Spring Break at the Phoenix Zoo!

Nolan and I aren't currently in school but since it was Spring break and his brother was in town, the family decided to take a fun filled trip down to the Phoenix Zoo.
This is how Riley spent most of his first trip to the zoo. He just napped away for a majority of the adventure. And yes he is wearing a skipper hat but there aren't many cute hat options for baby boys and since this lil' bear is fair skinned that hat was a must!

This is Adilyn ( our neice) and me by the monkeys.

This is Nolan by the monkeys. For some reason the monkeys seem to be our families favorite animals.... Who knows... I think if I'd let him Nolan would want a monkey of his own. He said the monkey could sit atop Fudges(our dog) back.

All in all it was a wonderful day filled with our furry friends and fun family. Hopefully next trip Riley will be able to stay awake ;)

Where did the Palmers go??

Some of you may be afraid we have fallen off the face of the earth but I post to assure you we have not.

So what have we been up to the last few months...

I went back to work in January thus the reason of the lack of posts. Between teaching CPR, working at the hospital, and being a new mommy I don't get much time to do much else.

But I am learning to manage my time a little better. Those of you that have a plethra of children I'm curious to know how you do it :)

Riley has been growing like crazy. He is now 4 months old.It's so interesting to watch how one day all they will do is stare at you and the next they overnight learned how to smile. I love it! Our current strides are he has learned how to roll over a few weeks ago but only did it a few times... I guess big babies don't roll as much. He is very alert and loves playing with his toys and any animal that is willing to get close enough to him which is usually Fudge our "scary" Pit bull. In all reality she is the calmest of our fur babies. She love Riley and is sad when he cries. She gives us the look like " I want to fix it but I don't have any thumbs gosh darn it!" It's pretty cute.

He just recently discovered his hands and feet and could spend hours just figuring how they work. I love watching this lil' guy experience the world.

Nolan has been lucky enough to keep his job despite Tempe's lay off's. Thank goodness! He's been keeping busy with his new lil' pal Riley Bear. He is such a great father. I couldn't ask for a better hubby! I'll try to keep posted a little better :)

Reflection of 2009

Ok yes this is a late post but hey at least its a post. So last year I got all I wanted and more. I was able to get a job at the hospital I wanted to work at. I was able to start a family with my wonderful hubby which we had been trying to do for years. We have a wonderful home and wonderful extended family to help us. I can honestly say I feel blessed. With that said I took this idea from my sister in law to reflect on 2009.

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?

Having my lil' bear Riley!! of course!!

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

Having my lil' bear Riley... of course... LOL

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?

Becoming a parent and seeing how great of a father Nolan really is (I was a little worried because he's like a big kid.. But then so is my dad and I turned out ok)

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?

Trying to juggle being a parent and having a full and part time job.. Phew I think I got it now though

5. Pick three words to describe 2009.

Fun exhausting Lots of work ok thats more than 3

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2009 (don’t ask them; guess based on how you think your spouse sees you).

baby shopping baby

7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2009 (again, without asking).

work video games baby

8. What were the best books you read this year?

Twilight series Brianne you have ruined me

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?

My family

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?

Becoming a parent.

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally?

I appreciate what my parents went through to deal with me :)

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually?

I know heavenly father has a plan even if its not the one you were wanting right then

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically?

about 47 pounds... yeah thank goodness he's cute!

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others?

I've grown much closer to my sister in laws because I have tons of questions about being a mommy :)

15. What was the most enjoyable area of managing your home?

decorating and cleaning

16. What was your most challenging area of home management?

keeping the house clean with 4 pets and a baby

17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

TV but yet I need it to unwind so when I am productive I'm good... So I guess nothing??

18. What was the best way you used your time this past year?

Preparing with Nolan for our Riley Bear

19. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?

Heavenly father answers your prayers

20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2009 for you.

Your future is as bright as your Faith- Thomas S. Monson I'll use the same one Leah used.

Riley Bears 4 week appointment

Riley is officially a month old. It's amazing how time flies. I can barely remember what it is like not having this little bear in our home. Lonely I bet! Riley just went to his one month appointment. The results:

11 pounds 9 ounces in the 95%

23.5 inches long in the 90%

15.5 inch noggin in the 75%

All in all we have a big boy! We call him bear because he has a huge chest and eats like its his last meal everymeal time. He's up to 8 ounces now. This kid is going to eat us out of house and home before he hits 10. I thought that was supposed to happen in the teenage years but he's willing to prove that wrong.

Also while at the one month we had a bit of a problem. Riley was going to get his second hep B shot and the MA came in the 8 shots. I kinda freaked a little because I thought he only needed one since that was what the Dr said. I also had read up and it said at his two month he gets all of the regular shots. No sooner. Anyways the MA replied when I questioned her " Nope he needs all these. Your insurance will cover all of them so we're getting all of them.. I was a little taken off guard so I agreed and went on. Riley handled them like a champ. he definetly doesn't get that from me. I still to this day kick and scream!

Anyways about 6 shots in the MA said to me "wow he's handling this good for a two month old." I then replied with extreme panic, " He's only a month!" She then hesitated and let me know he would be fine but had a scared look on her face. After I left the Dr. I called the office again and made the nurse call the Dr. to confirm he would be ok. I really hope she gets in trouble for giving him all of those shots without the Dr.s consent or mine for that matter. He is doing good though thank goodness!

Here are some pics from our photoshot with Celeste Ruth. She is awesome and took so great pics of our little bear.

Happy Birthday Mr. Palmer!!

It was Nolans Birthday on the 28th of November. He is officially 26 which he considers old but I still think he looks 18 as do most people. He swears he sees some grays though. For his Birthday Nolan is opposed to cake so we picked up a festive Pecan pie and put candles in it to celebrate for his big day. I got him a mac notebook for his birthday which we now both love :) Nolan, Riley and I love you so much and are so happy to have you as a hubby and a father. I hope you had a great birthday this year! Love you!!!

Crafting gone Wrong

A few evenings ago I had a very sobering experience to say the least. One of those experiences that you don't forget but wished you could. And it definetly makes me rethink craft stores.
Friday night my sister-in-law and my mom and I were doing a craft night when we realized we were missing a few things and decided to make a run down to Hobby Lobby. Leah and I went while my mom watched the children. Leah and I got all of the things we were missing and proceeded to check out. As we were checking out to masked men one of which had a gun ran into the store and told the cashiers to empty out the registers. Everyone including Leah and I started backing away from the registers. Leah and I ran to the back of the store. Leah called 911 and we sat and waited for something to happen. Anything to happen.
Luckily the thiefs stole what was from the register and ran out. We don't know if they were caught but no one was harmed and everyone seems to be ok. We ended up staying about an hour after the incident to talk with the police.
My thoughts during this whole ordeal was first where was Leah.. I've never seen anyone walk backwards so fast in my entire life. I found her quickly though. The second thought was I just became a mommy! This can't be happening. I was so glad we didn't decide to take our children with us. While we were waiting for something to happen I did have a calm feeling come over me. I don't know if it was because I hear about this stuff all the time from Nolan or maybe it was the fact that I don't get fight or flight I just get logical in rough situations. (thank you dad and Nolan) I don't know but Heavenly father was helping me stay calm. I hope those men got caught and hopefully I will never have to experience something like that again.

Baby Riley Dean Palmer Has Arrived!

Baby Riley Dean Palmer was born November 2nd at 3:34weighing in at 9.0 pounds and 22 inches long. So sorry if this is a long detailed post but this is for everyone that has been asking about how everything went :)

So on Monday Nolan and I went in for my Pre-op visit to the Doctors office so he can explain how the c-section would be done and all of the things I needed to know and do before surgery. When we got to the office we found out my blood pressure was really high and I was pre-clampsic ( sorry for the spelling) and the Dr was afraid if we waited any longer I could have a seizure so he told us to meet him at the hospital in a few hours to have Riley that day. That in itself scared the tar out of me but I have faith that my Dr knew what he was doing and even though I had lots to do that day including lunch with my sister-in-laws ;) Riley came first LOL.

Anyways we arrived at the hospital and went straight into pre-op. The nurses explained everything that would be happening during the next few hours. Still a little scared but Nolan was very calm and helped me stay calm. I will say the c-section was not bad at all. The worst part was the nurse putting the IV in my arm before surgery. Not even the Spinal Block was bad. While I was being stitched up I was laying there thinking ok are we done yet? I'd like to see my baby boy now. LOL

Riley came with no complications a perfectly healthy baby boy. Nolan and I feel so blessed to have this lil' miracle in our lives. Most of you know but we prayed to have this little guy for a while and heavenly father answered our prayers. We are so happy to have a little child of our own and to start our family (finally) together. Thank you everyone that has had us in your prayers the last few years. We love you all.

This is me pre-op a little scared but putting on a happy face :) This is Nolan in his fancy scrubs the hospital gave him
This is our lil' boy right after he came into this world.
Our first family picture. Mind my hair. I may have not been in labor for hours but I did have to lay down for about 2 hours straight. I hated being in my hospital bed except to sleep. I don't like to sit still for very long and I got cabin fever easily since we were in the hospital for 3 days. So whenever I would be out of my bed Nolan liked to sit in it with his son.
This is our big boy all snuggled in his crib at the hospital.


We had many visitors the few days we were in the hospital. This is a picture of the best grandmas and aunts ever.