Eliza is ONE!!!!!

Where has the time gone? It feels like just a couple months ago we were bringing this little chicken nugget home from the hospital...

(first day home)

And now she's ONE!

Someone once told me that the days are long but the years fly by as a parent. Oh how true that has proven to be this year.

The below picture captures Eliza well. She is our Ms. Intensity who doesn't miss a thing and is always studying what's going on. (Sound exactly like Jonathan? :))

So in honor of Eliza turning one we had a little party with family and friends this past Saturday.

I saw an idea on Pinterest to put up a picture from every month of Eliza. It was my favorite decoration.

And here it goes... singing Happy Birthday.

For as enthusiastically as she grabbed the whole cupcake, she actually just licked the icing to death and wouldn't bite it. Jonathan then crumbled up the entire cupcake for her (I think he envisioned her actually eating the whole thing) but she wasn't so sure she wanted it.

So then Uncle Sam gave her a cookie which she inhaled.

"Oh Boy that was good"

And we were so excited after the sugar that we decided to attack our guests. (yes, in an un-lady like manner we ended up tying her dress up because it kept tripping her up)

I love this picture because it gives a glimpse in to life as a kid. The world "centers" around you. ;)

I love my family and I thank God for such an amazing little girl. Eliza means "sworn to God" and our prayer is that she grows up to know and live for Jesus.

After the party we had a family dinner and Eliza, hyped up on sugar, and glad to be out of her dress, decided to dance for us. :)

11 months

Ok so technically, although Eliza turns one on Tuesday, she is still 11 months... *gulp" "12 months" just seems so big and scary and... OLD. How is she already almost 12 months!? ahhhh. Anyways, I digress... Here are some pictures from the past month. Eliza is very into exploring her environment. When I'm holding her she often wants down so she can crawl around. She's pulling up now but is not walking. She loves music, books, and doggies.

Precious little Eliza with a favorite toy of hers.

Her favorite doggy in the entire world is Lilly, her Mimi's yorky. I love this picture because they look alike. :)

Typical activity. On a mission to crawl to anywhere.

A new love of hers is the outside. Any time the door is open for a second she beelines for the door like she's finally found her chance for freedom.

We love wagon rides! (um side note- this was taken on I'm pretty sure the only cold day in March)

One of her favorite things to do is pull books off her shelf and then sit and flip the pages.

This is often how I find them reading books. So sweet.

We love our Eliza and seriously cannot believe she's almost one. I think I'm actually just going to believe she's eight months? ;)

Museum of Life and Science

On Jonathan's day off this past week we went to the Museum of Life and Science with our neighbors, Kelly and Tangi. It was our first time there and we were so impressed! The museum is amazing and has quite a diverse set of activities. Along with the normal "museum" like things (that include really neat science displays) they have an expansive playground with huge musical objects, a dinosaur trail, petting zoo, and butterfly house. I was so impressed and when Eliza gets older I can see her really loving all the different exhibits.

Here are some pictures of our time at the museum.

We started with the petting zoo. Tangi and Kelly are neighbors of ours and it's really fun to have babies around the same age together.

Other than dogs, Eliza has never seen animals before and was wide eyed with amazement.... ok let's be honest, she was actually scared to death unless we were holding her. After taking one look at the pigs she started crying and when meeting the cow she was literally trembling. But when dadda held her those animals weren't so scary and she was ok to look from a distance. It was really sweet.

Tangi and Legend. Our sweet neighbors who live right beside us. Eliza loves Legend and we couldn't ask for a better neighbor than Tangi. It's such a blessing to be able to raise our kids next to each other too!

Kelly and Corrina live across the street and we have just recently realized we're both stay at home mom with kids around the same age. :) Kelly is a wealth of mommy knowledge and really active with Triangle Mommies so she's a great encouragement for me to get out and try new things.

"Dad, seriously. What is that?"

I loved watching her take everything in. It blows my mind to introduce her to aspects of life that she doesn't even know exist. aka- animals.

The cow was my personal favorite!

beautiful

After the petting zoo we headed over to the butterfly house. You walk in to this huge building and there were butterflies everywhere. Amazing!

Oh I love this picture. Taking in all the butterflies.

Kelly caught a butterfly on her finger!!!

This picture beautifully captures a glimpse of who Kelly is as a mom. She has a love for all things science (um I totally can't think of a better word than "science".... shows how well I know the topic. ha) and is so excited to teach Corrina.

(side note- because I'm totally inept at "sciency" things I love that God sweetly puts me around people like Tangi who is getting a PhD in genetics and Kelly who loves science so Eliza can have a chance when it comes to learning about anything other than literature. Thank you Lord. :))

Kelly showing Eliza the butterfly. Not sure what to think...

"Um, I don't like him"... maybe she'll take after her mother after all.

Our last stop in the museum was to a play area where little kids can get down and roam.

:)

Sweet b bear loving a flower her dadda gave her. (this is seconds before she then tried to put the flower in her mouth. yum)

The end.

Eliza was officially exhausted and we had a blast! Thanks Tangi and Kelly for initiating the trip!

Weekend Visitors

This past weekend we had Mimi, Aunt Julianne and Kalla came to visit. We love any time they come up and this weekend was no exception. What a blessed girl Eliza is to have such quality women love on and pour into her. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Jonathan's mom and sister (aka- Mimi and Aunt Julianne) :). I love these women.

The visit was initially prompted by Julianne's friend, Kalla, getting tickets to the Clemson/UNC game.

Chicken Nugget all dressed up and waiting for her Mimi. (please note the look on her face- she has started doing this scrunched up nose look that seems to say "I'm slightly amused and disapproving all at the same time")

Eliza playing with Aunt Julianne. I'm smitten by her.

Reading books with Mimi. (we love books)

Oh and lest I forget to mention the star of the weekend, Mimi's dog, Lilly. Eliza is obsessed with Lilly and honestly spent the majority of the weekend crawling after her. Poor Lilly.

Fitting picture. Everyone loving on Eliza and Eliza mesmerized by the dog.

Both Eliza and Lilly got their workout this weekend as Eliza was forever trying to get a hold of Lilly and Lilly was really good at escaping.

"Why can't I catch the doggy?" (note the red knees from crawling everywhere)

We love Aunt Julianne!

It's a tradition to eat breakfast at Elmo's whenever Susan and Julianne come to town.

Here is all of us at Elmo's. And yes I know we all look exhausted. That's what comes from good times and a early morning breakfast due to Eliza's schedule.