Where Did June Go?

From 2007, when we started the blog, to the end of 2010, we failed to provide a posting a month only three times. We are only halfway through 2011 and we have already missed three months. June was the most recent victim. We have a series of excuses lined up, but when it really comes down to it, we are clearly having a tougher time with the one-on-one defense than we expected. In any case, although we were not busy writing blog posts in June, we were definitely busy.

June is a special month for the Bowes family, because it means we can make our annual visit to the glorious blueberry bushes at Reed Valley Orchards. We have written about the place often enough that we need not repeat previous statements. But this was Reese's first visit, so that made this particular trip even more important. Needless to say, she enjoyed the experience, and was happy to relax on the porch with John after spending some time in the sun.



It was pretty darn hot in the month of June. Fortunately we have the technology to set up a pool in our backyard very quickly. Who knew that a $5 purchase could provide so much fun for a 3 1/2 year old. Of course, as the picture shows, it also provides a lot of fun for a 38 year old. This action shot captures one of Callie's favorite moves, running across the yard and jumping into the pool. It's a move that is more difficult to pull off if you are over six feet tall.


Reese also had no problem joining in the fun with the pool. After spending the first several months of her life in cold weather apparel she was excited to break out the summer gear. Early indications are that she is a water bug, whether it's the pool or the bathtub, she's a fan.



Hopefully in the upcoming months we will get both of the girls to the community pool that is just a bit bigger than our backyard deal. Then we will see some serious swimming and splashing.


This was the first year that Callie was able to take part in the Music and Arts Camp put on by our church. She spent four hours a day for a week doing crafts and learning songs for a big performance on Friday. The big show was quite impressive - and we have a number of pictures of Callie sitting down watching it while every one else was performing. We certainly don't have a little girl who strives to be the center of attention when she is outside of our house. One of the best things about camp is she got to go with her two friends, Vivie Ann and Murphy. This picture is representative of their distinctive approaches to life. We look forward to watching them all grow up - they could be trouble in the years to come.


Lately we have been living for the weekends around here. This is in part because John spent half of June traveling for work and Sarah has taken on extra responsibilities at work. So when we have the time to relax and be together as a family, we take full advantage of the opportunity.



The above picture captures a morning when we made blueberry pancakes, stayed in our pajamas until noon, and enjoyed some good playtime. It is awesome that Callie is still so over the moon for her sister.

Speaking of her sister, by missing June we missed posting some important numbers. On June 11 Reese turned six months, which meant it was time to visit Dr. Warner to get some measurements and shots. So here we go. Reese weighed in at 12lbs 14oz, which placed her in the 5th percentile. Her height of 25 1/2 inches put her in the 45th percentile. And finally, her head circumference of 42 1/4 cm qualified her for the ranking of 45th percentile.



So what does all of that mean? It means Reese is one tiny little girl. Healthy as can be, and cheerful like you dream of...but tiny. Other developmental notes include that she is successfully sleeping from about 7:30pm to 5am each night. She still has an aversion to eating solid food (aka pureed veggies) but we hope that changes soon. She is also starting to babble a lot, which is fun, and she is sitting up by herself. Crawling may not be too far away, but we shall see.


While John was away in Oklahoma City, Sarah, Callie, and Reese returned to Reed Valley for the Blueberry Pancake Jubilee with Vivie Ann, Mason, and their mother Jessica. Vivie Ann and Callie were ready and raring to go when the berry picking began. Although this was the Johnson family's first visit to the orchard, they were quick to see the appeal of the place.


The Blueberry Pancake Jubilee is something we have wanted to do for the last couple of years, but for a variety of reasons we have always missed it. This year we were able to not only pick blueberries, but also enjoy the pancake breakfast and a horse drawn carriage ride. Needless to say, we had a blast. Callie and Vivie Ann were very good workers while picking. Mason managed to eat far more blueberries than he placed in the containers.


So here's a picture of the four kids relaxing after their picking efforts. We have had a ton of fun hanging out with the Johnsons this summer, and the kids are a fun handful.



It's also important to share that Mason's love/affection for Reese almost surpasses Callie's in intensity. Indeed, he cannot be left alone with Reese if she is in reaching distance. It's pretty enjoyable to watch Seth and Jessica constantly restrain their son in Reese's presence.




The final picture for this post shows Callie and Reese in matching outfits sent to them by GA Teri. Callie loves the dress and is tickled that it matches her sister's outfit. We hope that this is only the beginning of a growing relationship between our daughters. We already have pictures from the 4th of July, so hopefully our next post won't be too far in the future.

California Graduation

In the third week of May we made what is the second of five schedule trips to California in 2011. But this was a big one. On Saturday, May 21 we had to make sure we were in Sacramento to celebrate the graduation of Zac Lucas from Sacramento State with a degree in Construction Management. So we boarded the plane and prepared ourselves for a great weekend.

Before the festivities in honor of Zac began in earnest, we made a quick stop to see Sarah's high school friend Wendy to meet her newest addition, Emerson. Here's a picture of Wendy, her husband Rony, and their kids Chase and Emerson. When they graduated from high school twenty years ago, neither Sarah nor Wendy could have imagined they would be getting together to nurse their newborns and talk about parenting. Although we could not imagine it, it's been fun to do it.

Saturday was the big day, and the whole family was there to celebrate with Zac. Well, almost everybody. John missed the ceremony because he was presenting a paper at a conference in downtown Sacramento. But the important people were there to see Zac get his diploma, and the picture below captures the whole gang.



You may notice in the picture that Zac is not wearing the typical graduation cap. He and his Construction Management colleagues wore hard hats with tassels for the ceremony. It looked great and certainly made it easy to spot them from afar.

Here is the graduate with his proud parents, Dan and Gayle. We are all so proud of and impressed with Zac's accomplishments. He has worked incredibly hard to earn that degree and we know that this is only the beginning of the next chapter in his life. We wish him all the best and can't wait to see what he is going to accomplish next.


This trip also allowed Grandpa Dan to see his newest granddaughter Reese for the first time. The two of them had a great time hanging out and getting to know each other.



After the graduation ceremony the party adjourned to a local restaurant where Gayle treated us to an incredible feast. No one went away hungry, that's for sure.

Sarah's cousin Haley, her husband Ryan, and their daughter Skyler joined us for the dinner. Callie and Skyler really had no interest in eating but wanted to walk around the restaurant and check everything out. Although we provided plenty of distractions to keep them at the table they were hard to contain. At least until dessert came, and then it was difficult to stop them from eating the cake and canolis.


The next day the whole clan headed to San Francisco to take in a Giants game at AT&T park. Grammy Gayle did her granddaughters well by providing each one with full Giants regalia. Here Reese is sporting her new outfit with her cousin Keith. It appears that Reese will love her cousin as much as her big sister does. You'll notice that Keith is pretty photogenic, which will hopefully help further his fledgling modeling career.



The whole trip was pretty fun, but Callie probably enjoyed the ferry trips more than anything else. We parked in Alameda and took a ferry to San Francisco. And when the game was over we hopped on the ferry that was parked right next to the stadium. Seriously, you couldn't get a parking space as close as the boat was. It's the only way to go. Although we didn't see a home run splash into McCovey Cove, we still saw an exciting Giants victory in extra innings.


The weekend also made it possible for Callie and Reese to spend some quality time with Grammy Gayle. In fact, Grammy watched the two of them while we went out to celebrate with the graduate. You can tell that this was a big deal since Grammy took a big risk by staying at home with the two wild ones. Although she didn't need to worry too much about Callie - she was excited to sleep every night in the tent Grammy had set up in the bedroom.



All in all it was another great trip out west. Next time we head to southern California for the first of two big weddings. The fun never ends. In the meantime, we should probably get to sleep.

Kentucky Girls in the Spring

Once again we are coming in under the wire. It is the last day of May and we are going to catch you up with events from the end of April into May. Our whole house is still getting used to having four residents, but we continue to be in awe of the way that Callie has handled the situation. She truly loves being a big sister and thinks the world of Reese. The hugs, squeezes, and kisses are both intense and plentiful. And we can tell it is going to be a lot of fun when Reese becomes more able of reciprocating the love.

Although Callie doesn't usually get the opportunity to participate, she loves giving Reese a bath. And for the most part, Reese loves getting a bath. It is only a matter of time until they will take their baths together. We actually tried it last night, but Reese was not exactly pleased with the situation. It will be an important step in streamlining our evening routine.


Like us, Callie enjoys just watching Reese grow. And like Callie, Reese is happy to stare at people. It's like a match made in heaven. Reese continues to look like Callie did at her age. So perhaps for Callie this picture is like looking into the past.



Of course appearances can be deceiving, and Reese is definitely her own girl and is willing to demonstrate this whenever possible. Even though she can't talk yet, you know very well when she does not want to do something.

Easter morning this year was especially exciting because the Easter bunny left a series of clues for Callie and Reese. They had to follow four different clues to find the gifts the Easter bunny had brought. As you can imagine, Reese went along for the ride while Callie's excitement grew with each discovery. Here's a picture of both of them enjoying the prizes at the end.

If you have followed our blog at all during the springtime you know that Easter is also the time to size Callie up. In other words, it's time for the annual bunny ear picture on the stairs.



This is the fourth picture in that series, and it is pretty crazy to look back over the previous years and see how Callie has changed during that relatively short period of time. We have definitely passed the baby and toddler phases of her life.

After our Easter morning adventures we headed to church. And we were fortunate enough to grab a seat next to our friends the Abrahams. Let's be honest, if it weren't for them we might have not gotten a seat at all. And Callie was more than happy to squeeze in between the two Abraham girls, Ella and Claire. We can get Callie to do quite a bit if the reward is getting to hang out with Ella and Claire. Here's a picture of the four girls after church and the big Easter egg hunt.


Our Easter celebrations continued with another tradition, dinner at the Chrismans. In fact, Sharon told us that if we do ever end up leaving Lexington, she would like Easter to be the holiday we travel to see them. Sounds like a good idea to us!



Reese looks lovely in her Easter dress as we prepared to enter the Chrisman's house. But this divine little child made her presence known clearly when she let one loose as Chris was saying grace. Despite our best attempts to hold it together, not a single adult at the table could keep their laughter in. It was just another wonderful and memorable meal with the Chrismans.

There is no doubt that life is a little crazier with two little girls instead of just one. But as we sit here at night, with both of them sleeping soundly (for now), and look at this picture, we couldn't be happier. We truly are fortunate to have two amazing daughters. And we have only begun this adventure.

Reese at 4 Months

So last week was Reese's four month checkup with Dr. Warner. We found out two things. First and most important, Reese is a healthy little girl. Second, our country's recession has affected more than just our pocketbook. Just like the housing market, Reese is experiencing limited growth. As Kai Ryssdal, host of NPR's Marketplace, likes to say, let's do the numbers. Her height is 23 3/4 inches, which puts her in the 28th percentile. Her weight is 11 lbs 7oz, which places her in the 10th percentile. And her head circumference is a whopping 41 1/4 inches, which is smack dab average at 50th percentile.




As you can see from the picture, none of these numbers seems to bother Reese. At the end of every long day she leans back and savors her hot baths while a team of two attend to her every whim. Indeed, the bath is her one consistent quiet time of the day, especially since she has learned to squawk in a very loud, high-pitched, and overall piercing manner. Think bald eagle meets velociraptor. It's quite impressive.

In any case, all's well with little Reese. Hope all is well with you.

The Balestraccis Visit

This April we were lucky enough to get the Balestraccis out for a visit. This was a particularly special visit because it was the first time all the Balestracci boys got to meet Reese. Once they survived extended delays at O'Hare airport on their way to Lexington, we had a great time together. We start with a picture that will only represent the grandchildren of Jay and Taffy Bowes for another five months or so. Reese's stint as the youngest grandchild will be short-lived, but we don't think she'll mind because she'll be gaining a cousin in Colorado.



The four kids were enjoying the sunshine in the backyard, and the weather was a huge improvement over the previous day when we lasted all of twenty minutes at Keeneland because of the strong wind, cold temperatures, and persistent rain.

Neither wind, sleet, snow, rain, wind, or sunshine has any bearing on Callie's love for her cousins. Brendan has a special place in Callie's heart because he is willing to give her the attention she so desperately desires. It was pretty amazing to see how much they entertained each other over the course of the weekend.



Michael also took advantage of the visit to get to know Reese. Even though he is finishing up his eighth grade year and getting prepared for high school, Michael seemed to enjoy hanging out with a baby and a three and half year old. As a true high schooler to be, he was a man of few words. But he was so good with Callie and Reese, and Callie made sure he received his fair share of hugs, squeezes, and attention.

When you look at the picture below, compare the heights of the members of the Balestracci family. Who knows exactly when it happened, but Michael is now the tallest member of the family, even without the baseball hat. This picture, by the way, was taken in the beautiful gardens of Ashland, Henry Clay's estate just a few blocks away. If you visit us you can also walk there while getting a history lesson on Henry Clay from John whether you want it or not.



You can therefore prepare for your visit by taking long walks and reading up on both the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. We take our local history seriously in these parts.

The visit occurred the week before Easter, so we also had to take some time for decorating eggs. There was a lot of creativity at work around the table as we each had our own idea of what the perfect Easter egg should look like. To insure that we had enough eggs, we hard boiled two dozen. Although we had a lot of fun coloring them, we will be eating them for weeks. We'll have to keep that in mind for next year.


This was a picture we simply had to include. Chris is an amazing father and a terrific uncle. Just like he did with Callie when she was a baby, he enjoyed soothing Reese throughout the weekend and didn't let her crying intimidate him. And Callie enjoys Chris's silly side more and more each time they spend time together.


We have mentioned it a few times that Callie was born on Chris's birthday and Reese was born on Katie's birthday. But this recent visit provided us with the first opportunity to take a picture of the two cute birthday bandits and their hostages. Callie knows she has to keep a close eye on the shifty fella in the green vest. Reese is just wondering why the heck she's wearing a napkin on her face.



We cannot thank the Balestraccis enough for making the trip down to see us. We had a great time and it's crazy to think that we won't get to see the East Coast crew again until Christmas.

It's April? What Happened to March?

Remember the end of the last post where we mentioned Sarah was going back to work? That's our best explanation for what happened to March. It truly has been a whirlwind around here. But we are pretty sure we have established a solid routine that makes most of our days and nights enjoyable. We must admit that going from one to two has been quite a leap for us. This was the first time we missed posting at least once during a month's period of time. Oh well. We'll keep trying.

So let's start with some basics. Reese is growing. She is smiling. She is sleeping a bit more. And her cuteness abounds. We give you Exhibit A of said cuteness below.



This smile has made taking her to daycare manageable. John is always able to drop her off knowing that she is smiling away at her teachers. She truly seems comfortable with them and it is obviously comforting for us to see how much interaction and stimulation she receives from the women who work with her.

When Reese isn't at daycare she finds the time to kick back with some tummy time on the couch. She enjoys tummy time a little bit more than Callie did, but every girl has her limits. And Reese has no problem letting us know when it is time to end the fun. Another impressive activity to share is that Reese has already learned how to roll over from belly to back. Well, it has happened a couple of times, and it may be an accident, but we are counting it as developed behavior.


What follows is more than just another picture of Reese. It's a picture of Reese during the morning routine. John has become a champ. He is not a morning person, but mornings are his responsibility. And now that means both Reese and Callie have to be fed and taken to daycare each day. Reese is very cooperative, and Callie only needs a little prodding every now and then to get things going.



Overall, Callie has been great about the transition in the morning routine and helps out a lot with Reese. As we have said before, she is a great big sister. The real problem is going to arrive when John has to deal with two heads worth of pony tails in the morning. Then the real fun will begin.

We look at pictures like this and try to look into the future. How will they get along when they are older? If the past several months are any indication, their relationship will only get better with age. Callie certainly has shown increasing interest in everything Reese is doing. The best is when Callie squeals with delight after getting Reese to smile.



Speaking of smiles, here's one of Callie's biggest. You may also notice she is wearing a princess outfit. Callie and Sarah had a girls' night out towards the end of March with three other moms and their daughters. That's right, Disney's Princesses on Ice hit Lexington, and the town hasn't been the same since. Callie was incredibly excited about the whole thing and we talked about it for weeks leading up to the big night.


The night started out with a quick bite to eat at Desha's downtown. Of course the girls were already dressed up in their sparkly outfits. Ironically enough, there were two Sleeping Beauties and two Ariels. But no one cared about the overlap. In fact, several people stopped by our table just to get a closer look at the fearsome foursome.



The night was a big success. Once we entered Rupp Arena the girls took their seats and remained entranced for every minute of the performance that followed. The night was topped off when Vivie Ann's mom busted out spinning light toys for each girl. Because of this, we were able to bypass the cotton candy, ice cream and Disney merchandising stations that were strategically located at every exit. However, next year might be a different story.

Callie definitely enjoyed the princesses. But she really likes to be the one performing. And for a variety of reasons, she tends to express herself through the age old medium of song and dance. The two videos below came out of an extended video shoot intended to provide some trash talk before the University of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team squared off against the eventual national champion UConn Huskies. Our vision of trash talking was never completely realized, but the videos below are pure gold.





By the way, we hope you noticed that we even place subliminal messages in the alphabet squares in Callie's play corner. It's true, we are a part of Big Blue Nation.


This final picture is a fitting way to end this particular post. Because starting tomorrow afternoon, this threesome will have to work together to make it through the next two and a half days without Sarah. Confidence is high and if there are any emergencies John is ready to dip into the strategic milk reserves that have been stored up in the freezer over the past couple of months. At the very least he'll be sure to take plenty of pictures of the whole experience.

Fun in February!

It is the last day of February and it has been quite a month. Not only did we have visitors, but Sarah also had to begin preparations for her return to the work force. For both of us it is hard to believe that 11 weeks have already passed since Reese made her appearance in the world. Yet as you will see in the pictures that follow, she has grown quite a bit already.

In order for Reese to continue to grow, she needed to be able to take milk from a bottle. We were a bit anxious about this because you never know if it is going to be a smooth transition or not. Apparently Reese doesn't necessarily worry about the vessel for the nutrition as long as the dinner bell rings on time and the meal is delivered quickly. This was her first bottle and she was more than happy to drink it up. The only issue, which is the same one we deal with when Sarah nurses her, is Reese's irritation with the mid-meal burp.


One of the big events in February was the visit from Nana Banana and Sport. Nana Banana was able to fly in early and stayed for a week. This meant that she got a ton of quality one on one time with Reese and Callie.



Reese enjoyed all of Nana Banana's funny songs and sounds. They had some great conversations over the course of the week, though only the two of them know what they really talked about.


Callie loved having Nana Banana around. What made her parents especially happy and proud was that she had no problem sharing her grandparents with her little sister. It seemed that Callie just wanted everyone to be involved - at least as long as everyone was following her directions about how to play, what to play, and so on.


Sport arrived a couple of days after Nana Banana, but he came by car. He jumped right into the thick of things. When Callie wasn't occupying his time he was getting to know Reese. And Reese dressed to impress with her finest pearls and handbag. She knew that Sport was the only one in the family who could truly appreciate her outfit and attitude. Perhaps she was just hoping that Sport would recommend her for membership at the old Bowes stomping grounds in Mamaroneck, NY, the Orienta Beach Club.


We would like to insert this picture in a blatant attempt to post as many pictures of Reese at this age as we did of Callie. It's tough trying to make sure you don't forget about baby number two. But it does happen. Life is definitely a bit crazier. Fortunately Reese is a mellow girl who rolls with the punches. Perhaps she is still trying to figure out if we are worth the trouble.




Speaking of necessary pictures, here's a great one of the grandparents with their two granddaughters. It is still crazy to believe that we are the parents of two little girls. But pictures like this make it real. We can't wait to compare this picture to the ones we'll take in the future with Sport and Nana Banana.



It is obvious that we are not the only ones who need to keep staring at little Reese. The great thing, though, is like Callie she is alert and taking in the world just as much as we are soaking in all she has to offer.


It was a great week with Sport and Nana Banana. More often than not, Callie and Reese kept the two of them on the go in separate directions. But every now and then the grandparents got to focus their love and attention at the same time on their youngest grandchild.


As we have already mentioned, Callie has been wonderful with Reese. Yes, Reese has endured her second cold, been knocked in the head by Callie's flailing foot, and has been squeezed like a tube of toothpaste more times than we can count. But it is all out of the intense emotional love that only Callie can express. Callie also wants to take a picture with Reese every time we pull out the camera. More evidence of this appears below.



In the end, Callie is a big sister in every sense of the word. We can only hope that as Reese grows older she has the same passion for Callie as her big sister has for her.

Once Nana Banana and Sport headed back to Connecticut we had to find ways to entertain ourselves. Fortunately, like her father, Callie is easily amused. Nothing says fun like making ridiculous faces while sitting on the couch. And if she inherits her father's sense of humor then Sarah is really in trouble.


And while Reese grows like a weed, Callie continues to show off her developing skills as well. One day while we were driving in the car, out of nowhere came a recitation from the back seat. We made her repeat the performance for the camera.



And for the record, we have two books with that nursery rhyme. One says "the little dog laughed to see such sport" and the other says "to see such fun" so who knows which one is the official version. In any case, we think its pretty awesome. In other words, we are just another set of gushing parents.

Every now and then we have to include a picture of the four of us to show that we do spend time together. Callie has gotten used to her parents being paparazzis. However, as you can see from this picture, Reese has yet to grow accustomed to life in the spotlight. She will learn with time.





Sarah heads back to work on Wednesday, which means Reese will be joining Callie at daycare full time. Callie's former teachers are ready for the new arrival. In fact, Miss Donna says she will spend extra time teaching Reese to walk so that she can advance into her classroom sooner. It definitely makes us feel a bit better about the transition. It will still be tough, but it is good to know that a lot of different folks will be looking out for her.



And what does Reese think of all of this? As you can see in the picture above, she's still trying to decide. We'll let you know how things go soon.