Happy Birthday Elli!!

Today is Elli's first birthday - I cannot believe it!!  Mommy stayed up late decorating so that everything would be Perfect for Elli when she woke up...

We had Princess Birthday hats... 

 

...and more Prince-like boy hats... 

We got up at our normal Birthday Celebration time - 5:30am for those of you unfamiliar with our "crack of dawn" Birthday Celebrations - and sang Happy Birthday to our little Birthday Princess, and had muffins...

Reagan and Jason woke up in the Birthday Celebration Spirit... 

Elli woke up HUNGRY... 

...but in the Birthday Celebration Spirit too... 

After we ate breakfast we dove into the present pile.  Elli got lots of hats for her Birthday (my boys all have lots of baseball hats, and they wear them often, and every time they do they look for a hat for Elli - look no further boys)...

From Joshua...

From Reagan...

From Jason...

And a special Homemade one from Grammi Faith (how did you know Grammi?)...

Grammi also got Elli a beautiful pink dress, tights to match, pretty socks...

...and a book - Elli knew what to do with this too...

It was at this point in the present opening that Daddy commented "It's a little tough getting excited about all of these Pink Girly gifts..." - I have to say it was a bit like the Twilight Zone in the house this morning - up until now Elli has played with all the boys' toys - it is odd to see girly pink things all over the place;)!! (Mommy is loving it!!)

She finally got Brandon's gift - he won it from Aunt Patti's giveaway - Mommy can't wait to decorate Elli's room now!!...

Trevor got Elli some Girly dishes...no more Star Wars plates for this girl...

She loved them and knew exactly what to do with them... 

Daddy picked out a tea set for Elli... 

She knew what to do with this too...

Elli got a new cell phone from Aunt Judy...

...talking on the go - she is a pro...

Grandma Pauline got Elli pretty clothes...

...and a piano with a microphone... 

Elli knew what to do with this too...

After the big boys all went to school, Elli and the twins had a tea party, and Reagan created some atmosphere with his music making skills (be on the look out for a video of this - priceless!!!)

Elli is now asleep in my lap, happily dreaming of the First part of her First Birthday.  Tonight, we will have cupcakes and a couple friends over, and Brandon has been working VERY hard on a Birthday Video for Elli - SO...COME BACK LATER!!!



VOTE FOR LILY!!!

Hey Everyone, my niece Lily is in a Kid of the Year Photo Contest. The Contest is only for 2 more days - until March 6th - and if Lily wins, there is a $250 prize for the week..if she wins for the year..a $7,000 prize! My nephew Jason and his wife Naomi are unable to have their own children and are working hard to get enough money to adopt this year. If Lily wins, the prize money goes to their adoption account. Go here: http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/720543/40 and vote!! You can vote for her EVERY DAY until March 6th!! VOTE FOR LILY!!!

LOTS OF PICTURES!!!

Before I let you see ALL the new pictures I have, let me update you on our Monday campaign to raise money for Olga - yesterday $2400.00 was raised to help Olga's family bring her home!!!  That is amazing - so so awesome - thank you everyone who donated or prayed or both!!!:)

OK - the weather here in South Jersey is extremely unpredictable - we go from snow to sun to wind to rain to sun again in a weeks time - CRAZY!!!  I have to say though, that I really am enjoying it.  I have not experienced yet that overwhelming anxiety about winter never ending - which has been nice!!!  So, last week we had snow, but over the weekend this is what we were doing...(and you know it was a nice day when my phone camera takes such nice photos!!!)

Elli loves, loves, loves the swings...

 This trip to the playground she discovered the slides...

The twins love, love, love EVERYTHING about the playground... 

Can you tell which one is Reagan and which one is Jason? 

Elli tried to drive, but she was too little...

Her pudgy little hands are so cute though... 

Elli loved to sit and watch her brothers...

...but she also had a lot of fun trying to walk in the tire chips...

Her shoes were sooooo sweet...

Jason and Reagan had fun climbing on everything... 

They also had a blast climbing IN everything...

Joshua learned the hard way that he is too big for those tubes...

 

But, he was the perfect big brother to his little sister...

 

Trevor was a perfect big brother too...

 Where was Brandon and Daddy... 

Playing Baseball (Brandon was running around collecting all the home runs he hit over the fence;))...