Rad Dad

Our dude is one blessed little man. And I'm one blessed Momma. We have this unbelievably awesome man in our life. And he's all ours. It's so easy to let life go by without stopping for reminders of how blessed I am. On Father's Day I wanted to make sure my best friend knows just how much we value his steadfast ability to be dude's dad and my hubby.

We started the day hiking at a new mountain park. Dude loved throwing rocks in the river and looking for the forest's largest sticks. After we got home I had our babysitter come and hang with duder while I took Tim to the Denver luxury home tour around the city. It's rare that we get to do the things we used to do together, minus the pattering of little feet behind us:) We ended the day at the park with our friends and their baby girls.

A perfect day - thanks to my hubby for your patience, level head, loyalty, optimism, gentleness, love for our life, work ethic, faith and of course your irresistible good looks:) We love you and thanks for lovin' us too!

I couldn't end this post without giving a HUGE loving shout out to my dadio too. I can't imagine a dad more suited to be my dad. Watching how his love for me has translated to our little man has been about the coolest, most endearing thing ever. They have a special bond, those two. We love you Dad/Pappa!

My 2 Year Old is Officially 2

My sweet two year old. Pre last week.

In the past, when I've seen toddlers throwing tantrums, I would say inner sympathies for the parents, smile to myself and continue on my way. I've counted myself so blessed to have an angelic child. A child who doesn't know how to use his voice box for such awfulness. A child who wouldn't dream of being so defiant as to throw himself on the floor in a way that one would think demons had taken over his small body. A child who willingly sits in the grocery cart and sings "I've got the joy joy in my heart" as we do our shopping.

And then last week happened. Without warning. It happened. Our angel threw a tantrum. I've been excited to share with him all of his "firsts," but this one definitely bucked that trend. I looked at him as if smoke were about to exit his ears and fire out his mouth. Then I looked at Tim as if he had cure to bring the horrendous screaming to an end. He didn't. Then another thing happened. He started refusing help from anyone unless he fears for his life. "Wylan do it. Wylan's turn. Wylan see it." You want help buddy? "No way" (followed by a swat of the hand). Well, okay then!

Luckily, the weekend passed without any further anger at the world, but I'm waiting for the next tantrum to strike. I'm told by every human who has an interaction with a child over two years of age that this will now be a part of my life. My better half is able to find the humor in this new reality. After I cried over the fear that my sweet little boy was forever a thing of the past, I was able to put this all in perspective. We all have ugliness right? After all, I still throw tantrums. They just rear their ugly heads in ways other than screaming out loud the physical kicking and flailing of arms. Tim can attest to that. Well, maybe you all can.

5 Days of Rockin Good Times

Nanna & Pappa K and Aunt Kira and cousin Dylan graced us with their presence this past week. We rarely get more than 24 hours with "D" and Kira, so it was a rare treat to spend 5 full days letting the dudes get to know each other. And needless to say, Nanna and Pappa were in grandparent heaven. Below is a bullet point list of the highlights...



*Pappa throwing a bucket of water in dude's face. Dude's reaction....open mouth, followed by "No no Pappa! Giggle Giggle.
*Learning of D's mild, okay extreme, infatuation with any type of car or truck. The kid definitely knows what he wants in life. Cars and more cars.
*Watching how sweet the cousins were to each other. Although the politeness did wear off after a few days.
*Dylan learning the phrase, "Hey dude" after Uncle Tim said it every time he walked into a room.
*A heavenly morning in Evergreen, walking around the lake and letting the boys discover/torture nature around them.
*A LOT of quality car time with 5 adults and 2 toddlers in one car. Dude was gifted a spot in the "way" back of the Pilot. He was quite saddened when his seat got moved back to the front row.
*Simple things like walking to the Donut, playing at the park, taking tubs, eating together...it's all memorable when family is around.

Thanks for coming out guys! It was an awesome 5 days and we can't wait to do it again in July. We'll come your way this time:)

The Fray Day

I have about 200 photos to sort through from the past 5 awesome days with my fam, so that post will be cookin' for a while. In the meantime, I'll quickly update you on our Saturday night out with Kira and our friends, the Foremans.

Nanna and Pappa hung with the boys (dude and his cousin "D") and we hopped in Dad's cool car to go see The Fray's friends and family concert at Tim's event center. The Colorado home grown band had been rehearsing at the event center all week in preparation for their tour, so they held a "rehearsal concert" of sorts for about 1,000 of their friends and family. We were fortunate enough to be grouped into that category. Despite their skinny jeans, these guys are certainly talented and put on a great show. Not to mention that they're incredibly humble and down to earth. Go see um in concert if they come to a city near you.

Glorious Colorado

15 minutes from our house is this glorious park. Until last weekend we hadn't ever checked it out. Why? Sometimes we forget that we live in Colorado and are that close to unbelievable views and outdoor fun. We were reminded. Thought I'd share some of our rock hiking shots. Dude loved the climbing opportunities and didn't seem phased by the lingering cliffs around every corner. We were very aware.

My parents, sister-in-law and nephew arrive this morning! We're SUPER excited to hang with all of them the next 5 days. Have a great weekend all.

Backpackin' it. Yes, we're working on getting a "more dude like" backpack for the little man.

The Awesomest Park on the Planet

We made a discovery last week. I love discoveries. Especially when they're free, provide entertainment for my child and are still enjoyable for the adult age bracket. We took dude's girlyfriend Riley on a play date with our friends Megan and Jackster and BOY did we have fun. The "Choo Choo" park has it all. A $1 train ride around the park, 2 playgrounds, a river that the little tykes and big tykes alike can splash around in, tons of trees and shade to escape the hot Colorado sun, a barn complete with a petting zoo and 2 sets of bathrooms. Riley is just potty trained, so I took note of that last element. There were tons of mom types there with their youngins, but the park is so huge that you'd never know it. My kind of place! See ya again really soon "Choo Choo" park!

One fun little story for ya...A little girl smacked Riley in the face while in line waiting for the train, so naturally I was tending to her and ensuring the mortified mother that she was okay. Next to me I hear the following..."Who's child is this?" Said in a snooty, my children are perfect kind of tone. I look up to find that dude had found his way to the conductor of the train on the opposite side of the fence and was standing in the middle of the tracks trying to give his ticket to the kind man. Dude just wanted on the train and was sick of waiting in line I guess. I scooped him up, lifted him over the tracks and did my very best to keep one eye on each child from that point on. God bless parents of multiples.

Only For a Glorious Blue Cupcake...

...will the dude sacrifice the cleanliness of his dainty, silky hands. Granted, he has come leaps and bounds from his chronic fear of being messy as a baby. Being dirty is now okay as long as he can INFORM someone, somewhere in the universe that he's dirty.

Note in the video below how he tries to put his face directly IN the cupcake rather than using his hands. That clearly wasn't working, so the use of his once clean fingers was unfortunately a necessity to getting the taste of brown and blue heaven into his little mouth.

Kickin It Cabin Style

Memorial Day wouldn't be Memorial Day without a trip to the cabin. Rain or shine, it's the place to be. The Jansens are gracious enough to let our sorry Vogel selves join them year after year after year. For that, we're eternally grateful. Some of our fondest Colorado memories are based around that magical place up in the mountains. Duder loved trekking around the natural beauty of it all...we came home plenty dirty. A sure sign that tons of fun was had by all.

The Mouse in our House

Let me introduce to you dude's new found, most favorite friend. He's roughly 12 inches tall, has two unporportunately large ears, a black button nose and answers to the name "Mickey." About a week ago, duder found this small friend in the toy box upstairs and quickly decided to incorporate him into our daily activities. Mickey has to walk down each stair with us. He has to hold the fork at meal time. He has to sit next to us us in the car seat and in our stroller so he can see out. He gets his own tree swing and is pushed back and forth. His white, balloon-like hands close doors, put legos together and push balls down our ball game. He is also kissed a few times per day by his master (dude) and unfortunately by me too so as to avoid a fight if I say "no."

At the park the other day Dude stood at the base of the stairs and started yelling "Hi goooools" (girls) to the 10 year olds at the top. They asked him what his name was, to which he replied, "Mickey Mouse." They said, No, what's YOUR name?" This time he yelled, as loudly and clearly as his little voice box could muster, "MICKEY MOUSE!" Today we found Mickey Mouse in the sandbox, wet and covered in grossness. He's currently residing in the sink until dude realizes his best friend is out of commission.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Dude

What happened to this poor child's schnoz?

a). He tried to blow out a candle, unattended, and got a little too close.

b). A neighborhood dog thought it was a chew toy.

c). Too many Eskimo kisses from his adoring parents.

d). Tripped on the garden hose and landed in the window well, face down.

This is kinda fun!

e). Jammed his face into the side of the grill, while lit, to see the "hot fiya!"

f). While shaking his bootie, rolled down 5 basement stairs and landed on his face.

g). During a steep climb up the playground stairs, green ball in tow, fell off and landed in the wood chips. Face first.

h). Attempted to walk through the patio screen door one too many times.

Only one is fact, but all very possible. Cast your vote now and I'll update this minor face injury saga in an upcoming post. Can you deal with the suspense? I know...it's cruel.