Happy First Birthday, Emma!

What an amazing year it has been! I am incredibly grateful to be celebrating Emma's first birthday. She's healthy, she's growing, she brings us more joy than we ever dreamed. Looking back at pictures from when she was a newborn, it's already hard to imagine her being that small. We love you, sweet Emma! Thank you, God, for blessing Emma this year and for blessing us with such a wonderful miracle.

Will Crawl for Piano

This month Emma started crawling with more proficiency. She still doesn't seem to want to travel more than what is necessary. She has to have a goal in sight or she'll just be content to sit and chill where she's at. So I have to clear away almost all her toys and put just one out for her to actually go for it. Here's a video of her getting motivated to play with her piano.

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter this year. As I went through the day I was constantly thinking about Easter last year when Emma surprised us by coming into the world six weeks early. I think Easter will always be extra special for me because of that. It's amazing how much she's grown and changed since that day. I love each stage as it comes, and I miss the old stages when they go. Well, I miss some things. I'm pretty happy to say goodbye to multiple night-time feedings! But I do miss the days when she was so cuddly. Now she's too busy to cuddle!

We started the day with cinnamon rolls (Emma's a fan!) and church. After church, Aunt April and Uncle Steve came over to celebrate with us. We had a great dinner together and then the big kids played games while Emma napped. Later in the afternoon we went to the park to enjoy the amazing weather.

I posted some pictures on Facebook but thought I'd put some here too. Included is a picture of Emma unwrapping her gift from Aunt Lynnell. Nelly has decided to give Emma her birthday gifts on Easter so here's Emma unwrapping her quillow. It's a quilt that you can fold up into itself to make a cushy pillow. Emma loves it, it's so cozy :-)

Pics of the Week

Emma and I are loving this warm spring weather and are taking opportunities to play outside whenever we can. She loves to play with grass. Seriously, one blade of grass can occupy her for a good 10 minutes. Emma also LOVES to play with Dan's iphone. If you haven't checked out the "zoo sounds" app, it's pretty entertaining. I am actually pretty surprized by the sound a zebra makes. It's more of a donkey sound than a horse...who knew?! Anyways, all that outside play gets her pretty worn out...