Hair?

This is going to be the most random blog ever... but I just wanted to post that while I was sitting at the computer, I glanced over at my daughter, who is sleeping on my husband's lap, and saw something I have never seen before: HAIR!! Can you believe it? Not just the whispering or suggestion of hair, but real hair, full head of hair . . . hair. My daughter: hair! Hair, that for the first time you can see from a distance without having to mess it up so the light will reflect off of it. Of course, it is only the length of a little boy's at best in most places, but, on the top of her head she has a beautiful bounty of thick, short though it may be, hair. Will wonders never cease? And it only took her 2 1/2 years. Not to bad for Sutterfield blood.

Our Little Mommy

Kameryn got a baby doll for Christmas. Today, I walked into her room while she was playing with her baby doll (By the way, her baby doll's name is girl baby. Her other doll is just baby). Kameryn was laying on the bed patting her baby on the back. "My baby is mad" she said. Five minutes later when I returned to her room she was laying under the covers with her baby. She looked up at me and said "I rub my baby's tummy" Anyone who has ever been around Kameryn at bedtime knows she has to have her tummy or back rubbed to fall asleep. I just thought to myself, what a cute mommy she is. Children, especially girls, are so perceptive to mommy things. She is always putting her baby down for naps, in time out, or making meals for her in her kitchen. This is such a fun age!!

French Fries

Tonight we sat down to a nice dinner of baked potatoes, bbq chicken, and salad. Kameryn, however, thought we were having french fries. She kept pointing to her baked potato and calling it a "french fries", along with mommy's potato. Brandon had to inform her that although they were made of the same thing, we were eating a potato. After that, she tried awfully hard to remember to call it a potato and not french fries. I actually got to witness her little brain processing the new information as she tried to name everything on her plate again correctly. Anyway, I thought it was cute.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!
With love from the Bowen Family.
We hope this holiday has found you in the best of spirits surrounded by the people you love. May you have also found the time to focus your thoughts on the birth of our Savior and the precious gift His life was to each of us. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Fever

So, remember that blog we posted a while ago about not telling your daughter you are going to Grandma's? Well, we are having another one of those days today, only we are not going anywhere. I attribute it to Christmas Fever (the way kids get uncontrollably awful right before Christmas) Now, until today, I never believed one so young could catch it, but she has. Symptoms include pure naughtiness, pouting, and reckless behavior.
We first started to notice these symtoms when the morning kicked off with a grand explosion of pouting in its finest, most glorious form. (She had to wait until after breakfast to watch a movie). Her symptoms have continued to worsen as the day has gone on. She's broken a Chrismas present, a Christmas ornament, and a couple of cds. All on purpose, mind you. She's nearly drown her brother with water, she's reprogrammed my t.v., computer, and answering machine. She's pottied her pants twice, and is currently on her 7th temper tantrum. Unfortunately she doesn't quite yet understand the whole " . . .you better not cry, you better not pout ..." scenario. Bummer for us. Even our naughty/nice elf Flicker (Brandon picked the name) Who watches our house to make sure everyone is on their best behavior so he call tell Santa, and leave us a gift if we are good, hasn't peeked her interest.
Her frequent time out visits only seem to delay the syptoms, not cure them. Pretty soon, her mom is going to go to time out so she can get a break.
So, for all of you who need a little Christmas cheer, here it is. I hope you got a laugh out of my misfortune. If you did, you are a mean person (or a Grandma and you've been through it)

Bad baby

Here is Kameryn's baby doll. Kameryn just informed me she is in time out. When I asked her why she said it was becuse she was a bad baby. "Oh" I said, "What'd she do?" "She hit Toopa" Good to know... at least she understands the concept of time out. 

Family Photos

Here is a bundle of some of our photos from this year. Click on the website and enjoy. http://picasaweb.google.com/bnbbowenfamily/BowenYear2006?authkey=rSujXeu__ig

Bowen Family Christmas Crossword

As you may well know, Christmas card season is upon us. And that means time for the annual Bowen Family Christmas crossword. Well, for those of you who have not recieved yours yet, stop reading! I mean it, we do not accept cheaters! Now, for those of you who have recieved yours and are a little stumped, here are the answers:


Honestly, if you haven't gotten yours, or you have and haven't attempted it yet, do not read on!!!!

Across
1. Barbie
2. flyswatter
3. Drywall Surgeons
4. naked
5. sugar
6. diaper
7. collarbone
8. pickup
9. trailer
10. cat
11. turkey

Down
1. asthma
2. pirate
3. helicopter
4. harvest
5. Utah
6. piggy
7. July

Long Pretty Hair

I was jusst talking to Mandi and it reminded me of a cute Kameryn story I hadn't blogged about yet. On Sunday, I had just come out of relief society with Cooper and caught a little part of this 3 year-old's conversation to her nursery leader. They were on their way to the potty and I heard this little girl saying "My hair is not short, its really long. I have long pretty hair like my mommy, huh? But she doesn't. She doesn't have any hair." Because I didn't hear the whole conversation, I didn't exactly catch on until I saw little Kameryn come trotting down the hall. She was going to the potty too. Apparently her current hair situation had sparked the interest of this little girl. Kameryn, of course, was completely oblivious to it. But it was so cute.

This one's for Steve!

HA! HA! Guess what we did today: we went "digging" Actually, Brandon just went to work. All of his piling grounds are currently mud bogs and so just driving to visit results in a muddy truck.

So, tonight, after visiting the piling grounds (and spinning some cookies) we decided to post these pics to let Steve see how much fun we are having in the Idaho mud. Wish you were here to share it!

 

My Cute Baby Boy

I just got this cute pic of Cooper that I wanted to blog. Cooper is growing up so fast. He is eating cereal (which he loves), gaining weight by the pounds, (Currently weighing in at almost 16 lbs), and my new favorite thing; he's started making the "ma" sound which means occassionally when he babbles it sounds like he is saying ma-ma over and over again. Other fun thing about Cooper: he has started singing himself to sleep. SOOO CUTE! Anyway, we absolutely love our little boy. He is always smiling and cooing. He LOVES to laugh and he simply adores his sister. We are so blessed! 

Knowledge of a God

Today in church the missionaries spoke. (First of all we are so excited to have the new batch of missionaries. The spirit they bring is so entirely different to that we've had in the past.) Anyway, we have a missionary from Maddagascar who gave a wonderful talk. In fact, it may be because I haven't had the opportunity to stay in my meetings much lately (mother's lounge), but today was one of the first days I can remember being so aware of the spirit in a meeting. So this Elder was talking about how the church found him in Maddagascar and how he was converted. Anyway, he saw the missionaries and was intrigued by their countenances and their knowledge of his language. So he decided he would meet with them on his own even though his parents weren't interested.
The more he learned the more he loved and the angrier his parents got. They told him if he continued to see the missionaries they would kick him out. So he got kicked out of his house. He then went on to tell us how he didn't know what was going to happen to him, where he would live, what he would eat, etc. But he said it didn't matter to him because he knew something now that made all his sacrifices insignificant. He knew there was a God and he knew this same God loved him.
That really touched me. How often do we complain of our circumstances and loose sight of the blessings that abundantly surround us. And, not only that, how often do we count our knowledge of a Heavenly Father who loves us among our greatest blessing.
Anyway, I just wanted to share his testimony and add to it mine. I know there is a God. I know He is my Father. I know He loves me. Not only this, but I know we have a God who has been preparing a way for us from the beginning. I often think of the Book of Mormon and how much love our Father in Heaven had for not only those people of that day, but the people of this day, you and I. The book was preserved for our day, to help us. But more than anything, everytime I read it I am amazed at the love of our Heavenly Father for His children. It reaffirms that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us unceasingly, forgives us unceasingly, and has laid out a path for us to return to Him. How awesome is that! I know lately I have gotten more and more involved in the workings of the church (callings, church attendance, etc.) and lost track of the purpose. I find myself complaining about church more than I look forward to it. And I would like to apologize to those who have fallen victim to my complaining and bad attitude. This is something I am ashamed of. God lives, I know He does. I know this is his church. I know its teachings are true. And, I know that by living its precepts my life will not only be better, it will be easier. Not because the trials will go away, but because the perspective will change. My testimony of God is the most precious thing I have. This young missionaries faith struck a cord in me. It helped re-affirm what I already knew but had forgotten in my haste to put everything else first. I am blessed with so much.

A Lesson in Sharing

"Mommy, me seeral too!"
"What kind do you want?"
"Dat one up dare" (Basic Four)
"This one?"
"uh-huh! Nummy, nummy!"
"Put in my malk"

A couple seconds later

"My bite a yours."
"You want some of Mommy's. That's yummy huh?"
"Here mom, you mine"
"You want me to eat yours? Then what are you going to eat?"
Points to my bowl.
"Oh you want Mommy's, do you want to share with mom?"
"No my seeral, you your own."
"Oh, I guess I'll just get me a new bowl"
"You new bow mom. Me eat dis one."
"Alright, thanks Kameryn"
"You We-come mom"
 

Baby Einstein

Kameryn did her own hair this morning. Just thought we would share. 

Hi-yah!

Just so you know, if my daughter ever hits you or your child I would like you to know who taught her it was fun. Her daddy did. It all started as a "fun" game of hi-yah! He taught her the action and sound effect a couple days ago. Now, it's her favorite interactive game. That is of course until her daddy accidentally hi-yahs her in the eye or she gets yelled at because she hi-yahs him in an equally uncomfortable place... But for the most part, it's a fun game! Pretty soon little kids are going to be singing songs about Kameryn: "Kamey G. she hit my head..."

Name Game

Every once in a while we tease Kameryn pretending like we don't know what her name is. Usually I will say, "what's your name?" and when she doesn't respond I will say "is it ..." and then make up a name which is when she will correct me and say "No its Kami" Then I will continue to tease her and say "is it Kami or Kameryn?" "tam-rin" she will always respond and kind of duck her head coyly. Well, apparently she really enjoys this because she now initiates the questions. Like this morning she asked "What's toopa's name" and I said "Cooper Jay Bowen" Then I asked her what my name was. She has had a hard time lately, calling me B instead of mom. But this time she said my name was mommy. So then I asked her waht her daddy's name was and she said "Daddy, daddy Bannon"
She's been on a name kick all day and to top it all off she has learned we have a last name: Snowman. Because apparently to her young mind Snowman and Bowen are similar. So for those who didn't know this, the names of the people in our family are as follows: Daddy Bannon Snowman, Toopa Jay Snowman, Tamrin Grace Snowman (Yes, remarkably she says Grace perfectly, even though her first name more often then not comes out sounding more like Camera then Kameryn) and Mommy. No last name or first name for me, I'm just Mommy.

Cooper's First Feeding

Okay, so you may need to click on this "photo" to enlarge it, but.. as it says, here are pictures of Cooper's "first" feeding. He tried a little cereal at Thanksgiving and has had some for breakfast and dinner lately but this is the first time we took pictures. He does fairly well, at least he seems open to the concept of eating (surprise) He seems to really like the water. As does Kameryn. She kept drinking Cooper's water, with all the floaties in it. Yuck! She also wanted bites of his cereal but we didn't get pictures of that. Two exciting things for mom, the more cereal he eats the less mom he eats. And the longer he sleeps at night. Last night he made it from 8:30-5am. How awesome is that! (For those of you currently not suffering from newborn coma this is way awesome!!!) By the way, for those of you who have been with us for a while, check out the picture in the top right corner. So KamBam reminiscent.

Our New Tree

Our Old Tree

Look at this pathetic tree! It reminds me a little of the tree in the Charlie Brown Christmas special. So you can obviously guess how excited I am for our new $25 absolutely huge tree!! 2 years ago when we put up our pittly tree I cried. This year I was so excited and happy. I had to call my mom and relay my elation! Go Bowen Christmas Tree!! (Ignore the lack of decorations, as you see we were accustomed to decorating a 3' slim tree, not a 8' super duty fat tree.
Our New Tree 

Time Out

From a parental/disciplinarian standpoint I believe we have a problem; my daughter loves time-out. This all began Thanksgiving weekend, but I believe to give an accurate description we need to back up a bit. We started time-out as a discipline action. (I'm not a huge fan of spanking) So, the first day she experienced time-out she looked at me like "Hey this isn't so bad" and I began to worry. However, during her 2 minutes of time-out her daddy came home and she didn't think it was very fun to sit there any longer when she could be rushing to the window to greet him. It was then that I thought "Hey, this is going to work!" How wrong I was! You see, here is what happened Thanksgiving weekend: My daughter did something naughty and she was sent to time-out; all by herself, nobody was allowed to talk to her, be by her, look at her, etc. Here is the backfire, SHE LOVED IT! She loved the fact that in time-out she got to be by herself, no J.T., no Addison. My daughter began randomly putting herself in time-out. Or she would come to me and beg to be put in time-out. In fact, the only time she cries in time-out is when someone else is violating her time-out rules (a.k.a. someone is getting in her space)

So, what do I do? What new methods of discipline should we use? Beats me. Kameryn still understands that time-out is a punishment, but she also thinks it is a privelage. When she is having a rough day she is constantly begging me to let her go to time-out. I should have known this would happen, she has always been a girl who is very content to be alone. Ah children, you think you have them mastered and they turn the tables on you.