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!!!