Best Christmas Present EVER!

Luke Benjamin Perkins is here!!! Just in time to give us the best Christmas present ever!!!


He was born 3 weeks early. I probably would have been way caught off guard, but I had a feeling he was coming sooner. On Thanksgiving I started having some pretty intense contractions, but they didn't hurt so I figured I was okay. When I went to the doctor the next week he said I'd been doing my homework too much and that I was already dilating and effacing at 35 weeks. So they put me on medicine to stop it until 36 weeks when his lungs would be developed enough that if he came early he would be fine.

So, last Sunday I started having some real contractions. Before we went to bed on Sunday night I told Todd that I was pretty sure we were going to have the baby the next day. I don't think he believed me. I tried to sleep but I ended up staying awake all night timing my contractions. They were really irregular all night, and then at about 5 am they all of a sudden started being exactly 3 minutes apart every time. Eek! I woke up Todd and we left for the hospital, not really realizing the next time we pulled into our driveway we'd have an extra member of the family with us.


(This is me faking a contraction, if it were real I would look way uglier and I would kill my husband for taking the picture!=))

The labor was...intense. Thank heavens for epidurals. Everybody talks about epidurals like they are the scariest thing, but let me tell ya, I'd take a wussy needle in the back over those contractions ANY DAY. The labor went by really fast, I don't remember a lot, but it felt like the pushing part only lasted like 5 minutes. I was SO relieved when they took him out and put him on my chest! He was adorable even all covered in goo! He is perfectly healthy. 5 lbs 13 oz. I wasn't allowed to hold him for the first hour after he was born because I was being...repaired, that was hard, but I'm kinda glad because looking forward to holding him gave me something to keep my mind off the pain for that hour. Then finally he was mine! Having a baby is an AMAZING thing! It is incredible to go through that intense pain all day, and when it is over, you could care less because the reward for that pain is SO much more than worth it. It's amazing to me that a day in the hospital filled with pain and scariness can be the best day of your life.


We are so happy to have our little guy with us. It is seriously THE best Christmas present ever!!! When people say Merry Christmas to us now, we kinda have to remind ourselves that Christmas is still coming, because to us it felt like we got our Christmas on December 15th.

To add to the awesomeness of having a baby for Christmas, the first day we had him home it snowed all day long. We had the best day just hanging out with Luke all day and watching our back yard become a winter wonderland! We are very blessed.

Random Christmas excitingness...

So, I just have to share some exciting things that I have discovered in the past couple days.

Thing # 1:
If you live in the high desert you have to check out this house on Chateau Court. It is right off of Yucca Loma Rd., so if you know where Apple Valley Rd. is, take that to Yucca Loma and go East on Yucca Loma. Todd and I were driving home from Target the other night and we saw this house with TONS of lights and they were just blinking on and of in the most random spazzy way. So of course we decided to drive by and make fun of the randomness. Turns out, the home broadcasts Christmas music on a radio station that matches the blinking of the lights on the house-IT IS RAD! Do it!

Thing # 2:
I'm our ward's activity day leader and I was looking for a Christmas craft to do with the girls when I came across this.I was so excited. It is SO stinkin' cute and really easy to make. You just use those clear glass ornaments and fill them with fake snow, and the rest is just pom poms, pipe cleaners and ribbon. I cut up some material and replaced the ribbon on the bottom with a scarf. It was WAY cute. I love how you can leech off the creativity of others through the magic of the internet!!!

Catching up...

I feel a little icky today, so I thought that would be the perfect excuse to lay around and blog about stuff I haven't had time to blog about yet. =)

First order of business: Halloween. We had such a fun Halloween. Our neighborhood is so awesome on Halloween. It's one of the safest neighborhoods in Apple Valley, so we get tons of Trick-or-Treaters. Its such a zoo, every street looks like main street at Disneyland-super crowded- I LOVE it! This Halloween Todd and I decided to wait to buy costume stuff until it was 50% off. It's a little more challenging that way because there's not much left, but we scrounged up enough stuff to look pretty punk rock...I think.

Todd's costume was awesome-I think he could pull that look off on a daily basis. I love his tattoos!

2nd: Everyone has been bugging me to put up a picture of me pregnant. So I got my sister to take some pictures of me this weekend. She did such a good job!

Also, those trees are in our FRONT YARD. If you live in Apple Valley you know how rare it is to witness the leaves change, because there are no trees. We LOVE our trees!!!

The baby is coming exactly 6 weeks from today. Whew, can't believe it! Pregnancy has been very good to me so far. I have felt so good (after the morning sickness phase) and it's so much fun to have a little baby kicking around inside all day long. I highly recommend it...to most people(ie: married, etc.)=)

6 Quirks

I got tagged by my fabulous sister-in-law Heather. I have to list six quirks that I have. It's funny to me how most people's quirks are more on the obsessive compulsive or anal side. Like, having a quirk where you have to vacuum the floors twice a day-that's a good thing in my book! My quirks are totally the opposite, they are lazy, irresponsible things that I do that are super annoying...poor Todd.

1. Losing stuff- I have a knack for losing stuff, but especially my keys. I'm not talking, like once a month or even once a week, I lose my keys on an average of three times a week, I'd say. I don't know how I do it, and why keys? I don't lose anything else that often. When I still lived at home and I would lose my keys my dad would ask me "where is the last place you had them?" That is THE most annoying question, if I knew the last place I had them, then I would know right where they are wouldn't I??? Todd likes to ask me that every time I lose them now just because he knows how much I hate it!

2. I love being in bed. I thought that everybody did. I mean, the bed is obviously the most comfortable place in the house! I try to do absolutely everything I can from in bed. I read my scriptures from bed, do ALL computer related stuff from bed including photoshopping all my photography. When I was in school I would write all my papers on my laptop from bed. I tried to exercise from bed a couple times, but it doesn't work out great. And OF COURSE I love to watch tv and movies from bed. Todd hates it- I seriously do not understand it. If you could chose between a couch and a bed, why would you choose a couch? The bed is a bajillion times more comfortable!

3. I dread grocery shopping. I have to mentally prepare myself for days before I go grocery shopping. I refuse to go shopping if I haven't prepared. I make a list of everything we need and then I highlight things with different colors depending on what section they are in (produce, dairy, etc.). And even after all that, I put it off until I know that we do not have anything in the fridge that could possibly be construed to form a meal of any kind.

4. I don't like chapstick. If you have taken a gander at my lips you know that I have a pretty spacious surface to cover when applying chapstick. And the fact that my lips are humongous makes it even more important to use chapstick because no one wants to see my huge lips cracked and flaky. But I hate using it. I think I am just too lazy, and I don't like getting the nasty taste of chapstick in my mouth, especially if they have sunscreen in them or some kind of medicine-bleck. So, I just wait until my lips hurt from being so dry, put on chapstick, and then wait until they hurt again. I know thats gross, and I'm totally working on it. Promise.

5. I'm shy. I don't think shyness is a quirk, but I think I'm shy in a weird way. I am super duper shy around almost everyone- even people that I have known for years and some family. But for some reason the right combination of people can get me to open up and once that can is open you would never believe for a second that 'shy' is a word that could be used to describe me. I say really inappropriate stuff, not inappropriate in a bad way, but I say what everyone else is thinking but most people wont say. And I make fun of people a LOT. It usually happens at family dinners, so the only people that get to enjoy it are my family, and occasionally the missionaries if they happen to be present. But luckily for Todd, I'm like that all the time around him, and since Todd is a pretty big fan of saying offensive stuff and making fun of people we have a good time together!

6. I like to read Todd's emails. I think it's because I'll get like one email a day that is actually significant and all the rest are junk mail for enlarging your pinky toe or whatever. So, on days when I feel especially insignificant as far as email goes, I like to read all of Todd's emails. It's funny because they are all really boring work emails, and I don't understand a lot of what they are talking about. But, I like to see what it's like to be popular and contribute to society and stuff, vicariously, through Todd.

I tag...Kerri, Elaina Andreasen, and Courtney Andersen.

Fall Festivities!!!

This past weekend was SO MUCH FUN!!! Todd's dad and his wife came to visit, and although we only had one full day to spend with them, we crammed as much fun into that one day as we possibly could! We visited the pumpkin patch, which I look forward to all year long!

I love how this guy's beak is so appropriately, festively colored!


I LOVE the corn maze. I love the feeling of being completely lost! Unfortunately, I discovered this year that Todd has a method that he uses to find his way out, so it ruined the whole hopelessly lost illusion. But I made him promise next year that he wouldn't use his method or memorize where we'd been. I guess not getting lost isn't that bad, we ran into a lady with her kids who had been lost inside for an hour and a half! How do you do that???
I think Todd may be a little bit jealous of me, so we found him a precious baby of his own.
After we found pumpkins that we felt we could love and care for, we started the carving process. It was easier for some than it was for others. Todd's dad picked a really complex design, plus he had to shrink it down to fit it on his pumpkin, and it was impossible to do. Luckily Bibi salvaged his pumpkin and turned it into that adorable pumpkin with a bow tie that you see below. And of course, Todd's is the pac man pumpkin!=)



We decided to be resourceful with our pumpkins this year, so we saved the seeds and the flesh from the inside. Todd made some tasty pumpkin seeds and we boiled and blended the flesh for a completely homemade pumpkin pie! It was so fun, it may be a lot more work than just popping a can open, but it made us feel very self-reliant to be able to do it from scratch.



Also, we are probably the last people on earth to see this movie, but we LOVED it! It was SOOOO good! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it! It was the perfect kinda spooky movie for a very halloweenish day!

It's a...

BOY!!!!!

I should have known all along! This kid is kicking my gut all day and I just knew he was too tough to be a girl!!! We are so excited! We're glad that we have a boy first to be a big brother to future siblings. A couple weeks ago I all of a sudden got really excited about boy stuff, I saw the little blue and brown blankets and beanies and I thought how fun it would be to have a boy. Up until that point I had wanted a girl- hands down, so I kinda had a feeling when that happened that I was being prepared to be excited about having a boy! And I am! I'm excited to be outnumbered by cute Perkins boys! It's a dream come true! I just hope he looks like his dad!!!=)

Hawaii!!!

As excited as we were about our trip to Hawaii, we were also kinda bummed to be leaving our new house. We were so antsy to get everything unpacked and taken care of, but after having gone, We're so glad we had a break in there to enjoy life and be reminded of what is really important.

It was SO beautiful and relaxing! You can't seem to get that same sense of serenity and peace anywhere else-we loved it!

Okay, there were some parts that weren't quite as relaxing as others, like the fact that the whole island of Kauai is covered with retarded roosters that can't figure out when to cock-a-doodle! They seriously started at 4am and they were right outside our door-argh! Needless to say, we didn't get the soundest sleep that week.

Our niece Ashlyn was so much fun to have around! She learned lots of new words on this trip, like rooster (or 'roostiff' in Ashlyn language) and cock-a-doodle-doo (do-do-do-a-do!) and most importantly, she FINALLY learned how to say my name! Yesss! Also, she doesn't just call me 'Jess', she calls me 'The Jess' which makes me feel pretty superior.

We saw tons of rad species of animal life

this bird is SUCH a rocker!!!



And I couldn't resist this photo-op of a lifetime!!!=)
It was so awesome to spend time with family enjoying the awesome beach, the delicious shave ice and seafood. And it was cool to spend tons of time with Todd before the little bundle of joy arrives! Good times!

FREE FOOD!!!

So, this probably won't be exciting to anyone but us, but we were totally pumped about it! So on Friday we went to the temple and afterwards I was craving a double chocolate chip blended creme from Starbucks. We went through the drive through and it took for-stinkin'-ever! You would think they were milking the cow and harvesting the cocoa beans while we were waiting there, but when we got up there to pay they just gave it to us for free-WOOO!
Then the very next day we went to Wienerschnitzel for lunch and their machine was broken so they didn't take credit cards, which was all we had. But instead of rejecting us, they gave us the whole order for free! WHAT? How does that happen? 2 days in a row! I don't know, but it was wonderful and glorious!!!

New house!

So the past couple weeks we have just been totally pumped to move into our house. It's all we talk about! We can't wait, I think the thing that we are most excited for is the central AC, although, by the time we move we may not need it anymore=(, oh well, next summer!

So we went to pick out furniture last week for our living room. I don't think it helped that I was feeling very pregnant that day, because none of the furniture seemed comfortable enough for me. We sat on EVERY couch in the whole place and I didn't like any of them. Finally we found this chaise lounge chair that was SO comfortable, but it only comes in zebra print. You can pick other material, but the choices were all some bold crazy pattern. We ended up picking a zebra print like this one except instead of black and white the stripes are brown and cream, a little less intense, right?
Then we found this couch
probably one of the least attractive couches in the whole place, but SO comfortable! Once I tried these two out I was TOTALLY sold on them. Poor Todd was not excited about the idea for a long time. He agreed that these were the 2 most comfortable pieces of furniture in the whole store, but, not being pregnant, I'm not sure that comfort took highest priority for him. So, in 4 months once I am not uncomfortably fat and tired anymore, I may be having some MAJOR buyers remorse, but for right now I am way excited for our comfy womfy furniture!=)

Our pwecious sick baby

So, our cat Ash has been a costly pet. Last year I gave him a bath, apparently you are NEVER supposed to give a cat a bath. My sister gives her cats baths all the time but they are older and more decrepit, and probably not capable of the muscle power it would take to bite her. Welp, I wasn't so lucky with Ash, he was a vivacious little kitten and his bite sent me to the ER with a huge hospital bill (side note: if you ever get bit by a cat, you may think your arm is going to blow up from the amount that it swells, but I promise you aren't going to die, just go to Urgent Care)

Anyway, that's not the point. On Friday we were preparing to have a fun filled date night when we noticed that Ash was making some nasty hacking noises and breathing like he had a gallon of crust in his lungs. It was 8pm and all the vets were closed, so we brought him to the nearest kitty ER (yeah, you would never know there was such a thing unless you had to use it huh?). So after turning Ash over to the doctor and waiting for an hour they come out to report that our cat has ASTHMA, what? Cats get asthma? Yessirry. And it was not cheap either! Between kitty x-rays, IVs and steroids we gave up about half of our plasma tv fund. Dang it!

You would think after the pain in the rear he has been with the bite and the asthma that we would be ready to dump him off in the desert somewhere. But it's the opposite! He is more lovable than ever. Especially because they had to shave his arm to put an IV in and now he looks SO ridiculous! It just makes him that much more lovable!

Jess' celebrity look-alikes

I did this once with a picture of me with my glasses and I got Elton John---WHAT??? So then I used the picture where I look the hottest I have ever looked in my life, it's better. I still think Todd's chicks are hotter than mine. Not fair.

Todd's celebrity look-alikes

We're going to be parents!!!

So, we've been waiting to tell everyone until it was officially official, and we heard the baby's heartbeat today, so how much more official does it get, right??? We're having a baby! We are so excited! I feel like out of everything we could be doing with our lives right now, what could be more important than giving a child a loving home? And on top of that exciting news, we are buying a house! We're totally turning into grownups!!! Yay!

We are buying a hous...

We are buying a house! listen

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I take it back....

Last nights Office hit EVERYTHING on my list of complaints! Perfect!

The Office lameness

The Office has been my favorite show for a few years now. My world revolves around Thursday nights. I can't think of a better reward for making it through 24 hours of school on Tuesdays and Thursdays than the excitement of a half hour of The Office on Thursday night. But I have to admit, I have been getting increasingly disappointed over the past few weeks, even months.

I think it all started with Pam. I love that she is happier now, and that she is achieving her dreams, but I think I like the old Pam better. I mean, to me, there is nothing cooler than an amazingly rad chick who kinda doesn't realize how cool she is. I liked that she was a teeny bit insecure because it made her human, we all know that she is adorable and amazing, but she doesn't realize it. Now to me, she isn't as much of a character as she is an actress. I also miss her cute striped shirts with sweaters and her curly hair!





Also, what happened to Dwight's zany antics? He hasn't done something ridiculous for months! That, and all the pranks on Dwight was one of the funniest parts of the show.


Michael's hatred for Toby? Where has it gone? I'm sure Toby appreciates it, but I NEED IT!





It seems like the 'lesser' characters haven't had more than a couple seconds of appearance in the latest episodes. I used to love when something ridiculous would happen and you got to see what Stanley, Creed and Phyllis reveal to the camera about how they feel about it. I don't think I heard Phyllis say one word last week!



Also, Ryan being on drugs? What?



I mean, I am dedicated to The Office. Todd and I go to my family's house every Thursday at 8:50 sharp to watch it because we don't have T.V. We spent one of the last nights of our honeymoon in Hawaii ordering take out and watching an Office re-run from our hotel room. We aren't about to give up on it anytime soon. But am I the only one who is distressed by the recent lameness?