Saturday, December 3, 2011

J's 9 month update

Jackson had his 9 month appointment last week. He is 18 lbs, 6 oz. (15%) He is 28 inches long (30%) and his head circumference is in the 85%. Does that mean he'll be super smart? He already is. He is pretty much skipping the crawling. He kind of pulls himself with his arms while his legs are straight. He loves to stand and walk along the furniture. He can go from couch to couch to chair to tv stand, where he gets in trouble. All those blinking lights just call to him. And lately he just wants to hold onto your fingers and walk. Hes getting more explorative. The living room is boring. Now he wants to walk over by the door and around the kitchen and down the stairs etc. etc. etc. He is so fun, too. He is giggling and laughing and smiling. Yesterday I was feeding him and he was making a funny face so I asked him if he was poopin. He thought "poop" was soo funny. (he's such a boy!!) So I kept saying poop and he kept laughing hysterically. I took a video on my phone, and I'll try to upload it at some point. We just love him! Hes growing up so fast!

Starting to look like MOMMY!

Everyone says Jackson looks "Just" like Luke. All the time.
But I think he's starting to look like an Eggensperger.
Pictures of me as a baby for comparison....
They're the only ones I have...straight from my baby book.
But seriously, no matter who he looks like, hes still the cutest baby ever! And he's growing up sooo fast!

Thanksgiving 2011

Here's our little turkey for his first thanksgiving! He tried turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, rolls, and maybe some stuffing and liked it all! He is such a good eater, especially if you say positive, encouraging things like yum while hes eating. (OMG I'm actually using my psych degree!!) Bob tried to feed him rice cereal and made a face so Jackson didn't want to eat it. It also helps if you sing and make funny noises too.
Here he is playing with Grandpa B.
And here are me and Vicki. I saw a craft on BHG.com where they painted these cute little houses to make a village. We decided to make birdhouse villages. They didn't quite turn out like the pictures online, but they looked pretty good for two non-artists.

Halloween 2011

We have been soo blessed with hand-me-downs for Jackson. Amazingly enough, there was a halloween costume that fit him perfectly! He is a dinosaur. Or dragon. I'm not really sure, although I'm kind of leaning towards dragon. He was sooo cute! Our church had a harvest party and I dressed like Jem (the 80s cartoon...Jem and the Rockers...), and Luke was a hill billy. Our life group had a "Redneck Horseshoes" booth where you threw toilet seats at giant plungers. Almost everyone dressed like hillbillies. Luke looked quite exceptional. I wish I had a picture!! :( Of course, I made both of our costumes. Nothin like throwing it together at the last minute.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Pics 10.15.11

Our little man was in the hospital! He was breathing funny one night after crying really hard and throwing up everything he had eaten, so we took him to the ER. The respiratory therapist made sure we checked into the hospital and they kept us there from Sunday night til Thursday midday. Our best diagnosis was viral. He just had a respiratory thing going on and we had to wait until his oxygen was up on his own before we could go home. They tested for RSV, Flu, etc. etc. but nothing was positive. It was a long week for baby, Mommy, & Daddy, but we survived and he is doing much better. Still a little tired and fighting off whatever, but doing great.
We have a little blow up tub for Jackson. It is perfect. Its just the right size so that he can sit up and Im not worried about him falling over. Plus, the back of the duck is slanted so that he can lean back while I wash his hair. And if you squeeze the beak the duck quacks
Speaking of ducks, how cute is this kid in his little duck jacket?

Adventures in Apple Cider

A few weeks ago Luke made the mistake of saying we should make some apple cider. In his mind he meant "let's go get some apple cider and put some of the cider spice in it to enjoy on this lovely fall day" (paraphrase). In my mind I heard "Lets go get some apples and make apple cider from scratch!" Guess whose idea won out. We bought a bunch of local apples from the store and proceeded to core them, cut them, and process them in the food processor until they were like liquid applesauce. Then came the fun part. The recipe said to use cheesecloth to strain the apple cider from the apple mush. Cheese cloth didn't work. So what did I come up with?
Thats right, Pantyhose. I found an old kneehigh nylon, washed it for peace of mind, and then Luke scooped the sauce into it and I squeezed the juice out. We ended up getting almost a gallon of cider plus a bunch of apple mush without the juice. So I made apple cake with the mush. The cider was delicious! It was a tad bit tart but with a little bit of cider spice it was perfect.
So would we do it again? Maybe. If we got the apples for free. And I figured out an easier way to drain the juice. But it was fun, and even though it was probably the most expensive apple cider we'll ever drink, it was even better based on the work we put in.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Jackson's Photo Shoot

A friend of mine that I grew up with started a photography business in Thompson Falls. I really liked her work and wanted some nice pics of the kiddo so when Jackson and I were in TFalls last week working at the Ledger he had a photo shoot and I wrote a story for the paper on Sunlit Photography. The photos turned out really nice. She did a great job, especially considering he was only 6 months old, not very good at sitting, and had zero attention span, not to mention it was during our regular nap time. (Good planning, kels!) We are just thrilled with Jenny's work! I thought I would share with you all. I think I got the friend discount, but it was so affordable (business expense, anyone?), and she just gave me a cd with all the pictures on it. Then I don't have to spend a gazillion dollars just to get prints. yay!! So, if you want a copy of a pic, just let me know. I'll try to upload more in the coming days. The files are big so I couldn't upload more than like 2 at a time. There are a few on facebook, too.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Jackson Update

Here are some recent pics of Jackson. Hes 7 months old now and so much fun! Hes playing a lot and giggling and smiling. He can sit up for the most part, only falling sideways occasionally. He weighed 17 lbs at his 6 month check up so hes probably close to 18 now. Hes eating cereal and baby food, which is really fun. I love giving him new things to see if he likes it. So far weve only had a problem with the green beans that I made. I dont think he liked the texture. And sweet potatoes that I made are kind of up in the air. I usually mix them with applesauce or something so he'll eat them. He must like them with brown sugar and butter like the rest of us. Hes a really good eater though. Right now he has a cold, which means lots of snot and lots of cuddling. I dont mind the cuddling part. Sucking snot out of his nose with a bulb syringe is not the most fun. Especially when he screams. :) We love this kid!!!

New House!

Since Alli has been asking for pics of the new digs for awhile, I thought I'd finally post since I remembered and took pictures and the house was kind of clean. Here we go.
Our bed...The quilt is pretty! It was made for our wedding by one of my quilt leaders from 4-H.
The dining room area...
The kitchen. Very open! Lots of cabinets and counter space.
My favorite area....the LAUNDRY Room!!!!
Living Room - Thanks Vicki for the fun shelves!
Little Man playing in his exersaucer. This wall has pretty much become Jackson's area. He has way too many toys.
More Living room...
Entry Way
Hallway. I put the word "family" on the wall and am doing a collage of family pictures. Its still in the works, obviously.
Going down to the basement where Bob lives.
Jacksons room...My dad made the crib for me when I was born. I used it, and Scott and Mark both used it. Now Jackson uses it. Its still in excellent shape and I love that my dad made it. Its so special.
more Jackson's room. Were in the middle of changing out sizes of clothes. Hes moving into the 9month in shirts but still in 6 month for bottoms, plus its still kind of summer so I haven't really taken out all the shorts yet. Its basically just a cluster at the moment.
This is the guest room/sewing room. There was a bed in here but its in the closet currently because we had to clean out the room for kiddos to play in while we host life group. Luckily this week they played outside.
More of our room. I didn't take pics of the bathroom because I just couldn't get a good angle. We have a guest bath and a master bath.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

F90XC: Day 2 & 3

Yesterday was day 2. We went on a spur of the moment hike up Pattee Canyon. We were both wearing sandals and encountered a LOT of mud on the trail. Try pushing a stroller up hill through mud. Its a workout. Seriously. Add in flip flops and its crazy hard. My legs were burning last night. Today we helped a lady from church move furniture and I did some weight bearing exercises.

In other news Jackson is being super difficult when it comes to going to sleep. He is super tired but doesn't want to go to sleep by himself. And if you let him cry he just gets mad and madder and screams which almost makes you cry because it sounds like somebody is sawing his arm off or something. Sigh! Were trying the vibrate setting on his bed and hes been quiet so maybe it will do the trick. yay! Maybe I'll actually get some sleep tonight instead of getting up every few hours.

Monday, June 6, 2011

F90XC: Day 1

Have you heard about the P90X craze? Its these exercise tapes that give you a new exercise every day so that you have muscle confusion and thus build a better body. Well, I came up with my own: F90XC. Frazier's 90 day eXercise Challenge. Yesterday was day 1. We went on a 90 minute brisk walk on the river trail. If you know Missoula at all, we walked from the entrance on Russell street along the trail all the way to the where the pavement ends below the University and back. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit sore today. Jackson slept the whole time. And did you know, Netflix has workout videos on demand? yay! I added a bunch to our queue so poor Luke won't know what hit him. ha ha! Im only broadcasting my need for fitness to help hold me accountable. (Hello, post baby body: YUCK!)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Coupon Kelsie...

So my new obsession is couponing. That Sunday paper arrives on our doorstep and I can hardly wait to rip off the rubber band and savor the coupons to see what kind of wonderful deals I can get. I watched "Extreme Couponing" on TLC and it was totally inspiring. I don't see the need to stock up on a bazillion items that I won't use, but I see the need to watch my budget and save money for my family (especially since being a mom pays in smiles and love instead of $$$). Last week I bought 3 bottles of barbeque sauce for 37 cents. Total. Thats like 12 cents a bottle. YAHTZEE! I've learned some lessons in my short coupon career:
1) Cut out all the coupons, if its anything you might need, and save them.
2) Get a jump on really really good deals at stores. Like 50 cent brownie mix, and free after catalinas. Catalinas are the coupons that stores print out with the receipts to use on your next shopping trip. A few weeks ago I waited until Saturday to get my "free" contact solution and it was all gone. The pharmacy stores will give you catalinas that are useful for your next purchase. Or you could use them to purchase a boatload of the same product for your stockpile.
3) Utilize double coupons. Albertson's puts double coupon coupons in their Sunday insert, which will double any coupon up to a dollar. Thats how I got my 12 cent BBQ sauce.
4) Start paying attention to sales and prices so you know what a good deal is.

Have fun clipping!!!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Giant Slacker

We are leaving for vacation tomorrow morning. Are we packed? No. Is the car clean? No. Is the laundry done? No. Am I being productive? No. My ideas of sleeping in were foiled by a crying gassy baby, and then I proceeded to make coffee and scones. I made scones on Saturday morning and they were so good I had to make more. Orange chocolate chip. Now Im drinking coffee, snuggling with the bambino, and blogging. Not doing laundry and packing, like I should be doing. sigh. I really wish we had a washer and dryer. It would make my life SO much easier. I am dreading hauling the laundry across the parking lot and feeding quarters into the machine.

In other news, we bought a house! Well, my father in law bought a house and we get to pay rent and live with him. We'll close June 15 and move that weekend. Our portion of the house will be like 3 times the size of our current apartment and will have a washer and dryer. YAY! And theres a yard for the little man to play in when he gets bigger. And a guest room so that our parents wont have to sleep on the couch or the blow up mattress in the living room. And Jackson wont have to share his room with storage/sewing/office/etc. Im so excited!!!!!

Jackson is growing like a weed. Already 12.5 lbs and 23 inches. HE smiles a lot and laughs some, which is the best thing ever. I love being a wife and mom. I'm so lucky to get to stay home with my son. I almost feel guilty that I get to stay home and luke has to go to work every day. Life is good!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Mark's Graduation

Some pics from the weekend...

Meeting Uncle Scott...


Mark's a graduate!!!!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Going Private...

I'm thinking we should go private because the last comments I've gotten have been from randoms. Creep-o!!! I don't like weird people looking at pictures of my cute baby and knowing stuff about our life. Stupid internet....

So if you want to keep reading, leave a comment with your email address or send me an email or a facebook message. Or you can text me or something. I figure the only people who read this are my parents and Alli, and you guys both know my email/etc. ha ha. My email is my first initial maiden name (at) gmail (dot) com.

Monday, March 28, 2011

My Men...

After my doctor's appointment today I came home to this.....



I'm a very blessed girl.

Meeting GG

Jackson got to meet my AMAZING Grandma! I was so excited. My cousin's kids call her GG so here he is with GG. Gram is 92 and is really great shape besides being blind and deaf. ha ha. Not quite literally, but getting closer. She still plays a mean hand of cards though. I love her!!


Jackson - 1 month



Lucky for Jackson his one month birthday fell on Uncle Mark's birthday - St. Patty's Day! Being of the Bowman clan, this is exciting. My mom tried to convince me he'd be born on St. Patty's Day but luckily we didn't have to wait as long. Here are some pictures...

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Alien Baby



So because Jackson was headed out sideways he ended up with a conehead and a giant bruise, which caused jaundice. For 2 days he was attached to a bili blanket, which really isnt a blanket at all. Its a bright light the shape of a kindle that is attached via a giant hose that comes from a box that plugs into the wall. He glowed. Poor thing. But it did the trick.

Meeting the grandparents...

After the little man was born Luke headed off with him to the nursery to get weighed and measured and whatnot. The grandparents got to see through the glass and they found out he was a boy but Luke made them wait to find out the name from me. Unfortunately for them, they had to wait like 2.5 hours. After almost an hour in recovery, nursing for the first time, and the debacle to get me set up with IV's and stuff, they were finally able to come in and meet him. It was amazing to watch. There was just so much awe and love and pride pouring from them...


Grandpa Tom & Jackson
My dad is always the one behind the camera, so its pretty much a miracle to have a picture of him.


Grandma Vicki & Jackson


Grandma Bina & Jackson. She cried. I love this picture.

The Big Day - 2/17/11

our last picture as a childless couple...

The last picture of my girth...


I was induced at 9 am on February 17 and after being told at noon that my hips were small, then learning that the baby was headed sideways and not taking the contractions very well at 6ish, we were headed in for a c-section. Jackson Lucas was born at 7:35 pm.

It's a boy!!

Our first family picture...