What We Did Wednesday

Today was another pretty low key day in the Lowe house. Palmer and I didn't do too much in the morning. Just did some much needed lazing around the house! O then decided that noon was a good time to head to AMA to pay for our vehicle registrations, which were due today. Boy was I wrong. We got there and here were 4 people in line ahead of us and pretty soon there were 4-5 people in line behind us. No kidding, there were 2 desks open, and at 1215, one of the girls decided it was time for her lunch! Seriously! So, Palmer and I waited and we waited and we waited!! Of course, Palmer started to get antsy and bored, much like I was, and finally at 1245 we were out of there!! Note to self: next year a) don't go at noon and b) don't wait until the day it's due!!!

I decided I wanted to make a delicious supper tonight. Mitch had the evening off so before heading home Palmer and I stopped at the grocery store! She is finally big enough to sit in the cart by herself, which is seriously a million times better than trying to fit the car seat into the stupid buggy! A friend of mine kent us a cart cover and it's great!! It's cushiony for Palmer's little bum and I don't have to worry about her putting her hands or face on the dirty cart!! 

It was pretty nice out today so I took the veggies I bought at the store outside to cut. I hauled palmer's high chair out to the deck with me and we enjoyed the afternoon outside. 

I had done this before and today seemed like another good day to do it; I poured some water onto the top of the high chair and let Palmer splash around in it! It's pretty funny to watch. Every time the water splashes up it surprises her! Too cute!!! 

Hanging out with Daddy

After playing outside for a bit, we went for a family walk, put Palmer to bed, and Mitch and I ate some delicious chicken Parmesan with Greek salad!! So yummy!! 

Chicken Parmesan, tortellini, and greek salad! YUM!

Leaf wanted some chicken too!

Sensory Play - Wash Cloths and Wipe Box

I have been trying to come up with ideas for new things for Palmer to do that are fun for her while she is learning and non-repetitive for me, because quite frankly, I am running out of things to do with her that don't mentally exhaust me (because they get done over and over and over again). One tricky part though, is finding something age-appropriate for Palmer to do. There are a ton of ideas out there on Pinterest and other blogging websites, but Palmer isn't quite big enough for most of them yet. So, I saw my friend Tawnya had an idea and I decided to give it a try. Super easy concept and FREE! I took some of Palmer's bright, colourful wash cloths and an empty, unused wipe container, and Voila! A new game for her!

At first, I just left the big lid on the wipe container open and she would pull out the cloths, or dump them upside down then try to eat the cloth or the box.

Then a little while later, I closed the big lid and just used the little opening in the top of the lid and had her try to pull the cloths from there.

I will definitely be using this activity again. Who knew something so simple would be so stimulating for Palmer and help her learn?!?

And literally, she went from playing to sleeping in a matter of seconds!!!

Weekend Wrap-Up (Updated)

Although we really didn't do too much this weekend, we were still pretty busy.

Friday started as a typical Friday; Palmer and I went to visit some friends and Mitch worked until about 2 or so then it was on to some good quality family time. We had a nice little supper, went for a family walk, did the normal bedtime routine, except this time, the usual bedtime routine didn't follow with Palmer going to sleep. Instead, she cried and fussed and played around. We tried rocking her, feeding her, singing to her. Finally, we strapped her in the car seat and went for a drive and finally, at 9:30, she was sleeping! 2.5 hours past her bedtime! We have never ever had a problem with her going to bed. Its usually bath, bedtime lotion, book, milk, bed. Not this night though! Mitch and I were finally able to watch a movie (typical Friday night for us) after the drive around the west side! Palmer though, had other plans for the middle of the night. She was up twice Friday night which is very unusual for her, especially since she has been sleeping straight through the night since 3 months.

Saturday, Mitch went golfing in the morning, and Palmer continued to be a cranky little girl. After missing her nap in the morning and crying for awhile, finally at noon she fell asleep. I'm not quite sure what her problem was - I'm thinking it might be time for teeth? She really has no other symptoms of anything else, so blame it on teething?!? She woke up a much happier baby! We did some house and yard work then had some visitors in the afternoon. After supper, Palmer was back on the crying train! I feel bad because often times, I'm the only one who can comfort her. I know it breaks Mitchell's heart that he can't help her. I know its only a phase, but it breaks my heart too. There was one point, she cried and cried and cried, then Mitchell turned the music on his phone, and instantly, she fell asleep, in her high chair! The good thing was though, that we did the normal bedtime routine and Palmer fell asleep like normal and wasn't up through the night like the previous one!

Smiling firs thing in the morning, before Grumpy Palmer came out to play

Sucky, cuddly Palmer

She was crying hysterically just seconds before this, the music came on, then instantly, asleep!

Today, we had a visitor for the day, Xena. We are dog sitting for a friend of mine, so Leaf is going to have a buddy to play with all day! Xena and Leaf played outside most of the day! I could tell Xena missed her family, but she did good! I had set up a bed for her in the bedroom next to Leaf's, but she slept downstairs next to the back door, maybe she thought Cora was going to come back and get her?

And, so far so good with Palmer. Today seems like it might be a "normal" day for her!! Keep your fingers crossed!!!  It turned out to be a fairly "normal" day for Palmer, until bedtime hit and she was so tired and miserable. All she wanted was bed!

Leaf and Xena

We had some visitors come to see us in the afternoon. Our old roommate Allison came with her boyfriend to meet Palmer, see the new house, and visit with us for a bit! It had been so long since we had seen each other! We had a nice little visit!!! It was really great to see her! Leaf was excited to see her too!!!

Allison and sleepy Palmer

We also had Paul and Sandy over for dinner too (we called it Sandy's birthday dinner, which is actually today - Monday). So we did up some burgers and had "Birthday Apple Crisp" for dessert! We also scored on some wicked patio furniture from the Bay! The entire store was 60% off, plus we got another 15% off the patio stuff! We saved a pile of money!!!

Friday - Our Week in Fabulous Photos

Jumping in my Jumparoo

Jumping so hard Mommy can't take a good picture!

Turned 6 months old

Got my headband stuck and Mommy laughed and took a picture before helping me!

Ate my toes and showed off my clothbum

Took naps in what look like very uncomfortable positions!

Laid around naked (and loved it)

Sat in a shopping cart like a big girl at ToysRUs

Played with some toys

Took more naps

Played with my new toys

Played with Brody's toys...

...and his ears!

Sent funny pictures to Daddy

Cute Videos to Brighten Your Day!

My DIY Rag Rug

So, I came across a rug like this on Pinterest and thought, yup, I can do this. So....I did! The one I found on Pinterest though, the lady said she ended up spending $130 on this darn rug (because the fabric was so expensive). Well...instead of using fabric from a fabric store, which can be expensive, I picked up some bed sheets that were on clearance at Walmart for $5! Way better deal!

Then, I cut the sheets into approx 1" x 6" strips. This was annoying and tedious. 

 Then I started tying them on to the rug backing that we had. I was doing double knots (probably didnt have to be but I wanted to make sure if I washed it, all my hard work wouldnt come undone). Then you just keep tying knots, knots, and more knots! 

The rug was pretty time consuming, but I think it looks great! I plan to use this rug in Palmer's Playroom, maybe in front of a comfy chair next to a bookcase. Maybe. 

(I'm still not quite done, but it's getting close. I will post a picture when its fully completed!!)

What We Did Wednesday

Yesterday wasn't too exciting of a day - basically just another day.

In the morning, Palmer and I went grocery shopping at Superstore. Not sure if any of you do your shopping there, but they have a "deal of the week" that they ask you about at the checkout and if they don't, you get it for free. So, yesterday, the cashier had rung all my groceries through and told me my total. I had my card in the machine and was punching in my PIN number and I asked him if there was a certain total that needed to be spent to get the deal of the week (which happened to be some sunscreen this week). He told me "not for this deal of the week, but you have to spend $175 for a free watermelon."  I said, "No, the sunscreen. You didn't ask me about it." He then proceeded to tell me that he hadn't gotten there yet and that I interrupted him asking me. Dude, I already had my PIN number in the machine! Anyways, he argued with me for a minute then said "if you want it for free, I'll give it to you." LOL. So, I walked away with some free sunscreen!

After Superstore, we headed down to New2uKids to see about some "new" toys. I was looking for something for toys on the stroller and ended up finding something that I think should work along with some soft stacking "donuts." We didn't find any baby gates there so we headed over to toyrRus to check out prices. I'm hoping to find something on the SwapNBuy on Facebook for much cheaper than new!

Palmer in the cart at ToysRUs

Playing with the new toys

Other than the shopping, the rest of our day was fairly typical, other than Mitchell was home in the evening, which is a rare weekday occurrence. So after Palmer was in bed, Mitch and I enjoyed some delicious supper (again, a rare weekday occurrence).

Napping and snuggling

our delicious supper