Dolphins, Elmo, and Rides. Oh my!

I mentioned in yesterday's post that we wanted to take Emerson to do something special for her birthday in lieu of a party. Our original plan was to take her to Disneyland but Jesse couldn't take any week days off and I heard that it's super crowded on the weekends in May. So we decided to hold off on that and do something similar in our own backyard: Sea World!!

We had a great day and Emerson loved every second of it. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

We headed to the Sesame Street Bay of Play first thing. Even though Emerson has become more of a Mickey fan, I don't think she'll ever stop loving Elmo.

They had several rides that are made just for kids her size and she was beyond excited to see them.

She rode Elmo's Flying Fish first. Can you tell that she had a blast?

After riding all of the little rides, we headed over to watch the dolphin show. I wasn't really sure how Emerson would do but she was mesmerized. She didn't not move at all during the whole 25 minute show. It was really that awesome!

We had lunch, looked a few more animals and then went back to the Sesame Street area because they were having a character meet and greet. I knew that Emerson would be beyond thrilled to meet Elmo.

We got there early and let me tell you, the waiting part wasn't easy!

But after a few minutes, Elmo, Abby, Cookie Monster, and Ernie finally came out. The look on E's face was priceless. When it was finally our turn to go meet them she suddenly turned to me and said, "I'm scared, Momma!" I think she was afraid I was going to send her up to them alone. She wanted me to hold her, so I did.

 Then we posed for a few pictures.

 And, of course, we couldn't leave without buying a souvenir.

Before we left I asked Jesse to get a few pictures of us together. This is the best we got:

Our sweet girl had such a good time, but she was SO tired. She fell asleep within minutes of getting in the car.

After her nap, we had our neighbors over for cupcakes. Eme has played with them quite a bit but she's never had them over to our house. She was so excited and kept taking them around and showing them everything. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, though!

That night we decided to go out for dinner. After our busy day, we just didn't feel look cooking. We went to a local mexican food restaurant. They had a guy walking around singing and playing the guitar so we asked him if he could sing Happy Birthday to our girl. We had no idea that they would get the whole restaurant involved and bring her a dessert.  It was really sweet!

In the end I can definitely say that Emerson had a wonderful birthday.  We really wanted her to feel special on her big day and I'm pretty sure she did. 

The Birthday Girl

I don't think I ever mentioned it on the blog, but Jesse and I decided to not to throw a birthday party for Emerson this year. Since we just moved here we don't know a lot of people to invite and we knew that it would be hard for our families to make it out here. We decided to take her to do something special instead and to just make a family day out of it. I'll share more about that tomorrow but today I'm going to share pictures of our pre-birthday celebration.

On Friday morning I dressed Emerson up for a little birthday photo shoot. Since she was already looking so cute, I decided to let her wear her outfit while we went to run errands. Our first stop was Old Navy and she was obsessed with the mannequins at the front.

After this picture was taken she may or may not have knocked over one of the adult mannequins and sent it crashing into the register behind it...

Since we were already out I decided to make a little day of our outing. After changing her clothes to something more comfortable, we did some more shopping, had a picnic at the park, and then stopped at Dairy Queen for a little pre-birthday treat. 

Emerson was pretty excited about her very first blizzard.

Unfortunately we did have one not so fun part of the day. Emerson had her two year check-up and had to get a shot. It was her first shot in her arm and it looked so painful. She only cried for a minute and then told me, "I'm brave Momma." Sweet girl!

That afternoon she made her birthday cupcakes with Daddy. It's probably true that more of the batter ended up on the floor than in the bowl but she loved every second of it.

After Emerson went to bed, we got to work decorating. Even though we weren't going to have a party, I wanted to surprise her a little bit. She's pretty obsessed with Mickey and Minnie right now so that's what most of the decor is.

I was wide awake at 4:30 on her birthday. I just couldn't sleep because I was so excited for her to wake up and see everything.

 And, of course, it's not your birthday unless you have a cupcake for breakfast.

We did presents after our little cupcake breakfast. Emerson has been receiving presents from family throughout the week so she has become a pro at opening them.

After Emerson opened her gifts we started getting ready for her big day. I'll be back tomorrow to share where we took her to celebrate the big TWO! :)

Emerson is Two!!!

Dear Emerson,
On May 18, 2011, my life changed forever. I learned that the saying about your heart walking outside of your chest is true. From the moment I laid my eyes on you, you have had my whole heart. Each day with you has been an adventure and I have learned so much about myself though being your mother. As cheesy as it sounds, you really have made me a better person. Your smile lights up a room and your laugh is my favorite sound in the world. If I do one thing right in this world, I pray that it is being a mother. After meeting you I knew that it was the most important job that I would ever do. Becoming your momma gave me a purpose I never had and I still can't believe that God gave me you!Although it was just Daddy and me for a very long time before you were born, we wonder now how we ever made it without you. You bring so much joy to our lives and make us the happiest people in the world. We love you infinitely, unconditionally, and beyond measure. And we ALWAYS will!

Happy Birthday my sweet angel!

A few things about Emerson at two years old:

Weight: 27.9 lbs (70th percentile)
Height: 35 inches (80th percentile)

Wears Size 2t and Size 7 shoe

-Goes to bed at 7:30 and wake up between 6:30-7:30 and naps from 1:00-3:00, sometimes 4:00.

-Loves to eat waffles for breakfast.

-Has learned how to open all of the doors in the house.

-Sleeps in a toddler bed.

-Poops in the potty about 95 percent of the time. (This was pretty much on her own. One day about a month ago she told me she needed to poop and I put her on the potty. She's been doing it ever since.) We're still working on peeing but I haven't really hit potty training hard just yet.

-When she wants to smell something she says, "I sneeze it?"

-One of her favorite things to yell when Jesse gets home is "Yo, Daddy- O"

-Loves going to the nursery at church

-Has THE most amazing memory. She will tell me stuff that I told her months ago. It's a little scary how much she remembers!

-Calls playgrounds geen grounds even though she can say play and ground perfectly.

-Calls all balls net-uh-balls (like the basketball net)

-Enjoys both dance and gymnastics but "nastics" is definitely her favorite

-Her favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Tinkerbell

-She's super sensitive when it comes to other people telling her no. 

-When anyone asks her how old she is, she says "two in May."

-Loves babies and other kids

-Loves to hide and jump out and yell surprise

-Loves music and dancing and asks for Mc Donald (Old McDonald) every day

-I always tell her that I missed her when she wakes up so now she will randomly hug me and say "miss you, momma."

-Loves to play Ring Around the Rosie

-Has a stubborn streak for sure

-Loves FaceTiming and Skyping with family and friends

-Has the sweetest heart and loves to share with others

-Is obsessed with carrying around the big gum containers. I finally had to take one away because she figured out how to open it and tried to eat a piece of gum. She came to me with her eyes watering and said "spit it out" "it's hot."

-When we are the store and she sees a baby she says "Brother or sister" wanting to know  if it's a boy or a girl and then she always says, "Name?" She also does this when we see dogs. She just loves knowing everybody's name!

-Asks to cuddle in her bed and our bed almost daily

-Her favorite books are Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Polar Bear Polar Bear. We read them at least once a day.

-She is still such a water baby and she has no fear. We went swimming a few days ago and she was climbing out of the pool and jumping in off the side. She went underwater every single time and never even sputtered or coughed.

-When she is trying to tell you something she will repeat herself over and over until you acknowledge what she is saying

-She loves to pat us on the back and tell us good job. It's so cute!

I know I'm forgetting so much! She is just such a little character and she makes us laugh all day! I love that we can carry on conversations now and that she can easily tell me what she needs or wants. I'm so proud to be her momma and I think God for this precious gift every single day!