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!