A Nursery in the Hizous!!

So we finally did it!!! We finally got the nursery painted!! The nursery is not totally done, but the painting finally is (and the rest will be at least presentable by Sunday). Here's a bit of the progression:

The room began in this LOVELY shade of Brady Bunch pea green. It was ALMOST a nice lime green, but it resembled dirty diaper a bit too much for keeping. We figured we'll see this color enough as it is in this room. :-)

Mmmmm, primer is SO PRETTY!!! :-)

The final color.

The "accent wall" as it is so commonly called on design shows. :-)

More pics to follow of the finished nursery- bedding and all. :-)

L&S,

Leslie

Ahhhhhhh

The view from my front door

L&S,

Leslie

Seriously!!!

I have officially found the perfect piece of baby attire for Tucker.

The top, for those of you who can't read it, has Beatles lyrics. It says, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."

And the bottom is covered in little rows of music notes.

It seriously doesn't get any cuter!!!

L&S,

Leslie

SCORE!!!

In the Woodstock area, many of the churches have a bi-annual baby-stuff consignment sale for missions. They have very high standards for items that can be sold, and they only accept baby things - nursery furniture, strollers, high chairs, diaper bags, clothes, toys, etc. I went for my first time Friday, and I must admit, I went with low expectations, thinking I might find a few baby clothing items that I wanted and that would be it. Boy was I wrong. I did find some baby clothes (tons of expensive onesies in great shape for next to nothing), but I also found a small umbrella stroller, the exact diaper bag Drew and I had registered for, a high chair, a dresser (pictured below), and my FAVORITE ITEM, an old-fashioned cradle (also pictured below). It was SO MUCH FUN!! And most importantly, I now have something in which my baby can sleep if, heaven forbid, she were to be born early. :-) Yipee!!!

**The furniture has yet to be moved to the nursery, so the pictures aren't the greatest quality, but you get the idea. :-)



L&S,
Leslie

The Bump

Just in case any of you were wondering, here's what the bump looks like these days. I'm all mid-section. :-) Things are great here in Woodstock (though busy as usual). We are finally getting started on the nursery. I bought a craddle, dresser, high chair, and tons of fun baby goodies today at a baby consignment sale at a local church. Very exciting!!! As soon as actual painting/work begins on the nursery, I'll post pics.

L&S,
Leslie

Ugh

Ever have a day that's just a complete do-over? Actually, scratch that - who would want to do a day like that OVER? Let's just scratch it!!! Nothing major. Just all of the small things in life at once. Work was bad, long, and hard. Body's aching. My work partner is driving me CRAZY. Losing my voice. Raining outside. Husband's out of town. Tried to call two others just to have a happy, good conversation, and got "complained to" by both of them (though I guess I can be glad I wasn't complained AT). Found a hair in my sandwich at ABC for dinner. Then found out a friend gave my name and number to some kid at her church who is doing required sales pitches for a "scholarship" for college and he called saying that the friend was "sure I'd be nice enough to help him keep his scholarship". UGH!!! Scratch it and start over tomorrow!!!

In the good news department, my lost voice means a short to non-existent work day tomorrow and I'm going on a scrapbook retreat this weekend! Very excited about that!

Here's to a better tomorrow!!!
L&S,
L

The thermometer says WHAT?!?

Round ONE:
The typical southern nightime snowfall. It began around 4pm and snowed until 8 or so. Unfortunately, it then warmed up enough that it turned to rain and made most of the snow disappear before morning.
















Round TWO:
This time, it began snowing before noon. It snowed pretty hard for a few hours and hovered right around 32 degrees most of the day, allowing the snow to stay for a while.

If you look closely in this picture (between the tree and the stones), you can see the kind of snowman MOST southerners get to build - as it's all our average snowfall will allow. :-)



















Drew and I found that noone had disturbed the neighborhood park snow when we got there, so we used a VERY large portion of it to build our own snowman. Because we were a few blocks from the house, his non-snow structure is relatively rough and VERY impromptu. All of you northerners will notice a SURE sign of a southern snowman - leaves, dirt, and debris all over the snowman, as our snow is never deep enough to not pick up the smut off of the ground when rolling the snowballs. :-) (If you look closely, you can see baby Tucker peeking out during her first week of snow.)






















The REAL beauty of southern winter - the day AFTER the snow, we got INSANELY freezing temps. It had "warmed up" to 20 degrees by 9:45 am. It never even got CLOSE to freezing all day that day. (I remind you - the day AFTER the snow.)

And the innies have it!!!

We had our ultrasound today. We both went into the appointment assuming it would all be about boy or girl and we both left saying, "There's a BABY in there!!!" That is one AMAZING doctor's appointment! It is amazing to see a little baby with flailing arms and know that it's inside of me!!! WOW!!!

Here are the first online pics of Tucker Elise Bowers.




Tucker's little profile




Sweet little footprint




It's a girl!!




Facing the camera

L&S,
Leslie

Innies and Outies

Just wanted to let you all know that tomorrow's the big day. We get to see the baby again tomorrow (new pics that resemble a baby more than a piece of rice this time) and we find out innie or outie. Yipee!!!

L&S,
Leslie

A little indulgence

Disclaimer: For those of you who aren't in love with my nephew, Eli, you may want to skip this blog. I wanted to upload some videos from our Christmas with Eli tonight so his father in Kuwait could see some of the fun. :-)

Cindy gave Eli a fire truck for Christmas. It took forever to get him to tear the paper, and the second it tore far enough for him to peek inside and see what it was, he quit tearing the paper and began trying to pull the truck out of the paper. He finally just crawled inside with the paper still around most of the truck. VERY cute! So far, he's only learned to "drive" in reverse. :-)





L&S,
Leslie

Say Cheese!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we now have an appointment for our next "portrait session" with Baby Bowers. :-) tee-hee! (Translation: We've got the date for the ultrasound.) This is the one where we can find out if the baby has an innie or an outie. :-D Yippy Skippy!

L&S,
Leslie

For Your Christmas Pleasure

Be sure you make it to the end. It's quite fabulous!!! :-)



L&S,
Leslie

These are a few of my favorite things....

So lately, I've noticed an abundance of stupidity on television (more than the normal teenage show stupidity). Ads have begun to get more and more ridiculous as time passes. Here are two of my favorite new commercial phrases. (ACTUAL QUOTES from commercials that run on TV DAILY)

EAT ALL YOU WANT AND STILL LOSE WEIGHT...AND WE COULDN'T SAY IT ON TV IF IT WASN'T TRUE!!!

(Really? There's absolutely NO lying on TV, huh? I missed that announcement.)

This line appears in a toilet paper commercial in which an ACTUAL PUPPY is running along strips of toilet paper and judging their softness and strength:

Puppy fantasy. Not a demo.

First off, do we really KNOW what a puppy fantasy consists of? Do we think SO LITTLE of man's best friend as to think his fantasies are about running along strips of toilet paper? Secondly, have Americans (and such groups as PETA) gotten SO out of hand that we have to explain to people that this REAL PUPPY isn't ACTUALLY running along toilet paper? Really?!?

Good grief!!!

L&S,
Leslie

Oh yeah, by the way....

For those of you who don't know already,

DREW AND I ARE EXPECTING!!!!!

And morning sickness is for the birds... Hard to be excited about ANYTHING AT ALL when you are on the verge of puking TWENTY-FOUR/SEVEN (literally). Can't wait until this part is OVER.

We have a first "picture" of Baby Bowers, but our scanner is broken, so one must imagine. In the picture, he/she is the size of a piece of rice. If the books are correct, he/she is now the size of a single peanut shell. (How can something SO SMALL wreak so much havoc on my body?!?) God's creative abilities are QUITE amazing!!!

L&S,
Leslie

He knows EVERYBODY!!!

Okay, so just one more Eli video...

This is a better clip of him naming us all - "Dwew", "Wetwie", and "DAAAAAADEEEEEEEEE".



L&S,
L

Tha Cooooo!!!

Okay, so in case you were wondering, I am SO EXCITED about being an aunt!!! 18 months is just so fabulous because they are constantly learning and sharing. Eli amazes me with something new each time I see him. (His most recent is his recognizing and naming an air pump.) But my favorite phrase so far (other than my name) is "Oooooh, Tha Coooo!" (aka - Oooooh, That's Cool!) So here's a little clip for you all! This time he's saying it on a prompt, but he also says it to anything that amazes him (like when Drew and Matthew were flying balsa wood airplanes).



L&S,
L

The back of my neck...

So, thanks to Locks of Love, you can now have a great view of it -- the back of my neck, that is. Got a new 'do. Here's before pics, pics of the donation ponytails, a pic with my stylist, and pics of the new 'do. :-D







Love & Shipoopies,
L

Wetwie

Okay, folks! It finally happened. Eli (my nephew) finally learned to not only recognize me, but to say my name when he sees me! :-D (This is very exciting as Leslie is not the easiest of names for a toddler.) You havet o make it to the very end of the video and he's a little excited, so it's kind of distorted. (He CAN say it more clearly.) But you will TOTALLY get the gist. He is some kind of precious! :-D




Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

Do-over

Well, we've made it to redecorating the kitchen. (Our first re-do was our master bath. I'll have to post before and after pics of that some other time.) I'm including a before picture of the4 kitchen. Please note the "stone" wallpaper. You can't really grasp the loveliness that is this wallpaper in the pictures (as people keep saying, "I like it" upon seeing the pictures), but TRUST ME. It's FABULOUS!!! The only in process pictures I'm missing are the ones were the top layer of paper was removed and the paper backing was still there, along with the bright lemon yellow paint that was under the lovely stone paper.

Before

Lovely gray primer (with tons of stuff piled on the table and on the dining room floor).

The mostly finished product. (The orange is going to receive a glaze to darken it up a touch.) Thanks to Mama and Munner for sewing the beautiful curtains.

A better view of the curtains. Please note gameday food on the table and the "childproofing" backwards garbage can (from Eli's visit). :-) tee-hee

We're very pleased with the change. We're also pleased with our lovely IKEA bookshelf and plant on the living room side of the half wall. (You can see them in one of the after shots.) If we're not careful, we're going to make this place a home. :-D

Love & Shapoopies,
Les

Luckyyyyyy

How lucky are those who know exactly what they want to do with their lives?!? I wish I knew. Lots of things I love to do, but not sure how any of them could be a living made. ho-hum...

Old enough to appreciate history???

The older I get, the more I appreciate history.

I find as we furnish our house, that I am enjoying finding furniture from our past. I feel like having furniture that is a part of our memories, or better yet, a part of our parents' or grandparents' memories, makes it feel more like HOME. From items with which we have short histories, like the table Drew got from Shorter and our couch - my first piece of furniture I bought new - to items that connect us with family history.

We will soon be getting a pair of chairs that were my Mamao Tucker's (Munner's mom). I'm sure they were Munner's at some point as well, but for the entirety of my childhood, they sat in my parents' bedroom. We played in them, had long talks in them, and even kept clothes in them. :-D They are full of childhood memories, and I also can't help but think of my sweet Mamao Tucker each time I look at them.

Then there is this --

This is the chair in which Drew and Matthew were rocked as babies. It's teh chair in which Cindy was rocked as a baby. It's beautiful. It's comfortable. Heck, my feet COMFORTABLY reach the ground while sitting in it. Though it was given to me as a bribe from my mother-in-law (I saw the wink-wink, nudge-nudge in her eye), I LOVE that it is now part of our house. I can't wait to get it in our house. (Drew wants to febreeze any "other house" smells out of it before bringing it in so Cosmo doesn't feel the need to "make it his" like he did with our China cabinet.)

And this --

This desk belonged to Drew's Grandma Mary (Ricky's mom). It sat in her entryway (as it does in our house). It was in Ricky and Cindy's home. It's LOVELY. And Drew had so much fun cleaning it up and making it beautiful again. It's now OURS.

How great to have families so great that we want to bring them into our house!

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Glimpses

I haven't blogged yet since the move because I was waiting to upload my pictures, then on some amusing anecdote, and then on finishing some rooms to get some good "after" pictures. I was just waiting on something amazing and amusing for you guys. I finally decided that though I still haven't found the perfect anecdote, I should share some last glimpses of Louisiana. This is a pictorial (with bits of commentary) of our last days in the big BR.

We went to Alligator Bayou (an educational alligator farm that lets you see, feed, and hold alligators and teaches you about the ecosystem of bayous) in our last week in Baton Rouge. It was SOME KIND OF HOT before the sun went down, so they gave us "parasols". As you can see, mine was VERY effective. (Leave it to me to be amused by an umbrella amongst live alligators.)

One last crawfish boil in Mandeville. Though I'm not a fan of eating the little creatures (which, by the way, in Louisiana, must NOT be called "crawdads" or "mudbugs" as we call them in Bama), MANY of our Louisiana memories revolved around crawfish boils and the fun that ensues at them. This is the Louisiana version of a fish fry or barbecue - only there's MUCH more alcohol and you get the added bonus of playing with and chasing your food BEFORE cooking it. :-D

At the very end of May, we made it official. MASTER Bowers

Back to the Alligator Bayou. Quite possibly the WORST picture ever taken of me, however, it does show me holding an alligator. In my defense, I was MUCH calmer holding him (and YES, he proved he was a him during the "Pass the alligator around" session) until the man in the red shirt behind me put the baby alligator he's holding on my shoulder. I thought it was the ginormous snake that was being held behind me...hence the face!!!

Thanks to my friend Marisa, we have a great pictorial of our last night at our condo. All of our friends helping us move... our stuff in boxes... our mostly empty condo... Cosmo trying to get out of seclusion... and our GIANT truck. Let me just tell you, folks, caravaning with a truck THAT large GREATLY increases the travel time. :-D

As hot and humid as a post-nap mouth; overcrowded from Katrina; loud, chain-smoking, college-kid neighbors; and a teenie-tiny condo, but it was still HOME for us. We made so many amazing friends, learned so much about an amazing culture, ate some great food, improved our skills at trivia, ate an enormous amount of seafood, tailgated like crazy, and just had FUN!!! Baton Rouge is a culture that will always be a part of who we are. Though we're glad to be where we are now, we LOVED Baton Rouge and all of our wonderful friends we made there!

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Georgia on our minds - and soon to be on our tags

Well, folks, we're in! And, by "in", I mean it's all somewhere within the confines of our walls and/or garage and/or parents' houses. (We still haven't collected all of that.) But we have our couch, mattress, clothes, and computers inside. We also have a cat who LOVES windows close to the floor and running up and down stairs. He has also decided that he LOVES to scare us by sleeping on the railing that looks over the two story living room - meaning that if he fell, it'd be a LONG way down - AND he's decided that he loves to pee on our new china cabinet. That's fun. :-/

I'll put up pics VERY soon. (I'm currently in Clanton and therefore away from the camera and its USB cord.)

Blast is July 20 and 21. If you're in Clanton (or can get there), you should come. Should be a good one!!

Love & Shipoopies!
Les

On the Road Again!

Well, Drew goes and gets the ginormous truck this afternoon. (And yes, this puppy is so big that we read somewhere in the fine print that we have to go through all weigh and agricultural stations. -- And by the by, where in the heck do they have agricultural stations? I mean, I live in Alabama and I've never seen one.)

Anywho, we're exhausted and excited.

This is probably the most ahead-of-time packing we've done before the actual loading. The packing has been getting done (rather quickly as our boxes didn't get here until Wednesday) and it's been pretty organized. So far, no really random boxes. We've done the occassional, "I have a hole. Do you have something that fits there?" conversation while loading a box but for the most part, it's all been pretty together.

I'm so very excited about the new place -- all of the space and different rooms and a yard!!! Definitely looking forward to being closer to everyone (except Uncle Randy and Missy, and I guess I'm actually moving farther away from you two, huh?!?).

Nevertheless, moving is always emotionally difficult -- saying goodbye to your favorite places and people. In the whole scheme of things, we haven't really been here that long, yet we have really bonded so closely with so many of our friends here. Goodbyes are just hard. Tears, and the hopes that you won't become those friends who say they will call, but never actually do. Or even worse, that it won't become one of those relationships where one of you calls and the other never returns the calls. Of course, everyone says they will keep in touch, but it's hard knowing that some of them really won't.

Anyway, I suppose that's enough deepness (or maybe too much) for 7:30 in the morning on 5 hours of sleep. :-)

I love you all and hope you'll come see us at our new place soon!!


Love & Shipoopies!
Leslie

What's that you say?!? A REAL house?!?

That's right, folks! We have a contract on this puppy!

By the end of June, we should actually be living in this baby - IN Georgia!!! How tremendously thrilling!!! :-)

If you'd like more pics and haven't received them yet, drop me your e-mail and I'll send you a power point with all of the pics in it. :-)

Yipee!!!

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Potter Pals

Okay, so I just found these little puppet videos called Potter Pals. I watched a few, and some of them are quite disturbing, but this one is friggin hysterical! Since most of my small viewership are Potter fans, I thought I would share. Enjoy! (Turn up the sound!)




Love & Shipoopies!
Les

Ahhh, the joy

Well, folks, it's official! We are moving back to Georgia!!! Yipee!!! Drew got THE job at Milton High School in Alpharetta and we will be moving there sometime this summer.

Sometime in May, we'll be visiting to look for a house. It's all so very exciting!!!

Yipee Skippy!!!

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Phrases I hate

So, as most of you probably know, I am a total English dork. I'm one of those people that has favorite words, despised words, and I occassionally even congratulate folks on the use of a good word. I enjoy grammar and its uses. I love word play. I'm just a goob in that way. So along that thread, here are a few language-related preferences...

1.) I hate the word "engorged". What a disgusting sounding word!! That's not to say that I never use it because sometimes it's the only word that truly fits, but it's still a repulsive word.

2.) I hate when people say, "I could care less." Well, if you COULD care less, then your feelings on the topic aren't really strong enough to be worth commentary, now are they?!? The phrase is "I COULDN'T CARE LESS"!!!!! It drives me nuts that the incorrect way has become acceptable. Even very educated people use it incorrectly. Drives me nutters!!! (Admitedly, this is not a trip for which you need to fill your tank.)

3.) I think "over top of" is one of the strangest, most awkward phrases I have ever heard. It's either "OVER" or "ON top of". I don't understand the need to combine the two to make this modern marvel of awkward language. "It's those things that make ya go hmmmm..." (Who remembers this song? Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?)

4.) One of my new favorite phrases is "Less Worse". Now, I understand that this is a bit hypocritical, since I dislike other phrases based almost solely on their gramatical incorrectness. However, I have a reason for liking this one so much. Drew's graduate Orchestral Conducting professor is Chinese and has a delightful way of expressing things. This is the man who, when Drew wasn't conducting emphatically enough, told him, "You captain, maybe Colonel. I need (and I will spell phonetically here) Fie Stah Genrah!!!" (That's Five Star General for those of you not as random in the head as I am.) Anyway, when he's trying to get a student to fix a problem in their conducting and they change something, but it's still not what he wants, he tells them that it is "Less worse". I LOVE IT!!!

Ahhh, the English language! What a grand thing!!!

Love & Shipoopies!
Les

Fascinating Stuff

So, here's what I learned from a student of a teacher whose sister is a nurse. (That's totally not related, just sounds funny.) Apparently the thing we've been taught to do all of our lives to pop our ears - namely, hold your nose and blow - actually pumps more liquid into your ear. The correct way to pop your ears is to hold your nose and sniff as hard as you can. All of these years... really makes ya think....

Love & Shipoopies,
Les

AAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The new Harry Potter book now has an official date -- July 21!!! I'm so excited!!!!! I may wet myself!!!
(Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but I am so excited that my stomach is flipping over and over like I'm about to go on a first date with someone or something.)

Yipee!!!
Love & Shapoopies!
Me

Check, one, two... Is this thing on?

Just wanted to let you guys know that I am INDEED still alive and kicking. I will be back to blogger world VERY SOON!!! I promise. The holidays were a blast, but they swallowed me. Still trying to dig my way back out. (Not stressed, just busy.) Heck, I was so busy I even forgot to read my daily blogs, much less write my own. :-)

In the meantime, for your very much viewing pleasure, here are two 3-generation pictures taken at the reception after Drew's Graduate recital. We didn't intentionally take them in such an identical manner, but here we are in the same places and everything. :-)

Enjoy!




Love & Shapoopies,
Leslie

Could it REALLY happen?!?

Do you remember these?










Some time ago, I posted some pictures of rooms I have painted and shared that this is what I LOVE to do. Some of my paintings are bright and boisterous. Some are muted and sophisticated. Either way, I find peace in creating them and joy in their completion.

Well, a friend from high school saw them on MySpace, sent them to a friend at Southern Living who sent them to a friend who is doing a book on Windows and Walls. She finally sent her contact information to me and said that she would be interested in using some of MY STUFF in her "bookazine". Of course, there are many ifs and maybes in between now and it actually happening, but it is getting closer to reality and I am VERY excited!

I thought I would share this blessing and prayer request with you all!

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

What we're made of

I find that at 2:30 am, you discover what you are really made of -- good and bad. For if you are awake at this time in the morning, it is almost certain that it is because your heart is being tested in some way -- either because you are still awake pondering the workings of your life, life in general, God -- the big stuff, OR because you have been called on by someone.

2:30 am can make or break you -- mentally AND physically (at least when you're OLD like me. :-) ha!)



As another random thought, my life is blessed with so many wonderful people to love and to love me. Friends, family, and acquaintances alike -- my days are blessed over and over with those who show affection, show appreciation, show me my strengths AND weaknesses, and show me how to be better by example. I think that ALL people are put into our lives for a reason -- sometimes to be there for us, and sometimes for us to learn about ourselves by being there for them. God is amazing and mystifying!

Cliche' as it may be, take a moment by yourself this Thanksgiving to find the small blessings in your life (not just the big, obvious ones). Find the people and situations God sent to you to challenge you -- to show you who you are deep inside. Sometimes these people show you strengths you didn't know you had, and sometimes they show you things you need to work on. Either way, they are a blessing.

If you are reading this, then chances are, you are one of my blessings that I thank God for each time I pray. Thank you for the love you show me, the courage you give me, and the things you teach me.

Have a great Thanksgiving!
Be careful, be joyful, and be full!!!

Love & Shipoopies!
Leslie

The results are in... no, not the election. Something MUCH more important!

Okay, guys! Since you helped come up with costume ideas for the "Song Title" costume party, I thought I would show you the costumes that actually showed up (some clever and some not so much). :-)




"Devil Inside"



"Always Something There to Remind Me"



"Material Girl"



"Kung Fu Fighting" (that's what her shirt says)
and
"Cat Scratch Fever"




"Yesterday" (The party happened on October 7th.)



"Hit me, Baby, One More Time"



"My Humps"



"Fire and Rain" (That's red hots glued onto her rain cap.)