The Vogts Family

2012-01-28T14:56:00.002-06:00

Dang, I don't even want to go back and look how long it's been since I made a post. I know it was well before Christmas. If only there had recently (ha!) been a holiday that, via tradition, would have encouraged me to resolve to do better at posting regularly. Oh well.

Despite the lack of documentation, we do continue to thrive here. Girls are continually getting bigger and smarter. Potty training is *this* close. Kayla considers herself trained it seems; though of course there are still accidents, she will mostly go when we prompt and occasionally on her own as needed. Megan is tailing a bit in this area, but it hopefully won't be long now. In fact Mommy and Kayla are out and about right now, having a day of shopping at "special" stores, which of course will coincidentally be wherever Jenn wants or needs to go. Megan had to settle for Best Buy with Daddy.

Our biggest challenge as of late is dealing with little girls who still need to learn a few rules about how it's acceptable to act. We're not taking the word "No" very well lately, resulting in some spontaneous crying fits, or more humorously, Megan crossing her arms in a huff, wrapped around her torso about as far as possible, looking very much like the worlds cutest gansta rapper. I imagine it's poor discipline theory for me to laugh at it, but sometimes these things cannot be helped.

But overall they're both slowly becoming fully functional humans. Letters and numbers are recognized; Megan could tell we were in Lane 5 at Best Buy today. We want to read books as often as possible, do puzzles quite a bit. One of the more popular games is "Mommy", where one girl will pretend to be a baby (human, puppy, kitty, cow, whatever), and the other will care for her.

One thing lately that has been interesting to me: You can see the bond between the twins..."deteriorating" is not the right word, perhaps "getting some slack". There was a time when one girls going to daycare without the other (because of sickness) was a very distressing event. Tears from the girl that had to stay home, confusion for the girl going on the car ride over ("Where's Megan/Kayla?"), and reports of the girl at daycare "not being herself" when we picked her up. Kayla stayed home with both me and Jenn a couple days last week though with a cold/sinus infection, while Megan was sniffling but well enough to go to Miss Kelli's, and it wasn't nearly the problem it once was. Again today, Mommy took Kayla out to celebrate her being a "big girls", and while there were some tears from Megan initially, they were because she didn't get to do something special too, not because Kayla would be away. We went out to Best Buy real quick, came home and ate some lunch, watched Team Umizoomi, read some books and laid down for a nap, no big deal. Only a couple of mentions of Mommy and Kayla being home soon.

Expected of course, but still fascinating to watch. They continue to develop their own personalities. Kayla will often want to change clothes as soon as she gets home from daycare, because Mommy and Daddy will typically ditch their work shirt and put on some shorts or sweats in the evenings; most of the time Megan couldn't care less. Megan though seems to have much more patience with using the iPad, figuring out how to get it to do something, etc.

Rock Chalk Jayhawks - A Shout Out to Granny and Grandpa

2012-01-20T20:40:00.000-06:00

Both girls were battling colds at the time of this video.
(Taken on an iPod Touch, so please excuse the quality and shakiness.)

Christmas Memories

2011-12-29T22:35:00.000-06:00

Indulge me for a moment if you will, as I take a little stroll down memory lane. Now that I'm a mommy, with girls old enough to "get it" at Christmas and have that wonder and excitement of the holiday shine in their eyes, I can't help but think about when I was a child at Christmas.

My own daddy passed away before I even met my husband. He was a good dad and I miss him. Mom and dad made sacrifices for us kids all the time -- more than we ever knew. I remember the year that mom was in the hospital over New Years. What I didn't know was that she was supposed to be in the hospital over Christmas -- but didn't want us girls to have that memory of Christmas. Years later when I learned about it, I appreciated it. Now that I'm a mommy, I understand it even more.

I remember every Christmas, getting our picture taken, in our jammies and housecoats, taking down our Christmas stockings. That was before digital cameras, of course.
My stocking had a bit of green along the cuff. My sister's did not. Dad's was a larger one. The dog's was a little white stocking with a red cuff. There was always one missing -- no stocking for my mom.

As kids, we didn't notice. For years, we didn't notice that mom didn't have a stocking.

I remember the year we did notice. We were hanging stockings, and I realized we didn't have one to hang for mom. I asked mom why she didn't have a stocking -- and she smiled and said, "I don't know -- daddy?"
He said he didn't know -- but that we'd better get her one!. We got her a white one.

So why, for so many years, didn't she say anything about not having a stocking? Didn't it upset her? I didn't understand that part for a long time. How come she wasn't upset and didn't feel left out? Because she knew then, what I learned as I grew older. Christmas isn't about getting, it's about giving. It started with God giving His Son for man.

Mom knew the joy I know now when I watch my girls at Christmas. They get so excited about seeing Christmas lights and decorations. Watching Kayla run up to Santa and hug him was indescribable; especially when she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek spontaneously. Listening to them sing Christmas songs makes my heart happy. Their eyes get so big when they get excited about a present. Watching them share their new toys makes me smile. Their joy shows in their faces as they rip the paper off each present. The ear-to-ear grins and gasps of delight when they find what Santa left for them delight me, too.

I told them to get their stockings from the fireplace, and they squealed when they saw there was a stocking for each of them full of goodies.

And just like when I was young -- I doubt they noticed if mommy had a stocking or not.

Balloon Clown at Farmer's Market

2011-12-18T19:51:00.000-06:00

We went to the Farmer's Market one Saturday morning. The girls wanted balloons from the clown. They watched intently while waiting in line. When it was their turn, the clown asked what balloon they wanted. Megan didn't hesitate at all -- she wanted a bunny rabbit! I don't know where that came from -- no one ahead of us had gotten one! He made her a purple bunny rabbit.

Kayla and Megan with her bunny rabbit balloon

When it was Kayla's turn, she said she wanted a bunny rabbit, too. Taking a cue from their clothes, the clown asked if she wanted a pink one. She nodded, and he went to work!

Troubles the Clown, making Kayla's pink bunny rabbit

They were shy, but still thanked him for the balloons, and were happy with their bunny rabbits!

After wards, we went to lunch. The always like going to a "rest-au-rant". It's always a long three-syllable word when they say it.

Megan carefully dipping her french fry

Megan, with Kayla eating her french fry

Circle Day

2011-12-18T19:39:00.000-06:00

Sometimes at Miss Kelli's daycare, they have themes. These pictures were from Circle Week. The girls and their friends got to be "Circle Detectives" outside. There were circles hidden in the yard, and the kids got to find them. Megan found the first one! She was SO excited!

Circle Detective Megan, finding the first circle!

A little more detective work, and Kayla found one as well!

Circle Detective Kayla

Another picture from daycare -- where the girls are sharing a glue stick and gluing circles to their paper. They LOVE glue sticks!

Kayla and Megan's Circle Art

They were so excited when they got to bring home some circles that day! Circles are exciting when you're three!

Jelly Pizza at Denny's

2011-12-18T19:27:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while, we "divide and conquer". One of the girls will go with Mike, and one of the girls will go with me. On this particular occasion, Kayla stayed home with daddy because she was tired. Megan went out to lunch with mommy and Grandma.

We went to Denny's, and Megan picked a pizza off the menu. Grandma had a breakfast plate, with toast. When she put jelly on her toast, Megan insisted she needed jelly, just like Grandma. Grandma was happy to share some jelly toast -- but Megan INSISTED it be jelly on her PIZZA!

Grandma and Megan

We didn't think she'd eat it. We were wrong! She ate it, and asked for more! and more, and more, and more!

Nice lady and her daughter, behind Megan

At one point, Grandma said she was almost out of jelly, and the nice lady at the next table over immediately handed her some jelly off their table. Couldn't have Miss Megan eat her pizza without jelly now could we??

Megan and her jelly pizza

At least she ate most of her sliced apples, too -- without jelly.

Shopping with Grandma!

2011-12-18T19:19:00.000-06:00

A lot of times I go to the store with the girls and my mother. It gives Mike a break and gives us girls a chance to spend time together out of the house, while getting some necessary chores done, as well.

On this particular shopping trip, we were on a quest for a particular brand of butter that came in cinnamon flavor, for mom. My sister, Karen's mother-in-law, Janice, had given us a heads-up that Leeker's grocery carried it. Leeker's is a smaller grocery store that has a couple of centers, usually located in suburbs of Wichita. So we went to one!
Mom had Kayla, and I had Megan in my cart.

I was looking for a particular Lawry's seasoning packet that is also not carried at the major chains in Wichita. I scanned the shelves, and when I turned around, Kayla had made a tower in mom's cart, and she hadn't even noticed!

Grandma and Kayla

She was very proud of her tower! I'm not sure how architecturally sound it is -- but it stayed up quite well!

September Zoo Trip - Los of pictures!

2011-12-18T18:10:00.000-06:00

Last September, just before the girls' third birthday, we took them to the zoo. It was the first time we'd done so, even though the zoo is just across town. We met up with our friend Tricia and her daughter, Emma and toured the zoo with them.

Megan and Kayla

We'd planned to do it before, but never quite got around to it. We thought it was warmer than it was when we ventured out, so the girls were a tad underdressed for the weather.
Daddy rectified that situation quickly by buying each of them a long sleeved blue Sedgwick County Zoo t-shirt!

Megan and Kayla

First we went to see the giraffes. Grandma Ruth Bingham really likes giraffes, so I'm including lots of giraffe pictures!

Baby giraffe running over to the momma giraffe

Daddy and Megan watching giraffes

yeah, I don't know either. Let's go with Kayla and Megan since Megan had polka dots on her bow earlier.

Kayla

Let's stick with Kayla and Megan.

They had fun getting up close and personal with some of the animals.

We tried to get them to pose with the sculpture, but couldn't get their attention at the same time.

Emma, Megan and Kayla watching a gorilla

Emma, Kayla and Megan with the bear

Megan, Daddy and Kayla, watching penguins

A Peacock -- wandering around near the penguins

While we were at the zoo, we also stopped at the playground area. The girls LOVED climbing and sliding!

Kayla

Megan

Kayla

Megan

We had a great time, and look forward to doing it more this coming spring!

Found on a Camera from July 22, 2011

2011-11-27T20:19:00.000-06:00

I remember this well. I was taking pictures of the girls, and they started asking me to take pictures of things, like their crackers.

Then Megan stood up.
She looked at me and said:
"Mommy, take a picture of my mouth!"
And she opened her mouth as wide as she could and waited.
So I did.

20 Questions -- Minus a Few

2011-11-27T12:11:00.003-06:00

There are a handful of blogs I like to follow. The handful changes from time to time, although some endure. There's one I follow that posted that she asked her 3 year old 20 questions and saved the answers so she could see how her interests change over the years.

I tried to ask the girls the questions, but they weren't as cooperative. Megan gave me a lot of "I don't know" answers, that I left out, and got tired of my questions quickly. Kayla did better, thinking about them and saying "ummmmmm" before giving an answer. So I didn't get 20 questions asked -- but I thought I should save the answers anyway.

What's your favorite color?

Kayla: Pink and pink. Two pinks. And purple, too.
Megan: Blue. And I like purple.

What's your favorite song?

Kayla: Jesus Loves Me
Megan: Jesus Loves Me [I expected Mary Had a Little Lamb]

What's your favorite TV Show?

Kayla: Movies [I expected Dora]
Megan: Jesus Loves Me show.

That's not a tv show--what do you like to watch on TV?

Megan: Dora the Explorer

Who's your best friend?

Kayla: Megan!
Megan: Kayla and Megan!

What's your favorite fruit?

Kayla: Grapes! and Apple
Megan: Apple

What's your favorite drink?

Kayla: Juice
Megan: Juice

What's your favorite thing to eat?

Kayla: Peanut butter sandwich
Megan: Peanut butter sandwich, too

What's your favorite game?

Kayla: Jesus Loves Me game. [??]
Megan: beans!

How do you play beans?

Megan: You move it with your hands! [??]

What's your favorite animal?

Kayla: Jesus Loves Me.

That's not an animal

Kayla: kitty!

Megan: Monkey

What's your favorite toy?

Kayla: Dolly. And red teddy
Megan: I don't know. I like legos

What's your favorite book? What story?

Kayla: I don't know. Animal Big Words!
Megan: I like princess stories

What's your favorite blanket?

Kayla: my Tinkerbell one
Megan: I don't know. My froggy blanket is my favorite. [I expected pink teddy bear]

What are you going to be when you grow up?

Kayla: A princess pirate piggy! [Pirate Piggies are characters on Dora]
Megan: A Princess! Mommy? what are you going to grow when you be up? [sic]

A mommy!

I guess Megan got tired of the questions. And yes, she did mix up the words...but I knew what she meant.

On Looking Back

2011-11-20T23:22:00.002-06:00

So the big news that can now (finally) be revealed is Ralph and Cathy's 40th anniversary celebration, which took place this past Saturday. Most of you reading this blog were there, so I won't bother to go into too many details, but we wildly succeeded in keeping the party a surprise, and everyone seemed to have a good time. A special note of thanks to Jeff and Chris, without whose help the party would not have been possible.

More interesting to my topic, in prep for the party I scanned in most of Mom's old photos for use in a slideshow. It's been interesting to me to think about, comparing all of these familiar photos with the ones I now take of my family.

I didn't scan every picture, but got most of them, the total ending up somewhere north of 1,100 (not counting the digital pictures Mom and Dad have taken themselves the past few years). By comparison, I've collected over 7.700 pictures of the girls in three years.

And why wouldn't I? Digital cameras are essentially free once you make the original purchase, the only surprising thing is that the total isn't higher.

Yet another example of how technology changes our lives I suppose. I recognize a lot of these pictures from growing up, we'd occasionally look through the photo albums, but certainly not on a regular basis. Kayla and Megan see our family pictures on the TV screen saver; they're pretty decent at recognizing themselves as well. When they get a bit older they'll be able to pull them up on any one of a half dozen devices in the house. They'll find this blog, look through my Facebook, etc. How will this affect how they remember/view their childhood? Will their memories be more vivid? Will pictures lose some of their inherit value to them?

Wordless Wednesday - 11/16/11 - Happy Together

2011-11-16T21:26:00.000-06:00

August Recap

2011-11-14T22:21:00.003-06:00

Sometimes it's a challenge to convince the girls to go to bed. Sometimes, they have different ideas of what they want to do at bedtime. Like going to bed on the kitchen floor. Or in a laundry basket.

This summer, the girls started going over to Grandma's house to play. From our deck, I can see them in her front side yard.

Occasionally, she lets them play on the neighbor's swing set. They love climbing and sliding! The doctor's office has a slide and climbing tower, so they enjoy going there. I'm sure that will change some day, but it's nice for now!

And when it's time to come home, they can come through the yard back to our house. They like to stand on our deck and wave to Grandma on her deck, or look out the kitchen window and wave to Grandma.

Grandma and Mommy took the girls to a craft show. They had a great time - - especially when the nice clown made them balloon flowers! Although getting them to stand still for a picture was a challenge:

Kayla

Megan, Kayla

Megan -- playing with her balloon??

After the craft show, we went out to lunch at T G I Fridays. They ate chips and salsa, but Grandma told them not to take too much, or it would burn their mouths. That began the still-repeated phrase, "too much burns my mouth" about any dip/sauce they encounter.

Kayla, Megan, sharing with Grandma

Kayla, Megan, showing their coloring-page menu to Grandma

The girls do very well at restaurants. They even will express their preference on what they want to eat. Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll want it when it reaches the table.

Musical Pears

2011-11-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

I often sing little phrases to the girls, making up some silly song. This morning I did so, while putting some pears on their breakfast plate.

Mommy : pears, pears, pears, pears -- girls are eating pears, pears, pears, pears, pears, yummy yummy pears!

Megan: I don't like that song, Mommy, don't sing that song.

Mommy: You don't like mommy's song?

Megan: I don't like that song because it's hard to remember.

Wordless Wednesday - 10/31/11 - (Easily Distracted) Halloween Bees

2011-11-02T20:01:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday - 10/26/11 - Dolly Doctors

2011-10-26T00:01:00.003-05:00

Grandpa's Church of the Hay Bale

2011-10-22T17:32:00.000-05:00

I'm driving the girls home, and we drive past a field.

There are hay bales scattered around the field, which catch Kayla's eye.

(not my photo)

Kayla: I see hay bales! Those are called hay bales. Grandpa calls them hay bales.

Mommy: He does?

Kayla: Yes -- he calls them hay bales. He learned that at school.

Mommy: He did?

Kayla: No, he learned that at church!

Mommy: He learned that those are hay bales at church?

Kayla: Yeah

Kayla and Megan at 3

2011-10-09T19:57:00.002-05:00

First up, some media:

Yes, it's the Big 3-0, minus 27. We had a nice party at the house here with Grandma, Granny and Grandpa, Linda, Jalen, Jordan, and Karen, Carl, and Nathan. The day was exciting enough that the girls were in bed and asleep by 6:30, which around here might as well be Halley's Comet.

To say Oct 9 snuck up on us this year is an understatement. Literally, the phrase "Huh, guess we ought to plan a party?" was uttered between Jenn and I less than 2 weeks ago. Meanwhile the girls continue to evolve at an almost frightening pace, identifying letters on site (particularly "M" and "K"), talking more and better, and just generally continuing to amaze.

We've had many adventures in the four months since I last posted, amazing tales of wonder and discovery. If only I had some means to convey them to you! Yes, I have slacked greatly. Some highlights:

- We had a trip to the zoo, meeting Tricia and Emma there on a Sunday morning. It was a cooler day, right after the heat wave broke; too cool (and windy) for little girls as it turned out, who showed up in sleeveless shirts and skirts thanks to our poor planning. A couple of quick purchases of long sleeved shirts from the gift shop helped solve the problem. One of the first things we saw were the giraffes, and when asked the girls will be happy to tell you about the lions, elephants, bears, penguins, gorilla, and the peacock.

- Several times the past few weeks Daddy - and this weekend, Mommy and Grandma - have taken the girls to a park on Central here in Andover, which is pretty nice as far as parks in mid-major city suburbs go. It also gives the girls a chance to demonstrate a level of agility and bravery that Daddy did not know they have and, quite frankly, I'm not quite sure I'm ready for. Oh look, there's my daughter climbing a pole 9 feet off the ground, that's something I'm totally not worried about!

- Big girls acting their age (for the most part) also get to go over to Grandma's to play after daycare/work a lot lately, while Daddy mows the lawn or whatever. We still haven't quite got that whole potty training thing down yet, but the work continues.

- As demonstrated above, the Moon is a constant source of fascination; we almost always look for it going to Miss Kelli's in the mornings. Venus was visible in the sky the other morning as well, and they seemed interested when I pointed out that it wasn't actually a star, but a planet. Yes, I am blatantly trying to turn my daughters in to astronomers, but I'm being realistic. One of them may choose theoretical physics.

Wordless Wednesday - 8/17/11 - Hands Down = Frowns Down; Hands Up = Smiles Up!

2011-08-17T21:26:00.000-05:00

Big Girl Beds - Pictures!

2011-08-08T01:51:00.000-05:00

Technically, the pink bed is a Disney Princesses bed. The purple bed is a Disney Tinkerbell bed.
However, we opted not to put the stickers on the bed for several reasons.

One, we were afraid it might encourage the girls to fight over which bed belonged to which one.

Two, we were afraid they might rip the stickers off. They LIKE tearing stickers off of things.

They like tearing WALLPAPER borders, after all...but you can hardly tell, since it went back together so well. Except for the piece that ripped off. That part couldn't be pieced back together.

So we didn't take the chance, and there's never been a question about which one got in which bed. We told Kayla the pink one was hers, and Megan that the purple one was hers -- they accepted that and haven't disputed it.

Now the princess and tinkerbell bedding, we did use -- and the girls have taken to those quite well. Even carrying them into the living room! And they know who's is who's and ask for it specifically, no fights there. yay!

We saved the stickers, so we can add them later. When the girls get over the sticker-ripping phase.
The beds also have canopies -- we can add them later, when they're older, too. They're too active now, we keep having to put the side back on Kayla's bed because it doesn't fit quite right and it gets knocked off. I can't imagine what would happen to the canopies.
Marketing pictures:

Someday they might look like these.

But for now, they look like these!

Big Girl Beds

2011-06-29T22:52:00.002-05:00

...or, How To Create Chaos Using Five Feet of Steel and Plastic

So yeah, a couple weeks ago the girls finally realized that any illusion of imprisonment offered by the cribs was of their own making, and started moving between at their leisure. We have no right to complain or feel sorry for ourselves of course: 2 years and 6 months is well past the expected useful lifespan of a baby crib, but still...These are the times that try parent's souls.

The Disney Princess and Fairy beds have actually been purchased for the better part of a year, hastily acquired after Kayla somehow managed to get out of her crib one night, a skill she promptly forgot about. Even when Musical Cribs started up, we yet hesitated, trying to rely on stern words and/or bribes to delay the inevitable. But eventually you work through the seven stages and arrive at acceptance, and so on a Friday during work (via email), the plans were made.

I set to work as soon as I got the girls home, getting about halfway through one bed when Jenn arrived home to assist. It seems like Bed #1 (a.k.a. Pink Princess) was finished somewhere around 7, when reality began to set in. "Huh", I said to myself, "They're supposed to be in bed within the hour." Wasting no time, I began work on Bed #2 (a.k.a. Purple Fairy), thankful that we had the random flare of wisdom to wait until Friday to attempt this procedure.

The beds were greeted with great enthusiasm by their intended occupants upon first unveiling, and they were happy to sit and watch TV on Pink Princess in the living room as I toiled on the second bed, and Momma "wide-awake-and-trapped-toddler proofed" their bedroom. Eventually Purple Fairy sprang into life as well, and then began Phase 2: Crib Disassembly. This was relatively painless, as the cribs we got come apart rather easily, and I have some experience in the matter, having done so a while back thanks to a recall. Meanwhile, excitement grew in the living room as Little Girls slowly gained the super powers that seem to be granted to tired 2 year olds. My wife and I shared knowing glances in between hauling, storing, and/or securing various items: Trouble is brewing.

Finally all traces of the cribs were removed, Pink Princess and Purple Fairy placed in their respective places of honor, and the requisite pillows, blankets, and assorted stuffed beings collected. Estimated Time of Completion was approximately 10:00. Nature sort of took over for us at that point, and while there was a bit of consternation at the reality of the situation ("I want big bed"), sleep eventually slipped over our charges with only minimal maintenance on our part. We h ad accomplished our goal, and it seemed as if the transition would be relatively smooth.

And then came Saturday.

The girls have an internal clock that is really quite remarkable in accuracy, at least when it comes to waking up in the morning. I myself never last past 7:00am on weekend, usually more like 6, and the girls likewise seem set to 7:30 CST. It's a running joke at this point between myself and Jenn. A late night usually does little to affect this, and sure enough, there they were knocking on their door before the accustomed time, ready to get their day started.

Things were fine, if a bit tense, as Tired Little Girls did have a bit of an attitude. We figured an early afternoon nap would be possible, and tried laying them down in the big girl beds, to much protest. Several minutes later, we tried again. And then again. And yet again. Still the wailing protests continued, interspersed with bouts of either noisy play, knocking at the door, fighting, and singing. Were I a smarter man, I would have recorded the cacophony and had a hit Broadway play on my hands, but oh well, I hear the Tony Awards is all politics anyway.

Naptime jettisoned, we pushed through the afternoon/supper/evening, treading through the field of tripwires and landmines as best we could. Night-Night time produced similar drama, and in the end was only successful thanks to the various limitations of human child biology. You can't imagine the terror Kayla and Megan faced down in this suddenly evil concept called sleep. They needed a special blanket, not that special blanket of course, but the other special one, in the living room, come here Mommy I'll show you. No no no, not that blue one, the one that's red but I'm going to call it blue. But then what about the Special Baby, her pacifier is not on properly. Wait, did you put the pacifier on that baby? WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR, IT CLEARLY SHOULD BE OFF! And really, how can I be expected to go to sleep with all of these blankets in here?

And so it went throughout the weekend. The real kick in the teeth was when we took them to daycare on Monday, warning Miss Kelli about our tribulations, only to later receive the report that they napped for a good two hours and it was no big deal at all. Thanks for that, girls.

Things have evened out though, as they always do. We actually did get a naptime in this past weekend, and Night-Night Time is becoming less drama filled every successive night, as we slowly develop our routine.

Babies' Bedtime

2011-06-12T23:58:00.000-05:00

The girls were playing with two of their dolls this evening. At one point I had Megan calling her yellow-haired doll "Baby Susie", and Kayla calling her plastic doll "Baby Mary". Somehow, though, "Baby Mary" became "Baby Susie" as well. I think it was some time after she had her doing somersaults on the floor.

They decided it was time for the doll babies to go to bed, so they trotted off to their room with their blankets and dolls. Kayla tucked "Baby ~~Mary~~ Susie" in bed on the floor under one of her blankets. She wanted me to take a picture of her baby.

Kayla got herself ready by putting on her favorite "big tutu" -- inside out. It's a well-loved tutu, with no hem left. In fact, all the trim had to be cut off so she wouldn't trip over it. And she INSISTS it is supposed to be worn with the lining outside, and the tulle ruffles inside. She wears it nearly every night.

Meanwhile, Megan wrapped her "Baby Susie" in a blanket, then sat in their rocker. You can see her doll's yellow hair outside the blanket, against Megan's yellow jammie shirt. She rocked back and forth and sang, "Jesus Loves Me" to her doll. I suspect this might be part of Granny's routine for tucking them in bed, but I haven't confirmed that. Too cute not to get a picture!

And then both girls asked me to take a picture of Loki.

And of course I obliged!

Wordless Wednesday - 6/8/11 - Tea Party!!

2011-06-08T22:01:00.000-05:00

Quick video post

2011-06-07T20:30:00.001-05:00

Kayla and Megan were feeling musical tonight.

Traveling

2011-06-01T22:24:00.001-05:00

The past month has been a busy one, punctuated by a couple of trips.

The week of May 15th I was in Atlanta, GA, at a Microsoft conference, which of course meant that Jenn was a single mom for five days. She did great of course, but it's always a little bit draining when you're trying to wrangle both girls for an extended period by yourself. Compounding this was the fact I had to work most of the Saturday after I got back...it was definitely a long week.

The conference was at the Georgia World Congress Center, which is right downtown next to the Olympic Park, Georgia Dome, Phillips Arena (where the Atlanta Hawks play), Coca-Cola World and CNN's headquarters. It's really a pretty nice area; you can take a train right up from the airport, all kinds of hotels and restaurants within walking distance, couple of mall-type places, etc. Anyway, one of the other attractions in the area is an aquarium, and I decided I was going to hit it up at some point for some gifts for the girls.

I walked over the the place around 3 one day, and a couple of very unhelpful women told me there was no one available to take me to the gift shop, the exit to which I could see not 30 feet from where I stood, because "everyone was getting ready to leave for the day". The aquarium closed at 5 of course, I suppose I should have raised a fuss, but figured I had better things to worry about. As it turns out, walking back to the hotel I passed a children's museum, who were more than happy to let me drop into their gift shop and give them ~$50 for 10 minutes of work. I ended up with a stuffed Grover and Cookie Monster, which were well received, and occasionally fought over (mental note: GET IDENTICAL TOYS WHENEVER POSSIBLE!)

Our second trip happened last weekend, as Jenn and I made Memorial Weekend longer, and went up to KC for a couple days while the girls stayed with Granny and Grandpa. They had a wonderful time by all accounts, and in fact getting them out of Granny's house Sunday night was a little traumatic.

In another burst of development, we've seen the girls progress with the concept of talking to someone over the phone/video. While I was in Atlanta, Jenn and I tried to do a video call session between home and the hotel room. We were hampered by the hotels terrible internet being hammered by 500 or so geeks, but it was good enough to get a picture through for a while. Girls have done this with Granny a couple times as well, and usually they express mild interest at best, and are off to do something else quickly. Same for trying to talk to someone over the phone.

Then all of the sudden, we're calling them last Friday night after pulling into KC, and they're responding to questions, telling us about how they played on the swingset, saying bye-bye at the appropriate time, etc. During our KC trip we bought them a couple of toy phones from the Disney store, and yesterday evening I busted them out during a bout of fussiness-fueled desperation, and for several precious minutes they were having quiet conversations with Mommy or Grandma or Whomever, telling them they were fine and how they played at Ms. Kelli's. Just this evening as well, Mom called to tell me about the trouble my uncle Kevin's family is having with flooding up in South Dakota, and the girls conversed with Granny over speaker phone for a bit, like they had been doing it all their lives.

Jenn has commented several times recently as well about how much they seem to be growing up. Indeed, every morning on the drive over to daycare, the conversation becomes a little bit more coherent and relevant. Though, as an aside, a note to Kayla and Megan if and when they read this many years from now: Yes, there are birds, I see them too, you don't necessarily have to point out every one to me.

Wordless Wednesday - 5/24/11 - Sisters

2011-05-25T01:00:00.003-05:00

Making Muppins

2011-05-22T23:49:00.000-05:00

The girls love making muffins. Or as Megan calls it, "making muppins".

They both get on a step stool. Mommy measures, and let's them pour, stir, put out papers and spoon in the batter. They make a mess. Oh, my do they make a mess. But they're learning, having fun, and messes clean up!

Kayla, Megan

So they aren't the prettiest muffins ever -- but give them time. The chefs are only 2 1/2 years old, you know!

Kayla's Pretty Dress

2011-05-22T23:33:00.002-05:00

Kayla said, "Take picture of me in my pretty dress".....

..and so I did, while she put on a cheesy grin!

The latest trend is to wear a dress over their clothes. It makes for some interesting outfits around the house, that's for sure! Playing dress-up -- with their own clothes!

Easter Baskets

2011-05-22T23:28:00.002-05:00

Wow -- it's been nearly a month since we posted!
And let me tell you, a month is a long time in the growing up of 2 year olds!

So let's revisit Easter.
The baskets! Yes, pink and purple!

These cymbal-playing chickens sit atop a tube of candy. I don't let them have candy often. There were exceptions, but this candy wasn't one of them. In fact, they didn't even know it was candy until their cousin told them what it was inside the handles. Of course, now they just point to it and tell us it's candy -- and continue to play with the chicken on top.

Megan and Kayla

Megan and Kayla, sharing some Gerber Fruit Chews

Megan and Kayla, with Chocolate covered Marshmallow bunnies

Kayla, Megan and Loki

This is what was left of Megan's bunny when she was done. Note that there is a small bite mark on the feet -- that was where she tasted it. She held it for a while, but didn't care about eating it and eventually abandoned it.

This was what was left of Kayla's bunny. Kayla enjoys eating. She abandoned her bunny after eating most of it -- but not all of it.

The girls enjoyed their baskets -- and still talk about hunting easter eggs!

Wordless Wednesday - 4/27/11 - Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-27T07:09:00.001-05:00

Accidents

2011-04-21T21:27:00.002-05:00

Last night, I was watching the girls while Jenn went to Target. It was around 7:30 or so, getting close to bedtime, when one of the girls asked for a sippie. Now, I've been in this Daddy game long enough to know a stall tactic when I see one, but at the same time, who am I to deny a thirsty child a drink? So trying to strike a compromise, we went to big girl glasses.

Typically what we'll do is fill a couple of cups with two fingers of water, and break out the towels as they inevitably spill most of it down their shirts. Sure enough, they were a bit wound up, Kayla dribbled, and we put down a towel to clean it up.

It was at this point that Megan decided to just pour her drink on the floor, eliminating the middle man so to speak, and went running for a towel of her own. By now though the floor was quite soaked, and she took a spill, face first, right onto the kitchen floor.

It was traumatic of course, we had a good cry about it, had a bit of a red mark over her right eye, but not too long after she seemed to be doing relatively OK. We sat for a bit and watched some Dora, and after a half hour or so were getting really tired, so off to bed we went.

About an hour later I heard crying from their room, went in and found Megan awake and extremely fussy. We went back to the living room to sit and snuggle some more, and waited for Mommy to get home. Mommy was a little more successful in getting her calmed down, but not completely; still, we chalked it up to being over-tired and tried laying her down again.

Twenty minutes later, we heard an aborted cough, followed by crying, went to check and sure enough, she had thrown up in her crib. We got her cleaned up, called the on-call nurse, who told us that for concussions, their rule of thumb was two bouts of vomiting deserved a doctor visit, but since she was so fussy as well, the nurse would recommend bringing her in. Which became a moot point anyway when Megan threw up all over our bed as we were getting prepared to leave. We called Ruth over to watch Kayla (who had slept through the entire ordeal, including me changing the sheets on Megan's crib), and loaded up for Wesley.

We got there and got all checked in, nurse gave her an initial once-over, and as per usual in a hospital situation, we began The Long Wait. Somewhere north of 12:00 a resident finally showed up, looked Megan over, and gave us a diagnosis of a mild concussion. He told us a few symptoms to watch out for going forward, said that all she really needed was a lot of rest and to take it easy, and after another 45 minutes or so we finally got checked out. I think we ended up getting home around 1:30 or so, and Megan, Mommy, and Daddy all went to sleep without much fussing.

I stayed home with Megan for a nice, relaxing day today. Poor Jenn had to go struggle through a day of work on four hours sleep. Megan slept until 11ish, we made a run to Best Buy, came home, and Megan had another nice 3.5 hour afternoon nap. Definitely wore out more easily than normal today, but otherwise was quite happy and playful, every bit her normal self. We're going to keep her home tomorrow as well with Grandma Ruth, just to avoid a lot of excited play at daycare, and to make sure we don't take another tumble.

Just a quick note

2011-04-13T22:54:00.001-05:00

I finally got around to uploading some new videos up at the YouTube site, including the famous "Happy Birthday Baby Emma" one.

Wordless Wednesday - 4/13/11 - Bubble Wrap

2011-04-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day Cookies

2011-04-11T22:17:00.000-05:00

Back in February, Granny made Valentine's Day cookies for the girls. Cookies are a real treat, and the girls really enjoyed them!

I wish I had a picture of the cookies, as they were all decorated.

There was a large heart with Megan's name, and a large heart with Kayla's name.

Megan woke up from her nap before Kayla, so we had a little bit of time to ourselves.

She remembered the cookies, and while still waking up, munched on her personalized cookie.

These pictures emphasize her need of a haircut at the time...but it's okay, she's had one since these were taken.

Sometimes, she ate it right off the table.

A little drink, after nibbling all the way around the cookie.

Oh wait, this is My Little Pony here I found on the table.

Oh, Hi, Mommy -- I'm waking up! and you've got the camera! I'll smile now.

And I have My Little Pony AND a cookie!

Gallop, Gallop, Gallop

Can My little Pony share my cookie?

Well, maybe I'll eat it myself -- since it has my name on it. Yummy!!
And if Kayla doesn't wake up soon -- I might have to eat hers, too!

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake...

2011-04-10T23:32:00.001-05:00

We have a book called, "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake".

This has nothing to do with that.

At least I don't think it does....

Kayla told me she was drawing a cat.
Megan told me she was drawing cupcakes.

I'm taking their word for it!

(Hey, two posts, one day...I'm on a roll!)

Lollipop Girls

2011-04-10T23:16:00.001-05:00

Over the last couple weeks, I've had several opportunities to spend a lot of time with the girls outside the house. We get into our routines at home, and things aren't quite the same as they are when we're outside the house. I notice them growing up more. And I let them do different things.

For instance, They got their hair cut last weekend. I'm pretty much a mean mommy when it comes to candy. The girls don't get it from me. That's not to say they haven't had it at daycare parties, or from Granny or Grandma, and within reason -- that's okay. But it's not something I choose to give the girls at this time, and they aren't suffering for it.

So we get their hair cut, and before I realize what the stylist is talking about, she's gotten lollipops from a candy machine for the girls.

Well, I'm a mean mommy -- but I'm not mean enough to take candy out of their little hands in that situation! After all, I couldn't honestly claim I thought it might be poisoned, or that one might be allergic, or any other excuse.

So, the girls had their first lollipops. I'm fairly certain they were the first ones -- because they first called them "ice cream cones". I don't think they've had those yet -- although it's possible that they have and I don't know it....and don't want to, because I'm looking forward to giving them their first ice cream cones in the near future. But I digress.

Lollipops. Not just any lollipops, but Tootsie Pops. Big ones. BIG ONES!

At least to the girls, and to mommy and grandma as we were attempting to keep the lollipop stickiness from covering the girls, the car seats, the clothes, and us. But boy, did they enjoy them!

We took them away so we could get dinner, and daddy and mommy gave them back to them at home. They didn't finish them -- we saved some for the next day.

And boy did we brush teeth that night!

Wordless Wednesday - 4/6/11 - Teamwork

2011-04-06T04:00:00.002-05:00

A-B-C's

2011-04-05T21:49:00.001-05:00

As most of you already know, the weather this "spring" has been quite up and down, as Old Man Winter has put up more of a fight this year for whatever reason. So to, has the Vogts household. It seems like we're on about Month 3 of some immortal cold. The girls haven't suffered nearly as much as mommy and daddy, but we've all taken our turn. I am debating the wisdom of surrounding the four corners of the house with perpetually burning fires as proof against further disease.

Still, spirits rise along with the temperature, as we find ourselves at the two-and-a-half year marker. Aside from bouts of colds, the girls have been doing fabulously, and in fact last night brought their continued development into focus.

I needed to mow the lawn after I got home from work, so Ruth came over and watch the girls until Jenn got home. After this was done, Ruth stayed on a bit to go over some tax stuff with Jenn, while I watched the girls. Earlier they had discovered an ABC puzzle, tucked away by the television, and desperately wanted to partake. So we opened it up, and (at least I'd like to think) learned some ABC's. How much learning actually took place I'm not qualified to say, perhaps it was all in one ear and out the other. But they at least can mimic back the letter when told what it was, and could recognize most of the pictures on the puzzle when told what the letter stood for.

Once again, you tend to lose sight of the forest for the trees, unless you purposefully stop and take inventory of what's going on around you. Kayla and Megan regularly have conversations between themselves, that a third party can understand as well. They can easily undress themselves (as we sometimes find out if we put them to bed or down for a nap too early), and can do a half-decent job of getting at least their pants on sometimes as well. They'll interact with TV a lot more, tell Dora which way she needs to go in the maze, or recognize when a character is sad, happy, or silly. We generally have an opinion on what clothes are acceptable when dressing in the morning, unless Daddy is in a hurry and forces the issue.

We also greatly anticipated the birthday of Cousin Jordan recently. Mommy took the girls shopping at Toys R Us for some Lego sets. Cake and ice cream was the favorite topic of conversation the rest of that week. Had a great time at Tommy and Charlene's, tearing around the basement, and actually doing a pretty decent job of keeping up with Jalen, believe it or not.

Potty training continues with sporadic results as well. We had Great Success! the other day, both girls going big girl potty Sunday night before bed, as well as the next morning after we woke up. Since then, however? Eh, not so much. The process continues.

Wordless Wednesday - 3/30/11 - Sunglasses

2011-03-31T00:17:00.000-05:00

Twin Challenge - Answer

2011-03-31T00:08:00.002-05:00

The first picture is Megan.
The second is Kayla, "reading" a book!

Twin Challenge

2011-03-21T23:06:00.000-05:00

Guess who this bright eyed beauty is?

And if you're wondering, yes, I can tell who it is from the picture, but I can't describe what it is that makes them look different to me. I can tell you their hairlines are different -- but at any given time, Kayla's may look like Megan's and Megan's may look like Kayla's. The spacing in their teeth is different. Kayla has a mole that Megan doesn't have, but it's not somewhere that shows. They both have pink spots - birthmarks that have faded as they've grown, so unless you know where to look and which one looks like what, that doesn't help either.

But those aren't the things that make me know. They just look different to me.

But in a photo, it's a split second point in time, and there are some pictures where I'm not 100% sure who's who. But that's okay, they're only pictures.

And besides, if you call them the wrong name, they'll let you know!
"That's Kayla, I Megan!"
"I not Megan, I Kayla!"

And Megan will tell you her name is "Megan Wae!" (Megan Rae)
And Kayla will tell often tell you her name is "Kayla Wae" -- but will giggle and tell you the truth, garbling her middle name in a way I can't begin to duplicate in text, "Kayla Madelyn". I think she wants a middle name that she can actually pronounce.

Sometimes it helps to see another picture.
Of course I'm not telling if it's another of her, or one of her sister!

And this next one is from a completely different day, in which they both also happened to also have pigtails.

Answers to follow later!

Making Muffins

2011-03-07T22:32:00.000-06:00

I've let the girls help me make muffins from a mix on a couple of occasions.
They help pour in the mix, pour in the milk, and most of all -- they stir.
They've even helped dollop it onto a cool tray before!

The other night with dinner, I had a few bread and butter pickles in a tiny bowl. The girls wanted some, and after handing them to them one by one, I ended up giving them the bowl with a couple pickle chips and a bit pickle juice.

Next thing I knew, they were putting in some peas. And pieces of bread. And some pieces of meat
And stirring.
And stirring some more.
And taking turns adding more smashed peas and bread.
And both stirring together.

I finally asked them what they were making.
The answer was obvious, of course.
Kayla answered first, "Makin' muffins!"
She was quickly echoed by Megan, "yeah, muppins! See?"

If only I had had a camera at the time.
Or maybe it's best that I didn't...

Sick Kids

2011-03-06T23:17:00.000-06:00

A while back, I d~~rew the short straw~~ had the pleasure of staying home with the girls for a couple of days while they were sick. Luckily, it wasn't all sickness -- they had spurts of energy where I pondered why I though they were sick in the first place. Of course I was reminded when the moods swung the other way, following the fevers.

Under the weather Kayla

Under the weather Megan

And in a more spirited hour, they decided to play with baby dolls. Although somehow, the grey cat door stop got into the mix. Relocated from the front hallway where the heavy plaster cat waits to block open the front door on warm days, the cat enjoyed the attention of two little girls who fed it toy bottles and sippy cups, and wrapped it in blankets along with their dollies. If only all doorstops received such attention...

Kayla and the doorstop cat

Megan and the doorstop cat

Kayla and Megan

We definitely have had our share of colds, sinus infections and ear infections -- so hopefully this bout was the last one for the season.

Wordless Wednesday - 3/2/11 - Exploration Place Playhouse

2011-03-02T23:05:00.000-06:00

Exploration Place Pictures

2011-03-01T07:16:00.000-06:00

We only took a couple pictures at Exploration Place (See Mike's recap in the previous post).

Unfortunately, we got so wrapped up in the girls' excitement, that taking pictures didn't even cross our minds!

Except once, when we were in the toddler area.

We knew the girls like legos -- we learned they like trains!

Megan (purple), Kayla (pink)

Megan (purple), Kayla (pink), Random person

Kayla (pink), Megan (purple)

In the background of the train table picture, upper right side, is part of a Step 2 Roller Coaster.

Step 2's product page for better picture

I had seen these a long time ago on the internet, but we had visions of all possible negative outcomes. We figured it wouldn't be used enough to make it worth the cost or the space it requires.

Megan rode it twice and loved it! Then promptly got distracted by the water table.

Kayla, on the other hand, climbed up the steps, starting climbing onto the car, then said, "no" and continued over the car and down the steps on the other side. She never did ride it, and was perfectly content with her decision!

Exploration

2011-02-27T22:32:00.001-06:00

We took the girls to Exploration Place today; Jenn's work had a "bring your families and enjoy" type day. A quick recap of our adventure.

Our journey begins around 10:00 this morning. Girls got up nice and early today (7:00), and were showing signs of being tired. Lunch at Exploration Place was scheduled to begin at 12:30. We hadn't really formulated a battle plan regarding nap time, mostly because it's sort of a dicey proposition as of late. The girls are getting to the point where they don't think they need an afternoon nap, which honestly has been their creed since about 9 months, but now have the fortitude and will to see their plans through, typically to the dismay of whomever is around. Most of the time the nap happens eventually, but gone are the days when you could bank on that 11-1 break.

On an ordinary day, lolling heads at 10:00 would have garnered some interest from Mommy and Daddy, but we would have waited for the rally. Today, however, we were on the clock, and when the window of opportunity, however slight, presented itself, we went for it. In retrospect a novice mistake, as play had been relatively subdued all morning; we hadn't even ventured downstairs. The girls spent an hour laughing at our folly in their cribs, and then it was time to "wake up" and get ready.

We arrived at our destination without incident, took a quick lunch, and went about our adventure. I'm not quite sure what I was worried about, what scenario I envisioned, that would lead me to believe a 2 year old child could ever be bored/fussy/angry in such a place. "Here, being who is evolutionarily designed to drink in information, go be bored in this giant room filled with sights and sounds you've never experienced before". We could have spent 10 hours there and they probably still would have been going strong. Some favorites:

- Sharks in the Megalodon exhibit. Sharks being a familiar nemesis of Dora, of course.
- The K'Nex exhibit. I'm not sure how much K'Nex pays for that exhibit, but I know they make it back 10 fold in product sales.
- A castle, built into several rooms, which, with the number of kids running around, actually gives a pretty accurate re-creation of siege warfare, I imagine.

And we didn't even get much into the second wing of the place, though it did seem like that was more "older kid" stuff. A lot of people I know have had a "Meh, whatever" opinion of Exploration Place, and I can see where some of it would get a been there, done that reaction after a couple visits (especially with older kids), but the Vogts Clan had a blast.

Aside from that adventure, things are finally getting back to normal, though both Mommy and Daddy are dealing the the last remnants of colds. The girls are better though, back on schedule for the most part, and continuing to amaze. Full sentences are commonplace, and some of the conversations they have between themselves are starting to make sense to foreign ears as well. Just tonight, Megan warned Kayla not to take her chair while she went to fetch something from her room. Which of course Kayla immediately did, but still. As always, I try not to underestimate what they're capable of, something days like today help with considerably.

Sickness and Schedules

2011-02-16T05:45:00.001-06:00

After the girls were first born, Jenn obviously was home with them for a while, and I actually took over after that for about 3 weeks, give or take, mostly because I get more vacation than I can use, and I could. This took us to around Jan '09 without needing any kind of daycare. Jenn's mom Ruth took over for us at that point; she'd walk over in the morning, and take care of them until I got home at around 5 or so. Which was awesome of course - daycare showing up at your house - but couldn't last forever, as we knew. Seems like I'm remembering she took care of them until about 9 or 10 months old, until they eventually became too heavy and too active for her to keep up with 5 days a week, and still keep her sanity. So, we started looking for daycare options.

While we looked, we briefly toyed with the idea of me becoming a stay-at-home dad. We weren't sure what our daycare costs were going to be, and whether they might threaten to make my take home pay redundant. As it turned out, the answer to that question was "No", but for several days I was seriously considering the possibility, what it would mean for my life, whether I'd have been able to handle it, etc. I'm sure that overall it would have been great, but honesty compels me to admit that there are times when I could not imagine having to take care of the girls by myself 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Times like this weekend, for example.

Kayla and Megan are sick. A cold ravaged the house a few weeks back that the girls mostly recovered from, save for an occasional cough. It was never serious enough for us to worry, we know by now that the answer from the doctor would have been "Push fluids, watch her appetite, let us know if there's a fever or it gets worse". Late Friday and this weekend, however, the cough started getting worse, and we started seeing all the classic "I don't feel good" symptoms. We had Megan in on Saturday as she was the first to start a fever, and had the worse bark. They told us it was probably viral, but gave us an antibiotic just in case it was "clinical bronchitis", which seems to be one of those medical terms that translates into "Eh, we're not really sure". Kayla we had in yesterday, same diagnosis/result (although the over-eager PA did try a breathing treatment as well).

You come to appreciate how much kids depend on their routines. This is something every parenting source in the world will mention, but doesn't really sink in until you've experienced the consequences first hand. Even at 2+, it seems to snowball. A little stuffiness leads to a missed nap. A missed nap leads to a cranky afternoon. A cranky afternoon leads to an even crankier evening, at which point they become overtired and fight sleep more than usual. Rinse and repeat for 3 days, and your result is Megan still awake at 9pm tonight, sitting on Mommy's lap watching House in the living room.

Jenn stayed home with both girls today. It was up and down most of the day it sounds like, but when I got home, it's like a balloon popped. Within about 10 minutes Megan was in an inconsolable mood. She wanted Daddy to hold, then Mommy. She wanted juice, then sent it away when offered. She wanted to sit and snuggle to watch Dora, but why would I expect her to want to sit in that chair? Megan's ability to keep herself awake is legendary, but she really took it to another level tonight. At one point she crawled down from Jenn and wanted to go play with some blocks. She got as far as the block bucket, put her hands in to fetch some....and that's where the effort stalled. In retrospect we maybe should have just let her stay there, she probably would have fallen asleep right there, hands still half-clutching the blocks.

We finally got her down around 9:30, which of course means she'll be 2 hours in the hole to start out with today. There's some concern of ear infection, but they tend to wake up feeling OK, I think we'll probably have to try daycare today. Schedule, how we have missed you.

Second Moms

2011-01-30T22:18:00.001-06:00

We take a break from Twin Shenanigans to remember our dear friend Julie Hoyer, who suddenly and tragically passed this Saturday. Most of us during our formative years have the opportunity to be "adopted" by so-called Second Moms, whether they are aunts, grandmothers, big sisters, or in this case, a mother of a close friend. From the moment I started spending significant time at the Hoyer house, it was clear that Julie would be one of the many women in my life to fill that role for me.

Probably the first time I spent a lot of time out there was the summer James broke his leg, which I'm guessing must have been either '88 or '89. He wasn't going anywhere for a while that summer, so good friends that we were, we spent a good portion of our summer out there. The fact that James had Super Mario Brothers 3 to keep busy was pure coincidence, I assure you. I believe I made a good first impression that summer by consistently eating all of Julie's gummi bears or Gardetto's, a trend that would continue for many years.

We spent many a night out there through high school and college, playing cards, sitting in the breezeway playing Nintendo until God knows what time, cooking up something on the grill over a weekend, and just generally being noisy, obnoxious teenagers who thought they ran the place. But there always seemed to be some leftover Casey's pizza in the fridge, or another pile of gummi bears at her desk.

Julie used to take great fun in teasing me about being quiet most of the time, except when I had a couple of beers in me. When I was still living with James and first dating Jenn, Julie and Charlie would come down once in a while for an evening, and tell Jenn all kinds of embarrassing stories that were not true in any way, complete lies and slander. I can never remember a time when she didn't have her smile at the ready, or a cup of ice within reach.

The weather forecast tells me it will be bitter cold Wednesday, when we have Julie's memorial. It seems appropriate, since the world has lost some of it's warmth with her passing. She will be missed dearly, by many.

How to Make a Child

2011-01-26T06:12:00.001-06:00

2011. We turn over the calendar yet again, 26 months into our Great Vogts Girl Experiment. It's cliche and somewhat arbitrary to take stock in one's life at a random day in winter, significant only because of the whims of long dead Popes. Indeed, how would I even measure success or failure? In theory I'm the co-captain of this ship, in charge and determining our heading, but the Secret of Parenting that no one ever tells you (but you figure out about 18 hours in) is that really you're mostly just along for the ride. It's more like a bobsled run; there's a measure of control, but that control is not always evident, outshone by the speed and chaos of the moment.

We face several major challenges this year:

- Potty Training. A difficult negotiation, to say the least. Overtures have been made, bargains struck, treaties spoken of, but our adversaries have been fickle in holding up their agreements. And let's be blunt: The will to achieve victory on our side has been lacking at times as well. Lately, however, we've been hearing more and more mentions of the P word from the other camp, so it's probably time to redouble our efforts.

- Big Girl Beds. I'm not going to lie, this one scares us to death. We've spoken of the difference between girls before, notably their sleeping habits. Kayla would probably put in 16 hours a day were she an only child, whereas Megan will, quite literally, throw her entire body around in a desperate attempt to stall sleep for a precious few additional minutes. Bedtimes usually are not a traumatic event, but we generally do hear the girls talking to each other for a while, and then hear Megan talk a little louder when Kayla falls asleep. Lately we've learned a game where we insist on being tucked in, only to immediately throw off the covers as soon as Mommy or Daddy's back is turned and need tucking again. One can only imagine what will transpire when they have free roam of the room, and access to toys/clothes/etc. We've toyed with various ideas on how to approach this, but the only one that makes any kind of sense logistically is to just swap cribs for beds one day, and be done with it. Our nightmare scenario is basically reliving our first month all over again. Again, we have stalled this one in deference to our convenience and comfort, but the day is fast approaching.

- Generally not being evil. Overall the girls are happy and well behaved. But they are 2 years old, hence the modifier. We tend to test our boundaries a lot, especially when we're tired. Supper can sometimes be an interesting experience.

Of course, it's not all doom and gloom, as we're on the precipice of other very exciting and wonderful things:

- Real learning. In the past few weeks, we seem to have figured out the color thing, achieving probably a ~90% success rate, with only minor corrections still necessary.

- Counting skills progress as well, with several "successful" counts of three items coming from Kayla in particular.

- Big Girls Helpers. Both girls have had great fun recently helping Mommy make muffins in the kitchen. This has translated to imaginative play as well, as Megan in particular will find a toy muffin pan and muffin/cupcakes and bake us up some treats.

We love using the iPad as well, to the point it must remain hidden most of the time. Anyone who follows me on Facebook has perhaps seen the fruits of coloring sessions, using a Drawing Tablet app. We also love looking at "pictures of babies" (though they do recognize themselves if the pictures are from the past year or so) and videos. I told someone the other day that in about two years, they'll probably be the primary users of the iPad, and not just because it'll be out of date.

It seems like we may be turning a corner here, in general. This could arguably be said about any random point in a child's development, but now, especially, we're very nearly ready to become fully functional human beings. We'll see how it goes.

2010

2010-12-29T23:34:00.005-06:00

*Editors Note*: The following writings were found scribbled in crayon, on various scraps of paper, tucked underneath a pile of stuffed animals in the bedroom of Kayla and Megan Vogts. They are presented here, unedited, for posterity.

Jan 2010 (Megan): Still reeling from the implications of late last month. Many grown ups brought us things, which of course isn't unusual, but for some reason they chose to trap them in brightly colored paper. Kayla insists this happened a few months back as well. We played along, but a troubling development.

Kayla stricken with some kind of mysterious disease, resulting in spots all over her face and body. My attempts to find a cure frustrated by constant interference from the parents. Kayla however seems in relatively good spirits, and my research indicated the threat is minor.

Our attempts at communication proving fruitful, yet slow. Talk of certain toys or food are sometimes recognized, but a request for a periodic table of elements has so far been met with only blank stares.

February (Kayla): We continue to explore our surroundings, determining if this domicile is adequate for our needs. So far the facilities seem sufficient; however the laboratory, on first inspection, seems woefully understocked.

We're hopeful the basement may provide a more suitable research environment. Our daily excursions to this "Miss Kelli's" is providing an incredible intelligence opportunity, though, even if the required attire is somewhat confining.

March (Megan): A breakthrough. It turns out the noisy person in the corner of the living room is, in fact, some sort of communication or entertainment device. We have bore witness to the exploits of a girl named "Dora" who seems to be some kind of philanthropist/globe trotter (funding for our research?), and a group of four men known as the "Wiggles", who seem overly concerned with fruit salad for some reason. I have attempted to speak with their leader, Greg, about procuring some computer time in their "Wiggle House", but he so far has not acknowledged my requests. Perhaps his communications are being monitored.

We received some grooming recently, and continue to do what we can to assist the parents in making our surroundings acceptable for our purposes.

May (Kayla): Megan's theory that procuring the parents shoes would allow us to "grow big" proved to be false. Disappointing, but this is part of the scientific process of course. Tomorrow, we will attempt again with their t-shirts.

We continue with our designs. By my calculations, we can have the wind tunnel installed by next month, which will allow us to begin work on our prototypes. Megan believes she can have the reactor online by the end of the year.

June (Megan): Summer has brought an unexpected windfall: a cooling pool! Revising my estimates on the go live date for the reactor by at least a month.

Our anti-gravity experiments, however, have met with mixed results.

Communication with the parents has continued to improve. We can finally make them understand simple sentences, such as "More fruit". Again, however, their understanding proves limited, as a request for an industrial strength diamond drill resulted in a graham cracker. Must remind ourselves that science can afford to be patient.

July (Kayla): A rare recreational opportunity.

The respite was brief, of course, as that fractal generation software wasn't going to program itself. Not yet, anyway.

Daddy and Mommy left us in the care of Granny and Grandpa for a couple of days. We had high hopes going in, but sadly there was not a copy of the Journal of Applied Physics to be found in the house.

September (Megan): The parents mean well, but honestly...

THEY HUNG IT ON THE FRIDGE! That paper proved P = NP, presents a unified field theory that will one day be the theoretical basis for observing and manipulating the graviton, and identifies several promising theories for describing the effect quantum entanglement might have on current black hole theoretical models, and did they call the Nobel committee? Did they even submit it to a single scientific journal? No, up it goes with a 6 month old shopping list. Nice.

Diego, how do you deal with stuff like this?

October (Kayla): Once again, we celebrate the anniversary of our birth. It's somewhat depressing to think that we're already 2 years old, and have yet to have a single mathematical theorem named after us, but Megan reminds me that Einstein worked as a patent clerk for several years as well. I suppose we can afford ourselves a little bit of leeway.

We have decided to take on some interns to train, and to help us around the lab, perform routine experiments, etc. So far they seem to be a bit overwhelmed with the workload, but we're confident we can whip them into shape.

December (Megan): At last my reactor is ready to be brought online. The cold fusion reaction is providing nearly a 500% energy return, and that's even before we introduce the quantum superposition field.

Once again our parents have unwittingly provided us with some key components, including scientific instruments, and a simple yet effective housing structure.

We're confident that if we can achieve a stable petawatt output, the Nobel committee will have no choice but recognize our accomplishments.

Complications

2010-12-24T07:21:00.001-06:00

As Santa pictures go, a pretty good one, no? You'd like to see a smile, but with kids you take what you can get. In fact it might almost be considered perfect, if not for the obvious exclusion in our case.

The story: We procrastinated our Santa visit this year. It was going to happen last weekend, until Jenn got sick and we didn't get organized enough and in time on Sunday to make it happen. This left M-Th of this week to get it done. I got a call from Jenn right before quitting time on Tuesday, and the plan was set. Round up the girls from daycare, meet at home, quick change of clothes, and off to the mall we fly. Knocking on wood panel the whole way, hoping it wasn't too blown out.

"Quick clothes changes" never are quite as quick as you'd like these days, as the girls would either prefer to run around naked, or "do it themselves": their dressing skills documented by Jenn in the previous post, of course. But we still managed to get out the door in respectable time, and headed to Town East. We actually got a parking spot without having to resort to any demolition derby tactics, entered cautiously optimistic, and were buoyed even further when the Santa line did not stretch longer than 3 stores. "We might actually pull this off", my wife and I communicated to each other telepathically.

And then, The Wait. In science you sometimes hear talk of "deep time", the concept of time on a geological/universal scale, millions and even billions of years. As humans with ~100 year lifespans, it takes concerted effort to imagine the vast, ocean-like size of the time periods required to build mountains and stars. One trick that helps in this effort, is to stand in a Santa line with two 2-year old girls at 6:30pm after a full day of daycare. To their credit, they did pretty well for about 3/4 of The Wait, even if they were not too fond of the stroller. And then, right as we got to within view of Santa, in goes the thumb into Kayla's mouth, and down went the head on my shoulder.

On some level I knew what was coming right then, but we were scant moments away, I figured we could still pull it off. But as we arrived at the "You'll be next" entryway, and Kayla was asked if she was ready to sit on Santa's lap, the answer was a definite "No". Even Mommy could not convince her, trying to simply stand her by Santa, or to give her one of the stuffed bears sitting in Santa's makeshift workshop. Tears were flowing, arms outstretched to whatever parent was closest.

Megan, meanwhile, sat right down on Santa's lap like we had given her to Grandpa.

Disappointing, but in retrospect perhaps not that surprising. Bedtime is traditionally between 7 and 7:30, and we had pushed the limits of their endurance not only mentally, but physically by cobbling together a quick "supper" of crackers and breakfast bars. At least it's been good for a blog post.

Off to Canton here in a couple hours, for Christmas with Mom and Dad, and Linda/Shane/Jalen/Jordan, assuming the weather out there is cooperating. Then back tonight for Eve with Ruth, and Day tomorrow with the additions of Karen/Carl/Nathan. Spoiler Alert: I hear tell Santa is going to bring us a toy piano and guitar, some new puzzles, and new crayons/coloring books.

Wordless Wednesday - 12/22/10 - I Can Dress Myself!

2010-12-22T20:54:00.000-06:00

Twins: A Study in Crayola

2010-12-17T22:20:00.001-06:00

First up, we have Megan, the Scientist

Megan is generally the one to ask to color, will color longer, and with greater care and precision, than Kayla. She is more practiced at holding her crayons, and does so "normally" much better than Kayla. She'll take to suggestions (color the shoes) much easier as well, and will see it through. She'll switch colors more often as well, and will color multiple pages.

Then we have Kayla, the Artist:

Kayla is all about coloring with enthusiasm. She will not keep at it as long as Megan does, but obviously gets her money's worth. Big, looping circles and arcs in rapid succession is typical, as is only a couple of color changes. She's done with this activity in about half the time Megan is typically, usually choosing not to do more than one page.

It's interesting, because their coloring methods are in contrast with what we observe as their normal personalities. Usually Kayla is the "thinker"; generally more even tempered than Megan, generally more relaxed physically, and easier to reason with logically. She's always the first to tire, and almost always goes to bed easier, with minimal fuss. Megan meanwhile is the one more likely to run headlong into your arms...or the corner of the coffee table, the wall, or the sidewalk. She's also much more likely to transform from Good Megan to Evil Megan at the drop of a hat. Megan has, to my knowledge, never willingly slept, and fights any hint of sleep with every fiber of her being.

Flashback

2010-12-16T00:27:00.000-06:00

A flashback, to the day our daughters were born, and the days that followed.

Adventure

2010-12-11T10:05:00.001-06:00

The big news this week, at least the past two days, has been sickness, unfortunately. If you follow Jenn on Facebook you already know the story, bear with me.

Thursday night Jenn went to bed early, and I stayed up late ~~playing the new Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcraft~~ reading a very dense and complicated tome of classic literature while weather-stripping all the windows. Girls had gone down at their customary ~7:30pm time, and at one point I heard an aborted cough out of one of them. I needed to sneak in and steal a laundry basket anyway, so went in and checked. I could see Kayla kind of squirming but all seemed well, and I didn't investigate further, for fear of waking them.

Fast forward to 6:20 yesterday next morning, our equally customary weekday wake up time. As soon as I walked into the room I could smell it, and turning on the light confirmed it: Both girls had thrown up in their beds. All over the sheets/blankets/dolls/etc. Aside from the coughing the night before which, in retrospect, was probably the first throw up, we didn't hear a peep out of them all night. Jenn was in the shower, I grabbed them both, stripped off the sleepers, and headed to the bathroom. About 5 minutes into the sponge bath it was clear this wasn't going to cut the mustard, so I started a full bath and tossed them in. Right about that time Jenn came out, she took over the bath while I stripped beds and wiped sick off of various cloth items.

Complicating this medical crisis is the fact that I'm involved with a major software move/upgrade at work this weekend, involving our clinics' EMR systems. It's one of those things that doesn't directly require my involvement (clearly, as I'm writing this on Saturday sitting here in the office), as our vendor is handling all the heavy lifting, but does require my attention should the vendor run into problems. It's a task that HAS to be done by 8am on Monday, and really they'd prefer to have it by 4 or 5 am, because nurses keep odd hours (says the guy who's alarm is set for 4:30am). In short, I wasn't going to be taking off work Friday, so the task fell upon Jenn.

As it turned out, both girls were fine all day, if a little manic, wavering between crabby and hyperactive. They had a short fuse from what I hear. I managed to get home about 6:30 or so, just in time for another bath and bedtime. I haven't called yet to check on things, but I imagine everyone is up by now and well into some breakfast and Nick Jr.

Keeping both girls at home by yourself all day is certainly an experience. It's by no means an impossible task, and both Jenn and I love doing so, but nevertheless it can get pretty hectic. The girls tend to feed off each other, either in their moods or level of activity. They can be sitting quietly, playing with toys or watching TV, then all of the sudden one will jump up and run into the kitchen, and then it's on. Or they'll be in a good mood, then one girl will get mildly scolded for grabbing something off a counter, and all of the sudden both are crabby, and you find yourself looking at the clock, wondering if it's nap time yet.

It ties into something I wonder about a lot: Are we "normal" parents? A day at home with twin 2 year old girls leaves you frazzled...Imagine that. But the doubt creeps into your mind: Am I this frazzled because I'm not as up to the task as I ought to be? Or is it just a natural consequence of having twins? People used to express amazement at "how we did it" when Kayla and Megan were infants, but the truth, as I expressed here I believe, is that having two at that age wasn't really that different than one. Make two bottles instead of one, change two diapers instead of one, get used to a little more crying...it wasn't that big of a difference. But now that our living balls of hunger/poop/screams have gained mobility, independent thought, and indeed, even deviousness, the game has changed from checkers to chess. And not just regular chess: the freaky 3-D kind they had on Star Trek. I knew this would be the way of things of course, but I also wonder if I'm adapting at the necessary rate as well.

It's a problem Jenn and I have struggled with, related to taking the girls to do things as well. It's beyond clear that both girls are Turbo-Powered Knowledge Vaccuums, and like Johnny 5, they need input. Yo Gabba Gabba has a live show that tours the country, and was due to swing through KC sometime in November I believe. When we learned of this some months before hand, we toyed with the idea of taking them up for the show, maybe staying a night, and doing some other kid-friendly activity on the way out of town the next day. Then we began cataloging the realities of such a trip. How long into the 3 hour drive up would the girls reach the "OK I'm done with this car seat" mark? Would we need to budget time for a nap before the show? How are we going to get them down for a nap in an unfamiliar hotel room? When/how are we going to squeeze meals into the schedule? What about the return trip home?

The logistics scared us off that particular trip/idea; perhaps it shouldn't have, but Mommy and Daddy are kind of learning as they go as well. I suppose a lot of the problem is just the age. Did Kayla really understand when I told her to not run off across the street, and she said OK? Or was that the same "OK" she uses when I ask her if she would like to fly to the moon? All part of the process I guess.

Wordless Wednesday - 12/08/10 -Jayhawk Girls

2010-12-08T01:00:00.003-06:00

Sunday Sunday Sunday

2010-12-05T22:11:00.001-06:00

So, you might ask yourself: What is a lazy December Sunday like with twin 2 year old girls?

Oh, you know, nothing special.

Little Girls Being Girls

2010-11-28T22:18:00.001-06:00

The girls have really taken to the girly things, like dressing in tutu's, playing with their kitchen, cradles and dolls. They've purloined bags and purses, carrying them on their shoulders and arms like purses (which is comical when the bags are nearly as big as they are....)

The latest is to raid the clean laundry basket before the laundry is folded...or raid the dish towel drawer -- and use a bath towel or dish towel as a baby blanket.

This evening, they were playing with strollers. Daddy suggested to Megan, as she was pushing an empty stroller, that she find a baby to put in it. "No!" she insisted, and trotted off to her bedroom, pushing the stroller quickly along the hall and out of sight into the bedroom.

She came back, moments later, her stroller no longer empty. It was now full of socks!

She pushed it all the way out to the kitchen, then removed some of the socks. Kayla and Megan sat down together and put on socks.

Anything to keep them entertained safely!

Understanding

2010-11-21T11:26:00.001-06:00

The theme this week (month?, yes I know) has been understanding. Consider the following conversation which might have taken place scant weeks ago:

Mommy: What did you have for supper, Kayla?
Kayla: Abaga sten raga, Dowa Boots cleck bagara expactera.

Which roughly translates into, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Mommy, so I'm going to tell you how Dora and Boots saved the tree sloth". Compare and contrast this to the following. It must be an amazing thing to all of the sudden be capable of verbal communication with those around you, after lacking the ability for so long. The obvious comparison would be myself suddenly moving to a foreign country, but even that falls short, as I already have a basic grasp of one language. Perhaps the more accurate comparison would be waking up and finding yourself on an alien world where they communicated by smells.

Astute viewers might notice that Kayla almost-sorta-maybe counts the number of mash totatos she consumed, another skill we seem to be developing. Demonstration of said skill can be frustratingly rare, however, and subject to the whims of a two year old, but we have heard the number thirteen uttered. They still have trouble with the number one, it seems mostly because they're so used to Mommy or Daddy beginning the counting process. Previous to the above video I had assumed that counting was still just rote memorization/recital, but Kayla does seem to work out the number in her head....well like I say, almost-sorta-maybe.

Developments come at such a furious pace that I find myself having to reign in my expectations. The other day I was briefly searching for child color blind tests, because the girls can't yet reliably identify the blue and green crayons, before finally telling myself, "Calm down, they're two".

Aside from major developmental milestones that will fundamentally shape who they are as people, things continue to chug along normally. We made it past the big 2-0 (minus 18) and Halloween, and now have our sights set on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sounds like we're going to use the Thanksgiving weekend to try and formally introduce potty training, as both girls have taken to telling us about wet diapers most of the time. I'm telling myself this will be the last major hurdle to overcome; that once this is done, it's smooth sailing from here on out. I'd appreciate it if you would allow me this delusion until at least the end of January.

That's all for now, bye bye!

Wordless Wednesday - 11/03/10 - If Only They Would Have Put Them On....

2010-11-03T21:15:00.000-05:00

Halloween as 2 year olds - 2010

2010-10-31T21:38:00.004-05:00

The girls enjoyed Halloween. They wouldn't wear the costumes mommy got them, though! They were supposed to go as a Bumble Bee and a Honey Pot.

So imagine these are the girls in their costumes.

This was mommy's concept.

The reality was tearful sobs and wails when we tried to put the costume on the first time, to go to a party at the farmer's market in Aunt Karen's neighborhood. So we used Chief's Cheerleader outfits as costumes. A good solution -- happy girls, and the outfits were new -- and they were quite well received at the event!

So when the girls were going to see Granny and Grandpa, they were tired. We didn't even try the costumes! Again, the cheerleader outfits came out and all was well.

So Halloween night, we tried again -- but nope, no one was interested. So we brought out the fancy dresses that were too big for them when they were 1, and discovered they were too small at 2. They did wear the little hats for a while. Then we opted for tutu's that Granny and Grandpa gave them for their birthday. That worked out well.

The girls had a blast going back and forth to the front door when trick-or-treaters arrived. They also kept stealing candy whenever mommy would have the bowl low enough to put candy into trick-or-treaters bags. They did get some sweet tarts, because mommy figured they wouldn't like them and then wouldn't ask for any more. Boy, was I wrong! So then we had animal crackers and Graduates Fruit Strips.

They watched a Halloween episode of Dora, and part of a Halloween episode of Diego, and then off to bed.
Below are some random pictures of their big day!

Kayla, ready for daycare the last day before Halloween.

Megan, ready for daycare the last day before Halloween.

Megan, ready to go see Granny and Grandpa

Kayla, screaming, "no, NO, NOOOOOOO" after being asked to come back into the kitchen to pose for a picture before going to Granny and Grandpa's

Princess Megan and Princess Kayla

Princess Megan, and Princess Kayla--trying to eat the decorative beads on her dress.

Princess Megan -- going for the treats, while Princess Kayla still tries for the beads on her dress

Megan, telling us about trick or treaters outside

Kayla, sporting her pink tutu and lavender fancy hat

Kayla in her tutu, because that's the way she rolls!

Wordless Wednesday - 10/26/10 - PJ's and Tu-Tu's

2010-10-27T01:00:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday - 10/13/10 - Happy Birthday!

2010-10-13T21:06:00.000-05:00

Birthday Girls

2010-10-10T00:53:00.002-05:00

Next year, when you're 3, you'll spend most of the day reminding me of that fact, and wondering why I'm not more impressed.

In three years, when you're 5, you'll pick out what you want to wear for the day, and will be quite happy to pose for pictures.

In eight years, when you're 10, whatever books we give you, you'll read yourself.

In eleven years, when you're 13, there might be boys at your party.

In fourteen years, when you're 16, you'll be mad that we didn't get you a car. Or perhaps worse, you'll be happy we did.

In sixteen years, when you're 18, you probably won't spend your birthday with us at all.

But this year, balloons were still the highlight of your day, the welfare of dolls was still (occasionally) a concern, empty pots and pans contained gourmet cuisine, and it's OK that somehow the best picture Daddy managed to get of the two of you alone, together, was at 8:30 in the morning, watching Olivia in your pajamas.

Happy Birthday, Kayla and Megan

Wordless Wednesday - 10/6/10 - Megan, Then and Now

2010-10-06T04:00:00.001-05:00

Time with Granny - Revisited

2010-10-04T23:24:00.000-05:00

A while back, Mike posted a bit about Granny's visit with the girls. I came across some pictures she'd taken of them with their strollers and I don't believe we ever shared them.

This was the time they learned to use their stroller with their dollies. And they had runny noses themselves -- and so therefore, the dollies did, too. Granny gave them tissues to use to wipe their dollbabies' noses.

This was also the time that Granny and Daddy got out the table that Grandma Bingham had given the girls. When we first got out that table, they weren't big enough for the chairs, so we put it away for a while.

They're big enough now!

Backwards Looking Sequence of Pictures.

2010-10-04T23:02:00.000-05:00

When we were growing up, dad had a video camera. Not like today's cameras of course, but we did have movies on little reels and a screen to set up to watch them. No sounds, just pictures.
And we could play them backwards.
Yes, we would beg dad to play them backwards and watch ourselves run backwards up the stairs, or wrap up the gifts, etc. To the point that when we'd unwrap them, we'd do it with grand gestures, knowing it would look funnier when we played it backwards.

These memories came back to me when I was digitally flipping through a set of pictures. It just looks backwards. But it isn't. Kayla in the bright pink top and striped shorts, and Megan is in the peach top an denim shorts. Notice Megan's feet/legs beneath the car as she's getting squished out -- which isn't really big enough for both of them simultaneously.
I started taking pictures when the girls were both in the car -- and then Kayla climbed out.
The backwards "feel" to it probably won't translate well to this format, but regardless, here's a string of pictures of the girls.

Maybe it's just me that sees it so backwards looking, but if nothing else, it's cute to see Megan reaching for that peg in the last shot -- with her toes.

Wordless Wednesday - 9/29/10

2010-09-29T04:00:00.001-05:00

Sharing -- In Absentia, & a Work of Art

2010-09-27T23:54:00.000-05:00

This evening, Megan and I ran to the store for a few things, while Daddy and Kayla stayed home. Their birthday is fast approaching, so I made a detour down the toy aisle. Megan's eyes lit up when she saw some stuffed animals, reaching for them, to no avail. Mommy knows better than to get too close to things.

But when we passed by a display of baby bottles, and she got excited about the bottles, Mommy stopped. They were just cheap little baby bottles -- filled with colored liquid that "disappears" when you turn the bottle upside down and the dolly "drinks" it. They even came in pink and purple.

"Juice! Juice!" Megan insisted, pointing, bright eyed and with a big smile. I explained they were baby bottles for doll babies. She quickly mimicked "Doll baby bottle" to the best of her ability, followed by "pease, pease!" accompanied by the sign for "please", quite insistantly. Mommy caved.   But not to play favorites, we got one for Kayla, too.

Throughout the store, she had one in hand at all times. Then she'd want to trade it out for the other one in the basket of the cart, and mommy obliged. She started sucking on them -- so I reminded her they were doll baby bottles, one was for her, and one for Kayla. She repeated several times, "doll baby bottle" as best she could, several times, clutching both of them tightly.

Suddenly, the wheels turned in her little head, and she thrust her little arm out back and to the side, holding one doll baby bottle out behind her, and yelled loudly, "Daaaaahhhh" (which translated, is "Kaaayyyyllaaaaa").   Then she looked around.   "Kayla's not here, sweetie, she's at home". She called out, waving the bottle, "Daaaaahhhh!! --- Daaaahhh!"    as if Kayla would magically appear.

Once again, I told her, "Kayla's not here, sweetie, she's at home" this time adding, "with Daddy." Megan thought about it only a moment before she waved the bottle again, this time, yelling, "Daddy!"

Obviously, no one appeared, but Mommy told her we'd give it to Kayla at home, and that we'd go home in a few minutes -- then promptly distracted her with some odd grocery item.

Nothing better than sharing with your sister -- even when she isn't there!

Meanwhile, at home, Kayla and Daddy had their own fun. When I came in the door with Megan and groceries, Daddy and Kayla met me there. Kayla had a paper in her hand, but when Megan came in with a baby bottle, they both ran off to the living room together. Daddy helped unload the groceries while I gave Megan the second baby bottle, which she promptly gave to Kayla.

Daddy reminded Kayla about her paper, and she picked it back up and ran over to me with it. While I was gone, Kayla had spotted the crayons on the counter, and Daddy let her color me a picture!

The first pictures they colored went into the keepsake box. This one? Straight to the kitchen 'fridge door!

The girls insisted on taking the bottles into their bath with them. When Daddy took them away so he could dry them off, there were tears. And after they were in their pajamas, and we went back to get the bottles -- they both yelled "doll baby bottles!" repeatedly while taking them out into the living room. Best $3 and change I ever spent.

Little things like these remind me how blessed we are to have these two precious girls!

English

2010-09-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

How do you teach someone the word "dirty"?

It's a thought I had the other morning, getting the girls ready for daycare. I was telling Kayla about her dirty diaper for some reason, and Miss Mimic repeated the word back to me. "Dohty" I believe would be a good approximation of the vocalization. So we had a brief conversation about the differences between Dirty and Clean, and my day was that much better because, hey, I taught my daughter a new word. Didn't I?

I probably did, but it got me thinking about the enormity of this task, something I very nearly took for granted. A thing can be dirty in many ways, for example. What exactly constitutes "dirty"? The definition itself can vary from person to person: See, The Five Second Rule. And what if you haven't yet learned the word of the item, of which I'm trying to communicate the level of unclean? Does "dirty" refer to the object itself, or it's state of being? Linda made a Facebook post related to this the other day, trying to teach Jordan that the words "smallest" and "biggest" are fine, but "mediumest" is not. Why is that exactly? At some point a linguist has probably written a thesis on this very subject.

Phonics lessons aside, things continue to truck right along in the Vogts household. We are about two weeks away from officially hitting two years old, a concept that seems to be somewhat understood, including Mommy and Daddy only recently (October 9? Well, that's still weeks and....oh, yeah). And then it's our anniversary, and then it's Halloween, and then it's Thanksgiving, and then it's Christmas...We really need another month in here somewhere to slow things down. Smarch has a nice ring to it.

We bought a new video camera that should be arriving any day now, because ~~Daddy likes shiny toys~~ our old video camera is somewhat cumbersome to use properly. Getting videos off the current tape model involves plugging the camera into it's docking station, plugging the docking station into a computer, importing the video from the tape to the computer using some kind of editing software, encoding it for upload to YouTube, etc etc. An afternoon's work; a block of time I used to throw around casually, but now is quite precious to me. The new model is not only HD, but allows for videos to be saved directly to a memory stick, which hopefully should allow us to provide the world with videos more easily, and more often. The girls of course are at the point where they are capable of doing things more interesting than rolling over and spitting up, and we realize we've been somewhat negligent in offering up video proof of their talents. Early New Years resolution: the YouTube Channel will once again be active, beginning with the girls second birthday party in a couple of weeks.

Wordless Wednesday - 9/22/10

2010-09-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

Technotwins

2010-09-18T22:12:00.000-05:00

Kayla and Megan

They're starting young, picking up daddy's technical side.....

.....................or maybe they're big fans of The Wiggles clips on line...

Wordless Wednesday 9/15/10 - I Help, Kayla...

2010-09-15T05:00:00.001-05:00

Picture Story

2010-09-14T23:07:00.000-05:00

Megan: We're not doing anything, mommy -- just sitting here under our blankets.

Megan: What do you mean I look like I'm plotting, Mommy?

Megan: Gotcha!
Kayla: That's funny!

Megan: You know what would be even funnier?
Kayla: What?

Megan: THIS!

Kayla: ha ha I know what would be even funnier!

Megan: Really? What's that?

Kayla: If we both did it to ourselves!

Kayla: And then ran at Mommy!!

Megan: yeah! I'm coming to get you, Mommy!

Megan: I'm gonna get you, Mommy! Here I come at full speed!

Megan: Mommy? Where are you?
Kayla: I don't think she's over here.

Megan: Mommy!!!

Kayla: Mommy, that blanket messed up my hair.

Trash Can Wars

2010-09-12T23:30:00.004-05:00

First there was Star Wars.

Then there was Junkyard Wars

Don't forget Whale Wars.

And we can't miss CupCake Wars

But now, to top them all -- we have Trash Can Wars!

In this episode, we have Kayla and Megan battling with the garbage bin and the recycling bin. The battle takes place in the kitchen and the adjoining laundry room. While it started out as a bumper-car like battle through the kitchen, it quickly becomes a chase into the laundry room.

Scooting quickly across the floor, as the crown roars, the girls wrestle, each with a can nearly as tall as themselves. They take great pleasure in their triumph over the large plastic containers as they slide back into the kitchen with them.

Oh, wait, that wasn't a crowd -- it was mommy, saying, "hey! Put those back right now!" (While capturing the last moments of the event on camera.)

Can you tell who won?
Or better yet .... can you tell who's who...

Mouse over and highlight the bar below to see the answer!

Kayla is in Aqua with jeans shorts and Megan is in Pink with Purple shorts
(May not work in all browsers)

Here we go

2010-09-05T00:08:00.000-05:00

First off, a picture that Jenn already posted, but I'm posting again because it's instantly become one of my top 10 favorites, though I'm not really sure why...

So the big news around our house is that the girls, Megan in particular, have apparently decided they are not just Megan and Kayla, but MEGAN VOGTS AND KAYLA VOGTS AND YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THIS FACT OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES! In short, we've stepped up our independence assertion by a factor of at least 3. Things like running down the drive and into the court when we get home from daycare, more defiant and repeated "No's" when asked to stop doing something, meltdowns at the littlest provocation, etc. Not unexpected of course, but still a trial. James and I like to tease each other about the "Iron Fist" method of child care, the implication of course being that our fists are more talcum than iron, but clearly Daddy is going to have to step his game up.

Things have been relatively slow otherwise. Jenn bought a "water and sand" activity set we finally put together, and the girls have had great fun on several occasions playing with that outside. You perhaps saw the "tea party" video from the other day; this continues to be a favorite toy as well. And tonight, the girls seemed to be playing "house" with, oddly enough, some shoe boxes obtained from Daddy after a fruitful shopping trip. They were a little big for their houses of course, but immediately saw the wisdom in putting their dollies in the house, when it was suggested. Jenn mentioned the other day she's on the prowl for a kitchen set of some kind as well. Play improves at a remarkable pace.

Personalities continue to emerge as well. Megan's stubborn streak is already well established, as is her sense of adventure. She's constantly looking to climb in or on something, and generally seems to have little or no fear. Very "go-go-go". She's also usually very concerned about where Kayla is, and what she is doing. In a way she is turning into the "older sister".

Kayla is turning out to be more subdued. She tires much more easily than Megan, and will gladly lay down in her crib at bedtime while Megan screams in protest. She's quite the singer as well; lately I've noticed her singing whatever song she dreams up for minutes at a time, while she's playing with blocks or "reading". She tends to be very dramatic too: not in behavior necessarily but in facial expressions (as seen above). She's not quite as possessive of her toys as Megan is, but is generally more concerned about having a dolly at any given moment.

Little mysteries is what they are, that slowly reveal themselves to you, bit by bit. I wonder what I'll learn about them tomorrow?

Wordless Wednesday 9/1/10 - Ravioli is Messy Business

2010-09-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

Twin Challenge

2010-08-31T23:21:00.000-05:00

The girls do love that ravioli! But can you tell who's wearing her dinner in this picture?

Wordless Wednesday 8/25/10

2010-08-25T21:02:00.000-05:00

Just a quick link

2010-08-24T21:42:00.001-05:00

Kayla and Megan Tea Party

Over the River and Through the Woods....

2010-08-22T22:58:00.002-05:00

There are a lot of advantages to living in a house that backs up to your family.

However, for my mom, visits from the granddaughters hasn't often been one.

Even though we literally live behind each other -- I haven't been brave enough to take the girls to my mom's house very often. Many reasons for this...but the easiest explanation - I dare you to take two babies down a flight of stairs, across the yard, up another partial flight of stairs, and into a house with pretty things everywhere and an open stairway to the basement. Yeah, I can rationalize with the best!

Now that the girls are getting older, they can navigate the stairs themselves (with someone ready to catch them if they fall --or to hold a hand to help them along). And they go through the yard just fine. In fact, I can say "let's go to Grandma's house" and they go right to her back porch. And since they're starting to get the idea when we say "no" and "don't touch", we mean it, so it's not quite as daunting.

This weekend we went over to Grandma's right after dinner. Grandma had some tomatoes, and the girls wanted them. So Grandma shared. We diced them up and put them in a bowl. Mom didn't have dirty pants. The girls kept wiping their hands across her pants to get the tomato juice off them!

Then we washed up their hands and let them play in the living room for a bit. Megan made herself right at home on the couch, taking off her shoes.

Kayla made herself at home on the loveseat and took her shoes off, too. But Megan put hers back on, and then helped Kayla put hers back on, too.

When it was time to go outside, Grandma got a big hug from Kayla.

We invited Grandma to sit out on the porch while the girls played in the yard. She taught the girls how to sit at their picnic table.

It was a challenge, and they thought they were supposed to get on top of it...but Grandma got them straightened out.

It was a really nice evening to sit outside. The girls had a great time playing at Grandma's house and out in the yard.

We'll have to do it again, soon!

22 Month Report

2010-08-15T10:09:00.003-05:00

One of the quirks of parenthood is that chances are good you know a friend or family member who ends up having a child shortly before you do. Such a child acts as a bellwether for your own child's development. Dealing with your own child day-to-day, as well as the minutia of life, often obscures development, or at least removes the focus from it (regular readers will detect this running theme of the blog, and likely not for the first time wonder aloud, "They let him care for children?"). You end up surfing through days that turn into weeks that turn into months, with little thought besides what you have to do at work or when the next Burn Notice is on, then you spend time with your little Canary Cousin and come away thinking, "Oh yeah, they can do that too", or more to the point, "Wow, I can't believe they're going to be doing that in a matter of weeks". It's not an exact science of course, since all children develop at different rates, but nevertheless, such is the service Linda's son Jalen provides to us, whom we saw yesterday at his 2nd birthday party.

Getting ready for supper yesterday, I was about ready to go grab one of the high chairs we brought up for the girls (Granny possessing the other). Kayla and Megan still take every meal in their high chairs; we know they do OK in booster seats from experience at mom's, but typically we're slow in changing such habits, mainly because the more restrictive devices tend to offer a measure of control as well. This is one of the major reasons the baby gate separating the kitchen and living room was only taken down this week, despite the fact the girls have been able-bodied enough to simply remove it themselves should they wish it gone for quite some time now. Mommy and Daddy's binky's, as it were. But back to the high chair: Linda told me not to bother, since Jalen would just sit at the kitchen table chair.

Would he, now?

Yes, as it turns out. I had doubts when he sat down and his nose was level with the table, but Linda just told him to get up on his knees, and all was well. I'm trying to imagine the scenario in which I would have casually suggested a similar course of action for the girls, and honestly most of them involve promises of game show winnings/riches. And yet I have to remind myself: There, but for 2 months, go we. Give or take.

Scenario #2. Granny and Grandpa have a swingset-on-steroids in their backyard, which the girls gravitated to at one point. But they're too little for such a playground still, they couldn't possibly climb the ladder to go down the slide, right? Wrong again, Superdad. The truth is yes, they are probably a bit too little for it, as it took myself and two heroic in-laws to manage the scene, but again the question lingers: For How Long???

Language skills continue to amaze as well. Last night, headed home after cake and ice cream (or rather, some strange new creation I call "ice cake"), Megan entertained herself/fought off sleep by singing the first two words of "Happy Birthday", tune relatively intact. Now, like most families I would imagine, we're not given to spontaneously bursting into Happy Birthday choruses for no reason, and byzantine copyright laws ensure that the girls are not hearing it regularly on television. The point being, when was the last time they would have heard this song? Many months ago? Yet there Megan is, disappointing us when the song morphs into Ring Around the Rosie. You probably saw the Wiggles video previously; this is another song that has only improved with practice. Is it too soon to start them on a diet of Decemberists and Cardigans? Experts are divided.

It gets you thinking, occasionally: Are we babying our baby's too much? As mentioned, we're slow to change habits that make life easier for us, one of the pratfalls of having to keep track of two at any given moment I think. Well, a pratfall of life really, but life all-encompassing is not the subject of this blog. Are we ridiculous for feeding 22 month old children in high chairs? Is it silly that we still feel nervous when they're back in their bedroom silent for more than a few minutes?

Then again, there are often stark reminders that you own underwear older than they are, literally. I'm in the office this morning, taking care of various server updates, while Jenn's at home taking the "We didn't get enough sleep last night, we've got a bout of diaper rash, and there just isn't a whole lot right in the world" bullet you still occasionally have to deal with. I just called to see how it was going, and would officially classify it as "hectic, with a 30% chance of chaotic".

Hurry up, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 install.

2010-08-13T07:31:00.000-05:00

How time flies -- how quickly they grow up.

From discovering toes --- to painted toes! This morning, Kayla pointed to Megan's feet, saying "pretty toes". Both girls have remnants of mommy's attempt at putting bright pink toenail polish on their wiggling toes. Then she pointed to her own toes and said "pretty toes". Next she showed me my own toes, "pretty toes". Now if only we can get Daddy to let us paint his toes, he can have "pretty toes", too!

Wordless Wednesday 8/11/10

2010-08-11T22:48:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday 8/4/10 - New Chairs??

2010-08-04T00:11:00.001-05:00

The Wiggles Rock

2010-07-31T11:57:00.000-05:00

Kayla and Megan Dancing to The Wiggles

I posted this on my Facebook this weekend, but in case you don't follow me there, there you go. This video is proof that the Internet is at once the most wonderful and horrible thing ever created. In 10+ years, when the girls are too-cool-for-parents and need to be taken down a notch, I can just pull this up when their friends are over and embarrass them beyond words. On the flip side, however, the girls will probably learn to keep it uploaded on whatever phone/device they carry around, and regardless of what they've done - break curfew, wreck the car, start an intergalactic war - it will all be forgotten the moment I see Kayla clap and yell "Yay!" halfway through the video.

Granny was down for this week, coinciding with a week off work I had as well. Originally our daycare was going to be gone on vacation this week, but that was cancelled, so I ended up alternating between doing a few chores around the house and watching Granny work her magic. Every time she's around the girls for an extended period, they seem to have a quantum leap in development. It's the teacher in her I'm sure; she naturally sees in them/does things with them that we mortals cannot. This time the leap was in play. I (finally) baby-proofed the girls room, so Granny brings up from the basement the Disney Fairy Princess table and chairs Grandma Ruth got for them a while back, and they spent a significant portion of the week playing Tea Party, or perhaps Business Casual Lunch, whatever the cool 22-month-olds are into this year. I cleaned out the garage, Granny sees the two doll strollers stored there and forgotten, and before I can finish sweeping the floor the girls are challenging my parenting skills.

I see things like this happen, and it does not escape me that I'm very fortunate to have an extended family filled with teachers (including my wife, who is a teacher herself, if not in title, then in spirit). When small humans have needs that never stray too far from Hungry, Tired, Soiled, and Mad At The World, they fall right into my wheelhouse. It's the scientific method, really.

Hypothesis: Baby Is Hungry.
Test Hypothesis: Feed Baby.
Is Test Positive? Negative.
Proceed to Secondary Hypothesis: Baby is Sleepy.

If all tests fail, endure 30 minutes of crying and repeat. It's all very predictable and orderly when you think about it, and it should not be surprising that a man who is rarely more than 50 feet away from a computer would manage infant care in such a manner. The equations become more complex, however, when things like knowledge, language, emotions, wants and preferences begin to erupt from our charges. This I am less equipped to deal with, and though I'm sure I will find a way to adapt, it is comforting to know that there are those around me willing and able to pick up my slack.

Wordless Wednesday 7/28/10 - Room For Two -- Usually

2010-07-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

Faces of Kayla

2010-07-26T21:19:00.001-05:00

Little Miss Kayla sometimes likes to ham it up for the camera. Even when there isn't a camera around. Lucky for us there often is one nearby in our house, although sometimes in the form of a phone.

Kayla has gotten so expressive lately. Little things will cause her to make the most surprised face -- complete with the perfect little oval-shaped open mouth and wide eyes, frozen just long enough to make it more comical.

She's absolutely adorable when she does it! It's hard to catch her in full-surprised-mode, though.
She's turned into quite the climber, too! I keep calling her my little monkey girl. If we take the tray off the high chair, she'll climb up into it all by herself!

But sometimes, she just wants to lay in a chair and watch Dora or Diego. She does suck her thumb -- usually only when she's tired, though. We haven't tried to stop her yet -- figure we'll give it some time and let her be a kid for a while.

Hugging is fun! And sometimes -- she gets overzealous and hugging becomes near-strangling. But even strangling can be cute when it's a stuffed animal. When she's excited she'll run at you and throw herself into your arms for a big hug!

She thinks watermelon is fabulous. She makes an awful mess with it, with juice going everywhere. Especially when she smooshes it in front of her. Here she's actually showing me her mouth, in response to my request that she put it in her mouth instead of smooshing it on her tray.

And she doesn't care what she looks like ~~eating~~ playing with it. Here she's quite proud of her accomplishment of getting her finger stabbed through it without it breaking into multiple pieces. I was actually pretty impressed!

She's the ultimate girly-girl.

Okay, maybe this was a rare moment caught with a bow in her hair. She left the bow in her hair for quite a bit that morning, probably because she found it on the dresser and wanted to wear it. Everything's better if its not mommy's idea, right?

She's almost always the helper girl. If we leave something within her reach, she'll pick it up -- and if we scold her, she doesn't stop -- she just proudly brings it to us so we can put it up. She's pretty good at sharing things with her sister -- if you give her two sippies, she'll take one to Megan. If Megan puts her sippy down, Kayla will often pick it up and take it, giving Megan hers. Any opportunity to trade -- after all, Megan's might have something better!

And she'd would love to be Mommy's little kitchen helper if we'd let her!

Always a cutie, even when she isn't doing anything special. Here she's showing us the buttons on her top and telling us what they are. Over and over. She doesn't have many outfits with buttons on them, being a choking hazard and all, so this was pretty special to her--the buttons on her top, instead of mommy's or daddy's!

She's definitely a daddy's girl. His hat is a much-loved toy, although she hasn't quite got the hang of it yet. In her defense, it is a tad big for her still.

She is absolutely precious to me. I cannot even imagine what life would be like now if she weren't a part of it. She's got me by the heart.

She's pretty good at making other people smile, too. After all, who could resist this face?

Faces of Megan

2010-07-26T21:19:00.000-05:00

Mighty Megan prefers to be held a lot of the time.

That started from birth and hasn't stopped. She's always reaching to be picked up, and asks with a persistent and insistent "Up! Up!" and who could resist her cute little ~~demand~~ plea?

She does have a determined streak in her. When she wants to do something, she doesn't like to be told no. Like sneaking food to the dog from her high chair, for example..

Eventually I predict that determination will work into a beneficial attribute. Right now, though, it's inconsistent. She's very quick to say "Hep, hep!" when she wants someone to help her do something -- often before she's tried to do it on her own. She's learned already that people will do things for her if she asks them to. Manager in training, perhaps?

She's quite vocal, learning more words every day. She's very good at picking up what people say and do, and mimicking it. I'm not sure where she got this one, though -- it's certainly not something I do!

We have to watch Megan carefully, and be careful where we leave the laptops. Megan looks quite at home here, though, in this rare moment where she was able to get to a computer without being on someone's lap. I have no doubt she'll have more than her share of early exposure to PC's in our household, but so far, it's limited to watching clips of preschool TV shows on the internet, and seeing pictures of herself on daddy's screen saver.

She's pretty good at identifying the usual body parts. Here she's demonstrating her skill at identifying her belly button.

When Megan gets determined to do something, that tongue comes out. My daddy had that same tendency. Here, she's determined to climb up into mommy's lap in the recliner, but mommy won't put down the camera to help.

Here she's intent on using that spoon. Even if it is backwards...

She loves being outside, and loves to ready-set-GO! She often plays keep-away-from-Mommy when mommy wants her to come here.

She has a passion for reading already. She's even doing well with pointing at items as we count them.

She has an artistic streak to her eating style. A while back, she balanced toast pieces on end. The other day, she worked hard to balance a piece of cheese stick on the top of her sippy cup. She succeeded!

Megan often makes it hard to get good pictures of her. As soon as she sees the camera, she comes over wanting to see the pictures on the screen. Every time she sees one of her or Kayla, she identifies it as Kayla, though. Apparently, she can't distinguish herself from her sister yet in photos.

She's not shy, although she looks it in this shot. What's really going on here is that she wants to sit on the other side of the chair, and so she's climbing behind Kayla (in pink) to get her to move. This is just one example of Megan forgetting that she's little, and pushing to get her way.

Megan is quite playful at times. Of course when she's not she has no problem saying "no!". Here she's playing a game of peek a boo from behind the chair. She thinks she's hidden.

She tends to play in her crib for a while before going to bed. One morning we found all her babies from her bed lined up along the wall, watching her sleep. (I haven't decided if that one's cute or creepy.)

She brightens every day for me, more than I ever expected. Life would not be the same if she wasn't with us, an I'm so grateful that she is! I'm smitten.

She's good at capturing people's hearts. It's hard to resist a cute little face like this -- who once again, is after the camera!

Pretty Toes!

2010-07-25T23:19:00.000-05:00

I admit it, I enjoy having my nails done. It's my one real girly-girl thing.

Well, my girls like having their toenails done.

I can tell by the way they say, "more, more" after I finish. And the way they smile when anyone says, "Oh, what pretty toes!" I had a hard time getting a picture, though. But they're cute anyway!

Here they are, ready for bed....

Kayla, Megan

Truth is, although they enjoyed blowing on each others toes to dry the polish, they still managed to smudge it. And since they like to watch, it's hard to get it on properly anyway, being that they keep wiggling and putting their toes up where they can see. But that's okay -- it's about making them smile, not actually making their toes look perfectly painted.

I didn't paint their finger nails. They wouldn't have stayed still enough for it to dry, Also, because Kayla sucks her thumb, I'd be afraid of her eating the polish. I won't paint Megan's without painting Kayla's. That wouldn't be fair.

Wordless Wednesday - 7/21/10

2010-07-21T19:53:00.002-05:00

Drive It Like A Rental

2010-07-17T01:24:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's a Mustang.
And yes, that's a rental.

We took a little vacation this last weekend. The girls stayed with Mike's parents, Granny and Grandpa, while Mike and I galloped up to KC. We left our Equinox (affectionately referred to as "the truck") with the girls (Granny and Grandpa drove, though), so we thought we'd have a little fun transportation. I wussed out at 100 MPH.

They say opposites attract. To some degree, that's true. Mike is a pretty conservative driver.
I'm not.
I blame my sister.

I still remember the first time I rode with her on icy roads. She fishtailed. On purpose. Until we got stuck in a snow drift. She wanted me to get out and push -- and I was afraid she would drive off and leave me if I did (after all, she was my older sister). I don't recall any more than that.

She drove us to school a lot of the time her senior nyear. Drag racing in a fake-wood-sided station wagon is a lot more exciting than it sounds.

At 21st and Maize, the intersection used to be a 4-way stop. It went to four lanes right before the intersection -- and back down to two shortly after it. Great for drag racing at the intersection...with a touch of chicken thrown in. After all, you're going to run out of road if you're on the outside...But I digress.

(And my mother is now rolling her eyes and will soon tell me she's never been told any of these stories before......what, you thought my Monza lost the ability to shift into second for no reason? Or didn't I ever tell you about that --- since I skipped second gear a lot of the time anyway. Yeah, and I was proud that I could scratch in second when I did use it....but I digress further)

My driving has tamed a lot since those days.

So we went on this vacation to KC.

We spent most of our time on the Plaza, at The Legends mall, or in the hotel. It was a good trip! We had some plumbing issues with the hotel the first night....but the manager made it right, so all's well that ends well.

We made it to The Cheesecake Factory to share a slice of 6-carb cheesecake. YUMM

And yes, I took a picture of the actual piece of cheesecake....after we'd started eating. Obviously I don't have a future in photography or product marketing -- but I do know where to find good cheesecake!

I only called Granny about 10 times to check on the girls. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration. But hey, I'm used to coming home late from work and having to peek at the girls in bed -- but I'm not used to not seeing them in the morning,. and not being able to peek in on them in bed!

They had a great time at Granny and Grandpa's. I don't have pictures of that, so how about a couple of pictures of the girls at Outback with us from a few weeks ago, instead. Totally unrelated to the vacation, but what would a post be without pictures of the girls?

Kayla

Megan

And yes, that is broccoli. And no, it's not for me. That's Megan's chewed-straw milk, too.
You see, I feed my girls a lot healthier than we eat.

So back to the vacation...

We also discovered that Harry and David's, in The Legends mall, has a section of sugar free candy. Who knew?
There's a sports shop a couple doors from Harry and David's. We ALWAYS find a couple of sports-themed outfits for the girls there and spend way to much for them. This was the first time we didn't find anything worth splurging on. Seriously. The clothes in their size weren't anything to write home about. I guess it's back to Ebay for me to find some new Jayhawk gear for them!

Before we went into the Carter's store, I asked Mike, "So is it okay of I spend an obscene amount of money on the girls here?" You see, every time I go to that store, I walk out with enough clothing for 6 girls. At least that's how it seems. Maybe it's because they sell onesie's in sets of 5 -- and I always had to get a pink set and a purple set. And so on.

Well -- mark this one down on the calendar --- I went through the entire store and walked out without anything. Not. One. Thing.

They had some cute fall clothes -- and I was tempted -- but nothing that knocked my socks off. Especially since I don't know what size they'll be wearing then. (I was sure they'd be in 18 months this summer --- but they're in anything from 18 months-2T, depending on the brand)

We did get a pink and a purple coat from Osh Kosh -- and two shirt/short sets from the Gymboree outlet store, but that was it. I must be growing up or something.

We went to a movie -- got there 30 minutes early, and watched commercials in the theater. For 30 minutes.
After about 10 minutes, another couple walks in -- now there are 4 of us in the theater. Where do they sit? One seat away from me. Seriously. So for another 15 minutes or so, we were the only four there.

Finally it movie start time. Well, the advertised start time. We got to see a preview -- and another commercial. And another preview. And another commercial. We sat through another 20 minutes of as many commercials as there were previews. It's not that bad in the theater in Wichita we normally visit -- and of course we don't get to do that often, so maybe I'm wrong. We enjoyed it none the less though!

It was a really nice break to have some one-on-one time with my husband. I sure do enjoy his company. He makes me laugh like no one else. He's definitely a keeper!

But the Mustang, we took back.

Swimming Pool

2010-07-16T22:34:00.000-05:00

We got the girls a swimming pool. Unfortunately, we didn't fill it up earlier enough before our swim, so the water hadn't gotten a chance to warm up enough. The girls played a bit, but had more fun running around the yard.

Of course Loki thought it was just one big water dish.