So Much Yes

I posted a photo to instagram the other day using the caption "so much yes in this photo"...

So much YES in this photo. #thebowdensisters

A photo posted by Courtney Bowden (@bowdenisms) on Dec 12, 2014 at 4:35pm PST

...I was just loving everything captured in that moment and didn't have words to sum it up better than YES.
But now looking back on our Christmas as a whole (not that it's over...please say it's not over!) and I'm feeling like "so much yes" is truly the motto for our entire holiday.

Matching jammies? Yes.
Candy before and after dinner? Yes.
Crazy late bedtime to make time for a special book and scattering of "reindeer food" on the lawn? Oh, YES.

Christmas is Yes. Yes to all of it, and then some more on top of that. More friends, more family. More treats. More books. More naps. More drinks. Even more drinks. More snuggles. More love More Jesus.

In general I am a more is more person, striving to come from "a place of yes" whenever I can. I was explaining my love (and collection) of ampersands to someone last week, and I said that basically I love the concept of AND. It's a principle of improv comedy, that you're always supposed to support your partner, going along with their idea, building on it with "yes, and". And while I'm not an improv comedian, I love that idea. Support each other...allow their dreams...build together...say YES when you can (which is probably a lot more often than I even think). It's worth noting perhaps, that I'm not an advocate of spoiled kids, drowning in presents, lacking any sense of boundaries or limits. But if there was ever a time to blur the edges of routine and rules in the name of memory making magic, then Christmas is it.

So much of toddlerhood is filled with NO. Many from me: "No you may not do that, or that, or that, or have that, or take that, or say that, or yell that..." And also so many from them- "No, no, nyee-OH, NO" all the live-long day. And there was still SO MUCH NO this holiday weekend, because even the powers of Santa and Baby Jesus combined can't overcome the will of our two little blonde furies (nor can they make up entirely for my occasional impatience and frustration despite my best efforts) But in spite of all the moments where I should have done better, or I wished they behaved better, our holiday was still marked with so much good, so much magic nestled in the ordinary, so much beauty of this incredible life we're given one little wild moment at a time. And as I look back on the last few days as a family, I'm so thankful for the yeses. Some were audible: "Please mama, can we?" "Yes!" And some were silent: Can you believe how lucky were are? How cute they are? How awesome this is? No, not at all...but also yessssssssss.

Here are a few snapshots from our pile of yes:

 Santa came!! YESSSSS

Tiny hands, tiny presents:

Temporary tattoos on chubby forearms. Zebras wearing Santa hats. The way babies squat to do everything. These are a few of my unexpected favorite things. 

Using new play-doh toys to "help" make cinnamon rolls

Cream cheese frosting is always yes

The neighbors are throwing away their old playhouse, would you like it? uh, Yes!

Let's plop the kids on the kitchen table so I can take 1,000 pictures...Yes?

 No words. Just yes.

Wearing her new mittens + stealing her sister's new toy (met with the opposite of yes: "NO! That's my favorite new toy I got for my birf-day from Santa. I very like it. You cannot have it, FIN-NY!")

Zoning out hard while watching Frosty the Snowman Returns.

So we had a yes kind of Christmas, and I'm so very hopeful we can keep seeing all the beauty of this yes kind of life...

Merry Christmas!

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Pizza shop photoshoot

On Sunday, we trekked out to get a tree, but stopped for a quick (kind of...) slice of pizza- or 8- on the way. (Full bellies = happy hunters) We goofed around for a bit while we waited on our food, and I handed the camera to Dustin to snap a few shots of my rowdy booth-mates.

And this magic happened:

Dang, I love that little girl. And I'm downright obsessed with how Dustin captured her in this photo. (Though I'm not in love with how she looks about a day away from her teenage years...How is this happening?!)

Oh- and then there's this hamball:

Sometimes (a lot) in my head I call her Crazy Old Maurice.

I'm so thankful for these goons. And for sunshine-y December days, last minute plan changes, toddlers who eat their weight in pizza crust, and for those magic moments when the mundane things of life turn unexpectedly awesome. Our family lives at this wild intersection of routine and spectacular, and I have to say: it's a crazy-good spot to be.

Little signs of small life

   Even when they're not around, there are little signs of my babies everywhere. They've changed my life...(and my purse, and my fridge, and my bathroom, and my pockets...) I may not always like being covered in stickers, but there's something funny about finding a jingly owl in your bed in the middle of the night. Love the little trails and calling cards my littles leave. 

 

Happy Heart Haiku

Matching heart jammies. 

Took a bijillion pictures. 

I die from cuteness. 

xoxo!

The Bowden Girls

Deja vu all over again

Remember a couple months ago when I compared the girls' baby pics?
Well it's time for round two.

As a refresher (without all that pesky archive visiting...), here are the girls around 1 week:

Left: Piper //  Right: Finley

And here they are around 12 weeks:

Left: Piper //  Right: Finley

Ummmmm....what?!

A: stop with the growing. I want to squish them both down so they can snuggle in the crook of my arm. Forever, and ever, amen. 

B: Mini-Piper, much? It's kind of freaking me out.....I knew they had some resemblance, but I didn't think they looked that much alike. Seeing them side by side though...It's pretty undeniable. They're sisters alright. 

I've started to notice their similarities more and more. Other people always told me they saw it. Especially if Fin was asleep (causing her cheeks to relax and look a little more full), or making the signature Bowden frumpy-face. (They come by it honestly...but it doesn't come from me.) But I wasn't so sure. They just seemed so different to me. But as time went on, I would catch glimpses of Fin that were the spitting image of Piper. I can remember identical expressions, or similar snapshots from their early days. And as hard as it is to describe- I would always say that Fin looks like what Piper could have looked like as a baby. I didn't think they always resembled each other tremendously when compared at the same age, but I could definitely see the sister-ness in them at their ages now, and could picture how Fin might grow up to look even more like Pipes. 

Fin does still have her own look though. Her head is still...ahem...normal sized (compared to the noteworthy noggin her sister boasts), and in general she's just a little more....twee. I don't know how to describe it. She just has a little bit of elfishness that can't really be put into words. It just is. (and is adorable.) She not a small baby (though she is smaller than her sister by a bit at each milestone), but something about her still seems delicate. And I know I'm biased, but I think she might just be the most precious thing ever.

  

I just can't put into words how lucky I am to have these two little mushroom-clad bundles of joy. I might have to stop taking these pictures or I'm going to want a filmstrip's worth of Bowden girls. But judging by these two, maybe that wouldn't be so bad after all...

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If you're interested, you can check out Piper's growth, side by side here.

The Long and Short of it

What's that parenting saying?

The days are long.....

The days are long, the naps are short?

Or is it:

The tantrums are long, my temper is short?

Or:
The weeks are long, the weekends are short.

Or maybe:

The days are long the socially-acceptable-time-period-for-screen-time-as-a-babysitter is short.

Wait..I think it's: 

The days are long, my child bosses are short. 

True. So true.

(To help your day go a little quicker- I give you some totally unrelated pictures of Pipes enjoying a friend's cozy coupe.)