Nora Rose: 18 Months!

Our Nora Rose will be eighteen months old in a few days, and it seems a while since I've blogged about her growing up-ness.  Goodness how time just goes on and on.

First how about some of what she's up to at the ripe age of a year and a half :)

Sleep:  

Naps, generally, once a day after lunch, but will occasionally still take that morning nap.  Poor babes is usually on the go with us in the mornings, so that one can be hit or miss.

Eat:  

Eats all. day. long.  Snacks, rather.  Is not a big "meal" eater.  She does have her opinions on what she likes, which has been the source of a tiny toddler throw down or two.  She loves, loves, pretzels, gummies, most fruit, and bagels.  

Play:  

Is big into babies these days!  So cute.  Really likes dance parties.  Will generally play whatever sissy is playing.  She's really good at making a mess, too ;)

Random:  

Makes all sorts of faces.

Loves to sing "Let it Go," from Frozen.

Still pinches Mama's (and other's) arms for comfort...?? haha.

Loves and has to sleep with her Alex (Monk Monk).

Tells me when she needs her diaper changed.

Is a big, big fan of snuggling.

Likes to "read' books, but her attention span is nearly nonexistent ;)

(I'm guessing you can tell from those photos that girlfriend has a lot of personality packed into a tiny little body ;)

Love this sweet little lady!

She's Turning THREE!

In just over a week our Elise turns THREE!!!

I often joke with her about putting a proverbial brick on her head to keep her from growing (because I just feel like it's going so fast).  She always says "No mom, take it off" (and pretends to take a brick off her head).  

It's true, I wouldn't really stop her from growing into the little girl/girl/lady she's supposed to become.  Our prayer for her is that, Lord-willing, she'll continue to grow into just the girl she's designed to be!

Here's a rundown of our little lady at three years...

And a few other (mostly unedited, but well loved by us) photos:

(obviously girl has a thing for wearing her sunglasses ;)

Elise Noelle, you are a fun, smart, loving girl and we are incredibly thankful to call you "ours"! We love you to the great big moon and back!

Custom Paintings!

Ok, so I'm wayyyy behind on this blogging thing.  I have about four posts lined up in my head that I need to get going on...I'll get there eventually ;)

If you're wondering what's been replacing my blogging time (which usually happens at night after the babes are asleep)...it's the following...

Painting. 

I loveeeee it!!! I've been doing some custom paintings and an Etsy shop is in the works (almost ready to debut, as a matter of fact).

Here's a glimpse at some of the pieces I've done lately.

So there ya have it...my late night activity!  If you know anyone who wants a custom piece, send 'em my way! ;)

Painted: Love Grows Here

It's not an unknown fact that I love art.

And not only do I love it for fun, but it's a great stress reliever for me.  These past few weeks have involved some ups and downs for us...meaning that I got to work on a little painting project.

I compiled a bunch of things that have recently drawn my attention (flowers, this sea foam color, that quote) and came up with this (painted on some random wood I found lying around here)...

It's my hope and prayer that my little family would continue to grow in love for God and for each other daily.  A good reminder to have hanging up, no?  I'm currently working on one for someone else (I so love projects like this!) and I'm praying the same for her family as I paint away :)

Backyard Shenanigans

I'm not going to lie to you all, having our own backyard has been the bomb diggity.  Like straight up awesomeness (yep, I just went there ;)

But really, we've been so very thankful to have a backyard we can just pop in and out of all day long. We definitely missed it living in a high rise apartment and sharing a communal area with many others (though that was a blessing in many ways too...).  It's been nice to have a place the girls can go out into freely and I can watch from the window, if need be.  

Mostly, however, we've enjoyed being out there as a family and with friends.

And doing things like...

...making classic Nora faces and exploring the "fort."

...conquering the monkey bars (with lots of help from Daddy).

(perhaps a new fav or our big girl)

(Mama went too...but I was way too tall, ha)

...and admiring God's handiwork in our own backyard.

Awesome. Grateful. 

Picking Those Berries

These are from a few weeks back when we went berry picking.  We ended up with some baskets of blackberries and blueberries...excluding all the ones that Nora ate.  That was little girl's self-imposed task:  dominate the blackberries and leave with a full belly!  Elise was perfectly content picking berries galore...until the end when she had a heat-induced meltdown.  Oh well, so it goes with two year olds.

Overall it was quite fun.  Check it below ;)

Their First Fourth

I finally dusted off my beloved camera (it'd been far too long...this moving-cross-country transition has caused me to live in the moment and bringing out the camera just hasn't been priority).  The girls had really cute, festive outfits and we wanted to go to a local park for a "hike," so that seemed like a fitting time for a photo op.  (I know, I know, "hiking" in dresses, haha).

These were all shot in manual and are completely unedited...but I just wanted to get them off the camera and on the computer.  I mean, I know I'm their Mama, but SERIOUSLY!? These girls are stinkin' cute! ;)

Their first Fourth of July celebrated in America...success :)

Whirlwind Weeks

To say these past three or so weeks (or maybe even month!?) have been a whirlwind...well, I think that might just be an understatement.  It's been caaa-raaa-zzzy! 

We packed up all our belongings, moved to a hotel for a few nights, cleaned our old place, handed in the keys, hopped on a plane, survived a plane ride (literally...it was rough to say the least), and now we're back in the Land o' Target...and I, for one, am pretty happy about that :) 

We were greeted at the airport with happy, smiling faces of friends and family and then after a much needed meal were taken to "our" house where everything was waiting for us in perfect order.  It was completely humbling and we are more than grateful.

I actually, shamefully, have not picked up my big camera.  I'll blame it on the fact that we are still settling in and things are kind of all over the place...but really I could also blame the fact that my iphone is so stinkin' convenient to grab and snap photos with...ugh, iphone (yet, I love thee).

So, here's a smorgasbord of iphone photos from the last few weeks (actually most of these are from this past week here).  Some of these have made it onto Instagram (I'm @palmerponderings), but most of them are just moments I clicked and need to put here for future remembering.

 Some light reading on the flight over :)

My long awaited Target trip...I was incredibly excited.

 Having grass in our backyard has been such a gift.  The girls have already been taking advantage of it.

 Someone found a friend in the mirror!

 Just her size :)

 Daddy has LOVED having the opportunity to get these girls involved in some outdoorsy things...above, riding the lawnmower, and below fishing with WORMS!

And grandparent time has been enjoyed by all.

Needless to say, it's been an intense last few weeks, but great too.  We're still soaking it all in...and trying to catch up on sleep too ;) We're thankful!