It's Been Awhile...

I just realized it's been a few weeks since I've put anything on this blog.  Time is slipping away from me and it's slipping away fast.  I mean this little babe is going to be six months in a couple of weeks.  Six months!  What the heck!  She's rolling a bit and gets super mad when her arm gets pinned under her giant self.  She is almost sitting up too.  It's funny because I remember Audrey sucking on her little toes at this point of her life.  Poor Lily has too many fat rolls she can't even get her feet to her mouth.  I know she's going to thin out here soon and I'm going to miss those chubby legs so much.  Too cute if you ask me.

 We've had some warm days.  When it's warm Julia and Audrey play in the "backyard."  I am curious to see what their reaction will be when someday we actually do have a backyard that isn't a small patch of grass shared with 10 other town homes.  I am happy that they are so content with our deck and small patch of grass.
On this particular day Julia was pretending she was doing a cooking show.

 When I wandered outside I noticed that in her cooking show she had gathered leaves, rolled them up and pinned them with a pine needle.  Looks like we've got a future culinary genius on our hands!  Bryan and I were impressed by her creativity.

 Audrey was her lovely assistant.

 They spend hours outside.  It's a good thing.  I love having the screen door shut, feeling the cool breeze and listening to them play and play.

 Do you notice the random long hairs on the side of this one's head?  She's lost all of her hair except for a few of these wispy stragglers.  I think she is going to be the blondest of the three.  Some of that hair growing in looks super blonde.

 When Julia is at school I get to hang out with these two.  Pretty lucky if you ask me.

 Oh we love this baby.  I could just stare/squish/kiss/love/maul this little thing all day long.

Easter Festivities

Easter has come and gone. We have had our fill of chocolate eggs and jellybeans. Now for a recap of events.

We had our annual ward Easter egg hunt. Luckily more than two families showed up this year. Unluckily, Audrey freaked out when the hunt started and I had to lug around sleeping 18lb Lily and try to guide Audrey to the eggs. As you would guess she came out with only about four or five. Luckily the Palmer genes passed to Julia and she sprinted her way to a bag full of eggs she was willing to share. Or "kind of" willing to share.

The girls after the hunt. This is such a fun tradition that I will miss next year.
Another tradition I had to keep was coloring the hard-boiled eggs. Julia asked me how I knew they were hard boiled and I told her to crack it on her head like Ramona. She decided that wouldn't be the best idea.

We whipped out the crayons, neon colored egg dye and had a great time of it. I love coloring eggs and seeing what everyone comes up with.
Lily participated by drooling all over her shirt. She was very helpful.
Bryan made an OSU egg and a Michigan stinks egg.
Julia takes all things arts and crafts very seriously.
Audrey just wanted Bryan to do her bidding. Actually, she always just wants Bryan to do her bidding so it really wasn't anything new.
We we also able to make a trip to Cincinnati to hang out with the Gaileys and have yet another Easter egg hunt. The kids all lined up ready to run.
Once again Audrey was weak on the egg collection. I figured it out this time though. She was discriminating against any egg that wasn't pink or purple.
The result of the hunt. The big kids fared pretty well and were very protective of their spoils. Some of the eggs even had quarters in them. Boy oh boy was that an exciting surprise. It may as well have been a thousand dollars to Julia.
Bryan decided to give Lily a try in the swing for the first time. She did not enjoy it. She got the quivers and shakes. Do you think that meant Bryan stopped immediately because it obviously scared her? Nope.
Don't worry. They're still friends. Lily is very forgiving.
Easter morning we had, you guessed it, ANOTHER Easter egg hunt. Luckily the Easter bunny also hid the real eggs outside.
We only cracked one. I thought that was pretty impressive. Outside felt pretty safe. I remember as a kid an easter egg being left on top of the clock. It gave off a stank that I remember very clearly to this day.
We found them all!
And we found the baskets. I also remember as a kid searching ALL DAY for my basket. That dang Easter bunny was obnoxiously tricky at hiding. Luckily this Easter knew better.
The girls also got all fixed up for church and looked very beautiful if you ask me. Lily was in her carseat when I took this picture and of course we were rushing to church so she didn't make the picture. Poor third child.

I had to convince Audrey to get this dress. It looks so cute on her. She is very particular about what she wears. Thankfully I can convince her every once in a while.

Julia was a little stressed at this point. This picture makes me laugh so hard. If any of you truly know Julia, you've seen this pictures a time or two. Sometimes the stress before church is too much to handle.

Whew, and if that wasn't enough we decided to give this little Lily some cereal for the first time. She liked it quite a bit. Julia was my photographer and did a pretty good job.

Thirty Two Years Young

It's been awhile. I've been feeling a little overwhelmed with all that comes with getting things ready to move. I feel like there is always a to do list fifty miles long and yet I swear I often find myself staring at the wall not knowing where to start. Like it or not June is coming and coming fast. So I better get going on that to do list. I am getting tired of that constant nagging in my stomach that something needs to get done.

Anyways...it was unseasonably warm here a week or so ago. I had zero summer clothes for the girls and have packed things in various places that I forget so I had to splurge and get them a few things. Audrey and Lily were matching and it was just too cute. I LOVE how pink Audrey's cheeks get in the warm weather. It means she's playing hard.

I was cooking eggs the other day and I cracked one with a double yolk! I felt like it was definitely photo worthy. Like winning the lottery...or maybe not.

Julia is continuing her obsession with Lily. She loves to pretend to "eat" her tummy, and I will admit it usually gets a few little giggles out of Lily. But after forty five minutes of this Lily and the whole family gets a little annoyed and begs her to stop. Lily took things into her own hands this day and grabbed two handfuls of hair while Julia was on her stomach. As Julia was wailing, "Help! Help!" I of course said, "Just a minute, let me grab the camera and then I'll help you." Just as a good mom should. That Lily grabs hair faster than a ninja. I can tell you this from personal experience.

She looks so innocent.

We're also getting Lily ready for some walking. We say to heck with 12 months, let's see what we can accomplish at 6 months. We have well above average athletes in our home. I mean Julia can already dunk a basketball. Audrey is running a mile in under 5 minutes.

Ooooh I could squish those cheeks.

It was Bryan's birthday and we celebrated in the hospital once again. I mean seriously? Two years in a row that he has to work on his birthday. Cruel if you ask me. I woke up that morning, ran to the store to get a present, made a whole bunch of brownies and got him lunch only to get to the hospital and get a phone call about a showing in two hours. So I dropped them off and ran home, cleaned like a speed demon and headed back to celebrate the birthday. CRAZY day. I was sweating like you can't believe.

Even though they didn't quite make the finals we sure do love our Buckeyes (Ugh that game was a heartbreaker). Of course we've got to stock up on gear before we move. Happy Birthday Bryan! We sure do love you.

Lily joined the birthday festivities as well from the comfort of her car seat.

I just love this picture of her. She is growing up too fast! It kills me!

A typical scene at our home when Bryan returns from work. Not too many guys have as loyal a fan club as he does. Well maybe Justin Beiber, but not many others.