Needing & Loving God's Amazing Grace! : )

We've had so much going on that I don't even know where to start! Randal, our girlies & I are doing well & even though we've been busy God continues to give us His amazing grace!

My pregnancy is going well & I'll already be 8 weeks tomorrow! I have been feeling great besides a little queasiness in the early morning, late afternoon & before bed. It is not bad at all & I am SO grateful! Our girlies & I have enjoyed our weekly updates from "babycenter.com" about our new baby. Let's see......so far our baby went from the size of a poppy seed to a sesame seed to a lentil bean & last week he/she was the size of a blueberry! We look forward to our updates every Thursday & our girls can't wait to hear how big our baby is in terms of something they can see & understand! I still laugh when I think of our girls going around Walmart telling people, "my baby is the size of a jumbo shrimp" when I was pregnant with Ava! It totally cracked me up! : ) They are such cute little girlies & they always make Mommy laugh!

On March 1st it SNOWED!!!!!!! Our girlies had SO much fun playing in the snow, "sledding" on a toy box lid (you gotta make do when you don't get much snow & you aren't prepared : ) !), building their own & quite amazing igloo (all by their cute little selves!) & building adorable little "snow people"! Since we don't own snow bibs we had to stop playing 4 different times to come in, warm up with some yummy hot chocolate & change clothes! I was thoroughly surprised & impressed that my girls could play out in the snow for hours on end & never complain about being cold or wet! They have WAY more stamina than Mommy and YES, they had THAT much fun! : ) Mommy had to MAKE them come in to warm up! I have lots of fun pictures of our girls' fun in the snow that I can't wait to share! : )

Randal's parents, our girlies' very loved Poppy & Gram came for a visit the 2nd week of March. We had so much fun with them! Randal was only able to take 3 days off while they were here but we totally loved having him at home with us!!!!! While Daddy was at work, Poppy did a lot of things around the house to help Randal! What a huge blessing that was! One of our girlies most special treats was that Gram took each of them on their own special date with her! They had SO much fun & they are still talking about their dates! Randal & I got to go out for an awesomely fun date night with Dad & Mom while our girlies stayed with some of our favorite babysitters (we love you Alexander Girls : ) !) ! We went to a really cool Carribean restaurant in downtown Greenville called "Chicora Alley" & then we had ice cream too! Our week with them came to an end way too quickly! Once again, after they left, I found myself with 4 very sad, very emotional, very teary eyed little girlies who miss their Poppy & Gram!

On Sunday, March 15th, my very loved Grandma passed away. She had a major stroke the Wednesday before which left her in a coma. She died very peacefully on Sunday night & went to be with Jesus. I got to drive up to Franklin, NC to spend some time with my Grandma in the hospital on Friday night/early Saturday morning. I got to hold her hand, love on her & tell her how special she was to Randal, our girls & I! It was a very sweet but sad time for my Grandma & I alone in the quiet night of the ICU. I couldn't control my tears as I said goodbye. Since my Mom died 15 years ago, my Grandma has been like a mom to me. She stood in my Mom's place at our wedding as my Grandpa gave me away & she was there to celebrate when each of our babies were born. It is hard to put into words what my sweet Grandma means to me. My heart aches that she is gone! My girlies were very close to my Grandma too, she was more of a Grandma to them than a Great Grandma. They have greived for her too & I am sad to think of how they will miss her being a part of their lives! One of my very favorite memories is that my Grandma used to call our girls her "doll babies" ~ I used to love hearing her call them that! She was an absolutely amazing wife, mom, grandma, great grandma & woman of God! She loved & served the Lord & her family with all of her heart! I am so blessed that I was able to have such an amazing woman in my life! I am so sad to think about my sweet Grandpa trying to live every day life without his love! They were married for 65 years! He fell in love with my Grandma when he was 15 & a soda jerk at a drug store where he would make her favorite drinks. He has loved my Grandma unendingly for the past 72 years! I am comforted knowing my Grammy is with Jesus but she is deeply loved & terribly missed!

I have LOTS & I DO mean LOTS of pictures to share but I will be busy for the rest of the week with my Grandma's memorial service. I can't wait to share them with y'all as soon as I can! My sweet girlies are such an amazing gift to Mommy (& Daddy!)! They make my heart happy, keep me laughing & they make me need Jesus to be a better & more godly Mommy every day! : )

Unfortunately our sweet, amazing & extremely hard working Daddy has been missing a lot of fun lately! He works SO hard at work & he is taking a very intense & difficult school load this semester! He got straight A's last semester & all of his girlies are so proud of him! Randal just started his last semester & will graduate in May! We are SO excited!!!!!!!! Our girls & I are sad when he has to miss special family times but I am so grateful to God that he is working so hard to provide for our girls & I! : )

That's what's been going on at the Palmer Home! I know it's long & I'm working on being more concise! Sorry y'all!!!!!!!! I tried, I really did! Hope you still love me anyway! : )

Pregnant!

I am pregnant with baby #5! : ) We are SO happy & grateful to God but very surprised! Our girlies are sooooooo excited about our new baby! I am 4 weeks & I'm due November 1st! We are praying for God to protect our precious little baby & Mommy too!

Organizing....

I have been very busy organizing over the past few weeks with no end in sight! It all started with my closet that had become overrun with what I call memorabilia. When my girlies were very small they "caught" Mommy's love of keeping all things "important". As toddlers they would say "Mommy, are you gonna keep this for "remember bill uh"!? : ) So, now my closet is overflowing with artwork, a sample plate from their birthday parties (yes, all 4 girls x 22 birthdays in all! Now you see the extent of my sappy-ness : ) !), cards from them to Mommy & anything that this super sentimental Mommy couldn't get rid of! Well, let me tell you, it was a MESS! I now have it all organized into 3 huge Rubbermaid tubs, YIKES! I have 4 medium sized tubs that I will use from now on, one for each of my girls. Hopefully, I will stay more organized this time! I LOVE order, I love to be organized & a neat & tidy space makes me ridiculously happy! So, you can imagine my joy at the sight of my beautifully clean closet now! I couldn't stop there, so I moved my little parade down to our basement & storage rooms! Oh my! It is still a work in progress! The thing that amazes me most is how sweet my girlies are when I am doing a project! They take care of each other & play together so awesomely so Mommy can get stuff done! It's hard work to get organized but I love the result (& my Hubby does too!) : ) ! So, my muscles are sore, my closet is clean, my girlies have watched a few movies & had lots of snacks & I'm still organizing my little heart out! : )

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day as a family but, for once, I didn't get ANY pictures of our great day together! It is so unlike me not to take any pictures but that week & Valentine's Day Ava was very sick : ( , Mommy was really tired & I just wanted our girlies to be able to enjoy their special day without having to "pose" every moment like I usually do! (um, I'm working on this issue.... : ) !) My sweet little Ava was very sick with an upper respiratory virus, which our Pediatrician calls the "crud" that is going around. She had high fevers, a terrible cough & very runny nose. Mommy was exhausted because I sat up for 4 nights holding Ava upright so she could breathe while she slept. Ava is doing better but now Abby has the same thing! : ( By an absolute miracle, on Thursday night I got myself to Walmart while Daddy was at home with our sleeping big girls & he took care of (by this I mean he held her on his chest while she tried to sleep with all of her snorty, snuffily sounds!) our sad little Ava so Mommy could get out and shop a little. I got everything I needed to make Valentine's Day very special for our girls plus I had lots of stuff from last year that I kept. So, my wonderful Hubby & I went out to dinner at Carrabas's on Friday night (that was the only night we could find a sitter!) & it was so yummy! We took our little Ava because she was just too sick to stay with Gordon (our babysitter) & her sissies. Randal, Ava & I had a sweet, romantic dinner together! Every time Randal & I would hold hands or kiss, Ava would get the cutest little look on her face & say, "Dad-deeee" & Mom-eeee" like, "what'cha doin?", in her sick, scratchy little voice ~ so sweet! We had so much fun together & it was just so wonderful to be out with my Husband! (& baby : ) !) That night I decorated the entire kitchen/dining room for our girls' little party & had their Valentine goodie baskets out & ready for them to find Valentine's morning. All day they kept telling Daddy & I how much they love us, "cause it IS love day, ya know" they kept saying, it was really cute! We had a great day of just hanging out as a family, eating yummy chocolate, playing, watching movies & having our little Valentine dinner party! Our girls are very sweet & always try to be grateful for things that we do for them. BUT, they were definitely HYPER after all that candy! You can imagine 4 little girlies bouncing off the walls, OH MY! At the end of the long but wonderful day I was just reminded how amazingly good God has been to give me my 5 Valentine's ~ my amazing Hubby & my 4 precious little girlies! Hope y'all had a great day with the ones you love! : )

Our new puppy Aiden!

This is our new little puppy Aiden! He is a Papillion, he is only 2 weeks old & he just opened his eyes. He still lives with his mommy dog at Pam's house (his breeder & our very close friend)! We get to see & hold him for the first time on Wednesday & we will be able to bring him home in April! Our girlies are SO excited & so are we! : )

Talking to myself......

On Monday I was having that kind of day where I had to do a lot of talking to my heart! I was discouraged as a Mommy, a home school teacher & especially a "preparer & shaper" of my little girls' hearts! There are many days that I feel like a complete failure but that day I was having a harder time than normal "talking" to myself instead of "listening". Of the many areas that I'm working on in my life, the one that sobers me the most is training & raising my little girls to be godly women, wives & mommy's some day! Talk about a daunting but treasured calling! I need God's grace & help everyday!!!! I have been going on special "dates" with my girls since they were very little but as they have gotten older, our times together have taken on a new dimension. On my date with Amy last week, I got to talk to her about our relationship & how I'm doing as a Mommy. It was wonderful to hear her sweet encouragement but also very humbling to hear how I can grow! I am learning that having older children is definitely different in a whole new way! My older girls need & crave more time to just sit & talk to Mommy & Daddy ~ they actually want real conversation!!!!!! When my baby or my Kindergartener fall down, get their feelings hurt or have a sinful attitude, a discipline, a simple "encouragement" & lots of cuddles makes everything better & absolutely does the trick! With my big girls, talking to them about what is going on in their heart & how they can grow & change AND pointing them back to the Cross & encouraging them to seek God on their own about it requires a lot more of Mommy's time, attention, patience & wisdom (????) ! I'm so grateful that God has blessed me with very affectionate & cuddly little girls because even my big girls still love to climb into Daddy & Mommy's laps & hopefully they always will! Many times after having one of these heart moments with my girls I come away with gratitude to God but I still know that there is so much more I can be doing SO much better! Then....I look up to the Cross! I HAVE to remember that God is at work in me too! He is good & faithful to help me be a godly, patient, loving & tender Mommy (& Wife too!)! I love my little girls & I am grateful to God that He has entrusted these little treasures to Randal & I even though I am so unworthy of such sweet gifts!

Mommy & Amy's Date

Mommy & Amy went on a date to Starbucks, the Christian bookstore & PetLand one afternoon this week & we had SO much fun together! As we talked at Starbucks it just hit me what a big girl my little Amy is becoming! She just turned 9 in December & is growing into such a mature young lady! As our firstborn, Amy has naturally always been very responsible & dependable & she is always eager to please Daddy & Mommy & most importantly God. I know it has been happening gradually, BUT, that day I think I realized it all at once, I sensed a new maturity about her, she is growing & she is not just little anymore! (I think I did a good job holding back all the Mommy emotions (& tears) I was feeling at that moment!) Amy & I talked about her becoming a big girl (yep, you know what I mean ; ) !) & she was extremely mature & responded in such a sweet way. As I watched my little girl across the table sipping on her frappuccino & nibbling on her biscotti, (in my mind, I could already see her as my little teenager!) I just couldn't believe that I was having this real, grown up "conversation" with my firstborn baby girl ~ my NINE year old! It made my heart so happy with just a tinge of "oh my goodness, my baby is growing up!"! We giggled a lot, talked about everything little girls like to talk about & she even still wanted to hold Mommy's hand!!!!!! : ) After Starbucks, we went to the Christian bookstore. Amy LOVES to read & she was so excited when we found a detective/mystery series called "Mandie". Amy LOVES animal, specifically dogs & she got to hold a puppy & a baby ferret when we went to PetLand! It was an awesome & very sweet day! I thank God for my sweet little Amy Rosie!