Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Free Shutterfly Christmas Cards

It's that time of year again! The time of year when everyone starts sending you messages and emails asking for your home address so they can mail you a Christmas card. I, for one, love sending Christmas cards, but I really enjoy receiving Christmas cards. Every day during the holiday season, I rush home with anticipation of whose card I'm going to open next. I'm so glad we still keep this tradition alive and Shutterfly is offering an unbelievable deal, especially for bloggers. Bloggers can get 50 FREE holiday cards from Shutterfly! WOW! Click here to read all about it!

I've used Shutterfly a lot in the past and I have to say that I have always been so impressed with the products I've ordered. They have so many great items that it's almost hard to choose which one you want to create. Another bonus is that creating your one of a kind personalized gift couldn't be simpler. Shutterfly's system walks you step by step through the process and you come out with a final product that looks amazing!

Shutterfly has some unbelievable cards this year. It would be hard for one to not find that perfect card. I love all their choices, but I, with much difficulty, narrowed it down to my top three favorites in no particular order :)

1. Vintage Frame-First of all, it's vintage. I love that classic style. Plus, I'm a huge fan of the color brown. Also, I love how it's non-traditional in the sense that it's not your typical red or green Christmas card.

2. Contemporary Red-I love how simple and understated this card is, and that is what makes it so appealing to me. You focus on the picture and not all the swirly designs or details. It looks very classic to me and I love the size of the card, because it's not what you typically see for a Christmas card.

3. Elegant Floral Black-There is so much I love about this card. I love the black damask print. I love how the picture I've already selected for our cards will go perfectly with the background. I love how elegant it looks.

Whew! Picking out three of my favorites was super hard because Shutterfly has SO MANY wonderful choices. If you are looking for a great website that offers unbelievable cards at a great price, head on over to Shutterfly you won't be disappointed!

While you're there, check out all the other amazing products they offer. I've made a wall calendar for Eli's grandparents every year from Shutterfly and it's a gift that is treasured by each one. Don't forget to look at their full selection of Christmas cards and holiday cards. You're going to love whatever you buy. I just know it!

Thank you Shutterfly for such an amazing offer!!

Monday, November 15, 2010

24 Months Old

Dear Eli,

The time has come for our monthly updates to end. I have really enjoyed writing about all the things you have done over the past two years, and I still plan on updating your growth and development, just not as often. I feel so blessed to be a part of your life, to be the one who gets to help mold and shape you into the young man you are going to be. You are an absolute treasure. In case you don't know, I LOVE YOU! You are such a gift from God! Your Daddy and I didn't know life could be so much fun before you came. We feel so honored to have been chosen to be your parents. We love your fun-loving independent spirit, your relentless energy, your ear-to-ear smile, your sweet little voice, and everything else that makes you special. I look forward to all the years ahead and all the sweet moments we are going to have together :)

Physically: We went to your 2 year check-up with Dr. R (no pictures because I was trying to contain you in a small waiting room) and everything was great, well, except for the fact that you were scared to death to stand on the big boy scale. I have no idea what was up with that. Then you wouldn't stand next to the wall so the nurse could measure how tall you were. I guess you were just in a bad mood that day. We eventually managed to get your weight and height, but both are probably off just a little. You weighed 26 pounds and you were 34 inches tall, we think. I do know that whatever it is you weigh, after a few minutes of holding you, it feels like A LOT! Your weight still is in the 25th percentile, which is nothing new for you. You've been there ever since you became mobile. Dr. R said your height was normal, so I'm assuming that would be the 5oth percentile. Your head measurement was 50th percentile, as well. You won't go back for another well visit until your 3 years old. WOW! That's a long time away. Hopefully by then you'll have put on a little bit more weight and you won't have issues with the scale or the height chart. We'll see though.... As far as clothes, you are mostly wearing 24 month clothes. You can wear some 2T shirts. You wear a 6 1/2-7 in shoes. One word that would describe you is the word that I have used to describe you since you were inside my tummy...ACTIVE! You aren't wild or crazy, but you are constantly on the go looking for something to do. You barely take the time to sit still. In fact, the only time we CAN get you to sit still is to put on Toy Story or Little Einsteins. That's usually what I do when I need to cook, because otherwise you would be crawling up my leg to "help" me in the kitchen :)

Verbally: Your language has just exploded! You say 4-5 word sentences consistently and most of it is understandable :) You repeat everything we say. You even use the word "too" appropriately. My favorite is when you say, "I wuv you, too, Mama!" It just melts my heart to pieces. You got several LeapFrog Tag Junior books for your birthday and you haven't shown much interest in them yet, but I'm hoping you will soon. I really really want you to become a reader, so I'm doing my best to instill a love of reading in you while I can. You love letting me read to you at night, but you usually pick the same 3 books over and over. You enjoy singing songs-Old McDonald, Twinkle, Twinkle and The Wheels on the Bus are your favorites. You can count to 10. You know all your basic colors-black, white, green, blue, purple, red, yellow, pink, orange, purple, brown. We are working on silver, gold, and gray right now. You know most of your shapes-circle, oval, heart, star, rectangle, square, triangle.

Eating: No change from the previous month. You are still what I would call a picky eater. You don't care that much about food at home, but Mrs. G and your teachers at school always say you eat well there. I guess you need other kids to be around in order for you to eat. You still love snacks more than anything. You have also turned into a big time milk drinker. I know we were supposed to switch you to reduced fat milk, but your Daddy and I figure you can use the extra calories. You like the taste of reduced fat milk though and will drink it just fine, which is the important part. Eventually, we'll switch you over, but just not now. Your favorite foods at this moment would be: yogurt, cheese, mandarin oranges, peaches, cereal, Welch's fruit snacks, popcorn, hotdogs, grapes, spaghetti, chicken pot pie, and most of all PIZZA. You take after your mama there :)

Sleeping: You still do the exact same thing as before. We actually bought you a toddler bed a few months ago, but you never really showed interest in switching to it. In fact when we asked you which one you wanted to go to sleep in, you said "kib" (crib). We figured we'll stick with the crib until you figure out you can climb out of it, which is crazy that you haven't done that yet as much as you climb everything else. You're still sleeping pretty much all night, some nights better than others. You still want a pacifier at night when you are at home, but we found out from Mrs. G that you never use a pacifier at her house. Hmmmm, it might be time for the pacifier to make it's disappearance. I might try that over Christmas break this year. It won't be fun, but it'll be a good thing once you're off it for good, even though that pacifier has been wonderful to have these past 2 years :)

Your favorite toys/things to do:
-Toy Story (1, 2, and 3) You LOVE them all! Buzz Lightyear is your absolute favorite character.
-Cars
-any type of sports ball
-blocks
-playing outside
-any type of art project, especially painting and coloring
-cars
-musical instruments

I'll be posting again at your 26th month. Until then, I can't wait to see all the fun stuff you're going to be doing!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Happy 2nd Birthday, Eli!!!

Eli's birthday invitation

Yeehaw! Saturday, November 6th, our family and a few of Eli's friends from school celebrated our little boy's second birthday. It's hard for me to believe that two years have already passed since he came into this world. The time has just flown by and I wish I could make it slow down just a little bit. Eli's going to be grown before I know it!

Hours leading up to the party, Mom and I were working like busy little bees trying to put the final touches on all the decorations and food for the party. We probably went a little overboard, but how often does your little boy turn two? I kept telling Mom that she needed to open a party planning service back home. She had lots of great ideas and I seriously do not know how I could have done that part (the decorating) without her.

Since Eli's theme for his second birthday party was a western/cowboy theme, we wanted to have the party outside so the kids could run and play and, also, so we could have a hayride. Mammy and Uncle Clare came to the rescue! They graciously offered us their house for Eli's birthday party. It was PERFECT! Clare even agreed to use his old tractor to do a hayride for the party guests. All the details were coming together perfectly!

I wanted to be able to focus on Eli on his day, so I asked my good friend, Torri, to take pictures for me. She loves being the photographer and she does a great job, too. With her handling that job, I knew I wouldn't have to worry about anything that day except enjoying watching my little boy have fun.

Everything about the party was wonderful. Our decorations turned out so cute. The food was yummy and delicious. The hayride was the hit of the party. Eli LOVED all his toys. I guess the only thing that might have dampened the mood was that the weather was little bit cooler than we originally thought it was going to be, but even that wasn't that bad. It was, simply put, a perfect day! Josh and I feel so thankful for these past two years with Eli and we are so glad we were able to celebrate the past year with our family and friends. We can't wait to celebrate more birthdays with our little man :)

*Note: There are TONS of pictures. Torri took about 300 and they were all good, so I tried my best to pick the best of the best for the blog :)

Mom created WANTED posters of all the grandparents to use as decorations at the party.
Everyone enjoyed reading about these dangerous criminals ;)




Mom also made a bookmark as a favor for the party guests of Eli. I think this is going to be her tradition every year. She does a great job and they always turn out so cute!


I got the idea of the doing the signature canvas from my friend Nicki. She did one with Jonah for several years and it's a great memento of their important day.

Here are some pictures of the decorations before the party began. I have to say a HUGE thanks to Megan Powell, our church's music minister's wife. She let me borrow so many horse/cowboy/western related items and they really made everything look great!


My crafty mom also made a cowboy/western banner for Eli's birthday this year. If you recall, she made a banner for him last year, too. This year's banner went right along with the theme. It was perfect and oh so cute!



Can you tell I was just a little excited? :)

Seeing it all for the first time. I love the look of amazement on his face.



Jessie and Grant

Mama with her 2 YEAR OLD! WOW!

Eli's favorite part of the whole day...getting to "dive" the "tacter" (drive the tractor).


All the yummy cowboy food

Y'all come and get it!


I had fun doing the labels for the food :)


The horse cupcakes made their second appearance

I was so proud of my cow cake. It was so much easier than last year!
Simple is DEFINITELY the way to go!

Grandpa E drove in for the special day.

Tel, Jordan, and Addi

She's just a little cute :)

The weather was a little cool, so our cowboy had to warm up a little bit.

Haha! Look at THAT face!

Boot scoot boogie!


I couldn't have done anything without this special guy. Love him to death!


Sheer joy on my little boy's face

Hay ride time!

Singing Happy Birthday to Eli





Hayden loved the cupcakes...

Eli REALLY loved the cupcakes!


Peyton, Eli's best bud

Miss Hannah

Still enjoying that cupcake...HA HA!

Time for presents!

He finally got a Buzz of his very own!


Buzz made a trip to Mr. Fix It soon after he was opened.
A certain 2 year old couldn't contain his excitement about his Buzz Lightyear.

Playing with his CARS cell phone from Sarah



Josh and I gave Eli his first tricycle. He's been wanting a bike for so long.
He couldn't wait to test it out!

My parents with my brother, Josh, and my sis--in-law, Andrea

The happy couple :)

Eli with Mamaw and Papaw

Eli with Mammy and Uncle Clare.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for letting us have the birthday out at your house. It was PERFECT!

Eli and Zue-Zue

Our little family

The entire posse

See y'all next year when Eli turns 3!

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