DeLamarter Family Reunion

Here we are at the DeLamarter Reunion. Sorry that Martin's head is cut off, but this one was the best of the girls!! It doesn't look it in this picture, but there is only 2 or 3 inches and 2 or 3 pounds difference between the 2 girls, but there is 10 months age difference.

We used the Snack Shop at the HSBC campus for the day. Everyone helped bring the food and Mom supplied all of the cups, plates, etc... Mom & I brought our table cloths and made it look nice. I spent a long day with setting up (and Mom & Dad), keeping everything going smoothly and then the clearing up! I picked up soooo much trash left all over the room the entire day! Was so incredibly tired that night!

Here is Robert & Stephanie Cantrell with Mom D. Steph was the photographer for the reunion.

Here we've got Nana & Halie Dawn.

Steph was the 'official' photographer and I have included the address for her pictures taken that day. You need to cut & paste the address into the address bar at the top of your page. NOT simply click on the address I have listed. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kuntrybumpkin7/DeLamarterFamilyReunion?feat=email#

Butterfly Sandbox Gift

Here is Emma in her sandbox from Nana & Papaw. This was what was in that large pink box in her party pictures:



Here she is helping Daddy get it put together. She had to be right there during the entire process!
You fill the green" body" with sand and it holds the umbrella. One "wing" holds the sand and the other is a wading pool, but when you are finished playing you empty the water out and flip it over. It becomes the cover over the sandbox. Thus keeping out animals like cats or rabbits, etc...

Daddy went out to the garage to get a tool and she had to climb around and check it out more.

This is hilarious to me! She is really trying to get in there and help out! She wants that screwdriver so bad!!

HAH!!!! Finally!!! Got it in her own hands!! She thought she was "da bomb".

This is definitely a birthday gift to grow into. She has just the smallest glimmer of interest in this today, but give her a few more months and onward and she'll love it more and more! Mommy just loves the butterfly design and the fact that it has a sun umbrella AND can have sand and water! Fun! Fun! Fun!

Emma's Birthday Party

Emma's party started off with a craft for the kids. Or, I guess for the Mommy's... We decorated foam sun visors with fun shapes and paint pens.

You can see Destiny on the left, Cyndi's lil' friend, Halie, Stephanie, Me & Emma

Here is Halie & Steph hard at work! Halie did all of the choosing, and Mommy did the actual work. :)

Here is Gramma D. trying to hold Miss Emma. She was not happy to be pulled away from the kids for these silly photo ops!! But, Martin had the good idea to try to get a photo for her album! Someday she will appreciate this one!

Here we are posing in front of all of Emma's gifts! She was not happy to have to get another picture taken! She had been playing with the kids and wanted to get back to business!!

I had Publix make her cake as a cupcake cake or pull-apart cake, in the shape of a daisy. I also made chocolate chip cookies, chocolate covered strawberries and dipped pretzels, so that we had choices. I had bought a candy daisy pretzel mold and spent an entire evening painting the daisies with colored chocolate and a tiny paint brush & inserting the pretzel rods!!! UGH!!!

We had dinner first. Mom, Stephanie & Cyndi helped bring different food items. Martin grilled burgers & hot dogs and we had baked beans, baked mac & cheese, hash brown casserole, BBQ'd pulled beef, potato chips, cheese ball & crackers. I made a strawberry lemon aid, as well.

We were supposed to set up 2 Corn Hole games in the back yard, but it kept raining and ruined that plan.

Bob & Gina (Steph's in-laws) got her this Pull Along Pelican. She loves small balls and it has several that go in it's mouth!

There is no photo, but Melissa & Gene got her a cute play purse w/ several items that go inside a purse, as well as a darling Watermelon pink play outfit.

Here is the pre-cursor gift from Nana, a sand & water wheel. Wonder what the other gift could possibly be??????????? (Nana also had some other clothes for her, but there is no photo of them either)

Here is one of the gifts from cousin Halie & Aunt Steph- a wooden beginner puzzle. (Mommy & Daddy LOVE wooden toys from 'Melissa & Doug' and this is one of their puzzles.) She also made Emma a cute 1st birthday picture frame.

My Cousin Cyndi & her family got Emma a baby stroller. It is designed to work as a "walker" type toy and won't tip over when the child pushes it or applies pressure. Now she just needs a dolly! Grayden(Cyndi's hubby) was flabbergasted that she didn't already have a doll!! But, we haven't needed one until now!

Keep on an eye on Emma from this point on, she plays continuously with the box! Standing on it, sitting on it...

Auntie Sarah-Jayne and her family sent over a package filled with lovely things. Here is a butterfly mobile that she made. Daddy got it hung above Emma's bed the very next morning! She also sent a super cute red & white outfit w/ a cute hat!

And a gorgeous dress that will have to wait for the next size. This is a good thing tho', as we don't have too many church/party dresses in size 18 months yet!

Here we are posing with the biggest package of the night. From Nana & Papaw. Wonder what it could be???? And of course Emma is STILL on the stroller box!! :)

You can't actually see what it is, but it is a Butterfly Sandbox & Wading Pool, with an umbrella. You fill one wing with sand and when it is opened, you can fill the other wing with water. When you finish playing each day, you empty the water side and close it over the sand side to keep your sand clean from critters that roam thru your yard in the night! Like cats and rabbits and... This is why Nana bought the sand wheel. Now we need a bucket... (Another blog shoing it in the yard coming soon)

OK, cake time! Wonder just what she'll do with cake?? She loved her cupcakes on her actual birthday, so what will she do when she has complete control over the cake and the frosting and where it goes?????

Publix provides a small round cake for the 1 year old for free when you purchase their actual birthday cake, only if you have them write "1 year or First" somehow and somewhere on the cake.

I was cracking up! She leaned right down and put her mouth to it! She wanted a bite, but wasn't too sure about the feel of the frosting all over her fingers...........

Getting better and better...

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? She had frosting EVERYWHERE!!! In her armpits... her hair... all over the highchair.... behind her ears... in her ears... but she had a blast! And I got lots of great photos!!

I used 2 wash cloths and made about 10 or 12 trips back & forth from sink to Emma trying to wash her up. We just wiped away the majority and let her go outside.

It had stopped raining and we had bubbles to get to. I took off her dress as it was covered in frosting, and she ran around in her undies. :)

I bought them the large bubble wands and Josiah brought his bubble machine. It made some amazing bubbles! Emma had super crunchy hair! Totally stiff with leftover frosting and then she ended up smeared with bubble mixture!!! I finally had to take her in and give her a quick bath! We put on her jammies and she came back out to see everyone for a little more, as some people were leaving by then. What a great time we all had! Thank you to each and everyone of you who helped make it a special day for Emma and for Mommy & Daddy! Love to you all!

Birthday Wagon From Grammy & Gramps

We went out a few days after Emma's birthday and bought her wagon. A red wagon. Grammy & Gramps had sent her the money for it as part of her gift. At this point, I think she prefers the box!! Silly girl! She was not happy when I made her get off of it so that Daddy could open it and put it together. Why is it that small children always love the box more than the actual item at first??

She had to check it out at each stage of the process! On the box... in the wagon before it had a handle or wheels....

You can see she is still in her jammies at this point, but after her morning nap, Daddy had it completed and ready for a ride in the back garden.

We had to check out who had the better price and which wagon was the best for our needs. This one has seat belts, cup and snack holders along the sides. It will really come in handy for future outings to places like: parks, fairs, outdoor concerts, etc...

Daddy has taken her for rides on the porch, in the house and in the yard. She is liking it more and more and down the road a bit, she will like it even more! Thank you Grammy & Gramps for the wonderful wagon!!

Emma's First Birthday

We had a small celebration on Emma's actual birthday. I made cupcakes with sprinkles, Nana & Papaw came over for the afternoon and we went to Okeechobee to meet Steph, Robert & Halie for dinner. June the 1st is also their anniversary.

Here we are posing with gifts and cupcakes. Emma had just woke up from nap and had heard Nana's voice. She had just learned how to sign"please" and when she heard Nana talking to her, she kept signing "please. Please"! :)

Emma got a big girl toothbrush and tooth paste from Mommy and new dishes, silverware and 3 sippy cups from Daddy & Mommy. Got to find one that she likes for drinking milk!!

Nana had given her the Leapfrog Musical Activity table and Papaw had quickly put it together so Daddy could insert batteries. Do ya think she likes it????

Ok, here goes cupcakes... She has never, ever had anything remotely like a cupcake before! Martin & I are wondering whether she'll like it or turn her nose up at it...

Check out the frosting on her cheek, her hands... It ended up behind her ears even! She did like it and ate several bites. She liked to so much that for the next several days she ate 1/2 of one for part of her afternoon snack! I think she just might have her Daddy's sweet tooth!! :(

Lovin' her some cupcakes with sprinkles!!

Here we are after our dinner with Steph & Robert at Golden Corral. They had brought Emma balloon and Nana had brought more presents!

Do you think Halie likes chocolate cake??? ")

Nana Had brought both girls a plastic tea set for Emma's birthday! Emma is too young to play pretend yet, but she does like playing with it in the bath. Halie on the other hand...

Is loving her tea set! Although she drinks "coffee", not tea! :)

Here is the happy anniversary couple.

Nana had lots of pretty clothes for Emma's b-day and even had a few of the same outfits in sizes for Halie.

Papaw, Nana & the Cantrell's.

The Lovejoy's and Nana & Papaw, June 1st.

Here we are after getting home from dinner. We left Okeechobee after Emma's bedtime, had to drive 45 minutes home and I thought she would have slept on the drive. Instead she played with Papaw almost the whole time! I let her run around a few minutes before taking her in to get ready for bed. She had to try out the new music table. It took her a few days to get used to it before she would play with it on her own. But, now she loves it!

Emma's Big Birthday Gift

Martin & I both decided that Emma needed a new car seat rather than any toy or play item. Not quite so fun, but it was a definite need! We had a $5 gift card and a 15% coupon for Babies R Us, and when I suggested it, he was online and for some reason he went to Craigslist. There was a forward facing seat that had just been posted and was in our area. They said it was like new, but you never know. He called and talked with the woman and decided to go right then.

Well, it was almost time for Emma to go to bed and she was cranky so we did not go with him. I told him my biggest concern was that it was CLEAN! When he got there to see it, it really was 'like new"! It had been bought for some grandkids who had only used it a few times. It was wrapped in plastic, completely clean, not dusty and really was almost new! What a blessing it was to find such a good seat and it only cost us $20!



Emma had grown so tall that in her infant car seat her poor little legs were bent at the knees, like she was sitting in a chair! She loves being able to see us. The only thing she has to get used to now, is falling asleep in it, as her poor head flops over!!