Welcome to the World Violet Rose Timmerman!

On the day Lucy was born, the tulips in our yard began blooming.  On the day Emma was born, the daffodils had just started blooming.  On April 12 this past month, Lucy discovered the violets in our yard were in bloom.  As this was still a ways from Violet's due date, we still took the appearance of Violet's flowers as a good sign.  

On May 3 the violets were still blooming and my bees arrived.  Will installed them for me, as I tried to stifle my jealousy and let go of my need for control.  Will did a great job with me dictating to him from the dining room window.

We also visited the Farmer's Market opening day and I talked with many fellow suburban farmers about the new laws regarding the Michigan Right to Farm Act that no longer protected us.  I was pretty fired up all day about the fact that Michigan took such a backwards step in sustainability.  Here I am below with not much physical energy left, but plenty of passion about my God given rights to produce my own food on my own property.

On Saturday night, I finished tucking the girls in and sat down in the rocking chair outside their bedroom door to ensure a speedy road to sleep while Will went to pick up a movie at our local Red Box.  Will had finished his college class the night before and everything else on our To Do List was finally complete with the installation of the bees that morning.  We finally had time for a relaxing evening together and were going to celebrate with a movie.  I logged on to Facebook on my phone and started chatting with my friend and fellow chicken owner while I waited for Emma and Lucy to fall asleep.  She wisely advised me to focus on the little human growing inside of me and put trips to city hall and conversations with state representatives aside for now.  

Just as I realized she was right, and that part of my fired up anger was probably due to hormones, I dropped my phone.  As I leaned down to pick it up I felt a gush of hot water and realized that my water broke!  The bathroom was literally four steps away so I rushed to the toilet and was amazed at all of the water coming out of me.  I yelled for Lucy who was still awake and she came running, but stopped short when she saw the water all over the bathroom floor.  I had her grab my cell phone - still on the floor - and pass it gingerly over the puddles to me.  I called Will, who later told me that he thought I was going to tell him to pick up something to eat, and told him to forget the movie and come home!  I called my doctor and my sister who was going to stay with the girls and then spent the next couple of minutes trying to calm down Lucy's excitement and deal with the water still flowing out of me.  

For the next two hours, Emma slept soundly while our house became a bustle of activity.  Will set up the air mattress in Violet's room for my sister, did a load of laundry and cleaned up the house.  Lucy bounced back and forth between Will and I, barely able to contain herself from the excitement of being a part of grown up things.  I finally convinced her to lay down with me as I waited for the contractions to start.  About a half hour after Lucy finally fell asleep, my contractions started and my sister arrived from Bowling Green.  Things were unfolding very nicely.  Here I am below, before we headed for the hospital.  My water continued to leak in big spurts and I had gone through all of the pants I had owned, leaving me to go to the hospital in a pair of pajama bottoms that didn't cover my belly completely.  I wasn't in so much pain yet that I was still self-conscious about my belly hanging out.  

I left a trail of water from the check in desk, into the elevator, through double doors into triage and then down a long hallway to my hospital room.  My water has never broken at home before, and I continued to be amazed and honestly, alarmed at the mess of it all.  It was after midnight by the time we were settled into our room and the contractions were becoming steady, with no breaks in between.  I listened to the song "A Thousand Years" on my iPhone on repeat the entire night while bouncing on the birthing ball and inhaling essential oils in the diffuser I brought from home.  The lights were out in the room and Will slept on and off as I alternated between bouncing and waddling to and from the bathroom to pee.  By seven in the morning I was exhausted and starting to get discouraged and Will was joking with the nurses that we had heard the song "A Thousand Years" at least a thousand times by now.  My doctor decided that I wasn't having true contractions because there were no breaks in between them and prescribed pitocin to get things going.  I reluctantly agreed, but asked for an epidural first.  I've done pitocin before with both Luke and Emma, and in my opinion, at that point the natural birth wagon has left the building.  Will mentioned from a reclined position on the fold out bed that since the nurse was here with the petocin to just let her get it started so that we didn't "waste any more time" waiting for the epidural.  If looks could kill, his estimated time of death would have been 7:05 a.m.  I calmly told him that since he wasn't the one in pain, he could continue to waste time on the fold out bed and that I would be waiting patiently for my epidural before a drop of pitocin went into my veins, thank you very much.  Needless to say, I got my epidural and they started the pitocin and a little over three and a half hours later our beautiful daughter arrived!

Weighing in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces she was my biggest baby by almost a pound, and at 21 inches long she was almost an inch longer than Lucy and Emma were too.  Will and I kept exclaiming how chubby she was and couldn't believe that she was finally here!

Her hair had tiny ringlets in it and we can't help but wonder if this is a sign of curly hair to come!  Only time will tell and if she follows in her big sisters footsteps, we may have to wait at least two years before there is enough hair to tell.

Violet enjoyed her first bath and when the nurse rinsed her hair under the faucet, Violet got a look of such contentment on her face that you could almost hear her sigh.  This is definitely a switch from her big sisters, who screamed through their first baths and still scream when we rinse their hair.

Later that afternoon, my sister brought the girls to meet Violet.  They woke up at their usual sunny seven in the morning and had been begging my sister to bring them to the hospital to meet Violet ever since.  Since Violet hadn't even been born yet, Lucy, Emma (and poor Aunt Jane!) definitely had a lesson in patience May 4th!  The wait was worth it though and the girls were immediately in love.

They have also been arguing over whose turn it is to hold Violet ever since!

Our family of five on earth, together at last!  I missed my older girls so much, and it was heaven on earth to have all three of them snuggled on me.

It was especially emotional to kiss and hug Emma who is now my middle child.  So far she seems to be taking the transition smoothly and is very proud of her big sister status.

The girls hung out with Aunt Jane in our hospital room for a while as we all got used to the new dynamics of another addition to our family.  I like the bottom right hand picture below, featuring the newest set of chubby cheeks, with her older sister's still chubby cheeks in the background.

The next morning at the hospital I took a nap while Will went to spend time with Lucy and Emma at home.  I have to admit that I was in and out of sleep for most of the morning, and when hospital staff came in to deal with Violet's birth certificate, newborn pictures, hearing test, heart test, etc. I didn't make a move and they let me be.  This was huge for me, after being up for all of Saturday night and most of Sunday night.  When I finally woke up for good, all of the different staff came back at the same time and very efficiently took care of what they needed to.  This should be standard procedure in my opinion, as there are so many interruptions it makes it impossible to sleep.  With that being said, I still wanted to go home on the early side, and with my doctor's blessing all we needed was for Violet to be over 24 hours old so that she could do her Newborn Screening test, and we could then go home.  She finished her last test like a pro and then the girls came to join in the Newborn photo shoot and to take us home.  Here is Violet below, with some of the pictures from her photo shoot.  I especially like the bottom left hand picture, of Lucy and Emma holding Violet's feet.

The blanket was made by a dear friend of mine while I was pregnant with Luke, and has ever since been called "Luke's blanket".  It has come to the hospital to help welcome each of Luke's three baby sisters and at this point is a treasured family heirloom.  Here Violet is below, snuggling Will in Luke's blanket after the hard work of posing for her portrait.

With several hospital delays, we were eventually given the green light to go home.  Here we are below dressing Violet in her going home outfit, and then the view of our backseat finally being filled with all three of my girls.  Bringing our baby home from the hospital is very emotional for Will and I, as we will never forget what it was like on the drive home after our first baby was born and we had to leave him behind.  With each of his sisters since, the first car ride home is always full of gratitude and emotion and we make a point for all of our earth side children to be a part of it.

We arrived home around dinner time, exhausted but elated to be in our own home, together as our new little family of five on earth.

At almost a week old, Violet is a sweet, cuddly little girl who seems to know each of her family member's voices already.  She enjoys having her diaper changed, eating and sleeping and really doesn't have time for annoying things like burping.  Violet, we are so glad you are here!

April Transitions

So many things have changed this past month from the weather to the ages of my daughters, and even the layout of our house.  We began the month by moving Lucy and Emma into the same bedroom together.  It was quite an undertaking but we are very pleased with the results.  Will made the girls each their own matching headboard that coordinates with the bookcase that we made for Lucy when we were preparing for Emma's arrival three years ago.  My job was to tackle the mountain of outgrown clothes in Lucy's walk in closet, as the dresser that the girls now share had to be moved into the closet to make way for another bed in the room.  In the below left hand picture you can see the sheer volume of clothes - organized and put away to be handed down to the next sister. 

I had fun ordering a couple of things from Etsy to make the girls room special and unique, and Will had fun indulging me.  Will and I had an ongoing disagreement as to the design of the headboards - he wanted what I equate to masculine looking headboards, and I wanted girly looking ones.  He eventually made the headboards how I wanted them, with the caveat that I tell everyone who sees them that it is my design and not his.  Deal.  I think everything turned out really nice and the girls have adjusted relatively fast to being roommates.  At bedtime we have had to play "prison warden" and sit in a rocking chair outside their room to expedite the sleeping process, but we are hoping to gradually give them the keys to their own freedom, and in return, our freedom too.

I finally feel like our dream of filling our cozy three bedroom bungalow with our future children is finally about to come true.  I can't tell you how excited I am to have Violet to kiss goodnight in Emma's old room, and Lucy and Emma to kiss goodnight in their new room.  My house and happiness runneth over!

With winter finally transitioning into spring we still spent a lot of time indoors.  The girls both got drawing books from the library this month and have enjoyed learning how to draw animals.  They have also sufficiently proven that they only bounce off the walls when they are inside, and the tease of spring weather every couple of days has made it harder than ever to be stuck inside.

Lucy also became interested in making balloon animals this past month, inspired by a Max & Ruby episode as well as a balloon animal kit she spotted at the local craft store.  She hounded us until we took her back to the store with her own money to buy the kit, and then we headed to the library and got a DVD and a book to learn how to make the balloon creations.  Will's uncle who is a professional clown also gave Will and Lucy a tutorial on Easter.  Will's progress has been impressive, as has Lucy's ability to blow up the balloons for him with her little hand pump.

Below are the girls standing in front of the last of our winter snow.  It is amazing the transition the weather has made over this past month.

Spring has sprung and we have definitely taken advantage of every minute of good weather it has brought.  In the below left hand picture, the girls are using a magnifying glass to examine a bumble bee that landed on a bouquet of daffodils Lucy had picked that morning.

Emma, now that she is three, is allowed to have nail polish on her finger nails.  We painted them for the first time this past month outside.  It was Lucy's first time having nail polish on her finger nails too, as after about four years of habitual nail biting, she finally broke the habit and has nails long enough to paint.

We went directly from snow banks to planting our garden, which was a little strange to adjust our minds to.  The girls were able to help for most of it, and in the bottom left hand picture, Emma's chubby little finger is pointing at the first signs of our asparagus coming back after being buried for months under several feet of snow.  In the top right hand picture below you will see that spring fever has hit our chickens as well, and they are laying eggs like crazy.  Will also transplanted our rhubarb out of the fenced portion of our garden and into a nice hedge in front of the garden as we discovered the local deer do not eat it.  So far we are able to maximize the unfenced portions of our yard with food the deer won't eat - asparagus, rhubarb and soon a potato bed that Will is hoping to put in this coming month.  I have a feeling they would stay away from our garlic and onions too, but I will try out some test plants this year first before transplanting anything.

Charlie has caught spring fever it seems as well, and has been on the prowl.  Multiple mice and even a squirrel tail have all been presented to us since the weather has become more mild.  Below is the squirrel tail before Will picked it up with a stick and put it in the trash.

And if the squirrel tail isn't enough to turn your stomach, let me tell you about the latest stomach bug that hit our family.  Fortunately this time it only hit the kids and I was able to stay healthy, being nine months pregnant!  I also counted my blessings that this time Lucy and Emma were hit with the bug at the exact same time, so we didn't have prolonged sickness - especially since they were throwing up for well over 48 hours.  In the top picture below, I took a panoramic shot of my spot camped out on the couch with the barf bucket and a hand on each sick kiddos head.  There were times where I didn't even get a chance to clean out the barf bucket and the other kid needed it.  I have never cleaned up so much vomit in my life.  I'm sure there will be stomach bugs in the future to trump this one, but for now, it was the worst one I have ever had to play nurse for.  The girls were still recovering on Emma's birthday and friends of ours in the middle right hand picture did a drive by birthday gift drop off so as not to catch the germs we had.  We visited in the driveway with car glass between us for a nice amount of time, and Emma even opened up her birthday present from them right there on the driveway.  In the below bottom right hand picture we were all healthy enough to do birthday snuggles with our same friends on Lucy's birthday.  

The kids became stricken with head colds when I was exactly at the point in my pregnancy with Violet that we lost Luke.  I was feeling very isolated and alone, at home with two cranky girls and a head cold myself as well.  A friend of mine called me up unexpectedly and said she was in the area and could she stop by.  I told her we were under quarantine, and she asked if I needed anything at the store instead.  She stopped by a bit later and dropped off a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a pack of my favorite hot chocolate and the movie Frozen for the girls to watch while they were recovering.  I can't tell you how this thoughtfulness changed my perspective on the day, and made me instantly go from what could have been a bad day, to an actually happy, hopeful day.  Amazing that I could find joy in a day filled with snot and cranky, sick kids.  To ice the cake of my day, proving that I have the most loving supporters, my cousin called and told me she was thinking about me and Violet, and she just knew everything was going to be okay.  I told her about the significance of the day, and she was certain that Luke put it on hers and my other friend's heart to reach out to me that day.  Needless to say, I felt so loved that all worry about Violet dissipated into gratitude. 

Despite head colds and the stomach flu, we were still able to visit with friends this past month.  The top two pictures below are of the girls playing with friends of ours, and the bottom two pictures are of the girls at our friend's daughter's 5th birthday tea party.  In both cases, Will and I were in the background, equally enjoying our time spent with their parents.

This past Sunday we had our immediate family over to celebrate Lucy and Emma's birthdays.  We tried to make it as low key as possible for the sake of my swelling feet and exhaustion.  We ordered pizza from our favorite local pizza joint, and while Will tidied up the house I made and decorated their birthday cake.  Despite my lack of energy, I wanted their party to be special.  The girls chose a rainbow butterfly theme and as luck would have it, inspiration struck and we were able to pull it off with little to no advanced planning.  Lucy picked daffodils from our yard to decorate the tables with, and we bought a butterfly paper punch and made rainbow butterfly confetti for the tables and the cake.

My parents, Will's parents, and all of our siblings except for two that both reside in Ohio were able to make it to the party.  Will's brother and my sister are saving the trip from Ohio for Violet's birth, which we are hoping will be soon!  As you can see in the picture below, the grandmas enjoyed posing for pictures and the grandpas are nowhere to be seen.

The girls enjoyed opening their gifts and a popular theme was clothes, games and books.  All welcome items at our house!

Here are the April birthday sisters below, posing with the cake.  Lucy picked fresh violets from the yard to decorate the top of the cake with too, so in a way, all three of my girls are represented below.

Will Violet arrive before this month is officially over?  With just over 24 hours left in the busiest month of the year for us, only time will tell!  Either way, how many people can say that the last month of their pregnancy just flew by?  Fortunately, I can!

Happy 5th Birthday Lucy!

Lucy has been counting down in anticipation of today for months.  Yesterday she spent the majority of the day telling me things like, "Mom, this is the last time you get to hold my hand as a four year old!" or, "Can you hardly believe this is the last time I get to eat lunch as a four year old?"  And at bedtime, "Mom, are you going to cry because this is the last time you get to tuck in your four year old?"  Needless to say, by the time I turned out the lights last night, Lucy was a bit anxious about not being a four year old anymore.  I could relate - after waiting for so long for an event to happen, when it actually does, it is a bit overwhelming.  This morning she was all smiles though as I think she realized being five feels just fine.  Here she is below for the token first of the morning birthday picture, the heading down the stairs birthday picture, and the pose in front of the presents birthday picture.

Will had to work this morning, so we had to wait until he came home at lunch time to open presents.  This is the first year he wasn't able to be there first thing in the morning so Lucy had to adjust to waiting to see what was under the wrapping paper.  She did pretty good, and we helped pass the time with her requested breakfast of waffles and bacon.

After breakfast she headed outside to give Charlie snuggles for the first time as a five year old.  Emma and I headed out shortly after to be with her but we all headed back inside not long after as it was super windy and chilly.  After we were back inside, I put my feet up and put on a DVD of Max and Ruby for the girls.  When the movie was over, we played Lucy's new game of Monopoly Junior from Grandma and Grandpa Hines.  It was the first time I'd played it since I was a kid, and let me just say, I had more fun this time than I ever did when I was younger.  It is the perfect game for Lucy and Emma as it is all about selling and buying tickets at various amusement park ticket booths.  Each time a money transaction occurred, they would hand each other or the banker (me) money by saying, "Here you go ma'am, that is four dollars."  Then the other one would hand back say, imaginary cotton candy or whatever else the ticket booth was selling.  It was a great way to pass the time while Lucy waited for Will to come home so she could open her presents, and also great that I could have my feet up!

Will was home by lunch time, and brought Lucy's lunch request from our favorite local sub shop.  While the food waited at the table, Lucy ripped through her presents.  Gift highlights included a butterfly garden so Lucy can raise her own butterflies, Calico Critters including twin bunny babies, a twin stroller, and her favorite, a car with a camper trailer.  She also received binoculars and several field guide books, a jump rope and chap stick.

After opening presents we enjoyed the lunch Will brought home and then some quiet time.  Emma and I took naps while Lucy quietly played with her new presents downstairs.  Will got some work done on the computer with multiple interruptions from Lucy as she discovered new features and details with her Calico Critter camper trailer set.  After quiet time we met with our friends at a local frozen yogurt bar and had a great time letting the kids run wild after the sugar hit them.

After we ruined our dinners, we headed to the store to let Lucy pick out her own chap stick (the flavor we bought her she didn't like) and then headed home for a hot dog dinner.  After dinner Lucy decorated personalized cupcakes for each of us.  In the below picture, Will's hand is pulling Lucy's hair back as it almost went into the flames in her excitement.

After Lucy told me that I get to tuck her in tonight for the first time as a five year old, I asked her what her favorite present was today.  She told me her new chap stick.  I like giving the girls milestones for each of their birthdays so they have something tangible to look forward to while growing up, and to also teach them the fine art of anticipation and patience.  Emma got to have her finger nails painted for the first time at the age of three, Lucy finally got to chew gum at four and now at five, she gets to use chap stick.  My darling girl was quite nervous to put the chap stick on for the first time, and as much as she really really really wanted to wear it, she didn't really care for the feel or the flavor of it.  I told her that perhaps she would get used to it, and to not wear it for now if she didn't like it.  She tucked the tubes in her jewelry box for the night so we shall see if she applies any chap stick tomorrow!

I am a little sentimental tonight, reflecting on the last five years with our first child we have been blessed to watch grow up on earth.  I was definitely not running on all cylinders today due to Violet's impending arrival and am bummed that I didn't get any pictures of Lucy playing with her new Calico Critters, as that is how she spent the majority of her day.  I am even more disappointed that we forgot to measure her height on our growth stick - a very important birthday tradition in our house.  Tomorrow we will remedy the growth chart and in the meantime, I am rubbing my belling and thanking Violet for allowing Lucy to not share her birthday with her sister.  I kept telling Violet that she will be glad of this fact in the following years as well.

Happy birthday to my sweet and sassy oldest daughter.  It has been a joy watching you grow into your personality and to view the world through your eyes - full of excitement and learning.  You have taught me way more than I could ever teach you, and I am a better person after spending the last five years with you.  Thank you for teaching me how to be a mom, and for your unconditional love!  I love you so much Lucy Anne Timmerman and am looking forward to experiencing the next year of life with my five year old!

Update: I forgot to take a picture of Lucy getting measured for the growth chart on her birthday!  Here she is below - she grew three and a half inches since her last birthday!

Happy Easter!

This year Easter was sandwiched in between Emma and Lucy's birthdays, making April 2014 the busiest month of the year for our family.  Adding to this festive and busy month is an extremely pregnant Chief of Holiday Magic Making, who is torn between wanting Violet safe in my arms, and not wanting to add another holiday that I am in charge of in the month of April!  Now that Easter is safely behind us, and only Lucy's birthday remaining on the April calendar, I am of the mindset that Violet can just come already!

This year for Easter I ensured that the bare necessities were covered and then let it unfold from there.  Here we are below dying Easter eggs the day before Easter.

The girls both slept through the night (in their own beds!) and even woke up AFTER Will and I on Easter morning.  I can't remember the last time that happened.  It was a great way to start what was to be a busy day.  Will dressed the girls in their Easter finery while I took a quick shower.  We wanted to get to the earliest Easter service so that I could avoid the crowds and not overheat in my extreme pregnant state.  This meant that every minute of our morning needed to move on schedule.  We went downstairs as a family and the girls started searching for their baskets while Will and I peeled some hard boiled eggs to dilute some of the sugar running through the kids veins before church.  Emma found her basket pretty fast, but Lucy had a harder time.  In the bottom left hand picture she was near tears until I started giving her clues and she eventually found it.  The bottom right hand picture is the aftermath of them going through their baskets.  The Easter bunny brought candy, Ballerina Calico Critters, and a really cool learning toy called Wikki Stiks.

We arrived at church with a half hour to spare - exactly on time to ensure a parking spot and a seat.  We found a seat up front and I even practiced my "Christianity with Boundaries" and kindly refused to have my kids sit on my lap to make room for late comers.  Sorry, but this mama needs her own seat and we did some serious time management to make that happen.  I did feel slightly guilty about this, and Will even gave me a look so I spent the rest of the service trying to show just how much Emma needed her own seat.  I have never seen so many Easter flowers in one spot, and the church smelled absolutely heavenly.  In the half hour before Mass started, I quietly read Easter books to the girls.

Lucy and Emma knew that there was going to be an Easter Egg hunt in our backyard after church, so Will and I definitely capitalized on this to get them through the Easter service as well-behaved as possible.

Charlie enjoyed participating in the Easter egg hunt as well, and even showed the girls where some of the eggs were hidden.  Wooden beads for necklaces filled the eggs this year.

The night before Easter I had made a Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast that went in the crock pot. When the Easter egg hunt was over, we heated up some ham and the heavenly French toast, complete with homemade blueberry syrup, was ready.  This is the extent of what I did to make Easter special this year, and it was perfect.  While we were getting breakfast on the table, we caught Emma filling up empty Easter eggs with the candy the Easter bunny had left Will and I.  By the time I caught her, there was nothing but a few jelly beans left.  Truly, this child is my daughter.

After a lovely Easter brunch, we all enjoyed some quiet time.  I fell into a deep sleep while the girls and Will did some reading.  It was a gorgeous day, so after our quiet time we relaxed outside while the girls played, and then headed over to Will's parents house.  We had a great time there and thanks to Will's Aunt Debbie, my craving for the family's once a year tradition of the Polish treat chrusciki (pronounced "Chris-Chick-E" and sometimes referred to as angel wings) was met and then some.  Here the girls are below doing some Easter crafts at Grandma and Grandpa T.'s.  They also enjoyed another egg hunt, played outside and even had Will's Uncle Bob make balloon animals for them.

It was a great Easter and a wonderful way to pass the time while being uncomfortably pregnant.  It is a blessing that April is so busy with happy holidays, as the time is going by much quicker than it would have otherwise.  It is exactly one week until Lucy's birthday and two more weeks until Violet's due date!  Come on little lady, let's go for the gold and add one more happy holiday to the month of April!

Wow Wee Emma is Three!

I'd say that Emma has been exhibiting the verbal, physical and emotional aptitude of a three year old for several months now.  Because of that I don't have too much of an adjustment to accept that my two year old is now three.  Like I've mentioned in an earlier post though, I am having difficulties coming to terms with the fact that soon she won't be the baby of the family.  She is so sweet and cuddly, but over the last several months has definitely been doing her part to prove to me that she is not only an independent person with opposite views on most things from me, but that she will no longer come at my beck and call for cuddles, kisses and hugs.  Don't get me wrong, she is still the most snuggly little girl I know, but it has to be on her terms now.  Here she is below, in clockwise from top left to bottom left - driving her ice cream truck, building towers as tall as her, hanging off of the counter, and showing off her love of accessories.  In the bottom left picture, Will clearly did her hair that morning as he doesn't put limits on accessories like I do.  He also doesn't pick up after the trail of hair accessories all day long like I do either.

Emma is still of the mindset that less is NOT more, and constantly battles me on what she is going to wear for the day - three tutus, three pig tails, three headbands, etc.  It'd be one thing if she kept all of the accessories on throughout the day, but she doesn't.  She doesn't even make it to the breakfast table without starting the trail of debris that follows her through the house and the rest of the day.  Here she is below wearing her robe and showing me how it twirls when she spins.  I guarantee minutes later that robe was strewn across the floor.

In the below picture you can see that she has already lost her leggings as well as her coat.  It was in the 30's when I caught her proudly riding around in a tutu and snow boots.

Emma's birthday dawned bright and early, as most holidays do in our house since the girls were born.  Emma hopped in our bed around 6:30 and asked me if it was her birthday yet.  She also asked me when we were going to wrap the presents together, not realizing that since it was HER birthday, she didn't get to help with the present wrapping!  Things took a turn for the worse suddenly and by the time we went downstairs - even with the enticement of opening presents - she was overcome by heartbreaking emotion.  Ahh, three.  Twos are nothing.  Threes.  Threes are where the drama is at.

Even sitting in front of her presents, it took her another five minutes of me whispering sweet nothings in her ear to calm down and compose herself enough to open presents.  As you can see below, once the tears stopped she opened up binoculars, some field guide books, a bug box, a new kitty bath towel, and lots of Calico Critter items - a rabbit family, a baby rabbit, a cottage, couch set, and beds.  Now she can play side by side with Lucy and her Calico Critter toys.

Here Emma is below holding daffodils, which were in bloom the day Emma was born and have become her official flower each year since.  Emma probably spent more time playing with her balloons than her presents, which is always a good reminder as to what a three year old appreciates.

Emma asked for cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs and sausage for her birthday breakfast.  She was in the early stages of recovering from a nasty stomach bug so barely ate anything, but was content to have her favorite things in front of her on her plate.

After breakfast we continued our tradition of reading the photo book I had made about the day she was born.  Emma wanted to read it to us this year, which was entertaining!

After the story about the day she was born, we measured Emma's yearly height on our growth stick.  She is just a tiny bit shorter than Lucy was on her third birthday, making up for lost time as on her second birthday she was a full inch shorter than Lucy was at the same milestone.

We had macaroni and cheese for lunch, another Emma request, and again, barely any food was eaten by Emma and Lucy didn't eat any of it.  Emma was still content to just have one of her favorite foods in front of her.  Both girls took naps, as they are still recovering from the stomach flu, and after naps convinced me that the sleep was enough to make them healthy enough to go out for ice cream at our local frozen yogurt bar.  Here they are below enjoying ice cream with me.  In the bottom right picture Emma was patting my stomach, making sure Violet was enjoying her ice cream too.  In the bottom left picture, the girls are enjoying some people watching with their treat.

I made Emma's cupcakes and icing in advance and froze it, not knowing what shape I would be in on Emma's birthday, so close to Violet's due date.   I was ever so grateful I had done this, as when we came home from ice cream, Lucy threw up everywhere.  By the time I cleaned up from that and got dinner started it felt like the day was slipping through my hands.  Here the girls are below on the sunny, spring like day I made the cupcakes and icing - licking the beaters on the front porch.  In the bottom picture they decorated the thawed cupcakes with sprinkles while Will and I finished making dinner.

Will went into work late this morning so that he was able to be a part of present opening, Emma's birthday breakfast and our Day You Were Born story as well as growth chart measuring.  He also had plenty of time for playing and snuggling since Emma got us all up so early this morning.  Emma loves Will so much, and my heart melts every time I see her climb into his arms for a snuggle.  She compares anything that is big to being, "Bigger than daddy!" i.e. semi trucks and houses.  She also describes any grown up male as a daddy instead of a man.  In the below left hand picture, Emma is giving Will a snuggle before he headed out for work.  Because of his later start, she was able to pick out a tie for him - she picked out the wildest one he owned of course, and Will received many comments all day long - the gift that just kept giving!

She also loves her big sister and had a really good day with little to no fighting which I definitely appreciated.  Lucy also did a wonderful job of helping us shine the spot light on Emma to make it a special day for her.  Last year Lucy had a really hard time with all of the focus being on Emma for the day.  It is amazing what a year and a stomach bug can do.

The day went by too fast in my opinion.  In between the birthday traditions, Emma played Legos, colored, played her favorite game Memory which she is really good at, and even found time to do tricks on the counter with Lucy and enjoy stories with Daddy.

To me, the age of three marks the transition of the rapid growth of the first three years of life to a more leveling out of childhood changes.  From here on out Emma's stories will be told as a part of the family blog post each month along with Lucy's.  I will miss the chance for me to reflect individually on Emma's growth and personality but am also looking forward to the congruence this will bring to our family's overall story.  Plus, little Violet is arriving just in time to have her own three years in the spotlight.

Happy birthday Emma!  You are the best daughter, little sister and now big sister that we could ask for and you are such an important part of our family!  We love you!