Eli's Bday at Home

I cannot believe my little baby boy is already 3. I am really sad! I asked him if he would stay small forever and he said "NO mama, I have to get big, like Daddy." For those of you who know Eli, he actually said "I" instead of me. I am crying a little inside every time I hear it!!

Here is the birth announcement we sent out... He was so tiny, even though he weighed almost 10 pounds!

He was so excited at his first birthday party!

This was last year--we had a "pool party" sort of...

Now, before I jump right to the photos from this year, here's a little miscellaneous side note.

My mom sent some packages this week--mostly her clearing out some stuff from her house, but among the boxes were some new pajamas for the kids (BUZZ LIGHTYEAR FOR ELI HAS BEEN A HUGE HIT!) but Dora got a princess outfit. I will admit--I am not a big fan of these, but even though Dora has no idea who the outfit is for, she LOVES it! Who knew a 17 month old would like to dress up so much!? So funny.

Isadora was so excited about it that Eli had to get a "hat" too. I didn't even know we still had his hat from Disney on Ice. I love that they now have to do whatever the other one is doing. I love it, and I hate it because it results in a great deal of fighting when there's only one of something. He looks like such a little boy (as opposed to a baby!) in this one...

Eli was so excited for his birthday he woke up at 5 am--so I let him open one present then and made him wait for the others until Dad woke up (he has been working the 5 pm to 3 am shift. It's supposed to be done at 2 am, but so far he's never been home before around 3:30!) This is a puppet--the girls all got them last Christmas and the boys were really sad not to get them too, so Lerdleluh took steps to rectify that oversight!

Can you tell Eli's excited (wearing his Buzz pajamas) and Dad's tired? This is my craft room and it's still a work in progress--the reason I haven't done upstairs photos yet... so pardon the mess and don't look too closely.

Dora saw Eli's laptop and was SO excited that in the melee she was able to essentially take if for herself. (Eli rectified his oversight the next day and she was so sad because she really thought it was hers...) You can see her playing with it on the floor in the next photo.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELI, WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!