Last Day of Preschool

Thursday was Elijah's official last day of preschool EVER!

Here he is with his wonderful teachers, Ms Jennifer & Ms Kendra. These two girls are friends of mine and so I always knew that Elijah was in good hands and being loved on by them while at school. I am praying that he has a wonderful teacher next year.


Here he is at his table eating his birthday cupcakes with his friends.


These are Judah's friends from school, Olivia and Jack (minus Jack's twin sister Sarah who was sleeping at the time). He had so much fun playing with these babies!


This is the very loved Ms Brandy - Judah's teacher.
Here they are back in September right after school started.


And here they are on the last day of school - May 21, 2009.


She was WONDERFUL with him and he absolutely loved being with her at school. She made me feel at ease knowing that she was taking such good care of him, and I was really nervous about leaving him at the beginning of the year. We will miss her so much next year.

Here is me with my fabulous co-teacher, Lori (before she had Grace), at the preschool graduation. We had so much fun teaching together this year!


It was a great year - the boys enjoyed it, I enjoyed it and it was a great experience for all of us. Lori and I will have a new 4 year old class in the fall, and I will be dropping Elijah off at kindergarten on the way (sniff, sniff). Judah will move up to the toddler hall with a new teacher.

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On another note, Judah had his first visible injury after bumping his head the other day.
Can we say GOOSE EGG!!!

It was just one of those days

You know, one of those rare days when something special happens. I mean something out of the ordinary that is really special and you get to be a part of it.

Grace Katherine arrived today at 4:43 pm.


She weighed 8 lbs and was 20" long...big sister Annalee was so proud.


Thank you Lord for a safe delivery and a healthy baby!

Chuck E. Cheese

First of all, check out this hair...

That's right, it's all GONE!!! Elijah finally decided to get it cut the morning of his party. It looks really cute but I am still doing a double-take when I see him - he just looks SO different and like such a 5 year old! Where in the world did he come from???

On to the party pictures...

The cute baby brother at the party.


Playing video games.


The Star Wars birthday cake. I thought about getting ambitious and making this one as well, but decided against it. I didn't want to push my luck this year!


Dancing with Chuck (the giant mouse).


The birthday boy about to blow out his candles.




I think he thought it was cool that Chuck E was there for the whole thing, but also seemed a little weirded out by it at times too. :-)


Judah with Grangoat - what big smiles!


Opening presents.






With his party friends - Ellie, Sarah, Jonathan and Craig.


And with the Chuckster.


Sweet brothers.


And the parentals.


I have to say that I was dreading the whole Chuck E. Cheese birthday thing, but it was actually really nice, and it was raining outside so having the party indoors was brilliant! We have had all of his previous parties outside so we lucked out this year. Plus they do all the clean-up and keep you on schedule. I have to say that I would recommend having your child's birthday party here any day. Wow, I can't believe I just said that. :-)

I think all of our many special events are finished. My car window getting busted out in the middle of the night last night IN MY OWN DRIVEWAY topped everything off! Oh wait, my bff Lori is having her second baby girl TOMORROW, so no, not quite finished yet with the craziness. Bring it on, I love all of these special activities! Next post will be on sweet baby Grace. :-)

The Graduate

We have had SO MANY activities going on lately. Here is Elijah's preschool graduation from last Monday. It was precious and made me tear up a little. Hey, that's better than the ugly cry that I thought was going to happen. :-)

Singing "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "God Bless America"


This is what got me...singing and sign language to "Create In Me"...SIGH


Telling the audience what he wants to be when he grows up...any guesses as to what he said? He surprised his daddy and I by saying "a race car driver".


Getting his diploma and tassle turned


With Nana & Grangoat


With Kaki and Andrew


With his proud parents


And of course with his baby brother


We were so proud of him! This has really been a little too much for this mommy to take lately. My baby turned 1, Elijah graduated preschool and then turned 5. I'm surprised I'm not in a mental institution for the emotionally unstable by now!
The next time you see a graduation cap will be Jason in August - WOOHOO!!!

FIVE

That is how many years old you are today, Elijah. That is how many years I've been a mother...when God blessed us with you, you made me a mommy. It's the best job I've ever had, and for five years I've gotten to hang with YOU! You are such a cool kid, the BEST, and I have been so blessed to be with you every day for the past five years.



When you were in my tummy, I remember that you got the hiccups A LOT. This was a picture from the day we found out that we were expecting a BOY! Mommy & Daddy both had a feeling that you were a boy, and we were so excited to get everything ready for you.

This is mommy when I was 26 weeks pregnant with you...I loved feeling you move around and kick...you were a very active little boy.


Elijah Mabry Cox

You were born on May 13, 2004 at 12:52 p.m after about 12 hours of labor. You weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and were 19 inches long.One of the most amazing days of my entire life...I was a mom and you were perfect to your daddy and me. We named you Elijah, which means "The Lord is my God" and your middle name Mabry, after your great-grandfather who your daddy loves so much.


A few hours after you were born you got very sick and stopped breathing. They rushed you to the NICU and thus began the scariest 8 days of our lives. We found out that you had a blood clotting disorder that caused a stroke in your brain in-utero. We were so frightened but prayed that God would heal you and He did. You are our little miracle and we have always tried our best not to take you or your health for granted.


This is one of the first times I got to hold you after you were taken to the NICU. It was several days later, but felt like an eternity. I was so happy to have you in my arms at last.


You were a very content, happy and easy going baby. You ate good, slept great and were always smiling. This is you in Nov 2004 at 6 months old. I loved your chubby cheeks.


ONE

We celebrated your first birthday at Oakhurst Park by our house with lots of friends and family. The scary days of you being in the NICU were still fresh on our minds and we wanted everyone we knew to celebrate with us your first year of life!


You started walking at 14 1/2 months, loved bananas, long naps and your pacifier. We found out that you had a milk allergy and started you on soy milk. You still drink it today, and know that it's your "special" milk.


TWO

Your second birthday was at Nana & Grangoat's house and was a firetruck theme, complete with a visit from a real firetruck. You were obsessed with firetrucks. When we lived on Sylvania at this time, we were right across the street from the firehouse. Every day when you heard the siren, I would scoop you up and run to the front window so we could watch the firetruck go by. Your face always lit up with a big smile when you saw it.


You learned to use the potty just a few weeks after your second birthday. Later that year, you started preschool twice a week and you also moved into a big boy bed. We moved from our house on Sylvania to our current house, and you missed the firetrucks.


THREE

We had your third birthday at our house on Cinco de Mayo. It was a Mexican theme with Curious George, your favorite.


We had your party early that year because we took you on a very special 2 1/2 week trip to Thailand just a few days after your party. You LOVED flying in the airplanes and still talk about that trip today. One thing about you Elijah...you don't EVER forget anything. You remember so many things from when you were very young.
This year we said goodbye to your pacifier, and this was also the year that you became a big brother.


FOUR

Your fourth birthday party was at Trinity Park and was a Superman theme. You had only been a big brother for about 3 weeks but I could already tell what an awesome big brother you were going to be.


You loved school, playing with friends & cousins, riding your bicycle, being outside, asking me an endless list of questions, helping me with Judah, reading books, watching Curious George & Caillou, playing computer games, playing t-ball, swimming, pancakes, pretending to be a superhero and Star Wars, just to name a few.


FIVE

Today you are five. Mommy & Daddy can't believe it. We will celebrate your birthday on Saturday at Chuck E. Cheese with a Star Wars cake. Five of your favorite friends are coming. We have had a great birth day with you today though. Daddy took off work just so he could spend the day with you.



We sang Happy Birthday to you while you blew out the candles on your blueberry muffin.


We watched while you excitedly opened your Batman costume. You have been asking for one for months and we were so excited to give it to you!





Then we surprised you and took you to the zoo, which you have also been asking to do for quite some time. We had so much fun, and it was Judah's first time at the zoo.


You really liked the lion.


And Mommy really liked the flamingos.


You have so much to look forward to this year...Kindergarten, swim lessons, soccer, maybe you'll lose your first tooth and learn to ride your bike without training wheels. I just can't believe how big you are getting. Daddy and I are so proud of you, we love you and always pray that you will love God with all of your heart, soul and mind above everything else. We can't wait to see what He does with your persistence, compassion and love for life.

Happy 5th Birthday, Elijah! We love you!