Day thirteen-July 17 (Declan's 1st Birthday!!)

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

I know these posts are documenting our days with Elliana, but Declan may have the spotlight on this one because TODAY HE IS ONE!!  Wow, can't believe it!! 


Here we are, July 17, 2012 welcoming Declan John into the world.  He came in at a whopping 10 pounds 6 ounces and was 21.5 inches long.

And here we are today, July 17, 2013 celebrating Declan's 1st birthday ALL together!!!!

What a difference one year makes, right?!  :)  As we neared the end of the waiting for Elliana, before we knew for sure when she would be home, I had hoped that she would be home by Declan's birthday.  I thought it was a good marker to hope for!  So glad we could all celebrate today together!! My heart is so full.



So, here is a look into our day:

Raelynn spent the night at Mimi's last night, so this morning was much more quiet than we are used to! 

Declan had his very own special "1" pancake to start off the day....

not sure about that flame...

...then cried when we wouldn't let him touch it. being one is tough.

And the last round of monthly 'birthday bumbo' pictures:

he's holding his finger here saying he's ONE!

Elliana moved on to Broccoli today.  For breakfast.  Isn't that what you want first thing in the morning?

Daddy worked from home today, so we left Elliana with him and took Declan and Raelynn to lunch at Joe's Farmgrill


Grandma, Grant, Garrett, Marissa, Kacia, and Mimi all joined to celebrate

Both kids had suckers with their meals! A special treat for a birthday!

 

After lunch, we made it home for nap time and mommy had a doctor appointment for baby brother.  It was pretty funny because the doctor said I lost a pound this month.  I just had to laugh because with all the crazy happenings in our life right now, I'm really not that surprised! (Well, maybe I was a bit surprised, considering I snack on chocolate all day and always have to have a snack before bed!)
But I thought that was a good reason to get a Frappuccino today!! :)

I had actually wanted to ask the doctor about baby because I feel much smaller than I have before (but that is hard not to do when Declan was the last baby!!) But she said he measured perfect in the ultrasound and he is measuring at the 80th percentile for size.  So I'm still hoping for an 8 pound baby!!

When Mommy got home, we took our first family outing to Lowe's! Yay!

 

 We close on the house TOMORROW and the master bedroom doesn't have a fan! So that was a must buy and Brent will install it right away.

Then it was straight from Lowe's to dinner at Joe's Real BBQ to celebrate Declan's big day with family.

Grandma and Tank with Declan

enjoying dinner!

Rae and Mimi

The whole group!

a birthday cupcake for Declan

he went to town!

 And on the walk out to the cars, I caught these two cuties:

 


And home again at last.  What a day!!  This has by far been the fastest year of my life, yet it at times seemed as though time was standing still as we waited for Elliana to come home. 
We are so thankful for the year of life God has granted to Declan and for his fun, loving, gentle personality.  Declan is such an opposite of his older sister in personality, but has already started to throw his weight around at her.  We are trying to teach him how to be gentle with girls! He is so loving and tender toward Elliana, it warms my heart to see it. It will be fun to see how he fits in the middle of the two girls and soon he'll have a best buddy for life--his little brother.

He isn't walking yet, but stands for a long period of time--until he realizes he is standing! I wouldn't want to push walking upon him, but it sure would be nice--since he weighs 27 pounds!!

 We pray God would grant him many more years and that He would draw Declan and all his brothers and sisters to Himself at a young age that they would never know a day they didn't love and serve Jesus Christ. We pray for wisdom as we seek to raise the children God entrust to us in the ways of the Lord.  It is also our prayer that we would be faithful to point them to Christ that He would show them their sin and need for a savior.  So, if you would, please pray for Declan and for us as we attempt to parent him and his siblings!