17 "REAL" Words at 17 Months!

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We have been super busy around here and taking long naps in all this rain! :) It seems like Mallory's vocabulary is starting to really take off...she has been stuck on 3 words for months, but lately has come up with more and more each day! It's so fun! So we wanted to list her first words so we can remember....

1. Daddy- Still her all time fav word...any man is "Daddy"....a little akward sometimes!
2. doggy
3. baby
4. hi
5. no (complete with the shaking of the head)
6. uh-oh
7. cheese (totally gets it for the camera, but looks at me like I'm crazy when I offer the food)
8. ball (she loves playing ball as you can see in the clip...maybe a future in soccer?!!?!?)
9. cat
10. juice (and everything now that is a liquid is apparently juice!)
11. Mom
12. poop....(now when she has a dirty diaper or is in the process she tells us!...sad and funny that this is one of her first words!)
13. book

And her Signing words
14. more
15. all done
16. please (you can see her sign "please" in the clip)
17. thank you

Whirlwind of a Weekend!

Sorting play fruit and trying to get to Maggie....who is just out of reach...smart cat! :)
Little Miss Ham herself....
Happiness is being with Daddy...
Gazing at Daddy during dinner...
This is the scene that I saw right before I left on Sat...so cute....Mallory and MiMi playing in the front yard....

What a wonderful weekend! My good friend Ginny turned the Big 3-Oh today and had a weekend of festivities planned to celebrate! You can click on this link to read all about it!

http://web.mac.com/ginnyfiler/Site/blog/Entries/2008/4/21_Yeah_Birthday!.html

Meanwhile at home Mike had lots of fun with Mallory....they went for lots of walks, read tons of books, and just had a good time playing...They also had lunch yesterday with several people on MiMi's side of the fam and really enjoyed it...and we all enjoyed the leftovers for dinner tonight!!!

Bright Sunshiny Day!

Today was wonderful! No Nannying for me and 80 degrees!!! MiMi and PaPa had Mallory over to spend the night last night so Mike and I could go on a date! It was so nice to go out on the town early and really chat with Mike...I get so tired in the evenings by the time Mallory's bedtime routine is over (even though she goes to bed around 7-730!) that it was nice to head out at 5pm for our date. We had an yummy dinner, got to walk around, and then went for ice cream! Then today I got to wake up late before heading over to hang out with MiMi and Mal in my old neighborhood...and the weather was gorgeous! And tomorrow we are promised more of the same!
With the weather getting warmer Mallory now associates the word "hot" with blowing...we blow on her food when it is hot and say "hot" and she likes to do the same....well the last few times we have gotten in the car I've said, "hot" and she starts blowing into the air...I love how their little minds work! :)

Happy 70th!!!

Today is Pepere's 70th B-Day!!! The twins had fun in NJ last month surprising their Dad at their sister's house for his B-Day. They had a lot of fun going out to dinner and hanging out with Ray. 4/5 cousins had a great time too during the weekend. They also presented Ray with a memory book composed of letters from friends and family. Congrats on "70 trips around the sun" Ray!!! We will call you tonight when we are all home...enjoy your special day today! :)

He's 5!!!!

Check out girly on her cell phone on the way to pick up the pizza! I was cracking up at the stop light and had to take a picture...She looks so dramatic! :)
Mallory had fun having extra time with Thomas....
Helping Daddy rake the leaves....after the first mow of the season....

Thomas got to spend the night all by himself last night to celebrate his 5th B-Day with us. (Abby went home around 5.) Uncle Mike took Thomas to ToysRus to pick out gifts from us and Pepere. He was so excited about his new lightsaber and Ironman toy that he picked out. Then we ordered pizza for dinner (Thomas' choice) and the rest of the night consisted of lots of Jedi/Superhero/WWE fighting between Thomas and Uncle Mike. We also watched quite a bit of Mike's DVD "The Challenge of the Superfriends" (a childhood fav of Mike) that Thomas loves.

Then this afternoon it was back to the 3 of us...we did a lot of relaxing, napping, and then worked in the yard. It has been a busy, but fun weekend... :)

The 5 Hour Tour!

Watching Cousin Abby during the game...
All 3 kids passed out on the way back home....too funny!
Then we made s'mores....(They always ask for this Ginny each time we have an overnite...it's a hit! :) ) Mallory loved her 2 marshmallows....but didn't like the rule, "have 2 and you're through."

So we headed out for Abby's team picture and game day this morning all decked out in our 80 degree outfits ready for the sun...(Showers were predicted east of town...and we were going far west). As soon as we got on the field the sky opened up and down came the rain and the game was postponed for an hour. So everyone ran for cars or huddled under the awning of the concession building. We hung out with our new friends under the awning until all three kids could take it no longer, and we bought hamburgers and hotdogs from the stand and ate lunch in the car. The sun came back out and the game was on! It was quite an adventure and by the time it was all over everyone was wiped out and we headed home for some quiet activities inside! :)

Cousin Sleepover

Helping with the sand pulley....(She often has her hands in her mouth bc of her new molars!)
The kids really loved working on moving the sand!
Swinging with Thomas...
Feeding the ducks our leftovers...
As a special treat we moved our mattress into the living room for Abby and Thomas to sleep on...

Matt and Sandy are away on a church retreat so Mallory is enjoying having her cousins over for a sleepover. Since the weather was so nice today we headed over to the park with Chickfila for dinner. We stayed til the sun was about to set.....

(A side note-->) We took Mallory to the doctor on Thurs and found out that she has another ear infection and bronchitis! Poor girl...but it didn't stop her fun today! She is loaded up on meds.... :)

Now all the kids are asleep and we are ready for more fun tomorrow! :)

Conversations and our Avocado

So this is one of the many conversations around here with the Mal Pal....she cracks us up with her inflections and her desire to chat...Heaven only knows what she is saying though! But we love her enthusiasm! :)

Grandma and Grandpa left this morning for RI...we had a lot of fun with them and Mallory even learned how to catch! She also knows how to sign "please" and "all done" now...

Then this afternoon we had a doctors appointment to check on our little "avocado." (That's the size of our baby this week). Our baby was doing wonderfully and had a heartbeat of 160! Can't believe this time next month we will know if it is a boy or a girl! Exciting!!! :)

Sir Thomas the B-Day Boy!

Picture of the party courtesy of Mike...
Mallory, Mommy and "Super Fan!" It was so good to hang out! :)
The twins and Mallory do the "hot dog bun" tongue trick!

We have had a great day today! We ALL took a nice long nap after church as the rain fell on the roof...then we went out to Matt and Sandy's to celebrate Thomas' B-Day with family. It was a lot of fun! :)

As I started out on my 24 road trip yesterday (which would have been 14+ hrs during that time driving) I started to think maybe it wasn't the best idea for "Little Miss Preggo" to be on the road 10+ hrs on Sunday (not counting all the stops I would need to make). It was hard to make that decision because I wanted to be at the wedding so badly, but I knew it would be better if I was able to get the rest I needed and wasn't driving alone for that long distance. It really was a humbling experience and one where I think God was trying to teach me "when to say when."

Since I was home this morning I was able to see Mallory crack up over bibs at breakfast!

Mal likes it so much better "Bib-less!"

Good Times...

Yay!!! Grandma and Grandpa are here!
Check out the crocs!!! :) So fun!

We are having a wonderful time with grandparents as they make their way back to RI. We have spent a lot of time around the new kitchen table chatting and hanging out! We are looking forward to a few more days with them before they head home. I'm heading out tonight for a 24 hr trip to SC for a wedding of a college friend! A JMU reunion! :) And I will get to spend the night with my sis Laura tonight on my way!

Tissues = Trouble!

So this is what happens when you leave the room for a sec....and I thought I had put the box out of reach...too funny! She had a blast! :)

Mr. Mom Moment....

Remember the movie from the 80s? Well Mallory feels the same way about vacuum cleaners as the little boy in the movie...she is terrified of them! Before going outside I vacuumed the house (we usually do that when she is sleeping, but I needed to today before playgroup and didn't have time during her nap time)...As soon as I switched it on she scrambled into the bathroom and tried to "become one with the wall"...Wish I could have gotten a picture of that! So funny and sad that she is so scared. Then afterwards we went outside to play. Before sliding down the slide she said, "eeeese" after I said say, "Cheese!" She is catching on to the whole camera thing...she sure sees it in my hand an awful lot! :)