Fudd

Gwen, here you go. It's our little boy in all his Elmer Fudd glory. Actually I was thinking it was about time for me to post a picture of our insanely cute little boy - so thanks for the excuse.
(For those of you not following, Gwen posted a comment asking me to post pics of Coop in his hat)
Cooper loves this hat. Not only does he look adorable in it, but he knows it!!

Cooper

I figured it has been a long time since I posted something about Cooper. Unfair, he definately deserves equal blog time. And since I can't talk today, see below, typing a blog is the perfect medium for me.
Here is Cooper in a nut shell: He is HUGE!! Not really, but really. He is tall for his age and of course he has a big head but weight wise he is right on. He is actually the smallest baby his age in the ward/wards in our building. However, compaired to runt Kinley he is massive. He is just starting to sit up well by himself, he no longer bends in half when we try to get him to sit up. He loves to eat, although, much like Kameryn was at this age, he doesn't really open his mouth very well. He loves to smile, much unlike Kameryn at this age. He also loves to give kisses. He babbles all the time, rolls over all the time, and loves tv. (He gets that from his daddy) Cooper is so good at making us, and others, smile. He is so silly.
I have to say one of the funniest things he does is puff up his chest. There is a little girl about 1 month older than him at church and he likes to flirt with her. He always puffs up his chest as big as he can and looks at her like "yeah, I'm hot stuff. Look how tough I am." It is adorable. He does it to me every once in a while when he is trying to get my attention.
Anyway, we are so glad to have him in our family. We love him so much.

Prophecy Fulfilled

Can I just tell you how much I love my little girl. A couple years ago when I found out I was having a little girl I was bummed because I'd wanted a boy. My mom told me that a girl was the best to have first because as she got older she would prove to be a huge help to me. I have long since forgotten my dissapointment of having a girl. (honestly, it didn't last much longer than a week after the ultrasound) I wouldn't trade Kameryn for all the boys in the world. (nor would I trade Cooper for the girl I originally wanted him to be.)
Kameryn is such a huge help to both Brandon and I. She always wants to help with Cooper, or dinner, or cleaning. Today is no exception.
I woke up this morning really sick (surprise). What started out as a bad sore throat has now escalated into much worse. I can't talk or swallow and breathing hurts unless I breathe through my nose. Brandon told Kameryn to be very good today because her mommy doesn't feel good. So far she has been an angel. She has even gone above the call of duty and taken over care of Cooper "all by herself". She was sitting on the floor when I came out of my bedroom this morning, she looked up at me and said "Mommy don't feel good? It's otay I tate care of Toopa for you. Me tate tare of Toopa tay?"
(She has this habit of telling me what she is going to do, repeating herself, and then saying "tay?" It's her way of "asking" for permission. By telling you what she is going to do and then phrasing it like a question. Sneaky...)
I just thought it was so cute. She decided that since her mom was sick she was just going to take over for me. And she has, of course she has made a plethora of two year old messes, but she has also been very good at making sure Cooper has toys and food and clean diapers. It is great having a little girl! I can't believe my mom's prophecy has already been fulfilled. Go girls!!

Little Family Cook

Kameryn got this cooking ensemble from her grandma for Christmas. This little girl loves to cook! Today she helped us make apple crisp and empanadas. I just thought these pics where way more than adorable!! And look, I got a picture of Kami smiling without the Bowen squint. (by the way, the Bowen squint is primarily just a Brandon trait)

Pretty Church Girl

A little late, but here is our pretty girl in her Christmas dress and "cloak". Of course, this was taken just barely on Sunday. Daddy got her the dress and I got her the coat. Of course she loves the dress, hates the coat. She has yet to wear it. In fact, right after this picture the bow and the coat came off. Oh well, at least we tried.

Blog Lock

Let me just start off by saying, if you haven't noticed, I kind of like to do all my blogging on the same day...

Now to the point of this blog: Starting March 1, 2007 the Bowen family blog will be locked. What this means is that you have to be a member of our ... let's say "elite blog reading club" to be able to read our blog. I am doing this with a little reservation. As you know, I love the FRIENDLY blog stalker just as much as the next person. However, it is the not-so-friendly blog stalker that has me concerned.
So, here is the deal. If you would like to continue to have axcess to our blog I am going to need your e-mail address. So, e-mail it to me. If you don't have my e-mail, find someone who does or leave me a comment on this blog.
Like I said, I am a little bummed because I would kind of like to believe that there might be friends of friends reading this blog and either getting a kick out of my lameness or being able to somehow relate and feel a kinship to us. Please, if you are friends of friends, don't hestitate to let me know you still want to read this. I am not trying to block out the potential friends or family that blogging can bring. Just the potential hazards.
It's sad that you can't trust everyone and believe their motives are good. But after some comments that I have heard have been left on other's blogs I can no longer leave this blog open to anyone on a basis of trust. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

A Yummy New Recipe

At our sewing circle (Yes, I am involved in a sewing circle and yes I am an old lady, but might I add that I am a rockin' awesome old lady!!! I can't wait for Bingo night. By the way Gwen, should totally do that!)
.... Anyway, at our sewing circle on Friday we did a recipe swap and I got this great new recipe from Bridget. It is for Chicken Fettucini. We have made a few modifications just because the salt content was a little high for us. Enjoy!

Bridget's Chicken Fettucini (Brittany's modifications in red)

2 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
1 cube butter - just 1/2 cube of butter (1/4 cup)
1 packet italian dressing mix - 1/2 of a packet, not a whole

Place chicken, butter, and seasoning in crockpot. Cook on low 3 hours or 2 hours in 300* oven.
Take chicken out of crockpot, shred/cut into bite size pieces.

1 8 oz package cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup hot water

Mix cream cheese, soup, and water. Place in crockpot. Return chopped chicken to crockpot. Heat this while you prepare your noodles. When the noodles are done, the sauce will be as well. Eat it all gone!!

Makes 4 servings. Brandon is not a broccoli fan, but I cooked some broccoli on the side and stirred it in with my pasta. Well worth doing. So yummy - if you love broccoli!

Veggie Tales

We have a new favorite movie in the Bowen house: Veggie Tales!! Kameryn got "The Dance of the Cucumber" as a special treat when we went to Walmart the other day. It is all we have watched now for 3 days. She loves it. I like it too. It is amusing enough for adults and fun for kids. This movie is just a sing-along of some of the songs from veggie tales but we love it!!! If any of you are veggie tales fans, let us know your favorites so we can broaden our collection.

Our Little Family of Sick-os

Just in case you were sitting at home, thinking to yourself, "hmm, self, I wonder if the Bowen's are sick this week?" Just so you know, we are. And probably a month from now, when you ask yourself the same question, we will be then as well. We are a little family of sickies. Rarely does a flu or cold go around that we don't get. Nor does a trip to Utah ever result in a week of not recovering from runny noses or sore tummys. So, what is it, may I ask that keeps us fevering, coughing, and throwing up? We must have a bug, a Bowen bug. It only bites us, and occasionally the Andersens (but only on holidays, birthdays, or special occasions like anniversaries) Don't know why I am blogging this. It is definetly not for pity, more as kind of an act of reflection. It just seems like we get a lot calls asking us if we are feeling better. Its got me thinking: are we really sick that often? The answer: yep, we are. We are a family of sick-os. But, no need to worry about us. The pediatricians say that by the time all of our kids are teenagers we won't be sick so often. So, here's to a nice long 20-25 years of sickness. Fun times.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

It's been a long time since this reoccuring blog has been posted. So, I have one for you. Kameryn has started talking, a lot. She is constantly blabbing about something and a lot of days, sad to say it, she can get kind of mouthy. Well, we've been down at my mom's house the past week and Kameryn has said some real dousies. (My personal favorite: "Mom, I just want you to leave me alone.") However, she continually voiced her opinion on one matter of truth.
It all started like this: Tuesday late afternoon I was making dinner, Kameryn came up to me, wanting to be held. I politely told her "I can't hold you right now, I'm making dinner." So looked up at me and with as much sass as she could muster she yelled at me "No! No more maita din-na. You been maitin din-na aw day!" How true, making dinner all day. Although I hadn't, I did spend a lot of time making her food all day.
Next came when I was feeding Cooper and she, again, wanted held. "I can't hold you, I'm feeding Cooper." "No! You no fee-da Toopa. You been fee-din Toopa aw day." Yet again, how true. And again it happened "No! You no teen up. You been teen -in up aw day." Yeah, I have been cleaning up all day. "No! you been how-din Toopa aw day." "No! You been maitin Toopa kilt aw day!"
Well, nice to know she is noticing how much work I do. No wonder when she plays house she wants to be the daddy and let Cooper be the mommy. She's no dummy, the mommy has to cook, clean, feed and hold the baby "Aw Day!"

Oh, and by the way, this little saying also goes for Kameryn. "Kam, it's time for you to go to bed." "No! I done go to bed aw day!" Sure you have...

Not Much More Than a Crappy Day...

So, ever had something really embarrassing happen to you at a restuarant? (Me too) Ever had that something involve poop, lots of poop? Me neither, until Friday. Friday was the day my mom and I were to run errands. Friday was also the day my daughter "decided" to come down with a serious case of constant diahrea. Of course, much like these things do, this uncontrallable urge to poop her pants did not happen until we were well from home. The first instance happened when she was with her Grandma. We had just finished cleaning her up and she was sporting brand new pants and panties (why she wasn't wearing the diaper in my diaper bag - can't say. Truthfully, it didn't cross my mind, until after...)
Now, here comes the good stuff; the after. We had just hopped in the car when Kam began complaining that she needed a drink. Which soon turned into complaining that she needed to go potty. We immediately pulled over at the closest potty: Coney's custard... place. She hopped out of the van and made it down the long hallway to Coney's bathroom no problem. She then went out to get her drink and a hot dog.
Now here comes the problem: Grandma left to go to the potty, leaving me with Kami, Cooper, and Grandma's purse. Kami then says: "I have to go potty" Alright, well lets just wait until Grandma comes back. Pause ... a toot ... "Did you already go potty?" "uh huh" Oh, well um, hold on. I immediately picked up Cooper's car seat, sat Kameryn on the ground and told her to start walking towards the bathroom (I couldn't pick her up, I'd squeeze poop everywhere)
Well, as luck would have it, poop got everywhere anyways. As she walked down the long hallway a nice trail of poop followed. What do you do? Just then, my mom came out of the bathroom to see our fiasco. She helped Kameryn on her journey down the long hallway while I mustered to swallow all my dignity and ask for a mop, or a rag to clean my daughter's poop off the restuarant floor. I then got to stand around holding my son as a very unfortunate employee mopped up my daughters mess (believe me, I asked several times to do it myself) It wasn't until she stopped and said, with a horrified look on her face, "Maybe I should get something to pick up the big stuff" That she finally let me do the job that as a mother was rightfully mine. Get's better! Keep reading.
While I am doing this my mother comes to Kameryn in the bathroom who is now standing in a ... stop now if you have a weak stomach .... puddle of poop. My mom disinfects the entire bathroom, including my daughter while I try to find a way to relinquish a rag full of my daughter's poop to a poor girl without getting it all over her hands. (you should have seen the way she held it, like it was full of poop or something.)
When this whole fiasco was cleaned up after, we wrapped my naked daughter up in a blanket, gathered their bathroom trash up in our hands, and tiptoed out of the restuarant, careful not to look any employees or patrons in the eye. We did, however, manage to see the fans that had set up, pointing towards an open doorway trying to push the smell of us out of their restuarant.
Needless to say, we will not be frequenting Coney's much in the future. (Not that we frequented it much before, but now we'll have a reason not to go there.) Chalk one up to the embarrassing battle that is motherhood. Go team!!

New Phone . . . again

Just posting for those of you who actually know me, and my current phone number; it has changed. Of course I am not going to list my new phone number here, but if you want it, give me a call on my old number. It will be disconnected on Monday the 8th but has a recording as to my new number. Just thought you'd like to know. This should be the last new number for two years (contract).