Happy Sharing

Lots of happy going around these days.  I'll share a bit of it with you. 

*Grandpa V came for a visit on Thursday and met little Squirt.  She shared her very best smiles and coos with him and captured his heart.  Grandpa taught Duder how to use a wooden compass (which came equipped with a outside only whistle).  It was super fun to watch our kiddos interact with their Grandpa.  We even got a trip to the park in the blissful 70 degree temps while he was here. 

*We switched Squirt to a phase 2 bottle nipple, which has cut feeding times from 40 minutes to 15 minutes.  Hallelujah for bigger nipple holes.  I know how that sounds.  Couldn't resist. 

*Speaking of Squirt, she has been taking naps, on her back, in her crib lately.  This gives us hope that she'll transition to sleeping that way at night, rather than in her trusty car seat.  Yes, she sleeps in her car seat.  You do what works friends.  And THAT works. 

*Nana is coming tonight!  Hip hip for Nana time.

*Duder's imagination has been running rampid lately.  We adore watching his little brain turning and turning and coming up with scenarios that have us laughing out loud on a regular basis.  I could just eat the kid up.  As I type this he's upstairs making a "turtle" out of his blankets and stuffed "aminals."  There's also a little red dinosaur that now resides under his bed and comes out to play from time to time.  The middle of the night is NOT my favorite time to greet said dinosaur, but luckily that's only happened a couple times.

We're on our way to party with the Syers now, so I'll sign off.  There's taco salad to eat, wine to drink and 5 kids to rally.  Peace out.

Lucky Number 90

We had a hunch that those squeezable cheeks were progressing in size.  We were right.  Squirt's 8 week well visit displayed 90% ratings in weight, height and head size.  She's 12 pounds 6 oz and 23.5 in.  That's up for being in the 70% during her last visit.  Now, we're not quite used to these proportions....Dude was 10% in weight and 90% in head, so we're more inclined toward totally unproportionate children with bald egg heads.  But I have to say, this little chunker has won our hearts with her double, correction, triple chin, double back neck and 8 thigh rolls.  Daily baths are almost necessary to relieve her rolls of unwanted milk remains, lint and who knows what else the wind blows in there.

The doctor was more than impressed with her growth, her stellar sleeping habits, smiley nature and tracking objects.  That's the 8 week report card and she passed.  With flying colors.  

How I Love This Boy

2 Month Old Baby Girl

Today was a good day.  For multiple reasons.  First, our punky girl is 2 whole months old.  8 weeks.  56 days.  However you look at it, it's a milestone for our Squirt.  Look at her.  She's not so teeny tiny anymore.  Especially in the facial region.  She was NOT happy with me for forcing that dress, tights and undershirt on her.  That was all after the first adorable dress we (she) modeled.  Reason #2?  My better half is home again for a 3 day business trip.  Reason #3?  It's March.  Officially.  Even though we could get dumped on with 2 feet of white stuff overnight and snotty noses linger, it's still a sign of warmer and happier days of outdoor fun to come.  Reason #4?  My Mom is coming to town next weekend and Tim's mom is coming in April.  Love looking forward to company.     

Back to the aforementioned Tim traveling business.  I'm not used to this husband leaving stuff, especially with 2 tykes, so I was a bit freaked about the reality of being alone with my scary little people.  But we all survived and actually did quite well.  Squirt only woke up to eat once per night and Dude chose to stay in bed, sans scary nightmares about porcupines eating his face, while Dad was gone too.  It definitely helped that our buddy Holden hosted a sleepover for Duder one of the nights.  THANK YOU Jennifer.  And thanks to all my sweet sweet friends for the moral and social support:)  What would I do without all my veteran "husband travels all the time" friends?

I'll leave you with 2 more scrumptious pictures of my beauties.  Check out Squirt looking at her bro.  She is quite enamoured with him, which is darling.  He is so gentle and is so in love with his little Sissy.  Melts a Mom's heart.

6.5 Weeks Baby!

We're almost to the 7 week mark. Our goal was to make it to 6 weeks without a major meltdown (for Tim or myself) and we successfully reached that goal. Granted, there were plenty mini meltdowns, but nothing that sent us to the loony bin or divorce court. Our little angel girl is getting much more animated, super smiley, more and more predictable and continues to sleep like a champ. 8.25 hours this weekend and 7 last night. Can't complain about that punky girl. Her awake time is typically spent like this (see the video below). She adores being on her back and looking up at the ceiling and lights. Have you ever tried it from their perspective? It's actually quite interesting. I've got a lot of time on my hands these days.

Side note....it's March next week! That's a very fun and exciting fact for me. It's the start of good, springy things to come. And it means my daughter will be immunized, causing less stress about exposing her to the germy outside world. And my son will turn 4. Time. It's here and it's gone and before you know it your kid's turning 4. I'm trying my darnedest not to wish this time away with Squirt. It's not coming back after all. Before I know it, she's gonna be 4 too. That's my life lesson for the day. I know, so profound.

All that N' the Kitchen Sink

We found a way to bathe Squirt, minus the drama.  In Dude-like fashion, she HATES that plastic excuse for a baby tub.  But the sink seems to be meeting her standards.  And Dude loves it too, given the fact that she doesn't scream bloody murder, forcing him to hide under his covers. 

Love Day at Casa Vogel

Lucky for me, Tim and I have never been bit by the cupid arrow.  Valentines Day is pretty much your average day of the month at our house.  We might parooze the card aisle at Target or King Sooper and find something sarcastic and slightly naughty, but that sums it up.  This non-valentinesy tradition made this year's love day a grand ole day.  How did we spend it?  Well, let's see......

Squirt and I walked down to Starbucks and had a date with Delaney and Maria in the morn.  My coffeeish drink got cold as I focused on feeding Squirt's endless need for powdered milk.  Then my cellular rang and the screen announced that it was Dude's preschool.  That meant one of two things.  He puked or he did something super bad.  I answered with trembling hands and was told that.....

"Dude was having quite a rough morning.  He spit at library time and was asked to sit in the "thinking chair."  He very boldly told us that he did NOT want to think.  That got him in more trouble and he ended up in the hall having a tantrum on the floor.  Now, has he been lacking on sleep lately?  This is not like him to behave in this way."  I tried my hardest now to laugh and I came to the realization that I was so relieved that he wasn't puking that it didn't really bother me that he was kicking on the floor.  Better them than me is my new mentality.  

Dude came home from preschool and day care with a rather ridiculous amount of candy, little toys and valentines. Who were the jerks who gave nothing but a paper valentine? Yeah, that would be us. Who knew that all these parents would be bizerk over love day? I guess we know for next year. A simple monster truck valentine with Dude's name on it is not gonna cut it.

We ate in typical fashion...in shifts while one of us carried Squirt around the kitchen, football style, gave the kids much needed baths (one screamed the entire time, one did not) and I was in bed by 9:15. How's that for romance? Better luck next year babe. 


These last super fun shots are from our friend Hadley's first valentinesy b-day party.  They own a photo booth (Shutterbooth) company and set one up for the occasion.  Squirt's first photo booth experience was quite exhilarating.  Slept through the whole darn thing.  That wraps up love day over here.  Hope yours was just as memorable.

Monster Trucks & Such

On Sunday, while Nana and I kept watch over Squirt and baby Landon, the Syers gang, Tim and Dude and Uncle Marky and Nolan went to none other than, the MONSTER TRUCK SHOW.  We've been talking this up for a week and Dude finally got his moment in the sun.  Away from baby Squirt, away from nagging and even got to skip his nap.  Quite a day for Dad and Dude.  They had a blast all together.  The kiddos were forced to wear headphone due to the monster noise.  He came home all riled up and had sweet dreams of trucks running over over trucks and crazy things of the like.   

Thank goodness for our little man's clown nature.  It keeps us laughing these days in the midst of chaos.  I wish I could freeze him for a while.  Below are some Dudeisms for the week. 
Dude's prayer at Qdoba..."Tank you for our food and our airport and Baby Sissy to come to our house and be with Daddy to feel better after da naughty stairs fell him."  (Yes, Tim did fall down the stairs a week ago.  It left a lasting impression on Duder.) 

Dude is dramatically trying to get my attention one night and my patience was less than stellar.  He says, "Mom, please stop saying "Ok, Rylan, Ok Rylan.  Over and over and over."

We're driving down a busy road and a man is out on the street wearing a statue of liberty outfit, holding a sign for a tax company.  Dude says, "Mom, did you see dat weird man in dat dress wearing super pointy hair?"

Dude is riding his tricycle down the sidewalk "super dooper fast" and I tell him that a police car is coming.  He violently throws his feet down and comes to an abrupt stop.  I ask him why he did that and he says, "Mom, I don't want to get a speed ticket like you."

 Looking down on the Monster action.

I would say that I was jealous to miss this festive occasion, but....I wasn't. 

Oh Sweet Nana Time

Nana, bless her heart, came out to Denver to oversee our Dude's 3 year old happenings while we were in Wyoming for Squirt's birth.  She was here for 9 days and did NOT get to meet her sweet granddaughter.  How sad is that?  Super sad.  Well, she finally met Squirt, face to face, this weekend.  And it was worth the wait.  Squirt was a smiley little dear for her Nana.  They bonded and Nana fell.in.love.  Dude definitely got his Nana fill too.  We were pleasantly surprised that he didn't act out at the fact that Nana shared her love and attention with Squirt.  He willingly handed her over for feedings and play time.

One of the highlights of the weekend?  Nana allowed (forced) Tim and me to go out to dinner on Saturday night.  8:45pm.  Just the two of us.  No kids.  No diapers.  No poop.  No whining.  That was a luxury - one that we needed in a big way.  Thank you Nana.  It's amazing what an hour of uninterrupted time can do for a marriage.

It's Monday night now and I'm trying not to think about how much Nana  fun we had.  It hurts my heart until the next time we get to visit.  Fortunately, we do pretty well with frequent visits.  Just wish it wasn't an airplane ride away.  Thanks for coming out and sharing in our new little fam Nana.  You're a blessing.  How's that for some Monday sap? 

Bonding time at the Aquarium.

Nana quite enjoyed paroozing Squirt's closet, in search of the cutest 5 week old outfits she could find.  We try to get her out of PJ's every day.  A girl needs to feel ready for the day, after all. 

Check out the sweater friends.  Cotton cuteness.

An "Us" Update

I'm happy to report that we have survived the zero degree temps our lovely Denver has offered as of late.  Squirt is far too little and fragile to be carted around in a bear suite and 5 blankets on top of her, so we've hung tough.  At home.  For many many days.  We're jumping for joy that it'll be in the 60s this weekend.  Fresh, non-frozen air.  It's a beautiful thing. 

Today we kicked it in high hear, with the help of Nana (yeah Nana's here!) and visited the Aquarium.  Duder sporadically gazed at each tank and ran more than he stood still while Nana lingered behind.  She LOVES all this aquatic, so this was a perfect choice for our Friday morning outing.  Squirt slept soundly in her stroller and thankfully didn't scream the whole way home out of hunger.  I kinda forgot to pack a bottle.  Mom of the year.

Squirt is doing fabulous.  She has been on her very best and cutest behavior since Nana arrived last night.  She did her her 7 hour stretch overnight!  Yeeee Hawww!  Although Dude lovingly made up for that by rising at 5:30am to greet the very dark morning (and his Nana).  We're finally starting to really get to know this little 5 week old baby girl - her likes and dislikes.  She dislikes being held like a baby.  Likes being held like a football.  Dislikes her passie when she's mad or hungry.  Likes the passy when she's calmly falling asleep.  Dislikes her brother forcefully kissing her noggin.  Likes when he keeps his distance and makes cooing noises at her.  Imagine that.  Dislikes sleeping on her back.  Likes sleeping on her tummy.  Don't tell our pediatrician.  Life has become much more routine as of late, which makes Tim and I happy campers.          

End note...we have so many FANtastic Amy shots to share with all you lovely people, so I'm trying to post them in small doses.  Here's our sampling for the day.