You are my Sunshine Emmie! Happy 3rd Birthday to you!

Emma Nanette is a joy. Some people scatter sunshine wherever they go, Emma makes her own!

She has sunshine to give away and still manages to have plenty left! She loves people,family, plants, animals, strangers, friends, talking, singing, brushing her teeth and well, pretty much she LOVE'S everything.

I get excited when I get to wake up with her in the morning or get her up after a nap because I know she will be excited to do something( pretty much anything!), and she will tell me about her ideas with so much anticipation! How did I ever live without her?

Her smile has captivated me since she was born. She has always been expressive and has a flare for drama. She is observant and a good listener. She often uses words that she hears such as "my sister-in-law", and "actually". She loves to be a mommy...to her dolls, to her brother,and to her daddy and mommy sometimes too.

Emma has a tender heart. As a tiny little almost 18 month-2 year old she helped me through a tough year in 2007. My heart was pretty heavy for a while and she would often play with me and tell me, "I love you Mama." She would also on occasion bring me a picture of the Savior from her room and hand it to me, as she told me that she loved me, and reminded me that He did too. Yup...she is a sweetheart, with a HUGE, compassionate heart!

She loves dancing, all music, and songs. Unsolicited, she will sing "I am a Child of God" or "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" in any supermarket, bank, or Costco. Street preaching can be done by children...especially ones who like to be the leader.

Emma has always been creative. She loves to paint and get messy anyway she can. She loves to make drawings and collages, and her imagination is ENDLESS! Often she plays with whatever she has on hand and make them into friends, babies, animals etc. Just today, in the car, I heard her saying "No fighting you two, you are not being nice. Let's see how we can work this out." I asked, "Emmie, who are you talking to? Who is being unkind?"

She said, "oh, I was just pretendin'. (giggle giggle) I was talking to my feet!" (Eruption of giggles from the back seat and simultaneous kicking in my back.)

She also makes up games. One of my favorite's is called Sleeping Beauty. She has never seen the movie mind you, but nonetheless, it is very real to her! We played a lot when I came home from the hospital with Thane. She would get me blankets and tell me to put my head down on a pillow and I was permitted to close my eyes. Sometimes she would comb my hair and put every single hair thing she owned in my hair. Other times she would let me rest and wake me up with a kiss. Maybe we can play that game again soon...

Emma is the sad police in our house. If Thane even looks slightly uncomfortable, she will find a way to try to cheer him up--tickling, laughing, and telling him stories. She has been great at finding a toy to help him and will report to me the entire time she thinks he is showing even a hint of discomfort. (It takes A LOT to make TD cry.) Her first reaction if he seems sad is to make him laugh. Ok, well, that is her first reaction to life...Emmie loves to be funny. It seems like she was funny last year too, but she understands more and more about humor. She likes to call her Aunts by the wrong name, knowingly. She likes to put her jammies on her head, sneak into weird places to surprise me, and to force out a chortle whenever possible by doing "the froggy dance", or any other contortions that may rouse laughter. She is a blast to be with each day as I am never quite sure what will happen next.

I thoroughly enjoy this baby girl of mine every day. There are hard moments (temper tantrums, sleeplessness, power struggles etc) and sometimes they seem especially long as far as moments are concerned, but really, they aren't. She really is as good as it seems.

I love her hugs. I love her smiles & her laughter. I love her prayers for others, for our safety, and for our car etc. I love her love for her Dadda--it melts my heart! I love her faith in God. I love her crazy, tangly curls and her gooey kisses. I love her wild ideas and her energy. If I could bottle up one day with Emmie and the feelings that come with that day we might just solve our energy crisis and have a lot more smiles in the world. I want to always feel so rich in health and in love.

We love her. We love our Emma.

She is our joy.