Emery's Birthday Celebration

Yesterday my life changed drastically, I no longer live with a toddler!! I can't believe Emery turned three. It is so strange and sad that my youngest child is three. I am constantly thinking of the next thing to look forward to. It helps keep me motivated!!! So...I love birthdays. Here's a fun run through of Emery's birthday celebration.


It had to be a pink day so we started off going to church in one of her favorite pink dresses!


After church we headed to Chris and Jenny's to i-chat with my parents and Chance. (Since they live in Chicago, including Chance who moved there this weekend. It's nice having 1/2 the family in AZ and the other in Chicago.) Chatting over the internet is wonderful, Emery was able to include Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Kenny in the birthday festivities. They were able to watch Emery open their gifts to her. It's not the same as having them with us in person, but it's a close second!


My mom made Emery a cute new blanket and Emery got another Fancy Nancy book. Her third and I'm sure we will be reading it every night for the next two months.


I just liked this picture!


Aunt Jenny made a giant cupcake for Emery!! Emery loves aunt Jenny!


We spent the night at Nanny and Papa's (Sam's parents) and today, Labor Day, we had a cousin party for Emery. She has been looking forward to her cousin party for some time now. Nanny knows how to throw a party and Emery loved it. She had to wear a "Nanny suit" to swim in!! It's a little big, but she insisted on wearing it.


Emery couldn't wait until the party began so she was able to open one gift from Nanny and Papa. It was this dress, her party dress. She was quite excited to put it on. I took her outside and let her choose which flowers to stand by. I was really hoping to get a good picture of her. She never looked up. Nanny was in the house watching, just laughing. Sam was the same way. I have always said her personality is so much like her father's, but this picture really shows how much alike they are. Sam always cried when he had to have his picture taken when he was younger. So does Emery!!



The plan was to eat lunch, open presents and then swim. The birthday girl was not happy with that and they headed to the pool first. Here she is with some of her cute cousins. Once she went swimming, she was much happier the rest of the day, thankfully.



It is amazing how long she will hang there. It's always done with a huge grin!


Emery really wanted me to eat next to her. The conversation at that table was so fun to listen to. One cousin would say, "you have doodie on your face." The next would say, "no you have doodie on your head." Then all the kids at the table, including Emery would just bust up laughing. It was so funny to listen to and yet so cute to watch them all interacting and carrying on their own conversations.



Emery could not handle all of the attention. Again just like her dad at that age. I ended up blowing out her candles for her. I know she loved the attention, she just didn't want anyone to know she liked it!



Emmet was so cute the entire day. He absolutely loves spending time with his cousins. I was also proud of him because it's been hard for him having Emery's birthday come before his!!!


This is most of Emery's cousins. Some of the babies were inside. What a fun group of kids!!


A day at Nanny and Papa's would not be complete without racing bikes around the track in the backyard. Emery's learned it's more fun to make someone else work. Thanks Maddy.


At the end of the day, Emery put back on her party dress and dressed her baby doll in the same outfit. She was quite happy with such a fabulous day.

How grateful I am to have family that helped make Emery's birthday special. She will be able to think back and remember how loved she is. I can't help but hope that days like today will fill Emery and Emmet with happy memories so when they think about growing up without Sam, that they can have happy memories to replace the ache in their hearts. I know I thought a lot about Sam this weekend and wished he could have been here to celebrate.