Because Doug is an amazing husband.

And an even better Dad.

And because he had one midterm this week and has another one next week. (yuck)

And because he asked REALLY nicely.

I made him meatloaf for dinner last night.

And for some reason, he requested that it be shaped like a fish. Because, really, what could be better than a loaf of meat shaped like a fish???

And then he decided that he needed to "decorate" it.

Don't you want to eat meatloaf now? It was actually quite tasty. Sadly, there are no "after" pictures because Doug savagely attacked it as soon as I pulled it out of the oven. Thank you Ina Garten, my source for all things delicious!

I also made my SIL Erin's homemade granola (not to eat with the meatloaf, but I was making it as the meatloaf was cooking). It is, in a word, fabulous. And much prettier to look at than a loaf of meat shaped like a fish.

In other news, we had a family day on Thursday and took miss O to the park. Kiddo loves the swings!

I just adore this picture.

Really wish that there wasn't a random man in the background, though! I need to work on my Photoshop skills.

P.S. Here's a link to the turkey meatloaf recipe I used in case anyone wants to make one... fish shape not required.

Hello friends! Just realized that it's been a while since I updated the 'ol blog. Olivia and I were in So Cal and had a fantastic time! So fantastic, in fact, that we didn't take ANY pictures while we were there (a combination of forgetting my camera and laziness). While we were down there she tried the swings for the first time and absolutely loved them... I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that we can put the playset in our backyard to good use! She also had her first taste of Pinkberry, and like the rest of us I'm pretty sure that she's addicted to it now. Other than that, we spent lots of time hanging out with my family and meeting up with friends. Thanks to everyone for a wonderful week (and a big thanks to my parents to watching her while I went to the Maslan wedding - it was beyond fabulous to have a night out with the girls :).

Because a blog post is pretty boring without pictures, here's a few...

So apparently Olivia has decided that she no longer requires sleep. Bleh. A few weeks ago she was consistently sleeping 10-11 hours a night, and we really thought that we had the whole sleeping thing down. But now she fights it like crazy and is up at all hours. WHY?!?

When I put her down for her nap this morning I really thought that she was out. Then I check back in to discover this...

Really? She looks like she's attempting a jail break. We're having discussions about how to sleep train her. Other moms, do you have any advice? I'm not resorting to CIO just yet, but am thinking of pulling techniques from "The No Cry Sleep Solution".

On a much happier note, the kid absolutely loves to read books now! It's so adorable. Her current fav is "Peek A Who," especially the mirror on the last page...

She's getting so big! I'm not sure where the last 7 1/2 months have gone.

A random assortment of pics from the past few days...

I was trying to get a picture of Olivia with one of her new favorite toys, her jungle bell that she got in Kindermusik.

Unfortunately, she decided that she was going to spit up just as I was ready to take her photo. So a bell & barf picture it is!

She's already super interested in the stairs... I think that we're in serious trouble once she figure out the whole crawling thing. Right now she just lunges all over the place but hasn't yet figured out how to really propel herself forward, so we're safe for the time being!

I think that this is my new favorite Olivia face - turned slightly to the side, big eyes looking right at ya. Too cute!

Her hair is finally beginning to grow a bit over her ears... there's hope for her yet that she won't be pretty much bald forever!

Poor kid woke up with a high fever today, so we had our first experience with a sick baby. Not so fun, but she seems to be feeling a bit better this evening. Fingers crossed that she makes a rapid improvement in the next day because on Wednesday we're flying down to OC for a wedding (yay Ben & Mel!) and to see lots of people that we haven't seen in WAY too long...can't wait!

1/1/10

Giggles!

Who needs a Tickle Me Elmo when you can have a Tickle Me Olivia?

Christmas 2009

Warning: This is going to be a long one, folks.

We had a great holiday season here at Casa Perry! We started off the festivities on the 24th with Doug's moms big birthday bash. Since she's a Christmas Eve baby, we wanted to make sure that she still got an official birthday celebration in. So we had the Perry fam over for dinner and a (fabulous, if I do say so myself :) chocolate cake. Here's the pretty birthday girl...


Make a wish!


Our first Christmas morning with Olivia was so much fun! The holiday really does take on a whole new meaning with a little one in the house.


Attacking her first present. Pretty sure that she was more excited about the wrapping paper and ribbons than she was about any of the gifts.


Livvy's new favorite toy.

It's loud and obnoxious. The batteries will most likely eventually disappear from this sucker.

Ooooh... presents!!!


My parents and brother flew into town on Christmas afternoon. It meant so much to us to have both sets of grandparents and all of the aunts and uncles together for Olivia's first Christmas. In all of the chaos, we didn't even get a big group picture. So sad. This is pretty much what the night looked like.


Love this picture of miss O and her grandmas!


Carson and his cars (and his loyal subjects).


Because we didn't get any group shots on Christmas night (and I REALLY wanted pictures of Olivia with everyone), I subjected the whole gang to a photo session the next morning. Thanks for cooperating!

Four generations. How cool is that?


Perry grandparents.


Pearlstein fam.


Uncle Craig!


We spent the rest of the week relaxing, taking long walks, shopping, and even took a touristy trip out to Snoqualmie falls. It was such a great holiday, and we're looking forward to 2010. This has been such an amazing year, and we feel so incredibly blessed to have Olivia in our lives. Happy new year, everyone!

A very Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Much love,
Doug, Andrea & Olivia