birthday blast

Emma Jane's Panama City birthday party was a day to remember! Our very generous friend, Bridget, offered to host the party at her adorable house in the Cove. We were so happy to have our family and close friends there to share in our celebration. It is so hard to believe that our little girl is already one! We made cupcakes again and she was a dainty princess licking the icing off with her fingers just as she had at the first party. I finally dumped the cupcake out of the holder so she could at least make a little bit of a mess! Our friend Rachelle surprised us with BEAUTIFUL homemade cookies that spelled out Emma Jane's name. She also made some very intricate sea creature cookies. Emma Jane was thrilled to have several big kids at her party and was especially interested in what was going on in the boys' room. She grabbed some toy cars and proudly took them outside to play. Present opening was exciting for her at first, but she decided there were other things she wanted to do, so mom wound up opening most of the gifts with the help of sweet little Garrsion. Grandma Jane got Emma Jane a bubble gun as part of her gift. She LOVES bubbles! Grandma Di seemed to enjoy the bubble gun as much as Emma Jane. I think everyone had a wonderful time watching Emma Jane have a wonderful time. Thanks to all of you who attended and contributed to this perfect party for our birthday girl! Thank you to Grandpa Ron for taking so many great pictures to help us remember this special day.

baby in a boat

We also took Emma Jane out on the boat for the first time during our trip home. On the day we arrived, we took the boat for a test drive. She seemed a little nervous and unsure, but she was also exhausted after a long trip in the car. The next day we took her on a much longer boat ride to Shell Island with Grandma Jane and Grandpa Bill. She looked so funny in the life vest! She was very quiet during the trip and liked to point at the wake behind the boat. When we got to the island, she had a great time in the water sitting in her float, but wanted no part of that "icky" sand. We are relieved that our baby girl seems to be willing to hang at the beach with mom and dad since this is one of our favorite things to do!

beach babe

While back home in Florida, we couldn't wait to take Emma Jane to the beach. She seemed to like the waves and all the new things to see, but she REALLY hated the sand. If she got one finger or toe in it, she would cry until we washed it off. Her time at the beach was spent mostly on the towel or in the water with mom or dad. Paul picked up a few small hermit crabs to let her look at them. She peered closely at them crawling around on his hand and to our surprise, she picked one up! I think it scared her when it started wiggling between her fingers because, as you can see from the last photo, she was not happy! All in all, Emma Jane seemed to have fun at the beach.