#14 Teach Emma to walk

I forgot to post this when she started walking...well she did it! Good job Emma!

#13 Make Emma's 1st birthday cake and throw a party

I've been looking forward to this birthday for a long time! Happy 1st birthday to my little 

Emma Katherine!

I loved the sunflower in Emma's monthly photos so much that I stuck with that theme for her birthday. I LOVE Pinterest, which is where I found the ideas for her cupcakes and smash cake.

Jackson took on the role of host while Christian was out at the grill and I finished getting the table ready for dinner.

We had burgers, hot dogs, strawberries, pineapple, salad, and apple juice.

After dinner we opened presents.

Emma did what she could with the wrapping paper, which wasn't much. Thank you dad for opening all of her presents for her!

Jackson was very interested to see what new toys Emma was getting.

Dolls!

A few (but not all) of her fun new toys. She got the cutest clothes, too, which I'm sure you will see her wearing in pictures in the next couple months. She was completely spoiled by us and her grandparents.

Jackson picked out a gift for Emma at the store with Christian last week. Surprise, surprise, it was a Lego backhoe loader. He helped her put it together. And he probably will insist it is HIS for the rest of forever.

And then it was time for the cake!

I just can't get over how beautiful these cupcakes are. I honestly didn't think I could pull these off. Piping frosting is still very new to me, but I'm practicing!

I came to grab her for cake and she was hugging one of her new dolls. Aww!

Before I forget...Christian put up streamers and he did a fabulous job.

And...back to cake! We sang "happy birthday" to her and Christian blew out her candle.

The fun begins.

She didn't make quite the mess that Jackson did on his 1st birthday. It's so fun to see the differences in how every child approaches things. Emma picked up the entire cake and just started taking bites of the frosting and cake.

 Messy hands.

Selfie with the birthday girl! This is as messy as she got. Can you believe that?!

I took her for a quick bath to get the frosting out of her hair. When we were done in the bath it was play time. She played with every single one of her new toys.

And Jackson did, too.

In two and a half months we will be celebrating Jackson's 3rd birthday! 

Dear children,

Stop growing up!

Love, your mother

#18 Hit 500 total blog posts on family blog

I did it! I officially have 500 blog posts on my family blog! Christian challenged me 2 years ago to just do 25 posts and see how I like it. Here I am 500 posts later...and counting! I LOVE looking back on posts from 2 years ago. I'm so glad I chose to do this! I know I will forget the memories from today, but because I blog I can always come back and remember.

Next year to 1000 posts!

#4 Complete book list (5)

1. Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

2. The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer

3. Waking by Matthew Sanford

4. Firebrand by Kristen Britain

5. The Orphan Keeper by Cameron Wright

Firebrand is a book I've been waiting for since before Jackson was born. It is book #6 in a series I've been reading since middle school. I really don't like waiting 2-4 years between each book, but there isn't much I can do about that. The other books are books we've read for the ward bookclub so far this year. I will add more books to this list as the year goes on (but probably not many more with all the things I have going on and goals I want to accomplish).

#12 Potty Train Jackson

It's done! He has the occasional small accident, but he's potty trained! He has even been dry when he wakes up, several day in a row now.  He just yells for me that he needs to go potty when he wakes up and I come running. ;) I'm about to throw away (give away) ALL his diapers! I'm so proud of this boy! He's making it so easy for me.

#20 Learn all the words to "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel

Yep, I did this. I suppose I don't have any witnesses except for Jackson and Emma. But trust me, I so did this! Before I learned the words it sounded like Billy was singing so fast, but now that I know the words it really ISN'T all that fast. 

#6 Make Easter Decoration

I made the family do the Easter decoration with me. We painted eggs from the craft store.

Christian's picture face...

We each painted two (except Emma, she painted none). I bet, if you thought about it, you could figure out who painted which one.

Our new, and only, Easter decoration.