Happy FIRST birthday, Emerson Lucille! Our little sweet pea. EmmyLu. Missypants. Pumpkin pie. Emmy Lou Who. Sissy. Emmy, you are known by many names, but today you are the birthday princess!

Holy moly — where has the last year gone?! I cannot believe it has been one full year since she came into this world. Nothing has been the same since, in the BEST possible way.

It seems like just yesterday we were waiting on your arrival, filled with equal parts excitement + fear. You are our little fighter. Our miracle baby. You proved everyone wrong at every turn and I could not be more proud to be your mama. You are such a bright, shining light in our lives. I know there is a big plan for you in this life — I cannot wait to see what it is. I hope you always know just how truly loved you are, my darling girl. ❤️

Emmy was way more into the watermelon than her cake. I’ll blame this on the fact that the photos were taken at 7:30 p.m. (she usually goes to bed about 6:30 -7 p.m.) and she was just over it.

All I can think about when I look at these photos is the song “It’s my party and I can cry if I want to…”

EmmyLu — we love you so much. Happy first birthday, sweetheart! You sure are one in a melon.