bumgarner crew

Birthday Bash Continues!

2007-10-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Pop's birthday the Saturday after Michael's. Thanks to Miss. State for winning that day! You can see who the true Bulldog fans are in the pics...we watched it on the tiny tv because the cable went out--but we couldn't miss them pulling out a win! We watched the game, the boys threw the football and hit a few golfballs, and the babies had a BLAST crawling around Lollie's furniture.

When did we go from this...to this??

2007-09-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

So people always tell you that time flies, but I can't believe how fast it's gone! The last few months have been a blur! When did Lemly go from crawling to standing?? I feel like she's a real little girl, and I don't know that I'm ready for her to be that quite yet.

Uncle Mite's Birthday!

2007-09-26T19:06:00.001-07:00

So September is our month of birthdays on the Bowling side. Michael's, Grandad's, Dad's, and Uncle Bill's are all within about a week! We celebrated Mite's Monday night at the Steam Room Grille--the birthday bandits made an appearance and the lobster was great! Happy Birthday, Mite!!

Lemly's baptism weekend

2007-09-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

We thought we'd follow Max's baptism with Lemly's. It's been a busy September. Lemly's Nana and Papaw came from West Virginia and lots and lots of the Bowling crew made it too! We are SO blessed to have so much family in town and have family that's willing to travel in from out of town! Thanks to everyone who came! We loved seeing everyone and having lunch too!

We had such a fun weekend with the Bumgarners here. We relaxed mostly--I thoroughly enjoyed some downtime while Karen and Harold played with Lemly...although Tuesday after they left was rough...Lemly decided that she wanted everyday to be like the weekend and wanted to be held ALL day long!! It was well worth it, though--she had a blast!

Max's baptism

2007-09-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

I don't have all of the pictures from this yet, but if I don't go ahead and post it, I'll never get them. Max got baptised Sept. 9th. We loved getting to be there, watching and hearing about the Lord's promises and covenants. It was fun knowing that Lemly got to see Max's baptism, eventhough she'll not remember. Brent and Christy had us all over for lunch afterwards--thanks!

Feeding the Ducks

2007-09-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

So my new pastime with Lemly is feeding the ducks at a nearby pond. We took Dad on this trip. The ducks are really fun--if they're not at the pond, all you have to do is make quacking noises, and they come flying in, literally. And then the turtles come too--poor turtles, they're just never fast enough to get the bread. Lemly's favorite part is eating the bread we give her to feed the ducks...exciting stuff!

Labor Day at the Lake

2007-09-07T18:02:00.000-07:00

So this is how I spend my Friday nights...sitting at home blogging while Lemly sleeps. You know, I thought I'd be so bored, but I'm so tired that it's absolutely lovely!!

Well, the lake was an adventure for sure. We had a great time!, but I have NEVER been so glad to get back in my own bed! I am SO glad that we don't have another trip planned until Christmas. But I'd do it all again. We all (mom/dad, brent/christy/max, michael, and brad/lemly/me) spent the weekend at the lake. It was SO much fun having the babies together...oh how nice for them to entertain eachother! If they weren't entertaining eachother, then Sadie (the dog) was entertaining them...much to her chagrin. Lemly loves to try to "catch" Sadie's tail...not much fun for our poor 14 year old dog.

We relaxed, skiied, and ate like kings thanks to mom's cooking. Brad gets most creative skiier. We have video that I'll have to post. It's hilarious. I have not laughed that hard in a long time. Christy learned how to go over the left wake on a slalom ski. Lemly learned to walk behind her walker and cruise the furniture, and Max cut his 2 front teeth.

...and NOBODY slept. Well, nobody in our immediate crew. Lemly decided that she was going to be a terror at night, never sleeping for more than 2 hours at a time. We cruised Heber Springs by night (as in 3am) to get her to go back to sleep. Finally, she did...for a couple of hours. The next 2 nights weren't pretty. Up and down, up and down. Ugh.

You know, I have a hard time getting into games sometimes, but they were really fun this weekend. We played Cranium during one of Lemly's two hours down, and I will never forget Dad and Christy's version of 'gravity.' Imagine my dad throwing himself into a window. Hilarious. Brad trying to hum a version of "Killing me softly" as he tried to cheat with hand motions was hysterical, and Christy's humming of "We will Rock You" had us laughing so hard we couldn't hear the song. Brad won Scrabble by using 8 tiles to spell 'plastics' for a bonus 50 points (thanks, Dupont, for that one). And I gained 10 pounds from eating cookies and cakes...lovely.

I've never had a gut before, but I do now...joining the gym next week.

I think that's about it. Off to bed. And then to the gym.

There's just something about 7 months!

2007-08-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day weekend!

There's just something about 7 months. I've heard it way too much...suddenly kids who have refused bottles for, well, forever suddenly start taking a bottle. This has been true for us--which is the most exciting thing I think I could imagine. Lemly just finished taking 3.5oz of formula from a bottle. I NEVER thought I'd see the day!! She also stood on her own on Tuesday...not for very long, but repeatedly for about 5 seconds. I LOVE 7 MONTHS!!!! I think I might actually let myself start dreaming about a vacation or weekend away!!! oh fun. Grovepark Inn, here I come!

So we're headed to the lake for the weekend--the entire clan, mom, dad, brent christy and max, michael, and us. We're really looking forward to it--it'll be interesting having both babies there for a week, both sleeping in pack and plays...we'll see! I think it may end up being a race to see who can hang in there the longest.

Oh...here're a couple of tricks that people told me about that have helped tons. I thought I'd pass them along...
1-to wash toys that are cloth, put them in a pillowcase and wash on delicate. Works like a charm!
2-when the baby is little and still eating at night (or in our case, big and still eating at night), put an heating pad down on the mattress while you're feeding s/he. It helps a TON to put them back down on a warm bed--Lemly never complained about going back down in the night--this worked wonders!

Have a great weekend!

2007-08-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that August is almost over! Does that mean that the heat is going to go away? We're hosting a luau Sept. 15th (wanna come?) and I'm really hoping that it will be cool enough to do most of it on the back patio. If not, well, my house might explode...that is, if anyone comes.

Lemly and I were at Karla Pound's studio the other day doing some work, and karla was so fabulously kind to shoot a few shots of Lemly while we were there. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Oh, and Lemly got her first tooth on Tuesday...that's our big news!

So people make fun of me...

2007-08-09T18:36:00.001-07:00

because we bought our child kneepads...but we have concrete floors and her knees were getting all red and bruised!! So oh well...she looks like a mini-football player. She's in training. The other 2 pics are of us trying to figure out just what she's looking at so intently...is it the wind? and her with her dad...pat, pat, patting her hand....it's her new thing.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Kristen!!!

2007-08-09T06:08:00.001-07:00

Shout out to Kristen Bumgarner Clancy today...it's her birthday!!! We hope you have a GREAT day!!

Blog in a Day

2007-08-08T17:54:00.001-07:00

So everyone seems to have a blog. Why don't we? Because I'm too lazy to update it is the real answer. But I really want one. I'm not doing a good job keeping up with Lemly's milestones, so maybe if I blog at least it'll be covered somewhere.

It's stinkin' hot outside, and I'm so incredibly bored inside. I love Lemly with all my heart, but it just gets boring occasionally playing all day long with a 7 month old INSIDE who screams at the top of her lungs if I leave her sight. Let's be honest here...motherhood is great but it may drive me insane...if the heat doesn't get me first. I called at least 7 different friends today to try to get to see an adult, and all were busy. Where did I get off on the wrong bus??? So I've blogged all day when the little tyke has been asleep.

I give you, reader, fair warning: The first 9 or so posts are solely Lemly and her life (because until she was about 6 months old I didn't have another life). Lame? maybe, but she was an extremely difficult itty bitty baby (or so I think, anyway). So now I'm getting back to having a life, and there will be posts other than the baby, but that is most of my life at this point, so bear with me. When you have a child that won't take a bottle (which means I can't be away from her for more than 3 hours) and who STILL doesn't sleep thru the night (yes, we are on the INCREDIBLY slow, short bus), there's not that much more going on. But she is awfully cute and so much fun (yes I'm biased), so that helps.

With that being said, here you go.

Oh, and yes, this is what I did eventually do today...Jessica and Mary Dogan came over and she brought a Sonic cherry-limeade...made my day for sure!!!

Charlotte Friends

2007-08-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

Lemly and I made the treck to Charlotte last week, and I only took 1 (!) picture!!!! I'm so sad but happy I got one of Baby Ruby! Thanks for letting us drop by, Kathryn. I had such a good time getting to hang with my girls. Thanks Mel and Katie for letting me stay! I'm putting old pictures in this post just because they're fun...hope to come back soon!!!

This is Mel and me when she and James came to visit a few months ago--thanks for coming down!!

Katie G. came down from Charlotte right before Lemly was born...my dad took her flying--she was a great pilot!

2007-08-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

Well, we've decided that the ONLY way to beat the 100+ heat is in the pool! We have great neighbor friends that swim with us--Miss Lilly at the pool keeps everyone in line and loves to take pictures for us...

Brad gets to hang with the Alexanders!

2007-08-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

The Alexanders (from Charlotte) just moved to Atlanta! We are so excited that they have moved closer to where we are!! Brad went up and helped them move in. Susan was due in 2 weeks (although the baby came 10 days late....). He had such a good time getting to lift all the heavy stuff and put together electronics--can't be beat!!

Random pics from June/July

2007-08-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

In June, Lemly was a crawling feign!! She started crawling 2 days before her 6th month birthday and has been on the move ever since. She got a big-girl chair for the tub and learned to pull up on furniture--let the fun begin!

It's time to eat!!

2007-08-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

Lemly was off to a rocky start with her cereal eating, but after a few tries she started to get better--now she likes to spit it all back out just for fun...but fun for who?!

Summertime is for Swimming!

2007-08-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Lemly invited Max over for her first swimtime. They were so cute in the pool! Max LOVES to splash, and Lemly pretty much just sat there and knawed on whatever she could find. It was lots of fun. We LOVE having Brent, Christy, and Max nearby!!

4 Generations of Bowlings

2007-08-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

Need I say more??!! Well, other than the fact the Max stayed dressed up, and Lemly put on her playclothes.

Tennessee and West Virginia!!!

2007-08-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

We went to West Virginia in May--Lemly's first airplane ride with her Pop! She did GREAT!! We stopped thru Nashville and she got to meet her great-grandfather "B" and then we were on to wild, wonderful West Virginia to meet the rest of the Bumgarners. It was a really fun trip--so fun to watch Lemly with her grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins!!

A stop thru Nashville to meet B. We were super excited that he was feeling OK! It was fun to hang out, even if it was only for 1 night.

This is Lemly's great-granpa Walker. She got to meet 2 great grandfathers on this trip--what a treat! I think both of them thought she was super fun!

Yes, she looks just a little like her dad...need I say more??!!

Lemly with her Nana and Papaw--having so much fun outside! They swang and walked all the time! The next one is of the Bumgarner/Walker crew--Lemly's overalls help her look a bit like a boy, but oh well...that's what I had clean for the day!

Beach trip with the Shirleys

2007-08-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach with Laura, Wilson, and Andrew as our first vacation as a family...(I use the word vacation loosely). I learned that as a mom, you still work 24/7 no matter where you are. It wasn't a rough weekend, but it wasn't exactly relaxing, either. We had a great time hanging out with the Shirleys, though...well worth it!

Max and Lemly

2007-08-08T15:12:00.001-07:00

Max is Lemly's 1st cousin. He's just a month older than she is, and she LOVES to play with him. It's been so much fun to watch them together. At first, Max wouldn't acknowledge that Lemly existed, but now he's decided that since he's bigger, that maybe she's OK...

First 3 months

2007-08-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

We took loads of pictures the first three months...here are a few.

Lolli with Max and Lemly!

Molly with Lemly and Lucy...Lemly and Lucy were about the same size.

Lemly and her bear

Lemly in her sling--this sling saved our lives!

Lemly with her Nana--thanks for coming to visit!

Catching Up

2007-08-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well,

I thought it was finally time to actually blog. I've started about 5 times, but I'm determined to keep it up this time. Lemly's 7 months old now. I can't believe it's already been 7 months, but, as Brad keeps pointing out, she was in my belly longer than she's been out....go figure. Does that mean that it's still ok to have some of my belly left? I hope so 'cause I don't think it's going to ever 100% go back. Oh well...enough vanity...here you go from the beginning.

This was me, all zipped up in my fat suit. Look at that UGLY hair! It was HOT in there!! Boy am I glad to be done with that. Being pregnant is NOT my idea of a fun 9 months.