Eli's ONE!!!

It's hard to believe, but this guy is one year old! We celebrated by having a few of our closest friends over to celebrate his little life and to thank them for all their support and care for us as a family over this past year! Below are a few shots from his party as well as the past couple weeks. He is definitely on the move these days! He loves to cruise all around and is especially into climbing, as the pictures will show.

At one year, Eli loves his monkey (that he and Emrey received when he was born) they each got one. When he is crawling around the room and finds it, he hugs it and rocks back and forth! He usually has it, along with his blanket when he goes to sleep! He loves the water table, out back and would probably go out and get soaking wet at every chance he could get! He loves his sister and just lights up when she comes into the room, or kicks and jumps up and down if I'm holding him and she comes running by. He gets really excited when she laughs or screams.

As for things Eli does not like...any type of change, clothing or diaper...he'd much rather be on the move. Getting into his car seat is another dreaded event for Eli, as he has to be strapped down and immobile for long lengths of time...He hates napping, as he knows for sure, that he is missing out on something. He usually starts crying and trying to fight my attempts at rocking the minute we cross over the threshold to his room and I give him his blanket. Eli is not a rocker...at least not with me...He prefers to babble himself to sleep in his crib and fights any attempts to rock or sing to him, unless he's exhausted! There's just too much he's got to do, he has no time for sleep!

As of one year, Eli is still napping twice a day, usually in the morning around 10 and then again in the afternoon around 2:30/3. Since we often have activities we are going to, he's not always on schedule and often just takes one long nap...but still really needs two! He has four teeth, two on the bottom and 1.5 on the top, right in the middle! For some reason weaning Eli was a bit more emotional for me...as I think he would have gone forever, whereas Emrey was finished and never looked back. But, I know it's good and the transition must take place! Eli is huge and ranked 80% in his weight (25 lbs.) and 75% in his height at his one year appointment. He was also really brave when he had to get four separate shots at once this visit :(

Picture session

So, for Christmas last year, we received a gift of pictures from the Kings! After almost a year, we finally got around to using it! We ended up having a friend of mine (Megan Thurman) take our photos and these are just a few of the first one's she posted on her blog for a sneak peak! I'm really excited to see the rest of them...when they are finished!

Emrey, almost three!

Eli, almost one! Hard to believe!

Surprise Shower!

Just got back from Sarah's surprise wedding shower in New Hampshire! Eli came with and he was such a great little traveler! I missed Emrey terribly, but I will say, it was very nice to have only one little one on the flights! The foliage was even more gorgeous than I ever remember! And getting to spend time with Sarah, Bets and Kath was so great! Seeing mom and dad was great too!

While there, we got to go apple picking and enjoy some cool weather for a change!

Chilling, listening to some bluegrass, eating cider doughnuts for lunch!

Aunt Kath, our roomate!

Eli, 11 months!

The Mezey's....

Samuel Mezey, ADORABLE!

And the trip wouldn't be complete without a few trips with Pappo down to the corner store!

Calling All Princesses!

So, here is a preview of Emrey's "princess dress", the dress she will be wearing to Aunt Sarah's wedding this New Years! It arrived this past week, and she was so thrilled when she opened the box, and wanted to put it on immediately! She says that she and mom will be princesses and dad will be the prince! All week, she has requested to put it on to show anyone who comes over.

One of Emrey's favorite activites these days is painting. She is always asking to paint...and it's not always the best time, but when we can, we try to get them out! Here she is pretty focused on whatever it was she was painting at the time.

And Eli....continues to get into trouble, every time I turn around, it seems! He is a love though and so cuddly and happy! He is definitely on the move and pulling up on everything! He is trying to walk, with anything he can hold onto and make move...sometimes with great success and other times not so much! But he is tough!

And of course, everything still goes in the mouth!

Emrey scored this penguin at a yard sale we went to one saturday. The man insisted she take it home for free! So...we gave it a good bath in the washer and she has been pretty attached to it since, wanting to take it everywhere she goes...

Here he is pulling up...

And, "helping" with the dishes....

And trying really hard to get into this cabinet!

It is getting cooler here...but still hot in the middle of the day...so we stripped him down..., obviously Eli is doing fine, weight wise!

Here he is on a secret mission at the playground!

Above and below are Emrey's first attempts at taking a picture with the camera...with a little help from mom holding it while she attempted to push the button!

Five Years!

It's hard to believe we celebrated our Five year anniversary this past weekend! We decided to drive out to San Antonio and take Ben and Kath up on an offer to watch our kids! Ellis and I did an overnight and got to go swimming in Hamilton Pond, a natural spring fed swimming hole near Austin! We also did some wine tasting at a few vineyards in the Hill Country and stayed at a great B & B, Alexandra's House, in Wimberly. Not only did we get to sleep in, but we were served breakfast (for a change), the most delicious lemon, ricotta pancakes! After our night away, we got to hang out with the Hollo's for the afternoon, swimming and eating great food, that Kath so graciously made! We hit the road at bedtime, so all the little ones could sleep on the way home (which makes for much smoother car rides). I feel so incredibly blessed with all God has given us and the amazing relationship Ellis and I have...although we're still learning and trying to figure out this marriage thing! Hopefully we'll have many more anniversaries to celebrate!

Hamilton Pool

The porch of the B & B

Oh...it wouldn't be a King family blog post with out a kid....Eli is now standing up in his crib!!

And I just love this photo of Eli...he was very curious about these weights when we had them out last week! It's hard to believe, but someday I'm sure he'll lift much more than his mom's measly little 15 pound weights!

Eli 9 months

It's hard to believe that Eli is three months away from being a year! He is such a sweet boy and so easy going. He has his 9 month check up this week and got yet another vaccine, but was very brave! I am WAY overdue for an update as to how he's doing. Overall, he's doing great! Some of the things he loves these days are playing at this fun musical table (which you see below). He really loves to dance and jive to the beat and bends his knees and little legs. It's so cute to watch and he gets this big grin on his face! He does have some stiff competition for this table, as Emrey likes to dance to the songs (especially "here she comes" aka, "she'll be coming round the mountain"). Sometimes, Emrey gets frustrated as his grabbing at the table often interrupts the song she's dancing to, what a primadonna!

Emrey has rediscovered this toy all over again. When she first received this as a one year birthday present she also loved it, but didn't know any of the songs or her ABC's, or other random things it plays. Now she does...and she was so excited when we pulled it down from the attic last week!


(apologies for the poor pictures, my camera is being fixed and the I-phone is a sorry stand in)



So, back to Eli...He also loves to chase after Emrey, wherever she goes in the house. He has gotten up on his knees a few times, but prefers to crawl on his stomach, like a little snake. I'm always amazed at how fast he is! He especially gravitates toward all the dirty places in the house, like the bathroom floor, and the living room, where I swear he looks for dust bunnies to eat!

He is struggling to go to sleep quickly since he can sit himself up in his crib. This (above) is how I usually find him these days when I go in to get him. Often times he will play for a while with his stuffed animals in his crib before giving in and laying his head down to sleep!

Still doing cloth diapers....it is tiring...but feels so worth it and we are definitely saving money. Luckily we have had a VERY dry summer, so I've been able to do a lot of drying outside, which saves even more on energy!

Eli's getting his first two teeth, on the bottom. I've been watching these two little white patches slowly surfacing...poor guy, I know it can't feel good.

Breastfeeding has been interesting. We're still going...but Eli is SUPER distracted when I try to feed him during the day. We're down to four feedings, but the two mid-day one's are challenging, as he's often trying to climb off my lap when he gets distracted, then wants to climb back for more....So, I'm pumping and giving those ones to him in a cup, and also supplementing with a little bit of formula and Kefir drink, which he also LOVES!

Eli does not like, diaper changes, getting his face/hands washed after meals, being dried after the bath...

And Ms. Emrey...started "school" or MDO, at a nearby Methodist church, this week and is having a blast! I brought her to visit her new teachers last week and stopped at the grocery store quickly on the way home. I have a hard time saying no to fun, beautiful treats like this one...So, we brought it home with us.

Ahh yes, that beautiful scar on her forehead..was a playing wound she recieved just as we were about to head out to dinner with friends last week. Luckily, our friend is an oral surgeon resident, so he was able to let us know that it did not need stiches! It did bleed pretty bad, but it's healing up well! Emrey was a champ and was running around again, a few minutes after it happened!

Emrey goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 - 2. Below is a picture of her schedule that I took to show dad. I was told that during circle time each of the kids will take a turn holding up a card with their name on it and practice spelling each of the letters, so that very soon, Emrey will be able to spell and recognize her name! She already knows there is an "E" starting her name and anytime we're out driving and she sees and "E", she yells "look mom, there's an E for Emrey"! I'm curious to know what they discuss in "science"?? And, how they get them to nap? Because so far every day I've picked her up, she's out cold!

Although Emrey's napping is sporadic at home these days, when she does fall asleep, she's usually out cold! Below are some really sweet pictures of what usually happens when Ellis goes in to put Emrey to sleep...but usually Ellis is on the floor and Emrey is actually using her
pillow :) I thought this was really sweet!

We're trying no pull-up for the first time tonight with Emrey! She's been waking up dry for a long time now...we'll see!