Deveroux Karl Bowman

He's here! He's here! Our son finally arrived on March 2, 2014 and we are so in love.

The Story:

I'd been having weekly appointments in my final weeks of pregnancy and at 36 weeks I was dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced. by 37 weeks I was at a 3 and 75% effaced. Then at 38 weeks I was dilated to a 4 and 80% effaced. Things were progressing quickly so my mom flew up early to help out with Hannah and to be here when I finally went into labor. This pregnancy has been so different from my little Hannah's pregnancy. I didn't expect Hannah to come so early (she was 10 days early) and I was SO sick with her. With my little boy I wasn't nearly as sick but I had sciatica nerves problems and I was so ready to be done being pregnant way before. I remember thinking at 29 weeks and almost crying thinking "I still have 11 weeks to go". Hannah also set the bar pretty high considering she was early so I expected and wanted this little boy to come early as well.

At 37 weeks I had been having consistent contractions that would wake me up because they were so painful at night. I called the midwives and they said to head up to labor and delivery just to make sure I wasn't truly in labor. So, Saturday morning I made my way to the hospital to get checked and of course my contractions stopped. I got checked and was monitored and everything was fine, I wasn't in labor.

I hit 38 weeks and was so miserable poor Sean, Hannah, and my mom probably didn't want to be around me much. This little boy had been measuring big since day one. He's quite the big boy :) When I hit march 1st, I was 10 days away from my due date and was sure he'd be coming that day just like his big sister came 10 days early. But, low and behold, he wasn't ready. Saturday I was so ornery and wasn't feeling well at all. I remember we went out to eat for my moms birthday and walked around for a while to tired Hannah out. We came home did all the nightly routines to get Hannah ready for bed and finally went to bed ourselves. At 11:45 that night I woke up to the worst stomach cramps and was on the toilet pretty much every 10 minutes till 2 am. By then I'd been having consistent contractions every 5-6 minutes apart. I didn't think I was in labor because my water broke with Hannah so I knew I was in labor. I decided to call the midwives anyway and let them know what was going on. Leeann told me to come in anyway and get checked to be sure. My mom took me to the hospital so that Sean could stay with Hannah in case she woke up in the middle of the night. We got to the hospital around 3 and got checked. I was dilated to a 5 and 85% effaced. Leeann decided to keep me and get started to have a baby since I was dilating. By the time they got me in to a room and situated, the checked me again and I was dilated to a 6. So I got an epidural and kept on dilating. I was strep B positive so they started my penicillin. (worst medicine ever). After my epidural I slowed down so Leeann broke my water and everything started escalating. My mom went home and switch Sean so he could be there for the birth. The second dose of penicillin nearly killed me. My arm was on fire and thought I was going to die. My epidural was only working on my left side and I could feel pretty much everything on my right side. The epidural guy had to come in twice to give me more numbing stuff. by 9:30 am Leeann said I was ready to start pushing. She got everything ready, and after 6 pushes, my baby boy was born! He arrived at 9:34 am, and was and is absolutely beautiful. I cried the minute I saw him. I couldn't believe he was mine. I got to hold him skin to skin and it was amazing. Worth everything minute of pain and sleeplessness. They took him to get weighed and all that fun stuff. I started feeling horrible pain in my hand/arm again from the penicillin. I swear, it was worse than labor! I finally screamed to get my IV taken out and they did. instant relief let me tell you!

They weighed the little man and he was 8.14 lbs and 20.5 inches long and absolutely perfect. I was totally shocked with his hair color. It's almost blonde!! He has light hair and light eyes. We were going to name hims either Shane or Jared, but he came out and didn't look like either. We had heard the name Deveroux before we knew we were having a boy and didn't think much of it. Sean and I were sitting in the hospital room trying to figure out a name for this little guy and I just blurted out Deveroux. Sean smiled and so did I so did I. We had a name for our little guy!!! Deveroux (dev-er-oh) is an old family name from Sean's Dads side of the family.

We then were taken to our room where we stayed for 24 hours and were able to come home the following day. I am so grateful my mom was here to help throughout the whole thing and that Sean was there with us as well. Hannah is doing awesome with little Deveroux. She gives him kisses and loves to touch his head. When she sees him in the mornings she points to him and says "baby!" it's super cute. I was worried about her but she's doing awesome.  I can't believe we're a family of 4!!

A mothers work is never done

As I sit here at 5 in the morning holding my almost 17 month old who for the most part sleeps through the night now unless she's teething ( which she is) or pees through her diaper, wakes up and decides it's time to play, or.... Let's face it the list could go on... I quietly reflect on how beautiful she is. I realize that after almost 17 months if sleepless nights, rocking her to sleep, feeding her, changing her, and quietly tiptoeing out if her room not to wake her that a mothers work is never done. We are on call 24/7. There's no vacation days or holidays. We are always there for these little ones.

When she goes down at night, usually around 8:30, I feel like that's when I accomplish the most. I finally get to the laundry that's been sitting in the dryer all day, I finally sweep and mop the floor from splatters spaghetti, crumbled crackers, and who knows what else. I get to pick up all the  Tupperware strewn across the house ( yes she loves to play in the Tupperware drawer), I vacuum the tv room of yet more crumbs of crackers and what not ( how can someone so little make such a mess!) and finally when it's all done I get to sit down and who knows, watch a show, read a book, have a bowl of ice cream? And yet I'm too exhausted to do any of those things and so crawl into bed only to start over in a few hours. The question that lingers in my mind at the wee hours of the morning while holding my precious firecracker of a child is this, " is it worth it?" And my answer... YES. Every minute of it. I wouldn't change being a mother and having this little lady in my life for a second. Worth. Every. Minute. So.... I'm giving a shout out to you mothers who do it all. Bless your beautiful soul! And just remember, there's at least one mother out there doing the same thing :)

29 weeks

For Christmas I really wanted to do a 3D ultrasound for the little man. We did it with Hannah and it was so cool! So Sean finally gave in and we were able to see the little man at 29 weeks. He's so cute! I think he looks just like Sean :)

Christmas

Christmas was fabulous this time of year. Even though I missed home terribly I was lucky enough to spend it here with Sean's family. It was SO much fun!

Our festivities started on the Sunday before Christmas. We all went up to Sean's uncle Nate's house. It was great. We had fabulous food, great conversation, and a fun white elephant gift exchange. We really enjoyed ourselves and Hannah had a blast.

Christmas eve we gathered at Sean's parents house. We had an AMAZING Mexican dinner with mole, tamales, enchiladas, tacos and tons more. It was all SO good. I actually made my Mom's famous 7 layer bean dip and surprised myself. It was actually really really good! I also made my mom's english toffee that she makes every year at Christmas time. I'd like to start/keep these traditions for my family and continue with more traditions Sean and I will make. After dinner we gathered around for some great music and some great stories read by Grandpa Momberger and Papa Bowman. It was great!

Christmas morning we stayed here at home with our little family and opened presents here. Sean got me a breadmaker! I've wanted a breadmaker for the longest time and he got me such a great one. It makes REALLY good bread! I've made 3 loaves already and they've been devoured immediately. Best present ever :) Sean got a new phone, some tools, and lots of candy and clothes :) The best was little Hannah. She was AWESOME! We got her a cute little airplane thingy that she can sit on and steer around that she absolutely LOVES. She wouldn't get off the thing and better yet she could care less about the gifts Santa brought her. She's such a character :)

We then went and had breakfast at Sean's parents, came home got ready for the day and then headed back over to Sean's parents for Christmas dinner and presents. Hannah got the cutest little vacuum and blocks from the grandparents and grandma Bowman made the sweetest little blankets for the little man who's coming in March.

Overall it was such a great Christmas with family. We loved being together especially having Sean home these past two weeks. It's been so fun.

More of my Little Lady

Hannah cracks me up. She's now 15 months and weighs 26 whopping pounds and I couldn't be happier with her :) Grandma Bowman calls her the Kamikaze because she's constantly on the go. Always running, yes running not walking, giggling, pointing, getting into EVERYTHING and doesn't slow down for anything. She loves to be outside and has recently discovered snow. She loves it! She walks outside, finds the snow, and seriously face plants into it then giggles with delight. She also loves shoveling snow with daddy. She loves to take things out of their compartments and then put them back in. The tupper ware drawer is her favorite drawer and she loves to get into it (which is why it's the bottom drawer). She's also discovered how to pull the diaper wipes out of its bag as well. She tries to put the wipes back in, realizes she can't do it and gets frustrated, lays on the floor, grunts, then tries again. I finally gave her a ziploc bag and she put them all in there :) She also LOVES to be at Grandma and Grandpa Bowman's. They have a dog named Marty that Hannah just adores. She chases him around and around and around. She also loves the swing outside and just exploring. The downstairs is her favorite. There are toys galore down there and she can play for forever down there. She's feisty, funny, full of life and stubborn as can be. Apparently she's a spitting image of me (so my mom says) and has the mentality of "I can do it myself". I'm loving the stage she's in and I wouldnt change her for the world (minus her sleeping habits) but she's absolutely amazing :) She also sleeps in the weirdest positions!

Let's Compare shall We?

I don't like comparing but it's pretty hard not to when you have pictures of your first pregnancy and you're going through your second pregnancy. I'm MUCH bigger this pregnancy than I was with my little lady. It's kinda crazy to see how much he's grown in just a 5 week span as well.

So the top picture is me with my Hannah at 28 weeks and the bottom picture (the best one I could find) is me with baby boy at 27 weeks. It's pretty crazy to see the difference. But all in all he's growing healthy and ahead of schedule apparently. I'm so excited to meet him!

This next picture is a 5 week difference. I normally don't post belly pics because I think they're weird but I couldn't help but see how big this little man has grown in just 5 weeks!

So much to do so little time!

So much has happened lately and I've slacked so much on blogging. So here goes the entire long awaited update of the Bowman bunch.

Halloween came and went and we rolled right in to November. Hannah has grown so much these past few weeks it blows me away. She gibber gabbers non stop and still loves Curious George. We've recently discovered the Carousel at the Riverwoods at the beach resort and Hannah absolutely LOVES it, I mean LOVES it. The first time I put her on the carousel I was worried she'd freak out or get bored but low and behold she loved it. She kept oooing and awwwwing and waving at Sean the whole time. She was fascinated that the horse would go up and down and around. When the carousel stopped she yelped for another ride, so of course we let her go on it again. She just loved it. It's quite the thing at our house right now. She also loves Christmas lights. Her eyes get all big and her mouth goes "oooooh" and she points and giggles with delight. It makes me smile :) She's become quite the little firecracker too. her personality is really shining through. She's feisty, meticulous, repetitive, and stubborn. If she cant figure something out she grunts and gets upset, walks away, then tries to figure it out a few minutes later and usually gets it. She's so funny. She loves Sean to pieces and squeals with delight when she hears the garage door open when Sean gets home form work.

Sean's been really busy with work. He's such a good teacher and really enjoys it. He's finally finished his lawn care business for the season so we get to see him on Saturdays now. He's such a good daddy and works really hard to keep this family going. He's helped so much with Hannah especially at night. I know I always say this but I don't know how I got so luck or how God saw me fit to have such an amazing husband and father for my children. I'll forever be in his debt for all he does for this family.

I've been busy playing house and running after Hannah. Grandma Bowman calls Hannah the kamikaze which is quite suitable. She is non stop ALL. DAY. LONG. She takes great naps but holy cow, she's a constant go getter and we love it. I'm not 26 weeks pregnant and really feeling it. This pregnancy has been easier morning sickness wise but the fatigue and emotions have really set in this time around. This little man is measuring big too. When I went in for me 24 week appointment he was measuring at 28 weeks. I fear he's going to be a very big boy which only means more to love right?

My parents came to visit for a week while my Dad went camping with Kirt Robinson. It was great to have them here and enjoy their company.

Thanksgiving was lovely. The food, family, friends, and feelings were great. Hannah unfortunately had strep throat and an ear infection that week so it wasn't as leisurely as we'd like that week to have been but all in all we're glad we got to spend time together as a family.

Now it's December. and Christmas is right around the corner. I can't believe how fast time has gone but I look forward to another quick mini vacation with Sean home from work for a few weeks. May you all enjoy the Season and remember Christ our Savior!