Easter Pictures

1st Birthday

Preston had a great first birthday. We actually had a little party with Chad's family when we returned from Europe. He enjoyed the cake but didn't eat a lot of it. It was a cute little party of which I would love to share some video, however, Chad left Lee in charge of the camera and he managed to hit the record button while the camera was pointing the floor. Therefore, just as we started to sing Happy Birthday, Lee hit the record button again, at that point turning the camera off and we missed the song, the cake, etc. I grieved a little for this, but I think I'll make it.

My parents came up to St. Louis for Preston's (and my dad's) birthday weekend. We went out to eat for my Dad's birthday. We got preston an Elmo cell phone, his first set of toy golf clubs, and a xylophone toy. He also got a slide for the backyard (from Lee, Kristy, Donna and Skipper see video below), a set of real kiddy golfclubs (mimi), a swimming pool (mamaw and papaw), a Breyer horse (Uncle Will), money from Pop and Mamaw Mary (which I've started putting away in piggy bank for when he's older) and lots of cute clothes. Enjoy the pics and some limited video below.

A Baby Story.

I wanted to post this around Preston's first birthday. I often think about the day he was born and although the details are still clear now, I know that with time they will fade. So, I better write it down... here goes.

I was 36.5 weeks pregnant and thinking "if this baby doesn't come soon, its just not fair that Kristy had Lily early and I'm going to have to go full term." Ha. I was really setting myself up to go 41 weeks. It was a Tuesday and I went to work that morning and gave my one hour physics talk for the year (on tomotherapy). I was relieved to get this out of the way and finished up my day in the clinic as usual. Chad and I had dinner and I did thirty minutes of step aerobics in front of the TV. I talked to Tonya on the phone saying "just a few more weeks left." Chad and I went to bed as usual at around 10:30.

At 1:30 I woke up with contractions. I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for a few weeks so I figured it was these again. After about 30minutes I realized they weren't going away and were probably getting worse. Since I was uncomfortable, I got up and started packing the baby bag (camera, Preston's going home outfit, blanket, cell phone charger, house shoes, clothes for me, facewash, make-up etc.) By 2:30, packing was complete and the contractions were getting pretty bad. No longer was I able to just walk around, I had to pause during them. This was the real deal. I woke Chad up and he got dressed, let Bean out, and we were on our way to hospital.

Barnes-Jewish hospital is only 6miles from the house. Chad drove normally (so no tickets for us). I was really starting to hurt by that point and was very nauseous with contractions. We got to the hospital around 3:00 AM. A security guard tried to stop us in the lobby and when I turned around with my big belly he just smiled and waved us on the elevator. I got checked in to triage and then got my ticket to Labor & Delivery.

Now lets not paint the rosiest picture here. This was the part of the journey that was not cool. I was getting so nauseous with every contraction...it was pretty miserable in combination with the pain. But it was the wierdest thing....as soon as the contraction subsided I felt like a million bucks. Completely normal, talkative, pain free and then boom, misery. In other words, I requested an epidural stat.

Chad and I settled in the room (he was in the recliner watching the Golf Channel). I was expecting a long day, so I decided I would take a nap. A few minutes later my doctor came and informed me "it's time to push." After 15 minutes of pushing, Preston Everett Perkins arrived at 9:43 a.m. Even though I had seen several ultrasounds the first thing I did was check that he was a boy. It all went to fast....I think we were both in shock. The doctor asked if Chad wanted to cut the cord and we both immediately said "No!" It was a wonderful day and I hope I never forget the details.

10 months

Can you believe Preston's first birthday is just around the corner? I think he is finally getting a little taller. He can take a few steps with his walker toy. He is starting the throw fits if you take something away that he wants (i.e. remote control (which he loves)). I need to take "professional" pictures, but I really want to take some outdoors and it has been so cold.

Christmas Video Part II

Christmas Video Part I

The video was too big to post in one part....so here is the beginning.

Baby's First Christmas

Preston had a great first Christmas. We went to Memphis the weekend before Christmas and spent some time with Pop. Lee, Kristy and Lily came over and we had lasagna. We got Pop a steering wheel cover for the truck and a photo album. Lee and Kristy got him a book on how to rebuild John Deere tractors and some major wrenches to complete the work. Pop got us all some spending money and Lily and Preston got savings bonds. Good times.

On Monday we headed to Lexington. Tuesday morning we went to exit 143 and met Billy, Rachel and Hayden for lunch at the Log Cabin restaurant. It was good to see them and finally get to meet Ms. Hayden in person. Tuesday night we had Christmas with Mimi. Preston got a rocking horse (which Lee named Wildfire), a leather chair (pretty swanky), a toy guitar, toy crane, a moo-ing bowling ball set, PJs and lots of other goodies. Mimi made 4 derby pies (we made it easily through 3). Wednesday we headed to Jackson and hung out with Mamaw and Papaw before going to my grandparents for Christmas Eve. Mamaw Joyce made bisquits and country ham, Momma made cheese straws and sausage balls. Preston "opened" his gifts and was very cordial to all. We headed back to Lexington later that night.

Christmas day we went to Ma-ma Estelee's and had a yummy lunch. The next few days were more eating and sitting around. While at my parents he pulled up to standing for the first time. Saturday we went to Brek and Allison's and opened Preston's last gifts. Allison cooked an awesome dinner and banana pudding and momma brought another derby pie (can't get enough of that stuff). Preston got lots of clothes, toy trains, and nice set of reading books, flashcards and videos from momma and daddy which we've already started teaching him.


We made it back to STL by Sunday and we were all super worn out. It took Preston a few days to get back on a normal sleep schedule. I needed a vacation after my "vacation."

8 months

Here are some new pics of Preston at 8 1/2 months.

One day you wake up and you're ready.....

Preston decided he was ready to crawl this morning. I had heard to entice him by placing toys he wanted far away. However, it never worked until this morning....here's the video.

All I Want for Christmas...

Preston says: "All I want for Christmas is for my two front teeth to come in!" Preston's two lower teeth came in the week before Thanksgiving. He has been a little fussy this week and we noticed that his two top teeth are coming in as well. He is still sleeping through the night no problem...Chad says he just whines a little more than usual in the afternoon and prefers to be held at that time. He's slobbering and chewing on everything which is essentially leading to diaper rash of the face as his skin gets irritated from being wet with slobber all day. Chad came up with putting Desitin on it....works like a charm.

Thanksgiving 2008

Preston's first thanksgiving. Chad and I have always gone to separate Thanksgivings, but this year we had to make a choice. My family actually tried something new, with my Aunt Connie cooking at her house. We just decided to go to Chad's grandmother's house. We spent Wednesday night and Thursday night at Mimi's house. We went to Ma-Ma's house for Thanksgiving lunch. Aunt Kristy and Cousin Lily spent the night with us while Uncle Lee and Uncle Will went back to the shouse (to people outside the family....this is not a typo) to go hunting in the morning. Then we went antiquing in Hazel on Friday (didn't find anything good though). Mimi was in the mood to give out Christmas presents...so Preston got a new toy (see pic below).

After visiting Chad's family, we went to see Mamaw and Papaw Mabry in Jackson. Uncle Brek and Antie Allison came over. Chad and Daddy got in an argument over The Doors and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Momma made a delicious prime rib and washed some clothes for us. She also kept Preston so Chad and I could head out to Beech Bluff and see Lee and Kristy's house. We came back to STL on Sunday.....overall a good trip home.




Great Grandmother Ma-Ma Estelee



Cousin Lily



She immediately picked up the phone and said "hi"




Preston's new choo-choo train

Washington DC Trip, October 2008

So Preston made his first airplane flight from Saint Louis to Washington, DC. I wanted a little certificate, but I guess with the increasing cost of flying that has been scrapped. He did really well, slept about half of the time and played with toys the rest. Daddy had a little more trouble as he experienced motion sickness on the landing (we fixed that problem with dramamine on the way back (which had plenty of time to kick in since we missed our flight and were bumped to a later flight)). Anywho, the trip was great. It was a little chilly but the sky was the most beautiful clear blue sky as you can see from the pictures. Preston was the perfect age for sightseeing. He either 1) slept in his stroller on his belly (see pic below) 2) took in the sights or 3) politely requested a pitstop for food and diaper change.

We really got to see everything we set out to see: The White House (you think from the pictures on TV that it is sitting alone in this huge green yard but its smackdab in the middle of everything), the Vietnam, Korean and WWII memorial, Lincoln memorial, the Post Office Museum (just kidding, we didn't go in there), the capital, Museum of Natural History, Air and Space Museum, National Archives, Supreme Court, Washington Memorial and our favorite the Library of Congress. We stayed out in Arlington, VA but you don't get to see any of the city during the trip b/c the metro is all undergound. Overall a great trip.


Library of Congress.







How I got around in DC...many miles put on this stroller.


Preston for President!



At the Museum of Natural History.


World War II Memorial


Preston taking a nap....we got a lot of giggles when we passed people.

I have some catching up to do.

I'm a little late getting into the blogging thing. I have a couple cute videos that I made when Preston was a newborn and then around 2 months. We still haven't purchased a good video camera yet, but I think I will regret it if we don't. When I look at him, I think "I'll always remember when he looked like this." But when I look back at these videos I can't believe how small (or fat) he was.

Time to start a blog

Here is Preston's first blog post. I'm hoping this will be an easy way to share pictures with family and friends.