Sunny Day Fun

We were having some excellent warm sunny weather the other week, so we took the opportunity to take Peri out back to play around in the grass. She doesn't quite get what she's supposed to do out there yet, but she does enjoy being in the sunshine.

Peri looks just like Gary. They are so cute together.

Gary is teaching Peri the awesomeness of sticks. She was a quick learner.

This is a handsome man.

This is a handsome man with a cheese face.

Peri decided to sample the local wildlife.

We also went to play at Terre View Park the other day, and she had fun crawling around on the playground toys. She's just getting so big, I can hardly stand it!

A Little Hike

A couple weekends ago, we decided to take Peri for a walk. It was such a nice day outside, that we went ahead and took her backpack all the way to Kamiak Butte. This was Peri's second time in the backpack, and I think she liked it rather well.

Though photographic evidence suggested otherwise

It was Mom's Weekend at WSU, so there were a lot of people there to tell us just how cute Peri is. She may turn out to be awfully full of herself someday. 

Obviously, we brought the camera, so I took some pictures on the way up. Preeeetty.

And also when we got to the viewing area... or whatever it is called. While we were enjoying the view, we took the time to eat some lunch. Lunch is always so much better when  you eat it outside.

There were some farmers burning their fields.

We also made an attempt at a family photo. How awkward we look.

Peri looks like she's having a good time though.

There were some pretty wildflowers along the trail.

And the fields got really smokey. 

Look at all those pretty flowers though!

 Gary went to check out a wood structure. It looked pretty cozy from the inside. I don't think it would have kept out the rain though.

 Peri got sleepy on the way down. We used my hoodie so she could have a pillow to fall asleep on. We think she had a pretty good nap after that.

We're going to go again sometime!

Peri Likes...

The best part about having a baby is that there is just no end to all the cute things they do! Which is a good thing, because I've found that Grandmas and Grandpas really like to see pictures of their grandchildren. So to appease all the relatives, here are a couple random things that Peri likes:

Peri Likes Graham Crackers 

Who doesn't like graham crackers?

She's gotten really good at feeding herself lately. She especially loves to gnaw on graham crackers.

As always, a picture of her beautiful blue eyes. She has her daddy's eyes.

When she's done eating, she tries to escape.

Peri Likes the Pie Safe

Peri crawled onto the bottom shelf of the pie safe the other day and stood up in it. She's a little too tall to stand up all the way, but sometimes that doesn't stop her from trying.

She pretty much just cruises around in there.

And plays with the plastic bags on the door.

Peri Likes Pajamas

Peri was playing behind the couch yesterday, and when I looked in on her, she had her arm in her pajamas and was crawling around with them in tow. She must really like her pajamas. The pictures are a little blurry, but she was moving around and there wasn't a lot of light at the time.

She also found something else to play with.

Yo Mom.

I don't even know how to caption this cutie pie look.

Peri Likes Mixing Bowls 

Peri was exploring the kitchen while I was cooking or doing dishes or something, and she came across the mixing bowls. They're metal, so they make good noises.

She usually pulls them out standing up.

Then realizes you can play with them easier if you have both hands.

Nom nom nom

Peri Likes Getting Into Things She Isn't Supposed To

That's how babies work, I'm told.
 

This here is the box we have the remote controls in. We're working on leaving the coffee table boxes alone.

But this time we just let her play with them. A kid's gotta explore right?

Dad brought home some component reels to play with.

Peri was all up into them in no time.

We try not to let her eat them, but sometimes she sneaks some in anyway.

And those are some things Peri likes. The End.

Peri's Extraordinary Easter

As Naomi has written, we visited my dad for Easter weekend. We haven't been able to visit now for about four months, and now that Peri is a little older, she's far more interesting and travels a little easier, too.

Grandpa's house was a great place to get some crawling practice, so I decided to take a couple of videos of Peri crawling around. She was somewhere between shy and scared of my dad, so a lot of the crawling was away from him and toward us. Toward the end of the trip though, she and Grandpa spent some time crawling around together.

She also was very interested in Diva, the dog.

On the way home, we stopped at a nice rest stop at Hatton and had some snacks. Peri loves oranges I tell you. She used to just enjoy sucking on peels, but now she enjoys eating the whole thing.

Peri's Very First Easter

This year we spent Easter at Grandpa's house. We had a pretty good time. We got there a few hours earlier than Grandpa and Caroline were expecting us, so we decided to take advantage of the nice sunny day and go on a sort-of hike. We brought the baby backpack for just such an adventure. It was the first time we used it, and let me tell you, it's pretty awesome.

At the start of our walk.

 We suspected that we needed to adjust the seat so that her head poked out more, but we didn't want to bother with it right at that moment.

She seemed happy enough anyway.

 Mom is here too! Popping a silly pose.

Peri even christened her backpack by spitting up her lunch in it. Sweet potatoes, for those interested.

Gary likes this picture of the two of them. He looks mighty dashing I think. Peri seems, indifferent.

Fun story. Gary was waving at the camera.

And that's when he saw them. The eagles! I totally forgot about them! A mating pair of Bald Eagles made a nest last year in the state park Gary's dad works at. Gary remembered, but didn't think we'd see them. If he had mentioned them before we left, I would have brought the zoom lens! We'll just have to make do with the pictures we were able to get of them.

On the first fly by.

We took a break to switch baby carriers. She was pretty confused as to why we just set her down on the ground like that.

 But was happy to be picked up by mom a little later!

Gary found the aerie and there were a couple eagles sitting in it. They decided to fly off as Gary got closer though.There was a gray one flying around, which we have been told is the adolescent one. It's just about grown up though.

After our hike, we went to Ellensburg where David (that's Grandpa's name) treated us to a nice dinner at a steakhouse there. It was very, very good.


We were all prepared to sleep in the living room at Grandpa's house, but they checked us into the Vantage Motel for the night. Peri had trouble sleeping in her travel crib, so she got to sleep with mommy and daddy and everything was okay after that.


 

 On Sunday, we went back to Grandpa's house to hang out. Peri was busy crawling around and exploring, so Grandpa started crawling around with her too! Then she got a little shy and cried a bit and crawled away pretty quick-like. She's not quite sure about Grandpa yet, but I think she was warming up to him more as the day went on. The pretty dress that Peri has on is from Grandma. Peri looks so pretty in it! Thanks Grandma!

Caroline has a dog named Diva, and Peri was very happy to follow her around the house trying to get a good feel of her soft fur. Diva wasn't too sure about Peri on day one (Peri was able to get a fistful of fur), but they seemed to make friends on the second day with some coaching from Caroline and Mom on how to pet nicely.

All in all, we had a good time and a good Easter! Thanks Grandpa and Caroline for having us this weekend!

A Couple More Picture Frames

So, I liked the sonogram frame that I made for my friend Emily so much, that I made one for me too! It looks much different, and I wrote something different on it as well. I think I actually misquoted the saying (I don't know who to attribute it to...) but it's just for me so it doesn't really matter. This is what mine looks like:

The lettering could definitely use some work.  This one looks more like me. I probably actually was that huge!

I also wanted to make a frame like this for my sister's wedding gift, so I made a prototype with one of our wedding pictures. It's good I made one for us first, because there are a couple things I'll probably change for my sister's. The quote is by Robert Fulghum, and is apparently often mis-attributed to Dr. Seuss. Who knew? I think it applies to many couples though. I just printed the quote on regular printer paper, because this is only a prototype after all. I might reprint it on good cardstock sometime later, but for now I think it looks good enough for us. Gary says he likes it very very much.

We aren't as cute as Peri-fetus.

I want to use paper that has my sister's wedding colors, and I want it to have more embellishments. Ribbons and buttons and such. I'm not really good at that kind of thing though, so I think I'll enlist the help of a gal I know in my ward who is really good at scrap booking. I'm also not sure I dig the layout of the rings. It works good with this picture because the picture I used is oriented that way, but I might make it so that Sarah can use two pictures that don't necessarily have anything to do with each other. They also have children already, so I was thinking of perhaps doing a "Family is Forever" sort of theme with another picture frame.

So many ideas popping up all of a sudden. I was thinking of doing more of these sort of frames with special moments for Peri and the like, but I'm not sure exactly what to do. I guess as occasions pop up, I'll have brainstorming to do!