A Very Bowden Christmas

It seems Christmas this year was more of a blur than usual...maybe it goes faster each year, or maybe it was the combo between the new baby and all the traveling that made it seem to speed by. The 25th seemed to come upon us before I was totally ready- but we did make some beautiful memories along the way, and the best news is- it's not over yet! My dad and family are visiting this week, and then my mom's side is coming up next weekend. Yay for never ending holidays!

But before time gets away from us, I wanted to record some of the special times we've shared so far this season:

Trip to Philly

Do I love a six hour drive on the turnpike? Hardly, but when you have a dozen or so family members on the other end waiting to greet you and (more importantly) hold your baby, you go willingly. Our trip this time was as busy as ever. We crammed in visits with both sides of Dustin's family, as well as some friends. I snapped pictures constantly, and posing with our snuggle bunny soon became mandatory (not that I heard anyone complain) I could (and did) assemble an entire album of Piper sleeping on various people's chests.






Seasonal outfits

Try as I might to avoid turning Piper into a Toddlers and Tiaras type spectacle, I do find myself getting caught up in the fun of playing baby dress up. The holidays are just too good of an excuse to pass up. Even this non girlie girl knows Christmas is the time for velvet dresses. Plus I figure we only have a couple years where she's going tolerate donning footie pj's, so I'm milking it. And is there anything funnier than a baby in an ugly sweater?






Christmas trimmings

I warned you that we weren't going all out (or even halfway out, really) but we did manage to get at least a teeny bit festive. Our Christmas pandora stations (yep- two! Call me a Scrooge now!) have been in heavy rotation, I managed to update our stockings, (I'm in love with the new ones!) and I hung Christmas cards (loooove getting all this fun mail!). And of course there was the task of wrapping our presents. We're still going strong with the brown paper (a tradition that is at least 3 years running) but I updated them with yarn and paper snowflakes this year.


Time together

We are lucky that I'm off work this year, and Dustin took a week vacation too, so we can hang out as a fam. Yes, our time has been packed full of actives, but we've still managed to steal away for little moments just the two (or more often, three) of us. We've had long talks in the car, cuddled, and enjoyed parenting together- giving baths, changing diapers, tag teaming burping. And we even got away from the munchkin for a few minutes here and there. (we had a few people who graciously offered to hold her...and maybe never let go).



It's been a wonderful week, lots of laughing, lots of presents, lots of hugging and lots (LOTS) of eating, and it's gotten me even more excited for Cheistmas round two and three...

Sleepy Bear

So cozy....have to hibernate...

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas! Throw on a hat, climb in your santa bucket, and celebrate with those you love.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Momma Bear

In the beginning I was stunned by her. Who is this moose of a child suddenly emerging from my womb?

Then I was perplexed by her. Who is this piglet of a infant, snorting, and snuffling all hours of the day?

Sometimes I am aggravated by her. Who is this bug of a girl, crying and pestering to be fed, and changed, and burped, and held, and fed some more?


She challenges me, she surprises me, she exhausts me, she betters me, she confuses me, she (yes...) bothers me, she astounds me. She humbles me.


She is my baby bear, and I love her fiercely.

There Must Be a Pony!

In Piper's nursery, we have a chalkboard wall, with some hand drawn "art" (various scribbles by me, not sure they count as art exactly...) but in one of the frames I put a print of a book cover- "There Must Be a Pony"

A while back I bought a set of Penguin postcards, and I've framed some of my favorites. (you can see a few more here). I chose them strictly based on colors or illustrations I liked, not on the actual books (out of all of the titles, I don't think I've ever read any of them!) so I didn't think much about including this one in Piper's room- I just thought it sounded funny, I liked the pink, and the horse's goofy little grin.

But then my mom told me the origin of the title. In case you don't know it, I'll share it with you:

It's a joke about twin boys about five or six years old. Worried that the boys had developed extreme personalities -- one was a total pessimist, the other a total optimist -- their parents took them to a psychiatrist.

First the psychiatrist treated the pessimist. Trying to brighten his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. But instead of yelping with delight, the little boy burst into tears. "What's the matter?" the psychiatrist asked, baffled. "Don't you want to play with any of the toys?" "Yes," the little boy bawled, "but if I did I'd only break them."

Next the psychiatrist treated the optimist. Trying to dampen his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the optimist emitted just the yelp of delight the psychiatrist had been hoping to hear from his brother, the pessimist. Then he clambered to the top of the pile, dropped to his knees, and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. "What do you think you're doing?" the psychiatrist asked, just as baffled by the optimist as he had been by the pessimist. "With all this manure," the little boy replied, beaming, "there must be a pony in here somewhere!"

I typically consider myself an optimist, but this takes it to an inspiring extreme. Because while I do try to see the bright side of things, my personality includes a hefty dose of realism. When I am presented with life's "piles of horse manure", more often than not, my response is to get aggravated and disappointed, complain, and generally do whatever I can to get out of that situation. The optimist kid, on the other hand, saw beyond the crap (literally), and was open to...and hopeful for...the possibility of something good.

Though this story can easily led to a trite and cliche lesson, it still stuck with me as an interesting illustration of a powerful concept. Life as a new mom (or a worker, or a student, or a...anything really) is full of piles of manure at times, and it's easy to get bogged down in it, and jump to the negative. It's much harder to look past it, or even deeper into it to find the pony. And I know it's not always that simple- maybe not every bad thing we encounter is created by something beautiful. But I believe that there is some truth to the idea that there is always something good to be found if you have the right attitude.

But beyond just encouraging me to adopt a Pollyanna outlook, I think the most striking part of the story is that the boy not only believed there must be a pony- he was willing to jump into the pile, and dig through the poo to find it. He didn't stand idly by, spouting off platitudes about how "everything happens for a reason" or my personal least favorite: "...God opens a window". He believed in the possibility of something positive, and he set out to find it, even if that meant wading through the muck for a bit. I'm certain he wasn't immune to the smell, or the dirt, and I imagine he wasn't any more enthusiastic about the amount of work the endeavor would entail than the average person. I bet he's like the rest of us that think poop is gross, and digging through it is even grosser. The difference is his attitude, and his choice in spite of his common belief. If all of us were confronted with the same problem, some of us would end up isolated in the corner, attempting to shield ourselves from the negative, ultimately missing out on any experience at all. Many of us would end up angry, frustrated, wallowing in self pity. And the unavoidable fact is that regardless of our choices, just by being in the room, all of us would end up covered in stink, despite our efforts to avoid it. The boy embraced that fact, dove in, and- I believe in the unwritten ending- ends up riding off on a pony.

There is some irony to the fact that this picture is hanging above Piper's changing table. A spot where ten times a day I actually do have to scoop my way through poop. But hopefully I can emulate that second little boy, and my story will include me embracing my pony- the stinky, but beautiful little girl that created all that mess.

So what are your piles of poo? What are the ponies that are potentially hiding within them?
And what are you willing to go through to find them?

Santa Baby

Last Sunday, we woke up early for some festive family fun. You see, there's a little penguin at our house who is working on her Christmas list, so we needed to bring her to the man in charge- Santa! Luckily, our office has a connection, and had set up a breakfast with him, and Ms. Claus.

But before she could meet jolly old St. Nick, of course we had to get her dolled up in some winter duds...

As you can see she was overwhelmed by excitement.

But when we finally got to our destination (the hotel for the breakfast was in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, which might as well be the North Pole) she perked up a bit...


The banquet room was pretty busy- apparently this Santa guy is kind of a big deal- so we got in line right away to take advantage of her good mood. I was willing to skip breakfast if she had a meltdown. But miss a chance at a photo op? Not a chance. Piper was content to show off to our coworkers while we waited, and even let me pop a headband on her before we got to the front.

Visiting Santa was never a big tradition for me growing up, but I know enough about it to know that sitting the lap of some some stranger in a suit is enough to make most kids freak out. I hoped maybe Piper was young enough to not realize the potential terror of the situation, and allow for a few cute pics.

We got the obligatory "I have no idea what's happening" photo (her current face of choice).

But my favorite is this gem:

"Santa, you're boring me...give me some presents and lets get this over with..."

(and can we talk about that Santa? Not exactly the most realistic St. Nick I've ever seen, but what he lacked in authenticity, he made up for in friendliness. During our turn, he must have said Merry Christmas about a hundred times- I didn't have the heart to tell him Piper couldn't care less...)

But she didn't cry, so we took it as a win, and moved on to breakfast...With a few more pics of course:

And we even got a family portrait in front of a tree...(she was even less enthused by this if you can imagine, but you can't blame her, by the end, she was a sleepy polar bear cub.)


Merry 10 days 'til Christmas!

Twelve Dates of Christmas

Are you ready for December's resolution?

For our new tradition, Dustin and I will be going on 12 Dates of Christmas!

I saw this on another blog and I love the idea. The details are pretty much wide open, but my goal is for Dustin and me to set aside time to spend together during the holiday season (Thanksgiving to New Years). Life has been a little nuts around here, and it's easy for Miss Piper to take over all of our time (and conversations, and energy, and money, and...) I thought it would be good for us to make an effort to keep some of the romance, spontaneity, and simple fun from our pre-Piper days. Sure, the little bug will have to tag along with us most of the time, and sometimes our dates won't actually involve going anywhere, but I'm still looking forward to having some special time with Dustin in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the season.

So far we've logged at least 5 dates, if you count casual lunches, fast food dinners, and one baby-free trip to the grocery store (I argue that in the early days with an infant, these things count). I'm hoping that as we get a bit more comfortable carting the little one around (or *gasp* leaving her with someone else!), our dates will get a bit more ambitious. We've got a few fun things planned- a trip to the Strip District, a night out for sushi, and maybe even a holiday party or two. It doesn't really matter what we do, it's just about being intentional, being present, and being together.

I think it'll be a good for us to end each year with an extra special focus on our relationship. Because as much as we love our little girl, we want our marriage to be the foundation of our family, and are committed to making the effort to put each other first. As the years progress, I know our holidays will continue to be filled with traveling, and presents, and crafts, and pageants, and cookies: all the fun and festive trappings of traditional Christmases. But the first, and most important of our family traditions will be to love each other.
Times twelve.

Times infinity.

Strike a Pose

She's pretty patient with me...

She waited until I took all 34 photo options before she threw up all over her rug.

Lesson learned, kid.

(and by that I mean- I won't make her suffer through another silly photoshoot for at least a couple days....)

(but seriously, can you blame me? look at those adorable faces! I have to capture every one! And then smother them with kisses!)

(also- do you not have the urge to write a caption for each photo? go ahead...pick your favorite and tell us what Piper's thinking...I choose #9- "Mom, stop taking stupid pictures, I'm about to barf on the rug!")

Wouldn't it be nice: December

Can you believe it's already December? I sound like an old lady- where does the time go?

But really, this year flew by, just like they always do, and now it's time for my final resolution of 2011. This months goal:

Start a Tradition

When I made up this resolution a while ago, I was thinking it would be perfect for the new baby. Like most people, I have tons of childhood memories tied to the Christmas season, and

many are involve traditions that we repeated year after year. As I think about our future with Piper (and maybe, just maybe more children) I'm excited to introduce some of those traditions into our family, as well as make some new ones of our own.

But as it turns out- I'm not quite in the holiday spirit this year. (You may remember a similar attitude from the last two years) Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to Christmas, but the excitement of the season has gotten a little overshadowed by the whole "new baby" vortex that is our life right now. There's a part of me that wants to do the holidays up in grand style to officially celebrate Baby's! First! Christmas! But a much (much) bigger part of me thinks: She'll never remember this year, let's plop her on Santa's lap, snap a photo and skip the rest of the work this time around. So that's pretty much what we're going to do. My goals for commemorating Piper's first Christmas are as follows:

• Get her picture taken with Santa. I think we did this exactly one time when I was a kid- on my first Christmas. So I can't promise this will make a repeat event, but it's worth a shot.
• Make (or more likely buy) her a stocking. I never really loved the stockings I made Dustin and I when we got married, so I'm using Piper as an excuse to right that wrong, and get a trio of new stockings for the Bowden house. I should probably get on it soon, but then again, if I wait long enough maybe they'll go on sale!
• Visit Dustin's family. This year, we're going to make the trek to Philly to spend some time with everyone there. I'm excited to introduce Piper to the rest of her family- including her grandparents, and Great-Grandma!

annnnnnd...that might be about it. We may not doing all the traditional decorating, baking, party hosting etc. but I'm excited to spend time as a new little family.

And fear not- Even though we're not starting an official family tradition as I originally expected, that doesn't mean I'm bailing on the resolution- We're actually doing something I'm pretty excited about. Stay tuned for that update....

...ooooh the suspense!

In the meantime, I leave you with a pic of our little sugar plum. Something tells me we'll make footie pajamas a tradition around here.

Life with a Baby: First Month Must Haves

Today marks the official one-month mark since Piper's grand entrance into the world. To say we're still getting the hang of this parenting thing is an understatement, but each day we get a little more experienced (or at least less frighteningly naive). So no, we are by no means any type of experts, but we have learned a lot in the last 30 days.

When preparing for Piper's arrival, we tried to not go crazy with the baby gear, and reigned in our registry as much as possible. But babies still amass a lot of gear, no matter what you do. For newbies like us, it's hard to determine what's worth the hype, and what's a waste of money and space. And of course, there is some truth to the idea that all you need to raise a baby are some diapers and boobs. But aside from the true bare necessities, there are a few items that after my short month as a mom, I personally deem "must haves". Half for posterity, and half to help any of you that are about to embark on the parenthood journey for the first time, I've recorded some of our MVP's (most-valuable products). It's by no means an exhaustive list, there are certainly many more things that we use (and love) on a day-to-day basis, but so far, we've found a few favorites that I wouldn't want to do without. (Official disclaimer: Everyone's experience, and baby, and body, etc and so on, are different, so while this list got us through our first month, you might hate it all.) Check it:

For Baby
Clockwise from top left:

1. Vibrating pack and play- We've been getting up 2-3 times each night, so having Piper in our room saves us a few bleary eyed steps each time (and having her close makes me sleep easier as I can monitor her little snuffles without worrying about cryptic noises through the baby monitor). And the vibrating feature on the basinet is awesome. It soothes her, and we've found can occasionally be used as a "snooze button" of sorts to trick her into five more minutes of sleep. (don't judge).
2. Disposable changing covers- You know what's really fun? Having Piper poop as I'm changing her diaper. I mean, we're talking three times a week fun. She just loves it. These little sheets save us from washing the cloth cover every time she gets the urge to go (over and over again).
3. Miracle blanket- They call it that for a reason. It may not be an actual life-saver, but our little snuggler loves a swaddle, and this is the only one we found that she can't weasel her way out of.
4. snug a bunny chair- It makes the baby look like she has bunny ears. Done.
5. Sleep sacks- These are Piper's nightly uniform...she has at least 8, and we go occasionally go through a couple in a night (see must have #2). Not having to wrestle with snaps or tiny little footies is priceless when you're changing several diapers a night- usually with the lights off, and sometimes with your eyes shut.
6. Diaper rash stick- We got this because it's safe for cloth diapers (vs. traditional creams) and it works great. (Dustin swears it's just a giant version of climb-on...which wouldn't really surprise me. That stuff is crazy good.)

But it's not alllll about the baby. I've found a few must-haves for myself too.

For Mom

Clockwise from top left:

1. Nursing pads- Ok, I actually pretty much hate these, BUT they do get the job done (and by job, I mean protecting my clothes from the never ending milk buffet I'm serving these days. Isn't motherhood fun?)
2. Flax seed- no one warned me to up my fiber intake after giving birth...but it turns out it's necessary to you know...move things along. Allow me to warn you. Sprinkle this on pretty much anything...it doesn't taste like much, but even if it was terrible, it'd be worth it!
3. Nursing tanks- I bought a bunch of sports bra type pieces, and a few tanks as well (underwires are a no-no at this stage of the game) but I didn't love any of them. They were shapeless and sloppy, and lumpy and dumpy (or was that me?) But these are great- they're form fitting, without being excessively tight, they're long enough to actually cover your body, and the best part- they have a bit of padding in the cups for some extra coverage and camouflage (you know, for those lame nursing pads you have to wear).
4. Plastic cup- This thing is my constant companion. You wouldn't believe how thirsty I can get these days, and with all the pills I have to pop, it's helpful to have a drink handy at all times.
5. iPhone-How? HOW? did people survive without iphones? I am totally that person now- the one that's obsessed with her phone, but when you're tied to a baby for multiple hours a day, the iphone is your saving grace. I have constant access to email and texting, which helps me not feel isolated, and apps like facebook and pinterest help keep me awake during 4AM feedings. Oh- and without babybix to track Piper's daily activities (i.e. meals and bathroom habits) I'd have pretty much no clue about anything.
6. heating pad- This was as close to a lifesaver as it gets. I have a traditional electric heating pad as well (which I used nightly too) but this little guy can be heated up in the microwave, and forms nicely to your body.
7. Elastic waist pants- I was lucky enough to lose a lot of the baby weight quickly (perhaps the only perk of delivering a moose of a baby...) but even if you're in that same camp, don't kid yourself, you will not want to wear jeans. And I've found that sweatpants (or their slightly more modern cousin- the yoga pant) can crush your spirit after a while. I had two pairs of slouchy cargos from aerie that I wore before I was pregnant, all the way through my pregnancy, and even home from the hosipital. They're just as comfortable as sweats, but make you look put together without any effort-the very definition of must-have for a new mom.

But I would be remiss if I didn't share the one thing I couldn't do without:

Honestly. I'd be lost without Dustin. If I could somehow clone him for all new moms to put on their registry I would. He has taken care of me in a way that I never expected I would need, and I can truly say I don't know what I would do without him. He adores his daughter and puts the needs of his two girls above and beyond anything else. In the past month he has taught me (again) what it means to have a servant's heart, and continues to show me what it is to love someone whole heartedly. And that is a must have.

Rub a Dub Dub

When describing Piper's first sponge bath out our house, a few words come to mind- screaming, weeping, gnashing of teeth...


Not exactly the most adorable photo-op.

I was so looking forward to baby bath time...the sweet smelling baby soap, the cute little hooded baby towels, the squeaky clean cuddly baby. At no point did my dream contain a miserable, wailing child that is behaving as if we're ripping out her toenails, rather than just patting her with a washcloth. We learned quickly that piper hates being cold. HATES it (she may look like Dustin, but there is a little bit of me in there for sure). And unfortunately, it's really hard to keep a baby warm during a sponge bath. We certainly tried to make her comfy cozy, but in the end- we settled for speed. If we couldn't make it enjoyable, at least we could make it fast.

So for her second bath, I thought I learned a lesson. I decided to relocate the operation to the bathroom tub. I made special effort to heat the room before hand....I had all of our supplies ready, I made sure the water was warm, we got her in the tub....

And she screamed. Oh did she scream. Turns out no amount of preparation could change the fact that she just hates the bath.

Her third bath? Utter failure again. (In her defense, it was 11:30pm, and it was a bit of an urgent situation as she had just thrown up all over her jammies.)

So I resigned myself to having a bath-hating baby. We wouldn't star in any John and Johnson commercials, but I figured we could suffer through a quick scrub every few days.

But then her umbilical stump fell off (yuck!)- which allowed us to change up our strategy- we could skip the sponging, and take a "real" bath. For our first attempt, we were at my mom's house, so we didn't have an official baby bathtub, but a beverage tub works in a pinch, right?

So was she just as miserable in deeper water?

No!

As we lowered her in the water, and started to splash around a bit, I kept waiting for wailing to begin...But it didn't! I wouldn't say she looooved it (hard to say when she can't smile yet) but she seemed perfectly content the whole time.

She even lounged long enough for us to take some pictures. And dream of dreams, when it was over, we wrapped her up in a little hooded towel, and she cuddled right up. No tears.

I mean really, is there anything cuter than a baby in a hooded towel? I struggle to even put clothes on her after seeing her like this. Ever day, a new hooded towel. Should be good until at least kindergarten, right?

She was even checking herself out a bit...

And fortunately, the joy extended to our next attempt when we got home. We plopped her into her own little tub, and after a few tears, she settled in just fine.

And then we got to wear another hooded towel. Success!

It's the simple things right? Happy bathtime everyone!