Eli's First Haircut!!!

I apologize to all my bloggin buddies. Things have been a little bit crazy lately and I have not had much time to blog. Hopefully in the next night or two I will be able to catch up on a few posts.

Eli had his first haircut.... (Not quite sure why I decided to do it, you can't even tell a difference), but his hair was starting to hang down over his ears and it was bugging me, so we had my sister cut it. As you can plainly see from the pictures, he hated it.... ALOT. I will probably hold off cutting it again for awhile. Like I said before, you can't even tell. But here are a few precious pictures to document his mother torturing him.

Eli saying Hi to everyone!!!

Disney on Ice

So a week or so ago we took Eli to Disney on Ice. We went with Grandma and Grandpa Anderson and Aunt Carol and Haley and Janis. Aunt Jill and Liam were able to come with us to. It was so much fun. I haven't been to a Disney on Ice for about 5 years, maybe more. I really don't remember. Well anyways, he was such a big boy. He sat through almost the hole thing and was so well behaved. He watched to the show and clapped and even danced to some of the songs. He made it tell about the last 15 minutes of the show and then he fell asleep, but for a one year old, I didn't think that was bad at all. Well anyways, it was a great family night out and we had lots of fun with a few others from our family.

Haley and Janis showing off their crowns that they got for souvenirs.

Eli in his cute crown!!!

The reenactment of the Main Street Electrical Parade from Disneyland.

Disney on Ice's version of its a small world

A small portion of the 'Finding Nemo' part of the show

I love this picture!!!

There is nothing really significant about this picture. I just really think that it is very cute and thought I would share his cuteness with my blogging buddies. There are so many things that I love about this Boy. I love his giggle. I love the way he is so curious about everything. I love that he is a really quick learner. I love the way that he cuddles in my arms and fits perfectly in my arms. His daddy loves that he smiles really big everytime he gets home from work and this makes his daddys day. I love how he does this funny thing with his face where he blinks his eyes and opens and closes his mouth while bobbing his head up and down... seriously the cutest thing ever. I will try to catch some video of it. I love it when he says "whats that" to almost everything and when he says "mama" and "dada" but mostly he says "Lara"... not even kidding. How unfair is that? I love how he is growing into a little boy and is starting to gain an opinion of his own. I love the way he usually listens to his mom when she tells him to leave something alone, or when she asks him to do something. I love the way he trys to find his hat.... no matter where it is hidding. All in all... there are so many things I love about this little boy that this list could go on forever. Mommy and Daddy love you Eli!!!

Happy Birthday Eli!!!

So I am kinda torn. Did any one else feel super emotional when their first child turned one. I was so sad, and happy at the same time. It is really good to see how big he is getting and how smart he is. I love him so much and he is by far the greatest and blessing that Matt and I have ever had. Well anyways, enough the mushy stuff. Today was a great day. We had so much fun and Eli well..... The pictures will tell the story.

We wanted to go with a monkey theme for his birthday, because Eli... well he is about about as monkey as they come. So, Grandma Gaye, being the amazing wonderful grandma that she is, totally lived it up with this theme. When we first got there, this cute little jacket was hanging on her front door for Eli. It is a Curious George jacket and he looks so cute in it.


So we helped to set up a few more decorations. We had brought a banner that said Happy 1st birthday and we had brought some party hats and noise makers. Grandma had bought some balloons ( Which Eli had a blast with by the way). And then the party began.

This is Eli and John showing off their cute party hats. Eli was struggling to keep his on, he was not loving it, but eventually he did leave it alone for a little bit.

This is Uncle Justin and Eli just looking cute for a picture.


Daddy had fun helping Eli to open all of his presents. He was very spoiled. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME TO HIS PARTY AND MADE THIS SUCH A SPECIAL DAY FOR HIM. I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE WOULD BE WITHOUT ALL OF YOU. WE SEND OUR LOVE TO ALL OF YOU. Another picture of Eli with some of his gifts.

Aunt Heather and Aunt Taylor got Eli this very cute Build-a-bear... well actually a build-a-monkey, but same concept. You couldn't tell that we like Batman around our house at all, could ya. Well anyways, Eli loved this monkey and was very fascinated with it. He loves to hold on to it when he is trying to go to sleep. Thank you Aunt Heather and Taylor.

This is Eli's birthday cake. It took me all morning, but it was so perfect and it was really fun to make. I know this picture doesn't look like much, but believe me, it was everything we could do to keep Eli from diving into the monkey long enough to take a picture of him with it.


So I know that Eli definitely didn't need to cakes, because the raised part on the monkey that has the "E" on it was suppose to be the part we took of and put the candle in for him to blow out and then dig into, but Albertsons gives you a free 1st birthday cake so we decided, since it was free, why not use it too. So this is why Eli ended up with two cakes. So this is the way the cake started......

This is Eli enjoying his cake.........

And this was what we ended up with at the end. Needless to say, Eli was not shy at all when it came to eating his cake the proper way that a one year old should. He knew exactly what to do.

This is a picture of Eli's Great Grandma Hatch holding Zander.
He is Eli's newest cousin. Isn't he a cutie.

This is my cute little boy all cleaned up and wearing a pair of his new pajams that Great Grandma gave to him. Justin and him are having fun playing with some of his new toys.

Drew, Sarah, and John gave Eli this Car's Car. As the picture plainly shows, he really liked it. Every time they come over, the boys have a tendancy to fight over this one particular toy of John's but now they both have one. We will see if that fixes the problem, but I have my doubts. Boys will be boys. They just want what someone else has. Thanks again for the Car guys. He loves it.

Happy Halloween!!!

Drew, Sarah holing John (He was a pit crew memeber), Lara ( Pippi Longstocking), Matt holding Eli (Matt was Uncle Fester and Eli was a Monkey), Heather (A fairy), and Me (A Killer Vampire Bunny....kinda a last minute thing, but it sure was fun)

Okay, Okay, So I am only a little behind on getting Halloween pictures posted. But it has been an exceptionally busy week. As you will see in my next post, Eli turned one. That was emotional..... jk. Well sort of. Anyways, you can see that we are not the most photogenic group, but we did try. We had a great Halloween. Not only was it a fun holiday, but it was also Matt's birthday, which makes it even more of a great holiday. Anywho, we went out to Matt's mom's house and spent the evening out there. We had a fun family party, and everyone came over for cake and ice cream, and to show off Halloween costumes of course. But then we went trick-or-treating. I was so proud of my little boy. He went through the Haunted House with his daddy and was not even scared. Well, sorry these are so late. Just wanted to share a few pictures of the fun we had on Halloween.

One tired little boy boy after a very eventful Halloween holiday.

Pippi Longstocking is coming into this world....

This is Lara in here Halloween costume. I don't know where she came up with Pippi Longstocking, but it sure did turn out cute. Last night she went to her Halloween dance and she had so much fun. The first picture is a picture of her and her friend Ashlee. The other pictures are just of Lara showing off her cute costume. Don't forget to check out Mr. Nelsen, Pippi's best monkey friend.

It's Pumpkin Carving Time

So I have to give a preface to all these pictures, We got a little out of hand carving pumpkins at Grandma Gayes house. It was a blast though, but I have to admit, if you have a weak stomach, you may not want to continue looking at these pictures.

Grandma thought it would be fun to give Eli Lara's carmel apple. He had great fun with it, but the aftermath of this fun treat, well...... you'll see.

Drew and Matt carving their pumpkins.

Jay trying to look evil..... but failing oh so miserably.

Heather Noelle carving her pumpkin.

Lara concentrating so hard on the face of her pumpkin.

My handsome Hubby working on his pumpkin.

Lara carving her pumpkin.

Here is were the pictures start to get graphic, so don't keep reading if you have a weak stomach. So I warned you all at the beginning that the aftermath of that Carmel apple was pretty messy. Just look at that face. He had it everywhere, but her sure did enjoy it.

Squash anyone!!! I have been looking at other peoples blogs and I see other little kids about Eli's age being so dainty and careful, and I have even read a few that said they thought it was gross, but Eli didn't really seem to have that problem. He thought it was about the coolest thing in the world to stick his hand in there and rip out the guts of the pumkin.

Eli is all boy as you can planly see in this picture. He was having a blast.

My little pumpkin boy.

Sarah working on her pumpkin.

Justin and Jen working on their pumpkins.

Lara's finished product.

Drew's, Justins, and Lara's finished products.


John sitting next to his daddy's pumpkin. He is such a handsome boy.

Lara and John.

Heather and Matt's finished products.

The same ones as before, but all lite up this time.