Zach's 11 months and Alex's new shoes!!

Today Zach is officially 11 months old - my baby is gone, but I am so very happy with the little boy that he is becoming. We got a couple of great shots!

He's close to walking - he just needs more practice. He has four teeth that have poked through - the two bottom ones are fully in, and the two top teeth have just poked through. From what I can tell, there arent' many more on the horizon (or gumline). :) Zach loves fruits and veggies - many nights Alex and Zach are racing each other to see who can eat the last of them! I guess it's a good problem to have!

Alex got some new shoes in the mail from Grandma Le and Grandpa Dave - and they're Lightening McQueen!! It was so funny when he first put them on - he'd run three steps, stop to look at the lights, and then go three more steps. He was willing to run tonight as long as we let him look at it on the computer. :)

Have a great week!!

Birthday Wish Lists

We've had quite a few phone calls, e-mails, and text messages about things that the boys want for their birthdays. Here's a few suggestions:

Zach

--Clothing - size 12 months
--Toys - right now he's really into throwing balls (not like we have any of those around the house), and anything that will promote walking (he just needs to get his confidence up right now).
--Heavy winter coat, snowpants, boots (size 6 - shoes), gloves/mittens, hat
--Money for his savings account

Alex

--Clothing - size 3T
--Thomas the Tank Engine - any toys, movies, clothing, etc.....he loves it all! If you find something specific and want to double check if we have it, just give one of us a call - there's way too much to list on here! :)
--"Cars" figures (the movie) - he has Lightening McQueen, Doc, Chick, and Mack, plus the movie. He had mentioned that he wanted the sheet set and blanket when we were at Wal-Mart, he has a twin size bed, if you're so inclined.
--Heavy winter coat, snowpants, boots, etc. (shoe size - 10), hat, gloves/mittens
--Thomas magazine - more information at http://www.redan.com/, or else he loves any other magazine to do with animals. (he loves getting mail, too). If you do purchase the magazine, please leave a comment on here so that others also know that this one has been "taken". (we promise not to let Alex read the blog until his birthday). :)
--Money for his savings account

Both boys enjoy books - so that's always a safe bet. :)

By no means is this an exhaustive list, actually it's a bit skinny - but just go with what you want. The boys aren't picky - anything will be great! THANK YOU!

Also, in case you haven't marked your calendars:

Bowin family birthday weekend: October 30-November 1 (parties on the 31st)

Frank family birthday weekend: November 13-15 (parties on the 14th).

Our house is available for anyone who wants to stay here - remember that we only have two extra beds, however. Let us know if you have any other questions!! :)

Update from afar....

Hello! Once again life has gotten the better of us, and it's been a while since we posted.

The weekend after Labor Day we headed out to Colorado to watch the air show that Andy's hometown puts on. Grandma and Grandpa Bowin and Uncle Dallas all were helping with the air show, but we did get a chance to see Great-Grandma Marge, as well as Great-Gramdma and Grandpa Wagner. We didn't get to see anyone as much as we would have liked to, but we did have a great time for the little amount of time we were together.

The air show was amazing! It was super cold and rainy, but we had a canopy, so it was great to be out of the rain. We watched a parachuter, which Alex loved to see the ribbons hanging from her. They had a wing-walker, but they had to cancel their stunt because of the rain. (Yeah, I wouldn't want 100 mph hitting me as I tried to walk the slick wings of a plane....). They also had an F-16 there - that was breathtaking! I can't believe just how fast they can go - and I am sure we didn't even see half of what it can do! They advised us to cover the kids' ears when it would go by - and Alex needed it! Zach, however, fell asleep before the performance, and SLEPT THROUGH THE ENTIRE THING!!! I held him, just because I wanted to be able to cover his ears quickly and comfortably. One ear was up against my arm, and the other ear was under a blanket and my hand.....yet he still slept. I guess I don't need to worry about Alex waking him up in the middle of the night.....do I? ;)

Here are a few shots of us at the air show....(I need to get better with the camera!)

Zach, amongst the dirt and hay. :)

Alex, Zach, and I on the blankets at the air show. (Alex ended up falling asleep on my lap like this)

Zach watching the WWII reinactment. (Alex was really scared, so he and I went to the car and ate cotton candy) :)

When we got back, Alex had a surprise package for being potty trained!! (If we didn't share that already on the blog - yes, Alex is fully trained - even at night! Hurray!!) In it, there were a number of wonderful Thomas things - including his new Thomas puzzle. (he needed just a *little* bit of help) ;)

Zach chooses the most curious sleeping positions. Apparently, he was dreaming about teaching a kickboxing class....or karate.....or the can-can.......or aerobics.....or he's just being our Zach. :)

It's hard to believe that such a little boy can cause such a B-I-G mess!!

This past weekend we had guests! Kyle, Amy and their son Micah, as well as Tim, Kari, and their daughter Lucy all came out to visit. The guys spent most of Saturday and all of Sunday morning looking for turkeys. Unfortunately, all of the turkeys could only be seen from a distance, so they came home empty-handed. We did all get to watch the Husker game Saturday night, and that was the only shot I took the entire weekend! (I HAVE to get better about this camera thing!!) :)

On the far left, you can see Lucy's pink pant leg (she's about 2 weeks older than Zach), then Micah (who will be two in March), and you can barely see Zach's blond head over Alex's head....Kyle is laying across the floor. He was the human jungle gym for a good portion of the evening. :)

We had a great time - we NEED to get together more often!!

And a video of the boys playing well together - it's happening more and more often now. Alex still has to be reminded (frequently, at times) that Zach isn't quite up to all of the rough-housing yet, but they do enjoy playing. We especially get a kick out of Zach's hair......it's crazy!

Senior Pictures and Dishrag Alex, plus a riddle.

Today's Riddle: How do you put siding on a house without a ladder? (see end of post for the answer)

Hey all. Just a quick update. Everyone here is back to 100% percent or at least close to it. Our short week is off to a good start and we are looking forward to a trip to Akron this weekend.

Now...on to our post. While we were eating supper tonight Zach struck a "senior picture" pose. We tried to capture said pose on film (see below), but we weren't able to capture it in all its cheesiness. However, Alex wanted in on the game, and was a little more cooperative.

Zach's pose (no, we didn't do anything to set him in this position).

Pose #1: It would look better on a beach, or in a lush green meadow, but you get the idea.

Pose #2: The classic senior picture pose, compete with the slightly pouty non-smile, non-frown.

Pose #3: I'm gettin tired of this, and it feels a little silly.

Tonight's video shows Alex flying around the house, courtesy of dishrag airlines.

Now, the answer to the riddle.

I don't know who these goofballs were, but they were working on the siding of the neighbor's house. This was taken looking out from the boys' bedroom window. I think I prefer a ladder....sometimes they do things a little "odd" here in Ord. :)

Labor Day Update

Sorry folks, no pictures or video this time - - just an update on how we're doing....

We had a good week last week, and were looking forward to a quiet weekend at home. At 2:30 AM Saturday morning, we woke up to Zach puking. Luckily, that was his only episode with the "vomits"......

Sunday afternoon (around 1:00), Alex then began his "bout". His was a little more violent - every 30 minutes or so for 6 solid hours. At 6:30 I called the Dr. (as I am freaking out about all of this H1N1/Swine flu crap), and he said to take everything away for at least 2 hours. (Alex was balling about every 5 minutes because he wanted water - that was the only thing we were giving him, yet he was still getting sick. So the doc recommended we switch to powerade/gatorade and to give as little as possible. That helped. Alex was feeling better at 8:30, and had kept the few swallows of powerade down, so we offered him a couple of crackers. He downed them in no time, so we waited a little longer - to make sure they stayed down - and then gave him a few more. Today, he's been back to his "normal" self. :)

Then, last night, as the boys were getting ready for bed, it hit me. Yuck and double, triple yuck. I was having terrible back pain, so that had me up most of the night. Today's been much better, with the help of my wonderful husband, who's taking care of everything! He made me chicken noodle soup for lunch, and has been the official "boy wrangler" whenever there's a dispute (which, with these two, is a very common occurance). Plus, he's battling his own "yuck" - he saw the doc on Friday and they diagnosed him with "pharyngitis" - which is an upper-throat infection. Luckily, he's feeling much better today, so I am very thankful for that.

Then tonight (about 10 minutes ago), Andy had Zach on the couch, went to let him down, and realized that Zach pooped UP his diaper - splattering Andy's arm, the pillow on the couch, a little bit of the loveseat, Zach's entire outfit, and the neighbor's car across the street. (OK, so not the car, but you get the point.) Andy's showered, and the house is CLEANED and Febreezed....

We'd better be done with the bodily fluids for a LONG time!!!!!

Have a GREAT week, everyone!