Birthday boy!

Yesterday, Elijah turned 2. I would have blogged on the day, but I decided that he'd rather have his mommy all to himself rather than hanging out on the computer. (Blogging really takes a heck of a lot of time, when it comes down to it!)

Anyway, we had a nice day with some of the boys favorite activities: stamping and coloring with my art supplies (they get to use their own any day, but mine are only for special occasions where I'm willing to directly supervise and prevent destruction of my stuff), some new videos from the library, boxed macaroni & cheese for dinner cooked by Daddy (score for me -- I didn't have to cook; score for Elijah -- he could eat his favorite food), ice cream after dinner at the Eis shop nearby, and an elastic bedtime (they finally got in bed a little after 9 instead of the usual 8. I mean, you don't turn 2 every day now, do you?)

All in all, I think that he had a pretty fun day. We didn't buy him any gifts; we haven't bought either of the boys Christmas or birthday gifts yet since extended family showers them so heavily with things, and also because when they're this young, they don't expect it.

I had promised a while ago of pictures of the boys opening a huge box from Aunt Terry and Grandma Annette. In the meantime, yet another box came for Elijah (apparently the first box was for Lavella's birth, with extras for the boys -- the second box was just for Elijah's birthday!)

Here's the first one:

They were super excited, as always. "A box! For us!! Let's open it right now!"

I made sure they'd had breakfast first, because I had a feeling there would be candy...

Sure enough, there was some, but thankfully not too much. The boys were especially thrilled about the honey wheat pretzels and the play-dough eggs. The play-dough has kept them happy on more than one occasion since. There were also two DVD's, which have been greatly enjoyed (I especially like the Veggie Tales one, "Moe and the Big Exit". Very cute!)

Behind them you can see a brand new swing for Lavella. She loves it, and has taken several naps in there already. She's not so good with the naps, so anything that helps her sleep is wonderful to have around. This particular swing is especially cool, because it's portable and I can just bring it wherever I'm going to be in the house. I can carry it with one hand, which is key when the other arm is holding a fussy baby.

Not pictured is a beautiful Ralph Lauren crochet/cotton little one piece outfit for Lavella. She's nearly big enough to wear it, and as soon as I put it on her for the first time I'll be sure to take a picture.

The second box had a huge model of Lightening McQueen from the Cars movie (a current favorite around here since Christmas). Andrew was very sad that there wasn't one for him too, but Elijah was completely delighted, and pushed the noisy buttons all day. Aunt Terry told my dad that she'd sent Elijah something that he would love, and that I might really dislike. I'm sure this was said with much evil laughing. You're right Aunt Terry, Elijah does love it.
He wouldn't turn around for the picture, because he was guarding it from Andrew, who was creeping towards him, ready for the attack. You can see him looking at a Cars movie coloring book, which was also included in the gift. I've scanned in a bunch of the pages so that the boys can share them and re-use it. (Cheap, or thrifty?)

Elijah and Lavella have also recently received generous checks from Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Bob. Thank you to both of you as well! Elijah will be buying some molded plastic dinosaurs with his money; we'll go out shopping next week, and I'll make sure he knows who supplied the funds.

Another large box arrived this week from Greg's family, which will be blogged as soon as we get some pics.

We also have some pictures of last night and today, because we've been out at the beer festival, but I'll post those later. Have a great weekend everyone!