Here Comes the Sun!

Spring is coming!

Emma is One!

Emma turned one today, and we spent the day celebrating!

We ate a lot of good food including some of Emma's favorites - banana pancakes, Mexican food, spaghetti, and cake.

We spent the afternoon at the zoo, and we all had such a fun time. Emma loved waving to the animals and even cried when we walked away from some of them.

This mama orangutan is holding a five week old baby! They were especially fun to watch.

We ended the day with presents. Emma surprisingly loved her new bike helmet!

We had a great day celebrating our little birthday girl!

Emma's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated one year of sweet Emma today with a house full to the brim with family.

Emma tried to blow out her candle and LOVED her cake! She even licked the plate clean.

She got so many great presents, and she actually helped open most of them.

Thanks to everyone who helped make her party and her first year so fun!

Best Buds

Both of Max's preschool days this week have been snow days. I asked him if he was sad that he didn't get to go to school, and he said, "No, now I get to play with Natalie!" And play they did. Their relationship ebbs and flows, but right now they're in a really good spot, and I'm soaking it in. 

This is exactly how I found them playing. Sitting in the same chair. 

They watched a bit of the Olympic luge competition over the weekend, and this is their attempt at recreating it on our icy driveway:

Homework

Space is the theme for the next couple weeks at preschool. Max and Natalie were excited to create their planet pages for the space book that Ms. Larisa has planned.

This one is out of focus and no one is looking at me, but I love that little Emma ran by just in time!

Bookworms

Lately Natalie and Max can't seem to get ready in the morning without stopping for a story or two or three.

Emma's One Year Pictures

I'm in love with all of Emma's one year pictures! Pam did such a great job capturing her little personality. The rocking chair in the first few pictures was given to Emma's great-great-grandma O'Brien on her second birthday, which makes it 120 years old! 

Click here for Pam's blog post with all of the photos from Emma's session.

I tried to pick a few of my favorites to post and ended up with more than a few!