Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

March 6, 2009

We had our 18-week ultrasound today and were very excited to try to find out the gender of the baby.  Aaron was hoping for a boy, and I was hoping for a boy for Aaron.   As the ultrasound began, Aaron and I were looking up at a black and white screen of blobs that didn't make sense to us, and within 30 seconds, the nurse said she knew what it was and told us that it's a girl!!  Unfortunately, we never got to see the evidence of this on the screen, but she was pretty sure of herself, so we'll take her word for it!


After hearing this news (and apologizing to Aaron!), the nurse went through the measurements and made sure everything looked normal with the baby. We saw the heart beating and she couldn't stop looking at it and taking stills of it and assured us that this was because it was "such a beautiful heart"! She also said the spine was perfect - these are always relieving to hear. The baby stayed a bit more still this time around, and cooperated pretty well for all of the needed images and measurements. Here are a couple of the ultrasound pictures ... I think the profile makes her look like a Whoville resident, but glad to hear all seems healthy with HER!!

(you can see the left leg and the bottom of the right foot)

17 Weeks!!!

February 27, 2009

Today marks 17 weeks!  I have been meaning to take a belly bump picture for a while, but here it is, the first one.  Yes, it finally shows - one day last week, Aaron came home for lunch and said "wow, now you look puffy!" - it's like it happened overnight!


My next post should be next week - I have an ultrasound appointment on the 6th so we can find out the gender!!!

12 weeks, 6 days

January 29, 2009

Today was our first ultrasound - very exciting!

I couldn't stop laughing at the baby the whole time - it kept jumping, literally. It would be facing front on the bottom and then just JUMP to the top facing the back; then from the right to the left and up and down again. The doctor could barely get the readings (heartbeat, measurements of the neck, etc.) because it just wouldn't stay still! It reminded me of the old Mike Myers skit on SNL where he was leashed to the jungle gym and would keep trying to jump free and get jerked back. I'm in trouble once I can actually feel it moving!

Today, the gestational age is 12 weeks, 6 days, but the doctor said that from the measurements and readings she got, she calculates 13 weeks, 1 day - so it may be a couple days older than we think!

In this pic, you can see the ten little toes on the left!!

January 27, 2009

So here it is, the news everyone was either waiting forever for (or "knew" was coming)!  It's a great feeling to finally be able to share it with everyone!!

Bowler Family Holiday Party

December 20, 2008

This year's Bowler Holiday Party was going to be a tougher one - so we thought we'd spice it up with a theme. What better theme these days than the popular "Ugly Holiday Sweater Party"?! At first, I was worried that no one would be interested or participate, but as I talked to people, I realized everyone seemed like they were excited. So, the invites went out and everyone got to work on shopping and/or getting creative with their sweaters.


Unfortunately, you can't just walk into a store and buy a men's XXL holiday sweater - so Aaron and I knew we had a challenge ahead. He hit the jackpot in Marshalls one night when he found these strange huge cardigans - there was cream, red or an obnoxious green ... we went for the obnoxious green. There were letters across the front that read "RESEARCH" that I removed - then we started with a blank slate. We had fun in Michaels looking through all of their Christmas decor, trying to find things we could attach to make it as festive as we could. It took me about 30-40 hours the week before the party to cut and sew new letters on the back, tie the bells on the collar, sew garland on the cuffs and waist, sew on the felt snowman and santa and then get his lights in. It was all worth it - Aaron loved it and can't wait to wear it again - ha! Oh yeah, I had a sweater I worked on too! :)

The sayings on the back were from and for Grandma!

The party was great - it was nice seeing everyone and checking out all of the sweaters. We all had some good laughs, and we all voted for sweater winners for different categories. Santa even stopped by for a visit. We all wish Grandma could have been there, we know she would have loved it, but she was there in spirit. Grandpa's sweater had the most sentimental value - made of all of Grandma's holiday earrings, with Grandma as his Angel.


Family means everything, and it's always nice to get everyone together in one place if only once a year.

Ice Storm

Dec 12, 2008

The big news of the NH winter so far was the big ice storm.  It rained for 2 or 3 days and then the temperature dropped so quickly, everything was coated in solid ice.  Hundreds of thousands of people were out of power for days; some even weeks.  Aaron and I were some of the lucky ones - we lost power for about 20 minutes that morning and it remained on through the holidays.  We took a drive around our neighborhood around 3:00 in the afternoon, after some of the ice had already melted - it was pretty, but sad to know the affect it had on so many homes here in southern NH.

Thanksgiving in Vermont

November 26th-30th

We headed to Vermont for Thanksgiving this year - we had spent the last couple in Texas.  We were able to attend Shawn & Kristy's annual Thanksgiving Eve party - it was a fun time.  I must say, that I only had a few drinks, but Kristy makes her cosmos VERY strong!!!  I learned my lesson for next time - be my own bartender - lol!





Thanksgiving day - all 18 members of the family were together. It's always a full house, but fun to spend time with everyone all at once. We tried to get some family photos, but the group is just getting so big, it's tough. But we did take a fun one which would have been the family holiday card if Shawn wasn't hidden.


Another year to be thankful for our family - and the two new little ones who joined in 2008!