January happenings!

Well it has been brought to my attention (mom!) that I have been a blogging slacker so I promised to update. Basically this is all of January in one post, so picture heavy and I will try to not type much.
What's going on? Not a lot- we are a bit stir crazy from the cold, but it has been so mild we have been able to enjoy the outdoors somewhat. B's preschool still has not opened, but they have playdates (with parents) until they open so we have been going on Fridays. He really enjoys it and if they ever open I think this will be great since he will already be comfortable with the place and people. He is getting smarter and funnier by the day- still gabbing up a storm and making me laugh all day long.
Ivy is all over the place, I turn around and she is standing, cruising, not in the room, on top of the trampoline, you name it. She thinks Brooks is the funniest thing ever and is still the best eater ever, which is funny since she is so small. I cannot believe she will be 1 in a couple of weeks!

New Years- we took the kids to a family party at a bowling alley (same place we are having her party) for New Year's Eve. They had a blast- enjoyed the music, face painting, and B fell in love with bowling. It was a lot of fun and something we would definitely do again.
















New Year's Day we tried to go see the Mummer's parade- view wasn't much but B enjoyed seeing the Lion King mummers go by.





Ivy on the go!!





Brooks went through a phase insisting on sleeping with the (clean) dog bed. LOL. But then he wanted to sleep in the real bed, and so we moved him, and he was a little hesitant once there on the first night, but after a talk about everyone we know who sleeps in a big boy bed, he was all about it and has been fantastic for both naps and night!


And as if the big boy bed was not enough- we have started some potty training. Nothing serious at all, just letting him work on it in his own time. He has peed 3 times so far!


Ivy turned 11 months old! Such a peanut and such a sweetheart. She smiles and laughs at everything. Her mommy attachment issues have improved a lot. She is all over the place and is really working on her sounds. She eats like a champ and is sleeping better- 7:30-6:30 give or take a half hour. Love my sweetheart. And of course- Brooks crashed her photo shoot :)








We had a nice warm rainy day and to say Brooks was ecstatic to try out his new rain gear from aunt ali was an understatement- he LOVED it




We also had a snow day- Brooks LOVED it, Ivy not so much. He wanted to wear his snow pants every day that week, even after it was gone.







And enjoying a nice day in the high 50's at the playground!













Lazy baby- you can see cupcakes on her PJ's. B has started calling her My Ivy Cupcake all on his own b/c these PJs LOL


Sibling time! They snuggle and play a lot now










Other cute randoms from the month

Loves daddy's hair gel






walker mastered





he rocks out a mean 'twinkle twinkle' on the microphone (aka my curling iron)

December Wrapup!

Well, now that the holidays are behind us I am hopeful that I will actually be better at keeping this up. Things were just insane with the two of them and all the holiday festivities we partook in. Since the last post- the time between baking cookies and the new year flew. New Year's Resolution- get back on track for updating this!

Big News- Ivy is crawling, pulling up, waving (sort of), clapping (definitely), and is topping off her 4th tooth in less than a week. Brooks is really starting to use his imagination and enjoys telling us jokes! He also has a boys love of all the disgusting things a body can do :)

Since we last saw you!

We went up to NJ to see Santa with Aunt Ali & Nana! We spent the night- day 1 the kids were angels, day 2... demons seems cruel but they were not in their best moods, and of course that was Santa day. It was a tough sleep night for all so Santa was a fail, but a nice lunch with 2 of their favorite people was definitely fun! I wish we had snapped a picture 5 seconds earlier, in addition to Ivy wailing, you would have seen B with his hands covering his face in his misery.






I am not sure if I shared this, but when Eric and I took the kids to see Santa near us (pictures in the previous post) Brooks asked Santa for a big pretzel. Eric got him this

Eric and I also tried to go to a Breakfast with Santa- I am very sad I missed the 'good' one this year, it was on November 12!!! Next year I know where I want to go and when.
I have to crack up at the sign over this santa for the drink special, just seems wrong


We had fun decorating our tree- both kids were pretty good about leaving it alone, although we did leave the bottom part that was within easy reach fairly bare. We got Brooks a weak hot chocolate from starbucks as well as the full pepperminty version ourselves and it was great! We also all got festive, including Ming!










Ivy turned 10 months old the day before Christmas Eve! I cannot believe she is 10 months already (10.5 now)
At 10 months old Ivy has 2 teeth (now 6!), was just starting to crawl and scoot around, could pull up, eats everything- seriously the girl is a lightweight but eats more than Brooks easily, babbles a lot, laughs at everything, is slightly better about her mommy attachment issues but is still a smiling difficult babe, sleep is erratic- usually gets up once around 5 but we have been working on it, naps twice (although some days one killer afternoon). She is our little sunshine!







Christmas Eve was nice! We had a great afternoon and dinner with my parents. Put the kids to bed and went to candlelight service. I love Christmas Eve



MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The kids loved everything- especially Brooks who understood Santa, and gifts, although not as a combo, this year. He walked down and looked at the haul- pictured below- and just goes "Holy Cannoli!"



We had a nice relaxing morning playing with all the new toys.












Then after naps the kids got dolled up in their finery to celebrate with everyone since Aunt Ali & Uncle Dave were joining us (our little family, Nana, Grandpa, & Uncle G!)

Aunt Ali & Uncle Dave gave B rainboots and a raincoat- the kid was so excited about it. Seriously, his face when he saw was the 'christmas face' you want on your kid, he walked around in his new gear for a solid 30 minutes.








Brooks is eating a pickle lollipop (in both shape & flavor!)


We hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday!! I was going to post our NYE post (kiddie bowling party!) as well but realized this has become ridiculously long so will save that for next time :)