Home for Christmas

It was nice and relaxing to stay home for Christmas. I liked doing things with all my boys and starting our own traditions. We roasted marshmallows in the fireplace and had smores on Christmas Eve, opened gifts and stockings Christmas morning, and had coffee cake and egg casserole after gifts. We also had a fancy dinner of rack of lamb, cabbage, and risotto made my my wonderful husband on Christmas night! Here are some pictures and video to give you a little glimpse into our Christmas.



















Checking out what Santa brought


Here's Eli looking in the stockings

Christmas Fun

We decided to stay home for Christmas this year, and it's been bittersweet. It's nice to stay home and not have to endure the car trip to Dallas with two loud boys, but I do miss not being home with family for Christmas. It's a good thing we stayed home since Jed has had RSV and now passed the cold on to me and Eli...John is next! We're making the most of it, however. I'm looking forward to time with just my family in my home and possibly starting some new traditions. All the grandparents have already come to see us for Christmas, which has been lots of fun.







Mammy came last week and we made Christmas cookies. Eli did a good job helping and an even better job making a mess! We usually take some to the fire station for the firemen and give some to our neighbors, but they were too yummy this year...and they are gluten free! We might make more for giving away. : )





We went to The Trail of Lights on Friday night. It's a mile long walking trail decorated with millions of lights...very impressive and a fun Austin tradition. It was 70 degrees or so that night, and we were sweating in our jeans and t-shirts! I think that's better than being freezing, though. I took one picture of the entrance and then my camera died. The exact thing happened last year! Maybe that's a tradition!






Here are some gift-opening pictures:
















Here's what Jed has been doing through most of the activity:

Keepin' up

I can't keep up with all Eli's doing and saying these days! I keep saying that I need to write down funny things he says, but I'd have to keep some paper and a pen with me at all times. I knew the 'why' questions were coming, and now they're here in full force! It's exhausting but I have to remember that he's just trying to learn and figure out his world by asking questions. Eli is non-stop energy, entertainment and questions lately!

Santa Wish List

This video is for Santa.

Breakfast conversation

Apparently I've missing out on some good conversation between Eli and John in the mornings while I try to "sleep in" with Jed. Here are just a few snips of what I hear while I'm half asleep in the next room.

Smiley Face

Jed is officially two months old as of the 22nd. He is smiling like crazy now and even cooing and "talking" to us. Jed is sleeping like a champ, hallelujah! I can actually put him down still awake and he'll fall asleep, unlike Eli as a baby. He is also rolling to his side from his back, and somehow when I put him on the floor, he'll wiggle his way around almost 180 degrees. He's growing so fast!...how many times will I say that?
I finally got some good smiley pictures, so I had to share.

Thanksgiving

Well our Thanksgiving trip was eventful, to say the least! I don't know what we were thinking traveling to Dallas in the car with a 2 month old, a 2 1/2 year old, our dog, and all our stuff! Eli was very excited and had way too much energy on the way up there and Jed was just not happy being in the car seat, which resulted in a loud, stressful car trip. Whenever we got Jed calmed down, Eli would be loud and stir up Jed again, or as soon as Jed was asleep we'd hear, "I need to go potty!". When we hear that, it means Eli needs to go soon, but usually he had to go when it was most inconvenient. Eli did well at holding it, though, and we had no accidents. As soon as we stopped to potty, Jed would wake up, and the cycle started all over again. Luckily our dog is great in the car, so I forgot he was there most of the time. Once we arrived at our destination, we had an enjoyable time. It was just the getting there that was rough. The trip home wasn't as bad because we had two tired boys that slept most of the time. We're re-thinking our travel plans for Christmas...maybe we'll skip the travel part!

The good news is that we did get to spend time with family and had a good visit with them. Jed got to meet his great Grandma, Nana, which was special. Here they are making faces at each other:


My camera ran out of batteries while there and I didn't have a charger with me, so I didn't get any tday pictures with my family...bummer! I did get some pictures from Aunt Lisa that she took at our get together at their house.
The whole clan

Vivian was excited to hold Jed

Uncle Dan and Eli

Eli & the Poop Diaper

Last week, Eli wanted to watch me while I changed Jed's diaper. He ran to get his stool and set it up right next to the changing table so he could get a good view. I proceeded to change Jed's diaper, which like most, was a poop diaper. Eli quickly got down off the stool and said it was too stinky and started gagging. He had gagged before while I was changing diapers or even when he smelled other unpleasant smells. I just sort of laughed and told him to step back. John then walked in to get Eli dressed, and I said jokingly, "watch out, he's been gagging!". Meanwhile, I'm still changing Jed and getting him cleaned up (it was a big messy one!) and I heard John yelp a little and then heard Eli throw up all over the carpet! Luckily John had taken the day off so he could clean up the mess...ha! I can't believe Eli actually got sick after seeing and smelling Jed's dirty diaper! We're in for trouble because these aren't even smelly compared to the diapers to come. Now we know not to let Eli near when changing Jed's diaper. Eli makes sure he stays away, too!

Helper

Eli likes being our little helper lately. It's nice now because he doesn't realise he's doing chores yet! He helps with unloading and loading the dryer, unloading the dishwasher, taking things to the recycle bin, taking the trash and recycle bins to the curb and back in, feeding Boone, and others. He really does help most of the time, especially now that I'm usually trying to do things with one hand while holding Jed in the other. I'm impressed with his abilities!

faux hawk

"playing" together

Look alike?

Here's Eli at 5 or 6 weeks old wearing the same onesie Jed is wearing in the previous post. They look so different!

Smiles!

Here are some smiles Jed's been giving us lately:

My boys

Three Perkins, just alike!

Big E, Little J

I'm amazed at how huge Eli looks and how tiny Jed looks in this pcture!

Halloween Festivities

Last Sunday we went to a Halloween festival at Zilker park with our friends and neighbors, Mia and her mom, Jen. There were some games for the kids, but the highlight for Eli was the fire truck and ambulance. He got to go inside both as well as meet the firemen and ambulance guys. They liked the little fireman, too!













We went with Mia and her parents, Jen and Rex, to trick-or-treat around our neighborhood. We have fun with them, and we have so much in common it's freaky! The little fireman and Cinderella had so much fun, they were worn out after a couple blocks.


Our neighbor, Mo

Introducing...

Our new baby chicks! Eli and John picked these out last weekend. The yellow one is Kabob and the brown one is Tetrazini. They are one week old today.

We decided to get more chickens because our eggs are in demand, plus we like providing them for our friends and neighbors. Also, we lost one of our other baby chickens a few weeks ago when Boone accidentally caught one. It flew up and he snapped her neck. It really was an accident!

Success!

Both boys actually cooperated today and quickly fell asleep for naps at the same time! I hope there are many more nap times like this to come! Aren't they so sweet sleeping together? Ahh, now what to do with this free time?