Life in the Fast Lane...











First Glamour Shot



Life is going so fast!!!  I was just looking at all the photos and videos of Chanel's first few months and wow things have changed so much! Her look has changed, her abilities and her personality.  She can roll, almost sit up on her own, she seems to be letting us know what she wants or doesnt want:)  She is a smiley and happy girl and we our her slaves! 

First Day of Mom's Homemade Sweet potatoes

Our trip to Michigan



Cute as A Button

Best Dad in the WORLD!

Michigan State Baby

Well to start off, we have had our first Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas!  Life is good.  Halloween was a hit.  We had a party at our house and Eric bought the game, "Just Dance 2" for the WII.  It was amazingly fun!  I didnt think it would be as fun as it was...but we were all sweating our faces off and I have never seen Eric move so FAST!  I decided we needed to be a biker gang for CoCo's first Halloween.  I mean how fun to put a cute sweet little newborn baby girl in a biker costume!  All and all it was fun and I loved passing out treats in our new home. 



Halloween Party



Hawg Dog and Handlebar Eric



Biker Mama and Babe



The Biker Family





Christmas was by far my favorite Christmas this year!  Eric and I decided we would put other things in focus for the holiday instead of big gifts.  Although we are use to spending a pretty penny on eachother we refrained and I think it made Christmas twice as great!  We exchanged our yearly traditional ornaments and got Chanel her 1st Christmas ornament.  We had the Palmers over and had a beautiful dinner.  We also did the traditional pajama exchange, watched Home Alone and worked on a very interesting gingerbread house:) It was the best Christmas Eve.  As for Christmas, Eric and I made an interesting move our first Christmas together by buying these oversized stockings for eachother, which puts us in a position to fill them....UP!  My favorite part of the stockings are the movies we give eachother,  I got Eric, "The Great Outdoors," CoCo got 6 full episodes of "Punky Brewster," (this might be more for me).  We got Mikey his first copy of, "The Goonies," and I got, "Harry and the Hendersons," quite possibly one of the best movies EVER! 





The Christmas Dog



Eric and I also went to Seattle for a weekend trip to his company's Christmas Party.  We had a great time and I think I fell in love with Seattle!  We spent the weekend with my lady friends and his work buddies.  These people are my favorite people to hang out with and we had too much fun!





As for everything else...WELL February the best month ever is here!!!  Which means...our 2 year anniversary, my big 30, and of course my other favorite holiday, Valentines Day!  Not to mention we have a trip planned to Mexico with Eric's work and you know I have been working my tail off to get in a swimsuit!  So thats it in a nut shell...LOVE ALL OF YOU!





My Besties~







Christmas with my Man!



Getting her 1st Christmas PJ's




 

All her presents:)

Diligently Making the Gingerbread House

The Gingerbread Mess

Our Christmas Outing

Dad and Son

Our Humble Abode

Good Times at the Palmer Palace

For Fun...I taught the Dog how to get a Diaper:)

CoCo is getting SOOO BIG!

A Family Begins

In the past year so much has happened that I have not been blogging about. First of all we bought our first home- a duplex that has become our rental, then I got pregnant-WOW, what a journey! Then we bought another home- a place we plan to live in for a few years-We love this place!!! 3 days before I was due to be induced we closed on this home and NOW….We have a yummy little daughter! As you can see I truly have not had time to sit down and blog about these new endeavors!


Life has become extremely full and rewarding for us and full of new adventures. I feel like things are starting to settle…well…sort of Having a baby is one of the biggest challenges I have EVER EVER EVER faced! First off the birth alone was quite the adventure. 28 hours of labor…thank goodness for the epidural. I wouldn’t have it any other way! I mean seriously…I was able to enjoy her coming into this world without being in excruciating pain. I enjoyed every minute of it!

Chanel Lindsay Palmer came into this world on 8.11.10 at 12:58pm weighing in at 7lbs 7oz. When I first saw her I thought she looked like an angel. She has such a beautiful face and has been such a sweet little lady. The first 2 weeks were really challenging. Mostly because you worry so much and most of the time have NO idea what they want our need! It has been so rewarding getting to know what she wants and being able to figure it out. But each day is different and is challenging and rewarding too. It is so sweet watching Eric dance with her to soothe her and I love when she is being fussy and she hears my voice and settles down. Those are the great moments.

So with that being said enjoy all the pictures of her first month……..

                                                              INTRODUCING: Lady Chanel!

28 Weeks

I have always wanted to be that future mom that documented weekly pictures. But I am lucky to even get the monthly pics based off my schedule. I'm sure once I have the baby Eric and I are still going to be at the non-stop pace we are on right now. I think we should have been New Yorkers...it just never slows down at our house! Hopefully, though things might slow down a bit...hopefully:)

So I am 28 weeks weeks pregnant and I am for sure showing! Not that I shouldn't be...but at 4 months a co-worker said, "You look like you are 7 months pregnant!" I thought to myself..."WHY I OUTTTA.......!!!"

Being pregnant is such a new experience. Everything is brand new and exciting...especially if you are not sick. I would have to say I have been very fortunate to not have been sick during these past few months. I have however:
1) Increased in appetite
2) Increased in size
3) Yes I have already gained 20lbs...yikes!
4) Had most pregnant symptoms: heartburn, nausea and many others not to mention.

Cravings I've had...mind you I just came off of competition so a lot of these things are far far away from foods I would normally choose or approve of:
1) Sweets...never been into sweets but since this is Eric's baby...I know why I am craving them!
2) Spaghetti O's, Raviolio's-Chef Boy R'dee of course
3) Pickles
4) Taco Bell-7 Layer Burrito or anything really
5) Meals I had growing up that I haven't had in years: meatloaf, sloppy Joe's, mac n'cheese, goulash, cocoa puffs, BLT's.
6) Weird things: mashed potatoes and ketchup. Pretty much any kind of potato w/ ketchup-fried, mashed, french fries

The great moments, however, have been feeling the baby move. The first time was about 20 weeks and I felt 2 taps, like a someone was knocking on a door...from inside my stomach. At first I was not sure if that was it, but it continued to happened every day. Now I can actually see my stomach move and I can feel rolling around too. Eric was able to feel the baby a couple of weeks ago. For a while he wasn't very patient to wait for the baby, but then the moves got so strong that there was no denying them. One day we were watching the Jazz and the baby was going wild. Eric attributed it to her love for the Jazz. Even though she clearly is going to be a Piston fan:)

Speaking of she...most of you knew! We ARE HAVING A GIRL! This story is one for another day. I really wanted to be surprised...but Eric did not want to be. There was such a big divide that I caved. I am excited to know and it was a true surprise. I could have bet my entire life it was a boy. So since I found out it has felt like a new pregnancy:) I am excited to have a little lady to take care of.

Names....well we have about 25 and of course we haven't found one we agree on completely. We do have a few we both like, but I am sticking with waiting to name until we see her.

One thing I am looking forward to is seeing her. I have no idea, imagination or thought on what she is going to look like. It so crazy...but it feels so weird to think we are going to be parents of a baby that will resemble us or maybe not. I have NO IDEA. Either way, I cant wait for her arrival. Everyday is a blessing and the pregnancy is a reminder of how cool life is. We have so much to be thankful for!

Rocco the Stud PUP!

This is a tribute to my puppy I love OH so MUCH!!! He is the best little dog in the WORLD! He has grown so much, but yet he is still so little and cute! My little pupster is also quite the smart dog too! So far he knows 4 tricks and is going on 5 and 6. 1) SIT 2) DOWN-was the hardest one so far 3) Shake and 4) HE waves hello!!! He is on his way to spin and he is learning to ring a bell when he has to go to potty:) Rocco is the best dog EVER!!!