Happy Birthday Elijah!!!

My son is 4 years old today. I can hardly believe it. He has a calander in his room that has special things you can put on it for Holidays and stuff, and I put a birthday candle on it for the 18th, and I put the Labor Day thing on there for the 16th and told him that was when I went to the hospital to have him! It is the first year he has understood what that means because he remembers when he had to wake up really early the morning I went to the hospital to have Aliyah!

Four years old is such a fun age. I took Lij to the play place at McDonald's today in South Bend while AJ was at class, and he was playing with another 4 year old and I could hear their conversation. They talk about all kinds of fun stuff, and it's just neat that they really can communicate with each other and play well together and understand each other.

I just wanted to tell you all some things that I love about my Lijinator because it's his birthday! Elijah is one of the sweetest boys I know, which always makes me laugh because he's also the craziest, most energetic boy I know. He loves helping people do things, though, and he is always the first to jump up to get Aliyah something if she starts crying. A couple weeks ago, I said something about how I needed to do the dishes and then I got distracted doing something else, and when I came into the kitchen, Elijah was standing on his stool doing dishes for me! It was just so sweet, and he was so proud of himself for helping me even when I didn't ask him to! :) He is always on the go...always making up new games to play or stories to tell. He has a great imagination and has come up with some pretty crazy stories that always make me laugh. He loves to read, although he can't really read himself yet, but we read him 3 books every night before he goes to sleep and I catch him in his room often reading the books himself. He likes to read to Aliyah, too. He will listen to us read her her little books and then he memorizes them and reads them to her himself! It's so cute. He has a love for learning, and I hope that I can do whatever it takes to keep that love alive! He likes to practice writing his letters and sounding them out. He also loves counting and can count to 100 all by himself! I guess I should probably teach him what comes after 100 sometime because I can tell he wants to keep going once he reaches 100! He also loves to go to Sunday School and learn about Jesus. I think his favorite thing they do in their Sunday School is sing because he always sings his songs on the way home from church! He also likes to memorize his verses!

Those are just a few things that make Elijah great. He really is the best son, and I'm so thankful that God gave him to us. It's so strange to think that when I was pregnant for him I really wanted a little girl, and was even a little disappointed right at first when I heard he was a boy. I can't imagine now NOT having my boy. He is such an important part of my life and the PERFECT first kid. I honestly don't think I could have made it through my year without AJ without my son. He is so special to me. I'm happy to have a daughter now, too, but I'm always so thankful that God gave me my boy first. :)

So...Happy Birthday Little Stinks! I love you so much!!!