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

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