New Baby Friends

On Saturday, Luke and I picked up Nancy and went to Sacramento to visit our dear friend Stacy and meet her adorable new baby Piper. Piper and Luke are modeling their "Future Tiger" bibs in the photos below. Appropriate, considering Stacy and I were college roommates at UOP. (She dealt with my passive aggressive tendencies for a year and lived to tell about it.) As you can see, baby wrangling is a difficult job. Sadly, I don't think either photo has what it takes to make it into the next issue of the alumni magazine...even if I do have an "in" with the editor.

Luke expressing concern after almost kicking Piper in the head.

Luke, realizing that there is a small, crying creature touching him, freaks out.

Piper immediately stops all crying as Luke takes over.

Ha!

From Kaiser Permanente's "Healthy Babies" Newsletter:
"Try to accept that your partner or child care provider may do some things differently than you. As long as you are confident that your child is safe and well cared for, try not to be too critical of others who take care of your baby."

Easier said than done my friends. Easier said than done.

A Bit of Perspective

Luke getting excited about the pickles at Harry's Hofbrau in Livermore

After working obscenely late on Thursday night (that's the day I work from home, which means most of my WORK work is done after the Lukester goes to bed), incredibly late on Friday night because of a board dinner, and ALL day Saturday for the same, I was not in the best of moods on Sunday. I kind of overbooked us (typical), so we were on the go most of the day. I should know better than to do that the day after a board meeting, because I'm a girl who doesn't function well without a little downtime, but despite my mood it was still a relatively fun day. I was going to post a couple of pictures, but I think I'll wait. The point of this post was to share the perspective Justin gave me before I left the house this morning. (He, unfortunately, bore the brunt of my crankiness yesterday.) So, this morning, I woke up and got ready to leave for work after what basically felt like a non-weekend. He stopped me in the bedroom, forced me into a hug, and said, "repeat after me." In typical Becky-fashion, I was in no mood to play along or be trapped in his embrace, but I relented and started repeating his words:  "Today is going to be a great day. I have two eyes. I have two legs. I can hear." I don't even remember what came after that because I was laughing too hard.

It's true. With those three things going for me, how can it not be a great day? :)

(I should mention however, that Justin is on vacation this week, so his perspective may be a little skewed.)

Sophie

I first noticed Sophie when I was stalking someone on facebook. Can't remember who at the moment...it doesn't really matter because I started seeing her everywhere! She reminded me of a scene from Three Men and a Baby where Tom Selleck's character buys a toy giraffe from a street vendor. If you don't remember, it is kind of a funny scene. Anyway, I like to follow the crowd, so I searched for "Sophie the Giraffe" on Amazon. Sure enough, I found her! Made by Vulli, a French company, Sophie is a world-renowned teething toy. She has lots of appendages for Luke to chew on, she's rubbery, and makes a squeaky noise. What could be better. If we are going to have a favorite toy to carry around everywhere, I'm glad it's Sophie the French Giraffe!

Handy Manny er Mommy

Now that Luke is eating "real" food, we decided it was finally time for a highchair. I spent a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon putting this lovely wooden number together. I did it all by myself and it supports weight, is level, and everything. And there weren't even any screws left over! :) As you can tell, I'm pretty proud of this accomplishment.

My dad was adamant that Clyde (the monkey) sit in the chair first. He says Luke's modeling contract doesn't include quality control testing. Man that kid has good representation!

The Photo Studio

I have always fancied myself a photographer. The only problem is that I'm REALLY NOT very good. I have good ideas, but am never that great when it comes to executing them. The best ones always end up slightly out of focus or my composition is all off. Despite this, I still try. Over and over again. Sure it might be nice to have pictures done by someone with a really great camera...and lighting...and experience, but heck that requires me to make an appointment...and spend money...and leave the house. Here are a few of my recent endeavors in what I like to call "Mommy's Photo Studio" AKA blankets taped to the crib or draped over a chair or boppy. I promised my mom that I would splurge on Luke's 6-month and/or 1-year pictures and have them done by a "real"' photographer. We'll see...:)

EASTER PORTRAIT

Backdrop:  The solid backing of a fun beachy blanket

Props (all from Target):  Easter eggs ($.79 per pack), basket ($1.99), Easter grass (actually little mermaid pom poms from the dollar section that I thought were a prettier color and less messy than the actual  grass - $1). Luke trying to eat every prop on set:  priceless.

TIGER PRIDE PORTRAIT

Backdrop:  Fleece material that has been sitting around for months that I have been meaning to turn into one of those fringe-y tie blankets.

TWO MONTH PORTRAIT

Backdrop:  Fleece-y tie blanket that covers an ugly hand-me-down chair in Luke's room.

 Props:  Bear from Gram

MATERNITY PHOTOS

Not in the "photo studio." Done with the self-timer at UOP in the rose garden where we got married in 2002. The timer only gives you 10 seconds, so Justin had to hit the button and run around around the roses to get in position. We started off at a different bench, but the sprinklers came on and we had to make a run for it...

Maybe there is something to be said for hiring a professional.

Ladies Man

Surrounded by women already...

5Ks and Birthdays

As usual, the weekend flew by. After breakfast with my parents on Saturday, my mom and I decided to run by Michael's (the craft store) to pick up a few things. My dad offered to take Luke into the nearby Toys R' Us. When we met up after our shopping I found something that looked a lot like this:

Yes, Grandpa bought Luke a giant monkey. His reasoning, "It was the only one he laughed at." So, now we have a giant monkey friend! :)

On Sunday, we started off the day by heading to Elk Grove for a 5K run/walk with my Aunt Pat. This was the first race my aunt and I did when we started running a few years ago, so it's kind of tradition. The best thing about this race is the theme, "Nutrition Fuels Fitness." The shirts have smiling produce on them, a giant carrot starts the race, and there are other costumed fruits and veggies running around. It's amazing. They even have an ages 5 and under run where the kids chase the giant carrot. Even if I have to carry him for the 1/4 mile race, Luke is totally doing it next year!

Luke with his "carrot" hat. (Technically I think it is a pumpkin hat, but I bought it because it could pass for a carrot too.) You can't see his t-shirt, but it has a brocolli and a cookie holding hands on it. Awesome.

The giant carrot starting the 5 and under kids run.

After we got home from Elk Grove, we got ready and headed north again. This time to Davis to celebrate our good friend Ryan's 30th birthday. Justin and Ryan have known each other since they were twelve. They were also the best men in each other's weddings. Now they are both awesome daddies. Next month we celebrate Justin's 3-0!

And one final picture of the weekend - Luke with Grandpa Rick - so you can see Luke's awesome woodie aloha shirt a bit better.

Luke at 4 Months

Luke turned four months old this week! It sounds cliche, but he really is the light of my life. So much fun! My favorite thing is going into his room in the morning when I hear him waking up. He grins ear to ear and wiggles all over because he's so excited. (I tell myself it's because he's excited to see me, but it's probably because he knows that food is coming.)

I've been back at work for four weeks. It has been a challenge to keep everything balanced and to manage our new routine with caregivers rotating in and out throughout the week. It is a huge blessing that we can keep Luke at home with family members right now and that I don't have the added guilt stress of taking him to a stranger's house every morning. And my house has never been cleaner!

Luke is hitting all of his developmental markers well. We started getting our first REAL giggles a couple of weeks ago, which was one of the greatest days of my life. Grandma and I swear he can say "hi," but that could just be our proud mommy and grandma ears. Regardless, it's going in the baby book. Ha ha. Luke started sleeping at least 8 hours at night THE NIGHT BEFORE I went back to work. Praise Jesus for my little buddy! Our only challenge so far is that he's still super duper lean. (Probably due to all those 5K's we have him running.) :) We had his four month appointment Thursday and the doctor says he needs to bulk up, so we began the journey of solid foods yesterday. I'm not ready for this! He'll be in college before I know it!

Here are Luke's 4-month stats:

Weight: 10 pounds 15 ounces (eek!) - 1st percentile
Height: 25.5 inches - 65th percentile

What I Want Now...

While at Starbucks for my free pastry, I noticed this album of famous rock songs remixed as lullabies.

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From Starbucks.com
Rockabye Baby transforms timeless rock songs into beautiful instrumental lullabies. Guitars and drums are traded for soothing mellotrons, vibraphones and bells, and the volume is turned down from an eleven to a two. Rockabye Baby is the perfect way to share the music you love with the littlest rocker in your life.
TRACK LIST

1. Bohemian Rhapsody From lullaby renditions of Queen
2. Dream On From lullaby renditions of Aerosmith
3. Sweet Child O’ Mine From lullaby renditions of Guns n’ Roses
4. Across the Universe From lullaby renditions of The Beatles
5. I Still Haven’t Found What I am Looking For From lullaby renditions of U2
6. Just Like Heaven From lullaby renditions of The Cure
7. Clocks From lullaby renditions of Coldplay
8. Lucky Star From lullaby renditions of Madonna
9. No Surprises From lullaby renditions of Radiohead
10. Nothing Else Matters From lullaby renditions of Metallica
11. Ruby Tuesday From lullaby renditions of Rolling Stones
12. One Love From lullaby renditions of Bob Marley

Best Day of the Year

I chose the cranberry orange scone.

Week. Made.

Week in Review

Well last week was crazy so I never got to my recap post. Work's been busy - I was working our alumni table in the bookstore for Grad Fair part of the week, our alumni table at the Career Fair on another day, and attending the inauguration of our new University President on Friday. This meant, no extra time at my desk for blogging purposes. :) Here's a recap:

Last Saturday we headed to my in-laws in Lafayette and got up early for the Dublin Shamrock Run on Sunday morning. It was touch and go there for a few minutes because the clock on my phone didn't update automatically for daylight savings like I thought it would, so Luke and I got up much later than we intended. This was my first "race" in well over a year and my first time actually jogging more than a mile in many many months. It felt so good to get out on the road and run! The second mile was kind of hard. I kept reminding myself that I went through childbirth, so there was no reason for me to wuss out over 3 miles. I broke through the second mile wall and mile 3 went great and sprinted in the last 50 yards. Even with training I'm not a fast runner, so I was proud of my 12ish minute miles! This run was especially fun because all of Team Perry did it together! My father-in-law started jogging this year, so this was his first race! Yay Rick! Here's Team Perry in all our post-race glory. Luke wasn't too thrilled with our accomplishment - he just wanted food at this point. After some showers and a meal for Luke, we went to our favorite restaurant, Harry's Hofbrau. Sooo amazing. I had my usual, a hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. Yum!

On Monday evening I met up with my good friend Ancelle in Elk Grove. We've been trying to get together for  weeks so she and her little boy could meet Luke. Here's cutie pie Caden with his birthday present from Luke. (Caden loves to help his mom cook!)

And here is the best picture we could get of the boys together.

On Tuesday night we took advantage of having my mother-in-law here (she watches Luke a couple of days a week and stays over), so we could use passes I got for a free moving screening. We tried to get some friend time in as well and invited some of our favorite friends to go along. My MIL made us all an amazing enchilada dinner and then we went to see...

It was awful. I mean, there were a few funny parts and the overall absurdity made it kind of humorous, but the raunchy sex and gratuitous drug use made me give it two thumbs down. Soooo dumb! I kept thinking, "I left my baby at home for this?" But, at least it was free AND I got to spend some time with fun friends!

Wednesday night was church. We go to a great home group meeting on Wednesday nights and that serves as our church for the week. We've grown very disenchanted with the traditional church, so this group of sold out believers is right up our alley. Miracles are happening in Stockton people! Look out!

The rest of the week is a blur. My parents came in for their stint as Luke-sitters. I visited with an old friend from The Record who came by the house on Thursday. Had to be at work early on Friday for a special alumni breakfast and the inauguration of our new University President. Since I work at my alma mater, I sometimes take my school pride for granted. Friday's ceremony reminded why I love UOP - Pacific as we call it now. Singing the alma mater always brings a tear to my eye. Oh yes, and I met an alum who just happened to be in 5 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (He was also in 60+ episodes of Little House on the Prairie, but that's secondary to Buffy-ness in my book.) I had ample opportunity to talk to him about this while he was sitting by himself in my boss' office, but I chickened out. I didn't want to look like a dork. :)

Yesterday we played it kind of cool. Went for walks in the sunshine and drove to Tracy for some steak at Texas Roadhouse. I made Justin stop at the outlets so we could buy something fun for Luke to wear on Easter. I'll be honest, I am SO happy to have a boy, but they get the shaft when it comes to clothes. Little girl clothes are sooooo cute! I keep asking Luke if he'd be willing to wear polka dots or one of those cute gauzy skirts. Even if he said yes, I'm sure his dad would put his foot down. Sigh.

This has been a ridiculously long post and reaffirms why I need to blog more often! And take more pictures of our outings! Have a great week friends!