16 Month Update and....

WE'RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!
Yay! Yay! Yay! We can finally let the cat out of the bag.
Baby #2 is due March 15th and we are thrilled! Scarlett and her sibling will be 22 months apart. What a blessing!

Pregnancy Update:
I am feeling better now, hitting the second trimester/13 weeks on Monday. July was pretty brutal with morning/all day sickness. My diet consisted of grilled cheese sandwiches, cereal, and oranges. Now, I'm back on the eating train. Only real complaint is being tired- but that could be from the 80+degree weather or the fact that I RUN and CHASE Scarlett all day :) My belly popped out right away, but hasn't changed much in the past month. I heard the heartbeat at my appointment last week which is always a BIG relief!  We are not finding out the gender again (groan!), so another 27 weeks of being antsy. Although, we think this one HAS to be a boy! There have been four King girl cousins in a row. A boy is due, literally!

Scarlett 16 Month Update

Scarlett is 16 months going on 3 yrs. She understands everything we say ("Can you please put your shoes back in your room?") and is constantly asking for the names of things. She is a sweet girl with a big personality. We LOVE how much fun this past month has been!

Our vacation to Santa Barbara and Shell Beach was incredible! The house we rented was gorgeous and we had our own pool and spa that was heated to 90 degrees! We spent our days at the zoo, parks, and strolling State Street. We had a babysitter for two nights and a day, so we were able to make it out for some yummy dinners and an afternoon in Summerland. We're still high on vacation bliss.

Newest Tricks:

Scarlett spent A LOT of time in the pool this summer. Not only is she a great "kicker", she has gotten going under water down pretty good too! No crying either!
As soon as she gets to Mimi and Bop's house, she walks straight to the kitchen and points to the pool :) Such a water baby.

Also, Scarlett's vocabulary is expanding each day. New words: shoes, "abby" her word for her "owlie", book, and cheese.

Favorite Toy This Month:

We are back to books! She looks at them on her own or wants to be read to hours a day. She loves wandering the book store too! Next week she is finally old enough for story time at the Petaluma Library. This girl LOVES to read.

Biggest Thrill:

The sprinklers! What do you do when it's 88 degrees at 5pm? Run through the sprinklers naked of course! This is an almost daily occurrence around here :)

Biggest Highlight/Biggest Challenge:

A parental highlight is that we took Scarlett off the pacifier this past month. Now it is only used for naps and bedtime- and what a difference! This child was immediately happier and less fussy! She also didn't blink an eye with this new routine. She asked for "pappy" once on the first day, and Jeremy and I told her that "pappy" stays in the crib for bed. That seemed to work for her. Yay!

Our newest challenges is separation anxiety. The kid who would go to anyone is now catching on and only wants Mama, Dada, grandparents, or Angela from daycare. This became very apparent when I went to my first MOPS meeting on Thursday. They have childcare provided and I dropped Scarlett off and left to meet the mamas. Scarlett was FURIOUS and screamed bloody murder (yes, I could hear her from the luncheon) for about 20 minutes before she realized that I wasn't coming back. SAD :( Hopefully she will learn to like her new Moppets and childcare leader!
Sweetest Moment:
This past month has been filled with countless "sweet" moments. Scarlett loves to hug us now and show us affection. She is also OBSESSED with older girls- and giggles, waves, and blows them kisses. At church last weekend, she stayed in the nursery long enough for Jeremy and I to hear the sermon and receive communion. Then, when she came back in, she became enamored with a big 9-yr old daughter of a client of Jeremy's. Sweet 4th grader Taylor thought it was cute and let Scarlett hug & kiss her. Then, Scarlett spent the last 10 minutes of the service walking around holding Taylor's hand and smiling. She LOVES big girls!

Happy September!!
Love, The Kings!

15 Months Old...Where did the time go?!

Scarlett 15 Months!

Happy August! We are in awe that we have a 15month old! Where did the time go? Scarlett seems to be changing daily and is so curious and smart. We love watching the "light bulb" go on when she figures out something on her own!

We have had a great summer so far. It's about to get even better next week when we head to Santa Barbara for a week with the Fleischmanns for our annual King/Fleischmann vacation. We rented an awesome house with a pool and are excited to relax, swim, and watch Harper and Scarlett play. Then, on our drive home the six of us are spending the weekend at the amazing Dolphin Bay Resort in Pismo. So excited for 10 days of fun!

Newest Tricks:

Scarlett has become our little "parrot" in the past month. She loves trying to talk and mimic us. Her newest trick includes pointing to all the major body parts: hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, belly, fingers, & toes. And, she loves trying to make animal sounds! So far she can anwer, "What does a ____ say?" for a cat, dog, monkey, elephant, birdie, & baby (she loves to pretend cry like babies do). This is just precious to watch. We practice our animal sounds daily of course!

Favorite Toy This Month:

Scarlett loves puzzles or any toys with parts! She gets frusterated when she can't get the pieces in sometimes and arches her back and squeals. But, for the most part she can do a pretty good job and enjoys practicing with shapes and putting pieces back together.

Biggest Thrill:

S loves exploring her yard. She loves riding in her pink car, playing Chuck-It with Hazel, smelling the flowers, and getting into mischief outside :)

 

Biggest Highlight/Biggest Challenge:
Our biggest challenge has been Scarlett getting sick. In the past 6 weeks she has come down with Hand Mouth Foot and Pink Eye. Both were pretty brutal on S and us since she was in so much pain for both. Whewww. We were all exhausted!

Our biggest highlight has been Scarlett's independence and having her formulate her own opinions. She definitely has preferences on almost everything.  She will tell you exactly what she wants whether you like it or not :)
For example, today when we were walking around Train Town together and I asked her to hold my hand, and she said NO! She wanted to walk all on her own!
Miss Independent.

Sweetest Moment:

Jeremy and I have been trying to get out once a week for a date night. So far, we've been successful two weeks in a row! When our babysitter Kailyn was here watching S this week, she asked Scarlett if she was ready for bed. Scarlett took Kailyn's hand, walked her to her room, and pointed to her crib. Ha! She WAS ready for bed! Too cute.

We are excited for a fun-filled August and looking forward to lots of fun family & friend weekends coming up this fall. Jeremy has been busy at work, and now I get to enjoy this year as a mama. It will be so weird not going back to school in 3 weeks, but I'm excited to give this stay-at-home mom thing a shot. We are thankful and blessed.

Lots of Love,
The Kings!

14 Months & Summer Fun

Happy July everyone! We are loving our warm weather and sunny days here in Petaluma. We had the Larabees in town for a week and Scarlett LOVED her cousins, of course! A photographer came and captured this cousin photo (and many others). By the time you read this update, this photo may be need to be updated as Kim is in labor and Baby King cousin #5 is arriving today!

Scarlett, Shane, Hollace, & Hanley

Newest Tricks:
Scarlett now RUNS. She and Hazel have fun chasing each other around the house. She also has been in the pool A LOT with this warm weather and has mastered "kicking" on command. She seems to understand everything we say (or is just really good at pretending) and nods her head yes or shakes her head no for any given question. After a only few days with my family in OC, she was able to point to Uncle Ev when we asked her where he was. She is SMART! S also loves to dance and runs in a circle until she gets so dizzy that she falls over.

New words: "ow" for her Owl lovey, "Mimi" for Peg, although she hasn't said to to her, "bubu" for bubbles (our favorite summer activity), "baba" for baby, and we've evolved to "Haz" now for Hazel.

Favorite Toy This Month:
Bubbles, her water table, or her baby pool are all tied for this. Anything outdoors and active makes Scarlett happy.

Biggest Thrill:
Scarlett loves praise. Her biggest thrill is now when anyone claps or cheers when she does something to be proud of. Then, she will continue to cheer and clap for herself to get everyone going again.

Biggest Highlight/Biggest Challenge:
Still communication. She wants what she wants when she wants it, although we are slowing starting to understand each other better and better. Jeremy and I are very consistent with our dos/don'ts and she totally understands the things she is not supposed to do/get in to. The head nodding and shakes from her helps us immensely.

Secondly, Scarlett came down with Hand Mouth Food virus right before we left for Southern CA. I had NO idea how awful it would be for her/me. She was in a lot of pain, was up all night for multiple nights, and lost about 3 pounds from her eating strike due to the sores in her mouth. If we can survive that, we can survive anything!

Sweetest Moment:
After being gone for 8 days without Jeremy, Scarlett was beside herself when she saw Jeremy at the airport. When he picked her up, she yelled, "Dada" and started crying. Too cute. She LOVES her daddy!

Happy Summer!
Love, The Kings!

13 Month Old Lady

 Well, a lot has changed since Scarlett turned ONE...seriously! She's such a BIG girl at 13 months!



Newest Tricks:
FULLY walking. About a week after S's bday, she really took off. I caught 17 steps on video, and now she walks (and falls) all day long.

She's also chatting up a storm- "ba--" for ball, "up" to be picked up, "da" for "that" or something she doesn't know, "bab" for baby, and of course her staples- Bop (for Cliff), Dada, Mama, Ha (Hazel), Nana (bananas), and the infamous GRUNT when she points to something.

Scarlett now shakes her head "no" when she doesn't want something, which is so funny. She definitely has an opinion! When she does want something, she squeals and claps her hands.


We also love that S can now follow simple instructions: give kisses, sit on your bottom, bring me a book, etc. How cool is that?!

Favorite Toy This Month:
Books! Scarlett loves to be read to or to look at books on her own. She is constantly pointing to things, wanting to know the names of people/things/animals. We love that she is so curious.

Biggest Thrill:
Her cousins! We spent 5 nights with the whole King fam in Redlands/Santa Monica to celebrate Luke's graduation from medical school (yaaay Luke!). Scarlett was so lucky to get 6 whole days with her darling cousins, who are SOO sweet to her and share all of their toys with her! Scarlett was in HEAVEN. She adores all three! She played and idolized Shane and Hanley, and would give baby Hollace kisses whenever she could. SO darling.

Biggest Highlight/Biggest Challenge:

Scarlett is desperately trying communicate with us. Not only is she saying "words" but she also points at things she wants all the time. This is awesome, because we can usually figure out how to make her happy! This is also very, VERY challenging because when she wants something she can't have....YIKES. Yes, the tantrums have arrived :) Wish us luck!

Sweetest Moment:
In the past month we've spent time with my family in OC and all of Jeremy's family this past week. Right now Scarlett is starting to recognize her out-of-town family- hurray! She gives them hugs and smiles and flirts with them.  I hope we've avoided "Stranger Danger" reactions?!



What made our trip down south even more special was that Scarlett Isabel got to spend time with her Great Grandma Isabel again. I love that! So darn wonderful.

And, the sweetest moment for MOM this month is that I'm done with work in one week! Yahooo! I can't wait to stay home with my little lady from now on! :)


We are loving 13 months, can't wait to see what is in store for us this summer!!


Lots of Love,
The Kings!

ONE...UNO....UN...EINS!

Scarlett Isabel is ONE today! So exciting! I can't believe that we were in the hospital meeting our little GIRL last year at this time :)

We had a FANTASTIC 1st birthday celebration at Peg and Cliff's yesterday. The weather was an amazing 80 degrees, the pool and jacuzzi ready for splashing, lots of yummy food, and  fantastic family and friends everywhere!

Nonna flew up for the celebration

Morgan and Harper with their besties, Jer & S

Michele (6 mo pregnant) and Lucy came to play!

Bop and Mimi!

The BIG birthday girl turns ONE

Scarlett's special organic birthday cake (homemade by Michele)

Here's a little update.....

Newest Tricks: Walking! Scarlett practices walking all day long. Her longest stride was 5 steps in the circle of her music class last week. All of our music friends cheered and clapped for the big, walking girl and Scarlett squealed with pride!

Showing off her stand!

Favorite Toy This Month: Too many to say! Scarlett was spoiled by all of our family and friends yesterday. She's in hog-heaven at home, jumping from toy to toy! Kristin, Nathan, and Gordon sent us a really cool ball popping machine that she is especially fond of :) Check it out in the video clip below...(I hope it works!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO4CmmksHPI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Biggest Thrill: BOP a.k.a. Cliffy. When Scarlett sees her Bop, her face lights up, she squeals, and reaches for him! I already predict that she will bring Bop as her first show-and-tell in kindergarten :) As for material thrills, plastic pink car really makes Scarlett happy too!

Loves going on pink car rides!

Wagon rides with Cliffy are such a treat!

Biggest Highlight/Biggest Challenge: Surviving and enjoying the first year of parenthood! We've done it once, so the next time will be easier, right?! Scarlett is VERY spirited-- her BIG personality is like an elephant in the room!  But, we enjoy her independence, her strong will, and her sweetness.  She is so smart and we are so blessed to have such a determined and wild little girl.


Sweetest Moment: S loves to lean in for "kissies", which melts my heart. She always offers her forehead and also continues to practice kissing (slobbering) on Dolly too :)

Cuddling with Mimi and Dolly #2

Happy Birthday, Scarlett!!
Lots of Love, E, J, & S

TEETH!

I didn't understand how there was so MUCH drool, and more drool, and even more and more drool! No wonder....

Look at all these teeth that showed up this week!

Just in time for her first bite of sweets next weekend for the big 1st bday!

Eleven Months: Can you believe it?!

Our little Miss Scarlett is ELEVEN months! Less than a month until she is officially a TODDLER!

Here's a recap of March...

Newest Tricks:
Talking.... Saying Mama, Dada, HayHay (Hazel), Bop (Cliff), and Nana (bananas/breakfast)

Following Directions.....Where's your dolly? Give Hazel a kiss. Where's your Pappy (pacifier)? Do you want your sippy? Ready for a bath? Where's my nose? All done? (She puts her hands in the air when she's done!)

Feeding herself. ...FINALLY, she figured it out! This week she's been loving turkey deli meat.

Standing and...walking (well, kind of)! Today Scarlett took TWO steps on her own! She's been standing without holding on for the past few days, still a little unstable. Of course, she loves trotting all over the house with anything on wheels. That's easy!

Favorite Toy This Month: 
BOOKS! She loves to sit down and look at any book she can get her hands on. This has become quite convenient for car rides!

Biggest Thrill:
Either baths or going to the park. We do both almost every day, and both get her to squeal, literally!

Biggest Highlight:
For Us...We snuck away to Scottsdale for the weekend and left Scarlett with Peg and Cliff. The weather was amazing (75 and breezy), we enjoyed a Giants Spring Training game, pool time, delicious food, and the chance to SLEEP IN!

For Scarlett....having her mommy as a stay-at-home mom as of June 10th! AND, the three new upper teeth that arrived this week, for a total of FIVE!

Biggest Challenge:
Ear infections. Ugh. Scarlett came down with her third double ear infection while we were away in Scottsdale. Luckily, her Mimi and Bop were on it and got her to the hospital and on antibiotics ASAP. She was already doing better by the time we arrived home.

Sweetest Moment:
Today, I was sitting with Scarlett and Hazel outside on a blanket. Scarlett leaned down and kissed Hazel on the head and giggled. When I asked her to do it again, she did! They are the sweetest buddies!

We have been blessed with good weather, healthy and happy family and friends, and the sweetest little girl. Happy spring!

Love,
E, J, & S (Hazel too!)