Baby Bowes

A Connecticut Christmas

2012-01-22T13:14:00.019-05:00

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

2012-01-22T13:05:00.010-05:00

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

2012-01-21T21:38:00.011-05:00

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

2012-01-21T21:01:00.009-05:00

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

2012-01-21T20:38:00.002-05:00

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.

We know it's November, but Happy Halloween!!

2011-11-20T23:09:00.020-05:00

Once we managed to get through the celebrations of birthdays in early October we could spend the rest of the month focusing on pumpkins and costumes. Fortunately we had more than enough opportunities to do so. Our great pumpkin journey starts at Happy Jack's, a family run farm in Frankfort. It was our first visit to the place and we really enjoyed it.

The occasion was a costume party hosted by our friends the Johnsons. Callie was excited to wear her cupcake costume and Reese looked dashing as a strawberry. Apparently Sarah was hungry when she picked out this year's costumes. The food items were accompanied by Jesse from Toy Story and your friendly neighborhood chicken.

We had a variety of activities during the course of the afternoon, including a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. Callie spent a while looking for a good pumpkin and was ready to carry it wherever it needed to go. I bet you have never seen a cupcake struggling to carry a pumpkin before, have you? That day and on Halloween this cupcake was up to all sorts of tricks.

Other activities that filled the day included face painting, walking through a haunted forest, eating lunch, and horsing around. As you can imagine, the horsing around took up most of the time. One of the kids' favorite activities involved taking turns pulling around the little red wagon loaded with children and pumpkins. It was easier for some. Poor Mason had a bit of a tough time trying to make some headway with three girls and two pumpkins. But he certainly tried.

As might be expected, Happy Jack's also had a wide variety of animals on the premises. Both Callie and Reese were entranced by the sheep, pigs, and goats. Here we see the two girls and John standing by the fence after feeding one of the goats. They could have stayed there all day. It's also important to mention that as we were leaving the farm in our car, we were followed by an ostrich. They certainly are big birds.

We could not pass up an opportunity to get a good picture of Reese surrounded by pumpkins. So here it is. She is looking mighty cute here, isn't she? Truth be told, the cuteness lasted only moments and then she let us know she was done posing for pictures for the day.

All in all, it was great to find another family owned farm in the area that we can enjoy and visit throughout the year. You can just never have enough family owned farms in your life, that's our motto.

It has taken us a while to make it happen, but we finally managed to get back to Keeneland for breakfast with the works. It's funny. We always seem to pick the coldest mornings to visit the track. But this was a special day because it was the Saturday before Halloween. We not only got the treat of watching the horses go through their training runs, but we also got to witness a visit from the Headless Horseman as he made his way through the paddock. Very cool.

Callie and Reese were all bundled up so they were prepared for the attempt to capture them from all different angles. Reese definitely loved this visit to Keeneland. Her first visit, this past April, involved rain and a lost set of car keys. So this time around it may have been cold, but that was the worst of it. She got excited every time a horse came by. And Callie has never lost her enthusiasm for the ponies.

Now just because we went to Happy Jack's earlier in the month it did not mean we could bypass some of our other favorite spots. So off we headed to Evan's Orchard to get a few more pumpkins, a few more pictures, and a whole afternoon at their playground.

Callie and Reese found a smile or two to share with their parents as more opportunities arose for our posing with pumpkins segment of the blog.

Although we had already gotten our hands on a couple of pumpkins from Happy Jack's, we needed a good carving pumpkin. At Evan's, however, the wagons are all manual. And now that Reese is a part of Team Bowes, Dad needs to pull a little harder while also making sure he doesn't catapult Reese out of the wagon. And you thought this was just a picture of a serene trip out to a pumpkin patch.

This year John was not going to let another pumpkin carving season go by without joining in the fun and showing Callie how it all works. As a sign of the times, John first had to go next door to see if the Chrismans had any newspaper to spread on the floor. This is one of the effects of getting your news via the internet I guess. And for the record, John had to deny Sarah's recommendation of the pumpkin carving kit at Target. Do people not use their kitchen knives for this stuff anymore?!? What is the world coming to?

Callie was an eager assistant in the whole process. She was all set to dig out the insides of the pumpkin and she certainly wanted to use the big kitchen knife. That, however, will have to wait. Not pictured here is Reese, who spent most of the time trying to get into everything and anything. It was a fun experience to say the least.

Here are the carvers with the product of their labors. It is not the most dramatic pumpkin, but I'm sure the carving will get more sophisticated as the years pass.

And of course all of the above was simply a lead up to the main event - Halloween. When the night finally arrived we were ready and raring to go.

We'll start with our little strawberry. Obviously she was pretty bewildered by the whole experience. But she just kept her eyes on Callie to get an understanding of what the heck was going on. The high point of the evening was that Reese pulled in some additional candy for her parents. And the low point was that people kept mistaking her for an apple. Oh well.

Callie certainly looked the part as we embarked on the evening. However, she still struggled with the basic trick or treat etiquette. There were more than a few awkward moments where she stood silent, her parents tried to encourage her to say trick-or-treat, and the poor soul handing out candy just wanted us off of their porch. But we insisted on taking advantage of the educational opportunity such moments presented. We're still not sure if anything stuck. But we tried.

The final picture of this long post captures the two little girls soaking in the Halloween spirit. They are quite a pair, and with every day they bring more joy to our lives. A few challenges here and there - but joy is the biggest thing, that's for sure.

Now that we have successfully updated our blog, we are off to California to enjoy our Thanksgiving festivities with the Sacramento crew. It will mark our fifth flight to California this year. And boy are our arms tired! John thinks he's so funny. Have a great Turkey Day!

Fall Birthdays

2011-10-06T21:33:00.008-04:00

This fall has presented the opportunity for a large number of birthday celebrations. In fact the same day that Zoey Berkeley Hannen was born, Callie's good friend Murphy turned four. And by the time Murphy's birthday extravaganza came to an end it had lasted all weekend long. We started off at the Green Tree Tea Room for a five course luncheon. Yes, this was for four-year-olds. You can see the birthday girl in the picture below with Callie and Vivie Ann.

It is evident from the looks on the faces of the three girls that they were having a fine time at the tea room. It was quite funny to watch Callie drink tea and eat mini-sandwiches and muffins. She certainly loved the idea that she was doing something big girls do.

To understand the fanciness of the Green Tree Tea Room, you can start by looking at one of the tables set up for the occasion. Each of our five courses were delivered by waiters who were incredibly attentive. This was particularly displayed by the way in which they constantly picked up the girls' napkins that spent more time on the ground than they should have. Needless to say this was an exercise in manners. More important, it was a lot of fun.

Although our pictures of Murphy's birthday events stop here, the fun did not. Ann-Phillips, Murphy's mom, picked up both Vivie Ann and Callie later that afternoon so they could all go out to dinner and then spend the night at Murphy's house. The evening included bubble baths, princess dress-up, and movies. Callie made her parents the proudest when it was reported that she asked Ann-Phillips if they could turn off the movie and go to bed because she was tired. We wish that she could show such self-control at our house. But we aren't holding our breath on that one.

Our second birthday subject arrived the first week of September and her name is Lucy Gipe. She is a wonderful addition to the lives of her parents, Alex and Sarah, and her big sister Libby. Lucy also happens to be the granddaughter of our good friends and neighbors, Sharon and Chris. We got to meet her pretty early on when she came to Lexington for her first visit.

It is amazing what the addition of two more little girls can do for a household. You can see that Sarah Gipe and Sarah Bowes are handling the additional chaos well, albeit with a glass of wine in hand.

It has been great over the past year or so to see Callie and Libby play together every time Libby comes to visit and stay with Sharon and Chris. They run all over the place with big smiles on their faces. So we can only imagine what it is going to be like in a few more years when Reese and Lucy join the fun.

But now we must move on to the main event. On October 3, Callie Alexis Bowes turned four years old. It is very hard to believe. She was so excited and it was wonderful to see how much she embraced the idea of turning a year older. Because her birthday was on a Monday she got to go to school and spend the day as the special birthday girl. This included getting to wear a sticker all day long that pointed out her new status as a four-year-old.

It also meant that we got to bring in cupcakes that she could share with her friends. Here is Callie sharing a cupcake with Maddie, who has been her best pal since she started going to daycare almost four years ago. They have an incredibly special relationship and Callie thinks the world of Maddie. Ironically enough, Callie got to celebrate Maddie's special day only a few weeks later. October is truly a great month!

Callie's birthday celebrations continued with an intimate dinner party with the Chrismans. When we asked Callie what she wanted for dinner, she requested shrimp fajitas without hesitation. It just so happens that this is only a slight variation on the tacos we prepared for her third birthday. As far as the cake goes, after perusing the options and with perhaps a little guidance from her mother, Callie chose the pink and purple castle cake. This was much better than the head of Tinker Bell or any of the other fairy princess options.

So we are now the proud parents of a four-year-old girl. Next year, however, we may have to bring in the fives by expanding the party to include a few more people her own age. We are not saying that we have made a reservation at the Green Tree, but next year may see a more traditional kids party. We shall see.

First Sleepover

2011-10-06T21:29:00.006-04:00

One week before her birthday, Callie got to experience something we didn't think would happen for several more years. That's right, a sleepover! To be completely truthful though, it was all about Callie's parents earning brownie points with some family friends, the Johnsons. Seth and Jessica went to a UK football game so we decided to take on both their kids for the night with the idea that they will be taking on our kids some night in the not too distant future.

We had a great time with all four kids. The afternoon included a trip to the park, where Callie, Vivie Ann, Mason, and Reese played on the swings and went down the slides. All four ate a great dinner and earned their dessert. And of course what comes after dinner but bathtime. Yes, we had all four kids in the bath at once. It was quite a show to say the least.

As soon as Reese left the tub the fun really began. But all good things must come to an end and we had to get all three of the older kids out of the bath. Then it was time for putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, and reading books. But there is always time for another picture or two. We had to document every step to show Seth and Jessica that their kids had fun every step of the way. And we must say that Vivie Ann and Mason were phenomenal. Everyone was in bed and asleep by 8:30. Pretty impressive, if we don't say so ourselves. We only hope Reese and Callie are the same way when they get the chance to spend the night at the Johnsons.

Our last picture is just a status update of Reese and what she has been up to. She turned nine months in September and we have already updated you on her numbers. But the cuteness continues to develop with every day that passes. She is definitely a big fan of the swings.

In fact, all signs point to her being a big fan of anything involving flight and high altitudes. In short, she's a risk-taker and a climber. It's only a matter of time before she starts looking for the easy way out of her crib.

Zoey Berkeley Hannen is here!

2011-10-05T22:04:00.003-04:00

We are happy to share the wonderful news about the newest addition to the Bowes family. At 9:30pm Rocky Mountain Time on October 2, Suzy and Brian welcomed their cute daughter Zoey Berkeley into the world. She was a whopping 7 lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches long.

The only thing that could have gone better was if she had waited for just about two and a half hours to arrive, because then she could have joined her Uncle Chris and cousin Callie in the illustrious October 3rd birthday club. But I'm sure Suzy has no problem with the fact that her labor didn't last any longer than it had to. In any case, we are so happy for Suzy and Brian and can't wait to meet our niece Zoey in just a couple of months. It is safe to say that Christmas in Connecticut is going to be crazy this year.

September Developments

2011-10-02T22:34:00.007-04:00

Clearly this post was supposed to go up last month, but hey, with the schedules we are currently keeping we are just happy it is going up this year. Following our trip to California over Labor Day weekend we spent the rest of the month in Kentucky. But that didn't mean we didn't keep busy.

Reese was particularly active this month, as you can see in this picture. She wants to spend as much time as possible standing up. In fact she pulls up and cruises around the coffee table every chance she gets. Although she has been crawling for about a month, she has become extremely efficient in her movements, even though her crawl is a bit unorthodox. Reese continues to be a very cheerful little soul, and this picture captures some of the spunk she brings to our family. It is also important to note that this month she has not only learned how to clap but has also begun to make the appropriate sign for milk with her hands. And as we speak her third and fourth teeth are making an appearance.

But of course we also need to talk about the most recent numbers from her 9 month doctor's appointment. Apparently, Reese is shrinking even as she is growing. Her length is 27 inches which puts her in the 30th percentile, down from the 75th percentile she was in at birth. Her weight is 15 lbs 3 oz, which is officially labeled <5th percentile. That is down from the 15th percentile at birth. But how about the head? Circumference is 44 1/2 cm, or the 55th percentile. Now that is an increase from her 48th percentile at birth.

In short, there is a lot of love, joy, and spunk packed into a petite body with a large noggin. We love her to pieces and so does her big sister. The intense love that Callie has shown from day one has not diminished an ounce. It stays strong in the 100th percentile.

Callie has had her own special developments in September. She has started attending a ballet and tap dance class once a week and it is clear that she really enjoys it. It helps that one of her classmates is her good friend Vivie Ann. In this picture you can see Callie with Vivie Ann and another classmate Maya as they get ready to head into their first lesson of the session. It has become a great part of the week. We are trying not to get overwhelmed by whole process, especially since Callie seems to enjoy it. While we are a long way from being cast on a reality show about gung ho dance moms, we were all practicing our leaps the other night in the living room while Callie gave us pointers. The things you do for your kids.

All of those developments aside, September was like most months over the past year. It was filled with some craziness, but overall a whole lot of fun with our two growing and wonderful girls.

Although we don't get to do it all that often because of our hectic schedules, some of our favorite times are when the four of us are just hanging out and playing. This particular night Callie and Reese provided some extra entertainment by becoming real-life jack-n-the-boxes. Seldom have diaper boxes lead to so many giggles.

Auntie Pi's Wedding

2011-09-06T21:00:00.013-04:00

On Labor Day weekend we headed back to California for yet another celebration. This time it was Auntie Pi's big day. It was a great opportunity to shower Alicia with love and affection and showcase how much we care about and are happy for her. So often she is the one spoiling those around her, so it was good to be able to turn the tables. Or at least we tried. But Alicia and Bill managed to put on quite a party.

To give you an idea of what we experienced, here are Lauren and Sarah standing in front of the castle that was the backdrop for the wedding ceremony. And this was a true castle, moat and all. In fact, all the bridesmaids, and of course the bride herself, arrived at the ceremony via horse and carriage.

Here we see the bride pictured with part of her "rainbow ladies" as she called them. The rainbow was a reference to her bridesmaids and flower girl, who all wore different colored and styled dresses. Yes, Sarah was in fact the flower girl, which was probably a little payback for Alicia playing that same role at our wedding.

The ceremony was wonderful, the company was fun, and food was pretty darn good. However, one of the highlights of the dinner was Auntie D's toast to the bride. She did a fabulous job - she captured Alicia's competitiveness, generosity, and good humor all in a toast that people who knew Alicia could appreciate and people who didn't know her as well could enjoy. Auntie D is certainly a professional.

Speaking of Alicia's generosity, only Alicia would figure out a good way to celebrate the birthday of her guests at the rehearsal dinner, including a huge birthday cake and gifts. And the gifts didn't stop there. She doled out "Pi's favorite things" themed gift baskets to every member of her bridal party. The gift baskets could probably be mistaken for ones given out to presenters at the Grammys, Oscars, or Tonys. Little does she know that none of us needed a gift of appreciation from her - being a part of her special day was more than enough.

Oh right, there was also a groom involved in this wedding. Here we see Bill and Alicia greeting their guests as they prepared to leave the reception. But no, the party wasn't over. They were just leading us all to an after hours party in downtown Paso Robles. The night was truly only beginning. Good thing that Alicia put Aleve in all of the welcome baskets we found in our hotel rooms. I guarantee that this was one of the most widely used items that weekend.

We did tell you that the bride and bridesmaids arrived in a horse and carriage. We may not have mentioned that they stuck around throughout the evening to provide romantic tours of the winery throughout the evening. We decided to share the romance with Lauren and JP.

Honestly, the props throughout the castle were hilarious. There was no way you could leave them alone. They demanded to be photographed.

For example, you couldn't just walk by this medieval device without sticking your head and arms through. In fact, it is important to note that Sarah had this picture taken the moment she arrived at the castle, which means it was two hours before the wedding ceremony. Hopefully you can see the hair and makeup done earlier that day for the occasion. This picture is a keeper, that's for sure.

John was not going to escape the shenanigans that night and was able to join the fun. Here we see pure royalty. As we are looking at these pictures something is becoming more obvious to us. It was our first weekend without kids in a long time. The irony is that without the kids present we apparently needed to act somewhat less than our age. A good time was had by all.

As the wedding weekend drew to a close we headed back to Los Angeles to check on the girls. Auntie D couldn't resist a visit to see how much they have grown in the month since she had seen them last. She especially had fun playing with Reese and watching her show off her crawling and climbing abilities. Callie and Reese are so lucky to have so many aunties in California who love them.

And that brings us to the folks who made all of the above fun possible. While we celebrated the big day up in Paso Robles, Callie and Reese spent the weekend with Auntie Gret, Uncle Scotty, and Josh. By all accounts they had a wonderful time together and it was great for us to know the girls were in good hands.

As crazy as it sounds, with this post we have completed our summer travels. We've had a lot of fun over the past several months, but it went by so fast it's ridiculous. Now we get a two month break before the family heads to Sacramento for Thanksgiving. Surely we'lll be up to a few things here or there between now and then.

Picnic with the Pops Goes Cuban

2011-09-06T20:43:00.005-04:00

This August marked our fourth time enjoying the fine stylings of the Lexington Philharmonic and their musical guests at the annual Picnic with the Pops. This year the title of the performance was "Havana Nights" with the Cuban group, Tiempo Libre. It was quite a show. In past years although we have had done well we have never been as successful as we were this year in keeping our food, fashion, and decor in sync with the theme. This was definitely the best food we have had and everyone had their best linen on. And for those willing to take the plunge, we had a set of inflatable arm swimmies to aid with the swim from Havana to Miami when the evening was done.

This year we also stepped out of the traditional wine and started the evening off with raspberry mojitos made and mixed with style. Sarah brought the recipe back from Cabo San Lucas and it is safe to say that everyone was very happy she did. At the very least the mojitos helped fuel some of the fine dancing that went on later that evening.

We always enjoy the company of our friends at the Pops. But it has also become an evening on which we are assured the pleasure of a night out without kids. Although we have made a commitment to have more of these this year, this night was special because we cashed in our silent auction winnings of free babysitting. Well, not completely free since we bid on it. But we had paid the money months before so it seemed free by this point.

So while Callie and Reese played with their wonderful babysitters, Clara and Gibbs McKinley, we did our best to move our hips like the lead singer of Tiempo Libre. Those guys really put on a show.

The last photo captures the whole table at which are seated the usual suspects - Sharon and Chris Chrisman, Rebecca and Chad Mueller, and Tommy Glover. The spice and mystery every year comes from the question of who will Tommy bring as a date this time around. This year it happened to be Pete, who was great fun and who made a fabulous centerpiece for the table. She even contributed to the evening's shenanigans by bringing a couple of fine cigars.

A Trip to Music City

2011-09-06T20:37:00.005-04:00

Two years ago in August we started a Lucas-Bowes family tradition. We met up with Grammy Gayle in Chicago and took in the sights of the Windy City. At that time we decided to meet up in nearby cities every year and tour the places we have never been to before. Last year we were scheduled to go to Nashville, but the trip had to be postponed due to the serious flooding they experienced. So this August we were finally able to make it happen.

Our first capture finds the whole group in the wonderful world of the Opryland Hotel. It is quite an impressive display of the outdoors brought indoors. This hotel has 6-8 restaurants, dozens of shops, and a river with actual boat rides. You can only imagine how much there is to look at. Although it is costly, we hear it is pretty phenomenal at Christmas time.

In any case, when we saw these two horses, we knew we had found the perfect spot for a group photo. Although we don't have any photos from the experience, we also had a blast on the City Tour Trolley, where we learned all about Nashville and got to visit all of the hot spots, including the full scale replica of the Parthenon located at Centennial Park. And for you history buffs, the Bicentennial Park has a detailed chronology of important Tennessee history carved into the granite walls surrounding the park area. It is both beautiful and educational.

Of course we also had our share of fun back at the hotel, where we not only took advantage of the indoor pool, but also enjoyed just goofing around. Callie and Reese clearly had fun wearing their towels just like their Mommy. It's funny the little things that kids pick up from observing their parents.

Callie always enjoys playing with our cell phones, but this reaches a new level when Grammy's around. She knows that Grammy has downloaded a special game for her to play and she's also figured out a couple of the other functions, i.e. the camera. Here we see a self-photo of all the girls. We must admit it's a pretty good shot.

The trip was a quick one overall, and we headed back to Lexington on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately for us, Grammy came back with us so that she could spend a couple of days hanging out with just the girls. They all had a great time.

One of our last meals together took place at the PF Chang's in Lexington. Callie was excited to get a special pair of chop sticks and could not wait to try them out. She was pretty good and actually outlasted everyone at the table in the traditional transition from chopsticks to forks because I'm just too darn hungry and impatient to rely on anything other than a fork.

All in all, it was another successful trip. Now we just need to decide what city we will visit next. It could be Atlanta...it could be St. Louis...you just never know.

First California Wedding 2011...Auntie Robin

2011-08-10T22:35:00.009-04:00

It is only fitting that we provide a recap of the first California wedding of 2011 days before we fly out for wedding number two. We are just a bit behind these days. In any case, at the end of July the four of us headed out for sunny southern California to celebrate Auntie Robin's big day.

Everyone was excited. Callie was especially excited because she was promised a day of pampering with the girls to help prepare Auntie Robin for her wedding. And this pampering, against our better judgment, included her first pedicure. Leave it to southern California to have salons not only willing to give pedicures to children but also to have specific pedicure offerings for children. In fact, Kate and Callie enjoyed soaking their feet in bubbly water that had floating duckies. And as you can see here, they both dressed up for the occasion in their best ballerina outfits, which they actually wore all weekend long.

The two of them were absolutely hilarious and definitely indulged in the whole experience of the girls' day out. Here we see Kate and Callie sitting together and looking through the latest People magazine. The two of them really enjoyed hanging out throughout the entire time we were there.

Of course, it is not just about Kate and Callie these days. The gruesome twosome has now become the fabulous foursome. And with Ashlyn, a.k.a. "The Body" and Reese in the picture, the Perrone household was always a loud and active place. It was so wonderful to watch all of these relationships grow and we are very thankful that Lauren and JP embraced our presence during the time we stayed at their house. Hopefully this is just the beginning of countless moments spent together in the years to come.

So what's louder than a house of four girls under the age of 4? How about a house of seven girls under the age of 4. On Saturday afternoon, we had a little barbeque at the Perrones that included the Leshney gang - Tyler, Stephanie, and their three little ones - Nora, Claire, and Paige. The picture below says it all.

It is also important to mention that the Perrone family has accepted the fact that little girls love pink, princesses, and jumping around. You don't get the full view, but the seven girls in the picture above are sitting in front of a sizeable bouncy castle which JP and Lauren are the proud owners of. They can set it up in their backyard any time they want to. Just give them a call and they will be ready to go. As much as we wanted to mock them for this investment, it was fun watching the girls bounce and giggle the evening away.

So now on to the real reason we made this trip. It was a gorgeous day in southern California, and the setting could not have been more beautiful for Robin and Chris's wedding. The evening started out with cocktails, continued with a touching ceremony, and concluded with some great food and even better dancing. And the dancing that night was just a warmup for the four young women pictured here, who reconvened later in the week for some more dancing and shenanigans in Cabo San Lucas.

Robin was a beautiful bride and it was clear throughout the entire weekend that she was simply over the moon happy about marrying Chris. You can't ask for anything more than that for your friends, can you?

This year we have made a lot of quick trips to California to celebrate milestones in our friends and family's lives. We wouldn't miss these opportunities for the world. And as we always say, the only thing we wish is that we could spend more time during each visit.

A Look Back at July

2011-08-10T21:36:00.013-04:00

It is hard to believe, but it has been more than a month since the 4th of July. Heck, we are almost halfway through August. Time is flying by and shows no sign of slowing down. So it is definitely time for us to spend a few moments talking about some of our activities from last month. It all started with a great day in downtown Lexington when we watched the 4th of July parade with the Johnsons.

Seth and Jessica certainly come prepared, as the picture above shows. Here we see Callie, Vivie Ann, and Mason all riding in style on our way to the parade.

This year it was obvious that Callie not only enjoyed the parade, but also got really excited for each float or group as they made their way down the street. We didn't have the heart to tell her that this wasn't the most exciting parade in the world, because even the random politician in a convertible received a squeal of delight. We better keep going to parades to build her tolerance before we hit the mother of all parades - the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Based on our current rotation, that should be November 2012 so we have some time.

Every year at Easter we take a picture of Callie in her bunny ears to mark her half-birthday. It is only fitting then, that we start a similar tradition for Reese. The only holiday that makes sense is the 4th of July. So each year we plan to dress Reese up as Uncle Sam.

The first year was definitely a success. She's not old enough to have the beard yet, but that will come in time.

We are happy to report that July marked a big turning point for Reese when it came to finally accepting solid foods. To be honest, we need to thank her teacher at daycare, Miss Janet, who pushed through the pain and many tears to get Reese to understand that solid food is a good thing. It makes a world of difference to be able to feed Reese her dinner without feeling it's a wrestling match that you are losing. And at this point Reese's menu contains sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, spinach, acorn squash, and apples. We are hoping to expand the options starting next week.

A year and a half after she first entered our world, Bitty Baby remains a big hit with Callie. In fact, last Christmas Callie received several additional outfits for Bitty Baby, although she still tends to spend most of her time naked. That's Bitty Baby, not Callie, by the way. However, Callie enjoys every opportunity she gets to have her and Bitty Baby wear their matching dresses. So far we have managed to have Bitty Baby dress for, but not officially attend, Sunday church services or other formal occasions.

July witnessed a significant breakthrough for our evening routine. Bathtime had often become a struggle with Callie, who had to be persuaded at great length to take one. But now that Reese is in the tub with her, we barely turn the water on before Callie has hopped in and is ready to go. It is awesome. And they both seem to enjoy every second they get to spend in the tub together, splashing around and having fun. Hopefully it will only get better as they get older.

Words cannot truly introduce this video. We must first say that we have no idea how Callie came up with the main subject of her song. It came out of nowhere. However, the rest of the routine is not abnormal these days. Callie loves dressing up in her princess dress and dancing. She dances to anything and everything, showing a remarkable diversity of styles. Take a look.

Since Callie's interests have only grown this year, we have decided to sign her up for an official dance class. She will be in the same class as Vivie Ann, which will be extremely helpful since Callie still has to overcome her shyness at times. We hope that by the time the big recital comes next year that she is as comfortable in front of a lot of people as she is with us at home.

Reese is making all sorts of progress these days, and in July she was sitting up by herself and showing the first signs of wanting to crawl. In fact, when Sarah left for four days for a weekend with friends, Reese fast forwarded her development and not only began crawling but also pulled herself up to a standing position using the coffee table for support.

On top of all of that, she decided to pop out two teeth as well. You can tell from the look in her eye in the picture above, she intends to make our lives very interesting. And yes, if you have been keeping track, she continues to look a lot like her big sister did at this age. It's quite impressive.

As this first picture in a three part series shows, Reese has a little attitude. She is ready with a big smile when she wakes you up at 5am, and there is definitely a bit of sass in her. She is very determined, and unlike Callie has already indicated the desire to possibly climb out of the crib. We have a feeling that we will need to keep a closer eye on this little bugger.

One of Reese's favorite pastimes lately has been sticking her tongue out, perhaps as a means of communication. Who knows what is going through her mind when she does it, but in any case it is fun to interact with her. She loves to laugh, and more and more is becoming entertained by her surroundings. This is especially true when it comes to Callie. Reese loves to watch Callie, and Callie loves to find ways to make Reese laugh. We are very lucky and can only hope it continues as they grow older. And yes, we know we say this every post. But maybe if we keep saying it we can make it happen.

This final picture is a demonstration of Reese's alter ego, someone John and Callie have labeled, "Grabby McGraberson." John is lucky enough to get to spend a couple of hours with the girls every morning, and during this time Reese not only gets her morning bottle, but John, Reese, and Callie get some good play time together. Out of this morning fun has come numerous alter egos for Reese, including "Stinks McGee" and "Sneezer McSneezerson". Who knew we had such strong Scottish blood? In any case, Reese likes to grab everything within reach, and her grabbing fixation is enhanced whenever she gets sleepy. Apparently she has decided that grabbing her parents necks or other reachable locations is soothing. That's fun.

So that covers most of July. But there is more to come. As the picture of the girls sleeping in the Vegas airport indicated, we also made a trip to California. Stay tuned.

What Five Minutes Can Mean

2011-08-02T20:43:00.002-04:00

This is a random post and it takes us out of order from a chronological standpoint. But it was critical to post this picture asap. After a wonderful trip to Los Angeles for Auntie Robin's wedding (more pictures to follow soon), all we needed to do was make our connection in Salt Lake City. Apparently we didn't run fast enough from the C terminal to the D terminal, and the plane had pushed back from the gate. Three hours later we were on a plane to Las Vegas, where we had to wait for three more hours. The picture below shows what you can do to try and keep the kiddos on their sleep schedule in stressful circumstances.

Not picture here are the numerous slot machines yards away shouting "Wheel! Of! Fortune!!!". It truly was a wondrous experience. Amazingly enough the girls slept through it all. And we made it home safe and sound, just in time to get the girls to daycare and the two of us to work. Isn't cross-country travel fun? We can't wait for Auntie Pi's wedding in just a couple of weeks. At least this time we have a direct flight both ways.

Where Did June Go?

2011-07-09T22:28:00.012-04:00

From 2007, when we started the blog, to the end of 2010, we failed to provide a posting a month only three times. We are only halfway through 2011 and we have already missed three months. June was the most recent victim. We have a series of excuses lined up, but when it really comes down to it, we are clearly having a tougher time with the one-on-one defense than we expected. In any case, although we were not busy writing blog posts in June, we were definitely busy.

June is a special month for the Bowes family, because it means we can make our annual visit to the glorious blueberry bushes at Reed Valley Orchards. We have written about the place often enough that we need not repeat previous statements. But this was Reese's first visit, so that made this particular trip even more important. Needless to say, she enjoyed the experience, and was happy to relax on the porch with John after spending some time in the sun.

It was pretty darn hot in the month of June. Fortunately we have the technology to set up a pool in our backyard very quickly. Who knew that a $5 purchase could provide so much fun for a 3 1/2 year old. Of course, as the picture shows, it also provides a lot of fun for a 38 year old. This action shot captures one of Callie's favorite moves, running across the yard and jumping into the pool. It's a move that is more difficult to pull off if you are over six feet tall.

Reese also had no problem joining in the fun with the pool. After spending the first several months of her life in cold weather apparel she was excited to break out the summer gear. Early indications are that she is a water bug, whether it's the pool or the bathtub, she's a fan.

Hopefully in the upcoming months we will get both of the girls to the community pool that is just a bit bigger than our backyard deal. Then we will see some serious swimming and splashing.

This was the first year that Callie was able to take part in the Music and Arts Camp put on by our church. She spent four hours a day for a week doing crafts and learning songs for a big performance on Friday. The big show was quite impressive - and we have a number of pictures of Callie sitting down watching it while every one else was performing. We certainly don't have a little girl who strives to be the center of attention when she is outside of our house. One of the best things about camp is she got to go with her two friends, Vivie Ann and Murphy. This picture is representative of their distinctive approaches to life. We look forward to watching them all grow up - they could be trouble in the years to come.

Lately we have been living for the weekends around here. This is in part because John spent half of June traveling for work and Sarah has taken on extra responsibilities at work. So when we have the time to relax and be together as a family, we take full advantage of the opportunity.

The above picture captures a morning when we made blueberry pancakes, stayed in our pajamas until noon, and enjoyed some good playtime. It is awesome that Callie is still so over the moon for her sister.

Speaking of her sister, by missing June we missed posting some important numbers. On June 11 Reese turned six months, which meant it was time to visit Dr. Warner to get some measurements and shots. So here we go. Reese weighed in at 12lbs 14oz, which placed her in the 5th percentile. Her height of 25 1/2 inches put her in the 45th percentile. And finally, her head circumference of 42 1/4 cm qualified her for the ranking of 45th percentile.

So what does all of that mean? It means Reese is one tiny little girl. Healthy as can be, and cheerful like you dream of...but tiny. Other developmental notes include that she is successfully sleeping from about 7:30pm to 5am each night. She still has an aversion to eating solid food (aka pureed veggies) but we hope that changes soon. She is also starting to babble a lot, which is fun, and she is sitting up by herself. Crawling may not be too far away, but we shall see.

While John was away in Oklahoma City, Sarah, Callie, and Reese returned to Reed Valley for the Blueberry Pancake Jubilee with Vivie Ann, Mason, and their mother Jessica. Vivie Ann and Callie were ready and raring to go when the berry picking began. Although this was the Johnson family's first visit to the orchard, they were quick to see the appeal of the place.

The Blueberry Pancake Jubilee is something we have wanted to do for the last couple of years, but for a variety of reasons we have always missed it. This year we were able to not only pick blueberries, but also enjoy the pancake breakfast and a horse drawn carriage ride. Needless to say, we had a blast. Callie and Vivie Ann were very good workers while picking. Mason managed to eat far more blueberries than he placed in the containers.

So here's a picture of the four kids relaxing after their picking efforts. We have had a ton of fun hanging out with the Johnsons this summer, and the kids are a fun handful.

It's also important to share that Mason's love/affection for Reese almost surpasses Callie's in intensity. Indeed, he cannot be left alone with Reese if she is in reaching distance. It's pretty enjoyable to watch Seth and Jessica constantly restrain their son in Reese's presence.

The final picture for this post shows Callie and Reese in matching outfits sent to them by GA Teri. Callie loves the dress and is tickled that it matches her sister's outfit. We hope that this is only the beginning of a growing relationship between our daughters. We already have pictures from the 4th of July, so hopefully our next post won't be too far in the future.

California Graduation

2011-05-31T21:14:00.009-04:00

In the third week of May we made what is the second of five schedule trips to California in 2011. But this was a big one. On Saturday, May 21 we had to make sure we were in Sacramento to celebrate the graduation of Zac Lucas from Sacramento State with a degree in Construction Management. So we boarded the plane and prepared ourselves for a great weekend.

Before the festivities in honor of Zac began in earnest, we made a quick stop to see Sarah's high school friend Wendy to meet her newest addition, Emerson. Here's a picture of Wendy, her husband Rony, and their kids Chase and Emerson. When they graduated from high school twenty years ago, neither Sarah nor Wendy could have imagined they would be getting together to nurse their newborns and talk about parenting. Although we could not imagine it, it's been fun to do it.

Saturday was the big day, and the whole family was there to celebrate with Zac. Well, almost everybody. John missed the ceremony because he was presenting a paper at a conference in downtown Sacramento. But the important people were there to see Zac get his diploma, and the picture below captures the whole gang.

You may notice in the picture that Zac is not wearing the typical graduation cap. He and his Construction Management colleagues wore hard hats with tassels for the ceremony. It looked great and certainly made it easy to spot them from afar.

Here is the graduate with his proud parents, Dan and Gayle. We are all so proud of and impressed with Zac's accomplishments. He has worked incredibly hard to earn that degree and we know that this is only the beginning of the next chapter in his life. We wish him all the best and can't wait to see what he is going to accomplish next.

This trip also allowed Grandpa Dan to see his newest granddaughter Reese for the first time. The two of them had a great time hanging out and getting to know each other.

After the graduation ceremony the party adjourned to a local restaurant where Gayle treated us to an incredible feast. No one went away hungry, that's for sure.

Sarah's cousin Haley, her husband Ryan, and their daughter Skyler joined us for the dinner. Callie and Skyler really had no interest in eating but wanted to walk around the restaurant and check everything out. Although we provided plenty of distractions to keep them at the table they were hard to contain. At least until dessert came, and then it was difficult to stop them from eating the cake and canolis.

The next day the whole clan headed to San Francisco to take in a Giants game at AT&T park. Grammy Gayle did her granddaughters well by providing each one with full Giants regalia. Here Reese is sporting her new outfit with her cousin Keith. It appears that Reese will love her cousin as much as her big sister does. You'll notice that Keith is pretty photogenic, which will hopefully help further his fledgling modeling career.

The whole trip was pretty fun, but Callie probably enjoyed the ferry trips more than anything else. We parked in Alameda and took a ferry to San Francisco. And when the game was over we hopped on the ferry that was parked right next to the stadium. Seriously, you couldn't get a parking space as close as the boat was. It's the only way to go. Although we didn't see a home run splash into McCovey Cove, we still saw an exciting Giants victory in extra innings.

The weekend also made it possible for Callie and Reese to spend some quality time with Grammy Gayle. In fact, Grammy watched the two of them while we went out to celebrate with the graduate. You can tell that this was a big deal since Grammy took a big risk by staying at home with the two wild ones. Although she didn't need to worry too much about Callie - she was excited to sleep every night in the tent Grammy had set up in the bedroom.

All in all it was another great trip out west. Next time we head to southern California for the first of two big weddings. The fun never ends. In the meantime, we should probably get to sleep.

Kentucky Girls in the Spring

2011-05-31T21:04:00.009-04:00

Once again we are coming in under the wire. It is the last day of May and we are going to catch you up with events from the end of April into May. Our whole house is still getting used to having four residents, but we continue to be in awe of the way that Callie has handled the situation. She truly loves being a big sister and thinks the world of Reese. The hugs, squeezes, and kisses are both intense and plentiful. And we can tell it is going to be a lot of fun when Reese becomes more able of reciprocating the love.

Although Callie doesn't usually get the opportunity to participate, she loves giving Reese a bath. And for the most part, Reese loves getting a bath. It is only a matter of time until they will take their baths together. We actually tried it last night, but Reese was not exactly pleased with the situation. It will be an important step in streamlining our evening routine.

Like us, Callie enjoys just watching Reese grow. And like Callie, Reese is happy to stare at people. It's like a match made in heaven. Reese continues to look like Callie did at her age. So perhaps for Callie this picture is like looking into the past.

Of course appearances can be deceiving, and Reese is definitely her own girl and is willing to demonstrate this whenever possible. Even though she can't talk yet, you know very well when she does not want to do something.

Easter morning this year was especially exciting because the Easter bunny left a series of clues for Callie and Reese. They had to follow four different clues to find the gifts the Easter bunny had brought. As you can imagine, Reese went along for the ride while Callie's excitement grew with each discovery. Here's a picture of both of them enjoying the prizes at the end.

If you have followed our blog at all during the springtime you know that Easter is also the time to size Callie up. In other words, it's time for the annual bunny ear picture on the stairs.

This is the fourth picture in that series, and it is pretty crazy to look back over the previous years and see how Callie has changed during that relatively short period of time. We have definitely passed the baby and toddler phases of her life.

After our Easter morning adventures we headed to church. And we were fortunate enough to grab a seat next to our friends the Abrahams. Let's be honest, if it weren't for them we might have not gotten a seat at all. And Callie was more than happy to squeeze in between the two Abraham girls, Ella and Claire. We can get Callie to do quite a bit if the reward is getting to hang out with Ella and Claire. Here's a picture of the four girls after church and the big Easter egg hunt.

Our Easter celebrations continued with another tradition, dinner at the Chrismans. In fact, Sharon told us that if we do ever end up leaving Lexington, she would like Easter to be the holiday we travel to see them. Sounds like a good idea to us!

Reese looks lovely in her Easter dress as we prepared to enter the Chrisman's house. But this divine little child made her presence known clearly when she let one loose as Chris was saying grace. Despite our best attempts to hold it together, not a single adult at the table could keep their laughter in. It was just another wonderful and memorable meal with the Chrismans.

There is no doubt that life is a little crazier with two little girls instead of just one. But as we sit here at night, with both of them sleeping soundly (for now), and look at this picture, we couldn't be happier. We truly are fortunate to have two amazing daughters. And we have only begun this adventure.

Reese at 4 Months

2011-04-24T22:06:00.003-04:00

So last week was Reese's four month checkup with Dr. Warner. We found out two things. First and most important, Reese is a healthy little girl. Second, our country's recession has affected more than just our pocketbook. Just like the housing market, Reese is experiencing limited growth. As Kai Ryssdal, host of NPR's Marketplace, likes to say, let's do the numbers. Her height is 23 3/4 inches, which puts her in the 28th percentile. Her weight is 11 lbs 7oz, which places her in the 10th percentile. And her head circumference is a whopping 41 1/4 inches, which is smack dab average at 50th percentile.

As you can see from the picture, none of these numbers seems to bother Reese. At the end of every long day she leans back and savors her hot baths while a team of two attend to her every whim. Indeed, the bath is her one consistent quiet time of the day, especially since she has learned to squawk in a very loud, high-pitched, and overall piercing manner. Think bald eagle meets velociraptor. It's quite impressive.

In any case, all's well with little Reese. Hope all is well with you.

The Balestraccis Visit

2011-04-24T21:58:00.009-04:00

This April we were lucky enough to get the Balestraccis out for a visit. This was a particularly special visit because it was the first time all the Balestracci boys got to meet Reese. Once they survived extended delays at O'Hare airport on their way to Lexington, we had a great time together. We start with a picture that will only represent the grandchildren of Jay and Taffy Bowes for another five months or so. Reese's stint as the youngest grandchild will be short-lived, but we don't think she'll mind because she'll be gaining a cousin in Colorado.

The four kids were enjoying the sunshine in the backyard, and the weather was a huge improvement over the previous day when we lasted all of twenty minutes at Keeneland because of the strong wind, cold temperatures, and persistent rain.

Neither wind, sleet, snow, rain, wind, or sunshine has any bearing on Callie's love for her cousins. Brendan has a special place in Callie's heart because he is willing to give her the attention she so desperately desires. It was pretty amazing to see how much they entertained each other over the course of the weekend.

Michael also took advantage of the visit to get to know Reese. Even though he is finishing up his eighth grade year and getting prepared for high school, Michael seemed to enjoy hanging out with a baby and a three and half year old. As a true high schooler to be, he was a man of few words. But he was so good with Callie and Reese, and Callie made sure he received his fair share of hugs, squeezes, and attention.

When you look at the picture below, compare the heights of the members of the Balestracci family. Who knows exactly when it happened, but Michael is now the tallest member of the family, even without the baseball hat. This picture, by the way, was taken in the beautiful gardens of Ashland, Henry Clay's estate just a few blocks away. If you visit us you can also walk there while getting a history lesson on Henry Clay from John whether you want it or not.

You can therefore prepare for your visit by taking long walks and reading up on both the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. We take our local history seriously in these parts.

The visit occurred the week before Easter, so we also had to take some time for decorating eggs. There was a lot of creativity at work around the table as we each had our own idea of what the perfect Easter egg should look like. To insure that we had enough eggs, we hard boiled two dozen. Although we had a lot of fun coloring them, we will be eating them for weeks. We'll have to keep that in mind for next year.

This was a picture we simply had to include. Chris is an amazing father and a terrific uncle. Just like he did with Callie when she was a baby, he enjoyed soothing Reese throughout the weekend and didn't let her crying intimidate him. And Callie enjoys Chris's silly side more and more each time they spend time together.

We have mentioned it a few times that Callie was born on Chris's birthday and Reese was born on Katie's birthday. But this recent visit provided us with the first opportunity to take a picture of the two cute birthday bandits and their hostages. Callie knows she has to keep a close eye on the shifty fella in the green vest. Reese is just wondering why the heck she's wearing a napkin on her face.

We cannot thank the Balestraccis enough for making the trip down to see us. We had a great time and it's crazy to think that we won't get to see the East Coast crew again until Christmas.

It's April? What Happened to March?

2011-04-09T22:08:00.014-04:00

Remember the end of the last post where we mentioned Sarah was going back to work? That's our best explanation for what happened to March. It truly has been a whirlwind around here. But we are pretty sure we have established a solid routine that makes most of our days and nights enjoyable. We must admit that going from one to two has been quite a leap for us. This was the first time we missed posting at least once during a month's period of time. Oh well. We'll keep trying.

So let's start with some basics. Reese is growing. She is smiling. She is sleeping a bit more. And her cuteness abounds. We give you Exhibit A of said cuteness below.

This smile has made taking her to daycare manageable. John is always able to drop her off knowing that she is smiling away at her teachers. She truly seems comfortable with them and it is obviously comforting for us to see how much interaction and stimulation she receives from the women who work with her.

When Reese isn't at daycare she finds the time to kick back with some tummy time on the couch. She enjoys tummy time a little bit more than Callie did, but every girl has her limits. And Reese has no problem letting us know when it is time to end the fun. Another impressive activity to share is that Reese has already learned how to roll over from belly to back. Well, it has happened a couple of times, and it may be an accident, but we are counting it as developed behavior.

What follows is more than just another picture of Reese. It's a picture of Reese during the morning routine. John has become a champ. He is not a morning person, but mornings are his responsibility. And now that means both Reese and Callie have to be fed and taken to daycare each day. Reese is very cooperative, and Callie only needs a little prodding every now and then to get things going.

Overall, Callie has been great about the transition in the morning routine and helps out a lot with Reese. As we have said before, she is a great big sister. The real problem is going to arrive when John has to deal with two heads worth of pony tails in the morning. Then the real fun will begin.

We look at pictures like this and try to look into the future. How will they get along when they are older? If the past several months are any indication, their relationship will only get better with age. Callie certainly has shown increasing interest in everything Reese is doing. The best is when Callie squeals with delight after getting Reese to smile.

Speaking of smiles, here's one of Callie's biggest. You may also notice she is wearing a princess outfit. Callie and Sarah had a girls' night out towards the end of March with three other moms and their daughters. That's right, Disney's Princesses on Ice hit Lexington, and the town hasn't been the same since. Callie was incredibly excited about the whole thing and we talked about it for weeks leading up to the big night.

The night started out with a quick bite to eat at Desha's downtown. Of course the girls were already dressed up in their sparkly outfits. Ironically enough, there were two Sleeping Beauties and two Ariels. But no one cared about the overlap. In fact, several people stopped by our table just to get a closer look at the fearsome foursome.

The night was a big success. Once we entered Rupp Arena the girls took their seats and remained entranced for every minute of the performance that followed. The night was topped off when Vivie Ann's mom busted out spinning light toys for each girl. Because of this, we were able to bypass the cotton candy, ice cream and Disney merchandising stations that were strategically located at every exit. However, next year might be a different story.

Callie definitely enjoyed the princesses. But she really likes to be the one performing. And for a variety of reasons, she tends to express herself through the age old medium of song and dance. The two videos below came out of an extended video shoot intended to provide some trash talk before the University of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team squared off against the eventual national champion UConn Huskies. Our vision of trash talking was never completely realized, but the videos below are pure gold.

By the way, we hope you noticed that we even place subliminal messages in the alphabet squares in Callie's play corner. It's true, we are a part of Big Blue Nation.

This final picture is a fitting way to end this particular post. Because starting tomorrow afternoon, this threesome will have to work together to make it through the next two and a half days without Sarah. Confidence is high and if there are any emergencies John is ready to dip into the strategic milk reserves that have been stored up in the freezer over the past couple of months. At the very least he'll be sure to take plenty of pictures of the whole experience.

Fun in February!

2011-02-28T21:39:00.012-05:00

It is the last day of February and it has been quite a month. Not only did we have visitors, but Sarah also had to begin preparations for her return to the work force. For both of us it is hard to believe that 11 weeks have already passed since Reese made her appearance in the world. Yet as you will see in the pictures that follow, she has grown quite a bit already.

In order for Reese to continue to grow, she needed to be able to take milk from a bottle. We were a bit anxious about this because you never know if it is going to be a smooth transition or not. Apparently Reese doesn't necessarily worry about the vessel for the nutrition as long as the dinner bell rings on time and the meal is delivered quickly. This was her first bottle and she was more than happy to drink it up. The only issue, which is the same one we deal with when Sarah nurses her, is Reese's irritation with the mid-meal burp.

One of the big events in February was the visit from Nana Banana and Sport. Nana Banana was able to fly in early and stayed for a week. This meant that she got a ton of quality one on one time with Reese and Callie.

Reese enjoyed all of Nana Banana's funny songs and sounds. They had some great conversations over the course of the week, though only the two of them know what they really talked about.

Callie loved having Nana Banana around. What made her parents especially happy and proud was that she had no problem sharing her grandparents with her little sister. It seemed that Callie just wanted everyone to be involved - at least as long as everyone was following her directions about how to play, what to play, and so on.

Sport arrived a couple of days after Nana Banana, but he came by car. He jumped right into the thick of things. When Callie wasn't occupying his time he was getting to know Reese. And Reese dressed to impress with her finest pearls and handbag. She knew that Sport was the only one in the family who could truly appreciate her outfit and attitude. Perhaps she was just hoping that Sport would recommend her for membership at the old Bowes stomping grounds in Mamaroneck, NY, the Orienta Beach Club.

We would like to insert this picture in a blatant attempt to post as many pictures of Reese at this age as we did of Callie. It's tough trying to make sure you don't forget about baby number two. But it does happen. Life is definitely a bit crazier. Fortunately Reese is a mellow girl who rolls with the punches. Perhaps she is still trying to figure out if we are worth the trouble.

Speaking of necessary pictures, here's a great one of the grandparents with their two granddaughters. It is still crazy to believe that we are the parents of two little girls. But pictures like this make it real. We can't wait to compare this picture to the ones we'll take in the future with Sport and Nana Banana.

It is obvious that we are not the only ones who need to keep staring at little Reese. The great thing, though, is like Callie she is alert and taking in the world just as much as we are soaking in all she has to offer.

It was a great week with Sport and Nana Banana. More often than not, Callie and Reese kept the two of them on the go in separate directions. But every now and then the grandparents got to focus their love and attention at the same time on their youngest grandchild.

As we have already mentioned, Callie has been wonderful with Reese. Yes, Reese has endured her second cold, been knocked in the head by Callie's flailing foot, and has been squeezed like a tube of toothpaste more times than we can count. But it is all out of the intense emotional love that only Callie can express. Callie also wants to take a picture with Reese every time we pull out the camera. More evidence of this appears below.

In the end, Callie is a big sister in every sense of the word. We can only hope that as Reese grows older she has the same passion for Callie as her big sister has for her.

Once Nana Banana and Sport headed back to Connecticut we had to find ways to entertain ourselves. Fortunately, like her father, Callie is easily amused. Nothing says fun like making ridiculous faces while sitting on the couch. And if she inherits her father's sense of humor then Sarah is really in trouble.

And while Reese grows like a weed, Callie continues to show off her developing skills as well. One day while we were driving in the car, out of nowhere came a recitation from the back seat. We made her repeat the performance for the camera.

And for the record, we have two books with that nursery rhyme. One says "the little dog laughed to see such sport" and the other says "to see such fun" so who knows which one is the official version. In any case, we think its pretty awesome. In other words, we are just another set of gushing parents.

Every now and then we have to include a picture of the four of us to show that we do spend time together. Callie has gotten used to her parents being paparazzis. However, as you can see from this picture, Reese has yet to grow accustomed to life in the spotlight. She will learn with time.

Sarah heads back to work on Wednesday, which means Reese will be joining Callie at daycare full time. Callie's former teachers are ready for the new arrival. In fact, Miss Donna says she will spend extra time teaching Reese to walk so that she can advance into her classroom sooner. It definitely makes us feel a bit better about the transition. It will still be tough, but it is good to know that a lot of different folks will be looking out for her.

And what does Reese think of all of this? As you can see in the picture above, she's still trying to decide. We'll let you know how things go soon.

Reese Hits the West Coast

2011-02-14T22:17:00.012-05:00

It is clear that so far Reese lives a deprived life. Callie had her first flight at the age of three weeks. Reese had to wait until she was six weeks old. Tough life. In both cases, however, they visited California in style. Reese, Callie, and Sarah went to Sacramento in January to introduce the newest member of Team Bowes to her California family. Needless to say, Sarah snapped a few pictures.

The first stop was at the home of Great Grandma Lucas. Crazy enough, at six weeks Reese wasn't the youngest great grandchild, but we'll get to that in a few pictures. Great Grandma enjoyed bonding little Reese, and Reese couldn't take her eyes off of her great grandma. Fortunately, this was just the first of many visits the two had during the course of the trip.

Callie also enjoyed her time with Great Grandma. In fact, we took a trip to the park so Callie could show off her running/sliding/swinging/climbing skills. But before she did that, she insisted on helping Great Grandma to the bench by holding her hand. They were so good together.

And the picture above shows how cute all of them are together. That picture captures one of the main reasons Sarah was willing to fly by herself with the two little ones.

However, getting some additional time in with Grammy Gayle was very important as well. One of the first stops was Fairytale Town. As Reese hung out with Grammy, Callie and Sarah hit all the main attractions the place had to offer. You haven't lived until you have gone down the slide made out of the shoe of the "old woman who lived in a shoe" fame.

We finally stopped for a bite to eat in beautiful Sherwood Forest, where Robin Hood and his Merry Men had thoughtfully placed some chairs for us to eat lunch on.

Although it was a little chilly, it was still better than the single digits and the snow of Kentucky. And the next item on the agenda was a visit with GA, GU, and an abundance of cousins.

Our first pictures shows Callie and Skyler taking the mini-F150 out for a spin. Skyler has a look on her face that John expects to have when he teaches Callie how to drive. We were cracking up watching Callie so passionately drive the F150 all over the place. She was truly enjoying herself and we are lucky she hasn't asked for one of her own since she has been home.

Callie and Brady are at an age where they wanted to play together as opposed to just playing in the same vicinity. We can only imagine that this will get better and better as the years go by and all the kids get older. Here, Brady and Callie shared lunch at the Lucas Diner, conveniently located in GA and GU's living room.

As we mentioned, Reese is not the youngest grandchild. Chase Lucas was born on Christmas Eve to Tyler and Sara. It is crazy that the youngest two are only two weeks apart, and there are now five grandchildren who are all within three years of each other. Family gatherings over the next decade or so are going to be fun but chaotic, that's for sure.

Because the two little ones were photographed together, we insisted that the three older ones also get together for a picture. This was a little trickier, and honestly, this was the only time the three in one spot long enough to get out the camera and snap a shot. National Geographic probably has an easier time taking photos of cheetahs in the Serengeti.

Speaking about getting the impossible shot, below is our attempt to get Great Grandma's four grandchildren and six great grandchildren in one photograph - looking happy or at least looking at the camera.

Great Grandma Lucas was in seventh heaven. Although these opportunities don't come often, we are happy to admit that we maximized the opportunity by spending the entire afternoon together.

The last big event of the visit was a trip down to La Selva to visit the Nice family. But such a long journey needs to be broken up by a cool visit here and there. The time was clearly ripe for a tour of the Jelly Belly factory. We were given the factory hats that we had to wear the entire time. This was made tolerable by the multiple stops where we got to taste jelly beans at each stage in the process.

It is unclear which sweet tooth enjoyed the factory tour, or at least the free samples, more. All in all the trip was a success, and it was great to see our West Coast family. We will be back in May, and this time John gets to come. This time the focus of the trip will be Uncle Zac and his graduation. We cannot wait!

Getting to Know Reese

2011-02-14T20:55:00.010-05:00

We've been very bad. Needless to say our New Year's resolution should have been to keep up with the blog. Apparently life gets a little crazier when you have two kids. Who knew? Reese is already nine weeks old and we have a ton of pictures and stories that have yet to be shared. Hopefully this post will be a step in the right direction. Believe it or not, we have to start our post way back in 2010.

Only a few days after Christmas we were fortunate to have more visitors. Suzy and Brian flew out to Cincinnati to spend time with Brian's family, and they made a valiant effort to come on down to Lexington for an afternoon. Reese did her best to charm her Aunt and Uncle despite the fact that she was still working through a cold. It was a great visit, and Callie certainly enjoyed getting to play with Suzy and Brian.

When Callie was first born, we loved taking walks in the morning and afternoon in the stroller. Unfortunately, Reese's birth has coincided with one of the coldest and snowiest winters Lexington has seen for a while. However we wanted to get a few miles on the new double-stroller we received from the generous and thoughtful California aunties. We had to bundle up, but it was well worth it.

Callie loved to have Reese sitting next to her. And we loved getting a little fresh air. Sad to say this was the only stroller ride we have been able to take in the two months we have had it in our house. Hopefully this will change soon as spring marches closer. One thing we have been able to do a lot is spend time with both Callie and Reese. In fact, we kept Callie out of daycare for all of January for a month of Team Bowes bonding.

The month was great, but having Callie around also meant that serene moments like the one pictured above were few and far between. The typical day was more of a crazy attempt to multi-task - answering a never-ending litany of questions and changing a never-ending litany of diapers.

Through it all Reese has managed to be mellow and fun. And as happens with babies her age, she continues to grow and change. Her two month visit occurred only a few weeks ago and she is doing well. Her height came in at 22 1/2 inches, which is the 55th percentile, and her weight was 9 lbs 11oz, which is the 22nd percentile. Those are some good Bowes proportions so far. The fine head of hair she had at birth has gone the way of the Dodo and her eyes appear to be grayish-blue. At the moment she is smiling relatively often. But more than anything, she's a bit squirrely. Unless she is sleping her arms and legs are constantly in motion.

John started back to school in mid-January, but has a very good schedule. Because he only teaches on Tuesdays and Thursdays he has been able to be home quite a bit and hang out with the ladies in his life. It's been fun, but in the back of his mind he's already trying to figure out the best way to get two little ones ready for daycare each morning once Sarah goes back to work. Fortunately, he'll have some time before he has to do two sets of ponytails.

January also brought some sad news when John learned that his Aunt Mary Gay Peltier had passed away after a year-long struggle with cancer. We were determined to be in South Bend for her funeral to join the Peltier, Malpino, and Bowes clans for the memorial. It took a long drive through a snow storm, but we made it.

The return trip had its share of intrigue. The picture above was taken at 1am at the Waffle House off of I-275 in Hebron, Kentucky. It is a long story involving an oil light, a tow truck, and a taxi driver named Stan. If you have already heard about the Knoebel's water slide incident or Bill the Vietnam veteran who was John's neighbor in White River Junction, than you should just know that the story of Stan makes this quite a trilogy of stories. And if you haven't heard any of those stories, buy John a bourbon and he'll start chattin'. It is also important to note that Callie in particular was phenomenal throughout the whole ordeal.

The end of January brought another welcome visitor to our home. Auntie Gret flew out from Los Angeles to meet Reese and hang out with us. We love having Gret around and her visit meant that she was the first California auntie to meet Reese. This made sense she was the first one to fly out to meet Callie. For her efforts we rewarded her with a beer and a sleeping baby.

Gret rewarded us by introducing Callie to every piece of technology known to modern humankind. Yes, in this picture Callie has on headphones listening to music while playing with an iPad and waiting for a call on the Blackberry by her side. Unreal. Callie now asks to type any time one of us is working on the computer.

There are more pictures and stories to come, so stay tuned. Reese is changing daily, so we will have a lot to share.

A Kentucky Christmas

2010-12-30T22:23:00.011-05:00

Christmas preparations began before Reese's arrival. We purchased the tree a week before she made her appearance. And we also had a very special opportunity to visit with Santa Claus himself. As opposed to previous years where we met the jolly old man at the mall, this year one of Callie's friends had an evening with Santa gathering. This meant that we didn't have to wait in line and Callie could get used to the idea of being near St. Nick.

We managed to get a pretty good family picture. Unfortunately, Callie never got comfortable enough to sit on his lap by herself. But she did get up the courage to tell him that she wanted a baby sister for Christmas. This made her parents heart melt.

And as we all know, Santa came through early on Callie's wish when Reese arrived a full two weeks before Christmas. And as you can see, she came ready to deck the halls and spread holiday cheer. Actually, the hat was a gift from afar, as the days before Christmas brought to Kentucky some of Santa's elves from Sacramento. Grammy Gayle, Uncle Zac, and Keith arrived just in time to put the finishing touches on the holiday preparations.

The first order of business was putting the construction management specialist in charge of the assembly of the gingerbread house. Zac led a solid team of workers who overcame some icing issues to put together a great looking piece of gingerbread architecture. And this time around Callie's candy decoration intake was kept to a minimum by Dad, the safety inspector. A good time was had by all.

Grammy Gayle enjoyed meeting her newest granddaughter and jumped at the chance to take a photo with Reese and Callie. The only girl missing from this picture is Cheyenne, but we can get a better group photo next year at Thanksgiving.

Also included in the picture is our fully decorated tree, which managed to keep all of its needles on until Christmas. We have realized, however, that with all of the ornaments we have collected over the years, it is time to start bringing home bigger trees. We'll keep that in mind next December.

As you can imagine this Christmas morning was special in a number of ways. But perhaps most special of all, both our girls gave us sleeping presents. Reese had a five-hour stint, and Callie didn't wake up until 8:45am. It made for a more enjoyable morning for everyone. But Callie was also very excited to get downstairs to see if Santa and his reindeer had visited and eaten the cookies and apples we left out the night before. She was not disappointed.

Once we made it downstairs, true to form, we made Callie and Reese take a family picture before they could touch their stockings. We have a picture like this at Callie's first Christmas when we were in Madison. It's fun to have our first one with Reese in front of our own fireplace, stockings, and tree.

Once her obligations to her parents were met and the flashbulbs dimmed, Callie was allowed to take down her stocking and begin the serious business of unwrapping.

It is important to note that Callie's stocking is almost as tall as she is. We may live to regret purchasing such monstrosities for stockings, but they are quite attractive. In any case, Callie was very excited to reach in and pull out goody after goody. And this was not a short process. All in all it took about 45 minutes for her to pull out and open the gifts Santa put in there for her. But her favorite was definitely the glitter Hello Kitty lipgloss. Somewhere out there are photos of her making John put on some of this wonderful stuff. We chose not to include them here.

Another prized possession was a wind-up musical matchbox deal that received attention from everyone in the room. Grammy Gayle took on the responsibility of showing Callie how it worked. Overall, we spent a lot of time admiring Callie's presents long after we had opened our own.

As we moved on to the gift exchange portion of the morning, Callie was once again overcome with joy. Uncle Zac and Keith gave Callie the tree tent pictured here. They set it up immediately and Callie needed everyone to get in the tent and hang out. She also moved all of her remaining presents in there. And it was quite nice to see that she was happy to leave quite a few presents wrapped while she played with those already opened. All told, it took her three days to open all of the gifts she received for Christmas.

Overall, this was a great Christmas. We had a great visit with the California crew, and Kentucky came through and provided a white Christmas for us all. This post could have been even longer if we had included all of the great pictures of snow shoveling, game playing, and just hanging out. The only problem, as always, was that the visit ended too soon.

There's a theory out there that you should always lead with your strongest story, argument or photo. We say, end each post with a bang. Or at the very least, give a prize to those who stick with us through the whole thing. You may remember a picture of a young Callie lying next to our Thanksgiving turkey. We did not want Reese to feel left out. With that said, we now present to you a special composition we call, Reese with Christmas Ham.

As we write this there is just over an hour left in 2010. It has been an amazing year for our family and we are thankful for being blessed with two beautiful and healthy girls. We look forward to watching them grow in 2011 and wish you and yours all the best. Happy New Year!!!

First week with Reese

2010-12-30T22:04:00.007-05:00

No matter how long it lasts, a hospital stay is never easy. With Callie, we entered the hospital on a Monday night and didn't leave until Saturday. With Reese, it was a much shorter experience, lasting from Friday night to Monday afternoon. But it may have been a bit crazier because we weren't only dealing with the constant interruptions of nurses or the newborn who had joined our lives, but also had to make sure that Callie was adjusting well to our new reality.

Reese seemed to adjust quite well to her new reality. Here she is, resting on an afghan knitted by Sarah's Great Aunt Lorraine. Although Reese is only two days old in this picture, she was already showing signs of being a pretty mellow baby who is able to endure the love of all of those around her - especially her big sister Callie.

We managed to have Callie visit every day. Thanks to a mid-December snowstorm that closed her daycare, Callie even spent most of the last day with us. It was enlightening to entertain a three-year-old in a hospital room for over five hours in the midst of everything else.

But there were moments of beauty in the chaos, and the above picture is evidence of one of those moments. It was awesome to watch how Callie was excited to meet her little sister. She constantly wanted to hold her and kiss her. And although we tried to keep her runny nose away from her face and hands, the love was simply too much to contain. And while this is moving beyond the first week, we can report that Reese is only now recovering from the first cold she caught from her loving sister.

Of course, maybe if Reese kept her mouth closed she wouldn't catch illnesses so easily. We kid. This was just a picture that needed to be included. Both Reese and Callie seemed to sleep a lot like most infants do, but also had numerous instances where they were awake, alert, and aware of their surroundings. And in those moments we could not keep our eyes off of her.

There comes a time for every parent, a moment of truth, when you realize the hospital is going to let you leave with the kid. Then there's the time when you realize you are going home with a big kid and a newborn. Life is truly going to be different from this point forward. Fortunately, Reese is already buckled up for the ride. We should probably do the same.

Although you cannot see it, Callie is proudly sporting her "Big Sister" t-shirt. She is very excited about it. In fact, she wore it to daycare her first day back and told everyone who listened about Reese Harper, her baby sister. it's pretty cool.

Although this is round two for us, it is still incredible to see how tiny a newborn is. It's also wonderful to see how easy it is to pose them for pictures. Put on a cute outfit, prop up a few pillows, and instant cuteness. Here Reese is wearing her 2010 white penguin sweatsuit from Carters. And she wears it well, if we must say so ourselves.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. A newborn tires everyone out. And there is nothing so sleep inducing as a baby sleeping on your chest. It's a win-win situation for everyone involved. Indeed, we are happy to be home and have successfully begun the adjustments to life as a family of four.

Fashionably Late

2010-12-12T10:01:00.008-05:00

The big day finally arrived on Saturday December 11. At 4:25am, Reese Harper Bowes came into the world at the healthy weight of 7lbs 1oz and the height of 20 inches. She was five days past her due date, but we are happy to report that she joined the world of her own free will. As was the case three years ago, we get to report on our joy from the comforts of Central Baptist Hospital.

Sarah went to work all week, but left after lunch on Friday when her contractions started to become regular. We spent the afternoon at home making the final preparations and getting Callie ready to spend the night at the Chrisman's house next door. After a good dinner with Sharon and Chris, we made a last visit to the frozen yogurt place at the Fayette Mall and then entered the doors of the hospital around 8:30pm.

By 2:30am, Sarah was pushing and just under two hours later, Reese gave us a first taste of her lung capacity. Fortunately, she wants to be just like her big sister Callie. Unfortunately, that means she spent the first four hours of her life in the NICU under observation to monitor her breathing. But she was brought to our room with a clean bill of health and we got to have some quality cuddle time.

We have often said how fortunate we are to have neighbors like Sharon and Chris. And once again, we find ourselves so appreciative of their friendship and support. Because as all of the above took place, they were taking care of Callie. Of course, it wasn't as if Callie was all that upset to have a sleepover at their house. They are so good with her and from all reports she is listening to them and behaving. They brought Callie in to meet Reese on Saturday afternoon. At first Callie was not sure what to make of the whole scene. She was happy to see her parents, but remained unsure about the little baby.

That changed pretty quickly, and soon she wanted to hold her little sister. Over the next couple of hours Callie bounced between curiosity about Reese and telling us about her day. The picture above was definitely taken during one of the few quiet moments when Callie was staring at her sister and not trying to tickle her.

It's safe to say that Callie won't truly understand what it means to have Reese in our lives until we are all at home. For the time being, this just means that she gets to stay with Sharon and Chris while Mommy and Daddy are in the hospital with a baby named Reese Harper. Hopefully the quiet moment pictured here will be the nature of their relationship moving forward.

As you can imagine, the first day was pretty exhausting. Between 7pm Friday and 7pm Saturday we went to the hospital, Sarah delivered Reese, Callie visited, and we all tried to get used to being a family of four. Out of everyone, Sarah and Reese deserved rest the most, so it is fitting that we end with a picture of the two sleeping and cuddling. Once again, the experience has demonstrated how absolutely amazing this whole process is and how incredibly strong Sarah is. Words will never truly capture all of that.

Preparing for Baby Peanut

2010-12-01T22:03:00.010-05:00

It is December 1, and at this point most people are beginning the countdown to Christmas. In our house, we have a very different countdown going on. It is five days until the official due date for Baby Peanut. That means we may have only five days to get our act together. And it means that beginning in approximately five days, we will begin to find out if Callie's good nature has anything to do with our parenting or if we just lucked out.

Callie has been very excited about the idea of having a baby sister and has talked about it for quite some time now. And we have tried to make sure that she is a part of the different stages of preparation, including trips to the doctor for ultrasounds. In our most recent visit, Callie insisted on bringing her blanket. When we asked why it was necessary, she told us that we needed to bring it in case Baby Peanut came out. Hopefully this is an indicator of the type of big sister she is going to be.

Of course it is not just about the mental and emotional preparation. Once again, GA (Great Aunt Teri) strikes again with an incredibly beautiful bedding set for Baby Peanut's crib. The arrival of this gift provided the motivation to get the crib out of the basement and upstairs. As you can see below, Callie was eager to be a part of the process.

The changing table has followed the crib and hopefully this weekend we will put the finishing touches on the space put aside for our little girl. We are still a little in denial about how much stuff comes with an infant. Sooner or later we will have to face our fears. It is hard to believe how much we have forgotten in the time since Callie was first born.

Back by popular demand is the requisite belly picture. This is Sarah at 39 weeks. And although, much to John's dismay, she has forsaken the Dairy Queen Blizzard hunger that came when she was pregnant with Callie, she has still managed to become large and in charge. Seriously, don't mess with her. (For the record, as always, we are writing this together. It's not just John with a glass of bourbon in his hand thinking he's being funny.)

Our final picture shows Callie with the gift she picked out for Baby Peanut. It is safe to say that she is both excited and unaware of just how much the new baby is going to change things around here. I guess it is also safe to say that the same thing applies to her parents. We are excited and clueless all at the same time. But at least the three current members of Team Bowes are ready to add a rookie to the mix.

Thanksgiving in Kentucky

2010-12-01T21:59:00.007-05:00

For the first time since Callie was born, we did not travel for Thanksgiving. Instead, we played host for the Bowes, Balestracci, and Hannen families from the great states of Connecticut and Colorado. Who knew that our house could hold eleven people for an extended weekend? Callie was beside herself to have non-stop attention for four days straight. It took a couple of days for her to readjust to life with only Mom and Dad.

Thanksgiving Day started for some of us with a 5K race at Keeneland. John, Suzy, and Brian were fortunate that the morning turned out to be sunny and in the low 60s. It was a great day for a run - as opposed to the following day which was in the low 30s and brought a little bit of snow. But the three intrepid runners were just happy that they managed to outrun the folks dressed as the turkey and the pilgrim.

Meanwhile, back at home, the master chef was dressed for the part. Sarah was extremely proud of her purchase and had planned out the menu to the last detail. With a host of potential sous chefs in the house, Sarah directed a magnificent effort that resulted in an amazing meal. It worked well in part because no one was going to say no or mess with a woman who was 38 weeks pregnant and holding a carving knife.

As the gang sat down for dinner, we all had good reason to be thankful. It is a rare event these days for all of us to be in one place for a few days, so it meant a lot to share some good food and good times together.

Thanksgiving Day was not only full of food, but also watching the Macy's Parade on TV, playing a few hands of Texas Hold-Em, and taking in a few football games here and there. And even though the two days after Thanksgiving were definitely on the chilly side we managed to take a couple of walks and watched the Lexington Christmas Parade. And of course we fit in the annual sibling dinner, which this year took place at Dudleys.

The above picture is the whole crew sitting on one of the focal points of the weekend - the couch in the den. Shortly after this picture was taken, Suzy and Brian left to catch their plane to Denver and the Connecticut contingent headed off to the Lexington airport. The house has seemed just a bit empty since...of course, we plan on changing that soon. It all depends on when Baby Peanut decides to make her grand entrance. Stay tuned...

Fun Fall Festivities

2010-11-04T20:41:00.009-04:00

October was filled with what have become traditional events - Keeneland, Evan's Orchard, and trick-or-treating. Although we did not get any pictures at Keeneland, Callie continues to enjoy watching the early morning training sessions. And John continues to enjoy the post-Keeneland breakfast at the Coffee Pub. So let's take a look at some of those fine fall memories.

Our journey begins at Evan's Orchard, where every year they appear to add another layer of activities focused on kids. Here John and Callie are sitting in one of the windows of a large straw castle. It was one of many structures built of straw, plastic tubing, or old tires that kids could climb on, over, and around.

Next up we have Callie and Sarah hanging out in what the folks at the orchard have lovingly titled, "The Rat Race." It's an activity where kids race each other in large plastic tubes - just think of a hamster on an exercise wheel. This year Sarah and Callie were able to gain some skills that will allow them to race each other in the years to come.

The afternoon continued with a couple of adventures through the different mazes they have on site, a request from Callie to ride the camel (yes, they do have a camel, and no, we didn't give in to her request), and a nice picnic lunch.

And Callie was quite cooperative with our ongoing efforts to capture her in cute and artistic poses with pumpkins. It's funny to think that three years ago these attempts were met with red-faced screams. Seriously, check out the post from November 2007 titled "Fall is Here". Same child, same orchard, different results.

In the spirit of fall, we made a point of adding some autumnal flair to our front porch. If you can take your eyes off of the magnificent skull t-shirt Callie is wearing you will notice a wonderful display of pumpkins, gourds, and mums that Sarah and Callie arranged earlier that day. And such preparations are important not only for our standing in the neighborhood but also as part of our preparations for the impending visit of the Bowes, Balestracci, and Hannen families. We are crossing our fingers that everything stays alive. And with the possibility of a snowfall tonight, you just never know.

But as anyone with a sweet tooth knows, the real highlight of October comes at the end of the month with a little thing called Halloween. And we are happy to report that this year Callie was both healthy and old enough to be an active participant in the festivities.

The above is only one of many pictures from the Great Pumpkin Photoshoot of October 2010. With the promise of candy in the future, Callie was once again very cooperative. She really enjoyed her costume and impressively wore her hat throughout the entire trick-or-treating extravaganza.

The weather was perfect, and we have a great trick-or-treating neighborhood just blocks away. It was definitely a bit surreal, however, to be trick-or-treating right across the street from Ashland, the historic home of Kentucky's own Henry Clay. Although we brought the stroller, Callie earned her night's haul by walking just about the entire time. She loved seeing all the different kids in costume and was very polite to all of those who gave her candy.

And here is the end result of all of that work. She was so excited to have all of that candy. And the best part for her parents? She had some M&Ms on the way home that night and has not had a piece or even asked for a piece of candy since. It's fantastic. Even better, every night since then John has had a bowl of vanilla ice cream with crushed candy mixed in. Night one, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Night two, Nestle Crunch Bars. Night three, Kit Kats. What will tonight bring?

Callie's Third Year Evaluation

2010-11-03T20:26:00.008-04:00

Turning three was not only a big deal for us, but also for Callie. She knew the exact date of her birthday and knew that she was turning three. She had no problem sharing that information with anyone who asked. And she was more than happy to select her monkey birthday cake and enjoyed opening her multitude of presents. Perhaps she wouldn't have been so enthusiastic if she realized that with age comes responsibility. We(and by we, we mean John) would like to say that Callie's annual review is occurring later than normal because she turned in her materials late. But who are we kidding. Things are a bit crazy around here, so the blame for the delayed paperwork starts with us.

We start with the official picture of the candidate in question. We are happy to report that this year's photo shoot did not involve any tears. Although she was timid and shy, she warmed up relatively quickly and we managed to get some good shots. She is getting so much older, it is kind of crazy. But we can't let emotions interfere with our objective evaluation, so let's continue.

The evaluation begins with cold, hard facts, otherwise known as the numbers from her annual check-up. Her height is 36 3/4 inches and her weight is 27 lbs. That means in the past year she has grown about 2 1/2 inches and gained 3lbs. Here's an interesting fact: this was the first year that Callie was measured standing up and not lying down. Callie was proud to show what a big girl she was. It is also important to note that no tears came with the measurements, scale, or even the finger prick. The flu shot caused some problems, but that's fully understandable. All in all, it was a very good visit. And it was great to see Dr. Warner, because Callie has been so healthy that we have only seen him twice since her two year check-up. Not too shabby.

This past year also marked Callie's first two visits to the dentist. The first visit brought many tears even though the dentist only counted her tooth and didn't bring any sharp metal objects into the room. During her second visit Callie was a star for both the hygienist and the dentist as they cleaned, flossed, and applied a fluoride treatment. However, we must admit that the dentist visits are a lot easier when they have cookie dough flavored fluoride and bubble gum flavored floss. Callie also received a prize or two for good behavior, which never hurts.

Of course, the biggest health issue covered in this particular review is Callie's ongoing good kidney health. Today marks ten months to the day since Callie had her surgery. And it is almost exactly five months since she stopped taking a daily dose of antibiotics. Looking back it is amazing how resilient she was throughout the entire process. Her parents had a lot of issues, but she was incredible. And there hasn't been a single problem or hint of a problem since January 3.

Now that we have addressed the various health updates we can get into the heart of the review process. As always we emphasize three particular categories: daycare, development, and social skills. Let the review begin.

Callie has truly grown to enjoy the time she spends at daycare. The morning drop-off remains a somewhat difficult process, but we believe that has more to do with the fact she is not much of a morning person than anything else. Over the summer and into late October she became accustomed to traveling to daycare in style, a.k.a. John pushing her in the jogging stroller. They had a fine time pointing out the bumps in the sidewalk and saying hello and good morning to everyone they passed along the way. At daycare, Callie has a good group of friends. Although she shares stories about all of them, her favorite is clearly Maddie. They are quite a pair, and the two have been together all three years. By the end of the month, Maddie and Callie will also be moving together into the next room. Slowly but surely we are making our way through all the rooms in the facility. This will in fact mark her fifth classroom. Naps remain a touch and go issue, and unfortunately when she doesn't nap the teachers, her parents, and her classmates suffer. Overall, however, Callie continues to learn a great deal from the fine folks at daycare. She sings a number of different songs, can identify her letters and numbers well, and has even started writing some letters.

Most of the key moments of Callie's development over the past year have been noted in previous posts, but it is worthwhile to highlight them again. She has been potty trained now for five months and the accidents have been very few and far between. And we have basked in the wonder of a diaper free household, happy to know that there will be no overlap with the little one due to arrive in about a month. (Yikes!) The big girl bed is still a point of pride for Callie, even though it has made bedtime a bit more challenging for her parents, who often lie down and fall asleep before she does. For the most part, the other aspects of her development are not flashy breakthroughs, but simply growing comfort with running, throwing, jumping, dancing, climbing, and playing independently. She is fun to watch.

Last, but not least, we need to address Callie's social skills. Perhaps the best way to describe her at this point is that socializing has to occur on her terms. She is usually shy at first and then warms up quickly, but there may be times when she jumps right in to social situations. She keeps us on her toes because we never know which road she'll take in any given situation. For example, she had a blast trick or treating, which was somewhat surprising. Yet, she wouldn't say trick or treat. She did say thank you every time. Then there was the night Sarah hosted one of her book clubs at our house. Callie didn't hesitate but jumped right into the mix and didn't want to leave the room full of women to go up to bed.

There is one group of folks who never catch a shy Callie. And their names are Bear, Mouse, Elephant, and Bunny. These are the imaginary friends who have become important members of our household. Callie is particularly fond of Mouse. For the most part, so are her parents, since Mouse can often be counted on to help us get Callie to brush her teeth or take a bath. It is pretty amazing how often she will talk about them or remind us that they have joined us at the restaurant.

And of course, Callie is growing very excited about the impending arrival of Baby Peanut. She loves to talk about how she is going to hold her and feed her a bottle. Hopefully the excitement will survive the initial shock of what having a newborn in the house truly means. It is quite cute that she wants to kiss Sarah's belly and tickle Baby Peanut whenever she gets the chance.

When all is said and done, Callie has had a remarkable year. She came through her surgery with flying colors and manages to thrive in our household that is always on the move. We offer our highest recommendation that she advance into the three-year class.

Is there a 3 year-old in the house?

2010-10-05T22:04:00.010-04:00

On Sunday, October 3, 2010, Callie turned 3. And this year, she not only knew it was her birthday, but she was also very excited. For the last four months she was willing to tell everyone and anyone that she was going to be three years old on October 3. She was also quick to point out that she shared her birthday with Uncle Chris.

We started the festivities on the first day of October, the Friday before her big day. We felt like official parents when we met up at the daycare with cupcakes and a camera. Callie insisted on having pink cupcakes with sprinkles on top and they were a hit. Callie and her friends assembled at the table for snack time and John passed out the goodies.

Ever since the "Tony Penza" incident of Memorial Day 2010, John has been banned from camera duties in key situations. Sarah was on the mark, however, and captured Callie enjoying her cupcake. However, the best part of the experience was when one little boy asked John to help him with the wrapper, which then snowballed into five little kids holding up their cupcakes in a silent request for similar assistance. It is important to note that John successfully handled the requests without anyone, including himself, getting too frazzled.

Later that night the real birthday surprise arrived when Nana Banana and Sport got off the plane from Connecticut and prepared to celebrate all weekend with their granddaughter. It was great to have them in town and we certainly squeezed a lot in during the time they were here. Fortunately the weather cooperated for the most part on Saturday, and after a walk through the Farmer's Market we headed to good old Reed Valley Orchard for their Fall Festival.

Callie loved picking apples, listening to music, and spending time with her grandparents. We love the above picture and it is just a glimpse into the fun the three of them had over the weekend. Callie was a particularly big fan of Nana Banana's bedtime reading and she thought Sport was, and we quote, "pretty silly." All in all, it was clearly a good time.

As we mentioned earlier, Callie was very aware that it was her birthday. Apparently so were our respective families and friends. Day after day packages streamed into our house and Callie's was ready to burst from excitement. She could barely contain herself when the time came to sit down and open up some of the boxes. The smile in this picture says it all.

Her excitement only grew when she spotted her monkey cake. This is the first year that Sarah made the cake instead of buying it, and boy did she set a high standard for the years to come. It took a lot of time and effort, but Callie's response to it made the whole thing worthwhile.

The video was a bit too long to put on the blog, so we'll have to describe the actual presentation of the cake and Callie's response to the traditional birthday song. This has never been Callie's forte, and last year she cried when we sang to her while bringing out the cake. This year was an improvement, because there were no tears. But she did not want to blow out the candles and clearly was less than enthusiastic about the singing. One step at a time. Of course, once the singing stopped her smile returned, as you can see below. Then she was more than ready to sit down and dig in.

And just like that, Callie turned three. It happened so fast. But we all know that a birthday in the Bowes house means two things. First, in two days we head to John's favorite destination, Portrait Innovations. Get ready for some cute pictures. Second, Callie better have her file ready for her annual review. Based on what we've been dealing with over the past couple of months, this could be a tough one. (Note to other young children, limit the whining if you want good marks on your evaluation)

And yes, we only have two months before we really have to shift gears and welcome the fourth member of Team Bowes.

Girls Weekend

2010-10-05T21:58:00.006-04:00

This Labor Day weekend was different than it has been over the past couple of years. John went off to Cape Cod for the annual reunion by himself while Sarah and Callie stayed back in Kentucky. But they were not alone. Indeed, the same day John left a plane from Los Angeles brought Lauren and Ashlyn in for a visit. Unfortunately, Kate, Lauren's oldest daughter, didn't make the trip. Understandably, Lauren is not ready to travel cross country with two little ones just yet.

The weekend was exactly what everyone needed. Not only did we see the sights throughout Lexington, but the two moms also had the chance to sit around and talk for hours after the girls went to sleep. The only missing element was the wine - most likely next time both moms will really need it if they have all four little girls in one place.

One day we went to Henry Clay's estate, also known as Ashland, to picnic and listen to jazz. Callie loved hanging out with Ashlyn. She was very attentive to her needs and especially enjoyed feeding her little puffs. Everything was going so well...

Then Callie learned some of the risks of feeding a young child. In this picture we witness the aftermath of Ashlyn literally biting the hand that was feeding her. Although Callie was pretty upset, she got over it relatively quickly, and soon renewed her efforts to help Ashlyn eat the puffs. At the very least, this was good training for when she has to deal with her soon to arrive little sister.

It was great to get to know Ashlyn a little better. Not only is she adorable like her sister, but she also has a personality bigger than life. And she is not even a year old yet. The combination of Kate and Ashlyn is sure to keep Lauren and JP busy in the years to come.

In the picture above you can see Callie sporting her new California t-shirt. She is always ready to tell you that she got this shirt from Kate and she loves to wear it. You also will see that Ashlyn has a matching onesie. But what you don't see is that Kate and Auntie Lo also have matching shirts. So if you see a bunch of flowers walking your way, you'll have a pretty good idea of who it is.

As with all visits, this one was too short and on Monday Lauren and Ashlyn took off for Los Angeles even as John flew back from the Cape. Hopefully next time we will be able to get the entire families together. There will be four girls three and under, two moms, and two very outnumbered dudes. Sounds like fun!

Baby Girl: The Sequel

2010-09-07T21:53:00.005-04:00

What's better than one cute little daughter? Two cute little daughters! At least that is what we are hoping, because we are having another little girl. In this post we have three relatively recent ultrasound pictures of Baby Peanut. We decided to have Callie join us for the ultrasound experience so that she could get a first hand look at what was really going on in Sarah's belly. More than anything, we were hoping she would impress the doctors and technicians with her bone-identification skills.

This first shot definitely gave her an opportunity to talk about vertebrae and femurs. It was cool because the doctor who reviewed the ultrasound was the same one who had diagnosed Callie's kidney reflux three years ago. So we got to thank him and show off Callie in all of her healthy glory. But the real star of the show was Baby Peanut, and the doctor gave positive reviews of her development so far. Everything is where it should be and growing appropriately.

If the pictures were any indication, Peanut is not at all shy. The tech had no problem finding things like the foot you see above, and also found it quite easy to identify her gender. it is important for us to note that Callie was the only one of Team Bowes and others who correctly predicted that Peanut was a girl. Because she was spot on with that prediction we capitalized on her knowledge and asked what we should name her sister. Callie quickly replied, "Brother Bowes." Of course, since that time her desired name is Miss Donna Bowes, after her favorite teacher at daycare. We can confirm that neither of these names has made the short list.

It appears that Peanut is just as excited to meet Callie as Callie is to be her big sister. The tech was kind enough to point out that Peanut was waving hello and we all thought that was really cool. Our next ultrasound is in October, and at that point preparations for the arrival should be in high gear. Preparations should actually be in higher gear right now, but we have been a little slow to get moving. Overall, the excitement level is building, and Team Bowes can't wait to welcome our fourth teammate to the world. Three months and counting - almost to the day.

Visit from Grammy

2010-08-25T21:17:00.012-04:00

Last year we met Grammy Gayle for a fun weekend in Chicago. This year we cut out the middle city and she flew out to visit us right here. It should come as no surprise that we managed to pack quite a few things into her visit/birthday weekend.

The first order of business was taking the birthday girl out on the town for a good meal. We all got dressed up and headed to Merrick Inn.

We had a great evening and enjoyed far too much tasty food. It was the perfect way to kick off the visit.

Because of the upcoming World Equestrian Games, Horse Mania 2010 has hit Lexington. Sidewalks and parks throughout the city are covered in horses painted by a variety of local artists. Although we saw several horses throughout Grammy Gayle's visit, we have a lot more to see because there are nearly one hundred throughout Lexington.

Everyone has their favorite, and this horse hits John's newfound sweetspot. Who knew that John would one day be a man who enjoyed the finer pleasures of a good Kentucky bourbon. Now he's just saving his pennies to try and buy this horse when it is auctioned off. Indeed, John is working hard to convince Sarah that it would look great in the front yard.

Callie was very excited to have Grammy in town, and the two of them spent nearly three whole days together while John and Sarah were at work.

Here the two of them pose in front of the Triangle Park water fountain, which is definitely worth a visit if you are ever in downtown Lexington. The whole morning was a whole lot of fun, looking at the horses, checking out the fountain, and visiting the farmer's market. But we were on a tight schedule and had to hop in the car to head to Paris and Reed Valley Orchard.

Blueberry season has long since passed, but the trees at Reed Valley are overflowing with a variety of very tasty apples. Callie's apple picking skills have also blossomed over the course of the past year. She was eager to get involved in the process, and it was good to have her around to get at the best apples near the tops of the trees. But the clock kept ticking, so we grabbed a few berry slushies and hit the road. We had other places to go and people to see.

For the third year in a row we had a table for Picnic with the Pops. This year was slightly different because it was held at Keeneland instead of the Kentucky Horse Park. The location may have been different, but the entertainment continued to exceed expectations.

None of our group pictures worked out quite right, but the above photo of Gayle, Tommy, Chad, and Rebecca captures the spirit of the night and our fancy table. This event yet again proved that we can get out and enjoy ourselves without our dear daughter. We can't wait for next year!

The next day we invited the Richters to join us for the Woodland Arts and Crafts Fair. Like us, Lynda and Stephen are preparing to welcome a new addition to their family. The two ever growing women decided to embrace the moment and compare bellies during some down time at the fair. The next few months should be fun because the two babies will be born just about a month apart.

No arts and crafts fair is complete without an opportunity to show off your own skills. Here Grammy Gayle checks out Callie's work with a paint brush on a community canvas. Callie seemed to really enjoy it. We just had to encourage her to avoid painting all over other people's art work. Respect for other people's art is one more lesson Callie is in the process of learning.

The final stop on the tour was the Slushie Factory, otherwise known as every little kid's dream. Callie had a mix of Orange and Cherry, which she just about inhaled. But here was another lesson to be learned. As Jackson and Eli Richter demonstrate in the photo, drinking slushies too quickly can lead to brain freeze.

As with any visit, Grammy Gayle's trip to Lexington was a lot of fun and went by far too fast. We can't wait until we get to see her again at Christmas. Not only is that less than four months away, but when she returns she'll have another granddaughter to play with.

Maximizing Summertime in Lexington

2010-08-25T21:10:00.009-04:00

We always try and stay busy, but this summer's heat has made it just a little more difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. And even as the summer begins to draw to a close, we find the time to hang out with friends, have fun, and stay cool.

The best way to beat the heat is to jump in the pool. We never realized the happiness a five dollar investment could bring to our household. But there you have it, a five dollar inflatable pool and hours of smiles. Here we see Callie splashing around with Libby Gipe, the Chrisman's granddaughter.

After we took a dip in the pool we enjoyed a few pieces of fresh watermelon. Overall, Callie has spent a lot more time outside playing the yard this summer, and it has been fun to watch her enjoy the great outdoors.

Although this summer the humidity has definitely undermined our normal patio time with the Chrismans, our outdoor pool has provided new opportunities to get together and have some fun.

What should we say about a picture like this? Sassy? Attitude? Trouble? Callie has certainly fallen into each one of these categories at various points over the past couple of months. And her outfit and pose in this picture capture it all. She is a lot of fun, but she is also pretty darn feisty.

One thing we enjoy about the summer in Lexington is the Midsummer Night's Run. This year we entered Callie into the real event of the night, known as "The Fastest Kid in Town". In order to get prepared for the big evening, we bought Callie her first pair of non-slip-on, non-velcro, a.k.a. big girl shoes. She still has some growing to do before she'll fit into John's boats, but she's on her way.

Pictured here are the two runners representing Team Bowes. John has spent the summer taking Callie to daycare in the jogging stroller, so he was well prepared for the big 5K.

The question was - would Callie be ready? We did what we could to let her know how the event would go, and all signs pointed to her being excited about it.

Then Sarah and Callie got to the starting line with the other 2-year-old girls. The announcer said, "On your mark, get set, go!" At that point, Callie looked at Sarah with a frozen look on her face and started crying. You may not be able to tell from this picture, but the race turned into fifty yards of pure determination by Sarah to get Callie to the finish line without having to carry her. Our goal for next year is no tears.

Even unhappy, or perhaps especially unhappy runners deserve a prize for reaching the finish line. In this case, Callie was tickled with the prize of pink ice cream. Yes, that is correct, flavor is not the issue. Color is the key. And that is a great picture to end our post with, because John didn't look half as cute when he was done with his race.

July in Indiana

2010-07-27T20:19:00.007-04:00

On July 4th weekend we hopped in the car and headed to South Bend, Indiana for a family gathering in honor of Anna Peltier's baptism. Because it is a five to six hour drive we decided to cut it in half by stopping at the Indianapolis Zoo and taking some time to enjoy the fine animals that live there. It was a hot day but we got there early and were ready to go.

We hadn't been to a zoo since last year, so Callie was excited to see all the animals, especially the monkeys. It probably shouldn't be too surprising based on our travels, but this was Callie's third zoo in her less than three years, and each one has been in a different state. Just a brief aside, it is a bit scary to us that Callie is going to be three years old in about two months. Oh my...

In any case, Callie was very happy to walk around the zoo and check everything out. We saw a dolphin show, watched an elephant get her daily bath, and attempted to run with the cheetahs. But the real highlight came when Sarah and Callie got to feed the giraffes. Check it out.

This was definitely better than the last time the two of them fed giraffes in Cincinnati. That time Sarah got too excited and Callie wasn't too sure how she felt about the whole thing. And it was very cool that it was a mother and baby giraffe who they got to feed.

Clearly we spent some time hanging out by the giraffes. There were quite a few of them and we watched them walk around and munch on the trees. All in all it was a very successful trip, especially since it tuckered Callie out so much that she slept the two and a half hours it took us to get from Indianapolis to South Bend.

Now we present the little girl of the hour, Anna, enjoying a South Bend afternoon with her parents, Dan and Carrie. The event was a great excuse for the extended Peltier clan to gather and get the new generation acquainted. For that weekend we had folks from Kansas, Minnesota, Kentucky, Vermont, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Not too shabby.

Let's take a look at the middle generation. From left to right we have Ted Peltier, John, Emily Malpino, and Dan Peltier. It's been a long time since these cousins have all been in the same place, so it's good to be able to take advantage of these opportunities. Although we weren't able to get Suzy, Katie, and Emily's brother James there for this gathering, hopefully all the cousins will be able to see each other soon.

While the above picture features some good looking folks, the picture below is truly the one that steals the show. It is the next generation of cousins, first, second, three times removed, who knows what the technical definition is. They are related and they are cute, end of story. From left to right we see Nathan Peltier (Ted's), Callie Bowes (John's), Claire Peltier (Ted's), and Lucy Peltier (Dan's).

The four kids spent a lot of time in the pool. And by that, we mean, they spent A LOT of time in the pool. It was great to see how much fun they had hanging out together.

Not only did Callie get to hang out with her cousins, but she also got to experience her first fireworks display. She wasn't too sure what to think of the snakes. However, she had a clear opinion about the colored smoke bombs - she jumped up and clapped her hands. We had to hit the road before the show was over, but we caught quite a few fireworks shows during the long drive back to Lexington. And once again, we lucked out because all the pool time meant that Callie slept the whole way.

A Monkey and a Peanut

2010-07-16T21:56:00.002-04:00

We wanted to officially give you a belly update. It is almost week 20, which means it is almost the halfway point of the journey. The good news is that Sarah has left all of the nausea, fatigue, and heightened emotions behind her. And although the belly is certainly growing, Sarah is hopeful that this pregnancy won't result in her challenging John for heaviest person in the house.

We are also beginning what is sure to be the gradual process of preparing Callie for the world rocking event of her sibling's arrival in December. Right now Callie enjoys kissing Sarah's belly, a.k.a. Baby Peanut, and tickling it. One of the biggest issues is sure to be dealing Callie's possessive language ("My Mommy" and "My Daddy"). We are trying to warm her up to the idea of sharing...fortunately we still have a few months left to work on it.

All joking aside, Callie seems to be accepting the idea of having a baby in the house and when asked, will even tell you that Baby Peanut is in her mommy's belly. And although this is a strong sign of her understanding what is going on, she also shows she is two years old when she explains that she and John have monkeys in their bellies. So a picture of Sarah's belly also requires a picture of Callie's belly.

All in all, things are going well and we continue to enjoy the summer. Stay tuned for more summer activities and what are sure to be more belly pictures as the months go by.

A Colorado Wedding

2010-07-11T14:00:00.011-04:00

At the end of June we hopped on a plane in Lousville and headed for the Rocky Mountains. It was time for the celebration of Suzy and Brian's wedding. And while our checked bag decided to take a side trip to Dallas, we didn't miss a beat and got up to Winter Park in plenty of time to enjoy all the weekend had to offer.

Our first event was a Bowes family dinner at Alberto's. It was good Italian cuisine and our table of twelve enjoyed it immensely. Of course the company was better than the food, and Callie was particularly happy to be in between Michael and Brendan (in Callie's terms, "my cousins!")

The parents of the bride started beaming the moment they saw Suzy and didn't stop the whole weekend long. They were impressed, as were we all, with all of the effort Suzy and Brian put into the preparations for their wedding. Indeed, our car on the ride up to the mountains contained our bags, a wedding dress, boxes of self-grown wheat grass, origami flowers, and much more. Needless to say, it was filled up with all sorts of goodies the bride and groom had put together for the occasion.

Taffy and Jay weren't the only ones beaming. Suzy looked absolutely fabulous as she walked down the aisle. It was fitting to see Suzy in a wedding dress in the great outdoors and the setting was truly beautiful. Unfortunately, the weather did not fully cooperate with the wedding plans. Although Suzy and Brian can endure quite a bit, as the rain began to fall they decided that it was best to take the ceremony inside.

It is not everyone who can say they had an outdoor-indoor wedding. And honestly, the change of venue did not disrupt the magic of the day at all. Everyone took it in stride and understood that the day was about Suzy and Brian, and the temperamental Colorado weather couldn't take that away. The ceremony was wonderful, and before you could say I do, they did, and they were married!

As you can see from this picture, Suzy and Brian make a very attractive and photogenic couple. And if you look closely into their eyes, you can also see that they are ready to dance and live it up!

The best man (Micah) and the matron of honor (our very own Katie Balestracci) gave funny and touching toasts, Suzy and Brian showed off the results of their dancing lessons, and everyone got to partake of the sundae bar. And then the party really began.

Callie enjoyed some one on one time with her Aunt Suzy throughout the festivities. Unfortunately Callie was unwilling to fully let loose on the dance floor. But she wanted to watch everyone else boogie down. It might take a while for Callie to show her dancing skills in public, which is too bad, because she does have some moves.

Although the ceremony made it official that Brian is now a part of our family, we can honestly say that he joined our crazy crew last Christmas when he made his first appearance at the annual sibling dinner in Connecticut. And we must admit that his presence helped lead to the very first sibling dinner "after party" at the Balestracci residence.

And the above pictures only provides some of the highlights from a great weekend of family and fun. We had an amazing time meeting Suzy and Brian's friends, and Brian's family in particular. It is too bad the party had to finally come to an end.

However, when one party ends you have to start planning for the next one. Pictured here, for all the world to see, is John's Uncle Tommy making a pinky-swear promise with Sarah. What is that promise, you may ask. Well, after years of dropping not so subtle hints, we decided to get Tommy and Terry to commit to a visit to horse country. Or at the very least, we got Tommy to commit to a very public promise that we will remind him of as often as possible until he makes his first appearance in the Bluegrass.

Fun in the Sun

2010-07-01T21:21:00.003-04:00

May 2010 was a big moment in time for Callie. She successfully transitioned from her crib to a big girl bed and has enjoyed the new set up of her bedroom. Although she has been interested in using the potty for some time now, May marked the real thing. She started wearing big girl underwear every day by the end of the month and hasn't looked back. And we are happy to report (knock on wood) there have been very few accidents. Just as important in some respects, on May 31 Callie took her last dose of antibiotics. Because she had been taking a daily dose since she was 2 days old this was a very big deal. But there was also a developmental milestone in May that was not quite as positive. Callie one day at dinner told John he was a "stinky butt". The moment took a little while to sink in, but after a few giggles we made it clear that this was not exactly acceptable behavior.

All of this meant that Callie entered June with some substantial momentum on a variety of fronts. She was fired up and ready to take on the summer.

Fortunately, we had just the right activity planned. We hopped in the car and headed down to Richmond to hang out with our friends the Richters. They had the inflatable pool all ready for Callie and their sons Jackson and Eli. Callie didn't waste any time and made herself at home.

Callie really enjoyed running around with all of the boys, including her Dad. And when Jackson and Eli taught Callie how to use the sprinkler as a weapon, she was more than happy to gang up on John. From this picture you can see where Callie gets her glowing white skin. Nothing screams sunscreen like these two ivory figures.

Squirting John wasn't the only thing that Jackson and Eli taught Callie on that sunny day. We always knew Callie was a mixture of her two parents - risk-taker meets Captain Caution. Fortunately, on that day the risk-taker led the way. Take a peek at what we mean.

She didn't go the full lengths that Jackson did, but she took some solid jumps and we were quite impressed with the athleticism displayed. Overall it was a lot of fun and we hope to see the Richters again soon. In the meantime, however, June also means blueberries at Reed Valley Orchard. We didn't want to waste any time and headed up there the following weekend.

We must admit that Callie wasn't as excited about picking blueberries as she was last year. But she did have a great time pointing out all of the bugs on the ground, the beetles on the plants, and the rotting berries. So at least there was something that still sparked her interest.

And at the end of our picking session we still came away with almost five pounds of blueberries. Callie was also quick to point out that Mom picked more than Dad. But what really made the day was when we all left the main building holding berry slushies in addition to our picked produce. This year we did not have to share because we each had our own cup. It was fantastic.

The day after we picked blueberries was another special day. Callie had worked hard in daycare the previous week and was ready to show off her efforts for Dad. It's crazy to think that this year Callie is starting to grasp the concept of holidays like these and is excited to participate. Next year John expects her to prepare an entire breakfast in bed.

Our final picture is both cute and a preview of a future post. Here we see John and Callie in the airport as we prepared to head to Denver, Colorado for Suzy and Brian's big day.

The wedding post will have to wait, but it will be a good one. We have nearly 300 pictures to choose from, so get ready. Until then, have a great Fourth of July weekend.

Countdown to Suzy's Big Day

2010-06-14T20:50:00.008-04:00

The biggest event of Memorial Day weekend was the bridal shower for John's sister Suzy. It has been super cute to hear Callie talk about how Suzy and Brian are getting married in Colorado. So the event was a great way to show Callie all the bells and whistles that go along with a wedding. Callie enjoyed being in the middle of it all, and especially enjoyed any chance she had to share the limelight with the star of the show, bride-to-be Aunt Suzy.

The actual event was held at the Balestracci residence, a home normally infested with boys. But fortunately, John had arranged for all the guys to spend the afternoon at a pool party across town. So while they made themselves scarce, the ladies showered Suzy with food, gifts, and laughter.

Two of those in attendance were Alison Skonieczny Zanardi and Melanie Skonieczny Loeber. They are sisters, by the way, and not just two women who have eerily similar middle names. It was great to catch up with both of them. The focus of our conversations were pregnancy, since Melanie is now officially 12 weeks, and when we could eat, since Mel and Sarah were trying to battle first trimester nausea. It will be fun to expand the Skonieczny-Bowes clans by two this winter.

it was also wonderful to see John's cousin Emily and Aunt Debbie, pictured here with Katie. They drove down from Vermont for the event and we will also get a chance to see them in Colorado at the wedding. Emily is going to be in attendance with her boyfriend Eli, and we have already given her fair warning that he should be prepared for a proper grilling by, among others, Chris and Sarah. While they are gentle and kind about it, Chris and Sarah have a way of learning a lot about you in a short period of time.

Also making the drive to Guilford for the event were John's Aunt Pat and cousin Barbara. It was great to have them there since we don't get to see them often enough. Barb looked especially radiant on that day...wink-wink, hi Barb! (We have to give a shout out to someone we know reads the blog besides our parents!) On a serious note, it was great to get a chance to talk and hopefully the future will provide more opportunities to hang out. For instance, perhaps Ryan would like to take a look at the University of Kentucky. Rumor has it we have some good sports teams - basketball, football, baseball. We're just throwing some ideas out there.

Finally, we have a picture of the original Bowes girls. Don't they look fantastic. Unfortunately we don't have a photo from a few decades ago to compare. But trust us, they have only gotten cuter.

Katie, Taffy, and Suzy's friend Heather put on a fabulous shower and truly got us revved for the celebration to come. We are looking forward to Colorado in less than two weeks. The countdown is on for Suzy and Brian's big day!!! Don't worry, we may take a few pictures to share.

May Travels

2010-06-14T20:44:00.008-04:00

May was a tough month for us. As we shared with you a few posts ago, the Halloran family left Lexington and headed for Salt Lake City. The good news is that they are doing great in SLC. The bad news is that they weren't the only ones leaving Lexington. At the end of the month our friends Neil and Karen packed their bags and headed for New York. Like the Hallorans, this move was because of an awesome opportunity that they couldn't pass up.

Fortunately, we had the chance to spend a weekend with Neil and Karen before they departed. We rented a cabin at Jenny Wiley State Park and got in some good old fashioned nature and relaxation time. Pictured below is part of the nature encounter - ducks aplenty.

Okay, so there are no ducks in the picture above. But we were feeding the ducks. Callie enjoyed it, once John a.k.a. Captain Caution, allowed her to walk past the large hissing drake. That's a male duck, by the way. Don't feel bad - we had to google it. This was yet another example of Sarah and John's contrasting parenting styles, because Sarah thought she might be able to tame that bad boy by riding him across the lake.

Despite the parental craziness, Callie was willing to pose with one of the signs that confirms there were actually ducks on the premises. One wonders if her willingness to pose for such pictures will diminish or increase as the years go by. We are having to bribe her more often to obtain pictures like these. (If you look closer at the picture you will see a fine pair of legs behind the sign - but you don't see the candy held behind the sign)

One of the best parts of the weekend was taking an easy hike on the lakeside trail while Neil a.k.a. The Tree Man, pointed out the variety of plant life and gave us juicy tidbits about the age, diversity, and lushness of the forest around us. At the end of the hike, we weren't sure whether to tip him, prepare for a quiz, or just get dinner ready. As you can see, we have to work on Callie's ability to stay awake in class. This behavior would not fly in Neil or John's classroom.

We will definitely miss Neil and Karen and hope that we see them soon in the future. Of course, that may be difficult as Karen will be spending the next year doing research in Israel while Neil spends several months studying the forests of Mongolia. And no, we are not making any of that up. You thought we traveled alot. At least we stay on the same continent.

Speaking of travel, the last weekend of May brought us to Connecticut for a number of events. The first order of business was John's 15th Yale reunion. Callie spent most of the weekend with Nana Banana, Sport, Suzy, Chris, Katie, Michael, and Brendan, while we lived it up in New Haven. John walked around and caught up with classmates he hadn't seen for years, while Sarah scoped out the members of her favorite reunion class, the men of '45W. Those are the guys who initially enrolled with the class of '45 and then went to fight in WWII. Though they graduated later they are designated '45W. They were celebrating their 65th and were looking good!

In any case, Callie did come into the city to hang out with us for a couple of hours on Saturday. She ran around with the other kids and took part in the little festival Yale put together. They are just trying to recruit early. Personally, John thinks she looks pretty good in the Yale hat she has on below. Although to be fair, she would probably look just as cute in a UC-Santa Barbara hat.

It pains me (John) to say that another picture that could have gone in this spot just didn't make the cut. But for the record, we do have a couple of pictures of John and Callie at the front door of the Master's House of Jonathan Edwards College. With any luck, and over Sarah's registered protest, this will be the front door to our house. Yes, Sarah is shaking her head as I type this.

The last picture for this post finds Nana Banana, Brendan, and Callie posing with the man of the hour, Michael. He had just finished playing his trombone and marching with the Adams Middle School Band in Guilford's Memorial Day parade. Everyone agreed that his band was far better than the high school band. It is also important to note that we intended to have pictures of Michael marching and playing. However, due to John's fine camera work, we ended up with multiple shots of a fine young boy named Tony Penza. He does play the trombone, but is not Michael. Such is life.

Of course there was one more very big reason for our trip. But that deserves a post all its own.

Call a Timeout! We Need a New Defense!

2010-05-15T22:55:00.002-04:00

That's right folks, the time has come for us to shift to a man-to-man defense on the homefront. And for our non sport-loving friends and family, we are excited to announce that Team Bowes is expanding. Our official due date is December 6, 2010. Last week we went to the doctor to make sure that everything was looking good and that we are on track for another healthy baby. At this point the baby is ten weeks old so we have thirty weeks to go.

It is amazing how it doesn't feel real until you get the opportunity to see a little blob on a fuzzy screen and hear a heartbeat. The little one has been dubbed, Peanut, and Callie is slowly starting to understand that Baby Peanut will eventually join our family. However, she tells us that she also has a Baby Peanut in her belly. It frightens John and makes Sarah giggle. All in all we are doing well and are super excited about having another child in our family. Fortunately we have managed to forget most of the sleep deprived elements of Callie's infancy, so we are still able to look forward with anticipation to December. Let the games begin!

The RV Comes to Town

2010-05-15T22:04:00.005-04:00

At the beginning of April, Ron and Teri Lucas began a magical adventure. They left Rancho Murietta in northern California with a spring in their step and a gleam in their eye. Their mission - to arrive in Utica, NY for a wedding on May 22. In that six week span they planned on taking their RV to some of the wonderful places across this great nation and experiencing all that the United States has to offer....things like tornadoes, floods, April snowstorms in the Rockies, etc.

We were lucky to have a chance to see them shortly after they avoided floating down the Ohio River because of flash floods in Paducah, Kentucky. What is remarkable is that after all they had experienced the spring and the gleam were still there.

This is very evident in the picture below. We try to make sure that Callie has a good understanding of who her immediate family is, and Teri has made it even easier by making an I-spy quilt with pictures of all those family members. And we were happy to see that our efforts paid off, as it took only two minutes or less for Callie to warm up to both Ron and Teri. She even spent a full day with them just hanging out and being spoiled while the parents were at work.

What's also great about Ron and Teri is their willingness to check out anything and everything. The picture above is taken at the Thoroughbred Horse Park in downtown Lexington, a park we have driven by countless times in the past four years but never visited. It's very cool.

That Saturday we all got the opportunity to stop by Mayfest, the downtown crafts fair that kicks off a summer of art festivals and other celebrations around here. Here we see Teri trying to pass on some of her handiness by showing Callie how to make her own bracelet. These are the types of skills that the whole Kentucky Bowes clan would benefit from. Callie also enjoyed a moon bounce and some kettle corn. It was a fun day that ended with a campfire beside the RV at the Kentucky Horse Park.

To make things easier for all involved, Great Uncle Ron and Great Aunt Teri have been given the names of GU (pronounced gee-you) and GA (pronounced gee-ya). It was cute listening to Callie call them by their new names. And while we still hold out hope that they might stop by Lexington on their way back to California, rumor has it they are taking a more northern route. So anyone reading this blog who lives along the I-90 corridor might want to look out for some crazy weather in late May and early June.

The Multiple Joys of Spring

2010-05-15T21:21:00.006-04:00

I know it is hard to imagine, but a lot has happened in the past month or so. But we have to start with something that had its origins in Callie's second birthday. Now Callie has received quite a few packages in the mail in her two and a half years on this earth, but no package has journeyed so far as the one pictured below. Sarah's cousin Haley had to send this particular package three different times from California due to address mix-ups, misunderstandings with the UPS folks, and other assorted issues.

Despite all of the troubles, we are happy to report that the four horses and their beautiful barn made it to Lexington in time for the Derby and are one of Callie's favorite toys.

Thanks again to Haley, Ryan, and Skyler for such a thoughtful gift. You can never have enough horses in this neck of the woods. Speaking of woods, our next little episode involves a dead tree and a friendly neighbor.

In the three years we have lived in our house there has been a tree in the backyard that has bothered the two of us immensely. It was dead when we moved in and somehow managed to look deader every year. John, aka Captain Caution, was wary about dealing with it because it nestled against the power line leading to the house. But one sunny day our neighbor Marcus informed us that was hogwash, brought over his axe, and went to town.

Fortunately for all involved, Marcus is handy with an axe and has good aim. In a matter of minutes the tree was down, hacked up into smaller pieces, and stuck into our yard bin. It is amazing how the elimination of one dead tree can brighten a whole backyard. And with that task accomplished perhaps we will get around to fixing the screen door that is still torn from the efforts of the previous owner's dog.

Next we have a picture of Team Bowes on the morning of the Heart Walk, a 5k walk to raise awareness and money for the American Heart Association. It may not be the best picture of us, but it proves to our generous supporters that we did in fact show up and walk.

Our heartfelt (get it) thanks go to all of you who responded generously to Sarah's email and donated money in support of Team Bowes. You will be happy to know that we raised $575 for the cause. We hope to do more events like this in the future, especially as Callie gets older and has a better understanding of what we are doing.

This spring Callie has discovered what some might call, the joy of dance. Many times she insists that her parents sit on the floor and "Watch me dance!" Her particular influences and styles are somewhat undefined. Sarah thinks it's the Bowes genes. But take a look and you decide.

And for those of you wondering, she is dancing to the Grateful Dead. But she has been known to get her boogie on to just about anything. Like her parents, she has an eclectic taste in music.

Unfortunately, we have to end this post on what is truly a sad note. As of this past Tuesday, the Halloran family are no longer residents of Lexington. They have set off on a new adventure in the state of Utah. Fiona got an opportunity she couldn't pass up and while we already miss them tremendously we know that they are excited and happy about what lies ahead. Of course, Callie has asked about Iain every day since they have left, and it is going to be a difficult adjustment not having her best friend around. But Utah isn't that far away and who knows when we'll feel the need to go skiing in Park City.

We are on a roll, so more posts to follow soon!

California Girls

2010-04-30T21:30:00.019-04:00

So this year we did spring break a little bit differently than we have in the past. Sarah and Callie headed to California to hang out with all the California aunties while John stayed in Lexington and hosted a gathering of his best friends from childhood. The post below features numerous pictures of a wonderful trip to California. Unfortunately you will not see a single picture of the boys' weekend in Lexington. However, we can assure you that a good time was had by all, and it looks like Ted, Jason, Bill, and Tyler now know why the first day of the spring meet at Keeneland is the place to be. But on to the main show.

It is appropriate to start the post with a picture of Ashlyn, the newest member of the Perrone family. She arrived in November and although it took us over four months to meet her, it was well worth the wait. She takes after her sister - she is really cute and refuses to sleep through the night. For example, the first night of our trip Lauren got up at 1am, 3am, and 5am to deal with one of her darling bundles of cuteness.

Most mornings we enjoyed a walk to downtown Manhattan Beach to grab some bagels and coffee. This is certainly a routine I could get used to. One morning Auntie D joined us not only for the morning snacks but also for the morning activity, which consisted of Callie and Kate playing in the fountain. They had no worries about wet clothes, that's for sure.

It was awesome to watch Denise enjoy her time with the girls. She also embraced spoiling them when she later presented them both with fairy costumes.

These fairy costumes were quite elaborate - wings, skirts, headdresses, and fairy wands. Needless to say, the girls loved them. They spent over an hour running through the house and posing for pictures. Callie has actually worn the fairy skirt to bed on several occasions since she has been back in Lexington.

To insure that the spoiling continued, Auntie Pi popped over with her bag full of goodies for the little ones. Her gifts included tiaras, feathery Easter purses, and all the fixings for dyeing eggs.

It was pretty entertaining to watch Denise and Alicia leading the egg dyeing and managing the energy and attitude of two crazy two-year-olds. Kate and Callie had a blast, but both ended up with colored hands for the rest of the day.

On Easter Sunday, we headed over to the Bazela-Schwartz residence for brunch and a traditional Easter egg hunt. The actual hunt occurred three to four times because it took a while for Kate and Callie to catch on. Josh was kind enough to show them how it all works. This went on innocently for quite some time. Until....

They discovered that these plastic eggs held candy goodness and the hunt took on a whole new meaning. Callie and Kate each probably ate more candy in that one morning than they have their entire lives up to that point. It was impressive to watch.

Now an Easter brunch is not an Easter brunch without hula hoops. And since we were in the presence of a master hula hooper, we had to watch him in action and learn his moves. Callie thought Josh was a riot, but I don't believe she picked up any of the skills. That may have to wait until the next trip.

We end our Easter morning extravaganza with a picture of the Perrone family all decked out for the occasion. JP and Lauren look dashing in their bunny ears and seem remarkably alert for two people who have endured another night of multiple wakings. It is still hard to believe that it was only four years ago that Sarah and the rest of the girls were dancing on the stage with the band at their wedding. I guess time flies when you are having fun.

What's a trip to California without a trip to the beach? Callie and Sarah joined Josh and Gretchen for a drive up to their favorite tidepool beach in Malibu.

We only spent an hour or so but got a good long walk in and staged a couple more Easter egg hunts in the sand. Callie and Josh couldn't get enough of the whole hide and seek aspect of it all.

Auntie Gret certainly wanted to spend some one on one time with Callie and make sure that she knows the proper names for the West Coast sea life. We need to make sure that Callie spends quality time with Gretchen every year to continue to expand her knowledge of science in general and marine life in particular.

Some of the highlights of the trip really were the various times that Sarah got to just hang out with any one of her close friends while Callie played with Kate. Or at the very least Callie and Kate played next to each other. By the fourth day we were there they both would ask for each other when they woke up and seemed to interact more comfortably.

The park was definitely their favorite destination and they spent a lot of time going down the slides and riding on froggies. I guess it should come as no surprise that a couple of two-year-olds loved the playground, especially this one that is designed specifically for toddlers.

The main reason for the timing of this particular trip to California was to celebrate Gretchen's 40th birthday. Although there was a lot of family time on this visit, the main event was for adults only at a cool wine bar in Hollywood. The evening included a fair amount of wine, appetizers, cupcakes, and adorable m&m's that had messages wishing Gret a happy birthday. A good time was had by all.

Our California trips are always way too short, but it was great to see everyone and catch up. Hopefully we'll get back to LA again soon.

Eggs and Bunnies

2010-03-28T21:02:00.006-04:00

As Callie gets older, each season brings more fun-filled activities that were not possible the year before. And as Callie grows more aware of and excited about the world around her we all get to enjoy the little things that we have taken for granted in the past. For example, when was the last time you went down a slide at your local playground with a big smile on your face? Fortunately, we can say it was yesterday, and we had a blast! One of Callie's favorite phrases these days is "Oh my goodness!" and she truly makes us see the world in a whole new light.

This season's new fun-filled activity was, you guessed it, coloring Easter eggs. John has learned a variety of techniques from the Skonieczny family and was happy he could bring those skills to the table. Step one, boil the eggs. To be completely transparent, we must admit that we had to go online to get the instructions on how to boil eggs properly. A little embarassing, but we didn't want to lose any potential egg canvases through ignorance.

Callie was very patient throughout the boiling process, since it took longer than we had anticipated. She was also extremely helpful when it came to cooling and drying the eggs. Although at her age it is difficult to avoid being a bull in a china shop at times, she has a very attentive and delicate approach to the tasks she is given.

Here is a picture of step 2, dyeing the eggs. It took Callie a few minutes to understand the process, but she was soon eager to use all of the colors we had in front of us. And once she had mastered the dyeing process, she was deemed ready to take on a more advanced skill.

Here we see Callie using a crayon to write on the egg before placing it in the dye. This is one of the ideas John picked up over the years he spent at the kitchen table of the Skonieczny household. Now we were not as adept at using two other techniques John learned. Polishing the finished egg with wax paper didn't go so well and we chose not to introduce Callie to the highly competitive sport of egg konking. Don't worry, I bet the konking will be a part of things next year.

One of the nice things about dyeing eggs is how the finished product looks. Callie was definitely proud of all of her eggs and thought the whole activity was a lot of fun. More surprising, to John at least, is the fact that over the past week Callie has also eaten her fair share of the eggs. Who knew?

Easter also brings another important tradition - a picture of Callie with a stuffed bunny on the stairs. This has been an interesting way to track Callie's growth in terms of size and cuteness over the past couple of years. This year did not disappoint. But as you will see below, this year's photo shoot introduced another element to the mix - you'll see what we mean shortly.

Our first picture is the traditional version. For the sake of comparison, you can go and take a look at the posts from April 2009 and March 2008. Those pictures of Callie with her bunny and bunny ears from previous years give you a sense of the changes in such a relatively short period of time. She has grown so much, it is absolutely incredible. We are wondering just how old she will be when she finally refuses to pose for this photo. We are hoping for 18 but imagine it might happen a year or two sooner.

Okay, here is the twist in the tradition for this year. It all started when Grandpa Dan sent Callie a package a month or so ago. The box seemed pretty light, but it was also quite big. We opened it up and all we could see was pink fur. As soon as we pulled the gift out, Callie fell in love what appears to be a bunny that ate a basketball. Take a look below and you will see what we mean.

The above signs of Easter all occurred early this year because the three of us will not be together for Easter weekend. Sarah and Callie are heading off to be with all of Callie's California aunties while John entertains four of his closest friends by showing them all that Lexington has to offer. We are excited to see our friends since they mean so much to us and we don't get nearly enough opportunities to spend time with them.

Winter Wonderland

2010-02-23T21:55:00.006-05:00

One of the best things about the past four or five weeks is that life has returned to normal around our house. Callie's surgery seems to be a distant memory. She got the stent taken out on January 29th early in the morning. And the only lingering issue is that Callie doesn't like anyone to look at her cut. Besides that, all is well. Which means that we are learning to deal with the demands of an energetic two year old who wants to do everything herself and her way.

John learned that lesson big time when Callie's daycare was closed for two days straight because of Snow Watch 2010. In other parts of the country you refer to it as 5-6 inches. Here in the Bluegrass, it's enough to shut things down for quite some time. Fortunately, it also meant that Callie got some time outside.

John is trying to pass on to Callie his tricks of the trade when it comes to snow removal. More to the point, he is passing on his growing obsession with keeping the driveway clear and shoveled. Below you will see Callie learning the broom technique that can work wonders with just a light dusting.

Callie definitely enjoyed helping out and she loved walking around the driveway putting her footprints in the new snow. However, she didn't want to really play in the snow. No snow angels or snowmen yet this year. But it's still February, so you never know.

Because of Callie's lack of interest in playing in the snow for a long period of time, the two snow days were filled with indoor activities. Below we have a video that documents one of the more imaginative escapades of the little one.

It should also be noted that days home with Dad meant not getting out of your pajamas until late afternoon before Mom got home. And definitely no significant time spent on the hair. Hence, Callie pulls off a truly impressive ensemble, including her many accessories.

After about three weeks of cold weather, the sun finally showed through this past weekend. The piles of snow began to melt away and we jumped at the chance to get outside.

On Sunday we headed to the Lexington Arboretum with the Hallorans. It was an amazing day and half the city was walking along the two-mile path with their kids, dogs, or friends. At one, point, though, we had to stop and allow Iain and Callie some time to sit down and rest their weary legs. Or at least have them sit down so that we could take a picture. It is incredible how big these two kids are getting. In just two months he will be two, and it is fun watching them play together.

Callie definitely soaked in the day. Clearly we were not the only ones who needed a thawing out period and a little sunshine. And this picture doesn't really capture all that is going on with her these days. She is always talking and is becoming increasingly independent. "All by myself" is a phrase used extremely often in our household, that's for sure.

So it's a quick post for now. But there are big things to come in the next several months. Sarah and Callie will be heading to LA while John is planning to host a mini-high school reunion here in Lexington. February is almost at an end and we are all looking forward to spring.

Bye-Bye Reflux

2010-01-07T22:49:00.010-05:00

As many of you know, before Callie was born she was diagnosed with kidney reflux. Since she was two days old she has had to take antibiotics daily and has had routine tests and check-ups to evaluate her condition. After her two-year check-up showed no sign of improvement we decided to accept the doctor's recommendation and schedule her surgery. For those doctors out there, the operation was going to be a cystoscopy bilateral ureteral reimplantation. We told Callie she was going to get her kidneys fixed. It's easier to say. We tried to prepare Callie for the big day, or as much as you can prepare a two year-old for such an ordeal.

Finally, two months after we scheduled it, January 4 arrived. We woke up at 4am, showered, packed the car, and got to the hospital at 5:30am. It was time to register and go through the pre-operations procedures.

We start with the star of the show. She is already in her hospital gown and has received the first of what will eventually be three Central Baptist Hospital teddy bears. Sandy was our nurse at this point and she was fabulous with Callie. It was a difficult waiting period. We were in a small room and every time the door opened someone new entered. The anesthesiologist, the physician's assistant, and so on down the line.

One of those visits came from the anesthesiologist tech, who brought with her the mask that would be used to put Callie to sleep. She suggested having Callie play with it, smell it, talk into it...whatever she wanted to do. It would hopefully make her more comfortable with it. And the approach worked very well. Callie definitely had fun playing with it, as you can see here. We all had to put it up to our mouth and say, "hellooo!"

As mentioned above, we were in a small room. And for some reason, they crammed a small red wagon into it. Of course Callie was completely attracted to it, and before long she was sitting in it and had both her favorite baby and new teddy bear buckled in. It was one more fun way to pass the time.

Clearly we didn't understand the big picture here. We quickly found out that the red wagon had a very important role in the morning's process. Once the final nurse came in to visit Callie, she asked if Callie wanted to go for a ride. Obviously Callie accepted the offer and in a split second we realized that this was goodbye and the nurse was going to wheel Callie off to the operating room. We tried not to freak out since this was a solid transition. However, we must admit it was pretty difficult. And as we look back, we can still see Callie being wheeled away while she is looking up at the nurses trying to get a sense of what this ride is really all about.

The next 3-4 hours was difficult, though made bearable in part by a series of gifts provided by Sarah's boss, Catie. She gave use five paper bags. They were labeled with the assigned hour at which they could be opened. Fortunately for us, the 8:00am bag contained cards to play Canasta, and that actually took up most of the two plus hours Callie was in surgery. We got the word Callie was out of the OR, and then had to wait for what turned out to be a very brief consultation with her surgeon. The man is short, sweet, and to the point. Most importantly, he is very good at what he does. After the longest hour ever, we were finally allowed back to the post-op area where Callie was just waking up. We were excited to see her and overwhelmingly happy to know that Sarah could sit in a chair and just hold her. Sarah got to hold her in the chair, then in a wheelchair as we transferred to the pediatric unit, and for the first three hours or so in the room.

But everyone has to get up and go to the bathroom at some point, and that's when John swooped in to get some cuddle time with Callie. One of the scariest things for us heading into this surgery was not knowing what to expect afterwards. So we both just wanted to sit and hold her. And while she was definitely lethargic, holding her was not easy because of the various tubes she had coming out of her. She had a catheter, an IV, a heart rate monitor, and a tube to drain the incision. Not fun.

We did everything we could to try and distract and comfort Callie. We brought her Bitty Baby and her favorite books from home. We also brought her pillow (made by her Great Aunt Teri) and the blanket she sleeps with every night. And finally we brought a quilt also made by Great Aunt Teri. It has pictures of all her family sewn throughout alongside various pictures of animals and objects. It is an incredible, personalized, "I Spy" quilt. All of the nurses oohed and aahhed over the craftsmanship.

That night we took advantage of the free wireless and had video chats with Grammy Gayle, Nana Banana and Sport, and the Balestraccis. It is so hard to be so far away from family and friends, but technology made this process much easier. In fact, we were even able to use this to have visitors well past official visiting hours. And hopefully it relieved some anxiety among our families. That first night was tough. The best sleep we got was from about 2:30-6am with all three of us packed into the hospital bed you see above. No, we are not kidding.

However, children are extremely resilient, and Callie is no exception. By 10:30 the next morning, less than 24 hours after the completion of her surgery, she was looking for something to do. So we talked to the nurses, got some simple directions on how to make Callie and her numerous tubes portable, and headed down the hall to the playroom. Although she was a little slow, which was good since her parents had a difficult time keeping the IV pole, the catheter bag, and the drainage balloon all in step and out of harms way. It was a juggling act to say the least.

Fortunately for all of us, Callie didn't always have to walk. There were a few cars available for her to cruise the pediatrics ward. She had her eye on this green one and would accept nothing less. Needless to say, we made more than several laps in the three days we were at the hospital. As mentioned before, Callie scored three teddy bears during her stay at Central Baptist. But her haul of "incentive prizes" (we'll give you this if you take your medicine or let us look at your incision) included approximately 50 stickers, a dog purse, an arts and crafts bag, and a baby doll now appropriately named Little Baby. Seriously, she made sure that she got more than just some hospital jello for her troubles.

By the third day, Callie was definitely feeling better about 60 percent of the time. The other 40 percent she suffered from bladder spasms that the nurses described as being comparable to labor contractions. In other words, they were relatively short but extremely painful. In addition, she still had some pain from the incision and the drainage tube. But let's get back to the 60 percent of the time she was feeling good. Perhaps the picture below says it best.

We'll give the picture some context. We had to change her gown (or her dress as Callie called it) because it had gotten wet while Callie was washing her hands and face. But we couldn't change it without the assistance of a nurse who would disconnect the IV briefly. While we awaited the nurse, Callie was happy to pose for a quick picture. Please notice two things. First, no catheter bag. It was removed on day 2. Second, Callie is now starting a new fashion trend with Sarah's assistance. Anyone can have a drainage bubble, but only the most classy folks tuck it into the waistband of their diaper for ease of movement.

During the three days we were in the hospital Callie was exposed to a large number of foods and beverages she never received at home. It is safe to say that her consumption of apple juice in 72 hours exceeded by leaps and bounds what she has had at home. Jello was another source of amazement, along with whipped cream and hospital dinner rolls. At this point she was not eating much, but she was eating. We have had to wean her off of the juice as well as off of the idea of always getting a prize for doing something. This is just a picture of the last meal she and John shared before they left the hospital. At this point we were so excited for our bed, real food, and the general comforts of our house.

But we also need to take a moment to express our thanks to all of the folks at Central Baptist. We had a great experience when Callie was born there, and this time was no different. The nurses knew what they were doing and always made sure that we had everything and anything we needed. It was also obvious that they cared about Callie's recovery and in fact we got a card from them today wishing her well. They do things right at Central Baptist. So we give our utmost thanks to Mary, Rebecca, Lynsey, and Deana.

And while the nurses supported us physically and mentally during our stay, our emotional well being was strengthened by the love, thoughts, and prayers of our family and friends. The calls, the emails, and just the plain old good vibes were received and greatly appreciated. Callie truly doesn't know how lucky she is to have such a widespread and strong support system.

The support also came from her peers who truly understand Callie's mindset. Claire and Nora Leshney and Hayden and Jackson McBean were thoughtful enough to send her a fine fruit arrangement spouting out of Elmo's head. It is safe to say that Callie loves it. Even this morning John had to give Elmo a kiss before he could give Callie one.

Thank you again for all of your support. Although we can certainly think of better ways to start a new year, we also know that the surgery will make Callie better and allow her to enjoy many new years to come. Who knows what 2010 will hold?

Christmas on the East Coast

2010-01-07T21:26:00.015-05:00

To round out a fun-filled and eventful 2009 we hopped on a plane and made our way to Connecticut. We timed our travel well and missed by several days the big snowstorm that dumped about 15-16 inches on Madison and Guilford. But that doesn't mean we missed the snow.

The morning after we arrived we headed over to the Balestracci household, where they know what to do with all of that snow. It's all about sledding and snowballs. Callie hasn't quite caught on to either of those yet. But she was excited to see her cousins and spend some time exploring the white stuff. Her California roots showed up, however, and she soon retired inside with her Mom to warm up.

When we last saw Suzy and Brian they were in Colorado. Now that they are engaged they are showing their true domestic sides. The two of them make both a fine couple and a fine cookie. It was a lot of fun having a full house for the holidays.

Now Nana Banana had to make sure that the cookie making was done right. The decorative aspects needed to be tasteful and not overdone. And of course there needed to be a batch of cookies left undecorated for Sport. Callie was more than happy to help with the quality control when it came to tasting the final product.

Speaking of the final product, here is Callie with one of the many cookies that were baked that day. She knows a good thing when she sees one. We would like to claim that this was the only sweet item she had over the course of our visit, but that is far from true. And she had quite a few adults at her disposal who she could turn to for help indulging her sweet tooth.

On Christmas Eve we traveled to North Madison to spend the evening with the Skonieczny clan. Now that Mike and Kristen are living in Madison they wanted to host the traditional festivities. It was quite an event with a total of seventeen in attendance. There was good food and the kids had a great time.

Callie and John got to enjoy "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as read by Mike. You can see the latest addition to the family, little Eli, who was born on December 4. Despite the look on Callie's face, she enjoyed the experience.

But the story was not the end of night. Kristen, Ella, and Callie prepared plates for Santa and his reindeer. They wanted to make sure that everyone was well fed during their late night journey and left the plates on the edge of the fireplace.

This experience was both adorable and surreal. Although Callie hasn't quite made the full connection between Christmas and Santa, she can identify pictures of the jolly, bearded fellow, and is beginning to catch on to the whole thing. Next year is going to be an eye-opening experience for us.

Because Callie hasn't gotten caught up in all the hype, we got to have a leisurely Christmas morning. No presents were opened until the afternoon when Katie, Chris, Michael, and Brendan arrived. Then the fun really began.

Once we were all settled in our spots in the living room, the stockings were distributed by Elf Brendan and the paper ripping began in earnest. Callie certainly loves ripping paper, and the fact that presents for her are involved just makes it that much better.

One of the fun things about the stockings in Madison is how long they are. Callie nearly disappeared into her stocking in the search for more presents. It was very sweet when she got to the bottom and pulled out an orange. She and Sarah opened it immediately so that they could share the tasty treat. It was great to see Callie get excited about the orange as much as she did about her other presents.

There were countless times that Callie simply glued herself to either Michael or Brendan. It should not be surprising, but she ADORES them and they are incredibly good with her. It makes us so happy to see how they play with her and deal with her love and demands. One night Michael had to stop eating because Callie had her head on his right arm and was just gazing lovingly up at him. To us this is cute, but to a 12 year-old it might be different.

One of the great things about our Christmas trips to Connecticut is our dinner with John's Uncle Tommy and Aunt Terry. We couldn't wait to have them meet Brian and see just how big Callie has gotten in the two years since they last saw her. Tommy and Terry focused on Suzy and Brian first, but Terry also wanted to give Callie her gift before dinner began. When it all comes down to it, Terry wanted to make sure she got on Callie's good side as soon as possible. Mission accomplished.

Here is Callie with what in some circles is called the "Bitty Baby starter kit". We were unaware of its existence before the evening. But as you can see from the look on Callie's face, this will not be the end of it. She only put the baby down to devour a couple of plates of pasta and some strawberry shortcake. At all other times she was walking around the table showing off her baby. Three weeks later as we write this, "Baby", as she is named, is still a prized possession and constant companion.

By the time the evening had come to an end we had enjoyed a wonderful meal and even better company. It's a shame the dinner had to end, but we look forward to having more time with the whole crew in June at Suzy and Brian's wedding.

Just like the dinner, our time in Connecticut is never quite long enough. There were still people we missed seeing and others we didn't get to catch up with in depth. But such is life. Fortunately, however, we were in Madison long enough to be around when one of the final gifts arrived in the mail.

What do you get the UConn fan who seems to have it all? That's right, a UConn snuggie. We thought it was a fitting gift for two people who enjoy watching their team play from the comfort of their family room. Hopefully it brings them good luck. Too bad they didn't have them when the UConn men's basketball team played our boys from the University of Kentucky. C-A-T-S Cats! Cats! Cats!

If we had exciting pictures from our New Year's Eve celebration, this is where we would put them. However, our New Year's Eve included an earache that gave Callie fits, and our New Year's Day started with a trip to a local medical clinic. But that could not put a damper on what was a wonderful year for the three of us. And we hope that 2010 will prove to be even better.

Getting Ready for Christmas Festivities

2010-01-07T12:56:00.016-05:00

It may the new year, but it is time for us to reflect on the last month of 2009. We did our best to pack a whole lot of holiday activities into our travel break from the end of Thanksgiving in California to our Christmas trip to Connecticut.

The first thing we had to do was go out and get a tree. For the record, we flew back from Sacramento on Saturday, November 28 and went tree shopping on Sunday, November 29. This is the earliest we have ever put up a tree. But we wanted to make certain that we made up for the fact that last year we didn't even get one. So here we have Callie and John walking through the rows of available trees at our local Christmas tree vendor. When you go shopping on November 29, you have quite a selection.

Here is the chosen one, all wrapped up and ready to get into the house. The whole process definitely intrigued Callie to no end. She enjoyed watering the tree and putting up the ornaments. And as a reward for reading through this lengthy post, you will get to see some pics of the finished version.

With the tree up, our next activity was supposed to be a quick and simple fun family project - decorating a gingerbread house. How hard could it be? One evening we set aside a couple of hours to assemble the house and decorate it with all of the finest candies in town. However, as John read the directions, the assembly was supposed to take 6-7 hours when you factor in drying time for the icing/paste. Therefore this turned into a 3-day project. Callie was remarkably patient.

Although we are not going to give you a play-by-play of the decorating process, we need to let you know that Callie truly enjoyed "accidentally" getting the icing on her fingers so that she had to lick it off and eating an M&M here and there. We think the finished product came out quite well.

The tree was up and the gingerbread house was complete and looking good. Two checkmarks were now on the to-do list. Next up, some quality time with her friend Iain.

The first step was a present exchange. Iain thoughtfully gave Callie a few of his favorite books all about Gossie, Gertie, Ollie, Peedy, and other feathered friends. Needless to say, Callie loved them. She thought Iain would like a playmobil dumptruck, and all signs point to her being very right. But the gift exchange was only the beginning. As you can see in this picture, Iain's coat is off, but his parents still have theirs on. That's right, we had Iain for the evening.

So off we went to the "Southern Lights" display at the Kentucky Horse Park. This is the second time we have gone, and we were once again impressed with the display. They have everything from the entire 12 days of Christmas to Star Wars to the Keeneland starting gate and horse races. It is pretty impressive. But the lights are only one part of the whole fiesta.

In two of the buildings at the horse park they have a craft fair and a model train exhibit. Both Iain and Callie loved the trains. They would have stayed there all night if they could. And we must admit, the trains and the detailed little towns were quite cool.

Here is more evidence of their enjoyment of this element of the evening. Although we didn't get a photo, they also both enjoyed Thomas the Tank Engine, who had his own little section of the display.

Now we must also point out, that at this point in the evening, it was past the regular dinnertimes of both Callie and Iain. The trains seem to have made them forget their hunger and so we weren't too worried. Besides, there was a corn dog vendor outside and we knew we could always depend on a child's appreciation for breaded meat on a stick.

This picture is a case in point. Callie enjoyed the corn dog. We don't have a picture of Iain eating the corn dog, because he did not want anything to do with it. This is probably because his mother provides him with such an amazing assortment of well-prepared foods that are, shall we say, a bit classier than your average corn dog. Iain is a boy with discerning tastes. So now we felt guilty and realized it was time to leave to get Iain some food and put them both to bed. On our drive home we got a call from Iain's parents wondering where we were. Hmmmmm....apparently they were done with dinner and ready to pick up their child who surely was sleeping after a good meal. What are the odds that we will get to babysit Iain in the near future?

Why is Callie in her Halloween outfit in December? Well, look closer at the picture and see what she is holding in her hands. We got a package from Nana Banana (aka Nana Taffy) and it contained one of the coolest ornaments ever.

It is an almost exact replica of Callie in her doggie costume. We all loved it. Callie was quick to put it up on the tree.

This felt ornament has more meaning than you might expect. John and his two sisters have similar felt ornaments that Taffy made and every Christmas there is a contest over the placement of those ornaments. In other words, who is in the most prominent place on the tree. So Callie's ornament is part of that grand tradition.

This year we decided to write Santa and ask to celebrate Christmas early before we got on the plane to Connecticut. Fortunately we had all been good in 2009 and he complied with our wish.

It was pretty cool because the day we chose to celebrate, the Sunday before Christmas, there was snow on the ground in Lexington. It was a white Christmas that we could all enjoy. What a great day. All of the stockings were full of great gifts. Callie got a stroller for her baby, a playmobil safari set, and some great books.

And Santa was kind enough to provide a good breakfast for Callie....a cookie. All in all it was a good day and we had a great time playing with our new toys and spending time together. But this was only the beginning. We had to get the house in order before we headed out for another Christmas gathering in Madison. That post is coming soon, so stay tuned.

Turkeys, Horses, and Babies

2009-12-01T22:15:00.015-05:00

Ahh, November. For our little family the month means two things - turkey and travel. This year we headed to California to celebrate with the Sacramento and Santa Cruz families. Sarah and Callie actually spent a full week out there, while John had a shorter four day trip. That may explain why John doesn't appear in a single picture below. Not a single one - seriously. But you'll have to trust us, he was there.

There were so many people to see and so little time, so on the first full day in California, Sarah and Callie started the rounds. The first stop was a big hug and squeeze for Great Grandma Lucas. At 87 years young, Hazel is definitely a match for Callie in the squeezing department.

The two of them make such a cute couple. And Callie was lucky enough to get to spend even more time with Great Grandma later in the week when we all went out to lunch.

But there was more than just Great Grandma to squeeze. Callie also got to meet her brand new cousin Skyler, who was born on November 12. This fine picture shows cute little Skyler, Skyler's cousin Brady, and their proud grandmother, Teri. We have a feeling that these two will certainly be spoiled in a good way by grandma and grandpa.

Now here's a picture of Hazel and all of her great grandchildren. It is hard to believe that in the last three years the youngest generation has quadrupled in size. It won't be too long before they are going to be running the show.

it's important to point out that Keith, the oldest, is very fond of all of his cousins and never has a problem with the ongoing need for these kinds of pictures. Indeed, he is far more cooperative than the younger members of this crew.

And now we present, for the first time on this blog, a picture of the Pedone family. If you all remember, it was only two short years ago that Callie at the age of three weeks traveled to watch these two lovebirds get married. Boy how time flies. Haley and Ryan are so very much in love with little Skyler and they are a very cute family.

Our last picture from the family gathering on that first Sunday shows Sarah's cousin Tyler with his son Brady. Brady is now about a year and a half and it was fun to see him and Callie playing together. We can only imagine how much trouble Brady, Callie, and Skyler will get into in the years to come. Yep, John's hair just got a little bit grayer. And at this stage of the game, that's kind of hard to do.

As the week began to build momentum, it was time for Grammy Gayle and Callie to hit all the Sacramento hot spots. The first stop was Grammy's office, where she got to show off her granddaughter. People literally came up and said, "Oh, we have heard so much about Callie." They never said they had heard Sarah's name even mentioned. It was pretty funny. Next stop was the Sacramento Zoo. Here we see Grammy Gayle and Callie observing the natural beauty of the flamingos. We definitely had a fun time following Callie around and Callie really enjoyed seeing all of the animals.

Callie loves to spend time with Grammy. And that adoration is more than just the fact that Grammy lets her play with the Blackberry. They got to hang out quite a bit and now that we are back in Kentucky Callie still picks up the phone at all hours of the day and wants to call her.

There are two rules in life. Number one, always wear slip on shoes to the airport to make the security checkpoint easier. Number two, any time you have an opportunity to stick your head through a painted piece of plywood and take a picture, you cannot pass it up. If nothing else, this picture should convince you of the necessity of rule number two. What would we do without such an awesome picture of mother and daughter posing as kangaroos? It's a keeper.

As a reward for making it this far into our post, we now give you a brief musical interlude. See if you can name the tune Callie is singing.

We must admit, we are pretty impressed with this as well. If you are big fans of the letters t, u, v, or w, you may be disappointed. But such is life. Who really needs those letter anyway?

As the title of this post notes, babies were a big part of this trip. Heck, babies were a big part of November. Not pictured here, but always in our thoughts, is little Ashlyn Perrone, the second daughter of Lauren and JP. She was born the day we flew out to California. We can't wait to meet her! In the meantime, however, our social schedule was packed with other little ones. Including Chase Asher Gardner, pictured here with his mom, Wendy, Callie, and Sarah. Wendy and Sarah went to high school together. Who knew that twenty years later we would be introducing our kids to each other. Kind of crazy. Wendy is such a great mother and it is fun to enter this chapter of our lives together.

Although we didn't get to see everyone we wanted to see, we got quite a bit of quality time with Great Grandma. In fact we took her out for lunch the day before Thanksgiving. We had a lot of fun. Callie not only shared her lunch with Great Grandma but also shared an ice cream sundae.

This lunch was also memorable because Callie learned to say "uno mas", her first official Spanish phrase. She also used it properly, going for one last bite of ice cream as her parents tried to take it away from her. Quite impressive.

Believe it or not, all of the above happened before Thanksgiving Day. But now we reach to big festivities. This year we decided to do something a little different and we took the meal on the road. More specifically, we brought Thanksgiving to Golden Gate Fields, the horse track located right outside of Berkeley in the Bay area. In the background of this great picture of Keith and Callie you can see the distinctive cypress trees and the Bay itself. It was a pleasant surprise to find out just how scenic the parking lot at Golden Gate Fields could be.

As you can see here, we laid out all of the proper holiday fixings and everyone lined up to make bountiful turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sandwiches. Pictured here are Isabel and Sophia as they demonstrate just how fun and easy the tailgate Thanksgiving can be. After eating our sandwiches, we each threw a pumpkin pie snack bar into our pockets and headed in to catch the afternoon races.

Some of us came very prepared for a day at the track. One look at Zac's hat will tell you he meant business. Unfortunately, too many of us relied on Callie to pick our horses for us that day. Although none of us walked away "winners" in a monetary sense, everyone enjoyed the day. Thanksgiving in two years could be even more fun, we'll just have to wait and see.

Our final picture for this post highlights one of Callie's favorite parts of the trip. She would stand on the stool in Grammy Gayle's kitchen and help prepare Cheyenne's dog food in the morning and the evening. Cheyenne is just one of many reasons why Callie loved the whole week in Sacramento. The visit went by too quickly, that's for sure.

It is a testament to Callie that we can write this entire post without having to mention anything about the actual travel part of this journey. She remains an expert traveler. In fact, this time when she got to the security line in the airport, she looked up at Sarah and said, "Mommy...shoes off?" It's only going to be a year or two before she can do the entire inflight safety presentation given by flight attendants as you taxi from the gate. And of course, Callie has another chance to demonstrate her skills when three weeks from today we fly to Connecticut for Christmas. Hope all is well with all of you.

The Leaves They Are A Changin'

2009-11-03T19:53:00.012-05:00

It has been a beautiful fall in Kentucky. All the rain over the summer and some rain over the past months has led to a bright array of colors all over Lexington. But as you well know, we are not the types to just sit around and look at the pretty colors. We tend to be on the go. And it all starts with our enjoyment of orchards.

We begin at Evans Orchard, where Callie had a play date with one of her favorite friends Iain. It is really cool to think that they have literally grown up side by side. And it gets better every day. Callie looks forward to seeing him, she says his name as we get close to their house, and always has to give him a hug/squeeze. It's still unclear if Iain appreciates the squeezing part, but he'll learn soon enough.

The play date entailed quite a few activities. First we picked some apples and then we took a rest while enjoying apple slushies and apple fritters.(It was probably more sugar in one sitting than Callie has had in the past three months combined) Then we moved on to picking pumpkins.

Callie and Iain loved the wagon ride to the field full of pumpkins. But the ride was even better once they had a few pumpkins in the wagon with them.

Because you can never have too many pumpkins, the search continued. Callie generously tried to give this small pumpkin to Iain. Unfortunately she dropped it at his feet before he even had a chance to grab it. They just have to work on their timing and their passing game. It will come with practice, and because we live down the street from Coach Calipari we figure he can give Callie some pointers once the basketball season is over and he has some time on his hands.

So did we mention that Callie likes pumpkins? She really enjoyed just climbing all over the piles of pumpkins the folks at Evans Orchard had on display.

This was also a lot of fun because it marked the first time Callie was willing to turn around and say cheese for her paparazzi mama. You would think that she would have learned this lesson a long time ago. But better late than never.

Iain also had a good time climbing on the pumpkins. His mother also happens to have a love affair with the camera, so he is used to the constant flashes and the snapping sounds of the camera in action. But it was also starting to get a bit late, and we all realized the time may have come to wrap things up at the Orchard.

But there was time for one last photo of the group involved in the excursion. All in all it was a fabulous day. It's a bit sad to think that the season for orchards is now behind us. And it will be another seven months or so before we get to go to Reed Valley Orchard to pick some fresh blueberries.

Of course October ends with a very special day. It's a day where parents of young children get to dress up their little tykes in the cutest outfits they can find. Then they use those cute kids to collect tons of Halloween candy that they will not be allowed to eat. This should be the perfect formula for the parents to obtain a variety of tasty treats for the next month. Therefore, we present to you this year's cute little tyke - Callie doggie. That, in fact, is how she referred to herself while wearing this outfit.

Unfortunately, the formula for candy collection was not bulletproof. Although we enjoyed a couple of festivities where Callie got to dress up, the night of our big score (Halloween), Callie got a slight fever and we felt guilty using her as a pawn. So we stayed in and now will never know if Coach Calipari and his family were giving away good stuff or just apples. Hopefully next year the plan will come together. The only problem is she might be old enough to catch on to our scheme.

We have often talked about how much we love our neighbors the Chrismans. One of the many reasons for this is the opportunity for impromptu activities right across the driveway. In this picture we see Callie learning how to make creme brulee with Sharon. This is obviously something she would not have learned from her mother or father, so it's good that she has other people to turn to for such domestic guidance. However we must point out that Sharon's creme brulee contains Amaretto, which explains the bottle in the foreground of the picture.

Another great thing about Sharon is that she not only teaches Callie how to make fancy desserts, but also believes it is equally important to teach Callie to clean up the mess that has been made in the process. And of course, Callie is far more willing to take such instructions from Sharon than from her parents.

But Callie doesn't only like to help Sharon. She also has a soft spot for Chris and was very excited to help rake leaves in their backyard. This is only fitting since Chris and Sharon gave her a small rake and broom for her birthday. Based on the amount of raking that needs to be done in our yard this time of year, we can't wait until both Callie and her rake are bigger so that she can pull her weight around here.

It's hard to believe it is November and we have already dealt with one major fall holiday. Next up is Thanksgiving in California, and you can be sure there will be plenty of pictures to share from that trip. Then before you know it Christmas will be here and we will all be in Connecticut. But we won't just be celebrating Christmas with the Bowes family. We will also be raising our glasses to toast the recent engagement of Suzy and Brian! So many things to look forward to...

Callie's Second Year Evaluation

2009-11-01T20:45:00.004-05:00

Well, we did the fun part. We celebrated Callie's second birthday. But as with any big event in today's modern world, there comes a time for paperwork. Yep, you guessed it. It's Callie's annual review. And there is quite a bit to cover, so we don't want to waste any time.

We'll start with the picture Callie submitted along with her materials. Once again it appears that our young friend is confident in her ability to perform well in this evaluation. Or she just doesn't take it as seriously as we do.

Let's start off this evaluation with the basics. As of October 20, 2009, Callie measured 34 1/2 inches, which places her in the 75th percentile. Last year she was also in the 75th percentile. She weighed 24 lbs, which was the 20th percentile. Last year she was also in the 20th percentile. Clearly, young Callie believes that last year's numbers are good enough for this year. There may be some concerns relative to her ambition. Unfortunately they stopped measuring the circumference of her head so we can't give any numbers here. But we think her noggin' is looking pretty good these days.

Her pediatrician, Dr. Warner, thought Callie was developing well. He is such a good doctor for Callie and for us. He always wants to know if we have any concerns or questions. But even he wasn't quite sure what to say when Sarah mentioned our concern that Callie wasn't reading yet. John thought it was quite funny, however.

All joking aside, we also should provide the latest on Callie's kidney reflux. Unfortunately, Callie's annual check-up with the pediatric urologist did not provide good news. Although her kidney issues have not worsened, they have not improved either. And based on the fact that she has a duplicated right kidney and had a breakthrough UTI this past year, our doctor has recommended surgery. It took us a while to come to terms with it, but we have decided that it is in Callie's best interests to have the surgery. At the moment it looks like the surgery will occur in early January. The good thing is that it has a 98% success rate and our pediatric urologist has a great reputation. Obviously we will keep folks updated as the process unfolds.

But now back to the really important stuff. Last year we focused on three main categories - daycare, development, and social skills. Those three categories still apply, so let's start with daycare.

Overall, Callie has been doing quite well in daycare and loves Miss Donna. Unfortunately Miss Donna has not officially been her teacher for the past several months. But this can't keep them apart. Miss Donna still takes Callie every now and then for art projects and other fun activities. Speaking of art, Callie certainly has done her share this year. We never knew how many projects could involve a painted hand or foot. For example, this past week we received some of Callie's feet that were in fact ghosts. In other words, our house is filled with pieces of paper covered in Callie's hand and foot prints. While the year began with concerns over Callie's improper use of her teeth (a.k.a. biting her friends), it has ended with Callie being more in control of her emotions. She has even learned to squeeze inanimate objects when she is frustrated or mad as opposed to squeezing her friends. Callie's musical knowledge has also expanded during the past year in daycare, and she will start singing while her parents struggle to name that tune. But when we are all on the same page she really gets into it. Her napping is going quite well and unlike last year, there have been no reports of her bodyslamming anyone. Overall, therefore, she is meeting expectations when it comes to daycare.

The next category is development. It is tough to know where to begin. However, within the last month it is as if a switch has flipped in her brain. She starts talking when she wakes up and hardly stops until she goes to bed. It is quite amazing to say the least. The following are some of her favorite phrases: Wait just one second, Where did it go?, What's that?, Baby stinky (this one comes with proper hand movement over the nose), Bagel?, Callie do it (yes, she refers to herself in the third person), No night night, My daddy (we'll deal more with this later), Oh no, and the list goes on. Language skills are clearly coming along. Her motor skills are constantly developed by her insistence on picking the vegetables out of her meals, puzzles, and consistently using her spoon and fork. We have also been impressed with Callie's ability to count to ten. She has been able to do this for a couple of months now, though as of late she tends to forget the number 5. She can say her name when you ask (Callie Bowes), knows how old she is (2), and can identify the location of her femur. Unfortunately she has taken a bit longer to identify the humerous, but we are still working on it. One bone at a time. Callie enjoys walking, running, and jumping. The jumping has taken some work, but she is catching on. And not only does she like running, but she enjoys getting into a three-point stance, saying on your mark, get set, go, and then running. Indeed, at any given point this past year you may have seen the three of us traveling from one gate to another in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport in fits and starts as we all had to get down in the stance before we could start running along.

Last, but certainly not least, is the category of social skills. We are pleased to report that Callie consistently uses words like please, thank you, I'm sorry, and excuse me. Now she often says excuse me while in the process of pushing you out of the way, but it's the thought that counts. When exposed to a new social setting she tends to be shy and clingy. It does take her a little while to warm up to folks. But that is not exactly a bad thing, and we are happy to see that she has a healthy respect for strangers. For better or worse, Callie is currently in a phase where she is undoubtedly a "Daddy's girl". Or more accurately, John is "My Daddy." It's pretty funny, because Sarah is not even allowed to sit next to John when the phase is in full gear. While cute in small doses, this is clearly something that Callie needs to work on. We'll be keeping an eye on this in the year ahead.

When all is said and done, it is been a strong performance by Callie over the past year. She is growing up to be such a wonderful little girl and her parents often look at each other and smile about something she has done or is doing. If she continues to stay on course she has a bright future with this family. At this time , therefore, we can say without reservation that we recommend Callie Alexis Bowes be admitted to the two-year-old community.