I'm a big kid now!

Tonight, we ventured into new territory with Little Bit. We tried our first bites of solid foods - rice cereal (really not THAT solid, but still...) All of the books say, "Don't fix too much because you'll be lucky to get in one spoonful of cereal on your first try," and "Expect most of what you put in to be spit right back out." Of course, I should have known as much as our girl likes to eat, this wouldn't be so for her. As for the rest, I'll let the videos speak for themselves.

I apologize for the multiple videos, but my camera only takes 2 min. at a time and they are just all worth watching in my opinion. :-)

My favorite part of all is how proud she is of herself throughout the whole experience. :-) She was just TOO funny. I loved that she dropped her decoy spoon so she could force my hand into her mouth to get more. :-) ha!

L&S,

The Bowers Fam

ROLL TIDE, BABY!!!

Today is T's first Iron Bowl and since her Daddy has claimed more LSU since that degree thing, I got to claim her all for myself today! :-) (She owns no Auburn clothes and I'm ok with that.) Here's some pics of us in our Game Day garb. :-) This is her super-cool jersey her Uncle Scoot got her.

All Giggles and Grins! (She must like that crimson. ;) tee-hee)

(Yes, folks, it's an actual onesie, not just a jersey.)

Only my Uncle Scoot gets to call me Tuck, but he can do it ALL HE WANTS!!!

L&S,

Les and T

Much to be Thankful For

WOW! What a weekend full of wonderfulness! This Thanksgiving holiday has been so full of wonderful moments - reminders of all of our blessings. :-) Mama and Diddy came over Monday night to be my daycare for the sick one while I worked Tuesday. (She was feeling better, but we feared she might still be contagious.) We had such a great visit and did many fun things. We even had our first pic with Santa (trying to beat the post-T-day crowds). Then Thanksgiivng Day, we had Mama, Diddy, Cindy (Drew's mom), Rick (her new beau), and Paige and family join us for Thanksgiving lunch. It was so much fun. The food was amazing and it was the first time we were able to really let Tucker and Alivia "play" with each other. Very cute pics. :-)

Cute, smiley baby with Santa

Sweet family photo (rare to get us all three smiling at once)

Maybe one of the sweetest moments EVER. I asked Drew to watch her EARLY Thanksgiving Day while I ran downstairs and got my pump ready to go. She was wide awake when I left, but when I returned, this was the scene. :-)

Alivia and Tucker getting to know each other



All 4 girls together. This is (back l-r) Amelia (3), Addisyn (4), (front l-r) Tucker, and Alivia.
*and if you don't see Leland in my child's face here, you either didn't know Leland or you aren't looking closely enough. :-)


So many blessings to be counted...
L&S,
Leslie

We Have LIFT-OFF!!!

Tucker has grown more advanced in her "Jumperoo-ing". If you watch her feet, she's figured out how to get it off the ground. :-)

L&S,
Leslie

Watch Her Grow

My, my but this child is funny!!

We have officially learned the "Don't do it... Do it again!" technique. tee-hee

This is NOT Tucker's lack of balance. She is INTENTIONALLY bouncing. Drew finally figured out she's rocking on the ground like she does in her exersaucer. ha!

L&S

The Bowers Fam

Moments of joy

Even in a week full of sickness, there are moments of pure joy and love. :-)

Sitting on Daddy's shoulders (and grabbing his hair)

Giving Mama kisses (VERY wet ones)

Loving on Mama

So intent on my eavesdropping ;)



I'm not sure what's my favorite part of this picture - Tucker learning how to get her foot in her mouth OR Drew's reaction to it. :-) ha!

L&S,
The Bowers Fam

Amen, Brother!

I, personally, think Stephen Colbert is a HOOT! Even if you don't, I think you'll enjoy this song. The rest of his Christmas special was all laughs, but this song makes a great point (with a few funny lines thrown in because, after all, it's still Colbert). I like that Colbert, who makes fun of everything and everyone, can take the time to make a serious point and say, "What's so wrong with having hope and faith?" (In case you didn't know, Colbert's a devout Catholic, so he does have a strong faith.) Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :-)

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/211037/november-23-2008/a-colbert-christmas--colbert-costello-duet

Sorry, can't seem to make it embed.

L&S,

Leslie

Not What I Expected

This is a picture of my adorable daughter at the end of a trying two weeks. Since two weeks ago today, she has had pinkeye, three different rashes, a diaper allergy, RSV (a respiratory infection), broncialitis, upset tummy, raging fever, projectile vomit, and a double ear infection. By the end of the day today, "pitiful" does not BEGIN to describe my 5 month old. I will say that she IS a trooper. The only time she's SHOWN how bad she feels is when the fever has gone above 102 (which it has done WAY too much). She didn't cry with the pinkeye drops or rashes. She didn't cry at the emergency room when they did nasal swabs and a catheter for a urine sample. She really didn't cry much at all. She just wimpered for about 3 straight days through the fever, coughing, and throwing up. (She DID cry big time when given an antibiotic shot for the ear infections today, however.)

It has been a hard week. But it has been hard for a much different reason than I ever expected. Having a sick baby isn't hard because you have to take off work and find babysitters. It isn't hard because you don't get enough sleep or even because you've been snotted on and thrown-up on. It's hard because you can see the misery in this tiny baby's eyes and there's just NOTHING you can do about it. You can't make her feel better. You can't even explain to her that this pain is just temporary and will go away very soon. All you can do is hold her close to you and whisper love in her ear and maybe even cry along with her.

Who knew someone else's sickness could hurt you so much. When I tell mother of this motherly pain, she says, "Imagine how hard it is for me when I hear MY baby hurting this much and she's in Georgia, so I can't even hold her." When I tell Munner of this motherly pain, she tells me of one of her "children" who is over 50 being hurt recently and how it still hurt her. She says, "That connection never goes away."

Look at that sweet thing curled into that blanket (which she did herself). I just want to do anything I can to make her feel better and comfort her. Who knew that parenting was much more about helplessness than about control?!? (I guess probably most of you knew that, huh?)

L&S,
Leslie

Heir of Life Eternal

Here are some pics from Tucker's Baptism for those of you who couldn't attend. The dress she's wearing was Anna's and Laura Kate's dedication gown and was SO CUTE on her. :-D

With Granna

With Nana and Papa

With Paw and Nona

(Starting to lose her cool over a desire for a bottle, poor thing)


Mama and Nana


Alivia by the end of the day

L&S,
Leslie

Part Deux

Family Portrait

The whole crew (minus Uli and the Eastises who had to leave quickly)

Ricki, Sheri, Cindy, Pam, Ricky, Bobby, Paige, Addisyn, Amelia, Alivia and US. :-)

T by the end of service.


Another shot of the cuteness

Getting ready for church - wearing another of Anna's dresses. :-)

L&S,

Les

Uncle Scoot is the COOLEST!!!

My Uncle Scoot gave me the COOLEST Bama jersey EVER!!! (And I must say, I make it look GOOD!!!)

L&S,

Tucker

Too Much Fun for One Little Girl!!

Tucker has finally gotten tall enough for her exersaucer and it is just the bee's knees, my friends! There are so many fun things on this puppy, she just moves in slow circles, grabbing toy after toy. It is VERY cute and funny! The other funny part is that she still tries to bounce in it the way she does in her jumperoo (hence the crazy jerking you'll witness).

L&S,

Leslie

A Random Spattering of Pics!

A second toothie has come in!

Her Favorite teether -- It vibrates when she bites it!

She now LOVES wiggling herself into a position where she can look UP at you! Very Cute!

L&S,

Leslie

"Oooh, that's a 6 month milestone!"

That's right, folks! Our baby is a GENIUS!!! (Ok, maybe I'm overstating that just a teensie little bit, but.... I'm a mommy. I'm allowed.) Our friend, Emily, a pediatrician, came to stay with us Sunday afternoon and night. More than once during the night, she said, "Oooh, that's a 6 month milestone. Good for you." One of those 6 month milestones Tucker is already doing is sitting up with assistance (and she even does it frequently WITHOUT assistance for short periods of time). Here's some pics and a short video of this wonder-baby. :-D

*Please forgive the spit-up in the video, but crunching those abs like that tends to have that effect. :-) ha!

L&S,

Leslie, Mother of a Wonder-Baby!

Look What I Did!!

Last time Mama came over to visit, she helped me pick out a simple pattern and make a dress for Tucker. This is the first I have ever sewn with a pattern. (Usually I "help" Mama make things. ha!) I have another dress cut-out and ready to hit the machine and some material bought for a purple LSU dress, too. :-) Fun!

L&S,

Leslie

T's First Bama/LSU game

Mommy and Daddy share SO WELL (although Daddy makes fun of Mommy for doing this). Tucker always wears half and half outfits for any big sports day (or wears one outfit for one game and another for the other). Since our teams played each other this weekend, I got creative. :-) ha!

Watching the game

*ok, obviously she just rolled on her tummy and looked this way, but still very funny

Such a cutie pie

So you can see the outfit in all its glory (tee-hee)


Family photo
*"Hey, Mommy I have a sticker JUST like that on my face."

The celebration outfits for church on Sunday :-D

L&S
Leslie

Milestone Alert!!

Alright, folks! That thing we KNEW was coming soon has finally arrived! Tucker's first tooth made its first appearance yesterday morning. :-) I have a picture of it, though it's not great. The drool, tongue, squirming, and hands popping in and out make getting a picture of this baby's tooth quite complicated, but I did it. Her bottom right...

L&S,

Leslie

Pbthhhhhh!!!

Through a set of random circumstances, we started blowing raspberries at Tucker and she started trying to do them back. VERY FUNNY!!! One of these is her trying to blow one with her tongue out (the way I do it) and the other is her trying to blow one with just her lips (the way Drew does it). Both VERY funny. :-) Enjoy!






L&S,
Leslie