Emma's 2nd Birthday Bash

Wow, if Emma didn't know how to open presents before 2 weeks ago, she sure does now!  Between Birthday (that is exactly one week before Christmas Day) and Christmas, she has had celebration after celebration for the last couple of weeks and I'm certain we will have plenty of toys to break in over the next several months!

We celebrated Emma's birthday with Robin's family on this Saturday night when we were all together.  Emma loved getting to celebrate her birthday again!

Here are a few pictures from our celebration!

 

This is the rice krispy treat cake that Alicia made for Emma- Emma loved eating all of the M&M's off of it WHILE we sang "Happy Birthday" to her!

 

Opening gifts: Emma got several cute dress-up outfits (including a tiara) from Craig and Fallon:

Daddy held several of the outfits up to himself:

He also tried on the tiara, silly daddy!

Emma was very clingy to Gigi during her Birthday celebration!

Crystal and Tommy got Emma this adorable soft bear named Nicolas- she loved it!

Gigi and Pops got her this baby doll stroller:

She pushed her baby doll all over the house to show it several things.  Here, she is telling the baby all about the nativity scene!

Happy Birthday Emma, our big 2 year old!  We all love you so much!

Christmas Night

After spending Christmas morning with Jill's family in Tulsa, we packed up the car and headed to Texas to spend some time with Robin's family in Arlington, TX!  Emma did great on the road trip there- she slept and read books during the entire trip!

Once we got there, we had a yummy dinner and then sat down for a very fun gift opening session.  Emma had a ball!  She got so many great presents but here were a few of her favorites!

 

She got a new wagon from Gigi and Pops- she pretty much lived in it for the next several days- she even asked to eat her meals in her wagon.  It has a little door where she can get in and out herself:

 

Craig and Fallon got her a great book and this HUGE stuffed dog- she wanted to "ride on it!"  Then she asked to sleep with it- it took up 3/4 of the pack and play and she slept in the remaining 1/4:

Crystal and Tommy got Emma a great Fisher-Price nativity set- she loved it!  She got to hear the Christmas story from several different family members as we played with it:

Emma loved opening presents and was a bit disappointed when they were all opened.  She kept saying "More presents, more presents?" 

Christmas Day

We started Christmas Day by waking up at our house to open a few gifts.  Emma loved finding her stocking filled with small presents.  She didn't know what to play with first!  We ate a quick breakfast and then headed to Nana's house for Christmas with my family.

 

Christmas morning at our house: stocking time!

Nana's house (yes, her tree is this small!)  Emma is saying, "Are all of these presents for ME?"

Emma got a precious pink chenille rocking chair and ottoman from Aunt Judy and Uncle Ron:

Emma loved playing with her Cousin Haley:

Emma got a lot of really neat presents at Nana's house: puzzles, books, and a new baby doll that talks and goes potty!

Christmas Eve

I have several posts to catch up on but I thought I'd start with Christmas Eve!  We spent Christmas Eve with my family in Tulsa.  My brother (who is an amazing chef) fixed an awesome Christmas Eve dinner: filet mignon with bernaise sauce, yummy mashed potatoes, and asparagus.  We all voted that he should continue this tradition every year.  Even Emma loved the steak!

Nana let Emma open one gift on Christmas Eve because she was SO interested in all of the gifts under the tree! 

We had our traditional Braum's Peppermint Ice Cream following dinner- Emma was a huge fan!

To finish a wonderful evening, Aunt Judy and Emma had a Christmas dance-off.  They made up some routines to "Jingle Bell Rock" (I think.)  This pic is kind of blurry but you get the idea:

Counting Down to Christmas

We have been taking a lot of breaks from unpacking and settling into our new home to enjoy all of the Christmas festivities.  It is amazing the difference a year makes... last year, Emma didn't show a lot of interest in Christmas, but this year she is fascinated by everything.  She LOVES Christmas lights, Christmas tress, snowmen, Santa, gifts, etc. 

Emma's Sunday School had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party during church on Sunday.  Here are a couple of pics of her playing with bubbles at church.

Yesterday, Emma and I went to a very fun playgroup Christmas party at our friend Leah's house.  Emma had a great time playing with friends and receiving a new puzzle during a puzzle gift exchange.

Today, our family went to Bass Pro Shops to hang out and meet Santa.  Emma didn't want to sit on Santa's lap.  She immediately started crying when we walked up to him.  Santa was just about the nicest person I've ever met- he suggested that we take Emma over to the coloring table and then he would come over for a casual, candid pic with Emma when she was comfortable and happy.  What a guy!  Not exactly the traditional 'sitting on Santa's lap- telling him what she wants for Christmas' type of picture, but it's unique and memorable. :)  Here's our 2008 Emma and Santa picture:

We're looking forward to celebrating Christmas with family over the next several days here in Tulsa and in Texas!  Merry Christmas everyone- have a blessed time with your families!

2nd Birthday Bash Chuck E.Cheese Style

We had a small family birthday party for Emma tonight at Chuck E. Cheese.  I figured one week after move-in wasn't the best time to host a party at home and Chuck E. Cheese's turned out to be a lot of fun! :) 

Emma and I visited Chuck E. Cheese's about 2 weeks ago to scope it out so she that it wasn't new territory for her tonight. 

Here are a few pics from our evening:

Nana fixing Emma's hair:

Emma and Daddy:

Cousin Haley, Emma, and Nana:

Chloe, Cole, Christy, and Coleman, what a cute family!:

Emma checking out one of the games:

Uncle Ron, Emma, Cousin Haley:

Aubrey and Emma playing the phone game:

Emma, Daddy, and Aubrey watching Chuck E. Cheese perform:

Emma and Daddy playing a game:

Daddy goofing off:

Emma's Cookie Cake, it was yummy!:

"I need more tickets mom!..."

We had a great time celebrating Emma's 2nd Birthday.  I am certain that she will sleep well tonight and have a blast playing with her new toys tomorrow.  Thank you family and friends for helping make Emma's birthday so special!

Now... on to Christmas. :)

Just What Every Little Girl Wants...

A kitchen... if only she knew that someday she is going to get to play kitchen for real!  Why aren't dishes fun now that I'm an adult?

Emma woke up the morning after her 2nd Birthday to this fun new kitchen from mommy, daddy, and Nana.   She absolutely loves it!

Daddy started putting the kitchen together at 11:30 last night and fell asleep at 4:30 and it still wasn't finished!  There were 43 steps to put this little guy together! :)  Welcome to the world of Toddler toys!

Checking out the microwave (love the bed-head hair!)

Checking out the burners:

Testing the sink:

The washer and dryer work great too!

 

Happy Birthday Sweet Emma! Happy Homemaking!

Emma Katherine Curry is 2!

My baby girl turned two today... I can hardly believe that she has only been in my life for two years!

We had a great day celebrating her Birthday all day today... let me share a quick synopsis of our day:

We started the day by waking her up with Happy Birthday balloons (I think we stole that idea from some good friends' blogs- thanks Rowe's!)  Emma loved the balloons!:

Next, Mommy fixed Emma a gourmet breakfast- a biscuit with butter and honey, with a "2" candle stuck in the middle of it!  We sang Happy Birthday to Emma and practiced blowing out the candles several times:

Next, we got Emma all ready for school in her cute Birthday dress:

Emma had a great day at school where they actually celebrated Jesus' Birthday AND Emma's Birthday!  (I have a feeling this will be happening a lot during her lifetime!)  Emma came home from school very sleepy from all of the days' festivities and took a long nap while mommy went to work.

When Mommy got home from work, we all went to Chick-Fil-A, Emma's favorite restaurant, for dinner.  She really wanted to see the Santa Cow... until he came over to talk to Emma, and then she hid her head on Daddy's shoulder:

We ended the night by singing and dancing to some fun songs in Emma's bedroom before bed... she had a ball!

Tomorrow, the celebration will continue as she wakes up to a Birthday gift from Mommy and Daddy and Nana (stay tuned to find out what that gift is) and then tomorrow night as we celebrate her Birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's!