one below. No! For reals, I loved that gift! It was a really pretty, designy alphabet book! No more cameras allowed near me.

We tried to get all the babies together for a line-up. This was way easier to do when they were totally immobile.

EC found his place at the snack table.

ALSO, did I mention that the moms got me a certificate for a massage? Which is the main thing in life I want people to give me? So I was super-stoked! AND, then they said I didn't even have to write thank you notes, because it's too stressful for a pregnant lady! So this blog post is my thanks to them! Ladies, it was a swell time. I was really touched. Thanks for being my mom pals--I couldn't do it without ya!

Special Lady Spa Times

So, Karen, my sister-in-law, took me for a special ladies' weekend (no offspring allowed) to the tony wine country. We stayed at a very Sunset Magazine (Yes! I am a subscriber to this magazine of Living in the West!) spa-riffick resort called the Carneros Inn, and it was a dreamy time, doncha know. I neglected to take important photos of us doing some quality poolside lounging, or walking around, or really doing anything out-of-doors, so I got some pictures for you from the interweb. Here is the cottages, one of which we stayed in, also a picture of an outdoor fireplace, which the whole place is lousy with, but which we never sat in front of:

And here's Karen striking a very natural pose in our cottage:

We took a few glamor shots on our porch. Note that I neglected to open my eyes for my G.S.

You know Karen is a former model, so her G.S. actually turned out glamorous:

Also, here is the pool, which is ever so dreamy, even better in real life than this picture:

It's all up on this hilltop with rolling views, and only one time was some lady ruining it for me a little bit, what with with her CONSTANT stream of inane chatter, which was distracting me from my In Touch magazine. Like imagine this girl just will not shut-up about "B-List Celebrity Clubs" she is constantly forced to go to as Sammy Hagar's personal friend, while you are trying to read about B-List Celebrities! How rude!

This is not really her, but it's a lady from the interweb, representing my nemisis, who was, by the way, wearing a cowboy hat, and doesn't she know that is SO 1997?

And we had some fun spa times, for those of you that know me well, I am a big fan of rocks, so I like this photo, but there were actually no rocks on my massage bed, but that's OK.

It was really super. Special shout-outs to Karen for an inspired idea, to Tom and Evan for minding the offspring for the weekend, and to my sister, Nina, and my pal, Regan, for making it extra luxurious!

Oh, also I took some bikini shots so you can see how super-huge I am. I took advantage of some dreamy light so you all don't have to see the ugly, veiny truth about being eight-and-a-half months preggo:

Peonies

No big deal, I guess, if you forgot my birthday, or whatever. Anyway, we have a relatively new tradition around here that Evan gets me my favorite flowers, peonies, which are totally just coming into season around my b-day. I totally love them. Anyway, last year they were pink:

and this year they were crimson, yo:

He sent them to me at work this year, which really floated my boat.

Here's a glamor shot of the boy with the peonies.

New Chee-oos

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EC got some new "chee-oos," and he's pretty stoked about them and he wants to talk about the all the time and he's he is learning to take them on and off by himself, which means a lot of tromping around with one "chee-oo" on, which is pretty cute.

Central Casting

I'm really not sure how I forgot to post this J Crew-worthy shot of the boys. Sometimes I just forget myself! Minus the skinned shin of my shredding man-friend, it could be a billboard!

Fantastic Deerman

Me and Evan just accidentally stumbled on this show while looking for something to watch...our first instinct was, "How do we share this with the greater community?" Thank God others also wanted to share, and we found it on the interweb. It might change your life.

Fairyland

So, I went with my friend, Karen, and her offspring, Emmett, to Fairyland, a retro/filthy children's amusement park in downtown Oakland.

Everything is just exactly as is was in 1948, when it was created, including the original paint, original safety hazards, original decrepit farm animals in the petting zoo, and original dirt!



You can see from this photo, here in front of the house of J. Mouse and Family's Tailor Shop, how stoked Everett was to be at Fairyland. No, for real, it was naptime by the time we got there and he was super-glazed.

But he was actually borderline excited about going on this train, and now when he sees the photos of it, he's all, "Bye-bye choo-choo," which is cute, I guess, if you go for that sort of thing.

He's in for a World of Pain

He's been playing with this baby doll, "Crunchy Baby," kissing it, hugging it, bathing it. It's cute. When that real baby comes, why do I think it's going to be a different story?

Quality Children's Literature

Omigod. I am dying! I am completely losing my mind with laughing at the of hilarity of some of the books available out there to guide me in explaining the complexities of life to my kid(s)! Check out this AWESOME book. You can read it online. You NEED to click it. Maybe it will help your family!

And, if you're looking to explain to junior about your upcoming boob job, try the nuggets of wisdom in this helpful volume!

So wrong. So very, very wrong.

Random Acts of Cuteness

Some more for the RAOC series:

EC's into cereal (AKA "see-yuh!") these days.



And snakes.

California is Really Working Out

Days like this one, I am really happy about the move. The beaches here (although unswimmably cold, there's that) are so spectacularly beautiful, and an easy twenty minute drive from the house. And being able to go on occasional days throughout the winter, as well as regularly in the spring, without fear of frostbite, well, I'm in! EC's enjoying it too.

Belly (and Bosom) Update!

So, the belly is back. WAY back. Check my fun Mumenschantz costume! (No toilet paper head, tho.)


And I don't mind telling you the the boobs are back, too--wowzers!
I gotta enjoy what I can out of this whole pregnancy debacle!

Everett CASH Becker

I Want My Two Dollars! Oh my lord, can I tell you that he took two dollars from my pocket today and he literally started KISSING it? Then he played with it like it was the best toy he EVER had. Christ Almighty.

Home Improvement-wise

Lately, EC's been demonstrating his excellent home maintenance skills (he takes after Evan in this regard). He's good at vacuuming (when he's not too busy chasing the vacuum around, hitting it, and proclaiming it to be "hot!")...


...cleaning the floor (so clean you could eat off it!)...


...and he's even trying his hand at a little gardening!

We figure, train 'em young for a life of toil, right?