Birthdays and Visits to the ER

On April 25th Emily turned three. Her actual birthday was on a Friday and outside of everyone singing Happy Birthday to her about a hundred times the day passed without much celebration because her party was set for Sunday, April 27th. Unlike her birthday celebration last year, she knew exactly what was taking place this year and that she was to be the center of attention for the day. With great confidence and excitement she welcomed all of our family members to her party and soaked up every bit of attention that was deserving of the birthday girl. We feasted on BBQ chicken and ribs and all the trimmings. Of course, when we have a large group of people with kids over to our condo things can get rather "wild" to say the least. Most you you know that we live in a condominium high rise therefore when we have a house full of children with no outside place to go the kids create their own playground inside. This celebration was no different, while the adults were finishing up dinner and we were preparing to open Emily's gifts the kids were running around while Cody was trying to be a Harlem Globetrotter in his bedroom. While practicing his fancy basketball tricks on a little bball goal we have hung in his bedroom he lost his balance and fell. As he fell the area just below his eyebrow caught his dresser and as you can imagine it was not a pretty sight. So just as we were opening Emily's first gift we hear screams from Cody's room and he runs down the hallway, looking like something from a scary movie with blood covering his face. Of course, once we got him cleaned up we realized that it was a small cut right below his eyebrow. Although it was small it was rather deep and we were sure that it needed stitches so off we went to the ER leaving Emily and her guests to finish opening presents and have cake and ice cream. She enjoyed her presents and cake which was Strawberry Shortcake but her excitement was dampened by concern for Cody. She is so compassionate and doesn't like it when Grace or Cody are hurt. 3 hours and 3 stitches later Cody, Mike and I arrived home to find Emily enjoying a movie with Nammy and Bee. We could only say that it was a birthday we will never forget. Cody is doing fine...he had his stitches removed last Friday and Emily has been enjoying her b'day presents with her favorite being a "cherry nightgown" given to her by my nana and grandaddy and a little stuffed puppy and puppy carrier given to her by her Aunt Kim, Uncle Tom and cousin Allison. Despite the unexpected trip to the hospital we enjoyed celebrating Emily's birth and remembering just how precious her life is and what a miracle it is that she is with us and that we have the honor of calling her our daughter. I also have thought of her birthmom and how incredibly grateful I am that she left Emily in a train station where she knew that Emily would be found quickly. I know that her heart aches each year as she remembers this precious little girl to whom she gave birth and I pray that somehow she will know that Emily's life is filled with love and that she is growing into such a beautiful little girl. And now we embark on another year of Emily's life. A year that I am sure will be filled with exciting new things. What delight fills my heart as I have the joy of sharing life with my children. Each one of them brings a unique flavor to my life and I am so blessed to be their mom. I am posting a few pictures from the party and of course one of Cody showing off his "tough guy" stitches and a few shots of Emily and her long hair. We had decided to let her hair grow a little and see how it would look longer and no bangs but I decided that I really do love the cute bob cut on her and she doesn't like the bangs in her eyes so she got a cute hair cut yesterday. As always, thanks for stopping by our blog. I love being able to share God's goodness to our family with all of you.