Emma Victoria: 8 years old

8 years old - how can it be?

At 8 years old, Emma is 45 pounds and 47 inches!

1.  What is your favorite color?  purple

2.  What is your favorite toy?  Scrunchies-making kit 

3.  What is your favorite fruit?  raspberries

4.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  corn

5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cheerios 

6.  What is your favorite thing to eat for supper?  peas

7.  What is your favorite thing to drink? root beer

8.  What is your favorite snack?  Goldfish 

9.  What is your favorite show? Tom & Jerry 

10.  What are your favorite clothes to wear? pajamas (She likes long nightgowns the best!)

11. What is your favorite animal?  giraffe

12.  What is your favorite song? "Ariel" (I think she means "Under the Sea" or "Part of Your World")

13.  What is your favorite book?  "Anne" (I think she means an Anne of Green Gables child book we have.)

14. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  date

15.  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  cleaning

16.  What is your favorite thing to do outside? scooter

17.  What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas

18.  What is your favorite thing to take to bed with you each night? Samson

19.  Where is your favorite place to go?  Sonic

20.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  a mom

(She also recently told me she wants to be a baby nurse when she grows up, and she said she will "look for Randy and Fabian" when she's a nurse.)

Emma lost so many teeth this year!

One of my favorite times of the day is when we read and snuggle together at bedtime.

sweet girls in coordinating Matilda Jane 

looking at samples for customers with Daddy on a Saturday morning

Emma's 8th Birthday

We celebrated with a #8 pancake for breakfast!  Pop and Mom-o joined us that weekend for a birthday dinner with homemade ice cream cake.  She put all the sprinkles on top herself.

We had a balance the ping-pong ball game at Emma's party!

 We celebrated with some of Emma's friends a few weeks later!  Dave and Isaac were at Frontier Camp, so it was a perfect weekend to have a house full of girls.  Emma woke up early and wanted to wear this dress from the Daddy-Daughter Dance.  She wanted to write out out signs for her cupcakes!  The girls played a relay game and painted initial canvasses.  

Emma Victoria: 14 Months

 Our sweet little girl turned 14 months old this past weekend.  

Emma may be tiny (just barely 16 pounds), but she is FAST!  Apparently, her favorite new game is hiding from Mommy.  :)  In the past few weeks, her new hiding places seem to be any closet and the master bathroom shower. 

checking out the hall closet

"Peek-a-boo, Mommy!  I'm hiding in your closet!"

"And now I'm in your shower!"

All of a sudden, Emma also loves to climb...on the train table, on the dishwasher, on the picnic table, into the bookcase, on the kitchen island, and in the play structure outside.  Whew!  Yes, some days I don't know if I could be any more tired, but I wouldn't trade this busy time of motherhood for anything.  I've never been so thankful to be so tired.

Emma has not yet started walking, though she is starting to get into a standing position completely on her own.  Every time Emma stands by herself, Isaac claps for her.  "Mommy, she's doing it," he shrieks!  I think Isaac will be her biggest cheerleader when she does begin taking steps.  :)

Emma is also starting to feed herself with a spoon...it's quite messy, but she is figuring it out! Her favorite foods seem to be pancakes and yogurt, but she will try almost anything.  

We love our Emma! 

Emma's First Birthday

We loved celebrating Emma's birthday on Saturday with many of our family and friends who love her!  Since we found out about Emma last Valentine's Day, I didn't think twice about picking a theme...a Valentine party was perfect!  

our little Valentine--we love this sweetheart!

Smiling with Daddy before the guests arrived!

I had so much fun planning Emma's party!

"a year of firsts"--I found this idea from here

I found the rosette cake idea for Emma's smash cake from this pin--my sister sent me several frosting tips in the mail and convinced me I could do this.  :)  Let's just say she answered a lot of (sometimes frantic) phone calls over the past week regarding cake decorating--she's the best! 

I got the conversation heart & wand idea from this pin.

Both my mom & my mother-in-law helped me prepare for the party.  My mom came over the day before the party and wrapped silverware, chopped vegetables, and washed all the serving dishes.  My mother-in-law and I spent most of Saturday in the kitchen together--she washed tons of dishes, assembled six pans of chicken spaghetti, and--most importantly--made her infamous cream puffs for the party.    I couldn't have done it all without either of them--or Dave, who stood on our island and hung poms and hearts for nearly an hour one night!  :)  

little friends enjoying their supper

I love how Emma crawled over to the picnic table to join the big kids!

After dinner, we asked our family & friends to pray with us.  We prayed for blessing and health upon Emma for the next year and for wisdom as we parent her.  I love how Isaac is holding Emma's arm as we prayed over her.  We are so thankful for our daughter and are learning every day how we need God's strength and grace in parenting our children.

And then, it was time for CAKE!

 "Happy Birthday to you..."

Isaac was so anxious to be right by Emma when we sang to her and brought out her cake.  (Actually, that is an understatement--my mom said he was starting to cry when we all started to sing "Happy Birthday" because he wanted to be right next to her.)  Of course, Isaac helped her blow out her candle....and then asked if he could lick the frosting off of it.  :)

Yum!  Emma loved it!

Dave's youngest brother--affectionately known to Isaac and Emma as "Uncle Mike"--is here visiting us in Texas!  We loved having him at Emma's party!

For such a little girl, she ate a lot of it...of course, we found plenty of frosting in her highchair & on her outfit, too.  :)

opening a few presents

Our friend Shamron made Emma this incredible handmade cross--it will look beautiful in her room!

Emma with her Great-Grandma Joan

Emma with her Mom-o, Papa Kal, Papa Rinn, & Nana! 

How special that they could all be at Emma's party to celebrate her!

Emma received this new slide from my parents!  She smiles this big every time she slides down it!  It's hard to believe that soon Emma will be able to climb up the stairs of it herself!!

For Isaac's first birthday, Papa & Nana gave him a Pottery Barn stuffed chair.  Lately, we noticed how small it was for him!  So, they purchased Emma a new pink cover to use on Isaac's chair for her first birthday and then bought Isaac a larger chair from Pottery Barn!  They're so cute in their chairs from Papa & Nana!

Another special gift was this bouquet of flowers that Emma's birth family sent to her on her birthday!  We think of Emma's birth family often and know that our great joy comes at their sacrifice.  We love them!

 

What a sweet year it has been with our Emma!

Happy Birthday, Emma Victoria!  We love you!