I Love you!

While Matt is on the road, Riley has started sleeping with me everynight. I actually dont mind it, at least I dont sleep alone everynight!Last night as I was rubbing his back, it was pitch black in the room and silent,he said, "Mom, I Love You." It was dark so I couldn't see him, but that was the first time he said it, without me saying it first. The way he said it, so natural and genuine, it just made me realize he is now a young man. I love you too RY!

Happiness!!!

It's official, Taylor is in love. Ms. Lillee and Taylor are heading to the altar....

Where in the world is Taylor?

That's right, Taylor is hiding and I just can't seem to find him. He is getting tricky! This picture was taken during a game of hide and seek. (If your wondering why he is naked, he takes his clothes off all the time for no reason, and I was sick of redressing him at this point!)

Sesame Street bath

Taylor has a growing collection of Sesame Street plush character toys. He carries them everywhere with him, and says goodnight to each of them everynight. He feeds them and gives them juice and realizes immediately if one of them is not in his sight. So, yes, I am the mom at Target with the 2 year old in the cart with a bunch of stuff animals. Recently Taylor has introduced trains and balls to his babies, and before you know it I I'm sure I will be buying toys for the sesame street crew. Another fantastic thing about the Sesame street crew is that they "poop" and often need to be changed (all according to Taylor!). Yesterday I asked Taylor if he wanted to take a bath and he ran in the bathroom and hopped in the bath tub with his clothes on. I told him to take his clothes off. While he did this I ran to get a towel and baby wash etc. I came back and this is what I found......

Not only did the Sesame street crew need a bath, they each needed to be individually washed with baby wash.

When we were finished with the bath, I got Taylor our and squeezed out the plush Sesame street crew, I headed to the laundry room to put them in the dryer and Taylor came running after me, opened the dryer and looked at me and said, "NO!" Apparently dripping wet plush toys are fun to carry around the house. Needless to say the Sesame Street crew is clean and currently air drying!!!!

It took 3 months....

The boys have finally decided that they can handle wearing boots, hats, and mittens. They wouldn't even go near them 3 months ago. Riley actually prefers his boots over shoes now and it is amazing to see how they have figured out that playing in the snow with the right gear can be fun. It took many battles of me struggling with them to get their fingers in the mittens and the hats on their heads but now they seem to be enjoying the snow. This past week has been warm (30 or so degrees) and they have spent a few days outside for more than 30 minutes. Back in early December Riley screamed just having to walk from the car to the house because he was to cold. On the cold days Riley still tells me he wants to move to his Florida house and he hates the snow, but overall the improvement is amazing!! (Just a side note- I WANT TO MOVE TO FLORIDA TOO!!) Yes this would mean another cross country move, which would put us up to 5 moves in 5 years but you can't beat 70 degrees and sunny in January. I guess we will have to wait and see what the spring has in mind for us!

Potty time!

Riley went in to use the bathroom and I thought nothing of it. He does this on his own all the time and tells me to leave if i go in with him. Well yesterday after coming out of the bathroom Riley says, " Mom, I went potty!" I said, "Great job buddy!" Riley replies, "I peed all over the floor and jumped over it and it was the biggest jump I have ever done!" Sure enough the bathroom floor was soaked, but at least he is practicing his long jump, right?

Our winter escape

We packed up our bags rather fastly, and jumped on a plane and headed to Anna Maria Island off the coast of Florida. Taylor decided (2 days before the trip) that he was 2. He started throwing tantrums lasting 45 minutes long and there was nothing I could do to console him. I was a little hesitant as we boarded the plane. The plane rides went smoothly and everyday was around 70 degrees and sunny. Riley got to go swimming outside twice and we made a day long trip to Busch Gardens Amusement Park. Matt met us down in Florida and we all enjoyed the beautiful weather, the ocean, the warmth, and NO SNOW! Here are a few pictures of our trip.... Note to self ( 2 year olds dont travel well and dont sleep in new beds) Thanks to my dad or Bappa for helping out so much with the boys and letting us stay at your place!
The boys on their first ride!

Taylor and I at Sesame street!

Riley playing with the guns on the splash pad!