Happiness Tonight Is....

Sitting in my favorite comfy chair (Tim's childhood chair, courtesy of Mom V), under the softest, most heavenly blanket on the planet (courtesy of my Momma and Dad), drinking my family's spiced tea recipe, listening to Coffee House Acoustic, channel 6030, and typing this blog post (my happy happy place). When I'm done, I'll read a few chapters from an actual book people. Granted, it's title is "Best Friends Forever," but it's 359 pages and doesn't have any pictures in it. That makes it an actual book.

A full weekend devoted to bonding the dude with his potty is complete. And I'm happy to report it was approximately 68% successful. He only soaked 3 pairs of Diego big boy underoos and had 5 perfect landings on the red potty. The little man's violent clapping, dizzying dance moves and exuberant flushing when the act is complete is so worth all the hair pulling on Mom and Dad's end.



We went to Sam's Club tonight as a fam. Happiness. We stood there looking at the awesomest jungle gym EVER created and dreamed about stumbling upon $998 to afford gifting the dude with this masterpiece in his own backyard. He would be the envy of every child in our hood. Instead, we bought blueberries. A very large container of blueberries.




Dude saw a high school kid in the store with the tallest, most defined mohawk this side of the Rocky Mountains. My little munchkin stopped in the middle of the aisle, and in his most high pitched, loudest voice said, "Look at the hat on that man Mommy! What IS that hat Mommy?" I smiled, apologized for his 2 year oldness and continued shopping. Sorry mohawk man...kids tell it like it is.


Our very first game of Chutes and Ladders (Shoot the Letters) with the dude. He followed along, let us take turns without revolting against us and actually won for real. He was quite impressed with the entire concept and we looked at each other, in shock that our little baby just played a real life board game with us. And won.

A fun night out with the Syers clan on Friday night to Firebowl and the Aquarium might have been pricey, but it was worth every penny to watch 4 children run laps around a round fish tank, chasing Dory the blue fish for 10 minutes. The wacked out fish kept swimming in circles along with them, which was actually quite comical. Dude did fall off a high chair at dinner, landing flat on his face and proceeded to choke on his fortune cookie in the process, but we made it through that trauma and finished the night off with a bang. And a few alcoholic beverages for us adults.






Dude's 3rd birthday party is b-o-o-k-e-d, BOOKED. And it won't involve trashing our house and home, which will make this Momma enjoy the party oh so much more. It's not the elephant party dude's been asking for, but it'll be awesome, firefighting fun for the little tykes. Thanks to my dear chica Maria, the invites will be pretty darn cute too. Stay tuned (until mid-March). Big mistake on telling dude about it. 2 months is like 18 years to his "ready to party NOW" little brain.



Last, but not least, happiness tonight is knowing that there very well might be a pregnant young woman out there who could be cuddled under a blanket just like me. A very scared young woman who will choose us to raise her child...someone God has in mind just for us and an itty bitty babe who will complete our happy little waiting family. That brings me a peaceful happiness I can't quite begin to put into words. If you pray, will you please pray for this young woman and her growing baby belly? Somewhere out there, she needs us and all the prayers we can muster.

Good night all.

Coffee with Sir Rod

I'm not a huge football groupie.  Who am I kidding.  I really know nothing about the football games my hubby tunes in to unless I have money on the game.  But if you live in Denver, it's a legal requirement that you know what's happening with the Broncos, past and present.  And so I know who former Denver Bronco, Rod Smith is.  He was great.  He is great.  And today I was lucky enough to meet him and find out, firsthand, what a rockin' dude he really is.  Rod's working with Food Bank on our Biggest Loser, Pound for Pound Challenge on a local level.  He agreed to meet us at Image AV to shoot a TV and radio PSA for our local media efforts.  Within 2 minutes, he had us all peeing our pants.  He ad-libbed my script and made fun of me in the process, which I found to be quite amusing.  I got a hug out of it, so that was worth the mockery. 

Next we went to the kitchen where he had us all try his company's coffee.  It was my very first cup of coffee ever and it was goooood!  Never did I think those words would exit my mouth.  His coffee is natural and healthy and he's really proud of what's it's doing for people's health, so check it out!  He's going to start donating proceeds from the coffee to Food Bank.  What a guy.  http://rodsmithinternational.com/coffee.html

We're pumped to have the honor of working with Sir Rod. It was a pretty cool highlight of my day to hang with him and pretend like we were BFF's.

Super Bowl ring = 128 pounds of pure diamonds.  This is why women don't play in the NFL.  We couldn't pull this hunk o metal off.

Baby Olive

I'm holding on to my little man so tightly today.  So tightly.  Tim and I were friends with a spunky, fun-loving guy named Rusty in college.  We graduated, went our separate ways and a few months ago we were connected with his wife's blog.  They had a baby - way too early and in a land far away - but little Olive fought hard and overcame so many obstacles.  Their journey was incredible and brought me to my knees more than once.  Today, I have to share her story with all of you.  This is Rusty's wife's letter to their daughter after she went home to live with Jesus last week.  You don't have to know them to weep over this little bundle of sweetness.  Prayers are with Rusty and Lynette as they try to find their way through life without their daughter.  I just can't even imagine.  Not even for one second.   

http://rustylynette.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-letter-to-olive.html

Puzzled

If you've seen the dude in the past month, you've witnessed his puzzle making magic. I know, we all think our kids are the awesomest, smartest kids on the block. Normally I have no prob admitting the traits of my half pint that drive me bazerk, but today I would like to gloat about the mild genius tendencies showing through his high pitched, squeaky, skinny little self.

In November, I spent $2 for 4 Disney board puzzles (about 20 pieces per puzzle) at a consignment sale. He mastered them in about an hour. We were mildly impressed. Next I bought him a stand alone puzzle (no board) that he figured out in half hour. So I figured I'd outsmart him and buy a 50 piece pirate puzzle. No picture to follow, no outlines on the board to match up. Hah! Take THAT you little puzzle whiz. The child took it out, without my knowledge, and had it half-way put together by the time I came downstairs. Within a couple hours he could do that freaking puzzle, with zero assistance from me. He helps ME do the thing and gets too frustrated when I try to help. I'm not fast enough and I do NOT know where the dragon head goes.

We think he memorizes stuff. Really fast and really accurately. It's the same with books. We read it once and he can fill in all the blanks the next time we read it. Mind you, he can't take off his socks in under 5 minutes (per sock), he up-chucks like it's going out of style and doesn't think to tell us when he has to take a crap, but we all have our strengths and weaknesses right?

Brainstorming with the dude

We're trying to get input from our not quite 3 year old about his upcoming birthday bash. I thought he might assist in giving me some brilliant ideas to kick start my party creativity. Yeah, not so much. The conversation went a little something like this...

"Dude, who do you want to invite to your birthday party?"
"Um, Mommy, Daddy, Wylan....and all our fwiends and family. And fogive us for our sins, Amen."
"Great. What kind of party would you like to have?"
"Um....March 20."
"Excellent. What kind of theme would you like?"
"Ah, cupcakes party. Blue cupcakes. No, elephant party. Yes, elephants."

There ya go folks. Expect elephant rides, blue cupcakes and night time prayer vigils at dude's 3rd birthday party. Nothing but the best here at the Vogels.

Do you have cheap, creative ideas for a maybe indoor, maybe outdoor kids b-day party at home? I'd LOVE to hear them. Come on, comment away. Those who give innovative ideas might just be invited!

No Butterflies = Tons O Fun

Last Friday we desperately needed an outing, other than King Soopers or Sam's Club. So we headed to the Wildlife Museum and met Nolan and Abby to take him off her hands for a couple hours. And BOY did we have a blast. We originally went to see the butterfly exhibit. Those two little dudes ran around the joint like it was Disneyland, despite the fact that wasn't one live butterfly included in the jip of an exhibit. Then we got to the jungle section containing loud, talking, moving animals. At that point, I had a boy attached to each leg. Tightly. My dude kept looking around saying, "What's DAT Mommy?" What's DAT Mommy?" Nolan kept repeating every sound he heard. I love observing little minds in action. Especially when the little minds are so dang cute.

You can see why the boys loved the non-butterfly exhibit

A little juice break.

This was their faces during the jungle exhibit. Pure wonder and partial fear.

Posing with the "butterflies."

Dude insists on me taking pictures that tickle his fancy lately. He desperately wanted a picture of this eagle, so there ya go.

Dude-worthy Snipits

A few noteworthy dude stories for a random Tuesday night.

...Out to dinner at Spaghetti Factory with the Jansen/Syers clan last weekend while we were in Vegas...Dude guzzles a big cup of chocolate milk, a big plate of spaghetti and downs another glass of chocolate milk. No breathing here folks. He polishes off milk in under 12.3 seconds per cup. Brady does the same. Dude looks at Aunt Cara, starts turning a pale shade of green and says, "I gotta burp Cara." 2 seconds later he upchucks, all over the joint. 3 minutes later, Brady says, "My tummy hurts Mom." Brady then proceeds to upchuck all over the joint. Dinner is now done. Finished. Check please! They were both good as new 2 minutes after the commotion was over. Can't say the same for the Spaghetti Factory.

How can I stay mad at my darling child when our moments of discipline go something like this...."Don't yell at Mommy when I sing with you. Mommy can sing too and that's not nice to yell at Mommy." Said with a very serious face, slight head tilt and eyes looking up at me..."Mommy, I'm SO sorry and I love you SO much. Are you so happy now Mommy?" "No, Mommy is not so happy." 30 seconds later..."Are you a so happy Mommy NOW?" I respond with a joyful, "Yes, I am SO happy" because if I say anything less, he'll continue to ask the happy question every 30 seconds until he's convinced.

"Where Daddy Mom? Daddy at work? Daddy work at the zoo. Daddy take cool white race car to the zoo."

Sesame Street was having technical difficulties yesterday, causing the screen to get fuzzy every now and then. Later in the day he says, "Mommy, go to store to buy batteries." "For what buddy?" "For Sesme Street. It's broken today."

Our new favorite phrase (don't ask me where it came from). "Look at that little guy!" "Who's dat little guy?" "That little guy so cute."

Everything these days has a "house." A hair on his finger, "Mommy put dis hair in the hair's house please." "Wipe up dese crumbs Mommy. Put dem in the crumbs house." "Wylan has itchy nose! Go to your house naughty itchy nose!"

While driving around with Dad. "Daddy look! It's a white car with a yellow hat on top!" "Ok dude." "Look Daddy!" Sure enough. The Nappa Auto Parts car drives by sporting a huge yellow hard hat perched on top.

Let the Sunshine In

Colorado sunshine and our family = true love. I'm not trying to be snotty to all my mid western and east coast stalkers. I'm really not. The sunshine and weather is why we live here. It's happy and it's kid friendly and it takes away winter gloominess. This past week has been balmy and we're definitely taking advantage. Duder has been practicing his swing (and I must say, there's much improvement since the summer months), he's rediscovering the backyard and all it has to offer, Tim is out washing the cars, I scrubbed the garage floor of all the winterness that has built up and then we're off on a walk. If only it stayed light past 5:02pm.

He finally understands that hitting the "red part" is not part of the game.

Thank you Mr. Sun. "I love you SO much sunshine!"

Time out. Need a cheez-it recharge. I looove cheez-its.

So darn cute, isn't he?

Faces of my Dude

Our Not So Sin City-like Weekend

Who had the best weekend ever? We did. The best. First, we need to shout out our deepest thanks to the Syers for making the weekend possible (aka, they took the dude overnight). More on that later.

We hopped a plane to Sin City on Saturday morning to help celebrate Tim's dad's 60th birthday. Uncles, aunts & cousins from Seattle to Washington DC to Chicago to Boston to Toronto flew out to surprise Dad on his big milestone. Adam and Nick and Caylei joined in the festivities as well (we missed you Carin!), so the boys got some much needed quality bro time in. We stayed in the burbs (my favorite way to "not do" Vegas) at a ginormous casino/hotel/bowling alley. Aside from having to walk half mile to get to our hotel room, it was a lovely place to call home for the 28 hours we were there.

We ate a loud, chatter filled lunch all together on Saturday, bowled a couple rounds, had some r&r at the hotel spa and went to Dad and Di's for a huge Vegas themed partaaaay for Dad. He was totally surprised and very touched at the efforts of his entire fam. It was really quite something to have everyone together. A tight white suited Elvis even showed up! We had a blast catching up with everyone - Happy Birthday Dad! See the video more even more f-u-n.

Cabin Photo Shoot with my Dude

Big Dude Bed

We've been warned by multiple friends with kiddos who have made the crib to bed transition that life will change. Correction, sleep habits will change. We've had fears of waking up at 2:00am to a little dude in our face, asking to watch Mickey Mouse. Or a little dude awake at 5:00am playing with toys in his room. Or a little dude who cried for the return of his crib.

We made the transition folks. Last week. We were both off for 4 straight days with no huge plans, so it was the time. And after spending wads of cash during the holidays, what a better time than the present to spend a whole bunch more.

I'm ecstatic to report that the big dude bed has been a smashing success! We set it up on Friday night and I was mortified at how high it was with the trundle below. Luckily, my very sensible friend Cara convinced me that he would be fine with a step stool and she was oh so right. He slept his first night in it from 8:00pm-7:30am (we've gotten over the whole 6:00am wake up calls). And every day he asks if he can go to bed at random times just so he can go bounce around on the huge mattress he now calls home. So, yeah! For now. He doesn't get out yet, but I do realize that might change in a matter of a day.

Oh, and he randomly decided that he would go on his potty twice this week, without prodding.

Another exciting stride in the life of the dude! Baby steps to becoming a big boy. This mom isn't quite sure she's ready for all of this growing up stuff. Is there a "pause" button that I haven't discovered?

December Dude Clips

A few clips from the past month, for your viewing enjoyment. Gotta love our little man. He keeps us smilin and on our toes for sure.

Breck and the Most Endearing Picture of Christmas

This picture wins top ranking for the best shot of the holiday season. No other words necessary.

Post "silly eye" shot.

Breck was a ton o fun. We stayed in sweet condos, the guys skied their hearts out, Steph sprained her knee, which took her out of the skiing game, dude and I rode the gondola a lot (pure glee doesn't begin to describe his feelings about flying through the air like Little Einsteins) and we went out for a couple interesting dinners. It's rather crazy in Breckenridge at the holidays. Nothing gets done quickly with the masses of ski bums that nestle in for holiday fun, so waiting was the theme of the vaca. All in all, a great stay and lots of quality time together.

Tim, Dude, Dad and his rockin' 70's ski outfit and Brendan on Peak 8.

Gondola glee.

A video of gondola glee.

Dude was almost in tears that he couldn't go "skating" with all the other people.

Dude was ready to go home. He woke up saying, "Let's go to Wylan's basement now" and proceeded to sit on that luggage rack for 30 minutes until we pushed him out the door.

Our Vegas Company

Tim's dad, Diane, Brendan and Steph landed in Denver the night that my folks left. We spent a couple days loungin at our house, eating some honey baked goodness, opening fabulous presents and allowing dude to get acquainted with his super fun aunt and uncle. They had him laughing until the kid was in tears and undoubtedly peeing his pants. On Christmas Day we went to church and then headed up to the hills to Breck (one of my very favorite places). Stay tuned...the next post will cover ski country. Thanks for spoiling us Dad and Diane. It was fantastic having you guys all here in our neck of the woods!

We ended our Christmas Eve with a dart competition. Dad took the prize for top dart player of the night. I took last. As you can see below, my darts were typically thrown just a bit high.

Dude got a racing vest from Rome - pretty rad!