Rodeo Champion

Congratulations to my brother for winning his division at this year's TN Valley Lineman Rodeo! We weren't able to go watch him this year, but I hear he did spectacular! Here are a couple pictures that my dad took...

It's a ... ???

Well, by now, I am sure that what we are having is no longer a secret to anyone! But just in case it is....

We are having a GIRL! We have a perfectly healthy little girl on the way, and we are so excited! Well, Seth is working his way into the FULL excitement of having a GIRL, but he is totally getting there! :) We do already have a name picked out...Baylee Kate Bowen. So, that's one thing we can check off the list. She was very cooperative during the ultrasound, so we are pretty certain that the girl prediction is correct. Here are a couple of the ultrasound pictures:

Her Profile

Her Little Legs

Her Arms...each picture shows a different arm

My parents were camping near Guntersville, so we had our Baby Luau Reveal Party there. Eli got in some fishing time with the boys while we waited on the whole crew to arrive.

Mr. Rex also took him on his first boat ride. (All the big boys in that boat make it look tiny!)

And here is the whole clan! Can you believe that only TWO of them picked girl?! My mom and Seth's grandmother were the only two to guess it right.

You can't even tell that I am 21 weeks pregnant in this picture! I promise I am! After the big reveal, we also celebrated Seth's 31st birthday!

Eli was a big help! He wanted to help Seth blow out the candles AND open his presents! Notice the life jacket...he absolutely would not take that thing off all night! It didn't matter if he was anywhere near the water or not. :) Funny boy!

Myles was primarily concerned with finding more oreos. :) Every time I turned around, he was sneaking a couple more off the table.

We spent the rest of the weekend at the campground with my parents. It turned out to be a really nice weekend! Seth and I were even up early enough one morning to see the sunrise! Here is one picture I caught of Seth and Dad out on the boat early one morning.

The Countdown in On!

Only 18 more days until we find out if we are having a boy or a girl!! It is hard to believe that we are almost halfway into the pregnancy! I will be 18 Weeks tomorrow and I am still feeling great! I do tend to get tired a little more easily and I have to be careful not to get overheated....that's when I usually get sick...but other than that, I have felt really good!

Here are a couple pictures of the slowly growing baby belly. :)

17 Weeks....my belly always seems to look bigger when I wear dresses for some reason.

18 Weeks

I also had to include this picture. Seth performed his first wedding ceremony last Saturday! Yeah, I know you are thinking...WHAT?? It was for his second cousin...she asked him over a year ago to perform the ceremony. So, he couldn't say no. :) He did a WONDERFUL job. He kept it short and sweet, but it was just perfect! I am very proud of him!

Snacks and Cravings

Up to this point, only a couple foods have made by stomach uneasy just by looking at them. And I haven't had any REAL cravings. However, I do have some of my favorite snacks and such these days.

First, I have fallen in love with V8 Splash! We always ate pretty healthy before the pregnancy, but I wanted to make sure I was getting plenty of fruits and veggies into my diet. So, this has become my alternative to lemonade. Some of the flavors can have a little odd taste...but the tropical blend one is very good! At least in my opinion!

I have been trying not to eat many sweets. But some days, you just need a little something to appease the taste buds. Captain Crunch is constantly stocked in the kitchen right now. Did you know that all Captain Crunch cereals have 100% of your daily folic acid in one serving?! So, not only is it tasty...it is also very good for baby!!

The one thing that I have craved is Mexican food. I won't discriminate though...Taco Bell, Rosie's, Moe's...any of it will do!

Pre-pregnancy, I was a big fan of Mt. Dew. So, these days...when I'm craving something other than water or milk or juice...Caffeine Free Diet Mt. Dew!

I'm Still Here, I Promise!!

Wow! I have gotten so behind on posting!! Don't tell anyone, but I usually update this thing at work. And lately, we have been extremely busy. I have a few free minutes so I will try to give you a quick update on the past couple of months!!

First of all, Baby Bowen is doing great!! I have had a couple check-ups since I last posted and my doctor has been happy with the progress at each of them. I am almost 17 weeks along now. I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat a couple times...which was absolutely amazing! I have felt so good during the pregnancy (knock on wood), that sometimes I think...am I really having a baby?? But when I hear the heartbeat, it just amazes me that a human being is growing inside of me! My most recent check-up was yesterday and my doctor told me that we have a very active baby! We could hear him/her kick the ultrasound probe then just roll all around while she was trying to find the heartbeat. It was pretty funny. :) Our next appt. is the second week in June and we are supposed to find out if it's a boy or girl!! I told Seth last night that I really feel like it's a boy, but that could be because I want it to be a boy so badly for Seth. :) I know though that no matter what it is, that child will be given sooo much love! And as long as the baby is healthy, we really cannot ask for anything more.

Here are a couple pictures of my teeny tiny baby belly. I was 11 weeks in this first picture. Really, I was the only one who could tell a difference. Just looking at me, you couldn't tell I was pregnant.

I am 15 weeks in this next picture. (And I did not plan to have the same dress on in these pictures!) You can see just a little belly starting to pop out. :)

I guess the next big event to talk about was Easter. And honestly, there's not much to talk about, but I do have a few pictures!! The Easter Bunny came to see Seth as usual. :)

After lunch at Grandma's, the kids of course had an Easter egg hunt!



After Myles found his one egg, he was pretty pleased with himself and ready for something else! :)


A few days after Easter is when the storms hit Alabama. Our power went off Wednesday evening right after I finished cooking dinner. Seth pulled the mattresses into the hallway, which is where we ate our dinner...by flashlight. I know, how romantic! :) This picture does not do the situation justice (thanks to the flash on the camera). It was a very dark and eerie night. We spent the next few hours laying in between the mattresses, waiting out the storms. We were very fortunante not to have any damage. The nearest tornado hit hard about 10 miles north of us.

And finally, the most recent happenings..this past Sunday was my 27th birthday! It was a wonderful day! Sunday afternoon, Myles and I got in some much needed rest.

Sunday night, Seth and the in-laws threw me a semi-surprise party! Stacy made a beautiful and yummy cake. Eli was very willing to help me blow the candles out.

Even in this picture...he is still helping me blow out the candles...which were already out. :)

And I just have to include this last picture that Seth took of Myles...such a little sweetie!

Okay, I think that has you caught up on the few things that have been going on around here! Stay tuned for more baby information!! :)

Big News for the Bowens!!

It is hard to believe that almost three short years ago my big news was this:

I got married to my best friend. That was one of the happiest days of my life! Well, today is another one of those happiest days because I get to announce this:

That's right! We are going to be a mommy and daddy!! We are so beyond thrilled...as is the rest of our family! "Baby Bo" is due October 22nd and so far seems to be healthy and growing!!

We now excitedly await our next appointment so that we can see how much Baby Bo is growing and changing! I will do my best to keep the updates coming as we count down the days to Oct. 22!!

A Break from the Cold

Last weekend was an absolutely beautiful weekend and we filled it with plenty of activities! We drove to Birmingham Saturday to watch Caleb play baseball...our first game to see him play in college! He is playing for Motlow State.

Caleb got to pitch the last couple innings and the first game and did a good job! Seth was a proud brother!

We couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous winter day to be outside enjoying some baseball!

The next day, we headed to Nashville to see Shrek: The Musical. Seth and I saw this one while we were in New York a couple years ago. So we new that his family would love it. We took everyone except for Candra and Caleb, who were away at college...and Myles and Eli. We had a great time! The play was wonderful! Here are a few pictures that I was able to sneakily take during the play. :)