Benson Andrew Perkins

So, as a surprise to us all, Benson Andrew Perkins arrived 9 days early, last Monday, May 3rd at 9:27AM. He weighed 7lbs 14 oz and was 20 1/2 inches. I was having contractions all day Sunday, but never thought it would turn into the real thing until about 3AM Monday morning when I told Bryson that we should probably head to the hospital. Luckily, I have great friends around who are willing to come to my house after I wake them up in the middle of the night (THANKS, CHRISTY!!!!) and watch my kids while we were in the hospital.



So, we got to the hospital about 4AM and here is my before picture, since we hadn't taken one yet:

Benson was born at 9:27AM, the quickest of any of my kids and very smooth and easy. As Lily put it (after hearing Bryson tell the story to someone else), "Two pushes and out popped baby Benson!"

He is a carbon copy of Nathan. I'll have to post some comparison pictures soon.

Bryson with Benson.

Mommy and Benson.

Here is how much he loved being in the carseat, ready to leave the hospital:

We think he is just a cute as they come!

My mom and wonderful sister came down on Monday and ended up taking our other kids home with them for the week! It was sooooooo nice to have some time with just Benson (especially when sleep was rare) and not have other kids around needing my attention all day!

My mom and dad and sisters brought the kids back today and they were very excited to see Benson. Nathan was so concerned about missing time he could be spending with the baby while he was away at grandma's house. but he finally gave in and decided he would go, but only if I stayed in the hospital until he got back. . . It was very sweet.

Nathan is so excited to have a brother. :)

And here is our first attempt at a family picture. It took several tries, lots of pushing and crying to get one this good. . .

So, now on to real life with four kids! Wish me luck!!

Spring? Break

For Spring break, the kids and I hopped in my parents suburban and went down to Utah with them. It was fun to see family, but it wasn't very springy there. . .

We had an indoor Easter egg hunt. Nathan and Lily found the lucky golden eggs. :)

We also had fun coloring eggs. Everyone got to do their own special egg. . .

Here are Nathan and Kayla blowing on the eggs so they will dry faster so they could continue decorating them.

We spent one snowy day at Temple Square and had a great time touring around the Visitor's Center and wherever we could go that was indoors.

Here's our attempt to get a picture of Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandkids!

And me and my sister Jana with our bellies. She is due the day before me. We are 34 1/2 weeks in this picture.


And that's it! Now I can consider my blog updated. Yea!

Just a few new pictures. . .

Life seems to just get busier. I have a few pictures to post of the kids, even though we spent most of February and March at the doctor or the dentist, there were a few happy moments in between it all!





Nathan turned 6 years old on March 7th. Crazy! He plugged his ears every time we sang Happy Birthday to him.



A man in our ward brought us these apricot branches so we could enjoy the "Popcorn Popping" all week long. :)

Me and Lily.

Kayla takes good care of her baby doll and always has a bag of toys that she carries around with her. It is so cute to watch her motherly insticts kicking in already. :)

Silly kiddos.

I was going to have this be in my next post, but I couldn't delete it. We went down to Utah for spring break. Here is Nathan with cousins Daylen and Austin. Nathan and Daylen got along very well, if you can tell. :)

New Location

So, a year ago, Bryson went out on his own and opened his own law firm. In December, he moved offices. The old office was great and a cute house and everything, but, when it came right down to it, it was a really old house that was cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and too expensive. So, he found this new place, just a few blocks away and it has been working out great!







When you walk in, there is an insurance company to the left that he shares the building with. He has the right side of the building. This is the waiting room area with his secretary's desk (he hired her in August and she is fantastic).


Another view of the waiting room.




This is a view taken from back by the couches. The office on the left is Bryson's and he hired another attorney in November and her office is the door on the right.

And here is a look into Bryson's office.

So that's the tour! Bryson has put so much into his firm this past year. He is so good at running the business side of things and is a great attorney. He also loves being his own boss. :) It has been fun to see the business grow and keep on running when we're out of town or something. Things are still in the critical new business stages, but it is looking good and they are all staying very busy.

A Little Bit of Late Christmas

So, in order to move on with life (and blog posts), I feel like I have to post just a tiny bit of Christmas.

We made the trek down to Mesquite, Nevada to be with Bryson's parents and family for this past Christmas. It was so much fun and we enjoyed every minute of it!

Here is Grammy making a gingerbread tree with the grandkids

They also frosted some sugar cookies while they were at it.

On Christmas Eve, Santa come riding on a fire truck down through the streets of Bunkerville. The kids had fun with that! He hands out bags of oranges, candy canes and peanuts to all the kids. It is a fun tradition!

Here are my kids with some of their cousins: Jayden, Jeremy, Cameron and Brandon

Checking out what Santa brought on Christmas morning. . .

After Christmas, we headed up to Utah and spent a few days with my family. We just had to stop and have lunch at Cafe Rio while we were there!

We also spent some time cruising around BYU and then going bowling.

Here are my parents with all their grandkids (so far). We had a lot of fun spending time with everyone!


And there is the extremely abbreviated version of our Christmas!

Round of Christmas Pictures

So, I don't know if I am going to get around to sending out Christmas cards this year. It just has not happened for me this season. But, if I were to send them out. You might get one of these pictures in them. . . for now, just enjoy them on my blog. . .

Silly faces

This is what I get when I ask Nathan to smile. . .

Now there's a nice one. . .

Lily insisted on wearing the crown.

Kayla and her baby: they cannot be separated.

Daddy and the kids.

Mommy and the kids.

Too bad there wasn't anyone around to take a family shot for us. These were taken right before church, when everyone is looking their best. :) Merry Christmas!!!

Gingerbread House

We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year, which was a lot of fun. The kids LOVE visiting Grandma and Grandpa (and Lori and Kara). One thing they did while we were there was make a gingerbread house with Grandma. As you can see. . . they really enjoyed it!!