Reese's First Year Evaluation

Although Reese turned one in December, we are only now able to look back fully on the year and provide a good sense of how the newest member of Team Bowes is faring. The theme of this evaluation is going to be that Reese is petite, powerful, and independent. She has all the makings of a great Bowes family member. But she is definitely feisty, so don't let the demure picture below fool you.



We can start with the petite aspects. At her one year appointment, Reese came in at a height of 28 inches(15th percentile) and a weight of 17 lbs 4 oz.(below 5th percentile) Her head was at 46cm (62nd percentile). Based on those numbers one might imagine she looked like a bobble head doll. But she didn't. Three months later, at her 15 month check-up, it was clear that the holidays had treated her right. She shot up to 29 1/2 inches (20th percentile) and packed on almost two pounds to weight in at 19 lbs 2 oz.(5th percentile) And her head gained 1 cm in circumference. (75th percentile). One of the main reasons why we like Dr. Warner as a pediatrician is that whenever we bring in our daughters he tells us how beautiful and healthy they are. And this time around, in response to Reese's numbers, he simply said, "She's growing like a Bowes girl. She looks great!" One area in which Reese's numbers are certainly exceeding expectations are her number of teeth. At the moment she has twelve, and even a recent face-first fall onto the corner of her parent's bed frame did not lessen that number, thank goodness.

Just as important, we have not heard anything from daycare about Reese using her chompers on her classmates, or vice versa. Indeed, overall Reese has been having a very good experience at daycare. At the beginning of the year she made the big move out of the busybee classroom and into the waddlers. This transition was apparently more difficult for her parents than for her. And it has also shown us that Reese is either extremely sweet or incredibly strategic. She has quickly developed a special rapport with Mr. Fred, who happens to be one of the owners of the family run business. That relationship makes Fred's wife Pam adore Reese, and in turn their daughter Amy thinks Reese is great. Perhaps by this time next year Reese will have a system in place where she gets the best seat at lunch and first shot at the new toys. We shall see. When it all comes down to it, Reese seems to have a blast at daycare and waves goodbye with a smile on her face every morning.

Food remains an interesting adventure when Reese is involved. She moved from bottles to sippy cups with no problem, and in fact she can even drink milk through a straw out of a cup or a box. This makes going out to eat much easier for everyone involved. Speaking of going out to eat, if you ever have to take Reese somewhere, we highly recommend Chipotle. You have to see it to believe it. She turns into an eating machine and takes down a kids' meal including the spicy corn salsa that even scares away her dad. As far as the rest of her meals, like most kids her age it is touch and go. Yesterdays favorite becomes today's rejected fare. There are a couple of mainstays, including cheese, yogurt, and oatmeal. And she is quickly developing the ability to use a spoon to eat the oatmeal and yogurt. Her father has her on a tight leash though, and she only gets the spoon once the food is on it. Unfortunately we have noticed some potential food allergies, and we might have to start keeping a journal of what she eats to see what causes her facial rashes. Some testing might come into play later. Strawberries have led to hives, and in a blow to omelette lovers in the family, she might be allergic to eggs.

Reese is a very vocal little one, but she has yet to lay claim to a clear spoken word. With that being said it is obvious that she understands what we say to her. In fact, she is very good at following directions, especially when it comes to putting things back in cabinets and closing doors. She has mastered a few of the basic sign language words, like please, thank you, and more. But she has also always been a big fan of responding to pictures of animals and making animal noises. She is particularly fond of elephants. And of course, for months she has enjoyed the game of "Where's Callie?" in which we ask the question and she makes the universal gesture of "I don't know - where could she be?" It's great fun for the whole family.

What Reese may lack in language skills she more than makes up for in her physical mobility. She started walking at ten months and now you can't turn your back on her. She wants to run and she wants to climb. Leave the room for a second, and she has used the stool to climb onto the coffee table. Take a little too long in the kitchen, and she has pushed one of the little chairs next to the couch so that she can climb up there, sit down, and smile proudly at her accomplishment. And John simply shuts the upstairs bathroom door in the morning because every chance she gets she is climbing the stool so that she can hang onto the sink. All of this highlights how she earned the nickname of "Muscle". She is more than willing to push Callie to the side to gain access to whatever it is she desires. And she desires quite a bit.

Our review ends with the all encompassing category of miscellaneous activities and things that come to mind when we think of Reese. She is a hair twirler and a really good snuggler, especially if you want the person you are snuggling with to rub the back of your neck or twirl your hair. She also loves the camera, and is ready with a great big smile whenever we break it out. Over the past several months we have also begun laying the foundation for that wonderful time in the future when she gives up diapers. At least three times a week, and sometimes more if we are really alert, Reese takes care of her business while sitting on the toilet and looking at an animal picture book. It's never to early to start the process of removing diapers from our household, and every success is one less stinky diaper we had to change. Speaking of the bathroom, we should also say a thing or two about bathtime. Reese loves getting in the bathtub, which is great. But she also loves either standing up when she shouldn't or drinking the bathwater, which is never a good idea. It is possible that she takes in a couple of ounces of soapy water a night. Seriously. It's gross.

Nevertheless, Reese has been a joyful addition to our family. She is adored by her sister and can bring a smile to the faces of her parents in an instant. And Reese has not only had to take on the intense love of her sister, but also of the older kids at daycare and at church. She is a tough cookie and tolerates being lugged around by six-year-olds quite well. But she also is quick to let you know when she is done with it. In short, she's a keeper. We love her immensely and are lucky to be her parents. We can't wait to see what this year brings and are happy to recommend her promotion to year two.

Callie's Fourth Year Evaluation

What can we say? The crazy year that was 2011 has managed to fully overflow into 2012. There are simply no signs of life slowing down for us. All of that is our way of apologizing for the fact that Callie's annual review is a little over five months late. And the saddest part is that somewhere in those five months some of Callie's paperwork must have been misplaced. We do not have any record on Callie's height or weight in terms of numbers and percentages. Looking at her, she is still both tall and thin. But what is especially apparent is that Callie is no longer a baby or a toddler - she is clearly a little girl.

And what kind of a little girls is she? Let's start with something illustrated in the picture below. She has a tendency to be shy, especially when she doesn't want to do something. This picture definitely highlights that aspect of her personality. We have also been lucky enough to experience this shyness/attitude when interacting with dentists and doctors. But what is even more fun is when we have a little girl who does not respond to our friends saying hello to her or trying to interact with her in any way. It's never good to start off an evaluation on such a note, but this is an important area in which she will need to improve as she approaches her fifth birthday.



One of the biggest changes in Callie's life this past year was the entrance of her sister. As we have stated so often in previous posts, Callie has exceeded expectations in her big sister responsibilities. The intensity of her love and concern has not diminished. If anything it has increased. For example, it made her extremely happy when Reese no longer took a morning nap, because it meant she would have more time to play with her. Indeed, she has taken to referring to Reese as "Boo" and does everything she can to help her little sister out.

The love for her sister is only one part of her greater interest in and love for her whole family. Sarah is her "Best Mommy" and John is her "Best Daddy". These are titles we accept with great pride, knowing it can't last forever. Who knows what will happen once she gets tenure? Amazingly enough she has an incredible ability to remember all of her relatives on both coasts and talks about them constantly. It probably helps that we have spent a lot of time traveling to see those folks this past year. At random moments she will refer to something Grammy has done or Nana Banana has taught her. It's fun to talk to her about stuff like that.

All of the travel and the general craziness of our lives has also made Callie a trooper who has the ability to turn any unfortunate situation into an adventure. Let's do a quick review. From the time she turned three to now she has - eaten a waffle after midnight at a Waffle House in northern KY while waiting for a tow truck and a taxi, she has slept on a bag of dirty laundry in the Las Vegas airport during the course of a 21 hour journey home from a trip to California, and she has made a flight out of LaGuardia after arriving at the rental car drop off site 45 minutes before take off. And these are just the major things we can remember. Indeed, she now gets a little upset if we are going to have an ordinary day in which she just comes home, has dinner, takes a bath, and goes to bed. Apparently she needs a bit more excitement in her daily routine.

Another significant development this past year was Callie's venture into the world of dance. She has taken dance lessons once a week since August and it has become one of her favorite days of the week. She is currently preparing for a recital in June that will be held at the Lexington Opera House. She loves to dance and at times interrupts her dinner so that she can step away from the table and spin a few times. However, if she doesn't do something about the shyness we mentioned above, her first recital could be interesting. We hope the confidence that she has when she requests us to introduce her as "Callie Alexis Bowes from Kentucky (or Alabama, depending on her mood)" will carry over into the big performance.

When Callie is not dancing, she is often singing. On Wednesday nights, as part of a weekly program at our church, Callie takes a music class. As a result of this class we have been introduced to an incredible number of songs. Callie loves to sing them all, and we are so grateful to Matt and Christi Gabbard who have passed along this love of music to her in the weekly sessions. It's pretty safe to say that few four-year-olds are able to serenade you with a pretty good version of Dona Nobis Pacem.

When she's not traveling the globe, dancing in her class, or singing at church, Callie is at daycare, where she continues to develop a variety of skills. Callie has two particularly strong loves at daycare. The first is, always has been, and always will be her friend Maddie. They continue to be inseparable, which is fun. The second love is for her teacher, Miss Michelle. Although Callie has learned a lot, her favorite activities to also do at home are cutting with scissors, spelling her or her sister's name, or doing small number math. It is clear that Miss Michelle makes a point of keeping her charges active and engaged.

Overall, Callie is a wonderful little girl with a great sense of humor and tendency to be goofy at the drop of a hat. In other words, she fits in very well with this family. She loves her friends from daycare and from church. And while we knew it was likely to happen but didn't want to admit it, our four-year-old girl loves princesses. She also loves her babies, and spends a lot of time making sure Bitty Baby, who has finally received the illustrious name of Harper Reese Vixen Bowes, is taken care of well. We sincerely hope that the inspiration of the doll's name is a combination of Callie's sister and one of Santa's reindeer. We don't want to think of the alternatives.

Although there are still a few areas that could be improved, overall Callie has once again exceeded our expectations by leaps and bounds. And we mean that quite literally, because she spends a lot of time jumping around the house. Often when she is "resting" for 40 minutes on the weekends when her parents just need a break. We have very strong feelings about this little girl, and fully expect that she will be a part of this family for a long, long time.

A Connecticut Christmas

This post is brought to you by the generous spirit of Taffy Bowes. When it became clear that we had forgotten our camera, she was kind enough to allow us to commandeer hers for the entire time we were in Connecticut. This took extra courage since the main person taking pictures had just showcased her responsible habits by losing her phone and entire wallet within hours of landing on the East Coast. That circumstance also explains why this post begins right on Christmas morning and doesn't have any particular lead in. We were a bit preoccupied.

In any case, Christmas day arrived, much to the joy of the Bowes girls. They were already excited because this year we stayed at the Balestraccis during our time in CT. This maximized their cousin time to the extreme. It's just a good thing that Michael and Brendan were able to retreat to their bedrooms every now and then to get a little alone time. Katie, Chris, Michael, and Brendan were truly wonderful hosts.



As we sat in front of the stockings on Christmas morning, Callie was fired up and Reese was definitely intrigued. They had on their matching "Santa I Believe" jammies and boy did they look cute. And fortunately Callie had no problem waiting for the whole family to gather before we starting the present-opening frenzy.


You will see in the next two pictures that Reese's go to moves for the morning were sitting on presents and holding onto anyone's small stocking items while walking around and uttering some sort of primal roar. Some thought it was cute, but there are times she scares us. She certainly has not picked up on the opening gifts aspect, but Callie was more than willing to help her out with these tasks.


First it is important to point out that Reese is sitting on a present while wearing a tiara. Reese's tiara was fitting, since it fit the present Callie was opening right at that moment. When Callie ripped the paper off of her Santa gift, a Cinderella doll, she exclaimed, "This is exactly what I wanted!" Somewhere nearby, Santa's helpers smiled. It was fun to see how much joy she got out of opening up the gifts brought by Santa.


After the Santa gifts were opened, we took a moment to hang out. This presented an opportunity to gather almost all of the grandkids on the couch with Nana Banana. It is safe to say that Nana Banana was quite pleased with the situation.



There are a couple of key things to notice in this picture. One is that Brendan is wearing the red bathrobe that apparently is his version of leisure wear - certainly knows how to embrace winter vacation. Second is that in the moment this picture was taken, Michael a.k.a. Mike, was willing to shed his cool high school vibe and embrace the craziness that came with the presence of his cousins. Third is that the picture is not complete.

This Christmas marked the first time we got to meet Zoey Berkeley Hannen. It was pretty darn exciting, and we think Reese was particularly interested in a being smaller than her. She and Callie loved to see Zoey and try to play with her. We were pretty taken by little Zoey as well. Keep this picture in mind in the future when no doubt there will be quite a few other girl cousin get togethers.


Zoey did not fly to Connecticut alone. Indeed, she was kind enough to allow her parents to join her. Brian and Suzy looked like naturals as parents, and it was so great to see the three of them together. Zoey, like Reese, is not yet into the unwrapping aspect of Christmas. But they also shared the generosity of the entire family where they had to ship a package in order to get all their goodies home.




Here we have the lovely and talented Balestracci family as they basked in the glow of Christmas morning at their house. It was fun to be able to spend this visit in their new house. Normally we only get to see them at the times the whole family gets together. And this year every time they turned around in their house we were in their face. I'm sure Chris and Katie needed some alone time once we departed. And Brendan and Michael are very happy to have their bathroom back.


The picture below captures not only the cuteness of Zoey but also the pure joy that Zoey brings to Suzy. It was so wonderful to see.



Zoey made a point to bring her special brand of joy to more than just her parents however.

Reese was very intrigued by Zoey. To be completely honest, we were a little nervous about how Reese would interact. However, we figured that our ornament strategy might just work in this case as well. Amazingly enough, it did. Reese didn't grab, poke, pinch, lick, or otherwise harass her younger cousin. She just looked at her and waved. This made her parents very proud.


Every now and then one of us got the chance to hold Zoey. And if you were really lucky, you got to hold Zoey and Reese at the same time. And the presence of both little ones seemed to draw Callie like a moth to a flame. What was interesting to us, however, was that Callie had an awareness about Zoey that isn't quite there with her sister. In other words, she was gentle with Zoey and knew it was good to give her space. There was no need to tell Callie not to squeeze, pick-up, or grab Zoey. This is not the case with her sister. Intriguing, isn't it.


The original plan called for Christmas morning at the Balestraccis and then dinner at Nana Banana and Sport's house. However, this all changed when the oven broke at the Bowes residence on Christmas morning. At the end of the day everyone agreed that it was a blessing because we had a great day hanging out in one place. And the dinner was still prepared by the team of chefs that would have been in the kitchen anyway. Here are the three primary members of that squad. And the food tasted so much better because it was prepared by three people who clearly had fun in the kitchen.

The day after Christmas we headed over to Nana Banana and Sport's to meet up with John's Uncle Tommy and Aunt Terry. We always have dinner with them around Christmas, but this year we also got to spend a few more hours together before we went out to eat. It was fantastic to have that extra time to just sit around and chat.



Reese got all dressed up and was on her best behavior for two distinct reasons. First, she has heard that Tommy and Terry are the generous bestowers of Bitty Babies. Second, and much more important, Reese knows how much we would all love to have Tommy and Terry visit the Bluegrass. She didn't want to give them any reason to rule out such a visit.

We always talk about how much fun Callie has with Michael and Brendan. But let's be clear. That whole Balestracci family is a bundle of laughs. Callie had a lot of fun at dinner. She sat far away from her parents, for one. And she got to sit next to Nana Banana. Once she had eaten her fair share of shrimp scampi, she started hopping from lap to lap. Needless to say, she enjoyed herself and found a ready companion for fun in her Uncle Chris.


When Reese saw how much fun Callie was having, she decided to join in. Clearly she inspired Sport to get goofy for the camera. All in all, the two girls were fantastic at dinner. We were at the restaurant for almost three hours and they were excellent. Clearly all the nights we eat out for dinner and don't cook at home is paying off.


We have a few things to say about this group picture. First, it is wonderful to have these moments when family gets together and we are able to record it with a photograph. Now that we have the sentimental stuff out of the way, there are a few other observations. Contrary to what it may appear in this picture, Uncle Tommy is not four times the size of the rest of us. This is what happens when fifteen people cram into a small restaurant lobby to take a picture. And let this be a lesson to anyone who is ever asked to take a group photo like this one. It is completely unnecessary to have the three feet of open space at the top of the photo. Focus on the people and tell them that they don't have to crouch. It's all about spacing. Seriously, go back and look at the picture we have from four years ago when Callie was two months old. Different restaurant, same result. One day we will perfect this.

On the last night we were all in Connecticut we stayed true to tradition and the fourth year in a row we headed out for the sibling dinner. It was great to be able to fit this important event in to a hectic holiday schedule.



The only difference this year brought was instead of going elegant we went brewery. It was just what we needed to relax and catch up without having one of the five collective kids needing something.

And while this post is going up in 2012, it really wraps up 2011 for the Kentucky Bowes. We are blessed to have such wonderful lives. We just hope that in 2012 things slow down a tad so that we can better enjoy these blessings.

Christmas Preparations

So we had our gingerbread houses ready, but we needed to get the rest of our own house ready for the arrival of Santa. And this was truly the year that Callie knew exactly what was going on. She was very excited about Santa and we listened to a lot of Christmas music throughout the entire month.

The first step was selecting our tree. For the fifth year in a row we headed down Richmond Road to a Christmas tree lot full of the finest pine trees in town. The family who runs the operation are wonderful folks and we enjoy supporting their efforts. It's a Christmas tree lot that actually has quite a bit of holiday cheer, which we enjoy. Our selection didn't take very long at all, and we were all happy about the tree we selected. This is the first year, though, that Callie spotted the little trees they have on the lot and wondered why she couldn't have one of her own.

With the tree purchased it was now time to put on John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas and break out the boxes filled with all of the decorations. As you can see, Reese particularly enjoyed the Santa hat we found from last year.



That picture definitely captures Reese's spirit. She is a whole lot of fun and is full of energy. Fortunately, she also learned to be very good around the Christmas tree. We taught her to wave at the ornaments instead of pulling on them. Surprisingly enough, this strategy worked and there were no incidents of broken ornaments. However, the same cannot be said for snow globes. Reese managed to break two of them in the lead up to Christmas.


Callie continues to expand her tree decorating skills. This year she was a big help. Although it was still necessary to adjust the spacing of ornaments after she went to bed, it was not as bad as previous years. And she loved asking about the different ornaments and where they came from. Of course, she also has a special place in her heart for the felt ornament made by Nana Banana of Callie Doggie.




For the second year in a row we received an invitation to the Grins and Giggles gathering with Santa at our friends Ann-Philips and Jay's house. Last year's picture had a reluctant Callie and a very pregnant Sarah. We are happy to say that Sarah slimmed down for this year's photo. However, Callie was not even willing to enter the same room as the jolly old elf and Reese clearly was less than pleased by the whole situation. It did not go well. But that was just about Santa. We all enjoyed the rest of the evening and can't wait for next year.


Because we weren't able to get a picture of the girls in their new Christmas dresses with Santa, we went for the next best thing. A picture with their loving mother in front of the decorated Christmas tree.



You can see that they certainly enjoyed this photo opportunity far more than being forced to sit on the lap of a strange man with a beard. We'll have to keep that in mind.


More than a year after Reese entered Callie's life, the adoration and love remains strong, vibrant, and intense. If Reese is in the room, Callie wants to be next to her, behind her, or on top of her. She wants to hug her, kiss her, tickle her, pick her up, and entertain her. And as Reese has grown, she has begun to do more than just tolerate her older sister. She loves giving her hugs and playing with her. We know that this is just the beginning.

Reese Turns One

Everyone always talks about the first year going by fast. It definitely did with Callie. But Reese's first year went by at warp speed. It is actually quite stunning to realize that she has been in our lives for over a year. And it certainly isn't because she hasn't made her presence known. Reese is full of life and personality. And she is not afraid to share her opinions and feelings. Take for instance, the centerpiece of the celebration for her first birthday.




There it sat, a gorgeous cupcake topped by the candle shaped in number one. For the above picture we placed the cupcake out of reach, sure that the mere smell of sugary frosting would send Reese into an eating frenzy. Apparently there are still a few things we don't know about our daughter.

It started off well. We put the cupcake in front of her and sang happy birthday. And as pictured here, we even shared the melodious birthday songs from her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents left on our voicemail. Reese loved it. She smiled, she clapped her hands, and from our perspective she was ready for the big moment when the cupcake would be devoured.

It was not that simple. This picture was taken after about five minutes of encouragement as we tried to get Reese to even touch the cupcake. You can see that Vivie Ann, Mason, and Callie all thought that they might have the answer to this problem. If Reese just got a little taste of the frosting she would understand what she was missing. Or at least if she saw them eating it her base instincts would kick in and she would take part.


Then Callie went for the direct approach. Just take the frosting and shove it in her mouth. She was sincerely at a loss to understand why Reese would not want to indulge in a treat that she had never had the opportunity to taste before. However, Callie may have also been personally offended because she had taken a lot of pride in the time she spent helping to pick out this particular cupcake.

When all was said and done, Reese did get a bit messy. But as you can see in the picture below, she refused to eat any substantial amount of it. Indeed, after she got some of the frosting on her arm she was mostly upset that there was something sticky on her arm. So this is not a picture of a fist raised in victory, but a signal that she was done with this little charade.



Once we had completed our attempts to capture the iconic moments of a first birthday, it was time to focus on birthday party activities. But in the year lived at warp speed, that meant combining birthday activities with Christmas preparations. Bring on the gingerbread houses!

Vivie Ann and Mason worked well together on their house. We had been sure to keep all of the candy decorations in the kitchen while lunch had been served. But when all of that was done it was time to put as much colorful candy on the gingerbread cottage as possible. This brother and sister team did well, and the picture shows that they were quite happy with the final product.




While the Johnson kids were working their magic, Callie was representing the Bowes family alone since Reese was doing what she normally does at these parties, taking a nap. However she was more than willing to join the crew for the picture with the fully decorated house. All in all it was a great day.

So little Reese Harper is one. Crazy. Our regular readers will note that she has yet to receive her first year promotion and tenure review. The paperwork has been an issue and the current economic crisis has forced us to downsize the front office. It has led to some delays in our normal processes. Trust us, it's coming.

Horses and Turkeys in California

Last year, the timing of Reese's arrival meant that we didn't have to travel anywhere for Thanksgiving or Christmas. And although it was nice not to have to buy plane tickets, it was tough not to see our extended families. So it was good to be able to hit the road for Thanksgiving this year as we prepared for a fun time in Sacramento. Of course, it would have been more enjoyable if our trip didn't start with Reese waking up at 3:30am puking in her crib. Unfortunately the sickness only gained momentum on the drive to the Louisville airport and on the first flight to Dallas. Trust us, you didn't want to be sitting within five rows of us on that one. And we must admit that a dry heaving 11 month old is not a pretty sight.

But like the trooper she is, Reese shook it off and we got ready to enjoy our time in Sactown. This time around on our Thanksgiving day trip to Golden Gate Fields in Oakland we chose to live the good life by paying for the all you can eat buffet and skybox seats. Just look at the view we had from our tables. Tough to beat, and the food was very tasty.



You can see most of the main players from the day in the above picture. A special thanks goes out to the high school friend of Sarah and Zac, who give us a hot tip on a horse in the fifth race. General Dan paid off well for us. However, Sarah's Uncle Tommy was the big winner with an exacta bet that paid well. It was great to spend time with Tommy and Brian, and as we Kentucky folk know, you can't beat a good day at the track.


The day after Thanksgiving we headed out to Rancho Murietta to spend the day at GA and GU's house. This meant a day full of cousins, fun, and food. It's crazy to think that in the last four years we have gone from one great-grandchild to six. In this picture we see the two youngest, Reese and Chase, showing that the family bonds will definitely extend into the next generation.

We did our best to capture all six of the great-grandchildren in one picture. However, it did not take us long to realize that this was not going to happen. The picture below shows the closest we ever got. Amazingly enough, it wasn't the youngest who were the biggest problems here.



But you can trust us when we say that the kids had a great time hanging out, playing with all of the toys in the house, and just generally making a lot of noise. Holidays are going to be a wonderful combination of joy and craziness for the next several years.

This day wasn't just about Thanksgiving, though. We also took the opportunity to celebrate the birthdays of those who were marking that big event in the near future. More specifically, we had a tasty birthday cake for Reese and GU. It seemed like both of them were happy to share the spotlight, or at least the cake.


Although Grammy Gayle doesn't like big shopping crowds, we were able to talk her into a brief excursion into the post-Thanksgiving shopping crowds. Here we see Grammy Gayle taking advantage of some of the holiday deals by buying her and Callie pairs of Merrells.



Callie has loved wearing what she simply calls her "slip-on shoes" to school almost every day. They are comfortable and her parents like the fact that she can take care of it on her own and there aren't any debates over what shoes to wear. Thanks Grammy Gayle!


Our final stop on this whirlwind tour of family, friends, and Sacramento was the new children's museum. It was a whole lot of fun. This picture shows how you can set the tone right when you walk in the door. Reese had a great time playing the section they have dedicated to kids three and under. Although Reese had been walking for about a month by this point, we certainly enjoyed watching her navigate the uneven terrain throughout the place. And Callie went from station to station with a smile on her face. It was fun to watch. Of course, the station she enjoyed the most was the pretend grocery store, where she quickly muscled her way behind the cash register and took over the business.


Both Reese and Callie didn't mind getting a little wet in the museum's splash zone area either. If there is one thing we have learned in our brief experience with children's museums, a good splash zone area can't be beat. Hopefully one day we will catch on by always bringing an extra pair of clothes. And that's not just for the kids, either.

As always, the trip was both fun and far too short. But we are looking forward to heading back to Sacramento in April for Great Grandma Lucas's 90th birthday celebration.

Reese's Baptism

So before we do anything else, we need to apologize to our loyal fanbase (Gayle and Taffy - at least they are the ones who drop subtle hints/questions wondering about the next post with pictures of their granddaughters) for the two month break in posting. Trust us when we say the blog is not the only thing that has suffered from the chaos of our so-called life. Plans are still in the works to send out the last Christmas gifts to friends and family throughout the country. Realistically, it will probably won't happen to February, so if you are reading this and don't have a gift from us yet, don't get your hopes up.

But on to our task of documenting the recent, or not so recent, past. We pick up with November 20, 2011, when Reese was baptized at First Presbyterian Church. She was very well behaved during the entire process and waved to members of the congregation when the Minister carried her up and down the aisles. And to top it all off, when the service was over, the mayor of Lexington, Jim Gray, came up specifically to shake her hand. None of the legal voters in the Bowes family received a handshake or even a hello. Chris Chrisman, as he did with Callie, presented Reese to the congregation, and it means a lot to us.



We had a big spread of food and invited the Chrismans and the Johnsons over to celebrate Reese's big day. The irony of it all is that she didn't eat any of the food and slept through the entire party. However, Callie had a wonderful time playing with Vivie Ann and eating the quiche and French toast casserole. Overall, it was a good day.