Things I learned on my birthday:

Breakfast at IHOP is a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday. Spending half an hour with your kids in a funny face photo contest is the best. Treating yourself to your favorite combo meal at Wendy’s isn’t very satisfying when you’re still full from IHOP. A dozen Facebook birthday wishes make you feel loved. Birthday cards in the mail are rare and appreciated. The best gift for any parent with two young kiddos is a date night. (thanks mom!) Trying new kinds of sushi is always fun and delicious. Enjoying a movie with your spouse who shares your weird sense of humor doesn’t happen often enough. A 10:00 trip to order a side of “Fried Alligator” and a bowl of “Fudge Brownie a la mode Deluxe” is a bad idea when you’re STILL full from IHOP.

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A couple of weekends ago, we had Nathan’s cousin Steve and his lovely daughter Emmie come in from South Carolina. The girls hit it off right away, and we discovered they share a nick name. So Steve helped them come up with Secret Spy names. Em5 and Em6. They loved the idea, and Emma corrected me any time I would call her by her full name. 

Emmie wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up. I think she’s on the right path with those red boots.

 I walked in to check on the girls during bath time to find a row of lotions, perfumes, hair products, and all things girly (including my deodorant). Which they were using to make some kind of magic concoction. 

Our weekend was definitely fun-filled. We ate the “Bacon Explosion”, played games, watched movies, taught cart wheels, fell into a fountain, bowled, spent a fortune on arcade games, had a birthday party, stayed up too late, ate pink pancakes, spoke Fancy French, and talked until we could talk no more.  Best weekend ever.

I failed at taking enough pictures of all of us during our weekend together. But I won’t let it happen again.

We miss you both terribly! 

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Earlier this year, I shot the wedding reception of Ashley and Josh at the Ozark Mountain Smokehouse in Fayetteville. They were married in the Bahamas, and held a reception for their family and friends to celebrate here. 

Ashley was stunning, but this little boy got some attention too. I love that curly hair!

Ashley and Josh, you two are great. Thanks for letting me be a part of your reception. Congratulations!

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A couple of Sundays ago, Emma had a houseful of little girls over to celebrate her 6th birthday. She had an “animal” themed party and all the little girls brought their favorite stuffed friend. They were all so cute in dresses running around on what turned out to be a beautiful day. (I told Emma to draw a picture before the girls got there. I thought this was appropriate for the theme.)

This year I didn’t regulate the “help” she got when opening her gifts. This is a picture Angie took while the girls surrounded Emma. The cat she’s holding up is the only evidence that she is actually somewhere in there.

Thanks Angie for taking these too. I love the guilty look on Emma’s face!

Thanks to everyone who sent cards and e-mails and phone calls and to those who came to the party. She is surely a loved little girl.

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Six years ago our fabulous little girl entered our lives in a fabulous little way. Two weeks overdue, I woke up at 3:30 in the morning with a strange and horrible pain in my back. It took about an hour before I was convinced I was in labor. I thought I would have a full day of labor before I was ready for delivery. I was wrong. When we realized that things were moving quickly, we called to tell Rachel we were ready for her to watch Jacob so we could leave for the hospital. As I was pulling on my clothes for our ride, my water broke in a movie-like burst. I screamed and Nathan managed to pull me to some pillows I had laid out so that I could do some different positions in our tiny apartment bathroom. He checked to see what was going on, and he gave me a look I’ll never forget. Right then, Rachel walked in our front door, and I yelled something like “THE BABY’S COMING!” She called 911 and relayed the operators instructions. Emma was born and Nathan put all 10lbs 4oz of her on my belly. It was the most unbelievable 2 hours of my life. Nathan and Rachel were the best doctors I’ve ever met, and I’m so thankful they were there.

Emma is still a fabulous little girl. On her birthday last Thursday, I thought I would take a handful of pictures, but she had something else in mind. Apparently she has become a model. She was pretty good at posing and had all her own ideas. Here are those pictures with a couple of clips of the 911 tape from that phone call 6 years ago. (Click the picture to play.) 
 
 

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl. We love you so so much!

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