Spring!

It actually kind of feels like Spring all year long here, but still...what would you call a completely yellow, completely flowery photo shoot? I am really happy Lucy's "anti-picture taking phase" appears to have passed! Bring on the photo shoots!








"I'm sure I can reach that flower..."


"He loves me...he loves me not..."



"Guess what? He loves me!"


Honestly, how could he not love you girl?!!!

LOVE

Yeah, Yeah...it's a little late for a Valentine's post, but love is always good!

For Valentine's Day, Lucy decided to bake us a cake! She is kind of a genius and already knows how to use ovens, mix ingredients, and even work with fondant.



She slaved away all day, never lacking in precision.


She was pretty enthusiastic about it...

I guess that is why it turned out so awesome...


Okay, so actually me and Heidi made this cake for Valentine's Day.

Okay, so actually actually, Heidi made this cake, I just took her to the store to get some ingredients, acted enthusiastic and put frosting on one of the hearts. Go me! I am such a helpful big sister! The truth is I would like to help more, but Heidi is really good at decorating cakes and I am afraid that if I touch it I will ruin it! We were planning on dropping this cake off at Sierra's crush's house with a love note, but we finished at 11:00 p.m. and were too tired to do anything with it.

And of course it wouldn't be Valentines day without Me and Dave's Valentine's Day tradition...Heart Shaped Pizza! Here's a little flashback of Lucy from Last year, with a picture of the pizza for comparison! In previous years we just picked up a heart shaped pizza in Provo for 5 bucks, but since we didn't know of anywhere in Carlsbad that made them around here, we had to do it the old fashioned way. My mom added a twist and made the dough red to go along with the LOVE theme. Every year gets better and better! This one was by far the best pizza I have ever eaten, so it is going to take a lot of work to top that next year!

This is random picture taking info, but very helpful. First compare the picture above and below this box of text. I just wanted to let you all know that if you focus your camera (hold the button down half way) while completely on the dark shaded sided of the picture and then move it to the whole picture and take it, you will get rid of the shadow line. Both of these pizza pictures were taken with exactly the same setting. The first one I focused on the shade and then took the picture. The second one I did like normal and just focused on the picture.

Isn't that cool?!! The difference is incredible! My Mom learned that at a photography class and shared with me. This was my first experiment with it and I am soooooo excited I had to share!

Last Year's Valentine Photo Shoot (5 months old):
This year's Valentine Photo Shoot, 17 months old, posing with her Love bear that Nana got her for Valentine's day (these weren't actually taken on Valentine's Day, so that is kind of lame):
Same pretty girl with a little extra hair and teeth, huh?

Sorry, no hot kissing pictures of me and Dave on Valentine's Day... Dave and I were just hanging around in our sweats kind of grungy, so we only took pictures of Lucy, who was only dressed up because she begged!

Well, a happy belated Valentine's day to you all! I wish you lots of love, even though it's March.

Yummy!

I've always liked to cuddle Lucy, and kiss her hair as many times as she will let me, but I'm starting to get the idea that I 'm not the only one who thinks Lucy is yummy.

A few weeks ago at the Wild Animal Park this Lion was rolling around in the grass about 30 feet from this glass window. When I got Lucy out of her stroller and put her next to the window, the lion came right over, and started stalking back and forth, while licking her lips. (We were the only ones around at the time, but of course once the Lion was at the window lots of people came over). It was late in the evening and I am pretty sure dinner time for the lions must have been soon. My chubby little munchkin must have appeared to be a delicious snack.


Lucy was thrilled. She would run away saying "scary" and then go right back up and try to pet the Lion like she was just a big kitty cat! I'm glad she didn't realize that the sweet big kitty who came right up to the glass for her, really just wanted to gobble her up!


Not many days later, we went out for a picnic at the beach and once again Lucy was stopped, this time by a little critter. (We bribed the squirrel for the picture, but really he was doing this without bribery before I got the camera out!)


Either Lucy just looked less scary than we did, or maybe the squirrel came to the conclusion from prior experience that where there are little people there are also yummy crumbs.


(I had to throw this quick shot in that I took right after the squirrel episode, just to show you all that Dave is back to the good old clean shaven guy he has always been! I personally really like the husky beard look, but Dave just can't take it...oh well, he's still the hottest guy I know even without the beard. I know I could have gotten a good smile from Lu, but Dave was late for a beach volleyball game and couldn't stand to pose any longer! )

Anyway, the Lion, the squirrel and, of course, we can't forget my last post where Lucy got nipped by a peacock...that takes the total to 3 wild animals, drooling over Lucy just in the month of February! Even my little sister said this morning "Lucy just smells so good, I wish she would just stay on my lap and let me keep smelling her."

Something about Lucy has gotten everybody's mouths watering! I don't know if it is just because of her chubby little cheeks or the fact that she wants to put good smelling lotion on every morning, but one thing is for sure she is yummy!

Beware of the Peacock

This whole scene actually happened at the beginning of February, but hey, it's not March yet so it's not too late is it? Better late than never! (I never realized how time consuming directing a Roadshow could be, but seriously I eat, sleep, and Breathe Roadshow. Look forward to more posting after our last performance on March 21!)



Finding ourselves with free time one leisurely afternoon, my Mom and I took a trip to a nearby Leo Carillo City Park. Sounds like an average outing, but for us this park has very deep meaning.



The park was built around an old fashioned Ranch, and was hidden here for many years. While I was growing up it happened to only be about a 2 mile journey from my backyard through a large chaparral wasteland. We would journey through what my family called the "Land of the Giants" (there were lots giant trees) and sneak around this old ranch, full of peacocks. Occasionally we would even find some adventurous peacocks that had traveled all the way to our backyard. The peacocks were my childhood friends and the Ranch was a hidden shrine of daily adventures. At this time in my life, I was sure we were the only people who knew about this secret, possibly forbidden, run down Ranch.



Well, life goes on... kids grow up and houses are built. Our 2 mile private hike to the Ranch was cluttered with construction. We moved and left our old peacock farm behind.



Later we heard rumors that they had fixed up the Ranch and it was now a city park. Supposedly kids even took field trips there. For fear of disappointment at seeing our once secluded hideaway becoming commercialized, we never visited. We wanted the family memories of adventure to stay the way it was in our minds forever, regardless of our curiosity.



We were pleasantly surprised with our return visit after over 10 years. It still held its charm, and it was fun to wander through everything without worrying about trespassing. There were more peacocks than ever, and I had a grand time re bonding with them. My Mom just got a new camera, so she did a photo shoot to test out all her new tricks. The pictures turned out darling, and other than one unfortunate nip one of the peacocks gave Lucy, it was a glorious afternoon (To find out the details of Lucy's Peacock encounter, scroll to the story entitled "Beware of the Friendly Peacock").

Oh, I forgot to mention, Lucy wants to wear dresses everywhere. (I just wanted to let you know it wasn't my idea to put her in a dress and then let her run around in the dirt!)

Here's Lucy's Peacock face (we asked her if she could make a peacock face and this is what she did):How cool is this albino peacock, all fluffed up

More Peacock Face

Lucy's Dramatic, surprised face:

Beware of the Friendly Peacock:

I was really excited when this friendly peacock came to see us (can you tell by my cool facial expression). Lucy was really afraid, but I kept telling her "Don't worry, the peacock is nice"

I sat her down on the haystack so we could get a classic picture with her and the peacock, but just as I was reassuring Lucy that the peacock was nice, she put her hand out to him and he gave her a nip!I was really startled and pulled her back with a scream. She started crying, but I couldn't tell if it was because she was hurt or because I scared her. I asked her if she got an "Owie" and she kept pointing to her finger and saying "owie" for the next couple hours. I still don't know if it was real, she gets really excited about "owies," in fact I wouldn't be surprised if she said "Thank You" to the peacock for giving her an "owie" to talk about for the rest of the day.

I feel absolutely terrible for telling her not to worry and that the peacock was nice. What parent encourages their children to go closer to wild animals? (Okay I did, but I promise not to again my sweet little child). Hopefully, she will learn to trust me again after such a devastating experience. Hey, all parents make mistakes, right? Anyway, that is the last time I try to take pictures of my kid right next to a peacock!

News to Note

Some small sorts of Pendergrass News

Dave: New calling ~ Weeblow leader (I have no idea how to spell that) He always knew he would get a calling in scouts someday, since he didn't finish the program. I think it's perfect for him and he will do a great job (even though he never got his eagle and I always tease him that someday we will be stuck in the wilderness and really need to tie a perfect knot and he won't know how!)

Wendy: 2 new callings ~ calling number 1~ Primary Teacher for CTR 5 (Right before we left for Korea I was called as a primary teacher and then we decided to leave and then again right before we left Korea I got a calling in the primary and we decided to leave, so I hope this doesn't mean we have to leave San Diego. I guess sometimes you are just truly meant to have a calling. I kind of feel like I am being chased by primary or something, but really I don't have anything against primary!)

calling number 2 ~ Assistant Ward Roadshow leader (My Dad is the Ward Roadshow leader, so I couldn't have a better boss!)

Lucy: 4 new teeth in 2 days, 3 of which are molars! I have been waiting on these babies for a while now and thought they would arrive anytime back in December (needless to say, I am now a happier mother!) Lucy has only 5 teeth in front and now has 3 molars. I didn't know molars could come before the rest of her front teeth, but hey, you learn something new every day! SHe is officially 17 months now and the count 'til she enters nursury is on! After suffering from abnormaly high separation anxiety, I never thought I would be ready to part with my little girl for 2 hours of church and trust 2 women and 10 brutal little munchkins to take care of her, but somehow I am!

Family News: Well it isn't really that new, but everyone keeps asking so I thought I'd let you know, we are living in San Diego at my parents house, and do intend to stay here for the rest of our lives if possible. No, not at my parents house, but in this general area. We don't really know how that will happen at this point, but we are working on it and I will let you know the details when I know the details!

Baller or Ballerina?

I will just start out by saying, I am not a nut (well, I guess that is debatable), in fact if it was up to me Lucy, would probably just wear her pajamas all day, but she loves dressing up in different outfits ( really...she picks out funny outfits or dresses and wants me to put them on her), and since she has a dance session every morning and we happen to have ballet slippers and a leotard, why not put them to use and start Saturday morning off right?After a sweet morning dance, Lucy sort of complied with a quick photo sesh.I call this next one "The Who" or "hoo" or I don't know how to spell it, but sometimes her nick name when her hair is in a pony is "Lucy Lu Hoo," as in the "whoos" of Dr. Suess.Full action shot!What comes to your mind when you see this next shot? I think of a line from one of my favorite movies "Little Rascals" ... "Got a burger to go with that shake?" and boy does Lucy have a little shake...she has no trouble strutting her stuff with her hips, that's for sure! Okay I will stop trying to describe her dance moves, and once again try my hand at video uploading so you can get a taste for her latest dance moves (I had the worst luck uploading videos a couple months ago. I would spend hours trying to upload something and then it wouldn't work in the end and I finally just completely quit, but it's been long enough that my wounds have healed and I can try again).
After Lucy's morning workout (she usually dances every morning) we decided to go watch my little sister's young women basketball game and, of course, Lucy had to be dressed for the occasion, she couldn't show up in her tutu! So we changed her quick into her new way too adorable basketball outfit Aunt Lani got her for Christmas.
And we played some ball, Lucy's other favorite thing to do besides dance (but I'm pretty sure dancing is her favorite). We hold her up so she can throw it at the basket and she chases after it dilligently.

The girls barely won there game. They were behind the entire time until some sweet shots in the last few minutes! Lucy got to be the mascot as the girls celebrated their victory!
This is silly, but sometimes I worry Lucy is going to be one of those annoying "know it all" kids. Hear me out on this one. The picture below is a serious demonstration of Lucy trying to show Heidi how her ipod works. Lucy asked for some music after the game was over, so Heidi went to go turn some on. She was having technical difficulties getting it to play, so after waiting for about 2 minutes Lucy came over and showed Heidi where the play button was. This kid is seriously going to know more about technology than me in before she even gets to kindergarten! I kid you not, if the computer is left on she already knows how to move the mouse to what she wants, click and log on, I guess it is time to activate a password!

I will just finish this post by saying, I wouldn't want to meet this thug in nursury if I was her age!
So what do you think, does Lucy make a better ballerina or baller? Feel free to express your opinion via our poll at the top of this page!

Baby Oh Baby

Lucy likes to do things that her babies do. Sometimes I convince her to get her diaper changed by putting a diaper on her baby. This time she was not so convinced and after getting her diaper changed she insisted on having another one on, on the outside of course, just like her baby! Then she brought both of her babies and her bear, put them to sleep on the bed and joined them. (It would have been cool if she had actually just gone to sleep with them, but it was still cute).

(Yes this is Lucy's real bed on the ground. After sleeping on the ground in Korea, we liked it so much it stuck!)

I told her that if she was going to go to sleep with her babies, she had to close her eyes, so she manually closed one of them. Guess she forgot how to do it without her hands. Usually when I tell her to close her eyes she just squints, so she can still see. Funny girl! I really can't get enough of her personality these days. I think she is hilarious and laugh really hard at least once every day, usually more. There's things like how I don't read her a certain book we have at certain times because it talks about the baby talking a bath, and she will run to the bath tub and say "ba, ba" until she gets one, which is great sometimes, but not right after she has taken one and it is time for bed. Or take yesterday for example, I asked her to go get the tissue and wipe her nose. I was really just trying to distract her because I was tired and wanted to sit on the couch, I didn't think she would actually do it, but she came back with the tissue and did a pretty decent job of wiping her nose. I didn't even know where I had put her tissue, but she just disappeared to the other room and found it somehow. I was impressed and laughed quite a bit all at the same time! Does this mean I don't have to wipe her nose for her anymore?

Wild Animal Park Mania!

Well, we were officially spoiled this Christmas! Santa Clause got us Zoo/Wild Animal Park season passes for the year! Thank you Thank you Thank you Santa Clause! We didn't even send him a list, but he knew the perfect present for this family. Lucy is just at the age now where she can make just about every animal noise and goes crazy when she sees them, and Dave, well he can never pass up a classic animal national geographic! The good news for you is we got 4 guest passes, so if you come visit us we will treat you to a day with the animals!

Here was our first excursion using our new pass at the wild animal park. We didn't get there until noon, and after letting Lucy spend as much time as she wanted at the petting zoo, she only got to see gorillas and then she passed out for her afternoon nap. As much as I was excited to show her the animals, It was really luxurious touring the rest of the park just me and my hubby. Hey minus the stroller we were pushing, this practically counted as a date!

Anyway, here is the ever anticipated cute shots of Lucy with the animals:

Does this picture melt anyone else's heart, or am I just an overly mushy mom?

We got soooooo close to this bird. I bet Lucy could have touched him if I wasn't so worried about her getting pecked.Do you think these guys are cute or just downright scary? Here's what Lucy thinks:

She wanted to stay as far away from these guys as possible. "Mom please, I'm too close!" When Dave bent down to talk to Lucy about the animals, she bent down too. She is such a copy cat right now, and I thought it was pretty cute. She just wants to be like her Daddy!

Expect more animal pictures to follow in the coming months. This place is seriously going to be our new hang.