Our life these days...

Last week Bob and I were really sick. Don't you hate that feeling when you can't stop coughing because your throat is so irritated? Bob's mom was really nice and made a huge pot of homemade chicken noodle soup. That's what we ate for 3 days! We are all feeling better now, but we are still a little sleep deprived. We burn the candle at both ends. We should really start taking better care of ourselves...I mean, we are adults. You think we would know how by now :)
Rex and Eli have been causing some mischief lately. But they get forgiven pretty quickly because they will turn around and do something really cute or thoughtful. Yesterday after church we were sitting at the dinner table and Rex asked, "How did your lesson go today, mom?" I just thought, wow my 4 year old just asked me a question because he cared about me and we can have an actual conversation. It is so fun that my kids are real people. Rex is actually one of the best sharers I know. Everytime he gets a treat from preschool he will save some of it in his hand all the way home to give to Eli. Then the other day when they wanted to play in the snow Eli was throwing a fit because his snow boots didn't fit him and he wanted to wear some like Rex. So Rex took his off and let Eli wear his and he wore regular shoes. It was so sweet! They are best friends and love each other so much. Eli is really trying to talk more and it is fun to watch his vocabulary grow. He is still obsessed with star wars. We have been getting all of the holiday ads and he finds the toys r us ad with the star wars toys and will carry it around all day. It is really funny. We know what will make him happy this Christmas!
Anyway, we are getting really excited for Christmas. Only 8 more days! Hope everyone is enjoying the season and has their shopping done :)

7 years!

Yesterday was our anniversary! I can't believe we have been married 7 years already. In seven years we have lived in 5 places (in all different states)! We have made many good friends along the way. We have been so blessed in our marriage and I am so happy to have him by my side. He takes good care of me and our boys. He is so forgiving and he tells me how much he loves me every day. I am never in any doubt about how much he cares for me. He is a hard worker and a good friend and I just hope he knows how much I love him too!

Sweet baby

Here is some pictures I really liked of Asa. He is going to be 3 months this week! It has gone by so quickly. He is past the really newborn stage. It almost makes me sad that he is getting bigger :)

Take my picture please!

Here are a couple of the pictures that turned out cute from the photo shoot. They are both pretty photogenic. Eli sure got sick of taking pictures though. I think it was mostly because we were at our friend's house and he just wanted to play.

Mommy, Daddy, & Baby

We love the new edition to our family! It's easy to smile with him in our arms! The other night he slept from 11pm-6am! It was great. Regularly he sleeps 4-5 hour stretches though. He is starting to "play" with little toys now. It is so much fun to watch him try to grab things and to see him learning already. All my friends here can't believe what a content baby he is. I am really blessed! On Saturday we were even able to leave him with Bob's sister for a few hours so we could go out for our anniversary and he took a bottle and did great for her. Yeah!

The Boys

This is my favorite picture! They are handsome little devils :)

We went to my friend's house for a photo shoot and we came out with some super cute pictures. If I shared them all this would be a never ending blog, but I am posting a few of my favorites. Here are my most favorite guys in the whole world!

Pure joy!

My baby brings a lot of joy into my life. How can he not with a face like that?! Last week I came home from my young women's activity very unhappy. A lot of things contributed, but the topper was me backing into a parked car with my in-law's surburban. I never even saw the dang thing. I was just thinking in my head, "There goes our christmas!!" This was one of the first times that I left the baby with Bob, so when I came home I went straight to him and he welcomed me with the hugest smile!! I didn't even have to try to get one out of him with a cute voice or anything. He just saw me and was genuinely happy and it just made my heart melt. It really makes that nine months of misery all worth it. He really lifted my spirits. (And just for informational purposes the insurance covered all the damage so our christmas isn't ruined after all! Yeah!!)

Let it snow!

It was the first snowfall of the year and the boys had a blast. They didn't want to wait for their snowpants so they got their jeans completely wet. Needless to say they weren't out for long because they were freezing. They enjoyed seeing all of their footprints and throwing snowballs. I only braved it long enough to take these pictures :)

Mmmmm! Nothing like fresh snow! Here are my boys being boys. Although I'm not sure if it is just a boy thing because I recall eating snow a time or two....or three or four....:)

Special Day

Asa was blessed in church over Thanksgiving weekend. It was a wonderful blessing. My parents and grandpa were here and of course all of Bob's family lives here so we were able to have a lot of family there in the blessing circle. There was Grandpa Bell, Grandpa Perkes, Great Grandpa Crook, Uncle Tom, and Uncle Ryan. It was a very special day!

Here is our first family picture with all 5 of us. Eli is the only one not in his church clothes because he threw up at church :) I can't believe how big our family is now! When you say family of 5 it just sounds huge. Like we can't fit comfortably in most cars! But we are happy and that is all that matters!

Tag...I'm it

Thanks to my friend Amy Simpson I have been tagged. I had no idea what this was until I went to her site and got my instructions. Apparently I have to write 3 little known facts/habits about myself and then tag 3 more people, post their names, then go to their blog and leave a comment telling them they've been tagged and asking them to read my blog for these instructions. So, we will see if I can surprise any of you with things about me. The people I am going to tag are Brianne Perkes, Abby Leisy, and Mandy Young.

1) While attending BYU-Idaho I was a finalist for Woman of the Year in 2003. I probably didn't deserve it, but I got nominated anyway. I didn't win, but at least I got a new dress out of it. I convinced Bob that I needed one in case I had to have my picture taken that would hang up on the walls of the school for the rest of forever. No picture--but I like the dress. It was a fun experience though.

2) When I was 11 I was walking along a fence and I fell. Thinking I peed my pants, I rushed home only to find blood-soaked underwear. I had to have stitches in my crotch area, but luckily I healed up just fine...and I have 3 kids to prove it :)

3) I am a big napper. I loooovvee my naps. I am a person that really needs their sleep and if I don't get it I am not very pleasant. Luckily I can still get all of my boys to nap so I can have my rest in the afternoons as well. And most of the time I wear an eye mask. Don't mock--it helps! I dare any of you who laughed to go by one and see how well you sleep!

Asa...getting personality!

Here is our little pumpkin on Halloween. He is already smiling and trying to coo a little bit. I look forward to those moments everyday. He is especially happy in the mornings...he does not take after me in that way!

I was able to capture some really cute expressions from him. He is just so fun to have around!

I don't get many pictures with my kids so I had Bob take one of me and the baby a few weeks ago before church. I think he makes me look good :)

Veterans Day Parade

Bob had a float in the tri-cities Veterans Day parade and we won first place in the float division! The boys had a blast riding in it. We had 5 50 gallon barrels connected to each other to make a spine and we had signs with his name and office number. The boys waved flags and we also had larger flags connected on each end. It was cold so I rode in the truck with the baby.

Star Wars Family

This is our family at the ward trunk-or-treat/Halloween Carnival. After we moved here the boys have become obsessed with star wars so that is what we all decided to be this year. As you can see I am princess Leia, Bob is Han Solo, and all of the boys are Jedi's. I personally haven't dressed up for Halloween since junior high so it was a lot of fun for the whole family. The boys got a kick out of it. You better watch out--we have the force with us!

Here are my two little Jedi's in front of the house. I got asked several times that night if they were twins :) They own 6 light sabers, they have action figures, and most of the movies. Eli requests to see star wars everyday.

Here is the happy couple! This was taken at a Halloween party that we went to. It was fun to have a party without the kids (we took Asa of course). We have made some good friends here.

Pumpkin Patch

We went on a hayride out to a pumpkin patch with all of Bob's family. The boys got to pick their own pumpkins and we enjoyed some yummy hot cocoa. Later that day we got together to decorate the pumpkins. We found some potato head decorations, so their pumpkins are ninjas. Everyone posed in front of their pumpkins (left to right): Eli, Jayni (cousin), Rex, Uncle Tom and Mason. It was a fun day!

Rex is 4

The boys helped me frost the cupcakes for Rex's little party. It wasn't a very clean venture, but it was enjoyed by all. The other picture is of Rex enjoying one of his creations with his friends. He got a pirate pinata and had a lot of friends come to celebrate with him. I can't believe he is 4 already! Now we have boys that are 0, 2, & 4. :)

Baby Asa

As most of you can see, our little Asa looks just like his brothers did when they were born. There is no mistaking they are all related. It's funny that I still get asked if Rex and Eli are twins. Here are just a few pictures to show him off. Doesn't he look precious when he is sleeping? :)

Brotherly love

The boys absolutely love their "baby." They always want to hold him and have him go where they go. The other day I was getting ready and had to lay Asa on the bed for a while. He started to get fussy so Rex came over and talked to him and gave him his binky. After a few minutes of that he totally soothed him to sleep all by himself!! It was the cutest little moment. Sometimes they will just sit by his chair that we lay him in and hold his hand and they tell me they are "just loving him." When people joke about taking the baby with them they are adament that the baby stays with us because he is a Perkes boy! It is really fun to watch them together.

1st bath

Here is Asa after his first bath. Like most babies, he hates to be naked. He was much happier after I got the towel on. As you can see he is a very alert baby.

Welcome Asa

Asa Robert Perkes was born September 20 at 11:59 pm. He was 7 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long. He came out a healthy boy. I was a little crazy and decided to go all natural for his birth. Big mistake!!! It was awful. I was that lady you hear screaming down the hall. It was very painful. Luckily it didn't last too long. We were all happy to have him out, although I didn't have the strength to hold him right away. Bob held him on top of me for a while. I actually lost quite a bit of blood so they had to work on me for about a half hour before I could hold the baby again. But we are both doing well now and we are happy to have him part of our family. As you can see the boys were thrilled to meet him.