Pera Party of Five

Two Wheels keep on turn'n

2009-04-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

We learned a valuable lesson this week. As usual it was a lesson learned after practicing on the first born... So often Gracie is the guinea pig for us as parents.

We have a firstborn who frightens easily. She is scared often and we really struggle with this. And I mean we when I say we. As her parents we see her give in to fear so often and it really causes her to miss out on wonderful opportunities. Like refusing to ride any rides at Disneyland, or swim in a pool to name a couple. Because of this dilemma, starting new things is often hard for her. She has to be shown over and over that she won't be 'hurt'.

Well you can imagine how hard that can be! 5 year olds are always getting hurt! It's a natural part of learning. Never the less, we struggle on.
But today, we had a VICTORY! She successfully learned to ride a two-wheeler! Remember how that felt? The freedom? The wind in your hair? Riding in the street for the first time? The FEAR of falling?

I am proud to say that we found a super secret to help all those parents with kids learning to ride a bike! Not all kids hop on at age 3 and off they go (like Joel on Jon & Kate + 8), remember that episode? I was so shocked to see him ride off like that. Well that was not Gracie! She really wanted to but that falling risk was just to great for her and she could not quite get the balance thing down.

So what's the secret you ask??
A SCOOTER! Technically I think they call them 'Racers' but really they are the same scooters we had only re-invented.
We bought her one for Christmas and she loved it. At first she wasn't to sure how it worked. She would kind of hop along side it as she went down the hall way. Then as it got warmer outside she saw the neighbor girl whizzing down the street... with both feet on the scooter... how did she do it she asked? Balance. Something Gracie really struggles with, literally and figuratively.

She began trying to go longer and longer between pushes. Then I blinked and she was whizzing down the street too! Her Dad and I realized she had learned balance! Dare we hope that she might be ready to take off the training wheels on her bike that has sat useless for months? I knew in my mommy heart that she could do it. That special something had clicked in her brain. Balance had wedged itself between the flight or fight reaction! We took off the trainers and off she went. No Daddy running behind her picture. Just off on her own.

How did it happen? What did we learn as parents? Two things: Low point of gravity and no fear of falling. The scooter did both of those. She was able to practice the skill of balance without fear and slowly. Riding a scooter is like riding a bike- a low rider bike but none the less a bike.

She is the eldest. The cautious one. And why wouldn't she be. She's the first- the one we 'be care-fulled' and 'don't do that' and did everything for. That's what you do with the first. You hold their hand all the time and sometimes into childhood too. The second born? The third? Please, you are way out of hands by them. They learn by watching. The middle child runs head first into the wall just to see what will happen. Do you go running to say stop? No. You are nursing the baby and just laugh instead!

But I digress. The point of this post? To relay the two wheeler super secret: A SCOOTER.

Spring Fun

2009-04-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

Gracie is Riding a Two-wheeler!!

2009-04-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

We had quite the week! Gracie learned to ride her bike! We tried it without training wheels last summer and it did not go so well. Then we got her a scooter for Christmas and she really took to it. Such an easy way to teach balance! It really helped to have such a low center of gravity. So we took of the training wheels on her bike and she was off! Literally right away! So much fun. Enjoy the video.

All you need is:

2009-03-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

All you need is....

Trip

2009-03-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

We surprised the kids last week with a fun trip to Monterrey with some of our dearest friends. We had a blast! The Monterrey Bay Aquarium is amazing! The girls loved running all over the place and making friends with the different animals.
Like I said it was a blast!

Mav already....

Outside Bubba Gump Shrimp in honor of Michael's (Bubba) birthday.

Pretty Rainbow on the way home...

A Little bit o'love for ya!

2009-02-25T15:09:00.000-08:00

Courtney Turns Three!

2009-02-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

2009-01-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

Hello All! Sorry for the silence but we have had quite the couple of weeks here! First of all we had a BABY! Yes, Stephen Maverick was born January 4th at 3:45pm. He weighed in at a hefty 8lbs. 7oz. and was 20 inches long. I had a wonderful delivery. A little late…but never the less God timing was perfect. I wasn’t able to drive to Folsom for the birth (60 minutes away) because Maverick arrived so quickly. Less than 2 hours and Steve was able to arrive in time from work! I was so grateful for that. I had another VBAC…vaginal delivery after C-section without medication. Yes that’s right without anything. No not even an epidural or one Vicodan. I have to say I didn't' have meds with Court either but this time was different! He was so big and trust me I felt it! But it was so amazing. My mother got to be here for this birth and that meant everything to me.

I can't tell you how it feels to present your husband with a son! I am forever thankful for him and all that he has done to help me. He and my saint of a mother have been amazing. I want to thank you all for you loving support and kind email and prayers. Being on strict bed rest is tough. For those who aren't aware I am on bed rest because: All women experience a relaxation of there pelvic ligaments before childbirth due to the hormones her body produces. A few unfortunate women develop a condition called pubic symphysis separation. I am one of them. Some of you might have noticed during the last few months I would often would stop abruptly to realign my hip bone. Well I incurred an injury to my pelvic bone during delivery because of this condition. With is comes severe pain during simple movement. Let me put it this way: Drug free labor was no problem, no crying, screaming, actually I really didn't make a sound. This pain? I got out of bed the day after the delivery and PASSED OUT from it. I have NEVER had that happen before. It was amazingly painful and quite scary! So know just about everything is painful such as turning in bed. Walking, standing.. This is a condition that will resolve. Praise God! But it will take time……approximately 6 weeks. Until then I need to stay in bed and take medications as prescribed. Boy is it tough! But I am trying! Again thanks for all the well wishes and prayers.
It was all worth it. Mav is an absolute joy. He started making eye contact and smiling at 4 days old! He smiles all the time now and it just takes my breath away. Gracie and Courtney are totally taken with him too. Everyday starts with "Is Maverick awake?" and "Can I hold him?" Gracie will hold him for hours if we let her! At his 2 week doctors apt he was 10lbs 6oz! Well on his way to being as big and delicious as Courtney was! I love to watch my husband hold his son. I wish I could share the feeling with you all. The joy that I feel is almost overwhelming. He is so gentle and loving with him. I see the pride shine though him. I love that I helped make that happen. OK- enough for now. Enjoy the pictures and more to come later.

2009-01-01T10:38:00.001-08:00

Trying to post from my phone for the first time. Let's hope it works!

Sent from my iPhone

Gracie's First Christmas Program

2008-12-17T19:29:00.000-08:00

WOW! What an ordeal! But we made it! So for my Mom and Grandma Anna- here is some video from tonight's performance! Please pay no attention to my horrible filming...

Gracie and her teacher!

Crafty Time

2008-12-12T17:38:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty tired these days waiting for Maverick to come so I've kinda been a lazy Mommy! No gift making or cookie baking... so today I decided to let the girl do some decorating! They had fun and I supervised!

This is what I've been doing lately... the couch and Reese's! Yeah for pregnancy!

Maybe Baby...

2008-12-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

Baby Stephen Maverick

2008-11-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

Gracie will be 5!!

2008-09-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

If I graduated in ____

2008-08-24T14:30:00.001-07:00

So this cracks me up. My friend Megan did this on her blog and I just had to do it too! Check it out at http://www.yearbookyourself.com/

Here are mine:

If I graduated in ____, I would look like this:

1950

1954

1956

1960

1966

1968

1972

1974

1980

1984

1990

1994
1996
2000

Yes- she is old enough for Kindergarten...

2008-08-13T18:57:00.001-07:00

I published a similar post on my photography blog but I wanted to add it here for those who don't check the other...Sooo…. my baby girl started school today. No fear, no tears, no hug. That’s right no hug. Just a “Bye Mom!” and off she went. I of course called her back for a much hastily given one, but hey I’m not complaining. My friend Tara didn’t even get that! So I wish I could sit here and write something beautiful about it but I am much to stressed out right now. Why? Well I have to fly to a wedding in less than 15 hours and am not prepared yet!!! More about this later… enjoy these cute pics of Miss. G

Socal Vacation

2008-07-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

The girls and I are in Simi Valley for a few days for Tate's College Graduation. I also wanted to come to say goodbye to a dear friend, Heidi before she moves to Scotland for 3+ years. How exciting for them. Jason, her hubby is studying for his Doctorate at Saint Andrews. We had a great time visiting with them and I did a mini photo session. Look for sneak peaks late next week on the photo blog. Below are some pics of the last few days. Practically SOOTC (straight out of the camera) so be kind! :) No fancy smanchy editing software here!

New photo blog

2008-07-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

Hello hello! I know I am waayyy over due for a post but it's been CRAZY over here! Hopefully I will have some down time next week to tell you all about it. I did want to mention that I have a new photography blog. Super simple to remember: www.cierraperaphotography.com/blog

That's it!

Love to you all!

Christmas 2008

2008-05-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

A Christmas post you ask? I like to plan ahead. If you spend the holidays with us I wanted you to clear your schedule. Since you will be traveling to my house this year. I am putting my foot down. I want family here. There are a few catches though- You will need to stay at a hotel- our only spare room will be taken most likely. I will not be cooking, so plan on bringing a turkey or ham or whatever. You will probably be put to work washing laundry and such. I will probably be very crabby too. The house will be very loud and lots of things going on. What WILL I be doing you ask??

Isn't it obvious?? I will be on the couch with my feet up BEGGING the little person inside me to come out!

Surprise! Pera baby number 3 on the way! Due December 31! Itwill be interesting to see who responds to this. I have a feeling my mom is the only one who checks! Love to you all. Oh yeah- fun picks too:

Southern Cal Beach Fun

2008-04-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

Way back in the beginning of March we went to Southern California. Here are some pictures from our trip. These are the beach pictures. Next post will be of the zoo!

2008-04-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

Update time! I am hoping to move this blog into a more daily reader about LOTS of things, rather then just family updates that my mother reads! There are some great things out there that we need to know about! So I'll be brushing off the old journalism dream and posting more- don't quote me on that! But for now here are the updates:

Our house before the ripe out! Sooooo ugly (but thankful!!)

Our house after the clean up! It's almost pretty! We are thinking about paint colors and landscape ideas. We also have the hard shale (extremly hard sandstone rock) that is just below the surface. NOTHING will grow in it! Couple more trees out and we will be almost there.

After 7 years of dreaming, 3000 hours of internet searching, Steve has his dream truck! It's a '68 Chevy Long bed and such and such. Maybe he can do a post about it. He litterally knows EVERYTHING about this truck. Thank God!

Took the girls to Daffodil Hill again this year. Love it there.

That's all for now. Promise to update soon.

Valentines Photos

2008-02-12T22:09:00.000-08:00

Thought you might enjoy these shots I did today with the girls... we had a ball!

Growing

2008-01-26T20:12:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of growing going on around here. Not all good I might add.... Today I did something amazing: When others where tucking in their shirts... I was tucking in my 'growing' I've done over the last months. And no smarties- I'm not pregnant! SIGH...

I think this means I need to exercise. I hate exercise. I hate it when others say " I feel so great after I run and I have so much energy." Me? I feel like death and want to sleep... Ahh, life's big question looms: How do I loose weight without doing anything??

I'm just kidding. I know I need to exercise (yuck).

Isn't interesting how closely our lack of endurance with weight mimics our Christian walk? So often we seem to just float along, nibbling here and there from the world. Not eating and drinking the Word of God or running our race? Then one day we look down and our fat pants don't fit? Our flesh has multiplied and taken over? Why is it we think that one little cookie won't hurt? Or one peek at Grey's Anatomy on ABC won't really matter? We're just watching for the medical stuff right???

Time and time again I am reminded that I can't just walk the line. It's no good to be *almost* Christ-like. Just like it's no good to be almost in a 4, err I mean a 6.... Ok Ok a 8! Snap!

Just Pictures

2008-01-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

So lots of pics for your viewing enjoyment! The girls are growing like weeds!

Pictures Pictures and more Pictures....

Gay-ce Dn Pa-ya!

2007-11-21T14:09:00.000-08:00

Hello Hello! What have we been up to you ask? Well in the last 24 hours: I made two turkeys, spent 6+ hours editing photo session, Gracie made 2 Thanksgiving crafts, Courtney managed to smear poop and then glue all over herself but also managed to use the potty 2 times without help (!), Steve has cleaned the garage (again) and finished 5 loads of laundry. Oh yeah- last Friday I decided to rip out the old kitchen floor while Steve was at work and with Tara's help, replace it! Why two turkeys you ask? For my church's outreach tomorrow! Why the wedding photo? I thought you might like it .

In other breaking news: My new photography site is almost up and running!!! Gracie can read small words, and Courtney is talking in full sentences, although a bit hard to understand! Yesterday she walked around the house saying "My name is Gracie Dawn Pera." Which sounded like this: "Mew nam its Gay-ce Dn Pa-ya!" Too cute. Last night over our meal of lamb Gracie asked: "Mummy, did some shooter man use a gun and dead this lamb?" My answer? "Yep." It's a cruel cruel world out there people...

Halloween!!

2007-10-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

Photos!!!

2007-10-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

Here we are!

2007-09-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

OK- so I've totally slacked on the blog lately... but with reason! We bought a house!! Can you believe it??? I still can't.

It's been so much fun watching the girls play in the new back yard that we call 'Pera Park.' All of their friends come over to play. We are planning on a swing set soon, in time for Gracie's 4th birthday.

So other big news.... I turned the big 2-5. Yep. 25. It was a hard for me. But I can't begin to tell you how wonderful my friends are here in Jackson. They threw me a surprise party and I totally fell for it!! My mom got me so good. I had no idea. Tara, Martha, Elizabeth, and Annie I love you. AND the most wonderful surprise of the night, was seeing Courtney and Ashley from Santa Rosa! They drove the whole way just for my party. You better believe I cried. I have never felt so loved and spoiled. I would post photos but I don't have any yet.

Also Taylor and Shannon tied the knot. We were all in the wedding and that is another blog in and of it's self! She was the most beautiful bride and Taylor was so very romantic. Buy the DVD when it comes out. You'll love it. OK... there is a lot more but I'll just post photos for now and add more later. Also there should be new photos on the photography blog. Love Ya!

Here's Tate and Shannon
One of Court I did yesterday

And a few my mom took while ahe was here.

New Hair

2007-08-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

Courtney's hair is getting longer! She has her first pigtails this morning...

Here is a picture of Gracie's first pigtails too!

New House!!

2007-08-03T21:22:00.001-07:00

We're HomeOwners!! We actually did it. After everything tha could have gone wrong did, our God has proved faithfull and we own a home. Or will own a home in 2037. But hey who's counting???

Many long days and nights ahad of us. Happy ones though! More photos to come.

July 4th Fun!

2007-07-04T10:22:00.001-07:00

We have had such a fun couple of days! And exciting too! Firstly we had our church picnic last Sunday. Steve almost won the sack race, Gracie won the ball toss game with her Daddy and I won the watermelon eating contest! Yes- all 120lbs. of me beat out all the other men! It was a great moment for short girls everywhere!

In other exciting news.... we are buying a house!!! I never thought this day would come but here it is! It's here in Jackson, and next store to one of my best friends. Steve and I are very excited/nervous/happy and everything in between. We will keep you updated! Have a happy fourth!

Back from the SoCal (please note that I never called it SoCal till I moved to NorCal)

2007-06-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

The girls and I just got home from a quick trip for Shannon's bridal shower. It was so much fun. She received the nicest gifts and the party went really well. I am so excited because I was able to shoot Tate and Shannon's engagement photos! They both camera happy- they don't take bad pictures. I also got some fun ones of the girls too. Head over to the photo blog to see some of the engagement photos please! Tomorrow I promise to post all about Court and what she's been up to, which is a lot!

All about me

2007-06-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

I think I’ve got this thing down! I haven’t decided what to do about theperas.com yet but I am leaning toward closing it down. Or maybe changing it to my photography site. Right now I am blogging my photography business but I would much rather have a living breathing site to work from. We shall see. You can see such blog here: http://cierraperaphotography.blogspot.com/ So now to slowly catch everyone up with what’s happening in our lives! I will start with me I think.

This is the most recent photo I have of myself- I just take the pictures! Life has been so full of joy with my two girls and Steve. It’s been fun to watch each of them grow and change everyday. I think that I have done some changing too. I grew tired of what I like to call “the art of being busy.” Think about it: you see someone you know and ask them how they’ve been and what is the reply? Nine times out of ten they say “Oh- so busy!” Like that is something to be proud of? Maybe if we were all busy doing God’s work, but most of the time we are not. Most of the time it’s simply gymnastics and laundry, Bible studys and church, TV and work, silly problems and the internet! Man does the internet suck time or what??
That being said… I kind of made it my new year’s resolution or something like that, to not be busy! And I am trying to accomplish this. It takes time and I have let a lot of friendships and some dishes slide, but hey, my husband and kids are happier because of it. We are not over committed. Yet at the same time, I am trying to sacrifice all that I can for Christ. Because lets face it: What do you really sacrifice for the LORD? Time? Money? Your life? I am at the point were if it is hard or inconvenient for me to do something then I make the point to do it and do it with a happy heart. It’s not called sacrifice for nothing! My children are not an excuse for me to not participate in ministry. What ministry you say? Well I decided not to charge people for their photography sessions. That’s right folks- I am free. And not just because I like you. I just can’t look at a mom and say “Sorry you need to pay me $100 for an hour of my time that I clearly enjoy, and then choose only 3 pictures to print at small sizes because you can’t afford something better.” It just doesn’t work for me. And what an awesome way to show Christ’s love to others than to give something so great- beautiful memories!
God has been so gracious to Steve and I over the last 5 years. (Yes we’ve been married almost 5 years!!) We have done NOTHING to deserve such generosity. I just wanted a way to honor Him and like always He laid it in my lap and made it so easy to say, “YES!” So other than that things are the same. I am cooking a lot these days and making up my own stuff. I have been teaching Steve to cook for the fire house too. That has been fun. My fav show ”The Closer” is about to start again!! I’ve had the same coffee pot for almost 5 years now and that makes me happy. I have given up Pepsi (most of the time) and lost 10lbs. because of it! Well I guess that’s it for now… more updates and pictures to come!