Baby It's Cold Outside!! Our first snowfall!!

Wow!!! Is it cold outside or what?!?!?! Just last week it was like 75 degrees here in Raymore, we are south of Kansas City, MO. And now it's....maybe 15 degrees....suppose to drop down to maybe 2 degrees overnight. Yesterday it rained, then turned to freezing rain....and today it started snowing!! Which I love!!! I just don't enjoy the ice that is under the snow!!! The news channels down here predict anywhere from 15 inches to 24 inches by tomorrow at noon!!! I can't wait!!! Lucy, our dog, has already been outside to play around in it. I can't wait until tomorrow, Chuck has tomorrow off, so I can go outside with Lucy and kick some snow around with her!!! She Loves it too!!! And she can stand it a little bit longer so she really enjoys it, plus we now have a backyard that is fenced in, so she can run free!!! Last year she was so tiny when we had our first snowfall that she looked like a lil bunny hopping through the 14 inches of snow on the ground. I'll dig up some pictures.

Lucy on Dec. 8th 2005....her first snow romp

Ready to go inside, lil puppies can only handle so much.

Our First snowfall this year.

So yes, winter is here, I just wonder how long the snow will actually stay on the ground, usually it'll melt within 3 days or so, but I think it might last a little bit longer this year. It's also so cold, that I went out to get the mail (we share a big box with the whole block) and it was frozen shut!! So i can't even get our mail, I'll have to try to catch the mailwoman (yes we have a mailwoman) tomorrow so she can just hand it to me.

Our Turkey Day was pretty good. We weren't able to go home this year like we normally do, b/c Chuck had to work the holiday weekend. However my mother and sister came down and spent Wed, Thursday and Friday with Allison and I. Chuck picked up some extra shifts so he only got to see them on Wednesday night and then Turkey Day night for our "lil Thanksgiving Dinner" We had chicken....not turkey. Which is okay. It was just.....different being away from home( mom and dads) this Holiday. Which makes Christmas even more special this year b/c we'll get to see everyone.

On the downside, we received some not so great news about 10 days ago....Chuck grandpa (Gramps) Palmer fell at home and broke some ribs so he's in a "home" is Sioux City (leeds actually) right now trying to get better. He has Ahlzheimers and Parkinsons Disease(spelling) so falling like that and breaking ribs is NOT GOOD!! They will keep him in the home until his ribs heal and to make sure he doesn't get pnemonia. Anyhow, we are praying for a speedy recovery and hoping that he is able to come home soon.

Well that's really all I have for now, Allison is still growing, I'll add a picture of her too!! She's getting more beautiful everyday and is really recognizing my face and her daddy's. She had her first talk on the phone over Thanksgiving...she talked to Grandpa Heisterkamp on Grandma's cell phone....I guess we are starting her young! HEHE!! She is also starting to "talk" she'll respond to your voice...turning her head to look at you, and she'll watch your mouth so carefully and try to copy what you are doing, sounding out the ooos and ahhhs....and whoo whoo. It's so cute! Here's Allison in her "Mrs. Clause" outfit that Grandma Jen bought her....not sure if it will fit her when Christmas finally gets here, so we thought we'd take pictures of her in it before we can't get it over her head. HEHE.

Well again, that's all for now! For those of you getting snow...enjoy it...it makes everything look so beautiful...a winter wonderland......and bundle up....cuz....baby it's cold outside!!!

Our FIRST vacation with Allison...

So lots of excitement these past few days. We took Allison on our very first family vacation on Sunday, it was a mini vacation, we got back today (tuesday) about 3 in the afternoon. Of course going home to Iowa is a vacation, but that's a lil different, hope you understand what I mean. Anyways, our vacation wasn't to the carribean or anything like that, it was just a quick 3 hour drive down to Branson, MO. It was a "free" getaway for 3 days/ 2 nights. Ya see, I filled out one of those cards to try to win a car at the mall....well they must call everyone and tell them that they are 1 of 100 finalists to win the car, and offer you a mini vacation...and all you have to do is go tour their "resort" (timesharing) So we figured, heck it's free, lets go. Our "90 minute" presentation/tour of the new resort turned into about 2 1/2 hours, so that kind of sucked, but the cool thing is that Allison slept thru the whole thing. SO anyways, we didn't buy a timeshare, that's kind of hard to do right now especially with a new baby!!!
But yea, our time down there was great. We received a free dinner and also 2 tickets to any show we wanted to see down there. We ended up going to "the Spirit of Christmas with the Osmond Brothers" which was a great show! Both Chuck and I enjoyed it and once again allison slept thru most of it, waking up to have a bit of milk and then she was sleeping again.
Monday we did our tour of the resort and then at 8pm we went to see the Shanghai Circus, which was way way cool!!! Bunch of acrobats and such....I would recommend it to anyone who is planning a trip to Branson!!! Allison was awake for most of the show, she ate, and took a quick snooze, then woke up at intermission to dirty her diaper! perfect timing so i didn't have to miss any of the show. then she was awake for the 2nd half of the show....she really enjoyed watching all the lights dance around on the ceiling. It was cute to see her sit there and stare at the stage! Oh by the way, we had front row seats so that made the experience even better!!!
All in all we enjoyed our free mini vacation. Would have loved to buy a timeshare b/c the "cottages" we absolutely gorgeous and you get sooo many different benefits. It'll be something that we'll look at doing sometime in the future, not sure if in the near future, but in the future!!!

So that was our vacation!!! We did more stuff, but I honestly don't want to write a book about our vacation. hehe. However I am disappointed that we forgot to take pictures!!! So nothing to put in the scrapbook for allison for her first vacation!!! bummer!!!

Anyways, Thanksgiving is in 2 days! I'm excited b/c my sister Katie and my Mom are coming down tomorrow (wed) to spend THanksgiving with us. Chuck got asked to work a few extra days so he took them. So he'll be working wed and thanksgiving, along with him working his normal schedule of friday and saturday....but hey it's holiday pay!!! And we aren't planning on doing anything too spectacular. Maybe go downtown to watch all the Christmas lights light up. Depends on how chilly it is. So I can't wait for my sis and mom to arrive tomorrow night, and i'm sure they are both excited to come down to see us again, especially allison....they won't believe how much she has grown since the beginning of the month. It's just a bummer that Dad can't come down, he's got a sale going on at the furniture store and wants to get some more things done around the farm.
well that's all i have for now. look for pictures this weekend of allison in her thanksgiving gear!!!

Super Mom

So today I'm finally finding out how mom's all over the world be....moms, wives, a friend, etc. etc. Chuck is at work today, so that leaves us girls (me, allison and our dog lucy) here at home to enjoy our day.

Well our house is/was a pit!!!! We tried doing some cleaning these past fews days while Chuck was home, but for some reason that never works!!! We spent the most part of Monday the 13th...Allison's 1 month birthday, up in Independence, MO doing some shopping and I got my hair cut....which the lady cut a bit shorter than I would have liked, but I still think it's cute. Anyways, so a trip to the mall was monday. Then Yesterday (tues) we had to go to Lee's Summit to the Doctors for Chuck. He found a tick on/in him, took him awhile to pull it out, but anyways, he hasn't been feeling too great the past few days...or maybe a week...so Chuck thought maybe he had Lyme Disease, we looked at the symptoms and they matched up pretty good. Well anyways, it has been over 4 years since Chuck has been to the doctor. So I finally got him to go (he wanted to cancel his appointment) He ended up having to get some blood drawn, we should know the results in the next few days and then he also ended up having pretty high blood pressure and he's known it, so the dr. sent some blood pressure meds home with us. That's nuts b/c Chuck is only 23 years old and has high blood pressure, however it does run in his family.

So then after the doctors, we ran home to grab lucy and headed over to chuck's dad's house for dinner. Chicken and rice....YUMMY!!!!

SO back to the Super Mom comment. I wanted to get some things done around the house and it was perfect timing b/c Allison was just falling asleep in her lil swing. So I quick mopped the kitchen floor and started the dishwasher. She was out like a light, so I carried her into her room to her crib. Then I went down to the washer and dryer, pulled out clean towels and started a load of dirty stuff, folded half the towels and decided I'd better get in the shower while she's still asleep, so did that, then folded the rest of the towels, unloaded the dishwasher, switched the laundry oh and I vacuumed too!! So, I've accomplished that in about 1 1/2 hours time. maybe 2. so now i'm sitting here, with lucy at my side, enjoying quiet time. Sending out a few emails here and there. So now I understand when my mother told me that I have to become a super mom when it comes to having a child and wanting to accomplish things at home by myself (while chuck is at work) I emailed my mother saying this same thing, and although it would be great to consider myself a "Super Mom" right now, I think I have a ways to go, so maybe I can be a "Super Mom In Training" B/c i'm sure things will get more hectic as the years go by, and as more children enter the world (don't worry, we don't plan on having another for a few more years!) and as they get into school and we get busy with concerts, plays, PT Conferences, and so on....I'll have to be an even BIGGER "Super Mom" so maybe I'll just start at the bottom of the totem pole and consider myself a Trainie, so that way I can work up to the title of being "Super Mom" like my mom was and still is!!!

Well I'm now hungry and Allison is still asleep so I better find something to eat, so that way I can take my time eating b/c I know Allison will probably sleep for another hour or two!!!

Tummy Time

Daddy and "The Girls"

Daddy & Allison catching some ZZZs

Mommy & Allison on her 1 Month Bday!

Being thankful...

Tonight I was watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the one with Ty Pennington (such a cutie) and I realized how great of a life I have. This Extreme Makeover episode featured a woman and her family (her husband and 3 kids) and she is a 1 year survivor of cancer! Her mother is also a survivor of cancer. I guess they were having problems b/c of all the cancer treatment costs and everything that comes along with having cancer. Anyways, their "new" house is awesome and I am so glad that they will be able to have a better life with a new house and that there are people in this world that can be so generous to other people.

So as Thanksgiving is right around the corner, I think harder about what I am truely thankful for. How blessed I am to have such a wonderful husband, a beautiful baby girl, a roof over my head, food in my stomach, that my family and I are healthy.
What are you thankful for? Have you told your family and the ones close to you that you love them today? Do you tell them everyday?

I have a challenge for everyone who reads our blog...(hopefully we can acquire more readers soon). Last Christmas Chuck (my hubby) and I decided that our gift to each other for Christmas was to purchase a gift for a family or child that needed it. We got this idea as we were in Wal-Mart purchasing gifts for family and we walked by lets call it "The Giving Tree." You take a name or however many you want off the tree and buy them the gift that they "NEED" for them. We picked 4 children who needed new shoes and snow boots to keep their feet warm.

So our challenge to you is for you to find a charity or to find a tree similiar to the one at walmart (i'm sure they'll do it again this year) and GIVE! Whether it be a $5 gift or a $100 gift, you'll be so happy to know that a little child will now be able to go out and play in the snow b/c you purchased snow boots for her or that some parents will be able to put gifts under the Christmas tree for their kids this year or they will be able to have a Christmas/Thanksgiving feast! SO please, give this year for Christmas. Share this with your family, friends, coworkers, whoever!! Make it a tradition in your family, like my husband and I have.

Poor Lucy...

So I'm sitting here searching for our old Blogger account, Chuck set it up and then we forgot all the passwords,etc. Plus I guess it was my fault for not asking if we still had a blog on here. Anyways, I found it, and it was created like way back in...June! And on the blog there, we forgot to mention our lil dog Lucy. She was kind of pushed aside in our blogs b/c we were anxious to write about expecting our baby. Well, here we did it again!!! I hadn't mentioned anything about Lucy, who is a purebred Pembroke Welsh Corgi, and so I feel so bad b/c she really isn't getting as much attention now as she did before Allison arrived.
She stills get her exercise and her cuddle time with us when Allison is sleeping, however she just acts different too. She is more...quiet. I think that she knows about this whole "baby thing" She is Allison's protector now. She really won't let other dogs come near Allison. Lucy is a herding dog, so whenever Mitzy (my parents dog) would come near Allison she would try to herd her away from Allison. It is so cute and great that Lucy has already become attached to Allison.
Anyways, so we have pictures of our "TWO GIRLS" They look so cute together. The beginning of a life long friendship I suppose? Best friends!!! Guess we just want to let Lucy know we have not forgotten her!! and we still love her!!!

Our girls chilling on the Lay-Z-Boy!!!

First day home, "The Meeting"

Lucy Just Chillin!

Slide Show of baby Allison!

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Our New Blog!!

Hello family and friends! We have finally created a "family blog." I (emily) have 2 other blogs, but you need an account yourself in order to view it, so I didn't really think that was fair and we want everyone to be able to keep updated on our family....since we've added one more to the family.

Many know that we welcomed our daughter Allison Ann Palmer into the family on Friday Oct. 13, 2006 (yea i know friday the 13th, isn't that so cool!?!?) She weighed in at 7lbs 10oz. and measured 20 inches long!!! She has blonde, curly hair and of course blue eyes (which mom(me) hopes they stay blue, daddy has brown eyes) She looks like her father!!! So much, I'll try to attach a photo of Chuck (my hubby) of when he was a child and I'll let you guys decide!!! Anyways, her blonde hair, she really gets from both of us, along with it being curly. Chuck and I both had blonde curly hair when we were little. now we both have brown hair, mine is still curly..YAH! and chuck keeps his hair cut short so you can't tell that he had curly hair, but when it starts getting long it'll curl at the ends! So she looks a lot like her father, a lot of his facial features. But everyone is saying that she has her mommy's long legs, long fingers/toes and....BIG FEET!!! Which is so cool, maybe an up and coming basketball/volleyball player? how about piano? trombone? violin? Whatever she chooses will be great! Daddy is hoping for a hockey player?!?!? yikes!

Allison is almost a month old. Monday will be her 1 month birthday! She had her 2 week appointment back on the 27th of October. She grew 1 1/2 inches so that made it 21 1/2 inches and weighed in at 8lbs and 9 oz. So almost a full pound gain. I was taking some pictures just the other day and decided to take a picture of Allison next to her caterpillar. It's a really cool toy, has different colors and textures, and is stuffed with different things so that it will make different sounds when she plays with it. Anywho, on the tummy of the caterpillar it's a measuring "stick" in some sort, so i decided to measure Allison....she's at 24 inches!! She is gonna be one tall girl (so mommy hopes).

I can't believe how time has flown by. All the traveling we did after she was born probably helped out a bit. This month we are planning on staying home (in kansas city) a bit more and having the grandparents come down to visit us, since in December (for the holidays) we will be doing quite a bit of traveling, as we have a little over a week of vacation to use! Which is exciting, b/c most of the time when we travel home(iowa) we are rushing to see everyone and make everyone happy, which is stressful on us, not to mention stressful on our wallet, although gas prices have dropped quite dramatically since last Christmas.

Christmas will be so much fun this year, not saying that it hasn't years previous, it's just that we have this new little bundle of joy we want to share with our families. Plus, Christmas at Grandma Whites (my grandma) will be such a full house, as I hear that pretty much everyone will be home and my cousin Jeremy and his wife Lorena also welcomed the arrival of a baby girl in June, Mackenzie Joy (i think that's her middle name). They live out on the east coast so they aren't home too much, so it will be just great seeing them and getting some pictures of the 2 new babies together!

Just thought of another thing to write about. Allison was baptized this past Sunday...the 5th of November. She was baptized at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Raymore, MO by Pastor Jerry. It was so amazing!! Witnessing such an awesome thing! I don't think I've ever witnessed a baptism before and if I have, I was probably too young to want to "pay attention." Brought tears to my eyes (happy and joyful tears) to see my baby girl being "Given to the Lord."

1 Samuel 1:27-28 Reads: "I prayed for this child, and the Lord answered my prayer and gave him(her) to me. Now, I give him(her) back to the Lord. (S)he will belong to the Lord all his(her) life."

So we had our families come down, my parents came down from Akron along with my sister Katie, Grandma White and Grandma Heisterkamp. Chuck's mom from Fonda came down too.
Also my brother Jon and his wife came over from St. Louis, they are Allison's sponsors. Oh and our good friend Allison Snyder from the Storm Lake area along with my cousin Doug came down too. Allison is Allison's Sponsor/Godmother. yes this is who we named Allison after. Then Chuck's dad and his family live down here in raymore too so they came also!
It was such a fun day! Being able to see our families get together again! Last time was at our wedding in Oct. 2005! It was also special to have Grandma White down too. We took a "generation" photo, one of Grandma, Mom, Me and Allison. I was disappointed though b/c we didn't get one taken after the baptism at the Church. I'm disappointed b/c the Baptismal Gown that Allison wore, is the one that I wore when I was baptized and Grandma White made it! so that was pretty special! I'll try to post a photo later, for some reason it isn't letting me add the one that I want!!

Anyways, I think that's a good start for our first blog. Now to post some pictures? Hopefully I can figure that out! Until next time.....