Sibling love

The last two weeks Taylor has really started to play more with Landon. She'll race with him and wrestle with him. Landon is in heaven to finally have someone to wrestle with. And I'm in heaven to finally have some of my own space. I actually sit and watch them for most of the time. It's pretty amusing.

I love this winter!!!!

I finally know why Erin feels so sentimental for his winters in Ottawa. SNOW!!! I must admit that plain ol' cold and blustery winters are really not top on my list. But add snow and crazy storms and I'm as giddy with excitement as the kids are. I mean, I still get up in the middle of the night not only to feed babies but to look outside to see if it's snowing yet. Here's some pics of Erin running home from the train in an ice storm and one of our many snow hikes.

This is a small lake frozen over..


and Erin and Landon walking out on it to see if it was frozen through.
Is that safe? They came back alive.


Taylor is good for about an hour. On this particular outing, we
ended up staying out for about two. Needless to say, they
were both crying when we got home as their fingers de-thawed.
Is this considered abuse?

X

Audra--5 months

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Christmas 2009

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You asked for it

Dearest sister Erin and Mother,
You've asked me to update my blog for over a month now. So I've done what you requested. However, once I started I couldn't stop. So, you'll have to look at "older posts" to get all the updates. This post makes 9 posts in one evening. I hope this leaves you all warm and fuzzy inside.

Love,
Your most favorite sister/daugter in the world

I've been waiting 4 years!!!!

Finally, after much anticipation, Boston got a solid snow storm. For three grueling winters I've waited. And yes, now, finally, I am
at peace.

The worlds greatest friends

To start our Christmas holiday, we were going to go to New York City to spend time with our good friends. Just as we were going to leave, our windshield wipers stopped working. So, with no other choice, we called our friends with the bad news. Minutes later, they called and said if we can't see them, they'll come to us. Yay!!! Here's a few pics of our time together. Thanks for coming guys!!!

O Christmas Tree...

Wrapping Paper Cars

Landon is sitting on his skateboard here and decided to
"drive" his car down our inclined driveway. He's a
pretty safe driver and applied the brakes (ie his feet)
just before entering traffic.

Thanksgiving 2008:
-Annual Turkey Bowl
-Orange Rolls
-Good friends: Stangers and Louks
-Taylor in Heaven with all of Juliet's girlie things
-Landon and "the boys"
-Audra falling asleep in my arms
-Best turkey of all time
-Best family of all time

Audra--4 months old

(I'll use this one for her senior picture)

The Three Amigos

Confetti Blower Thingy--Invention #946

One Sunday afternoon, Erin, Taylor, Audra and myself were busy napping, while Lando was busy inventing. I woke up and found him ripping up wrapping paper into little bits and stuffing them into a baggie. Later that evening we had company for dinner and very quietly he had brought up this air blower toy that normally blows balls out the top when you push the red button. Instead he says "Hey guys! Check this out!" We look over just as he pushes the button and all his ripped up wrapping paper shoots into the air while he screams "Celebration! Celebration! Celebration!" Taylor thought it was the coolest thing. For those of you who want to sleep-in in the morning and have a broken TV, give your kids this toy with ripped up pieces of paper. For a few weeks the kids didn't even come into my bedroom in the morning. They headed straight for the confetti blower thingy and were occupied for hours!

Little Explorer

Landon is my little explorer. Some day he and I will hike to the top of Rainer. I could've said Everest, but let's be realistic. Anyway, there are huge rock cliffs all around our place and he'd climb every one if I let him. He told me the other day that while he and Erin were out, He climbed to the peak of the tallest snow pile in the K-Mart parking lot. And those mounds are tall! He was especially excited to tell me how he slid all the way down it on his belly. The chinese woman watching him said she was more scared watching him than he seemed to be, "Good job little boy!" So, our little apartment backs up to a fence surrounding a steep hillside with huge boulders. At the bottom of the hill is a forest. This is Landon with a bag to collect "lost things" and a backpack with the cordless phone in it. Just in case he needs to call me while he's out on his own. Oh, keep your panties on--I didn't let him go that far into the woods. And, did I mention he is really good at climbing fences too?

Graduation

No, I'm not referring to Erin's. Today, Taylor officially graduated from potty training. I was in the shower and she was happily playing with my make-up brushes and buttons, but when I got out she wasn't there. Then I heard it. "Mo-oooooooooooooom!!! POO-POO!!! POTTY!!!!" So I ran to the other bathroom (yes, in the nude) and there was my sweet little 2 year old on the potty with nice sized you know what in the toilet. Oh, what a proud moment for us both. She did everything all by herself--I, of course, did the wiping after that one. The next hour she tried to do everything by herself and literally strutted around almost on tip toes trying to be bigger. Isn't it the best when they know they've succeeded and are so proud of themselves? Happy Graduation Taylor!!!!

Family Pictures

My good friend took these beautiful pictures for us while 9 months pregnant with number three. At the same time she was busy taking and editing hundreds of other family's pictures. She's amazing. THANK YOU so much for these wonderful pictures!!!

Boot Camp

It's been two weeks now since Taylor went to boot camp--potty training boot camp, that is. After the first day, she was pro at going #1. I thought "My child is a natural!!!" However, she's not so natural at going numero dos. It's been a couple of days since she had an accident so horrible it led me to almost burning her cinderella undies (although, they are now in some land fill somewhere). But as disgusting as accidents are, Taylor couldn't be cuter. She says "sorry" if she soils (great word, eh?) her pretty panties and does the poo poo dance if she makes it. She struts her stuff and is feeling very much like a big girl. Once she masters numero dos, she will be a full fledged underwear wearer and graduate of potty training boot camp 2008. Way to go TAYLOR!!!!

Good thing she's wearing a swimming bubble. She's very safe.

Audra--3 months old

Usually when I'm at the gym I focus on becoming a body builder, but recently all I can think about is Audra. I think I have a problem. Yes, it sounds very strange, but I literally am in love with her.

Halloween, the never ending holiday

Halloween may have come and gone for some, but here at the Palmer place, Halloween is still going strong. The pumpkin buckets are constantly being raided for candy. Then there's sorting and counting the candy that is left. And "Mom! Just one more piece of candy? Puh-leeeeaaase!!!??" I finally told Landon tonight that this week we are having a candy party. We are going to sit down and eat ALL of the candy. Yes, all of it. All 82 1/2 pieces. He was very upset with this plan. He said "No!!! I don't want to eat my candy!!! I'll get sick!!! I'll get a stomach ache!!! I'll get cavities!!! I'll die!!!" Literally, almost in tears because I wanted to have a candy party. Hey, I thought it was a brilliant idea.

And of course "the costume." The halloween costume will not be "stored" away until it either rips so badly you can't tell exactly what it is, or until next Halloween. Landon wanted to be the "evil" spiderman this year. He's really a good kid, and maybe that's why he wanted it. An excuse to be bad. He kind of does act more evil when he wears it. Maybe I should accidently pull that thread hanging from the cuff--a little too hard.

I love kids (most of the time)

I really, really, really, adore my children. They're funny and smart and imaginative, and I love to be around them. They bring a lot of happiness to my life. This particular day, however, I did not have such loving feelings. Last week I decided to work on photography while taking my children on a nature walk. I am to blame for failing in this endeavor. I didn't pack snacks, it was close to dinner time, the trail was longer than expected, Taylor hadn't had a nap and I really was focused on taking pictures. Needless to say, it wasn't the most enjoyable nature walk. Lesson learned: Never try to get in "me" time while trying to entertain children--especially close to dinner time.