Sick Day

Let's just say that Monday, September 13th, was not a great day for James and I. I woke up not feeling good that morning and ended up puking. It did not feel like morning sickness, and thought that I may have eaten something the night before that just didn't settle right. James was on his second day at work so I called him just to fill him in on how I was feeling. Next thing I know, James was home. He wanted to check in on me and then return to work, but within the hour he began to throw-up himself. We both ended up having the flu! Luckily, it only lasted 24 hours and we spent Tuesday recovering from the body aches before even attempting to face the world on Wednesday. Neither one of us have come down with the flu for at least a good 5-7 years, so good thing we got it out of the way before Brooke is born.

New York - Here We Come

YES, we traveled across the country to New York while I was 32-33 weeks pregnant! This means I was 8 months and in my 3rd trimester. With a final approval from my doctor two days before we left and a note from him saying I could fly, we were packed and ready to go. However, we did make sure to travel with a birthing kit in our carry-on... just in case.

Visiting New York was a first for both James and I. Aside from knowing we were going to be in New York City from August 28 - Sept. 1 and then in Buffalo from Sept. 2-5, we did not go with any itinerary. We figured we would make it up while there depending on what we wanted to see. This worked out great for us as we were able to see everything we had hoped to, plus more!

After a red-eye flight from San Jose to NYC, that landed at 6:50 am, we wasted no time in hitting the pavement to see the sights. Our first stop was seeing the Empire State Building. We decided to get the full tourist experience and go up to the observatory on the 86th floor, that overlooks all of Manhattan. There are 3 elevators that everyone takes to get you as far as the 80th floor and from there you have a choice to either wait for the single elevator that will take you the remaining 6 floors or you climb the 6 flights of stairs. We were given a 20 minute wait time for the elevator, which was ridiculous to me, so we decided to take the stairs. I felt pretty good as I went through the door that led to the stair well, and looked back to watch person after person chose the elevator. Come on people there is an 8 month pregnant lady choosing the stairs!

James climbing the 6 flights of stairs

86th floor, here we come!

On the 86th floor of the Empire State Building, over looking Downtown Manhattan where the Twin Towers used to stand.

Our first day in NYC (Sat. 8/28) also included: Times Square, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and dinner at PJ Clarkes. Which I have to mention we walked 20 blocks to get to. Lets just say I made sure we took a taxi back to the hotel that night!

Visiting the M&M store in Times Square.

After spending two days by ourselves in NYC we were joined by Jason and Krista. They are the whole reason for this trip, because their wedding was going to be held in Buffalo on Sat. September 4th. Jason's family also traveled to NYC, where we all vacationed together until we flew to Buffalo later in the week for the wedding. Those that joined us included: Jill (Jason's Mom), Brad, Erin and Emily (Jason's Uncle, Aunt and cousin), Tutu (Jason's Grandma), and Jay, Elaine, Cage and Casey (Jason's Uncle, Aunt, and cousins).

James and I in Times Square

Our hotel was only 3 blocks from Times Square so we spent most nights hanging out in this area.

The rest of our time in NYC was spent doing the following:

Sunday, August 29 - Took the subway to Downtown to see:

• The World Trade Center - Museum, "Remember" Tour, & 10 House fire station
• Financial District - Wall Street
• Battery Park - Statue of Liberty, Castle Clinton Fort

Monday, August 30 -Took the subway to Uptown to see:

• Central Park - We all walked across the width of it
• Central Park Zoo - The girls did this
• O'Leary's Bar - This is how the guys spent their afternoon instead of the zoo
• Times Square for the evening

Tuesday, August 31 -

• Rockefeller Center
• FAO Schwartz
• Grand Central Station
• The Addams Family - Broadway show

Wednesday, September 1 - James and I enjoyed Downtown so much that we went back for more

• Canal St. - all of the "knock-off" shops
• Museum of American Finance
• Trinity Church (1 block from World Trade Center)
• St. Paul's Chapel (across the street from World Trade Center)
• Cross beam found at the World Trade Center site

Then on Thursday, September 2, we flew to Buffalo, NY for the remainder of our trip where we did the following:

Thursday, September 2 - Krista was our Tour Guide!

• Oldest tree in Buffalo
• Saw part of Lake Erie
• Dinner at Cheryl's house (Krista's sister)

Friday, September 3 -

• Rehearsal at the Avanti Mansion (James was Jason's Best Man)
• Niagara Falls
• Wet Jet Boat Tour (Pregnant women not allowed, but I hear it was a great time from James and everyone else)
• Rehearsal dinner

On the Maid of The Mist boat with Niagara Falls behind us. Soaking wet, but good times!


Saturday, September 4th, Jason and Krista's Wedding Day!

James spent the day with Jason and the other guys taking pictures, getting ready and doing his Best Man duties. I on the other hand, enjoyed a relaxing day getting my hair done and getting ready for the wedding.

Here is a picture of my swollen feet (they did not swell till we reached Buffalo) in the 3 inch heals that I wore with my dress. What can I say they went with my outfit... and after 1.5 hours I changed into silver sandals so that I could dance the night away!

Here we are with the newlyweds Mr. & Mrs. Todd! Jason and Krista are an amazing couple and wonderful friends. We were very excited to spend this special day with them. It was a beautiful wedding!

James and I dancing to FOOTLOOSE!!!

On Sunday, September 5th, we enjoyed a brunch with everyone before boarding our flight to head home. I am proud to say that Brooke and I made it home safely and James did not have to use the birthing kit. Thank goodness!

Fresno Baby Shower

On August 22, my good friends Tina Erikson and Danyel Tarrant threw me a baby shower for little Miss Brooke. It was such a beautiful day, not too hot, wonderful location, amazing decorations, and wonderful friends surrounding me! There was good food, presents, and then a relaxing afternoon filled with swimming, massages and manicures. It was a shower like no other that provided pampering for the mom-to-be and all guests. A big "THANK YOU" to the hosts and all that came to celebrate.

Everything's Looking Good

This past Monday 8/9, James and I went for my routine prenatal checkup. Everything is going great and Brooke's little heartbeat is going strong. We are getting more and more excited as the due date approaches. During this appointment my doctor felt around my stomach (as he normally does), however, when his hand got toward the bottom of my stomach he pressed down hard and jiggled his fingers back and forth. As I lay there I thought...Ok all part of the check-up. Then the doctor told James to place his fingers in the same spot, press down hard, and move his fingers from side to side. I was not sure what my doctor was doing, but of course went along with it. He then asks James, "Can you feel that? That is your babies' head." James was able to feel Brooke's head, which by the way at this appointment was located down at the base of my stomach near my pelvic bone. Wow... what a neat experience!

Our Summer Adventures!

Your probably wondering...Where have they been?... When is there going to be a new blog post? I'm sitting here now, typing away, to fill you in on all we have been doing. For those of you that may not know I am officially a "Stay at home Mom." I know it's a little early, but I left my previous position as a preschool teacher at the end of the school year, so that James and I would be able to spend the summer together before little Brooke arrives. You could call it an extended "babymoon," our last vacations taken before the baby is born.

Once the school year ended, I dove right into summer with great excitement. There was no "waiting" period, it started immediately! The very first weekend came (June 5) and I found myself headed to the Bay Area to celebrate Krista's bridal shower. She is one of our good friends that is getting married in September to James' best friend Jason. (For those of you that may not know who this is think the best man at our wedding.) We will be headed to New York for ten days at the end of August for a final vacation to New York City and to Buffalo, NY where James is the best man in their wedding. We are very excited!


Getting ahead of myself... now back to June events...

After attending the bridal shower I headed up to Sacramento to spend the week with our close friend's Steve and Crystal and their adorable children Stephen and Gracie. James had to work most of the week so what not a better reason to spend it with the Thorns' Family. Toward the end of that week Crystal and I headed off to our annual girls camping trip (June 10-13). This was started about 8 years ago by Crystal and has grown in attendance every year since. It is a fun time for just us women to get away from the everyday grind of life and relax for a weekend.


After being home for only two days, simply because James had to work, we were off again. This time we were headed to Tahoe for six days (June 16-21). We recently got a 5th-wheel trailer at the beginning of June and wanted to try it out. With Brooke on the way we figured camping would be a lot easier with a camper, plus it allows you to camp year round. At first we were only going to stay a few days, but decided to extend it to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary while in Tahoe. We are very glad we did. A full six days allowed us the time to visit our friends Dave & Linda, go fishing, bike riding, hiking, take daily walks with Buddy and spend a lot of time just relaxing. Relaxing for us included playing games such as ladder ball, dice, and dominoes and we spent a lot of time just reading.

James reading Dad Labs,

and I'm reading The Hot Mom to Be Handbook!

After a week of fun and relaxation we loaded up the truck & trailer and headed back home to Fresno.

We would spend the next two weeks at home. This included celebrating the 4th of July with friends in Fresno where we enjoyed our own fireworks show by setting off "safe & sanes." One of the perks of living in Fresno = a city that still allows fireworks!

My Mother-In-Law, Denise, mailed me a maternity dress that she made. Here I am at 24-weeks (July 3), wearing her beautiful work. Thank you!

And we're off...again! This time we headed to Donner Lake Memorial Campground in Truckee for a week of camping with the Thorns, DuBose, Props, and Brown families (July 6-11). Steve and Crystal were very nice in letting us stay with them in their camper, since the trip was planned and sites were booked before we knew we would be getting one. We could have pitched a tent, but lets be honest air mattress and pregnant do not go well together. I am okay with the discomforts that pregnancy brings, it is all part of it; however, I am one that NEEDS my sleep. Just ask James :)

Camping at Donner with great friends led to many laughing episodes, which is always fun. We did A LOT of fishing, but all got skunked by the fish except for Stephen. You can see below that he was very proud of his fish.

I hit the 25-week mark on this trip.

After our Donner trip we headed to the Bay Area for the California Firefighter Summer Olympics (July 12-16). For the last 3 years James has traveled North and South to participate with Fresno Fire's Soccer Team. This year the Olympics were hosted by Santa Clara Fire Department. This meant we were able to stay with my Mom and sisters all week and visit between games and in the evenings. It was very nice to be back home and spend a week with my family. After four days of playing soccer and six games later, the Fresno Soccer team took home Silver.

Straight from the Bay Area James and I headed back to the Sacramento area for the first of three baby shower's that are being thrown for me. Since I have lived in three places, Milpitas, Sacramento, and Fresno, family and friends from each place are throwing me a shower. Brooke, James and I are very lucky to have such loving and wonderful family and friends. The first was held on Saturday, July 17, 2010, and thrown by Crystal Thorns, Jill Todd, Tera Props, and Landa DuBose. The shower was beautiful and amazing. I enjoyed spending time with family and friends. It was so great to see everyone!

A picture with all the hosts: Landa, Jill, Me, Crystal, & Tera

My Mom made it, Brooke's Grandma was not going to miss her first shower!

The beautiful cake was made by Tera Props.

The amazing diaper cake was put together by Crystal Thorns and Tera Props.

Thank you everyone for coming!

The following week we headed off for yet another adventure (July 22-25). This time we were Pismo Beach bound. This was going to be our first trip out on the dunes with the camper and the first time James would get to go riding on the sand dunes. Little did we know this would turn out to be quite the adventure. Getting to the dunes, finding a location to fill up the water tank, finding a camping spot (900 spots & it was a sold out weekend), airing down the tires (15psi + 4WD to tow our camper on sand), and setting up. A five hour trip (that should take about 3.5 hrs)... not too bad considering it was our first time. Once we were set-up we had a lot of fun. Our friends Tina & Wiley and April, Alex, & their 1 y.o. Lincoln all came too for a fun-filled weekend. The guys did some riding, and surfing; us girls played in the sand with Lincoln and went searching for sand dollars; and Tina & Wiley went kayaking. Even though it appeared to be overcast some of the days, we all managed to get a little sun and we all welcomed the 60 degree weather over the 100+ that was plaguing Fresno.

James getting ready to ride!

James riding! Alex & Wiley were following behind in a Rhino (5 seater buggy w/full roll cage) and able to take these pictures.

We did not come fully prepared. The guys made roasting sticks out of fire wood. They were a little short so we had to use an oven mitt to protect our hand from the flame while roasting.

Our Pismo adventures continued as we traveled home... it took us 9 hours to get back! We had Alex, April & Lincoln with us in the truck. They were troopers through the whole experience, especially Lincoln! We ended up shredding tread off one of the trailer tires. So, we were stuck on the side of the road somewhere on HWY 41 between the coast and Fresno until the tire was fixed. James and Alex did a great job, but I felt bad for them since it was 108 degrees outside. In the end it was a fun trip that left us with many memories.

July 31, 2010: 28-Weeks, 7 months, I made it to the 3rd Trimester!

With only 12 weeks to go one of the benefits of staying home, aside from all the traveling, is that James and I would have the time to set up Brooke's room and get the house prepared for her arrival. For my birthday, I asked James to paint the nursery and put together all of the furniture. Here is the almost finished project (we still have to add different size dots on the wall behind the crib):Brooke is going to love her room, thanks to her Daddy!

I have a feeling this chair is going to see a lot of hours...

James had to work on my actual birthday, but we had spent the day before together, finishing up Brooke's room and going out to dinner. We went to Red Lobster since I was craving their cheesy biscuits and then grabbed dessert at Cali's Frozen Custard.

So for my birthday some of my friends took me out to lunch at Red Robin, where they had a cake for me and of course the servers sang to me. After lunch a few of us went to the movies and saw Toy Story 3 and then went for a pedicure. It was a very nice birthday, spent with wonderful friends.

The day would not have been complete without a picture with the Red Robin himself!
Back row: Red Robin, Danyel holding Brendon, Tina, Laurie holding Ellie, & Veronica

Tristan & I seated in front

August 1, 2010 - 27 years old

We planned a quick trip back to Pismo just for some ridding and shopping (August 5-6). We met our friends Robert & Loren and their cute kiddos Lil' Robert and Taylor there. Since this was just an over-nighter we stayed in a hotel instead of towing the camper over. During the day James and Robert went ridding, while Loren, the kids, and I went shopping near the pier and at the outlets. We always have a great time when we see the Holsten Family!

Robert, Lil' Robert, & James

Before James and Robert went out onto the dunes for some harder ridding they took Lil' Robert for a quick ride.

On dirt bikes: Lil' Robert, Robert, & James

Sorry that was so long, I really need to try and update more often. Coming up James and I are taking a birthing class, touring two hospitals to see which one we would like to deliver at, two more baby showers, and our trip to New York all before my Due Date.

We are getting very excited for Brooke's arrival. As I am writing this I am currently 29-weeks along, as of yesterday (August 7). We have 11 weeks to go. I am feeling very well as I have entered into the 3rd trimester. One of the only complaints I would have would be the severe leg cramps that wake me a night. I had heard they could be bad during pregnancy, but I did not expect this bad. They are severe "charlie horses" that wake you from a dead sleep and tighten your muscles so hard your not sure they will ever relax, at least during that moment. Sometimes they are so bad it wakes James up too. Other then that my pregnancy is going great,I feel very lucky! Since she is starting to run out of room in my belly, I am feeling her more often now. She still is most active between the hours of 10pm and 2am. Hopefully, she will adjust her days and nights once she is born, or we are in for some T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

Prego Pics

22 Weeks - June 19, 2010 (Camping in Tahoe/6th Anniversary)

16 Weeks - May 9, 2010 (Mother's Day)

13 weeks - April 20, 2010

Baby Perk - From finding out to Week 24

What we're Pregnant!!! That was my initial reaction. With all that had been going on in our lives during this time (Nov 2009 - Feb 2010) we had not been focusing on trying to have a baby. So, when the stick showed two little pink lines that I was pregnant, we were shocked. Don't get me wrong, James and I were very excited at this wonderful news, it was just unexpected. With the news came a sudden switch back into pregnancy mode. Prenatal vitamins, 64+ oz of water a day, no coffee, set up first prenatal appointment= check, check, check, check. The list continued, but those were the main things I had to adjust for right away.

First Trimester - Months 1-3/Weeks 1-13

The first trimester could not end soon enough. With wanting to get to the "more in the clear zone", week 13 seemed to take forever. Plus, morning sickness had set in. I was crossing my fingers that I would be one of the lucky women that the sickness went away in the second trimester, and it did. Our doctor had us coming in fairly often at first to make sure everything was going well with this pregnancy. We had a total of 3 ultra sounds in the first trimester, which is a little more then normal, but we did not mind at all. Seeing our little Baby Perk always put a smile on our face and brought joy that we had never experienced before. If you haven't figured it out yet "Baby Perk" was what we had nicknamed our little person until finding out if it was a boy or girl. Baby Perk is scheduled to make his/her big debut on October 23, 2010! We can't wait, how about you!?!

Second Trimester - Months 4-6/Weeks 14-27

We made it to the second trimester!!! This was such a happy moment for James and I. With this came unfamiliar territory. Ahhh...only six months to go. I know six months is a long time, but there is a lot to get done! Prep the house for baby, paint the baby's room, set up the baby's room, organize all baby items, deep clean the house, and the list goes on. I was definitely getting ahead of myself since nothing could be done until we found out what we were having. Early on I had a feeling that we were having a girl, but as it got closer to our "BIG" ultrasound date I was starting to second guess that intuition I was having.

Our "BIG" ultrasound appointment was scheduled for Friday, May 28th at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. This was the appointment where the sex of the baby could be determined if we wanted to know...AND WE DID! However, the primary reason for this ultrasound is it's the in depth one that the doctor requires near twenty weeks. They use it to measure and check the baby's development and make sure everything is on track according to the due date. This includes: the size of the baby head to rump, they check the brain, spine, heart (that it has 4 chambers), the stomach, kidneys, and a ton of other things. Everything for Baby Perk looked normal and right on track according to our due date! We both just lit-up at this news :)

Boy or Girl...Boy or Girl...that is what we wanted to know. Drum roll please, IT'S A GIRL!!! James and I caught eyes and just smiled at each other. We were both very happy. We really didn't have a preference as long as our baby was healthy, and she is. Brooke Noelle Perkins, we will be waiting for your arrival come October!

At about 21.5 weeks I began to feel her start moving around, and shortly after James could feel her too. Now at 24 weeks those little flutters have turned into full kicks and punches. It is an amazing feeling. I love getting that unexpected jab that lets me know "Hey Mom, I'm here."

Now that we know we are having a little girl we are getting ready to start painting her room. We are going with a theme called Raspberry Swirl. It has butterflies and polka dots using the colors, pink, green, purple, and brown. We are very excited for this new chapter in our lives to fully begin in October. Remember to check back for further updates on The Perks In Life!