AZ trip #1

I haven't been on blogger for a couple months now and they totally changed things!  I'm always complaining about how annoying it is to make a new post, but it seems like they made it easier on people like me who don't like to sit for 2 hours just for a stupid blog post.  MAYBE I will be blogging a little more often now after I get used to the changes.  So much has gone on in the last few months and I have been loving every single second of it.  We have taken a few trips so I will start with the first trip to AZ back in April.  Sorry for the picture overload!  I'll try to keep it short.

We blessed my sweet little boy at our house in Mesa when he was 8 weeks old.  He was such a handsome little dude.  There was a span of a few weeks when his hair was straight orange.  It has since fallen out (except for an awesome mullet in the back) and is coming back in blonde...but it was fun to have a little orange haired baby while it lasted!  Makes me laugh.  

 Bryan gave such a wonderful blessing and Scott just stared at daddy the whole time.  Yes, dad's deep, loud voice is mesmerizing.  

Great-grandparents!  Just missing G-ma Hall!

 My mom and dad love their 3 grandkids.

 Uncle Max with Scott in the football hold.

 Hall Fam

 Perk Fam

Chillin with friends and Scott's girlfriend, Ali.

 Mom just macs on this cute face all day long.  Poor kid.

 Hayden, Scott, Rex.  Best buds.

Cousin Rex was such a good helper!  He loves baby Scott!

So the main reason we came to AZ was for my sister's wedding!  Congrats to Sarah and Mike!  The wedding was so beautiful!  

 My gorgeous sisters at the bachelorette party...

 Pics from the wedding dinner...starting with my cutest little nephew.  Kid can down a huge glass of lemonade in 5 minutes.

 Sweet Aunt Jenni with little Scott

Husband and Wife.

My handsome boys in their pin-striped suits!  All ready for the celebration!

 Handsome brother Jason

 Sister Gretchen (aka Alysha)

Love my dad.

 Beautiful Gma Hall

 Bryan's brother, Spencer.  Good looking boys!

Once a best friend, always a best friend.  Love this girl and her kiddos so much!

Happy wedding day Say!

Easter 2012

Happy Easter! Luckily the easter bunny came to our house via a package from my mom :) She supplied us with all new outfits and some goodies. Here is Scott all ready for church.

The only shoes that currently fit him. So funny.

Every year NYC does a big Easter bonnet parade on 5th Ave, so after church we decided to go check it out! Here are some of the gals. I am lame and didn't have a bonnet but everyone else looked awesome!

There were some interesting characters at the parade. Very entertaining.

Then we just HAD to take a break and run into St. Thomas' Church so I could feed baby and so we could listen to some beautiful music. It's so tough to live in a city that has such beautiful churches and cathedrals.

Our first family pic! And I love Scott's face...such a silly boy. Takes after his mom making goofy faces for the camera.

After the parade we went into Central Park for a picnic. Beautiful day.

Classic pic of the husbands on the way home.

I'm sure my baby gets so sick of his mama kissing on him all the time. I love our face snuggles.

A friend snapped this pic without me knowing and I love it. Being a mom is such a blessing.

Quick Update

Is it just me, or is it such a pain to do a new post? Maybe I still just haven't quite figured this blog thing out, but it seems like it should be easier. It takes way too long to sit down and figure out the order you want your pictures to appear on the post, then figure out which ones you need to download first to get them in that order. Then, why can't you move them around once they are downloaded? Someone needs to come up with a new system! Please let me know if I'm the only one that feels like this...maybe I'm doing it wrong! Anyway, I don't have time to do all that right now, so this post may be totally jumbled...

My baby is 2 months old! It feels like yesterday that I went through the delivery process, but at the same time, it's hard to remember life without this cute little guy! I have taken about a million pics but here are some favorites!

Bryan could not WAIT to read Scott his first story. This is the night we got home from the hospital and Scott got his first story...I believe it was Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a childhood favorite of Bryan's. So sweet :)

Almost all of the newborn outfits I have were too big for Scott at first and it's crazy that he is now growing out of them. He's getting too big and I don't like it!

We've had a few visitors! My mom came out a few days after I delivered Scott, then Suzy (Bryan's mom) came out right after. Here is Grandma Perkinson.

Then, more of the Perk clan came a few weeks later!

Grammy Hall

My good friend, Diana, came to the city on vacation and we met up in her hotel room so our little ones could meet. This is her sweet little Ali (aka Scott's future wife). Scott is 3 weeks in this pic. They loved each other and Ali wanted to hold his hand the whole time.

At 3 weeks we took Scott to the Natural History Museum. He loved the dinosaurs.

Here is my sweet little devil at 6 weeks! Teaching him his loyalties early. We sent this pic to Grandpa White.

Central Park is our backyard and is so fun for walks! Scott loves his stroller so we are constantly going for walks these days. ANYTHING to get the kid to sleep.

Just chillin, taking a nap on dad's side of the bed.

As I am going through pictures I am realizing that I am not in any of them because I'm always taking them! I will try harder to get some pics of me with my baby. Here is a cute one of Scott and Bryan before the St. Patrick's Day Parade down 5th Ave. I think Scott is about 4 wks.

At the St. Patty's Parade! My little baller.

We just love this little guy and have already done some fun things with him! Still figuring out how to manage life in the city with a baby, but it has been a lot of fun!

My little miracle is here!

Meet our little guy!

Scott Bryan Perkinson

Born Feb 16th at 5:52am

6 lbs, 11 oz. and PERFECT!

Birth Story:

I am one of those people who LOVE to hear the birth story. It is so fascinating how everyone has a different story to tell. With the first baby you have no idea what YOUR story is going to be. I was so anxious to see how my body would respond and how the birth would actually happen. Bryan and I decided not to take a birth class or anything like that, but I did make him watch a birth dvd with some helpful info just so he would know all the medical terms and sorta know the sequence of events. I read a few books on breathing techniques and relaxation, but of course all that stuff went out the window as soon as contractions hit!

If you are like me and enjoy a good birth story, then here you go. I'll spare you guys some of the personal or gruesome details. :) I woke up Wednesday morning and felt totally normal (9 days before my due date). Went out and ran some errands (probably walked about 1.5 miles) and I was in the grocery store when I kept getting sharp pains. I figured I should probably start walking home and limit the amount of groceries I would have to carry. Contractions hit that afternoon and I spent the rest of the day at home trying to keep busy to keep my mind off of the discomfort (wasn't quite painful yet). It was the weirdest feeling because I didn't know if they were actual contractions or if this was just some weird fluke. I soon realized that this was the real deal. I called Bryan and told him I wasn't going to make it to institute class that night, but that he should go ahead and go so he wouldn't have to sit here and watch me endure contractions. I was determined to stay at home as long as I could stand it (knowing that I wanted to deliver naturally). I rotated from the shower, to the bed, to the couch all day. Bryan got home that night at 10:30 and we hurried and packed a bag, then tried to go to sleep. Soon I realized that sleep was not happening so I started timing the contractions. I had no idea when I should go to the hospital because the pain was getting worse but they were so irregular. 11 mins apart, then 4 mins apart, then they were lasting longer (like 2-3 mins each contraction!) Finally at 3:00am I called my doc and she said to try to stay home a little longer because the first baby always takes a long time...well 30 mins later I was positive that we needed to go! Bryan said to me "We aren't going unless you are positive. Let's go out and go for a walk, then see how you are feeling." I wanted to punch him haha. We went down and grabbed a taxi and headed to the hospital. Worst car ride ever! Stupid, crazy taxi drivers! We got to the hospital at 4:00am and they made me sit and wait in triage for like 20 mins and I was going crazy. Bry was probably so embarrassed to be sitting next to me. I was in so much pain I felt like I was going to die and the nurses were taking their sweet time. Finally I shouted "I NEED TO PUSH!" I was getting this feeling like the baby was coming out. It sounded silly when I said it because I had no idea how far into labor I was. After I said that, they FINALLY took me serious and took me back (after trying to make me pee in a cup, which was impossible) and the nurse checked me. Her eyes got huge and she said "You are dilated to a 9!" Right then my water broke. I felt like saying "yeah you idiot, I've been trying to tell you that this baby is coming out!" I was SO relieved that I was at a 9...I'm almost there! I can handle this a little longer! YAY my baby is coming! They wheeled me into the delivery room and made me wait for the doctor to get there. Longest 30 mins of my life! It was so hard to NOT push when I felt like I needed to. The nurses kept asking me stupid questions and I don't think I was very nice to them haha. Doctor got there and she started stretching me (I wanted to avoid an episiotomy), which hurt but I didn't care, I just wanted to get this baby out! I pushed for about 30 mins with each contraction and out came my baby! It was the coolest, most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life. I wanted to get the full experience by doing it naturally. I wanted to feel everything...and I sure did. It was crazy to watch my stomach literally deflate while this baby came sliding out. Bry was amazing. He remained in the same position during the pushing because I wouldn't let him budge. He was leaning over me with his fists pressed into my back while I had a firm grip on his shirt and wrist. When they put my baby on my chest I couldn't believe that this little thing just came out of me! Good news was that I only needed to get a few stitches. Bad news was that the numbing shot didn't work, so I felt every little stitch. The stitching was probably the most painful part of the experience haha. It was all so worth it. We made such a sweet little boy and were so excited to welcome him into this world! So there you have it, my birth story, minus several details, cavewoman style. I was so happy that everything went so smoothly.

Believe it or not, this was the most decent picture that we got after the delivery. All the other pics that Bry took are not appropriate for the blog... Why didn't he tell me this while he was taking them? I was exhausted and couldn't think straight enough to cover up for the camera.

No makeup, no clothes, and no meds...that's just how I roll.

I thought that I would be really sad in the hospital with no visitors or family to celebrate with us. It actually was REALLY nice to just hang out the 3 of us for a couple days. I didn't have to worry about how I looked (you can tell in the pics) or entertaining guests, I could just enjoy my baby and talk to my husband about the amazing thing we just went through. In New York, after you deliver they stick you in a room with a roommate. Yes, there was another girl in my room and our beds were about 5 feet apart, separated by a curtain. Luckily, both of my roommates were pretty cool. But between nurses coming in to check on me all night, check the other chick, bring my baby to be fed, and bring her baby to be fed, it was impossible to sleep even though I was exhausted. They also kick the husbands out at 10:30. So it has been a joke between us that the night I delivered my baby Bryan left me at the hospital and went and played in his basketball game! It was a long first night and I was ready to go home.

Here we are coming home from the hospital in our taxi! Only in NYC!

I am so blessed to have this sweet guy in my life. He sure was worth the wait!

More pics to come soon...

Baby Shower "NYC Style"

I have been so lucky because it seems like no matter what city I live in, I am always surrounded by the coolest people! I was nervous moving out to NY because you hear stories about how everyone is so rude and mean (Hello! Ranked #1 on rudest cities in the U.S. for the last 3 years!) And while I have had numerous experiences where I wanted to punch someone for saying something stupid to me or completely ignoring me while I'm waiting for service, I have also met some wonderful people. One quick example: A few months ago I was coming home late at night and just walked out of the subway station when a scary looking man dressed in rags with crazy, dreadlocked hair grabbed my arm. It totally freaked me out and I was automatically ready to react by throwing a punch or kick. He had a thick accent (Haitian sounding) and he mumbled something under his breath to me. I thought he wanted money, but couldn't understand him, so I said "Excuse me?" (while I pulled my arm away) and he looked me straight in the eye and said "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." ...in his crazy accent... awe, my heart melted. He was so sincere and I felt bad because in this situation I was the rude one. Now there are definitely girls more beautiful than me in New York so I didn't take the compliment to heart, but it was so sweet. Anyway, just one of the instances where I have realized that there are some very kind people in this world...even in crazy NYC. I have made some FABULOUS friends in the last 6 months. Between girls in my ward and girls all over the city that I have been babysitting for, I have been blessed and have learned so much from each of them. Right when I got home from Christmas, my friend, Breanne, called me and said "We are throwing you a shower! When can we do it?" She is such a sweetheart. So in two weeks she made all the plans and set a date. On Saturday they set up a "Baby Shower Brunch" with a yummy waffle bar! It was amazing and so much fun! Here are these girls who loaded up suitcases and duffle bags to haul all the decor and food down to the building across from me. It is so much harder to throw parties and stuff here in the city because you can't just load up your car with everything you need, you are stuck with whatever you can carry and walk or subway. I really appreciated all the work they put into it and it was so fun to sit around the table and hear everyone's mommy advice for me. Don't tell my mom, but I am starting to really like living here in New York :) We'll see if I still love it when I'm hauling a baby around everywhere.

Here are the gorgeous gals who made it happen!

Waffle Bar was so delish!

If you would have asked me 6 months ago if I would have 20 very dear friends already in the city I would have probably said no way... these are some of the neatest girls I've ever met and I am for sure a better person for knowing them.

AND they gave me cute baby stuff! (which is not cheap here in the city)

I love Tiff's face in this pic...was this before or after Breanne's "I fell in trash" story? Haha

3 weeks and counting till my due date. Still need to pack my bag, get stuff ready, and read up on the delivery process since I opted out of taking a birthing class...but we are so excited! Here is a cheesy pic after church that I made the husband pose for. Love him so much! We have had the best 6 years together and while I am so so so happy to be a mom, I will miss this "just the two of us" stage we have been in for so long. We have had the best time together and still can't get enough of each other!