Happy Birthday Emily!!!

Happy Birthday my beautiful baby girl!!!

Oh how time flies when you are loving life!! Emily is a year old already and just the mere thought of that brings a tear to my eye!

I took Emily for her 1 year check up and she is 22#-75% and 30in tall-75%. She towers over all the big kids in her class.

At her check-up, her Dr asked me if we realized that she was developmentally advanced. We have figured all along that she was, and I have blogged about it on here before, but I wasn't really sure how much. She said, given her her current abilities, she figures that Emily is at the level of a 16 month old, or higher! I really couldn't believe it! She also believes her to be of very high intelligence and figures she will be a smart cookie! thank God!

Emily is really talking up a storm! She will carry on a conversation with you, if you let her. She says "tank yu, and will hand you things and wait for you to say thank you. She says ba be (baby), duck, (la ey) Lucky, dig dig (Trigger), puh pae (puppy), Hi, bu ba (bye bye), (waves for both).. there are more, but I can't remember then now... She knows what a cow makes, mooo and a sheep baaaa. Her favorite thing to do lately is put things in things and carry them around, like pick up blocks and put them in her bucket or stack stacking cups together. She flips through books on her own and will bring you one to read. "You are my sunshine" is still the only song that will calm her down in a heartbeat.

She feeds the dogs, no joke! Every morning, she will go with you to get the dog food and then she feeds Lucky, goes and gets more, and then feeds Trigger. She also feeds the dogs food while she eats...she thinks that is so funny! She blows kisses to you if you blow some to her. She closes and opens doors. She knows what sit means and will do so on command (she likes to stand on the couch). She is such a climber!! She climbs on and off the couch. She loves the outdoors and will kill to be out there! If you hand her a diaper, she will go and lay down on the floor for you to change her. She points at things if she wants them. When she is hungry she stands by her highchair and pats the seat. She knows what "bite" means and she opens her mouth if she wants food. This girl LOVES music and sings and dances all over the place. Shakes her hinney with the best of um! She will take her shirt off by herself when she knows its time to eat. She is currently getting a new tooth...the tooth that is left of her bottom two teeth. She puts food on her spoon with her hand and then eats it..I have just started trying to get her to eat with a spoon...but she is getting it fast! She is experiencing product recognition and whenever she sees a yellow package, she assumes that it is snack time (gerber snacks), and she gets excited! Every time the phone rings she says Da da? Rich talks to us a lot on his drive home from work. She walks to the car in the morning and waits at her door to get in. Loves to brush her teeth.

That's all I can think of now....

On Emily's birthday, Rich and I trotted into her room at the first sound of her voice to greet her with a cold sippy. a video camera and loud singing of Happy Birthday..Emily was not impressed and I am betting it was a bit too much for her that early in the morning.

Too bad!!! hahaha!

Daddy and his baby girl on her birthday. Emily has really turned into a daddy's girl. She is so content to just hang out in her daddy's arms or lap. She really loves when daddy brings out the guitar for her to dance to.

My special little princess. What was life like before her? She has managed to bring so much joy to our lives. We laugh everyday. We have so much pride for the little girl that she has become. Seeing life through her eyes is so intriguing and seeing her see things and experience things for the first time is also such a thrill. I love being a mom!!

On her birthday, we let Emily go to school so she could experience her first ever school party. We took mini chocolate cupcakes for her to eat and share with her class. She doesn't get to eat sweets very often, and when she does, it is a real treat.

This is a card that all of her teachers got her and wrote special messages to her. It is something very special that we will hold on to to let her know how much she was loved by everyone.

Emily's first experience with a cupcake. She looks very inquisitive. Don't worry, that didn't last long..she dove right in.

Yay! It's my birthday! and I'm 1!!!!
Working on making a mess..

Peek-a-boo!!

Time to color my hair!

The final product of our blue monster!

By the way, her hands were stained blue the rest of the day.

All day I was thinking that, just a year prior, I was sitting in a hospital, wishing for her arrival, hoping that she would come soon and praying she would be healthy... Crazy what a year does to you. We have had a lot of ups and downs this past year, but what a beautiful first year it has been. Emily is truly a blessing. Here's to many more birthdays and blue icing in her hair!!

I have lots more pics to post of her birthday party at home and her birthday weekend...I hope to get those posted at some point this week...stay tuned!