Emmy turns 5!!!

I can't believe my sweet little Emmy is five years old!
This girl is growing up so fast. I'm loving her as a five-year-old.

On the morning of her birthday:

I made a special birthday hat for the special birthday girl.

Sisters!

We went and got manicures before preschool started (the bus comes to get her at 12:00) and Emmy LOVED it!  The girls just got their nails painted, but they felt fancy getting it done at a salon.

I took donuts and juice boxes to her class (Emmy's request) and she got to pass them out.

This is while everyone was singing Happy Birthday to her :)

Emmy with her teacher, Miss Kristy, and the aide's in her class

When daddy came home from work, she got to open her presents.  She was so excited to get Strawberry Shortcake!

After opening presents, we went to a movie (one of Emmy's very favorite things to do), had pancakes for dinner, per the birthday girl's request, and then went out for ice cream.  It was the perfect day for her!


The weekend after her birthday, we had a birthday party with all of her friends.  She wanted a Strawberry Shortcake party, so that's what we had!

The Strawberry Shortcake tablescape.
We decorated with Strawberry Shortcake pictures, lots of pink and green balloons, strawberry cupcakes and cups with fancy straws for the strawberry milk.

The kids got to color Strawberry Shortcake coloring pages . . .

. . . play Pin the Stem on the Strawberry . . .

 . . . and decorate flower wands.  You can't go wrong with 3 to 6 year olds when you have stickers, jewels and glitter.

Emmy opened presents then we got to serve the delicious strawberry cupcakes!

Yummy, yum-yum!
Homemade strawberry frosting!

No five-year-old birthday party is complete without a pinata.
Emmy busted it on her first try :)  Not to worry, though - Jake and Uncle Derek saved the day by jimmy-rigging it so the rest of the kids could have a turn.

Including Kate.  Um, Kate, you're supposed to hit the pinata with the other end of the bat . . .

And it was kid-chaos when the pinata broke for real and candy flew everywhere!

 List of kids from L to R:

Max, Addison, McKinley, Emmy, Megan, Ella, Lilly, Emma, Hannah, Madelyn and Kate hiding behind Madelyn

What a fun party!  Emmy had a blast!

With her new age, we are trying to get her to become more independent.  We've started giving her chores (putting the silverware away, making her bed in the morning and putting her folded laundry away) and she's become such a good helper.  She loves helping!  That will be nice when we add to our family . . . don't worry, we're not making any announcements :)

Emmy Turns 3!!!

{Happy Birthday, Emmy!!!}

Our lives were changed forever three years ago when we welcomed this beautiful, spunky, entertaining girl into our lives . . .

 

 

Emmy's birthday started out w/ Jake and I going into her room with some balloons and singing Happy Birthday to her.  The balloon we got her is a HUGE princess castle balloon.  She had seen it at Walmart last week and shown it to me.  So I had to go back and get it for her!

 

We let her open one present when she woke up.  We got her Snow White and this was her reaction when she opened it:

She watched her movie and was immediately singing like Snow White.  Today at church, while they were passing the Sacrament, Emmy started singing, "aaah ha ha!  aaaah ha ha!" like Snow White.  It was hilarious.  We never know what song will come out of her mouth during church.  Sometimes its Phantom, sometimes it's the ABC's, today it was Snow White :)  She is our little singer!

We just had a family party this year.  My friend, Jessica, made this adorable cake for Emmy.  Thanks, Jess!  Emmy loved it!

My sister's kids w/ Emmy eating pizza

 

If you've read my blog for a while, you know that Emmy loves The Phantom.  She has a slip-dress that she calls her "Christine dress".  I decided to get her a better "Christine dress" for her birthday.  She loved it!  She had to put it on as soon as she opened it.  Today, she told me she wanted to put on her "Big Christine dress" as opposed to her little slip.

Emmy putting on her "Christine dress"

Here she is blowing out her candle

Emmy got this princess castle tent for her bday, too.

She shared her new dress and let Ella wear it :)  

Emmy loves playing Doctor with random objects.  It was finally time to get her a Doctor's kit.  It was a big hit!  She and Ella started playing Doctor on each other and on Kate.

Emmy kept saying she was "Dr. Darlene" - she's the Nurse Practitioner that works at the Pediatrition's office that Jake works at.  Notice the frosting on her face?

Ella checking Kate's cheek

Emmy, er, Dr. Darlene, trying to give Kate a shot in the leg

We ended the day at Grammy and Papa's house sipping hot chocolate and roasting marshmallows.  What a fun day!

Hot chocolate w/ a straw -why not?

Kate and Grammy by the fire

 

Emmy has filled our lives with so many challenges, but so much joy!  She found a place in our hearts and we will never be the same.

 

Happy birthday, sweet girl!  We love you!

And I had to add this last pic because I got a new 'do!  I was really sick of my hair and so my sister cut bangs for me!  I really like it and got a lot of compliments at church today - that always reassures me when I do something drastic :)

Princess Party!

We had Emmy's party on Saturday. We had a Princess Party since she loves Ariel, Cinderella and Belle! Emmy had so much fun with her friends!

Emmy's friends and cousins. From top left: Max (with his back to us), Mary (not a kid, Emmy's aunt :) ), Ellie, Emit, Emma, Ella, Dylan and Emmy. I didn't get a pic with all of the kids. We're missing Emmit in the pic. Yes, there were six kids whose names started with the letter "E" :)

To start off the party, all the kids decorated tiaras (I had car stickers for the boys so they could have a prince crown). Then they all got to sit on a blanket while I read them a princess story. Then we ate food, mingled and I put on Sleeping Beauty for the kids. After we all ate some good snacks, we opened presents and had cake. Jessica made this aDoRaBlE princess cake! All the kids absolutely loved it! When Jess brought it in, all the kids followed her to the table and Emmy kept trying to grab it. She just loved it! Thanks, Jess!

The beautiful princess birthday cake!

Emmy opening presents

Thanks to all of Emmy's friends and family for making her birthday so special!

This is Emmy on Friday after she opened her presents from mom and dad. She got a bunch of dress-up clothes that she never wants to take off!

Happy Birthday, Emmy!

Two years ago, our sweet little Emmy was born! She was 7 lbs, 4 oz of pure joy. Our lives haven't been the same since. She has filled our lives with such happiness and love. She makes us laugh everyday. Thank you, Emmy, for changing our lives for the better! When she was born, she definitely looked like her dad. She looked like she was straight from the Chilean mountains! She is such a beautiful, spunky, happy girl and we love her so much! Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Who doesn't look at this and smile? :)