Happy 2nd Birthday Emma Grace!

Emma Grace is TWO!! 

I still clearly remember her birthday and how easy and quickly she came into this world! I remember having anxiety about how it would affect Reese with them being close in age. I can honestly say God has a plan for all of us and he planned the PERFECT daughter to join our family! 

She is full of so much love and grace! She has the best personality and is so laid back and easy going. She is the splitting image of Cody when he was little. She has his blonde hair, blue eyes, and free spirit!

Emma is talking very well, making sentences. She LOVES talking on the phone! She's learning her ABCs, colors, counting (she says "one, two three" & "eight, nine"). She's been practicing sitting on the potty and has actually gone a few times.

Enjoy these pictures I took for her birthday invitation!

Her Favorites...

Food: Yogurt

Drink: Juice (she's still a big milk drinker)

Color: Blue
Animal: Dog
Activity: Art
Movie: Monsters Inc.

This morning we woke up and cooked breakfast then had her birthday cupcake right after (since Cody had to work all day). We let her open gifts and then the rest of the day was spent playing and talking on the phone to all those who called :)

Breakfast Cupcake for the Birthday Girl!

Thank you Papa!

Thank you Papa!

Thank you Papa!

Gifts from Mommy & Daddy waiting in her room

SURPRISE! 

(notice Reese's reaction as Emma walks right past it)

She still doesn't notice her present

She LOVES it!

And of coures... her blue high heels!

Emma Grace, we all LOVE you more that words can express! We hope you had a wonderful birthday and felt extra special turning TWO! You are such a sweetheart and we are truly BLESSED!

Happy 9 Months Scarlett Kate!

Happy 9 month-day Scarlett Kate! You are honestly growing faster than we can keep up with! 

Unfortunately, our sweet baby girl has strep throat. This is rare under the age of 12 months. I was called on Tuesday from her day care that she had fever, wasn't drinking her milk and was crying a lot. Once they told me she barely peed in both morning diapers I called the pediatrician to get her seen in case she was having a break through UTI from her VUR. 

When we got seen she was 101.6 and with no respiratory, GI, or ear issues. So we couldn't rule out the possibility of the UTI. Her throat was red but no sores were seen at the back of it. So we agreed to do a urine cath...which is always traumatic for kids. The quick UA results were normal but showed ketones. This is from her not eating enough that day and from her fever. So the pediatrician said we could rapid strep test her. I honestly blew it off because of the whole "rare under 12 mo thing" but the pedi said "I have seen it before". When she came back into the room she said "I have bad news...she's strep positive". I couldn't believe it!! Especially since none of her classmates were sick, her sisters weren't sick, and she was only turning 9 months old! The pedi believes someone from Emma's birthday party had strep that was in contact with Scarlett...but who knows for sure. 

She has slept and slept and slept (mostly on me). She has been refusing all food and water but is nursing fine from me. At 2am on Wednesday morning I had to bathe her & give Tylenol due to a 104.4 temp and at 6am she was still over 103. We have been battling fevers this entire time! Today is the 1st day she's actually dipped below 100.4 but she is still spiking temps and was 102.2 this morning. 

She had a 5 minute burst of energy this morning so I snuck a few pictures of her sweet smiles that we have been missing the past few days. She quickly went back to being sick after these photo shoot and napped on me for most of the day today. 

Look what I can do!

I'm not really sick *wink*

Talking (you can tell in her eyes how tired and sick she is)

Size: on Tuesday she weighed 19.5 lbs plus she was dehydrated so I think she's easily 20 lbs at 9mo (Emma was 17.2 lbs and Reese was 17.10 lbs at 9mo). She can wear 12-18mo clothes and size 4 diapers.

Mobility: Scarlett is now crawling...well army crawling but she can get to where she intends to go. She can sit herself up in bed and has been trying to pull on things (she stood up in the tub). She can stand while holding onto something but she's not 100% confident with herself yet.

Communication: Scarlett says "mama" and can sign "milk" as well as shake her head "no". Its pretty funny because Reese and Scarlett had a "yes/no" argument last week and I couldn't help but laugh.

Eating: Scarlett is still nursing like a champ and has yet to have any formula...I'm very proud of this! She is eating table foods VERY well! She eats egg yolks, turkey sausage, turkey, chicken, ham, roast beef, peas/carrots, cheese, cheerios, yogurt, sausage...basically anything! We have yet to introduce strawberries but will wait till she's off her antibiotic so we don't confuse any signs of an allergic reaction. 

Teeth: she still has 8 teeth but I think her incisors are coming soon!

Personality: She is the HAPPIEST and most content baby!! She is always smiling (despite being sick) and laughing and trying to interact with her sisters. 

We are praying for a quick recovery of Scarlett! It is so hard to see such a sweet baby feel so run down!

Emma's Puppy Party

I honestly can not believe we just had Emma's 2nd birthday party! She is growing up way too fast!! As most of you are aware by now, Emma had a Puppy Adoption Party due to her LOVE of dogs. The party was absolutely a blast and the weather was perfect for an outdoor event. As always I took a bunch of photos (and was learning my new camera lens at the same time so pardon the blurry or out of focus pictures).
P.S. you can click on any image to zoom in. 

The Setup

 Her Puppy Cake for Guests

Tutorial here

 Her personal sized puppy chow cake
Details at end of blog

Paw Print Cupcakes (I didn't get a chance to take a good pic but I took this with my iPhone)

They are chocolate chips and junior mints

 Homemade Hot "Dog" Buns (I wish I had gotten a pic of the hotdog in their mouths)

Recipe here
Tutorial here

Pretzel Sticks

Scooby Snacks

Frisbee Plate Holders & Bone Cups

Watering Bowl

The Party

Here is the beautiful birthday girl...

Swinging with Meme

Friend, Adelyn

Best Friend, Zoe

Big Sis, Reese

Zoe

Adelyn

Friend, Madelyn

Friend, Thomas

Reese (sporting Emma's puppy shirt)

Zoe

 Us

Jason & Melissa

 Best Friend Mamas

 Scarlett & Nana

Scarlett

Family, Heather

 A Good-Looking Bunch! (Scarlett is wearing a puppy shirt)

Friends, Kini & Paige

Adelyn LOVED the Hot "DOG" Bun

Puppy Piñata Time

 Kayla knocked the puppy piñata's head right off!

 Back Up & Running :)

 Josh had great form

 Thomas

 Zachary

 Ezekiel took the piñata out with flying candy!

Cake Time

 Happy Birthday To You...

Happy Birthday To You...

 Happy Birthday Dear Emma...

 Happy Birthday To You...

Chow Time

After seeing her friends with cupcakes she wanted one too

Puppy Adoption Station

Gift Opening

Thank you Reese & Scarlett for my puppy purse!

 Thank you Aunt Ashley & Victor for my movie and PJs

 Thank you Great Grandma for my puppy vet clinic & bandaids

Thank you Heather & Clay for my headband and pettiskirt

 Thank you Josh & Adelyn for my kitchen accessories

Thank you Kayla & Madelyn for my book and tea set

 Thank you Kini & Paige for my special James Avery ID bracelet

 Thank you Meme for my own steps tool (now I don't have to borrow Reese's all the time)

 Thank you Nana for my baby doll stroller

 This one required a group effort

 Thank you Zoe for my HEB shopping cart & bucket of food!

Hugs for her best friend Zoe

Sweet Kayla play vet on her adopted puppy

Cute Thomas with his adopted puppy

Heather & Jeanna

 Granddad

Let the shopping begin!

For details on the puppy adoption & decor items please go to this blog post.

Puppy Chow Cake:
Dog Bowl found at HEB
I baked some funfetti cake batter in a 6" cake pan then used a 5" circle cutter to cut the circle down to fit in the dog dish. The cake naturally baked up with a dome in the center, which was perfect! I covered it in a crumb coat of frosting the night before. Right before the party I added a layer of icing and some Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs cereal to look like dog food. (note- you can not put the cereal on the night before because it will absorb moisture from the frosting and turn into a weird combo of being stale & somewhat soggy at the same time).

Emma had a fabulous birthday party and everyone seemed to have such a great time! Thank you to all our friends and family who helped make her party day so incredibly special! I truly feel like the children being able to adopt a puppy made them feel included (which can be tough for toddlers sometimes during gift opening).