Way Back WHENsday

These pictures were taken during Eli's first doctor's visit with Dr. R. Look at how little he was then and how tired Mommy looks after surviving her first week of Mommyhood! He's gotten bigger, but after 12 months, I'm STILL tired! Totally worth it though! :)

12 Month Well Visit

Eli had his 12 month well visit today. It was so great to see Dr. R again. I absolutely love going to see her. I almost wish we had appointments every month because I get so much encouragement from her. I leave thinking that I'm doing okay on this parenting thing :)

Eli did great at the doctor's office. I wish I had pictures, but Josh was very sick (running a fever right now, so we've had to quarantine him in the other room) and I was by myself. It's kind of hard to take pictures of Eli when he's doing all his exploring especially in a waiting room full of other kids and parents. So, no pictures, but if I did have some, I'd show you the one of Eli pointing to all the cherries on the tree in the waiting room. He's pointing so well these days and I love that he's able to show us things that interest him now. I'd also show you the picture of him cheesing at this sweet little girl that was in the waiting room with us. She kept saying, "Him like me, Mama." "I'm gonna go see what him is doing now." Eli loved her and kept reaching out to touch her long, curly blond hair.

We got called to the back and they weighed and measured Eli. He wasn't a fan for several reasons. We went to a different scale and there wasn't a frog above this scale that went "Boing, boing" whenever you touched it. All this scale had was a flourescent light above it and what's interesting about that? Secondly, the lady made him strip down to his birthday suit to get his weight. He wasn't into streaking today. It was cold and he wanted his clothes back on his body! And lastly, the space near the scale was so narrow that his Mama couldn't stand next to him and that bothered him A LOT! Therefore, the nurse lady was not our favorite person today, but we made it through all the measurements and went back to the room to wait for Dr. R.

Here are Eli's 12 months stats:

Weight- 21 lbs. (25th percentile)
Height- 29 1/2 in. (50th-75th percentile)
Head- I forgot to ask what his head circumference was, but she said it was right on target for him

Once again, no pictures, but if I did I'd show you a picture of Eli turning the lights on and off while we waited for Dr. R and how excited he got every time he turned them off. We're still working on the "on" part so Mommy had to help with that.

Dr. R came and checked Eli and said he looked great. He's made the switch to whole milk, but the little stinker still won't drink milk cold. I plan on going cold turkey on him next week during Thanksgiving break. It's going to be rough, but it's what we need to do. I told her that he HATES baby food now and she said not to even try anymore. I've been giving him peas, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, mandarin oranges, bananas, eggs, peaches, and pears and he loves eating them like that. I've got to do better on the meat though so he can get his protein. He loves the Yo-Baby yogurt and eats that every day and is a big fan of all the Gerber snacks. He could live off the Wagon Wheels and Lil' Crunchies, I think!

I wouldn't show you the pictures of him screaming when he got his vaccinations today. That nearly broke my heart, but I know it's good for him in the long run. We won't go back to see Dr. R until his 15 month well visit. I can't wait to see all that he's doing and SAYING (so ready for words to start really coming!) by then!

Likes:
-Mommy and Daddy, of course
-Being outside
-Climb-n-slide toy
-Balloons
-Throwing the ball
-Riding in his Tot Rod
-Eating his Gerber snacks
-Praise Baby
-Playing peek-a-boo
-Computers, remotes, phones
-Riding in his wagon
-Dancing when his Daddy plays the guitar
-Bouncing on your legs
-Being chased

Dislikes:
-diaper changes
-getting clothes on
-getting shoes on
-being told "No" (he gets a really cute pouty face when that happens)
-having to come inside when he wants to stay outside

Accomplishments:
-can say "Da-Da" and has his own words for ball, light, and balloon (says the same sounds every time he sees those objects so I guess those are his "words" for those objects)
-pointing to everything
-cutting his molars (this will make 12 teeth for him once these come in!)
-walking more steadily (thank goodness!)

These past 12 months have been some of the best in my life! I ADORE my little boy and think he is the greatest thing in the entire world. Josh and I feel so blessed to have him in our lives. God has been so good to us and we are so thankful for all our blessings!

Way Back WHENsday

These were taken during this same week last year. Josh and I were both getting some good lovin' from our little man :) This is the only time he ever let us snuggle with him. Once he learned how to twist and move, snuggling was all over :)

Eli's Birthday Invitation

I just realized that I never posted Eli's invitation to his party. I ordered them off Etsy and then printed them using iPhoto. The photos start of him "Just Born" and go through 11 months. I thought they turned out SO CUTE!

Eli's Birthday Celebration: Part 2

All week long I had been praying that the weather would cooperate for Eli's party Saturday morning and my prayers were answered! Saturday morning dawned bright and clear. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold; it was PERFECT! Mom and I had stayed up till 1:30 that morning working on Eli's cake, so I didn't have too much to do the morning of the party. Josh set up the tables and chairs outside, Mom and I decorated, and Dad was in charge of Eli.

I wanted Eli to take a nap before the party, but that backfired on me. He ended up only getting about 30 minutes of sleep, but there wasn't anything we could do because he woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep. Rather than fight it, we just rolled with it and prayed that he'd be fine at the party. Lucky for us, Eli LOVES being outside and can go, go, go when he's outside. He got a little sleepy and rubbed his eyes some, but he was such a trooper. He was WONDERFUL!

The party couldn't have gone any better. We invited mostly family and some close friends that have really helped us with Eli this past year. It was just great to celebrate Eli's first year with such wonderful people. Towards the end of the party, I got a little teary eyed when I stood to thank everyone for coming and for everything they had given Eli. I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that my baby boy was ONE! I feel like time has slipped through my hands, but there is so much promise in the future! I can't wait to see how much Eli is going to grow, change, and learn in the years to come. It was a PERFECT day; a day I was reminded over and over again of God's goodness and love. He has blessed our lives in so many ways! I am so very thankful!

The gift table

My ONE YEAR OLD!!

The cake was a labor of love, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. It's not perfect by any means, but I had so much fun baking it and decorating it. Mom and Dad helped me and we made some wonderful memories. I've got to start thinking about ideas for next year's cake now!

Our little family

Mammy and Sarah taught Eli a new trick. They ask him, "What does Zue-Zue do?" and he clasps his hands to his chest. It's so funny, especially since she does this any time she is surprised. How funny!

My brother, Joshua, and his fiance, Andrea

My brother, Caleb, and Andrea

Jess and Jordan

Kally and Hayden

Zue-Zue and Sarah

Mammy, Aunt Debra, and Zue-Zue

Mr. Roy and Mrs. Gwen

Photo frame I had everyone sign

Happy Birthday, Eli!

Pop did a great job documenting the entire event for us!

The end result...not too bad!

Present time!

My grandmother in North Carolina has made almost all the grandchild a Raggedy Andy or Raggedy Ann. I still have the one she made me! She made Eli one to match his nursery. As soon as he saw it, he gave it a big hug and kiss. It was PRECIOUS!

Clayton and Eli playing in Eli's "Climb n' Slide Castle" Grammy and Pop gave him.
It was a BIG hit!

Two proud parents!

He was out in just minutes after taking his bottle.
He had a LONG, but WONDERFUL birthday!

It looks like Christmas!
On a sidenote: We've decided to start the toy rotation with Eli. He got to keep 3 toys out, but the rest of them went to the top shelf of his closet. We'll get those out over the next several months. We want him to learn to enjoy and play with all his toys. Hopefully, this will help!

Woo Hoo! I LOVE my slide!

The birthday boy with his birthday balloons

Eli's Birthday Celebration: Part 1

Friday, November 6th, was Eli's actual birthday, so I arranged to take the day off from work so we could do pictures with Jami Ainsworth, eat lunch with Daddy, clean the house for all our guests, and get party stuff ready for the next day. It was going to be a very, very busy day, but we were all so excited. Even Eli must have known something was up because he actually took a really good nap that day to prepare for all the upcoming festivities.

Earlier that morning, Josh was on the computer when he saw a status update from Debra M. on Facebook. She had posted "Happy Nachos Day!" Josh saw that and paused in silent tribute. Seriously, I don't know anyone that enjoys nachos more than my husband. If we ever have one of those, "fend for yourself for dinner" nights, nachos is always going to be his meal. He could eat nachos every day for the rest of his life and NEVER get tired of them. Do you understand his love of nachos yet? Once he saw that November 6th, our son's birthday, was Nachos Day, there was no way we could eat anything else for lunch. Josh said it was a sign from God that Eli had been born on such a momentous day. I don't know about that, but I did crave Mexican food A LOT when I was pregnant with Eli, so maybe that has something to do with it. We made plans to meet Josh at the restaurant, which happens to be right next door to the bank, for lunch that afternoon.

Eli and I went to see Jami for his 1 year pictures. It was so hard to believe that just last year she was doing his newborn pictures and now she was doing his one year pictures. Look at how much he has changed in just a year, especially his hair!

Newborn Pictures

One Year Pictures

Jami, did a BEAUTIFUL job as usual. I can't wait to see the rest of the images. It's going to be so hard to choose which ones I want! Thanks again, Jami!

We ran home for a bottle and nap, for Eli, not me, and then met Josh for lunch. In honor of Nachos Day, he had nachos and I had a chalupa. Nachos aren't really my thing at restaurants, but I love them at football and basketball games. Yummy! Eli enjoyed some rice, goldfish, fruit bar, and some yogurt. Maybe next year, he'll celebrate Nachos Day with his dad and actually eat nachos. The waiters were super nice and kept stopping by to talk to Eli while we were there and they made Eli's day when they brought him a balloon. They tried to give him the bill, but after he explained to them that it was his birthday, they passed it over to his daddy. What a wonderful birthday lunch!



Eli and I came home and I started cleaning and getting everything ready for the party the next day. I tried to bake, but it was kind of hard with my little man trying to climb my leg every 5 seconds, so I gave up on that until Josh made it home. Then I started some serious baking! I had a lot to bake before the party the next morning, but the best thing we baked that night was Eli's birthday cupcake.

We wanted to give him some practice for the next day, so I baked him a cupcake and Josh frosted it. You can look at the pictures below to see how much he enjoyed it :) There wasn't a crumb left when he was finished! We immediately went to give him a bath and then he got to stay up a little later than normal to work off the cupcake. Once he was really tired, he got his night time bottle and went to sleep. He was going to have a VERY busy day tomorrow, so he knew he needed his rest. Both of us could hardly wait! Our baby was turning 1!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Eli!

Dear Eli,

Today you turn a year old and I find myself wondering where the past year has gone. You have been such a joy and a delight. You have brought so much joy to our world and I can't imagine our lives without you in it. We are so thankful that God blessed our lives with you. Being a Mommy to you is the greatest thing I have ever done. I feel so complete and my life feels so full now. Your Daddy and I have loved watching you grow and change this past year. You are so full of life. You make us smile. You bring us so much joy, too much for words to say!

Sweet baby, I can't wait to see all the great things God has in store for you. Your Daddy and I pray that you will one day come to know Jesus and ask him in your heart. We have given you to him and we trust that He is going to guide you and do great things in your life and through your life! We have had so much fun this first year. We can't wait to see what is in store for this next year and the years to come!

Eli, I can't believe that a year has passed, but I am so thankful for all the wonderful memories you have given me this year-your first smile, your first coo, the first time you slept through the night, your first Christmas, my first Mother's Day, your Daddy's first Father's Day, your dedication day, the first time you crawled, the first time you laughed, your first steps, your first word, and so many more. I have tried my hardest to hold on to each day and make each and every day with you special and I will continue to do so. I love you, my sweet, baby boy and I am so happy for you! I hope that you have the best first birthday ever!

Love,
Mommy