For those who don't know, I am the proud mother of a Christmas Eve baby...and proud as I am, I'll be the first to admit that I am still working out the kinks in how to pull off making December 24th feel like a special birthday for Eli, while still keeping with the holiday traditions associated with Christmas eve.
This year, however, I thought we made a pretty go run at it. For starters, I awoke at 4am (going to sleep stressed about tomorrow's to-do list occasionally has this effect on me, and I truly believe it is a God-send). First task at hand was to make a "Yellow cake with orange icing" per Eli's request (I know my Aggie friends are cringing...which is why I had to add some blue accents, in hopes of helping mellow the orange a bit)
Next order of business: Birthday pancakes. This year we went with snowmen. Eli wanted green eyes, Norah requested blue (they have recently become very fascinated with their different eye colors, Norah always makes sure she colors them correctly in her drawings)
We sang our first "Happy Birthday" of the day, and E blew out the candles on his whipped cream-drenched pancakes (a delicacy, I might add, we reserve only for birthdays).
After breakfast, we met up with our good buddies, The Hindmans, for Eli's (and Isaac's) first movie theater movie, "Tangled" (Disney's take on Rapunzel, which HIGHLY recommend. Jason and I loved it, as did both kids, and it was squeaky clean). The Hindman's came prepared with blankets and candy to share. We sandwiched the 4 kids in the middle, flanked by the parents on the outsides, and everyone was extremely well-behaved. So. Much. Fun.
After the show, we let the kids hang out in the arcade (which, since it was Christmas Eve, was totally deserted) for a while. Eli and Isaac, who share a passion for "Cars" were basically glued to the racing games for the duration of our visit.
Norah and Helen, on the other hand, preferred the motorcycles.
Everyone posed for one last photo op in front of the movie poster, to commemorate the occasion. We felt so blessed to have such sweet friends, who were willing to take some time out of their Christmas Eve day, to celebrate with Eli.
That night, we hosted all four grandparents, both sets of Great-grandparents, Aunt Paige & Uncle Grant, and the Davidson's (N&E's adoptive "extra" grandparents) for burgers and hot dogs.
Have I mentioned that the weather had turned nasty? Sweet Jason fired up his pit as the first drizzles started and managed to get everything into a holding pattern in the oven before the massive downpour that followed. Everyone enjoyed a nice, dry, warm meal.
Finally, it was time to cut into that big, orange cake.
Happy 3rd Birthday, big boy! You are a joy to your Daddy and me. You almost always wake up with a smile (and usually come climb in bed with us for your last hour of sleep to cuddle, which I love), and seldom complain the rest of the day. You dress yourself most mornings (preferably in Cars apparel, which you have no qualms about retrieving from the dirty clothes hamper if Mommy has failed to wash it in what you deem a "timely" manner). You absolutely LOVE your big sister, and would likely do anything she asked you to do, rational or not, and you pride yourself on being a "gentleman".
You never cease to make us laugh with your made up words (ex: "Pockaticket", which we've determined is a noun, most commonly associated with someone who is getting on your nerves), endless supply of Cars quotes, and original song lyrics (sure to be future chart toppers like "Chick's All Over the Place"--in reference to Chick Hicks from Cars, not girls, in case you were wondering, and "I Don't Wanna Go to the Barbershop").
We love you, sweet, "Snazzy","Eli McElierton", "E-mac","E", Eli.
In my previous post, I mentioned that, in addition to celebrating Eli's birthday on December 24th, we also tried to keep with a few Christmas Eve traditions. Such as....
Cookies and milk (and carrots for the reindeer) by the fireplace at bedtime...
Sometimes, little brother tries to sneak a little something sweet...as if all that birthday cake wasn't enough!
This last photo was one I took of the kids the day after Christmas, after church. Oh, how I love these sweet kiddos!
For those who don't know, I am the proud mother of a Christmas Eve baby...and proud as I am, I'll be the first to admit that I am still working out the kinks in how to pull off making December 24th feel like a special birthday for Eli, while still keeping with the holiday traditions associated with Christmas eve. 
Next order of business: Birthday pancakes. This year we went with snowmen. Eli wanted green eyes, Norah requested blue (they have recently become very fascinated with their different eye colors, Norah always makes sure she colors them correctly in her drawings) 
After breakfast, we met up with our good buddies, The Hindmans, for Eli's (and Isaac's) first movie theater movie, "Tangled" (Disney's take on Rapunzel, which HIGHLY recommend. Jason and I loved it, as did both kids, and it was squeaky clean). The Hindman's came prepared with blankets and candy to share. We sandwiched the 4 kids in the middle, flanked by the parents on the outsides, and everyone was extremely well-behaved. So. Much. Fun.
After the show, we let the kids hang out in the arcade (which, since it was Christmas Eve, was totally deserted) for a while. Eli and Isaac, who share a passion for "Cars" were basically glued to the racing games for the duration of our visit. 
Norah and Helen, on the other hand, preferred the motorcycles.
Everyone posed for one last photo op in front of the movie poster, to commemorate the occasion. We felt so blessed to have such sweet friends, who were willing to take some time out of their Christmas Eve day, to celebrate with Eli.
That night, we hosted all four grandparents, both sets of Great-grandparents, Aunt Paige & Uncle Grant, and the Davidson's (N&E's adoptive "extra" grandparents) for burgers and hot dogs. 
Have I mentioned that the weather had turned nasty? Sweet Jason fired up his pit as the first drizzles started and managed to get everything into a holding pattern in the oven before the massive downpour that followed. Everyone enjoyed a nice, dry, warm meal.
Finally, it was time to cut into that big, orange cake. 
Happy 3rd Birthday, big boy! You are a joy to your Daddy and me. You almost always wake up with a smile (and usually come climb in bed with us for your last hour of sleep to cuddle, which I love), and seldom complain the rest of the day. You dress yourself most mornings (preferably in Cars apparel, which you have no qualms about retrieving from the dirty clothes hamper if Mommy has failed to wash it in what you deem a "timely" manner). You absolutely LOVE your big sister, and would likely do anything she asked you to do, rational or not, and you pride yourself on being a "gentleman".
This one is a "ballerina and her teacher" (this one was done after reading a few "Angelina Ballerina" books from the library--Angelina's ballet teacher always wears dresses with tiered ruffles, so I'm guessing the "teacher" in Norah's picture is the one in yellow on the right). The faint square around them is the "stage".
Two more ballerinas, again, on-stage.
Jesus on the cross (with Mary, his mother, below)
Norah and Eli playing catch (he's been wearing his hair "spiky" a lot lately, so she made sure to give him a few in her drawing) 
This is one of my all-time favorites. It is a jockey and a horse. I love her attention to details (like the button on the top of the jockey's hat, and the bridle/reins on the horse...granted he's a little stocky, but still...)
She was very proud of this one. If you can't tell, it is most of the cast from Toy Story 3. L-R: Jesse, Woody, Bullseye, Barbie, Ken, and Buzz (Again, note the detail--Jesse's cow-print chaps, all of the colored lights and buttons on the front of Buzz's spacesuit, etc). She worked on it for quite a while, finally dedicating her masterpiece to her Daddy (as you can see in the upper left corner). As soon as he came home from work, she presented him with her art, and of course he praised it highly, immediately recognizing what/who it was a depiction of. Not long after that, N was sent to her room (if memory serves, for having a bad attitude at the dinner table. 
After some time passed, I went in to check on her, to find her hard at work on this... While I knew it was done in total defiance, I was slightly amused at the facts that 1) She spelled everything right all by herself, 2) The worst possible "retaliation" she could think of for Jason's sending her to her room was to stop drawing pictures for him. So funny. And yet, the parent in me had to focus on the heart of the matter...or should I say the attitude behind it. The same bad attitude that had gotten her in trouble at the dinner table. We had a good talk. And she quickly admitted that she liked drawing pictures for us and didn't really want to stop, and believe me, she hasn't! 
