new tubes!

This past week has been a bit busy. Jack went in for his 3rd set of ear tubes! Who would have ever thought that would have happened. I heard stories about people's kids going in for mulitple sets, but I never thought we would have been one of them. So, that makes for his 4th surgery (heart, tubes, tubes/tonsils/adnoids, tubes) all before the age of 3! I'm making sure to save all of these medical bills to show him one day! Whatever we have to do to help keep him healthy though. Hopefully this set will get him through. The doctors have said that usually around age 3 the ears are more developed and can work better on their own.

The day of surgery was great. Fortunately, my mom, Grammy, was able to come in and help with both kids. Since I am nursing, Caroline had to be there as well. I'm still trying to figure out this whole running errands with 2 kids deal. It really makes me appreciate my mom more who had 3 under the age of 5. I'm definitely beginning to think that 2 is enough for us!

Anyways, Caroline is doing great as well. She went for her first check-up and set of shots on Friday. She is weighing in at 9 pounds 11 ounces...that's the 65th percentile! Her head circumference and length are the 50th percentile. This is new for us! Jack was always around the 3rd or 5th percentile on weight. He better eat up or Caroline is going to catch him. Jack weighs around 24 pounds on a good day! Caroline has also seemed to settle in a bit better. I think she was experiencing a big growth spurt a while back which made her very unhappy. She was hungry all the time and couldn't get comfortable. She now is content to play some and is really giving a lot more smiles. Jack really adores her and helps out a lot with her. They are fun to watch.

Everytime Jack holds Caroline now, he says "take a picture." I guess we better stop taking pictures every time they are close!

Enjoying the cute girlie outfits! Church morning.

Trying to share his new bowling game.

Where has the time gone

Well, it's been crazy around here. We are pretty sure that Caroline has decided to have a bit of colic. Her crying is really something else. Poor Jack, when she starts crying in his crib, he'll offer to go get her for us (don't worry, we don't let him.). She breastfed, so I was hoping that would reduce her chance of getting colic. I am wondering if I should change my diet a bit to see if it will help. Anyone have any suggestions of calming those babies with colic?

So, that's been taking a bit of a toll on us. Other than that, we've been enjoying a bit of warm weather and had a great time down at Jack and Linda's in Lexington for Easter. They are so sweet to invite us down there to join them. Here are a few pictures of the last few weeks.

Sharing tummy time

Working on enjoying tummy time

Nice busted lip!

Easter egg hunt with friends

Playing after the hunt. Of course, Jack wants to push everyone!

Caroline and me at Easter. She's wearing one of my little dresses!

Lexington egg hunt- Jack was really into it!

New pictures

Caroline is now 2 weeks old. Our house has been exciting for those 2 weeks. Jack is adjusting and realizing that his sister is taking some of the attention from him. That's causing a bit of behavior problems, but nothing too bad. Just testing Mommy and Daddy. Tommy and I are adjusting to short stretches of sleep every night. Nursing is great, but it really takes away that ability to tell Tommy it's his turn to feed! Here are some fun new pictures of the last few days.

Daddy snuggles

Learning early!

First bath

First hair cut

Jack's become a real ham for the camera

Sweet moment between brother and sister. Jack loves holding Caroline.

Grammy came and made life a little easier for several days!

Daddy's idea. Good thing Jack was sleeping!

Caroline Comes Home

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days.

Caroline Opal Bowman

Caroline Opal greeted the world Friday, March 20th at 9:17 pm weighing in at 7 pounds and 5 ounces. We arrived at the hospital around 5:30 pm, were admited about 7 and she was here a little over 2 hours later! She has made a reputation as the baby who had the super fast delivery. After they broke my water, she was here about 45 minutes later. Without an epidural, it was definitely one of the most painful experiences of my life, but the recovery has been amazing. We wish we were headed home tonight, but since she arrived late in the evening, we'll be headed home tomorrow morning. Jack seems to be okay with her since she brought him a gift of helicopters and airplanes. We'll see what it's like once we get home. Pictures to follow soon!

38 weeks

I am now 38 weeks pregnant and ready for a baby! At this point, I am 4cm dilated and 70% effaced. I think I was a bit jinxed when the doctor said I wouldn't make it through the weekend. With that in mind, Jack went to spend the weekend with Grammy and Grandpa in Knoxville so that he would be well taken care of if we had to jet to the hospital. Since everything was all in line and it would have been very convenient, no baby yet! We've definitely missed Jack, but know he's had a blast visiting. We'll get to see him later today.


So now we just keep waiting to see when this baby is going to decide to come. Back to work again tomorrow! I keep hearing, "why are you here??" I can't just sit at home and wait for the baby to get here. We've been trying all kinds of the natural induction methods, but nothing yet. I'm really hoping not to be induced as I want to have a drug-free delivery if possible. So any suggestions on how to get things moving would be great!

Progress!

I am currently a little over 36 weeks along now and making a good bit of progress towards baby being here. After my doctor's appt today, I am almost 3 centimeters dilated and 70% effaced (not in labor though). That's exciting, but I really need to work one more week so that I don't have to go back this school year. So it sounds like we could have some exciting days to come here soon!