So I am sitting home with a sick little man today (hopefully just a cold) so I am finally going to get out the blog I promised 2 weeks ago! Hey, it’s better than the 6 month gap we had previously
So my sweet little Elijah Nicholas Oaks turned ONE on October 22nd. It is literally still hard for me to believe a year has gone by. This time last year we were getting the hang of feeding, changing, sleeping, and all things baby. And now its chasing, disciplining, and still feeding. Ohh motherhood, the job where the requirements are constantly changing but it is truly the best job around. It is a blessing to be Eli’s Mommy and I want him to stay little forever but at the same time I am excited to see him grow.
So how did we celebrate this big birthday? Well, it all starts with a BIRTHDAY PARTY of course . . .
Eli’s 1st Birthday was celebrated Sock Monkey style on Saturday, October 20th at the Family Life Center at our church. There was food, presents, and lots of fun with friends and family. I think Eli had the most fun opening gifts and then playing afterwards. I would get him started on one gift then he would get it all out and opened and then I would have to try to get him to focus on the next. He loved taking stuff in and out of bags and handing stuff to me and his Daddy. He also seemed to enjoy the paper ripping. Thank you so much for everyone who attended and made Eli’s big day special! I have tons of bday party pics but in order to keep this from being the longest post ever I am only going to give you a small sample:
The awesome cake and smash cake from The Cake Gallery. Thanks Hannah for a fabulous cake as always!
The sweet birthday boy enjoying some cake!
With the Birthday Boy! Happy Birthday Eli- love you!
So Eli’s actual birthday was on Monday, October 22nd and Nick and I both took the day off to be with our little man on his day. For the actual birthday fun we had birthday pancakes for breakfast, play time a home, and then an afternoon at the playground at Warrior’s with pizza for dinner. Ohh and we did take Eli to early vote with us that day 
Pancake Breakfast!
Playground Fun!!!
Birthday Boy after his Pizza Dinner
I spent most of Eli’s actually birthday day feeling like I might cry at any minute. I am so happy he is growing and learning but like I said earlier I just want to keep him little FOREVER. And I do wish time would slow down just a little. This 1st year has been exciting and full of milestone rolling, crawling, and walking and I can not wait to see what the next year has in store for us. I pray that our Eli continues to stay happy and healthy no matter what.
I will leave you with 2 final pictures:
Eli at 2 weeks old. When he was born he weighed 6 lbs 4oz and was 19 inches long.
Eli at 1 year old- 31 inches tall and weighing 20.8 lbs
Photos courtesy of Affection Photography who did a great job of capturing Eli’s 1st year!
What a difference a year makes!!!
I do regret no blogging much or rather at all this year. It would have been a great way to have captured all of Eli’s first. Can not change that now but I can do a better job going forward.
It is hard to believe that it has been a year. I went back and read my journal entry that I wrote that night, and it was so much reliving that moment. I was a bundle of excitement and fear and just truly felt like we had been blessed. AND we have been we have a beautiful, healthy baby boy that is truly a gift from God. AND the best and most memorable Valentine’s gift ever.
This year we put all his presents in one bag and I actually stored them in plan sight in his room. 
