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…