IT'S A BOY!

Hey everyone! Well, Emily has a lot on her plate and is stationed down three floors from where the internet is, so she won't be able to blog these pictures. However, I get to do it in her stead. We've received many reminders to blog them today, primarily from my beloved sister, Heather, who can't be here to see the baby and so insists that we post them a.s.a.p. I appologize to her for the delay! Anyway, here's what we've got!











Jacey Jeffrey Palmer was born December 13, 2006 at 12:55 pm at a good 7 lbs 14 oz. He's 20 1/2 inches long and has lots of dark hair. The delivery was rough. On Tuesday night at about 11:00 Emily and I made a quick stop by the shoppers drug mart in Silver Springs to pick up a little bottle of Castor Oil. Oh boy. Emily nearly psyched herself out of doing it but after much persuasion and reminding that "tonight" was the night she wanted to have the baby, she finally took courage. She mixed it with white cranberry juice and stirred AND drank with a straw at the same time. It was quite amazing. Soda crackers were on hand for whenever she needed to take a break but after about 5 minutes she finally got it all down. One hour later it kicked in! Emily's contractions went from an average of 15 minutes apart to 4! We slept until 4 am when Emily woke up with some really painful contractions and 9 hours later we had a baby boy. The delivery was hard. Baby wasn't quite in the right position which added a couple more hours of labour to the day. But Emily was amazing! She did such a terrific job! She did everything Carol asked her to and did it all with zero pain killers! No epidural, no nitrous oxide, no morphine, not even ibuprophen. She was a true hero. Women endure a lot for us! I had a really hard time not crying throughout the whole experience. I love my Emily. Anyway, enjoy the pictures of our little stud and we'll be sure to put some more on here as the holiday continues. Merry Christmas everyone!

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!

After a little (or much) encouragement from friends and family,I decided to FINALLY post something new. :) I realize that it has been over 4 months since my last post. That really is horrible. But...in my defense, we've been living at my parents place since the beginning of September, and we haven't had the internet hooked up to our computer, and my parents' computer is not so user friendly (at least not Emily friendly) and so I just pretty much dropped out of the "online world" for a while. It was just too much of a hassle to find ways to blog. We're still at my parents' place and will probably be there until January. This is a sad thing for Jeffrey and me. Trying to prepare for a baby and not having a place to prepare for it, is very discouraging. We originally were supposed to be at my parents' house for 2 weeks while Jeffrey's uncles finshed renovating a basement suite for us. But (I'll spare you the details) it won't be ready for who knows how long. I say January...but I have no control over or clue when it will really be ready. For the time being...I have been trying to get used to the idea of having this baby in my parents' basement. I recently went on maternity leave. A moment that I have waited for almost my entire life!! Okay not that long, but it was something that I was really looking forward to and am completely enjoying at the moment! I know that soon the vacation will be over and I will wish that I could go back to the time when I could put in my 8 hours of work for the day and be done, but I am still naive and innocent to the crazy world of motherwood. And I'm glad to be. :) Jeffrey and I are due to have our baby in 2 weeks and 2 days. (December 16) Since we're officially considered "full-term", we would be glad to see the baby anytime. Jeffrey is convinced it'll come early and encourages me to walk or jog often, moving the process along. In fact, I hear that Heather gave him a list of tried and true tips to induce labour that we need to try. I'm interested in doing so, as right now sleep is barely an option anymore. My back and hips are my worst enemies at night. And actually throughout the day too. I know that sleep will still be hard to come by after the baby comes, but at least my body will be on the road to recovery. Okay...now the main reason for this post. Melinda was so kind as to offer to take maternity pictures for me before our baby was born, and so I need to show them off. Last saturday we had a little photo shoot at her parents' house. It was lots of fun! She's really good at taking pictures and she had very cute poses all ready for me to try. She took over 200 pictures of me!! I have chosen only a few, some of my favorites, that Jeffrey has expertly photoshopped all of my flaws out of (he's amazing on that program!), to show you. As for me...I will probably not blog again until after I have my little baby, which hopefully will be very soon. But I will be sure to update you on what I have, when I have it, what I name it, etc. If not me...I'll have Melinda or someone do it. Cause I'll probably be busy. :) Thanks again Melinda for the photos!!! Enjoy!! And Merry Christmas everyone if I don't blog till after! (Anyone want to place bets?)

OUR PRECIOUS LITTLE BABY

So here are two of our favorite pictures. Sorry I didn't post them last night. I realized too late, that I needed the sun to be in the window to take the pictures. So I had to wait until today. Anyway, enjoy...I certainly do. It's insane that this cute little baby is just hanging out inside of me. I can't wait until I can really feel it kicking and moving around. I feel little movements and what not..but for all I know, it could just be gas...so I'm excited for the "real thing!" Oh yeah... for all you "experts" out there, if you think you know what our baby is from these pictures, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!! I'm all about the surprise. :)

TRAUMATIC ULTRASOUND!!

Well I decided ultrasounds aren't the most enjoyable experience. My bladder was so full that it was killing me and I thought for sure I was going to let everything go as soon as the tech starting pushing that stupid wand around my stomach!!! I felt incredibly lucky that she took the few pictures that she needed to with my bladder full, then let me empty it before we continued. Also, my back was killing me by the end of it all, because I was lying on my back for WAY TOO LONG!! Anyway...I'm getting ahead of myself. So my ultra sound was at 2pm at the Foothills Professional Building. Same place as last time. And I was to meet Jeffrey there at 1:45, so he could change from his work clothes and we could go up together. However, I told him that if he was at all late, I would go in myself and he could meet me up there. I get there right on time and I didn't see him. I kept trying to call Michael's cell (they were working together) but it was turned off. So..a little frusterated, I went in to the appointment alone. My appointment was surprisingly on time and I was actually called in 5 minutes early to start doing everything. I was a little worried about where Jeffrey was and I told the lady that I wanted to wait until my husband got there...he was on his way. She just assured me that they would have him come in when he got there and I needed to change and start anyway. So I changed as slowly as possible, hoping he'd get there. I told the tech that was doing my ultrasound I wanted to wait for Jeffrey. She gave me the same answer as the first lady and showed me into the room. I was totally freaking out in my mind thinking he wasn't going to make it and he was going to miss everything. And for me...an already emotional person..plus the extra pregnancy hormones...I knew tears could come at anytime. But.. we started the ultrasound and that's when she took the few pictures and told me to relieve myself after. Well that was a heavenly moment and I again, took as long as possible hoping that Jeffrey would be there when I was done. But he wasn't. :( I went back into the room and heard my phone vibrating in my purse. I asked the tech if I could answer (as there is a big sign...NO CELL PHONES) because I thought it was Jeffrey. So I did...and it was him. Turns out, he went to the maternity clinic where I have my monthly checkups. Which is 15 mins away. And his ride, Michael, had already left and Jeffrey was stranded there. Well as soon as I heard that, my already suppressed emotions and tears just exploded! The poor tech lady must have thought Jeffrey got in an accident or something!! So Jeffrey..who was in tears himself...told me to not let them start (too late!!) and/or to change the appointment. But I couldn't really cancel the appointment, seeing as how I was already in the middle of it. So thankfully, the tech saw how important it was to me that Jeffrey was there, and told me that it would be about 1/2 hour before she was done looking at everything she needed to for the exam and if he wasn't there before that, she would let me wait and when he got there, she would pull us back in for a little "showing" with Jeffrey. So Jeffrey ended up getting a cab over to where I was and made it just as she was finishing up. He actually got dropped off at the hospital and ran as fast as he could down and across the street and right up to the room I was in. He was so out of breath!! But adorable! I couldn't be mad at him for thinking it was the other place, because he was so upset about it himself!! We had wanted to see if we could videotape the ultrasound (if that's even allowed), but didn't want to put the tech out anymore...as she was already being extra nice to us. Anyway, it was wonderful to have Jeffrey there. She did another whole showing of the baby and explained all the developing organs and parts. I was so paranoid that she would announce what gender it was..and so I made sure that I told her that I didn't want to know. She was good at avoiding that whole part for us. :) Our baby was moving a lot and we were able to see it from many different angles and get some good pics too. My favorite is of it's little bum and feet. It's from the back end of a "kneeling with your bum in the air" position. It's little butt cheeks are so cute and perfectly round. And the cute little feet are adorable!!!! I love it!! I'm waiting for Jeffrey to get home from work (another late night..thanks to the time taken off for the appointment this afternoon) to choose some pictures to post. But they'll be on here tonight for sure! Anyway, that was the whole experience...good in the end, but it definitely toyed with my heart!! Okay...who else loves the show "The Office?" It is mine and Jeffrey's FAVORITE show ever. We're completely addicted!! We love Pam and Jim because it reminds us of our own "office romance" days. :) It is the funniest show ever. We downloaded all of season 1 and 2, but the rule is, one can't watch it without the other, so I need Jeffrey here so I can satisfy my "office" craving!! Ahhh...time well wasted. Well, I'm sorry for the major lack of non posting lately. Actually....when have I ever been good at it? :) I actually wasn't feeling too bad, because Melinda hadn't posted forever either...but she did today. So that was my motivation to do so as well. Thanks Melinda. :) And I figured that maybe if I changed the template, it would be more fun to keep posting. We'll see. Well, "that's it for me...goodnight everybody!!!" (anyone know what that's from??)

CONFIDENCE BUILDER


Well....after visiting Crystal and Jonathan Lee this weekend and their new little twins, I feel a lot more calm about having one baby. I wasn't getting too anxious yet, but now I feel like I will have no reason to when I get to that point. They have their hands full with two little girls, and they're so GOOD at it!! So if they can have two and be okay, we can have one and be fine!! Jeffrey feels the same way! :) It was so much fun to see them. We drove up to Edmonton saturday morning and stayed with them until sunday night. When we first got there, we hung out with them for a few feedings before we went to West Edmonton Mall. It's amazing. These little girls, Elayna and Brianna, eat every 3 hours. And sometimes feeding them takes up to two hours, so Crystal only gets one hour break in between. And she has to change them and put them to sleep and try to get some sleep herself. It's insane!! Jonathan is able to help out as much as he can, and he really does. But he has to work, so poor Crystal spends hours alone with her babies. I don't know how she does it....but good for her!! Her girls are so cute! One is significantly smaller than the other. Elayna stole all the weight when they were in Crystal's tummy and has just kept gaining. Brianna is so teeny and cute, but continues to stay a few pounds behind Elayna. They're so good, they hardly cry...at least while we were there. I guess if you asked Crystal, you might get a different answer. It was a lot of fun. We were able to hold them a lot and we even got to be there for their first trip to the mall and out for dinner. That was fun. They were so good and slept the whole time! Lucky!! We tried to watch a movie later that night, but both Jeffrey and I were out like little lambs...Jeffrey zonked out before the movie even started, and I followed shortly. You'd think Crystal and Jonathan would have been more tired than us..but they can't fall asleep in movies. I'm definitely not one of those kinds of people. :) Sunday we went to church, than went for a walk. It's funny to hear people's comments when they see twins. Everyone has something to say. It's fun. I loved being able to visit Crystal and Jonathan and see them as parents. They are already great ones. It was also fun for me to see how Jeffrey was with such little newborns. He was adorable. I can't wait for us to have our own baby to dote over and to love! We were both definitely pumped for ours to come....now we just have to wait until December!! Seems so far away. I've been home sick for the past two days. Massive headache, backache, morning sickness (which hasn't completely left me yet:() . It's been no fun. I went to work today, and fortunately felt great all day and was able to get a lot done. However...the second I walked into my house..BOOM..my headache was back. So not cool!! I'm impatiently waiting for Jeffrey to come home...he's been working such long hours lately. He probably won't get home until 8:30-9ish and then he wants to either go see X-Men 3 (I still haven't seen it) or Superman. I would rather see Superman, but opening night crowds do not appeal to me right now. Neither does the late show. But who knows...I'll do whatever! We wanted to go with Michael and Melinda last night, but it was too late for me. They loved it apparantly...and I can't wait to see it!! Well, I know it's been a LONG time since I've blogged and I'm trying to think of what else to talk about. Jeffrey and I got new callings in our ward. He's the assistant Priest advisor and I'm the assistant Beehive advisor. So we get to work together a lot this summer, because all the activities are joint for the young women and the young men. Fun!! What else...we have our 19week ultra sound on July 20th. Very excited about that!! Sometimes I'm afraid that when the time comes, I'm going to just open my mouth and ask the tech lady to tell me what I'm having...but deep down I really want to wait. Hopefully I have more self control on that day than what I've been feeling lately. I also hope that Jeffrey doesn't read this (which he will) and try to work on my weakness. :) But I won't give in! Well...that is my life. I can't think of anything else. I'm looking forward to this weekend. We'll be heading out to Invermere to stay with all the Palmers at their condo. I'll be enjoying very slow and calm jet ski rides. :) If I'm even allowed that, who knows. I will LIVE in the pool however....because I am SO HOT!!!!!! I feel sorry for the Wards down in Portland because they have it worse than we do here..and I'm dying!! I'm trying to post pictures of our weekend in Edmonton, but it's not letting me, so hopefully, by the time I post this..it will be accompanied by pictures. The baby on the right in both of the pictures is Brianna. And the one on the left is Elayna. Aren't they cute??

Long Time, No Blog!!

WOW!! Have I not been good at this! It's almost like I forgot I had a blog! But I'm back...and I have good things to write about now! This has been such a great week! We had our first ULTRA-SOUND!!! It was SO much fun. Aside from the many glasses of water I drank and having a painful bladder for a while, it was a great experience! The lady that did the ultra-sound was so awesome. She made it very fun for us and personal too, I think. I say that because how many things could you really say about a 12 week old fetus that looks the same as every other one you come across. But she was talking about what a poser the baby was, cause it kept flipping around to face us every angle she tried. And "he" (I have no clue and WON'T know until the delivery) kept kicking his cute little legs everywhere, and she made it sound like he was just the cutest thing she'd ever seen. So it was a lot of fun!! We got to watch our little "lime", as Melinda calls it :), for about 20 minutes. It was the best 20 minutes of our lives. It was amazing to see something so teeny that was actually developing in my body and that we had created! I have NO clue how people can deny there is a God, when you think about how babies are created and born. There definitely is someone in charge up there! Anyway, that was a pretty fun experience for us! We bought 9 pictures from the ultra-sound and we've loved showing them off. This one is my favorite because you can see it's adorable little profile! So cute! The other exciting thing that happened to me this week, is I got my braces off!!! Finally!! I actually can't complain, I've only had them on for 15 months, and I actually got a month off for our wedding. So I've had it pretty good, but it's nice to have them off nonetheless. And yes, my mouth feels weird. Really mushy, especially where the retainer was on the roof of my mouth, and under my tongue. I have my new clear retainer now, that you can't really notice, except it gives my teeth a little more "plastic" effect. :) Well, I better go. We're going to my cousin, Janeal (Kershaw) Bullock's reception now. I don't know what we're going to do after that, but it better be fun!!

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DOLLAR


Jeffrey and I had the wonderful privilege of going over to Becky and Keith's house for dinner last night. Their kids are SO cute! We had a lot of fun. Plus, it was SO yummy!! Becky made this really good chicken soup from scratch. A talent that I unfortunately lack. Anyway, it was really good. We played with the kids a bit, and I showed Becky around what I know of the wonderful world of blogging (you may soon see her on here). After the kids were put to bed, we played a few rousing rounds of Family Feud on the computer. It is sooo much fun!! Jeffrey and I can stay up till crazy hours of the night playing it. Last night, we played girls vs. guys, best out of five. And I gotta say, the girls won. Obviously! Actually to be quite honest, Becky pretty much won for our team, as I was having a lot of blonde moments. It makes for good entertainment at least. Actually, Jeffrey was the winner of funny responses. He makes me laugh so hard. Him and Keith. I'd tell you what he said, but I'd have to explain it and then it wouldn't be funny. It was definitely one of those "you had to be there" moments. But it was a good one!! Today I worked, as per usual. I've been so behind lately because I've been home sick so often. Now I'm working my tail off to get caught up, but it just doesn't seem to be working! It's frusterating, but what can you do! I'm just looking forward to the day (whenever it is) that I'll be going on maternity leave! What a blessed day that will be! :) Well, I better be off, I get to babysit for Katie's two littlest kids, whom I love. Then maybe Jeffrey and I will meet up with Melin and Michael for a little DQ action! Ciao!