the kids are still have pretty bad colds. we're on the tail end of them and rex's is combined with teething. it looks like he's getting his bottom canines. his gums are all red and raised. no wonder why he's been so grumpy lately!! we've been laying low for most of the weekend, except for neal's company christmas party at dave and buster's. the kids had a blast there! they got to play all sorts of games and run around with some other little kids. while neal and i ate, malloy and rex ran around the table with 2 other little boys. they had so much fun!

malloy slept well last night! i was preparing for a night spent mostly awake and she didn't make a peep from 10:30 - 6am! phew! she needed a good chunk of sleep!
i forgot to mention that yesterday, malloy got to go to the store and pick up new princess underwear because she filled up her sticker chart for going poopoo on the potty and not in her underwear! i think we're back on track now, but we're going to keep doing charts just in case!
also, rex had his first time out yesterday. he fit malloy in the face. i told him no and that we don't hit. he hit her again harder. so to time out he went! i sat him on the rug in the kitchen and turned the timer on for one minute. i told him he was in time out, we don't hit, and he can get up when the timer beeps. yeah right! he got up immediately. i set him back on the rug. repeat until the minute is over. with him telling "NO HIT" and shaking his head. so he got why he was in time out, at least! it took all i had in me to not laugh! little stinker!

i just read a book to rex before bedtime and he labeled circle, triangle, rectangle (tangle), and star! i don't know if it's the familiarity with the book or if he really knows them, i'm going to have to test it out. it just surprised me!!
we had a lounge around the house day, which turned out to be very hard! malloy's sick so we had to cancel on a playdate with friends and we couldn't go to the gym - which is very much a part of our routine! by 9:30 malloy was begging to go somewhere. and so was i!!  poor malloy is coughing terribly. it's awful that i can't do anything about it. her whole body shakes when she's having a coughing fit. she took a short nap and then laid on the couch and watched lady and the tramp on the couch. she stayed on the couch the entire movie - that's definitely a sign that she's not feeling well :( hopefully she gets some rest tonight!!

french braid :)

rex finally uses blankets! HOORAY!

driving buddies

thank goodness for wegman's free balloons!

silly!

malloy's so good about letting me do her hair!

sharing a milkshake at cheeburger :)

celebrating malloy's classmate, mae's, 3rd birthday

doing art at the party

all ready for disney on ice!!!

so excited!

malloy and safina waiting to go in

malloy insists on painting her own toenails now. we compromise and she paints the glittery top coat on

thought i'd do a picture recap of the last couple of days since i can't ever seem to find time to write anymore! the highlight update is disney on ice on sunday. as soon as malloy walked into the front doors of the arena, she was yelling "this is so cool!" followed by "where are the princesses?! are the princesses here?! can i go find the princesses?!" and so on. she loved the entire show. she spent time sharing a seat with brooke, sharing a seat with safina, and dancing in the aisle with gianna. 

we've been dealing with some sleep issues this week. rex has been waking up around 4:30 or 5am! he was also waking malloy up. we tried a few things to "reset" them. later nap and later bedtime worked last night - they "slept-in" until  6:30! woohoo! we did the same things today, hoping for the same results.
on a different topic, the squinkie love has not faded! rex asks to play with squinkies at least 2 times a day. they were playing with them tonight while i made dinner. malloy yells to me "mom, we're throwing all the squinkies under the couch!" i then told them that they had to pick them all up. rex figured out that he could fit under the couch and malloy followed suit. she was so proud that she could get under the couch and they had so much fun retrieving all the squinkies!
later, when she was playing hide and seek with neal, she tried out her new hiding spot under the couch. neal came out to look for her and her little feet were sticking out from under the couch. it was so cute!

we had a playdate this morning and it turns out both my kids are bullies! :( malloy hit her friend, brooke.  she told me she didn't mean to hurt her, i have no idea what happened. rex was pushing ben and taking his toys away. makes me feel like a lousy mother, even though i know that most of it is just kids being kids.

well, rex was up at 5:30 again today. bleck! i'm hoping it's just teething and it'll be done with in a few days!! i have no idea how to reset him (as if i could just program him!!). he's waking malloy up, too, and then i have 2 cranky kids in the morning! malloy was upset this morning and hit me because i changed rex's diaper instead of putting her on the toilet. so we started our morning with a time-out! it did get better, but they were still pretty whiny.we had a pretty lazy day, just playing with toys and watching football. both kids LOVE playing with squinkies. after nap, rex came out and looked under the couch where the squinkie box is, looked at neal and said "squinkies". he was using a lot of words today that i'd never heard him say before. he was labeling the squinkies and he had a dwarf but he was calling it a "harecrow". he did look a little ragged like a scarecrow!! such a smart boy!!

we played outside in the snow for the first time this year! it was rex's first time out in the snow!!! they had a good time even though it was very cold and the snow wouldn't pack to make a snowman or a snowfort. when we went back inside we all had some hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows! mmmmmm!
rex was pretty cranky today. he woke up at 5am. he was tired and his teeth hurt which meant GRUMPY!! he went to bed a littler earlier tonight - hope that makes a difference and he sleeps past 5!!!!

we had our first big snow today!!! the kids were excited to see all the snow. going out in it wasn't so fun because of the high winds - rex had a hard time breathing when the wind was in his face :(
when we got back from the gym we skyped with grandma val. while we were skyping, rex came over and pointed to me and said "that mama", pointed to malloy and said "that mamoy" (which is a new version for him) and then pointed to himself and said "that i". SO CUTE!!! love that kid!

Friday afternoon movie time!

i was reading rex a story for naptime and he starts pointing out the animal in the pages, saying "that hippo. that ahga (alligator). that monkey. that turtle. that doggy." it was all so clear!! i know i say it a lot, but he's growing up so fast!!!!

so, i can't sing songs to the kids anymore. whenever i join in a song that rex is singing, he puts his hand out and says "don't sing it!" it makes me laugh every time! i'm sure it will wear off and become hurtful at some point, but right now i find it hilarious! he, of course, got it from malloy. she can be a little grouchy (what?! not malloy!!!) and will yell at me if i continue singing a song that ended. gotta love the little things he picks up on and copies!!

today was pj day at malloy's school and i got to co-op today! seeing all of her little friends in their pjs was so cute!! they had a story teller come in and tell the story of the 3 little pigs. while we were at school, rex hung out with our friends, gianna and kenadee (and jamie, of course!). he walked right in and toddled into the family room all by himself. it wasn't until he realized that i was gone that he got sad. but we was well taken care of! he had some snacks and tv time with the girls, then went for a walk to dunkin donuts and back! what fun!!

the kids are adjusting to their new room. sunday night, malloy opened the door about a minute after we put her down. today for naps, rex went in and fell asleep, then malloy went in. it was very smoothly! and bedtime was better tonight. i told malloy that she needs to talk quietly into the monitor when she needs me instead of yelling for me. so while i was gone tonight, she whispered into the monitor to neal that she had to go potty. hooray! hope that keeps up and perhaps she won't wake rex up at 5 am like she did this morning! not fun :(
we had a playdate at our house this morning. malloy was so excited that her buddies, lena and cameron, were here! they were all laying in her bed and pretending to sleep. when they "woke up" they yelled, 'santa's here!!!!' they were so funny together!! and of course there was ring around the rosy! it wouldn't be a playdate without it!! the older kids were holding hands in a circle and rex was outside the circle, arms in the air like he's holding someone's hand, and turning in circles singing right along with them! he has fun whether he's included or not!! nobody can keep rex down ;)

one more thing: this afternoon, rex came over to the fridge and reached his hands up saying "bana bana bana" and then a desperate "pleeeeeeeeeeease!". i gave him half a banana and he was very happy. about 30 seconds later, he came back in the kitchen saying "bana bana bana". i said "oh, you want more banana?" and he repeated "more bana". i gave it to him and smiled big and said "i got it" and walked away. he's just starting to put 2 words together. his new thing is to run up to me and tell me what he's doing or playing with. "i squinkie!" or "i hiding!" i love it!! such a little chatter box!!! his words are very clear these days, too!!! he's now adding the "s" onto the ends of his words. he pointed to my face today and said "eyes, nose, and teeth" as clear as could be, including the /s/ and the /th/ sounds!!!

we've been laying low the past couple of days trying to get over our little colds. we've also been gearing up to swap bedrooms!!! today was a busy day - we moved malloy and rex down into our bedroom and our bedroom in now upstairs where it was originally. yes, you read right, the kids are sharing a room!! they love they're new room and are excited to share...maybe a little too excited! nap time was a disaster. malloy was out of bed most of the time, giving rex toy after toy through the crib bars, singing, yelling at rex to go to sleep... and rex wanted to go to sleep!! we ended up bringing him out into the living room so that malloy could go to sleep and he passed on on neal within 5 minutes. malloy, on the other hand, did not go to sleep. i took her out to run errands with me and she was passed out before we got to the first store. i carried her in the store, got what i needed, and walked to the next store with her snoring on my shoulder. she woke up when i tried setting her in the shopping cart.
tonight, after dinner, malloy was walking around the house talking on her ariel phone. she was talking to ariel, saying "oh definitely, yeah, definitely. i'm definitely talking to you. ok, i'm going to close my eyes and sleep now. bye." she immediately dialed again and said "hi eric. how's ariel? what are you guys doing?" lol, she cracks me up!!! she also told ariel "i'm just drinking beer. " wonderful!!!!
bedtime was better than nap. they giggled for about 10-15 minutes and then i went in. rex had some toys and a book in his crib. i gave malloy a stern talking to and told her it's not ok to get out of bed or to give rex toys. i had to threaten to take her turtle away if she got up again. i didn't hear another peep! phew!!
hopefully they get used to sharing quickly!

malloy had her first day back at school today. she was excited to see all of her friends! a set of twins started in malloy's class today and she told me: "i don't think i will like them" and when i asked her why, and she said "i think they have scary eyes." who knows where this stuff comes from!!
we had a pretty low key day today, otherwise. we just stayed at home and played with new toys and watched lion king. malloy helped me cut red and green peppers for a snack. she loved them and ate a ton!!! she also gobbled up a bunch of asparagus for dinner. so proud of my girl for trying and liking vegetables! she tried to give rex a pepper and he immediately spit it out. she told him "it's good rexy, it's healthy." he walked away saying "heawfy, heawfy, heawfy..." such a kook!

cuddling together watching monsters inc. and sharing crispy snap peas...for breakfast...

Happy New Year!!

what a whirlwind this holiday was!!! christmas was spread out over a few days - the kids were pros at opening gifts by the end!
malloy decorated cookies with grandma val in the morning. after nap, we got up and went over to grandma tappy and grandpa gary's for a quick bath and then were off to aunt cathy and uncle joe's in our holiday best! the kids had a great time running around a new house - there was plenty to do besides open presents! they played with bella, danced, played the piano, played on the stairs, ate cookies, etc. it was pj time and then we were ready to go back to sleep at grandma tappy and grandpa gary's so that santa could come!

and santa did come! to both grandparents' houses!! malloy and rex are lucky kids! i think we might have to write a letter to santa and tell him it's ok to just go to one house! we brought a LOT of toys back to buffalo! we opened presents at grandma tappy and grandpa gary's, then went over to grandma val and grandpa don's to do the same. the kids got to play with some of their new toys and then it was off to roro and papa hank's house. rex was so tired that he passed out on neal and was out cold for quite some time. he missed out on opening presents. malloy got to open them for him - such a good sister ;) we went back to grandma tappy and grandpa gary's to have dinner. malloy passed out on the way back and i had to wake her up for dinner. it was difficult! she was a very tired girl! the kids got to open more presents! from uncle ryan this time and we soon off to bed without argument! it was a long day!

putting baby jesus in the manger

very excited about his new trucks!

they just got all new toys and they're reading their old books in a fort

on monday, the 26th, we celebrated christmas with the bosket's. malloy was very excited to see nathan and justin! the kids got to open MORE presents! nobody loves them, that's for sure ;)

we left to go back home to buffalo on tuesday and the kids spent the week playing with their new toys! grandma val and grandpa don came up on saturday to have our annual turkey dinner and celebrate new year's eve with us. our friends titus and adelyn came over for a little bit to play before dinner. we haven't seen them in a while - malloy was very excited to play with titus!!! they had a great time together!

neal had the day off today, so the kids got to spend another day with him. they love when daddy's home!!!!