SPRING - oh where oh where can you be?

I have been putting off blogging because I feel like I have no new pictures to put up!  I have all the ones of Jaclyn from Heather, but they have already been seen on facebook and/or Heather's blog.  And I don't want to over do it!  Having said that....I do actually have a few that you haven't seen yet!  She is so funny, I love that Heather caught this face!

  And then there's this one, I just want to kiss her!!!

 And then there is this precious one that is my profile pic on facebook, but I can't get enough of it!

Anyway, I've been really excited for/impatient about the weather getting nice because of the new bike/bike gear we're getting!  All of the Palmers are getting bikes so that we can get out and have fun and exercise all at the same time!!  It's been quite the process trying to decide which bike to get and which trailer to get to lug our kids around in.  It seems that each time one of us goes out and looks at a bike, it's better than the last one we were all excited about.  And it keeps on going!  But finally, I chose one today. I'm pretty pumped!!!!  It rides really nicely!!  Not that I'm a bike expert by any means, but I think I made a pretty good choice!  I'm a little nervous about it.  I haven't ridden a bike since I was a LOT younger...to give you an idea, the last bike I rode had pedal brakes.  You know, when you turn your pedals to the reverse and that was how you braked. I've never actually ridden a bike that had handle brakes.  So it was pretty long ago!!!  I'm also nervous, because the proper fit of a bike doesn't allow me to touch the ground very well while sitting on the seat.  So I have to master the coordination of braking and sliding forward off my seat to properly dismount my bike, all the while trying to maintain a vertical position.  So many new things!!!  But I'm really excited to have a new, fun way to work out!!  And to spend time with my family.  Immediate and extended!!  Oh yeah, this is the bike that I finally went with.  The Specialized Ariel Sport. It's pretty.  :)

Tomorrow night Jaclyn starts swimming lessons with Claire!  I'm so excited!!   I tried her bathing suit on her today and I couldn't get over how cute she looked in it!!  I LOVE having a girl!!  I'm not sure if these lessons will be easier or harder than they were with Jacey.  She can't fight me as much as Jacey can, but she also can't understand me as much as he can.  We'll see!  

Other than that I can't think of anything else that would be of any interest to anybody.  I just bought a new spring coat.  I'm pretty excited about that. :)  Got some new summer clothes.  Haven't had any of those for a few years.  Last summer I had just had Jaclyn and wasn't interested in shopping.  The year before that I was pregnant with Jaclyn and the year before that I was pregnant with Jacey.  So it's been a long time coming and I just can't wait for it to warm up so I can actually wear what I bought.  And ride my bike.  I'm just grateful that I stay home with my kids and so if it snows out, I don't have to leave if I don't want to!  :)  Well I could also attribute that to the fact that I can't leave anyway as I don't have a vehicle.  Anyway, now I'm just blabbering.  :) Sorry to have bored you all!!!  

Baby Model

I am just so excited about these pictures that I can't wait until I get them and post them myself!! So I'm giving you the link to see some of them now. Click here to check them out on Heather's photography blog. After swimming lessons this week, Heather was kind enough to do a one year shoot for Jaclyn. Jaclyn was actually really cooperative and smiled most of the time. Jacey and Nixon had her distracted sometimes, but otherwise she was really good for Heather! The pictures have turned out sooo great and I couldn't be happier!! Thank you Heather for being so willing to share your talents with us!!!! We are SOO grateful!

Happy 1st Birthday Jaclyn!!

There are so many more pictures I want to post and will, but I had to get some of these on here right away!! We celebrated Jaclyn's first birthday a day early with the Palmers and a delicious DQ ice cream cake! Jaclyn enjoyed it and had fun opening her gifts and watching her brother and cousins play with them! She's such a good sharer....but does she really have a choice? :) I can't believe Jaclyn is ONE!!! It hit me when she officially started walking 2 days ago. All in one day, she decided she was going to be done with crawling and walked everywhere!! It is so cute to watch and I can't believe how steady she is! She only has 3 words down...dada, hacey (jacey) and mumumumum (and that's only when she's crying and needs me). She makes the cutest sounds and has the biggest grin! She's a complete flirt with her big eyes and long lashes! We are so in love with her and feel soo blessed to have her in our family! She's such a snuggler and loves to be in our arms. At the same time, she loves exploring and is happiest when she is wherever Jacey is. She plays shy with most people, but has a definite love for a few other people besides her mom, dad and brother. She knows who she trusts! She is the best eater a mother could have, eating anything and everything I give her! She out eats Jacey at every meal! She naps and goes to bed perfectly! She is still waking up every night at least once or twice, but goes back to sleep in seconds when I nurse her. Which I need to stop, but for now I'm too in love with sleep! She still nurses 3 times a day, showing no interest in bottles or sippy cups. I always told myself I'd never have a child over 1 who nursed and here I am with one!! That's gotta end soon! Anyway, those are some of the things about Jaclyn that I wanted to document for her first birthday! We're contemplating having further tests done to see the nature of her possible cyst in her lung. It may or may not still be there, and since she has shown no symptoms of one, we don't know if we should put her through a CT scan and accompanying radiation exposure, just to make sure. The peace of mind would be nice, but is it worth it?? Anyway, Happy Birthday Jaclyn, we love you!!