Palmer family update!

So, life has been a bit crazy since our last blog entry. Sully started school, Ansley is now in a big girl car seat which has been an adjustment for me to not have the handy carrier anymore, and the biggest news is that we sold our house and bought a new one! I didn't even have time to get a blog up to say we decided to put our house up on the market...our house sold in 26 hours! We then made an offer on the house we love and were the best offer on it, so now we move into our new house on the 30th of September! Oh my goodness...last weekend was crazy and very exciting! It happened so fast! We thought it would take a few months to sell our house and that we would wait to put an offer down on a house till we were under contract here...since we sold so fast we went ahead and put our offer on the house we loved, so it all worked out! So fun. Here is a picture of the new house. We are SO excited!

The house is only 3.5 miles from our house now and it is in a really fun neighorhood with tons of tennis courts, 2 pools with slides and fountains, multiple playgrounds with soccer fields and a dog park. So, we are super excited and can't wait to make the place our own. Sully has already picked out his room! And there is a tree house in the back, so Sully is super excited to play in there.

Here are some other fun pictures of the kids over the past few weeks...

Sully has become quite the swimmer. I think, but don't hold me to this, that if we work hard at the Y over the winter, that I can get him to swim a lap at one of my swim meets next summer for summer league...that would be so fun for me! :)
swimming to the stairsHe needs a bit of work on breathing to the side! haha
Sully was going under to get a diving ring.
We went to KY for Labor Day weekend. Ansley met Great Grandma Helen Louise for the first time! Of course, Ansley loved her!

We had a fun visit with Sara and Steven at UK and we walked all around campus. It was weird to be there with Sully and Ansley. Who knew when I was walking to class all those times that I would have a sweet Sully and Ansley. So fun!
Memorial Hall---Sully is the little spec up on the stairs!
Sully had a super fun afternoon with Sara and Steven!

Grancie (Pwetty) and Pip had a spend the night party with Sully and Ansley last weekend. Sully's favorite is picking veggies from Pip's garden.
Sully found some juicy grape tomatoes
Hi Ansley!
Pool time!

The weather has been quite nice here lately, so we have spent many afternoons in the backyard playing play-doh and hanging out with the dogs. Ansley is just starting to notice the dogs and loves to sit and watch them run around with Sully.
Peek a boo!
Sully loves his play doh!


Enjoy the pictures!

xxoo Tracy, Brett, Sullivan, and Ansley xxoo

Beach Trip 2008

Hello!  We just got back from an amazing week at the beach down in Seaside, Florida.  It was such a fun week with the kids and Brett.  It was a week for just the four of us to hang out and really have fun with nothing to worry about.  Ansley and Sully had a blast and we were sad to come home.  We were lucky that Tropical Storm Fay didn't hit until Saturday when we left...it made for a rainy trip home, but not a drop of rain during our time at the beach, so it was the perfect week!  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week.  We have so many, it is impossible to put them all up, but these pictures capture all the fun from the week.  Enjoy!  

 We found a little Sully crab in the sand....we decided to take him home with us!

    Ansley really loved the beach.  She loved going in the water and loved it when we would stand her up and let the water rush around her legs and feet.  She was a really fun baby this trip.  She has started saying "ma ma" and she was really giggly all week.  She has also become quite vocal and will make loud noises to get our attention or to imitate us when we talk.  

 Ansley's hang out spots on the beach

 Sully at the beach 

Sully was like a little fish in the water this year.  He would wear his goggles and stand in the water up to his shoulders and wait for the waves to come in.  When one would get close, he would go under water and try to ride the wave in.  He was swimming so well and was so independent in the water.  He seemed so old to me on this trip. He is really growing up fast!  

Sully and Ansley

Sully was a very sweet, big brother to Ansley this trip.  It is so cute to see how much they really love each other.  What a blessing it is for them to have each other...siblings are so fun...I can't wait to see how they interact as they get older. 

  Playing the big grassy area in the middle of Seaside.  

 So sweet!  

Sully was giving Ansley her first swimming lesson!

Mommy and the kids!

Sully and Mommy had fun in the ocean 

 Fun at bed time! 

Daddy and the kids!

  

I think this might be a first...I actually had a lot more pictures of me with the kids this time and not Brett (sorry Brett!)  At least now there is some record that I exist!  haha

Some of the fun activities Sully enjoyed over the week!

Fabulous playground! 

Ice cream in Seaside!  Yummy!

Sully loved chasing the birds on the beach!

 Palmer family (Ansley 7.5 months, Sully 3)

Enjoy the pictures!  

xxoo Tracy, Brett, Sullivan, and Ansley  xxoo

Happy Birthday Sully!

Can you believe it...Sully is 3!  He actually turned 3 last week, but I have been really busy so I am just now getting around to a blog posting.  It has been awhile since my last posting, so let me give an update on the Palmer kids and then get to the big birthday!

  

Sully is now officially potty trained.  He has been peeing and pooping on the potty for over a month and we rarely ever have an accident.  Yeah!!!  I am so excited, but almost a little sad at the same time.   My little Sully is growing up!  He is done with all the baby stages...it went by so fast!  Ansley is now 7 months and she is ready to crawl at any moment!  If you put a toy out of her reach she tries so hard to get it...she has a look of determination on her face, so I know she will be crawling before we know it.  I am not rushing it...life will become a lot more hectic around here when she is mobile!  She is doing much better with her solid foods...she eats 2 really big meals a day and then sometimes a little snack around lunchtime.  I still nurse her 5 times a day, so she is a big eater...takes after her Mommy!  :)  Ansley has started standing a little bit while she is holding on to something.  We can stand her up and have her hold on and she will do well for a little while.  She always laughs when she is doing it.  We think she thinks she is pretty cool!  hahaha  Ansley still really doesn't like sitting up so she will sit for a few minutes and then lay down and just roll all over the place.  Funny how picky she is...Sully never cared one way or the other about most things...Ansley, on the other hand, cares about everything and will let you know when something displeases her!  She is also a Mama's girl...she already gets separation anxiety and likes for me to hold her.  I can drop her off at the Y and she loves to play with other friends and Grancie and Pip, so at least she is fine when I am out of sight out of mind, but as soon as I return...she cries until I hold her.  Again, so funny how different she is than Sully.  She keeps me on my toes! 

 

Okay, the birthday boy...Sully had such a fun week celebrating his birthday.  On Monday the 4th (his actual birthday) we went with Grancie, Pip, Zizzie, Malley, Catey, and baby Turner to Chuck e Cheeses.  Sully had such a fun night.  We played tons of fun games and had some yummy cupcakes.  Then, on Thursday, Sully had his birthday party with all of his friends at Chick fil A.  He requested a yellow lion cake, so I, of course, made him a yummy lion cake.  Brett and I thought it looked more like a cat, but Sully was satisfied and thought it was just perfect!  It was the perfect party and I think the kids all had a really great time.  

I don't know how this happened, but I somehow erased all the pictures on my camera before uploading them on the computer, so I lost all my great pictures from Sully's birthday and birthday party.  Luckily, Granice had some on her camera and Alison had a fun picture of all the kids at the party.  I was sick to my stomach when I realized all the pictures were gone, but I guess that is life.  At least I have some, so enjoy the pictures....sorry there aren't more.

  

Birthday Party at Chick fil A

Jack, Ava, Brayden, Laine, Sully, Malley, Andrew, Sophie, and Daisy

We made them all stand together to take the picture in order to get cake!  That was the only way we were able to get them all to be still long enough for a picture...they must have really wanted some cake!  :)

Sully riding a ride at Chuck e Cheese with Zizzie and Daddy.

 

 Sully was so excited to blow out his candle!  I think he was most excited because he knew he could then eat his cupcake!  :)

Sully's favorite thing to do was the carousel.  He must of put 20 coins in there to keep it going around and around!

 Ansley had fun at Chuck e Cheese...she even sat on some of the rides with Zizzie!

Here are some more pictures from some babysitting and spend the night adventures the kids have had in the past month.  Sully and Ansley love to play with Grancie (Pwetty) and Pip!

 Hopscotch!  Sully loves jumping on all the squares!

   Sully said he wanted to take a long walk--not a short walk--he loves walking with his buddy, Patches!

Here is Ansley right at 7 months.  I had some really cute pictures of Ansley on her 7 month birthday, but those were lost.  Ansley is growing so fast! 

We are leaving tomorrow for a week at Seaside!  We are so excited for a fun and relaxing beach vacation.  We will post some fun pictures from our trip in a few weeks.  Have a great weekend!

xxoo  Tracy, Brett, Sullivan, and Ansley  xxoo

Sully potty trained?

Well, that is the big question. Is this for real? We are on day 3 of operation Naked Sully! It has worked really well so far. He is going to be naked for a few more days when we are at home. We leave the bathroom door open and he will go in and go pee when ever he needs to and when I ask him to go in and try. He has a potty in the van and will go before and after we go in somewhere and we usually go at least once at the store so he gets used to going in public. He is doing REALLY well and really hasn't had any accidents. We thought he would only be ready to go pee on the potty, well, Sully surprised us! He has gone poo on the potty the past 2 days. Yesterday was a struggle and he cried for his diaper, but I stayed strong and he eventually went on the potty. We made a huge deal out of it and we went to Target and he picked out a Dora movie. That was a big deal. Today he was just playing and stopped what he was doing, ran in and sat on the potty and went poo! I didn't ask him or tell him...he did it on his own. So, the big question is...is Sully potty trained? Oh, I hope so! Cross your fingers!

I use this blog as a little journal for myself, so I had to make sure I made an entry on this big day so when Sully is grown up I can look back and remember how excited I was about a bunch of poo and pee! hahaha

Have a great day. We are headed to the Y to play in the outdoor pool so Sully can jump off the big diving board and Ansley can play with her friends in the nursery. It is so fun that they are both growing up so nicely, but a little sad at the same time. Can you believe Sully will be 3 in a few weeks? Time flies!

Sully and Ansley update!

Hey! We have had some busy days around the Palmer household! We are trying to potty train, trying to teach Ansley how to eat some solids, working on Ansley's sitting, and we are out and about enjoying all the fun activities during the summertime! Ansley had her 6 month checkup and she is very healthy and doing great! She weighed in at 15 lbs 3 oz. and was 26 inches tall. The doctor said that she is finally starting to slow down to a more normal breastfed weight gain, which is a good thing---at the rate she was going, she was going to be a butterball! She still has a ton of rolls to squeeze and very squeezable, kissable cheeks! Ansley is doing okay with her solids. We haven't really figured out a great schedule with her yet, but we are getting close. She still prefers her meals to be Mama, but we are trying to get a few of those meals to consist more of solids. She is getting better each day, but she sure is like her Mommy---she is particular and stubborn! hahaha! Here are some cute pictures of Ansley's first solid meal...

Doesn't really like rice cereal!

Sully had to get in on the action! He did a very nice job!

Ansley is doing a GREAT job sitting up. She can sit up for about 5 minutes now and then she gets tired and just topples over. Sometimes she sits straight and then others she leans forward and rests on her hands. Either way, we are very proud of her! She has progressed pretty fast. Only about a week ago she could only sit up for seconds at a time. Here are some pictures of her sitting for the first few times.

She is up...

and then she is starting to fall down. She works very hard!

Here are a few pictures from the other day. She is sitting much better in these pictures. She gets stronger and straighter every day!

She is so sweet!

Now, on to Sully. Sully has turned into a typical 3 year old--he is not quite 3, but he is close enough. He likes to do things on his own, yet really can't do them, so we have many battles throughout the day. It is a great thing that he is exploring his independence, but that doesn't mean Mommy and Daddy don't get frustrated from time to time. Twos were easy...oh boy for the threes! This year will be fun! He is finally starting to take an interest in the potty. It is still pretty slow going, but just this weekend we did the naked potty training. It has gone well, so far. We have poop issues, but we will cross that bridge later, we are just happy that he is peeing for us on the potty. I am hoping by the next blog entry, I will be able to say that he is pretty much pee pee trained...cross your fingers! Or, maybe I should wait a month or 2 before the next entry! hahaha!

Sully's swimming has just taken off! We are at the pool just about every day! He jumps in by himself and will swim to you in the water. He dives to the bottom to get pennies or diving rings. This week I am going to take him to the pool at the Y so he can dive off the diving board. I know he will love it, and I am sure he won't be scared to do it at all! He is swimming farther each day, I bet if we keep working all winter he will be ready to swim a lap across the pool next summer at one of my swim meets. So fun!

This past week we had a fun day at the Duluth Fountains with Sully's buddies. I snapped some great pictures of Sully having a fabulous morning. Enjoy!

Fun, Fun! He loved letting the water hit him in the head and up the back of his shirt! He was hilarious!

Sully just loves the water!

You can just tell that he was having SO much fun!

Sully and his buddies!

Sully had a fun spend the night party with Grancie, Pip, and Zizzie last Monday night. Mommy and Daddy and Ansley enjoyed the quiet evening! Sully was singing and playing the piano. Grancie said he was just having a blast! You can tell from the picture!

Wonder what song he was singing...

Enjoy the pictures! Have a great week!

xxoo Tracy, Brett, Sullivan, and Ansley xxoo