1st Birthday Party!!

Emily's party was yesterday and it was AWESOME! We had SUCH a good time and had a huge turnout! Paul's family (Granny, Grandaddy, and Grandma) came down yesterday morning and had tons of food with them- pigs in a blanket, chicken salad, Waldorf salad (my FAVORITE!!!!!), croissants, meatballs, and chili/cheese dip. Friday night I put Betty Crocker to SHAME with my fantastic baking skills- I made pecan bars, lemon bars, cupcakes, and rice krispies, which I cut into shapes and then pressed a pretzel into the end to look like a magic wand. :) We had punch and all kinds of pop, and had a big cake for everyone and a little one for the princess.

Emily woke up feeling very clingy and sad- I was so upset but she took a nap and was a happier kid when she got up. We had a ton of people show up- nearly everyone we invited, so about 35 people! Our house was PACKED! And, we had a HUGE surprise-- our old neighbors Aaron and Terri and their daughter Ashtan DROVE DOWN from Huntington (4 hours each way!) to be with us for Em's birthday. We were stunned! I had my back to the garage inside door in our kitchen and I thought I heard Aaron's voice and turned around and BAM- there they were! It was so nice of them to come and surprise us- we never expected it!

Emily got 1 million presents (exactly). It was so funny though- Paul and I sat down on the floor to try to open the presents with her and all she wanted to do was play with her OLD toys!! It was hilarious- she would cry every single time he tried to reposition her so she could "help" us. But we had a ball opening all her cool stuff!


All in all- it was a crazy day but so much fun. I am waaay glad it is over though- I was so worn out from all the chaos!!!

HUGE thanks to all of you who came or were thinking of us - we soooooooooooooooooo appreciate it and we know our girl is blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Ya’ll are the BEST!

ONE YEAR OLD!!!!

Hip hip hooray! Emily is one today! We have a fun day planned for her- I took the day off from work and Paul is post-call so he’ll be home around lunchtime. We’re taking her to a bakery to pick out her very first cupcake and we’ll let her eat it this afternoon. Here’s a synopsis of Emily’s big day:



It started out with a yummy breakfast, followed by some playtime:



Then Daddy came home and he took a nap while Mommy and Emily went to the store to pick up PARTY supplies for Saturday!

When Daddy woke up we drove to the bakery for Emily to pick out her cupcake. However, she (who had refused to nap ALL DAY LONG) fell asleep in the car, so Mommy had to go in and pick out the cupcake while Daddy stayed in the car with Sleeping Beauty. Bummer!! I had really wanted some pics in the bakery but what can ya do?

We took Emmy out for birthday dinner (no, we didn’t tell the waitress it was her birthday for fear of some crazy song by the waitstaff that might scare her!) When we got home, it was CUPCAKE TIME!



At first she started gently touching it:



But it quickly turned into my worst nightmare....dirty hands!



Finally we cleaned her up and got her ready for bed (in her hippo princess jammies, no less!) A quick nighttime hug from Mommy and Daddy, a few jumps in the bed, and she was out. Good night, one year old!! :)





(Yes, I had been crying. I had just read her Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, the same book we read to her the night we brought her home from the hospital...major tears ensued!!!)

Closet Clean- Out!

This morning I spent some time going through Emily’s closet- with her birthday approaching I knew her wardrobe was in need of a major overhaul. I pulled out ALL the clothes labeled 6-9 months and only left in a few warmer-weather clothes (with this crazy NC weather it is 60 today but could be 90 tomorrow!) Emily, of course, did her very best to “help” me, a term I’m using quite loosely. At first she simply was content to watch me pull the clothes off the hanger. Then she proceeded to “help” me by pulling down all the hangers I had just emptied- see them scattered everywhere?



After that little bit of fun it was time for me to put them into a big Rubbermaid tote-- this makes the third one (in the biggest size available!) that we have filled. Here’s a snapshot of what went in the tote today-



Essentially everything you see here (about 90 items or so!) went into the tote. Well, sort of. You see, Emily wasn’t done “helping” yet so I had to deal with her taking this pile, tossing it all over the room, and then when I was trying to quickly fold the clothes and put them in, she decided that she absolutely NEEDED to take them back OUT! I wish we had had the video camera set up- it was hilarious!.

Finally, though, she gave up and went off to play with her toys so I was able to get all the items into the tote:



Complete with hangers for the next time I open it. With all the clothes this kid has, we had better have a girl next time!

8 Days to Go!

I just simply cannot believe that Emmy is almost a year old...I just can’t! So hard to believe that a week from tomorrow she is officially my “toddler” and not my “baby”...although she will always be my baby! :)

A Brand New View

After much deliberation Paul and I decided to turn Emily’s car seat to the forward-facing position. Why? Poor Emily has been sitting in almost the fetal position with her legs all scrunched up, which of course makes her much less than tolerable to have in the car. She has been crying every day on our 5 minute ride to the babysitter’s, on the way home, and any other time we put her in the car. We can’t take it anymore! :) Yesterday we turned her seats around (and installed her new car seat into Paul’s car) and took her for a drive. She was actually pretty UN-excited, which kind of shocked us, given how happy she is about things usually.


Today of course we’ll be back in the car so we’ll see if she is happier. I certainly feel better knowing her legs aren’t crowded and that she can actually feel the air conditioning or heater when it’s on the car- poor thing is always burning up or freezing cold because it takes a long time for the temperature to even out.


It’s hard to believe that we even had the option to turn her, because that’s just one more reminder that she is ALMOST ONE!! I have been very emotional lately thinking about her growing up...it seems like only yesterday that she was still tucked in my tummy. It’s just a big reminder of how quickly a year goes by, I guess!


One other exciting thing- I checked out a different party store in town and found all the decorations I had wanted for Em’s party but wasn’t willing to buy and have shipped here (too expensive!) for HALF PRICE! This store sells every part of the set I wanted for 50% of what it was going to cost me, plus there’s no shipping since it’s just here in town and I can pick it up myself. Woo hoo!!!

11 Months Old!

Can you believe it? Emily is 11 months old! She is growing bigger and wilder every day. As I mentioned previously, she is now cruising through the house and getting into lots of mischief! :) She has begun making us play pat-a-cake (she claps our hands together for us!) and also plays peek a boo with us too! She is trying new foods including.....cow’s milk! We have started the transition from formula to milk and so far all seems to be going well. She likes milk although I’m not sure how well it will be received once it’s not mixed with formula and is COLD. Typically cold items are quickly rejected by Emmy so we’re anxious to see what happens when she is presented with cold milk in a cup.

Speaking of cups, we are also trying to phase out her bottle, beginning this week. I am hopeful by her birthday that she’ll only have the bottle for one meal/ day. Here’s to hoping!

Last weekend we enjoyed a visit by Emily’s godfather Ryan. He is now stationed close to us in North Carolina so we are so excited to have him with us again. Also, Granny and Grandaddy and Grandma Frances stopped by on their way to the beach and Em got to “drive” Grandaddy’s motorcycle!! She was so excited and was bouncing around on it...so funny!

For her “Month Day” we bought Emily a car!! She got the Step 2 cruising buggy in pink and purple and L-O-V-E-S it!! New pics in her Month 12 album....so cute!

One last funny thing-- I bought Emmy a baby toothbrush hoping that she would let me brush these 3.5 sparkling chompers she has....but she would much rather brush MY teeth with it! Her godmother Valerie recommended a different kind than what I bought (she likes the baby Orajel rubbery one) so I bought it and will try it tonight.

Cruising!

That’s right-- we are even more mobile now! Emily is cruising! Tonight she went from toy to toy “walking” along. It won’t be long until the real walking begins...oh lucky, lucky us! Haha! She’s 11 months in just 5 days....can you believe it?