Blessed

I know I have been a bad blogger, but we have been blessed with a very busy and fun-filled calendar these past few weeks.  On May 17^th my oldest cousin Xochitl graduated from Law school.  She is one of the most determined and passionate people I know and her law degree will continue her amazing work in social justice and labor law.  These past three years she has had her nose to the grindstone and all her hard work has paid off. We were unable to attend the actual graduation ceremony, but we made our way up to Sacramento for her party on Friday.  It was the first time we had seen her new house and met a lot of the family on her dad’s side.  It was really fun to be amongst her boisterous family and friends, with kids running around her backyard and munching down on the great food. 

Xoch and family

It was also a good chance to catch up with my parents with whom we carpooled.  It made the drive go much faster and was truly the only time over the weekend that we got to sit and chat with my parents.   My mom has taken her job of  labor advocate very seriously and has been studiously reading all the materials and information I pass on to her.  I am counting on her to be my advocate and keep me and the hospital staff in line with our birthing preferences.  We are really hoping and working hard towards a natural childbirth.  I think having my mom, who is a three time natural childbirth veteran, in the room with us will be very helpful to my emotional and physical state.  I am going to need Tom to keep me focused and my mom to keep us all in line.  We are learning lots of helpful techniques and tools in our natural child birthing class and yoga is becoming increasingly important in keeping me relaxed and "open".  I am also trying to stay as active as possible which will help a lot when the time comes.

On Saturday, the family migrated south to Saratoga for our baby shower.  Cece had done an amazing job putting together a backyard BBQ shower for baby J.  I was privy to some of the details, but as usual she put things together in an absolutely fabulous way that left me floored. We had invited all of my side of the family plus various close friends.  We had about 40 people show up which made it that much more fun and special for us.  My friend Sarah from Oregon even flew down for the day, which was totally unexpected, and I was very glad to be able to spend some time with her.  Rusty did a great job bar-b-queuing hamburgers for us while we socialized and played a treasure hunt game.  Naturally my coworkers got really into it and won first prize. After we stuffed our faces, we opened our huge pile of gifts (this is going to be one spoiled little girl!) and ate cake. One of my favorite parts of the shower was opening the books that everyone brought.  Instead of a card, Cece had asked our guests to bring a favorite childhood book and inscribe it for Baby J.  She now has a wonderfully large collection of our family and friends' favorite books.  I can't wait to read them to her! I am so grateful to everyone who came to celebrate Baby J.  We were bestowed with so much generosity and love. I really feel blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Baby J is going to be very loved! Below are just a few highlights from the shower.  Heather took so many great photos it was hard to choose from them all. 

Leo listening to his cousin

Baby love

The unit

Relaxing and waiting for grub

Yumm!

I don't know what's happening here....

Gifts, gifts and more gifts!

Artwork from Aunt Margie

Aunt Margie & Me

And as if we hadn't partied enough, Tom's 30th birthday was this last Wednesday.  Not being much a "birthday person", we just had a low-key dinner at home with Cece and Rusty.  We went out later that week with Grams, John and John for a proper celebration at California Cafe. I regret that this is the only picture I have of the birthday boy.  And yes folks, that is a ginormous chocolate chip cookie.  We had some friends over yesterday for margaritas (I abstained of course) and Game Night which is one of Tom's favorite things to do with friends. With his typical Tom style, he is taking 30 in stride.

The birthday boy and his cookie

Like I said, it's been a busy few week of family, friends and celebration. I am very grateful to have been able to spend time with my family and especially my sister before Little Miss J arrives.  The next time we see each other, things will be much different and our family will be one bigger.  We are counting down the days!