Batter Up

(Smiling at Daddy before his first "hit")

Braden had his first Tball game this weekend and OH.MY.LORD. was it the cutest thing ever! The kids on his team all run like little ants to the ball (mostly in competition to see who can get it first) and then slide just to get their pants dirty.

It was really sweet to hear Travis come home from buying Braden's cleats to tell me about "I remember my first baseball game..."

Braden is SUPER excited about getting to play this year "real baseball" and has been stoked ever since he was given his uniform. I had to peel it off him!!!

(Travis and I laugh at the kid doing the cartwheels during the game... bahaha)

Rylan loves watching Braden play but doesn't get yet that he's not allowed in the duggout with the other "big kids". BUT lucky for him Daddy makes sure to warm up with him before the game so he feels included.

We also finally finished the nursery - just in the nick of time!!! Here's a picture of all Trav's hardwork. He took my scribbles of a design and made it exactly as I asked... go babe! Have a FEW more things to do so it's perfect (repaint the top color eventually, add lights to the murphy bed and cabinets and I need to add some more fabric to the valance) but it's good to go for now.

(sorry the picture may look a little weird cuz we spliced 3 photos into 1 to make it panoramic)

NEXT UP - BABY TIME! He'll be here sometime this week!!! YAYAYAYAYAYA!

Missing Teeth & Legoman

This post is really overdue! So sorry but with me being near the end of my pregnancy there doesn't seem to be enough time or energy at the end of the day. I am actually writing this at 4:10am as I CAN'T SLEEP! Eventhough EVERYTHING within me wants to... my body just won't. This makes me very sad. And very very tired.

So to catch up on the last few weeks! Just to make it fun, we'll start backwards with last night.

Last night was Halloween and the kids have been picking their costumes from my newspaper ads for the last month - I am not exaggerating this time. Seriously - they carry the papers with them until they are falling apart. So around the 20th of the month, I went to good ole' Walmart and rustled up the last Darth Vader (in a medium - because my boy Braden has gone through a recent growth spurt) and a small IRONMAN for Rylan. You would have thought I was Ironman when I came home with those costumes - Rylan especially was so excited. In his "high little voice" he said " you got me my costume momma?" (with his little hands clasped together) "thank you!!!!". After that point, he wore that costume day and night for THREE DAYS STRAIGHT before I could get it off his tiny little body to wash it. Every time we meet or see someone he doesn't know, for that matter, he would proudly telling them that he was Ironman and Braden was Darth Vader. Which usually resulted in me having to explain because some people just don't speak or follow three year old lingo...

Travis being the coolest dad EVER created his costume this year and well.... Let me just show you because there are no words to describe his creative abilities.

My children LITERALLY chant "who's the best daddy ever?" and then simulanteously will shout "he is!!!" and point at Trav. CUTEST THING EVER. LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Last night our poor kids trick or treating was stretched out to a TWO HOUR event because everyone in the neighborhood had to stop and take pictures with LEGOMAN. Some of the phrases I heard over the evening was "that's totally the best costume ever", "dude, check out the Lego-cop", "that's the best costume I have seen in FIVE YEARS" (not six mind you, just five).

One lady thought Travis was a kid - I am laughing as I am typing this - and asked why he didn't want some candy!!! WHAHAHAHA. I then had to explain it was my husband! BAHAHA. He couldn't see very well and took out one of our neighborhood children with his styrofoam hand to which I heard him call to me in a panic, "Hun, I think I just hit a child". No child was hurt or even phased for that matter but it was completely hilarious. I WISH YOU COULD HAVE  BEEN THERE! Rylan towards the end of the night was saying "Mommy, can we PUH-LEZ go home now? My legs are weally weally tired". They had VERY full treat bags and were on a sugar high for the rest of the evening.

Last weekend was super fun and filled with so many good things - we had my baby shower that my bestie Steph threw for me. It was adorable. I am so excited to post pics once I get them from her... Christian is going to be one spoiled little man for sure :)

We also went to the traditional pumpkin patch again this year. I can't get over how big the boys are getting. They had a blast - here's some pics of the day.

 And the week prior to that our biggest announcement is that Braden Matthew Palmer FINALLY lost his first tooth on October 14th at 4:30 pm! Rylan did NOT like this. He absolutely WIGGED OUT seeing Braden's missing tooth. Braden and I had a good laugh about this for awhile. He was super excited to see what the toothfairy was going to bring him that night and I must say, we have the coolest toothfairy that comes to our house. She managed to have a $2 dollar bill handy for the special occasion. In the morning, when I asked Braden about his special dollar - that he wanted to use to buy lunch at school with... - he announced that John McCain was on the dollar. I laughed about this all day long.

He's so funny. I lub him.

Oldies but goodies...

Rylan & Daddy Time

Chunky Chunk

Funniest Home Videos

Found these on our computer and thought I would share :)

Five minutes later....

Fourth of July Fun

New Creation

Travis and I have been attending a new church recently and it has been really really inspiring for both of us. For the last five years we've been attending a church near our home which was a great starting place for Travis in his new faith but over the last few months we've been feeling like it was time for something deeper and little more challenging for our faith.

We started attending Palm Valley Church and it's been really awesome to not only leave feeling like we've learned and grown during the service but to also get the opportunity to spend some time with our close friends who also attend there. The kids LOVE the children's ministry and Rylan has the coolest way to get into his class... they have a slide so the kids can "slide into church". EVERY weekend he asks if we're going to "the slide church?". ADORABLE.

Pastor Greg has recently began a new series called "All That I Am" and is really challenging the church to live out the life that God has planned for us. Two weekends ago he was discussing baptism and how many churches have many different doctrinal beliefs on when someone should be baptized. For example, I was raised in a Lutheran Church and was (like most people) baptized as a baby. After looking through Travis' bible I realized that last month it was five years ago that he first became a believer. Can you believe it?! After the service Travis really felt called to be baptized now as a believer and thought this would be the perfect way to commemorate this special year. This last weekend he had the opportunity to do so and it was such an AWESOME experience.

Our friends, his parents, my mom, Braden and I and the rest of the church were able to watch him be baptized and there wasn't a dry eye left in the house!

***Especially for this pregnant lady who cries at the sight of cookies***

I must say that I am so proud of this man and the journey that God has lead him on over the last five years. Anytime that I am feeling alone or that God isn't hearing my heart, I remember how I prayed for this man - before we ever dated - that his heart would be touched and that God would use him.

It's really awesome looking back through all the pain and the heartaches, all the laughter and the tears, all the troubles and all the praises that God has changed his life completely and made good on His promise just as Romans 8:28 says.

He's brought Travis to a place where he's able to touch the lives of those around him with God's grace and salvation and made him into a man that couldn't be a better leader for our home, loving husband or amazing father.

I love you Trav and am so excited for all that is in store for you and us as a family in the years to come...

Travis & Pastor Greg (on the right)

Papa and silly Braden

Ry Ry

I have a confession...

I am SCARED!

Very very afraid.

Why you ask? Because my children say they are hungry...Or in Rylan's words "I'n still hoongry momma". Now before you start sending me care packages, let me explain...

I have recently come to the conclusion that these boys MUST be going through a growth spurt. They will eat and eat and eat all their breakfast, lunch and dinner AND snacks and after each adult sized meal will still say "Mom, I'm hungry".

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?!?!

And further more.... WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WHEN THEY ARE TEENAGERS! AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

AND WE HAVE THREE!!!! Sweating bullets over here!!! May be bald or gray or both soon!

Thankfully, I have discovered the adventure of Couponsense which is really like a gambling or crack addiction for my grocery shopping habit. I have always loved grocery shopping - totally weird, I know - but NOW, oh my lawd is it fun now. I am saving so much money its laughable AND the amount of free stuff that we get with our coupons it is (as one of my previous angry tenants said) "REDICULOUS"! Travis is fully stocked on name brand deodorant for a YEAR that we got for FREE. Some of the free stuff I have gotten over the last few weeks include: Colgate Toothpaste, Tuna, Sunny D, Energy Bars, Gum, Deodorant, Toilet Paper, Mashed Potatoes, Dish Soap and more...

If you have not heard about this wonderful little tool, talk to me. You will forever be changed. In fact, many of the people (mostly moms from what I've seen) won't pay more than $.49 to $1.00 for many of their grocery items. I LOVE IT!

Travis is just as in love as well. If you know my husband, then you know what I am talking about. How when he gets excited about something - the world MUST KNOW. If you don't know my hubs, then let me shed a little light on him and his goofiness. To put it in a nutshell he has been banished from using the phrase "lets go rob the store!" in front of our children because I was sincerely fearful that our kids would repeat that phrase while on one of our shopping trips. I, for one, have never had a rap sheet and am not about to start one over purchasing our milk and eggs. It's become like a game or entertainment for our family.

The boys - especially Braden - have however begun to learn the importance of being a wise steward of your money and how if you spend less on groceries then you save money for more important things. It's really cute to hear Braden ask "Mom, how much did you save this time?" He gets really excited - super adorable. Makes me feel like a superstar :)

So with that said, pray for us me as we may be eaten out of house and home when these boys are a bit older. But with a little grace and Couponsense stocking my pantry hopefully we'll be able to manage the damage.

Christian Taylor Palmer

We got to see what Christian's going to look like and once again confirmed, that yes, he is still a boy - LOL. He's super cute looks EXACTLY like Rylan. He is already getting chubby and is weighing just over 3 lbs.

He was snoozing for the entire appointment and it was pretty cute to see him sleep just like daddy. Travis is thinking he's going to have dark hair but I am fairly certain he's gonna be a blondie...

Christian is going to be here the week of November 8th - 12th and we're all really excited to meet him. It was really cute at the appointment to hear Rylan ask to see his "heart".

Four years and a whole bunch of legos later...

Trav and I decided to spend our anniversary this year in Legoland with the boys. Braden was totally stoked to get to do this for his 6th birthday this year. And looking through the pictures from our trip, it's really amazing how fast time flies and how big the kids have gotten. My belly is growing and Christian is such an active little baby!

Rylan wasn't feeling too well at the beginning of our trip but seemed to perk up at the site of Legoland.

We even were blessed with my Aunt Nancy offering to watch the boys for the evening so we could have some alone time for an anniversary dinner. All day Saturday was spent at Legoland - here are some of the pics....

The rest of the trip was spent at the beach and Travis refused to wear sunscreen which has left him with a nice shade of pink on the front of his chest. He and I laughed the whole way through Dateland about "date shakes" and I am still smiling about some of his comments. The weather was wonderful and we decided that  some how, some way we would like to live there... we'll see ;)

Birthday Time

It was Braden's birthday today and he's officially 6 years old! We started our celebration on Saturday with a birthday party with all his friends and family invited.

This year, Braden chose a sports themed party so I made him some cupcakes that matched. They turned out pretty cute I think!

I made a buttercream frosting and colored it for most of them - the football ones were the easiest as I used coconut shavings that I colored green and rolled in the frosting... Most of them were eaten by the end of the party so I think it came out pretty well!

This morning, in keeping with family tradition, I decorated Braden's door - he slept in Rylan's room last night so to be technical, it was really Rylan's door BUT ANYWAY!

We then had Braden's choice of meals for the entire day which quickly became:

Breakfast

Cinnamon Rolls & Fruit

Lunch

PB & J with veggies and dip

and finally when you give a six year old the option to choose their dinnner...

Dinner

ICECREAM

Yes, I did allow icecream for dinner. We figured #1 the memories are what matter most, #2 they had their vitamins and #3 it's only once a year :)

Since it was hella hot here in AZ today we took a much needed trip to the community pool. Braden rode the water slide about 50+ times and Rylan was busy trying to keep his bathsuit up the whole time... It's a size too small but his little butt crack keeps slipping out!!!

I have to say, I was a pretty cool day. Next weekend, we have Legoland and California to look forward too (our anniversary and Braden's bday present this year!) Can't wait!!!

Laughing at Life

So I am officially a "work at home mom" and I must say. I LOVE IT!It is super super super nice to get to be with the kids all day and have time to spend with them, time to plan meals and fit work in between.

Rylan has been growing and changing at record speed - his vocabulary is adorable and keeps us laughing. And at this very moment he is expressing himself vocally in a way that only few should hear... or Mom may not be able to hear after today... He has a new "girlfriend", Hannah, who he ADORES! Aww so cute together are they... Rylan is getting ready to start tball in a few weeks and Trav and I are sure he's going to be a rockstar at it.

Some of Rylan's funny sayings are:

"I promise" follows every sentence when he wants me to take him seriously

"I don't wanna change the babies diapers - it gross" We were talking about him being a big helper when the
baby comes...

"Mommy, I am wifphering" aka whispering.. the kids have been trained when I am on the phone to use this handy tool.

"Mommy, Charlie's people gave him a haircut". We unfortunately had to part ways with our beloved Charlie after too many holes in the backyard, ruined plants, jumps on the kids, etc. He went to a nice family but when Rylan saw a yellow lab he instantly thought that Charlie was coming home for a visit and was sporting a new do! So cute and hilarious!

Braden is rocking a new buzz cut for the summer and has had many playdates with friends and recently went to Vacation Bible School. They gave all the kids a CD that we have the blessing of listening to 100 times daily!!! It's wonderful. He still has a loose tooth that he's been working on and hopefully we'll get our first visit from the toothfairy sometime this summer... No girlfriends for Braden - they are "gross". He is crossing his fingers and toes that we can visit Legoland for his birthday and we're trying really hard to make that happen.

One of Braden's funny sayings is:
"If you drink your orange juice, it helps you play the wii better" Speechless - I was speechless.

I have begun a new adventure... COUPONS!

I have started doing this to help with saving $$$$$$$$$ around here and clip coupons and purchase ONLY things that are on sale. We don't really eat frozen/processed foods anyway - which are a huge waste of money and I've worked on stocking up the pantry with my good finds. This way, if we are tight on budget for a month, meals won't be scrimped. When meats are on sale, I stock up. When berries are in season, we have lots to go around. So far in the last 3 weeks of doing this I have nearly every trip to the grocery store saved more than I've spent. There was only one visit that I had an "overage" of $3.00 more spent than saved. Not bad right?!

Now if I could only do something about the 113 degree weather that is KILLING my husband...

My three sons

Today was the big day and we're having a BOY!!!! God must think we're doing a great job raising these little men, that he decided to give us another. Here are some pics from our appointment!

He was embarrassed and was hiding his privates from daddy!!! Travis was SO anxious to know that he kept bugging the tech to hurry up and look :)

Here's his profile - so cute to see all his teeth buds forming!!!

These are his little feet and toes!!! So little!

The 3D of his profile. He's my wittle wittle boy!

And just to be sure.... yes, he's definately a boy....

So excited! Now we can start getting his room ready and the biggest decision of all is whether his name will be Brody Palmer or Christian Palmer... YAY!!! Can't wait to meet our little man!

Quickie Camping

The one thing that Travis and I have completely mastered is the art of a quick camping trip. It is actually quite hilarious how we can have an entire camping trip accomplished in LESS than 24 hours. Yes, I did say LESS than 24 hours.

This past weekend, we decided to head up to Prescott to camp and get out of this hot Surprise AZ heat! Little did we know that the heat decided to follow us and we were left setting up camp in 90 degree weather with (despite the pine trees) very little shade. It was really really hot!

While I know that most "outdoorsey people" are probably scoffing at the fact we aren't hardly camping, I have decided that quick trips are the BEST ever. Here's why:

#1) You don't have to pack TONS of food and worry about it staying cold because you'll never need more than 2 bags of ice!

#2) You don't get too stinky because you just showered the morning before

#3) Packing clothing is a super easy affair because you only need one pair of everything

#4) Cleaning up after the trip - ex: doing laundry - is super fast! One load and you're done!!!

#5) Everyone leaves happy and semi relaxed

Rylan and Braden are continuing to grow at record speed. This week Braden is attending vacation bible school and LOVES it. I am carpooling for one of the mom's from Braden's kinder class and it's really cute to hear Braden's friend refer to me as "Mrs. Palmer" when I pick him up and drop him off. Love it. It's absolutely adorable. Rylan continues to crack us up. He told me yesterday that he wanted to watch "that movie because it is awesome". His tiny voice still melts my heart. He's just like daddy and tonight at dinner INSISTED that he would not eat the fish I had made but once he heard he would not be sharing in the cake that was made for dessert, he quickly licked his plate clean. He did make sure to tell me that the rice we had as well was "weally good mama". When we asked him if he liked his cake, he grunted. Oh my - he's a Palmer for sure...

Each night the boys kiss "the baby" goodnight and will talk to my tummy because I told them that the baby can hear them. Rylan also thinks it is "gross" that he was naked when he was born - so ironic as he is naked walking through the living room as I write this.... Silly boy...

Braden loves math and we've been doing school lessons each day since he's home on summer break. It's been really nice being home all day with the kids - I am really enjoying this new schedule!

Monday is our next appointment and we should have confirmation then on the sex of the newest Palmer!!! Keep you posted!

Raising little men

I love these boys... I know I am slightly biased but they are the most adorable kids EVER. Seriously. I can't get enough. Here are some of our most recent pics...

Braden had family reading night at school where the kids got to come in the evening in their pj's and have milk and cookies while being read stories by people in the community with "special jobs". Of course, Mommy volunteered Daddy... and the boys LOVED it! Super fun!

Mommy just loves this man in uniform... almost as much as green eggs and ham :)

The night that Daddy found out Mommy was expecting a baby he made a beautiful dinner...

That was all pink with hopes of wishful thinking for a girl (or boy... err mostly girl). We'll see!

One day Rylan got a hold of the camera and decided to take some photos of himself

and oranges?!?!! Wasn't even mad, more impressed that he took a good picture for being 2 years old!

Daddy & Rylan went to a spring training game (Mommy was at work and Braden was in school). It was a good time for them together!