Happy 1st Birthday Elliot!

Laying on his new fish bean bag chair. notice XYZ
Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, made by Marella, Gabrielle and I.
Sitting on the table, singing to him.... couldn't find my candles- a crayon stood in its place!
This one year old boy LOVED eating his cake.
The sun was out, and 85* so we had our first (many more to come) day of playing in the sprinkler.
Ladybug boy, he had two ladybugs on him while splashing in the water. Yesterday he had one on his back too!
Not afraid of geting wet!
I think it is a boy thing, they all seem to like sitting on sprinklers!

I am amazed that it has been one year since this little boy came into the world and captured our heart. It is hard to think what life was like before he got here. He is the sweetest thing, the hugs he gives melt my heart as do the kisses. There are the kisses where he sucks on my lips, real kisses complete with the sound, kisses where he just presses his lips on your cheek. There are so many wonderful things about this handsome guy, he has a laugh that fills the air, and perfect timing with it too. He climbs everything, opens all cupboards and drawers, gets out all the tuperware and baking dishes below the stove. He adores his big sister, and the love is mutual. He has a slight obsession with phones, holds it by his shoulder (and knows the difference between real and fake ones, although a remote control can substitute).

Words he "says" Dad, Mom, GAAAABBbby, dog, duck, "kitty", quack, woof, MOOOOOORE, Milk, iloveyou, hello.

He was so excited about his birthday that he only took one nap. After the amount of time he spent outside in the sprinkler, then a walk around the pond he was exhausted and 6:30pm was bedtime... lets hope he doesn't think it is just a nap! Thank you family and friends for being part of Elliot's life!

Spring Vacation!

Weekend Sun

Gabby has a new dress up outfit. Our friend Marella brought it back from her visit home to the Uk. Little Red Riding hood went to the park and I got to be Granny!
Within an hour of Clay getting home on Friday afternoon the playhouse was put together! We have a very happy little girl!
Kisses! Elliot loves the playhouse too, I taught him to ring the door bell and it has a play phone that makes noise- he loves phones (he calls Grandpa ALOT!)
Sunday morning we went to the oceanfront to watch 2 of Clay's British friends finish the marathon. Marv finished in 3hr 3min and Arnie (above) finished in 3:15. Very inspiring to watch!
BANANAS for all the runners!
Sand sculpture, complete with King Neptune (we call him Triton).
My cute boys in plaid shorts.
Elliot conquered his fear of the sand, and played with Gabby all over the beach. Toes of all were tickled by the Atlantic too. We had a wonderful weekend of 76* weather and lots of good family fun!

Geen + Blue!

Today has been full of green and blue. St. Patrick's Day so everyone is dressed in green, and blue from the beautiful sky! It was a perfect day to be outside, we packed a picnic and headed to Trashmore. I walked/ran the loop while Elliot napped for a few minutes (since then he has wanted nothing to do with sleep!) and Gabby ran alongside me or rested in the stroller. We played at the castle park, and ran up the big mountain. Once home we played in the back yard, I attempted to put together the new playhouse we bought- but realized that with both children outside and the assembly requiring a drill, I decided it would be better to stick with our original plan of Clay doing it when he is home from Manasas this weekend. So, here is our afternoon outside!

Dance!

Tonight we had a dance party! Normal for the kids and I to do this. Elliot has gotten some real moves just recently, it is pretty much a squat... his legs are strong! Gabby dances around in circles. Just a fun way to end our day, although we often turn on music in the morning when I get them dressed too.

All of us have come down with the sniffles and sneezes, and I know I have a bit of a sore throat to go along with it. The sun has finally started to warm us up here, yesterday was gorgeous and today was warm but cloudy. We played in the backyard (what a project that is going to be. We will be making it a better area for us and the kids... the previous tenant had a big dog so the grass needs some TLC.) and ate watermelon! Inside we made molasses cookies- our favorite!

It's a goofy video, but I know some of you love to see it! Next to come will be a video of Elliot playing ball, he is so into "fetch" as Gabrielle calls it (and tells him to!).

Painting

I got a burst of creativity a few weeks back. The end result was a few cute kid shirts. Our friend turned 2 and is very into airplanes so we made him a special shirt, complete with and A on it for his name. Gabby and Elliot got matching frog Prince and Princess shirts! I have a few more I would like to get done but it hasn't happened quite yet... here's to hoping I can get them made while the kids sleep in the evening. Yes, we are working on sleep training Elliot! It sucks, not gonna lie but it is time and will be worth it. He has slept with us since our trip home to WA and since then I have had a million excuses to not do it. I do love the snuggles, but it is time! We no longer have neighbors on 3 sides of us and we aren't sick, now is the time (although a trip home at the end of the month will be a challenge with the time change and travel).

*we are now accepting visitors! we bought a mattress set that is in the toy room so when visitors come we have a place for them to sleep (no more sharing the trundle with Gabby). the mattresses will be Elliot's when he is a big kid, when we convert his crib to a bed. notice the airplane bedding, deal of the week! found it at Target, comforter, sheets, shams. I'm no fool, I grabbed the one with the $20 sticker while the rest all had $60 on them! oh and our first visitor to the house comes this week, yeah for Mindi!

bookworm!

MR. E wanted in on the action, he "helped" dad put the bookshelf together!

I've got a book worm for a daughter, and I love it! She has a huge collection of books and knows ech and every one of them. Yesterday on our drive home from Washington DC we stopped at Ikea and got the bookshelves and dresser we have been needing. Clayton put them together last night and Gabby was SO excited to have all of her books out, instead of piled in rubbermiad containers. She sat in her room reading to herself for a good half an hour! It all started when she was young, when Gabrielle was 7 weeks old I held her on my lap and read stories to her, she was so content and quiet for 3o minutes!