My Little Lizzie

I love my sweet little Lizzie so incredibly much. There isn't a single day that passes without my heart crying out with thanks for her. I wanted another baby so bad that it hurt. My insides literally ached over it. I don't know how else to describe it. For five years I dieted, exercised, prayed, pleaded, bargained, visualized, charted my temperature, and ingested all manner of medicines that supposedly upped my chances of being fertile whilst making me feel like death. When she was born it felt like my heart was finally complete. My sweet angel baby from Heaven! I can hardly believe that she is only a month and six days away from being one year old. Her infancy has sped past me at lightening speed. This morning, as she crawled inside one of the barstools and proceeded to use it as a really tall, awkward walker, I realized that in less than one year she had forever claimed a huge part of my heart as forever hers.

Lizzie at (almost) 11 months:

*She says mama, dada, hi & bye. Mostly dada, especially when she's happy. She will often sit at the top of the stairs and yell “bye dada” into the basement.

*She waves and blows kisses. She has just started nodding yes and no with her head, although it doesn't mean anything to her yet. She just knows it'll get a laugh

*She claps her hands and dances at the first sign of anything musical

*She isn't walking yet, but yesterday she stood unsupported for a split second

*She has four teeth and just enough hair for one wispy pigtail at the top of her head

My Truimphant Return

Okay, so maybe it's not triumphant. But it is my return. To blogging, that is. Life got busy and somehow I managed to go TEN MONTHS without a post. Pathetic, I know. Part of me feels as if I should go back and catch up. Somehow cover everything that's happened in the last, well, year really. But the other part of me realizes that I never would. I'd just continue to avoid my blog, feeling guilty for falling further and further behind. So, I am just going to jump back in.

Big things that have happened since my ten year anniversary:

The birth of Anna Elizabeth Perkins. Who is that, you may ask? You probably know her as Lizzie. We never call her Anna. Or Annie. Or Ann. Just Lizzie. Sometimes, when she's in trouble, I call her Lizzie Ann. Mikey has informed me that we named her all wrong. We probably did. But Chad and I love the name Anna Elizabeth. It sounds like a sweet little English child wearing stocking socks and a pinafore, politely asking for more biscuits or crumpets or whatever it is they eat with tea. We still love the name. And maybe someday she'll use it. But for now, she is definitely not Anna Elizabeth. She is spunky and determined and strong and...Lizzie. I love her to bits and pieces. We waited so very, very long for her, and it was worth every single second. She is my sweet little miracle. I love snuggling with her in bed in the morning. I love introducing her to new things---foods, creatures, sensations, activities. I love watching her dance when she gets excited. I even love her cry. It can be stressful and overwhelming, but it's healthy and full of life and passion. And I love it.

Mikey turned 9 in July. I am far too young to have a nine year old son! He had his birthday party at the Bouncy Place in Kent. There were a ton of kids and lots of energy. It was a blast.

We moved from Covington to Renton. It's a long story, but we had talked about moving for a long time. About a year, actually. We liked our ward and were comfortable in our home, but we had a nagging feeling it was time to look elsewhere. We poo-poo'd the gut feeling though, telling ourselves that we should be more content with all that we already had. So we ignored the promptings and went on with life. Then one night, while Chad and I were up watching our stories after tucking our wee ones into their snug little beds, we were startled by the sound of three rocks crashing through our huge bay windows. There were huge shards of glass literally everywhere. We had to sell our piano because we couldn't clean all the glass out of the keys. And it took the poor, sweet man from Glass Dr. until four o'clock in the morning to patch the holes in the windows up with plywood so that it'd be safe for the kiddos to walk about the next morning without fear of jiggling more glass loose. It may have been coincidence, but we took the rocks to be a strong prompting from the man upstairs to reconsider the whole moving thing. So, we did. Within days we had found our dream home, bid on it, and had our offer accepted. The loan process went lightening fast and before we had nary a box packed, it was time to go. We were sad to leave our wonderful ward, but we are so, so, so happy in our new home. Our new neighborhood, school and ward are all even better than we could've ever dreamed. It is our little corner of heaven. Oh--and as a bonus, there are deer that feed in the empty lot next door. Like, all the time. One followed me to the mailbox the other day. A buck with tiny little antlers. Heaven!!! (on a side note--does anyone know what you can feed deer? We want to make buddies with them, but don't want to make them sick.)

We transferred to a new homeschool co-0p in Renton. It's called Renton H.O.M.E, and we love it. Mikey is in 4th grade and is taking ceramics, photography, gardening, p.e. and a lego class on campus. Natty is in Kindergarten (yeah!) and is taking reading/writing, gardening, p.e. and arts/crafts. They have both made a bunch of new friends and are excelling. I love it there too. The other parents are so amazing. One mom is teaching me how to cook everything from homemade pretzels to authentic Thai curry in the school kitchen while the kids are in class, and another is teaching me the magic that is infant massage. I think I'm learning more than the kids!!!(First day of school photos)

Halloween! Mikey was a grim reaper and Natty was a bunny rabbit. Lizzie was a little lamb for about a half hour before she convinced me (through her wailing) that it was simply too humiliating. We made our annual pilgrimage out to Thomasson Farms as well. It was so much fun. A corn pit, hay maze, hay ride, petting zoo, homemade pumpkin pie and hand picked pumpkins--what could be better?


We also made a trip out to the REI in Seattle for some rock climbing with the Petersons. For those of you who haven't met them yet, the Petersons are pretty much the coolest people you will ever meet. They also homeschool, and they are in our ward. And we love them! The mom of the Peterson clan is one of my all time favorite people in the world. I'm kinda stalking her. And by kind of, I mean full-on-single-white-female-stalking her. Last week I tricked her into hanging out with me six out of seven days. It's only Tuesday, and I've already committed her to at least 3 visits for this week. Creepy? Probably. But she's just that amazing.
We headed out to the Pacific Science Center for a special member preview of the Harry Potter Exhibit. Mikey was sooo happy! He's read all the books and is somewhat of a super fan. While we were there, Chad took Lizzie to the butterfly house and introduced her to the beautiful winged creatures. She can't talk yet, of course, but I'm pretty sure she wanted to eat them all. Or at least gum them a little. Fortunately for us (and the butterflies) she never quite managed to grab one, although she gave it the old college try. What else? Oh, I don't know. I'm sure I'm missing a hundred and one things. Like, we made a short film for the Renton Film Festival and Mikey, Natty & Chad all won awards for their acting. Or that Lizzie is already pulling herself up to stand on toy boxes, chairs, sofas and anyone that will stand still long enough. So many wonderful things have happened this year that I can't even begin to list them all. Suffice it to say, we Perkinses are very, very happy. I think it is best summed up by Mikey's journal entry this morning. The prompt asked him to write about three things that he was grateful for (in honor of Thanksgiving later this month). His entry simply read, "I am grateful for three little rocks and everything that came about because of them."

Me too.

Last Friday, Chad and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. That's right, people. A decade of marital bliss. Usually we stink at celebrating anniversaries, but since this was a biggie, we decided we ought to do something. We had always talked about taking some sort of fun trip for our ten year anniversary, but I am far too pregnant to venture away from my comfy bed and full pantry. I guess the big trip will have to wait for our twentieth. Still, we couldn't let such an important day pass without some sort of acknowledgment. But what to do?

When Chad and I were first married we were dirt poor. Honestly, I look back now and am amazed that we didn't die. We didn't make enough money to pay our rent, let alone buy food. If it weren't for our generous parents, we would've starved for sure. Our typical date night then consisted of going to the grocery store and looking at all the super fancy cheeses and ice creams. We dreamt of being rich enough to adorn our dining room table with things like Gouda or triple double chunk chocolate overload ice cream. Who could afford such luxuries? Visions of celebrities gossiping over lavish bowls of Dreyer's Double Churned filled our minds as we walked hand and hand down the grocery store aisles. Then we'd go home, cook up a pot of rice and steamed veggies, and adjust the rabbit ears so we could catch a fuzzy episode of the Simpons. And that was date night. (I realize it sounds pathetic, but we were really, really happy). On very special occasions we would save up our money and "go out to dinner." Usually, we found ourselves with about $5 to spend on our night of wild financial abandon. Armed with this small fortune, we would plot our adventure. $1 would be spent on a bargain burrito at El Pollo Loco (the BRC was our burrito of choice). Another dollar or so would be spent on two cheapo cheeseburgers at McDonalds. Another $1 could get us a hot dog at the sub shop across the street. And thus our fast food scavenger hunt would continue until we had spent our allotted sum. Then our loot would be taken home, lovingly divided into two shares, and devoured. And somehow that $5 would buy us a feast worthy of royalty.

We have such happy memories of driving around in our broken down escort wagon, listening to Chad's amazing mixed tapes, and collecting our bargain feast. We were broke, but we were so happy. Somehow we knew that things would get better, and it made the hard times easier to bare. It was also a very formative time in our lives. We used that time to talk about our future--the future we wanted and were determined to build for ourselves. We dreamed about the kids we'd have, the house we'd live in, the success we would relish. I wouldn't trade those early days for anything in the world.

And so, for our ten year anniversary, we decided to pay homage to those original date nights. Except, this time we went to real restaurants. And we tipped our waitress. And we spent a little more than $5. It was so, so, so much fun. We started at Blue C Sushi and split a Cinco de Mayo roll. Then we went to Racha and split an appetizer tower. After which we split a delicious fruit filled crepe at Unicone. After a while, we chased it all down with some frozen yogurt and a pretzel. It was a ton of food and we were uncomfortably full to say the very least, but it felt so victorious to look back on the past ten years and realize just how much progress we've made. So many of the things we talked about on those first dates have come to fruition. We have two perfect kids and another miraculous baby on the way. We are home owners. Chad has a job that allows us to live comfortably and buy experiences for our children. Even better, he works from home! In all our wildest dreams we never would've imagined he could make money and be home. We are known to occasionally splurge on fancy cheese or on brand ice cream. Dreyers is no longer a luxury reserved only for the rich and famous! We are happy and healthy and excitedly making plans for our next ten years together.

I couldn't be more grateful for my amazing husband. I am so thankful for all the people, events and circumstances that brought us together a decade ago. And I am so excited to see what the next ten bring about.

Another One For the Grandmas

Okay, so if you don't happen to be a grandmother to my children, you can stop reading this post right now. I promise it won't interest you in the slightest. I've been running low on both witty and coherent thoughts of late. I'm going to chock it up to slightly mushy pregnant brain.

If you are a grandparent to my children, here is a video of the kids' winter 2009 exploits. First is a snippet of Mikey's school presentation on the Berlin Wall (he built a model out of Legos), next is the finale of the Nativity Play (in which Mikey was a wise man and Natty was a shepherd) and last is Natty's winter dance recital. We love you guys!!!

Natty Patty Pumpkin Head

I apologize up front for all the Natty quotes I've been posting lately. I just can't help it though. She is going through a phase where everything out of her mouth cracks me up. Today's top picks:

To me (after holding the bathroom door open for her at school): "Why thank you, my darling."

To Chad: "Our love will make a bridge"

To Mikey: "I'm actually really glad I don't live in Hawaii. They don't have any beds or houses and coconuts are their only drinks. I don't think they've even invented clothes yet." (apparently her knowledge of Hawaii all stems from reruns of Gilligan's Island)

Wait--it's December?!?

Seriously? December already? How and when did that happen? I wish there was some way to slow this time of year down just a little. I love the holiday season so much and there is never enough time to enjoy it all! I vote for an extra month of Christmas this year!!!

The week of Thanksgiving, we decided to head out to Portland with Mac & Ange and do some tourist-ing. We've driven through Portland several times, but never actually stopped there. We found a killer deal on the only five star hotel in the city (called The Nines). It was a super swanky hotel in the heart of the city. There was a sexy little restaurant in the middle of the hotel and all the rooms had windows looking into it. It was always dimly lit, with candle light and the whole nine yards. In a few spots there were balconies on the upper floors that overlooked the restaurant so that you could stand there and listen in to the hustle and bustle. It was on such a balcony that Natty leaned over and announced for all the diners to hear: "Hey--I just farted!!!" Also, the Bulls just happened to stay there the same night we did. I don't know anything about basketball at all, but we rode in an elevator with someone on the team and we watched them load up their tour bus/trailer. It was pretty cool.

While we were there we visited a couple neat Portland places. First, we hit up Voodoo Donuts. We learned about the place on a Food Network show called Man vs. Food. I think it was also on Donut Paradise. Anyway, it's a totally cheesy bakery that specializes in weird donuts. They used to make donuts with things like peptobismol in them, but they got in trouble for that, so now they stick to ingredients like Tang and Fruitloops. Their claim to fame are little voodoo doll shaped donuts filled with raspberry jelly and served with a pretzel stick (so you can jab the doll and make the jelly ooze, of course). The donuts were really, really good. And just plain fun.

We then headed over to Fabric Depot--perhaps the largest fabric store in the nation. It was seriously huge. Chad patiently let me mill around for awhile and gawk at all the patterns and fabrics. I picked up a super cute pattern for baby girl dresses. Now I just have to get ambitious enough to make one. After the fabric store we jetted over to Powell's--the largest book store in the nation. Powell's made Fabric Depot look like a coffee shop! It was literally the size of an entire city block. And it was full of the coolest new & used books ever. We found some old choose your own adventure books (remember those?) and I got a book on making cute stuffed animals out of socks. So fun. Finally, we headed over to Ground Kontrol, an old school arcade where all the games were either 25 or 50 cents. They had all the classics like PacMan and Bubble Bobble. And the ultimate highlight of the trip for me--I got to play Paperboy (my favorite game in the world) with bike handle controls. Oh so fun!

(Swanky restaurant in hotel)


(Mikey eating a Voodoo Donut)


(Natty doing a happy dance at Ground Kontrol)



Overall, it was a really fun trip. We were super curious about Portland because we'd heard from so many that it was a cooler, hipper, more artsy Seattle. We love Seattle, so if there was a chance there was somewhere better out there, well, we just had to give it a try. But, poor Portland doesn't hold a candle to our beloved Emerald City. There is just something so magical about the Puget Sound. I can't imagine a better city existing anywhere!

After exploring Portland, we hurried home and cooked up a Thanksgiving Feast. We cooked all the traditional dishes on our own this year. It was delicious and it was all done at the same time. I was very happy with myself. However, in typical Perkins fashion, we over did it by a tad. Suffice it to say, it took us two days to clean up and a week to eat all the leftovers.

And, a few of my favorite kid moments from November:

Mikey to Natty: "Well, I'm a very temperate man."

Natty to mom: "You're the bestest mom in all of history. Even China"
me: "Really? You think so?"
Natty (shrugging): "I don't know"

Natty to Mikey: (in a very confident tone) "Oh no. It's a very delicate pen...(shouting now) Mom! Whats delicate mean?"

Natty: "Sometimes when people talk about love it makes tears in my eyes"

Another Natty Moment

It seems like lately I've spent more time at the dr's office than I have at home. Between routine visits and sick visits, I've been there nearly every week for the past few months. At least that's what it feels like. So, today when Natty woke up her left eye was pink and swollen shut. Which meant another trip out to Valley Medical. Natty is fine. It is just eczema on her eyelid, so she's not contagious and doesn't need any medication. Just ice packs and unscented lotion. I'm glad she's not sick, but I always feel like a chump when I sit at the office for hours only to be prescribed ice and lotion (both things I had at home already, thank you very much). Today's trip was worth it though, for the cute conversation Natty had with the doctor.

Doctor: "Okay Natty. I want you to look at this chart. There are ten faces on here. This face (pointing to the far left of the chart) is smiling. It isn't feeling any pain. This one (pointing to the far right) isn't happy. It doesn't feel good. Point to the face that shows me how you feel."

Natty points to the far left smiley face.

Doctor: (looking at Natty's very swollen eye) "You mean your eye doesn't hurt at all? It looks like your eye must hurt a little. Look, this face is happy."

Natty: "Well, I can still be happy."

What a cutie!!!