Eva the sports fan

Eva went to not one, but two games last weekend. First off we drove up to Charlotte to watch the Jazz lose to the Bobcats. Eva has little baby earplugs that we think block out almost everything b/c nothing startles her when she's wearing them. (At least we hope that's the case.)


Then Saturday we took her to her first and last Clemson football game. She stood out like a sore thumb in her hot pink jumpsuit in that sea of orange. She also had her first date which didn't go so well. Coleman seemed more interested in her jacket than anything else. She has yet to learn the secrets of luring a man (stare at his lips! I think I read that in Seventeen back in the 90's.) But to be fair, Eva found him a boring conversationalist.



That night we went to a stake meeting and ended up banished to the Relief Society room so Eva could do her happy baby dance. I hope all the Spanish speakers enjoyed the baby screams in the background of their translation. Church will never be the same, I had no idea...



Then we ended the night with gelato from the swanky West End in Greenville with some friends. You should have seen the looks we got as we carried 3 little babies past the nightlifers in their fancy restaurants. Babies are quite the anomaly out here.



I hope everybody has a Happy Thanksgiving!

What I've been up to...

Playing with my giraffe and sitting in my Bumbo...

Trying out new jumpers- I'm starting to get the hang of it (haha, get it? Hang of it?)

Watching TV so my parents can eat dinner together...

Growing back the hair on the top of my head- I think I'm going to be a beautiful brunette.

Getting chubby and tall- I was 25 inches long 2 weeks ago.

Curling my toes...

Taking naps with Daddy...

Giving Mommy lots and lots of smiles! I think I'm starting to like it here!

A night at the Biltmore...

Last weekend we stayed at the Inn on the Biltmore property (a Vanderbilt property) in Asheville, NC. It was sort of a belated anniversary trip since this year's anniversary was slightly less romantic that it should be with me covered in spit up heating up leftovers while Devin danced around the apartment with Screamyhead. The Inn was amazing. We arrived at night and I had no idea what views awaited me at dawn... and yes, I was awake to see it.

We ate lunch in downtown Asheville at Rachel-Ray-approved Early Girl Eatery with the usually crowd of local Granolas. Then we took the long way home through Pumpkin Town (yes, that is the actual name) as we took in the scenery and fall colors. It was perfect.

Chicka-dee chicken the Chinese chicken...

I was going to be a naughty mom and not worry about a Halloween costume for Eva but when I saw this costume at Babies R Us the day before Halloween for $5 I couldn't resist.

Needless to say, she hated all 15 minutes I forced her to wear it. She even started crying when she saw me unpack it when we got home. I think the poor thing is going to have chicken nightmares for the rest of her life. I don't know if anyone finds this as amusing as I do but her older cousin, Lucy, was also a chicken this year. Family photos, Sara C.?

You're never too old to feel as stupid as a teenager...

Who am I kidding? This blog is now full-blown baby blog. We don’t care anymore about mommy’s search for adventure… About our trip to the pet cemetery- the place that somehow lures us time and time again. That super creepy spot off the highway in the dessert near home that somehow always give us a thrill when we’re all sitting around the living room, babies in bed, and looking for a way to feel like we’re in high school again. And tell that to my dad who got a call from us at 11pm telling him we’d decided to take the long way home- through the desert and gotten the truck buried in sand. Talk about feeling like a 16 year old again. And to make things worse, we had to call our neighbors to come and tow us out… yes, the Shamo’s for all you Boulder City-ians out there. Nothing like calling your high school boyfriend’s dad to come and bail you out. Happy Halloween indeed. But in case you’re just a little curious… Here’s a pic.

We made it to Vegas

Devin has a conference in Miami this week so I Eva and I flew out to Vegas. She was an absolute angel and slept the entire flight. Except for the fact that she pooped all over my leg in the Atlanta airport, the trip was pretty uneventful. She woke up as I was deboarding the plane and wanted to eat but I was too excited for her to meet her cousins so I walked and nursed her at the same time. I have come so far since the early days when I never thought I'd be able to leave the house. Gracie and Ryan just adore their little cousin and can't take their eyes off her. Nat, Whitney and Angie drove down for the weekend to meet the little girl. We had a typical Palmer weekend filled with all sorts of chaos in addition to a trip to the lake, shopping at the outlet mall, a random boy hanging around, and a desert rescue mission (more on that later).

I love my baby!!!

Athens

Sometimes when Devin and I are traveling, we'll get all the way to some big museum or something then decide we don't want to pay the 15 bucks to get in. So we'll take a picture outside and wander through the gift shop for awhile to see what we missed. Then we leave feeling good that we saved the money and 3 hours. That's kind of what we did with the University of Georgia football game. Athens is about an hour from Clemson and we've always wanted to experience a gameday there. So we went down and had lunch at the Last Resort Grill, then walked around downtown, through the massive party on campus to the stadium and watched from the road as the game started. So now I feel like I've experienced a game in Athens and I saved myself 70+ dollars and the 3 hours. I didn't feel guilty at all for stopping at the outlet mall on the way home.

We took this picture of the boys then laughed hysterically when we realized they look like a little happy gay family...

That's better...


But Eva still loves Clemson the very best.

Evidences of a New Parent

You know you're a new parent when...

You post videos of you baby sleeping on YouTube.

Sleeping...



Waking up...



Happy time!



You also know you're a new parent when you decide to peel back the fingers of your baby's fist and discover a bunch of lint packed into the creases of her hands. Sick! Her hands are always balled up so tight I never think to open them up during bath time. :)

You know you're a new parent when you think you can take your baby to work...

Poochie Alberta Palmer

My sister Teresa's blog is one of my favorites. She is the cutest writer and always makes the ordinary interesting and the interesting even more so... But since her blog is private I get to steal her posts to spread the blog love. Although in this case I'm just stealing pictures.

But many of you that have been acquainted with the PalmerGals through the years will understand the importance Poochie plays in our family history. She was always there to bark like crazy when boys showed up on the doorstep. Always ready for a makeover when the Koolaid was too tempting and she ended up with colored fur. In the end it was the family van that did her in. But I am convinced she was already gone. She was a good dog but is now in a much better place. Above is a picture of Poochie in her prime and below is her first Christmas. I wonder where I put that bandanna, that was a great look for me.

And while we're on the subject of PalmerGal history, here are a couple other gems. Teresa and Natalie practicing with the make-up and Pioneer Days in Lethbridge.

Smiles...

So this week's picture taking has been dedicated to capturing baby smiles. After about 80 frames I finally captured it. (You can also see Eva's receeding hairline in this picture.) My favorite part of the day is when Eva wakes up for the day and lays on my bed cooing, smiling and letting out little yelps. It just makes my heart melt! She is so incredibly adorable and I just love to lay there and watch her have her fun. Her little baby world looks so exciting. I'd love to see inside her little mind and find out what is so interesting.

She also had her first playdate this week with her friend Macey. (It was more like that Tostitos commercial where the moms are chatting and the babies are all sleeping in their seats.) But I just can't believe how much bigger Macey is than Eva and she's only 8 months old. She's almost twice her size!!

I love this picture...

Favorite products this week: My diaper bag, Happiest Baby on the Block, Gerber onesies and sleepers, baby washcloths, Costco diapers, and Laura's car seat cover.

Does anyone have a cheapo brand of foundation/concealer they like?

Someday We'll Go All The Way...

I wish I could post a more up-beat blog but unfortunately it's been a pretty somber weekend. What was once such a promising season for the Cubs has abruptly come to an end. I'd say more but just thinking about it makes me more disappointed. So I thought this clip from YouTube was pretty appropriate. I think this song will probably be playing on Cubs fans' iPods all winter long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqHTScDBsDU

Good 'Ole Rocky Top!!!

Since it is now 3pm and I just barely managed to brush my teeth, I'm sure you'll all forgive me if this post of the past 2 weeks is just a list. (Blogger is not cooperating for the Image Upload so here are links to the latest albums.) http://picasaweb.google.com/sarah.palmer.morris/TennesseeGame
http://picasaweb.google.com/sarah.palmer.morris/EvaSBlessingWeekend

1. Trip to Knoxville to see Tennessee play Florida with friends Whitney and Steve. The boys paid homage to one of the great football venues of America while the girls shopped at baby boutiques and found the greatest lemon cookies in the world. (Thanks to my chocolate fast, I've been forced to expand my dessert horizons to include citrus treats.)

2. While in Knoxville we hung out by the river and witnessed the famous "Vol Navy" (at least Devin swears to me that it is famous) where people park their boats on the river near the stadium to avoid street traffic.

3. The beginning of blowouts. Eva began her baby blowouts be pooping twice on Devin in one day. Since then we have discovered that diapers don't stand a chance against these bad boys.

4. Eva's first Sunday at church. I dressed the little thing up in the most frilly dress I could find. She looked like a giant ball of lace. Before we had even left the parking lot on our way to church, you guessed it, blow out. But she was so happy. She slept for the entire 3 hour block.

5. Grandma and Grandpa Palmer come to town for Eva's baby blessing. After spending and incredible weekend with the babe, they have decided that she does indeed rule the roost.

6. Daytrip to Dillard, NC in the Blue Ridge Mountains with a stop at White Water Falls.

7. Eva starts to smile... we think. (She also begins batting the rattles on her bouncy chair- very exciting to new parents.)

8. Baby Eva Marie was blessed on Sunday by her daddy. It was a beautiful blessing with sweet promises for her life ahead. Her dress was made by Grandma P. from a shawl that came from my wedding dress.

Goodbye, Chocolate. It was fun while it lasted.

I've been trying to get a good 3 week old picture of Eva and this is all I can get lately. The poor little thing has had such an upset tummy for the past couple days. In reviewing my diet I realized that I ate about 80 brownies... not good for the breast milk I suppose. So I'm saying farewell to a dear, dear friend- Chocolate. It has always been there to cheer me up and give me a boost. But the results of the milk-sans-chocolate experiment are conclusive. Today we had our happy baby back. And here is the most delicious brownie recipe I've ever come across. As a fair warning, don't even try it unless you have the ability to ingest massive quantities of brownies.

3 sticks butter (melted)3 c. sugar3 tsp. vanilla6 eggs1 1/2 c. flour1 c. cocoa1 tsp. baking powder1/4 tsp salt1/2 c. chocolate chips. Preheat oven to 350Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together. Add the remaining ingredients, blending well after each addition. Pour batter into 9x13 in pan and bake for 40-45 min. or pour into jelly roll pan and bake for 25 min.Middle should be slightly moist and gooey.

Little tid bits about Eva: She has this funny thing about feeling skin on skin. She sleeps really well on the leather couch because she thinks it feels like skin. (Who knows what she's really thinking but that's our best guess.) When I hold her upright on my chest, she'll worm her way up using her little legs until she has her face buried in my neck and her chest resting on the exposed skin of my neckline. It's so funny. Her neck is very strong, she's been able to hold her head up and move it from side to side since birth. Tonight when I was holding her upright against me, she pulled her head up about a centimeter from my face with her mouth shaped in a tiny little "O" like she was waiting for a kiss or something. So I gave her little kisses and she kind of bobbed her head in and out like she was trying to kiss me. Little babies are so sweet! I just love this little thing. I wish you could all come out an hold her.

Just for fun, here are baby pics from Devin's mom. Can you see the Eva in the pictures?

And last but not least, Products I heart this week: Swaddle me Wrap, Moby Wrap, Mam Pacifiers, Medela PumpInStyle, homemade ring sling.