Emmerson is 8!

On May 30th Emmerson turned 8. She was so excited for her birthday this year. And we were excited to actually be able to celebrate it with friends and family this year. Emmerson requested a softball themed birthday. We invited her friends over to play wiffle ball out front, eat hotdogs, and enjoy some Kona Ice. It was a very simple party but it was filled with FUN!

The night before her birthday she was giddy with excitement and kept thanking us so much for making her feel so special. She is such a thoughtful girl. I was so happy to spoil her on her special day. 

Donovan stayed up late with us on her birthday eve to help us decorate with signs and balloons. Her sibling were so excited to have her wake up in the morning and open her first present. Grammie had taken both Taylor and Donovan out separately to shop for their sister. Donovan't gift was first. He got her a unicorn t-shirt, flip flops, and a knead-o fidget. 

We lined up her gifts along the staircase and had her open a new one every hour on the hour. 

She requested our usual birthday tradition of a birthday pancake. 

Lots of fairy garden goodies!

And then came the party. Kona Ice truck did not disappoint. 

She opened all of her gifts from her friends out front. She got lots and lots of fidgets, candy, craft kits and more. 

Emmerson drew this picture to play pin the softball in the catcher's mitt with. 

And then it was time for a game of wiffle ball. 

Tay was so excited to get on base! 

After all of her friends had gone, we set up a little tie-dye station and decorated some shirts. 

For dinner, she requested arancini.

And then a special cake made by Donovan and Grammie.

It was a wonderful day celebrating our girl!

 

The First Broken Bone

 On a Friday afternoon in the third week of the school year, Oma and Grampie came over and surprised us with some ice cream treats. We were all eating ice cream cones outside in the backyard while Emmerson was showing off her latest trick, the back bend. She had been doing them over and over all week long after learning how from a friend. One about her 15th back bend, she let out a loud scream and immediately rolled over in pain grabbing her arm. 

The way that she screamed sent chills down my arms and a knot in my stomach immediately. I thought for sure I would be met by something horrible when I ran over to see what had happened. Instead, there wasn't a whole lot to see... but I could tell my always bravest kiddo was in a lot of pain. 

Initially, we iced it and tried to nurse it with her favorite cartoon and some cuddles. But by the evening when she was still very tender and visibly uncomfortable, Dustin took her in to urgent care to have it x-rayed. Thank goodness he did, because she had fractured her wrist.

My brave girl came home with a giant wrap and sling that was made into an actual cast later the next week. 

Emmerson handled it all so well. Other than a very dirty, stinky arm and the annoyance of having to cover it for each night's shower it was no big deal at all. 

This Thursday was the big day we were all excited for. She got her cast off! They x-rayed it again and said it looked good as new! Emmerson said is felt "floppy" and like it had "shrunk a little bit." I couldn't wait to get her home to give it a good scrub. :) 

We are so proud of our strong girl!

Emmerson Turned 7!

Our beautiful Emmerson Grace turned 7 on May 30th. We opted for a small family birthday at home with all of her favorite things. 

 The party started on the eve of her birthday when she opened her first present from her Grammie. She told Gram that she wanted a puppy birthday, so Gram sent these adorable jammies with a matching set for her doll. Emmerson was so excited when she got out of the shower and saw these new jammies waiting for her!

 Also on the eve of her 7th birthday, her big brother and little sister got to work whipping up her birthday cake. No joke, completely on their own, they baked her a key lime cake from scratch. Donovan was so methodical about the process but very generously guided Tay into helping him along the way. I thought it was such a sweet gesture that he was so excited to make her birthday cake. 

 I stayed up late decorating and wrapping the endless amount of little gifts that we had purchased and that her loving Grammie had sent down from Sacramento. We couldn't wait for the birthday girl to wake up and get the party started. But in true Hein form (like her Daddy) she loves her sleep!

 On a whim, I thought of a fun idea to make our regular-ish birthday extra special. We set out all of her gifts on the staircase and one special gift with a party outfit outside of her bedroom door. When she woke up, she unwrapped the first gift. I quickly set the timer on my phone for 1 hour. Each hour my phone alarm went off which signaled that Emmerson could pick out another gift off of the staircase to open and play with. It made the day so exciting for her! It was also nice because she played with each gift for the entire hour in between rather than opening everything at once and being overwhelmed with it all. I think we may continue this tradition form here on out. 

 The birthday bunch waiting for Daddy to come down and join us for birthday pancakes. 

 Gram has very sweetly sent us decorations for the party girl. 

 Another hour, another present.

 While we ate birthday pancakes together, we took turns filling out 7 things we love most about Emmerson.

She was glowing the whole time listening to what everyone had to say about her. Taylor wrote paragraphs on the bottom because she obviously loves her sister a lot!

 Then we all got dressed and ready for family to come over. 

 The completed cake! I did assist with the frosting and decorating but can you even believe what an amazing job he did? 

 He was so proud!

 The cousins arrived!

 And each hour she unwrapped another present. This was one of her favorites!

Speaking of puppies, my brother and sister in law brought over their adorable new pup, Berlin. 

Donovan is also into cooking these days. He and Clare decided to help me whip up Emmerson's favorite lemon spaghetti. Ten and nine year olds are so much fun. I loved having such grown up conversations with these two in the kitchen. I feel like I blinked, and these babies grew up. 

 Dinner and...

outside play.

 Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday and try Donovan's special cake. 

 It was awesome. Birthday girl approved. 

 Finally presents from Oma and Grampie, Oma Oma and her Aunt and Uncle. This girl was seriously loved on hard for her 7th birthday. She got clothes, art supplies, unicorn pool floats, bathing suits, shoes, books, hair paint, nail polish, all sorts of little surprise toys... 

 Taylor was equally excited because in her eyes, what is Emmerson's is also hers. ;) 

 How cute is this letter from her cousin? 

 Emme Grace, 

You are our very special girl. Your gentle heart and nurturing ways make you shine so brightly. So do your hilarious laugh and best ever impressions. You are such a gift to each of us. We love you so very much our sweet 7 year old. 

xoxo