Happy 5th Birthday Emily!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Emily!  Five years ago today you came into our lives and we have been so richly blessed because of you.  We were such nervous first time parents and didn't even name you until you were a day old . . . but your name is perfect for you!  We love you and look forward to what you will do as a big 5 year old girl!

We love your smile and how excited you get to spend time with friends.  You LOVE going to school and enjoy learning.  Your favorite things to do are to play with your dolls and dollhouse and barbies.  You love pretend play with any toys you can find and it's so fun to hear and watch you play.  You are so sweet to your sister and love showing her the ropes.  Your favorite thing to wear is dresses, dresses, dresses : )

We are so lucky to be your parents and thank God for you every day!

Happy Birthday to our sunshine girl!

Starting off the new year

The girls' school was out the first week of January so we stayed in Montgomery so I could work and my parents could watch the girls.

Every single day that we were there Abigail wore her 'Punzel dress over her clothes.  So here is a rare picture of them dressed in normal clothes.  However, Abigail wore Emily's red "sparkly" shoes every chance she got.  Before I took this picture she quickly pulled off her shoes that I had just put on her and put Emily's shoes back on:

 So when we got back home we went to the store and got Abigail her own pair of "sparkly" shoes : )  We also put the new quilts that DeeDee made on their beds:

Emily and I got to go to a movie together one afternoon and it was fun.  The movie was a little over her head but we still enjoyed getting to go to a movie together.  The girls' school starts back tomorrow.  Our break was nice but we are all ready to get back into our routine.

New Years

For New Year's we went to Montgomery to have Christmas with my family.  My mom finished quilts for the girls.  I plan on using these as their bed comforters when they share a room:

 We found my rocking chair as a child in the attic and found one that my Granddaddy had caned.  So mom had them painted purple to give to the girls:

Pink Pig

So apparently there is an Atlanta tradition to ride the pink pig at M@cy's.  It's been around since 1953.  So Rachel and I took the girls on Wednesday.  We had not counted on how excited they would be since it had been a WHOLE WEEK since they had seen each other.  So it was kinda hard to keep the excitement down in the middle of the mall . . . but we managed : )  It was a fun day spent with friends:

 The original ride from the 1950s:

 Our turn to ride the train:

 At the end of the ride we each got a sticker that said "I rode M@cy's Pink Pig":

Christmas!!!

Santa came to visit our house!  Emily woke us up but Abigail wasn't awake yet.  While we were waiting for Abigail to wake up, Emily went to the loft and looked down to the living room.  She kept coming back to our room to report what she could see : )

 Abigail sniffed out her candy cane that she asked for and started eating it right away:

 A gift to Emily from Abigail:

 New hats and gloves for when it gets cold:

 A gift from Mom and Dad.  Emily saw this in a store well before Thanksgiving and told me that was what she wanted from us for Christmas.  So I went ahead and bought it that day because I was afraid it would be gone.  She had already forgotten that we bought it that day : )

 Cookie play set for Abigail from Mom and Dad:

 Her "Ariel" waterfall she asked Santa for:

 New dress up!!!

 Then about 12:30 it hit me that they were missing some dolls I had bought for them : )  So I dug around in my closet and found them and wrapped them.  So we had 2nd Christmas in the afternoon!  I also found a couple of other little things that I will give them next weekend : )  Guess I better make a master list to look at next year when wrapping for Christmas!

 The girls enjoyed the day playing with all their new toys.  It's so fun to hear Emily in all her imaginary play:

 

Joe and I played Yahtzee and Trouble and I beat him every time : )  We then cooked steaks, potatoes and salad for Christmas dinner  . . . yum!

The first thing the girls did this morning was put on their dress up clothes.  Abigail enjoyed her breakfast on the floor while Emily tried out her new sewing kit:

 Merry Christmas everyone!!!