I love it that I’ve hit this stage in my life where all of my friends are having babies. They’re everywhere! The most recent addition is Emma Grace Thornhill, daughter of Jay and Brandi Thornhill (and granddaughter to Pat and Susan Thornhill). This child is truly a little miracle baby and her whole family is thankful everyday that she is with them. Emma was born on May 30th and only weighed 2 lbs. 7 oz. Brandi developed pre-eclampsia so for the sake of her health and the baby’s, they made the decision to deliver Miss Emma almost 10 weeks early! It was frightening for all involved (and for all of us back here hearing about it), but Emma was definitely a fighter.

I was thrilled to find out from Susan that Jay and Brandi were going to be visiting from Tennessee over Labor Day weekend. As soon as I found out, I marked it on my calendar. I was not going to miss meeting Emma (and seeing her parents :-)). As you will see, Emma is beautiful and perfect. She’s still so tiny, weighing in at slightly over 5 lbs., but you can tell she’s strong. I can’t wait to see how she grows and progresses over the next few months. I’m sure all of us will be in awe.

Thank you for the visit. We had a wonderful time!

I get asked the question all the time, “So, is she spoiled?” My answer is quite simple. “She’s the first grandchild on mine and Dan’s side of the family. What do you think?”

Perhaps even more special than watching Brittain’s face when she’s around family, is watching family members faces when they’re around Brittain. The sincere looks are priceless:

It was bound to happen…because all the babies were born last summer, it was now time for the parties to begin. After Brittain turned 1, her friends Emma-Kate Kirkland and Robert Evans had their birthday parties the next month.

Robert started his party out the right way…with a nap:

By the time Emma-Kate arrived, she had decided that SHE wanted to keep the soccer ball (that she was supposed to be giving as a gift). About 30 minutes into the party was when she finally let go!:

Brittain enjoyed having a whole new set of toys to play with:

Brittain enjoyed dressing up in one of her new dresses for the occasion:

Eventually, Leah and Will headed off to Leah’s room to play. They were so over the baby birthday party:

Erin and Gracie Mulder:

Brittain was more interested in seeing the person behind the camera:

Will and Leah pose with their birthday hats:

The birthday boy and his mom:

Opening gifts, with the help of many others:

I wish I had gotten more pictures of the end result of this cake. It was absolutely demolished. Robert’s parents were smart having this be the very last event of the day. It was a good thing. There was cake all over that house: