Picture lovin' Toddler

My girls love looking at pictures of our family on my laptop. Ava asked Amy to help her see her favorite picture of Mommy holding Anibella right after she was born. She just sat there looking at this picture & giggling for a while. It was so cute! Ava sure does love her sweet baby Sissy!

Happy 6th Birthday my sweet little Abby Kate!

My sweet little Abby Kate (who from birth was affectionately named "Abby Cakes" by her big sissies who were 2 & 4 when Abby was born!) turned SIX years old today! Six years ago today, January 21st at 4:33 PM my precious little Abby was born! I now had THREE sweet little girls & I couldn't stop thinking, "how can I possibly be so blessed?! Yet another & just-as-adored baby girl has captured my heart! I GET to have another baby girl!" My precious little newborn weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces & was 19 1/2 inches long! She had very light brown hair (which has turned out to be the blondest of all of our girlies!), beautiful little blue eyes, the adorable little Palmer button nose & cute little dimples! I love the fact that all of our girls look so much alike when they are born! I love hearing, "yep, she's a Palmer, alright!" : ) It makes me smile! My sweet little Abby baby definitely looked like her 2 big sissies! I still remember those sweet & overwhelming emotions of holding my little Abby for the first time! Even though I had done it twice before, it was just as precious, just as special & just as amazing to me all over again! The moment they put my Abby on my chest, I could hardly believe that God had chosen to bless me.......again.......with one of the most passionate desires of my heart, being a Mommy! My heart was overflowing with such amazing & deep love for my sweet Abby, my 3rd precious baby girl! I LOVE being the Mommy of my little girls! I am SO grateful!!!!!!!!!! As part of Abby's birthday gift, we went on a date to Target, the Dollar Store & Starbucks the week of her birthday! As I sat across from my Abby watching her so cutely dip her little carrots in her dip at Target, I was just amazed at how my Abby is growing up! We laughed SO much & SO hard about pretty much everything! She was just so much fun to be with! For some reason, my girlies always seem "little" when they are 5 & under, like "preschool" age still but all of a sudden when they turn 6 they just seem to grow & change so much! She's my little girlfriend & we really talked about how she feels about things & what she thinks about & how she views God & our family.......really amazing stuff like that! Me.......& my little SIX year old........wow! It was such a sweet but emotional day for me! Although my little Abby really is still so little & she still "needs" Mommy, she is becoming such a big girl & amazes me all the time with what she can do! She loves to serve Daddy, Mommy & her 4 sissies! Abby is an amazing helper to Mommy! One of the things I love the most about my Abby is that she is so sweet, lovable & tender! She is very mild natured but knows exactly what she likes! As a toddler, she could decide way before her big sissies if we gave her a choice on something! She is very decisive which is a skill her Mommy & 2 big sissies are still learning! : ) Abby is also very "tough"! We have called her our "tiny tuff stuff" since she was a baby because she was & still is super petite but she's always been very brave & adventurous! When she was about 3 years old she tumbled down the stairs & before I could even run to scoop her up she, literally, bounced up & said, "I'm OOOOOOOkay!" It was SO cute! : ) Whenever there is "bug drama" in our home, she has always been the first to volunteer to pick it up & throw it away! Even as a toddler she would run, grab a tissue, run right over to the bug (who dared to come into our home! Ha!) That still amazes me! Abby also loves to care for her baby sissies! She loves to "read" to, have tea parties & cuddle with Ava & she loves snuggling with her new baby Anibella! She just carries her around so sweetly & does an amazing job with her! She loves her big sissies & although she still lets them take care of her, she has become more of a buddy now than their "baby sissy". Abby enjoys her new "big girl" status VERY much! : ) I'm just so grateful for my sweet little Abby & I am amazingly blessed I am to be my Abby's Mommy, to be her friend, to have her in my life everyday, to watch how she loves & serves her sisters, to watch her grow in her relationship with God & to watch her growing everyday into an amazing little girl who is learning to glorify God & bless her Daddy & Mommy! Wow, this precious little girl is MINE! I love my sweet little girl SO much & I am SO grateful to God for my Abby! Happy 6th Birthday my Abby Kate! Daddy, Mommy & your 4 sissies love you with ALL of our hearts!

Tummy Time!

Today my sweet little Anibella did 2o full minutes of her tummy time & she did amazing! Anibella is 11 weeks old already & we are trying to do at least a little bit of tummy time everyday. She is *such* a sweet, content & happy baby & she adores her big sissies! During tummy time today at first she wasn't quite sure about it & she was "complaining" a little bit. That's what I call it when my babies aren't really crying but just kinda talking & telling me that they don't really like something too much! So, I sat next to Anibella, rubbed her back, sang & talked to her for a few minutes. She was so cute, wiggling her cute little baby-ness all around & moving her head side to side! She kept looking up at me as I was talking with her sweet blue eyes! I went to the kitchen just for a quick second & I heard Anibella start "complaining" again......for just about a second. When I came back in to see what Anibella was doing, I found my sweet little Ava "helping" her baby sissy Anibella do her tummy time! Ava was laying beside Anibella with their little noses touching, singing "TINKLE TINKLE, little TAR" to her, rubbing her back & had her arm around Anibella's back. OH MY goodness, it was SO stinkin' precious! Ava stayed there with Anibella for about 10 minutes & Anibella was just looking right into her big sissy Ava's eyes, listening to her sing & loving her sissy time! After Ava got up Anibella happily finished her tummy time! What sweet baby girls we have! I'm so grateful to God for my sweetie girls! : )

My sweet little Anibella!

My sweet little Anibella Hope is already 11 weeks old! She is such a precious, happy baby & we love her SO very much! She loves to smile, coo, squeal & wiggle her cute little baby body all around! She makes Daddy, her 4 big sissies & Mommy smile & laugh all the time! She's such a precious gift from God & we are so grateful for our sweet baby girl! : )

Happy 8th Birthday my sweet little Ashley Noelle!

My sweet little 3-days-after-Christmas-present Ashley Noelle (otherwise known as "Ash Bash", "Ashley Noellie Belle", "Ash Bug", "Ashy Boo Boo".....you get the idea, we like nicknames!) : ) turned EIGHT years old today! Eight years ago today, December 28th, 2001 at 4:44 pm my precious little Ashley was born! I became a Mommy again for the second time & my dream of having little "sissies" came true! I love & adore my big sister so I longed to have that same relationship for my girls! When my sweet little Ashley was born I had TWO sweet little girls! A life-long friend & baby sissy was given to my sweet little 2 year old Amy that day! Seeing my two little girls together just absolutely melted my heart! I loved seeing Amy cuddle her new baby sissy & be SO excited that her "Ashy Baby" as she used to call her was finally here! My precious little newborn weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces & was 19 1/2 inches long! She had light brown hair (which quickly turned blond!), beautiful little blue eyes, the adorable little Palmer button nose, cute little dimples AND the sweetest little dimple right on the END OF HER NOSE! It was one of the first things that I & Randal's Mom "Gram", noticed when she was put on my tummy right after she was born! Sometimes I will still say, "Ashley, I still remember what I said the first time I held you right after you were born, "Awwwww, she has......." & Ashley will say, "I know, I know Mommy......a cute little dimple on her nose!"! It makes me laugh that she knows exactly what I'm going to say but it's true, I still remember that day like it was yesterday! : ) I also still remember the sweet emotions of the first time I held my Ashley in my arms! I was one of my most favorite things....... MOMMY......... AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! My heart was overflowing with such amazing & deep love for my new baby girl! I was so grateful to God that He chose to bless me, once again, with my new baby, my precious little gift! Being the Mommy of TWO was definitely different. I learned to divide my attention between two little ones, that I really DID have enough love for both (actually an overflowing amount!) & that I needed God's grace even more to care for my two precious little girlies! I LOVE being the Mommy of my little girls! I am SO grateful!!!!!!!!!! As part of Ashley's birthday gift, we went on a date to Kohl's, Target & Starbucks a few days before her birthday! As we walked around Target sipping our Starbucks & giggling together, I had the same feelings, emotions & thoughts that I did when my Amy turned 10 earlier this month.......amazed at how my sweet Ashley is growing! She is a young lady now who has her own thoughts, dreams & wants to really "talk" to Mommy! She's my little girlfriend! It was such a sweet but emotional day for me! I kept thinking how tiny she used to be, how much she "needed" Mommy to do things for her & now she is growing into such a beautiful, amazing, godly, precious young lady who loves to do things for ME (& her Daddy & her 4 sissies!)! Ashley is an amazing help to Mommy! One of the things I love the most about my Ashley is how nurturing she is! God has given her a natural gift for caring for her sissies! She is also HILARIOUS! She has a great sense of humor & perfect comedic timing! She always knows how to keep us laughing & her little one liners are just classically funny! I just can hardly believe how blessed I am to be my Ashley's Mommy, to be her friend, to have her in my life everyday, to get to experience her hilarious sense of humor, to enjoy her eye for fashion, to watch how she loves her sissies & to see how sweetly & selflessly she serves her sisters, to watch her grow in her relationship with God & to watch her growing everyday into an amazing young lady who glorifies God & blesses her Daddy & Mommy! Wow, this precious little girl is MINE! I love my sweet little girl SO much & I am SO grateful to God for my Ashley! Happy 8th Birthday my Ashley Noelle! Daddy, Mommy & your 4 sissies love you with ALL of our hearts!

Happy 10th Birthday my sweet little Amy Rose!

My sweet little firstborn Amy Rose turned TEN years old today! Ten years ago today, December 6th, 1999 at 1:06 pm my precious little Amy was born & my VERY much longed-for dream came true when I became a Mommy for the first time! My precious little newborn weighed 6 pounds even & was 19 1/2 inches long! She had light brown hair (which quickly turned blond!), beautiful little blue eyes, the adorable little Palmer button nose & cute little dimples! I still remember the emotions of the first time I held my Amy in my arms! I was a MOMMY!!!!!!!!!! In that very moment, my heart was full of such deep, sweet & fierce love for my new baby girl & gratitude to God for my precious little gift! I can hardly believe that my firstborn baby girl is a DECADE old & that I've already been a Mommy for a decade too! I am SO grateful!!!!!!!!!! As part of Amy's birthday gift, we went on a date on Friday night. As we walked around Target sipping our Starbucks, giggling & talking I was just amazed by the fact that I was spending time with my "young lady" & my little "companion"! It was such a sweet but emotional day for me! I kept thinking how tiny she used to be, how much she "needed" Mommy to do things for her & now she is growing into such a beautiful, amazing, godly, precious young lady who loves to do things for ME (& her Daddy & her 4 little sissies!)! Amy is an amazing help to Mommy! She is SO good & sweet & so nurturing to her 4 little sissies & she can & does do SO much to help me! I just can hardly believe how blessed I am to be my Amy's Mommy, to be her friend, to have her in my life everyday, to get to experience her cute & quirky little sense of humor, to enjoy her talent for art, her love of animals (especially dogs!), to see how sweetly & selflessly she loves her little sisters, to watch her grow in her relationship with God & to watch her growing everyday into an amazing young lady who glorifies God & blesses her Daddy & Mommy! Wow, this precious little girl is MINE! I love my sweet little girl SO much & I am SO grateful to God for my Amy! Happy 10th Birthday my Amy Rose! Daddy, Mommy & your 4 baby sissies love you with ALL of our hearts!

Every day life.......

Okay, I'm the kind of person who loves to share what's going on in our lives & I LOVE details..... giving AND getting them! : ) (I know sometimes it's all WAY to much for most people! Ha!) but somewhere along the way I started only posting on my blog when something really special happened in our lives! I have noticed that I go from one extreme to the other, I either share every.......single.......painstaking detail (which probably leaves you hoping that I'll just hurry up & get on with it already!) : ) OR I go for weeks on end without a peep! Well, I realized that it's okay & even FUN, to share just everyday stuff. So.......for the sake of our family & friends who actually follow our blog & want to know what's going on with us, I'm going to try to be more consistent with blogging about just plain ole everyday life! : ) Having a Hubby & 5 sweet little girlies 9 years old (very soon to be 10 years old!) & under including a newborn, a toddler & 3 schooling girls, we have PLENTY to talk about! Trust me.......there is NE-ver a dull moment around here (& that's just they way we LOVE it!) : ) (uh, I also just noticed how much I like to use all caps to show enthusiasm AND those little dots too! Ha!) While I will be trying to share more of our everyday life, I will try my very best (which will have to be super duper hard!) to give what my Hubby calls the "Reader's Digest" version! Which, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not very good at! : ) Hopefully I'll be blogging again very soon!