I decided to start a new blog where I post some of my thoughts and introspections on life...the post I originally had here is now on that blog (that post was REALLY long). If you are interested, that blog is: http://reflectiononpaper.blogspot.com/
Can you tell she's excited to be five??? She's not one to be very extroverted around strangers, but this whole week she has stopped random people at stores and on the street to tell them how many days until she turned FIVE!!! She then proceeded to give them the rundown of everyone's ages and birthdays in our family...it was pretty cute!
The ONE thing Camilla REALLY wanted for her birthday was breakfast in bed (can you tell she loves all things strawberry and pink??)!!!
Noall wanted to capture the look on Camilla's face when she saw her new bike for the first time as he wheeled it out of the garage (it's Cinderella...)! The videos are long, but we're trying to include family that is far away in our festivities! The 2nd video is especially for Gma and Gpa Paco...Camilla is opening your presents!
Big yawns from a big girl!!!
This girl loves a good swaddle as much as I love a good back rub!!! If you combine a good swaddle and her swing, she's in heaven!!!
We caught one of her first smiles on camera this morning!
Check out those cheeks!!! I love chubby little babies!
A big milestone for Zach at Cousin Camp was losing his first tooth! He was a little sad and upset about it at first (it took about a week for his to put his tooth under his pillow). You can see in the picture that his permanent tooth is already growing in, so I think he must have been hanging onto that tooth until it just fell out on it's own! He told me that, "sometimes when you lose your first tooth it just makes you sad." It's been a couple of weeks now, so he gave me permission to take and post his picture! 
Emma enjoyed her baths and sucking her thumb! She's normally a binky-sucker, but apparently her thumb was keeping her happy that evening!
My big accomplishment was finishing (and gifting) my first patchwork sewing project...
Alex was pretty excited about the treasure hunts to find toys and treats every night!!!
Cousin Camp was (as always) lots of fun for everyone! I enjoyed visiting w/the grown ups and the kids (they are all growing up so fast!) and the kids just loved running around despite the record-breaking heat and horrible air quality (due to the fires)...luckily plans were flexible enough to work around the weather and all the cousins had a great time!!! One of the highlights for Camilla was a joint birthday party for her, her cousin, and her uncle Nathan...the theme was (of course) princesses!
I've tried putting my feelings about Emma Noelle and her effect on our family into words, but every time I try, words seem to be terribly inadequate. She has brought so much joy into our home...the kids adore her and she seems to bring out the best in them...Noall and I are also in love with her (of course) and have each been blessed individually to have welcomed her into our home. Everything has gone so smoothly, and other than being tired from getting up at night to feed her, life seems to be "business as usual". We are so grateful for our little girl!
We had a pretty relaxed 4th of July! We hung out and played all morning... had naps...made festive cupcakes..went swimming and had a barbeque with a good friend from high school and her family (Thanks, Bethany...it was fun to see you all!!!). Then we met up with Noall at the hotel for the big fireworks display at the beach. The show was pretty impressive and other than Camilla accidentally locking us all outside on the patio of the sales office, it was a fun evening!!!
(I thought I took all the clothes off the clothesline for the picture...oops!)
Alex and Emma are all ready for bed! He is always anxious to hold her, but that need is met after about 5-10 seconds of holding her...then he's off again. I was glad to convince him to hold still long enough to get a picture!
The kids "stole" my camera...here are some of their pictures (I think Alex has coffee cake on his face, too...).
Zach is taking his role as the "biggest" brother pretty seriously! He adores just hanging out with Emma and holding her!
Today was Emma's first day of being awake for several hours this morning. It was so fun to hang out with her. Here are some of her exciting adventures today...laying on her blanket, swinging, sleeping, etc!
