Photo Shoot

The day before Eli's first birthday I took him outside to have a little "photo shoot" 

Here are some of my favorites :)

Eli is 12 months!

One year old. How did that happen so fast? Our little guy has grown and learned so much over this past year!

Here is what Eli has been up to this past month....

Eli has loved playing with his cousin Madalynn. We got to take another trip to the zoo.

Madalynn loves having a baby cousin to push around!

Enjoyed Valentines day treat from Aunt Missy, Uncle Andrew, and Madalynn! Yummy!

Yummy peep hearts in his new high chair!

Eli is learning more animal sounds! This month he has mastered the monkey sound....so cute!! He leaves out the who who, and just says ha ha! Other animal sounds Eli can make are for a dog, duck, cow, and cat.

Eli even recognized the monkey on his DVD
 and started making monkey noises

Eli is finally over his army crawling and is always up on his hands and knees. He still isn't walking on his own, but he uses his walker to get around everywhere!! He loves it! We have been so thankful for all the nice weather it has been so nice to spend so much time outside in February. Eli loves playing outside and go for walks with his walker.

Eli and is walker!

Eli discovered his baby swing in his room this month and decided he needed to try it out again. I brought it out of his room and let him have a swing in it and he thought it was so much fun. he would laugh and laugh. He would also let some of his stuffed animals go for a swing. He's going to be a great big brother!! :)

Just a swinging!

Eli is still eating baby food. He loves to eat big people food too, but sometimes he still prefers his baby food over real food.

So excited to feed himself!

Yum!

Now thats some serious baby food!

We love how affectionate Eli is. He is becoming such a great little hugger and is pretty generous with his kisses for Mommy and Daddy too. We hope this continues! His loving is so dear to our hearts!

Kissing that baby in the mirror!

awww :)

Cutie pie!

 We love you Eli!

<3 Mommy

Happy Birthday Little Boy!

Eli had a blast on his Birthday! I can't believe a whole year has past since we first met our sweet little boy. Craziness. I love birthdays and even though we waited to have Eli's party I wanted his actual birthday still to be a special day full of fun, and it was!

Myles and I woke Eli up with tambourines and recorders....funny bit of randomness. He looked quite scared, lol.... But once I picked him up, he was excited and loved all the noise making!

Once he was awake and changed we all headed to the kitchen for presents and birthday cinnamon rolls! We got him a few outside toys, chalk, and some cars. I had actually had the cars in my closet for some time. We had gotten them for a birthday party that we ended up not being able to go to. I am glad we saved them, because Eli has loved them!

Opening his presents

Bucket and Shovel!

The true test of a toy...how does it taste!

Seeing the cars inside his next bag!

He played and played while the cinnamon rolls
finished cooking!

 After a few presents we gave Eli his own cinnamon roll! He was all about it! He was slow to start in on it, but once he tasted the sugary goodness he was lovin it. It was absolutely hilarious to watch the sugar rush set in. At one point he picked up the big cinnamon roll and licked the icing off the top. He knows how to eat the good stuff!

Now there's a happy birthday boy! I love that smile!

Hmm, what's this?

Licking the icing!

Yay!

Hitting the cinnamon roll,  hehe.

I love sugar!

Going for the big bite!

Yum!

Ahhh, go cinnamon roll!

Yay Birthday Boy!!

Once he had eaten as much as he was going to of the cinnamon roll, we rolled out his main present...a Cozy Coupe! We new Eli would really enjoy the car because he loves to ride around in an old (from when Lindsey was little!) one my parents have at their house. Eli loves his car. He loves going for rides outside. He will just sit back, relax, and take in the scenery. He does however like to ride with the door open a little. We try to close it, but as soon as we do he opens it back up. Silly guy. We think he likes to be able to see the ground go by.  

Seeing his car be revealed!

Perfect fit!

Taking the car out for its first drive!

Down the hill with Daddy.
Rudy clearing the way!

Back up the hill!

Showing Grandpa his new ride!

Cutie!

Having a Happy 1st Birthday!!

The rest of Eli's birthday we spent having fun! And we wore the little guy out. Myles parents came over for supper and my dad came by to tell Eli happy birthday also, but the little guy couldn't stay up for all the company, he was pooped! So off to bed the little birthday boy went. 

 

We love you so much Eli. You are sheer joy to watch and be around. You love life so much and are so special to so many people. We pray we have many many many more birthdays to celebrate and many more fun memories to make celebrating you on your special day! You make our lives so much richer and are such a blessing.  

Happy First Birthday Baby Boy!!!!!