The Bowling Family

Halloween 2011

2012-01-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

Halloween is always fun. This year was probably the most fun yet. Our plan was to go trick or treating at the Maples, the nursing home where I work, and then come home to meet up with our friends the LeClerc's for our annual walk around the neighborhood. Calla was a princess, Carter was supposed to be Buzz Light year, and Cedar was of course Thomas the train. I thought I might be in trouble when Carter would not try on his costume earlier in the week. Halloween came and he did NOT want to put it on. He talked about it all week but when it came time he threw a FIT!! So much that he made himself sick (which of course was fun to clean up). Luckily we have a decent supply of dress up clothes which included this fireman's outfit. So we dressed him in some normal clothes and put the jacket on. Luckily he didn't just have to go as the grumpy twin! They had a great time at the nursing home! This was the first year that they really went trick or treating. Other than wanting to walk in everyone house they had a great time!

Calla the princess and Carter the fireman. I had a really hard time getting any pictures they were to busy!

My sweet little Thomas!

Our pumpkins that daddy carved for us. They helped clean them out which was a gross mess but they enjoyed it.

Corner Cabinet Fun

2012-01-14T19:12:00.000-08:00

10/25/2011 So when we had children (so many so close together) we didn't even try to teach them to stay out of the cabinets. When the childproof items available started to fail (because Carter could open them all!) we just moved everything out of the cabinets. We are blessed to have lots of cabinets so we were able to do this. This is one of Calla's favorite things to do. I really don't like her to do this but we have compromised that she will only do it on the bottom shelf so that we don't break it. Oh, to be a kid again!

Thomas the Train!!!!!

2012-01-14T19:10:00.000-08:00

10/22/11 The twins love to play and love toys. Carter loves trains for sure, but there is no comparison to Cedars OBSESSION with Thomas the train. From the very start! My mom introduced them to it and one day when she left my house from watching the kids for us Cedar kept saying mama over and over. (this was a while ago when he first starting talking like probably 4 to 5 months ago) I have always been mommy to my kids so I thought that maybe he was trying to say maw maw which is what my mom is called. He said it all night. It actually hurt my feelings. Of course I am thrilled that my kids love my mom, but really, to ask for her all night? Well within the next couple of days my mom was watching them again and she turned on a Thomas movie and he got so excited and kept saying mama again. So there was our answer. Mama was Thomas! Over time mama turned to mamas and now today it is homas. He still loves Thomas probably more than he loves us. He has several Thomas trains and many of thomas's friends. He knows them all by name and they are his buddies. I have tried to get his Thomas excitement on video many times and this is actually a mild version. This video was taken as a Thomas movie was starting to come on the TV.

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2012-01-14T18:52:00.000-08:00

10/17/2011 We went to the pumpkin patch at my moms church. My main goal in getting them there is to take some picture. Cedar and Calla cooperated but Carter had his own agenda. His main goal was to pull, push, fill, etc. the wagons. He would not even look at me for a second, too busy! Here are some of my favorites.

Cedar thinks he is just as big as his brother and he was going to pull that wagon too!

There was a photographer from the newspaper there taking pictures and Calla became a model for him. It was too funny! Her and Cedar did make the front of the Northwest Arkansas section.

This hay pile was a favorite. They had so much fun in it!

I'm pretty sure Carter was off somewhere pulling a wagon and filling it with pumpkins at this point, but I did get Calla and Cedar to sit still for me.

I had to physically put Carter here, he stayed for this picture but was on his way out when i snapped it.

Second half of September 2011

2012-01-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

10/1/11 GO HOGS GO!! We all had to wear our game day attire. The kids would always know it was Saturday, game day, when we got out the red shirts. If I didn't have one on, Calla would ask where it was. Our friend Holly comes to see us every now and then on Saturdays. The kids love her!
10/1/11 Game day with daddy!!

9/28/11 Cedar playing in the sand box. That dump trucks sticker has seen better days.

9/28/11 When my Aunt and Uncle came and brought the hand me downs from my cousin, this was one of them. I quickly realized that I would rather my kids live in a bubble. I was terrified they would fall off and yes they should have had helmets on!!! Daddy was close by the entire time and I don't think it will come back out until they are a little bigger. Carter was in heaven though and he did allow Calla to ride with him (after he almost ran over her).

9/28/11 This was daddy's birthday too! We have so much fun when we have family time. It is so rare these days. I cant wait until I finish school and we can settle into a normal routine and have regular days that we are together as a family. Hopefully when that happens I wont ever work on Sundays again!

9/28/11 We had brownies, daddy's favorite for his birthday and sang to him! The kids really love birthdays. We love daddy and are so blessed to have him in our lives!!!! Jamey is the best husband and an even better father!

9/25/11 I have no idea why they were holding hands but I thought is was cute so had to capture it. Why not hold hands on the potty in the kitchen while drinking milk?

9/25/11 Poor Cede, he looks so beat up. He was running in the hall and fell down, his head skid down the wall. It was so sad. It is heartbreaking to watch your kids hurting. He got over it pretty quick but the battle wounds stuck around for a while.

9/21/11 The park!! We live not too far from a really great park, Walker Park. We don't get to go very often since it takes two adults but whenever we are able the kids really enjoy it! Calla and Cedar go down the slide over and over and over. Carter seems to have a harder time warming up to the slide but will go down if prompted. He enjoys picking up sticks and just enjoying the freedom to run around.

9/21/11 Speaking of freedom to run. Luckily there is a baseball field with a fence that stops him, otherwise Cedar might run forever.

9/21/11 Carter having fun at the park.

9/21/11 Watch out, he's driving this thing!!

9/21/11 When we leave the house sometimes if it has been a rough day, I will ask Calla, "Do you want me to comb your hair or just put it in a pony tail?". Of course i am sure you can guess her answer. That hair is so beautiful but soooooo much work. She hates for it to be combed!

9/21/11 Our big boy, Cedar. I love that he at least still has his baby fat hands!

9/20/11 The artists in the family.

9/20/11 Yes, his hands are colored orange. He likes alternative art.

9/19/11 Potty training twins........ It might be the death of me! I had to put the pottys in the kitchen just so that they would be willing to sit there.

9/17/11 This was my attempt at potty training prizes. Calla loves candy and carter loves cars. I let them choose a prize every time they go. This worked great to get us started but within a short time we hit a plateau and have been there ever since. Update as of today 1/9/12 is the same. I have never felt like more of a failure at something. Carter can go on command and will every time he sits on the potty but also seems to have wet pants EVERY TIME, even if it is just 15 minutes later. I don't know how to get through to them. Calla is so proud of herself when she goes but she doesn't seem to have the control that Carter has. I DON'T GET IT!!!!! They are three years old and I am sooooooooooo tired of changing pull ups!!!! Oh and they wake up wet from naps and nighttime no matter what I do. Maybe I should just accept that they will be wearing pull ups for the rest of their lives. UGGGGGG!!!!

First half September 2011

2012-01-06T19:56:00.000-08:00

9/15/11 We got a special visit from my Aunt and Uncle from NE Arkansas. They were in town so they came over for dinner. Calla warmed up right away. We had a great time and it was good to see them.
9/15/11 They brought with them several bags of hand me downs from my cousin. Who doesn't love hand me downs? This is Cade and Calla playing with one of the great toys that they sent. Thanks Kim!!!!

I just cant get over my baby growing up so fast!!!! He drinks from a cup like a champ. He isn't even sitting down!
9/13/11

9/11/11 I love this picture. All of my kids have a train obsession. And that is really an understatement. Cedar sleeps with one occasionally. Thomas the train is their favorite but all trains are just as wonderful. Here you can see how Carter gets real low to see the train go through the tunnel. Now this is not always the picture. About 80% of the time this picture would involve someone crying or screaming because they feel like it is their turn with the train. We have lots but they always want the one that another has of course.

9/8/11 Carter and his golf set. When he hits it, it does go far.

9/8/11
Cedar is his caddy. 9/8/11 Calla poses. Yes, this was a day that we must have missed the hair comb.

9/6/11 We went to the clothesline fair with Aunt Shelley and Cade, this is what we bought, a basketball goal. Here is Calla making a great shot!

9/6/11 I know this is not a great picture but I love it!!

9/4/11 So when Carter was smaller he was diagnosed with tibial torsion which causes in toeing and a little trouble walking at times. On one of our walks he got a little ahead of himself and obtained this great strawberry on his little (big) head. Poor baby. He bounces back quick!

9/1/11 I like this picture. We went to the Washington County fair with our friends the LeClerc's. When we got there we ran into the Meesey's. The girls and I were chatting and the men sped ahead with the kids. We met MawMaw, Aunt Shelley, Cade there too. And toward the end we also saw the Hedricks. It was a great night at the fair. It was a first for our kids and they really loved it. However, I did learn that I may not be able to go with them when they are bigger because looking at those rickety rides i would be terrified to let them ride them!! I might need some nerve meds!! And yes I know that i did not die on them when i was a kid but for some reason that is different!! They didn't seem as dangerous looking then. I think they may be the SAME ones they look that old!

9/1/11
This is the petting zoo. We spent the most quality time here. These goats were awesome.

9/1/11 I think he is ready for the real thing. Actually he was more interested in the pieces of hay in his hands.

9/1/11 Carters all time favorite was the tractors. He has been turning all boy lately and he does love some tractors. I can not even imagine the joy had the thing turned on and moved.

9/1/11 Calla actually got the ball in the fish tank and won a fish. Luckily it went home with Cade and I somehow doubt it is still around. It was very nice of the lady to let them stand on the counter. The twins really liked throwing balls at things.

9/1/11 Who doesn't love inflatables? Calla does!

9/1/11 Cedar does!!

End of August 2011

2011-11-08T18:17:00.000-08:00

The kids really like to go on walks. The twins insist on walking around the block. Cedar likes to as well he is just not quite up to the full block and a little too heavy to carry so he still rides in the wagon most of the time. Carter really likes to help with the wagon. I will be excited when they start to listen a little better and I can take them on walks by myself during the day when i am here. Right now I am still terrified that they will run out in front of a car. They are not the best listeners right now. We are working on it!
Calla on our walk. Carter has several hats and insists on wearing one when we leave the house, so Calla wanted a hat to wear as well. She decided on mommy's razorback hat. You could see her face when she looked up. Here she is carrying her "flowers" which of course are random weeds. My hope for her in life is that she always sees flowers in the weeds of her life!

Cedar really thinks he is big stuff here drinking out of a big kid cup. He wanted a cup like his big sister and brother. He does OK if he is closely monitored.

This zebra was a gift for Cedar last Christmas. Carter has adopted it for the most part. Here Carter had jumped on with him.

Calla and one of her babies. She is getting ready to give her a bottle.

An after bottle kiss. She is so sweet. (most of the time :-))

Big smiles!

Again here she is being sweet. Giving Carter a big hug. They really do have a close relationship. I so hope that continues throughout life.

Hanging out with their flashlights. Sometimes I am not sure why anyone in our family spends money on toys for my kids. They enjoy things like flashlights measuring cups more.

All three of them like to color. But by far the one that loves it the most is Calla. She would color and draw all day long if Cedar would leave her alone. He really enjoys the lids of open markers and then loves to be chased for them. As you can see by her face in this picture the color doesn't always stay on the paper. Carter colored the entire bottom of his foot one day before I realized it. Thank you Crayola for washable markers!!

So it had been yucky outside so I brought this slide inside. Great idea for a little while, but they quickly realized that they could shove it around the house to get up to things they could not reach before. Here Cedar had pushed it over to the light switch right after their bath (hence the naked children). Needless to say, its back outside!

Cedar likes to climb, he has since he was very little. I saw him climbing up on this table and told him to get down so this is what he did instead. Thinks he is slick!

First half of August 2011

2011-11-08T18:09:00.000-08:00

I love the smiles of my kids. I cant get enough of those smiles and the out loud laughter. Love it!
Carter's obsession with the water hose continues.

All of the kids love the sand box but I am pretty sure that Cedar and Carter love it the most. Cedar could play in there uninterrupted for hours if I let him. He took the side walk chalk with him, didn't want the twins to take it from him. He is wet because Carter dumps water out of his dump truck onto his brother. Nice, I know.

Calla loves to swing and she has just become good at staying on it. Not really understanding yet how to swing herself, but I'm in no hurry for her to grow up!!

Cedar does love his cousin Cade. Here they are watching a movie together. So sweet!

My favorite picture these days!!! All three of my sweet babies hanging out with mommy and happy all at the same time!!! I am surprised that Cedar stayed smiling since Calla came and sat down on top of him. He really does love his big brother and sister.

Another shot of my favorite children in the world.

Carter here is helping his daddy put his big kid bed together. When we took the twins our of cribs we got mattresses on the floor for a while. I didn't trust them not to fall off or jump on it and fall off. They are older now and it is time to get them off the floor.
Carter loves to help his daddy with anything.

Just hanging out with daddy as he puts the bed together.

Calla likes that her bed is now off the ground. And my fear of jumping came true immediately. No major injuries yet.

I did put up bed rails for a little bit. I quickly realized that bed rails are more of a danger on the bed than not having them. Carter was teasing Cedar because he could not get on the bed.

Cant remember why he was crying here but he still has the sweetest face even when he is sad.

Cedar 18 Month Stats

2011-11-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Cedar went on Aug 24th 2011 to his 18month check up. His stats at that time were:

Weight

28lb 3.2oz (78%)

Height

31.75in (32%)

Head Circ

48.9 cm (79%)

Short, fat, and big headed! That's our boy! He still has to have thickened liquids but other than that he is doing really well. We did go ahead and test him for some of the major food allergies and they all came back negative. He does however have allergies to sulfates. This is found in lots of foods in form of a preservative. Otherwise very healthy little boy!

Bowling Coast Trip July 2011

2011-10-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Most every year we take a trip to the Texas coast with the entire Bowling family. This years trips was the most amazing. The kids are at such a great age. The twins loved the beach! It was their large sand box. Cedar was indifferent but had a great time as well. These trips are super exhausting and a lot of work for mommy and daddy (as well as our helpers) but soooooo worth it! I love that our kids have such a big family and for them to spend time with them every year is just priceless. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the trip. A special thanks to Aunt Amanda for taking and sharing great pictures!!

Ice cream break on the beach. What better place to eat messy food?

I believe this was a toy story break. All the kids together could get a little overwhelming in the room. It was nice to pop in a movie for a decrease in the noise and energy level when getting ready for a meal with the family.

Cedar in his beachwear.

Aunt Amanda is not only a great photographer but she is a talented seamstress as well. She and grandmommy teamed up and made the kids all matching outfits for photos on the beach. This is the best one of my three. It is actually the only one out of many that all three faces can be seen. The beach really enhances short term attention spans.

I know this is not the best picture but I love it because of the look on Calla's face. This excitement is what we got to see from her especially the entire time we were at the beach. She just loved it. It warms my heart to see her so happy. She would run down to the water and when it caught her she would turn and run back to the sand. She did this over and over and over laughing all the way. It was so sweet!

Cousin Lilly and Calla are here with uncle Rusty checking out the fish in the water below the restaurant we ate at.

The beach was so exciting that Cedar just couldn't take anymore. He fell asleep. When my arms were about to fall off I took him up to the room. He didn't wake up until I put him in the bath. Too much fun that day.

Our big wonderful family (most of it) at the aquarium in Corpus Christi. The kids really loved the aquarium also a good age for it.

The bowling brothers goofing around at the beach.

Cedar enjoying his ice cream pop.

Sweet face.

Eleanor and Uncle Mitch at the fish restaurant.

Uncle Mitch and Cede hanging out after eating. They share the same middle name, Brett.

Calla and daddy at the aquarium.

Uncle Mitch and Carter. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful aunts and uncles that love our children! We love them too!!

This was at the Dolphin show which sounded like a great idea, but ended up not being for Carter. He cried through the entire thing and made me miserable and I am sure the folks around us as well. It could not be over fast enough. Calla and Cedar enjoyed it though.

The twins leaving the aquarium with Uncle Mitch and our soon to be Aunt Eleanor. They are going to make wonderful parents one day!

Carter in his cool shades.

Fun in the car. Overall all of the car riding, the kids did really well. They actually tolerated better than I did.

MawMaw put together these wonderful backpacks that were full of new toys. This dinosaur was one of them. This kept the kids busy all the way to the coast. Thanks mawmaw you knew just what we needed!!

July 2011

2011-10-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

7/18 Dress up fun.

7/16 Oh my! He does love yogurt.

7/5 Yes, now they all three play under my cabinets.

7/4 Carter hanging out with daddy in the back yard on the 4th of July.

7/4
They had been playing in the pool. Cedar looks like he is deep in thought.

7/3 This pool was so much fun this summer. The kids loved it. Cousin Cade had fun playing with them too. Carter is playing with the air pump. It is sometimes very strange the things that he seems to get attached to.

7/3 Cedar in the pool.

7/3 Calla enjoyed the sprinklers.

7/3
Still hanging on to that air pump. He wouldnt put it down, didnt want anyone else to get it.

7/3
The day of swimming and playing just wore Cedar out. He wanted to swing and was instantly asleep.

June 26 2011 Photo Shoot

2011-10-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

My amazing students last semester gave me the best gift ever! They gave me a photo session with a great photographer (one of the students). We went up to campus on June 26th, 2011 and took tons of pictures. It was so hot but the kids had a blast and we got some really good pictures. Here are some of our favorites!

Last half of June 2011

2011-10-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

06/27/11
Cedar loves his room. I'm not sure that he will ever want to give it up to go in with Carter. This is his toy basket. He really enjoys playing in it with the toys.

06/20/11
Daddy was building in the back yard and the twins wanted to help. They were bring daddy his supplies.

06/20/11

This is our little garden. It was so fun at first and then it really just became annoying when it got so hot this summer and we watered and watered and didn't really get any decent produce. Maybe next year?

Hands full of chalk. Cedar loves to draw, but most of the time he is happy just holding it.
06/20/11

06/20/11

06/20/11
Cedar is still on thickened liquids so he doesn't get Popsicles unless I make them. So I made some special for him with thickened juice. He had a hard time understanding which end he was supposed to start on.

Silver Dollar City and first half of June 2011

2011-10-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

06/14/11 Thank you crayola for washable markers!!! It stays on the paper for about 3 minutes then it goes to the legs, feet, arms, and hands of their siblings.

06/13/11 Silly kids!

06/13/11 So this week in June ALL three kids got hand, foot, and mouth disease. IT SUCKED!! It truly was awful, this is cedars leg and this is when it was mild. The longest week ever, but I'm told they wont get it again now so that's great!

06/11/11 Mr. Cool

06/11/11
The ball pit got brought back into the living room. It had been awhile since they played with it so it was fun again.

06/10/11 Carter

06/10/11
Mommy and Cedar, brushing his teeth to get ready for bed. We can not believe how big he is now!

06/10/11 Calla

06/09/11 Just coloring away. Had to have markers and crayons for double fun.

06/09/11
I'm pretty sure that Calla could color or paint all day if we let her. She thinks it is so fun. Its been neat to watch her develop and go from just making a mess to trying to stay in lines or focus on one area of the page.

05/30/11
Our three doodles! This is what the couch looks like each night before bed. They have a bedtime ritual of watching little bear before bed.

05/30/11 Our boys.

05/29/11 We went to Silver Dollar City with my sister, her family, and my mom. It was a lot of work and we didn't last but a few hours but it was fun! Here is Calla and daddy on the train.

05/29/11
First carousel ride!

05/29/11 Cede and aunt Shelley

Calla held on tight and had to keep her eyes on maw-maw on the outside waiting for us.
05/29/11
05/29/11 Our crew for the day. Jamey, calla, carter, cedar, cade, his little friend Owen, and Austin.

06/07/11
Cedars sweet little teeth. (and smile)

06/09/11 Carter with his hand, foot, mouth blisters, poor kid!

06/09/11 This was too cute. When the twins had it and Cedar didn't yet, they were not getting any sleep! (neither were we) So carter just laid down in the floor in the middle of playing and fell asleep. Cedar went over and laid down with him. He loves is big brother!
06/04/11
06/04/11 Yeah for summer!

Last half of May 2011

2011-08-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

Pudding paint. It was so much fun. Calla really got into the painting part of it while cedar and Carter just wanted to eat it.

Such a big boy. he loves to stand up top and be tall.

Showing off his only two teeth.

We went to the Leclercs for Hannah's birthday party. Hannah has a horse and calla just loved it. She borrowed a hat from another party goer and had herself a cowgirl moment.

Look mom I can use a fork. And he actually does use it. Such a big boy.

I brought this slide inside when all of the rain hit. It was great for the kids to have inside since we couldn't go out.

He thinks that baby in the mirror is so funny!

Such big kids! They are still a challenge in the tooth brushing department but they like to stand at the sink and suck on them. :-)

found this shirt at a consignment sale and couldn't help myself. It is so carter!

Up to middle of May 2011

2011-08-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

We went to feed the ducks and cedar fed himself the duck food. :-) Glad it was fresh bread.

Holly came with us. Glad she was there. It was apparent the kids still don't understand bodies of water and that you cant just walk on them. It took all three of us to keep the kids out of the water.

Really Cedar? I'm glad that my stove it strong and that the door has not swung open on him.

This is similar to our peanut butter reaction, but much less severe. His face was red and swollen. Have no idea why. It terrifies me that this kid has more allergies than we know and we don't even know what the cause is.

The water was still cold right out of the hose so they were hesitant to get in.

They love their sandbox! The best feature of our back yard by far.

Trip to Granddad's May 4-6, 2011

2011-07-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

May 4th - 6th we went to visit my granddad. We truly had the best trip. The kids had a blast, as I did when I went there as a kid. It is really so good to see him. It has gotten harder to get to NE Arkansas now that we have the three little ones so the times that we get over there mean so much! Here are several of the pictures that I took while we were there. It was a little cool and it had been very rainy, this was right after all the flooding we had.

Crab nets are good for more than catching crabs!

To see the kids walking together in the yard that Shelley and I grew up playing in is to so sweet. I just love it there.

We took them to a park and of course there was still water and mud everywhere. I just said oh well and let them at it. So as you can see the boots were a good investment and they are soaked and muddy but had a blast!

Weeeeeeeee!

Weeeeeeeeee!

Snack time.

Yes I am that mom who lets her kids get even wetter in the cool weather. They were having so much fun I just couldn't help it. Now had I known that it was deeper than their boots i might have made a different decision.

At least I kept the baby out of the puddle! Only because I couldn't find boots small enough.

We went to paragould to see our aunt Peggy. This is a farming field. They really were affected by the flooding over there.

So I think that public big toys are gross since I am a bit of a germaphobe. The kids have never been to a mcdonalds playland. This was a first. I was a little anxious while we were there but they had an absolute blast. I am pretty sure that carter and calla went up the stairs and down the slide at least 100 times.

Watching Kipper on granddads couch.

Aunt Peggy made a great choice in gifts for the kids. These bubble wands were amazing.

Sticks are still a favorite. Such a little boy!

Cedar had a really good time. He had already been walking but being on the farm gave him great new experiences at rough terrain. He made such progress in just three days. Much more sturdy and stable. "diddy" and cedar enjoying the porch swing.

The twins are checking out the tractor.

Cedar wanted to share the dirt and leaves he was collecting.

Peek a boo!

This is my tree. Its a cedar tree that when i was a little kid we dug up in the pasture and replanted in the front yard. It was probably only like 8 inches tall when we did it. And look at it now over 20 years later. Now had i been a little smarter as a kid, I would not have planted it under a power line. :-) I am very proud of this tree.

May 1-3rd, 2011

2011-07-02T12:31:00.001-07:00

Pajama shirt, diaper, and pink cowboy boots, hmmmmmm..... She likes to dress herself.

I was fixing the cushions on the couch and found this. Carter hides his most cherished toys and i found his spot. He really did not want cedar or calla playing with his cars.

Cool cedar

Again, in each others beds.

So I had to take this picture to show them later in life. Carter was crying and upset about something (I think he didn't want to go to bed), and Calla is behind him just cracking up!

Cedar loves the little laptops for kids, he could play for hours.

Easter 2011

2011-07-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

Cedar really just wanted to hang on to the egg. And then sometimes he would drop it pretty hard into the glass.

First taste of pez, which we quickly figured out he is allergic to. Poor kid is allergic to so many things!

They really had a good time with the egg coloring. And yes I took the clothes off for this as well. I don't like getting stains out of laundry!

Here, carter had just licked the egg. So this is the face of yummy vinegar! Funny thing is he just kept doing it. We had to laugh!

End of April 2011

2011-07-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

4*28*11
Calla at bedtime with a story book. And as you can see she is in Carter's bed. They like to mix it up.

4*30*11 Not the clearest picture in the world but can you imagine my face when calla walked by me right after her bath with a rubber snake around her neck. The snake looks so real! There are times that I see it curled up and have to quickly look again to make sure it is the rubber one!

4*28*11

4*30*11

4*28*11 Cedar has now taking a liking to his blanky. He loves to play peek a boo with it! He likes to drag it around as well.

4*19*11 So my friends gave me some cupcakes on my birthday which I gladly shared with the kids. The blue icing required the shirts to be removed! Glad I did.

4*19*11

4*19*11 He thinks he is soooooo big. This was his new trick in April. He still does this but now he stands and looks at us like "look no hands". Scares me, but at least he is on the carpet most of the time.

4*16*11
Cedar calling those hogs during lunch! Why not?

Cedar Talk

2011-07-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

When cedar started to talk he would only do it on this little purple telephone. Here he is having a great conversation.

April 2011

2011-06-21T12:04:00.000-07:00

I got these xylophones at a consignment sale and of course I had to get three! I am so glad that I did.

Cedar gave up his morning nap at like 6 months, way before he really needed to. He still gets tired before afternoon nap time. So on occasion this is what happens at lunch!

Calla and her box feet.

The twins watching a movie, they had to sit almost on each other. I thought is was cute!

Loving some bubbles!

Cede loves to draw and this is the best place for him to do it. He likes to eat the chalk as well.

I just cant get over how much they look alike.

Sweet face.

I love the look on her face. I can only imagine that I have had that look on my face at some point in time trying to manage twins.

March 2011 - Last Half

2011-06-14T13:03:00.001-07:00

3*31*11 This blue hat was in with some hand me downs from Jamey's brothers family. I think it might have even been made by my sister in law. The twins love it. Carter one day put it on and decided that he would sleep in it. He actually slept in it for a couple of months after. He would pull it down over his eyes and go to sleep. Calla liked it just because Carter did.

3*31*11 At the end of March Calla figured out that she could crawl out of her crib. I really wanted to keep them in there as long as possible. The end had come. She could get out safely, however, Carter fell out trying and hurt himself. So HELLO freedom it was. We converted their cribs to toddler beds. Cedar thought it was very cool. He wanted to crawl all over them. He, at this time, was still unsure that difference levels existed so he would try to walk right off. He required constant supervision at this stage.

3*31*11 We had a talk and mutually decided that this was a better place to drink his milk before bed.

3*31*11 The first night in their big kids beds and of course they both ended up in the same bed. I HAD to take a picture. Carter in his blue hat and Calla always sleeps with her blanket around her neck. I think it must get cold, she wears it like a scarf. The sheets are brown and its hard to tell but her actually head and face are not covered up. How in the world could this be comfortable? These toddler beds did not last for long because they kept rolling out of them due to them wanting to sleep together. I would go in to check on them and someone was always asleep on the floor. So we took them down shortly after and replaced them with two twin mattresses. They are for now on the floor and will stay there until they stop rolling out of bed. Calla sleeps all over the room it seems.

3*31*11 My boys!

3*29*11 Cowboy Calla still in her jammies. The kids got boots for Christmas from Jamey's parents. Calla especially loves to wear her pink ones. Carter's, which she is carrying, seems to get used by him to collect small toys and carry them around mostly.

3*28*11 This is what happens when Carter gets into his closet. The clothes of course ended up in the floor. But hey the hangers were hanging nice and neat on his crib. The bad thing is what he did next..... After he got them all line up and pretty he ran his hand roughly all along the edge of them and broke them ALL! The look on his face was priceless, like I can not believe I just did that!

3*23*11 For Cedars birthday Grandaddy and Grandmommy bought materials for Jamey to build the kids a sandbox. We of course had to play in it even as it was being filled with sand. The day we did it was a little chilly so they were all bundled up to play! I love these up close shots of cede (what we call him most of the time).

3*23*11 Showing off his only two teeth with a sweet smile. (Still!)

3*23*11 Sand box play. Thanks again Granddaddy and Grandmommy!

3*25*11 So Carter has been to a physical therapist about his legs. He has knock knee and pigeon toe. He criss crosses his legs when he runs and is really weak in the legs. Oh and has tibial torsion from being a twin and having little room before he was born. These straps and kinesiotape was what was recommended. These straps worked great to give him proper alignment however he HATED them! So we went with the tape most of the time. He has since (last month) been to a pediatric orthopedic who told us that it would get worse before it gets better but not to worry that he will either grow out of it or learn to adapt. So we wait....

3*23*11 Calla

3*23*11 Carter who refuses to look at the camera most of the time. He was concentrating very hard on pouring his sand from the scoop into his little container.

3*22*11
Cede

3*22*11 Play time

08*14*10 This is the twins when they were 1yr 7.5 mths old. This was the first time that they figured out how to climb on the TV table. And just to show how much quicker Cedar is doing everything see below....

1 yr 1 mth 3*22*11 Here he is already on the TV table. And of course I made sure I was close while taking these pictures so that no one was hurt! Great mom, I know!

3*20*2011 I have to take a picture when they are playing nice together. It does happen often but for very short time periods! It was side walk chalk time.

3*20*11 I cant believe how big he is. This is one day over 13 months old.

3*19*11 "13 months old and I just got the child proof thingy off of the TV table!" No of course he didn't say that but his face sure did.

3*18*11
This is hokey pokey elmo. Cedar loved him for a short time. Cedar really loves anything that he can hug. Unlike Carter and Calla he is a hugger. It is so sweet. He will just throw his little arms around your neck and squeeze so tight.

3*18*11 My mom (maw-maw) brought over this really old and really kinda creepy baby doll for Calla. She took care of it as her baby for several days. Here she was sitting it up and lying it down to make it go to sleep. She would feed it and it wears a diaper. From a distance though it looks real and still creeps me out.

Cedar Walks

2011-06-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

So Cedar took his first steps just before his first birthday. It took him a few more weeks to really start walking consistently. Here is a short video to watch him go! Of course now he walks backwards, runs, and even trys to jump.

March 9th, 2011

March 2011 - First Half

2011-06-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

So finally summer is here and I have some more time to get this updated. Who am I kidding, the idea of more time to do anything went out the door a very long time ago. That's ok though, I wouldn't trade my life for the world! Slowly but surely I will get up to date here. So here is March (only 3 months late!).

3*15*11 Cedar thinks he is big stuff! He really likes to sit and eat his snack with Carter and Calla at their table. The only problem is that he also really likes to climb on top and bounce up and down.

3*9*11 My Carter bug!

3*9*11 Mommy and Cedar

3*8*11 Our pretty girl.

3*8*11 Carter actually gives a pose for a picture. I have a hard time getting him to look up and smile. Success.

3*1*11
Cedar

feb 2011

2011-06-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

02*26*11 Here is Calla hording her daddy and mommy dolls.

Cedar Talk

2011-05-21T05:06:00.001-07:00

So he also says:

juice
thunder
milk
banana

Cedar Update

2011-05-19T14:06:00.001-07:00

Cedar these days......

He is on a roll! This kid is growing up way toooooo fast! He is now 1 yr 3 mths. He is walking, running, walking backwards, dancing, and his newest, TALKING. His first word was probably Hello. He would hold up his little plastic phone and say "hiya". He also says, ball, no, cheese, and yesterday he said bubble. He jabbers all day long as if he is having real conversations with us. He is hilarious. He is on a mission every time he is outside. He is usually a mommy's boy, but if he is outside, he doesn't care a thing about me. He just goes from the sand box to the swing set to the grass, to the slide, to the chalk, to the bubbles, to the pool, etc. Now he did eat a handful of tiny rocks yesterday, but for the most part he doesn't put to many gross things in his mouth. We went to feed the ducks the other day and he did quickly pick up some duck poop from a sand pile, YUCK! He also ate the duck food (hamburger bun) it was cute. He looks up to his siblings so much wants to be just like them in every way. Now when I tell them to get in bed for naps, he crawls in with them. He is still in his own room in a crib, but would love to be with them if I ever let him. He eats great, still has to have thickened liquids due to aspiration. We still hope he will grow out of that. I haven't weighed him lately but he is really HEAVY! He goes for his 15 month apt next week so we will see. He has eczema just like Carter and has really had some trouble with that lately since we have been going outside a lot. He is another mocking bird like Calla. If he hears me say no to someone, He will say, "no no no" over and over while shaking his head. He enjoys calling the hogs and initiates it on his own. Already a Razorback fan! It is just something new everyday with him and it is so fun. He learns so much from Carter and Calla it is so cute. Now of course he learns the bad behavior as well so we have to watch super close. Loving every minute of our sweet surprise little boys life!

Carter Update

2011-05-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

Carter, these days......

Carter is really a content little boy. He requires the least attention, which leaves us striving to spend quality time with him. He likes to play, play, play. He gets attached to a toy and does not want to let it go. This is what gets him in trouble. He recently has decided that he will be mean to his little brother. He has always been mean to Calla every now and then, but not much lately. He used to pull her hair. Well now he bites Cedar if he gets mad at him or sometimes he hits or kicks. Now this is not everyday, but enough that we had to start time out with him. The jury is still out on its effectiveness. Truth is that Cedar just wants so badly to play with him and to be just like him. I just wish that Carter understood that. One of these days! He has NO interest in potty training, so we are holding off. No crib, no high chair. We got rid of the cribs when Calla climbed out and Carter followed the leader and hurt himself. We are still struggling with his legs, he has tibial torsion, in-toeing, and knock knee. He has been to physical therapy and now we are waiting on an apt with an orthopedic. We are using kinesiotape on his legs and it may be getting a tiny bit better just recently. He trips a lot due to this, but it really doesn't slow him down much. He doesn't run as much as Calla but he does his fair share. Still enjoys the outdoors, especially the water, plants, sand, dirt, anything he can get into. He wants to help his daddy with anything he is doing outside. He will watch from the window. He likes to go to the "man stir" (Lowe's) with his daddy. His speech is slowly improving as well. Talks a lot and we can understand more and more everyday. He is a lap child for sure, especially with mommy and I love it! He calls Cedar, "baby" still and does love him sometimes. There is usually a short time each afternoon, if the boys wake up from nap first that he will play so nicely with "baby". I just cherish these times and try to stand back and not pay too much attention so that he continues to be nice. Cedar just looks up to him and really enjoys playing with him! He has the most gorgeous eyes and long, long eye lashes. Overall he is just our sweet boy that we love so much!

Calla Update

2011-05-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

Calla these days......

She is very independent. I hear the words, "I did it!" at least 25 times per day, everyday. She talks all the time, like a tiny adult almost. She loves her brothers. She and Carter have a special bond for sure. If he is not around she has to ask over and over, "what Carter doing?" She never wants to leave him out. She still calls Cedar "baby" and then sometimes by name. She says "Good morning" every time she wakes up. She pooped in the potty for the first time the other day and was so excited I thought she was going to explode. And of course she lost interest again immediately. Now when I ask if she wants to go sit on the potty, she quickly replies "no" and smiles and keeps on playing. One of these days! She likes to count and can almost count to 10, needs a little more work. Her hair is getting longer, but still sooooo kinky curly! She is still very tiny. At almost 2 and a half, she wore an 18 month outfit today and it still fits her well. No more high chair, no more crib! She always wants to be a part of whatever we are doing. Loves her daddy, but still a mommy's girl at times. She is probably the crankiest out of the three but hey she's a girl, comes with the territory! I have quickly realized the things that I say all the time, since she now says them. Things like "Oh my goodness", "alright", "Carter's in trouble", and then she picked up "oh dear" from Little Bear. The things she repeats are so funny and even funnier is when she chooses to repeat them. She enjoys picking flowers (weeds) in the yard and touching anything that moves (worms). She would spend every minute outside if we let her. She even comes in the dirtiest! There are a thousand more great things that our little Calla bear is doing right now, but most of all she is just amazing. We are blessed that she is our daughter and we love her to pieces!

Feb 2011

2011-04-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

2*22*11 Mommy and her boys. I do love my boys!!!

2*21*11 The grandparents thought that since Cedar got gifts for his birthday that the twins should as well. This was actually Carters gift, but it quickly got taken over by Calla. She is our little dress up queen. Calla the fire woman.

2*21*11 So not really thinking, I put the same candy in Carter and Calla's treat bag as I did everyone else at Cedar's party. They don't really get sweets, or at least very rarely. So once they saw the suckers I thought they should get them. They REALLY like suckers. Cedar really likes to sit on top of this table so I am glad for this moment he was politely on his knees.

2*20*11 Grandaddy and Grandmommy joined Carter and Calla for their before bed milk and to watch Little Bear. They were in town for Cedar's birthday. We always enjoy our visits.

2*20*11 Cedar had "daddy"! Calla got a doll house for Christmas or her birthday, not sure which, that came with these little people. For several weeks if not more than a month, Calla had them with her all the time. If one of the boys took them, she would get very upset. I am thinking at this time, she did not know that Cedar had "daddy" in his possession. These dolls now (may) have teeth marks and scratches all over them, so she did learn to share, or at least she got over the new of them anyway.

2*19*11 Calla sporting her valentines gift from maw-maw, a hooded frog towel. She likes to wear hoods or hats, so this was a great gift for her. Her and Carter got frogs and Cedar got a monkey.

2*9*11 We all love our wagon rides. Back then we would go often. Recently (April or so) the twins decided that they wanted to walk when we go. This is great with two adults, but not possible on my own. They do pretty good, but still have no concept of the fact that a car would squish them!

Cedar Turns One!!

2011-04-24T11:40:00.001-07:00

Cedar Brett turned One year old on Feb 19th! He is so much fun and we could not imagine our world without him. We had a party at the Little Gym on the 20th and here are a few highlights. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us, we all had a really great time!

Turner in the back, Cedar in the front.

Turner came to the party, he is adorable, I love this look he has!

Hayden having fun.

My oh my, he did love that cake!

After

Calla also loved the cake, and the balloons were a big hit with the twins.

Campbell looking super cute as always.

Carter enjoying the activities. His speech is still not very clear the majority of the time. It was really cute when he got done with this he said, very loud, "that was fun!" as clear as could be.

Carter giving the birthday boy a big hug!

Hannah and Calla. Two cute girls in a hole!

Emily and Hannah enjoying the big bouncy box (I have no idea what it was called!).

Geneva and Lexa (also twins) joined us for the party as well. Here Geneva was giving Cedar a kiss. This was not even prompted, just a super sweet little girl!

The Birthday Boy.

Watch out Turner, your girlfriend is checking out her options!

Turner and Campbell.

I love this picture. Calla looks so happy! Meesey must have told a good joke.

Campbell, Turner, and Cedar are all very close in age. I love that our friends kids are all so close in age, makes it really fun!

Yes of course, no matter where Carter is, he will find a plug and try to take it out of the wall and make it his. I love this guilty look he has on his face. I get to see it a lot and am really glad that I caught it on camera!

My sweet boy!

2*18*2011 Grandmommy and Cedar. Jamey's parents joined us for the weekend. It is always so good to see them. They live in Texas so the kids really enjoy visiting with them when they get to come see us!

2*19*11 This was taken on his actual birthday. Now that's a birthday picture is I ever saw one. This was the after effects of spaghetti which he loves, but thinks that it needs to cover his entire face and hair in the process.

Happy Birthday Cade and Austin!

2011-04-24T11:38:00.001-07:00

2*13*11 The family came over to celebrate Cade and Austin's Birthdays! Cade was 9 and Austin is 18! I can not believe how old they both are! Where does the time go. Austin is a Sr in high school! And it seems like just yesterday that Cade was born! Oh my, it really does fly by.

Week two Feb 2011

2011-04-24T11:26:00.001-07:00

2*9*11 The big snow storm of 2011. This is out back yard. The snow is up to the swings and covering everything! It was crazy.

2*9*11 Another snow pick, our back patio furniture.

2*8*11 The twins really do have a strong bond and really do love each other. When they are apart, Calla will be fine for about and hour and then she starts asking about Carter and will not stop until they are together again. Carter's speech is not as good as hers so he doesn't ask about her but he sure gets crabby when they are not together. Or he will be OK, but then the joy we see in his face when they are back together is just priceless. Here they had just gotten up from a nap and were having a snack while waiting on Cedar to wake up. They sit this close all on their own.

2*8*11
Sweet little Cedar. He thinks he is so big. He thinks that he can do everything they can and wants to do everything that they do. It is really sweet. He loves them. Carter still every know and then will just pat him on the head and say "hi, baby". Here is is climbing on his chair. He loves to stand in it and climb up on the couch and sit like his big brother and sister!

First week of Feb 2010

2011-03-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

2-3-2011 Jamey was going to work on a snowy day and Carter got ready to go with him. He put on daddy's boots and went to the garage door. It was really cute. Course I guess he didn't care that he was still in his PJ's.

2/2/2011 So I go them matching PJ's and thought it would be great to get a photo of the two of them together. Cedar was not having it. This was actually the best one out of about 6 pictures that I took. He was tired and ready for bed not a photo shoot.

2/2/2011
When Cedar was born we had to have a new bath time routine so that I could get everyone bathed and keep them happy when I was doing it on my own. So the new routine became that the twins would get a bath first and then they would watch a show of their choice while cedar took a bath. So here they are watching Little Bear and would not even think about looking at the camera for a quick smile with daddy.

2/1/2011 Our second snow storm. Here is Calla in her not matching clothes and Walmart bags on her feet since the snow was soooo deep (thanks for the idea Michelle!).

2/1/11
Cedar crawling around in the snow. He actually really liked it for a little while. Then he got wet and cold and had enough, but at that time I had enough as well. It is crazy that it takes like half an hour to get them all bundled up and we were done with the snow in about 10 minutes. I think it was worth it. I felt like I ran a marathon by the time everyone was back in and dry.

2/1/11 Carter loving the snow!

Second Half of January 2011

2011-03-20T11:37:00.001-07:00

1*21*11 This is so super funny. Wrong shoes, wrong feet, and a random mitten on her hand. She loves to dress up still and really puts together the most random outfits.

1*28*11
We had a gate on cedars room for the longest time so that the twins would stay out of there. They get into everything and we knew that when we did let them in we would have to basically take everything out of his drawers and take the handle off the closet. So we gave in and they love to play in his room. He also loves to play in his room and now he gets to more often. This chair was in their room originally and they really like it. It rocks and spins, what more could they ask for?

1*25*11

Pick me up!

1*20*11 This is only the second time that Carter and Calla have played in the snow. The first time was when they were one at Christmas last year. So it didn't really count. This time they really liked it . Especially Calla, I think she would have stayed out there all day. Our friends Michelle and her daughter Hannah came over to play. It was fun.

1*20*11 Carter the snow bug.

1*20*11

I really like this picture. Of course they wouldn't turn around so I could take their picture but they are walking under the arbor that we got married under, which now stands in our back yard.

1*20*11

So Carter didn't really understand that he needed to keep his mittens on. He doesn't really like things on his hands so he kept taking them off and then would get upset that the snow was so cold. He would then want them back on and they were wet and that wasn't good for him either. Needless to say, our outing was short lived.

1*19*11
All I will say is Lord help us! Not officially potty training, but really strongly suggesting it.

1*16*11

Carter still loves that water hose. He will find it where ever it is and drag it around the yard. He pretends to water things. Its really cute. I look forward to putting him to work this summer.

January Finally!

2011-03-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

Oh my, I am so far behind on this blog! Finally with spring break here I have a little more time on my hands. As I have looked through my pictures it is becoming obvious that I am really slacking on the picture taking! I am going to work on that! Here are a few pictures from the first half of Jan.

1/15/11 We do love this little smile! He is 11 months here.

1/15/11 Oh my, her hair! It keeps us busy, trying to tame it! Looking at all of my pictures also made me realize that I need to work harder on her hair. I am open to ideas for sure! It really is so pretty, but the curls are so tight that it has a mind of its own!

1/13/11 He is such a chunk! He was playing with all of Calla's dress up cloths. He still wants to do everything that they do.

1/11/11 Carter still hangs out under the cabinets!

1/2/11 This is either his first of second Popsicle. He really liked them. He got the hang of it right away and was chomping down on it. Calla on the other hand did not get the hang of it. She would hold it by the wrong end and finally just pushed it aside. Maybe this summer this will change.

1/2/11 This is so funny to me. Carter has really started talking so much lately, since he got tubes in his ears. This video was before the big change and I could not get him to say anything but his favorite word, "NO". Both of them, Carter and Calla crack me up with their No's. It still catches my off guard when I ask them if they want to do something and they say, "No", and just keep on going. Carter still calls Cedar, "baby", and he doesn't ever address Calla by anything. He sometimes says, "Dad" but doesn't call me anything either. He says Maw-maw consistently and baby, but that is it for names.

December 28th, 2011 Birthday Party

2011-02-15T11:57:00.001-08:00

Two years ago we were so blessed to have our first children Calla and Carter! They turned two on Dec 29th! It is amazing to me at how fast times flies by. They are so amazing and we love them sooooo much! Happy Birthday Calla and Carter!

Carter with his birthday cupcake and candle. They dont really have the blowing the candles out thing down yet, but enjoyed looking at them.

They were really tired when we started this family party. It was getting late in the evening so they didnt really eat their cupcakes when we did the candles and singing. Calla came back to the table a little later and wanted one, then another! She called for Carter to join her, so he came and ate a little icing with her. She was so funny!

Since their birthday falls close to christmas the Bowling's were all still here so with them and my family it was a big family event! They had a great time opening presents. We got them the magnadoodles. I apparently should have given them to them last, they just wanted to play with them and not open any more presents.

Our two year olds!

Calla still loving to dress up thought that this witch hat would look great with her birthday dress. She is so silly!

Yummmm!

I wanted to make their cake this year to save a little money so I made blue's clue's cupcakes. They (at the time) loved blue's clue's! They are over it now and have moved on to Little Bear.

Calla and her Daddy!

Cedar and Grandmommy (Jamey's Mom) at the party.

Calla loved her party hat, she wore it right up until getting in the bath tub.

Same pic twice, hmmmmm, great technical ability I have!

December 26th-27th-28th, 2010

2011-02-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful visit and Christmas celebration with the entire Bowling family. It is not often that the entire family is together so it was extra special this year!

This is Uncle Mitch (Jamey's brother) and his girlfriend El. This was the first time that we had the chance to meet her and she is wonderful. We were glad she got to come and visit! They just made her first cheese cake.

Aunt Amanda (Jamey's brother Bo's wife) brought us some great hand-me-downs from her boys and she played dress up Cedar. He was supposed to be taking a nap, but too much excitement kept him up to play.

This is Calla's Christmas dress. Her Aunt Amanda has an amazing talent for sewing. She made all the kids something. I love this dress and so did Calla. She got a bee dress up outfit for Christmas and here she has on the wings, the headband and the wand. She kept them on for a while.

Cedar eating his dinner and stopping to give us a cheesy smile. His little cheeks just keep getting chubbier!

Cedar and his Uncle Rusty. Our kids are so fortunate to have so many aunts and uncles that love them. It makes us and them so happy!

Calla the bee... buzzzzzz

Our boxes that blocked the tree became toys themselves. Calla and her cousin Tommy were having such fun.

Cousin Tommy is so good with the little ones. He is the oldest of three as well so he has had lots of practice. Here he is with Cedar.

Lilly is our kids youngest cousin. She is so sweet. Here she is giving hugs to Cedar. Calla really enjoyed having another girl to play with. She asked for Lilly (wuwwy) for at least a week after they left.

Uncle Mitch and his girlfriend El live in DC. They brought shirts for all the kids that say I heart DC for a picture. Too bad none of them are big enough for the shirts to really show up in the picture. Lilly, Joey, Calla, Cedar, Tommy, and Carter.

I think that Carter might steal some girls heart in the future with this face. :-) Here he is playing with Lilly who is patting him on the head with love. The kids got lots of practice smiling for pictures this holiday season that is for sure.

More box play - Carter and Lilly

Peek-a-boo!

Lilly and Calla in their matching Christmas dresses. Aunt Amanda even made dresses for their dollies!

Here is the official cousins Christmas picture for 2011. All dresses in their outfits that Aunt Amanda made. She made Carter and Cedar vest with razorbacks on them. Calla's smiling face in this picture is just priceless. I love this picture!

Granddaddy reading to Carter. Carter really loves his granddaddy.

Cousin Lilly is hugging Carter and Cedar. These boxes really provided lots of entertainment, we were thankful for them.

Cedar and his Aunt Amanda

This is Jamey trying to get Calla interested in her gifts. She kind of stopped opening after the bee outfit got opened.

Our great big Bowling family! It had been a very long time, several years, since we had a family picture. Everyone is looking and almost everyone is smiling. I am very pleased!

Calla introduced her cousin to one of her favorite places to hang out, my kitchen cabinets.

Newest Stats

2011-01-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

Cedar went to his 9 month check up on 12/16/10 when he was almost 10 months old. He is doing very well. A little delayed on the eating but we already knew that would be a problem due to the aspiration issue. We are not going to revisit speech therapy yet, we will wait to see how he does between now and his one year apt. No shots were due at this time :-)! Here are his stats:

Weight 21lb 14oz (60.86%)

Height 28 inches (25.83%)

Head Circumference 47 cm (85.51%)

We have been fighting an ear infection since Christmas. He is following in Carters footsteps on the ear infection part and he takes several rounds of antibiotics and at least a month and half to get over. Finally this last one has cleared.

UPDATE: Cedar got his first tooth at 11 months and still only has the one. He looks cute! I am sure the rest will all come in at the same time like Calla's did. He took his first steps at 11 months and one week. He still has only taken a couple steps just a hand full of times. He thinks about it a lot and then most of the time will get down and crawl. He walks often pushing things and almost runs pushing his zebra toy he got for Christmas. He is really a happy baby and LOVES his siblings. He wants to do everything they do and wants to play with everything they do, which sometimes leads to crying when they don't want to share. He is especially fond of Carter and follows him everywhere. He is eating great, pretty much anything that doesn't require lots of teeth. He is still on thickened liquids but I don't think it will be long before he can come off. We are going to start the transition to milk in the next few days. He will drink from a sippy but REALLY still wants his bottles. He may be harder than the twins at the transition from bottles. He still take a paci when he sleeps. He is so sweet, loves to give hugs and kisses (open mouth slobbery ones :-) at that) and can be super snugly.

Calla had her two year check up on 1/19/2010. Of course I felt like a terrible mom when they took her temp and it was 99.9 and she had a double ear infection! I had no idea! She also got SUPER sick at Christmas time and had a slight ear infection then that must not have cleared all the way. She got one shot, which ended up keeping her up all night! Here are her stats:

Weight 21lb 8oz (1.3%)

Height 32.75 inches (10.56%)

Head 49 cm (85.05%)

He seemed worried about her wt last time, but this time he didn't really dwell on it. We still try to get her as much calories as possible, but she was so sick after Christmas that I think any wt she had gained was lost. She really eats well, so I am not worried.

UPDATE: Calla talks ALL the time. She now says "whats that" at least a hundred times a day. She is for the most part a happy child, however she has a drama aspect of her when things don't go her way. She now screams very loud and high pitched when Carter or Cedar even get near a toy she has. And if they take it watch out, full blown fit. Her feelings get hurt easily sometimes if we laugh too much at something she does, she will end up in tears, a little sensitive. She blows kisses and says "I love you" at bedtime. She loves her brothers most of the time and pats Cedar on the head when he cries and says "its alright". Same thing for Carter, pats him on the chest. She is so smart, tell her once and she has it down.

Carter had his two year check-up on 1/26/11. We got two things accomplished. Carter has had lots of trouble with ear infections so we finally got a referral to an ENT. We have already seen him and just this week Carter got tubes in his ears. SOOO hoping this is the answer! Also, he still walks a little stiff and his left foot turns in and his knees point in as well. So we finally also got a PT eval ordered. We go to that next week. The DR thinks he might end up in some type of braces. He has tibial torsion which means the bone bends in and is growing that way (from what I understand). I look forward to learning more next week. Other than those two things, Carter is a healthy, happy boy! He also only had to get one shot and it went much better than Calla. Here are his stats:

Weight 29lb 12.8 oz (69.23%)

Height 33.75 inches (26.10%)

Head 51.5 cm (97.36%)

UPDATE: Carter is talking but not anywhere at the level of Calla. His speak is harder to understand and he still uses a lot of his own language. Calla seems to understand him most of the time. We are hoping this will get better now that he has tubes in his ears. The fluid and infections could have damaged his hearing, we are praying this is not the case. He still has a love/dislike relationship with Cedar, but mostly love. He calls him baby and always likes to know where he is. He doesn't however want him close to him and his toys. He will occasionally play nice with him but mostly will shove or tackle him. I have seem Cedar tackle back so at least I know he can stand on his own. I am sure there is much more of this to come in our future with two boys. Carter also shoves Calla and pushes her over. For the majority of the time the twins play well with each other and with Cedar. He is a mama's boy these days and I am loving it. If I am around he wants me to pick him up or sit in my lap. Only bad part of this is that he is getting sooo heavy. He can climb up the ladder to the swing set and Calla cant by herself yet. They all love to be outside.

All three are still such blessings in our lives and I could really go on forever about all of the amazing (and not so amazing) things that they do, but I can imagine that no one wants to read all of that! We are blessed and thankful, and I will leave it at that!

Christmas Day 2010

2011-01-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

So, Santa came to our house this year. The kids like Santa and know who he is but still don't understand the whole concept. Carter's favorite movie, which he watched about 50 times, is Polar Express. We did Christmas morning with just our little family and then mid morning, Jamey's family joined us. His parents gave the kids work benches and a kitchen. They had so much fun playing with all their new things. It was a lot of fun to watch them.

Carter and his work bench.

They got sidewalk chalk in their stockings. I cant believe that I had never thought to get them some before. They love it! Of course they want to color on everything, but hey at least it washes off with rain (for those of us who are too lazy or busy to wash it off after each use).

Santa brought Carter and Calla leapster computers. They really like them. Carter likes Calla's pink one best, so Calla usually gets to play with Carters, which she has in this picture. The lady bug behind her is Cedar's which gets much more attention from the twins for sure.

They all three enjoy the little kitchen. Cedar loves it because it is just the right size for him to pull up and stand at. Calla has really gotten good at her pretend play. She is always pretending to eat the food. They have so much fun and most of the time actually get along and play well together at the kitchen.
I did have to put away the utensils because Cedar wanted to crawl around with them in his mouth. All I could picture was it poking through his head if he fell. :-(

This pic tells me how much she likes the kitchen, see her tongue sticking out? She is really concentrating and putting all her thought into it. So cute.

So Santa brought them tricycles that are just a little to big for them. We left them in the house for a day and pushed them around on them, which they enjoyed. We are hoping they grow into them just in time for warm weather.

Cant drive it his self but it sure made a good desk for his new computer.

Again, Carter chooses the pink one (Calla's). He really likes pink. I knew it would happen and its my fault. They both slept in Calla's crib for the first four months of life. Guess I should have alternated.....

Baby Cedar.

Just before christmas

2011-01-15T13:50:00.000-08:00

12/24/2010 Uncle Mitch quickly became Calla's favorite. I am sure it will be a different Aunt or Uncle next time we are all together. He was the first to get into town and he was going to be there without Jamey or I on the first day he was here so we really talked him up to the twins. They still get stranger anxiety and they aren't around their aunts and uncles all that often. She called him mi. It was pretty cute. One afternoon I was trying to get her to take a nap and she was calling out "mi" as if maybe he would make me stop. She was so funny about her uncle Mitch. It was really a lot of fun watching them interact with their aunt and uncles now that they are old enough to learn their names and really interact.

12/20/10 I heard Cedar get upset and found this in the kitchen. Once again the boys are fighting. This time over something that is not even theirs! The cord to the crock pot is one of carters favorites. I'm telling you, cords and the water hose, the kid cant get enough. This picture makes Cedar look tiny.

Our first christmas 2010

2011-01-15T13:26:00.000-08:00

On 12-19-10 we had our first Christmas celebration with my family. Shelley and family and mom came over for some fun and food. We really had a great time. The twins have got this present thing really figured out. They like to open them. They sometimes like to open them more than what is in them. I think they are still thrown off by the boxes and don't realize what is really in the box. Or they do and want it opened right away. It was relaxing and good paced day.

While we cooked the meal, the kids played with their cousins Cade and Austin. The two large boxes that we had guarding the tree became places to hide and play in. They had a really good time, there was much laughter!

Calla and Cousin Cade posing for a picture.

Their maw-maw got them these amazing little chairs for Christmas. They have their names on them. Carter really likes to sit in his and Calla likes to point to all the letters and have us name them for her. She said her name for the first time. Cedar, well he will like it later in his life. His was moved to his room for now. He likes to climb on it, but the fall is not so pleasant.

And the fighting begins over the new toys. Calla got a drum and they all want the drum sticks! Cedar really likes them for some reason, easy to hold onto I guess. I can only imagine that this will not be the last time that these boys fight over something. Carter goes through stages where he is super sweet to Cedar and then at times he is kind of mean. Same with Calla, sometimes it seems like he is out to get her. She gives such a dramatic response that he just keeps coming back for more.

My big boy standing up with just one hand on the toy table.

Calla at almost 2 years old!

Uncle Aaron and Cedar

Cousin Austin reading a book with Calla.

Calla and Cedar opening a gift.

The drum that everyone loves. Now that some time has gone by they like to open it up and stuff other toys inside it to carry around. Its funny the things they decide to stuff in there.

Carter helping to hand out gifts. Had to use his chin so that he didn't let go of Cedar's new toy. I am pretty sure that Cedar has had very minimal time with his new toy. Carter really liked it.

Carter ripping into those gifts. It was so fun to watch their faces.

And he walks!

2011-01-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

12-12-10 At just under 10 months, Cedar decided that he would like to get up and push that doll buggie around the dining room! I cant believe our little baby is growing up so fast. Of course he is super fast at this now, still unsteady but he loves to push things. Now his favorite is to push a zebra riding toy that he got for Christmas. Only he has figured out that he is much faster on his knees and steady, whereas on his feet he falls over often. It is so funny to see him speeding across the living room on his knees pushing the zebra, I will try to get it on video as well!

Random Pics

2011-01-07T19:42:00.000-08:00

12/6/10 So I caught Calla dissecting Christmas ornaments. She had several in her lap that she had removed from the tree and was taking their tops off. She was very hard at work.

I wonder if Cedar thought he was going to get anything out of this tiny plastic baby bottle. It belongs to one of Calla's dolls and Cedar loves to suck on it.

December 2010

2011-01-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

Decorating the Christmas tree with the kids (or attempting). It didn't last long before we called it bedtime and finished it after they went to bed.

12/5/10

12/5/10 Call thought the ornaments were a lot more fun to play with than to put on the tree. She kept saying "pretty" over and over. Carter like to take the tops off of them.

12/5/10 Carter helping daddy decorate the Christmas tree.
This was the first and last day that the tree was exposed to the twins. We ended up having to take two large boxes and block off the tree. Oh well. We also have a smaller tree with the meaningful ornaments on and stupid us, actually put it out this year. I think only half the ornaments survived. The tree was pulled over at least 5 times. If they weren't messing with the tree they were (carter) unplugging the lights to it and plugging them back in. Carter is really drawn to electrical outlets. He usually is sticking his rubber snake or strings to his pull toys in the outlet, so I guess this time is was at least what belonged there. He of course figured out how to remove outlet covers a long time ago. So it looks like we will be starting fresh with our memory tree and that is ok, it will be our family memory tree now and that is super special to me!

12/4/10 Cedar and his amazing daddy!

12/02/10 Cedar 9 1/2 months

Trip to Granddad's House for Turkey Day 2010

2010-12-31T20:02:00.000-08:00

This is granddad and all of his great-grandchildren. Austin, Carter, Granddad, Cedar, Cade, and Calla. Not the best picture, but I love it.
Now this picture I really like! This is granddad, his grandchildren (Shelley and I) and his great-grandchildren. He is truly the best granddad and great-granddad that anyone could ask for. We all love him!

Calla and granddad playing clothes basket cars.

Cedar enjoyed his great granddad as well. The last time he saw him, he was only 6 months old, so he was much more interactive with him this visit.

This was hilarious. Granddad is pretending to talk to Carter on the telephone and Carter is using the computer mouse as his telephone. Having a telephone where Carter could reach it presented us with a challenge. I just hope that granddad didn't get a bill for a call to China...

Cedar eating his first thanksgiving dinner. He had turkey and rice, mmmm good!

Wow, I didn't know that cans would stack so well. The twins wanted to help cook, this is how. They had a lot of fun with the groceries.

Love this picture! Cedar is so happy hanging out with his great granddad! They had a good time on the porch swing. Overall we had a wonderful time (even with Carter getting car sick on the way there GROSS!). It is so good to see granddad and cant wait for our next visit!

More November 2010

2010-12-31T19:49:00.000-08:00

11/23/10 No, he didnt get on there by himself, but he was trying and he loved to sit up on the lyon like he is the tiny king. He doesnt know how to make it go yet either, but loves to be pushed around on it. Too sweet, my baby is growing up way too fast!

11/20/10 Cedar at 9 months one day old.

11/20/10
And just as quickly as he started pulling up he was cruising the furniture.

11-20-10 Showing us how he can do it all by himself.

11-20-10 So Carter and Calla figured out that the top of this side table was not attached and that they could remove it. It is glass so I quickly removed it from the room once this discovery was made. Little did I know that I was just providing them with a jungle gym. Cedar wanted to play too!

More November 2010

2010-12-31T19:46:00.000-08:00

11-14-10 Cedar was pulling up on everything. He is almost 9 months here.

11-14-10 My fat baby had just fallen asleep on me before bed. He is so sweet and snuggly. I hate to put him down at night.

11-08-10 So Carter is on the left of the couch and Cedar is on the right. They are playing peek a boo. I love the laughter. Carter and Calla used to do this a lot, but I love that Cedar now gets included in their fun!

November 7th, 2010 Cedar Baby Dedication

2010-12-31T19:01:00.000-08:00

On November 7Th, 2010, Cedar was a part of the parent - child dedication at church. He was really funny that day. So outgoing and content.

I tried to get a picture of all three children before church, but that was asking way too much. Calla was not having it. So here are the boys.

Cedar on the move. He is really getting faster here.

Cedar's baby dedication Part I

Cedar's dedication Part II

November 6th, 2010

2010-12-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

Cedar started crawling at 8 1/2 months. This was a whole month before Carter and Calla did. He wants to do everything that they do. Within about a week and a half later he was pulling up on the furniture. Now at just under 1o months he is cruising. He also will crawl up on things, like our little tyke table. We have to keep a close eye on this fella!

At first the twins would crawl with him, now they just get upset that he can come up and get their toys, no matter where they are with them.

And here is a little video of the master crawler in action.

End of October 2010

2010-11-10T12:23:00.001-08:00

10-31-2010
Our own little tradition now, we get together with our friends the LeClerc's across the street and go traveling the neighborhood. We still didn't try to trick or treat this year but I know next year will be super fun! Hannah wanted to ride in the wagon with the twins, so she sat on Carter's lap. He didn't seem to mind. They all had a great time!

Carter was a giraffe. He didn't mind his costume, seemed to like it.
10-31-2010

10-31-2010
Cedar and our pumpkin.

10-31-10 Cedar's first Halloween. I think he likes being a monkey!

10-30-10 The day before Halloween our friend Jenny had all of the kids over for a little costume party. It was a lot of fun. It is still soooo much work to take the three of them anywhere and adding getting them to stay in costume on top of that was a challenge. Every time I turned around Calla had taken hers off. This is a pic of all of our happy little children. Oh, the things we make them do... :-)

10-30-10- Calla did not really like to keep her nose in place but she was still a super cute elephant!

10-30-10 Our friends Campbell and Turner with Cedar. They are all very close in age. I do believe Cedar stole Turners pumpkin and looks like he is proud of it! Sorry Turner!

10*25*10 Cedar at this point was getting on all fours and rocking, but still not crawling. I love how excited children get when they do new things, too cute!

10*23*10 Cedar's first haircut. I actually cut his hair awhile back because he had all these crazy long pieces on the top, but this is his first real haircut. He actually did really well.

October 23, 2010 - Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-10T12:17:00.001-08:00

On October 23rd, my mom helped me take the kids to get their hair cut. I still find it impossible to leave my house alone with my children and dont see an end to that in sight. I see people all the time with three kids or even more in the stores or mall and they are fine, BUT i have yet to see anyone with three the ages of mine. SOOOOO, I think I am ok. One of these days it will work, but not anytime soon. It is just too hard and is not worth the fuss and stress. So anyway we set off to get their hair cut and after we went by her church's pumpkin patch for some pictures and pumpkins. Carter and Calla enjoyed trying to pick them all up and of course moving them from their original locations. Carter really wanted to pull Calla and Cedar around in the wagon. He did get it to move a little bit a few times but did better pushing it than pulling it.

Love this picture, she makes this sweet expression often.

LOVE this one TOO!

October 2010- more of

2010-11-10T12:05:00.001-08:00

10-21-10
My Blond haired blue eyed boys! They look so much alike, both just like daddy! I am so glad they love each other and I hope they continue to! Carter is always trying to give him things. Mostly things he cant have, like his snacks or his milk. And he loves his milk so this is how I know he loves his brother.
10-21-10
Our sweet children. Gods true blessings! I still wonder how we got so lucky.

10-20-10 I was cleaning the kitchen one morning and look into the living room to see this coming my way. Too funny!

10-20-10 Cedar

10-17-10 Cedar really likes the wind in his hair. The twins were helping daddy plant a tree to replace the ones that we let die, ooops, and cedar held his sand rake up to help too!

10-17-10 Hey three out of six were still alive so I am thinking that is not too bad! Carter took this process of replanting very seriously. He would drag the shovel around the yard and of course his best friend the water hose made his appearance as well.

10-17-10 Calla helped by taking the soil out of the bag and putting it into the plastic container that the tree came out of. She was very proud of herself. They really love to help us do things. Except of course the things that I would like them to do, such as put their books on the shelf and keep them there and picking up their toy, etc, etc.

October 2010 First Half

2010-10-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

10-12-10
Yes, he is sitting on his sister! She is sitting inside the wooden block box and he wanted in. Poor girl!
10-11-10 Cedar really likes books. Too funny he just opens them up and enjoys his story.

10*4*10
Swingin' with daddy. We got this swing set from some friends that moved. It is not my dream set by any means but it will do for now. The twins love the swings. I dread the day they learn to climb the steps. I will worry that they will just walk off the edge. I still don't think they quite grasp that some things change levels. This would be a big change of level!

10*4*10 This is much more their size. They can stand on top of it and I don't worry about broken bones! Calla loves this little set. She stands up there and drives with the wheel.

10*4*10
Carter in the top of the swing set playhouse.

10*1*10
I love seeing the three of them together. Cedar really likes to sit on the couch like big people. He of course easily will topple right off, so he is not allowed up there often. I cant believe how big he is, almost their size!

10*1*10 Our sweet Carter baby face!

10*1*10 "Look at me, sitting like big people!"

End of September - 2010

2010-10-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Carter has a double personality. On one hand he can be so terrible to his sister and grumpy, then on the other hand he is the absolute sweetest child in the world. He will give Cedar kisses and hugs and give toys to Calla to play with. When he is mean he steal EVERY toy she tries to pick up, pushes her over, and throws things. From what I am reading he is a normal male toddler but he is wearing me out! I am trying like crazy to praise and reward the good behavior and not give attention to the bad behavior, so we will see. That seems to be the way to go according to the books I am reading. He truly loves Cedar, he looks for him first thing in the morning and is the first to his room when he wake from his morning nap. He gives him toys when he cries and really tries to give him food and his milk cup. I have to keep a close eye on that! They sit by each other in their high chairs and Cedar just admires him and loves the attention he gets. Carter is talking more, still not as much as Calla but more than he was. He jabbers all the time, so he thinks he is talking, he is just the only one that understands what he is saying. Now on occasion calla will answer back with the same amount of gibberish, so who knows maybe she knows what he is saying. Carter has become a little mommy's boy lately, which I am eating up. I know it wont last so I take advantage of it! He is all boy, he can clear the bookshelf in two seconds, loves the water hose still, and really likes to get dirty. Our dogs went to their new home, which I could not have asked for better. They will have two other weims to play with and 10 acres to run around in. They will be allowed inside if they wish and can come and go as they please. Truly an answered prayer! However, we are all sad. Carter went to the fence yesterday and said "dos", his word for dog. And he looked sad when they never came. He would always go up the fence and let them lick his face. Both the twins liked to run up and down the fence so that the dogs would follow them. Even me, who more than once wanted the dogs gone, am very sad and miss them. I know that they will have a much better live than we can give them right now. Calla is talking all the time. She loves the reaction she gets out of us when she used her words. She always looks at us and smiles when she says something new. Daddy taught her what a razorback is and she loves to say it. She says ra-er-back. She has new words everyday. She is really happy almost all the time. She has to say hi and bye every time she leaves a room. At night if Jamey is home, he takes the twins to their room for their teeth brushing and bedtime routine and she always comes to cedar and I and says goodbye and waves, then she grabs her daddy's hand and takes off to her room. Bedtime is really easy finally. She used to cry herself to sleep and now they both just go right to bed. Love it! When Jamey is not home she grabs my hand and takes me to her room, but first she looks around for someone to say bye too. It is super sweet. She loves to give kisses and blows kisses too. Cedar is growing up so fast, he is 8months one week and he is on the move. He army crawls and can get across the room in no time flat. He can sit himself up, but has only done it a few times. I think he forgets he can do it. He gets up on all fours often and rocks and looks at us like, what do I do now? He is still very happy, been a little crabby lately so I have been looking for teeth. Still none as of yet. He is eating mostly stage 2's and some stage 3's. He is not ready for the chunky ones yet. I still have to thicken his liquids and I still feel like he gets close to aspirating often. He still coughs but not as much, so maybe its getting better. I think we will redo the swallow study after his 9 mth apt. We will see. I think it would give me some peace of mind. I am actually terrified to give him anything not pureed. I have to even worry about the bath tub. All of our kids always want to drink the water. Don't they know they pee in it? I wonder at what age that sinks in. Pee must be ok to drink because Carter and Calla have had their fair share of bath water. When I try to stop them from drinking it, they just drink more. Cedar talks all the time. He mocks the squeals of carter and calla, it is so funny. I have three mocking birds in my house. He loves to bang his toys together and is showing us that he, like carter, is going to be all boy. Well I better finish this post and get to grading. Sorry for the ramble. Here is some pics from the end of September.

9-24-10 Carter supporting the hogs on game day!
10-1-10 This is the Tinkerbell dress that my mom gave her. She loves is. I think she would wear it all day everyday if I would let her. She also always has to have shoes on.

9-24-10 Cedar supporting his hogs on game day!

9-24-10 Here is Calla on game day. She wore this white shirt and some red pants, she was super cute too!

9-21-10 Carter chews on his blankets. Does anyone elses kid do this? I had to take him to the ER a while back due to an ear infection. We were there all night and I got the opportunity to watch him with his blanket. He crams it in his mouth and then falls asleep. Weird, huh! I hope he doesn't get hair balls in his belly.

9-21-10 Cedar likes carter and callas books. I try to give him baby books and he is not interested. He wants the big kid books.

9-21-10

9-19-10 Yes, still living under my cabinets. I am ready for this phase to pass so I can use them again. Of course when it passes, it will be Cedar's turn.

9-19-10 Cedar likes his sippy cups. He has recently started trying to hold his own bottle and he really likes that the sippy cup has handles. He plays with it more than anything, but occasionally gets it in his mouth. I put thickened water in it for now.

9-18-10
Cedar, my big kid in the big boy tub. Look at those fat rolls. He really likes to eat, can you tell?

September - first half 2010

2010-10-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

9-11-10 Our pretty brown eyed girl at 20 1/2 months old. Those eyes are just as curious as they look!

9-11-10 Cedar grabbed on and gave Carter some lovin! These brothers have a bond.

9-8-10 Cedar now sits in the bath tub all by himself, the big bath tub. No more baby tubs in our house! He LOVES the water, doesnt even mind getting washed, just plays around me. He has found himself in the reflection on the drain thingy under the spout.

9-6-10 This is seriously like 5 minutes after she got out of bed. Still in the jamies, she runs to her bin of dress up cloths and puts this on. She really enjoys dressing up. My mom bought a tinkerbell dress and she wears it at some point almost every day.

9-4-10 Playing with our friend Turner. Cedar looks like a giant next to him. They are finaly getting old enough to play together.

9-3-10 So it is soooo true that if mommy says no they you should ask grandma. My mom filled up a box with rice and let them play with it in the kitchen. Oh my! I wish that I had a nanny cam so I could have seen the enjoyment (and the mess)! They always have fun with maw-maw.

9-1-10
Who? Me?

End of August 2010

2010-10-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

08*30*10 Cedar at 61/2 months sitting up by himself. He was able to sit without the boppy, but lasts a little longer with some support.

08*28*10
Carter love, love, loves his little brother. The feelings are mutual. He is giving him kisses here. Cedar just giggles, its so sweet. He used to call him ceedee and I haven't heard him say that in a while. Calla called him baby der, but now she can say ceeedar. Too cute.

08*23*10 This is Jamey's weight that holds our DVD closet closed, the mess that Carter likes to make out of his own closet, I can not imagine what the hallway would look like with hundreds of DVDs spread all around. He likes to stand on it and try to open the door. I love the look on his face when it wont move.

08*19*10 Went to get Cedar out of bed in the morning and this is what he looked like. He is all over the place. He turns circles where ever he is. Of course this was in August, but now he can make it across the living room in no time flat (at 8 months) and he is not crawling yet, but any day!

08*18*10 Calla had her first pedicure, by mommy. I was painting my toenails and she sat down to watch so I painted hers. She looked at her feet for the rest of the day. Then we had to get out her pretty sandals so she could show them off.

08*16*10 I had to take this picture, so funny! I think she was trying to suck his eye off.

08*15*10 Calla really likes to read books. She will bring them to you and want to read them over and over again. We now have many of her favorite books by memory. She will even sit and read to herself. Finally she does not try to tear out the pages, Carter on the other hand still wants to mess them all up. Especially the ones with the little doors to open, some of our doors are held on by tape. :-)

08*15*10 Calla loves her daddy, already a daddy's girl. That's OK she still likes me when he is not around.

August - First Half

2010-09-26T11:14:00.001-07:00

So, can you tell which one is Cedar and which one is Carter??? They look so much alike it is crazy. Soon they will be mistaken for twins!

08-14-10

08-14-10 This is what happens if I turn my head for a split second. And yes he is trying to pull her back out of the way. Oh my!

08-14-10 Cedar love those feet!

08-14-10 They are still trying to wake up from a nap. I have to take advantage of the rare times that they are side by side and not picking on each other to get a photo!

08-13-10 Carter loves the big boy slide. Calla would not go near it. We had a great day at the park with maw-maw.

08-13-10 On our way to the park with cousin Cade. They really love him and want to do everything that he does.

08-13-10 Cedar

08-13-10 Carter

08-13-10 Calla

08-11-10 So with the permission of the speech therapist Cedar gets to eat his stage ones. This was his first sweet potato experience. He loves to eat (hence the fat rolls). He is on stage twos now and doing just fine. I know he could advance but I am going a little slower due to his aspiration risk. I am actually terrified to feed him anything but pureed food. So when he is 10 years old please don't make fun of him when he has to have his food pureed by his mommy! :-)

08-09-10 Carter does love the water. He has an obsession with the water hose. He has to be the one holding it or know where it is at all times. It certainly can not be in the hands of his sister. That is not allowed. He is the king of the tree watering. This of course means that he also waters himself and his sister who doesn't have the same appreciation.

08-05-10 Cedar does love to play. The twins keep him entertained most of the time! They are always bringing him toys. It is impossible for me to keep the germs away, I guess I have to give up. They are forever taking his paci and sticking it in their mouths and then back in his when they see me coming for it. Gross!

08-05-10 Love this little face!

08-02-10 I think my cabinets must be the equivalent of older children's tree houses.

End of July

2010-09-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Sweet Baby Cedar

Cedar eating his rice cereal, what a big boy!

Calla loves to dress up! She LOVES shoes and hats. Here she is wearing some sun glasses that she promptly popped the lenses out of and a hat she put on by herself.

These kids live under my cabinets. The cabinets only stayed child proof for about a week it seems like. They know how to open them from the outside and inside. Of course my laundry room is still filled with all of their old contents. I'm glad I have a lot of cabinets!

New Stats

2010-09-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

So we took the twins to the Dr today for a well visit. Carter still has an ear infection, which I already knew since I had to take him to the walk in clinic this past Saturday. His left foot still turns in slightly when he walks, but Dr. Schaeffer did not seem to worried about it. Calla is great but he is worried about her weight gain. She actually eats more than Carter so I think that she just has the metabolism that we all would pay lots of money for. He said we could wait until the 2 year appt and see what she does, but if not weight gain by then we would start doing some testing. So in the mean time I will continue to give her extra butter, pasta, potatoes, cheeses, and anything else that might put some pork on her. Cedar went to the Dr two weeks ago for his six month appt. He is doing great. His only issue is the aspiration. He still has thickened liquids but he graduated from speech therapy today. He will go back to see them again when we start real solids or have another swallow study, which ever the Dr wants. He got four shots, poor baby! The twins finally realize what the Dr is and why they are there, so today was not easy. A lot of crying and screaming. Oh my, my head.

Here are their stats

Calla

Weight 20lb 2oz (0.94%)

Only up 2 oz in four months!

Height 31 inches (10.56%)

Head 48 cm (77%)

Carter

Weight 28lb 5.5 oz (68%)

Height 33 inches (42.2%)

Head 50 cm (90.28%)

Cedar

Weight 19lb 30z (68.48%)

Height 26 inches (20.6%)

Head 45.8cm (90%)

Wow, those are Bowling heads! We are blessed to have healthy children!

The Coast 2010

2010-09-12T14:35:00.001-07:00

We go to the coast in Texas, Port Aransas, every year with the entire Bowling family. We went last year so we knew a little of what we were getting into with taking the babies, but of course this year we added a baby, so the car was a little more packed this time. All of the work was worth it. We had a great time and it was so good to all be together. It is too rare that the whole family it together! Now if we could just get Jamey's oldest sister, Secret, and her boys to join us then we would be complete! Here are some of my favorite pictures. Thanks so much to grandmommy and granddaddy for letting us borrow your camera and to Bo and Amanda for sending us copies of their, since we left our camera on the dining room table at home, along with all the baby food and snacks. Thank goodness for walmart!

07/17/10 Calla and her only girl cousin, Lilly. Aunt Amanda made these dresses for the girls. They are so adorable. She also made the same dresses for their dollies. Too cute!

7/17
Cedar, Mommy, Daddy, and Calla in the swimming pool at the condos where we stay. The pool is heated, not that they need it in Texas in July, so the kids enjoy it like the bath.

7/17
Carter and Calla had so much fun playing with their uncles, and daddy in the pool. Last year they were still very quite and timid in the pool. This year they really got into playing in the water.

7/17
Cedar swims, or drives his car around the pool.

07*17-10 Calla, daddy, Granddaddy and Carter on the beach preparing for the "Cousins" picture.

07-17-10

And here is the Cousins picture, or my favorite out of the MANY that were taken. Now of course getting all 6 of them to look our way and to look happy was going to be an impossible mission and we knew that going into it. I really like this one and many of them turned out better than I expected. This will be the one framed in our house if I ever get around to printing pictures (may be 2015 :-) ). So we have Carter, Tommy holding Cedar, Joey holding Lilly, and Calla. They are Jamey's brother Bo's children. It was really fun to see them all together.

07-17-10

I actually really like this one too but Cedar is not looking.

07-17-10
I just think this one is funny! Carter is crying, Cedar and Lilly are more interested in each other, Joey is playing with the sand, and Calla looks mad that Lilly's foot is too close to her. But hey, Tommy was smiling!

07*16*10
Carter and daddy in the ocean. He was hesitant at first, but warmed up to it OK.

07*16*10
Uncle Mitch got Calla to go out into the water and she really liked it once she got there. She even got to the point that she would walk out into it herself.

07*16*10
Cedars first dip in the ocean.

07*16*10

07*16*10
Playing at the biggest sand box they have ever seen. She was really concentrating on trying to get the sand where she wanted it, she the tongue sticking out.

07*16*10

Grandmommy and Cedar.

Carter and his beloved blanket, playing with the baby monitor. He love electronics!

Thank you Grandmommy and Granddaddy for the amazing trip! We all had a blast! Thanks to the Aunts and Uncles that helped us out with the fact that we really needed more hands to get around with three babies! Everyone was so helpful!

July Fun

2010-09-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

07/08/10 Calla has mastered climbing up the ladder and sliding by herself. She loves to slide. The big slides at the park are still a little too intimidating for her, but this one in our back yard is just her size. (Thank you grandmommy and granddaddy!)

07/04/10
July Fourth we had a cookout and had my family over. My granddad and his friend Esther were in town to visit. We had so much fun and it was great to get to visit with them.

07*08*10 So this is what our kitchen looks like most of the time. The twins live in out cabinets like half the day. Our laundry room, is now full of all of the things that used to have a home in our bottom cabinets. I am glad its a big laundry room! They of course figured out the child proof locks and now use them as handles from the inside. You can see Carter grabbing for it.

07*04*10
Uncle Aaron, Cousin Cade, and Cedar all sporting their American spirit for the fourth.

07*04*10 The twins did not like the sounds of the fireworks, so they were in bed. Cedar started out with us but it was really past his bedtime as well. I was afraid it would be too loud for his little ears anyway.

07*04*10
Our friends the LeClerc's also came over on the fourth. This is their daughter Hannah. She kept hugging Carter. It was soooo cute. He looked a little afraid most of the time and of course this is not a great picture of it but it was too funny.

07*02*10 Granddad and some of his great grandchildren, Cade, Cedar, and Carter. We had so much fun with him. We wished he lived closer!

07*02*10
Cedar and his great granddad.

07*02*10

Calla has to try to figure out how everything works. Here she is trying to tie or hook the highchair straps. She still sticks her tongue out when she is really concentrating on something, its so cute.

7*01*10
We went to fun city with my family and our friend Michelle and her daughter Hannah. Calla had a lot of fun climbing up these stairs.

7*1*10
I love this picture. Hannah must drive like her mother, see her face. This is their first date picture. Too cute!

And they both fall down!

2010-09-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

6*28*10 We went to Walker park in Fayetteville. It is my favorite park to go to because of all the wide open space that they can run. I love this video. They fall down and back up again. You can see why we need the wide open spaces. Of course they don't like to run in the same direction. I love the way that Calla ran when she first started. Her arms swing behind her like they are broken. She has gotten a little better at her running now and they don't swing so much, but I think it was cute!

Life is Busy!!!

2010-09-01T13:03:00.001-07:00

Things are so crazy around here! I am back in school. I must have had a slight moment of insanity when I decided that grad school sounded like a good idea. :-) My very little free time just went out the door. I am also back at work at the UofA, teaching five sections! That was another moment of insanity. Oh well, it will all work out somehow. That I do know. Jamey is still at work at Honda and working so hard to help me in any way that he can. He has been awesome, cooking and cleaning! We knew we kept him around for something! :-) Kidding, of course. He is an amazing daddy and husband! Here is an update on the baby doodles and I will get pictures up as soon as I find another few minutes.

Carter - He went to the Dr this week for an ear re-check. Still has a double ear infection AFTER two antibiotics already! I hate it when one of them is sick, I feel helpless. He weighs 28 lb 1 ounce. WOW! I cant believe my 5lb premie weighs that much! He is growing up so fast. He talks all the time, I can understand a few words here and there. He will have entire conversations with Calla in his own language of course. He is so sweet to his little brother! The first thing he does in the morning, every day, is run into the living room and say HI and kiss him. Yesterday, Cedar was still in his bed and Carter ran in his room and stood on the bottom rail of his crib and reached up his little hand and waved over the top of the crib and said HI. SOOOOO cute! He kisses him all the time and gives him toys to play with. Now of course that does not mean that he doesn't steal some toys as well, he does that a fair share. He is still a little pushy with Calla. He knows he is stronger than her and uses it. He is sweet to her as well. He will make sure she has her sippy with her milk (sometimes it is the empty one he just finished so that he can steel what is left of hers) but he does show that he wants her taken care of. He used to be really mean to her, the majority of the time. Since Cedar is more responsive to them now, Carter has really sweetened up. He loves water play. Obsessed with the water hose. I am pretty sure that he feels it is his and his only.

Calla - Calla used to be the one that it was hard to make happy. She started our fussy from the start. She has changed so much. She smiles all the time and giggles the funniest laugh. She likes to play by herself but has fun with her brothers as well. She loves to sit in my lap while I feed cedar and she always takes him random toys. She has a shoe thing and carries random shoes all of the house. I often find shoes piled on top of cedar. She does know which ones are his though its cute. She will always match the shoe to the person. She likes to wear shoes around the house. I have been meaning to find her some tap shoes so she can tap her way across the kitchen. Her and Carter have many words but still do not group them or use them consistently. They do associate words with actions. I can ask them to do something or ask them where something is and they go and get it. (awesome) They can point to all of their body parts and know many words in sign language. She loves her daddy. She talks about him all the time. Every time the phone rings or I get a text she thinks its him and says "daddy". So cute.

Cedar - Cedar started sitting up by himself (not getting himself there, but stays if you put him there) this week at 6 months 1 week old. I can not believe how fast the time goes. He will also roll across the living room floor in a minute. Loves toys, really anything that he can grab. He has also been fighting double ear infections. After two rounds of antibiotics he is now clear. He weighs 18lb 9oz, seriously! He looks just like a mini Carter and Jamey for that matter. A fat version of Jamey anyway. He is super sweet. The happiest of all our babies. He is happy about 98 % of the time if that is possible. He really only gets upset if he poops or is fighting sleep. He aspirates on liquids which is really scary to think that every time you feed your little guy it could go into his lungs! He coughs a lot. I hate it. Please add him to your prayers that it stops soon! He has to have all of his liquid thickened. Obviously it has not affected his weight gain! :-) He take speech therapy once a week an we do stretching and strengthening exercises everyday 3 to 5 times per day. He is really tired of it all. Who could blame him. He loves carter and calla. He just giggles at them all the time. They play peek a boo with him. The other day he was laughing so hard and so loud I was crying because it made me laugh so hard too. It was also so heartwarming to be reminded of how all of our previous heartache on our journey to be parents was so worth it. I never knew how much better the sound of their laughter would make my life. I walked in to the kitchen the other day to check on the too quiet carter and calla to hear the little laughter coming from inside my kitchen cabinets. And to see their tiny faces pop out when they open the obviously non childproof latches from the inside, amazing is all I can say. They have made our lives complete in so many ways. We will continue to thank god for them everyday!

Well that of course is the brief update and I am sure that I am forgetting major things but my time is short. I will post pictures soon I hope! I am still taking lots!

Some of June

2010-08-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

6*21*10 Carter has a very deep love for his baby brother. Calla loves him too but she doesn't really show it the same way. Carter is the one that takes care of both Calla and Cedar. He is soooo sweet lately. Here I just know that they are talking all about how well Cedar can hold up his head and how much fun they have together. Carter is the first one to come running with a blanket when anyone is crying. He thinks that blankies can fix anything. Most of the time I think he is right, these kids do love their blankies that maw-maw makes. Calla cried the other day and he piled two blankets on her, it was so sweet. And I will catch him often patting Cedar on the head of giving him kisses when he is crying.

6*21*10 I love this picture. This is around the time that Cedar really starting interacting with the twins. He is 4 months old here and just loves all of the attention he is getting. Carter and Calla are really ready for him to jump right in and start playing with them. So I really have to watch them close so they don't hurt him. The crazy thing is that he is getting so big that he soon will be the size of them so its hard for them to understand why he cant run around and play too! I think I photo documented his first wet willy! :-0

6*21*10 Cedar loves his bug. He has the perfect skinny arms for him to hold onto. He swings him all over the place. The blue cord on the top, when pulled, makes him wiggle and Cedar just smiles. So cute!

6*19*10 Cedar and our good friend Holly.

6*19*10 - So I thought it would be really cute if I could get them to hold signs that say happy fathers day that they colored (scribbled) on. What a joke. This is the best one out of like 15 pictures and you see where that got me.....

6*19*10 Carters haircut. So mommy decided that she could surely cut Carter's hair. Wow, it is much harder than it looks and I have a new respect for hair dressers everywhere! After I screwed it up, daddy decided that he needed a mow-hawk (have no idea how to spell that)! It was a joke of course. You know the kind of joke that we are still living with today... I have got to take him to get a hair cut SOON!!!

6*15*10

6*10*10 Our Arbor. This is the month of our five year wedding anniversary! I can not believe that is has been five years. Our lives have changed dramatically since that wedding day. I still remember finding this arbor in pieces on the side of the hotel only a few hours before the wedding thinking how in the world were they going to get it together in time. Well that worry left when the rain came pouring down. Those were of course only a few of the things that went wrong that day. I would not change any of it! It still in my eyes turned out to be the most perfect day in the world to us! (OK I would have changed the temperature outside at least 15 degrees!) This arbor now stands in our backyard to remind us often of our perfect day and how lucky we are to have each other! Happy Anniversary Jamey!

6*5*10

2010-07-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

Well these pictures are a little out of order but oh well. This is the last half of may. Yes, I am that behind in posting. I have been a little busy this summer. I am working pretty much full time and trying to keep up with the little ones and the house. It has been a good summer but is going by way to fast!

5*18*10 Cedar's first trip to the zoo. Jamey and I actually had a Tuesday where we were both off work so we made a last minute decision to go to the Tulsa zoo. The twins would have been just as happy with any large open area to walk and run. We did get to see much more of their little personalities which is so fun! Calla is our little miss independent. She would not hold my hand for anything! She was going to walk all by herself and that was that! I figured out that I could lead her in the right direction with her head. :-) Carter held daddy's hand and was perfectly happy. That kid loves sticks, everywhere we go he has to pick up sticks and carry them around. So he got a stick and daddy's hand and was happy. Cedar was really just along for the ride and did very well.
5*29*10 We had a yard sale and the kids wanted to join the fun (yeah right) so they sat in their little booster seats and played for a while. It was sunny and hot so they had to wear their shades. It was really cute and entertaining for our customers.

5*28*10 Dear Crayola- Thank you for making washable markers! They LOVE to color and washable markers are awesome! It washes off with just water and that is a really good thing since every time they color it ends up head to toe, them and what ever is around them.

5*24*10

Our trip to the park. I have really wanted to take them to the park this summer but knew that now with Cedar, I could not do it alone. Man was I right! Maw-Maw agreed to come with and help. I can not believe how much trouble it is to leave our house with the three of them. I feel like they (and we) are missing our on so much because it takes an act of congress to get out of the house. I know it will get better soon but for now we may skip the park next time. I love this picture of my mom and Cedar. The twins love to swing and play in the sand. I will say that parks are dirty dirty places. Trash and cigarette butts everywhere and I think that was a "clean park".

5*22*10

On this day we went to our friend Hannah's first birthday party. Again, maw maw had to come and help and this time we were just going across the street. Still A LOT of work. The twins had a blast!

5*20*10
Cedar and mommy

5*20*10
YES, my living room looks like this everyday and most days much worse. There are toys everywhere and I think that I just give up on seeing the floor anytime soon. We pick them up at night and it takes them about 2 minutes to bring them all out again. (Leslie I am sure that you can relate) . Now Cedar has toys too and that just adds to the mess. In this picture they were telling me it was time for a nap. I love it when they are willing, makes it so much easier.

5*19*10
Cedar on his three month birthday enjoying his bath. He LOVES the bath and we LOVE this little face!

5*19*10

The first half of May

2010-07-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

5*13*10 I had to take picture of their matching outfits. They were too cute! (Marcy if you are reading this, that ribbon in Carter's hand came off the birth announcements you made for cedar and it has been a favorite ever since. :-) )

5*13*10

5*13*10 Carter was patting him on the bottom, it was so cute. They think that they also need to burp the baby. They even burp their sock monkeys. Too cute.

5*10*10 They love this little tyke table. They got it for their first birthday. Now this might be the only time that they have sat properly at it. Usually they are moving it around the room or sitting and standing (eek) on top of it. Carter has used it to crawl onto the dining room table. :-)

5*9*10

5*9*10 Aunt Shelley brought a wagon over for Carter and Calla. They love it. They got pulled up and down the street and they just sat in awe and looked around. I guess they have only seen the neighborhood from the stroller before now so this was a new freedom for them.

5*9*10 Mothers Day! We had a really good day. Mommy got a new pair of shoes which is always nice! Two wonderful cards. My mom and the England's came over and we had Sub sandwiches. It was really nice. I love getting our family all together.

5*7*10

5*6*10