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!

 

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Emma's Corner

Emma's favorite spot in the house (other than the toilet, the dishwasher, the bunk beds, and the basement) is this little space between our entryway table and the living room wall. She often drags her toys over there to play in the corner by herself. It's just her size and somewhat removed from the craziness of the rest of the house.

Monday Smiles

Baby Monkey

Natalie and Max are climbers. They always have been. At surprisingly young ages, they learned to climb the kitchen cabinets and the tallest monkey bars at the park. I'm afraid Emma has them beat, though. These days Emma lives to climb. She climbs everything. Her newest and most terrifying feat is the big kids' bunk beds! She can climb the ladder all the way to Natalie's bed up top. I was standing behind her to catch her if she fell, and my stomach sank a couple times while watching her, but Sister climbed to the top like it was her job. Chris has since removed the bottom step of the ladder, so only kids with long legs can climb it!

Piggy Tails

Pierced Ears!

Last week Natalie decided that she was ready to get her ears pierced. She had been saying for a while that she wanted to do it for her sixth birthday, but last weekend she decided that she wanted them pierced before she went to kindergarten. I asked if she wanted to wait until this summer or if she wanted to get them pierced soon, and she was really surprised and excited about the possibility of getting them done sometime this week.

We made plans to take a girls trip to Wichita for earrings, lunch, and shopping, and we have been excited about it all week! Natalie invited Emma to come along on the girls trip, and Max got to have a boys day with Chris that included Legos, Transformers, and Braums.

Natalie was a little nervous, and the piercing hurt more than she expected, but she was so brave! Apparently they usually pierce both ears at the same time with kids Natalie's age, but only one girl was working in the store this morning, so Natalie had hers pierced one at a time. She held back a couple tears after the first ear was pierced, held my hand, and didn't hesitate to get the second ear done.

She picked out a few pairs of fun earrings that she can wear once the piercings are healed in three weeks, and she is already making plans for which ones she's going to wear to special events like Max's birthday party and the local Easter egg hunt. When I told her that she needs to wear them all the time, even to bed, she excitedly said, "Now I'll be beautiful even when I sleep!" What a fun age, and what a fun day!