Celebration

Tonight we had our celebration dinner and we will be discharged tomorrow morning at 11am. We are ready to move in to our new home with the whole fam!

L-Bo (but not Lynne)

Lyla (or L-Bo as her friends call her) continues to impress us with her charm and intellect. Actually, she's just cute. It's weird having 2 kids now, but in a good way. Tate and Lyla. Mel liked the name Lyla because it sounded cute with Tate. It's true. Today is our last full day in the hospital. Tomorrow we head back to our newly roofed home for our first night in Dub-Town. All of our stuff has been moved to the house and over the next few weeks we will be unpacking and finishing the remaining renovation items on the to-do list. I start school on Tuesday, which is not necessaily ideal but I am grateful to have a job! I will be taking some time off the following week to be with Mel and the kids (kids...weird!). Enjoy the pics!

The Roof
(the gutters go up this week)
BEFORE

AFTER
L-Bo & co.
Tom is captivated by Lyla's beauty.
Tired dad-bo.

Welcome to the planet, welcome to existence...

Day 3 and Lyla and Mel are doing well. That sounds like the intro to a rap one might find on the yet-to-be-recorded Bowen family hip-hop record titled "D-Bo Flow" (dropping this Fall). Lyla was up from about 4-7am, which subsequently caused Mel and I to be bright eyed and bushy tailed as well. I seem to be more tired than Mel and she makes it a point to state the irony of this quite frequently. Today was a good restful day. I took Tate to the park, Target (to get juice for Mel) and to Peets (to get caffeine for myself and a cookie for Tate. The cookie was the proverbial carrot that I dangled in front of Tate all day to make him behave in the hospital). It was another fun time with Tate. I will miss this stage he is in. So vocal, curious and sweet (like his father before him). Mel and I are stil getting used to receiving pink gifts and are grateful for the outpouring of prayers, love and support from our family and friends. Enjoy the pics.

Tate's day with daddy

Mark bought this tractor at a garage sale and it was a wreck. Herb restored it and gave it to Tate today. It is from the 70's. Tate loves it!

Lyla

Lyla is 1 (day old)

Mel and Lyla are doing very well. The baby is eating great as food seems to be a favorite hobby of hers. Melissa is already up and walking and just took a shower (it took her 3 days to do that with Tate). I took the little guy to the park and Jamba Juice today. It was fun to get out of the hospital and play with him. He seems so big now even though it feels like we were just here with him.

We will be staying our first night in the new house when we get back from the hospital. As I type this, a new roof is being installed. We are all moved in (though there are still boxes and some loose ends here and there) and are excited to bring Tate and Lyla into our new home.

Moving and the Roof
Tate and Daddy's Afternoon Out
Lyla - 1 day old