pictures I promised

So here are the pictures I promised. The family getting ready to go clean the garage!

The DQ treat afterwards!
The ice cream mustache.



This is the video message my brother got today for his birthday. Shout out to Uncle Nate!

A working mom!

So I don't know how some of you crazy moms do it. I applaud you. Working a job (outside of the home or even a home based job of course on top of the normal mom-work we do) is an adventure. And thankfully my adventure is only lasting for 2 weeks. I'm back at work at the wonderful dentist's office who has been so very good to me. Their front desk woman is on vacation in Mexcio for 2 weeks so they asked me to fill in and honestly I don't mind doing it if I can work out the childcare. They pay me extra for my childcare and are willing to work with me so they are almost doing me a favor instead of me helping them out. It's fun being with people and doing "work" stuff but I do miss my kids. My kids don't mind being away from me though. They love going to their friend's house and playing all day. I'm sure it's a nice break from mom and from routine's. They have a blast with both Mark and I though once we get home. There's lots of snuggles and kisses - I love it. Unfortunately there's lots to catch up on as well. Like laundry and preparing for the next day. I was nonstop last night with making dinner, laundry, cleaning up, and spending quality time with my kids. Again, I don't know how some of the moms I know do it all the time. It's quite exhausting.

I'm not saying that being a stay-at-home mom is easy. No way. It's just difficult in different ways. All the things that I normally do and deal with throughout my day get compacted into a 4 hour window after spending all day at work. Balancing it all is the fun part.


I'm not able to post any pictures from here at work but I have some and I'll try to get them up tonight if possible. Just some from this weekend. We spent Friday cleaning out the garage. We just threw stuff in there all winter and never wanted to freeze and try to make it nice in there. So we took a nice day and organized everything. I love organization! Then we treated the kids to ice cream at DQ for being such good helpers and letting us just get stuff done.

Mark will be gone this weekend at a men's retreat so it's just me and the kiddo's making up for lost time this week I guess. Who knows what we'll get done this weekend. Probably not much - maybe just catching up. Mark's probably glad he's gone this weekend because I'm itching to get the kids' rooms painted and redone. That was part of our bribe with Kale to share his room with his new little brother. And we knew that changing everything in Kate's room wouldn't happen without a little promise of princess for her to. And while we still have several months till our newest family member comes, we only have a short window for mom to be of much help. So unless Mark is motivated to paint by himself (which I'm pretty sure he's not) then it'll have to be soon :)

So that's it for now unless I can think of something cool to write about. I'll post pictures later!

Oh and a big happy birthday to my baby brother! He's 23 today - so young!

Prayerful song and "fire" tricks

I wanted to try and post a couple videos of my life. The other night Mark and I asked Kale if he wanted to pray for dinner. Most times he says no but this night he broke out into a song he had learned in Sunday school. It was quite cute because he was so very serious in singing the song. The next night he did the same thing and Kate joined in. Unfortunately I don't have any actual footage from the dinner table so I asked them to sing the song just for me.

The other video is of Kate and her "fire" trick. One night I put her pacifier in her mouth upside down. She immediately flipped it back over without a moments hesitation. It made me laugh at how good she is with it. So of course I got her to display her talent for me on camera.

What's in a name?

For me, there's plenty. I'm kind of a wierdo about names. At least that's what I've been told and I agree. When it comes to naming my children there are plenty of things that I think about besides does it sound good with Palmer. By the way, I'll never name my kid Paul Palmer. So I thought I'd share a little of course!

The first thing I think about is meaning. God's name has meaning. Counselor, Prince of Peace, Healer, Saviour, I AM, Comforter etc... When you say Jehovah it has meaning. He also gives meaning in names and changes them like Saul to Paul and Simon to Peter. He values names and their meanings. When you speak a name you speak that over that person. I certainly wouldn't want my child's name to mean something like devil child. Can you imagine? So anyway, I'd like there to be special meaning.

Next, and far less spiritual, is the fact that I'd like to name them what I'll call them. This comes from working at my dentist's office for several years. There were many people who didn't go by their given name and it caused so much confusion for people like me. One extreme example was a guy who called to make an appointment and he said his name was Paul something or other. So when I went to pull Paul's chart I could not find it anywhere. There was another chart with the same last name but no Paul. After searching and searching and looking him up in the computer I found that his name was something like Stephen John but he went by Paul. WHAT????? Ok that makes absolutely no sense to me. All your important documents have one name but people call you something else. With the name Jill, it's short and sweet and there's no changing it. I love it! So of course that carries over into naming my kids. There is no judgment for those of you who name your kids some beautiful long name and call them something completely different. It's just not for me. And I didn't want to have to spell anything longer than four letters :) Just kidding but it's definitely looking like that....

So now comes my kids' names. When I was pregnant with Kale, Mark came to me soon after we found out and said that if we were having a boy he wanted to name him Kale. I said okay let's at least discuss it. I liked the name but I had dreams of pouring over baby name books and discussing name after name to see what we thought would be the best match. Ok, not Mark's dream. He knew a kid in a VBS he taught years before with that name and he liked it and that's what he wanted. So basically we didn't discuss names for like 4 months because every suggestion I made was made fun of. Not the dream I had! Finally days before we had the ultrasound Mark said he would look at name books with me and discuss girl names as a compromise. So I relented and we did. Then we found out we were having a boy and all of that didn't matter. So we have Kale Robert (Robert after my dad and grandpa and Mark's grandpa). It means strong and manly. I love the name and it fits him perfectly but I told Mark that I get to name the next one! Of course they will pick up nicknames no matter what I do. A few of Kale's are Bubba, dude, poncho, Buckaroonie, handsome, mister, Fred, George etc...

So then comes Kate. I loved that name when I heard it. It's just so simple and sweet. There were no discussions with Mark pouring over baby name books. It was my turn and I reminded him of that :) But he loved the name to so we got Kate Elisabeth which means pure and consecrated to God. The middle name took some discussing but we finally agreed on her beautiful name. Her nicknames are gorgeous, baby girl, chica, chica bonita, sweetness, girly girl, doll face etc....

Now it's the third little one. We've been discussing names long before we got pregnant so we had a couple picked out that we both liked - one girl and one boy name. Funny thought - is our second boy named the second favorite name? I suppose it's a given. Anyway, we decided on the name Jack Douglas which means God is gracious. I've always liked the name Jack and not because of my name (ha, ha don't want any comments on the names :P ) I just like it. Douglas is Mark's middle name as well as his dad's name so it has meaning for us that way.

So there's our addition to our four-letter family --- Mark, Jill, Kale, Kate and Jack! And when we lovingly shout our names around the house we are saying "Take out the trash please God of War" (Mark), "Did you do the laundry and do I have clean undies Youthful one?" (Jill), "Can you please clean up your Transformers strong and manly?" (Kale), "Please don't hit your brother Pure and Consecrated to God" (Kate) and "Boy that was a strong kick God is Gracious" (Jack). Isn't that great?

It's a.....

BOY!!!!! I was right! Oh how I laughed :) I've somehow been right three times now. Don't know how but it's fun. When the ultrasound tech (a woman we know from Bible study actually) said it was a boy I said I knew it. I just had that gut feeling I was talking about earlier.

He looks like an alien but of course he's my cute alien. He was moving around and waving his hands. Sometimes hiding his face with his fingers. Really this is my favorite part of pregnancy. I'm halfway done and I get to finally see this little miracle that's been swimming around in there. I feel him kick much more now. Usually when I'm laying down. It's just thrilling.

We haven't told Kale and Kate yet. They are at a friend's house taking naps (hopefully). Kale told us that if he was having a brother then he'd share his room. So Mark and I are discussing the amazing transformation that will have to take place in there to accommodate a little brother. We've got to make this whole thing cool if we're gonna keep Kale excited and willing to share his space and his room. I think he'll be happy though. I can't wait to tell them!

a few baby thoughts

So today is the day that we hopefully find out what we are having. It's a given that it's a baby but now we're trying to determine what kind :)

I woke up early this morning because of allergies and just started thinking about things so I thought I'd write down a few thoughts. I talked to a woman last night who is also pregnant and asked her what she thought she might be having or if she wanted a baby of a different sex then her first. The response I got was as long as they're healthy then I'm happy. I responded with of course and that led to other stuff but I started thinking again to myself what's the honest answer. Not that that wasn't honest. I absolutely pray and hope for a happy healthy baby and don't care one way or the other if it's a boy or a girl - I would love them the same. But I can also be truthful in saying that with both Kale and Kate I had a secret hope and gut feeling about boy or girl. Not because I wanted one more then the other but I just had gut feelings.

First of all I have to share some of the irony in all of this. I really want kids. I love my kids and couldn't wait to have them and am excited for more. But when I was pregnant with Kale I wanted to have a boy first. Because when I was growing up I had always thought it would be so great to have an older brother. Probably because I could then know and date his friends :) but also because I thought it would be great to have a older brother to protect me. I don't know it just seemed cool. But being pregnant with a possible boy was another story. I still wanted one but was terrified. I had no idea what to do with a boy. All I could think of was that they were messy, hyper, aggressive, loved trucks and cars and planes and were totally different from me (DUH!) And really this freaked me out. I'm not good at imagining that cars had personalities. I wasn't sure how I was going to play with this little one. Then after he was born and I naturally fell in love with him, I realized that that's what dad's are for. Mark is the most awesome dad. He has those imaginative skills and he loves to wrestle and play. And he can transform all of Kale's transformers ( I still have lots of trouble). Oh, I have learned a few things about playing with him and we have lots of fun together but I've also learned that he likes to snuggle and read and just be with me. Those are things that I definitely know how to do. He can be messy, hyper and aggressive but he's also adorable, fun, smart, talkative, and a joy. So I was thrilled that I had my boy first.

Then I was pregnant with Kate. For this one I was secretly hoping for a girl. Again, I would have been happy with whatever God gave me but I wanted to see what a little girl would be like. And again I was terrified of the thought of having a girl. Even though I am one, I felt like I would have no clue how to raise one. There would be princess stuff (something I wasn't ever really into), drama ( I was definitely into that and I know how hard that was for my parents), and boys (enough said)! So those were all the scary things running through my head about having a girl. Do you see the irony in all of this? I wanted kids but was scared to have both a boy and a girl. Not many other choices! But again, I was blessed with a hilarious, fun, sweet, beautiful princess who definitely knows drama but hasn't discovered boys. She's a mini-me of Kale and does and says almost everything he does and says. Something I probably would have done if I had had an older brother.

So then it gets me thinking about the next one. Which one do I secretly want? This time I can honestly say that I'm excited for both. I've experienced both and adore both. I have a feeling it's a boy but we'll find out for sure in a few hours. And of course, more than anything I want them to be healthy and happy :) !!!!

Mark's birthday and more

So I was looking through other blogs and wondered why it'd been so long since they've written until I looked at mine and realized it'd been awhile. Ooops :) I know why it'd been so long for others...it's hard to find time to just sit down and write sometimes. Especially when it's been so beautiful out. So here's some pictures and a couple stories of the past couple weeks.

The weather has definitely been teasing us. It was almost 70 on Monday so we got outside and played. The kids wanted to draw with chalk and the only concrete we have anywhere near us is our garage. So I swept out some dirt and they colored away! It's supposed to be cooler this weekend so I'm a little bummed. Although being outside has been a Catch 22. It's beautiful and you don't want to be inside but Kale and I have had horrible allergies and will sneeze and sneeze till we're miserable and then have to give up and come back inside. It makes for tough choices.


The picture of the kids sitting on the couch holding hands happened one day after nap time. They woke up and were snuggling Mark and I and Kale reached over and grabbed Kate's hand and they sat like that for quite a while. It was too good to pass up!














Mark's 34th birthday was Sunday. We celebrated by having a couple friends over for dinner and their kids. One of Mark's presents had the Styrofoam popcorn thingys in it. Mark handed it to Kale to "hold" (he wasn't really thinking that all the way through...) So this is what ended up happening. There were bits of it everywhere. The kids were making snow angels in it. We let them have their fun and then taught them how to clean up the popcorn that was full of static. Very entertaining! We spent his birthday on Sunday watching Star Wars and eating Lucky Charms for dinner (one of his birthday presents!)

The last picture is a sweet one of them reading to each other on the couch. I love to capture the moments where they love each other to remind them and myself later on in life that they really do love each other and are friends.

Tomorrow we go to the Dr for a checkup and an ultrasound. We are hoping that they'll be able to tell us if it's a boy or girl. I will update again when we know more!

Unwanted guest...

So yesterday, Kate and I were in the kitchen making meatloaf for dinner. We were having fun (well she was, I was trying to keep her from licking the nasty raw hamburger). Anyway, out of the corner of my eye I see something moving in my kitchen. I look over to the floor by my sink in time to see a large mouse scurrying over to my dishwasher and then disappear next to it in a space that couldn't fit a pen. So I made some noise (not exactly a scream but close) and Mark came into the kitchen running. I told him that he was not to go back to the other room and watch TV but that he was supposed to go get his keys, take Kale and head to Walmart to get some mouse traps and get rid of the rodent in my kitchen. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200. He laughed but they did it. I told Kale as he was leaving that I needed him to be my hero and kill that mouse.

They went and came back with a few old fashioned traps and some DeCon. Mark put peanut butter in them and we left them alone. I did lecture our worthless mouser cat, however. I told Obi that he needed to earn his keep or hit the road. There's a mouse in my house for goodness sakes and he's giving himself a bath on the couch!

This morning Mark checked the traps and sure enough there was a large mouse with it's neck broken, tongue sticking out, stuck and dead in our trap. Kale was pretty excited about it apparently. He said to Mark 'we killed him!'. He was pretty proud of himself. I thanked both Kale and Mark for being my heroes and getting rid of our unwanted guest.