A day of fours

4th of July, 4 weeks old, 4 kids under the age of 3

We spent our first Fourth of July with Tucker having a yours, mine, and ours kind of family party in Rockmart. Torey, Hailey, and Aiden were the gracious hosts for this fabulous cookout. Matthew, Shawna, and Eli came up from P-cola for our last hoorah before they fly to Japan for 3 years (on Tuesday). Shawna's parents were there. Shawna's sister and her family were there (Paige, Kevin, and Britton). Ricky and Pam were there. Pam's parents were there. Cindy was there. Torey's mom was there. Hailey's dad came by. Torey's grandparents came by. It was truly a conglomeration of family in the GREATEST WAY!!! We cooked out, passed around (and chased around) the 4 kids, and visited! It was much fun!







Our patriotic little family













Tucker with big cousin, Eli

Eli had learned who she was from pictures, so the second he saw her, he said, "It's baby Tucker! CUUUUUTE!!!" He told me 3 or 4 times that day, "It's asleep. Shhhhh!"

















Tucker with her 2 big cousins, Eli and Aiden













Tucker with Britton (her cousin by association :-) ha!)







L&S
Leslie

Update on Little Bit

We went to the orthopedic doctor Monday morning. We had an ultrasound done on her hip and then went to Tucker's doctor. He said the joint is in place, but it's shallow. They describe it in percentages. They want it to be at 60% coverage to get out of the harness. Her joint is at 45%, which he said is still pretty shallow. He does ultrasounds once a month to check the percentages, and he said he thinks it'll take at least 2 months to get her to 60%. We'll go every two weeks until we get to the right percentage. Two weeks check with the doctor to adjust the harness for her growth, then two weeks after that, ultrasound to see if maybe it's gotten there quickly. Then repeat that cycle until it's fixed. Until then, we get to take her out of her harness every other day long enough for a bath (10-15 min only). We did this for the first time last night. It was her first bath that was more than a sponge bath. She seemed to enjoy it very much (as did we). It was especially nice because after almost a month of only sponge baths, and three weeks of sponge baths around the harness (that has gotten a considerable amount of spit up on it), she was starting to be a little gross. Now she's our sweet smelling, soft little girl again! :-) Here's some pics from the bath. Can't believe how much she's grown!!! (It was hard to tell with the harness on, since she can't straighten out with it on.)

Man how I missed those feetsies! I can't believe how much they have grown since I last saw them!!!

She's gotten so much longer already!!!

She was so happy after her bath! What a sweet girl!!! (And my goodness how great her skin smelled and felt!) Boy had I missed that sweet little body. I didn't realize just how much I was missing it!

L&S,

Les

Poor Thing

One pattern we've noticed with Tucker is that she has a REALLY hard time getting comfortable. Some examples:

LIFE IS GOOD!!!

L&S,

Leslie

*huge sigh of relief*

So after a day of panicked, crying baby; helpless, crying parents; and a night of NO SLEEP (seriously, she went to sleep around 5:30 this morning finally), our today has been infanitismally better than yesterday!!! She has stayed calm all day (no more panicking about her stirrups), her weight was finally up at the dr. today so we got to cancel another appt. for Friday, and we had a successful breastfeeding with the stirrups on!!! It's amazing how one good day can turn overwhelmingly helpless into a task that can be accomplished! :-)

Oh, how the Lord knows our limits and helps us survive!!!

L&S,
Leslie

Starting from Scratch

So today we went to the Orthopedist for Tucker's hip displasia. They put her in a harness, which we were pretty much expecting. Her displasia is mild (basically the second level out of the four as the dr. told it to us). He said there's a 97% chance of full recovery and no problems whatsoever with this harness, so that is good.

Having said that, she has to wear this thing 24/7 for 6 weeks at least. We can't take it off for a minute this first week. Then we'll go back for a check-up where hopefully we'll discover that the harness has tightened-up the joint and they'll do an ultrasound to check that it really has corrected itself. If that's the case, then we'll still have to leave it on her for probably 5 more weeks to make sure it all stays in place, and we'll be able to remove it every other day long enough for a bath only. If it hasn't fixed itself by our next appt, then we'll have to go back in another week to check again. They'll give us three weeks' of checks and if it still hasn't tightened-up, then they'll have to take another approach to fixing it.

Again, this method is the least invasive and really not THAT bad overall, however we were just starting to figure out really good ways of getting her to sleep, calming her when she gets worked up, and getting into a routine of breastfeeding really well. Now all of that is put to scratch because we can't put her on her side at all. We can't swaddle (one of her greatest comforts). We can't swing her on her side (step number two in calming our screaming baby). And I can't put her on her side to breastfeed - which is involved in EVERY SINGLE POSITION for breastfeeding that they teach you. The dr. mentioned putting her chest to chest with myself and letting her feed that way, but, of course, I'm not tall enough to fit her that way.

So we basically feel like we're going to be starting from scratch in the parenting department. It's a little overwhelming today, but of course, we're just glad that they caught it early enough for it to be an "easy fix". And her health will be great at the end of all of this, which is what is important. We're just worried about comforting her, calming her, and feeding her between now and then.

L&S,
Les

Don't mean to brag, but...

We were sitting at the kitchen table visiting with Drew's dad and stepmom and I was giving Tucker a bottle, when she grabbed hold of the sides. I let go and she held her own bottle while she finished it off. I would like to remind you that she is ONE WEEK OLD today. :-D My child is BRILLIANT!!! :-D ha! (Pictures to prove it and you can tell that these are not doctored.)

L&S,

Leslie

TA-DA!!!!!

She's finally here!!!

Tucker Elise Bowers was born June 6, 2008 at 5:20pm.

8 lbs. 15 oz.

21.5" long

Just a little roly-poly

She loves Daddy's arms the BEST!!!

First family photo

She is a snuggler for sure!!!

L&S,

Drew, Leslie, and Tucker

Let the Countdown Begin!

So today's the day of Tucker's anticipated arrival. So far no news...

If nothing happens before then, they will begin inducing early, early Friday morning. So no matter what, there will be a baby by this weekend. :-)

Any prayers you'd like to offer for safety, health, and possibly ease would be very welcome!

L&S,
Les

Thas alota baby!!!

For those of you who have ever wondered, "Where exactly does someone who is 5 foot tall PUT a baby?" here's the answer...

Nowhere up and down for Tucker to go, so it all goes FORWARD!!! Not sure why people ever think it's good to say such things as, "Are you sure you're not having twins?", "Your baby is going to be HUGE," "You are HUGE," "There's NO WAY you will go to your due date because you are SO BIG," and my favorite, "You must be MISERABLE being so big," but I'm getting those kinds of comments out the wazoo these days!

Just thought I'd share the beauty that is my HUGENESS with all of you. :-) Under 2 weeks now!!! Crazy!!!!



L&S,
Leslie

The Magical Beauty of Pregnancy

Just thought I would share some of my FAVORITE parts of being 37 weeks pregnant (officially "full term", by the way). Now, I'm not one of those pregnant ladies that feels gross and cow-like (most days anyway). I have actually enjoyed being pregnant (most days anyway). I've always been one that thought pregnant women were beautiful and I've tried to keep that thought somewhere in my mind as I've become 8 times my normal size. :-) However, when I thought pregnant women were beautiful, I never saw the REAL beauty that is full term pregnancy. Here are some of my favorite parts...

For my first feat of beauty, I give you the "magically disappearing belly button"!!! Please note how there is almost NO actual button left on my belly!!











For my second feat, I give you "The magical growing feet"!!! Notice how they are three times their normal size - AND this is after soaking in epsom salts and sleeping with them propped up.

Despite the discomforts and oddities, I am feeling pretty good still these days. I'm not the picture of comfort or anything, but Tucker is getting pretty stinking funny as she bumbles around in there. :-)

Onlye 3 weeks to go!!!

L&S,

Leslie

What does one take?

So now that the nursery is done (and I'm having Braxton Hicks pretty regularly), our next task is getting the "hospital bag" ready. Everytime I think about it, I think about new things that I need to add to my list. Music (calming and upbeat - because I'm too antsy to listen to calming music the whole time I'm there), heating pads, night gowns, socks, slippers, shoes, toiletries, stuff for the baby, something to "focus on" while delivering (is there really an object that can help this go more easily?)... this list goes on and on.

Last night, I began having Braxton Hicks crazy frequently and close together. Enough that I was making the decision of whether or not to call the doctor. Called my pediatrician friend and she gave me some advice and a "when to call" rule that ended with, "Listen to your instincts. If you do everything I say and you're still worried, call the dr. That's what they're there for." Anwyay, they began subsiding shortly after that call, so no real emergency. However, I've already had two this morning.

Maybe I should make that "hospital bag" more a reality than a theoretical list.....

Yikes!!!
L&S,
Leslie

The Results Show

We finally finished the nursery!!!

Here are some pics with furniture and all (ok, so there will still be more pics hung and a rocker added somewhere, but you get the gist...). It also includes the loot from our Georgia baby shower. Laura Kate was a fabulous little cousin and carried it all upstairs for me. :-)

Mama made these curtains for me. She turned the valances that came with the bedding into these based solely on my "I want this and this and this, and this might look ok" type of instructions. :-) So talented!

This is going to be our changing table. It's an old wash basin that was Drew's grandmother's. I painted the letters of Tucker's name to match the patterns in the bedding. If you look closely in the mirror, you can see Tucker. :-) tee-hee!

This is the dresser I found at the church consignment sale. So far, it's getting quite full of clothes so tiny it's hard to imagine a REAL human could EVER fit into them. :-)

L&S,

Leslie

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