Party on…

We are party-ed out from this weekend.  Saturday morning we celebrated our friend, Asher’s, 3^rd birthday, then had pictures taken at JCP Saturday afternoon (they turned out amazing!!), then Sunday after church we went to the party for our little friend, Harlow’s, 1^st birthday, then home to get ready for Eli’s party that afternoon.  OH MY!!!  Too many friends all born around the same time!  All the kids had fun though and were super hyped up on cake.

We had lots of fun at Eli’s party, and I really think everyone else did too.  We had 20 adults and 9 children attend, including us.  It made for a packed, loud, chaotic house but it worked ok.  After dinner, gifts and cake, we all went outside since it was gorgeous and let the kids play and run some energy out.  It was super muddy outside, which is why we had to move the majority of the party indoors, but the parents didn’t seem to mind.

Eli got tons of really cool gifts, and didn’t get any duplicates!  He is having a great time playing with everything!  He also loved his fishing themed party and kept asking to eat the worms (see picture below for explanation).  I thought it turned out very cute and I had a great time planning it.

fishing pole cupcakes

"dirt" cups with "bait" worms

Eli's friends liked helping him open gifts.

 THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME AND CELEBRATED OUR SPECIAL LITTLE MAN WITH US!!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, PRECIOUS BOY!

Eli ~

2 years ago God had bigger and better plans for you… and we are so very glad He did!  We love you so much and can’t imagine life without you.  You have grown up so quickly these past 2 years and it makes us sad that it’s going so fast, but it makes us excited too because we see the wonderful little boy you are becoming and we look forward to the little man you’ll soon be.  We hope you love being our son as much as we love being your Mommy and Daddy. 

Forever yours ~

Eli woke up and we sang him “Happy Birthday”.  Then, once dressed, we took him to the living room to show him his birthday present.  Daddy made him his own workbench and Mommy found the tools (all working power tools!).  He was so excited!!  He knew exactly what to do with all of them too!  After thoroughly examining each tool, he grabbed his drill and circular saw and ran to Thomas, knocked him over, and said “I’m fixing him!”  (Papa is super proud by this.)  I could hardly get him to leave it so that we could go to work and Gramma’s house.

"I did it myself, Mommy!"
What a goofy kid....

Better late than never…

Ok, so I realize that Easter is long over, but we bought this awesome Easter egg dinosaur kit and never got to use it (due to lack of time).  I’d dyed the eggs shortly after Easter and they’ve just been sitting in the fridge.  It was time to get them out so we FINALLY made time to let Eli play with them last night.  He enjoyed it and could care less that we should have done this weeks ago.

just being silly.... "stick'em up!"

Sunday at the Farm Park

After a family gathering in Springfield Sunday, we joined “Uncle” Jamie and “Aunt” Janelle at Rutledge-Wilson Farm Park for a REALLY fun afternoon.  This park is amazing!  Everything, right down to the play equipment, is farm themed.  The park is very well maintained and super clean.  There were at least 30 varieties of animals and you could touch almost all of them.  Oddly, the only animals they didn’t have at the farm were cows and dogs.  I found that a little strange.  However, Eli was in hog-heaven (no pun intended… well, maybe a little pun intended!)  We spent 3 hours there and he never slowed down once.  We were so exhausted that we thought he’d fall asleep on the way home – but oh, to the contrary.  He never stopped talking about it all the way home, through dinner and his bath time, until he finally crashed for bed around 7:30 pm.  He even woke up this morning and continued to talk about his fun day.

Petal tractor races - yes, Eli specifically chose the pink one much to Daddy's dismay...

That's better... Go with red!
Look how seriously Eli takes his driving responsibility.

Throwing duck food with Aunt Janelle

Chill'axin with Uncle Jamie

These hydrants actually worked.... then Eli played in the water after this.

Good ending to a long day -
relaxing in a rocking chair with a buddy & a new tractor that Janelle got him.

Post needs no explanation ~

Saturday, after “helping” Mom plant flowers and strawberry plants, Eli figured out how to use the sprayer on the hose and was quite proud of himself.  Let’s just say that all the plants (along with the ground, Eli, Daddy and me) were all very well watered!  You can just see the ornery DRIPPING from Eli’s face in these photos!

stick'em up!

You can't see it but he's aiming at Daddy!

Adoption Update #7

I intentionally skipped adoption update #6 because there was nothing to report.  All we were told is that after 6 months and no results, we needed to update our online profile picture and redo our personal blurb under the photo.  The picture has been updated now and we should be seeing the blurb updated soon (they have it, it's just waiting on them to post it).

Here is the update I received this morning (month 7 of waiting):

We have had a slow month at Adoption Answer but that is nothing to be worried about as it only takes the right birthmom to choose you. Your profile was shown once in the last 4 weeks and that birthmom is still deciding on her top 3. She is due late June/ early July and is on the East Coast. Your profile on the website continues to be active which is great.

I know it's God's timing... and honestly, right now wouldn't be a really convenient time with Sam's job and everything... but it still doesn't stop me from thinking, "what's wrong with us that we aren't wanted or chosen?"  Please pray for some activity... at least something to give us some hope!

*On a fun note - I have finished Eli's new "big boy room" in preparation for whenever we do need the nursery for a baby.  I am completely in love with the chosen color (Eli specified that it had to be blue) and just last night moved his toddler bed, bookcase and some of the toys into it.  It looks amazing!  Eli threw a bit of a fit because he wanted to sleep in there last night, but we aren't ready for him to have crib-less freedom... yet.  I'll post a picture of the new room soon.