he likes it, he really likes it!

peanut loves to grasp things. weather its my necklace, nanaw's hair, my bra strap, B's finger, a tag on a stuffed animal---anything he can grasp, he will. well i wanted to get him something for Easter but obviously he can't have candy or anything. off to etsy i went. i searched for baby blankets and stumbled upon a ''taggy'' blanket. it's a 12x12 blanket surround by tags made of ribbons. this sounded perfect. however, i couldn't find one that i just loved on etsy and they were pretty pricey. ($30 + shipping). so next step, ebay.

jackpot!

now i'm going to shamelessly plug Jen who created an ebay store called "little monkey doodles." she makes personalized, custom taggy blankets and they are SO reasonable. okay, i'll say it--they are cheap! you pick your fabric (up to 4), you choose a name to have her personalize it with, and she goes to work. she doesn't just sew two pieces of fabric together either. she appliques and personalizes. she adds peek a boo flaps and extra taggies. she is super creative and she really takes the time to make a great blanket. she has over 100 fabrics to choose from and she does it all for $14!!! highway robbery i tell ya!

so about 2 weeks ago i ordered one for peanut. i chose one fabric and gave her his name, but told her to use her creativity to make it. i didn't have any preferences because all of her examples were so cute. i expected it to be a few weeks until it received, after all she hand makes them and then they are shipped from Canada. i was in for the wait. well much to our surprise, i received peanuts blanket yesterday and it's perfect. adorable. i love it.

so i gave it to him early. (yeah yeah yeah, i'm impatient, i know) he LOVES it. i gave it to him at 2pm yesterday, attached his binky to the loop that she leaves longer so that you can attach a binky easily (genius!) and he hasn't put it down. seriously, he has clutched that thing during his every waking moment. he loves feeling all the ribbon tags and the super soft minky fabric. here are some pictures of just how much work and thought went into his blanket:

the only thing i requested was the treasure map fabric

okay and obviously i'm sharing his name, oh well--its worth it!

see the "x" on the island? well that's a flap that lifts up to reveal a treasure chest. there is also a flap on the ship that lifts to reveal the jolly roger! so cute! here is peanut thoroughly enjoying his new blanket:
so like any experienced mom knows, if your kid attaches himself to something so quickly--you better have a back up! last night i placed another order for another taggy blanket. Jen just ordered a bunch of new fabric and i can't wait to get his new one. i chose a fabric that is from the eric carle collection, brown bear, brown bear . i can't wait to see what she comes up with! so if you are looking for a perfect baby gift (you know, other than a kick ass cake from tic tac baby cakes) be sure to check out Jen's ebay store!

choices, choices, choices

okay, well pooks has been talking for awhile (duh) but he doesn't usually say a whole lot. he'll say mama, dada, papa, nanaw, baby regularly. then if he sees a car, he'll say car. if you point to his nose, he'll say nose, etc. he's starting to talk more and more. yesterday he had two m&m's and he said ''blue...purple" and he was right! he had a blue and a purple m&m. it's eye opening to me because bubba was such a late talker and pooks is so nonchalant and acts like he doesn't have a clue. i'll say ''what color is this?" and he'll just babble or ignore me...but he listens. little did i know, but he does know! he is observing and paying attention better than i thought. he can count to 3, he knows several of his colors and can say two of them.

so fast forward to today; pooks brings me his sippy cup and because i was busy peeling potatoes, i just filled it with water (filtered water, we're not animals!). well next thing i know he's back with his cup and he's telling me ''no wat-wa" and attempting to pull open the refrigerator. so i open the fridge and he says ''dat''. i said "do you want juice or milk?"---fully expecting him to point (that's what he usually does) but instead he says ''juice''. i was stunned. i wanted to see what else he could say. so I asked ''do you want orange juice or apple juice?" he then replied ''apple''.

well anyways, this went on all night. giving him choices and hearing him repeat those choices. super cute. here is a short video, nevermind the crappy lighting...the audio is good though :)

we're back!

well it was a whirlwind of a trip but everything went really well! the drive down there was smooth sailing. it's a 5 hr drive and with stops, it took us almost 6.5hrs (including an hour long stop at mcd's for lunch and to let the kids play in the play place). the kids did awesome the whole time! we had a blast while there... meeting up with tricia and her fam went really well, the kids hit it off as did the husband's. obviously tricia and I got along well! we all went to red robin for lunch then to a really nice mall that was nearby. it was pretty upscale and we mostly window shopped, then let the kids play in THE biggest play area that i've ever seen in the mall. all the kiddos made stuffed animals at build-a-bear, we enjoyed some ice cream and just let the kids be kids. while there we spoiled ourselves by Joe's Crab Shack, Red Robin and staying in nice hotels. the weather didn't cooperate on the way home, so we didn't get to go shopping like we had planned but overall no complaints.

as much fun as we had, it's great to be home. sleeping with 2 toddlers isn't exactly comfy and that much time in the car can make anyone go batty! now it's back to our normal routine :) here are all the pics:

myself with tricia and all the kiddos

bubba and pooks hugging **awwwww**

the guys talking and guarding the exit
(we had a few attempts at escapes--only one successful though)

peanut and I at the play place

E and bubba playing on a bridge

pooks and m on the slide

pooks with E (E is 4 days older than pooks)

all the kiddos in their strollers

b and peanut

all my boys in the hotel bed
(ironically enough b, bubba and pooks all slept in one queen, peanut in the crib and i had an ENTIRE queen bed to myself. i.slept.like.a.baby.)

i took about 200 pics, lol but at least i shared a few!

'bout damn time!

note that all 3 kids are looking at the camera!

yeah yeah yeah...

we're still around, just nothing superbly interesting to post about. it snowed on saturday, "blizzard like conditions" which i forgot to take pics of. then on sunday it got up to like 60 degrees and everything melted and we lounged around and did absolutely nothing. yesterday the boys and i ran errands all morning.

today we had a playgroup meet-up, hung out at the house with auntie s and little miss diva, then had supper. b is out playing poker {since 7pm, even though he told me he'd be back early so i could go have ''me'' time at starbucks--guess i'll just sip on my invisible iced venti caramel machiatto while sitting on my couch blogging*eye roll*} i managed to have every single little dude in bed by 9pm, i worked out on the wii for 1/2 an hour and i have been mindlessly surfing the internet and blog stalking since then.

fun stuff i tell ya!

it'll be a few days until there are any ''good'' posts, just a fair warning.

the tictac fam is headed to: the-state-where-the-eskimo-pie-was-invented, to meet up with a mama and her family who i've known for almost 3 years but never met. let me explain...in todays technology there are about a billion and one pregnancy boards/forums/etc. well we happened by chance to join the same one where we joined the same ''due date'' birth board (pookies birth board) and we've been virtually chatting it up since. she has an older son who is close to bubba's age and a daughter who is pooks' age, she is my age and her hubby is B's age (did ya follow that?) so we have a lot in common! EXCEPT for the fact that she lives in canada and i for one, do not. not.even.close. so by a lot of luck and some chances, she is visiting the states this week very spur of the moment and we will be driving a mere 5 hours to meet up and hang out on thurs and/or friday. i can't wait for to actually meet her in a physical sense, and for the kids to play. i am SO freaking excited!! well, a little anxious about the five hour car drive but anxious nonetheless.

look for updates and good posts on saturday!!

ps- how many of you are off to google where the eskimo pie was invented? just like to keep ya on your toes ;)