Perkins Report...

Introducing the Newest Perkins!

2010-07-19T21:09:00.007-04:00

Liam Stuart Perkins
born early Tuesday morning, July 13th 3:15am
7 lbs 8 oz, 19"

So here's the crazy story...

I woke up about 2:30am feeling the first contraction. I got up and spent about 20 minutes in our bathroom partly to make sure labor was actually happening, but also because I felt like I had to go...maybe too much information, but looking back, that was a big clue to what was coming. By 3am I had woken Stu, called my parents to come over to stay with Luke & Eliana, and called my doctor. For the next 10 minutes I worked through lots of pretty wicked contractions waiting for the doctor to call me back & my parents to arrive. The doctor called, said she'd meet me at labor & delivery, and we hung up about 3:10am. Stu came down and asked me if I wanted to change since I was still in my pajamas & I said I didn't think I could. He later said I was pretty unresponsive at this point. We were going to walk out the door to go to the hospital as soon as my parents walked in, but I said I had to go to the bathroom, and Stu followed me to the little bathroom off the kitchen. I sat down on the toilet, and here's what I remember of our exchange:
"Stu! The baby's coming."
"Hurry, let's get in the car."
"No, now. The baby's coming now!"
And sure enough, Stu bent down, saw the baby's head, freaked out for a moment (not really), told me to push, and out came a perfect baby boy--all pink and rosy and screaming. Hearing those wails and seeing the baby's healthy color was amazing and set me at ease. We noticed the cord was twisted around the baby's neck, so we untangled it, and I remember Stu asking, a little frantically, "what do we do now?" I told him to calm down, give me the baby, and call the doctor back. It had only been about 5 minutes since I had talked to her. Stu ran around the house looking for my phone and at this point my parents were knocking at the door and Eliana woke up. Eliana let my parents in the house and of course they were shocked to hear a baby crying, which they knew wasn't Luke!
So now Stu's on the phone with my doctor, apologetic for disturbing her and attempting to get instructions as quickly as possible so she can go back to bed (ha ha!), and he's told my dad to call 911. The doctor asked Stu if he had any string and the best thing he could think of was his shoe laces. So he unlaced his shoes and used the laces to tie tightly around the umbilical chord in two places so he could then cut the cord.
Shortly there after the ambulance arrived and carted us off to the hospital. We received lots of praise and cheers as we were wheeled through the emergency entrance on our way up to labor and delivery. It was an amazing experience, and we praise God that everything went so well. Stu was the local celebrity during our short stay in the hospital. I'm so proud of him!

My Little Helper

2010-05-31T09:43:00.003-04:00

Eliana helped me paint some of our deck furniture a couple of weeks ago. (I was surprised at how much help she actually was! :) While we were painting, Eliana made the comment, "Mom, I think instead of being just an astronaut when I grow up, I'll also be an artist."

Happy 30th Birthday!

2010-05-18T17:04:00.002-04:00

On May 9th by baby brothers turned the big 3-0!

April 2010 Part II

2010-05-18T15:40:00.004-04:00

Stu spent the week after Spring Break in Las Vegas for a work conference. My parents graciously kept the kids for us so that I could fly out and join him there for the second half of the week. We stayed at the MGM Grand, which houses a Cirque du Soleil show "KA". The company rented out the entire theater one night for its attendees. It was a great show. We had a really nice time, mainly relaxing by the pool and enjoying being kid-free! A couple of days of Vegas was enough for me, though!

Towards the end of April we celebrated my dad's birthday. We have a lot of spring birthdays in our family! My brothers are next in early May.

April 2010

2010-05-18T15:16:00.005-04:00

Easter

The kids and I went to Harrisonburg for a few days over Spring Break with my parents to visit my dad's mom. We spent one of those days at Monticello and had a really nice time learning all about Thomas Jefferson. When it was our turn to tour the house and we got inside, Eliana asked me, "Mom, where's the president?" She really enjoyed Monticello and brought her brochure to class the next week for show-and-tell and told them all about our third President and his beautiful home.

March 2010

2010-05-18T15:10:00.003-04:00

Since I'm so far behind on updating our blog, I figured I'd give us all a glance back by month, although besides my mom and I turning another year older, not much happened in March...

Eliana's 1st Bike!

2010-05-18T15:07:00.001-04:00

Happy 1st Birthday, Luke!

2010-02-24T22:50:00.003-05:00

Luke turned one last Sunday! We had a birthday party for him the day before with some close friends and family. Of course, a first birthday party is really more for the parents than the baby, but he did have lots of smiles for us. He played in the icing of his cake, but needed a little help to get a taste. He definitely didn't dig-in like Eliana did on her first birthday.

Luke had his 12 month appointment this week, and although we had some concerns about his lack of movement (not crawling or anything yet!) and his lack of weight gain since his 9 month check up, he got good marks from the doctor. There's a big range of what's considered normal for moving around - taking up to 18 months is still considered normal, so we don't have to be worried about that just yet. Even though he weighs just over 20 pounds (same as at 9 months), his height continued along the same growth curve of about the 75th percentile, which is good. He's my little peanut, but he's healthy and happy!

Luke's 1st Sick Visit

2010-02-15T22:30:00.003-05:00

Poor baby boy has a double ear infection. I'm not used to having a sick baby. Eliana didn't have a sick visit until she was about 2 and a half, but I'm sure Luke's having a big sister who goes to pre-school makes a difference. Luke's had a fever since Saturday, been either fuzzy or lethargic, and then today wasn't eating and pulled on his ears a few times. So we went to the doctor...when Stu came home with Luke's prescription, and nothing for Eliana, she started complaining that her ear hurt! She has had a pretty relentless cold/cough this winter, but she's been as energetic as always and hasn't said anything about not feeling well or having an ear ache. Eliana went to Luke's appointment today and didn't say anything then either about her ear hurting. So we figured she just wanted what Luke had. They both went to bed early - Luke at 6:30 and Eliana at 7:30, and around 9 Eliana woke up crying and crying and saying her ear hurt! Argh! So I guess Ellie'll need a trip to the doc tomorrow, too. Luke's been moaning or crying out about every half hour since he went to sleep, so I'm anticipating a rather sleepless night for everyone. Poor kids.

Our Little Drummer Boy

2010-02-08T22:42:00.003-05:00

Luke's almost a year old and although he isn't crawling or have much interest in moving around, he loves to sit and flail those arms! He can keep a pretty steady beat, too!

We got SNOW!!

2010-02-08T22:12:00.013-05:00

On Saturday, January 30th, our area saw more snow around here than in the last twenty years. Since D.C.'s 30+ inches a few days ago, our 9 doesn't seem like much, but it was still quite a beautiful and exciting sight. Eliana, especially, had lots of fun, although we weren't really prepared with proper snow-gear, so her bouts out in the snow didn't last long. But they were frequent.

A blast from my past growing up in NJ: Snow Cream! Snow, milk, sugar and vanilla. Or another nice variety: snow, milk, sugar, rum extract, and coconut. :)

It was really nice having a cozy day snowed-in. We enjoyed a fire and ended the day roasting marshmellows and making s'mores.

The following day, Uncle Jason had more luck building a snow man with Ellie than we did. Thanks, Uncle J! Schools closed the Monday & Tuesday and had a delayed opening on Wednesday. I only had to work Thursday that week!

Eliana's 4!

2010-02-08T21:03:00.005-05:00

She's been four since late November, but I've gotten so bad about blogging that I'm a couple of months late...sorry, Ellie. I did want to reflect a little on Eliana and her four years. She is a talkative, social, energetic girl, who only runs out of steam when we force her to go to bed. This has been her first year in school, and she absolutely loves pre-school. She also loves being a big sister. Luke's her little "Choey Boy" (no idea how she came up with that name), and she's excited that mommy has another baby in her tummy! One sign of Eliana's maturing over this year is that she understands that this baby could be a boy or a girl (and is okay with that), and as much as she wants a sister, we don't know what God is going to give us (those are her words!).
Here's a fun little look back at Eliana from birth to now...

Catchin Up

2009-11-12T10:58:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since I posted anything about the Perkins family, so I figured some of you might like a little catchin up.

Leading up to Halloween, we spend a Saturday afternoon painting and carving pumpkins. Eliana had a fun Halloween..twice. We went to a church "trunk-or-treat" the weekend before. Eliana wanted to be a butterfly, and Luke was an adorable pea-in-a-pod.

Halloween day/night was really warm, so Luke would have been too hot in his outfit. I got him some glow-in-the-dark skeleton jammies to wear instead. On our trick-or-treating mission, our first stop was Oma and Opa's house, then we had a lot of fun trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.

Monday night we celebrated Stu's birthday (Happy Birthday, Stu!!) with our families and friends. Stu's dad had arrived that evening to visit for a few days from Missouri.

Last night I noticed a tooth finally poking through Luke's lower gum. No wonder he hasn't been sleeping lately...

Dinner Conversation

2009-10-12T19:42:00.002-04:00

So tonight at dinner, Stu and I are trying to convince Eliana to give green beans another chance. She knows she doesn't get dessert ("bassert" - it's too cute to correct her) unless she finishes her dinner...

Stu: "Eliana, narrow is the path to the cupcakes. No one comes to the cupcakes except through the green beans."

It's making me laugh all over again.

Matthew 7:14; John 14:6 :)

Field Trip!

2009-10-12T10:58:00.005-04:00

Eliana went on a field trip with her pre-school class last Thursday, and Luke and I had the pleasure of tagging along. We went to the Hunt Club Farm and had a hay ride, where we saw horses and the great pumpkin, enjoyed the petting farm, played in a huge pile of hay, and picked out a pumpkin. It was a lot of fun. Eliana's favorite part was catching and holding a baby chicken. That was cute! Picture Eliana running around the pen after one particular little chicken, and then not wanting to let it go. Since Thursday, she's been talking about going back to see "her chicken".

Apple Day

2009-09-26T22:45:00.005-04:00

Eliana's school had "Apple Day" this past Thursday, and at parents' night about a month ago, I signed up to bring snacks for Apple Day. So Stu dropped Eliana off at school that day (which reminds me...on Eliana's second day of school, she told me I didn't have to walk her into school, I could just drop her off and she'd go in by herself. I wasn't quite ready for that.), and I stayed home and made some apple-strudel muffins and apple slices with peanut butter. Luke and I later went to Ellie's class to bring the snack and participate in "Apple Day." They learned about apple seeds and trees and made apple crafts. It was cute. Eliana loves school, and Zachary is her "best friend at school." (Too bad for Joshua, the only other kid in the class!)

Eliana's 1st Haircut

2009-09-15T17:26:00.003-04:00

We waited a long time to cut her beautiful locks, and I'm having pangs of regret! I'm afraid I might have cut off her curls! I've been thinking all summer that it was time for a haircut as i was tired of unwrapping her hair from around her arms and fighting tangles. Long hair is kind of difficult with a very active 3 year old who loves to swim...I'm not sure why I waited until the end of the summer, but after bath-time last night, I decided to give her a trim. The trim turned into a bit more than that, unintentionally, to be honest. I guess it was about five inches.

Luke's 6 months old!

2009-08-27T09:19:00.003-04:00

Luke had his 6-month check up yesterday. He's now 19 lbs and 26.5" long. He's supposed to start having "real" food, beginning with rice cereal, but the few times I've tried to feed him, he snaps his mouth shut as soon as the spoon comes near. Either that, or he blows raspberries and sprays the cereal all over me! Gotta love that. Happy half-Birthday, Luke!

Eliana's 1st Day of School!

2009-08-25T16:38:00.003-04:00

All went well for both mom and child this morning when I took Eliana to school. No tears! She did climb back in bed this morning (which she never does) and say she was too tired to go to school, but after some encouragement, we got there and it didn't take long at all (about 5 minutes) for her to warm up to her teacher and the classroom and say an excited good-bye to me and Luke. She had a great time and can't wait to go back. In fact, she said it was too short! I took the picture after school, when she was very excited about her class. In her own words: "This morning I thought I didn't like school, but now I really really like school! It was so much fun!!!"

Eliana is in the 3 year old class Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:25-11:45 at Norfolk Christian's beach campus. We're hoping that they will move her up to the 4 year old class so that the following year she can enter kindergarten. That would be a year earlier than she's supposed to according to the age requirement, and the only way around that (that I've been able to find) is to have her complete a private state-accredited kindergarten, and then she can enter public school without any "age problem". That's our plan. We'll see how it goes!

I love Triple Coupons!

2009-08-13T15:22:00.003-04:00

I just got back from Harris Teeter, where they're tripling coupons up to 99 cents through Tuesday. You can use 20 coupons per day. Look at all I got for just $9.89!!

The total was $77.80 before VIC Savings and coupons. I saved $51.27 with coupons! I really shouldn't have so much fun at a grocery store.

A Cousin is Born!!

2009-08-12T11:51:00.004-04:00

We are so excited to introduce Eliana and Luke's first cousin, Baylee Jolynn Perkins born to Stu's brother Dan and his wife Amy. Baylee was born August 10th around 2:45am in the same room Luke was born, and weighed the same as Eliana--8lbs 6oz.

A New Friend is Born!

2009-07-20T22:40:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the world, Josiah Michael! Josiah was born this morning to my good friend from college, Melissa, and her husband Mike. I commented while we were visiting with them that it's amazing how much babies change in just five months. Doesn't seem that long ago at all that Luke was Josiah's size, and really, it wasn't! Luke is only five months older, almost to the day, so we expect them to be good buddies!

Cow Appreciation Day

2009-07-10T15:28:00.002-04:00

Free meal today at Chic-fil-A if you come dressed as a cow! It was fun...

Harborfest

2009-07-09T09:38:00.003-04:00

We spent the fourth of July in downtown Norfolk enjoying Harborfest. We got down there early in the day, around 11am, and conveniently parked in Stu's work-day parking space, just a block from Waterside. Getting down there early was a good idea because no one else was there yet. :) Stu's office acted as a "home base" and was a great place to return to when the crowds got to be too much or we just needed a little down-time. Nauticus opened earlier than the festival, so we started out there and enjoyed walking around the museum for a couple of hours. Admission was only $4/adult with kids free, and you could come and go through out the day. We came back a couple of times to see different movies they were showing in the theater. Harborfest was a lot of fun, and not terribly crowded (during the day, anyway. It did get crazy closer to the fireworks). There were some fun acts to watch, and Eliana loved her little mermaid hat from Ryan-the-balloon-guy. It was a great fireworks display. How do you know you have good "seats" for the fireworks? You get showered in ash. Yup, we really did. Luke was great-didn't cry once, and actually fell asleep during the finale! We didn't get home until about 11pm and the kids were so good the whole time. We really had a great family day!

Luke's 1st Swim!

2009-06-30T10:15:00.003-04:00

He loved it! All smiles! It's fun how buoyant little babies are; you hardly have to hold them up. I commented on that to Ellie, and said, "I wonder what Luke would do if I let go." Eliana FREAKED OUT! It was so funny. I hadn't actually let go, just mentioned the idea, and Ellie started screaming and crying, "No! No! Don't let go of Luke!!!" She's apparently a protective big sister. It was very sweet. Don't tell Stu, but I did later let go...Luke didn't mind. :)

Photo Shoot

2009-06-24T09:34:00.006-04:00

I've always taken Eliana to JC Penny's portrait studio to have her picture taken, and every time, I say it'll be the last...they're always running late, the photographer often made very little effort, they don't take many pictures, the proofs on the computer are blurry and small, and you have to wait a long time to get your pictures. I kept going back because it's so cheap. But after a few recommendations, I've finally branched out and took the family to Portrait Innovations. We were the first appointment of the day, so they were ready when we were, the photographer was great, and if we wanted to spend very little money, we could have gotten plenty of pictures (one pose) for $9.95. They don't have any sitting fees, which is another plus, especially when you're bringing the whole family. This was our first family photo shoot since Eliana was Luke's age, so of course I couldn't go with just one pose! I now have more pictures then I know what to do with! Besides tons of pictures, another advantage to buying more than just the special package is they throw in the CD of all the pictures free. The CD is low resolution, so you really can't print any bigger than 4x6 yourself, but you have to have that CD if you want them to make more prints in the future. I think our pics came out so great! The pics of Luke in the last post are from our shoot, and here's some more... If you have a Portrait Innovations near you, I'd definitely recommend them.

Four Months Old

2009-06-23T18:18:00.004-04:00

Luke had his four month check up today. Weighed in at 16lbs 4oz, 25 inches long, and doing great! It's hard to believe he's four months old already. And today he rolled over for the first time!

Mary and Joseph

2009-06-21T15:41:00.002-04:00

The other day Eliana's walking around the house with her blanket around her head, and when asked what she was doing responds with:

"I'm pretending I'm Mary, and Joseph is somewhere in the house."

Eight Years!

2009-06-17T23:01:00.005-04:00

Stuart and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary last week by taking a nice little get-a-way to a beautiful bed-and-breakfast in northern Virginia. L'Auberge Provencale is a French Country Inn in the Shenandoah Valley with a nationally acclaimed restaurant. We very much enjoyed our stay and dining and it was especially nice to get a way sans kids! (Thanks Oma (my mom)!!)

On our way home, we stopped in Fredricksburg to visit our Alma mater, have lunch at our old favorite, the Country Store, and of course stop by Carl's for an ice cream cone. We saw lots of changes at Mary Washington since we were last there. The most obvious of which is a bell tower in George Washington Circle. They have also redone Lee Hall, including a new, much fancier, bookstore. It's such a beautiful campus, and it was fun to reminisce.

Luke's 1st Trip to the Beach!

2009-06-10T21:38:00.002-04:00

Eliana, Luke, and I enjoyed a great day at the beach with our good friends the Morgans. Maddie and Eliana are very close in age, as are Ami and Luke. It's so much fun spending time with friends!

Fun with Friends

2009-06-10T21:27:00.003-04:00

I gave a baby shower this weekend with my MWC girls for our friend Melissa. Melissa and Elsie are both due in July-Melissa with a boy, and Elsie's having a girl. Last October Suzanne had Lily. Of course, Luke was born in February, Marie had Joshua in March...it's been so fun to watch six friends turn into...how many?! We had a lot of fun afterwards with our families.

A Milestone

2009-06-01T20:47:00.004-04:00

One that is particularly significant to me, and hopefully I'm not jumping the gun, but last night was Luke's third night in a row sleeping from about 8pm to 6:30am! Whohoo! Doesn't mean I slept that long, however, as this creates, of course, a new challenge for a nursing mom (and those of you that have been there know exactly what i'm talking about!). But it's amazing how our bodies can fairly quickly adapt to the needs of the baby. Only God could have thought that all up! :)

Conversation with Ellie

2009-05-29T23:13:00.003-04:00

Eliana: "I don't really like boys."
Me: "No, why not?"
E: "Girls are more fun to play with."
M: "Oh. I bet one day you're really going to like boys."
E: "Maybe when I'm all grown up."
M: "When will you be all grown up?"
E: "When I'm five."

E: "But I love Luke. And when Luke gets bigger I'll have a friend that lives here!!! He'll be my friend and play on my playground and we'll play games, and read books, and do puzzles...and I'll always have a friend!!!"

"Luke, I am your Father"

2009-05-28T18:21:00.002-04:00

can't tell you how many times i've heard that! :)

Cuteism

2009-05-17T21:49:00.002-04:00

We have a park here in Virginia Beach called Mount Trashmore, aptly named as it was once a mound of trash, covered with soil and transformed into a park in the 1970s. It's really quite an ingenious use of an old landfill. Besides the nice walking path about a mile and a half long around the "mount" and water, there's a great playground and even a skate park. Anyway, Stu and I have taken Eliana there a few times for a picnic and some playground fun, and today after church she asked if we could go to "Trash Can Park".

Bath Time

2009-05-02T21:45:00.002-04:00

Relections...

2009-05-02T20:58:00.003-04:00

It's been such an amazing experience and blessing to watch Eliana grow, learn, mature. Even 3 and a half years later, I still sometimes just pause and stare at her, in awe of the fact that she came to be in me. So wanted, so loved...what a beautiful creation, precious and unique. I stand in awe of God's handiwork, and so thankful for his blessings. I feel like there's a piece of heaven in her face, and Luke's...when he stops eating for a moment to look up at me with those big bright eyes and give me a huge smile and coos. The other million things I could be getting done at that moment disappear and my heart melts. I'm surprised again at how in love I am with a little baby, who at this point simply eats, sleeps, and poops. I never realized how much a parent loves their child until I became one, and it gives me even deeper appreciation and understanding of God's love for His Son, and the anguish it caused Him to allow Jesus to suffer and die for us. It was certainly supernatural.

Lately I've been feeling like Eliana's really growing up. Besides getting taller and just looking less like a little girl and more like a kid, she's becoming more reasonable and responsible. She sits in time-out without complaint or tears because she knows she did something wrong. Tonight, she came down stairs to get her stuffed animals and put herself back to bed. When she obeys/follows direction the first time asked, I find myself surprised! She's only 3 1/2 and I know we have many more developmental milestones to witness, mixed with lots of frustrations, and I hope I'll continue to stand in awe and thankfulness of the miracle that is life.

Update

2009-04-22T15:24:00.002-04:00

Luke had his two-month doctor appointment today. He's a healthy little guy, weighing in at 12 lbs 14 ounces and 23 inches tall. We're settling into a schedule of naps and eating, and I can even say we're sleeping through the night! Whohoo! It's been about the last five nights or so that Luke's slept between 6 and 7 hours. He's going to bed around 9:30, so I'm still getting up between 3 and 4am, but those extra couple of hours of sleep make a big difference! He's a such a good little boy.

The kids and I spent spring break in New Jersey with my mom visiting family. Luke was a really good traveler. We only stopped once each way! Luke got to meet his GiGi and Papa (my mom's folks) and two of my aunts and uncles and my cousin Alison. (Pictures to come.) Eliana took to calling GiGi and Papa just "G" and "Pop", which was really quite funny. Picture the girl yelling, "G! hey G!". It makes me chuckle.

Eliana's new favorite game has been finding words that rhyme. I'll ask her whether or not different pairs of words rhyme-she thinks it's great fun. Well, now she tries to talk in rhymes, which more often than not doesn't include real words: "I want to put cover-dovers on Luke." "Can I play with Playdoh-daydoh?" "What's for dinner-winner?" "Let's put on jammie-dammies." and so on...

A tutoring student's about to arrive, so that's all for now. I'm so bad about keeping updates coming, I wouldn't be surprised if I've lost my readers!

7 Weeks Old

2009-04-11T18:00:00.002-04:00

thirty...

2009-03-27T11:18:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I turned the big 3-0. There's something about reaching a new decade...but I have been very blessed in my thirty years. Just look at my beautiful family. :)

Our first two weeks as a Family of Four

2009-03-09T10:37:00.004-04:00

Stu's company offers two weeks of paternity leave, so Stu spent our first week with Luke home with us. He was a tremendous help keeping the house orderly and Eliana entertained. But after a week of playing ponies, Lincoln logs, and healing sick stuffed animals, Stu was ready to go back to work! I'm hoping he'll take the other week sometime soon. :)
This past week, Stu's dad came to visit from Missouri. He was also a lot of help with Eliana. She takes much more energy than Luke! We had a really nice visit with Grandpa and definitely appreciate him making the long trip to see us!

Luke's been a relatively easy baby so far. He cries for specific reasons, and then stops crying when the need is met! That's nice. He had his days and nights flipped for the first week or so, but that's been getting much better. Eliana loves being a big sister and has been very good with him.

Two Weeks Old! (Yesterday)

2009-03-08T16:28:00.004-04:00

Luke's Birth

2009-02-27T13:30:00.005-05:00

I wanted to post about Luke's birthday, for those of you who are interested. It was such an amazing experience, and so vastly different from my labor and delivery with Eliana.

A contraction woke me up Saturday morning around 7:45 and right away they were about 2-3 minutes apart. I didn't really think much of that, because the same thing happened when I went into labor with Eliana, and that ended up being 6 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing. So this time around, I didn't count on any urgency. I went downstairs with Eliana, who had woken up when she heard me moving around, and made her breakfast and called my doctor. I woke Stu up around 8:30 and told him he should probably get up and take a shower. His sleepy, "why?" quickly changed to wide awake "mission mode" when he saw my face. When he was done and could watch Eliana, call our moms, and finish packing last minute things, I took a shower. Silly me- contractions still 2 minutes apart, but each lasting longer, and I'm taking my time, like I've got all day! I really did think I had all day. :)

My mom arrived around 9:30 to watch Eliana, and we left for the hospital, conveniently two blocks away (I really wanted to walk there, but Stu wouldn't let me. This was a wise choice, in hindsight!). From where we parked our car to getting upstairs to the labor and delivery wing, I had to stop and work through contractions about 5 or 6 times. After checking in (why did I do pre-admission paperwork months earlier if they're still going to have me stand there filling out paperwork with the same questions while having contractions?! Does it matter how tall it am?!), getting settled in the room, hooked up to all the monitors, IV-ed (UGGH!), it was about 10:30. The nurse asked me if I was planning on getting an epidural, which I was hoping to avoid, but wanted to see how things went. I really wanted to be able to labor standing up, which was much more comfortable for me than laying down. So we put off the epidural decision, and they finally checked me, and I was already 9 centimeters! I couldn't believe it! The nurses couldn't believe it either. It was kinda funny. My doctor was on call, so they hurriedly made sure she was on the way. Around 10:45 the doctor came in and after about 4 pushes, Luke Michael made his grand entrance into the world! He was born at 10:59. No time for an epidural, which I am very thankful for because it was so nice to be fully alert and able to experience, and remember, the whole thing. It was truly an amazing experience!

This picture was taken just after he was born, and I think you can read the awe and amazement in my face! I couldn't believe what had just happened! I had never considered that it could all be done and the baby here in just 3 hours! Praise God!

Introducing Luke Michael!

2009-02-23T14:56:00.004-05:00

Born after just three hours of labor (it really was quite amazing), Saturday February 21, 2009 at 10:59am, weighing in at 8 lbs 10 oz, 21 inches long...Luke Michael Perkins!

Eliana is one happy big sister!

We're doing well!

More to come later, when I don't have a baby in my arms, making it hard to type. :)

My little Helper

2009-02-15T20:52:00.004-05:00

The other day, Eliana insisted I let her vacuum! This vacuum, which my parents got me for Christmas, is much quieter (so Eliana's not afraid of it!) and easier to maneuver than my old upright that hardly sucked up anything. I actually don't mind vacuuming anymore myself, but I'm still happy to relinquish the chore to Eliana! It'll be great when she really can have this responsibility. I'm all for assigning chores as soon as possible! ;) I'm also looking forward to seeing what a big helper she'll be with her baby brother (who's due date is tomorrow!).

No sign of baby yet...

2009-02-13T12:54:00.003-05:00

I measured 36 weeks yesterday at my doctor's appointment instead of 39 weeks, which concerned the doctor, so she had me come back later in the afternoon for an ultrasound. The doctor wanted to make sure that the baby hadn't stopped growing or that I was losing fluids. If so, they'd induce. Thankfully, baby's fine and they say he currently weighs 7lbs 13oz. He's already bigger than Eliana was, born 9 days late weighing 6lbs 8oz. He's pretty squished in there, so it was hard to get a good ultra sound picture, but here he is with his hand in front of his face and apparently a full head of hair...

Not Fun...

2009-02-08T22:21:00.003-05:00

Being pregnant and sick, that is.

Every year, when school starts back in September, I find myself catching cold after cold from my students. But not this year. Not one. I figured it was all those extra vitamins (thanks, baby). I've been so happy about that, and surprised. So it's been a blessing to make it until February before getting any kind of sickness, but why now? A week away from my due date? Anyway, what's really made this cold rough is that I lost my voice completely for a couple of days (it's still not fully returned), and that coincided with Eliana experiencing some temporary hearing loss from an ear infection. Poor girl. "What? What did you say?"...over and over again. And me, with no voice. I'm starting to see the funny side of that now as we're slowly feeling better, but it sure made for a frustrating and tiring week! This picture is of Eliana putting her ear up to her toy so she can hear what sound the letter makes. The toy's really not quiet!

38 Weeks and Bike-Riding

2009-02-02T22:29:00.002-05:00

I had some doubts whether that was really a good idea, but I'm not one to worry, and the weather was great today, 60's, so I took the opportunity to get some much needed exercise. It felt so good to get outside and take Eliana for a bike ride to the park, and we both had fun. I've had a bit more aches, pains and swelling with this pregnancy than I did with Eliana, and I'm sure some of that can be attributed to my being three years older and my body having gone through all of this once before, but I bet even more of it is that I have been terribly lazy, in an exercise-sense, throughout this pregnancy. The more I can sit and put my feet up the better! I've regretted that. I was still going to the gym and jogging during the first 7 or 8 months of being pregnant with Ellie. My gym-attendance became non-existent after Eliana was born, and I've never made it back. I've stayed pretty active in other ways (not hard with an active toddler), but I haven't made any effort to exercise during this pregnancy. I'm a little worried about how that will effect my labor/delivery and recovery (meaning when I'll get back into my old clothes!). I guess I'll just wait and see...

I'm Almost 37 Weeks...

2009-01-24T22:45:00.004-05:00

...and my friend from childhood, Karen, is only about 3 weeks behind me. Here we are a few days ago. I have so many friends who are pregnant, or just recently delivered, that I feel like I'm part of another baby-boom!

This past week I finally quit procrastinating and got some paper work done for my maternity leave from school and pre-admission for the hospital. I had to go to the hospital to drop off a form and had a cute moment with Eliana: She knew where we were as soon as I drove up and started talking about how she was born at the hospital and the baby will be born here too, etc, when she suddenly stopped mid-sentence, got a very thoughtful and concerned look on her face, and said, "Wait a minute...is it February?" I had to laugh. In that moment she thought we were at the hospital to have the baby. It was very cute.

I keep getting the baby-name-question, though we're still no closer to actually deciding. From the beginning it's been between Jude and Luke, and we've more recently added Eli or Elijah to the list, but all through the pregnancy Eliana has been seriously adamant that the baby be named Luke. I've kept thinking she'll get over it as we keep trying to convince her that it's probably not going to be Luke, but she's insistent. Naming the baby boy that came with her doll house 'Luke' didn't help, because in her opinion, there can be two Lukes. More recently she's turned more manipulative about it, and it might be working. Instead of just insisting on Luke with a bit of an attitude, she's turned to more sadly begging, "But Mommy, I just really want to name my baby Luke". Eliana just might end up being the one to name the baby...

Not wanting to let go of Christmas...

2009-01-24T22:36:00.002-05:00

Typical Virginia Beach Snow Day...

2009-01-20T16:34:00.003-05:00

...NO SNOW! I don't understand why they do this...call a snow day before a single flake has fallen. I didn't have to work today anyway, so it didn't matter to me, except for the needless 5:45am phone call informing me schools were closed. I didn't have the energy at that time to get out of bed to peer out the window at the beautiful blanket of snow, and I figured I could see it in a few more hours when Eliana woke me up. Well, at 9am, when I finally did get out of bed (thanks, Ellie!), there of course wasn't a single flurry in the air or on the ground, and there hasn't been since. Not a one. Gotta love it.

We're still alive!

2009-01-15T21:42:00.006-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. Do I have any readers left? ;) I've had computer and camera issues that are finally all solved, so...I'm back. I'll try to stay!

Here's a bit of a flash back that I've been meaning to post since Thanksgiving...how time flies!
Eliana and her pumpkin at age one, two, and three:

Late November we spent a great day with our friends, the Odermans and Morgans.

Christmas time was a lot of fun. Eliana's been having a lot of fun with the doll house we gave her. We had a nice visit to New Jersey to visit family the week after Christmas. Eliana had a bit of a rough trip up there, though - threw up twice, and that was a new experience for the poor girl. She apologized for "spilling out". We were worried she had come down with something and envisioned everyone staying at the grandparents' house coming down with it (deja vu), but it seems it was just motion sickness. Thankfully we didn't have a recurrence on the way home!

I'll post again soon, I promise! Baby Boy's doing well, and I'm getting really big! I'll have someone take a picture I can post soon. A little late, but Happy New Year!

Eliana's favorite Christmas Carol...

2008-12-10T22:42:00.000-05:00

"Silent Good Night"

Just-the-Look-at-Baby-Jesus

2008-12-05T10:33:00.005-05:00

I always enjoy decorating for Christmas. Especially once it's all done and the house is so cozy and festive. This year we've had the added aesthetic bonus of a real wood burning fire since removing our gas logs a couple of weeks ago. (Might sound like a strange thing to do, but whenever we turned the gas logs on, the whole house would smell strongly of gas. Gas company said there was no leak, but clearly something was wrong. Then last summer we had to take a tree down, which gave us lots of really nice cherry wood, so those two things combined convinced us to go old school. :)

Anyway, back to Christmas decorating...

Eliana loves to play with the Little People Nativity that my cousin gave her for her first birthday. Every year I've been putting it away around the end of January, so it's like a new toy again as Christmas approaches. My mom collects Nativity Sets, so at her house, many of them are not so playable...this led to Eliana saying, "Oma, I want to see 'just-the-look-at-Baby-Jesus'."

Eliana's THREE!

2008-12-02T21:18:00.002-05:00

Saturday, November 29th, Eliana turned 3 years old. She had lots of fun at her "My Little Pony" Birthday party with friends and family. This marked the first year she blew out her candles all by herself! It was a fun weekend, and I'll post more later...

another Mr. & Mrs. Perkins!

2008-11-12T16:17:00.007-05:00

Congratulations, Dan and Amy!

Two weekends ago we traveled to Amy's home town, Lancaster, Ohio, for Dan and Amy's wedding. It was a beautiful weekend with gorgeous, warm, weather. We spent a few hours Friday enjoy the wonderful fall day at a great park. The rehearsal dinner was on Halloween night, so we let Eliana dress as Snow White. The wedding day was equally beautiful. Stu and I were both attendants, and Eliana was the flower girl. She was very excited about her role and had been practicing her "flower girl walk" for weeks. When the moment came, she threw the first few petals, but then sat down in the isle to play with them. It took a little coaxing, but she made it the rest of the way, followed by the beautiful bride. There's lots of pics here if you're interested.

Guess Who's Thirty?!

2008-11-09T22:01:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday, Stuart! I love you!!

2-year-old Etiquette

2008-11-03T09:37:00.002-05:00

I'll be posting more about our trip to Ohio and my bro-in-law's wedding (with pics!), but right now (since I'm at school and supposed to be working) I just wanted to tell you a quick story about our trip that I found amusing. Hopefully you will too...

The morning of the wedding we went down to the hotel lobby for breakfast (the free kind :). Eliana was enjoying her "vacation breakfast" of fruit loops, and ate them all. Of course she had a big bowl of milk left, and proceeded to pick it up and drink the milk. She got a quick rebuke from my mother-in-law. Grandma was appalled that Eliana would drink her milk from her bowl! What really made it funny to me was: 1. Stuart had just done the exact same thing, but his mom hadn't noticed, and 2. the look on Eliana's face. She had a mix of surprise, shame, confusion, and regret that I just can't quite communicate. Trust me, it was priceless. Like a good little girl, she set her bowl down. She asked me later why Grandma had gotten upset with her, and I guess I un-did the etiquette lesson, because I told her it was okay to drink her milk from her bowl. In the realm of "picking your battles", for me, this is definitely not one of them!

Persimmons

2008-10-15T08:25:00.003-04:00

It's not often I get to try something new, but the other day a co-worker of mine brought me a bag of persimmons harvested from a tree in her backyard. She had to explain to me what they were! I've done a little research... Persimmons are an Asian fruit, not common to the United States and grow only in a few places on the east coast and California. They are a fall fruit, harvested October - December, and provide important nutrients like beta-carotene, Vitamin C and potassium. Orange colored when ripe, Fuyu persimmons can be eaten out of hand like an apple or pear, and there isn't any need to peel them. The California Grower's Association described them as crisp like an apple, sweet like a pear. You can let persimmons ripen until soft (fully orange) and use as a puree for baking or sauces, or make easy sorbet by just freezing and then peeling. Its flavor reminded me a bit of pumpkin - very fall tasting! - so adding nuts, raisins, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc. when cooking would be a nice compliment.

Swimming in October!

2008-10-14T20:52:00.003-04:00

We haven't gotten around to closing the pool yet, so today Eliana decided to take advantage. She had been playing outside and it was quite warm, so I figured, why not? She wanted me to swim with her, but there's just something not right about swimming in October.

Yeah, that's a leaf floating in the pool with her...

It's...a....

2008-09-30T16:59:00.002-04:00

BOY!

Win a Free Handbag!

2008-09-30T15:29:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Tricia for pointing this out...

Handbagplanet is giving away 24 purses in 24 hours to promote the launch of their new company. Entry is really easy, and they bribe you with more entries to mention it on your blog. :)
Just go here: www.handbagplanet.com
Good Luck!

Which one do you think I chose?

Eliana making conversation...

2008-09-25T18:49:00.002-04:00

"Mommy! I like the spice (in the dinner). That's because I'm a big girl! But I'm a little small. But I'm going to keep growing and growing until I'm a big girl as tall as you!! And the baby's going to get bigger and bigger cause your tummy's going to get bigger..."

Wait a little longer...

2008-09-24T23:04:00.003-04:00

I was supposed to have my gender-telling ultrasound today, but I had to reschedule until next week. So sorry to keep you waiting! I feel like this pregnancy is going by so quickly. I'm already at 19 weeks! I've gotten some pregnancy-pics requests, and these aren't the greatest, but they come with a cute story... Eliana has been giving the baby hugs for a while now. She'll point to my stomach and say, with increasing excitement and volume, "Mommy, I like your baby. When she comes out, I'll give her a kiss. And then I'll have a FRIEND!!" She's practically screeching and jumping up and down by the time she gets to 'friend'. It's very cute. But yesterday she didn't want to wait to give the baby a kiss, so she lifted up my shirt and started kissing my belly. I had to grab the camera. :)

Eliana's Favorite Things

2008-09-18T23:02:00.003-04:00

1. Books
2. Baby Patches
3. Her Paci
4. Twirly Dresses

Overheard...

2008-09-16T21:45:00.002-04:00

Eliana woke up really early this morning, so while I was attempting (without success) to get a little more sleep, I heard her and our good friend Heath (who had come back to the house with Stu from the rec center) having a conversation downstairs. Eliana was not happy about her daddy leaving for work...

Heath asked Eliana: "What does your daddy do at work?"
Eliana replied: "He makes money so we can live in this house."

So very funny. As much as I just wanted to be asleep, it made me laugh.

Baby Flutters!!

2008-09-15T22:24:00.002-04:00

Last night as I was lying down to go to sleep, I felt the first baby movements! "Quickening", as they call it. I don't really get that term. Anyway, it made me smile. Feeling those little (later, not so little!) reminders of life is my favorite part of being pregnant. It just amazes me that there's a life growing inside of me. Not to mention, I still find it so weird! I'm now about 18 weeks along.

I had a check-up last Friday and Eliana came along. She was very excited to hear the baby's heart beat. The doctor jokingly said, "It sounds like a boy!", and Eliana didn't like that comment very much! She disagreed. We'll find out if it's a boy or girl in less than two weeks! Maybe we'll let you know. ;)

Lucy's Visit

2008-09-10T17:08:00.003-04:00

Just want to say a big 'thank you' to our good friend Lucy for making the trip from Puerto Rico to come visit us. We had so much fun with you! Hurry back! :)

Another cousin got Married!

2008-08-29T17:17:00.007-04:00

My parents spent part of last week in NJ visiting family and the week ended on the north side of Philidelphia for my cousin Stephen's wedding. His little sister Lindsay just got married 3 months prior. Unfortunately, we weren't able to make it to CA for Lindsay's wedding, but we did get to meet the lucky guy last Sunday.

Steve and Lauren's wedding was a lot of fun, and i think it'll be a long time before we forget how much fun Eliana had! She loved the dance floor and had a blast playing with Clara!

the Newley Weds, Lindsay and Grant with Aunt Claire

the Even Newer Newley Weds, Steve and Lauren

We're so happy for you!

See lots more pictures of the NJ visit and Skaar wedding:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jess.perky/2008_08_24NJVisitWedding

Norfolk Botanical Gardens

2008-08-26T22:27:00.004-04:00

We've recently had the pleasure of visiting Norfolk Botanical Gardens twice. They have the greatest childrens' area called "World of Wonders". Eliana loved it and had so much fun playing in the fountains. It makes getting a yearly pass very tempting, especially since you can get any 6 people in each time. Here's some pictures to enjoy. :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/jess.perky/2008_08BotanicalGardens

Eliana at NBG in June 2007 and then August 2008.

Just so cute...

2008-08-06T15:17:00.003-04:00

I can't help but post these pictures of my little ringlet-beauty. She loves "reading", and I'm so glad that books are her favorite toys!

Budding Artist

2008-08-06T15:12:00.002-04:00

I don't know why it's taken me so long to give Eliana finger paints to play with, maybe I just didn't want to deal with the mess (though that wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be), but I finally did last week, and she had a blast! We got out one of daddy's old t-shirts for a smock, and started creating!

Blueberry Bush Party!

2008-07-29T11:55:00.003-04:00

Those are Eliana's words. Ellie and I had a "blueberry bush party" with her good friends Robertson and Simeon, and their mama, Ali. Every berry Robertson and Eliana picked ended up in their mouths, so they went home with empty buckets, but Ali and I picked a good bunch. Yum! I'm looking forward to some blueberry muffins, pancakes, smoothies...!

Saturday Fun...

2008-07-29T10:34:00.005-04:00

Saturday wasn't the typical day of yard work because there was too much fun to be had! We went to my dad's company picnic during the day and then our friend Julia's wedding that night.

The family at the "picnic party", as Ellie says (the last one is of Eliana thoroughly enjoying her Cheetos):

At Julia's wedding with friends, Kim and Matt; and the bride and groom:

The best way to Nap...

2008-07-22T23:34:00.002-04:00

...after a long, hard day at the beach. :)

Baby Shower!

2008-07-21T21:44:00.005-04:00

It's that time in my life...just about done with any foreseeable bridal showers, and loaded with baby showers! I love it! This past Saturday I helped give a baby shower with my friends Ali and Melissa for our friend Suzanne. Ali and I were friends in high school, as were Melissa and Suzanne. The four of us met the first day of freshmen orientation at Mary Washington College (I don't like calling it University of...), and we have been friends ever since. Marie, another friend from MWC, was so sweet to make the long drive to come to the shower.

Melissa had a fun idea to do a 'onesie' theme. She handmade some very cute onesie invitations, Ali made a really great onesie cake, and we asked everyone to bring a onesie for the baby so we could have a 'greatest onesie' contest (and Suzanne could get a bunch of unique onesies for Lily!). Suzanne's baby, Lily Ruth, is due October 8th. We can't wait to meet Lily! One really cool thing about her name- 'Suzanne' means 'Lily'!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jess.perky/2008_07_18SuzanneSBabyShower

Overheard...

2008-07-20T18:44:00.001-04:00

Stu: "Come here, Princess"
Eliana: "I'm not a princess, I'm just Eliana"

Road Trip

2008-07-17T16:23:00.005-04:00

My mom, Eliana and I spent the week of July 4th in New Jersey with my mom's parents and two of her sisters and their families. We had a really nice time. Eliana was very excited to see G.G. and Papa, got especially attached to my Aunt Mary ("Oma, I love your sister Mary...where's Mary?"), and had a really great time playing with my cousin's kids, Clara and David. We missed fireworks last year, so this year was her first real experience with the "bright lights and boom boom that hurt [her] little ears"!

Check out the picasa album for more pictures. Remember, if you have a google account and download the free picasa software from google, you can also download any of my pictures into your account. It's pretty cool. Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/jess.perky/July08NJTrip

We have pictures of me and my brothers, about Ellie's age now, posing at these same trees.

Aunt Mary took us to the Bergen County Zoo. We had a fun little train ride around the park and saw some pretty neat animals.

Finally, a Beach Day!

2008-07-15T22:44:00.005-04:00

It took me until June 25th to get to the beach this year. And I haven't yet been again. What a shame. Some beach bum I am! I guess I don't deserve that title anymore. I do still love to go to the beach, but it's awfully nice having a pool at home, and so much less effort is required to get to the water! I do feel blessed to live so close to the ocean, though.

My mom, Eliana, and I had a beautiful day. Ellie wasn't too sure about the waves, but she loved the water once we were past them! When I laid on my towel to read a book, Eliana wanted a book too. It was so cute. My little mimic.

Eliana's Announcement

2008-07-15T21:50:00.002-04:00

"My mommy has a baby growing in her tummy. That means I'm gonna have a brother or a sister!"

We're, of course, very excited about the new-one due February 16th! Thanks for all the prayers and support!

Sleepy Girl

2008-07-13T19:43:00.003-04:00

Ever since Eliana started sleeping in her big girl bed, nap times have been a challenge. We're at the point now that they're basically nonexistent. I try to enforce a "rest time" where Ellie has to stay in her room, hopefully in bed. She just reads her books. No napping occurs. My dilema is that she often gets too tired to make it to 7:30 or 8pm.
Cases in point:
-Falling asleep at dinner.

-Falling asleep while on a bike ride.

It has been nice to get her in bed a little earlier (for her that means 8 or 8:30), but it's tricky. Tonight she fell asleep in the car on our way home from a friend's birthday party around 6:00 and slept a couple of hours. When we got home I changed her into her jammies without her even stirring, so I was hoping she'd sleep til tomorrow...but no. We'll see how late we're up tonight!

Stu in St.Petersburg

2008-07-13T19:00:00.004-04:00

It took me a while to get this up here, but I wanted to let you see a bit of Stu's trip to Russia. He left June 20th and after some harrowing travel trying to get home, finally did return on the 28th. Check out the picasa web album for more pictures and commentary from Stu, but here are some highlights:
-Working with some great guys.

-Seeing some really cool architecture.

-Marathon dinner. Russians treat dining out quite differently then we do. I like their way! It's an event (at least it was this night with Stu). Everybody ordering food at different times, filling up the table, sharing...for hours!

-Bringing matrioshka (nesting dolls) home for Eliana. (I got a really cool gift too, but Eliana's delight was priceless!)

http://picasaweb.google.com/jess.perky/June20282008StuInStPetersburg

Eliana's New Friend

2008-06-29T18:55:00.004-04:00

We're watching Coda for friends of ours, and I've gotta say, aside from the very loud barking and a few new holes in our yard, this is a good dog. She's put up with a lot from Eliana, including getting chased around the house with whatever's available (toy stroller, shopping cart, car). Here, Ellie's trying to put sun glasses on her. Good dog. Of course, she does get plenty of extra helpings from Eliana at meal times...

Swim Lessons!

2008-06-29T17:29:00.002-04:00

Eliana, Robertson, and Lauren are getting swim lessons this summer! Last Friday was their first lesson. It was mighty cute seeing them all sitting on the side of the pool and taking turns kicking and blowing bubbles. Hopefully we'll have good little swimmers by the end of the summer!

This blog's readability is...

2008-06-26T11:33:00.002-04:00

Movie Reviews

Are they serious? I'm hardly a genius. Infact, i just spelled genius "genious" and had to fix it. That's pretty funny. Is this blog hard to read?

I love Summer!

2008-06-19T10:27:00.004-04:00

No school, nothing pressing to do but having fun with Eliana and friends! (At least until the laundry's waist-high and the house's a complete mess!) Yesterday Ali came over with her boys and we had a great time swimming in the pool. Thanks, Ali!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jess.perky/61808SwimmingWEsperats

The Joys of Potty Training

2008-06-17T11:24:00.004-04:00

When Eliana's older, she'll kill me for putting this up here, but it's just too cute. I love it when she "reads" to herself.

Ellie probably could have been potty trained quite a while ago if I was more consistent (insistent!) and didn't work every other day. Although, she did do much better for my mom. Anyway, now that I'm off for the summer, I'm determined to get this girl trained. But it's frustrating! She'll have great days where she stays dry, but then yesterday, she looked at me, told me she had to tinkle, refused to go to the potty chair, and then peed on the floor a minute later! argh! Today, two accidents already and it's only lunch time. Any tips?

School's out for the Summer!!

2008-06-16T23:20:00.005-04:00

Today was my first official day of summer, as Friday was the last day of school...finally. It was a day well spent with lots of fun with our friends, Matt and Tricia, and their adorable girls, Hope and Maddie. Matt and Tricia also graduated from MWC. Matt is now the pastor of a great church in Northern Virginia, Reston Community Church (http://www.towncenterchurch.com/). Eliana and Maddie are only a couple of weeks apart in age. Eliana had a blast with her friends. Sure wish they lived closer so we could be together more often! http://picasaweb.google.com/jess.perky/FunWithTheMorgans61608

MWC Girls' Reunion!

2008-06-09T22:59:00.004-04:00

We met early in our freshman year at Mary Washington College (now University of..) in 1997 and have been close friends ever since. It was so much fun to get together this past weekend to celebrate Amy's graduation from Medical School and our 11 years of friendship. Amy's family graciously opened up their amazing home for us to stay.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jess.perky then select the Friends Reunion album.

"Ahoy Matey!"

2008-06-01T14:29:00.002-04:00

Stu and Eliana got set sail yesterday! Stu had given Eliana this cute little remote-controlled pirate ship for her birthday last year, but the pool was already closed for the winter. So she had a long time to wait! Isn't it cute?

Memorial Day

2008-06-01T14:23:00.004-04:00

We had a nice picnic at my folks house with some good friends, including Eliana's friend Rachael. Notice Eliana holding tightly to the ketchup bottle. Forget the hotdog, Ellie just wanted ketcup!

Stu's sitting with his brother Dan, and Dan's fiance, Amy. Eliana's favorite part of the picnic, besides the ketchup, was the "pop corn"!

Friday Fun!

2008-05-25T15:09:00.003-04:00

Eliana and I had a pleasure of helping my friend Ali with her boys, Robertson and Simeon. Ellie always loves it when friends come over, and she and Roberston had a great time together. Simeon is such a great baby! He was fine with Eliana "making his hair pretty." It was fun.

Eliana's First Board Game!

2008-05-25T15:05:00.003-04:00

Eliana's had so much fun with her new board game. It only takes about 10 minutes to play a game and she enjoys matching the colors, shapes, and ofcourse spinning! She always wants to be Tyrone. Here, Eliana and her friend Roberston are playing the Backyardigans game.

Picnic at the Farm!

2008-05-23T10:58:00.005-04:00

Grace Bible Church had a picnic last Sunday after church at Hunt Club Farm. We invited our friends Karen and Tony with their kids Lauren and Eric. We had a great time with our families!

Eliana and her good friend Lauren.

Uncle Jay and Sara walking with Eliana to see the animals, and Uncle Jay holding Ellie.

My little Helper

2008-05-23T10:54:00.002-04:00

Eliana likes to help, whether it's making dinner, cleaning, or in this case, making a cake...

Cuteism

2008-05-13T21:58:00.007-04:00

I turned on the baby monitor this afternoon to hear if Eliana was really sleeping. Here's what I heard:

"What's your name?"

"Eliana"

"That's a good name!"

"What's your full name?"

"Eliana Jean Perkins"

"Wow! What a good name that is!"

"What's your name?"

"Giraffe."

"Hi Giraffe."

"Will you be my friend?"

etc...

Ever wish that baby monitors were able to record audio? I often do. I think it would be so cool if I could push a button from my kitchen and record what Ellie's saying in her room. I wonder if there is such a thing...

(Eliana has a pretty cool stuffed giraffe in her bed that her uncle Jason gave her. It unfolds into a blanket.)

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-12T22:08:00.002-04:00

I gotta say, being a mom is the best thing ever. What an incredible blessing to be entrusted a life to help mold, shape and grow, and what an awesome responsibility. I am so grateful.

Some nice thoughts:
"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~Elizabeth Stone
"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children." ~Charles R. Swindoll, The Strong Family
"Healthy families are our greatest national resource." - Dolores Curran
And to leave you with a laugh:
"Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own." ~Aristotle
Am I the only one that laughed? :)

Special Treat!

2008-05-06T21:46:00.004-04:00

I thought I was bad, but Eliana has a serious sweet tooth. We have Halloween to thank. She starts asking for "special treats" first thing in the morning, and continues to ask off and on throughout the day. I can usually distract her and put it off until after dinner. Even then, her treat is usually something small like an m&m for each hand.

But when I was at Walmart yesterday, I couldn't pass up these tiny cones. A truly "special treat".

Hide-n-Seek

2008-05-06T21:43:00.001-04:00

Eliana's hiding place...

Our Weekend...

2008-05-05T22:05:00.009-04:00

We had a full, fun weekend.

Saturday morning was the Crisis Pregnancy Center's Walk for Life at the Norfolk Zoo. We had a fun time seeing the animals and the Esperat Family. We were a little rushed, unfortunately, so we didn't spend as much time at the zoo as Eliana and I would have liked, but it was on to the next thing!

Saturday afternoon I attended a baby shower for a friend, and Sunday afternoon, I hosted a baby shower for a friend!

I don't remember where I got the fruit salad baby carriage idea from, but I've made it before for a baby shower and it's always a big hit. It's really not hard to make. It would have looked better with a longer melon, but it's too early in the season.