Happy Birthday, Grant!

This past Saturday, May 7th, we celebrated Grant's first birthday. This time last year we were celebrating the day this little man made his entrance into the world and now we are celebrating the wonderful first year of his life. It's hard to believe a year has come and gone! The party was at Hon-Hon's (Jessie's mom) house and friends and family came to watch this sweet little man celebrate turning 1!

Jessie's theme, Frog Prince, for the party was too cute. She really went all out and made everything look spectacular. If you combined Jessie and my mom, there's no telling how many customers would be begging them to plan parties for their children. They just have the knack for those little details that make everything look great.


Instead of having people sign a guest list, Jessie had people do a photo booth and pose with froggy props. Too cute!

Sara and Grant

Grant's cake

Jessie had placed blow up frogs all over her mom's house and Eli made it a mission to collect every frog he saw. He kept making them jump all over the place. I know I'm a little biased, but this kid's pretty cute.

Candy table

Gift time!

As you can see, Grant was too intrigued by the paper to pay attention to what gifts he was receiving.


Eli was the gift checker...he felt it was his responsibility to test each gift and make sure it was age appropriate for Grant. Luckily, Grant didn't seem to mind :)


The most touching moment of the day was a gift from Jordan. She gave Grant a framed picture of his Poppa "Tommy". It was a great way to have him be a part of this special day.



Eli quickly fell in love with this four wheeler. He he! This is the only time my child has ever looked chubby :)


And five seconds later this is the face I got because I told him he needed to share with the other kids. He didn't like it, but he did do it.

Grant and his sweet momma

Eli heard them singing "Happy Birthday" to Grant and he couldn't wait to join in. He's starting to understand about birthdays. He especially liked when Grant's Hon-Hon cut the cake. I wish I could tell you he only ate 1/3 of this, but he ate almost every single bite, all he left was the icing.

Addison meanwhile couldn't be tempted with cake because she was more interested in collecting all the stuffed frogs around the house. She has an obsession with any stuffed animal :)


Grant seemed to enjoy his cake a lot. You can tell this kid doesn't miss a meal :)


After getting all messy and covered in cake, it was time for some water fun. Jessie had placed some froggy water squirters in the fountain outside and the kids were able to play in the fountain with the squirters. All the kids loved this!

Look at those chubby legs :)

Someone wasn't too happy about not getting to play in the water anymore

Eli and Zue-Zue

Before everyone left the party, Jessie, Jordan, and I attempted to get a picture of all three babies. It wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. They actually sat still the entire time for us and kind of looked in the direction of the camera. I'm going to love watching these three grow up and play together over the coming years. I also can't wait to see how many more kiddos are going to be added to this mix! It's going to be lots of fun that's for sure!

Zue-Zue and Will, the proud Daddy

Me and Jess...love this girl so much!

Jessie, Brian, and Sara

It wasn't long before Eli and Grant both decided that they needed to get in the water.

Grant took the full plunge :)


After their dip in the fountain, it was time for us to go home. Eli was three hours past his normal nap time, but he was such a trooper and never acted whiny or grumpy at all. It was a wonderful party. Happy Birthday, Grant!!!

Eli and Jess

The Wilson's Build Their Dream House Update

Lots of progress has been made to our house. We are so excited about seeing our house actually take shape with walls and a roof. It's been so much fun watching the progress! Our builder continues to amaze us with his wonderful time management and efficiency. So many people have commented about how fast our house is coming together. We're amazed just like they are! Here's a rundown of what they've done since the last update:

About two weeks ago, they started framing the roof and putting up the rafters.


This is the covered patio on the back of the house.



This is the view from the upstairs.


Eli loves going to look at the new house we're building. We keep a death grip on him when he's up here with us, but he definitely doesn't have ANY fear.


Last week, I drove by after school this is what they had accomplished. The framing was complete, they built the dormers, and they started putting the plywood on the roof.



Here's a view from the upstairs with part of the roof on it.




This is the area between the garage and the house. Half of this will be a covered mudroom (the half in the distance) and the other half will be a courtyard area.


View from the back of the house and garage.


Our garage. The plans didn't call for any storage above the garage, but after noticing all the space we had up there, we worked it into the plans.


Front of the garage.


Side of the house where our bedroom is.


Another look at the walkway from the other side.



At the end of last week, this is where we were. They had finished laying the plywood on the roof , and they laid the black tarp thing down so the roofer can begin putting on the shingles Tuesday.


I'll have another update soon! We're facing a possible flooding issue right now with the Mississippi River, so work will halt after the shingles are on until we see what the river decides to do. Those of you that know the area where we live, please keep praying for God's protection for our town. The last couple of weeks have been very trying, but we are trusting God in this situation!

2 1/2 Years Old

The days sometimes seem long, but the years go by so quickly. It's hard to believe that my little boy is already 2 1/2 years old and that I'm only 6 months away from planning his 3rd birthday party. This entire school year has flown by so quickly for Eli and for me as well. We have been so pleased with the program at his school, and we are so impressed with all the things Eli learned this year. His language skills have exploded and his social skills have really blossomed. He is such a chatterbox now too! I love hearing stories about his days at school and daycare with his friends. I'm looking forward to spending this summer with him. We have big plans to do lots of fun things and I know its going to be lots of fun!

Weight: 28 lbs. You're still very much a featherweight :)

Height: 35 1/2 inches

Shoe Size: 7 in most shoes

Clothes: 2T in tops and bottoms, but we always try to find bottoms that have the adjustable waist band because you're such a skinny minny

Activities/Toys/Games You Love Right Now:

-playing outside

-puzzles

-cars

-Mr. Potato Head

-Toy Story characters

-baseball

-tools

-golf

-painting

-helping Momma cook

-playing dinosaurs

-reading with your Tag Junior

-singing songs

-Curious George, Mickey Mouse, Little Einsteins cartoons

Funny Things You Do:

-You like to walk around the house wearing my oven mitts. It almost looks like you're prepping for major surgery.

-You use the tongs to catch "bad guys" and then you throw them in the trash can.

-You put on your cowboy hat and you instantly become Woody. You like riding your stick horse, Bullseye.

-You insist on wearing sunglasses in the car and you always want the window down.

-You like to sit on the washing machine during the spin cycle.

Sweet/Funny Things You Say:

-When you get an idea of something you want to do, you stop wherever you are, put your pointer finger in the air and shout, "Wait, I got an idea!"

-When you make a mess even just on accident, you immediately say "I sorry."

-When asked how much you love us, you spread your arms out wide and say, "Dis much and more!"

Things We're Looking Forward to:

-Uncle Caleb's graduation

-going to visit Dan, Nick, Jonah, and Micah

-zoo trips with the Atkins family

-finishing our new house :)

We love you sweet boy and we are so excited about all the wonderful things that God is going to do in you and through you! You make our hearts smile!