They say it's your BIRTHDAY!!

Dear Sweet Emma,

We celebrated your SECOND birthday on Monday! So cliche to say, but hard to believe two years have gone by, since we first held you in our arms. We had so much fun on your special day! On Sunday evening, our little family spent the evening making 48 cupcakes with pink and yellow frosting. We used lemon heads and licorice to make faces on each of them.

You didn't care about helping make the cupcakes or even frost the cupcakes... but you were VERY interested in helping eat the frosting. I think you got your frosting addiction from me! YUM! You stood over that frosting bowl for almost 30 minutes, eating lick after lick after lick.

We had a little gathering at Aunt Sharron's backyard in the morning with some of your ward friends. I didn't want to do anything fancy, but I knew you would have a great time playing at the fort, swinging on swings, jumping on the trampoline and eating a few cupcakes with your little buddies. Roman, David, Chloe, Claire, McKinley, Denali, Alex, Cameron, Liam, Toby and Juliette were all there to help you PARTY!

You really enjoyed opening gifts (although I told everyone NOT to bring them!)... you have such nice friends that brought you markers, stuffed bear, a little puzzle and a dolly! You really enjoyed binging on the cupcakes. You ate two of them before the party even started. I normally wouldn't let you eat that much sugar, but HEY, it was your birthday!

You slept for the afternoon while I got stuff ready for your second family party in the evening. We ran by Costco and grabbed some pizza and then drove out to Mesa to celebrate with Grammie Lou, Grandpa Ray, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Jeff, Uncle Kurt, Kasyn, Taytum, Aunt Laura and her boyfriend Tim (we missed Aunt Tara because she was sick). You are so lucky to have so many people around that LOVE YOU so very much. The best part is, we can tell you love them too! You always scream their names when you see them and run to them with great big hugs. You generally prefer the men over the women, but I think it's because you love your Daddy so much!

Grammie Lou got you a cake that you devoured as quickly as the cupcakes earlier in the day! Talk about a sugar rush!

You got many more gifts from family members! As if you didn't get enough for Christmas! This birthday really sealed the deal for some MAJOR SPOILING! We just hope you are not disappointed when you don't get presents again until next Christmas! Hard to have your birthday and Christmas so close together. Sorry about that. Your Dad and I bought you a toy violin because you are always so interested in playing with mine and you always pretend like you are going to Symphony. We also bought you a little plastic chair just your size and a little tricycle so that you can learn to ride your bike like Mom and Dad. You got books, clothes and other fun electronic toys from cousins and Grandparents.

Just like Christmas, your favorite gift of all was the blessed lip gloss. You were very willing to share with everyone around... so kind.

You are such a precious addition to our home. We had no idea how much joy you could bring, but you truly light up our lives with your contagious smile, laugh and darling little voice. You are talking so much and copy almost every word we say. Don't be completely flattered though - you are not perfect. You have started to throw mini tantrums when you don't get your way. You scream "NO!" a lot for no reason at all and have begun the ever-annoying stage of whining. I have to remind you multiple times a day to use your "Big Girl Words" and to use "No Thank You" instead of screaming.

Your favorite movie right now is "Barney". I found a DVD of a live performance and you are completely and utterly enthralled with his music and the other kids singing. You have only seen the show about 5 times, but you have most of the music memorized and I will frequently hear you singing yourself to sleep with "Just Imagine" or "If all the Raindrops". You still request Christmas songs from Daddy as a lullaby, although Christmas is long gone.

Speaking of music, you sat through an entire ward choir rehearsal last Sunday and watched me lead the group very closely. A few hours later, your nursery leaders reported that you stood up in nursery and "led" the other children in a verse of "I am a Child of God" vigorously swinging both arms around. If you'd like to take over my calling as Ward Choir Director, feel free. :) We're so glad you love music and hope that you will continue to make it a part of your life. Now if we could just get you to work on your pitch a little bit... :)

You have been and probably always will be a champion sleeper. Of course, it probably helps that you have lots of "assistants". You now insist on sleeping with BOTH blankets, your dog, your puppy, your new bear, your new doll and generally a few tubes of lip gloss for the road. On your birthday evening, your silly Dad forgot to turn off your lights all the way when he put you to bed and you mistook it for play time instead of sleep time. You played happily in your bed for almost TWO hours before we realized the mistake and when we finally went in to check on you, you had applied lip gloss to your lips, your toes, your arms, your animals and your sheets. You were happy as a little clam and very proud of your art work. You crashed about 30 seconds after we turned off the lights.

We love having you as part of our little family and it appears that you love it too. Your favorite time of day is right before bed when we say family prayer and have our family hug and kiss. You help us bow our heads and fold our arms and generally sit still for the entire prayer. You bring all your animals to join in the process and insist on bringing them up to our faces for additional hugs and kisses. Although our Family Home Evening lessons are very short, you also seem to relish this time together and frequently ask for "home ebenin". It's a good thing you keep us on the straight and narrow. Heaven knows - we need it!

We just LOVE this fun stage you are in and would love to keep you bottled up at this age forever. Thank you for being the wonderful angel we prayed for. We couldn't have asked for a happier more delightful daughter!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY litte princess! Here's to a wonderful third year!

We love you!
Mom and Dad

PS - Hope this doesn't make you feel bad... but I took you to the doctor yesterday and you are still in 90th percentile for height, weight and head circumference! The doc said you were the size of a 34-month-old. Way to be healthy little friend!