Eli's 1st Birthday

It seems like birthday party central around here this week!  I barely got Vanessa's birthday party stuff put away when I had to get out Eli's birthday things.  I planned a lasagna/garlic bread dinner, Mama Row brought a strawberry spinach salad and a chocolate cake.  I made a new recipe for lasagna and it was delicious.  Eli really liked it too.

Most of today felt like a normal day.  Eli got lots of hugs and kisses today.  Violet and Calvin are enamored with Eli.  They both love delighting in the silly things he does.  He copied us today and said "uh oh!"  He also unknowingly pushed the green trike down the stairs.  That little trike has taken a beating and held up amazingly well.  When he heard the thundering clunks of the trike heading down to the basement, he said, "uh oh!"

He loves walking around holding onto things and with people, just not on his own.  He tried taking one step alone outside in the grass on Sunday but immediately sat down.

Tonight's party for Eli turning one was really fun.  Mama Row came over to help us celebrate at 6:00pm.  The kids always get all giddy and crazy when she comes over, they talk at once super fast and can't wait to show her whatever...this and that thing.  Vanessa especially likes her.  She read some books to the kids while I finished getting food on the table and then we sat down to eat.  Eli had lots of bites of garlic bread, lasagna, and when it came time to eat the cake, we stripped him down to a diaper and let him have a piece of chocolate cake.  Dave put one bite in his mouth to let him taste it, then he grabbed a huge chunk of cake with his hands and dug in.  He only ate a few bites then threw everything on the ground.  He loved the vanilla ice cream that went with it.  The cake Mama Row made was yummy but she wasn't excited about how it was presented.  The cake broke when coming out of the pans when she made it so it was patched together with chocolate frosting as best she could.  She insisted that a picture not be taken of the whole cake because she said it looked wonky. :)  Violet tried being sneaky and grabbing the camera but Row wouldn't let her, haaaa...that was a funny scene.  She sliced up the cake on plates with ice cream and everybody got one candle on their piece.

After chocolate-crumb clean up, Eli opened his presents, with my and Violet's help.  He got a contribution to his college fund, a helium "happy birthday" balloon, a stuffed monkey (from Aunt Rachel), some Thomas the Train PJs from Grandma Martha, and a cup of Ritz cheese crackers from Violet.

Mama Row invited Violet to spend the night at her place tomorrow night.  Then went home with a piece of lasagna for lunch tomorrow and all her dishes.  Dave cleaned up the kitchen and we both worked to get kids in bed.  

The things I want to remember about Eli when he turned 1:

1. He likes to playfully slap/pat.  I pat his back a lot when holding him so I think he reciprocates.  Just a light slap, slap, slap on my arm, back, or chest.  I think its adorable....with his chubby little baby-like hand.  He seems to do it mindlessly and smiles a lot when doing it.

2. I nursed him three times today.  He still seems to enjoy it and calms down to nurse for a few minutes every day.  I do not know how long I'll keep it up but he has taken really well to a lot of food and milk already so he's doing well in the eating department.

3.  He is a speed crawler, and seems to mischievously head for the stairs.  Tonight after the older 3 kids were in bed, he was still awake.  I was checking email on my phone and I put him down.  He crawled to the dining room, looked back at me, smiled, and made a beeline for the stairs.  I chased him playfully and he giggled as I picked him up like he knew what he was doing.

4.  He loves being thrown up in the air and caught on the way down.  He gets a huge smile on his face and cackles his little grunty laugh.

5.  He absolutely loves baths.  He is a water baby and splashes up a storm.  The other night (can't remember when, but I was busy putting the older 3 in bed) he climbed into the dry tub by himself and got stuck there not able to get out.

6. He babbles "MMm!" and "dadadada" most the day. 

7.  And he still likes to snuggle.  If he's tired he will lay his head right on my chest and start humming "mmm...mmm" with his paci in his mouth.  He still loves that paci and his muslin blankets to sleep with.

8.  The hair on your head is fuzzy blonde, mostly straight, except for the hair that is longest near the back of his neck.  Its wildly curly!

Mama Row made him a card with his picture on the front, I think he recognized it because he smiled and got excited when he saw it.

he loved the stuffed monkey!

Calvin noticed how similar it looked to another smaller version we already had...actually...now I remember Grandma Jo gave Eli that littler monkey before he was born!!

Me and the crew!

Dave and his crew!

Mama Row knows how to party!

of course the birthday boy stayed up late, and was the last to go to bed.

Vanessa's 3rd Birthday

This is the first year we have been home to celebrate Vanessa's birthday.  When she turned 1, we had a celebration at Mama Row's place in Albia.  When she turned 2, Dave and I were off in Omaha waiting for Eli to be born.  As her mom and having gone through such a tough birth with Vanessa, I am glad to be 3 years past the event.  A lot of moms like to look back to their child's day of birth and reflect on the beauty of their child's actual birth, but I can't really do that with any of my kids.  So I celebrate the child and how much they've grown to help me heal.

This year Vanessa really understood the fact that it was her birthday and she was going to be 3.  Violet and Calvin really enjoyed getting her party ready too.  They helped me shop for gifts and we got her some sunglasses, markers, a Dora coloring book, some M&Ms, and a bright pink cake.  When she saw me making her birthday cake on Saturday, she thought THE CAKE was her birthday.  She said, "Can I eat my birthday now!!?"

Sunday morning she had changed into pink sweatpants and a green shirt all by herself.  She wasn't too happy I made her change clothes into a pretty dress - but she got over it and called it her "birthday dress".


During Sunday School opening for the kids, Vanessa was the only birthday that week and was too nervous to walk up front herself, so Violet held her hand and went with her.  She picked out a bag of peanut M&Ms and stuck the bag in her mouth while everybody sang to her. 

We planned a birthday lunch at 1:00 pm to celebrate on Sunday, June 2nd.  Mama Row brought along mashed potatoes, veggies and iced tea.  My mom and dad also came to help celebrate and brought a delicious mix of fresh fruit and berries, and Dave grilled the BBQ chicken.

Vanessa really enjoyed everybody singing happy birthday to her.  She knew exactly after singing that she had to blow out the candles on the cake.  She got the first pink piece and cut it in half with her fork.

Vanessa is not a ham for the camera.  She avoids it and runs away.  So capturing her looking at me when I took pictures was a challenge!  She opened her presents after the cake.  Mom and dad got her a magnetic gear puzzle creator and Mama Row contributed to her college fund.  She put on the sunglasses and grabbed her Dora phone immediately - and Violet helped her work on some pages

We played some yard games outside - mom and dad brought their croquet set.  Mama Row, Violet, Dave, dad and I played the first game.  Violet enjoyed playing the most.  Calvin just climbed on the sandbox.  Vanessa wore her sunglasses and ran around.  Eli tried taking his first step in the grass, but preferred to just sit in the fluffy soft grass instead and hold onto a croquet ball.

Violet helped me frost the cake

Vanessa wanted to "eat her birthday" - thinking the cake was her birthday

silly sisters

3 yr old birthday girl!

Violet helped Vanessa stand up front during Sunday School when all the kids sang happy birthday to her.

peanut M&Ms was her treat of choice.  She bit the bag the whole time.

love Vanessa's expression...

not so thrilled to be sitting where she was

but the cake! the cake! was so distracting. 8-)

love those crazy curls

Calvin got bored with croquet

Eli was tuckered out from all the festivities.

Visit to Josh and Carrie's for Memorial Day Weekend 2013

Josh and Carrie invited us to spend Memorial Day weekend with them a couple weeks ago.  We decided to go, and the weekend turned out fabulous! 

Even though the weather did not cooperate so we could go swimming, we still found fun things to do.  Most of the day Saturday was spent at the Brookfield Zoo.  Josh and Carrie have an annual pass and can invite friends to come for free, so we didn't have to pay to get in.

The kids enjoyed everything there - we saw lions, cheetahs, dolphins, monkeys, a huge anteater, gorillas, rats, and a large "Dinosaurs Alive" exhibit.  They also got to feed stingrays.  That part was too smelly for me. :P  Carrie and I happily sipped hot coffee on the sortof-chilly day and waited with Eli.  Martha was able to come along with us too, which was great.  On the way home we stopped at the grave where Joseph and Florence Butler are buried.

Sunday we went to their church with them, Harvest Bible Chapel.  The sermon was delivered by Matt Chandler on Romans 8 - which is Dave's favorite chapter in the Bible.  Really good ministry!  The kids enjoyed going to the SS classes with their cousins too.

Carrie and I went out for a 3 mile run Monday morning to get some exercise.  She discovered on the way back towards her house while driving past Austin's school that his bike was left there locked up.  She figured they would just pick it up later.  Josh and Dave went out on the bikes to get Austin's bike and ended up crashing their bikes somehow.  They were fine, but they laughed about it quite a bit.

A Memorial Day feast was prepared - we had burgers, grilled chicken, orange/marshmallow salad, potato salad, watermelon, and cake.

The whole crew off to the zoo!

 

Austin and Calvin 

Renee and Violet

Oohing and Aahing over the dolphins that swam right by their faces

Carrie and Wesley

picnic lunch - while chasing off geese

the "dinosaur's alive" exhibit was up and running - really neat to see!  Calvin loved it! Vanessa was terrified.

digging for dinosaur bones

Hmm...yeah. adults can be silly too right?  Pic courtesy of Violet

Vanessa with Carrie

Calvin fell asleep on the couch for about an hour when we got home.

I brought along Dots and Toothpicks - the older 4 kids created quite a structure!