Ella and Emma's 1st Birthday Party

Ella and Emma had a great first birthday.  We had their party on May 23, and what a wonderful event it was.  (Warning: this post is long.  It has 32 pictures.)

I took a couple of  pictures of the girls just waking up in the morning on their birthday.  Here are our precious one year olds.

Ella with her horse in her mouth

Emma with her thumb and horse in her mouth

I baked their birthday cake from scratch and decorated it.  I think it came out pretty good considering this is the first time I have done this.

There were 21 people smushed into our house for the event.  It was so special to have all these people who know and care about our girls help us celebrate their birthday.

Bryan put together a 6 minute long video of the girls' 1st year of life.  It is so sweet!  He did a wonderful job with it.  Unfortunately, the file is too big to post on the blog.  This picture was taken while everyone was watching it.

Grammie and Emma

Ella and Emma were not terribly interested in opening presents.  They kept trying to crawl off.  They just don't get it quite yet, but they will before we know it.  They have enjoyed playing with and wearing their gifts though.  Thank you so much to everyone who blessed us with gifts.  We truly appreciate it.

Ella and her 1st Doll

Emma and her 1st Doll

Then it was time for cake:  

Emma can hardly wait

Ella is also excited

Then they tried it:

What is this stuff on my hand?

What am I supposed to do with this?

Yuck!

Are you sure about this?

Needless to say, they were not too fond of the cake.  They barely touched it, decided they didn't like it, and cried for something more recognizable like puffs. 

Emma is 1

"Oooh, Oooh, Oooh!" Ella's impersonating a monkey

As the party was wrapping up, I came across the party hats that had come with the cups and plates.  I had totally forgotten about them.  So, we thought we would give them a try.  Ella and Emma HATED them.  Instant screams until we took them back off, which we did rather quickly.

Emma, "I don't want to wear this silly hat!!!!"

Ella, "Me either!!  It was so bad, I'll keep crying even though Daddy already took it off."

So, Daddy wore them instead

Playing with a new toy after the party

The last year has been one the the best in our lives.  It's amazing how God can create such wonderful little people and put them in our lives.  Ella and Emma have learned so much this year.  We are excited to see what the future will hold for our precious daughters.  

Thank you so much to all who have helped us during this last year with your prayers, words of encouragement, gifts, and everything else you have done to help make this year go as smoothly as it did.  Thank you for loving and caring for Ella and Emma.

P.S. Thanks Grandy for taking all the pictures at our party.

May Merriment

May started out with a bang as Bryan took me to Oklahoma City to see The Lion King as my Christmas present.  It is an absolutely marvelous show.  I just kept smiling through the whole thing.  If you have a chance to see this spectacular show, do it.  It was the best Christmas present ever!

The next morning we went to the Oklahoma City Memorial. It had been raining most of the morning, but luckily, it stopped just long enough for us to walk around and remember that tragic day.  

As the weather has gotten a bit warmer, the girls and I have started a new tradition.  We take a walk up and down the street and check the mail most afternoons before their nap.  They really love riding in their wagon.  Some days, we'll sit in the shade of one of the trees and play or blow bubbles.  

Ella

Emma

These pics were taken May 14.  As I texted Bryan that morning, "It was going to be one of those days" but in a good way.  Ella and Emma were into everything that day and having a ball doing it.  They pulled the books off the shelves, played the piano, got all the tupperware out of the drawer, etc.  All while I was trying to keep their pants on.  These adorable pants are a little big in the waist, and they would literally crawl right out of them.  It was all very cute and very much fun.

"Reading" is one of our favorite things to do.

Ella

Sweet Duet

This is how Emma looked when she woke up from her nap one day:

Nice Hair!

Our girls are growing and changing so much every day.  It's hard to keep up with them.  But what a joy they bring to our lives!!!!

April Pictures

We have had a busy couple of months, so this is a very delayed post.  But, I finally got all the pics on our new computer and edited, so I thought I would update a little at a time.  

We spent Easter at my sister's house this year.  We had a great time.  Here's some pics:

Cousin Aleisha feeding Ella

Our Easter Outfits, Don't we look cute?

Emma

Ella

Easter Baskets

Ella decided to stand up for the first time while we were there.

Emma stood up for the 1st time just a couple of days later.

Easter presents from Memaw and Datt

These are just some fun times we had: 

Emma, "Yummmm..... Chocolate Teddy Grahams"

Boxes make great tunnels!!

Aleisha spent an evening with us, and we walked to the park.  Grammie and Grandy joined in on the fun as well.

Ella LOVES to swing!!

Emma LOVES to swing too!!

Playing in the toy room.

I'll try to update May and the girl's first birthday in the next couple of days, so check back if you're interested.