Visiting Santa

On Sat night we all went down to Jonesboro and saw Christmas lights and Santa! When Santa asked Cadence what she wanted she said " I want a zhu-zhu pet and... the rest is on the list!" She made Santa laugh out loud and said "Well I guess I better read the list then."

Bubby couldn't think of anything on the spot that he wanted but five min after we left Santa he started spouting out things he wanted.

As like our other two when they were that age, Kayleigh was not to fond of Santa, but she did wave by to him with out screaming. After Santa we went on a horse and carriage ride around Jonesboro. They loved it, and thank goodness mommy thought ahead and brought two warm blankets for us to cover up with.

Florida Trip

A few weeks ago Kayleigh and I visited my sister in Florida. We had a blast. Zoie and Kayleigh had fun playing together. They got along great. I also got to spend time with my new neice Rylie, she's a sweetie and a really good baby. Here's a few pics from the week.

Picture Update!!

It has been crazy these past few weeks with Kayleigh's Birthday, Nick and My Anniversary (5 yrs), getting a new puppy, and Cadence's Preschool Graduation. So I will just include pictures and not a lot of talk.

She was not happy at all with her cake or turning 1!

Our new puppy Remi, he's a yorkie/dachsund mix.

Cadence at her last day of Preschool, she is cleared for kindergarten.
A wedding where Nick was a groomsman.

Happy 1st Birthday Kayleigh!

Happy birthday to me sweet little girl. I can't believe that she is a year already. Time has flown by so fast. It seems like only yesterday we came home from the hospital. She has grown so much and has so many little facial expressions. She's not only walking, she's learned to run and chases Cadence and Cole around the house. She is such a happy baby and smiles at everyone. She also now has six teeth, two on bottom and four on top. The girl can eat too, anything you put in front of her will be gone in a matter of minutes. She loves to eat and would probably keep eating as long as you keep putting food in front of her. We are so blessed to have this wonderful girl in our lives and still can't believe she's been here a year.

Easter Weekend Trip

For Easter we took a long road trip to visit family. The kids were so excited. First we drove into Dallas and saw Mimi and Pop. I had bought some easter chalk for the kids and since we don't have a concrete driveway we had to do it at their house. :) They had a blast, even Kayleigh got into the fun only she chalked herself and not the driveway. We played outside for a while; it was such a beautiful afternoon and then we came inside started dinner and while it was cooking went to the park. The next day we drove out to Lubbock, Tx to visit my grandparents, Neno & Geto. It's been almost two years since Cadence, Cole, and I have been out there. We had so much fun. I know that their neighbors said the hallway definately was not quiet that weekend with them running up and down and screaming. On Sunday, Cadence and Cole got to hunt easter eggs around the apartment and then we went to prairie dog town. It had rained a lot that weekend and was pretty cool so we weren't sure if we would see any activity, but thank goodness we did. They enjoyed seeing a few peek out of the holes and even a few more came out and looked around. There was even a little chipmunk scurrying around. We headed out fairly early Monday morning for our long trip back home and had a welcoming stop in Dallas for lunch at Braum's with Mimi, Pop, and Memo. Here are some photos from the weekend. The kids really enjoyed playing on the pianos at both places, even Kayliegh.

My New Van

So, this is my old van. The insurance company deemed it a total loss. It was a great van and very used. I will definately miss it. But on the other hand I love my new van. I drove a new toyota sienna as my rental for two weeks and really hated to give it up. So we bought one. It's not brand new, but it is definately new to me and I really love it. Sorry, Paige but I still haven't named her yet. Can't figure out what I should name her, any suggestions? :) The kids really like it even though there is no dvd player. School started last week and I'm really enjoying being back and having that freedom that comes with it. Not having to work all the time is the best feeling in the world. I spent so much time away from home and my kids for so long that this feels like a wonderful vacation, even the studying. I'm really looking forward to what my future has in store with more school and more time at home.

A New Year, A New Start

Since the beginning of the year I have been praying for a change. Whether it be a change of attitude towards my job or even be my job. Well doors have been opened and I have taken them. I will no longer be employed at Walmart at the end of this month and will be going back to school full time to pursue a Nursing Career. I am extremely calm and confident that this is the right move for me. I have yet to know if I am accepted into the Nursing program but will find out in either June or July (can't come soon enough). However I can take my prerequisites the spring and summer quarter so that when I start Nursing classes in the fall it wil be only clinicals. The most exciting part of this change is that I will be at home more with my kids. No worrying about who will watch them when Nick and I both have to work, no missing weekends with them and I will be home during the holidays with them. Being home with them is the biggest blessing that I have been granted. I will also be able to spend more time with Nick, that is another blessing.

Kayleigh is getting bigger by the day. She is learning how to walk and can now take up to seven steps. She is very good at balancing herself but when she does fall she always falls on her bottom. I guess she knows where her padding is :). She can say mama dada baba, say and wave bye bye and knows how to pester her big brother and sister. She also is getting her third tooth on the top.

Cadence is doing great in school, learning so much. She can recognize letters and even her name. She's so smart. Cole is the smartest out of all the 2 yr olds in the daycare, at least that's what the teachers tell me, I already knew he was the smartest. He's talking so much better and making complete sentances and asking questions. The year is already going by so quickly. I can't even believe that in two months Kayleigh will be one year. WOW!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas 2008

Bubby Showing off His presents

Cadence is very proud of her bean bag

All the presents are finally open, now it's time to take the toys out of the package (always more time consuming than it looks.)

Cole cheesin' for the camera with his toys


Pappy's House: Cadence's Miley Cyrus Wig(which everyone tried on, but I didn't get the camera out in time to catch them all)

Nick's present from Pappy(his dad), a 22 Ruger

Kayleigh and Aunt Faith
Cole's favorite present: Thomas the Train with tracks and extra cars and engines. He spends all day with these trains

We had a great Christmas with all of our family, and missed the part of our family that wasn't with us. We hope that this next year is filled with love, joy and multiple blessings for all. Happy New Year from The Bowman Family!!!

It's OK To say Merry Christmas!

Is the new holiday logo for one of our local news station! Pretty bold cuz they also talk about the reall reason we celebrate, Jesus' Birth.

Last week we drove down to jonesboro and looked at all the lights and tried to get a picture with santa. We only got one, Cadence. Last year they wouldn't get near santa; this year Cadence sat on his lap but she wouldn't tell him what she wanted for christmas. Bubby wouldn't sit on santa's lap this year but was actually brave enough to reach into the sucker bin himself; maybe next year he'll sit on santa's lap. Kayleigh was asleep so we didn't even bother her to try and get a picture.

Friday was Cadence's last day at school for two weeks and they got to do something very special the last two days. On thursday Santa visited and Cadence got her picture with him and told him that she wanted a real pink pony. Then on friday they wore pajamas to school, drank peppermint hot cocoa and watched the polar express and had a christmas party.

All the presents are wrapped and my shopping is done. Now all we have to do is wait on Christmas and Santa to get here. Although Kayleigh doesn't have much patience. She wants her present now!

Teefies!

Kayleigh has two bottom teeth. And she will use them :) She is growing so fast. She's crawling and trying to pull up a little bit but hasn't quite figured it out. She weighs around 17 lbs and is just as cute as can be. She has started on solids, well puree'd really, but she loves it, except for the peas. She is also babbling and saying mamama. I'm excited cause Cadence and Cole started babbling with baba and dada. She is very active and has decided lately that she is a night owl and an early riser. Needless to say I don't get very much sleep.

This month has flown by so quickly. Cole had surgery on Nov. 4. He had tubes put in his ears, his adnoids taken out and his sinused flushed out. He is so much better now, a completely different child. He is more active and talks a whole lot more. He says he can hear better. The only problem is trying to keep his earplugs in during bath time.

Cadence is doing well in school and learning a lot. She's having a little problem with listening to the teachers and not wanting to take a nap during nap time but other than that she is doing great. She's been playing mommy with her dolls and loves to help me with Kayleigh. If I ask her anything to do with Kayleigh she is on it, and even can get Kayleigh to laugh when she upset. Her and Cole don't play as much together anymore because he's into his cars and would rather play alone. But he's great with Kayleigh too.

I'm very busy between the holidays at work, teaching sunday school and my small group on wednesdays. We had a fun halloween, took them all trick or treating where they filled their bags up with candy. Cadence was tinkerbell and Cole was a spider.

Busy Bees

Wow, I didn't even realize how long it had been since I last blogged. A lot has been going on here from working, school, church, and dr appts. Since my last blog the ear infections that Cole and Kayleigh had went away and then the second round of ear infections came two weeks after that. We pretty much have the ear infections gone now but both still have fluid on the ears so we had to go see the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor on Monday Oct. 13. Basically they both need tubes (not fun), but thank the Lord it hasn't affected their hearing one bit. Cole is going to have tubes put in and his adnoids taken out on Nov. 4. So please pray for him and the rest of the family, as I am having a hard time dealing with the fact that he's going into surgery albeit minor but still surgery. Kayleigh, being only 5 1/2 months old, was recommended to get tubes but Nick and I feel that it would be best to wait till her ears get more mature and we are praying that she would grow out of the ear infections and we won't have to resort to tubes. Also, I don't think I would have been able to handle both of them getting tubes on the same day, too much chaos for me to handle physically and emotionally.

Nick and I have joined a small group at church on wednesday nights. It is a wonderful group with couple our age that have kids around our kids age. And the church does childcare which they love. Cadence is old enough for M&M's which I think is Music and Ministry and they feed her dinner and play. In our small group we have started a study of the book The Five Love Languages. It's really great so far and we are all learning a lot about our spouse and each other. I'm really excited about continuing the book in the next few weeks and hearing others perspectives.

The month of Oct. is a break for me from my sunday school class. Last month was very challenging for me learning how to deal with 1st and 2nd graders, plus getting all 3 of my kids up and ready for church at 9 instead of 10:45. I really loved my time in the class but I'm also enjoying going to just the service this month.

Work is keeping both Nick and I very busy. It's becoming the holiday season for me so I'm always on my toes and beginning to have to work some hectic hours. Nick is working his normal shift at the fire station along with 24 to 36 hrs extra with his part time job for Pafford Ambulance Service.

Cadence is really enjoying school, she likes to go but hates to get up in the morning. It takes me about 10-15 minutes to rouse her out of bed. She's learning a lot. This week and last week they've been learning about farms and farm animals and they get to ride on a tractor. On friday they get to dress up as scarecrows and the school has ordered them straw hats for them to wear. On halloween the whole class with dress up as scarecrows again and walk in the Minden parade. I will definately have pictures.

Happy Birthday Cadence....and me!

Today is Cadence's 4th birthday. And what an exciting day/ week we have had. She started Pre-k on Friday and loved it. But because she started school she had to get her booster shots, which happened to fall on her birthday. She missed school today and all three had a dr's appt. I never knew she could scream so loud. Actually all three of them had to get shots. Kayleigh got her 4 month vaccines and an antibiotic shot because her ears are still infected. Cole got an antibiotic shot because his ears are still infected. That was not a fun day at the dr's.

After the dr I dropped Cole and Kayleigh off at daycare and Cadence and I headed to the Boardwalk in Bossier City to Build-a-Bear Workshop. She had a blast; she picked out a bunny, helped put stuffing in it, and then picked out two outifits for her bunny to wear. Then we made it a birth certificate. She named the bunny Rabby. Hehe Rabby the Rabbit. She has carried it everywhere today. But I made for a great ending to her birthday.

Last sat was my birthday and Nick gave me the day off. I went shopping and to a movie with a girl friend of mine. It was the best birthday present I could have asked for.

Yesterday(monday) Kayleigh turned 4 months and weighs 13lbs and 14oz. She has been cooing and making spit bubbles and its so cute. She also has figured out how to roll over from her back to her stomach. Yea!

Teacher Training

Today after church there was a teacher training for all the elementry volunteers who will be teaching in our church's learning center. I am one of them. Starting in september I will be doing a even/odd month rotation in the Learning Center. I will be with one other lady and a couple teaching 1st and 2nd graders on the odd months. This will definately be interesting for me, but I'm going to put forth all my effort to help mold these little minds, and hopefully in return I can gain the patience for my future 1st and 2nd graders.

However, I almost didn't make it to church this morning. I had just gotten onto the interstate to head to Ruston when I notice that my van felt like it was riding funny. I was already going to be a few minutes late so I didn't pay any mind to the feeling, but I was thinking about telling Nick that I needed to replace my front tires. While in the midst of thinking about my tires, my front drivers side tire just fell apart. I had a flashback to a couple of months ago when my back driver side tire did the same thing. Thankfully, I was able to keep control and pull over to the side of the road. I got out and assessed the damage and called Nick. He was working and wasn't able to come out there right away. I thought I would change out the tire myself but a wonderful couple felt sorry for me and came to my rescue. They were on their way to Ruston from Homer to mow their daughters lawn who went to Tech. The wife saw me and made her husband turn around because she would want someone to help her daughters. When he got my spare put on Nick showed up. Lucky Nick didn't have to change out my tire.

I am definately going to the Firestone shop this time. Because they really owe me 4 new tires and they need to fix the damage the tires did to my van. It's pretty bad. I just pray that Firestone will recognize the fault is theirs and take responsibilty otherwise they will have to deal with Nick. LOL and they don't want that.

But we made it to church and then we made it home safely.

To the Dr. again

Two weeks ago I took Cole and Kayleigh to the Dr because they weren't feeling well. Cole had an ear infection in the left ear and fluid bubbles in the right ear and had to get antibiotics. Kayleigh just had a viral cough and the dr said it would get better in a few days. Well two weeks has gone by and neither has gotten better. The past two nights I have been up all night because of either one. Why is it that a child who is sick does not show it until the parent wants to sleep?? They are both fine during the day but once I lay down in the bed they start to hurt. Is there a magic button I don't know about? So I got both of them back into the dr's and turns out that Cole still has the ear infection, apparently he was immune to that type of antibiotic. Kayleigh now has a bad cough and infection in both ears. It makes it so difficult for her to nurse because she is in pain so she just screams and then sucks on her fingers till she falls back asleep. Hopefully the medicine that we got today will get rid of the infections and they'll be back to their normal sweet selves.

Cadence, however, is just fine. :) She's never had an ear infection and doesn't get sick that often. Maybe its because she has so much energy that she doesn't ever slow down enought to get sick. Who knows, but thank God for health insurance!

Laughing

I finally caught it, it's so cute. She was sitting between Nick's legs and was starting to root cause she was getting hungry.

He's the only one that can get her laughing real well right now.

So Sad

Today all 3 kids started daycare. I'm not going back to work till thursday but I had to drop all of them off for daycare today. Cadence and Cole walzted right into their rooms and proceeded to play with the other kids like they had never been away. It wasn't hard for me to leave them there because I've done it before, but Kayleigh was a different story. When Cadence first started daycare I had already been back to work for a while so I had gotten used to leaving her for work and she was used to it. When Cole started daycare he was on formula and a bottle and I left him and Cadence at Nick's moms with her and his sister. But today is the first time I have left Kayleigh and not been in the same building. Leaving her in the church nursery was easy, cause they give you a pager and I know she's right down the hall. But to leave her and then come home, knowing I'm miles away from her was just down right heart breaking. It was difficult trying to explain to the girl how to feed her cause she doesn't take a bottle from me and I've never been around when she's been fed a bottle. And she was in such a good mood all happy and smiles and the poor thing didn't know that I was gonna leave her for about 7 or so hours. I know she's in good hands and I'm not worried about how she'll handle it, but I'm having a hard time. I knew I shouldn't linger around cause it would be harder for me to leave so I left. But once I hit that door and headed to the car I just burst into to tears. I didn't realize it would be so emotional to leave her. So now I'm home, and it's just too quiet. No kids running and screaming, no ticking of the swing, or coos from Kayleigh. Maybe it will be easier for me to handle once I actually go to work and I have something to occupy my mind away from them. However, this may make me work harder to achieve that extra income that we need to bring me home for good and the only time I will have to leave my babies is to take a romantic vacation with Nick.

Happy Birthday Bubby!

Today is Cole's 2nd Birthday!! Wow I can't believe that two years has gone by since he was born. Since Nick had to work today and tomorrow, we decided to do Bubby's birthday last night. Nick grilled pork chops, yellow squash, and zucchini, and I made funfetti cupcakes with chocolate icing and sprinkles. We sang happy birthday and he got to blow out the candle. Then him and Cadence had to take a bath cause they had chocolate icing all over, and then it was present time. He had to learn how to rip open presents again, but Cadence helped him out, a lot. He got a rug that has all the buildings from the movie cars with a road and all the characters. Some cars from the movie Cars and some miniature tonka trucks, and a Diego tub trike that floats and rides on top of water. He had a great time.

Happy 4th of July!

Thursday night the North Bienville Volunteer Fire Dept. put on their annual fireworks show. Nick was working so I decided to take all three of them to town to watch it. We went to sonic and grabbed dinner and some ice cream and then went out to Bonnie and Clyde Trade Days to wait for the show to begin. We got there a little after 7pm but I didn't realize how late that it got dark. So we sat there till 9:04pm which was when they started the fireworks. Cadence loves fireworks and laughed when they made the loud popping and screaming. Cole, on the other hand, thought they were great for about 1 min and then started crying. Kayleigh actually did better than he did. After about twenty minutes of the firework show, Cadence got tired of hearing Cole and Kayleigh fussing and was ready to go home. Next year, I will only go to a fireworks show if Nick is with me.

I bought the kids outfits for the 4th so that I could get a picture of all three of them on Kayleigh first 4th of July. However, by the time I had the chance to get them all together Kayleigh was upset. I did get some great pictures of them in two's.

Nick cooked some barbeque grilled chicken and then we had some wonderful yellow watermelon (my new favorite). After dinner we did some fireworks. Nick had bought some bottle rockets, roman candles, and fountains. Kayleigh and Cole were both in my lap crying everytime a bottle rocket went off, so we had to keep those to a minimum. They like the fountains ( they didn't make any popping or screaming noises) and loved the roman candles. They all had a fun 4th.

Could be triplets!

So I found a picture of Cadence and Cole at around two months when they started smiling and WOW, they really do look alike. You can tell them apart but they all have the same round head and chubby cheeks. Cadence and Kayleigh's smile is almost identical with the way they have their tongue positioned. It's just too cute I had to post these.

Just some cute pics of the kids!

The one time she's not screaming when Daddy holds her. Cadence teaching Kayleigh how to cheese for the camera
I think I should put him in a modeling agency, what do you think??
Singing her heart out to a keyboard with dead batteries, we have a future star on our hands.