Licorice

This is why we love Grandma's. They give our children things we would never dream of letting them have! (And she loved it, in case you couldn't tell...)

{I don't know what this is, but I love it!}

Pooh

Emme is in love with her Winnie The Pooh doll she got from Uncle Scott for her birthday. She gives it hugs constantly and carries it all around. She even tried to put it on the Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving & More

This year our family is grateful for our good health, our good jobs, and our wonderful loving families. We feel so blessed to live so near them and to enjoy such great relationships with them. I'm especially thankful to be a mom, and for a healthy one-year-old, as well as a loving husband who puts up with my neuroses.

We spent Thanksgiving with the Spencers this year, and had such a great time and a delicious meal. I brought the cheesy broccoli (Chris's favorite) and some apple pies. We hung out, ate, talked, and then opened a few more presents for Emme's birthday.

{Preston & Braden}

{Grandma and Grandpa Peacock}

Grandma Spencer is the ultimate holiday enthusiast. She has the most amazing toys and decorations for every holiday imagineable. And most of them talk or sing or do something awesome.

Emme had a love-hate relationship with this turkey. She was fine with it waddling and singing, as long as it was waddling away from her. The second it came towards her, she freaked out. So funny!

{Emme being scared}

{Emme being brave}

After dinner we opened a few more presents for Emme's birthday from the Spencers and Grandma & Grandpa Peacock. Emme was in good spirits and in total heaven. She didn't want to let go of the Pooh bear or the cute rolley backbpack.

{I love her "oooh" face!}

{Giving her backpack hugs}

Thank you everyone for the wonderful gifts, and for such a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Oh, Christmas Tree

We set up our Christmas tree the day before Thanksgiving (since I'm usually shopping the day after!) and I fed Emme her nighttime bottle while laying under it. It was really the first time she'd seen a Christmas tree, because last year she was too little to remember (...and I'm pretty sure she slept through all of December last year anyway...).

Emme was in awe from the moment we turned on the tree lights. She drank and drank and watched, and occasionally pointed up at it. It was so peaceful and cute.

Ski Bunny

My little ski bunny has a giant noggin. It's no secret, I've known it since birth. Chris thinks this hat makes her head look even bigger, but I love it.


The fun thing about having a giant noggin is that she can often wear adult headbands and hats. This means that the world is my proverbial accessory-shopping oyster. Yee-haw!

Happy Birthday Emme!

To celebrate Emme's birthday, we had a fancy girly tea party at our house with the both sides of the family over for dinner. It was a huge group, but so much fun! We got our basement finished just in time (more on that later), so we were able to set up a table down there for dinner and open presents down there as well. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us!

{The invite}

There was a huge snowstorm the day before her party, and Chris got called out to work for three days straight. I was planning on having him home to help me, but since he was gone both Grandma's came to the rescue, and came over a few hours early to help me finish everything up. What lifesavers! (And Chris got to come home for a few hours for the party before he had to go back out.)


We had creamy potato bisque and taco soup, dainty tea sandwiches and hors d'oeuvres, salad de Maizon, cheese puffs, and homemade mini bundt cakes for dessert. To drink we had this fun punch -- so yummy!





I made Emme's cake and bought the edible tiara from this etsy seller. The edible flowers on the bundt cakes came from this local etsy seller, and they were so good.





I made Emme's birthday skirt with some cute silver fabric I found in the remnant bin at Joann's, and ironed a cute tiara onto a pink onesie for the shirt. (It was very cute, even though the waistband is folded under funny in most of the pictures. Trust me, it was cute!)


While we ate dinner, Emme wandered around in her birthday outfit with her wand and tiara. She didn't love the tiara on her head, so Grandpa Spencer even demonstrated for her how to wear it, but it was still a no-go. The wand, however, was a hit. (Thank you, dollar bins at Joanns.)


We started the party early, because we knew Emme would get tired and worn out the later it got. But by the time we started opening presents, Emme was already rubbing her eyes. But we persevered!

{no smiles from the birthday girl}

But once we started opening presents, Emme really got into it. She loved the hairbows, the cards, and her babydoll. She had lots of help opening her presents from all the other cousins.


Thank you everyone, for the wonderful gifts! Emme loves them all.

{Emme going on 16 with her cell phone from Tucker & Nora Jane}

She couldn't get enough of the birthday cards, because they were glittery and fun to touch, and they were so much like books (and she loves books!).



As we neared the end of the gift opening, I tickled Emme's thighs to try and get a few smiley pictures. Mean mom, I know!




We headed upstairs to eat cake before Emme became a complete mess. Uncle Stu helped strip her down and get her into her seat.

{Love this picture of Emme and Stu -- a completely natural smile with no tickling necessary!}

Too late! Emme started to cry before we even lit her cake.

But she sobered up a bit when she saw it. That, and she loved the attention as we all sang to her. It was so cute!



She immediately tore the tiara off the cake and tossed it on the floor.



Then she dug into the cake with her spoon, but wasn't too interested in eating it until mom helped her a little bit.

{Mmm-mmm.}

Before we banished Emme to the bathtub, I tickled her thighs again for some smiley pics. (So sue me!)

After a quick bath, she played for a few minutes with her cousins and new toys, and had a good time.

{So fresh, so clean}

Thank you everyone for celebrating with us. We love you, Emmeline! You'll always be our princess!