Okay, so I'm getting really excited for Christmas and since I don't have any decorations for my house, I decided to decorate my blog! :) Thank you Jeffrey for making me a Christmas header! I don't really have anything exciting to write about. The most exciting thing in my life right now is the fact that I finished the Twilight Books and they are AMAZING!!! I knew they would be, everyone who's read them has very enthusiastically recommended them. And rightfully so! While we were house sitting for Cyndi this past week, I decided to finally jump into them, and three days later, I was done! I got probably a total of 14 hours sleep throughout that time, but it was totally worth it! I couldn't put them down! And I can't stop thinking about them now. I can't wait for the next book and I'm SOO excited for the movies! I'm just so happy about it all! :) Stephanie Meyer is a wonderful, wonderful person! Anyway, I'm just really excited about them as you can tell. I love reading, and I especially love a good, clean romance, so these books really hit the spot for me!

Ooh, here's something exciting! Jacey learned how to say Santa. Cyndi has decorated for Christmas and has little and big Santas all over her house. Everytime we would see one, I would say, "Look, it's Santa...HO HO HO!" I was actually hoping he'd pick up the HO HO HO part, but I was very pleasantly surprised when he started saying "Santa!" :) That boy sure can make me smile! He also has his own way of saying, "Jesus" and "Jean-Jacques" (his bear). Not as legible as Santa, but definitely recognizable to us. Anyhoo...that's all for now!

Christmas '05 in Banff

I just realized that I haven't told anyone except for my family that we found out the sex of our baby! And by the font color I've chosen, you're right to assume it's a GIRL!!! We are so excited! I'm esctatic about finally being able to buy girl clothes! It's not fair how much more selection and variety girls have over boys! But now I get to be included in the fun! :) I thought it would be fun for Jacey to have a brother so close in age, but a sister will be just as good! He can be her little bodyguard! So cute! We had our ultrasound a couple of weeks ago to find out. It was an interesting experience. Our tech didn't speak English very well, she was European and spoke with a very strong accent. Apparantly my baby wasn't moving around a lot so she was taking a long time getting all the pictures she needed, but she didn't ever tell me that and since she was taking so long (about 45 minutes) before she let Jeffrey come in, we both thought something was wrong! Man, what a little communication will do! But besides her being lazy, our baby is perfectly healthy as far as they can tell. Like Melinda's baby, ours didn't want to show us her face in the 4D ultrasound, her hands were in front of it the whole time. So we will have to wait until April to see her. She'll probably just look like Jacey though. Which I think is pretty dang cute. :)
Other news in my life, is that we're finally making our place a home. We decided that even though we don't have a kitchen yet and most of our stuff is in boxes, we were going to decorate where we could. So we have a few mirrors and pictures hung on the walls, and we finally got our bed frame put on and bought nightstands (we haven't had any ever since we got married...it's so nice to not have stuff on the floor beside the bed). It's just a start, but I'm loving the effect that it's had on the house and us! I actually like being there again! We're house sitting for Palmers next week, so I think we're just going to have someone come into our place and work as much as they can on the kitchen while we're gone. It seems like it will NEVER be done, but I know that eventually it will. Just not as soon as I want. Oh well, can't have it all right?
I'm so excited for Christmas it's not even funny! I have zero decorations (actually I just made my first one at Super Saturday last week...an advent calendar/nativity scene) but I want to decorate SOO badly! We do actually have a tree (thank you Heather & Gannon), so I'm going to have to go pick up some essentials and do as much as I can soon. I just ordered stockings online that are super cute and I can't wait to get them. I ordered 9 of them so that I'll have enough for my whole family when they're all here on earth with us. We want 7 kids ideally, but who knows what will happen. But if we do have that many, I want us to have matching stockings and I most likely won't find the same ones if I don't get them now. That's the logic behind that. :) I know it sounds weird. But it makes sense to me.
Nothing else is really going on. Kandice is home this week for American Thanksgiving, it's been fun hanging out with her when we get the chance. She is rather popular though and is always doing something! :) Jacey will be turning one in about 3 weeks. That is INSANE to me! We're going to have a big fun joint birthday party with Kandice and Nixon when they all come up here! Can't wait for that! That's about it I guess. Nothing too too exciting. Besides us having a girl that is! :) I will take pictures of our "new" house, but I probably won't get them loaded onto the computer for a while, because we still don't have a computer, I'm using Brett's. One day. Maybe next year. :) Well, that's all for me!

I've been tagged....and this is the first time I've responded to any of these things, because I couldn't resist the opportunity to talk about Jeffrey. I just love him!

What is his name? Jeffrey and like Gannon and all the other Palmers (except me for some reason), he has a million names, the most popular being Freedom and Chowder
How long have you been married? Just over two years!
How long did you date? Dated for 3 months, engaged for 5 weeks! When you know you know..right? :)
How old is he? 23
Who eats more? Probably him, but when I'm pregnant, it's probably me!
Who said I love you first? He did and it made my heart skip a beat!! I will never forget it!
Who is taller? Him, by about 3"
Who sings better? I LOVE his voice!! He was in a school musical and I didn't make it into the one I auditioned for....so that pretty much tells us the answer!
Who is smarter? Jeffrey..his mind is amazing!!
Whose temper is worse? We're pretty similar, probably me.
Who does the laundry? I do, but I don't mind
Who does the dishes? When we have a kitchen...Jeffrey does, he's so good to me!!
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If we're laying in bed I'm on the right.
Who pays the bills? Jeffrey makes the money to pay them, but I pay them. Actually, he usually takes care of the Visa.
Who mows the lawn? Jeffrey & Michael (we have the same lawn)
Who cooks dinner? Again, when we have a kitchen, I do. He is great at going to get us food though, especially when I have cravings!
Who drives when you are together? Jeffrey always
Who is more stubborn? I would say him. He would probably say me though.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? No question...ME! I love you Jeffrey! I keep the peace :)
Whose parents do you see the most? We're lucky to live in the same city as both sets of parents, but I'd say Jeffrey's parents.
Who proposed? Jeffrey
Who has more friends? I would say he does..but I actually communicate with mine!
Who has more siblings? I do, there are 6 kids in my family, and 5 in his.
Who wears the pants in the family? We share ...although Jeffrey is very sweet about letting me have my way a lot! But when it's really important, we share.

I tag: anyone who hasn't done it that wants to do it! :)

Sweet Dreams

I just wanted to post this picture because I absolutely love what Jeffrey did to it! It's so magical! And angelic! My little sleeping angel!

We have this bedtime routine with Jacey that has pretty much been standard ever since Jacey started falling asleep by himself. We put on a lullaby cd, give him his bottle in his room, then we take turns snuggling and rocking him. And it's Jacey that decided that part, not us. He will be completely content snuggling Jeffrey one minute, and then he'll turn and reach for me and stay with me for a few minutes, then it's right back to Jeffrey and so on. Sometimes he only wants one of us, and the "loser" that night just has to be satisfied with a kiss. After the snuggling, we put him in bed, tickle his back for a bit, then leave. Lately however, he has put a new spin on things. Do you remember his bear, Jean-Jacques? Well, he loves this bear and has always loved playing with him, but lately, he has wanted to only snuggle him for bed, not us. We never used put it in his bed with him, but that is the only way he'll go to sleep now. So instead of snuggling us, he'll reach for his bear, then just lean over his bed until we put him in it. And then he'll put his arm around his bear, or lay on top of him, and go right to sleep. It's SOO adorable!! It's nice to have this little attachment for Jacey. Jean-Jacques soothes him when he wakes up in the night too. It's awesome! Sad to lose the snuggling ritual with us a bit, but it's so fun to see him growing up and developing his personality!

Happy Autumn

Wearing his daddy's "PALMER" sweater from when he was a little boy!

I know it's been forever! Nothing too interesting has happened in my life, Just Jacey's I guess. I'm doing this just for Kandice who is away at school and requested that we update our blog so she can see Jacey's new tricks! He is growing like a little weed. He is so tall and so skinny that nothing fits him properly. All the pants that fit him in length, fall off of his teeny little waist. And all the pants that fit his waist, are much too short. So it's difficult to dress him. He has started climbing onto everything. He loves to kneel up and play with his toys and put them in and out of his toybox. He stands up constantly, leaning on everything he can pull himself up to. That adds up to a few tears and bruises when he falls, but that's all part of the process right? He still doesn't stand on his own, but that will come one day when I'm not expecting it I'm sure. He has started crawling on his hands and knees a bit more, but quickly lays on his tummy because he is a little motor with his army crawl. Seriously, you should see this guy move. It's the best watching him try to catch Joey, the Palmer's dog, on their hard wood floor. He is so fast! I should try to find a video of it to show you. It's hilarious! Oh, he's also started climbing stairs. He only goes up so far, not down. It's adorable how concentrated he is when climbing. The cutest, yet saddest thing, is that he pulls himself up in bed now and peeks over the top and cries when we put him down for a nap or bed. And since his room is really supposed to be used as a den, it has glass french doors, so he can see us. So we have to either hide until he falls asleep, or tape up a sheet in front of his room. We need to get blinds or curtains for him. It's so sad to see his little crying face looking at us, but really cute at the same time!

He can entertain himself!

Something he's done for a while now but I haven't ever posted, is take a bottle! I'm grateful to Jeffrey for that one. He got him taking one the weekend that I was at Time Out for Women. Yay!! And we also finally let him cry himself to sleep, so he will now go to bed at around 8ish and sleep for 11-12 hours all on his own! Hooray! He will not cry at all some nights, and others he cries for a while, but he only falls alseep by himself. He won't with us anymore. Which is nice, but sad at the same time. I love having my evenings free everyday now and being able to relax and know that I don't have to do anything for him until the morning! I don't know how I ever survived before!! All of my children will learn that trick from the beginning from now on!!

He is wearing his "Big Brother in Training" shirt that we used to announce our second pregnancy!

We've finally set up his bedroom to be usable. It always just had his crib and then just stuff in it. But now he can play in there and watch movies. His favorite movie is Madagascar. He will sit there and watch it for so long. And he smiles at all the same parts and dances to the music. His favorite scene is the Lemur party to the song I Like To Move it Move it. He gets so excited and dances like crazy. He's mesmorized by that movie, I love it!

Before his haircut...look at that little curl of a mullet! :) He looks like a girl!

He got his first hair cut on the Thanksgiving long weekend. First of all, my whole family was down in Cardston, and all the Palmers went to BC to the condo, so Jeffrey and I had our own Thanksgiving. Which did not consist of a turkey and all the fixings, but a rotisserie chicken and different fixings. :) I'm not much for cooking and I've hardly lived with a kitchen to practice in yet. :( But we managed to have a rather good meal I think and I hope Jeffrey would agree. It was very, very sad to miss a real, genuine Thanksgiving dinner though. We got leftovers from Cyndi the next day, and they were amazingly delicious, but it's not the same as the first day. Anyway, we gave Jacey a hair cut that weekend. It was getting SOO long and shaggy in the back. Like a little mullet. He still has hardly any hair at the very top and then right above the ears, but everything else was so long. Jeffrey cut it, for I have no clue how to cut hair and Jeffrey has cut his own for years now. Jacey loved it. We used the clippers and he acted like it was a massage. He leaned into it wherever it was on his head and didn't move at all. Which was very nice. He looks so cute now and suprisingly older. I'm so happy with it! Jeffrey did a great job!!

Before shots

After the haircut...there are some more "after shots" at the beginning of this blog too...doesn't he look older?

I'm trying to think if he has learned anything else new since Kandice left, but I think I've covered it all. He loves eating real people food and feeding himself. We like to play this game while he eats which is basically just tricking each other. I'll pretend I'm going to eat his food, but then at the last minute, I'll put it in his mouth. And a few times he's also pretended he's going to feed me, then puts it in his own mouth! It's SOOO adorable!! He's so smart and he understands what's going on...I love it!! He's got such a great personality and is so friendly! He loves to smile and does all the time... at everybody. He does however, save special smiles and snuggles for family. He definitely knows who his family is and loves them so much! Kandice, I'm sorry that it's taken Jeffrey so long to get that video of Jacey kissing you, he is on it and I will bug him to get it faster! We're so excited to see you at Christmas and can't wait for your twin birthday party! :)

The Mountain Home

So my parents own a cabin/acreage down near Cardston which they call "The Mountain Home". It always seemed so nerdy and cheesy to me, but I've grown very used to saying it now. Anyway, the reason they call it the Mountain Home is because it's right by Old Chief Mountain. You have a great view of it from the back of the house. Therefore, it's the mountain home. My parents practically live there, and their home in Calgary is a weekend home. They've been doing major renovations down there, expanding the kitchen and living area so that all of our families can very comfortably be down there at the same time. It's almost done and I must say, it is amazing!!! And my dad did it all by himself. He used to build houses back in the day, and he certainly hasn't lost his talent! We went down there for the long weekend and we had such a fun, busy weekend! Katie & Rob and their kids were there, Jonathan, Mandi & Brooklyn, Jeffrey, Jacey & I went, my parents were there and even my Uncle Ken was there. He lives in Australia, but recently came to Canada for the first time in 25 years I think? for his mother's (my paternal grandma's) funeral. I've never met him before. It was fun to see all the "Draper" in him that I see in my dad and grandma.

We went down Friday night and got there just in time to play a mean game of Star Wars monopoly with my nephew, Jordan. He's a huge Star Wars fan, and loves that his uncles will indulge him. I got suckered into playing too and thankfully lost rather quickly so I could do something else! Saturday we went to this water hole under a bridge where there's a rope to swing from. There were lots of other families there as it was a hot day. I decided that kids are MUCH braver than adults. I swear all the kids swung from the rope several times before I had the guts too. For one thing, the water was cold, there was an otter in it, and the rope was kind of high for me, and you had to swing down from all these jagged rocks. I'm just trying to justify my fear. It probably wasn't that bad. It was fun though, I swam around pushing my nephew in his floaty for quite a while, I got out just in time to find out that my brother found a snake in the water and caught it. Good thing I didn't know about the snake or I would never have gone in!

Jordan was the bravest of all the kids, he LOVES the water!

Sunday we went to Waterton. Holy Cow!!! There were SOO many people at church! People were standing outside waiting to get it. Lots of people left. We managed to squeeze in upstairs in the little primary room where I sat on the floor with Jacey. We listened to church only, there was no video. After church, we had a picnic by Cameron Falls, then walked up the path to get a better view. I'm such a wuss. I about died carrying Jacey and it was only about 10 minutes. It was straight uphill though. In my defense.

Monday, I went horseback riding with my mom and dad. It was very fun, but my body is so sore! It was downhill for the first part and it was so hard on my knees and butt! Even my sides hurt from bouncing from side to side. I didn't know if I was going to last with my broken tailbone, but I was okay. There was one point where we went through a gate that said no trespassing. My dad said it would be fine. But 3 minutes into it, we found a pack of about 10-15 horses. And they started running towards us. We quickly turned around and then my dad told me I better get ahead of him and my mom, cause my horse was in heat and if there were any stallions, I was in trouble. Fabulous! Needless to say, I was scared out of my mind. My mom bravely stopped her horse and didn't let any of the other horses pass her until we were safely on the other side of the gate. Next time...we won't trespass. Jeffrey got to go horseback riding after us with my dad and Jonathan. Then all the kids took turns with my dad or mom walking around the property. They all love the horses so much!! This was the first time that we really showed Jacey the horses and he loved them!!! My mom carried him right up to their noses and helped him pet them. He was so excited!! I love that he will get to grow up with them and learn to ride them when he's little! It's so fun!

Alexa's first horse ride!

Carter has the cutest grin ever!!

Well, that was our weekend. We drove home Monday evening and that was that. I haven't been down there for a while because of the renovations, so I was so happy to have gone! It's so much fun and there is always so much to do!! We're going to Cardston again this weekend, but for a Cameron family reunion. (Cyndi's side of the family). I'm really excited for that! It should be a lot of fun!!

Summer Fun

I actually brushed his hair after his shower! He's a little man!

We've had a pretty busy week so far! Jacey and I have been on the go. It's fun, but tiring...for both of us! Monday morning, Jacey & I took Taelor, Nena & Troy Sherwood to Riley park. We went with Katie & her kids and met up with a few other moms & kids from 2nd ward. It was SOO hot! I had to sit in the shade to be able to bear it. The kids had lots of fun swimming and wading in the pool. It was fairly busy but not too bad. Jacey loved sitting in the edge of the pool with me and splashed around for quite a while. He liked watching all the kids run by him too! One day that will be him! A little funny story for you. Troy came up to me while I was feeding Jacey and told me he had to go to the bathroom. I didn't want to take him cause it was far away and Jacey was eating, so I told him to go in the pool. (horrible I know). Anyway, he ran off and that was that. A little while later he came back with him swim trunks pulled down and Ethan (his cousin) was right behind him. As we were pulling his pants back up, a lady came up to us that was just as miffed as could be and said, "I hope that I didn't upset them, but they both had their pants down and were peeing in the pool and I told them they couldn't do that!" OOPS!! I didn't realize that Troy would do THAT when I told him to go in the pool!! I guess it makes sense though...that's how you go to the bathroom. Anyway, Ethan got in trouble, but I had to apologize to Troy, cause it was my fault! I guess next time, I'll take him to the potty! I'm learning with other people's kids first I guess! :)

He is so chill!

I recently got a new calling. I'm the Laurel advisor in our ward now. I'm pretty excited for it..a little nervous too. Anyway, the young women had their girls camp this week, so I decided to drive out and visit for an afternoon. We went yesterday and man, I wasn't sure it was so worth it at first. It was at Camp Gardner, which is about 15 minutes from city limits, but I missed the turn and drove to Bragg Creek. With Jacey crying the whole way!! So I was pretty mad and was just going to give up and go home, but on my way home, I found it. Then, when I got there and parked my van, I wandered around pushing the stroller trying to find the stupid campsite forever! And it was so hot and there were mosquitos everywhere. Anyway...I finally found it and it was indeed worth it! The girls loved playing with Jacey and we were able to accompany them on an obstacle course and take pictures of them trying all the different stations out! It was pretty fun! We also sat at the poolside and judged cannon ball competitions! Jacey eventually fell asleep and I was able to drive home and he slept until I got there, which is what I prayed for!! So even though it started out rough, it was very fun and I'm glad I went!

I guess Jacey was enjoying himself, looks like he's in lazy-boy!

Today we went to South Glenmore Park with Mandi & Brooklyn and a bunch of other moms & kids and had lunch. There is a water spray park there with a playground. It's a great little park. The ground is that recycled tire ground. And it all glued together, so it's kind of bouncy. Awesome for kids when they fall! We put Jacey & Brooklyn in the baby swings. They were both too tired to enjoy it, but I got pictures anyway. It wasn't the greatest weather today. It was pretty cloudy, but there were enough sunny breaks that it was nice. Anyway, that has been my week so far. Tonight, Jeffrey, Jacey & I are going to go on a picnic for dinner! It's just too nice to be inside! And I'm excited for this weekend, we're going to go to BC to the condo again. I can't wait..I want to SWIM!! I love summer!!!! Well, I'm going to load some pictures onto the computer and see if I can't post them.

"Mom! Put me to bed!"