We Are Ready For Spring!!

Spring is here and we are ready!!!!! Tucker and Harper are all about their new "shades!" Tucker's new ones (from Gigi, of course) are Cars so they are that much cooler. Tucker is talking non-stop these days and is loving riding his PowerWheels Jeep around Bridgewater (like he owns the town). Harper sits "shotgun" and they have a blast. We are still working on the steering skills.

Harper is becoming such a big girl!! Just look at this picture! Where did my baby go? The past 14 months have been such a blessing as we watch her grow into a gorgeous little girl. I am especially excited that her hair will go up into little "sprouts" now. Between them, her adorable little shoes and her walking around everywhere...she is 14 months going on 15 years! Her and Tucker are beginning to form quite a relationship. The love to laugh, plan and FIGHT whenever they get a chance. ( :

"Makin' A Frosty"

This winter in the Shenandoa

h Valley, Virginia we have not had the big snow like we did in early 2010 so it has been nice not to be completely snowed in all winter. We have had a few random "snow days" off from work (a perk of being a teacher). On this particular late January snow Tucker was so excited to try and "build a frosty!" This is his term for "making a snowman." He was excited to put it together with Travis and to see it dance.

We were scared that our little "Nanner" would hate the snow and not even set foot in it but...WE WERE WRONG!! It took him a little warming up but he eventually played in it and threw snowballs at the dogs. We never got to "build a frosty" because the snow was way to light and dry but we had fun all the same.

Harper Turns 1!!

My little miss Harper "Zann" turned 1 this weekend and her birthday went better then I could have imagined! Gigi came the Thursday before the party to spend time with the birthday girl and Tucker. On her actual birthday (Friday evening) Aunt Mandy and Ben came over with some handmade cupcakes that spellt our "Harper" and were soooo delicious! As a practice for the big party, we let her dig in to one of her very own and she did not disappoint! Unlike her brother on his first birthday, Harper made the largest mess and ate so much of her cupcake that it was hilarious! We had a great evening together to celebrate the little angel. She decided, on her birthday, that it would be a great time to really start to walk! Harper has been taking steps for over a month now but finally decided now would be the time to shine. I secretly think she know her birthday Tutu would get dirty if she had to crawl!

On Saturday night we had her "Jerseylicious" birthday party! I am not sure if this theme became more fun for the adults to dress up or for Harper but, either way, we had a blast! We had it at the house and just had family and close friends there. Grandpa and Joan drove from NJ, Gigi from NJ, Teresa and Joel from Wytheville, Sunt Jsss and John from DC & The Streightiff Family from Richmond...all just to celebrate Harper!

Here is a good pic of the Parezo Girls looking so very "Jerseylicious!"

Gigi bought Harper her first birthday outfit which was ADORABLE and JERSEYLICIOUS!! The fabulous sunlglasses were compliments of Aunt Mandy.

Aunt Jodi made Harper her first birthday cake. It was 3 layers (each a different color zebra print!) Tucker was so excited to "help" Harp blow out the candles so we stood him next to her for the big event. He did a great job (he had been practicing for months) and was so proud of himself when he blew it out yelling, "I did it" loudly. Harper even let him dig into her cake.

Overall, Harper's first birthday was a HUGE success! I cannot believe my little angel is already ONE!!!

"Cheesy Poops"

Yes, a very odd title to describe Christmas 2010...but in the Bowman household it is quite appropriate. Tucker is turning into such the little comedian and will do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to make people laugh. I LOVE IT. One such "act" he has is to yell "cheesy poops" in reference to "cheese puffs" that he loves to eat. He gets such a reaction (especially from Aunt Amanda) that he just loves to do it.

Christmas 2010 was a great one! We stayed in Virginia with family and friends. Gigi came to visit and stayed the whole week prior to Christmas. Tucker and Harper absolutely LOVE having their Gigi in town. She spoils them rotten and Tucker knows Gigi is always good for "prizes" and "suga." Both kiddos got loads of gifts from Gigi! Tuck got anything you can name that is "CARS" and Harper got the cutest little kitchen, stroller and baby doll (amongst other things). She loves to push that stroller around with the doll in it while Tucker sits in his Cars chair, with his Cars slippers on, wrapped up in his Cars blanket while watching his Mater's Tall-Tales video. ( :

We spent Christmas day with Aunt Amanda, Ben and the Bowman family and Sandy and Jack's house. We had a hectic, yet fun time opening gifts. Tucker got some new Thomas trains and some more track for them so he was elated!!

As you can see from the pictures, my kids looked ever so "fabulous" on Christmas Day. Gigi bought them their Christmas outfits. HARPER LOVES ACCESSORIES so the headband she wore and bracelet were just PERFECT. She looked very "Jerseylicious!!"

The week after Christmas, we were visited by Grandpa and Joan for a few days. Tucker LOVES his new clothes and giant "floor" piano to play. He has such a good time wrestling with Grandpa and playing Cars and Trains with him. Harper has taken her first steps all by herself now and should be a full-fledged "walker" any day now!!

Holiday Festivities!

Thanksgiving this year was a lot of fun! We made the long 8 hour drive to NJ to see Gigi and Grandpa. Thank goodness for car DVD players! Tucker must have watched episodes of "Handy Manny" and "Thomas the Train" about a million times. It kept him happy, though. We spent Thanksgiving day and night with Grandpa, Joan, Aunt Jess & John. We were such good kids! Tucker napped and slept all by himself in a "big bed!" Harper's, as usual, we into EVERYTHING. I am so not looking forward to the destruction that is in our wake when we put up the Christmas tree! We spent the rest of the weekend with Gigi and Dan. We had lots of fun playing, shopping, spending quality time and ATTEMPTING to get a pic with Santa at the mall. Harper was great on Santa's lap but Tucker was not all about Santa. He didn't scream like last Christmas but would not come within 3 feet of him. He did, however, manage to yell his Christmas list at him from a distance.

Although the kiddos are 2 and 10 months now, we somehow managed to actually get a decent Christmas card picture out of them (see above)! It took some bridery with ice cream but Tucker actually wore his reindeer ears and Harper managed to sit still for more then 10 seconds. Up next on the Christmas checklist....A TREE!!!

The Cutest Little Lion and Ladybug Ever

This Halloween, Tucker was a "ferocious" lion and Harper was a precious little ladybug. Being a very opionated 2 year old, Tucker did not so much as even want to look at his lion costume before Halloween started. We stretched trick-or-treating out for 3 days. Day #1 was at the mall and he HATED his costume and everything about it. Not sure if it was the crowds or if he was hot, but we had one cranky and cowardly lion on our hands. Day #2 was at a retirement home. Tucker finally got the hang of things. When he realized the candy stash he could come home with if he wore his costume (with the hood up) and said "suga please" he was all about it! We finally had a happy lion! He came home with quite the loot. Day 3 was trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with Gage. he had a blast because it was a gorgeous night and he and Gage was being pulled around in a wagon from house to house collecting candy. When we got back, he even did a good job of handing candy out to the people who came to our door. Now all he wants to do his wear his lion costume every night!!!

Harper was just her adorable little self throughout all the Halloween chaos. She is INTO EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING she can get her hands on. She pulls up on everything and "cruises" around all the furniture. She has even figured out how to climb the stairs! OH NO! We have one independent little "wild child" on our hands. She is one crazy girl and keeps us on our toes!

We have a Potty-Pee-er!

And it is not TUCKER!!!!! Harper decided she is going to one-up her big brother "Super Tucker" and pee on the potty before him at only 8 months old! I think she is sick of the spotlight being on "Super Tucker" and just wanted a moment to shine. Since Tucker has really refused to even sit on the potty, we decided to coax him by setting Harper on it (not expecting anything to happen). It was literally 5 seconds after she sat on it that she peed! We almost died of laughter since it was an obvious coincidence. Unfortunately, that did not change "Super Tucker's" mind. He was proud of Harper but could care less about doing it himself.

My baby girl is getting so big! Crawling everywhere and just loving life and "big people" food. ( :