Forget Me Not

Remember how we all say we do this blogging business as a way to remember the adventures of our little families?

That these little spaces of Internet property are reserved for our modern day journals and we are going to print their contents into books someday?

Well, I finally did just that.

Yes, three and half years later I have three amazing books full of the pictures and words that document the Palmer family from late 2007 and beyond.

They took a little bit of work to make them the way I wanted, and I can't say they were cheap, but I think they are totally worth it.

So when the Internet explodes in 20 years my kids and their kids and maybe even their kids will have something to look at and read that will hopefully teach them that our little lives were wonderful and hard and simple and grand and everything in between.

And that in the end we simply tried to spend each day loving one another and trying to be more like our Savior, because those are the only things that truly matter.

So while my blog books currently end in December of 2010, our little lives just keep on going.

Are we really already past the middle of September?

There are so many things I want to remember about this time in our life, and of course the majority of them have to do with our little Stelly Bean.

I want to remember how Stella loves to read.

Whether it is a book about grandmas, dogs, princesses, or dancing ballerinas she will go up to her room and look at books for extended periods of time with out one of us up there with her.

Of course she also loves us to read them to her as well.  Something that is getting very hard for me to do at bedtime with her sitting on my lap.  Little sister is taking up way too much space!

Lately she seems to especially enjoy our nightly "scripture study", meaning we read as much as we can fit into her attention span while she eagerly flips through her own copy of the Book of Mormon.

She even lets us know that it is time to read "sipchures" and will happily fold her arms for at least the first twenty seconds of our daily prayers.

As crazy as it seems I think it is now normal for most two year olds to know how to run an Ipod.

Stella is no different and loves playing on "Dada pod".

She also loves to listen to her current favorite song "Honey, Honey" from the musical Mama Mia.

We have it on a CD in the car and may or may not have to listen to it at least 4 times each time we are driving somewhere.

She was looking through Ryan's pocket size Hymn book he used on his mission and when we asked her what songs were in there she replied "honey, honey more".

She also loves to sing the ABC's along with her little toy laptop.

Her version differs slightly from what most of us are used to, but she throws in the occasional L, S, or "me" at the appropriate times.

She is far too proficient in getting into the DVDs and changing which one she is watching all on her own.

Her favorites still include Tangled, Princess and the Frog, and Beauty and the Beast.

Sometimes I question the whole voo-doo thing going on in Princess and the Frog, but when I watch her get excited and squeal "Frog!" "Alligator!" and "Mama Odie!" I can't help but push play.  Although if I am paying close enough attention I like to skip the creepy parts.

She is talking so well lately. 

Mostly she uses two word phrases, but will occasionally put three words together.

She will repeat anything we say, can make the noises of lots of animals, and loves to name everyone in our family, including calling her self "La La".  On occasion it will turn into "Sla La", but for the most part "La La book" or "La La shoes" is what we hear all day long.

One of her favorite games is to say "Mama" really loud, then I answer back "Stella" in the same way and she responds back in a barely audible whisper "Mama".  We then repeat this process of loud and quiet for a few minutes until she gets bored with it and is ready to do something else.

It cracks me up.

I don't want to forget how much fun we had swimming at Zoombezi Bay all summer, or how she is currently obsessed with ballerinas and dancing.

We read books about ballerinas, we watch shows about ballerinas, and of course we dance like ballerinas all day long.

Any time she has a chance she will turn on music and dance, and she especially loves doing her twirls and arabesques when she is wearing a dress.

She is so sweet lately and always wants to share with mom and dad.

If Stella has drink, mom and dad both need to have a drink.

If Stella has a bite of something, mom and dad both need a bite as well.

She loves helping get our shoes and does really well picking out two shoes that match most of the time.

They aren't always the ones we want to wear (i.e. cowboy boots to the swimming pool), but it is so fun to watch her help.

For the most part she does really well when you ask her to help clean up her toys or books, and will eagerly throw paper or a diaper away in the garbage when it needs it.

When it comes to baby sister I am not sure how much she really understands, and in reality I doubt it is much of anything.

But she does know baby sister is in mom's tummy and loves to say "baby sister" while rubbing or patting my big belly as well as giving her kisses and loves.

I am nervous but so excited to see how she actually reacts to sister being a real, tangible thing that makes lots of noise, gets lets of attention, and doesn't go away.

It will be an adventure for sure!

Stella loves to socialize and play with her friends.

She especially loves her friend Blakelee and it sounds like Blakelee has just as much adoration for Stella.

We do a monthly babysitting swap with Blakelee and her sister Taylor, plus get together for play dates regularly so they get to spend lots of time with one another.

Each time it seems like they play better and fight less.

She also still loves nursery and doesn't even look back or say good bye when we drop her off.

While I am so happy about that fact it does break my heart a little each time I walk away with out a mere wave good bye.

No, potty training is not happening around these parts (and may never happen if I have my way), but she loves her "potty chair", even just as a seat while reading the classics or watching a show.

She also loves to pretend she is going potty and will request a little TP to wipe when she is finished.

She loves taking showers lately, which is a big change because she used to be terrified of the loud, running water.

Now she would happily take three a day and spend an hour in the water playing with her toys and making "soup" that she in turn tries to drink.

To finish things off I need to document a quick adventure we had with our little escape artist.

The door to our apartment is far too easy to unlock with a toddler around and while most of the time she can't get out, there are times when her scheming pays off.

One night Ryan was watching Stella while I was gone somewhere and after a few minutes of doing the dishes uninterrupted (which is not the case 99% of the time) he looked around the corner to notice the front door wide open.

Of course his heart sank and he rushed outside fearing he would find something horrible or worse, not find anything at all.

Well his fear quickly turned to laughter as he found Stella five feet down the sidewalk dragging her baby doll crib full of stuffed animals behind her.

Thank goodness she decided to take her friends along, because it surely slowed down her adventure.

Needless to say we have a new lock on our door and it is one Stella most definitely can't overcome.

Being a mom is so awesome.

Being Stella's mom is even better.

Everyday we are amazed at the blessing she is in our lives and the happiness she brings us.

Sure, she is still a toddler and we are still her imperfect parents, but in the end every second is more than worth it.  Every single second.