Daxton's Wet Tshirt Contest

Our little guy likes to drool.
I wish I could say that the drool is due to teething, but he's been drooling like this for a couple months now and there are NO teeth in sight.  He also likes to chew on things, his fingers (fist) especially, so there tends to be a pool of drool at the bottom of his elbow as well.  I guess I just didn't realize how WET everything was going to be when raising a baby.  I should count myself lucky though, since it is purely drool, no snot, no vomit, just drool.  I have to remind myself that as long as this little guy is smiling, eating, and sleeping well that things are just fine here in the Perkins' home...even if Daxton's shirts are see-through by the end of day!

I love the glistening skin in the above pictures.  Makes you want to give him a big wet hug, doesn't it!?

Notice the constant drip?

It reminds me of a leaky faucet you can't quite get turned off.  No matter how many times I wipe that drip away, within a few seconds it has returned.

Oddly enough, I still can't resist giving him big hugs and kisses with a gorgeous face like that.  I'm pretty in love with this little guy!

Halloween

This year for Halloween we joined forces with my brother's family.  We had briefly celebrated over the weekend with friends at our church's trunk-or-treat, but hadn't done the official pumpkin carving and taking pictures in costumes.  I know I say this ALL the time, but I feel so grateful to be so close to family.  My nieces and nephews feel like my own and they all love Daxton so much.  It's been so much fun watching them interact and share their personalities with him.  Luckily Dallas was able to come home from work a bit early this day to join in the family fun.  It's never the same without him! 

All the kids were able to pick out their own pumpkins and were in charge of drawing their designs on the outside.  Then with assistance the cutting, and then they were able to pull all the guts out.  Dallas opted for one more year of not having to carve pumpkins since Daxton was totally content sitting on the table and playing with his wet wipes...

A very tired Daddy after a long day of work...

Sweet little Olive is growing up so quickly.  She is the first niece that I haven't been able to hold all the time, since I usually have my arms full with Daxton.  It was nice to have some auntie snuggles while Dallas watched our little guy and Heather helped with the pumpkin carving.  She's built so differently than Daxton, long and skinny, where Daxton is short and stout, and yet it's funny to look back through pictures and see so many similar facial expressions.  I know there's an exact replica of the bottom left picture from the hospital when he was leaving the NICU!

Such cute cousins!

Ellis was NOT a fan of removing the "guts" from her pumpkin.  It was all she could do to not heave as she pulled each string one by one.  Needless to say, Heather helped her so it wouldn't take all night.  Will, on the other hand, loved being able to stab, pull, and scrape everything out.  The difference between boys and girls!

Costume Time!

Unfortunately, by the time we had all eaten, carved pumpkins, and gotten on costumes, our little man was pretty tired and ready for bed.  It was all we could do to get him to glance at the camera once in awhile.  We ended up putting him in Olive's crib while everyone went trick-or-treating.  There are some battles that are just not worth it!

A rather unimpressed monkey

Will went as Luigi from Mario Brothers and Lincoln went as a Hobo (aka Johnny Apple Seed :)

The whole gang ready to go Trick-or Treating...with only a few tears to show for it.

(Left to Right: Will as Luigi, Ellis as Princess Tiana, Rulon as Jenga Phet, Olive as a ladybug, Daxton as a monkey, and Lincoln as a Hobo.)

It was a fun first Halloween with our little man (monkey!)

Photo of the Week 58

It's 80 degrees here in the bay area and it's November...Have I said I love California!?

Flashback Friday: Twine and Tubes

This Flashback Friday is dedicated to my buddies Eric Foy and Dave Adams; two of the most hilarious, laid-back, and loyal guy friends from my college years.  Both Eric and Dave had come into town for our good friends, Alex and Jill's, wedding and were crashing at my place for a few days.  Since it was my summer break from teaching, I had all the time in the world to cater to their crazy ideas and I have to admit, I loved every minute of it!  One day they decided we should go tubing up Provo Canyon, so we rented tubes from the BYU recreation department.  The only catch was I drove a SMALL Ford Escort.  This wasn't going to deter us from having our adventure though, so before I knew it, my car was decked out with tangle upon tangle of twine.  It was pretty impressive to see them knot everything into place, stacking them several layers high on the roof of my car.  It was even more impressive to see them hang their bodies out the window to save them as it all started to come undone while I drove up the canyon.  I wish we could have gotten a picture of that!   

I love how these pictures make me laugh, just thinking about this memory.  I had a lot of REALLY fun times with those guys!  I sure do miss them.

"Adios" Marshall Family

Have I mentioned I HATE goodbyes?

I'm not even sure why they are called that.  Is it really "good" to say goodbye to friends and loved ones?

I realize that where we live is fairly transient. 

It's usually too expensive to buy, so the majority of those living in our area rent.  It's also a common assumption that most renters live a more mobile lifestyle whether they are college students, saving for a home, or just passing through.  Because of these assumptions one could assume that I would be more prepared to say "good"bye to those I meet in this stage of life.  And yet with every "good"bye it remains just as hard.

Last summer is was the Aydelottes and Pereiras.

This summer it's been the Reynolds, Swensens, and now the Marshalls.  We have loved each of these families and the chance we've gotten to spend with them.  We are so lucky to be blessed with such incredible friends and grateful to have made such amazing memories with each of them.

 In honor of the Marshall family, we wanted to get together one last time and enjoy great company and yummy treats.  Michelle was kind enough to teach us the secrets of her mom's famous cinnamon rolls.

The cooking demonstrations...

 Adri and Drew wanted to help out as well...

 After the baking, we all got together for a fun night of talking, eating, and avoiding sad goodbyes.  Daxton was super cute with Penelope.  Poor guy already had to say goodbye to his girlfriend, Leah...now Penelope.  I have a feeling he's going to be one sad and lonely little baby boy for awhile.

 Adri and Kayla giving each other hugs goodbye with Drew looking on in the background.

 It was pretty tricky to set up my camera in a position to get everyone in the frame and the lighting of the flash didn't reach every one's faces, but I love these next few pictures.  It pretty much sums up what great friends we have...

We are going to miss the Marshall family so much.

We are so excited for them and this exciting adventure they are taking moving to Cozumel, Mexico.  We are totally planning a therapeutic trip to visit them after Dallas's busy season in the late spring.  It's been a blast getting to know them over the past year and count ourselves truly lucky to call them dear friends.

Good luck and we'll see you soon!

A Little Treasure...

I was hanging out with my nephew Rulon tonight and I mentioned that I had recently found the cutest picture of him and his mommy.  I can't believe how quickly the time passes!  He's now eight years old; still as adorable as ever, although I can't tell him that anymore.

I couldn't help but post this little treasure...

Trunk-Or-Treat

Our church has a tradition of doing a Trunk-Or-Treat for all of the kids in our ward (congregation).  Instead of having everyone Trick-Or-Treat to neighborhood houses everyone fills the parking lot, opens their decorated trunks, and then hands out candy to Trick-Or-Treaters.  Not only is it much safer, since you're only taking candy from people you know, not having to walk on poorly lit streets, or risking knocking on strangers homes, BUT it's much easier on the parents who only have to worry about making one major stop for the holiday instead of a hundred different houses.  I think the whole idea is pretty ingenious, for whoever came up with it first!

After the Trunk-Or-Treating, there was a big party with food, games, and several bouncy houses for the kids to go crazy in.  Since Daxton is way too young to really enjoy Halloween yet, we ended up not arriving until after the Trick-Or-Treating was finished.  We definitely didn't need the extra candy in the house and we also didn't want to wake Daxton from his nap in order to make it on time.

He was an especially cute Monkey for the occasion, courtesy of Old Navy, and often got distracted by the obnoxious banana sticking out of his pocket.  Since I was holding him most of the evening I didn't get the chance to take many pictures.  I'll have to do a little photoshoot with him after the holidays and in better lighting...I'm sure he'll love putting the costume on again!

 The Demary's were the only family I managed to get pictures of, Super Woman, Batman, and Ironman.  Talk about a 'Super' family!

Daxton did great, although his deer in head light look never really left his face.  It was quite a bit for him to take in and he was very eager to go back to sleep.

Sleeping Like a Tiger

I used to be a huge Halloween fan, but I have to admit that my passion for it has greatly died down over the past few years.  Maybe it was the exhaustion from my single days where there would be four-five costume parties scheduled throughout that last week leading up to the actual holiday and I felt pressured to think of a new costume for each one...

Or maybe it was my years of teaching and needing to 'best' my costume from the previous year.

I've had so many different costumes over the years, loved all the glitter and frills, loved the use of my creativity, but for some reason I just felt tired this year.

Even so, when I saw these adorable PJs at Target at the beginning of the month, I couldn't help but get them for Daxton.  And since he looked so stinkin' cute in them, why not take a million pictures of him smiling and laughing at the camera??

I think I've trained him pretty well, because he is quite the performer in front of the lens now.

Another reason why I adore him!