Summer in New Hampshire 2011

Pappo and the future generation!

Eli found out he LOVES pretzels, just as much as Pappo, he would cry when we would take them away!

story time with Nanna and the cousins

TROUBLE!!

We spent most days down at the beach or on Pappo's boat! We were blessed with great weather almost the entire time we were there!

Emrey really loved swimming on her own this year and these little swimmers made that possible! Betsy told me about them...and they have worked great! I was amazed how she would hop right into the water, even when it was pretty cold! She LOVED to swim and be in the water and asked me if we could go to the lake for the first few days we were home in Texas.

All that sun and sand called for nightly baths!

My mom found a baby picture of me in the bath (around 8 months old) while we were there, and the similarity to Eli is uncanny! I will try to scan it and post!

We took the boat over to Ames farm for breakfast one morning and the girls had a blast!

Walks to Shibley's for ice cream became an almost nightly occurance, hence the reason all my shorts are a little tight!

Hanging out by the lake

We made a trip to Natick to visit Grandma McLeod! She was in good spirits and very happy to hold her two new great grandchildren! We wish we could be closer so we could visit her more often!

We did make it down to the swan boats on a very hot day! I will always remember the pooping incident in the Boston Public Gardens!

Yes, Ellis was there, although we don't have many pictures to show for it! He came for a week and stayed through the fourth of July. I was able to pump enough milk for Eli, so that Ellis and I could get away for a night. We planned to stay at a friends house in York Maine, but ended up at a bed and breakfast instead :) I think we'll remember that trip for a while! We woke up around 9 to the sound of crashing waves! A nice break from the 6 am wake up to little voices asking for juice and breakfast! (apologies for the blurry pictures, all we had was the i-phone)

Cape Nedduck Lighthouse

Over the course of the month that we were there Eli got much better at sitting and began doing the army crawl by the time we got home. He also thought he needed to be getting up at night (sometimes twice a night). I was hesitant to let him cry because I didn't want to wake Emrey up, so he also got a few extra feedings in and I think probably gained a pound or two. One pair of pants (size 12 months) had fit him when we arrived and I couldn't even get them to zip up when we left! So, since we've been home, I was determined to get him back to sleeping through the night! After a couple nights of crying, we're back to a 7:30/8pm - 5 night, which I can do!

Emrey did amazing at potty training while we were there, despite my fears of regression due to travel. She even went several times on the plane rides to and from! It helped that Anna was also trying to get it down and everyone was eager to jump in and help in any way they could. They seemed to do "competitive potty training" and as soon as one said they needed to go, the other was right there wanting to go as well :) Emrey's love for song and music was apparent this trip, and several people commented on how much she loves to sing. My mom taught her "God Bless America" and Emrey sang this as well as "Oh My Darling" almost constantly! She also liked to substitute her own words to "Oh My Darling".

Last but not least, we got to celebrate the newest (soon to be) addition to our family, Kieth Taylor! Kieth proposed to Sarah shortly before we went to NH, so we were able to congratulate and celebrate with them! And...Betsy and I were able to go dress shopping with Sarah as well as help her in starting to dream about all the big plans! Emrey and Anna were invited to be flower princesses at the wedding! We can't wait to go back and celebrate with them in December!

Eli at 6 months

I think we've got it...

Potty training that is....About two weeks ago, Emrey woke up one day requesting to go "pee pee on the potty". We humored her and let her go. Since then, she has only wanted to use the potty and wear big girl pants. It is like night and day from when we tried to do this back in October before Eli arrived. She is totally self motivated (well treats do help) and will tell us when she needs to go and run, run, run into the bathroom. She can even pull her pants up and down on her own now, which she is VERY proud of, since she likes to doing everything "all by herself". We will travel to Boston this next week, so we'll see if she can transfer her potty skills while traveling and in a new house! I have faith in her, but I'm nervous to say that I have bought my last box of diapers for Emrey. I sure hope it's true!! We'll keep you updated! Here she is playing with a doll of hers. We got her a new story Bible that we read at night and she loves the story of baby Moses. She likes to pretend this is baby Moses, putting him in the basket and rocking him.

And here's Eli trying his first "baby mumm" corn rusks...loved them

Eli, trying to stay cool at the park!

Life is busy, but life is GOOD!

As I write, I realize it's been two months since I last made a blog entry! It's not as if nothing has been going on, but rather quite the opposite, which is why I haven't written. In fact every day when I go to sleep, I sit and think about all the things I want to write about, to capture and be able to remember these times, but then I see my bed calling and who can pass up a comfy bed when you're totally exhausted? So, I am letting my house be a disaster and the laundry be unfinished and passing up a potential nap so I can finally sit down to try to sum up all that has been going on over the past couple months!

As I write Eli is 6 months and Emrey is almost 2 and a half!

He weighs 17 lbs and is 17" tall...

Some of the things Eli is doing at 6 months...

- almost sitting up on his own!
- rolling from back to stomach (and of course form stomach to back)
- babbling like crazy (he started saying "mama, mammma, mamma just last week)
- sleeping through the night (meaning from 7:30 - 4:30) most nights
- Loves swimming in our pool and splashing


- makes a complete disaster when he eats but really enjoys his rice cereal, LOVES bananas, peaches and sweet potatoes
- HATES pees and shivers with disgust when i try to sneak then in!
- laughs and laughs when his big sister runs by or generally does anything
- loves giving wet, slobbery kisses and is very interested in inspecting ears :)

Emrey and her friend Gabe, who visited over Easter

Emrey is almost two and a half and she....

- Loves playing in her new water table, making Bailey jump for water!!
- Loves her cousins, both her cousins in San Antonio (who we've gotten to see often since they've moved closer) and her cousins from Ohio, who just came for a nice long visit!
- Misses school...her mothers day out program finished for the summer and she often asks for her friends that she sees there.
- Loves to sing and dance. One of our babysitters teaches ballet to little girls and has been teaching Emrey some moves...it is really adorable. Some of her favorite songs these days are: ging-gang-gooly (a silly song my dad taught me growing up) ABC's, I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart and also loves making up her own gibberish songs. She also really LOVES to sing the Happy Birthday song. She sings the lyrics "happy birthday dear you...happy birthday dear you....happy birthday dear you......happy birthday dear you"...it's quite cute, the first 50 times....
- Loves screaming and generally being silly. This is tough as it can be unnerving at times...but Eli really loves being entertained by her shenanigans and amazingly doesn't seem frightened by her loud noises.
- She loves going "up-n-down" with her dad on the couch and has just started to enjoy playing hide-n-seek, but she's much better at seeking than hiding.
- She finally gave up her nook, once and for all, as we gave it back after we "took it away" the first time because she stopped napping. We had the same thing happen this time, but we stuck with it and now she's able to get to sleep with her "boppy" alone!
- Is showing much more of her own interest in potty training again...After Eli arrived back in November, Emrey had a serious regression with potty training (not surprising). I was too exhausted to help her all the time and or remind her when she needed to go and she only wanted me to help. So, needless to say, she has been back in diapers since and I figured when she's ready she would be all that much more prepared! So, the last few days, she's been telling us that she needs to go all on her own and wearing big girl underpants, even when we went out to the store today! So, we'll see if this time it sticks! I would be thrilled to only change one set of diapers!

Emrey and her cousin Anna doing some dancing!

Eli and his cousin Sam (born 4 days apart)

Emrey and Eli hanging out in the backyard

Brother and Sister

Eli 4 months, Emrey 2.25

Here's the latest of my attempts to capture Emrey and Eli in everyday life...Emrey was dancing in our bedroom and I was taking some photos of her, then Eli woke up and she wanted him to sit with her on the bed...She loves getting up in his face and saying "Hi Eli" very loud! Most days he loves it and returns her gesture with a big smile, but sometimes it's a bit much when he's just woken up, as it would be for me as well.

We just returned from a whirlwind trip, first to South Carolina to visit the Kings and check out their new place. Emrey had a blast playing with Ellis' old dollhouse and making a mess in the birdbath in the backyard! Then we headed up to Boston to visit family and attend a wedding of some good friends from our "earlier days". It was great to be able to see family and have a break from the day to day that we experience at home, and most of all, it was great to have help with holding and caring for children!

As for updates on the kids. Eli is such a happy, layed back kid. Around 11 weeks, he finally started sleeping more at night and was only waking up once per night, which was doable! But...after traveling, he has been getting up multiple times a night again, and it's killing me! Not sure if it's just getting back into a routine or getting used to his bed back at home or what? During the day, he is usually pretty predictable and naps every 1.5-2 hours. He is grabbing onto everything within reach, so it's no longer possible to hold him and try to cook etc...He is also drooling like crazy! I'm wondering if he might be teething already, because everything he can get his hands on, goes into his mouth, and if there's nothing in reach, then his hands are in there. He was a great little traveler, on our most recent trip and even slept through a 5 hour delay in the airport that got us into Boston at 3 in the morning!

Emrey is busy! She has so much energy I can't keep up with her. Her latest phrase that she likes to say is "hey mom, I have an idea" and when I say "oh yeah, what is that?", she almost always says "lets go to the park". This is certainly her favorite activity these days and we usually hit up the one around the corner once a day! She loves to climb and has no fear of climbing on high stuff! She still really enjoys reading and has some favorite books, one which is a library book called "pick a pet". We have renewed it as many times a possible and are on our third time of checking it out...she knows it by heart. She's still attending mothers day out, but has begun exhibiting a little more separation anxiety, which is something she really hasn't shown too much of before. She usually is glad to say goodbye once her good friend Rowan arrives and they go bounding off to the corner of the room, where they play in a padded area with mats.

Life with two...

Definitely more hectic, but also so much fun. Emrey is going through a rough phase, I guess they call it the terrible two's? We are trying our best to remain consistent and love on her and give her as many hugs, kisses, treats and attention when she is obeying! She is definitely still adjusting to having to share mom, but also enjoys getting to do things that baby Eli can't, "because he's still a baby"! She is also speaking in full sentences! Some that make more sense than others. Yesterday, when we were driving up to Houston to meet friends at the park, she said "mommy, I want ABC's all over me"! Emrey is getting over having "fifth's disease" aka slapped cheek...it's pretty contagious for young kids, but doesn't have any horrible side effects. It started with really bright cheeks for a couple weeks, that literally looked like they were swollen and then moved to a rash on her legs and arms! She didn't seem bothered by it at all. Emrey and Eli were also both sick with pretty bad colds and Eli got his first round of amoxicillin, due to his ears started to get infected...oh the life of a second child. He was up coughing pretty bad for several nights, which kept us all up, but both are doing well now! I just have to remember to finish up his medicine since he's doing better!

I gave her a little haircut a few weeks ago, to try to get rid of the "mullet look" she had going

Eli is smiling, cooing, talking and belly laughing! He actually woke Emrey up the other day, laughing from our bedroom! He is doing great with sleeping and now only gets up once a night/morning. This week, he's been pushing it back farther each night, going to bed at 7/8 and then waking up again at 2,3 and 4! Before we know it he'll be sleeping through the night! The next big transition will be moving him into the big crib in Emrey's room, should be interesting!

Eli, 11 weeks, Emrey 2.2

Herman park, feeding the ducks

Getting excited to ride the train

One of her best friends...Emma