Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, there was a bowl of red and black beads on our dresser. They usually stayed out of sight and therefore never entered the mind of our two year old... until last week, when I sat him up on the dresser so I could tie his shoes and he spotted them and immediately fell in love with them and needed them. I paused momentarily, wondering how safe this was, and then decided he could handle it-- especially since he isn't really known for putting stuff in his mouth.

The two year old sat in the middle of our living room and lovingly transferred bead by bead to a glass jar. He sat there for a long time and I got to work on our Christmas lists. I glanced up and noticed him heading towards his ear with a bead-- so I stopped him and explained that we don't put beads in our ears, then I went on to explain that we don't put anything in our ears. He listened intently, nodded accordingly, and I smiled knowing that I had just performed my motherly duties for the day.

About 5 minutes later he came up and told me he hurt his nose, while pointing to his upper lip. I surveyed said boo boo, and noted that it looked absolutely normal. Picked him up to easy the whine and simultaneously answered a phone call from my Dad. I carried Max as I paced around the house, talking to my Dad for about 10 minutes. He never whined or winced or acted like he was in pain at all, so I just assumed it had been a normal bump and that he had already forgotten about it.

When I hung up the phone, I started to put him down, and he freaked, pointing to his nose again. AND it was at that exact moment that I knew. I pushed on the sides of his nose, lunged for the nearest flash light and took a little looksie... and low and behold, there was a bright red bead just far enough up his nose that I couldn't get it out. He blew his nose many times into a tissue, he even sneezed several big man-sized sneezes... to no avail. I contacted his pediatrician and they said I need to get in the car and head that way right away.

Max freaked. I mean hysterical, thrashing, and gnashing of teeth. It was so bad while we drove that I had to call Chad for reinforcements.

And then the child cried so hard that he fell asleep at 10:45 in the morning.

Chad beat us there and was able to get Max out of the car and into the doctor while I parked and lugged baby J inside. He curled up against Chad like he's a cuddly person... he is not. And he didn't want his Daddy to put him down. I also tried to bribe him with lollipops and his paci-- of which he took both but it didn't really settle him down. Once we saw the doc, she immediately informed us that this bead was just the right size that is if went the other way (up into his sinuses) that it would be BAD. And in the next breath, she told us she wouldn't be able to get it out and we would need to see a specialist.

They called and made us an appointment at an ENT just down the road. Once again, we waited for the doctor and Max was fine-- but as soon as the doctor actually walked in the room, all the crazies erupted once again. Chad had to sit with Max in his lap, and hold him down with his legs and arm. For obvious reasons, this made Max even more mad! That doctor wasn't able to get it either and had to call in the top dog-- who happened to be like 7 ft tall, and wearing a big contraction on his head- made for seeing in the nose better, obviously. He tried to fish it out, with the help of many tools and suction things, but it wasn't budging.

(You may be thinking that he looks happy in these pictures, that's because the doctor wasNOT in the room!)

Then he said the words, "If it doesn't work this time, we'll have to book an OR, but this is much preferred over an OR" (just in case I was confused?!?!?!?) And then like magic, he slid it out. Chad and Max were covered in sweat, and me and Max were covered in tears. The little bead that had been wreaking havoc for 4 hours was now out.

And we all lived happily ever after!

(Just in case you were wondering.... they told us several times that this kind of thing was normal and so I asked if it was more normal in boys and they said no-- it happens to girls just as often but that it usually Barbie shoes or lite bright pegs.....um, ouch!!!!!!!!!!)

And for good measure (and because he's cute) he is how Baby Jack supported us through it all--  by smiling and cooing!

The Great Play date

You may remember that I mentioned a great big fun playdate a while back-- on my birthday actually. And I promised that details would be forthcoming, but let's just say that things got crazy-- Chad went out of town, my Dad came in town, then me and Jack went to join Chad in Texas, pshewwww, it makes me tired just typing it. AND I'm not sure how I kept up with laundry when I was working, but apparently it's my favorite pastime-- seriously, my people make a full load everyday- how is that even possible?

So about the playdate-- on my birthday, we planned a giant playmate at my house. My brother said something like "only a mother would invite 10 little kids to her clean house, before noon, on her birthday"- which just made me chuckle. My oh my how things change when you add small people to your brood :)

So around 9:30, birthday morning, the minivans and SUV's began arriving:

Danielle and Reed (plus baby Morgan in utero), along with cupcakes and birthday cake batter rice krispy treats (yum!)

Lisa and Haven, and baby Calder is utero.

Emily and Cole, Gavin, and Kendall plus baby in utero

Anna, Elizabeth Grace, and Evie

And my new friend Sara and her daughter Sadie. We randomly met at our local park and God SO wanted us to be friends- we're like the same and we kept running into each other until we changed contact info!

Meet the kids-- ALL 3 years old or under!

 Haven

Sadie

Kendall

Cole

Lizzy

 Max

Reed

 Gavin

Jack

Evie

We played inside, we played on the driveway with our riding toys, we picnicked in the back yard, and we had a little birthday party :)

Here are the before and after pictures.... my house before playtime:

(that stain is courtesy of Max)

And here are the after pictures :)

And once everyone left and my babies went down for their naps, it only took me like 20 minutes to clean up. It was such a fun time, with fun moms and adorable children. We hope to keep doing it! 

P.S. This is NOT an exclusive group, so if you live nearby, let me know if you want an invite to the next play time :)

Pumpkin Carving and Other Fun Fall Things

Fall is flying by in the Bowman house and we've barely gotten a second to enjoy all the fun of it. Luckily, our friends the Waldron's planned a pumpkin party this past weekend, so we managed to get our pumpkin carved, even if it was only a mere 48 hours before Halloween! We enjoyed some quality family time, too.

Which of course meant some cute family pictures as well....

I know what you're thinking-- I have some really handsome men in my life, and it's true-- I do. And if you can't tell, it was game day, Go Dawgs, thank you for beating those darn Gators even if you did give me 47 heart attacks throughout the game. And yes, everyone got the wear Red & Black memo except for Chad... or maybe it was just that I dressed everyone except for Chad--- it was one of those ;)

Gabe was the brain behind our pumpkin-- he designed it himself. And he ever carved most of it himself too. It has ears, cheeks, and a chin on it's lovely face. One of the perks of having so many strapping men in my life: never having to carve the pumpkin or pull out the goo-- that's right-- it was all handled by Chad, Gabe, and Max-- I just stood by, watching in merriment.

So the next morning, when Chad headed to work, and all the little people woke up at the crack of dawn, I did what any mother would do... dressed them in coordinating outfits for festive pre-church pumpkin pictures.

Did you notice how certain people (person) didn't want to cooperate with Mommy? It's the new name of his game, it goes something like "I'm 2 and I'm going to act like it and give my mom a run for her money and cry when I don't get my way because I'm smart and cute and I know it"...

Here is the designer himself-- looking all 8 years old, going on 15...

And is it just me, or does Jack look like a chunkier Gabe??

So although November is officially here, we've decided to keep fall around for a while longer, appreciate the sweater without a coat weather, sip apple cider, and nap... which you can blame on the colds that have attacked all the Bowman boys... Welcome November, can't wait to spend extra time dwelling on all that we have to be thankful for-- we've got blessing coming out of our ears, that's for sure!

Down on Bowman's Farm...

About 2 weeks ago, we went to the Disney store to get Max a Mickey Mouse costume-- there wasn't one in his size and I was informed that I was about 2 months late if I wanted to get him that costume. Oops. (But honestly I don't feel bad for not thinking about Halloween in August!) So I showed him the wall of costumes and asked what else he wanted to be. He picked "Buzz Buzz" aka Buzz Lightyear- but again, not in his size. I tried to talk him into Woody, into Lightning McQueen, and many other Disney characters but to no avail. So we left and headed to Spirit Halloween.

All I heard from him was "I not be that." "I not like that." "I not Mom." Seriously? That place has like a million costumes and the child refused them all. So we left again, and I just decided that we may skip Halloween- he wouldn't really know anyway.

So we headed to Old Navy because all of a sudden it went from summer to winter in Georgia and the boy didn't have the right attire. While I was searching for the perfect winter coat,  I heard his little voice screaming "I NEED DIS MOOOOM, I NEEEEEED IT!" I look over to see him tugging on a chicken costume.

For real.

He was so proud!

When we got home, he put it on and rode through this kitchen on his tricycle. Then he played soccer. He didn't want to take it off. When we'd get ready to leave the house, he'd ask if he could wear his chicken costume.

Yes friends, Max was a chicken for Halloween, I kid you not.

But he was a cute chicken, that is for certain!

And our sweet baby Jack was a bear-- kind of!  He rode in the stroller in his winter coat, which happens to be a bear. I love this suit-- Max borrowed Hudson's and we loved it so much that we bought one to keep. Now I know I'm a bit biased, but isn't that a cute bear? My Dad, Pop, was in town as well, and he joined us for Trick-or-Treating.  Max talked about getting candy with Pop all day yesterday... and he's still talking about it now!

It was also our 2nd annual Halloween with the Prusas... Elizabeth Grace was Little Bo Peep:

And Evie was her cute little sheep :)

The big kids rode in the wagon and the babies were big time in the double stroller.  It got cold super quick but everyone was sweet as sugar-- maybe because they were collecting sugar.... but let's just say, it was a delightful Halloween.

Max didn't really appreciate the scary costumes so Pop had to tell him that they were funny monsters which made it all fun and games. He also didn't understand the whole say "trick or treat" to get candy bit, so Pop walked him up to every single door. But let's be honest, before I know it, me and Anna will be those haggard mom's running down the sidewalk trying to keep up!

All I can say is the Bowman farm has it's fill of chickens and bears and we couldn't be happier :) And Little Bo Peep didn't lose her sheep, psheeewwww! And Chad began enjoying Max's candy right away! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

(P.S. Gabe was a Cowboy, but he trick-or-treated with his mom this year, so I'll post a picture from her soon!)