March 1, 2005

The day my daughter was born. Hard to believe Emma turns 5 today! She is such a sweetheart and a great helper in our home. Jake was gone at a work conference the past couple days and when he was gone I told the kids we were going to have a 'cleaning day.' I went downstairs to fold some clothes and Emma came right down and asked if she could sweep the kitchen floor and clean the sliding glass door with windex. Funny she even had to ask! ;) She's very thoughtful, and a great big sister to Josh. She loves being his second mommy.

Emma has had a pretty good birthday so far (her exact words, "today has been a HAPPY day!") After I got home from the gym I made her and everyone else pancakes. She was ecstatic, getting pancakes on a school day. Grandma and Grandpa Call in Oregon both called her this morning, wishing her a happy birthday. Before we took Ben to school she opened the present they gave her, a remote control Bratz doll on roller skates. She loves it (and so do Josh and Ben.) They can make the doll do the splits and run into things, which they find very humorous. Then great-Grammy and great-Grandpa Call came over to wish her a very happy birthday. After that I let her pick where we would eat for lunch and she chose McDonald's. She told the cashier excitedly that it was her birthday and he gave her a huge ice cream cone, on the house. Then we went to Gateway Mall downtown and she used her birthday money she got from Grandma and Grandpa Schip and Hannah, Isabelle, Mel and Ryan, to buy a bear from Build-A-Bear. It was the very first time we have ever bought anything there and she was in HEAVEN! She picked out the carcass, helped pump it full of fluff, put in a sound box singing "Happy Birthday" and a little red heart, gave it a 'bath' brushing all the extra fluff off of her, picked out an iCarly outfit and high heel shoes to match, then printed out Polly's birth certificate. (She said she loves the name Polly and heard it on the movie, Underdog.) Anyway, the bear has become a new permanent appendage. She will not part with it. After we got home, Emma helped me put together a poster she is going to show her preschool class tomorrow when they celebrate her birthday. (Of course, she's bringing Polly too.)

Tonight we are having Emma's favorite dinner... beef stew. Then we will unveil her big present from us (a dollhouse Jake Garlick, our brother-in-law, made for her.) It's huge and awesome, custom built for barbie. I'm sure she will love it. More pics to come...