Celebrating Elo's 1st birthday

Here is the birthday girl on the morning of her special day. She woke up super happy & a little ahead of schedule. It was like she knew there were some gifts to be excited about or something : ) She was delighted to see some decorations in the kitchen & was quickly screaming for politely requesting some breakfast.   I thought I had it all figured out & was prepared but I looked in the fridge and only had one egg.  Super Dad headed to the grocery store at 6:30 & then called me a few minutes later to let me know that Publix didn't open until 7. Oops! He then checked at the gas station (which didn't have any), CVS & then Walgreens where he tried to convince an employee to take some cash and get him the eggs before the store opening. Haha! He was denied the request & by that point it was nearly 7 so he went back to Publix and came home with some eggs. He walked in the door as I realized I was almost out of milk....nice! Thankfully, my neighbor Aubrey let me have what I needed to make our traditional pink birthday pancakes. We sat down to eat at 8 & I just had to laugh thinking of all that we had already done on her birthday.

Not only did we make pink pancakes, we made pink BUNNY pancakes to stick with the theme of birthday week!  Elo Pancakes is the perfect nickname for this little girl.  She devoured every last crumb of her bunny shaped pancake followed by 2 more round ones. The pile was in front of her high chair and she was saying "ah ah ah ah AH AH AH AH" as she pointed requesting more.

Here is Char's bunny pancake that looked more like a wild dingo.  Sadly enough, Charlotte bit the inside of her cheek on the first bite of the dingo ear & continued to bite it through the  rest of the meal resulting in lots of crying.

Once we finished our breakfast, we headed to the living room to open some gifts.  Charlotte couldn't wait to assist with the opening as you can imagine & I think that this was the last year that Eloise will let that fly.

Robby has given Charlotte a book for her birthday each year so we started Elo's library with a book called "The Donkey & the King." We gave her a baby doll of her own since she has become so motherly lately with Charlotte's dolls. Her name is Lucy. We figured she needed an "L" name since her doll "sisters" are Libby & London.  Elo pulled her out and started giving her kisses saying "mmmmaaaa!" Such a good little mommy!

My mom gave Eloise a beautiful hand made quilt. This will receive a post of its own : ) She got a couple cute little outfits & a set of blocks that have entertained the whole family since Wednesday.  Robby was REALLY into helping Char build towers....

Eloise got to spend some good time with her Grandma while I ran a few errands in the morning.  I am always amazed at how easy & fast it is to shop alone. I made 4 stops & got everything I needed for our birthday dinner & party in under 2 hours! Eloise & Charlotte were in wonderful hands. They love their Gaga!

That afternoon, we picked up my brother Kyle from the airport & then arrived home shortly before Steve, Jenny & the kiddos came over for dinner & cupcakes. 

This was my first attempt at making icing and piping it on myself. It went okay but I was feeling pretty sure that cupcake decorating is not my thing.  This was confirmed the following day when I decorated the cupcakes for the party....this along with the quilt requires a post of its own : ) 

Silhouette cut bunnies & liners

Eloise, our little birthday bunny ate quite the feast for dinner but seemed to get more excited by the second when the cupcakes came into view.  We put her bunny ears on & handed her a carrot...

Eloise, our good little eater had never had a cupcake before this moment.  She was ready for the birthday song to be over & for the cupcake to be placed in her hands. She went to town after one lick.....

She ate every single bite of the cupcake & then begged for more with her "ah ah ah AH AH AH" sounds that only increase in decibel level the longer you refuse her what she is asking for.  The consumption took around 9 minutes and it is all on video.  She wasn't the only one who liked her cupcake.  Char licked the icing off hers and then ate the cake. 

Here are some photos of the rest of our birthday dinner guests....

We sat outside on the porch and visited for awhile and let the girls get a good look at Diego the turtle. Poor Diego, you could tell he was nervous : ) 

After bath time Eloise & I spent some time alone. We read some books, sang a few songs & I tried to get some snuggles in with my busy little bunny.  She was all worn out from her exciting day & went right to sleep.  I did sneak back in to peek at my one year old in her restful state.  There is something SO sweet about sleeping babies : ) I will admit to watching this video multiple times in the past 2 weeks while she was asleep.

I will end with a note to my big one year old...

My dear sweet Eloise,

One year has passed since you made our family grow from three to four.  I loved May 30th & the evening of the 29th leading up to your big debut.  Being in labor with you was nothing short of amazing knowing that I was only hours away from having you in my arms.  Thankfully things progressed faster & you came out more quickly than your sister : )  After 7 minutes of pushing, we heard your cry for the very first time & it was a beautiful sound.

You were so content snuggled up on my chest and stayed there for a long time. Mommy was content too : ) I cried like a baby when I found out you were going to be a girl. I thought at that point that I knew how much I could love another little girl....I had NO idea how deep that love would be Eloise. Your precious little  fingers wrapped around mine in those first hours & I was well on my way to being completely captured by your sweetness.

You have grown and changed so much over the course of the year.  God made you just the way you are & we love you.  Your bright eyes & little grin melt our hearts each and everyday. Your giggle stops me in my tracks & reminds me of God's faithfulness. We have prayed for the Lord to fill our home with little ones & He is doing just that!

Happy Birthday Eloise Hope!

Love,

Mommy