Bad Mood

There is not enough chocolate in Hershey to sweeten Joel's defiant mood this morning...aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!! I hope having a guest here will help pull him into better behavior later today. If not, I may have to ship him to the grandparents asap.

Elianna Turns 1

Whenever she sees me with the camera, she's on the chase...she wants to get it and chew on it! She's a fast crawler and walks along the furniture, but hasn't ventured away from safety to try it unsupported (which is just fine with me!). Besides pulling a kitchen chair ontop of herself 2 times, she hasn't had any major boo boos yet. She's a healthy girl too, with a slightly higher threshold for teething pain than Joel (she has 10 teeth now as her first 2 molar are just half way in now). I don't give her Tylenol or gas drops as often as I had to with Joel. She is usually little miss quiet & content as long as she's well fed. And little miss independent too, when it comes time to eat or brush teeth! Mama tries her best to let her learn and try and then sneaks in there to make sure the job gets done properly. I've heard her say a couple words, but she mostly still babbles. Mama, Dada, and car. I often hear her babble "may may may..." and wonder what she's trying to communicate. I haven't been as diligent at teaching her signs or letting her watch those Signing Time movies, but I'm sure she'll catch on soon enough. She seems to love ducks and quack sounds the best, with cats meowing coming in a close second. She loves it when dolls or animals talk to her! She also loves peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake alot. I attempt to read books to her, but she's still mostly into chewing on them and taking them out of my hands...so I read to Joel while she's in the room and hope for the best! She seems to really look up to Joel, even though he has sharing issues with toys these days. Joel does enjoy playing with her and often gets her screaming and giggling over peek-a-boo. It's just so sweet! She also loves to dance to music and has started bending those knees alot and flapping her arms like a bird. Halarious moves! She seems to love Joel & I singing to her...almost any song catches her attention, but you can tell "ABC's", "Jesus Loves Me", and "Twinkle Little Star" are most repeated, remembered and favored. As you already know, she loves satiny blankies. I think she just sucks on a corner of her blanket and drifts off to sleep. She sleeps pretty well now that she's weaned...getting nearly 12 hours a night. Now if Mom could only stop waking up! This year has gone so fast and I wonder if the lack of sleep has made me forget many of the treasured moments...but here's at least a few off the top of my head (o:

Happy 1st Birthday Elianna! Cute as a Cupcake!

Tissue paper fun!

A little tired, but enjoying the cake nonetheless.

Sara & Heather getting some yummy food.

Eli's friend Grace is ready to party!

Checking each other out. Eli & Abbey.

sad moment...but look at her cute hair clippie!

Today was Eli's 1st birthday party. A couple girlfriends and their kids came over to celebrate. As you can tell with all the food, I was expecting a few more... It was alot of fun still! Eli hadn't taken her naps well (teething), so I was a little nervous she wouldn't be happy for the party...but she did just fine. She had fun playing with Elliot, Abbey and Gracie (and of course Joel). Joel helped her open her gifts. She got a great variety...clothes, toys and books to keep her looking good and entertained another year! Daddy sent her a special picture of her name in Japanese style art...I'm sure she'll enjoy that in the years to come. It was great to see some girly stuff...but I'm sure she'll keep playing with Joel's cars and Joel will steal her purse! She loved looking and playing with all the cards people gave her too. She's into the ripping paper phase (and eating it too). She loved her cake, but was so tired she didn't make half the mess I thought she would when left to it! Guess that's ok with me!!!Well, here's a glimsp of her special day...

If You Give Them a "Mic" They Will Sing

2 Cutie Pies

Elianna & her friend, Gracie.

Happy Kids

Enjoying the Valentine surprises from the grandparents.

She loved the duckies (and frog) from G & G Neuharth!


Elianna's 1st Valentine's

Love You!

Happy Valentine's to Kara... (o: Nice job from afar Hon!

Breakfast before church. Isn't she a cutie pie?!

Miss Independent likes to hold her toothbrush and feed herself!

She seems to enjoy toys with faces more than others.

Peek-a-boo...it's my favorite boy!

Joel Spelled His Name Today

Joel ready to get the party started!

Joel with Uncle Ryan & his fiance Erica

Joel opening up a gift from Uncle Ryan & Erica with Elliot & Lucas looking on.

Joel still opening up presents.

Opening gifts from Elliot..outfit, book and Thomas toy!

Checking out some Cars art supplies from Lucas.

Enjoying the drinks and snacks.

Nice spread! Note the awesome Thomas cake!

The boys having fun with the balloons & toys.

Mom likes to decorate!

Happy 3rd Birthday Joel!

Our little train conductor.

Joel's Birthday Party

Joel's birthday party was alot of fun today. I'm EXHAUSTED though! I love the decorating part and the planning is fine...just don't like the cleaning and preparation of the food. Joel was taking it all in today...he wasn't too responsive. After he opened his gifts, he had so much fun playing with them he didn't eat his cake until a couple hours later! His Thomas cake was so nice and the yummiest ever. Our friend, Sandra Portillo, made it. I'm excited to see what she'll come up with for Elianna's birthday in a couple weeks!! Joel was so blessed with fun with his friends and such a great variety of gifts to enjoy in the coming year. Thanks to all who sent cards, called, and celebrated Joel golden birthday with us...near and far (G & G Neuharth and Auntie Missy skyped with us during the whole party!)

Joel Gets Birthday Movie Gift from Daddy

Daddy wanted to see Joel's reaction to his gift...so I'm posting this for him to see mainly.