Abbie Meets Santa

I had a feeling that she would react this way.  I mean, she is my daughter and all.  :)

Santa 2010

Video of the Week

A view into our home Christmas morning. Technically this was Abbie's 2nd Christmas but the first one that she enjoyed now that she is a bit older.

Christmas Morning 2010 from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.

Dress Rehearsal...FAIL!!

I put on Abbie's Christmas dress last night.  I thought she looked absolutely adorable in it but she seemed to think differently.  Our plans are to doll her up on Friday night, take her to sit on Santa's lap and then head to Christmas Eve mass.  I'm hoping that she doesn't give me the same attitude when we put the dress on for the real thing. 

I so should have made this our Christmas card this year.

Video of the Week

We acquired a cute little kitty a couple of weeks ago.  Isn't she the cutest little thing?  Even the dogs like her!!

Pretty Kitty from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.

Two and a Half Minutes with Abbie

During the first year of Abbie's life, I took pictures of her next to the same bear on her monthly birthday.  They are posted on the right side of my blog if you would like to see them.  Everyone seemed to enjoy watching the bear shrink right in front of their eyes.  So for the second year of her life, I am going to begin a monthly series called, Two and a Half Minutes to Abbie.  I give all the credits to Pacing the Panic Room. They do a weekly series called, Two and a Half Minutes with Tessa.  (Isn't Tessa adorable?)  These people are complete strangers to me, I just happened to stumble onto their blog one day.  I really liked the idea and thought I would run with it on my blog.  It will be a great tool for Abbie's development over the 2nd year of her life. 

So I present to you the Two and a Half Minutes with Abbie, 13 mos.

Two and a Half Minutes with Abbie from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.

The one time my husband decides to take my picture.

My wonderful husband who never takes pictures decided to take this shot this morning while I was sleeping.

• Yes, that is me sleeping next to my Dachshund, Frank.
• Yes, we do allow our pets to sleep with us.  Every night.  They are great at cuddling and keeping the bed warm.
• Yes, that is a Tigger pillowcase.  Don't be hating.  I have been a fan of Winnie the Pooh for many, many years.
• Yes, that is a major breakout near my mouth.  You would think a 31 year old would be done with acne by now. 
• Yes, Frank does take over my husband's spot when he gets up.  He even sleeps with his head on the pillow and his body covered with the blanket.  See how I could have easily mistaken him for my husband?

Video of the Week

I know, I know.  It's been one month to the day since I have posted a video of the week.  You see, I was busy planning the best birthday party a one year old could have.  Then I went a week long Nebraska vacation for Thanksgiving.  While on vacation I produced this video while on the road with my husband's laptop.  I had every intention to post it when we got back.  But I encountered a problem getting the program to spell my daughters name correctly in the credits.  "Abbie" in Windows Movie Maker changed to "Abbi" when I published it in Windows Media Player.  So after numerous attempts at completely redoing the credits, changing the format of the credits, completely changing the font throughout the whole video, I finally said SCREW IT and just added her last name to the credits.  Wah la!!  Problem fixed!! 

These pictures were taken back on November 6th at the home of Stephanie Phillips.  She is a wonderful and talented woman who takes THE.BEST.PICTURES of anyone I know and she is very affordable. 

I hope you enjoy this video and I promise to get my act together and start posting videos again on a weekly basis.

Vogt Family Pictures from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.

Things I learned on our vacation...

*Nebraska has one of the best state motto's.

*The boat scene in Weekend at Bernie’s is possibly the funniest part of the movie.

*Onawa, IA has the widest Main St in the USA.

*The toll bridge going over the Missouri river in Decatur, no longer gives you a coin for your return back over the bridge.

*It takes twice as long to get Abbie to sleep while on vacation.

*Abbie does not sleep the whole night through while in a Pack n Play.

*The shittiest roads in Iowa are better maintained then the best roads in Tulsa.

*Never trust your Garmin in telling you what time you will arrive at your destination. It doesn’t take into account speeding.

*You never feel you have washed all the soap off of your body when you are showering in soft water.

*87 Octane fuel is higher in price in Nebraska then it is in Oklahoma.

*My grandmother’s Boston Terrier was born in 1900.

*Always remember to take the pans out of Mom’s oven before preheating it.

*It is the “ass-crack of dawn” not the “crack ass of dawn”.

*Never blog late at night.

*People yell at their kids at Walmart's in Nebraska too.

*I do not like stuffed green peppers, but I will eat Stuffed Green Pepper soup.

*Never be tempted to buy cheap wine at Walmart just because you can.

*I can not let a horse eat treats out of my bare hand.

*I miss & love my father very much and wish things were like they used to be.

*A self propelled vacuum is the way to go.

*A Prairie Fire shot isn’t nearly as bad as people make it out to be.

*Abbie did NOT inherit her mother’s hatred for chocolate.

*Abbie DID inherit her mother’s love for Taco John’s and Wendy’s vanilla Frostys.

*If my memory serves me right, this was the first time I had seen my favorite (sorry Kevin) stepbrother, Dan, in person since his wedding in 2004. 

*And the first time I had ever met my handsome nephew, Cael.

*Burger King now has tiaras along with their crowns.

*A one year old gets tired of sitting in her car seat about 3 hours into the 8 hour car ride home.

*A Honda Element isn’t the best vehicle to drive in high, gusty winds.

*One can get car sick from riding in a car with a fussy child and gusty winds.

*It takes about 15 min to go one mile when you are going 5 mph.

*Charlie did approximately 85% of the driving on this trip.

*The drive home always seems twice as long as the drive to Nebraska.

*Always remember to take out your trash before you leave on a week long vacation.

*After being away from home, there is nothing like crawling into your own bed for a good night's sleep.

12 Month Check Up

Disclaimer: I have been a bad mommy blogger. I had typed up all of these posts in Word while on the road for 16 hours traveling over Thanksgiving and had great hopes to get them all posted last week, but it just didn't happen. So this week I will be flooding my blog with all sorts of great updates and stories. I hope you don't get tired of my ramblings by the end of the week!! 

On Friday, November 19th, I took Abbie in for her 12 month check up. I picked such an awesome Pediatrician and office. During the first couple years of life, we made a lot of visits to this office to check Abbie’s weight so we became familiar with the nine physicians in the office. But we always enjoy it when it is Dr. Zetik who we get to see. He is such nice, caring man and he isn’t bad on the eyes either. I also found another reason to like him so much. In an effort to save the planet, he no longer uses exam paper on his exam tables. Being one that started doing a better job at being green this year, it just excites me when I see others doing the same. Although they did still need to use the exam paper to record Abbie’s length.

 

Here are her 12 month stats: 

*Length: 32 ½ inches (greater than 97th percentile)

*Weight: 21 lbs, 10 oz (60th percentile)

*Head Circumference: 47 ½ cm (97th percentile)

She is now old enough to stand on the scale to get her weight checked. It was so cute seeing my little girl standing all alone in her diaper on the big girl scale. She also had to get four shots on this visit. Hepatitis A, Chicken Pox, Measles, Mumps & Ruebella, and the 2nd round of her Flu vaccine.


She was not a happy camper after being stuck in the leg four times but once the nurse put some Band-aids and Mommy got her dressed, she was back to the smiley, adorable little girl. I gave her some Ibuprofen before her shots to help with the pain and then took her to daycare after her appointment. Her sitter said that she did just fine all day and wasn’t crabby at all. I’m such a lucky mom to have such a tough little cookie.

Party Fit for a Princess – Part One of Two

Over the last few weeks, we have celebrated Abbie’s Birthday with two birthday parties. It was not my intention to do this. I just wanted one big party with family & friends during our trip to Nebraska over Thanksgiving. But we have met so many wonderful people here that have watched Abbie grown up over the past year that it just wouldn’t be right to leave them out of the festivities.

 

The first party was held on November 14th, two days before Abbie’s birthday. We had it at our house and were lucky to have a Sous Chef cook all of the food for the party. We had to pay for all of the food but he prepared it all for free. Okay, so what if he is my brother-in-law. Having him taking there to prepare all of the food, took so much stress off of my hands. And the food was great!!

Menu

Shredded Pork Sandwiches

Homemade Potato Chips

Cold Spinach Dip

Coleslaw

Lemonade

Chocolate Cupcakes

Strawberry Cupcakes

And if having a Sous Chef wasn’t good enough, he brought my nephew with him. A fifteen year old who can get bored very easily. So I had him help me with the decorations. Homemade decorations that were made with love. Decorations that included cutting letters out with a razor blade. Decorations that included using spray glue that in turn would be over sprayed on my dining room table. Decorations that involved folding, cutting and fluffing tissue paper to make awesome pom poms. Decorations that involved positioning the birthday banner just right over the fireplace. Decorations that involved drinking three to four glasses of wine and not getting to bed until 3 am the day of the party. As much of a pain in the ass these decorations were, I would do it all over again next year. Although I probably won’t wait until the night before to get them completed.

Another thing I probably wouldn’t do is waiting until the day of the party to clean my house. When one goes to bed at 3 am, one doesn’t wake up as early as she would like to get everything cleaned and in order for the party. Abbie’s sitter was a lifesaver and watched Abbie for me at 10 am and just brought her down to the party. I was cleaning my house right up until the party started and I still didn’t get everything cleaned that I wanted to. I hopped in the shower at 12:55 and hurried to make myself look half way presentable for our guests.

The party was a huge success. I had our friends set up their laptop in our living room so the guests could watch Abigail Paige Vogt – A Year in Review. Then we dined on all of the scrumptious food prepared by my culinary skilled brother in law, opened a bunch of wonderful and noisy gifts and concluded the party by singing Happy Birthday to the Guest of Honor and enjoyed some cupcakes. It was a great day celebrating the first year of life of a special little girl with a superb group of family & friends. That evening, Abbie was on cloud nine playing with all of her new toys and I was pretty pooped and ready to pass out. I was so happy that I would be getting a two week break before having to do this all over again.

To Be Continued…

Thankful on a Thanksgiving Thursday

A family in good health.

Having exactly four days of vacation left so I could spend the entire week of Thanksgiving with my family & friends in Nebraska.

A family of great cooks.

Losing seven pounds before Thanksgiving so I could enjoy myself without counting calories on vacation.

In laws that enjoy drinking wine during the holidays.

A daughter that likes to take naps while driving long distances.

Long stretches of highway with no patrolman in sight so we can get to Thanksgiving dinner on time.

Friends who like Jose Quervo.

Family bonding at the crack ass of dawn on Black Friday.

Two energetic dogs who miss us terribly while we are gone so they become destructive while alone at Grandma & Grandpa’s house.

An amazing husband who doesn’t mind driving the two lane highways of Nebraska and Iowa.

Mommy's Little Turkey

Did I tell you how much I love my husband??

We have been on vacation this week and it has been extra hard getting Abbie back on her routine.  The first night here, she didn't get to bed until 10:30 and that was after we had to put her into bed with us and let her wiggle and fuss herself to sleep.  Then last night she drank her milk and was ready to go off onto dreamland until she was awoken by her cousins who were getting ready to leave after having a family dinner that evening.  I told Charlie that I would get her to sleep.  FAIL!!  She squirmed and screamed and cried for a good 30 minutes.  Finally Charlie came in and swept her up and it's like she melted in his arms.  She instantly stopped crying and soothed herself to sleep on his shoulder.  Then he carried her upstairs to our bedroom like he was her knight in shining armor and laid her ever so gently in the pack and play where she slept soundly for the next nine hours.  I just sat there in awe.  I just don't know how he does it and probably never will.  I will just sit back and thank the Lord above that Abbie and I have this man in our life.

A year of tears, laughs, milestones & memories...

Dear Abbie,

It’s so hard to put into words what I’m feeling today. I think back to a year ago and how my life changed forever the moment I heard your tiny little cry. You were a long time in the making. Daddy & I went back and forth on whether or not we wanted to have a baby. I just couldn’t see living a life alone without a child. You have blessed both me and your daddy in so many ways. Yes it was hard at first. The late night feedings, the adjustment to being a full time working mother. It was really tough. And at times I thought to myself, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ Motherhood is probably THE MOST challenging job I have ever had. There are days when I have my A game and some days I just want to throw in the towel. But then you crack me one of those smiles. The kind that melts my heart and gives me the reason to carry on.

The other night when I laid you to sleep, I thought back to when you were a newborn and you were so tiny and helpless in my arms. I would bundle you up in your blanket and rock you to sleep. Now you have outgrown my arms and your legs are no longer confined to a blanket but instead sprawled out on my lap. It hurts me to know that you aren’t a baby anymore but becoming Momma’s big girl. I hope you will let me rock you until your feet hit the ground like your Grandma Raine did for me when I was younger.

This morning your daddy went in late into work so we were both able to wake you up on your birthday. Your daddy picked you up and you laid your little head on his shoulder and didn’t move. I just wanted to cry. You are definitely Daddy’s little girl. You have changed your daddy into a completely different man. He has never been one that liked babies. He was completely fine with living a life without children. And then you came along and he did a complete 180. His face lights up when he sees you. It just tugs at my heartstrings when I listen to you giggle as your daddy gives you a bath. He does everything in his power to protect you. You definitely have your daddy wrapped around that tiny little finger, Abbie. Keep up the good work.

It’s been quite the year for us. So many tears. So many laughs. So many milestones. So many memories. I wish I could put life on hold to soak it all in. But I have a lifetime to spend with you and make many more memories. I love you Abbie and hope your 2nd, 10th, and 60th year of life will be as joyful as this past year has been.

                                                                  All my love,

                                                                  Mommy

Happy Birthday My Sweet Little Girl!!



Photo taken by Stephanie Phillips



Abbie & I’s favorite lullaby.

The same lullaby that her Grandma sung to me.



You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away.

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping

 I dreamed I held you in my arms

But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken

So I hung my head and I cried.



You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away.

Please don't take my sunshine away.

Please don't take my sunshine away.

For the audio version, click here.



Video of the Week

Today marks the beginning of Abbie's Birthday week!!  I hope to have lots of posts for you this week.  We start with a very special video I have been working on for hours on end for the last week.  It is the largest Abbie & Mommy Production I have ever worked on.


Ladies & Gentlemen....I present to you...

Abigail Paige Vogt - A Year in Review

Abigail Paige Vogt - A Year in Review from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.

My first attempt at cake decorating

Keeping up to speed with my latest craze to become the next Martha Stewart, I decided to take a whirl at cake decorating.  Tomorrow we are going to have family/Abbie's 1st birthday pictures taken.  The last set of pictures are going to be of Abbie going to town with her birthday cake.  Well I have never been a fan of the cheap smash cakes from Wal-mart.  And I'm not going to spend a butt load of money on someone to make it for me.  So why not make it myself!! 

First of all, the cakes didn't come out of the pan like I expected.  We had quite a mess on our hands in getting it look leveled and ready to frost.  Then I didn't do the best at frosting the cakes so I had Charlie take over and he did a suburb job!!  Well that was until one of the sides decided to not cooperate (as you will see in the picture).  I did all of the piping.  Charlie wanted to do something fancy but I told him since neither of us have any experience in cake decorating, that we should stick with the simple dot.  Although the dots were looking more like Hershey kisses so I had to go back and take off all of the peaks.  Then I tried to fix the whoopsie that Charlie encountered.  I made it look a little better and tried to cover it up with the piping as well as I could but it's still pretty noticeable.

But for the first time at decorating a cake, I don't think we did too shabby at all!!  Who knows.  With a little practice, I may just become so good that Duff will hire me to become one of his cake decorators at Charm City Cakes!!

Now it's time to go clean my kitchen.  Why can't there be a fairy that comes in and cleans your kitchen while you are sleeping?!?

Video of the Week

I apologize for the lapse in video posts.  Last weekend was busy with party planning and preparing my house for company this last weekend.  I hope you will forgive me.  I made sure to make up with it with this week's video.

Abbie Eating in her Sleep from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.

No tricks...just one adorable treat!!

This year Abbie got to celebrate her first Halloween.  Trying to keep up with Martha Stewart, the homemaker in me really wanted to make Abbie's costume.  But I never took Home Economics in high school and can hardly sew on a button.  Charlie's mother is a seamstress so I have never had a reason to learn how sew. I don't even own a sewing machine until one was donated to me by my mother in law and delivered two days before Halloween.  I figured a Halloween costume as my first sewing project that needed to be completed in two days was just not going to happen.  So I took the easy route and bought Abbie's costume.





MINNIE MOUSE!!

The costume was 12-18 mos but was on a little bit of the tight side.  It was almost impossible to squeeze her into it and definitely wasn't made for tall girls like my daughter.  Thank goodness she had tights on or her tooshie would have gotten cold hanging out. Her little dress shoes had a slight wedge to them and Abbie stumbled as she walked in them.  And the ears...she hated the ears!!  I'm not exactly sure how I got her to keep them on long enough for this picture.  The minute she felt the headband going over her head, she would rip it off.  I wish I knew how to sew so I could have sewn them onto some ponytail holders and I could have attached them to her pigtails.  Mommy definitely didn't think this one out when she was planning out Abbie's First Halloween costume. 

Abbie got all sorts of candy.  Too bad the poor girl only has 2 1/2 teeth to enjoy it.  I'm afraid that Mommy & Daddy may have to enjoy it for her!!  Her cousins came down to visit for Halloween so she had lots of fun going door to door with them Trick or Treating.  Maybe next year she may know how to actually say Trick or Treat.  I was pretty disappointed with the neighborhoods we went trick or treating to.  Back in the day when I used to go trick or treating, almost everyone had their lights on and you scored big time on candy.  Hardly anyone in our neighborood were passing out candy.  Are people just afraid to open their door to anyone these days, even on Halloween?  Or are they just "Boo Humbugs"??  Next year we are definitely going to hit up the festive neighborhoods.  And I'm going to make sure that Abbie's costume is a lot more comfortable & enjoyable!! 

Vogt Family - Halloween 2010

Got my Hair Did

Bye bye Messy Mom Bun...

Hello shorter, hipper, bob with lots of color!!

So what do you think? Meredith said that my hair is starting to look more like my mom's.

Not a way to start a Tuesday

MONDAY:
9:36 pm:  Climbed into bed.  Excited that I was going to get 8 1/2 hrs of glorious sleep.

11:50 pm:  Woke up wide awake.  Hot.  Uncomfortable.  Arm throbbing.  Need to open window.  Need water.

TUESDAY:
12:30 am: House alarm gives us warning that it's about to go off.  Somehow the door leading out to the garage was not latched and it opened.  Thank goodness we turned it off before the siren went off.

1:00 am:  After tossing and turning, I finally drift off to sleep. 

6:00 am:  Alarm goes off.

6:30 am:  Finally got out of bed.  30 minutes to get ready before I needed to wake up Abbie.  Why didn't I just get out of bed when my alarm went off?

7:00 am:  Frank wanted to go outside but that isn't part of the morning routine.  Dogs go out at 7:15.

7:06 am:  Frank peed on floor near the back door.  Really?  You couldn't wait 9 more minutes?  Note to self: when Frank is whining by the door...LET HIM OUT!! 

7:06 am:  Let both dogs outside.

7:07 am:  Sopped up dog pee off of floor.

7:08 am:  Wishing that I didn't adopt a beagle.  Odie is going to wake the neighbors with his howling this early in the morning. 

7:10 am:  Broke Abbie's highchair tray trying to pull her over to me to feed her.

7:17 am:  Let Frank in.  Called for Odie to come in. No response.

7:20 am:  While getting packing everything up for the day, I noticed that Abbie had puked on her self and is playing with it.

7:24 am:  Changed Abbie into another outfit.

7:27 am:  Called for Odie to come in again.  Still no response.  Slammed the back door and really wish I had a dog that listened.

7:35 am:  Packed makeup to put on at work.  Halloween is still 5 days away and I don't want to scare any of my co-workers.

7:38 am:  Went outside with the doggie treat jar to lure Odie inside.  Success!! 

7:46 am:  Loaded Abbie up in the car and realized that most of my Halloween decorations are strewn throughout the yard.  UGH!!  Dang wind!!

7:48 am:  Walked Abbie up to daycare and heard her grind her teeth.  Stuck my finger in her mouth to make her stop and she BIT ME!! 

8:10 am:  Arrived at work.  One of these days I will learn how to manage my time in the morning and arrive to work on time.

Please tell me that this is the end to my horrible day.  I don't need to break down crying at work.  Although if it's going to happen, please do it before I put on my makeup.

Walk this Way

Ah, Fall has arrived.  One of my two favorite seasons (Spring & Fall).  The weather finally cools down after putting up with months of the dreaded southern heat.  The leaves begin to change.  The cool evenings where you wrap yourself up in a blanket, make yourself a warm mug of cider and sit around the fire pit roasting marshmallows. 

With the weather being so mild lately (mid 70's & 80's), I decided to get back into my walking routine.  I just couldn't do it during the summer b/c a) I couldn't find the time and b) it was so dang hot & humid.  But now that it's cooler out, I have been spending my lunch hours walking 30 minutes with coworkers.  Then when I get home, I load Abbie up in her stroller and we walk the neighborhood for 30 minutes.  It is such a good way to relax after a hard day at work.

Abbie loves going for walks.  There is so much to see and most of the time she is sound asleep by the time we get home.  I got her a new stroller.  The one I had from before was okay for walks but it was so big & bulky.  It took up so much room in the Element and it was such a pain to navigate around the stores in the mall.  So I found this smaller, lightweight umbrella stroller on sale for $100 at Babies R Us.  With my coupon + tax, I spent $86.  And it's wonderful for tall people like me.  No need to hunch over while pushing it.  My favorite features is the cup holder and a basket down below.  And it also comes with a matching tote bag.  I would tell you if you were in the hunt for a good stroller to go buy this one but I just went on Babies R Us' website and I can't find it on their website anymore.  So I'm glad I snatched it up when I did!!  I did find it on Amazon.com but it's double in price from what I paid at BRU.

Here is a then & now shot of our walks that I put together on Picnik.  Can you believe that eight months lapsed between these pictures?  Where did my baby go!?!

Video of the Week

Wow, the weekend came and went and so did Monday!!  I spent my weekend painting the office.  Ever since getting rid of cable, it has become the most habitable room in the house.  And it's the only room left in the house with the original paint when we moved in.  It's the blah, neutral flat paint that showed every little smudge & scrape.  And now the walls are a bold & beautiful blue.  I love it.  I should write a blog and give you a little tour of my house b/c every room is bursting with color!! Charlie says that we have almost every color of the rainbow throughout our house.  I just have to somehow figure out to incorporate indigo.  Any ideas?


My weekend entailed cleaning out the room, painting until 2 am (because that is the time of the day where you can get things done without interruptions) and putting the room back together again.  I wanted to make pumpkin cookies for my bosses to take in as a belated Boss' Day present today but it just didn't happen.  Maybe sometime this week I will get around to baking them.  Oh and I also stopped breastfeeding this weekend.  That whole ordeal is a blog in itself.  So stay tuned. 


Anyway, here is this week's video of the week.  It is a short little interview with Abbie that I took last week.  She is showing off all of her skills that she has learned and I'm trying to teach her new skills that she can show off in the future. 

Interview with Abbie from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.

Video of the Week

Friday evening was so beautiful that I swung by and got some sandwiches after work then loaded up the family (minus the dogs) and headed to the park. We had a little picnic then went over to the playground to take Abbie on the swings. She loves to sit out on the glider on our porch but that is when she is securely seated in her parents lap. As you can see by this video, she isn't too sure of what to think of this big mammoth swing. She isn't freaking out but she doesn't really seem to be digging it either. And I always say how fast my baby girl is growing up but when we put her in this swing, she looked so tiny!!

Swing, Swing from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.

Video of the Week

My baby girl is walking!!  It may only be a few steps now but pretty soon she's going to be running everywhere!!  STOP GROWING UP SO DAMN FAST, KID!!

First Steps from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.

Video of the Week

I finally turned off my A/C!!  Yes folks, I believe fall has finally arrived in Oklahoma.  It's about time since the first day of fall was last Thursday!!  I can't wait to watch my electric bill plummet.  :)  Of course that means that pretty soon my gas bill will skyrocket.  Seems as if Spring and Autumn get the short end of the stick when it comes to seasons.  We go straight from hot and humid to cold and blustery with about a month of mild temps in between.

Anyway, back to the video.  I turned off my A/C yesterday, opened up the windows in the house and turned on the attic fan so we could get some air circulating in our house.  It was so nice enjoying a nice cool breeze throughout the house.  Here we have Abbie and Frank conversing at the screen door.  Looks as if I'm going to have to figure out how to lock this screen door.  I think Frank is warning me, "Mom...hurry...Abbie is going to escape!!"


Hey Abbie, can you let me in?? from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.


**REMINDER** 
This is the last week that you can vote for Abbie in the Gerber Generation Next Star contest.  So please go vote now and make sure you vote daily for the rest of the week.  She is very close to 200 votes!!

Video of the Week

They have been best buds since she was a few days old when brought her home from the hospital.  He has been her protector and as you can see, loves to give her rotten kisses!!


Best Friends from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.



And don't forget to go vote for Abbie on Gerber's website. 
http://www.gerber.com/photo/?entryid=87374&/#/detail/

Pimping out my daughter

So I have finally done it.  I entered Abbie into a baby contest.  My mother in law has been telling me about different baby contests but I always forget to submit her photo until it's too late.  Well, I got on the bandwagon when I saw this contest.  I mean who wouldn't want to win their child a $25,000 college scholarship?  And winning a Flip camera wouldn't be too bad either!!

Voting began at the beginning of September and continues for the rest of the month.  Currently she is at 117 votes.

So won't you please go vote for Abbie in the Gerber Generation Next Star contest?  One vote per day per email address and computer.

http://www.gerber.com/photo/?entryid=87374&/#/detail/

Video of the Week

During my 2 week absence, I neglected to post a video of the week.  So today I give you something extra special, an Abbie & Mommy Production.

It's not the beach in California but it's our little get away for when we need to cool off in this hot summer heat.  And with summer coming to an end, this was one of Abbie & I's last pool parties. 


My Lil California Girl from Megan Vogt on Vimeo.

Don't worry, I'm not lost.

So I’m sure you have been wondering…where is Megan? It’s been almost two weeks since her last blog. You were ready to send out a search party for me, weren’t you? Don’t worry, I’m still here. I haven’t been hospitalized or been on some exotic vacation where I sit on the beach sipping on Margaritas and having some young male apply lotion to my pasty white skin. I think I would blind the poor lad and scar him for life with my giggly, post baby body. But I do have an excuse for the long absence. I have been playing hostess with the mostess. Last week was a busy week in the Vogt household. My steppy type father made a visit on the 30th. He is a truck driver and we had found out the day before that he had to drop off and pick up a load nearby. He left his truck in the Wal-Mart parking lot and came and spent the evening with his favorite (whoops, did I let that slip) granddaughter. Abbie wasn’t too sure what to think of him. She has been going through stranger danger these days. But about a good 40 min later, she & Grandpa B were the best of friends. It was nice having him visit even if it was only for a short time. We hope he gets many more loads down this way.

Every year for Labor Day weekend, we usually have a big party at our house and we invite “The Group”. That refers to the bunch of friends that I used to work with at Affiliated Foods Midwest. We received that name from another coworker that didn’t care for us too much. We have been friends for almost 10 years and have many memories together. Well this year, things didn’t work for everyone to come down so we just had Shelly & her boyfriend, Dave, flew in from Colorado. Dave and Charlie have a lot of the same interests so they get a long great. Neither of them is big into sports so we never once had a football game on (kind of hard to do anyway since we no longer have cable). They are also both big motor heads so they spent one day putting breaks on Charlie’s 1967 Firebird. Shelly & I went and got a massage the day they arrived, did a little bit of shopping and laid around the house. We also went out as a group for Mexican food and Margaritas, spent a day at the zoo and had a late night of grilling, drinking and story telling around the firepit on the deck. I can tell that it’s been a while since I’ve drank any alcohol. I was pretty tipsy by the end of the night. But don’t worry, I pumped and dumped all weekend so Abbie didn’t feel a thing!!

Well that is what has been happening with the Vogts over the past couple of weeks. I hope to fill you in on some milestones with Abbie over the next couple of weeks. She is definitely growing up and becoming Mommy’s big girl.