Four Months

It's unreal to me, but Audrey is four months old. We went to her four month check up today and she is growing like a weed. She is 14 pounds and 25.5 inches long. She is 75th percentile in weight and 85th in height. I am always so glad to see that she is growing so well and is healthy. Audrey is getting to be such a mellow and sweet baby. She has such a calm temperament and laughs all the time. She rolls over from her belly to back easily and has even rolled from her back to her belly a couple of times. I am afraid I'm going to have a mover. She is starting to enjoy toys, but mostly loves to look around and lay on the ground. We have enjoyed her so much and even last night as I was getting her ready for a bath she was laughing so hard that Bryan and I were also laughing out loud. She always brings a smile to my face.

Just because I think it's interesting...this is Julia when she was four months. I honestly think that they look NOTHING alike but I get mixed reviews from others. Obviously there are some similarities, but I think there are more differences. Either way, I think they are both pretty darn cute.


This is something Audrey has really been enjoying lately. Toe jam anyone?

I have always heard that older siblings make the baby laugh more than anyone else, but I had my doubts. It seemed like Julia was really good at getting right into Audrey's face, and scaring her frequently, but just recently that has changed. When Julia talks to Audrey she gets a big smile and sometimes Julia can even make her laugh. When I was driving the other day Audrey was crying and Julia was holding her hand saying, "It's alright Audrey Jane, I'm here, It's okay." I think that they are going to be good little friends or Audrey will be driven crazy by her second mother. I'm hoping for the friends.
Here is a video of Julia making Audrey laugh and squeal. You can see the love for Audrey that Julia has. I just hope Audrey always loves her sister this much. I just love my girls, they make me laugh all the time.

Getting All Caught Up

I know you may be wondering with my daily blog posting how I could have fallen behind, but there has been much going on! First up is the official start of Buckeye Football. We were out of town for the first two games, but of course we documented the disappointing slaughter that was USC. Oh, well, we still love our Buckeyes and we must always dress for the occasion.

Love how the girls are looking at the camera.
Since mom and dad had a hat, Julia needed one as well. It only lasted for about as long as it took to take this picture. VERY short attention span, let me tell you.
Moving on...Julia attended her first birthday party. It was to her delight that it was a princess party. She was so excited and had such a great time. We actually didn't have a crown but we rigged one of Audrey's headbands to make a beautiful princess flower. It only took me ten minutes to convince her the flower is just as good as a crown.
Such a beautiful princess.
We also had our first day of preschool this week. I CANNOT believe I am old enough to have a child that is in preschool. I honestly had a difficult time sleeping the night before because I was nervous/excited for her! She goes to Miss Raquel's house and is really enjoying it.
They studied the letter B and made bugs in a jar. Julia was actually pretty good at recapping the day's events. She was quick to let me know that they had pretzels for a snack.

Audrey is getting stronger and bigger by the day. She is becoming such an easy going baby and sometimes I forget she's even there. It has been nice to have Julia go to preschool for a little bit so Audrey and I can spend a little time just the two of us.
Here's a video of Julia right before her princess party. She was being too shy to do much, but I grabbed a bit anyways and decided to post it. She has some cousins that enjoy watching videos of her since they don't get to see her very often.

Some Other Random Stuff

While visiting family we attended a funeral and the burial was at the cemetary where many of my ancestors were buried. My mom's name is Julie and her grandmother was named Julia, hence my Julia. We took a picture of Julia by her great great grandmother's grave so she would know the reason for her name. My mom tells me that everyone loved Grandma Eldredge and I am proud that Julia has such an honorable name sake.

While visiting I was also able to see one of my very best friends Whitney and her two adorable kids. Our kids match up almost perfectly, so someday when we live closer together they will have great playmates. Whitney and her family have been more like family to us and we love them so much. We also loved seeing her dad Ken-who is much more like Uncle Ken. This is Audrey and little Claire. Claire is two months older but Audrey outweighed her when she was only two months old. She is such a petite cute little thing.
Julia and Ben. Julia was a little tired at this point of the trip and I am ashamed that she wasn't in her best form, but they had a good time none the less. Julia played the guitar (which she kept calling a violin- thank you Little Einsteins) and Ben sang "My Name is Jonas" on the microphone. This game soon turned into running around with a bit of strangling with the guitar but they didn't care. There was a great deal of giggling.
Poor Bryan. We attended a bridal shower for one of my little sister's best friends and they played a game where the bride to be had to feel various men's legs to see which one was her fiance. My sister rounded up all of my brothers, Bryan included, and brought them to the shower. In order to make the game more amusing our friend brought her husband's chicken costume he uses at his car dealership. No one was willing to wear the costume but my good sport Bryan. I do believe anyone would buy a fancy car from this hot chicken. Needless to say the bride did not mistake Bryan for her future husband and thank goodness for that because he is ALL mine.

Pajama Ride and Bear River

On on occasional magical night, when I was a little girl, we would be snuggled up in our bed getting ready to fall asleep when the quiet night would be interrupted by the glorious call, "We're going on a pajama ride!" We would excitedly stumble out of bed and my mom and dad would take us on a run to McDonalds to get an ice cream cone while we were still in our nightgowns. I LOVED it and now the tradition has been carried on to the lucky grand children.


Here is Julia and Papa getting ready to ride. Papa's shirt says, "Grandpa's my name, Spoiling is my game." No words could be so true. My dad also took Julia on a special date with just the two of them. Julia specifically told me that I was not invited. He went and got her a present and took her to the park to throw rocks in the water.
Here is the pajama girl enjoying her ice cream. They make the perfect little kid size that limits the mess. Thanks for the pajama ride Nana and Papa! Hopefully the first of many.
On our adventures in Wyoming we also ventured over to Bear River State Park. This is Julia's favorite rock throwing spot and Nana also introduced her to the art of stick throwing. The best is to throw it on one side of the bridge and watch it come out on the other side.
Rock and stick throwing leads to hours of entertainment.
Audrey was also fascinated with the events.

The smile says it all.

A Visit to Salem

We had a chance to go and visit Bryan's family in Salem. The first order of business was spoiling Julia rotten. She was given a princess piano and some magnetic paper dolls. Thank you Grandma for being so nice to us!

This is Julia and her little cousin Allison. She thought it was big times because Amanda let her hold Allison and put her binky in (this is not something she gets to do alone with Audrey quite yet.) When Amanda asked Julia if she wanted to go and live at her house, Julia was more than happy to oblige.

There were four grandbabies born in the Palmer family within three months. Allison in March, Brynnlyn in April and Audrey and Scott in May. Scott is in Iowa with his parents, but we did get a picture of the three little girls.

One of the highlights for Julia was a trip to Uncle Jason's house where she was quickly transformed into a cowgirl. She is posing with her cousins Dustin and Tanner.
They had a few week old calf that Jason fed a bottle and Julia was able to pet him. I think that at one point she actually gave the baby cow a kiss. Other than the germs and bugs, how can you help yourself when they are so cute and little.
I couldn't believe that Julia actually did this. We tried to take her on a pony ride at the zoo and she freaked out. But she was more than happy to hop on this horse with Dustin and go for a ride. I was so pleased! Jason was wondering what they should name the horse. When Julia was asked she responded, "Pinky Pie!" Though a good suggestion, the horse was named Chief.


Thank you Jason for sharing all your animals with Julia and for turning her into a little cowgirl! She had such a great time.
Every cowgirl needs to finish a ride with a good popcicle. Wooooooo doggie and yeeeehawwww.

Meeks

We have finally returned home after a wonderful trip visiting family and friends. I have so much to post, so I'm going to do a bit at a time to cover all of our fun adventures while we were visiting Wyoming and Utah. Before I do anything, I want to thank all of our family for such a great vacation and for being so great to us and to our girls.

We were so lucky to have Bryan's vacation over Labor Day weekend because that is when my family goes to Meek's Cabin. It is the greatest spot with a large lodge for cooking and socializing and ten smaller cabins. My parents spoiled us rotten by letting us stay in the caretaker cabin that is like a super nice hotel room. It has two bedrooms, a kitchen and has heat. It was pure heaven with the girls. I could put the girls to bed, hook up the moniter and go and enjoy myself. We had such a great time and since it has been five years that we have been able to go, it made it all the sweeter.Here is Bryan with Julia in the lodge. She was dirty from head to toe each night, so you can imagine she had the time of her life.
There were so many fun cousins there for the girls to play with. I didn't get as many pictures of the cousins as I would have liked but I did get this shot of Audrey and little Abe. We had so much fun with the Carlile crew and we are glad that they were able to make it up for some of the time even during the tragic loss of Kristy's husband.
My dad being....well my dad. I wouldn't have him any other way. He keeps us laughing always.
Julia by the beautiful fireplace in the lodge. They have made updates since I was last able to go and the fireplace is so nice.
My sweet Audrey. She was such a good girl the entire time.
My mom with Audrey.
The FEAST. It has become tradition to make this delicious meal we refer to as "the feast." It is corn, sausage, shrimp, carrots and potatoes all boiled together in a crab boil and poured onto table cloths. No silverware or plates needed. You just dig in. It was so yummy. I definitely ate my fair share of shrimp. The crab boil gives it such a yummy flavor.
I think that a diet will be necessary for Bryan and I upon returning home. We ate until we hurt.

There is a pond near the campground that was an immediate favorite of Julia. She loves throwing rocks and feeding the fish. I must say it was also an immediate favorite of...
Bryan's as well. He loves fishing so much and I was so glad he was able to spend the entire day doing it. They have huge fish in this pond and he was also able to go to the river and fish as well.
Julia and her Uncle Adam. Adam was so sweet with her and had Julia wrapped around his finger by the end of the trip. He is going to make the best dad some day.
The play ground. I tell you, pure heaven for this child. I couldn't have picked a happier place for her.
My girls in the sweet cabin we were able to stay in. Thanks mom and dad for the best time! We loved spending time with you and being able to go back to Meeks. It has created memories to last a life time.

For Nate

Growing up as a little girl I had three cousins that were like sisters to me. My older brother affectionately referred to us as the "little craps." We were always playing princesses and "hide the scrunchy" during family parties and I was always so anxious to get to spend any time with them that I possibly could. One of these cousins was my cousin Kristy. I will always remember the girls' trip we took to Las Vegas with her and my Aunt Sue. We laughed, played and certainly had "slots of fun." (As you can see we were also into the inside jokes-Kristy really is a riot.) I remember going to Kristy's wedding and she looked so beautiful and married the nicest guy I have ever known. She has two little boys just right close to my girls that are so adorable and the spitting image of their sweet father. This past week Kristy's sweet husband Nate passed away after a long battle with an unexplained lung cancer. My heart aches for my beloved cousin. It is such a rare thing to see such a wonderful couple that compliments each other so well. It is a rare thing to meet such a wonderful person as kind, giving, funny and easy going as Nate was. I hope Kristy knows how much I love her and how much my heart aches for her as she goes through this overwhelmingly difficult time. I will never forget seeing her come out of the temple on her wedding day with this wonderful man and I am so thankful for the gospel and eternal families. This Christmas in leiu of exchanging gifts between siblings we are making donations to Kristy and her family. If you are ever near a Zion's bank they are accepting donations for an account for Nate Von Niederhausern. Also if you have any inclination for making a donation for a good cause I could think of none better than this. You can also contact me if you want to do anything.

If you are interested you can access his obituary here.