Emma is 3!

Our little girl turned 3 in June!  In true Stull family fashion, her birthday was celebrated for days.  4 days to be exact - she actually opened presents for 4 consecutive days!  Part of it was volume, the other part was attention span.  She would open 2 or 3 and then want to play with them, thus prolonging the present party. :)  It was a truly wonderful weekend with lots of laughs, good family and friend time, and more Hello Kitty than Tokyo.

Emma's birthday was on a Friday this year and we started the morning off with some some birthday pancakes (complete with sprinkles) and a present.  First things, first though, Emma made sure to put on her birthday hat within minutes of waking up.  We found out pretty quick that the wax on candles can't hold up to the heat of fresh pancakes.  After Emma blew out the candles we had to cut out holes in the cakes to get rid of the melted wax!

After school and work we met up for dinner with Emma's grandpa and grandma Burgart, Great Grandma Marge, Uncle Jon, Aunt Amy, and cousins Aubrey and Annie.   Emma had fun catching up with her cousins over some chocolate milk and chicken strips. :)

Emma with Jon, Amy, Aubrey, Annie and of course Lucas (who is 2 months old here).

After dinner and some pictures it was time for cupcakes and round one of presents.

A new bike!!

Saturday was party day.  In the morning we took a trip to the zoo with the family, somehow we don't have any photographic evidence of this, so you'll have to take my word.  After the zoo it was back home for nap and party prep!  The party was a big hit.  It was a Hello Kitty theme.  Once again, Melissa came through with a top notch cake that not only looked good but tasted even better.  Here are some pics from the celebration.  Oh, and the party afforded opportunity #2 for gift opening.  

On Sunday it was family hangout time before everyone headed home.  Emma got some extra cuddles and story time and a chance to open some of the presents she didn't get to the previous two days. #3daysofpresents

Emma's birthday wasn't the only draw.  Lucas was also a big hit, and it's easy to see why!

Here are some miscellaneous pictures of family taken throughout the weekend.

It was a great weekend with lots of fun!  I think Emma had a wonderful 3rd birthday and Melissa is successfully instilling the family philosophy that birthdays are too important to limit celebration to 1 day.  Oh, and in case you're still keeping track, Emma did have some unopened gifts on Monday: Day 4.

With love from Minneapolis,

Jason, Melissa, Birthday Girl, and Lucas

June 2014 Recap

June was another great month as we continued to adjust to our new schedule with Lucas.  I have to give Emma a lot of credit because it at this point I expected that the luster and excitement of having a new baby in the house would have worn off and she would want to give him back.  Quite the opposite;  she continues to embrace Luke and wants to be close to him any chance she gets.

Emma loved helping mommy give Lucas a bath.

It is well known that she also loves helping mommy bake and she is getting VERY good at it.  She has expanded her repertoire from master sprinkle putter-on-er to master scooper.  Don't kid yourself, she hasn't abandoned her sprinkle duties, there were still definitely sprinkles on these muffins.

Melissa and the kids got me a great new running watch for Father's Day!  Emma helped me open my gift and read the card.  I'm the luckiest Dad in the world. :)

Every day the kids get cuter and cuter.

Emma is starting to get very good with her writing and drawing.  She has almost perfected her name and is able to draw a variety of shapes.  Although she is using a green marker, purple remains her favorite color.

As many of you know, June is also Emma's birthday month.  Her birthday is much too big of an event to share a blog post with other topics.  Stay tuned for details and pictures from Emma's big day!!

With love from Minneapolis,
Jason, Melissa, Emma, and Lucas

May Recap

Hello again, friends!  Once again I have a lot of catching up to do.  There are lots of pictures to share and stories to tell.  So let's get started with a look back at May.
 

One of my favorite childhood memories is loading up the Little Red Wagon on May Day and hauling it around the neighborhood to deliver May Baskets.  Making the baskets this year with Emma was just as much fun as I remember.  If I had to guess, I think she had fun too. :)
 

We had a few visitors to spend time with Lucas and Emma.

A lot of people have asked how Emma is adjusting to having Luke around.  The answer is simple - she is in love.  Emma showers her Lucas with love and affection every chance she gets.  At times perhaps a little too aggressively, but always with good intentions. :)  She has been awesome with Lucas and helps with diapers, feeding, and entertaining Mr. Luke.

Feeding Luke

Emma has also taken to a baby doll of her own.  It's a boy doll that Grandma Becky gave to Emma for Christmas to get her used to the concept of a little brother.  She didn't care for it much before Luke came along but now, Emma loves to play Mom with Naomi (yes, Emma named her baby boy doll Naomi).  Including when it comes to nursing...

A couple of firsts in May.  Luke celebrated his first month of life and Emma had her first day of pre-school!  Emma was sad to leave Pam, Leslie, and Christina's room but she was pumped to move upstairs with the big kids and teacher Andrea.

CHEESE!

Luke at his 1 month photo shoot along with some other random cute pics of the little man.

More to come!  It has been a wonderful summer and I'm looking forward to sharing the highlights.

With love from Minneapolis,
Jason, Melissa, Emma, and Lucas