Emmersen is ONE!

All I can say is "time flew by!" I know it goes fast when you have kids, but what I didn't realize is how fast it goes with baby #2! I still feel like Em should be my little 5 lb newborn baby but instead she is a 16 lb ONE YEAR OLD! wow!

We had Emmersen's birthday the day before her actual birthday and we couldn't have asked for a better day or better people to celebrate with. We had an outdoor/backyard party, with lots of balloons, toys, jumping, and eating. We had "build your own sundaes and cupcakes." It was a great afternoon spending time with family/friends and sunshine! :)
Em was a little clingy (momma's girl) but she was also a little tired. She didn't nap as long as she normally does so she was a little tired when the party started. She also was cutting 2 teeth, which didn't help either. She was a trooper though. Matt and I figured she would have destroyed her cake (considering she loves her sweets) but she only ate a little portion of her cake. (probably due to the fact she was tired and teething).

Singing "Happy Birthday"

mmmmmmm...

Em's smash cake

Food table..

Trampoline full of balloons..

Opening gifts..

Jack playing with a baby doll :)

HAHAHA

The "little girls"

Katy Mae

She loves getting pushed around in the car

Gma/Gpa McCulla with the grandkids

Thank you Friends and Family for helping us celebrate Emmersen's 1st bday!

Big Sis/Lil Sis Photo Shoot

We decided it was time for some updated pictures of BOTH girls. This long holiday weekend was a perfect opportunity to get this accomplished. It was a nice sunny day, but it was only 70's. Awesome weather!

Mid Fall

Little model

Of course Avree didn't want to take any pictures, unless Em was in it with her.. You would think she NEVER saw a camera in her 3.5 yrs of life. So we have a bunch of Emmersen. She had fun "hamming it up". :-)

11 years!

11 years ago, yesterday, Matt and I started dating! We officially met at the Iowa State Fair (Aug of 2000) and the rest was history :)
It is crazy to think we have "been together" that long. We sure have had our ups and downs, but here we are 11 years later... We have been married for 5 years, we have a house, Matt has a stable job, I get to stay at home, we have 2 BEAUTIFUL-HEATHLY girls, and 2 dogs. Wow, never could have imagined! We are so blessed!!

Old picture of us: (I think this was in 2006)

Wedding weekend in Estes Park (May 12-14 2006)

Wedding Reception in Pella (June 2006):

Honeymoon in St. Lucia (Aug 2006):

Living in Ames 2006(while Matt finishes college)

KC 2007:

1 yr anniversary:

From "the two of us" to "the 4 of us":

5 yr anniversary:

The most recent pictures of us 2 (Aug 2011)

I love you Matthew David!

Emmersen's bday Invite

It is finally Emmersen's birthday month! :`(
I had so much fun picking out her bday invites and deciding which pictures to use, though. I was so happy with the invites!
For the 1st birthday/s, we spend the money on the invites and not really have any decorations. We feel with it being a "big celebration" turning one, we would rather have a cute, pictured invitation to send out.

Here is the front of the invite:

Here is the back:

I just ordered her "smash cake" today, so I am hoping it turns out!! We have a feeling she will "dig right in!" :-) Avree sure loved her 1st bday smash cake, well mostly the frosting.. (just like her momma) :)

I am glad I get the whole (for the most part) month of September to let the whole, " I have a ONE year old" sink in. ;)

Photo Shoot of Emmersen

It has been a while since we did a photo shoot of Emmersen, so a couple weekends ago we did a quick photo shoot. We needed some photos for her FIRST birthday invites (I can't believe she will be ONE next month!).
She did great for the first 20 minutes, then she had enough. But we were happy with the photos we got :-)

"How big are you?" ...SO BIG!

I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she will be one next month! Happy and sad! She isn't walking yet (we aren't sure she will be by her 1st bday). She will cruise around things and will let go and stand there for a few seconds but quickly sits down. She loves walking with her walker or holding on to our hand. Part of me wishes she won't walk for a while but part of me wishes she would just "get up and walk" :-)
She is still a momma's girl and she is such a cuddle bug (I LOVE IT)! Sleeps great, naps great, EATS GREAT! She can out eat Avree! HA
I am looking forward to the girls bonding more as Emmersen gets a little bigger/older. Love my girls! :)