New Year! New Car!

Well, we finally did it. Nick and I broke down and bought a minivan. It was a long time coming, but I was mostly against it. We got a great deal on it and we just couldn't pass it up. It's a maroon 2002 Chevy Venture Warner Bros. Edition. It's in excellent condition (for right now, my kids can really ruin a new looking car). Cadence and Cole just love it, especially because Cadence can't reach over and lean on Cole's carseat. Plus it has a dvd player in it and I can keep them occupied with that. It'll come in handy with the road trips I want to go on after the third baby is born. I'll post pictures soon I just have to wash it first. It's been rainy and cold and there's mud all over it.

Anyways, I'm doing good. I'm in my 6th month and starting to show it. I'll have to get Nick to take a picture of my belly. So far, Kayleigh is an active baby, she kicks me all the time to let me know I'm in a position that she doesn't like. Which so far is almost every position that I am comfortable in. But the strange thing is that she could kick me all day long but the moment that Nick puts his hand on my belly, she stops. She has only kicked him once because he just happened to put his hand there at the right moment. But she won't kick him, unlike the other two who would pound his hand everytime it was on my belly. Cadence is still excited about having a little sister and frequently asks when she is coming out to play. Cole is not sure about it, he just knows that he's not happy about the changes that are taking place in my stomach.

Cole is very well entering into his terrible two's. He's throwing fits when he doesn't get his way and can stand up to his bully of a big sister. He's normally happy all the time and loves to get into everything. Getting into the wipes tub is his favorite. He still not talking very much and he won't hardly take that passy out for anything. You have to ask him yes or no questions so he can answer with an uh huh or an uh uh.

Cadence is growing like a weed but her hair still isn't. I don't know what the deal is with that but I'm sure it'll grow one day and never stop. She talks constantly but makes sense. A lot of my friends that have kept her tell me she is the most polite child they have ever kept. Which I find hard to believe cause I don't see that at home a lot. She has a very vivid imagination and really believes that she can hear the baby when she is crying in my tummy. She will also pretend to get her out and rock her to sleep and then put her back in my tummy. It's really funny.

We have a new addition to our family. My older sister Paige and her husband Todd just had their first child. We think she was born sat night 1/19 but it could have been early sunday morning on 1/20 but we are not for sure. Zoie Allison came at a whopping 9 1/2 pounds. Probably a good thing being January even though they are in Florida. I'm praying that I don't have to deliver one that big in April. Congratulations Paige and Todd!!!!

Pictures

They both enjoyed about the first 8 min of the haircut and after that got ancy. Cole does not like clippers, Mary tried to shave the back of his neck and he just squirmed and screamed.

Long time no blog

Sorry for the spaciousness of my blog. I've been really busy lately with work and kids and everything else that just pops up. So for those that don't know it yet I'm pregnant again. I'm due April 29, 2008. So as of today I'm exactly 11 wks and 6 days. I won't find out what sex I'm having till sometime in Dec. If I decide to even find out. Morning sickness is still pretty bad, I have to take medicine just to be able to even eat anything. I keep hoping that one day I'll forget to take the medicine and I'll be fine, but so far I have to take it before 7am or I'm sick all day. Not very fun. Other than that I'm fine. Trying to recover from my kids this past week. I spent the first weekend of Oct. with my mom and my sister and no kids or husband. It was the most relaxing weekend I've had in a long time. It's hard to come home to two noisy very active children after that. But we had a great time in Dallas. We went shopping, had a pedicure and a manicure, I got my hair cut, and we just hung out and visited. It was great.

On Oct 10 both Cadence and Cole got their first haircut. It was fun. They both did really well at first but by the end they were both ready to get down and move around. Who knew my kids could be still for as long as they were? I have pictures but right now they are out in the car and it's raining cats and dogs and I just don't feel like getting wet. So I will have to post them at a later date.

Both kids are doing great. Cadence likes to pretend that she can get the baby out of my belly and hold it and rock it when she says it's crying. It's really cute. Cole still doesn't quite understand it yet but I'm sure he will pretty soon. I just hope he reacts as well as Cadence did when he was born.

Nick's doing really well. He's either up at his shop or at the fire station. His business stays pretty steady up there. We did have someone try to break in a couple of weeks ago. But because of the alarm they ran off. Not much damage was cause, they just cracked the window on his door and knocked over his flower pot on the sidewalk. The robbers were arrested later on that night after breaking into a few more businesses and a house.

Not much else is going on. We are just waiting on the news of my new nephew, hopefully it will be any day now.

First Birthday!!

Well, on July 11th Cole turned 1!!! Wow, time flies so fast now. He is so big, and has 10 teeth now that he loves to use and it hurts. He also decided that it was time for him to start walking. So on Tuesday, Alicia, the babysitter, worked with him and he was able to take 1-2 steps at a time. Then we got home and Nick got him to take 8 steps. It was so exciting!!! It's so funny too, cause he just wants to take off running and he ends up taking a nose dive to the carpet. He's been using a walker and he will push forward and run on his tiptoes, but he's starting to realize that he can't do that without the walker. But everytime he falls he giggles and tries to do it again. We haven't had a birthday party yet, we are waiting to do a joint one for Cadence and Cole. The date is set for August 11th. It should be a fun and tiring day.

So, Alicia had a 30 gallon fish tank that her and her husband were growing tired of and wanted to get rid of it. I was more than happy to inherit it, since we don't have any pets yet and Cadence loved the fish tank. Today I got it set up, and it is getting ready for some fish. Tomorrow, Cadence and I are going to take a trip to Petsmart or Petco whichever one I see first and I'm going to let her pick out the fish that she wants. She's very excited and told Pop that she wanted a Blue fish, then later that night told me she wanted a green one, and a pink one. I'm not sure where to find a green or pink one since we don't have a Dr. Seuss fish store any where around here (haha). But I think she'll pick out some good ones.

Have a great weekend!

What's New??

Thank Heaven for disasasters that become blessings! On May 9th Cadence got dismissed from daycare for "biting", I think there was an underlying motive that just hasn't been uncovered yet. So I had to quickly find some other form of childcare for both of them cause I just couldn't see leaving Cole in that same place without his big sis. So, a lady that worked for the same place that had quit because she did not like the way it had run decided to keep kids at her house. Well, she is great! The kids love her and have a blast there. And what's funny is that there is no biting whatsoever. Funny huh? Anyways within about 2 weeks of being at the new babysitter Cadence is basically potty trained. YEAH! It's so wonderful. Now we just have to work on the night time, but I'm sure that will take a while.

Cole is getting bigger and fatter and cuter than ever. He's still the sweetest baby ever. He has now advanced from just a slow crawl to speed crawling. I can set him down and within seconds he is at the other end of the house. And quiet too, I have to search for him sometimes. He is starting to try talking. I think he has figured out mama, dada and baba. The other day it sounded like he had said Bye but I'm not sure. He is learning how to wave bye-bye and hi. He also has mastered the pulling up stage and can stand with one hand holding him up. He is startind to try to cruise on the furniture but hasn't figured out that he has to put his feet flat.

Cadence is learning to sing songs, and also has a great imagination. A couple weeks ago we were sitting at the dinner table eating fried perch that Nick caught and we were asking her animal sounds. I asked her what a crocidile said and I put my hands together like it was chomping. She mimic the movements and said "Snap, I eat fishies!" Nick and I laughed and then I asked her what a fish said. But she didn't respond with her normal response she said " Don't eat me!" Then we asked her what she was eating and she got this evil little grin on her face and replied "Fish!"

Two days later I was at work and got a phone call from Nick telling me that we had a pink alligator in the house. Completely confused I asked " A WHAT?" He said that Cadence came running into the living room crying. Nick jokingly asked her if an alligator bit her and she said "Yeah, alligator bit me on my butt" He asked her what color was the alligator and she said pink. He asked her where it was and she told him it lived in mommy and daddy's closet. (Which is really funny cause for the past week before this she would not step foot into our closet because it's scary) So, now wherever we go and a bug bites her or just whenever she feels like it she'll start fake crying and tell us the alligator bit her because he follows her everywhere.

Nick is still out on medical leave with his back. He has a herniated L5 disc in his back. He had been going to the chiropractor for a month with not much progress and is now seeing an otrhapedic specialist. He had an MRI done on monday and is going back this upcoming monday to actually see the dr and have him read the MRI to see what is wrong and what the next step will be to get it better. We are praying that he will not have to go through any kind of surgery. I will try to keep ya updated on the progress of his back. But he has been able to build up some more customers for his business since he has been able to be at the shop everyday.

My work is been pretty busy lately with summer here and it just being really really busy at wally world. I stay on the go. I'm still looking for any other career moves that are in the area because I really would like to go back to working in ruston so I can put the kids back in to the old daycare that Cadence was in. They have a great preschool program and I would really rather her go to school over there. Nothing else exciting here in the great big city of Arcadia. Hope y'all have a great weekend.

So much for a vacation

My vacation started off promising, I got a little house work done, babysat my 3 week old nephew. But on Sunday I started feeling bad. Checked my temp and it was 100.2. My throat had been hurting the whole week before but I didn't think anything about it. Hadn't been around anyone that was sick. So I went to the Dr. on Monday and found out that I have strep throat. Last time I had strep was my sophomore year in Highschool. Never really thought that I would get it again. Thank goodness no one else has it. Nick's fine and Cadence is fine, I took Cole to the Dr. today cause I had to make sure his ear infections have healed up, but they haven't so he had to have a shot. :( And he still has some congestion in his chest so he got a new decongestant that hopefully will work better than his last one. Now we just got to get better so we can go visit Mimi and Pop and Auntie Paige and Uncle Todd this weekend in Dallas. For those of you that didn't remember Nick and I celebrated 3 years of Marriage yesterday, May 1. So YEAH for us!
Have a great week!

Easter Time

These were the best pics of Easter. For some reason, I didn't get a picture of Mimi and Pop with the kids, what was I thinking??? But we had a great time with them here for the weekend. They brought a honey spiral ham that was delicious and Mimi helped me cook some cheese grits and boiled asparagus. It was a great Easter meal. Cole has started moving around, he can't quite crawl yet but he can scoot towards anything. And he decided to pop out 3 more teeth to make his running total 7! 4 top and 3 bottom. I'm sure the next bottom one is not far behind. He went to the dr last week for shots and he now weighs 21 pounds and is 28 inches long. Cadence's vocabulary is rapidly expanding and knows most of her animals. She talks all the time and rarely ever stops. Whenever we are in the car she now tells me everything thing we see, such as: look flowers, trees, a car, a truck. For the past couple days she has been stuck on bus and train. Everytime we see a bus or train, she says, Mommy I ride bus, Mommy I ride train. And then gets very upset when I tell her she can't ride the bus yet. So I have to tell her when she gets older she can ride the bus and that seems to satisfy her till the next time she sees one. I got some new glasses and a hair cut. I cut off about 5 inches 3 weeks ago. So much better. Nick's still working a lot, but cut down his time working for the Ambulance company so he can be at shop since his sister had her baby on April 5. Faith and Tristan are doing fine. He is the tiniest little thing. Hope you all have a great week!!

What you have all been waiting for!!

PICs of the new house. I know some of y'all have seen the actuall house. But for the underprivelaged I finally have a few pictures to show you. It's really hard to find a time when the whole house is clean so I've only got a few of the rooms, I will post more later. But the pics I have now will give you a good idea of what it looks like.

This is our sitting area next to the living roomThis is our messy study^ So far the only room that constantly stays disorganizedCole's Room all decked out in Firefigter stuff. We still haven't put up all of Nick's nick-nacks but they will all be up hopefully soon. Cadence loves to show off her room.

Time Flies!

Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted last. Sorry it's been a while, I've been busy with getting the new house together and the kids and work. I will post pictures of the house soon, I just have to get them from the camera to my jump drive and the computer at the house runs so slow that it takes forever to even post one picture. So I have to update at the shop computer. So to update, Cole is now 7 months and weighs in at 19 1/2 pounds and is 26 1/2 inches long. He babbles a lot, rolls over all the time and is realizing that he wants to crawl, but his little buddah belly gets in the way and he ends up looking like a see-saw rocking back and forth. Cadence is 2 1/2 and has entered into the terrible two's. She's full of attitude and very strong willed. (my guess is she takes after her daddy)
Nick and I have decided to change our eating habits, not a diet, but just eat more healthy. So far I've lost 10lbs and he has lost 18. So we are doing pretty good. Nick's business has been doing fair, he's been getting enough sales to keep the business running. I've been doing some more regular cooking. I guess the new house just brings the domestic out in me. I keep it fairly clean, it's not spotless, but then again I wouldn't be myself if I kept if spotless. Nick's schedule changed at the fire station they now relieve at 6 in the evening, it's a change for me but I do most of the time have dinner ready when he gets home. I'm getting pretty good at making quick meals, I think the longest time it took me to make dinner was an hour, but I try to make meals that only take 30 min, cause when I'm working I don't get home till 6 and Cadence is usually ready to eat pretty soon after that and she will let me know it.
Our church has started this parenting class for the next 8 weeks. It's called Parenting is Heart Work. I've attended two classes so far and it's really neat. It talks about changing kids behavior by changing their heart. I've tried some of the things I've learned on Cadence but she's a little young to learn some of them, but I'll still keep working with her so that way when she is ready to learn it won't be such a change. Well, hopefully soon I will get some pictures of the kids and the new house up for all to view. I know you are anxiously awaiting them.
Have a great week.

Toofies!!

Bubby got his first set of teeth last week on thurs and fri. And he just turned 5 months today! He's a fast teether. He's been teething for the most of a month and a half, but he wasn't bad at all. He just wanted to naw on a hand or a finger. Now that the teeth are through he's the happiest baby in the world (and the cutest!) But I am kind of partial. Anyways, the four of us made a quick trip to Dallas this weekend to see Mimi and Pop and pick up the Honda. We had some fun. Cadence was excited to see them and she had a blast at the Galleria play ground. We enjoyed our weekend albeit short but still fun. Have a great week.

So not Susie!

Ok, I know I don't have a reputation for being Susie Homemaker, but aren't these some yummy looking cupcakes? I spent a couple hours baking cupcakes for my church cakewalk. We have a Fall Fling tomorrow and something just came over me last sunday and I wanted to bake something.

Well, Nick just thought this was hilarious. Being as I hardly ever cook. When I told him that I was going to wal*mart to go buy stuff for the cupcakes he asked me if I was just gonna buy some ready made cupcakes and put them in a home container and claim that I made them. Of course, I told him no, I was actually gonna bake them. He then started laughing. The rest of the conversation went like this:

"Hey, I've baked a cake before and it was really good" "Yeah, but that was the second time, remember the first one?"

(the first one was bad, I tried to make a two layer cake and both layers came out of the oven looking really fluffy and good, however when they cooled off they looked like two really thick pancakes and tasted like stirafoam)

"Yeah, but the cake mix was old and probably bad which is why it came out bad, but the second one was pretty good, the only problem was I put to much icing between the layers that the top layer was starting to slide off." "Well, your 1-1, and you can always buy cupcakes if they don't turn out right."

Such a supportive husband huh? Well, Cadence and I taste tested my cupcakes and so far I'm batting 100%. I hope they'll be a big hit at the cakewalk. I'm planning my next baking project(hmm maybe thanksgiving), maybe dinner tomorrow night.

1st Trick or Treat

Isn't She the cutest kitty in the world!

Cadence had a ball going trick or treating for the first time. Although the bag might not have been the best choice since she couldn't figure out how to hold it open for the candy. But she still managed to get a full bag. After about 30 min she kinda got sidetracked and just wanted to wander around the neighborhood and also into the peoples houses. I was glad I went with some friends otherwise I would have had my hands full with her and Cole. He did come but I couldn't find him a costume so he wore a bright orange tigger sleeper. They had fun. Nick had to work so I told him that next year he gets to take them.

...And yet we are still waiting

Well, the contractors are supposed to come out this week and work on our land to build the dirt pad and put in the septic tank. So pray that it doesn't rain so they can get all the work done and we can get our house in.

Nick opened a store to sell his car audio/mobile accessories in Arcadia. He's been building a counter and a sound board for displays and spending time getting it altogether so he can open to the public Nov. 1st.

Cadence has picked up the funniest thing. I always call her baby and she has decided that she will call everyone baby. "here you go baby", "I want juice baby", "thank you baby". It's really funny.

Cole has found his thumb. So now whenever he sits in his bouncer he has his thumb in his mouth. It is so cute. He's also showing signs that he's not far from rolling over.

Well, I believe that's all I have to update for right now.

You know it's hunting season when.....

Paige: You think a camo shirt is bad for a church team? Try Oct 1st till like Feb.


Well, I started back to work. It's not too bad. I do miss my babies a lot though. :( But the great thing about my new position is the hours. I only have to work 45 hours, and I get to write my own schedule. So if I need a certain day off, I can take it. It's gonna be really nice.

Well, we have an update about our new house. It was ordered on friday the 6th and sometime this week the crew will come out to our lot and prep it for the trailer and then sometime after that it will be delivered. So we are looking at about 3 weeks and we will be in it. YAY!!

Baby Milestones

Well, as most of you know Cole has been cooing. And it's so cute. But yesterday Nick actually got him to laugh. I figured it was a little too early since Cadence didn't acutually laugh till after she was three months. But all babies are different. Nick got him to laugh about 4 times and it was so adorable I wish I had gotten it on video. Well, I have exactly one week till I go back to work and I kinda have mixed feelings. On one hand, I'm going to miss being home with both of them and seeing Cole grow. On the other hand I'm kinda going crazy being in such a small place all the time with really nowhere to go except running errands to wal mart and no time just to myself. At least work will be my time, but it's a new position and everybody else who's in that position has been at it for 3 months and I'm gonna hafta catch up. Well, that's about all the excitement going on at the bowman household. Have a great week!

Back to the doctor

Yesterday we had to take both Cadence and Cole to the doctor. Cole got a cold and the medicine that he got last week wasn't working. We found out he has a sinus infection so he was prescribed an antibiotic and an alergy medicine. Hopefully he doen't turn out like me and get a sinus infection every time the seasons change. He does seem like he's getting better since he got the new meds. As for Cadence, she has had this rash that I figured was from her pullups, but as it turns out she has impetigo. Which I had no clue is a bacterial infection and only antibiotics can cure that. Fun day yesterday. Thank goodness for insurance, I'm so glad that they put prescription coverage on my insurance last year. In the two weeks that Cole hasnt' been to the doctor he gained 1/2 pound. That boy sure knows how to eat. Well, have a great weekend.

What a Whopper!

Weighing in at 12lbs 12oz and 23 1/2 inches at the Doctors today, he is healthy and a little upset that he had to get 3 shots. Poor thing, he's been
sleeping it off all day long, of course the infants tylenol has a little effect on the sleeping. He did get diagnosed with a little acid reflux and he got some medication that should take care of all the spitting up in a couple days. She also noticed his tongue, which I had noticed when I was still nursing him. The skin that attaches to the bottom tongue is normally at the middle towards the back of the tongue. His is right at the tip which is why he can't stick his tongue out of his mouth and he also had problems latching on which made it very difficult for me to breastfeed. The doctor said not to worry about it now since he can eat well but if it affects his speech as he gets older it will have to be clipped :( Hopefully it won't come to that, I'm sure it's a painfull process.

Well, Labor day weekend the kids and I tagged along with Mimi and Pop for a lovely road trip to Lubbock. I had a blast and so did Cadence. However, I'm pretty sure that I wore both the grandparents and great-grandparents out and as they loved our visit they are probably glad we are gone. I really appreciate Pop, he really helped me out with Cadence I could
have never done it without him. Here are some pics from last weekend.

Cadence's Birthday

Well, we didn't have a birthday party but she did have a cake. And she also got some great presents. From her Pappy she got a great little red wagon and then from us she got a tricycle. From Auntie Paige she got some great necklaces and bracelets that she loves. And some cute clothes from Mimi and Pop. Here are some pictures from that day.

Best Friends Already

Nick's best friend, Ben and his wife had Riley in May. He's a cute, good baby too. Anyways, I was at their house on my birthday and right before
I left they were actually awake at the same time. Riley has this swing that Cole just loved and slept almost the whole time we were there. Now we just have to get all four boys together and get pictures. Nick's cousin and her husband Zach had Caden in March, and then another friend of Ben and Nick's, Joey and his girlfriend had a boy, Grant, on Aug. 14. We know that we are gonna have our hands full when they get older, but it will sure be fun

alright, so we have an update on the house situation. Yesterday we got a call from the law firm that is checking the title which was the last thing before ordering. And they said there was a tax lien on Nick's dad, so we got that paid today and then went over to Tilleys (which is where we are getting our home from) and made sure all the colors were right and everything was where we wanted and all the extras were correct. So, once the mortgage company faxes them the clear title then he orders our house. Should be no later than Tues and then a week and a half ( which is how long it will take to manufacture the house) we should have the house on the land and then 3-4 days it should be completely set up. YAY finally a time line I can handle and it's realistic! Hey Paige-soon I'll be living the American dream, can I borrow your cat for the 1/2? I'll let you borrow Cadence and Cole for the 2 for a little while ;) Stay tuned for the blog about Cadence's birthday tomorrow, coming soon!

We have locals!

Well, after waiting for what seemed to be forever, our satellite company finally got local channels for our area. After much fighting with the company and the idiots that come to work on it,the second guy that came out actually got it to work and figured out the first guy didn't have a clue what he was doing. So YAY we actually have local channels.

Happy Birthday to me(yesterday)!! Thanks to everyone for wishing me happy birthday. I don't feel like I'm 25 but I guess when I get my car insurance discount it'll help.

I spent most of the day yeseterday at a friends house and we took a couple of pictures of the babies, and after I got the first picture uploaded somehow the website had a problem and I can't get any more uploaded.
But this is Cole at 6 weeks, getting chubbier by the day! Ain't he cute!? He's rolly polly and getting more fun by the day!