number 1!

I am still in a state of disbelief when I look at Emmy here and realize that she is now a 1 year old. It's shocking that it has come so fast. A part of me thought that she would remain a baby for ever, I suppose.. 

This past year has quite possibly been the most stressful, busiest, and most fun year that we've had in our 6 years as the Mark and Jayci Reeder family. I still haven't even uploaded the pictures I snapped on our drive cross country where we watched Old Faithful's eruption with a wild, uncaged Buffalo 4 feet in front of the kids' stroller at sunset (yes, it was taking all my strength not to scream and run), or where we held our growing boy up so his head was next in line at Mt. Rushmore. We have really done so much in this little girl's short lifetime so far; I'm proud of us for making it through happily. To just sit back and enjoy the last 5 months of North Dakota life has really been a breeze (a chilly one, but a breeze nevertheless)...

Her day began beautifully. We woke up before the sun, like we always do, and we set our music to get our energy flowing. I was having a neighbor over (who I conveniently visit teach!) for lunch with her youngest, and new that morning would be the best time to knock out the cake baking. I had my assistants nearby helping me make extra messes:

Emmy even got to enjoy the batter with Mont this time... after all.. what good is a birthday without some new tasty treats? I'm still in love and over the moon that she has my mother's eyes (don't know how, but somehow she's got 'em!)

After an entirely too-messy session trying to make the butter cream frosting, I whipped up these bad girls with a ziplock bag. You can't even see the cupcake under that mountain of frosting! That's good, right? Oops.

What's that Sprinkles? Sure! You can hire me.. if you insist.

Thought I'd do both cupcakes and a cake... so I divided the batter into 6 lg cupcakes and 1 round cake. Checkered lines was about all my talent allowed for. So sorry, Emmy. At least the colors were cute..

I was stumped on what to get for our little sweetheart.. the only thing I could think of that would be safe enough and special enough was a little doll. My sister used to have Madame Alexanders and I remember my mother saying how nice of a doll they were; that they would stand the test of time or something to that extent. Well lucky for Emmy, I didn't just find a Madame Alexander, I found one that was soft! She is in a little snow suit that is blanket soft, and just like a pillow. We don't think Emmy has even held a baby doll before, so it was precious to watch the sweet introduction. She was thrilled and smiley, touching the doll's face and hair and hands, poking her eyes and so forth. She is such a nurturer, this Emmy of ours. Just see for yourself.. ; )

Someday I'll find and upload the pictures of all her travels Eastward, but for now I just have to say, we are so happy this little girl is ours. Her laughs are sometimes hard to get out of her, but her smiles are always at the ready for us. She is a goof with her brother and they are always putting on shows for one another, usually with Mont ending up in the fit of giggles. They are quite the pair, our two. I love them to pieces.

Happy birthday little Emmy dear!