Family Birthday Party

Lots of family from near and far came to celebrate Emerson's birthday tonight.

Chuck E. Cheese Party

Emerson had his first "friend" birthday party this year. We have always had family parties. We had planned to have a Cars themed party at the house, and suddenly Emerson started asking to have his party at Chuck E. Cheese. Let me say, the kid has only been there twice and the last time was over a year ago. I was a little surprised at this request. But, he only turns 4 once, right? Seven of his friends joined us yesterday for pizza and games.

Gavin checks out a game.

(Gavin and Emerson go to "school" together and Gavin's mom and I teach together)

Aiden gets in some skeeball.

(Aiden's daddy and I work together)

 Caleb and Makayla enjoyed a little dancing on the blue screen.
(Autumn, their mom, and I went to UK together, and were in each others weddings - a month apart.)

Tyler and Cameron take a break for pizza and drinks.

(Amanda, their mom, and I went to LCC together and have known each other about 12 years.) 

Time for cake

 Emerson and Lela hamming it up!
(Lela is 14 months older than Emerson, and they have been together since Emerson was 12 weeks old and started at Ms. Kim's. They are in LOVE! There is crying (from Lela) when they have to leave each other. It's very sweet!)

Singing "Happy Birthday"

My turn with the birthday boy!

Emerson's {first} 4th Birthday Party!

We started the celebration of Emerson's 4th birthday yesterday afternoon with family and close friends. He had a great time playing with his cousins and opening presents! Even our grandparents from Alaska were able to be here this year!

Emerson's Birthday with KK and TT

Emerson's godparents were not able to make it to his birthday party last weekend, so they had their own special celebration with him today. In addition to going to the pumpkin patch, Emerson spent the night with them last night and got his birthday present this morning. I am not sure who was more excited about the present, TT or Emerson? TT and KK had been saving the remote controlled car since this summer and TT couldn't wait to give it to Emerson.

TT shows Emerson how the remote works

Emerson loves this car! His face just lights up when he gets to drive it.

A special birthday cake for Emerson, smile!

Emerson can't seem to get enough of cake this year - he LOVES it!

Dear TT and KK,

We are so glad that you are a part of Emerson's life! We can't imagine better Godparents. The love that you all have for our son is more than we could have ever hoped for, and we love watching you play and interact with him. The most incredible part is that he too loves you just as much, and it excites us to know that there is another set of adults in his life helping so closely to shape and mold him as he grows.

Thanks for taking on this most important role in Emerson's life! We love you.

Chad & Pamela

Emerson's 3rd Birthday Party

While my Me-ma and Pap were still in town we celebrated Emerson's birthday with both sides of the family. Emerson was blessed to have both sets of grandparents and two sets of great-grandparents at his party; along with some other family friends.

The first present Emerson opened are the shoes you see on his feet here. He was SO excited (and that statement really doesn't do it justice) about the shoes, he put them on immediately. We have had to wear them, even though they are still a smidge too big, every day since.

This is his Peterbuilt, he told us so. I had no idea that the truck was a Peterbuilt, but the boy loves his Cars movie.

Literally tossing the clothes aside to see what else is waiting in the bag.

It was a great day for a boy - shoes, cars, trucks, and his "game" (a Vtech MobiGo).

Then it was time for cake! He decided he wanted this party to be backhoes and dump trucks; so what would it be without a dump truck cake?

And hazard cones for candles!

Blow out the candles

A very happy boy
He was quick to explain to anyone who made comment that he was 3 that he actually doesn't turn three until "October the 17".

More Fun Birthday Stuff

Emerson's Gramma, Granma Wanda, and Grandad Jack were not able to make it to his party last Saturday due to illness. So, we had a special little party with them on Friday evening.

Granma Wanda, have you ever seen Little Bear before?

Speaking for Emerson, the grocery cart
was the highlight of the present opening!

Look at all this food!

Emerson loaded the rack under his cart
while Grandad Jack opened his new pots and pans.

Oh, I love this Mr. Potato Head!

Presents!

Emerson was blessed with great new toys and clothes this weekend. Here are a few that are his favs right now:The Mickey Mouse blanket that
Mommy sewed for him...

His new train set,

Loving the Geotrax...

Bath tub instruments - a horn,

A drum - don't all things have other uses?

and the xylophone.

Happy 2nd Birthday Emerson!

We had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed party on Saturday to celebrate Emerson's 2nd birthday. Lots of family and friends came out to celebrate (a few of you were missed, but we appreciate that you didn't come and spread the sickness). Emerson's Aunt Julie and Danny drove up from Atlanta and his G-ma and Pa-pa flew in from Pennsylvania to be with us on this exciting day.

This is the only present
Emerson opened by himself

Emerson sits in his new chair to try out his DoodlePro

Cameron, Ben and Christopher look on


The cake that I made for my sweet boy
(it's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)

Blowing out the candles

Mmmm...this cupcake looks yummy!

Emerson sharing the good eats with (clockwise): Ben, Cameron,
Christopher, Breanna, and Savannah

Two Year Pictures

Yesterday I took Emerson to have his two year pictures taken at Portrait Innovations. I had this great plan to take a few shots in his cute sweater, then he would put on his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse shirt and hold his Mickey. Emerson had other plans.

I was lucky to get this great shot, because there were only about 15 total pictures taken because he refused to stand/sit still long enough. I actually had to bribe him with a sucker to get this picture. A special thanks goes to Emerson's Aunt KK, she was a trooper helping to get the shot and trying all kinds of crazy things to get him to stay still.

Needless to say, I am happy with the results and have a funny memory to go along with getting it.

Birthday Weekend

Emerson had his birthday party on Sunday with all of our family and close friends. He received lots of fun new toys and adorable clothes!

Mommy loved the new outfit

A LittlePeople dump truck
(cousin Ben thought it was cool too)

"This makes a great drum!"

Emerson's big cake

Emerson's personal birthday cake

"Hurry mom!"

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Mmmmm...
Relaxing with Pap and a little milk after the festivities

Daddy and Grandpa assemble the toys

The weekend began with a trip to the Louisville Zoo. This was Emerson's first trip to the zoo and he enjoyed himself, but even more all of the adults enjoyed watching him take in all of the sights.

Watching the elephants with Grandpa and G-ma

Petting a goat

Petting another goat (check out the teeth on this thing)

"Look at me walking up hill"

" Grandpa, you give great rides!"