Four Years Old

 Four years ago today, we were about to welcome our first child into the world. I can't help but relive those feelings every year on his special day. He has brought endless amounts of love, joy, and happiness to us, and we love him so!

He was able to stretch his birthday celebrations out over several days, and was able to celebrate with many of his buddies, family, and classmates at school. We started out with a friend party at the park on Friday. Much fun, and way too much sugar was had by all!

 Sibling shot before the madness began.

 Eli and his best girly girl Amelia. They are always so full of laughs!

 We couldn't have picked a better day for a park party. The weather was perfect!

About an hour after the party, the next party rolled into town! Mimi and Papa Tom got here on Friday,and will be here for a week or so. Eli is so excited to have them stay at our new house.

Saturday night we had a little family party here at our house. Nana, Pop Pop, GG, Goomba, Mimi and Papa T were all here to celebrate with us. It was fun to have everyone together at our new place! We had to improvise a little, but it was great!

 The birthday boy could hardly wait to dig into his ice cream cake! 

And little sister made her way around like a little birdie, getting cake from everyone in the room. Her heart was broken when the cake was put up!

 Papa Tom is what we like to call the "expert direction reader." He had all of Eli's new toys figured out in no time (along with our new appliances :))

 Birthday's are that much sweeter with GG & Goomba here!

 New neighborhood, new family pic :)

Happy 4th Birthday to our ever growing, full of energy, tender hearted boy!

Keeping Busy

We've been pulling out all the stops to keep us plenty busy lately. Now that the weather is warming up, we're spending our days hopping from park to park and soon to be beach. We're patiently waiting to close on our new place, and Lord willing, that will happen tomorrow! And now for an update in pictures...

Eli dyed Easter eggs with Nana one morning.

 So proud of the finished product!

 We had a fun Easter lunch bunch with the whole gang.

 And a fun egg hunt!

 These two girls weren't too into the hunting, but more so into socializing!

 Everything about this picture and pose cracks me up. Love this nutty boy of mine!

It's amazing how long little ones will sit still when jelly beans are involved :)

We had a very rare free Saturday last weekend, and spent the day as a family at Dolphin Head. It was relaxing, refreshing, and just the perfect day together.

 So thankful for my sweet babies.

 My girl lives to be outside. This park is one of her absolute favorite places!

Eli's too!

We went back yesterday, and were happy that Nana was able to come along for some fun! Layla has mastered the slide by herself, and is so darn proud of herself! She wants to 'weeee' all day long!

 First time down on her own.

 I think Nana likes to swing just as much as Layla!

I love that my kids have two sets of grand parents that are so hands on. Nana isn't afraid to get her hands dirty at the park!

This would be Layla's fan club at Daddy's baseball games. These are two players' sisters, and they are just the best babysitters and entertainment during the games!

We are ready to tackle the next few busy weeks ahead of us. Bring on the renovations, getting moved in, finishing baseball season(s), and celebrating our birthday boy. Whew!  

Happy Easter!

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

John 11:25-26 

We changed things up a little this morning, and went to the early service at church. We saved Easter baskets and brunch for after the service. I think it really helped keep our hearts focused on the true meaning of the day. I love that Eli finally understands that Easter is not about candy, bunnies, or eggs. He blew us all away by going through his Resurrection Eggs all by himself and fully explaining the events leading up to the empty tomb. He's been studying this at school for the last few weeks, and really seems to understand more than we expected. 

 The Easter Bunny did hide their baskets, and they both enjoyed the hunt to find them! Layla quickly gave her new hair accessories to her brother, and made her way into the jelly bean stash. 

 Love this sweet bunny girl!

 And boy!

We had a wonderful brunch after church, and will have a traditional Easter dinner together tonight. Three cousins are on the way here for a visit, and it's all I can do to contain Eli's excitement! 

T-Ball Time

You can imagine the excitement in our house when we found out that Eli was old enough to play t-ball this Spring. He barely made it. Like if I would have delivered him two hours later on the night of April 30, 2009, he would be sitting out this season! He's obviously the youngest one on his team, and at times it shows, but he's done well keeping up with the older boys so far.

Saturday was opening day, and I know it brought back such fun memories for Danny.

 Danny wore the #10 from the very earliest days of his baseball career. Imagine the added excitement when we took Eli's uniform out of the bag to find a #10 on his jersey!

Some of his teammates waiting for the opening day parade to start.

 

 I LOVE this boy in a baseball hat. 

 Coach Craig is always messing with Eli and they get to laughing so hard at each other. 

Sadly, the rain began to fall about 10 minutes before their first game was suppose to start later on in the day. We had to wait a few days to see these guys in action, but it was well worth the wait! Monday night they finally got to play. It was freezing cold and windy, but it really didn't seem to bother the boys.

 He takes his Gatorade drinking very seriously, and was sure to re-hydrate in between every inning.

 All smiles!

 He enjoys batting and running the bases more than playing the field so far. He hit the ball on the first swing each time, and ran his little heart out!

I wish I had a picture of him trying to steal third. It was hilarious!

He cut his finger on the fence early in the game, so he became a little distracted by that, but overall it was a great first game! 

Layla Grace - 14 Months

Time for an update on our little lady. She's changed oh so much in the last few months, and I want to remember everything about this sweet stage! She's talking, walking, and keeping us laughing all the time.

-She's learning new words everyday. Here are some of her most used words: Daddy, Bubba, Bow, Shoe, Two, All done, Bye Bye, Hi, Pop Pop, dog dog.
-She still uses sign language for more, please, and all done (while also saying the word).
-She's getting better at parts of the body. She knows her toes, noes and hair.
-She LOVES to sing. She sings along and knows the motions to itsy bitsy spider, wheels on the bus, head and shoulders, and If you're happy and you know it.
-We have another book lover on our hands! She picks out her book, and then drags it across the room to her person of choice.
-She's just mastered standing up unassisted. It was so fun watching her learn this new trick! She would just laugh and laugh every time she'd fall, until she had it mastered.
-She's just learned to fake sneeze. It's the best when she copies people in restaurants and grocery stores.
-When she gets a boo boo, she pats it over and over with her hand to show you where it hurts.
-She's pretty rough and tumble when it comes to keeping up with her brother. She loves to wrestle, and wants right in on all the action.
-I could only dream of this while she was an infant, but she really is such a great sleeper! She sleeps long and hard at night, and takes two long naps during the day. Can't ask for much more!
-She loves bath time, and takes off doing laps around the tub when it's time to get out.
-She may give me a run for my money in the climbing department. She hikes her little leg up and tries her hardest to get on the couch, in the tub, on boxes, etc. Life is about to get interesting!
-She's just learned to get herself on and off her ride on car. She does it over and over again.

-She loves to pull the pillows off the couch, or grab her blanket and pretend to sleep on the floor. She always thumps one leg on the ground while doing this.

Sweet girl, you are SO loved, and we treasure each day with you.