Happy 1st Birthday Emily!!!!!!

Saturday, January 26th, 2013!! 
It's your FIRST birthday, sweet girl! 
Happy Birthday Emily June!!!!!

Here we are...your very first birthday! How is it here already? I remember your birthday last year, like it was yesterday. What a blessing it was. What a blessing you are. You have healed so many wounds Momma had from your sisters pregnancy/birth/aftermath/post-partum. You were/are such an easy baby. It was such a blessing to have a normal VBAC, easy delivery, and keep you with me the.whole.time. NO NICU...even though one of the NICU doctors were present at your birth, that was only because Mommy was so sick and you were born with a fever! You came home with us, just like a normal baby. You breastfed, just like a normal baby. What a blessing it all was. Oh Lord, I am so thankful. I have tears in my eyes right now writing this because I honestly know why God gave me you when he did. I didn't see it when I first became pregnant with you, but soon there after, and especially after your birth, and now looking back over your first year, I know, with a million and one percent why He gave us you when He did. God's plan is always best. 

Your smile lights up our lives and although we thought you would probably complete our family, you are now going to be a big sister. We just love you to pieces, Emily. You are truly a blessing and a miracle! I remember telling your Daddy one day that I wished so badly that one day we would be able to get pregnant on our own, and of course we knew this was most likely not possible, and little did we know, I was already pregnant with you. You are truly a miracle, just like all of your sisters. When Mommy thought she may never be a Mommy, I have five sweet blessing that proved to me miracles do happen. The grace of God is one beautiful thing. Never forget that, sweet girl. You are nothing short of a perfect miracle created by God's love.

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Emily, you are such a sweet and EASY baby, from the minute you were born! Everyone always says how laid back and easy you are and I am so lucky!

You have really come into your "big-girl personality" this past month!

You are in size 4-5 diapers.

You wear size 12M and 18M clothes. Pretty much the same sizes as your sister in some things too! :)

You still have the littlest feet in the world, and I still wonder how they are going to hold up your big thighs!

You have brown hair (very similar to Natalee's) and brown eyes.

You weigh just about 20 lbs!

You have 6 teeth! 4 on top and 2 on the bottom.

You sleep from 730pm-730am. And you take one nap from 12pm-3:30pm. You drink your bottle and fall asleep within five minutes of getting in your bed for naps or bedtime. BLESSED...or was that my teaching...oh yeah, it was!

You love your bath time and you love to play with your toys and splash in the water.

You really have a special bond with your Grandpa. You love him to pieces  and I don't blame you, he's pretty great!

You come when I call your name, or anyone does. I love that.

You are on ALL people food. NO baby food at all. I'd say it's been like this for at least two months now. You love all fruits and veggies. You love chicken cooked anyway and Momma's pot-roast. You are not a fan of hot dogs or bologna. You shake your head "no" when you do not want something. You also love spaghetti/pasta. You love cereal, pancakes, applesauce, yogurt, cheese, bread...pretty much everything. You had black olives for the first time last month, and loved them...just like your Momma and your big sisters!

You drink three 8-ounce bottles of whole milk through the day.

Your drink perfectly from a big-girl sippy cup all throughout the day!

You are very talkative now. When I say "Momma" you say "Dadadadadadadada". Silly girl!

You can say "uh-oh", "nanananana" (for Natalee) and you can also clap!!

You are very close to waving too.

You started standing in your crib last week (3rd week of January) and now you can easily stand up anywhere. You pull yourself up to the coffee table, couch, your toys....anything you can.

You crawl and then sit. Sit and then crawl. You can do it all with such ease.

We have been holding onto your hands and walking around with you and you honestly just want to run...oh lordy...but you do sooo good and I bet taking some steps in very close in your future!

You are a force to be reckon with in your walker. Girl, you will take anyone down in that thing. You run in it. You can back it up, turn it around, and maneuver like I have never seen from a child. We are constantly in awe of your abilities in that thing! Haha!

We learned this past month that you will now be the fourth sister of five girls in our family! You are going to be a big sister to a new little girl joining us in June! But don't worry, there will not be anymore!

You love to play with your sisters and do anything they do. You watch them very closely.

You do like to pull their hair sometimes.

Natalee still tries to undress you all.the.time. Like, EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

Your sisters will bring you your lovie and a binki when you are sad. Or if I ask them to bring you a toy, they will share their toys with you (most of the time).

They love to say, "hi emme" which sometimes sounds like "hi meme" and they will also call you "bayboo" because Mommy and Daddy call your that all the time. They will also "pet" your head and say, "it's okay meme". LOVE!

Speaking of nicknames, we call you porky, bayboo, emme-lou, ems, emme, monkey-moo-moo...don't ask where Momma got that one from.

You love to babble all of the time.

You are very happy and hardly ever cry.

This year, let's see: 
You went to the beach for the first time.
You went to the pool a lot in the summer.
We went to the park a lot too!
You took many road trips.
You visited with all of our family in PA, and they just love you so much!
You went to Aunt Megan's bridal shower and wore one of Mommy's dresses from when she was a baby.
You went to softball games to watch Daddy play.
You spent your very first night (so far) away from Momma. :(
You went to Aunt Megan and Uncle Julian's wedding.
You went to lots of our little friend's birthday parties.
You went to the pumpkin patch.
You celebrated all of your first holidays.
You met your great-Pop-Pop for the first time!

You are such a blessing and we have no idea what we would do without you in our lives! We love you so much Emme!

Happy FIRST Birthday Emily June!!!!!