Happy 7th birthday, Elijah!

I love birthdays. It is so important for me to make our boys'  birthdays as special as possible. While Elijah was at school this morning I ran around town like a chicken with my head cut off, purchasing balloons and cake mixes and wrapping paper. I'm a last-minute gal! :)

We started the day off with a pancake breakfast! A shirtless one!

Elijah had requested lemon cupcakes, so they were awaiting him upon his return home from school. In the shape of the number 7, of course.

When he saw his stack of gifts, he said, "THANK YOU for the birthday surprises, guys! How nice! I'm so happy!" :)

I LOVE seeing genuine smiles on our boys' faces. This is greatness!

One of our gifts to Elijah was a knock-knock jokes book. He LOVES telling (and hearing) jokes, so this will be fun.

Enjoying a lemon cupcake with fart gun close by. Yes, a fart gun. His favorite gift, by far.

I love this happy face!

Have I mentioned lately how adorable Sammy is? He has been sick recently, so he's been SASSY. But normally...oh man, is he a sweet and handsome one. And SO very funny.

Look at those beautiful brown eyes!

Ok, this was NOT staged! :) Dan was doing something or another and Sammy came up behind him in a timely manner and shot the Fart Gun right into his backside. This is my life with boys! Constant potty talk and potty behavior! :)

After all of the love we gave to 300 Pillow Pets, Elijah and Sammy each found favorites. We got each of their favorites for them for E's birthday. Eljiah's was the red dragon (Fiery) and Sammy's was the puppy (Arfy).

Dan, putting together Elijah's Lego Movie lego castle. So intent. And with such huge hair. :)

Sammy with the Fart Gun. So serious!

And handsome!

This is the scene outside our home. The snow continues to fall and we expect to be completely snowed in by the morning, as we listen to the snowplows work almost constantly outside.

Elijah wanted to pose with his Fart Gun! :)

It is almost impossible to comprehend where we were at seven years ago today. We have all come so far since that day. We would not be the same people/family without the experiences we have endured since February 20th, 2007. Our journey has been INCREDIBLE! We are thankful and grateful and we wouldn't want it to happen any other way (aside from taking away the pain Elijah has experienced).

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY, ELIJAH! We love you more than you will ever know, sweet boy of ours.

Dan's mom, who we love so very much, put together a very special memory book for Elijah from our trip to Florida in December. It is AMAZING! We have all looked through it thoughtfully, carefully and tearfully. It was such an incredible trip and we appreciate her efforts so much! Thank you, Grandma! We love you!!

Elijah is looking forward to his family birthday party on Sunday, when we will eat Minion cupcakes and play silly games. Thanks, as always, for checking in on us!