Eli's birthday - the big TWO!

Needless to say we've been kind of busy with the birth of our baby girl on November 1st, BUT we cannot forget our first love & bundle of joy, Eli. Kevin and I stare at him almost daily and say "He looks like such a big boy!"  I know he's two now and a toddler and am thankful he's growing up and is still healthy and happy as ever, BUT it just seems like yesterday I was holding him, rocking him and singing to him throughout the night.

Last year when Eli turned 1 we had a party with friends and kids, bouncy house, etc.  This year we knew that couldn't happen, but we were thrilled to have family here this year around his birthday.  So we celebrated Eli's birthday twice.  The night before they left, Mrs. Marlene & Mr. Wayne cooked him a kid-friendly dinner with hotdogs, hamburger, mac n cheese, cake and ice cream.  He got to open presents and be spoiled by them.  Here are a few pictures from party #1.

Eli with his Grandma & Granddaddy.

He loved celebrating with them and loved the toys too.  It was so nice of them to do this before they left.

 

During the week of his birthday, Kevin & I didn't want him to be jealous so we decided between us and his Nana & Papa that we would actually give him a new toy each day instead of all on his birthday.  We knew this year he wouldn't care when he got them, he'd just be excited to get them in general! Here are some of the toys he got:

 

Not spoiled at all, huh?

On his actual birthday, November 11, Nana & Papa ordered him pizza for dinner (one of his current favorites) and then Kevin & I had ordered him a cake.  He is into playing with cars and trucks, so we decided to go with this cake since he could play with the trucks afterwards.

I set up a little photo corner with decorations and did the best I could with a newborn.  Eli loves balloons so I knew he'd be happy with just this.  I'm glad we did something for his birthday, but he was all over the place (typical 2 year old) and he didn't take a nap that day.  Party #2 only lasted a little while.  ANYWAY, we did get some good pictures and made some memories along with Nana & Papa.

Some laughs were had by all, memories were made to last a lifetime and our little boy turned TWO YEARS OLD! If the future years are as good as these two have been with Eli, the I can't wait.  Eli is such a tender-hearted, sweet loving child with a huge personality.  He still says HI to every stranger he sees and says THANK YOU to absolutely everything.  He loves music and will stop and dance to anything with a beat.  Hearing this little boy scream "MAMA" when I walk into the room absolutely makes my day.  We love you Eli!