Happy 4th Birthday to Emmie!

Four years ago today, we were blessed with the most precious baby girl! She was 9 pounds, 5 ounces of dark black hair, chubby cheeks, soft silky skin, rosy red lips and pure joy. She was our Emerson Caroline. Our second baby girl, little sister to Lainie, and the perfect addition to our family.

Four years later, she is now our snuggle bug, our blondie, tender hearted and sweet, loves purple, pink and will only wear things that twirl. She a little bit sassy, but a little shy too. She's our Emmie Lou, our Ems, our Emmers. She is our very favorite 4 year old in the whole world! Happy Birthday to our girl!

The Fourth of July

Happy 4th of July! I love this holiday! Even though it is hotter than blue blazes outside, I always enjoy all of the festivities that go along with it. We had a super fun 4th this year. We spent the afternoon and night at a farm in Franklin with our House Group. Lots of fun was had as we cooked out, the girls played on a giant water slide, and we watched fireworks.

Getting all cleaned up before we go sweat outside!

Getting our festive wear on in order to celebrate

Happy 4th of July!!

Weeeeeeeeeee!!!! One of Lainie's very favorite things!

Emmie loves it too!

Sweet Belle played in the water, but also just ran around the farm having fun.

First experience with sparklers.....

and they LOVED them!

Crashed on the way home

Hope you had a very Happy 4th of July too!

Comparison 2011-2012

I realized that I never did a "1st Day of School" and "Last Day of School" comparison of the girls for this year. Unfortunately, the girls didn't actually go to school on the last day of school since Lainie was sick. However, I took some pictures of Lainie at graduation, and then some of Emmie on a random day so we would remember what she looked like at the end of the school year. I honestly can't believe that these girls are about to be 6 and 4 years old. For some reason, that just doesn't seem possible!

First Day of School (Pre-K 5) - September 2011

Graduation Day - May 2012

First Day of School (3 year old class) - September 2011

"Last Day of School" - May 2012

An Overview

We have had so much going on around here, and my blog is definitely getting left behind. I decided to download some of my pictures from my phone that have been taken since May.

Wearing one of Mommy's dresses from when she was little. :)

This outfit fell victim to the horrific Stomach Virus Disaster of 2012

Who would guess that she was ever sick?

All ready for church

Helping Mommy celebrate her birthday. The girls took their Daddy and picked out hats, plates, napkins, and a Dora "Happy Birthday" banner to decorate the house for my special day. They were so sweet!

Swimming at our friend's house

Baby cousins

All ready for bed

Sporting a new, cute, monogrammed bubble!


Pool time

Just a Swingin'

This....is definitely a favorite activity around here. All three girls would swing and swing and swing all day long! Justin and I were very impressed when Emmie learned how to start swinging by herself this spring. We were also super excited, because we felt like we were constantly being called to push her! Now, we are just being called by Ellie. :) They love it! I tried to capture the happiness that the girls have as they swing. I got several close-ups of Ellie, and couldn't decide what pictures to post. Since I couldn't narrow it down, I just decided to post them all. Ha!

Lainie's Pre-School Graduation

Our sweet Lainie recently graduated from preschool! I can't believe that she is registered and will be going to Kindergarten in the fall. I met with her teacher, Mrs. Katie, a few weeks before preschool was over, and she definitely thinks that Lainie is ready! Lainie still struggles with change and new situations, so we think that it will be a little hard with the transition at first, but academically, she is definitely ready to go! We are so proud of her!

Her teachers were absolutely amazing this year. I cannot say enough great things about them or her preschool. Lainie was given a huge binder at the end of the year with artwork, pictures, journals, etc. that she had worked on throughout the year. It is amazing, and definitely something I will treasure forever.

I will say that graduation brought about some tears, as well as some amazing experiences that we will always remember. The night before graduation, Lainie came down with the stomach virus. :( She actually wasn't able to walk with her class because of it. The night of the graduation, the two directors from her preschool showed up on our front porch with two huge bouquets of balloons to cheer her up. She was asleep when they came, but woke up the next morning to a great surprise. I couldn't get over their generosity. In addition to the balloons, they offered to let her walk with the M/W classes later that week.

She was so excited about her graduation! She had such a great year, and is looking very forward to her new big adventure that she will start in the fall! Now, I just need for some of that excitement to rub off on me. :)