Emma is 7 years old!

Its hard for me to imagine that 7 years has passed. That 7 years ago, I held a sweet tiny baby girl in my arms. Emma only weighed 6 lbs 3oz when she was born, and you could hold her like a football in one arm and still have your other arm to make dinner etc. She was so dainty and quiet. She rarely cried and by 6 weeks slept thru the night at least 8 hours. Our baby girl...(sigh)

Emma has grown up so much! She is long and lean, smart and sweet, funny and spirited. She is by far more than I could ever have hoped for. Such a sweet and kind girl! She helps and loves and befriends. She is not perfect of course and has her moments of defiance and sneakiness. Marshmallows gone? Emma. Chocolate gone? Emma. She inherited her dads sense of sweets! Want her to do something? Ask about 10 times or more, or get the response, "huh?" like she has cotton in her ears. But Emma, despite her funny moments, is an amazing person. She just loves to love. Something I wish we all had, and something I hope doesn't get squashed as she nears adolescence. She also still has this funny tendency to collect things, and I find them in piles all over the place. Behind pictures, in a corner of her room, on a shelf.  Little things everywhere! She still ever remains the girly girl, and I won't lie, I love it! She loves princesses and Hello Kitty, pink and purple, painted nails and shoes. I think I can look forward to the day she is grown and enjoys doing similar things with me, as I do with my Mom. But until that day.... I hope to embrace THIS Emma. The 7 year old girl who loves to be where we are. To play with Owen(and tease him of course). To color and play and use her imagination. To smile that toothless smile and to light up a room wherever she goes. I love THIS Emma, more now, than the tiny new baby she once was. I hope to hold on a little longer before this moment passes. I don't want to forget...I want to remember her now, close to my heart.

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH EMMA!!!

Emma's 7th Birthday!

If you haven't noticed, another year has gone by and already half of January. So that must mean that Emma has once again had another birthday. #7. Uh huh, you heard me right, 7. I guess as a parent we all understand how quickly time flows, how very precious it is, and how very limited it leaves us. Time is a precious commodity and I am starting to understand that desire for the Fountain of Youth(no I don't feel old!) or Holy Grail or whatever you want to call it. Ha!

Emma's 5th and 6th birthdays were pretty big productions. I invited Emma's entire class last year! So I told Emma this year would be much more low key and she could invite 5 people. She also started planning this party as soon as her last one was over. Ha! She told me she wanted a Hello Kitty sleep over party. I didn't think she'd remember and that by the time we came full circle she would want something new, but no. She remembered and that's what we did. A Hello Kitty Sleep over party.

Five invitations went out and they all came. (I have these moments where I think no one will. Paranoia.)We had a fun dinner of finger foods, and for extra fun, I made them homemade pink(raspberry) Italian sodas. Then we played Pin the Crown on the Princess, Musical Chairs, and Sardines. Emma opened her gifts, we sang Happy Birthday, and had cake and ice cream. Then it was time for PJ's, and they got into their sleeping bags and watched a Hello Kitty Movie. By the time it was 11, I was pretty worn out! My low key year turned into more work being a referee to five 6/7 year old girls who wanted everything their own way. Must be the age category!  There were a few moments of arguing or sulking, but overall they were very good and had a great time! Emma for sure had a blast. She was the birthday girl afterall!

The invites and cake!

Eatin' some finger foods!

Hello Kitty Faces, silly faces, loves, and hugs!

Havin' some good ol' fun! 

Happy Birthday Time!!

Time for jammies, sleeping bags, and a Hello Kitty movie!

This last photo marks 3 hours of giggles and chatter, and then us coming out several times after 11 to tell them its time for bed. Ha! They finally fell asleep around midnight and were up at 7! 

All had a great time and left with little goody bags. Hope Emma had as good a time as I think she did. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Ringing in the New Year! 2013!

On Friday the Flemings arrived!!! We had sooo been looking forward to their visit! While they were here we snacked on tons of goodies, watched movies galore, went out sight seeing a few times, and really enjoyed visiting together. Emma just adored having them here and Owen became Parker's little buddy! Was great that they could come to us and see the kids. Phil really enjoyed seeing his parents too. Had been almost a year! Time passes so dang quickly...

We rang in New Years inside where it was nice and warm! We let Emma stay up late with us and watched the countdown on TV, and then we toasted with a little glass of Martinelli. Watched some performances and then off to bed. We party so hard. lol!  But it was nice and relaxing.

It was over as soon as it got started! Four days goes by in a blink of an eye. They had to leave New Years morning to head back home. We sure do miss them! Hope they had as good a time as we did. Both Emma and Owen woke up sad they were gone, but we are so glad we got to see them and they came all that way!  Happy New Year 2013!

Sledding!!

After Christmas, Rachel and Jared came back to Spokane with us for a day. There was still snow on the ground so what better way to spend the day than playin in it? We went up to South Hill and hit the sledding  hills!

 Grandma was the only one to go down the largest hill!

 Emma went down by herself most but went down a few times with everyone.

 Me and the sis

 Sis and the Mom. 

 Emma looking delighted!

 Phil going down backwards.

Rachel and Jared