Party girl!

She knows what to do!On Saturday we celebrated Emma's 1st Birthday with some of our family and friends. She really seemed to enjoy having everybody here and she did nothing but smile and laugh the whole time. She loved every moment of it, but she could barely stay awake for cake!

I love this picture of our girls with their cousins, Tyler and Julia

Our big girl! "Look at me!"Emma with her Gram, Great Aunt-Bunny, and Great-Uncle RogerBryan and Uncle Bob (BFF's!) some random photosFamily shot with Pop and GramEmma and her friend KolbyKaleb, Bryan, and TylerEmma had lots of help opening her gifts!more random pictures

Happy 1st Birthday, Emma!

Whenever any of our girls celebrates a birthday, I get very sentimental... typically I well up with tears just thinking about how our family has grown and changed over the past six years. Bryan and I know full-well the heartache and brokenness that infertility brings. Years and years of loneliness and longing was, at times, almost too much to bear.

God makes many promises to His children; promises to love us fully and unconditionally, to teach us and to grow us, to carry our burdens for us, and to give us a hope and a future. We clung tightly to those promises and held our breath while we waited (and waited, and waited!) to see what He had in store for us.

And now? Who would've thought!? God knew... He knew from the beginning of time. He has blessed us in ways we cannot even begin to comprehend. He has proven Himself faithful again and again. "Gratitude" is not sufficient enough to explain my thankfulness to the Lord for choosing to bless us with three amazing daughters. But gratitude is what I feel. Thank you, God, for our family. Thank you for showing us that Your plans are far greater than our plans. Thank you for Emma Hope. He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord. ~Psalm 113:9

Our happy girl

It is so hard to believe that our happy girl, Emma, will be turning one year old on Tuesday. How can it be that the tiny, just-shy-of-seven-pounds baby who arrived seemingly yesterday has grown into a smiley, chubby, destructive little girl? Bryan and I have lots of nicknames for her, but our current favorite is "Landfill". Not a very girly name, but it fits her perfectly!! At mealtime, she will eat anything that we offer her... and she literally shoves it into her mouth as quickly as she can with both hands. Additionally, she crawls around the house looking for things to eat. Hannah and even Delaney know to be on the lookout for her safety, and both of them have pulled objects out of Emma's hungry mouth. She definitely keeps us on our toes... and she continues to amuse us with her sweet and silly personality. Enjoy this little clip!

Artists at work

Hannah received a beautiful Tinkerbell craft kit for her birthday. It included a watercolor set that she has been dying to use, and this morning was the perfect time to break it out. She and Delaney enjoyed some creative time together, and I got a chance to work on my blog! A fun time was had by all!

Halloween fun at school!

Kindergarten is proving to be very exciting for Hannah... not only is she making new friends, learning to read, write, and do math, but she is participating in all of the fun that students have at school. Here she is in her High School Musical cheerleader costume (the EHS letters on the front actually light up, but I didn't get a picture of it!).

Waiting to walk in the parade. There's our girl, straight ahead in the red.One of the party stations... making leaf necklaces. They also decorated pumpkins, frosted cookies, and wove fall designs with yarn.

Our birthday girl turns 6!

Friday was a busy, exciting day for Hannah and our family... it was her sixth birthday, as well as her Halloween parade and party at school. I was able to go in to help with the festivities, while Hannah proudly wore her birthday crown. Happy birthday, baby girl!!!

Happy ending!

yummmmm!