He's HERE!

Andrew David "Drew" Bossen

January 29th, 2008
9:41 am
7 lbs. 2 oz. 18.25 inches
...and absolutely perfect in every way!...

Andrew, Jennifer and Drew are still in the hospital, and everyone adjusting well!

It seems that Jennifer may need to go back into surgery today to cauterize the wound from her C-Section as some of the blood capillaries are bleeding a little more than they should. Say a prayer for the Bossens today that everything goes well for Jen's 2nd surgery and that there are no further complications so that Mom, Dad and Baby can continue getting to know each other without any other concerns.

Many hugs--
Stephanie (Jen's Sister)

Nesting

Drew has furniture, Andrew assembled the crib, and I'm nesting.
Gram came up to Temple for a couple of days and worked herself (and me) to death...but the house is ready and our closets are wonderfully organized!!
Kobe was left wondering what in the world happened to his room and his twin size bed that he used to have!

Baby Bump Watch

Merry Christmas 2007

Stephanie created the cutest Christmas cards for us this year, but DHL has held them hostage in Waco for over 2 days now. So, I'm putting it on the blog for you to see. They'll be "Merry after-Christmas" cards (hopefully) if the DHL truck can ever find it's way to our house!! Makes you glad Santa has reindeer and doesn't have to rely on DHL!
Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas...almost!

I love Christmas time!! This year we've been celbrating a little extra. The Ellison side of the family headed to San Antonio December 9th-11th to celebrate the season early. San Antonio has been a fun family tradition for the Ellison crew in years past, so it seemed like the perfect idea to visit again this year! We stayed in the Marriott on the river and had a wonderful time exploring San Antonio. We took a riverboat ride the first night and had a great time watching Avery as she took in the Christmas lights on the river. We stopped for dinner at Casa Rio, and then walked up to the Alamo to see it decorated for Christmas. Then it was party time. We all headed to "Gram & Grandpoppy's" room for presents and to feast on all the fabulous goodies they brought. We exchanged Christmas ornaments and all of the grandkids (yes, even the ones not born yet) got to open presents.

The next day, we toured the Alamo and walked through the Menger hotel and explored the mall a little. The boys played golf while the rest of us shopped like we used to do in the old days! Avery was the star of the show all bundled up in her little white coat with fur around the hood. She looked like an angel, and everyone stopped to say hi to her. She was so much fun to be around! We laughed at how this might be the last manageable road trip for a while, as next Christmas there will be 3 grandkids under the age of 3!!

We made some really wonderful memories on the trip. Thanks Mom and Dad for one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever!!

Shower Time

What an amazing group of friends I have. November 18th I was showered with blessings from many friends and family at Drew's baby shower. The hostesses were: Heather Bossen, KiKi Brabham, MarrGwen Dickson, Tamy Dillon, Jennifer Hannah, Lesley Hennig, Joni Lidiak, Elyse Spencer, and Stephanie Poage. Joni won the prize for traveling the furthest...she flew in from Kansas City to be a part of my big day. What a sweet friend!

The whole weekend was a big event. It started with picking Joni up at the airport in Austin on Saturday morning. We then hit Freebirds (as every good Aggie should do when they're within a few miles of one) with my parents. Joni, Mom, and I went down to Christmas Affair after lunch to do some shopping and had a great time. Then we headed back to Temple to show Joni the exictement of our tiny town. We went to Nami's for dinner with Adam & Heather and MarrGwen who was also in town from Austin for the shower. We had a great time.

Then Sunday we went to church and it was shower time!! The shower was at Belton Church of Christ. Jennifer Hannah made the cutest diaper cake for the centerpiece of the decorations! The food was great, and about 35 friends were there to help me celebrate and prepare for Drew's arrival. I was overwhelmed with blessings that day.

Where Does The Time Go?

Ok -- so I'm WAY behind on my posts!! :) Lots of exciting things have happened since Septmember!

Andrew has a JOB!! He signed a contract to join RGB Eye Associates and we'll be moving to Sherman, TX in late June 2008. We're really excited, as this is Andrew's "dream job" that he's had his eye on for the last 2 years. It's amazing to see how God's hand has been in this all along. The practice is owned by an incredibly smart, talented, generous and God-loving doctor who has been in practice for around 20 years. He decided to expand his practice in anticipation of retirement on the near horizon and began looking for 2 partners. He hired the first partner 2 years ago. That partner was one of Andrew's upper-level residents from Scott & White, and someone who had been a good friend for several years. There was still room for one more partner, and Andrew got the spot. It's wonderful to have your dream job AND to be able to practice along side friends that know you, know your talents, and love the Lord. We're very excited about Andrew's future out in the "real world".

So, along with the new job in a new city comes the need for a new house!! Shortly after Andrew signed his contract, we started looking at housing and stumbled upon some new construction that was perfect for us. We found it early enough that we're able to customize it to our tastes, but we don't have to deal with construction financing or the headaches of a true custom home. We went up a few weekends ago to look at the lot and see it all with our own eyes, and we loved it. There's even a 15 acre city park right behind the neighborhood with huge fields and a little lake to fish in. Drew and Kobe are going to love that.

Belly Bump

By popular demand....here are some of the latest pics of my ever-growing belly bump.
Drew is kicking up a storm these days. From what I can tell of his patterns now, he might be a night owl like me! He doesn't do much in the early mornings, but I can feel the dance party starting about 10pm. Maybe one day the two of us can convince Andrew that night time is fun time. Sleep is overrated!

It's a BOY!

Watch out world, there's soon to be another Bossen Boy on the loose! We had our sonogram and found out that we have a wonderfully healthy little boy on the way. There's no doubt about it...he's definitely a boy! The sonogram was just amazing. You could see his little legs and feet, his hands and arms, and his little perfect backbone. That's about all I could see on my own. Andrew and the doctor kept talking about the kidneys, stomach, and all sorts of other parts that just looked like grey fuzz to me. But, I was glad to hear it was all in there and working well! My due date was confirmed for February 4th.

A funny story about the sonogram day:
I was in the restroom after the sonogram and thought I was by myself. I was so happy about all of the news we had just received and was actually giggling and laughing out loud. A million things were running through my head. As I was washing my hands and laughing some more, I said out loud "I can't believe it. I bet I'm going to get tinkled on a lot!". Then I heard a flush and realized I was NOT alone. Needless to say, I scurried out as soon as I could. No telling how crazy that other person thought I was!

Andrew and I are so excited to meet our little boy face to face in just a little over 4 months.

Drool in the Pool

We went to Lion's Park today for "Drool in the Pool"....an all dog swim day and fundraiser for APAC. Kobe had so much fun, and he was the best swimmer there. He even caught the attention of Rockin' Rick's band who played with him. The Temple Daily Telegram took lots of action shots of him and got his info, so he might even be in the paper!

Break out the Stretchy Pants!

I think I'm going to like these elastic waistbands!! Stephanie, Avery, and "Gram" took me on my very first maternity clothes shopping spree. We hit Destination Maternity in Dallas and had so much fun. It started to all feel very real when I tried on the full-bellied clothes with the padded baby bump tied on underneath. What an amazing 6 months I have ahead!

Sneak Peak at Baby Bear Bossen

We had our first ultrasound on June 21. There's really a baby in there!! It's surreal and so exciting. Here's what Baby Bear looks like at 6 1/2 weeks. At 10 1/2 weeks, Baby Bear had a heart rate of 160 beats per minute. The little one is working hard and growing strong. The "big" ultrasound is scheduled for September 7th, so we'll let you know whether to start thinking pink or blue very soon!

The Stork has Landed

Our Bible Fellowship class has a traditional way of announcing new babies. The Stork does it, of course! Andrew and I announced our pregnancy to the class (with the help of the Stork) on July 1st! It was so much fun. After watching many of our friends have Stork visits, having one of our very own was incredible! The Stork even gave me a beautiful red rose.

We took the rose home to Kobe and broke the news to him too. He said "What do you mean you're having a baby? I'm the baby!" He'll get used to it, hopefully!

We're Pregnant!!!

Andrew and I brought back the best souvenier ever from our summer vacation to Hawaii!! We found out at the end of the trip that we're going to have a baby. The "keiki" as children are called by the Hawaiians is set to arrive in early February. The baby bump watch is on. Here's a picture at the beach in Lihue, Kauai where I'm about 1 week pregnant!

Dedication Day

Avery Elizabeth was dedicated at First Baptist Church Dallas on November 5th, 2006. Andrew and I headed up to Dallas Sunday morning to be able to see the dedication and stand with the family and promise to help raise Avery to know the Lord. It was a wonderful gathering of family and friends to celebrate the blessing of Avery's life and Collin and Stephanie as parents. After church, the family was invited over to Collin and Stephanie's house for lunch and to play with Avery. We all took turns holding her....she was quite the show stopper!

Happy Howl-o-ween

We started the costume festivities this year with a pre-party costume fashion show with Bailey and Kobe modeling their Howl-o-ween outfits. Bailey wore a purple spider web t-shirt & Kobe had a black Halloween hoodie. The dogs had fun posing for pictures and gobbling treats.

Kobe had a great time dressing up in his "Boo" hoodie and helping hand out candy. This year, we gave out chocolate candy wrapped to look like eyeballs (perfect treat from the Ophthalmologist's house). Kobe did really well and didn't bark too much at the trick-or-treaters at the door. We also found snack packs of doggie treats to hand out to any dogs out on the candy trail....but we didn't ever have any at the door. So, we opened a package and gave a treat to Kobe every time he sat nicely on the carpet when we handed out candy to the kids.

At the end of the evening, Ryan and Emily brought Bennett over to trick-or-treat at our house. He was a train engineer for Halloween this year. He posed with Kobe and Andrew for a picture before heading home.



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