Emersyn is 1!!!!!!!!!!!

What a year it has been!  I truly believe Emersyn was sent to us by God to be the bright spot in an otherwise difficult, emotional year.  She has been sooooo sweet, sooooo happy, and sooooo much fun.  Madeline has been the BEST big sister and if I could, I would press rewind and start her first year over again.  But, unfortunately that is not possible, so we'll just savor the moments of babyhood that are left.  We had a nice celebration with our families on Saturday and then we went to the waterpark on her actual birthday, just the four of us.  I made her a really cool rainbow cake (Maddie helped) and she enjoyed eating it. 

Still crawling everywhere...not yet walking!

Grandma and her girls



Cheesy grin

Rainbow cake

Easter Portraits

I took the girls to our favorite portrait place for pictures.  At Christmas, Emersyn was all smiles in just about every single picture.  But Madeline had either a cheesy smile, her eyes closed, or just a goofy face in a lot of them, so it made it easier to choose.  Well this time, Maddie smiled so naturally the whole time, but our little smiley Emmie was Miss Serious.  She wasn't upset, just sucking on her bottom lip and staring at the photographer with concentration.  So again, it was somewhat easy to choose.  We got Emmie to crack lots of smiles despite her serious mood by singing our version of Justin Bieber's song, "Baby, baby, baby, Emmie...baby, baby, baby, Emmie!"  Here are my favorites!

Oh, Where Did the Last 3 Months Go?

I just looked at the date from my last post and it was almost exactly 3 months ago.  I cannot believe it.  I decided to do just one big catch-up post.  I was so good about documenting all of Madeline's milestones, funny stories, etc.  So I need to record some of Emersyn's highlights so I won't forget.  She continues to be an absolutely delightful, happy baby.  She isn't quite as mellow and quiet as she used to be, but happy, happy, happy.  She has found her voice and tries to compete with Maddie (usually in the car or at the dinner table), but has a way to go since Maddie continues to be a chatterbox.  She says "guess what" just about every time she tells us something and is very into saying "watch this" all day long to show us a new dance move, a karate kick, a drawing, anything.  And if I had a dime for every time she said, "pretend", we'd be rich!
Emersyn, in the last 3 months, has learned lots of new things.  She claps, waves, is now crawling all over, puts her hands up over her head for "so big!", blows kisses and LOVES to eat real food.  We made our own pureed baby food for her this time around and we're having trouble finishing it all, because she just wants to feed herself finger foods.  Sometimes it seems like she'll keep on eating if we keep on giving it to her.     
Madeline continues to be the sweetest big sister.  She really loves Emmie and is amazingly tolerant of getting her hair pulled, shares her toys, and makes Em giggle lots.  She is also a big help by alerting me when Emersyn is doing anything that might possibly be a no-no.  Here are some pictures from the past 3 months.  It seems like I always take pictures on Sunday mornings when we're just hanging out, so they're always in their PJ's.

  Meeting baby Avery Grace!  Such an angel!

Here's a picture of Maddie in this same outfit!

Yep...same baby 10 months ago....sigh

Loves to scrunch her nose when she smiles

 Sooooo big!

"Even though I'm moving lots now, I'm still a rolly, polly!" Check out those rubber band wrists!

In My Daughter's Eyes

This has been one of the most up and down times of my life for sure.  I seem to be constantly switching hats these days from Mom, to PT, to wife, to daughter and each of these roles brings with it joy, stress, bliss, worry, frustration, peace, gratitude, and the list of feelings and emotions goes on.  There is no doubt about it though, I am so blessed to have the best husband, an amazing family, supportive friends and coworkers, a wonderful boss, and of course Madeline and Emersyn.  Many people have said that dealing with my dad being in the hospital must be so difficult with two small children and yes, it is a juggling act, but they have kept us going lately.  It's hard to not smile when you see these faces and hear these giggles.

My dad and I both love Martina McBride and today I listened to the song "In My Daughter's Eyes" and it sums up perfectly how the girls give me strength, faith, and joy and keep me smiling no matter what.  If you have a daughter and don't know this song, check it out here. 

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I want to be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes
Everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light
And the world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
Gives me strength when I'm weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
Is had enough
It's givin' more when you feel like givin' up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

Eating Solids and Rolling!

Emersyn started solids and just loves being able to finally sit at the table with us and actually get to eat.  She is also now on the move!  She used to just stay put on her playmat and now she's rolling all over.  One day I left her for literally less than 2 minutes in the middle of the floor in Maddie's room.  I told Maddie to call me if she rolled toward her toys.  Within that 2 minutes, Maddie yelled, "Mommy, come quick, Emmie rolled under my bed!"  I went in and Emersyn was completely under the bed, I lifted the bedskirt and found her facing out into the room, smiling.  I still don't know how she did it so fast.  Here are some pictures and a video of her first solid feeding and some pics of rolling around.