This first year has certainly been a roller coaster ride. We have experienced extreme joy, relentless fatigue, and utter terror at various times. But by the grace of God, we have learned, grown, and made priceless memories with our sweet blessing that we will look back on countless times throughout the rest of our lives.
We have watched Eli grow from that sweet, cuddly little ball of warmth to a toddling, talking, brilliant little boy.
This first year we learned many, many things (too many to write), but mostly that you will never pray as much as you do when you are a first time parent. There is so much unknown and everything is new, so each new experience brings more unknown. We have learned to lean more on God and trust that He is taking care of our precious little one every second of every day, and that we just need to trust Him.
At his first birthday, Eli is saying mama, dada, hey!, bye, uh-oh!, and WOW! He loves to eat, especially strawberries, bread (of any kind), pizza, pasta, beans, peas, and cheese. He loves to wave, clap, dance (all the time!), take a bath, blow kisses, and talk to himself in the mirror. He is such a happy baby and a true and complete blessing to his mommy and daddy every single day.
For his first birthday party, our theme was "You are my Sunshine" because mommy sings that song to Eli almost every night. Our colors were yellow and teal and the general food theme was rainbow colors. I made all of the decorations myself and I am hoping to write a post soon detailing how I made everything.
*As of his actual birthday he was not quite walking, but he got the hang of it shortly thereafter and by the time of his first birthday photo session, he was walking like a champ.
