Happy Birthday Alex!

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY ALEXANDER JAMES!!!! Our big man turned 3 on Saturday - and we had a party this past weekend with our Colorado family. Andy's brother, Dallas, Andy's parents, Daryl and Annette, as well as Andy's Grandparents, Marge, Rose, and Rex were all able to come out. We had a great time and ate WAAAAAAY to much - but we were able to laugh some of it off because we had two great entertainers to watch!

Both of the boys were blessed with presents - here Alex is reading a book and Zach is playing with the cool bag he got. (There were gifts in the bag - but you know how it goes....)

Alex with his new "Mater" book.

The aftermath. (And my little Z standing up!!)

Grandpa Bowin setting up the new set of bowling pins for the 47, 322, 197th time.

The crowd watches as Alex perfects his bowling technique.

And now....on to the food! We had BBQ pulled pork roast, homemade mac 'n cheese, fruit and veggies, and chips. I think that everyone was stuffed. After awhile, we decided to break out the cake....

And Zach's "smash" cake...

Alex blowing out the candles...

Alex and Zach as we all sang to them. (Zach was undressed in anticipation of frosting.) :)

Zach and his birthday cupcake....

And Alex digging in to his soccer ball slice of cake.

After the cake and baths, the boys continued playing with all of their new toys. We found a new use for Zach's toy - and he actually enjoyed it!!!

It was funny because when we tried to pull him out, he'd get upset and try to climb back in. Silly guy!!

It was also Halloween, so after supper we got the boys into their costumes - - here's the shot of them all decked out!

Zach was a bee, Alex was a motorcycle racer.

And, now, we have a video for you. We played on the Wii while everyone was here, and Grandpa Bowin wanted to try the soccer ball game. (We posted a video of Alex playing this a while ago). Daryl didn't know we were video taping him - but when we watched it later, it was quite amusing! Also note that Alex is in the lower left-hand corner trying to move in the direction that Grandpa's supposed to go. Silly guy!

We'll have another birthday party in a couple of weeks with the Frank side of the family. For now, we're back to the workweek, playing with our new toys, and trying to catch up on sleep and energy from a very tiring weekend! We had a blast, and were thankful that everyone was able to make it out!

Happy Birthday Zach!

Wow! It seems hard to believe that it has been a year already, but here we are. Zach has been here for 365 days now, and it amazes you when you think about the changes he's made since this time last year.

What follows is a pictorial review of the past few days in our life, and at the end we will have the second of the new blog segment "Famous Mii of the Day".

Without further ado...here we go!

(almost...one more quick note...the pictures that follow are not chronological because blogger is being difficult)

Famous Mii of the Day: Urkel

Alex and Daddy, making cupcakes. You know, traditional father/son bonding time (hunting, fishing, playing catch, cupcake baking).

Alex, showing off his cupcakes.


Warning!!! The next series of pictures were intended to be viewed in chronological order, so if that is your desire as well, scroll down to the bottom and work your way up.



Zach, after the cake. My personal favorite part is the cake booger hanging out of his right nostril.

Katie and Dawson. Dawson is a member of the LBC - little boys club. And one of Alex's best friends.

Alex and Jake. The other two members of the LBC.

That is some good cake.

Zach and Alex checking out the cake.

Getting that first handful of cake. 'Cause the only thing better than a slice of cake is a handful of cake.

Zach, reaching for his very own cake. Alex, checking out mommy with the camera.

Julie, the boys' childcare provider, made Zach his very own cake.

The birthday boy.

Go shorty, its your birthday...we're gonna party like its your birthday.

Cupcake aftermath.

Cupcake aftermath 2.

Topless and covered in frosting...what a way to live my man.

Finally, a video of Zach enjoying his cupcakes.

Hope everyone has a great week. Safe travels to my family who is coming out from Colorado this weekend, and we hope to have more posts up to show off our big boys in the next few days.

Whatever...it's Your Post

First, a quick note about the title of this post. I asked Christine what she thought of my blog post title, and she didn't comment, but rather gave me a different post title. When I asked,
"you didn't like my title?" she responded with "Whatever...it's your post".

So take that, Christine.

Anyway, enough literary squabbling...sorry its been a while since we posted, but sometimes life happens between blog posts (I think I might write a book with that title - "Life Is What Happens Between Blog Posts", by Andy Bowin; forward by Peyton Manning).

Enough of the deragned ramblings of a sleepy father of two...enjoy the pictures and video that follow!

A big belly makes a good pillow for little boys (Notice my lack of glasses? I have been a contact lens man for 3 weeks now!)

Zach, as he prepares to drinketh from the bucket of toy cars. For whatever reason, he always seems surprised as his face gets assaulted by the falling cars.

Alex, after discovering the joys of a standard queen size pillow case.

Alex, as he tries to make his great escape from the pillow case.

Free at last!

Alex, wearing his ghost (or is it a misshapen marshmallow) Halloween costume.

Zach, snuggling with Alex's pillowcase.

Nothing says sophistication like a naked baby eating mac and cheese without silverware. Classy Zach, real classy.

Alex, just a playin' with trains.

The other day while Wii Bowling, I noticed this famous individual in the bowling alley...someone out there (not me) has real issues. And a Wii with wireless internet access.

And finally, he moment we have all been waiting for!

That's right...Zach has been walking off and on for about a week now. He does a little better everyday!

I hope you all enjoyed. Have a great week!

Menu for Birthday Party

We asked Alex tonight what he wanted to eat at his birthday party. What follows is a list of the foods he named (and the reasons why he wants them in some cases):

-Grilled cheese
-Mac -n- cheese
-Carrots
-Celery
-Veggies
-Lemon pepper (because uncle Dallas and Rah-rah {aunt Sarah} will like it)
-Fish sticks
-Ice cream sandwiches

I'm sure there will be more to come...stay tuned.

Frank B-Day Weekend Changed...

To those of you attending the Frank Birthday Weekend - -

the dates have been changed to November 13-15, with the party on the 14th. After talking with a few more people, we decided that this weekend would be better for everyone. :)

Haircuts!!

Well, we couldn't put it off any longer - Zach needed his first haircut (mind you, Alex had already had 4 at this point....)

After baths one night, this is what it looked like.....

Before the cut......

Alex before the cut.......

And :::::::drumroll, please ::::::::::::, THE HANDSOMEST MEN IN THE WORLD!!! Fresh out of the bathtub, clean-cut, mmmmmmm!!!!!!

We sat on the floor and had popcorn as a treat. Alex still screamed and cried throughout the entire thing, Zach smiled and even giggled during his. What gives?!?!

And a samplig of Zach's giggles - he's become very tuned in to the camera, so once he sees it, he basically stops what he's doing to watch it. There's a little bit of laughing, though. :)