Welcome Eli Taylor King!

Welcome Eli Taylor King!! We are so proud to be parents of a healthy 7lb 10oz baby boy! He was born at 7:03pm on November 22nd, weighing in at 7lbs 10oz. So far it looks like Eli has darker hair than Emrey and Brown eyes -- much more like momma than Emrey got! He's been eating and sleeping really well so far, but his face got a little bruised up during delivery -- kind of like a rugger leaving the pitch!

Momma meets Eli

Becky was amazing!! We got to the hospital and she was already 9cm dilated! An hour and a half later Eli was here!! Becky is a superstar!

Dad is so proud - he will forever remember the moment he got to shout

"BOY!! It's a BOY Beck!"

Just after his first bath working those lungs - gettin' borned ain't no fun!

The next morning it was time for big sister Emrey to meet her little brother -- This was a very memorable moment when she realized the baby was really here...

HUGS!

Emrey calls her brother "Baby E-eye" - as in "Old MacDonald had a farm... E-eye, E-eye Oh"

Emrey immediately learned that one benefit of having

a younger brother is that she can take his stuff!

Very Curious...

What are they doing?

... and what is THAT?!!

And then there were 4!!

Please don't let me forget to post a video of their first meeting - it is a very good one!

We are so proud and excited, and we feel incredibly blessed to have two healthy children!! It has been an incredible 36 hours!!

Baby update

So, the weekend has come and gone and no babies! Although I am definitely pretty uncomfortable and of course very excited to meet this little one, I am trying to enjoy each moment I have to spend with Emrey and Ellis. I cherish my early morning wake up's with Emrey standing at my bed saying "wake up", or hearing her gently singing her ABC's from her room, it's the best alarm clock! Our time together is so precious and I realize that once this baby arrives, so much will change and there will be a whole new set of priorities! Emrey got to have her friend Emma over on saturday, while her parents went out for the day. Ellis was a trooper and watched them in the morning so that I could run errands. He took this awesome shot of them playing in Emrey's room together! Emrey loves her friend Emma and gets so excited whenever she gets to play with her, that we can't tell her their going to get together until right before hand!

2030 bobsled team!!!


I'm also including a few pictures of my HUGE pregnant belly that Ellis just took, at week 38!

As for a potty training update...Emrey is doing excellent, as far as I'm concerned! We had a break through the other day. While we were over at a friends house, she told me she needed to go and sat and went on the "big girl potty"! This was a first, both going somewhere else, and on a big potty! She is doing great when we are at home and my only struggle has been that she says she has to go way more frequently that she really does...so it requires a lot of running to the potty. She is also still not very comfortable with doing #2 on the potty, but I figure that will come with time! Looking forward to sending you all the exciting news as soon as we have some! It's off to try to get a full nights sleep for now!

The "maintenance phase" of Potty training....

Here's my big girl reminding me to stop and smell the flowers...again

Thanks for the dress Nanna, it fits perfect!

WARNING!!! This post is scatological!!!!!


Above are a few pictures I took of Emrey recently that have nothing to do with this post...but the pictures that go with this post are not really blog appropriate! So, a couple weeks ago, I wrote a post stating that we were doing potty boot camp with Emrey and how successful it had been! Well, since then, there have been some highs and lows as we entered the "maintenance phase". After the intense weekend of boot camp, we had to re-enter the world of reality with Emrey (aka, leave the house, and do activities other than running around naked, watching movies and eating treats). This also meant dropping Emrey off twice a week at her mothers day out program, where she is one of 11 toddlers in a classroom. Her teachers were great in saying they would do what they could to remind her and take her to the potty with the other kids who are potty trained and we would see how it went. Well, lets just say, that it didn't go so well! She had lots of accidents, which I know is to be expected at the beginning, but unfortunately, when she pees on the floor and there are 10 other toddlers running around, it becomes a sanitary/safety issue! So, no more big girl pants at school, but rather pull-ups (glorified diapers, that cost more, but have cool pictures on them...and kids can supposedly pull them up and down on their own)

At home, Emrey is doing excellent! I am so proud of her, she is running to the potty all on her own and actually doing what she needs to about 90% of the time! We have definitely had some accidents here, mostly with #2, which I don't think she's really comfortable with yet, but overall, she is doing great! I never thought I would be jumping up and down, texting Ellis pictures of "stuff" in a potty, and that this would be the highlight of my day, but it is! We usually bring Emrey's little potty with us when we're out and about, as she's not too comfortable sitting on the big one's yet. The other night we were driving and from the back seat she said "pee-pees", so Ellis pulled over, we put her on the potty and low and behold....she peed!

Emrey is very proud of herself and gets very excited when she is able to be successful in this task. One problem we've run into is that she gets so excited that she often jumps up before she is done! Also, since Halloween, she began requesting lollipops as a treat after doing her business in the potty! Well, she was so proud of herself and I was so excited that we started giving her a lollipop every time she went, since we had some many around! somehow, we need to find another item that is just as motivating, so that Emrey doesn't lose all her teeth in the process of getting potty trained!

She is a little parrot these days and repeats most of what she hears us say. There are a few cute phrases that she has started repeating and saying on her own due to the whole potty training process. One day, she had an accident, but she had tried to tell me that she needed to go, we just couldn't get there in time. So, as I was cleaning her up I said "oh Honey" that's okay, you tried...ever since then, I know whenever she's had an accident because she says "oh honey"with this empathetic, pained look on her face. She has also started saying, "lets check it out", after hearing me say this, in regard to whether her pants are dry or not :)

Happy Fall 2010!

It's hard to believe, but this is only one year ago! We took Emrey back to the same pumpkin patch that we went to last year (which is actually at her school) and she loved climbing on the pumpkins and throwing them too...She was so involved in inspecting them, it was difficult for me to get her to look at me while she was sitting in the chair!

Trying to get Emrey to pose for a photo with some of her friends....impossible!

The actual night of Halloween, we took Emrey to a "trunk or treat" at a local church. This was something I had never heard about before, until moving to Texas...maybe they do it in your part of the country? Basically, people park their cars in a parking lot. Each car competes in decorating their trunk and has a little game for the kids to play before they get their candy! Emrey had a blast going from car to car. She did not quite understand the concept of putting her candy in the bag, and wanted to eat each one, as she got it!

This woman was TAKEN by Emrey and just thought she was the cutest thing!

Giraffe and baby belly....

Emrey's good friend Rowan came dressed as a sailor!


After the trunk or treat, we went over to some friends where we walked a couple blocks and gave Emrey the true trick or treating experience of going house to house! Here she is with "pappa Tommy" who carried her most of the way. It was hot, and she was a trooper to stay in her costume!


Going from door to door

Kisses from dad...


Ellis and I were dressed up together as a costume, no...he was no Richard Simmons and I was not "where's Waldo" we're the couple from Juno!!!

Potty Bootcamp!

Here's the original photo Ellis Texted me right after she first initiated and said she had to go all on her own! He said she was sooo excited to go play in it,once it was up!
Great Job Emrey, we're really proud of you!!!

We decided to give potty training a try, even though it's getting really close to baby #2's arrival! After seeking much advice from those who have fearlessly gone before us, we decided to attempt a potty training style called "potty Boot-camp". It consists of three intensive days, spent at home. Day #1 begins by announcing "there will be NO MORE DIAPERS" to your child, first thing in the morning, when their diaper comes off! From there, you allow your child to run around in "training underwear" for that day, trying to catch them every 10 minutes or so, to get them to sit on the potty. The tricky part is getting them to sit on the potty long enough to actually do something. This involved many little bribes, including food, t.v. and watching little mini-movies on my i-phone. Accidents are expected and part of the learning process. Eventually, at some point in this first day, the child will finally piece together the idea that they are supposed to keep their pants dry and that their "business" is supposed to go on the potty, not in their pants. The goal by the end of this day is that they will "self initiate" and tell you they need to go on their own, which is when you dance and sing and give them their "big treat"!!!

Day #2 is similar, except the kids go naked, so they can really be in touch with any wet sensations.....It's been pretty hysterical, exhausting and exciting all at the same time. I have to admit, I had serious doubts about Emrey initiating at all...but she did, on the second day! I was at work on sat. morning, so Ellis had the honor of spending the morning with her, running around, reminding/questioning her about whether she needed to go potty...after a couple accidents in the morning, apparently, she looked at Ellis said "pee-pee" and went running on her own to the potty!!!!! Needless to say, we were both ecstatic..Ellis emailed me at work and I was so psyched!!! What was most fun, was to see her face when she got her big reward, a tee pee! We just completed day #3, which was hugely successful, only one accident (late in the evening when she was tired) and even with a short trip to the park (potty and all, we HAD to get out of the house!)

This was about a month ago, doing some prep work, just getting Emrey to sit on the potty with her clothes on...reading her Prudence book...Once upon a Potty

watching wonder-pets

Emrey looked a little nervous about going poop on the potty when we first read about it!

Attempting to bribe Emrey to stay on the potty with treats etc...

Calling cousin Anna to say Happy Birthday!

This was the "big reward"...a Tee pee!

Playing in the tee-pee with Daddy

One of the books we've been reading for the past month to try to get Emrey comfortable with all the potty lingo.
The little girl in the book's name is Prudence and it is by far, one her favorite books, currently!

So, now we're in what's called the "maintenance phase"...the toughest by far...because now, we have to venture out of the house and attempt to go about our everyday activities, while I simultaneously remind Emrey about the potty every 30-60 minutes. We're not expecting it to be easy, but we're hoping for the best..and figure we can always come back to it after the baby arrives, if it doesn't continue to go so well! Goodnight for now...we're all pretty tired here in Houston!

Emrey's new "Big Girl" bed!!!

After settling in for a few weeks, we finally bought Emrey a mattress for her new "Big Girl" bed. We thought it would be great if we could transition her to a bed before the baby arrives, so she doesn't feel like she's getting pushed out of her crib when the baby starts sleeping there. I had found a great Jenny Lind style bed at a thrift store and have been painting it white to fit with her room. She came with me on Tuesday to pick out a mattress for it. She loved jumping on all the beds at the store and the salesman was pretty nice to let her do so. We brought it home and have started by just laying it on the ground. Emrey thinks she's died and gone to heaven, with her very own big girl bed to jump on! Tonight is the second night she's slept on it and I have to say, she is doing terrific at night! She has been talking a bit more than normal, but usually goes right to sleep. Now naps have been a different story.... I think because it's light out, she doesn't quite get the idea that it is time to sleep. Both days, I have ended up going in multiple times finding her reading, laying on the floor in the middle of the room, pulling all her diapers out....I finally gave up and put her in the crib, so she could get some rest! She of course, did not like this...but she would make for a pretty unhappy camper with no nap! So, we'll keep trying to do the nap in the big girl bed, but for now, she's doing pretty good! I will try to post a picture or two once I get her bed all put together and get a bed rail to keep her in at night!

Summer is Over???

I am psyched to say that summer may be coming to a close in Houston! That means we go from "hotter" to "hot". It's not fall and there are no changing of leaves, but I'll take it! We just returned from a whirlwind vacation, traveling from coast to coast! Emrey and I got to hang out in NH/Boston with the Hollo clan for a couple weeks and then we flew out to Portland to meet up with Ellis and to celebrate Jesse and Becky's wedding on Labor Day. Below are a few photos in and around Portland, as well on our way to the wedding. I was slightly distracted when at the wedding with a toddler, so no pictures from there...

Hanging out with Zorro before the wedding

Waiting with Aunt Alice for the train....

The wedding itself was amazing. It took place in a beutiful park, overlooking Portland and the surrounding mountains! They couldn't have asked for a nicer day! We got to ride the MAX, eat some great food at the "trucks" and spend some time with the west coast Downs family, as well as the Kings. After the wedding we loaded into the car and drove to Seattle, where we stayed with an old friend of Ellis', way back from his days in Germany. They were so gracious to host us and show us a bit of Seattle! How nice to wear fleece and jeans again, it's been a while! Here are a few shots of our time in Seattle.

Taking the ferry to downtown Seattle

Riding the Ferry

Buddies...born a week apart

When we returned to Houston, Emrey started attending a Mother's Day Out program two mornings a week. I was a little nervous about how she would do, but from day one, when Ellis dropped her off, she ran into the classroom and never looked back! She is extremely social these days and loves to meet and play with new kids. It probably also helped, that she has a special friend in her class, who she's known since being in utero!