Happy 9 months Nate (2 days early)

Playing peek-a-boo with Momma!

One of our greatest christmas gifts this year is Nate's continued good health! He is a growing boy at 29.5 inches and 22 pounds and is babbling up a storm. He is quite passionate about everything he has to say and we love to hear it. Nate is trying to pull himself up on the side of his crib and will pop up into crawling position a few times a day! Still the happiest baby ever. We love our little man! Check out those two front teeth! Nate loves to play peek-a-boo and is a completely ticklish!

I LOVE presents!!!

We had such a special Christmas this year! This was Nate's first Christmas (and Eli's 3rd) and it made it seem so complete to have both of our beautiful boys (Nate was just a bump in my belly last year). Our boys have made our family perfect and we are so thankful for the joy they bring to our lives. (sniff, sniff...the holidays make me sentimental).

Did you know that when overwhelmed by too many presents and too much fun Toddlers loose their minds? Its true...they do. In the middle of unwrapping presents (even before the big train table unveiling in the playroom) Eli clutched his 4 new Thomas and Friends trains to his chest stood up and shouted "I LOVE PRESENTS!!!!". No truer Eli thought has ever been uttered. This boy loves presents. It was the absolute spontaneity of his declaration that was so funny.

Nate loved the wrapping paper and all of his fun gifts, but he really like watching Eli spaz out when he realized he had his very own train table in the playroom (now we do not have ot go to the library or books stores to play with a train table). Nate is such an easy going guy, we cant wait to watch him melt down next year too!

Must be Santa

Funniest Santa Picture EVER!!!!

Sweet Smile...Where's Nate? Sitting in momma's lap with a chunk of Santa's beard in his fist.

Our Mall Santa is the real deal (check out that great beard, and twinkly eyes), and the boys loved him!!! Ok, Eli was interested in him but Nate LOVED him...check out Nate's death grip on Santa's beard. Too Funny!!! Eli walked right up to Santa and said "Ho, Ho, Ho", and patted his belly. He is such a funny guy! The picture of the two boys on santa's lap is beyond hilarious!

Snow Fun with a Toddler

We had our first big snow of the season (8 inches or so) and Eli go his first real taste of snow fun with Daddy (Mommy is a sissy california girl who used Nate as an excuse to stay inside). Eli LOVED the snow, so much so that he REALLY didnt want to come in the house. He also didnt want to wear gloves but after a battle of wills it was determined that mommy is in fact more stubborn and Eli did wear his gloves. He went down his snow slide, he went on a snow wagon ride, he went in his fireman helmet shaped sled and generally had a blast!!!!

Bath Time fun for the king boys

We decided to streamline our bed time routine (1 bath instead of 2) and while it was certainly interesting and funny, not super conducive to cleanliness. Funny stuff. Nate is a squirmy water monkey and Eli is a bath toy hog(though very sweet with his baby brother). Nate really, really, REALLY wants to hold onto Eli anyway that he can (by Eli's ear, nose, hair, throat, leg, you name it), this makes Eli a bit jumpy. We will try again when Nate is closer to a year and chaos will ensue!

King Family

This great family shot was taken by my Uncle Wynn the day before Thanksgiving after we visited with my Aunt Val, Uncle Wynn and Wynn's sisiter Glenda in Bloomington, IL. Such a treat to see family!

It is Eli's World and We Just Live in It!!!

The King Men All Hanging Out!!!!

We forget to update you on Super Toddlers stats from his 2 year check up. He was 39 inches and 34 lbs which once again is off the chart for height and weight. Our Dr., whom we love more than anything, told us that Eli is the size of a large 3 year old and looks very proportional! We love that. If he continues to grow at this rate he will only be 6'6 not the 6'8 we original imagined.

So, Eli has picked up some very interesting new phrases that he likes to use at interesting times. Yesterday, our sitter Emily came downstairs while Eli and I were playing in the basement first he said "EMily come down stairs RIGHT NOW!!!!" (he loves to tack right now onto all of his sentences for effect!!!). Then when she got downstairs he said "Hi Sweetheart". It was like he was picking her up in a bar. That is better than two days ago when he yelled up from the playroom to the kitchen where I was cooking "Hey Baby, Whats happening?". Yep, he is Mr. smooth and we worry for his teenage years...a lot!!!

My personal favorite phrase is "I love you too much". Not so much, but too much!!!

Nate's New Bag of Tricks

Daddy was jealous of my fauxhawk so he tried to give me professor hair. The Fauxhawk came back 2 minutes later. The hair will not be denied!!!!

Nate is constantly surprising us with new tricks. He will now pull up into the crawling position and the boy rolls and scoots anywhere he wants to go. There is no stopping Nate when he is on a mission. Nate also has a new eye color. For the longest time we thought they would be brown then they turned blue but we are pretty sure that he has settled on green! They are gorgeous! Our little maniac also babbles a ton and blows rasberries like a champ. His favorite word to babble. Momma!!!!! YEAH!!!! Finally, Nate has the interesting ability of turing orange when he eats sweet potatoes, squash, or carrots! Awesome. Check out the orange nose! What a sweetie!

Happy 8 months Nate!!!

Happy 8 months Nate!!! Our little guy is getting so big so fast. He is a big eater, a big snuggler and generally big personality! He continues to be the sunniest baby ever. We are so blessed with our two gorgeous boys!

Best Bro's

Nate is pretty sure that Eli is up to no-good! He looks worried.

You decide: Sweet sharing moment or momma snapped the photo one second before Eli snatched the rattle out of Nate's hands?

Nate LOVES to touch, grab, pull-on, wrestle or slobber on Eli.

Just thought I would post some more cute brother moments. Eli and Nate are going to be best friends...someday. Love the matching sweaters Grammy!!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Eli!!!!!

EATING MY BIRTHDAY DINNER: PIZZA!!!!!! WITH BEST FRIEND THOMAS!!!

I DIG THEREFORE I AM! LOOK AT THAT SMILE!

AN ARTIST ALWAYS TAKES HIS TIME WHEN PICKING OUT COLORS!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Eli, Happy Birthday to you!!!!! Momma and Daddy can hardly believe that their miracle baby is 2 years old. You constantly amaze us with your sweet nature, wild guy antics, non-stop talking, and creativity (not to mention your sense of humor, smile, and snuggle abilities). We love you so much and cant wait to see what the next year brings...more toddler chaos!!!

I'm a Cowboy and other genius toddler phrases

Eli is a pretty funny toddler. He has the vocabulary and speaking abilities of a 3 year old and constantly shocks us with the things he says. Today when talking about which of his friends were girls and which were boys I asked Eli "Eli, are you a boy?" and he said "No, Im a COWBOY!". Seriously, where does he come up with this stuff.

Naked Baby Alert

Look at the guns on this baby!

Squishy Baby!

I love bath time!

Nate has gone through a bit of a growth spurts and went from a "chunky-monkey" to a "Whoa! Did you see the rolls on that guy" baby! Like all King and Munger men before him, the kid loves food!

Sitting Pretty

Oh Yeah!!! I'm such a cool guy!

Sitting up like a pro!!!!

Nate is almost 8 months old and he is sitting up like a champ! Look at that sweet baby! He also is the proud owner of 1.5 lower teeth after 6 very painful weeks of teething. Nate's favorite things: Watching Eli, chewing on anything at anytime, drinking from a sippy cup and spitting all the water out, and eating food.

The King brothers are CRAZY!!!!!

The silliest brothers on the block!

When baby brothers attack!

This is what happens when I try to take brother pictures of my boys! I think the pictures say it all!

Swinging in the Park!

YEE-HA!!!! FREEDOM!!!!

My Three Boys!

Nate LOVES to swing! Look at that gorgeous smile. As soon as the swing starts to move Nate starts to squeal! It makes him so happy to feel the wind in his face and kick his little legs around. Eli thinks it is pretty fun to swing next to Nate and always says "Nate swing too" when we put Eli in the swing. This is a nice brotherly moment!

Santa Toddler

Eli and Nate met Santa this weekend at a event to raise money in support of community charities. Eli, being the social butterfly that he is, thought Santa was cool and loved sitting on his lap (pretty much because everyone was taking his picture). Nate thought Santa was a tad weird and tried to through his body off of Santa's lap. So, we have a terrific Eli picture and NO Nate picture. I am on a mission though and the boys and I are going to the Mall with Friends to take some more Santa pictures with both boys together. (the mall Santa has a real beard and a real Mrs. Claus. Cant wait

JOKERS

Yep! I am about 2 seconds away from chucking this spoon at your head!

Crazy Baby Headed This Way!!!!

Oh Yeah! I am definitely up to no good!

Watch out! I am coming to get you!!!

So, our boys are total jokers. Eli is constantly cracking us, the neighbors, strangers in the grocery store, my friends, his friends, and his baby brother up with his antics. There is no-such-thing as a serious moment for Eli. Which at NEARLY 2 is how life should be. He loves to get laughs out of us and tells us his own knock knock jokes. Sam also just taught him to say "why did the chicken cross the road...to get to the other side". However, Eli has his own version of this,"why did the chicken run across the street....HA HA HA HA HA....to run away from the people (we have absolutely no idea, but it is too funny).

Nate, is a talking, laughing, squealing maniac and will go on these baby noise-making benders for 30 plus minutes where he just goes batty. We love to watch his little face light up and his belly laugh is too much. Eli and Nate have a mutual admiration society going on these days and they crack each other up all the time too! Just look at those goofballs!

Allerton Park Hiking

Nate-Dog: Hanging in the big boy back pack!

Chunky little gnome!!!

Sam and Eli playing in the Sangamon River!!!

Ok. To all family and friends that have visited us out here and quickly realized that we live in the MOST boring place on earth, we apologize. WE found a terrific park about 35 minutes from here (owned by U of I) that has gorgeous hiking trails on/near the Sangamon river (it is an old estate donated to the university that includes a massive walled garden, maze, and acres and acres of trails). It was such fun to go out and hike around with the boys this afternoon. We all love being outdoors and have missed hiking. Eli is quite the intrepid explorer and managed to find a walking stick early on, though he did cruise in the stroller for part of the way. Nate got to ride in the big boy back pack and he LOVED it! We are going to get a second pack and Sam can carry Eli (those packs carry up to 45 lbs of baby) and I will pack Nate.

Happy Halloween...Welcome to the King Family Farm

Quakers: Our Cutie Pie Baby Duck Nate !!!!

HMMMM?!!? Is my brother going to tease me for this latter in life?

THats One Cute Duck!!!

Eli the MOO COW strikes again!!!!

HE Always looks so guilty!!!!!

Happy Halloween! We went with a farm animal theme this year. Eli was a cow...again! But he was so cute last year that we couldnt resist as the costume still fit! So Nate then needed to be a farm animal as well (it makes sense to me), so he definitely had to be a baby duck!!! Eli loved the cow suit, but hated the cow hat. Nate loved it all and just went with the flow! We took an early (5:30) Halloween walk around the neighborhood made all the more excited because there was a backhoe loader digging up the broken water main on our street. Eli was so excited he momentarily lost the ability to speak and just stared in wonder at the BIG DIGGER with FLASHING LIGHTS!!!! As Eli says "Wow, Cool". Sam, then had all of his worst fears about Nate's duck costume realized as one of the workmen said, "Hey, your daughter the duck is going to make such a cute cow next year". I swear that a duck costume is gender neutral!!!!