Our Journey to Emma: Thanksgiving & Pre Birthday Celebration in Nashville

It is amazing to think that Emma Kate has been a part of our life now for over 4 months. We waited so long for her and now she is a part of our family. She is such a perfect fit for us! Every year at Thanksgiving, I have always thought about how lucky I am. I have a wonderful immediate and extended family, I have a wonderful husband, we have a great life, we live in a great house in a wonderful neighborhood, and I have wonderful friends. This year is different with Emma Kate. I am still thankful for all those things but the fullness in my heart for all those things now that Emma Kate is with us is just magnified. It is hard to explain but I am sure that many of you know what I mean. I probably don’t say it enough but I love and appreciate each and every one of you!
For Thanksgiving this year, Calvin, Emma Kate and I went to Nashville where my brother, sister in law and kids live. Usually my mom and stepfather come to Nashville on Thanksgiving for the day and we have a wonderful feast and enjoy the day together. This year was a little different. We had one Thanksgiving meal in Nashville on Wednesday night cooked by Erica and Douglas. It was wonderful!! The next day (Thanksgiving Day) we all drove to Memphis to spend the day there with my mom and Bob. We all went to lunch at the Dixie Café for our Thanksgiving meal. We all sat around this big round table and enjoyed the food and each other’s company. After our meal, we all went back to their house and visited some more. It was also Bob’s birthday so we celebrated that too. This was mom and Bob’s first chance to meet Emma Kate. Emma Kate was quite the charmer and really seemed to enjoy the day and visiting with everyone. We had to get back fairly early due to a big rain storm. It found us and rained on us for most of the trip back to Nashville.

Friday was a fun day! Since Emma Kate’s official birthday was coming up but we would be back home then, we decided to celebrate her birthday with everyone in Nashville. My niece Katie is learning Chinese in school and learned about a great thing that is a custom in China to do on a child’s first birthday. You pick out a number of items that represent various professions, put them all out and then let the child pick one. The item the child picks could be their chosen profession in life. We knew about the activity but Katie planned it with Erica. Friday night, Katie and Erica put all the items in a big circle. We went up to the room and Katie told us what each item was and what profession it represented. There were various professions like chef, accountant, sports related, law enforcement, insurance, business professional, and writer. Emma Kate was put down in the middle of the circle, she took a quick look around and headed straight for the paper money which represented the business professional. We will have to see if that comes true later in life for Emma Kate’s profession. Next, we decided to let Emma Kate enjoy a birthday cupcake. We took her top off and put her in the high chair. We sang Happy Birthday and gave her the cupcake. She has never had anything like that before and thought it was fun at first. When the icing was on her hand, she decided she did not like it. She loved everyone singing to her though! Thanks to the Nashville crew for Emma’s birthday celebration!!
Here are some pictures from our trip!