Ladybug Party For Our "Bug"

We had Emma's first birthday party this past Saturday at my mom's house. 

We had family and close friends come to the party. Emma was a ladybug for her first Halloween and we call her bug, so we thought it would be cute to do her first birthday in a ladybug theme. We had red, black, and red and black polkadot balloons by the mailbox. As you walked up the sidewalk to the front steps there were bright yellow flowers with ladybug figures in the flowerpots and a cute sign that some sweet friends gave us after she was born.

We had red balloons with "Emma" written on them.

We had red with black polkadot fabric on two tables with several figurines and pictures.

 

 The ladybug theme continued through the kitchen with red punch, red and black sweet treats, a ladybug cake, and decorations in the coordinating colors. 

 

 

 

 I did a picture line of pictures of each month from her first year. 

My mom made chili and potato soup which was amazing! We ate and then let Emma (or myself) open gifts in her ladybug dress before we changed her into her smash cake outfit. She got a lot of cute clothes, money, some cute monogrammed items, and the cutest chair from OJan, Scott, and I. She loved sitting in the chair.

She tickled us by playing peek-a-boo during her present time.

Then we changed her into her ladybug shirt and polkadot leg warmers for her cake which we just knew she was going to smash and get everywhere. 

She pinched at it like a little lady and barely made a mess.

I did still give her a bath and once people started leaving, Aunt Brittany went to rock her. It didn't take long at all before Emma crashed and had a good nap.

It was a great party! So hard to believe we have already had her first birthday party. 

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Girl

Today was Emma's first birthday. I can remember like it was yesterday the day of her birth. We were exhausted, but so excited to meet our sweet baby. Still very thankful to this day that my mom stayed with us the first week with Emma!!! This past year has gone by faster than any other year I can think about. She has blessed us way more than we deserve! We are so thankful that God has called us to be her parents. We strive daily to be the best parents we can for Emma.

After I got off work today, we took Emma to get some ice cream. She loved it and even drank some coke which she loved too. Then we all went to my mom's to get ready for her big first birthday party which will be tomorrow. She has such a fun/funny personality!

Hello 2012

We started the year off by going to church. I kept four sweet Kindergarten kids this morning. Then we went to my moms for the day. We watched Beauty and the Beast. I can't wait to watch it with Emma one day. Lillie was over to play with Emma and stay the night with mom and Emma. Mom, Lillie, and I went to go get Krista a birthday present and pick up her cookie cake.

Tonight, mom cooked black eye peas, cream corn, fried chicken, rice, devil eggs, collard greens, and macaroni-n-cheese. It was all so great!! Then we had a cookie cake for Krista's birthday. Emma loved eating all the food and some of the cookie cake. This picture is before she spotted all of the food.

Emma thinks she is grown and only wants to drink from a straw if everybody else is drinking from a cup. She does not want anything to do with sippy cup when she sees us drinking from normal cups.

She was staring Josh down for some of his cookie cake. He was sweet and shared some with her. 

We all then hung out in the living room so we could continue to put together a 1500 hundred piece puzzle. The guys finished the outside edge before Scott and I left.

Lillie and Emma enjoyed writing on Emma's chalkboard table. I love how she is sitting up like such a big girl.

Then she wanted to help Lillie erase the table.

Mom is keeping Emma so hopefully Scott and I can sleep in a little bit in the morning. Today has been a great start to the new year!!

2011....Such a Great Year

We ended 2011 by going over to a friends house. She has had a group of us over for the past several years. We took chocolate chip cookies to add to the mix of food that would be there. We talked and played games. Emma was such a sweet girl. She never even fussed. She loved playing with the game cards. Scott, Emma, and I left around 11:30 to get her to sleep. Then Scott and I were able to watch the ball drop together.

This has been such a great year. We have been blessed in so many ways. The year started with us having a beautiful baby girl who has been such a blessing to us. Scott and I were able to go to Boston for a week with some good friends of ours. Emma stayed with my mom during that time. Then we experienced a week at the beach as a family. In July, I gained a great sister in law. I also started blogging this year. We experienced so many great things with Emma including her first Christmas! We have been so blessed this year. I can't wait to experience life with Emma in 2012!

Sweet girl playing under the bar stool while I was baking cookies.

Her Pink Caddy

Emma got a pink car from her Susi and Papi for Christmas. They came to visit us today. Gma Mary, Peyton, and Makayli came too. We took her outside to let her ride in her new car and Scott ran inside to get the camera. So glad he did! Emma was so relaxed in the car. She loves being outside anyways, so being outside and riding in her car made it that much better.

You can see her two top teeth that are coming through.

Four Christmases

Yes, we are like the movie. We have four different Christmases, but we did not do them all in one day like the movie. Our Christmases started with our annual Christmas Eve breakfast with my mom. We all went to eat at Pearly's and then headed to her house to exchange gifts. We enjoyed our time together. Emma and Uncle Brandon enjoyed playing on the keyboard together.

Then we headed to Moultrie to have Christmas with Scott's parents. Susan was busy cooking in the kitchen when we arrived. We hung out for awhile and then ate dinner. It was so good. I felt like it was Thanksgiving all over again. Mr. Joe always begins by reading Luke 2 and then we exchanged gifts with them. Emma got her a pink car that she loves!!

Joe and Susan did little gag gifts in our stockings with something that represented us.
It was cute. I got sunglasses since I love going to the beach!

We came home and opened our Christmas Eve pajamas and a few gifts to each other and got ready for Santa.

We woke up on Christmas morning ready to have our family Christmas before church. Of all mornings, Emma wanted to sleep in. We ended up having to wake her. It was priceless seeing Emma's face as she crawled into the living room. Her eyes got so big. Thankfully we have it on video. She loved her tent!! We had to take it back after Christmas because it was messed up and we got one we liked better. Then we got ready to go to church. What better place to be on Christmas morning than church. It was such a good message.

Then we came home so I could cook a hash brown casserole to take to my dad's. Our tradition with him is to eat breakfast type foods. We had our casserole, a grits casserole my brother made, ham, sausage, rolls, and then we always have rice. It is a tradition passed down from one of my mom's family members. Emma got this Violet bear that talks to Emma and we programmed it to say and spell her name.

She loved the cheesy puffs my dad put in her stocking!!

Christmas night, Scott's mom, Larry, and Chris came over to our house. We cooked spaghetti. Emma loved getting her dino that she can ride and then walk behind.

It was a very busy two days and it wore Emma out, but we had a good time with each family member. As Emma gets older, maybe next year, we want to start doing a birthday party for Jesus. It is a great reminder of what Christmas is really ALL about!!