Emme is ONE!

This first year with Emme has really been more magical and sweet than I could have ever hoped. She has truly changed so much, I sometimes can’t believe it. She is talking a little and often understands what I’m saying to her. She says “Dada,” “Mama,” “doggie,” “bye bye,” “pretty,” “honey,” “baby,” “hi,” “what’s that?” “yeah,” and “Nana”.

This kid has got spunk, man! Church has started to become totally hilarious. We don’t get a thing out of it! She runs around and screams and bulldozes other kids over. She’s also taken to throwing tantrums lately when she doesn’t get her way. I’m not sure how to respond to that yet. It’s been a different phase. Even though she is still so darn cute, she does do kind of bratty toddler things sometimes. Just part of the deal, I guess.

Emme has this big cheesy grin that she gives to strangers. It’s easy to see that it’s not the most sincere of expressions, but people really get a kick out of her. In fact, when she cheeses at someone and they don’t notice, she looks at them like they’re ridiculous.

Emmeline is adorable when she entertains herself. Sometimes she walks around the house, playing with random stuff. She can also be terrifyingly destructive! She makes so many messes. She throws her sippy cup, feeds the dogs, pulls all kind of stuff out of cabinets and drawers. You name it!

Emme also does adorable things like sing along to songs and give kisses. When she sees her dad or my parents in a public place, she gets so excited. It’s like she is thrilled that we can all get together outside of our houses.

Sleeping has gotten marginally better lately. Emme seems to be sleeping through the night-ish. She basically wakes up once or twice most nights. She is still going strong with nursing. I probably nurse her 3 times a day. I am just dreading weaning her. We’ve got a system down. I also know that we need to transition, though...especially now that she tries to rip my shirt off when she's hungry. Not exactly socially acceptable in a public place!

Nursing has been a tremendous blessing as it has kept my endometriosis at bay and has been a good natural birth control. Obviously we want to have baby #2 at some point, though, so weaning will need to commence here in the next few months.

Emme’s birthday party was such a crack up. We had just a few family members over and had dinner and cake (Homemade Vanilla Cake with Pomegranate Frosting and Blackberry Cream Filling). Emme loved it and then she stayed up late playing with her presents.

Life is really just too magical and wonderful to put into words. Couldn’t be more grateful!