Has it really been 3 months?!?

L&S,

Leslie

It is beyond comprehension...

...how CUTE this child is!!! Three months pics at Target. SO CUTE!!!

** Any guesses where Daddy is in the above picture?**

L&S,

Leslie

Prepare to smile

This is my favorite one so far!!! After bathtime tonight, Drew started playing peek-a-boo with Tucker and she began giggling so loudly that I heard her from downstairs (where I was locating her comb). SO STINKING CUTE!!!

L&S,

Leslie

A Step Back In Time

So for a brief moment today, I thought I'd step back in time to a simpler time -- back when I was constantly sharing videos of my CAT rather than my BABY. ;) tee-hee. All I'll say about this video is my cat is a total goober!

L&S,

Leslie

A random spattering...

Keelin holding Tucker and posing. *please note the toes flexed in concentration*

Tucker during her first Bama game with Uncle Scott and Aunt Brittany (and receiving a back massage from Carly).

"Enjoying" her first Bama game asleep on Mama.

What Brittany has dubbed "Tucker eating Carly" -- Tucker was so happy wrapped around Carly. :-)

Daddy helping Tucker show off her "oooh" - something a choral Daddy can be SOOO proud of.

L&S,

Leslie

Thoughts...

Two thoughts:

1.) As I watch the video in the previous post ("Eating Ellie") I see SO MUCH Mama in her (Sheri, that is). She's such a meshing of all of our traits that there are times when she looks JUST like me or JUST like Drew and when she's mad, JUST like Scott. But in just her everyday inquisitiveness, I see Sheri ALL OVER that face. :-)

2.) Just got off the phone with the Ortho office. We have her next appointment made for September 22nd. Let's start praying now for a healthy hip and a harness removal. :-)

L&S,

Les

Eating Ellie

A new Tucker video -- Sorry it's been so long, but I was out of town this weekend for Scott and Britt's shower. Tucker has begun developing hand/eye coordination. She can consistently get her hand in her mouth and keep it there (and sounds like she's trying to eat it when this happens). She has also begun grabbing Ellie's ** feet and getting them into her mouth. (Everything goes to the mouth now.)

**I tried to name the elephant "Little Al" but I got THE LOOK from D about that, so he named her Ellie instead. :-) Ah well. Can't blame a girl for trying. :-)

L&S,

Leslie

What I miss the most...

Just waiting on freedom from the harness.

L&S,

Leslie

Highlights

A few highlights from the weekend and week's beginning...

Nana's magic trick for a fussy baby :-)

She is now a drool-producing machine!!!

Roll Tide, baby!!!

A cute pic after a bath - no harness (momentarily) :-)

L&S,

Leslie

Oops!

So I just realized that the last "talking" video I put up wasn't the one where she did all of the talking. haha! Let me try it again (and I'll put two to make up for my mistake). :-D

*Stick with this one to the end. It's worth it.*

*In this one, Tucker demostrates her new knowledge that the sound she makes when crying is more effective at attention-getting than normal sounds, so she has already learned the "fake cry". haha!*

Love & Shipoopies!

Leslie

This COULD be a problem when she's a teenager...

Hmmm... She's decided that it's more fun to grab her dress and pull it to her face than it is to do the same with a burp cloth. :-D ha!

L&S,

Leslie

Blatant Momming

So here's my regular mom collage of cuteness!

**Disclaimer: In some of my Tucker videos, she is not centered in the shot and may move in and out of the center of the shot. The reason for this is I have to hold the camera out of her focus or she stops whatever she's doing and stares at the camera. I have to hold it to the side and get her to look at me. I apologize. :-)

Tucker is starting to "talk" more and more. This video is from earlier this week. Today (Friday), she came home and "talked" almost constantly for more than an hour. It was SO CUTE, but I didn't get any of it on video. (The camera says, "Be quiet" to her regularly, apparently.)

Poor little thing got so congested this past weekend that her voice was quite hoarse. Her "talking" got even cuter! (Who knew that was even possible?!?)

Everyone says that babies look like angels when they sleep and mine is no exception. However, what's even better than her "looking like an angel" sleep mode is her "making faces" sleep mode. She smiles, opens her eyes with eyes rolled back so you only see the whites, and sometimes even chuckles. VERY CUTE!!!

L&S,

Leslie

When it's this small, do we call it a half-half?

Our friends Jeff and Lisa sent us a gift for Tucker. It is the CUTEST, fluffiest, tiniest tutu I have EVER seen. Now, this is not a cheap, Dollar Store tutu. This thing is a million tiny little two inch wide strips of tulle stacked on top of each other with a big satin bow. It is ADORABLE!!! I can't wait to put it on her. (It'll have to wait until the harness comes off.)

The tutu also came with a cute little flower headband. I just HAD to put it on the girl to see. I'm sorry, but she looks like a baby doll in this picture! (no bias displayed here at all)

L&S,

Leslie

Free at last... if only for 15 minutes

I wanted to share with you some of the delightful moments of Tucker sans harness pre bathtime. She wiggles and squirms like it's nobody's business! SO CUTE!!! I can't wait until we get to have her this way all the time. We're hoping the harness will come off on August 26th when we get our next ultrasound. Yipee!!!

You might have noticed that she doesn't ever straighten her legs straight down (they're turned out and to the side when she straightens them). Contrary to what you might think, this isn't really a result of the harness (though that might make it more pronounced). Look closely at her legs in this picture and you will see that she doesn't straighten them down because they are TOO FAT!!! They actually won't come any closer to center because of all of those cute little rolls! **Insert conversation with Nan and Betty discussing how no one ever comes up to adults and says, "Those fat rolls are SO CUTE!!!" here. :-)

L, S, and fat rolls!

Leslie ;)

Stay Tuned

So this whole working/mothering combo is VERY time-consuming! No time to upload pics and vids during the week, it seems, but I do have new pics, vids, and thoughts coming. Expect multiple entries at some point this weekend. :-)

L&S,

Les

Girls! Girls! Girls!

(Okay, just ONE girl! Here's some cute videos of Little Bit for those of you who wish you could be with her in person. :-) tee-hee)

All Smiles

These are some of our favorite moments with Tucker. She's learning to smile in response to our smiles. They are very cute. What's most amazing is they seem to happen most frequently in the morning. We're not sure where she got that happy in the morning thing as we are both slow starters. :-) ha!

This is going to be an amazing party trick one day!

A tiny amount of congestion...

Ok, so you know how new moms always talking about watching their baby's chest to make sure he/she is breathing? If you listen closely, you'll see I rarely have to do that with Tucker. (The other noise is her bouncy chair. It's almost ever-present in our house.)

Tucker with her 2 best buds

her fist and her elephant

What I refer to as "REAL talking"

(and of course, Drew mocks me for this)

I realize she's not saying words, but there is also a CLEAR difference between this and the normal grunts and noises she has been making. She makes these noises when she's trying to immitate our talking. She watches our mouths, works hard to copy, and then makes these coos. They are SO STINKING CUTE!!!!

L&S,

Drew, Leslie, and Tucker

In Response to Uncle Westy

**I just want to point out that this is TWO BLOGS IN A ROW that have actual words in them! Who knew I had anything left in me other than pics of Little Bit?!? **

So Uncle Westy wrote of two things on which I have thoughts. :-)

First of all, he mentioned how I shall henceforth be known as Tucker's mom, and after spending 2 months (that's right, she's 2 months old today) with Tucker, I figure that's not a bad title at all! To be always associated with something so wonderful... well, I could do worse. ;) And let's be honest, I've never been just Leslie my whole life anyway. I've always been either Rick and Sheri's daughter or Scott's little sister. Then I moved to Carrollton and became Anna's cousin and/or Nan and Mr. Witham's niece. Then in Baton Rouge, I was Drew's wife. My identity has so frequently been through my connections to others, and since I love all of my "others", I'm ok with that. :-)

Secondly, Unc wrote on his blog about our family and how blessed we all are to have each other. My favorite story from the wedding weekend was listening to Munner tell of her trip to Randy's wedding. She said spending the weekend with her kids without their kids was like having her kids again. Then she said, "I have such good kids." (And she said this in wonder and amazement as if she has no idea how that happened.) I replied, "Yeah, I have NO IDEA how they got that way. You surely had NOTHING to do with it!" What an amazing person and what an amazing legacy she has built and is still building. If I can create a family even half as amazing as the one she has nurtured, I will have succeeded in life!

L&S to you all!
Tucker's mom

Save the WHAT?!?

In our world where everyone has a cause, I sometimes run across a political statement that gives me pause. Saw a huge bumper sticker on a car this week that read,

"SAVE THE UTERUS!!!"

I didn't realize the uterus was endangered or even in danger! Is there a shortage of good uteri in the world? Are our uteruses "people" too? with feelings and sorrows? Are we worried that in today's overpopulated world, that we're not producing ENOUGH uncared for and undisciplined children, so we need to save ALL reproductive systems so even people who should NOT reproduce can do it readily even when they don't want to? Or did I miss some medical discovery in which a good uterus can cure cancer or AIDS?

It's a real thinker, I tell ya!

L&S,
L

And the winner for best soundtrack is...

Thought I would share my life's new soundtrack...

Every morning between waking up and the first nap, we have a good hour of this...

And a few times a day, I will begin to hear this sound overpowering anything else in the room...

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!

L&S,

Leslie

Face First

Tucker's latest "thing" is what we call "nose scrubbing" in our house. When you put her on your shoulder, she starts scrubbing her nose. She'll move her face back and forth and back and forth -- over and over wiping her nose (and entire face, really) as she goes. We have NO IDEA why she does this, but it is VERY comical to watch. After the scrubbing, she then falls asleep face DOWN into your shoulder, arm, or arm pit (LOVELY). It is HYSTERICAL!!!

And, of course, once she has slept face down, she will eventually pick her head up, take a huge breath, and then resituate herself to a normal sleeping position. The result (and bonus humor) is that she has "sleep lines" all over her face! :-D

This baby stuff is hard work, but it has MORE than enough laughs to make it worthwhile. :-D

L&S,

The Bowers Family

Doesn't Get Any Better!!!

Tucker Elise has begun smiling as a response to smiles, rather than just from gas. :-) She has a HUGE smile and it is SO full of joy!!

L&S,

Leslie

One Cool Trick!!!

For those of you who haven't seen it, Tucker's pacis have a hole in the middle (where the little plastic bump usually is). We spend much of our days with a finger stuck in this hole to hold the paci in.

Well, today, Tucker accidentally got her finger in that hole and spent the next 20 min. sucking on her finger through the paci. She was so proud (and SO funny-looking)!

L&S,

Leslie

More new(ish) family members

So I have pics of another of the new West Family members. For those of you who haven't met him (or seen him in a while), here's some pics of Logan, Michelle's baby boy (who is now SEVEN months, if you can believe that!!!). He's SO STINKING CUTE!!! He has a precious personality, a surprisingly deep voice for such a little guy, and is crawling like it's nobody's business!!!

L&S,

Leslie

ROAD TRIP (Part deux)

The duck with her Daddy
















First visit with Aunt Re (Leah)


















She was gripping Aunt Re's shirt in the back.




















Propping her arm on her elephant rattle

















Finally getting some Munner love. :-)













L&S,
The Bowers

ROAD TRIP!!!

Pics from our first road trip with Tucker. :-)









The car was LOADED from top to bottom. Who knew someone SO TINY could require SO MUCH STUFF?!?




















Pit Stops - no longer just for pottying and chips! Now they involve bottles and pumping!
















She's a duck!!!



















Our first visit with Aunt Bri












The whole McKee gang - or rather the whole gang that ever steps foot off of McDonald Ave. :-) ha! (Nana and Papa, Tucker, Drew, Leslie, Bri, Tony, and Misti)








L&S,
The Bowers

MOM BLOG ALERT!!!

Ok, so I couldn't get all of my cute, bragging pictures in one blog, so here's a few more! :-D







Sitting up in her Bumbo chair!






















A picture taken today (as requested by Nana).
















Ok, so one of my new favorite Tucker features is the fact that her arms are so chubby that she has TWO elbow creases! haha!














L&S,
Leslie

A random spattering of daughter-promotion!

Ok, so Nana requested pics of the baby because she hasn't seen her in two weeks. So here's a random spattering of pics of the world's funniest baby! :-)







She's learning that she has a "pacifier" built in on those arm thingies. Of course, she hasn't figured out how to get just one finger in to suck on, so she sucks on like half of her fist at one time. It's VERY funny and creates an INSANE amount of drool!


















She's going to be a blanket carrier. She constantly pulls her burp cloth to her as she sleeps.





















HOLLYWOOD, baby!!!















My little hobo child. She poked her toe through her little harness socks!!! TOO CUTE!


















Punch drunk on paci!








L&S,
The Bowers Family

Visiting with Paige and Alivia

For all of the West family, I wanted to share with you some pics of a "long lost" relative. :-D ha! In case you didn't know, Uncle Johnny (Kakie's Johnny), Pam, and Paige (Kakie's daughter and grandaughter) live in Marietta and Smyrna - only 10 min. or so from our place. So Paige and I have gotten back in touch lately - and discovered that we were really close to the same amount of pregnant. :-) ha! She delivered her THIRD little girl about 2 weeks after Tucker was born. On Friday, Tucker and I met Paige and Alivia for lunch and a little Babies R Us time. :-) I took pictures of the two of them to share with you guys - figured you'd be interested. I hope to have a meal with Pam and Johnny before long as well. Oh the memories I have of Uncle Johnny!!! He was always one of those "magical" adults in my life. He was so cool and so wonderfully teddy bear like. I can't wait to see him again!

As Paige and I were talking, she said she has moments with all of her girls sometimes that make her miss her Mamoa (what she calls Kakie - which I think is interesting since that's what we called Myrtle). She talked about how great Kakie would have been with her girls and how she would have "eaten them up". I TOTALLY get that. I have had so many moments - actually even before Tucker - where I thought, "Grandaddy would have LOVED this." I think at least once a week about how both of my grandads would have loved Drew so much. There are sides to him that would have meshed so well with each of my Grandaddy's. And then to think how each of them would have loved this baby girl. Guy McKee would have spoiled her ROTTEN and fed her to the point of popping with steaks and homegrown veggies. And Leland - well, to have a great sweet tootie - how great would that have been!!!

Anyway, enough of my senseless rambling. Here's pics of Paige and her cute little girl. (I use the term little lightly as Alivia was even bigger than Tucker - over 9 pounds!!)

L&S,

Leslie