Happy 1st Birthday Emma

Well, its official... Emma is no longer a baby.  I've found myself clinging to the less than 12 month answer when people ask me how old she is... but now I just say "she's 1." :-(  How can 365 days pass so quickly!?!

On Emma's actual birthday we kept things pretty low key.  We sang to her, let her see a candle burning on a cupcake, and opened some presents that had arrived for her.  I'm not so sure she knew what was going on... but she did like seeing new books/toys.  It was fun to talk about all the future birthdays and how we wanted to spend them as a family. 

Of course a doctor's appointment was in order to celebrate this milestone... Dr. H said she looks great.  Here's her latest stats;

Weight: 17lb 10oz (5%)

Height: 29" (50%)

Head: 18.25" (80%)

We celebrated Emma's birthday with family the weekend afterwards and it was great fun.  I had been brainstorming about this party for awhile and didn't get to do everything I had thought about... but it was good enough for a 1 year old.  (can't overdo myself too early)  We picked a ladybug theme.  Long story short... Emma has a sweet book that talks about when ladybugs land and decide to stay.  And then one day we went to the lake (when she was 5 months old) and a ladybug did decide to land and stay.  The ladybug hung out on Emma's hat and both of them were quite content.  We actually found the ladybug had packed herself up in our backpack and came home with us!  Emma has always seemed to smile when looking at ladybugs in books too. 

Emma had a yummy meal of chick-fil-a nuggets and mashed potatoes for her birthday, following by her own ladybug cake.  We didn't know how she would do with the cake... but let's say she was nothing short of professional.  It was shocking... it's like she's done it before.  We played a guessing game where we put photos in order of her age over the past year.  And Emma (along with her very willing friends and cousins) opened gifts.  It was a great night with lots of laughter and lots of fun.  We are so happy to see our little one celebrate this milestone. 

I added lots of photos for family that couldn't be here...

Emma's outfit for the big event!

Emma's birthday sign!

Photo game

Is that for me?!?

Yummy!

All who attended.  Looks like Haven and Emma are hearing something.

Watching the gifts being opened.

I know I've said it before, but we really do feel so honored to be Emma's parents.  We already feel like its passing too quickly.  We also feel so blessed to have such encouraging family and friends to help us while we stumble along the road of parenthood.  We could not have made it through the first year without you!