Holiday Madness 2014

By now you should know that any time we get together with my family there will be a blog post with too many pictures of my nieces and nephews.

With that warning out of the way, Spencer and I planned for months to spend Thanksgiving in Idaho with my sister and her family this year. And we were very happily surprised to find out that my parents and several more of my siblings were going to be joining us!

I would be lying if I said it wasn't madness. But oh, what glorious madness it was! 2 days of 10 adults and 6 kids  hanging out in a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment. Two pregnant sisters and 3 babies under a year old. Lots of giggling and playing cousins, intermingled with the occasional biting, hitting, and falling. Meal after meal of DELICIOUS food, not limited to shrimp dip, homemade snickers, and real Mexican tacos. We played lots of games (FARKLE champion, at your service), snuggled lots of babies, and only one person ended up in the hospital (my poor dad had a kidney stone).

Save me?

Adam and Kiera became best buds.

After the two days everyone else went home and Spencer and I spent the rest of the week with Michelle and Austin. None of us had ever done Thanksgiving on our own, but I am very proud of how everything turned out. We made way too much food (of course) but it was so much fun.  We played more games, giggled with their babies, and just enjoyed ourselves. And I tried to do a family photo shoot with them but the weather and the little girls did not cooperate so we just took a few quick shots inside. Boo. Next time!

Thanksgiving was amazing. I was a little sad that we needed to stay in Illinois for Christmas, but I'm so glad we were able to see so many people for at least one of the major holidays.

Christmas at home was fairly simple but lots of fun. It was such an adventure figuring out how to decorate our first home, and of course we got a real tree!

Christmas day was spent opening presents and then the missionaries came over to spend the rest of the day with us. They skyped their families here and we played games and ate food all day long. We also got to talk with Spencer's family in the morning, and then had a family skype session with ALL of my immediate family. Yeah that's right. 2 parents, 8 siblings and 6 spouses, and 10 grandkids...all at the same time. All that I'll say about that is that I am rarely more entertained than when my family is all together.

Silly missionaries...

It was a very merry Christmas!

Baby Bowen

So at this point most people have heard that I'M PREGNANT!!!

This is a huge deal for us. Spencer and I have been waiting a LONG time, and finally after many many pleading prayers and heartbroken tears we are so grateful that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with a little one.

Luckily I have had a really easy pregnancy. I occasionally felt quite nauseous, but I am proud to say that I did not throw up, not even once! (This, obviously, is a trend I hope to repeat in future pregnancies.) Most of the first trimester I was exhausted, and I've had a few major headaches, but other than that I have felt great!

I have an annoying tendency to fear the worst, so with every doctor's appointment I go in nervous and dreading the possibility of being told that something is wrong, but every time the doctor reassures me that the baby is healthy and everything is looking just right. A BIG load off of this momma's mind.

And of course, the most exciting appointment was our 20 week visit yesterday. Spencer and I have been "arguing" over whether we were having a boy or a girl. Bowen men always (with one exception) have a boy first. All of my siblings have had girls first. So who's genes reign supreme (not like my genes actually have anything to do with it...)?

Well, I always was sort of a black sheep in my family. IT'S A BOY!!! And boy, is he a wiggler. For a while the doctor couldn't tell for sure because the baby was having a dance party in my belly, but with a little maneuvering...POP...there it was!

We are so excited (and nervous) to have a little boy running around the house. And we are so happy and so blessed and so ready for this next step in our lives!

Baby Boy Bowen coming soon: May 4th!

Reunions of Families - Part 2

After lots of visiting and playing and giggling babies came the actual reunion. We drove up with Spencer's sister and her husband and we all just loved the four hour drive with no air conditioning...

The reunion was in Albion, Idaho at an old college campus-turned-family reunion site. We had a blast playing games, chasing little cousins around, swimming, playing horseshoes and volleyball, playing on bounce houses and a giant water slide, and just catching up with everyone. We were so glad we were able to go and see everyone!

Double baby shower!

The siblings

The siblings with Spencer standing in for his dad

It's tradition

And for posterity:

We love family reunions!