Visiting Dada At Work

Brendon's work has an amazing cafeteria where all the employees get free lunch. We try to take advantage of this and visit Dada at least once a week. We purposely bought a house near Brendon's work, so the commute would be short and we could visit whenever we wanted. Beckham loves visiting Brendon during the day, and I especially like looking forward to a gourmet lunch that I don't have to prepare (yesterday I had pot roast with smashed red potatoes and Brendon was more exotic with the sushi lunch).

Eighteen

My big boy turned 18 months last week. He is a joy, and a terror, and a busy bee and we love him so much. Tantrums began about a month ago, and I'm still not quite sure the appropriate way to react. Mostly I just try to stifle my giggles. He has gotten quite cuddly when he's tired, but during the day he is go go go. He is a total daddy's boy right now, and he says "dada" every ten minutes of the day. He seems to be on his own time table for talking and his only words are "cheese", "keys", "hot" and "outside" (besides the usual "mama" "dada" variety). He loves piggy back rides and wrestling and dancing. He is obsessed with keys and asks for them as soon as someone enters the house. He would spend his entire day sitting in the front seat of my car putting the keys in and out of the ignition and pretending to drive. (I have a little anxiety about this since his dad drove into the neighbors house when he was two - lol). He loves taking baths and floating on his back in the big tub. If I try to get anything done (there's lots to be done in the new house!!) I usually end up paying for it with a big mess. As I type he dumped a bag of potato chips on the ground :) He is getting tall and thin and I have a hard time keeping him in clothes that fit.

He gets to be more and more fun every day, and we love him to pieces.

Long Overdue Announcements

Did you know that...

We moved to Utah. In November...brrr. Brendon got a job offer he couldn't resist (although we really tried...we did not want to leave California). Thankfully he didn't resist because he is really loving his new job.

We bought a house. Woohoo! It has been a lot of work searching, and cleaning, buying appliances, and hauling boxes, but we will be living there by this weekend and we are excited.

We are expecting baby #2. My due date is late June, but I'm predicting the beginning of July. We are very excited, but admittedly a little nervous for two. Beckham's energy level is through the roof...and mine is not :)

Ho Ho Ho

Boo

Beckham was an elephant for Halloween. After spending many many hours making his costume (why do I do this to myself??) I was glad that he kept the headpiece on reasonably well.

We had a busy Halloween weekend, with a fun baby boo bash, trick or treating in downtown Los Altos, and a ward Halloween party complete with trunk or treating.

Beckham LOVED the haunted house at our ward party. After an older kid growled at Beckham he laughed, then walked around in the dark spook alley growling and "roar"ing at everyone.

Who Dunnit?

Last night our friends hosted an amazing Roaring 20's themed murder mystery party. The costumes were fantastic, the food was fantastic, and of course the company was fantastic. This was my first murder mystery party and it was love at first...play.

No, I didn't cut my hair - it's a wig :)
The lovely ladies.

The fellas.

Refined Palette

Could it be because he spent his first weeks living in Italy??

Beckham's favorite food (no kidding) is arugula with balsamic and olive oil. He gobbles it up.

L.A. Ladies

My good friend had a birthday this weekend so we surprised her with a girl's weekend in Los Angeles. We showed up on her patio Friday afternoon decked out in scarves, red lips and big sunglasses (our best attempt at old Hollywood glam) and gave her thirty minutes to pack her bags and get in the car. It was an amazing weekend of laughter, food, and fashion.

We did hours of shopping on Santee Alley in the fashion district, but one of my favorite shopping destinations was Michael Levine Fabrics. It was enormous and we scored some fabulous finds on notions and $5/yd fabrics.

Saturday we went to a fabulous fashion show. We had such a great time people watching before the show, and the designs were amazing. It was my first fashion show and I am hooked!
We tried our hand at celebrity spotting by having dinner at The Ivy, but the only celebrity we saw was the next day in Venice Beach - Kim Raver (Dr. Teddy Altman from Grey's Anatomy).
All of the girls I traveled with are major foodies so they put tons of research into all the restaurants we ate at, even using Zagat points to get us into the exclusive ones. The food was so amazing, our favorite place being Gjelina in Venice Beach.
Tons of shopping - and window shopping. So fun!
And girl talk into the wee hours of the morning.

The Great Pumpkin

Some girlfriends and I drove to Half Moon Bay today for a fabulous play date at the pumpkin patch.

All of Beckham's besties
Oh - and his other bestie :)
He found his pumpkin! (actually he couldn't have cared less about the pumpkins - he just wanted to sneak into the pony ride)

"You've found it Fritz! The perfect pumpkin!" Beckham says excitedly.
And...he's done! No naps and too many photo ops make even this easygoing babe worn out.

Dining Chairs

Before:

After:
I love the fabric - P. Kaufmann Suzanni Jewel

What a fun, quick project. Now the not so quick (as not as fun) project I am working on - recoving two Crate and Barrel couches we got free on Craigslist. Hopefully I'll have that posted in the next few weeks.

Labor Day

One last trip to the houseboat before summer ends...

Enjoying the sunset with Daddy.
Who keeps giving this kid licorice?
Brooke, Christian, Friz, Kelly, Tessa, Beckham and Brendon - loving the water
Beckham's best friends, Fritz and Tessa
Beckham's favorite thing to do is be naked on the deck of the houseboat for hours (literally) playing with the hose. He looks freazing in this picture - but that didn't stop him from laughing in the water until dark.

To Grandmother's House We Go

We took a last minute trip to Utah and surprised Grandma Jeri. Beckham had so much fun playing at his grandparent's house. He especially loved the horse grandpa dug out of the attic.

Excuses, Excuses

We didn't have internet for a few weeks, and we've been crazy busy around here... so the posts have been lacking (or non-existent I guess). Here's what you missed:

*We MOVED! We stayed in Palo Alto, in a lovely little apartment. We are thrilled.

*Beckster learned to walk. He is so thrilled with his new trick - he's a much happier boy now. He has changed in the last few weeks from my little baby to a total grown up boy who walks around and holds my hand. My favorite new thing... he's become a cuddler!

*We've been out of town every weekend (Gridley, Utah, Gridley again)... and have been trying to unpack the boxes in between unpacking the suitcases. But it has been great to see the family.

Clay Sannar

I'm sure most people have heard about the tragic murder of LDS Bishop Clay Sannar. He and his family are from my small town of Gridley, and more importantly are my cousins. We grew up working on our grandfathers' peach farms together, and although he was much older than me (or so it seemed at that young age) I have fond memories of peach fights with the Sannar boys, and of swimming at Aunt Maureen's pool.

Please donate to help his widowed wife and six children:

http://pledgie.com/campaigns/12975

My thoughts, love, and prayers are with the Sannar and Daddow families at this time.

Happy Merkley Birthdays

Brendon's, Beckham's, and my birthday are all within weeks of each other, so we combined them all this year to do one party for the three of us.
The Gingham Gang - CB, Brendon, and James
The Gingham Gang Junior (not in gingham...but children of the GG) - Fritz, Beck, and Tessa - future BFF's
Beckham had lots of help opening presents



61 candles (our cumulative age)
It was so fun to have our friends celebrate our birthdays with us our last weekend in Escondido Village (sob, sob).

A Year Ago Today...

[after 30 hours of labor and an emergency c-section] this little buster joined our family. Totally worth it!Happy 1st Birthday Beckham! We love you so much!

{eating his birthday cake on the houseboat last weekend}