ELIZA TURNED ONE....I really can't believe it!

DIG IN SISTER!!!

pictures of eliza's birthday!

It was a very funnnn & memorable dayyy...

enjoy

ok...I was finally able to get pictures to upload....here is a good one of eliza realllly going to town on her delicious CUPCAKE!!!!
Daddy and daughter, I LOVE THESE SHOTS!!!!!
I especially love eliza in her little diaper undies!


Brother and sister....this is indeed a favorite of mine as well.

these two are going to be two peas in a pod in several ways...

and two NOT so much peas in a pod in other several ways :O)

3 curious kids looking for something "interesting" on the other side of the fence :O)

the "one-man blanket swing" This is oliver and eliza's very most FAVORITE thing to do with daddy! Eliza is in the blanket...she really looks like a sack of potatoes in there!

more of daddy and daughter....they look so much alike to me!!!! Only one other person has told me that they think that very same thing. Most people think she looks like me...but I just don't see it :O)

Happy birthday TIME!!!!!

This is us singing happy birthday to little eliza...

and sadly...this is the only picture of eliza's very own and very special "worm" cake!!!!

Oliver says to sister quite frequently that "she's like a worm"....therefore, we thought it was necessary to make her a cute worm cake. However, this is the only shot, and you can barely see it! It was VERY cute (I thought so anyway!) the cupcakes on top were in the shape of a worm. The cake below was a Brownie Ice cream cake. YUM!

ps...we call eliza "sister" more than we call her eliza...so if I say "sister" instead of eliza...bare with me, I do it subconsciously :O)

She was very curious about this white and brown object sitting in front of her! She liked to play in the frosting, but until I dipped my finger in it and put it in my mouth...she just played with it :O) CUTE!

Still checking out the frosting!

Now that is one GOOOD BITE SISTER!!!!!!

She really went to town didn't she!!!! I LOVE IT!

and now she's done!

grandma j and grandpa jon called in the morning

and this is eliza "listening" to grandma j!!!!!

This is eliza when she just BARELY woke up!

She saw all the decorations down stairs and was very interested in what all of the fuss was about :O)

Our little sign!!!!!!!

ps. those ball things are balloons wrapped in tissue paper! I had to get creative...so give me a break if it looks silly!!!!

more of the silly balloon/tissue paper decor! It actually turned out pretty cute. We lined these on both of the sliding doors.

These were REALLLY good cupcakes!
thanks Brittney for the frosting idea:

real whipping cream, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla!!!!! YUM

we also used this frosting for the topping of the ice cream cake!

enjoy this random picture of oliver in our new to us Burley! As I was struggling to upload pics, I tried a "random" one just to see if it worked....and it did :O) So now you have oliver in his fun new ride!!!!

Hello everybody!

Eliza Celebrated her VERY FIRST BIRTHDAY this past Saturday, June 14th! I really can't believe it. Time seriously flew by sooo fast. I know everybody says that...but I can't believe how true it is. If I thought oliver's first year flew...it was nothing to how fast eliza's first flew! ... 10x faster!

Eliza is a beautiful little one year old...and boy is she Saucy! She may be small, but man...she's got a BIG voice, lots of energy, and just has a very adventurous/daring spirit about her. She will not be left behind, and I love that about her. If anybody is doing anything EXCITING, she HAS to be in on the FUN, or we'll NEVER hear the end of it...really! Especially when it comes to "blanket-swinging"...This is a VERY special treat for oliver and eliza! Daddy swings/spins them in a blanket, and then plops them on "the bean bag".... If aar does it to oliver and not eliza, she gets very worked up and just squawks very loudly at him until she is given a turn...Soo funny!

We didn't get her anything "normal" I guess you could say for her birthday. I did get her some new clothes...but that was only because she needed them...not for a birthday gift. However, I am thrilled and feel accomplished in saying that I finished her very FIRST YEAR of pictures...I have been working very hard on her online photo book for quite some time, and I FINISHED (starting and finishing a project is like gold to me. It doesn't always happen, so I am always ecstatic when it does!!!) I ordered the book last week, so hopefully it will come sometime this week! I pray it will turn out good. I used "blurb" to make the book, and I really was pleased at how fun and easy it was to do. Not only that, but I really think blurb is priced very low compared to all of the other photo book places online. Her book is 76 pages, 8x10..and only cost me 48 dollars...and I have heard the quality of these books are really great...so I AM SOOO EXCITED FOR IT TO COME!!!!
I'll let you know what I think....

I think I am finally getting a hang of this "mom" thing. I'm definitely not as seasoned as some...but as the years go by (I can't believe I'm even saying this), I look back, and see that I really have improved some...and that makes me happy :O).

anyway...:O)...RANDOMMMMM


To celebrate her birthday, We hung up (home-made :O) decorations, had lots of great food(ice cream brownie cake with a worm design on top made with cupcakes, chips, tons of fruit, and delicious strawberry fanta). We were in great company..and just had a REALLY REALLY FUN/memorable birthday for eliza.

We didn't reallly have a theme for her birthday, but in a small way it was based on the idea that "eliza's like a worm". Oliver made this comment about eliza a few weeks ago, and to me it was so brotherly...and SO DARLING. When trying to decide how to make her first birthday memorable, I really wanted to use something sentimental. I was going to make a duck cake, then a turtle cake...but none of those "felt" right. When It finally came to me to make a "worm" cake, I WAS THRILLED! It was perfect! Along with the "worm" theme, I asked people who came to the party to write down some of eliza's attributes that they thought were apparent. To lead them in the direction of what I was thinking, I wrote this on a piece of paper:

"Eliza is like...." and then they wrote down what they thought...here is what they said (without using names :O)!

"a worm!!!!" (I wrote this one down for oliver :O)

"a tiny ball full of: adventure, love, emotions...and fun!
also a beautiful little angel"

"Tinkerbell...a tiny, beautiful, fun fairy dancing around the playground"

"My PANAMANIAN GRANDMOTHER!!!! Both are surprisingly mobile for their age"

"A very edible, miniature lemur"
(definition of lemur: any of various small, arboreal, chiefly nocturnal mammals of the family Lemuridae, of Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, esp. of the genus Lemur, usually having large eyes, a foxlike face, and woolly fur: most lemurs are endangered.) dictionary.com

"a potato bug (pillbug)... she can roll up small and crawls like a pro."

"A strawberry - pretty, sweet, small, and incredibly TASTY! YUM"

So here is the question of the day for all those reading! For those of you who know eliza, would you do the same thing and finish the line of "eliza is like...."
If you don't know her, but would like to comment on either her pictures, or what you have heard...that would be fun too! I really want to remember this time in her life, and think this would be so fun for both me and her to have as the years go by....EVER SO QUICKLY might I add :O)

ok...sorry for all of the babbling! Enjoy the pictures!

ps...the day before I went into labor with eliza, a lizard entered unexpectedly and unknowingly into our house. I realized this only as I entered the kitchen and saw a little tail scrambling under the FRIDGE!!!! I was horrified! First I was concerned it was a mouse, then I was worried "what if it's a snake?"...however after much searching and me laying on my HUGO-ENORMOUS belly, shining a flashlight under the fridge...I found it only to be a cute little lizard. It took forever to catch, but we finally got him, and we had him as a pet for a few days.

I tell you this story only because it's funny to recall myself so huge and pregnant laying on the floor looking for a suspicious animal under our fridge...for hours! :O)

sly