Emery is three!

This past week we celebrated Emery's third birthday and I made the sacrifice of all sacrifices by baking her a "banilla" cake with "banilla" frosting (banilla as in vanilla, not some combination of banana and vanilla, instead of chocolate as I would have liked). Because let's be honest - who's going to be eating the leftovers, Emery or me?

Well, to my great surprise, Emery declared the cake "too yummy" and barely made a dent in her piece, while I developed a newfound appreciation for the true flavor of vanilla unsullied by the distraction of chocolate. Not that I'm going to be requesting a banilla cake for my birthday or anything, but let's just say I have definitely enjoyed the leftovers.

See here the birthday girl digging into her turkey meatloaf and broccoli, which I guess aren't "too yummy."

Backing up a bit, our morning started with some present opening at the breakfast table and the jewelry box from her cousins was quite a hit.

As was the Cinderella carriage CD player from Henny and Papa ...

Not to mention the real Cinderella movie, her first full-length movie to sit through! It came as a nice break amid the chaos of a birthday morning ... as well as a nice way to cap off the chaos of the day itself.

                                 

Later we headed over to Volkswagen to have lunch with Daddy and Emery proudly marched through the parking lot with her new butterfly cage / purse. It's pictures like this one that remind me she will only be a little girl for a very little while!

Our valiant attempts at a decent family photo ...

Back in the car with the butterfly catcher / Emery catcher ...

The cake that was "too yummy" and definitely screams homemade, which we shared with some neighborhood friends in lieu of full-blown birthday party ...

 Ta-da! Emery is THREE!

Emery is 2!

Emery made the big turn to 2 this week and with her, it's not just a number. She is actually acting 2, giving us her best complete sentences on a regular basis, running around, playing pretend, having independent thoughts and yes, even whining from time to time ... oh, let's be honest - more like on a regular basis.

But let's focus on the positive, shall we? The day started with a few small presents at breakfast - stickers, Elmo book, etc. I even arranged her morning "mina" (i.e. banana) in the shape of a face, since she regularly insists we draw her faces whenever the crayons come out. Alas, she didn't even notice the face and instead was completely absorbed by the dried cranberries I placed on top of the banana slices.

Anna Kimball dressed up for the occasion ... and promptly fell asleep.

Later, Emery opened her main present from us, a baby stroller and quickly got to work giving her dollies stroller rides. I'm also immensely proud of Emery for only trying to get in the stroller once.

We spent the rest of the morning on a Mommy/Emery day, which was a wonderful treat made possible by Grammie watching Anna Kimball. We got Emery all dolled up in an adorable birthday outfit from Henny and started with a Kindermusik class, then stopped by our bakery of choice for a blueberry muffin and finally swung by our favorite produce market where she (I!) was showered upon with loads of free fruit. 

After nap Emery set up camp on the deck and waited for her "party" to begin. (can you tell we still need patio furniture?)

We kept the party lowkey and just invited a few friends/neighbors to drop by. I have a hunch birthdays from here on out are going to be pretty exhausting and I'd say this one was one step below exhausting for me ... so better to ease myself into things here while Emery barely knows the difference, right?

Auntie Shannon was brazen kind enough to give Emery a practically real dog that barks, walks and whimpers, all with the push of a button ... that Emery insists everyone else push for her. Thank you Shannon!! :)

Grammie kept good care of Anna Kimball through all the festivities, who miraculously kept her birthday outfit relatively spit-up free the whole day.

And what would a birthday be without cake? I made our little cookie lover one big cookie ... and am terribly delighted that she has no idea about cake leftovers. That's a little secret we'll save for your 3rd .... or maybe 13th, birthday!

We love you, Emery! Here's to a terrific year of 2!