Elijah's First Birthday - Part 1

Dear Elijah,
A year ago God chose you to be our son! We are so very proud to be your parents. When we decided on your name it was not only because it is a family name but because of our strong Christian beliefs. May you always live your life as a reflection of what your name means.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy




Some babies take months to smile but from the beginning (even if it was gas:-) you always had a reassuring smile for us. Today you are full of smiles and laughter. We thank God for your sunny disposition.











Well we decided to have Elijah's first birthday at the Little Gym. Oh what fun we had! By the end of the day I was even considering having my birthday party there. John has since talked me out of it:-)










This is FUN . . .






























Elijah with Ms. Farida and her two beautiful daughters











We are getting ready to have some real fun now!

Birthday Party Celebration - Part 2

A fun snapshot of the days events . . .

Close of a Fun Day . . .

After all the fun at the Little Gym we all came back to the house for a casual cook out. We also ended the day by celebrating the May Birthdays - Libby, Malik and of course Elijah.

I don't think it's a good idea Elijah cut the cake!











Beautiful cake by my dear friend Alfreda from elementary school!













Freda's delicious cupcakes!













Yummy!!!:-)












Mom, when can I have cake again? Next Year . . . that just isn't fair!!:-)




Elijah loving up his Big Bird balloon from Pop and Nancy before the wind took it away. We got Elijah another balloon on his actual birthday a big colorful fish who is floating beside me as I type:-)













We were so blessed Elijah's Aunt Jackie came to celebrate his big day all the way from Upstate NY. We had such an awesome time!










Pop and Nancy also came from Upstate New York to celebrate their grandson's big day. He sure did get SPOILED! We had such a great time and are so very thankful that they were here with us.

First Family Portraits . . .

To celebrate Elijah turning one we decided to take our first family portrait. Our little guy did an awesome job and was all smiles. Mom takes enough pictures of him that he is now in love with the camera:-)

















































We didn't know if this pose was a good idea hence Daddy's hand helping out just in case:-)

First Mothers Day

I celebrated a wonderful first Mothers Day with my dear husband John and sweet baby boy Elijah. I received a beautiful diamond necklace today but truly the Best Gift is God Given our Son Elijah!!













My sister Libby also celebrated her first Mothers Day with her dear husband Chris and sweet baby boy Fletcher. We had a great day visiting.













Elijah getting geared up for his Birthday! His new favorite is Balloons.

Let the Celebration Began . . .

We spent the day in Richmond and had a wonderful time in Byrd Park.

















Notice Elijah is not looking at the camera but rather Dad's ice cream cone.

Come on Dad just a little taste:-)










The Festivities started early for our little guy with a surprise Birthday Celebration from Auntie Lori, Ellen,
and Allysia. We had an AWESOME time and our little guy sure was SPOILED with alot of early birthday gifts.
















WOW - Is this for me??:-)

What JOY . . .

Loving up our Elijah. He is truly our JOY!











Elijah hanging out on the stairs . . .again! He has now taught himself to go up and down the stairs.













In his room riding his pony from Aunt Annette. Daddy pushes Eli around on his favorite pony as he squeals with delight.










Daddy and Elijah playing the drums. Notice what Elijah is using for his drumsticks - a wooden spoon. Dad give me back my drum sticks!:-)












I had to laugh . . . as I opened up the mail Dusty our cat had been quite vocal about wanting to eat. I watched in amazement as Elijah went to the pantry door and you guessed it opened it and the cats rushed in to their cat food bag.

Elijah is a piece of work to put it mildly! He makes us laugh so much with his little personality which has proven to be so JOYFUL! He is now walking I guess that is what you would call it - sort of like a drunken sailor but walking still. It is the cutest thing he will walk about 6 steps and fall down dust himself off and he is back at it. He has a great sense of humor and can be found laughing but sometimes we can't figure out what at but it makes us laugh. He is really talking now and says Mama, dada, itty (for kitty), and hi. That's all we can figure out for now. He is saying alot more with passion and can even be found pointing his finger to make his point but we just can't figure out what he is talking about but we enjoy answering him and keeping a good conversation going. He still loves giving Mommy kisses. When I ask for a kiss he holds my face real tight and gives me big wet kisses and squeals with delight! We can't believe that in two weeks our son will be one years old! When I think back over the year one word comes to mind . . . JOY!

Elijah at 11 Months

Daddy blowing bubbles for the little guy!















Look at that SMILE . . . simply PRICELESS:-)














More of that Great Smile with those cute teeth.