Kid Portraits

All the Bowman Grand Kids! 

Alan Robert & Aidan Ryan - 4yrs

Clara Jean - 2yrs

Elsie Marie - 2 days

Fun times on the way home from preschool

And the best part...I got to drive my sister-in-law's "big red van" which is, quite possibly, the coolest mom-mobile ever!

Boys will be boys

Then:


(August 2009)


And now:


(June 2011)

Boys Will Be Boys (funny video)

I don't know what it says about me that it took almost four months for me to figure out how to upload this video properly, but here it is:



Aidan & Alan were tearing through the house playing while Chad & Luke talked about snow blower engines. They were completely oblivious as to what their little boys were doing.

Enjoy!

"Ohh, you like it! It's tasty!"

I wish I could share with you some photos of today - or a video - but I can't. Today was one of those days when I was living so much in the moment, that I didn't have time to capture it on film. It was also the sort of day that will forever stick in my memory, such was the fun we had today.

We've had a lot of birthdays this month, so I guess it has been on the boys' minds. After all, who wouldn't want an excuse to eat cake and ice cream, and open presents?

So today, seemingly out of the blue, Aidan and Alan decided to develop a new game. They called it, "Birthday." Well, perhaps "decide" isn't the right word, since I have no idea how this all started. All I know is they were really quiet for quite a while, and then all of a sudden came running to offer me birthday cake.

The boys, with no input from myself, made a birthday cake out of a small ball, a roll of duct tape, and a bunch of magnetic toys called Magformers. They then raided the silverware drawer for spoons and forks, and proceeded to serve "cake" to each other, and then to me, for over an hour. The Magformers served as the slices of cake, which they shared eagerly, and insisted that I use both a spoon and a fork to eat. However, the center of the cake (the ball inside the roll of duct tape) was apparently sacred; I received quite a scolding for attempting to eat it :). As Alan's mom and dad arrived home, I asked the boys to show off their cake. Oh! What delighted squeals as they rushed to show off their game!

While the boys have always had (often elaborate) games involving running, fencing, and wrestling, this is the first time I've noticed them develop truly cooperative game, with no outside help, that didn't involve physical play. I didn't detect the slightest bit of bickering, either. An hour of cooperative play, without fighting, for a three year old and a not-quite-three year old? Amazing!

But then again, as a devoted Mama and doting Auntie, I always think they're amazing.

Spring Photos

Alan Robert (3 yrs), Clara Jean (3 m), and Aidan Ryan (2 3/4 yrs)

Belated Christmas Photos of Alan, Aidan, & Clara

Love

Lets take a sleigh ride!

...and an outtake, because it was funny

I can't believe I forgot to post these! I take pictures of the grandkids throughout the year to make sure Kathy & Tom are well supplied with pictures of their favorite tiny people. This was the first time, though, that I had THREE subjects.

It makes me sad, though, to know that there should have been four. My due date is fast approaching and I am just dreading it.

Life with toddlers

Today's comedy of errors was such that I feel compelled to share, so enjoy at our expense!

Aidan was having a no good very bad day today. On Saturday he woke from his nap with a really high fever (103!!!) and two, possibly three molars poking through. Though I'm sure the teething wasn't helping matters, the fact that Alan had the same fever a week ago did not go unnoticed. As with Alan, the fever broke 3 days later and he was fine. Still, those molars can't be comfortable. As such, he woke up this morning on the proverbial wrong side of the crib. The tiniest little things sent him into a tantrum, the likes I have not seen for six months, and OH the drama! OH the whining!

As today is Wednesday, we had (nephew) Alan home as well. Normally having Alan around means Aidan is pretty entertained for most of the day. Today, however, all Alan had to do was look at Aidan to piss him off. Between the two of them, I don't think Chad or I had a moment's rest until finally, around 1:30pm, we gave up and put them to bed. Insert HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF. Poor Chad had to go to work, and I took a nap on the couch with Athena, Gaia, and Aurora. LOVE my warm, purring kitties! I think they were just as relieved that the kids were in bed.

I was hoping that a nice, long nap would facilitate an attitude adjustment for Aidan, but it was not to be. He woke up 2.5 hours later (which, btw, is an awesome nap, of which I am very thankful) just as cranky as he went down. sigh

Perhaps five minutes later I heard Alan whine. Now normally it takes him a few minutes to truly wake up, and if I try to go in too soon he gets overwhelmed, so when I heard him I put the water on to boil for dinner, poured milk into the sippy cups, and fished out a diaper from Alan's bag. At this point, Alan begins screaming. Odd...so I prepare to enter the bedroom. This is MAYBE three minutes from the time I first heard him.

The sight that greeted my eyes is one I shall not soon forget. No picture, unfortunately, but at the time I was simply in shock at the site before me:

Alan, sans pants and diaper, sobbing uncontrollably in the center of the packNplay, clutching Giraffe, Froggie, and Blanket. The diaper and pants lay beside him. Behind him, one ginormous turd, squished and smeared all around. I blinked, sure I was imagining this, but then reality set in and I prepared to clean up a mess the likes of which I had not seen since Jazzy's six 5 week old kittens escaped from their pen and tore apart my house (back in 2006). I picked up the still screaming Alan and was rewarded with a stinky puddle under him. Beautiful!

That's right: the child pooped in his diaper and then proceeded to remove pants and diaper, smear the poop everywhere, and then pee on everything, including his beloved trio of loveys. Judging by the dark smear across his lips, I believe he might have also sampled the turd. I suppose I should be grateful that the mess was contained in the packNplay and not below on my 100% silk rug.

By now, of course, Aidan is screaming too because I'm no longer holding him or giving him my full attention. Alan is screaming because, I guess, being covered in your own urine and feces was not all he had hoped and dreamed. So, two screaming toddlers and one heck of a mess. What fun!

It got worse, of course, when I removed Alan's shirt and put him in the tub to rinse off, sans his pee-soaked trio of loveys which went, along with all the bedding, directly into the washer, thankyouverymuch. Alan screamed for no less than 40 minutes straight before he finally gave up looking for his loveys.

Needless to say, he now believes I am the wicked witch of the east and was pretty darn happy when his Mama came to get him.

On the flip side, Aidan's mood improved tremendously once Alan left, and by bedtime he was (mostly) back to his old self. He even cuddled on the couch for a bit and went to bed without a fuss. I hope these molars hurry up because I want my sweet boy back!

So now I am left with a packNplay pad full of pee, and I have no idea how I am going to sufficiently clean this thing, being that it's the dead of winter and only about 20 degrees (which, btw, is 25 degrees warmer than it was a week ago). What I would really like to do is to take it outside and hose it off. Unfortunately, that's not exactly going to work. So, any tips out there for cleaning out packNplays? I would love to just get a new pad but I've never been able to figure out how to do this.

Heck, I would love to just buy a new one entirely. I am SERIOUSLY grossed out, and anyone who knows me knows just how difficult that is to do!

Ah, life with toddlers.

Happy Christmas Photos!

Aidan Ryan in red (17.5 months) and cousin Alan Robert in green (21 months).

With the help of my wonderful husband and our four very food-driven cats (the source of many smiles and giggles), these were the best out of 123 photos taken in my little make-shift studio. By the end of the photo shoot, Alan clearly thought I had gone mad, and began looking to Chad for guidance as to how to react to this *new* Tia. Even Aidan, who is generally used to me acting like an idiot whenever I bring out the camera (which is....often), was probably beginning to wonder if perhaps this time I'd gone over the deep end for good.

But at least the pictures are done, printed, and should (hopefully) be arriving in the mail on Wednesday, in time to be Grandma & Grandpa's Christmas presents. :)

But it's a surprise so SHHHHHH!




AND one more from last year of the kitties, because it's the best I've ever gotten of all 4 of them together.