Emily's Smile

I really miss my Emily. I miss her smile. So I thought I'd share it, so it can make you smile like it does me! She was just so happy all the time, and she has shared that with her little sister. We're so lucky to have two beautiful, happy little girls. I loved this outfit.

Em's third birthday.

Coming back from Houston. She loved her carseat. We're putting Lily in it tomorrow.

Em's friend Brielle.

At the zoo. She's just gotten out of her body cast.

Happy Easter!

Em loved to roll. Here she is in action.

5 years ago Emily could breathe!

5 years ago today was one of the top 3 happiest days of my life. Along with getting married and having Lily. 5 years ago today Emily came of the ventillator. We had had 3 weeks of the doctors telling us that there was a good possibility that that would never happen, and to prepare ourselves for the worst. 4 days earlier, a Wednesday, had been one of the top 3 worst days in our life when Emily had failed to pass a test to see if she could breathe on her own. The doctors were afraid that Emily's brain would not be able to tell her body to breathe. Then on Friday she passed the test. So on Saturday, August 21, the doctor came in and said what we'd been waiting 3 weeks to hear, "I think she can do it, let's take her off." It was her resident's last day on rotation, too. They took Emily off the ventillator and put her on bipap. The nurse came out and told us she was doing great and that we could go in and see her. We got to hold her and cuddle her, and we knew that she was going to make it. She had fought through the biggest fight, and even though we knew we still had a long road ahead before we could go home, we knew that Emily would be going home with us. It was like I could breathe for the first time in a month. Emily was born July 21st, so it was on her one month birthday that she came off. Thanks for fighting, Emily! You are our hero.

Happy Birthday, Lily!

Lily turned one on Wednesday, the 12th. My friend made this skirt for Lily. She's ready to hula!
I posted pictures of our trip to Washington and of camping earlier today. There's also a video of Lily with her cupcake and icecream at the bottom of this post. Robby got this ball toy for Lily. She likes dropping the balls in it, and she also likes eating the balls.

Yummy cupcake!

Lily LOVES her Curious George toy. It's what she sleeps with at night. So Curious George was the theme for her party. I ordered the parts on Amazon, and the sand is brown sugar.

We got back from Washington late Tuesday night, so I was unpacking on Wednesday. I left my room, and when I came back in Lily had climbed into the suitcase and was drinking from her sippy cup. It made me laugh, and she stayed in it long enough for me to run and grab the camera. She was very proud of herself!

Lily loved her cupcake, but she especially liked the ice cream.

Washington, Our Home!

We had a great vacation in Washington. We went to Robby's house first, and then Lily and I went up to my house in Custer. I love this picture of Lily with her "papa," Grandpa Hammond. This was the morning we left. Robby went on the slip and slide. He was already wet from pushing his mom and his nieces and nephews down it.

Grammy and Aunt Beckie with Lily and Torrie. They both have on Winnie the Pooh pajamas. Lily's are Emily's old pajamas, so we didn't plan it.

Lily loved crawling on the slip and slide. She wouldn't go off, though, because she was afraid of the grass! Where we live the grass is NOT soft like it is in Washington.

All of the grandkids with Grammy and Papa. The dog, Mozart, also wanted to be in the picture, but he was getting a little too close to comfort to everyone, so we had to put him in the garage for the picture.

Lily with Uncle Steve. Lily has decided that she likes him. The last time we saw him she'd cry any time he went near!

Grandpa took Lily on lots of walks while we were home, and she loved it. She loves the waterfall, especially.

Janica and Kacey met us in Seattle so that we could see them while we were home. It was so good to visit, though not nearly long enough.

The water is on the other side of the brick. Lily loved standing and watching it go down. I love my yard! I even got to eat blackberries and tomatoes, peas, and beans from the garden. YUM!

We went to the Seattle Science center and in the butterfly exhibit one landed on my dad. He stayed there for the longest time. We think it must have liked his green shirt.

We went up to Artist Point and Heather Meadows up at Mt. Baker. I love walking around this area. It's always so pretty.

Camping with a one year old...

We went camping in Washington with Robby's family and had a great time. Robby's dad got all of the equipment, including fishing poles for the grandkids and tents and air matresses. It was the way to camp! (I've only done it with the tiny 3 man tents and the thin backpacking air mattresses) It was our first time taking Lily camping, and she did great. She spent a lot of time in her pack in play, eating fruit in these mesh cup things and watching everyone. We went on a little hike to go fishing. Lily was so happy, and then took a nap.

Here's our campsite, with Lily still in her pajamas.

Robby organized a game of baseball, boys against girls. I am happy to say that the girls were victorious. Never mind the boys had two adults and 3, 5, and 6 year old boys.

Lily loved her cousin, Torrie, who's about 8 months older than her. And Torrie loved her chocolate!

My nieces Chloe, Cecelia, and Amy fishing. No one caught anything, but it was still fun.

Here's what the lake looked like. And people wonder why we'd like to get back to the West?

Lily and C.J. They were also good pals.

The lake was a glacier fed, COLD lake, but that didn't stop people from swimming. I love this one of the cousins.

Lily would hold onto our fingers and walk down to the lake and back up. She was such a trooper!