A couple of weeks ago Mark decided to pull out his guitar and play some music. So I pulled out Em’s “band in a box” for her to play along with him. She had a blast.
(please excuse the weird pictures, I was playing with camera settings—not very effectively it seems)
She kept sticking the kazoo and harmonica in Mark’s mouth.
She helped him strum.
We all had fun. It did my heart good to watch. I took video. I’m thinking it’s just too awesome for the internet though.
Marks sister Kayla is known for her love of books. Lately, Emma has been really into her books. So I tagged Kayla on facebook in a picture of Emma. Well, actually, it was this picture of Emma under her table looking at her books. I’ve found her under there more than once.
Shortly after that picture went up on facebook, a package arrived in the mail for Emma.
It had a note from Aunt KK.
And a book.
And chocolate coins!!
The bubble wrap packaging is fun for a two year old. (And I may or may not have popped it too….)
The book was “Happy Hippo, Angry Duck” by Sandra Boyton. It’s a cute book, and has become Em’s absolute favorite book. She brings it to me to read almost every day. :)
Thanks Aunt KK!
I got these sparkly red shoes on clearance at Walmart last year. I tried them on her this summer, and they fit. She wore them a few times, and every time, someone would comment on how they looked like Dorothy’s ruby red shoes. And a costume idea was born.
So we had the shoes, we had the tights, we had the white shirt. I needed a dress. I found light blue gingham on sale… once again at Walmart, for 1.50 a yard, buttons for .67, a thrift store basket for .50, and a little stuffed puppy for 3.00. All in all a pretty cheap costume. We ended up seeing lots of other Dorothy costumes, but I thought Em was the cutest. Not like I’m biased or anything.
I’m not huge into Halloween, but we took Em out trick or treating up and down our little street. She did great. It was fun to experience it with her. We got back at about 7. She started crying saying she had to go potty. When I took her in the bathroom she whimpered “night, night.” She kept at it and was quite insistent. So we did our bedtime routine…. a full hour earlier than normal. Now understand this, my kid NEVER wants to go to bed. She usually puts up some sort of fight, and I honestly can’t think of a time in the last year and a half that she was asleep at 7:30 pm. She ended up sleeping for 14 hours straight. That walk up and down the street must have just worn her out!
TWO YEARS OLD!!!! A princess party is in order. What’s the first thing you need for a princess party? I’d say a dress.
So how cute is this for a princess dress?? My friend Kristy made it for Emma for her birthday.
Look at the beautiful details.
Emma’s friends Hudson and Tate delivering the princess dress before the party.
While Emma was napping before the party, I was busy filling up balloons. Fifty of them! :)
A chair fit for a birthday princess. Made by mommy of course.
Em’s little friend Lily. Isn’t she adorable?
The princess makes her entrance.
It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to. (Really she was just sad that someone needed to use her bedroom for a minute to wrap a gift. She thought they were playing in there without her.)
The cake. This was a real team effort. The base cake was a Costco cake. I got that, really just because I like them. They are tasty. The princess cake I made and put the fondant on ahead of time. The flowers I made ahead of time too. I ran out of time just before the party, Em’s Grandee (my mom) finished putting everything together. My dear friend Kristy made the chocolate mold crowns ahead of time. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
Our little family. This makes my heart tingle.
The spread. Finger foods, lemonade and cake. What more could you ask for?
Friends and family together to celebrate Emma.
Every princess needs a tool pouch, right?
What a great day. I was sad that several people weren’t able to make it to the party. But I was thankful for everyone who did come. Especially the Aunts that had a long drive!
(A special thank you to my mom, Kristy and of course Mark for all of your help with the party!)
One leg of our family journey was Embryo Adoption {Embryo Donation}. Pictured above is a day 3 embryo--3 days after conception, as small as the period at the end of a sentence, and it IS LIFE! Because each one is unique, frozen embryos are sometimes called Snowflakes {Snowflakes is the name of an Embryo Adoption program through Nightlight Christian Adoption}, or Frosties. We had seven frosties, frozen at day 3, and donated by one couple, and 6 other frosties from another couple. We have had three separate embryo transfers, with three embryos transferred each time. One transfer resulted in a pregnancy. Unfortunately that baby, that we later named Bella Hope, went to heaven shortly before the end of the first trimester.
