Mutterpass

My Newest Adventure

2013-03-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

So I have taken the plunge and signed up as a Stella & Dot Jewlery Stylist. Super thrilled about this! My jewlery samples (that I picked out!) should be arriving in two days. And this weekend I am hosting my first ever trunk show here at home. It will be my launch party so I've invited everyone I know in town to come and support me!

Here is the mission behind the business of Stella & Dot (named after their grandmothers!)

TO GIVE EVERY WOMAN THE MEANS TO STYLE HER OWN LIFE.

We get great joy out of designing irresistible jewelry. And yet, jewelry is just the tangible expression of something much greater we are creating. We have a vision of the world where STRONG WOMEN LIVE BOLD and joyful lives. They know what they want and they work for it. They inspire each other. Passion and joy are their best accessories.

Check it out!
http://www.stelladot.com/sites/leighbowen/profile

Silly Sayings

2013-02-26T12:27:00.001-08:00

In an effort to never forget all of Katy Jo's crazy little sayings right now, I thought I would jot them down...

- "We're friends and daughters." She says this one to me. :))

- "I came out of your belly and Annabelle came out of daddy's belly."

- "Go home, I don't want to play." This she learned, unfortanetly, from the book, Fancy Nancy.

- "Run super faster!"

- "Will you make me a pootie?" (smoothie)

More to come...

Hungry Caterpillar

2012-12-17T19:47:00.002-08:00

Our Annabelle turned one, and we celebrated with a beautiful birthday party planned around the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It was a small party that included GiGi and Gpa, our wonderful neighbors and one other family from church that we love. Katy Jo helped with several things. She was so excited for the party and kept repeating, "Happy Birthday to Annabelle!"

GiGi put together a fun time of crafts which the older kiddos enjoyed. Afterwards, Daddy read the hungry Caterpillar's story.
We enjoyed some finger foods that the hungry Caterpillar also ate in the story. Then we, of course, sang to sweet Annabelle and ate cake! GiGi had put together the "cupcake worm" and the bright red head that was the smash cake for baby.

It was a lot of fun and totally worth the planning! Happy Birthday to a tiny chub that makes me smile all day long! I love your dark eye lashes and bright blue eyes. Your curiosity never ends and you have discovered just about all of Katy Jo's toys as well as Mama's kitchen cabinets. You love tearing through the house and making a big mess! We love you and can't wait to see you take your first steps...

Eleven Months

2012-11-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that I only have one more blog post left to complete little Annie's first twelve months. She's gotten to be so beautiful and a whole lot cuter than those first months (if thats even possible!)

She is such a calm, sweet, smiley baby. So easy to put down for her naps and bedtimes. And if you keep her well fed she is happy as can be! In the last two months we have seen her start to crawl, pull up and most special of all... play with sister. Today when I came home they were both sitting together digging through the toy bins in seach of the next great find. Also one morning this past week, while Katy Jo was sleeping in way late (almost ten!) Annabelle chose to just crawl down the hallway and then she proceeded to pull up on her knees and bang on the door as hard as she could. It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen! They love eachother so much. We can't help but let Katy Jo hop down from her spot at the table to go over and give sister food off her plate. They are really becoming loving sisters. Its so fun to watch.

Mickey Mouse at Ten Months!

2012-11-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

This year for Halloween Katy Jo wanted to be either a mermaid or minnie mouse. After finding a great deal on two used disney costumes, we settled for a minnie & mickey. They were precious! Here is Annabelle at (around) ten months and sweet sister.

Nine Months

2012-09-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

Our little nine month old finally decided it was time to start exploring the world. With lots of encouragement from myself, daddy and sister, precious Annablelle starting crawling about two weeks ago. She now follows me around the house from room to room. Katy Jo is thrilled. She often says, "look mommy, the doctor said Annabelle needs to learn to crawl and she is now." So fun! We are super proud of Annabelle and can't wait for her to start pulling up soon!

Teeth!

2012-08-24T19:14:00.001-07:00

Eight months and we've discovered that sending babies to GiGi's house while they are teething is productive. Annabelle returned to us with two teeth that had broken through, sprouting right up, as if to say, "I'm ready for all kinds of solids. Feed me!"
No time for photo shoot, so this princess pic will have to do to document our baby quickly approaching the one year mark... Four more months.

sisters

2012-07-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

Today I witnessed my two baby girls playing together as sisters. Annabelle thoroughly enjoyed herself at a lovely tea party, hosted by Katy Jo. So much fun.

Happy 7 months Annabelle

2012-07-16T08:48:00.001-07:00

I love you dearly.

We have a six month old

2012-06-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

Thankfully during the madness of starting back to work (bitter sweet), Aunt Ba had time to squeeze in a fun outdoor photo shoot for Annabelle. And there are a couple of cute ones with Annie in Katy Jo's doll stroller. Here you go...

hmm... five months

2012-05-29T08:56:00.001-07:00

and time just keeps on going by...We were overjoyed to be doing this photo shoot in our new home and with Aunt 'Ba!'

sister had to get in on the action

and one to show you how she usually looks around here. thanks for reading.

Four Months

2012-04-16T14:11:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we set up another mini photo shoot (at home) for our latest little beauty. Annabelle is now a four-month old! With that we are seeing more and more pudge. I think she is chubbier than Katy Jo ever was. And she is trying to really talk to us. Over the last month she has learned to blow raspberries and get spit all over herself. For which Katy Jo gets really worked up: "Mama, bubbles!"

Annabelle is making all kinds of different faces and is really adding some sass to her tiny personality. Recently, she and I have enjoyed some alone time as Katy Jo started Mother's Day Out. This was a super sad day, but I try not to dwell on how sad it is and instead just dive into all the extra stuff I can get done without two little ones around. It's also nice to give lil' Annie one on one attention. Something I think both girls deserve. It is Bo's and my plan to start allowing for this in our busy schedules.

Here is Annabelle Joy at four months and Katy Jo on her first day of Mother's Day Out.

Words, Words, Words

2012-03-17T05:52:00.001-07:00

Though most people might not be able to decipher all Katy Jo's babbling, her dad and I have a grand time listening to her cute little language. We understand her most the time and it's so fun to be able to communicate. Just yesterday she learned three new words: "doctor," "sick," and "shrimps." Pretty much sums up our life around here. We are battling round two of RSV with Tiny Bit (the Pediatrician seemed confident that we are in the worst of it and about to turn the corner.) And, last night, Bo whipped up a fabulous spicy shrimp pasta meal for us.

So yesterday I decided it was high time to document the crazy amount of words Katy Jo spits out everyday (I'm allowed to brag on my own blog).

I'm suddenly feeling overwhelmed by how many there are and realizing I should have done this months ago (when I was in the middle of having a baby?)
OK, here are my favorites:

"A-bell" or Annabelle
"Hold you" meaning hold me
"Soup" and "toast"
"Mac" which could mean either Max & Ruby or macaroni & cheese
"Treat"
"Pise" for surprise
"A-fwise" for outside
"Bes" for (Aunt) Bessie
"Fli-fla" for Chick fil A (this might have been her first word! Ha!)
"Fli-fla" can also mean flip flops
"GiGi"
"Huck," "Sadee," "Mol" for Molly and "Grace" for Gracie
"Boo boo"
"Moodie" for smoothie
"Is OK"
"Omo" for Omi
"Work" and "Church"
"Two" (her favorite number)
"No" (her all time favorite word)
"Ni Ni" for night night
"Ba" for Bonnie
"Saw" for sorry
"Choo Choo"
"Oh Toodles!" and "Ot Dog!" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

There's plenty more to share, but I'll save those for another day.

Three Months

2012-03-12T18:44:00.001-07:00

Can't forget that today my sweet Annabelle is three months old. We are getting more frequent smiles and even an occasional coo. So precious. Almost makes up for all those night feedings. We are still waiting for Annabelle to get completely over her cough. She seems playful and basically herself. But of course I'd like her to be all the way better soon.
Right now Annabelle's favorite thing is listening to Katy Jo's gibberish. Whenever katy Jo walks into the room, her little face lights up. She loves her sister!

My little Lovies

2012-02-19T06:30:00.001-08:00

Thanks to friends who gave us such cute Valentine outfits, we were styling. We spent the morning at the outlet mall with GiGi and then enjoyed our favorite lunch spot- Chick fil A. Too bad daddy missed out, but we couldn't be happier with his new job!

Two Months

2012-02-14T15:28:00.001-08:00

On Sunday, after the rush of meeting lots of new people (and even enjoying someone new rocking Annabelle to sleep during Bo's Sunday school talk) I remembered that it was my baby's birthday. We've survived two whole months of waking up multiple times in the night, learning how to wash and stuff cloth diapers and juggle two very demanding little ones at the same time. With of course the help of GiGi and G-pa. We have in no way mastered any of this! And I must add, over the last two weeks we have also been blessed to enjoy our first glimpses of baby Annie smiling.
We are still somewhat uncertain what we will call this little bundle. Feel free to leave your vote in a comment below.
Annabelle? Annie? Or Anna?

Big Sister

2012-02-02T20:09:00.001-08:00

When did Katy Jo become the big sister? Someone make it stop.
She's too big!

Baking with Little bit

2012-01-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things with Katy Jo, so far, is baking in the kitchen. I love watching her get excited just thinking about it. She is such a good sport, hoping in the car with me to go buy chocolate chips. In preparation for this fun activity we put her apron on and recently, her new christmas gift, a chef hat. She also knows she will need her stool. Of course, I try to limit her sugar intake, but it's so cute when she keeps testing everything and just has to touch every dropful of batter on the tray before we stick it in the oven. I can't wait for the day when she can actually help me. For now I'm enjoying the flour messes and chocolate covered hands.

One Month

2012-01-12T16:11:00.000-08:00

Our beautiful Annabelle is one month old today.

Butterfly Photo Shoot

2012-01-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

One of Katy Jo's new words is "butterfly." We love watching her run around the backyard after little yellow butterflies. And if she can't find one, she puts both her little hands around her mouth (well, mainly just on her cheeks) and yells, "Yoohoo, butterfly." It's like she actually thinks she can call them and they will come. It's so precious.

Today she put on her little fairy outfit that in her mind is a butterfly outfit and I snapped away.

I think I'm in love...

2011-12-21T12:28:00.000-08:00

For the last week, Annabelle has made my job as Mama rather easy. Of course, we are up in the night about three times for twenty to thirty minutes, but I can't complain because after she eats, Tiny Bit goes right back to sleep. Remembering when Katy Jo was a newborn, I was up walking around the apartment, rocking, singing and patting like crazy all in the middle of the night to get her to go back to sleep and stop crying. This one is different. Maybe it's just because it's the first week, or maybe she really requires more sleep. Either way, she is a good sleeper and I'm loving it!

It's also taken her about a week to really get the whole breastfeeding thing down, and now I feel like we have bonded a bit more because I'm not as frustrated with it as I was in the beginning.

Annabelle's nose was squished in utero and it's been fun to see it slowly realign with her face. It's still a little off, but she is getting cuter every day. She has the same little button nose her sister has, but besides that she has her own beautiful little lips and eyes that I could stare at all day. She rarely opens her eyes though...

Last night she basically slept through her first bath. I thought she would scream for sure because it's a bit chilly here and I knew she wouldn't like feeling cold. But, she did amazing.

She has also put up with all the expected lovings from big sis... pokes in the eye, spontaneous and rough hugs, and loud noises right in her face. Its been so fun to watch Katy Jo's curiosity and love for her new baby. We love our new little bundle.

It's Okay to be Nervous

2011-12-18T09:31:00.000-08:00

"Tiny Bit" has arrived. Not to be confused with Katy Jo, who will always be our "Little Bit," her little sister Annabelle Joy was born at 8:10 AM this past Monday. After my complicated delivery with Katy Jo, I opted for the C-section. The day my labor started with our first, I was totally not nervous or scared. I've heard this is normal for first-timers, considering you are clueless to the pain. With this one, I too was not nervous at first. I was anxious to meet her of course and couldn't wait to see her face, deciding in an instant who she looked like (as a side note, I haven't figured that out yet). We checked into the hospital at 5 AM after getting up in time to do my hair, put on a little mascara and then wait around for Bo to get his stuff together and grab coffee. I was calm, determined and, despite being sad that Katy Jo was losing her title as "the baby," I was very excited to hold another little preciousness.

It didn't take long for my nerves to get to me. As soon as the nurse stuck me and I knew she missed, I was tense. She continued searching around for my vein, while complaining that it was rolling. I know I have perfectly good veins and I could have gotten an IV started on myself quicker than she did. During this procedure, she went on to tell me that I seemed nervous and needed to relax. Not cool. Mental note for when I return to work: patients are very much allowed to be nervous in the moments before their belly is sliced open.

We did manage to get IV access and it was soon after this I was escorted to the OR. I knew the drill. I knew exactly what to do and how to do it best to make everyone else's job easy. I dropped my shoulders and arched my back like a cat as I sat completely still, focusing on my breathing as the spinal went in. Thank goodness it was a good epidural! Still, I had never felt my legs become huge heavy logs that I could not control. The anesthesiologist said I was numb as driftwood. It was an overwhelmingly scary feeling when the heaviness crept up, and I was nervous again that I wouldn't be able to breath. You lay there, with everything strapped down, an oxygen mask over your nose and mouth, and all you can do is stare at the ceiling. No, they don't have cute picturesque light fixtures or anything like they do at the dentist's office. I'm not sure why. I must have asked the doctor a million times if she had tested yet. I trusted her fully, but was scared out of my mind that I would be able to feel the first incision and no one would listen to me. I could very much feel the Foley catheter insertion as well as Dr. Rutter's hands and she felt the baby's position one final time. Finally, they did do the clamp pinch test and I was so numb I didn't even know it.

The surgery was well under way, when Bo was given permission to come join me. I was so relieved to see him and have someone there to catch my falling tears. It must have been about ten minutes later, I felt them push up top and retrieve my new little one. Dr. Rutter flashed her before us on her way to the pediatrician. My second baby did not look like my first one. She had the same dark hair and little button nose, but that was it. She was her own little perfect person. And I wasn't nervous anymore.

Katy Jo Strawberry

2011-11-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

Halloween was quite exciting around here as Katy Jo had her first real trick or treat/fall harvest fest experience. Her costume came courtesy of Aunt Bonnie and suited her well- a bright beautiful strawberry. Katy Jo's cousins nick-named her "Strawberry" before she was even born and after a strawberry baby shower and all things strawberry- it's kinda her thing.

Our first stop was next door, to Ms.Donna's house, who truly spoiled Katy Jo. Then, after taking advantage of 50 cent corn dogs at Sonic (who can pass that up?), we hung out at church for the evening, enjoying games and lots of candy.

I think Katy Jo was perfectly happy to just bounce around, people watching, while eating more candy than she has ever seen in her life. It was a fun night for all.

Virginia is for families

2011-10-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

Family time, here we come...

Upon finding out that Bo had another "interview" up north, I scheduled a trip for my mom's sixtieth birthday celebration around the same time as Bo's trip. Little Bit had to be included in the festivies, of course, and I wanted her to get in some more cousin time. Katy Jo and I stayed for almost two weeks in my sister and brother-in-law's place. It was a crowded house - my parents had already been houseguests for over two months while they looked for their own place. Steph and Ryan were both super great hosts and put up with four kids under one roof.

Unfortunately, my mom's birthday was a somewhat chilly and overcast day. Well, that didn't stop us.

We went ahead with the birthday plans to go on a fun walk around the Great Falls, and then enjoyed a picnic complete with Bonnie's chicken salad sandwhiches, chips & dip (yum!), fruit and a special German Chocolate Cake which Omi's oldest granddaughter, Lizzy, helped bake.

It was a fabulous time with the whole family there, minus my Bo. The sights were gorgeous and the kids were all well-behaved. I was so happy to be a part of it!

The rest of the time was definitely all about the kiddos. We had park dates, tons of play time and loads of delicious meals with kids screaming (mine!).

One morning, Steph and I went out - just the two of us - and devored fresh bagels with tons of cream cheese. This has been an ongoing craving of mine since returning from Germany, where bagels were scarce. After this special breakfast, we spent the next few hours having sister time, shopping and running errands. It was perfect.

The best part of the trip was getting to watch my baby play and interact with her family. Lizzy and Ruthie wanted desperatly to play with her, which was difficult since she is still little and only knows so many words. She spent lots of time in the playroom, backing up into Aunt Bessie or Omi's lap. Papa spoiled her with two of her favorite things - watching her own videos on Youtube and taking long baths. I think she had a ball! Every morning, we woke up in the basement and she practiced saying her new word, "Upstairs!" She knew that was where the people were.

It wasn't until the very last day, while we were on our way to the airport, that Katy Jo finally said, "Papa." So cute. I keep practising everybody's name with her and hope to be up that way again soon.

I heart Fall

2011-10-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Last October around this time, we were enjoying Basel, Switzerland's Herbstmesse (a huge carnival) with our little baby, Katy Jo.

This year, while we aren't in gorgeous Germany soaking up the fall colors and pumpkin soup at Funfschilling, we are having fun welcoming in the new season with our little toddler. We recently took Katy Jo to the local pumpkin patch in downtown Buda to pick out her favorite pumpkin.

Last night, Bo finished up the job of carving two amazing jack-o-lanterns. Our baby is too little to participate in this, but she sure did enjoy watching and marveling at the final production.