Meerkat

Eldin has reached that age where he is trying to figure out possession (or he is trying to take over the world by claiming it is all his). During this time in his life he has expressed recently the following phrases:

My Kids
My Park
My House

While we are trying to teach Eldin about sharing and that some things in this world are not his, I realized that he is also learning community. SO, it came as no surprise to me that our life seems like Meerkats (minus the digging tunnels in the ground. Although sometimes you wouldn't think that by how dirty my sons are).

-A Meerkat community is called a mob or gang - "My Kids"
-Meerkats are extremely social animals (have you met my son Eldin?).
-Observing Meerkats is a wonderful experience (I'm sure observing my life is sometimes better than living it, if nothing else it would be more humorous).
-They love grooming one another, wrestling and playing with one other. (My sons are some of the very few boys in Searcy, so most of the families we hang out with have daughters - they play dress up and Eldin plays a dragon that chases the princesses and takes on the castle).
-They have avid curiosities and can make a toy of almost anything (thankful and unfortunately that describes my kids and our friends).
-Even with all this play, Meerkats do not ignore the need for security. One Meerkat always seems to be a sentry and stands guard to keep the gang safe. (This is a perfect description of the parents in different ways:
1.Moms: Our primary sentry duties entail the safety of the children from themselves (falling, hitting into objects, swallowing anything we don't want, etc)
2.Dads: Their primary sentry duties are default to the outward life to the entire family "gang"
(sometimes the Mom Sentry forgets that the Dads are sentries also, because they can feel as if the dads are adding to/creating some of the safety concerns on the MS radar)
-Meerkats constantly communicate with one another in three different ways:
scent (the primary thought that comes to my mind is dirty diapers)
sound (The Mom Call/Tone)
body language (The Look - you know what I'm talking about, the one we all hope as new parents we can pull off that put the fear of God in us as kids from our parents).
-One last interesting point, sound can be broken up into one, two, three, and even four syllable calls. (Mom Calls usually are short & with one word, even through it carries the entire weight of the human language, so you are warned that you definitely don't want that lecture).

The pictures above are from December when 3 families got together to take a horse carriage ride downtown. I was touched and joyfully blessed when I realized the gift that God had provided us with in our friends. He instructs us on the importance of community and so I shouldn't be surprised when He provides.

Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
Proverbs 22:6
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

I am so thankful that my parents taught me, and more importantly, showed me how to live a God-filled life. This includes the previously mentioned "The Look". Now it is my responsibility to teach and live a life that our children will know is the Truth and to become a community with others as a body of Christ. Currently this takes the form of a Meerkat Community.

Not Available

She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. Luke 2:7

Don't get me wrong...I would never want to give birth in a stable. I want nurses, doctors, and most importantly, meds! However, God reminded me: Sometimes when we have to improvise (make due with what we have), our life is open to receive and experience so much more. For example, we all know that a kid usually loves and plays more with the box of a toy than the toy itself.

These memories are about the experiences and life with love.

I come from a life of stories. (I wish God had blessed me with the ability to tell them, but that has not happened yet....maybe through writing so I don't go through so many rabbit holes in the story). So much joy comes in my life from remembering moments in my life - a big smile can't help but arise with each thought. This year I have restrained myself and bought a couple of things here and there and let it be. I'm trying to spend my energy and time coming up with moments to create/share with my family rather than searching the internet for another toy.

I'm excited to be living in the moment of Christmas.

There are only a handful times I can recall an awesome hotel or room I traveled to. The adventure is not in the room, it is out there in the unknown....the empty space that is available for any possibility since it is not restricted within a space. Life is an adventure of love. As much as it would scare me to live as Mary did, I am so thankful that Jesus Christ was not born in a room. I am so thankful that the Creator, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Alpha & Omega, Abba, Son of God was born out in the open - an empty space - no restrictions - He filled the void of nothing with Everything! Now we have the ability, through Him, to live life without restrictions, without void/nothingness, open to all possibilities (especially those we can't even imagine). Christ is reminding me that Christmas is about rejoicing in the "Not Available". For in that moment all predictions, laws, and restrictions were removed and Christ used the heavens to unveil His Love, and now all things are possible through Christ! (even a virgin birth)

Merry Christmas!

Ellis 4 Month

Ellis is now 4 months old - wow, how the time has flown by. He went for his check up yesterday and passed with flying colors. The doctor was very happy with how healthy he was and how he was developing. At the end of the exam he picked Ellis up and while looking at him said:
"You are sporting that baldness son"

We laughed and I told him that he has the Captian Picard hairstyle. He is handsome and cute. I wouldn't mind his eyebrows changing color so you could actually SEE them - would help frame his face :).
Above is Eldin sharing his crackers with Ellis. They are so sweet together and we are very thankful that Eldin loves him so much.
So....here are Ellis' Stats at 4 months:

Length: 25.5" (Growth Chart 75%)
Head Cir.: 17.25"
Weight: 16 lbs 1 oz (Growth Chart 80%)

Ellis currently is wearing 6-9 month old clothing. We are doing great and so thankful to have such a happy healthy boy.

Oxen

As promised I am writing today to explain how God relieved to me that my sons are Oxen. If I was to look up oxen on the internet (Wikipedia & the Dictionary) I could learn a lot about oxen like:

1. Working oxen are taught to respond to the signals of the teamster (mom or dad). These signals are given by verbal command, body language ("The Mom look"), and the use of a goad, whip or a long pole (index finger of pointing). In preindustrial times, many teamsters were known for their loud voices (Me? Loud? I'm sure that has to be a typo...I'm quite soft spoken *sarcasm*) and forthright language (Is it bad that I had to look up forthright? This point is mostly pertaining to dad, as he can attest I like to take detours to the point).

2. Oxen must be painstakingly trained from a young age. (While I love my sons SO very much and I think that are very good kids, discipline is painstakingly hard)

3. "ox, bull"), said to be from base *uks- "to sprinkle," related to *ugw- "wet, moist." The animal word, then, is lit. "besprinkler."(This describes Ellis. Ellis loves to sprinkle! I have lost count of all the times Ellis has sprinkled me and at Thanksgiving he sprinkled Dad in a manner deserving of an Olympic Medal (I can write this story if you want....let me know))


Overall, it is a pretty hard stretch for me to think of my wonderful sons as oxen, until God gives me some of His perspective.

Proverbs 14:4 Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,
But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.

There are times in my life when I feel like I'm not a good enough woman/person since my house is a mess and I'm not very productive. I have been over at some people's homes and they are MUCH neater than mine. Also, I know people that get TONS done during the day and are very productive. Sometimes this gets used as a weapon against me and I get down. The other day God popped this verse out amongst the verses I read in Proverbs.

I could have a clean life.
I could have a clean house.
I could have an organized and clean schedule.

However,
I have wonderful sons that are going to be mighty warriors for the Kingdom of God. I have two sons, at the moment, that are filled with the Love and Joy of Christ. God uses my sons to bring so much joy, peace (God's definition, not mine), grace, patience (OH, the patience that comes...), perseverance (try to stop a 2 yr old from doing something His way or putting him down for a much needed nap...I have truly seen, experienced, and respect perseverance in such a new way), and love.

There are days that Dad comes home and there are blocks everywhere, broken boxes from the construction and demolition of forts, dirty clothes from crafts and food, spit-up soaked onesie on a drooling 3 month old son, and mom still in PJs with dirty marks (merit badges) of the day. Life is dirty that day, but I know that sometimes those are the best/most remember-able days for my sons development and heart growth, as well as my own heart's growth.

"Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox."

So, while the true definition of oxen are not very becoming....I take great joy and love thinking of my children now as oxen some days.

Camel

I was playing with Ellis, our youngest son, with an octopus and I started thinking about characteristics of animals, and I came to a realization:

Sometimes I feel like a camel.

To explain this statement/thought here are some reasons:

1. I have to drink TONS of water - I'm not drinking enough and need to drink more

2. Two bumps - thankfully mine are for milk not as bumpers to carry people, although there are times when Eldin is climbing me when that point could be contested

3. I carry heavy loads when traveling - Ellis is packing on the pounds and the diaper bag has turned into a "Bag-o-Stuff" to take care of both boys

4. Some mornings I wake up looking woolly, like a camel or after Eldin has been using me as a new jungle gym

5. I'm jiggly in places that are just not right - need to work out, but who ever wants to...not me, in case you were wondering

6. I spit - well, I spit on napkins and tissues to wipe my son's face from caked on snacks and stuff

7. Give rides - most of the time it is for fun with the boys, but sometimes I must carry a boy to a nap and then the ride isn't as much fun

I'm sure I could think of more reasons, but I think 7 is enough. After writing this post I've come to realize that while the Chinese have years of animals (i.e. Year of the Ox, Year of the Lion, Year of the Rat, etc), as moms life is more of days, if not hours, of animals. Yesterday I was an octopus (long story involving a doctor's office, bored 2 1/2 year old, massive explosive diaper of a 3 month old), and today I'm more of a camel. I'm so thankful God created SO many numerous creations with each a unique life and character - it makes me smile and have so much joy in my life imagining myself as one, like a camel.

P.S. Tomorrow I will explain how I discovered that my children are oxen. It's a good one - you don't want to miss it so come back!

Seriously?

Ellis loves taking a bath because it involves him getting naked. He was enjoying this bath with his brother, but you wouldn't know it from this picture. I love this picture...it cracks me up. He was all smiles and then I snapped this shot. All I can think of when I see it is:
"Seriously mom? I'm taking a bath and you want to take photos? Seriously?"

Ellis is amazing and such a great boy. He is growing up so quickly that I'm having a hard time keeping up with what clothes still fit him. I just had to get him socks 6-12 months, because his 0-6 months, at his current 3 month old status, are too small. He is healthy and we are blessed. He loves to have great conversations in the morning and I'm trying to catch them on video. It has been hard since when I introduce the camera he stops everything :).

My computer has had some issues this last month, but we finally seem to be up and running. I hope to post some more photos soon.

Ellis 2 Months

Ellis had his 2 month check up this week and the stats are in:

Length: 23" (Growth Chart 50%)
Head Cir.: 16.25" (Growth Chart 75%)
Weight: 13 lbs. 8 oz. (Growth Chart 90%)

Our little Chunky Monkey is doing great! He has had some colic issues, but we have been changing my diet in hopes to help and it has improved.

Life is going very well and crazy at the same time. We have enjoyed family and friends that have visited and look forward to spending some time with Nina and Papa soon. We have some photos, but time is too crazy for me to upload them at the moment so they will have to wait for the time being. I have to run and get a shower while Ellis is sleeping and Eldin is with Daddy playing at work/church.

Portraits

Yesterday Ellis and I went to visit a new friend as she is opening a photography studio soon. She usually does photography of older children and adults, so this was fun/experiment/trial. As with life, things didn't go the way we "planned", but it was a great time. He didn't sleep like I thought he would, but Cheryl was able to get some amazing shots. Just click on the title of this blog to see some. I was so blessed to get to know her a little more and I'm excited to know a great woman of God with passion for His kingdom. We had a good time.

Arrival

God blessed us with another son that came into this world Friday night.

Ellis James Bowick
8/13/10
9:36pm
6 lbs. 6 oz.
20" Long

We are all doing well and we will post pictures and links to video soon.

Thank you God for blessing us and keeping us all healthy.

Perfection & Pregnancy

This summer has been quite crazy, to say the least. Our family has been under attack from the enemy since Fall of 2009. Thanks to so many of your prayers what the enemy meant for evil, God has turned to good. We felt called to leave the state of Florida, but took everything slowly since I was pregnant and we would need income to support the family. Then the spiritual battle took some physical form and the following happened:

- Our House was rented out in a couple of weeks, with no place for us to live
- Tony's last day of work at IRC was the first Friday of May
- We all lived out of suitcases and parents houses almost 3 months
- Ellis is so active that he dislocated my pelvic bone around Week 25

We were sad that things ended so quickly at IRC and miss many of the people there. However, I was so excited to be out of the storm and moving forward to a new dawn. God was so amazing through this whole process that I find it very hard to put it into words. And this brings me to the title of this post.

For those of you who don't know, I struggle with perfectionism. I did not know this fact about myself until about 4 years ago. This is how my perfection takes form. I think/feel that if I cannot do it perfectly or as good as "so and so", then why even try. It is truly debilitating! I am surrounded by so many gifted people in my life that I feel "hopeless" of any gifts that I may have. So I sit on the sidelines and awe at all the talents of my friends and family. Unfortunately, this post site has been part of this tragedy. When I have a chance to get online I immediately check all my friends blog sites and am sad when they don't update it daily. However, I have maybe done 3 blogs during the entire summer. The pictures from my sister-in-laws blog are amazing and plentiful. Articles and the amazing writing post from some of my friends are on a professional/epic level. So here I am sitting with very few photos (Eldin is SO fast and I've been exhausted in pregnancy/life) and not gifted in writing well - I have a husband that has a degree in English. Don’t get me wrong….I don’t think a lot of people read this blog, but for those who have/do I am sorry. I know there are a few family members that rely on this site to keep them updated on our life since we all live in different states. After a rough night and morning I have made a decision to not sit on the sidelines. Will I relapse? – Probably. However, I’ve been waiting for the answer to this question has been part of the problem. I feel guilty that I might relapse and “fail” again so I have been stagnant. Well, no more…I’m on the move. I have had some very funny, difficult, and glorifying events occur in my life over the last 6 months that I want out so I don’t forget them years down the road. I need to do this before Ellis gets here or who knows what I will lose.
This is probably a “boring” post, but I felt I needed to put this in “writing” to hold me accountable. As proof I'm working on my perfectionism, here is a picture that is far from perfect :).



This boy and pregnancy is so different from Eldin that half of my maternity shirts cannot even contain him/me anymore. I am truly all belly and still have 3 more weeks to go (4 from the picture). We are blessed and I hope that some of our adventures are recorded sooner than later.

We're not in VA anymore - we're near Kansas

The Bowick Family has found it's new home - Searcy, Arkansas. We are very excited to be part of a new church family here.

We moved in Saturday, July 11th, thanks to the help of many people, especially Jon & Preston McLester from Orlando. They drove all our stuff from storage from Orlando up here for us...all we had to do was rent the van and fly them back - they blessed us SO very much! Numerous people from Fellowship Bible came out and unloaded us. Some of the ladies also unpacked my kitchen for us and have been blessing us with a couple of dinners as we settle into the new place.

Eldin is doing great with only a small set back of strep/cold, which he was nice to share with me and the baby. I'm currently 34 weeks pregnant and HUGE. We also have announced the name that God has blessed us - the new baby's name will be Ellis James Bowick. Ellis comes from Elijah and means My God is The Lord. We also wanted to honor Tony's step-dad Art Ellis. James is a strong biblical character and also in honor of Abbie's dad James Graham. Ellis is due August 25, 2010 - we will see :).

Tony will officially start work on August 1st, so we are blessed to have him at home to help us unpack and settle.

At some point I promise to post pictures! Unfortunately, I'm not able to at the moment. My goal is to post some needed updated photos BEFORE Ellis gets here, because after that this site will be about the Bowick boys :).

Update

We are in now in Virginia after spending a little over a week in Charleston, SC. I would love to upload/share some pictures, but this is just a quick update. We had a wonderful time in Charleston and hope to return sooner than later. We had a long, but safe drive up to King George, VA (near Fredericksburg).
Last weekend we went to the National Zoo and had a great time seeing all the animals - Eldin is still talking about it all. This week has been a little rough as Eldin has had a small relapse of an ear infection and I have gotten a full blown nasty sinus infection. We hope we heal as fast as it came on.
This weekend my parents are adding to the family with a new Golden Retriever Puppy! This is turning into a zoo itself - with the new puppy we will have a total of 4 dogs and 1 cat. Then in a few weeks my brother and his family will be visiting adding another dog to the mix and our beautiful niece, Olive.
I hope to post zoo photos, but until then I wanted to update that everyone is doing well. Baby "B" is doing good and giving his brother a run for his money with the kicking.

Please don't forget to thank any veteran or active military person you know and please pray for our leaders and those in the military.

Easter 2010

2010 Easter was a great celebration of our Amazing Lord! We had a great time during all the services. Eldin would repeat "Jesus" and "Risen" - oh so cute! Although his favorite part of the day probably was driving the cart with Terry Coon at IRC. We are so blessed.

Candy and his Basketball from his Easter Basket

2nd Birthday

We had a wonderful small birthday celebration this year. We shared the time with family friends, The McLesters, and "Uncle Bob" dropped by and gave Eldin the world. The McLesters hid Eldin's gift under balloons instead of wrapping. Little did we know, but the balloons needed up stealing the party. In trying to do something small we went with a cookie cake this year. Publix gave us a HUGE cookie cake. The cookie was almost an inch thick throughout! It was insanely and insanely good. Eldin opened gifts from family that could not be there in person, but will get their personal hugs soon.

Aunt Holly, Uncle Daniel, and Olive gave me an AWESOME outfit

Cappy & Gram gave me a great puzzle book, sailor hat, & a Rescue Center for my cars

Grandma Rose and Larry sent me a HUGE box with fun stuff

Preston helped me look & show off my awesome gifts

Blowing out the candles

Under a Spell

Papa & Nina Giggles

Easter Celebration

Ready to Hunt

Showing His Loot

Hunting Eggs with the Bunny (aka Aunt Kelly)

Hunting with the family

About to have his first Train ride

IRC UMC has an Easter Celebration each year and this year Eldin really enjoyed himself. He did amazing at hunting eggs. He tried the bouncy house for a small bit and then made a bee line for the train. He LOVES trains, automobiles, bikes, planes, etc. We waited patiently in line and then when it was his turn he had a blast. After the activities we went inside to have a hot dog and chips. For the Easter service there was a huge bridge built and Eldin enjoyed playing and peaking through on the bridge.

Papa & Nina Visit

While Papa & Nina were visiting us in Florida we did many things. We went to the park, birthday gift shopping at Toys-R-Us, road a motorcycle with Daddy on the sidewalk, played in the yard, and played, played, and then played some more. We had such a great visit and we were very sad to see them leave. However, we are excited that we will visit them in SC soon.

Christmas in March

Long story short, we had Christmas in March with the Ellis/Bowick Family. We had such a great visit and it was perfect timing for Eldin to enjoy all the gifts. He had an awesome time unwrapping and helping Papa put together his new riding horse that Papa and Nina gave him. We have and continued to be blessed and Nina and Papa's showering of blessings was so much loved and enjoyed.

Strange

As our blog site states we are not boring. In this crazy adventure we woke up one morning to find Eldin's basket with diapers knocked over and empty. This has happened before and we have Eldin put all the diapers back in and we place the basket back up. However, this time we also found an empty box of Q-tips. As Eldin was putting the diapers up with Dad, I looked everywhere for the Q-tips. To my surprise and concern I couldn't find a trace of one! By this point the boys had finished and Tony joined me in the search. Then all of the sudden Tony said: "Hun, you have got to look at this".
That is right folks, he had spent the morning placing half a box of Q-tips into the air purifier, along with a book, a plastic circle cover, a couple of "caps", and 8 twist crayons, as we discovered when his Papa performed "surgery" removing each item at a time. Do not worry, the fan was not harmed in any way during this event. We were impressed and found the whole thing funny and fitting for something that would happen in the Bowick family. Also - the fan is no longer in his room and there remains one crayon in it.

Crazy Hair Day

This day Eldin woke up with such crazy hair that we could not resist in taking pictures. While they truly don't capture the absolute craziness, it was close enough. Eldin is ALWAYS on the move and now he has the hair to prove it.

Tony's Birthday

Tony had a great quiet Birthday on March 13th. Things have been crazy this year so far, so a great gift was just relaxing on his birthday. Here Eldin is helping Dad open his gifts - Simpsons Season 12 DVD and a book on how to play the bass guitar. Later that weekend we went out to dinner with friends and also shared the amazing Jeremiah's Gelato Ice Cream.

Update

I wish I could post tons of new pictures and list all the numerous crazy things that we have done. Things are good, but as far as pictures - our boy is a blur! He is ALWAYS on the move and it is nearly impossible to capture life in photos at this moment. This past week Eldin and I have come down with a cold, so the pics would only involve snot :(. We are going to get better soon and I hope to start updating and giving fun stories.

Eldin has been enjoying puzzles a lot more and always wants to ride his bike. He is speaking new words and loves to count: 1..2..3. He has also learned the dreaded Temper Tantrum. We are working through it. He is such a good son and we are immensely blessed! He is growing so fast and is already out of the crib:This year has definitely started out with a bang and we are very excited to see what God continues to have in store for the Bowicks.

Sick

After our wonderful news and the holiday, the new Baby B decided to make life interesting. I got so very sick that drastic measures had to be made. I got so sick that I was dehydrated and losing weight.
Susan G. watched Eldin for me all day Wednesday and Kelly M. watched on Friday. By the following Monday my mom was here. I started to improve and then dove again. Long story short, it has been a crazy rough journey, but the baby is ok and I am SLOWLY getting better. My mom is staying an extra two days and leaves Saturday night. I am hoping by that point I will be able to take care of Eldin and myself enough.
I welcome any prayers and hope that this phase passes sooner than later.