The beach

Here is a link to photos from our most recent trip.

Port Aransas

Yes we were traveling again...We went for the weekend, down to Port Aransas, which is a Peninsula that is just north of Corpus Christi. It is a pretty drive, very different from what we saw the past couple weeks in the northwest. It was completely flat and lots of cotton fields on the way. I thought that was interesting, but it turns out, I was the only one that was seeing cotton fields for the first time..

Anyhow, Below are a few pictures I took of Emrey last week on her Seven Month Birthday! It's hard to believe she is seven months! She is changing every day. She is still not crawling, but is certainly no the timid, quiet, "sit-still" baby she used to be. For starters, she is making all kinds of fun sounds (loudly), (Dat, dat, dat, mamammmmmm, hiiii) that will soon be words! She is also lunging at things and reaching out for Ellis or I if we are within arms distance. She is dangerous when she is anywhere near the table, as she will grab at anything she can get her hands on. We've had several near misses so far. I'm certain that she understands many of the signs we have been teaching her. Although she is still not signing back, I feel she is right on the verge of putting it all together.

Welcome Home

Well, we're adjusting to being home and back on Central time, Emrey is slowly catching up, but still a little off. I got a few pictures of her playing so happily in her room yesterday, it was as if she was seeing all her toys for the first time again! We also finally put her highchair together, there is a short clip below. And, I am continually amazed by the baby contraptions that are available. The last few pictures are of Emrey devouring a banana. This little contraption enables you to put whole foods in a little mesh container, so that the kiddos can just suck the food out through the wholes without choking on large pieces! It worked great and I was surprised she loved it so much, as she refuses to eat bananas when I grind them. It must be a texture thing?

Vacation

After two long weeks of taking planes, trains and many automobiles, we are home. What a trip! Below, you'll find a few of my favorites from our recent vacation to the Pacific Northwest. If you would like to see the rest, feel free, this link will take you there.

Northwest Vacation

We left two weeks ago, for Seattle, where we met Ben and Kath, my brother and sister in-law, and their three little boys. We toured all around the Olympic Penninsula, camping in some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. We made it out to the Pacific, swam in hot springs, saw some HUGE trees and had great campfires almost every night. Next, we took a ferry up to Vancouver Island to visit Victoria. Afterward, we headed back to Seattle, where we sampled many delicious treats at Pike's Place Market and took the elevator ride up the space needle. After Seattle, we jumped on a train to Portland where we hung out with Uncle Jessy and Aunt Becky for a few days. Then we jumped in the car yet again to attend a wedding in Ashland. While there Emrey was reintroduced to the King family and received more than enough attention! Finally we made it back out to the Pacific coast to visit the beach and say goodbye to the Northwest. This was the trip of "first's" for Emrey, as you will see below in the pictures. She was a real trooper with traveling, but she was definitely ready to get back to her crib by the end of the trip.

After her first night of camping, she survived!

First Hike, at the top of Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park

First Boat ride/First trip out of the country! Taking the Ferry from Port Angeles Washington to Vancouver Island, CA with cousins Bryce and Drew.

First Double Decker Bus ride, in Victoria, CA.

First time feeding the birds with dad, in Seattle, down on the water.

First adventure up the Space Needle!

First taste of bread! She loved it and cried when we took it away.

First nectarine, non-pureed that is.
First train ride from Seattle to Portland.

First meeting with Grandma Dot!

Emrey and Friends!

Today, we had two of Emrey's friends over, Josiah and Rowan. It was so fun to see these guys together again and interacting so much more than in the past, they are actually aware of each other now! Josiah moved about an hour away a couple months ago, so we haven't gotten to see him for a while. He is only two months older than Emrey and what a difference two months makes! He is crawling and trying to stand up, he has two teeth and does not like to sit still! It was a good little preview for what we will need to do in order to "child-proof" our house in the next couple months and what we might expect Emrey to be doing (thanks Josiah)! We got creative with tupperware and plastic spoons, which the kids seem to prefer over the expensive noise making, light flashing toys...

Rowan's mom, Lindsay & Josiah's mom, Jamie

at a cookout we had, back in October...

8, 7 & 6 months old now... Buddies from the Womb

Everybody's teething....

Josiah was a bit advanced in his toy stealing tactics

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Rolly-Polly Emrey

Emrey doesn't like to hang out on her belly much yet. Ever since she learned to roll she makes use of this new life skill at every opportunity. As you'll see from this quick clip, whenever she is placed on her stomach she immidiately rolls over like she's got springs in her belly. It makes for some entertainment in our house these days...

And here we have some typical playtime with her doting parents... There's not much we can do to help ourselves from making all that baby talk, so please excuse us!

Happy Father's Day and Happy Birthday!

This sunday we celebrated Ellis' first official Father's Day! After church, Emrey and I took Ellis to Pho, one of his favorite places to eat. After returning home, Emrey and I took our sunday afternoon nap, while Ellis got to play his guitar (he is getting really good, by the way). In the evening we went to a cookout with some good friends. Overall, it was a great day and so fun to see Ellis love Emrey so much. It is nice that they get extra time together on the weekends, as she goes to bed so early, he often misses her during the week. And...today, we celebrated Emrey's 6 month birthday. Unfortunately, the celebration involved attending her 6 month check up where she yet again, received another series of vaccines. She was very brave, but did not like those shots :( Here are a few shots I've taken of her this past week as well as today.

Just a few new pictures

We just said goodbye to Jenna and her little boy Lucus who is 18 months old. They were visiting us from Austin for a few days. It was fun for Jenna and I to catch up and Emrey loved watching Lucus run around and chase Bailey. Jenna is a photographer and I got her to take a few shots of Emrey. I thought I would post them, because I think she did a great job capturing her personality at this point in time. I also wanted to say thank you to the Whorf's who got her these adorable little shoes that you'll see below. They have her name and birth date on them, so special!

Thank you Jenna....