♥Our Little Palmer Clan♥: January 2, 2011

Happy 2011!

I hope everyone has a fantabulous 2011! I hope to make dreams come true this year!

"Goals are dreams with deadlines" ~Diana Scharf Hunt

Mike and I were pretty low key this NYE. We had a dinner fit for a queen & king. We had a spinach salad, prime rib, king crab legs, asparagus, and red potatoes. For dessert I made fresh lemon bars and some peanut butter balls...can you say FOOD COMA? Its was so yummy! We put the kids to bed and enjoyed some Newcastle in that new mini keg thing. I think we stayed up until 3 am playing the Nintendo Wii and watching old 70's music documentaries, oh how times have changed. With that being said, that's all I need these days. The company of my wonderful husband as our healthy children lay asleep in their bedrooms! Happy Happy!

Beware...parents to be...be very ware~

I wasn't sure if this was an "appropriate" blog, but I feel the need to share. I did not go through this with my first born. This just goes to show each child is different in their own way! This is by far the WORST stage I have EVER gone through with my children! It started around 18 months old with Taylor...I would put her down for a nap and then I'd hear her tinkering around (which is not normal, normally she just falls out). I went in to check on her and found a turd shower, literally. There was poop everywhere. All over her head, body, nails, the crib, bedding, each rail, it was AWFUL. I think I may have shed a few tears feeling sorry for myself. It was a million times worse than the picture even reveals.

I was shocked...shocked that she knows how to strip her clothes off and shocked because this is a very good indicator that she is ready to potty train. What does one do in this situation:

1. Run bath water and throw her in

2. Strip down every article of bedding

3. Wash it on the "sanitize" setting

4. Wash the entire crib with bleach and Pine Sol

Why do I explain what I did...just in case this happens to you.

Also, she is now almost 23 months old and this stage has not passed. I am forced to put her down for a nap with her footsie jammies on backward so the zipper is behind her. It's so sad, it is like she is in a straight jacket. Pajama's on backwards is just fine after going through the above process more than 5 times....hence....

POTTY TRAINING

This is so different than potty training a boy. You would think I'd have it down being that I am female. It is so different. I am learning as I go. Nate was potty trained in the warmer months, so we were always outside and lets just say...it's a blessing to have the luxury of peeing standing up. She is really good about telling me, but no #2 in the potty yet. Wish me luck~

Santa came, he saw, he conquered...

I can't believe I forgot to put the Santa photos in the previous blog...these are usually everyones favorite as someone usually cries!! Nate is over the crying bit. He knows that Santa is ALL GOOD now! It was so cute, this was the first year that Nathan told Santa everything that he wanted for Christmas. I wonder if Santa thought this kid is nuts because he just kept going on and on. I had to make him stop or else we would have been there all day! Now Taylor thats another story. It was different than how Nathan was when he would scream over Santa. Taylor was more like "Um this weird old man is holding me and I've had enough please get me mom." It wasn't so much like Nate's deathly shrieks in the previous Santa visits...we'll see what happens next year!

Christmas is here!!

Nate's favorite Christmas song---Santa Clause is coming to Town!

Nate driving Grandpa's boat!

Taylor liked the tubs that the Christmas stuff is stored in!

This picture cracks me up...I was raised eating Béarnaise. We would have it with our steaks and broccoli and so of course every time I cook steaks or broccoli we have béarnaise. My kids love it! Well after dinner one night I caught Taylor on the kitchen floor cleaning up the rest of the bearnaise...thats my girl! Don't worry, the pot had been cooled off for quite sometime before she got into it!

Shopping for the PERFECT Christmas tree!!!

Thats love~~~

Nate laughing so hard at Taylor b/c she fell in a mud puddle and got her butt all muddy...

Ta-da Nate found it!

SNOW DAY

Poor Nate had no snow pants, but we improvised!

All Taylor wanted to do was eat the snow.

Skidbood all tuckered out after a long day of running in the snow!

I love the Judds!

When I was a little girl I used to sing the song "Grandpa" like I was Wynonna. It was the very first cassette my parents bought for me. I could not wait to tell my dad when I heard that they were coming to Sac for their last encore!! We went and had a BLAST!! My sister Amy came just to have something to do that night...not so sure how into the Judd's she was either way we had so much fun!!

Nate had his cousin Alex over for a sleep over (while school is out)!

They played Wii and then we went on a walk to look at all the Christmas lights in our neighborhood! I love Christmas time so much!!

I was sad this year because we couldn't put any gifts under our tree. Taylor thought it was okay to open them, maybe next year! The tree looked sad without wrapped presents.

Let's talk about Christmas traditions-

Christmas eve is a really big deal for my family. When I was young we never went anywhere for Christmas eve or Christmas day. Everyone came to us. On Christmas eve we were allowed to open 1 or 2 gifts and then the rest the next morning. As we got older we ended up opening everything on Christmas eve and then my parents would save the "BIG" gift for the next morning.

Now that we are grown up and have our own families...we go up to Amy's house because it is the biggest to fit all of our ginormous family! This has worked out good for me that I haven't missed out on my families big night! The next day Mike, the kids, and I head up to Marysville to spend Christmas at Mike's grandparents with his side of the family! It is a lot of work getting the kids all packed up and then running them all around. I should get easier the older they get and the less stuff we'll have to bring everywhere. I love that we get to spend time with both of our families after all what is Christmas without sharing it with your family?!

Christmas Eve~

Nate & his cousins