Oranges & Summer

Emma loves oranges. And she always makes a mess! I try to only give them to her right before bath time. She can eat a whole orange by herself. It's hard to believe unless you see it, but she can really pack food away!

Getting into her toy box.

REALLY trying to get into all her stuff.

Oh look, fun stuff over here!

I think we're getting closer to walking.

A much needed nap (for me)!

Learning how to use those feet...

And do you remember that one, really warm summer day we had? It happened about a week ago? Not like today, where there is actually snow on the ground here. Don't live in Michigan if you don't care to see snow in April... I stripped Emma down and let her at that orange! She was trying to pull an orange from the basket, so I figured, why not?

Soooo good.

And now I begin my countdown to commencement! Three weeks to go. Not for me, but for my students! My coworker gave me a mug that says "I'll sleep when they graduate." She thought it was appropriate for me (and not for Emma, but for work!) since I do so much for graduation....hunting those kids down to apply to graduate, order caps and gowns for students and staff, put together instructions, tickets, blah, blah, blah! I'm feeling a little burned out since I've been overwhelmed at work, but one big thing will soon be done. Yay for another commencement! And a big hooray for the upcoming 3 day weekend. Happy Easter, everyone!

Emma's 1st Birthday

People always say it, but it's incredibly true that I don't even know where the past year went. It feels like we just went to the hospital and brought Emma home. We were amazed to bring home a tiny, cuddly little being---now she's much bigger, still cuddly, and playful, and she has developed her own incredible personality. Today is her birthday, but we had a party for her on Saturday. Sorry, everyone, I completely spaced and forgot to take pictures of the guests. I was distracted by babies...

Emma and Haley (11 months old). They spent most of their prenatal months together while their moms worked together! Now they're starting to interact!

So cute! They spent a lot of time giving and taking toys from each other..

Haley is 23 pounds and Emma is not quite 17 pounds, so Haley could just sit on Emma--but Emma grabbed Haley, yanked and squealed in her face. I don't know where that came from, but it was hilarious! They claim at daycare that she plays nice with the others...hmmm. Haley quickly recovered and they were fine for the rest of the time.

Starting to get into opening presents, much more so than Christmas!

And I couldn't resist...the front of her shirt says "Everybody Loves Me" and the back says "Hooray!" It seemed appropriate for the day.

Haley trying out Emma's new train!

Almost walking! (Emma has no interest in walking).

Yummy cake! This was a Macri's bakery cake---soooooo good!

She kept trying to stick a large piece of ice cream in her mouth all at once, then she'd make a face, put it down, and try again. She finally got around to the cake. Who could ignore a Macri's cake?

Rigby enjoyed the leftover packaging.

The next morning, Emma wanted to get right back to playing with her new toys (thanks grandma & papaw! She LOVES this train.)

Scooting along! She's actually trying to get up and move with this--such a neat toy.

Later, after a hard morning of play, she decided to help me put her laundry away. She found her blankie in the basket and decided to snuggle with it there.

Funny little girl! She loves snuggling with her blankie. I guess she loves it so much that she couldn't wait for me to take it out of the basket.

Happy birthday, baby girl, we love you! We're looking forward to another wonderful year with you.