A Year of Eli!

Ok so, I have given myself the impossible task of picking pictures of my favorite person in the whole world, over an entire year! Yes...impossible. Not to mention, I think I collected thousands of pictures in just the first month. Between Keith's awesome camera and the invention of the Iphone, Eli's life is more documented than he could possibly ever imagine. However, if you are reading this post, then clearly I have succeeded. Part of me seemed to think it was only natural to pick pictures from all of the milestones and and 'big events' (Easter, Christmas, ect..). However, a majority of those events received posts of their own. So, I am going to go with 12 pictures (can't fathom) that show my cute baby boy and how much he has grown in a year.

February 12, 2010 at 6:24am, my sweet baby boy entered into the world!

Eli at 1 month old

Eli at 2 months old, playing on his tummy mat

3 month old Eli out on a walk one day and looking super cute.

Eli at 4 months old, and going for his first swim.

Sweet sweet baby at 5 months old. Personally? I think this picture show the biggest change from 'little baby Eli' to 'growing up Eli'.

Looking so dapper at 6 months old.

Definitely settling into his 'look' at 7 months old.

Striking a pose as a great looking 8 month old.

9 month old Eli starting to work his smile more.

One very happy baby at 10 months old flashing a great big tooth filled grin.

Eli at 11 months old, anticipating the big '1 year mark'...very serious. Who would guess?

February 12, 2011. Eli celebrating his 'FIRST' birthday. Man, this kid makes 1 look so good.

Happy Birthday Eli!

Wow! Well, it came and went way too fast....Eli turned 1!! We had the blessing of getting to celebrate his birthday, on his birthday! February 12th at 6:24am Eli turned 1! Thankfully, I can say that I was not up at 6:24am to celebrate with him, while it would have been sentimental.

It was one year ago on February 11th that we were in the hospital preparing for the arrival of our little man. After 24 hours of labor, Eli made his entrance! And, now...1 year later, here we are! Wow, man! An entire year...I wouldn't believe it if I didn't have a long blog and thousands of pictures to prove it.

I feel like I should do a 'year in review' post...and probably will. So, just wait in anticipation! In the mean time, I will show off some pictures from party. To every ones surprise, there was no theme! I know a lot of friends and family were anticipating a 'theme'. Heck, I had been mentally planning this party for a year, so it actually shocked me as much as it did them. So, the theme was '1'. Eli managed to get in a small nap before the party started and was a little overwhelmed when things got started. It was a little overwhelming with all of the people, but Eli saw enough wonderful, loving, and familiar faces that he was content going from arms to arms.

After mingling we did bday cake. Funny, cause I wondered what he was going to do with it, and should have known he would attack all of the 'details' on the cake. He started picking off all of the fondant decorations and using his middle finger to poke around on it. Finally, Keith and I shoved his hands into the cake and things got going. He really enjoyed snacking on all of the sweets and sugar. After the 'cake festivities' we moved onto presents. He actually had no problem being the center of attention as we opened cards, gift wrap, and toys. He climbed all over the boxes and enjoyed walking around for everyone.

The party wouldn't be complete without at least one breakdown. So, as things started to roll to an end with just a few presents left to open, he became inconsolable. He officially threw a fit and required some 'mommy/Eli private time' in the nursery while the guests departed.

All in all it was a great party! Not that I could really imagine what it was supposed to be like, but it met all expectations. Keith and I stayed up the night before the party until about 1 or 2am getting things prepped. I was decorating the cake while Keith decorated and picked up the house. We also realized this was going to just be one night of many to come of doing things for Eli. We look forward to all of the Christmas's and late night school projects in our future. More importantly....we look forward to many more amazing birthdays and parties to come!! :)

We love you Eli, Happy 1st Birthday!