February Happenings

Nothing like cotton candy and bubbles for Valentine's Day!


Sharing the Love.


Should be sleeping but he is not.


Preschool Valentine's Day cards.


Dentist Field Trip.

Although the month of February has been full of love, it has also been full of sickness at the Bowen Casa. In one day, both Judd and Jon went to insta-care for sinus infections. In all my years of marriage to Jon, he has never gone to the doctors for being sick so I knew he must have felt horrible. And, poor Remi. Another ear infection that completely made his eye bulge. Thank goodness for tubes in April. I bet the kid will feel like a new man with those babies in his ears.

Valentines was low-key. I opted to make dinner at home so we didn't have to find a babysitter or fight the crowds. The following night we went to dinner. We found a little Mexican restaurant in Saratoga Springs, which was good and they had excellent service. Judd loved his new Spiderman t-shirt he received for Valentines Day and Remi was head over hills for his bubbles and cotton candy. One thing I remember about my childhood is the little treats my mom used to set out for any holiday. I get so excited to do the same for my boys.

This month was a little traumatizing for me because I had to take a two day class at the University of Utah to start renewing my teaching license. The older I get the more of a nervous nelly I become. "New" things stress me out. I am ok once I get there but the whole idea of it being new sometimes paralyzes me to the point that I can't sleep days before. Luckily my sweet mom and Laurie (sister-in-law) took my kids. Even though I graduated from the U, I couldn't remember where the building was so my mom (bless her heart)offered to drive up with me the night before to find it, which actually relieved some of the stress. I am such a weirdo. Anyway, the class was on Microsoft Excel, and I loved learning about it. Prior I had never used it and oh how I have been missing out. I was so proud of the student project I came up with using the program.

For the last couple of months I have been reflecting as a mom, wife, sister, and all of the above. I have started to realize things about me that are odd. For instance, I have become a total home body. I used to love going out, shopping, seeing new movies. It's not that I completely hate going out, but I prefer to stay home. Also, I am not partial to any laundry detergent. When I buy a new brand or scent, I rush through the old stuff, adding extra so I have an excuse to open the new one. I am learning that getting old is hard. My back is constantly hurting, especially after the treadmill. I am realizing that I need to step up my game as a mother, sister, wife, and friend. It can't just be about me. I wish life could slow down. I love watching my boys transition to different phases, but oh how it happens so fast. When I start to think about my childhood, I now know why my parents made the decisions they did...because they loved us. Becoming a mom makes you see things so much differently.

Judd and Remi tag team me all day. If it is not one, its the other. However, I remind myself everyday to enjoy it and don't freak out. My friend, Amanda, gave me a cute idea with jars of marbles to help Judd behave and it has helped tremendously. He has already earned a full jar, which allowed him to pick out some pretty cool Spiderman pjs. Remi's personality is developing strong, and I mean strong. He is learning that with Judd, it is about survival of the fittest. If you don't fight back it will be taken out of your hands. Remi also has perfected his arched back with a high pitched scream when things aren't going according to his plan of action. I love my boys!

Judd

Judd is my little man. Although he can send me into orbit at times with his strong personality, I love him more than my luggage. I want to remember everything about my kids, so I want to write them down, so here goes….

1.He loves a good craft. I am amazed where I find stickers (walls, windows, staircase, bottom of shoes, lamps, etc).

2.He is all about being first…which this drives me crazy. He melts down if he isn’t first when his friends are around. Hopefully this phase doesn’t last long.

3.He likes to tell me things and end it with, “right mom.” “I am a good boy, right mom?”

4.He likes riding his bike and thinks he is pretty cool now that he knows how to use his brakes appropriately. Thank goodness because he wore out a ton of his shoes last year.

5.He loves Spiderman and Batman. He has all these nice shirts but he wants to wear the superhero ones that aren’t the cutest.

6.He loves to play with his friends, and I pray that he is a good boy at other peoples’ homes.

7.He hates to blow his nose and freaks out every time, so I have to count to three for him so he knows when to blow. He also hates getting his fingernails trimmed and screams through the whole process.

8.He teases Remi constantly but loves him a lot.

9.I love how much he is learning in preschool, and he gets perturbed when I make him give me a kiss before he goes into the preschool door.

10.I love that his eyes are turning green like mine.

11.By 4pm he wants to get in his pajamas. If we have something to do at night, I have to bribe him to keep his clothes on.

12.He adores his Dad but still refers to him as Jon.

13.I love how much his learns in primary. The other day he told he was scared to get baptized because he didn’t want to get dunked.

14. He loves to dance.

15. He loves his cowboy boots that his Grandpa bought him.

16. He loves a good work project, whether it is helping me with dishes or shoveling the walks with his Dad.

On a Mission

My neighbor and I were on a mission for some cute boots, and since Forever Young was having a sale, we decided to pack up the kids and head to South Town Mall. We promised the kids a ride on the carousel if they behaved. I can’t believe how well the kids did. Thanks Jill for a fun afternoon.

Remi!!!

I love the snot out of this fire ball. He is as scrumptious as they come, and all I want to do is eat him up. There are some many fun things that he is doing, that I want to remember them all, so hence this little ditty......

1. He is still doing the army crawl, but he will at least crawl normal for two steps before he goes down on all floors. By the end of the night his front outfit is so dirty because he has dusted the floors with his crawl.

2. Every day I have to clean the bottom of my stairs because he loves throwing toys down the staircase. He army crawls to the stairs, slips his arm through the banister, and lets it drop. The other day I found various objects at the bottom step and I knew who the culprit was....naughty pants.

3. He throws me under the bus when my neighbor Jill is around. He adores her and once he is in her arms, he screams and pushes me away....little booger.

4. He loves Judd. He giggles with delight when he is around, yet yelps a high pitch scream when Judd gets too close.

5. He loves to throw just about anything, but usually it consists of his binki. The other day he spent an hour throwing a small ball, then army crawling to it. It was cute.

6. My chin has never had so many zits. He loves to make out with my chin. I am investing into some good zit treatment.

7. He loves his warm milk bottles and isn't really into sippee cups.

8. Naps used to be easy, not anymore.

9. He is constantly fighting ear infections but come April he will be getting himself some ear tubes.

10. He loves, and I mean loves, his Dad. If Jon is in the room he will cry until he is in Jon's arms. Judd never wanted anyone to hold him but me so this has kind of been hard. Not going to lie, it kind of hurts my feel bads.

11. When anyone tells him "no," he sits there for a second with his little lip down, and then he cries the saddest cry you have ever seen.

12. I have about broken my neck on the treadmill several times because he throws random things on it, and they about trip me.

Ps...I know my oven looks disgusting. Gross would say that's gross.

Oh Brothers!

My sister, Nickie, always told me this day would come, when all your boys do is wrestle until one of them gets hurt. Well, that day has come. At this point in time, I think it is kind of cute but I know sooner than later it will drive me crazy, like it does my sister with her two boys. The best part is that Remi seems to really enjoy rolling around with his brother. In the bath, all Remi does is scream. The pics show it all. My favorite is the last one, where Remi is literally digging into to Judd's eye because he has just about had enough of Judd, the Rough Neck!