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!