Holiday Cheer from Nate

Nate loves to sing with us! Here is some holiday cheer from our resident cherub!

Eli's 3 year old stat's

Eli finally had his big 3 year check up, and it was quite an adventure. We got to check hearing, vision, and blood pressure in addition to all the usual height and weight measurements. He loved it! Totally fascinated by the blood pressure cuff, and headphones for the ear test. Of course Eli is perfect! His weight is hard to pin down right now because our poor little guy has been sick for 4 weeks now! But on the 17th he weighed 39.5 pounds (thats off the charts for weight) and they measured at 40 inches which is not quite accurate (he was looking down), I measured him at home and got 40.5 inches which puts him up and over the 95th percentile! It is crazy what a long, lean guy he has become (despite the 99th percentile weight). 

At three years old, Eli is still that sweet little boy we fell in love with at birth! He has the soul of a poet and a dreamer! He loves to tell us stories, jokes, and make up adventures! His vocabulary and speech is that of a 30 year old and he loves learning! He has a strong stubborn streak and a huge heart (compliments of mommy and daddy). We love this little guy!

Little Monsters

While I was making dinner last night I heard the boys giggling in the living room. Now this can either make your heart smile with the sweetness of brothers playing or your hair turn grey with the n0-good antics they are up too. This time it was a huge heart smile! They were playing little monsters and running around like wild-men! After I recorded their antics I played with them!

Dinosaur Birthday Party Day!!!

Stegosaurus Nate (sporting a stegosaurus scale hat)
Stegosaurus Eli! He was ferocious!!!
Spike the Dinosaur Birthday cake! 
Digging for dinosaur fossils with friends!
Eli loved when all of his friends (and their parents too) sang him "Happy Birthday"

Make a wish baby boy!
YEAH!!!! That is one happy little boy!

Eli had a fantastic birthday party today! He was so happy to play with friends, and discover new fun things about dinosaurs! We had Eli's birthday party at the Nature Center where Eli and I do a "Kneehigh Naturalist" class on Wednesday mornings. We picked a dinosaur theme party as our big boy is a dinosaur lover extraordinaire!!! The teacher miss Erica had a ton of fun things planned: They got to stomp like dino's and learn how big dino feet are (they all had their feet traced on a dino footprint), they got to make their own dino fossils with clay, and they got to pretend to be stegosaurus's with awesome paper plate stegosaurus scales! They even got to do the dinosaur hockey pokey! So much fun! 

We had pizza and fruit salad for lunch and dino cake and ice cream to celebrate with! 

We had 6 three year olds, 3 Twenty-month old, and 1 tiny baby (3 month old) plus all of the parents! We had two extra-special visitors: My Aunt Valmere and Uncle Wyn! Having them celebrate Eli's birthday with us was such a treat! 

Eli LOVED when everyone sang happy birthday to him! He also got his stegosaurus costume first and got to show off his dino moves! Happy Birthday Big Boy!

P.S Little brother Nate loved everything too... when he stopped moving long enough to take part! The longest period of time Nate was in one place was during lunch! Ha! 

Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Eli!!!

Blowing out 3 birthday candles on spike the dino-cake! Make-a-wish!
Our waking up call this morning: Eli shouting "Snow, Snow, Snow" as he looked out his window! 
Rock star in the making!
Eli came down to this fun spread! Balloons, streamers, decorations, and presents! 
Tractor Heaven! This boy has a bit of the farmer in him! 

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Eli, Happy birthday to You!  It is so hard for us to believe that our sweet miracle baby is 3 years old today! In the last week I have told Eli the story of "Baby Eli" many many times (he never-ever tires of hearing stories about the miracle baby who made our lives so spectacular!).  I have been pretty emotional all day thinking about the day we finally held that sweet little boy in our arms for the first time (after 39 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing... did you think I wouldn't mention that? ha!). 

Eli had quite a day! He came downstairs to our dining room decorated with balloons, streamers and festive tablecloth, and a huge pile of presents (I am not sure he even saw anything else).  We had breakfast quiche (new family tradition) and opened presents while at the table (to keep Nate from jumping in them). We played, played, played all morning... and during nap-time as well! After nap we had dinosaur birthday cake and ice cream for snack (has there ever been a better snack).  We finished the day off with dinner at Chevy's and Eli got the star treatment with a sombrero and a birthday song! (to a 3 year old this is as good as it gets). 

We love this little boy more than words can ever say! Eli is as sweet as they come, with a loving soul and a generous heart! He has a wicked sense of humor and a sly and silly wit! Oh, how we love our Eli!

Bounce and Spin Pony (another adventure in the life and times of Crazy Nate)

Um... this is a GREAT example of my little maniac Nate! He is a crazy good time !

Nobody puts baby in the corner (famous line from dirty dancing)

So last night at dinner I jokingly told Sam that Nate wants  a t-shirt that reads "Nobody puts baby in a corner" (famous quote from dirty dancing... Sam had no idea what I was talking about). So Eli found this HI-larious and this is what he came up with on his own. 

The Pirate ship song goes oh so wrong

"When I was one I pooped on a tree"

So this song really goes "When I was one, I had some fun on the day I went to see". As a result of Eli's recent obsession with all things poop (seriously, little boys are so gross and funny), this is what he came up with all on his own. Joker. 

Can I get a 1, 2, 3

Here is my cutie-pie/smarty-pants counting with mommy. He can count to 10 all by himself but we like to do it together for practice! By the way, does Nate look more full-figured... I mean robust than normal? 

We LOVE the Indianapolis Children's Museum

Digger Nate working hard in the construction zone
Eli constructing a dam at the massive water-works table
Eli in Dinosaur costume in the dinosphere adventure area! He makes a great t-rex
Some of the amazing dino fossils on site. 
Nate crawling through the train tunnels in the giant train area! 

We went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum last weekend and had an amazing time! The boys loved the dinosphere area the most, and what is not to love with dino skeletons, digging for dino fossils, dino play areas and caves, etc... We also loved the train area (with a real train of course), the construction zone with diggers, pulleys, and dirt, and the enormous water-works area! What a great trip! 

Happy Birthday Pop Pop

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Pop Pop, Happy Birthday to you! We wish we were up on your mountain working on tractors and pick up trucks with you today! Love, Eli and Nate (milo too!!!!)

No! (Nate's New favorite word)

Nate is such sweetheart! He is the happiest baby I know and is always up for playing and laughing! He even smiles when he says "no" which he does all the time right now! (He loves to say "No Mommy" I think because he knows it makes me nuts).

Eli looks like Daddy and Grandpa

The King Genes are strong in this one! (Nice mustache Eli!)

Happy Halloween From the King Brothers!

Eli and our neighbor Ben knocking on doors together! 
So Brave! Eli knocking on his first door. He said "trick-or-treat" before they answered the door but he was very polite and said thank you right away!
Fire truck cruising down the street!
Nate seemed a bit bum to put on the dalmation costume again tonight! Look at that sad puppy face!
He rallied though! (there might have been a tiny piece of candy involved) Happy puppy!
Nate got to ride on his daddy's shoulders while we trick-or-treated! 
Halloween brothers! The fire truck and his fire dog dalmation Nate!

This year the boys were dressed as a firetruck and a fire dog (dalmation).

Happy Halloween! What a busy day we had! The boys and I made halloween sandwhich cookies (shaped like pumkins) this morning. This afternoon we got to go to a terrific costume party at The Little Gym (where the boys do classes)! It was such a blast. They had pumpkin bowling, a maze, ghosts, and skeletons and dancing! We loved it! After the party we picked up their daddy and headed home to get ready for trick-or-treating! We met up with our neighbor/friend Ben who lives 2 doors down (he will be in Eli's kindergarten class in a few years) and went around our block. So much fun! 

***I have officially earned my Halloween mama merit badge for making both costumes! 

Halloween Parade at the Champaign Library

Eli (as a fire truck) and Harrison (bulldozer) cruising the library during the parade
Such buddies! They held hands the entire parade!

Eli and I had a special mommy and Eli date this Wednesday. We went to the champaign public library's Halloween parade for 3-5 year olds! Eli was so excited to wear his fire-truck costume! He and his little buddy Harrison loved dressing as big trucks and were the hit of the parade. They were so cute that they made the newspaper (grandparents I have copies for all of you!) 

Picking pumpkins

Eli pulling baby brother in the wagon!
Eli pulling 2 wagons! He is such a strong guy and he felt like the toughest toddler in the world!
Nate loves running around like a big boy! But nothing is better than getting scooped up in a hug!
They guys! 

We had so much fun going to Curtis Orchard to pick pumpkins! (we actually do not have any pictures picking the pumpkins... but you get the drift!). We ended up with 3 tiny pumpkins and 1 medium size pumpkin! We are going to carve the medium one and paint the small ones on Halloween! I love our weekend adventures!

Halloween Decorations

Halloween Ghosts!
Halloween Pumpkins!
Nate with Paintbrushes! They taste great! HE loves to paint as much as big bro!
Mr. Cheesy! So happy to make art!
Ghost and pumpkin fun!
Nate eating as much as painting! 

The boys and I decorated the house for Halloween! We had so much fun making pumpkins and ghosts! They love looking at the decorations they made and Sam and I take such joy in having our house just as full of little boy art as possible! 

Eli is such a comedian

At dinner tonight Eli busts out laughing when he sees Nate's entire head covered in beans and Spanish rice. He looks at us and says "Oh God, Nate is a red head now". Joker!

Curtis Orchards pony rides

Eli really wanted Bill the Pony (yep, same one from last year) to run! 

Nate enjoying his first-ever pony ride! He loved it and was a total natural in the saddle! (must take after mommy after all)

We had such a fun afternoon! We went to Curtis Apple Orchards (were we pick apples and pumpkins)! We got a late start so we didn't take the long wagon walk to the pumpkin patch; instead we rode the ponies and went down the GIANT inflatable slide (no pictures of the slide because Eli and I were moving SO fast! We our headed back next weekend for pumpkin picking! 

Nate Funny and other little toddler phenomenon

Nate, Sam and Eli were sitting on the couch today and Nate was being a silly guy! Sam said "You're being so funny Nate". Nate promptly replied "Nate Funny!"

This evening Sam and Eli were counting for hide-in-seek and said 1, 2, 3 Nate then said 4 and 5 and we were floored. So we tried it with him and the boy can count to 8! He is just 18 months old!!!

Nate is FUNNY and SMART! 

The ABC's of being the cutest almost 3 year old ever!

Eli loves to entertain us with songs and stories! He is such a sweet little boy, but boy is his mischievous streak a mile wide! We love that in this family!

Nate and his body part!

Nate is all about body parts these days! The boy will flash his bebo (Belly button) to anyone who will look! (just ask all the lovely people at Meijer who he flashed this week!). He loves to show you his eye, ears, nose and mouth and poke at yours! Nate is such a big joker! Enjoy Nate is all his cuteness!

Happy Birthday Grammy! (Two days late but we have a good excuse!)

Happy Birthday Grammy! We have been trying to get a video greeting from the boys for 3 days and mass chaos has ensued! Those who have tried to capture both boys on film know that it is like catching a glimpse of the yeti! But Eli really wanted to go for it tonight! So Grammy, we love you and Happy Birthday!

Lake of the Woods Park: Toddlers on the Loose

Running like a wild man up the trail, into the bushes and out of sight!
The King Men!
Nature boy Nate! Look at the grin!

We went back to Lake of the Woods nature preserve today to take advantage of the amazing weather we are having! 85 degrees in mid-october! Crazy! We loves this place so much. It is gorgeous! The boys love being outdoors in the "wild" as much as we do! I cant wait until we can go camping, fishing, and hiking as a family! (That will be when I can go to sleep in the tent with the happy knowledge that Nate will not have escaped in the middle of the night!).

Birthday Party Fun

Eli saying cheese!
Nate was trying to shove the birthday boy out of the fire engine. he wanted it all for himself! 
Eli is the youngest of this older set! Look at that happy face! 

We had such a fun morning on Saturday! It was Eli and Nate's friend Harrison's 3rd birthday party! There was a firetruck to climb all over which was so much fun! It was a great day! 

Meet Ramone

Meet Ramone! Ramone is our new double jogging stroller and he is something special! He is one of only 2 double joggers that are big enough for my extra-tall boys to grow in to! He is also wide enough for them to sit comfortably (Yep, we are not small people and we like our space!). 

Best of all, Ramone is a smooth-riding monster truck type of stroller that can handle anything we throw his way! Ramone joined our family on friday during nap-time. I put him together and the boys and I took our first run together to a park 1.5 miles from here! (and by run I mean staggered up a small 1.5 mile hill at a near stand-still pace, before collapsing on the playground and setting the boys free while I tried not to puke). We had a great time at the park and had a great run DOWN HILL on the way home. 

Now, I have just gotten back into running and have been feeling pretty great about my progress thus far! But running with Ramone is something entirely different! People, that is a 33 pound stroller with 69 pounds of man strapped into it! 102 pounds of madness! 

We are heading out for run 2 tomorrow morning! It is such a fun thing for the boys and I to do together! They love the speed and chant "run, run, run" at me! What great motivators! 

P.S. Eli named Ramone after the coolest car in the Disney "Cars" movie!