Emily's Birthday

Emily snuggling with one of her favorite lovies. Jonathan bought a Piglet for Gwen and a Mickey for Emily when we were first planning our family trip to Disneyland. They are really soft and Emily uses them to snuggle to sleep with. We try to get her to stick to her Mickey, but she can't resist stealing one of Gwen's toys and then getting into a screaming match with her over it.

For Emily's birthday we made her favorite dinner - frozen lasagna. She'd probably prefer homemade lasagna but her mom is just too lazy for that. Walmart makes a very tasty family size lasagna and it's pretty cheap. I just can't be bothered to work that hard when it can be so easy. Her birthday was so much fun. We got to spend the entire day together as a family because her birthday was on a Saturday this year and I got the day off work. We had a party with most of her cousins that night at Grandma Buckholts' house.Here's Emily opening her presents at her party. That's Sam, Gwen, and Noah helping and Kim video taping it - well sort-of.

Emily thought it was fun to hide the presents under the used wrapping paper and then find them again.

This little phone with sound and buttons was (and still is) a big hit.

Noah came to the party but the rest of his family stayed home with Max who had just gotten released from the hospital. They needed the rest and relaxation after such a busy week.

We bought little $1 presents for everyone to celebrate Emily's first year. That was funner for me than Emily getting presents. I think the kids liked the idea of getting a present at someone else's birthday too.

Gwen showing Emily how to work her new phone.

The birthday cake that Gwen and I made. Gwen helped frost and put the letters on it. I had to keep showing her where they went so it would spell the right things. That's Sam, Mason, Gwen, and Noah lined up to watch.

Emily loved being the center of attention and having all her big cousins over. It's fun when you're the littlest and there's so many big kids to play with.

Emily eating her birthday cake. She loved the frosting which she delicately ate with her little fingers but the biggest hit was the two scoops of ice cream that she got with it. She didn't touch the actual cake.

Our newest little cousin, Max, just got home from China where he's been since he was born 16 months ago. Aunt Laura and Uncle Dude brought home really neat presents for everyone when they went on their trip to bring him home. The girls each got beautiful Chinese "princess" dresses that they wore to church last week. The funnest part of that was getting to tell everyone about Max when they asked about the dresses. Gwen loves talking about her little cousin Max who is Noah's brother.

I'm almost sad that they have to grow out of these dresses because they look so beautiful in them. Thanks Laura and Dude.

Yes, Emily's walking and she's getting better and better each day. The above video is a quick example of her newest skill in action.