The Janelle Wind Collection

Emily's adventure...

As I mentioned last post, Emily headed off on a wonderful adventure on the night of her birthday. For a while now, the lovely Hailey Bartholomew and myself had been planning a special trip for Emily. Hailey and her husband Andrew of You can't be Serious had so very kindly invited Emily to fly up to Brisbane to spend some time with their daughter Zali, Emily's best friend for a while now, and everything seemed to fall into place for it to happen as part of Emily's birthday celebrations.

So after spending a night in a Sydney (first time in a big motel for our girl), her and hubby headed off to the airport for a very early morning flight on Saturday morning. It was to be Emily's first ever solo flight, and I must confess that I think I was even more nervous than she was. Here's my tiny girl sitting waiting at the airport, looking rather anxious. I know that she was more excited than anxious though, as she couldn't wait for her special holiday to begin.

After booking her in as an unaccompanied minor, my big strong husband had to watch his little girl walk away with a flight attendant and board a plan all by herself. I am sure he wanted to go with her but we both knew that she was ready. Off she went, ready for her adventure.

And before we knew it, our tiny girl was flying away on a great big plane.

Before hubby even had time to drive home from the airport Emily was calling me to say she had landed and was with Zali and her family. Hailey also called and assured me that my girl was safe, happy and that they were all excited to share a few special days together. I was much relieved when I knew Emily was safe and sound and I was excited for her too and all the wonderful adventures she would have with her friends.

Upon arrival, three happy and excited girls shared some morning tea. Just seeing Emily's happy face makes my Mummy heart very happy. A HUGE thank you to Hailey for taking so many gorgeous photos while Emily was visiting. I just love seeing all that the girls did together.

There was lots of playing with Blythes...

And dressing dollies in gorgeous handmade outfits, made by Zali...

There was painting of nails, at Poppy's (Zali's little sister) salon...

And more happy, smiling faces - and this was just the first day!

I love this photo of the three girls on the hammock. Aren't they just the cutest little people ever!

Their was dancing and singing too (so wish I could have been there to see and hear all this fun).

Emily was very excited to have her very first taste of Indian food too. She LOVED it and thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Indian food restaurant with her friends.

Emily was bursting at the seams to go to a wonderful market called the Suitcase Market. She arrived with a pocket full of birthday money and left with a bag full of goodies and a HUGE smile. She was thrilled to pieces with all that she found. She even needed a bigger suitcase to come home with.

One of the most wonderfully exciting things that Zali and her family did with Emily was to take her to Dreamworld. Emily had never been to a theme park so she was beyond excited to go. I was SO thrilled that she had this wonderful opportunity too.

With Zali by her side encouraging her to be brave, Emily faced lots of fears and went on some rides. She even went on a roller coaster (something I would never do). I am SO proud of her. It is scary facing your fears.

She had SO much fun! It really was a day to remember. I know Emily will be blogging all about her amazing holiday very soon, so I will leave the rest of her Dreamworld adventure for her to tell.

Emily was due to fly home on the Tuesday evening, so Zali and Emily headed outside to take some outfit photos together. Oh my goodness, I adore the photos that Hailey took of these two cuties together. The girls have set up some special blog posts sharing their matching outfits to appear on their blogs on Tuesday's called 'Twinsie Tuesday' (so cute). You can take a look at them HERE and HERE.

Here are just a few of my favourite photos from their little photoshoot.

It was during Tuesday (their supposed last day together) that the girls came to Hailey and begged for more time together. They really were having the absolute BEST time. After a few quick phone calls, it was agreed that Emily could stay longer. So even though I was missing my girl terribly, I knew this was something she needed and something very special for her and Zali too.

So over the coming days, there was lots of giggling, art journaling, play days, dressing Blythes, shopping, photo taking, editing and above all else, lots of memory making too. I am beyond grateful to Hailey and Andrew for opening their hearts and home to our girl, for taking such good care of her and for giving her such amazing memories. I am super grateful to Hailey, Zali and Emily for taking so many photos of Emily's week away too. I have looked at them again and again and know that these will be cherished by not only me but Emily too for years to come.

On Saturday afternoon, a week after she left, my brave girl flew home all by herself once again. She came home a little bit taller, a lot more grown up and filled with added confidence that bravery, facing your fears and happiness can bring. Emily really did have the most wonderful time with her dear friends and I know it is something she will do again in the future too.

I am thankful for dear friends and for bestie friendies too. Spending this time with her best friend, really was the most wonderful soul food ever for my girl. I think this has been a birthday never to forget...

My girl...

These past few weeks have been a very special time for my girl, Emily. Last Friday was her 14th birthday - yay! For those who have followed my blog over the years will know that birthdays are a pretty big deal in our house.

Her special day started the night before with the wrapping of her presents and then hubby and I decorated her room while she slept. This is something we do each year and something the kids look forward to. We didn't do as much decorating this year as usual because she was embarking on a big adventure the day after her birthday - more on that later. You can see some of her previous birthday's HERE and HERE.

This year we filled her room with balloons all over the floor and 14 yellow helium filled balloons scattered over her ceiling. Yellow is Emily's favourite colour so we hoped she would love waking up to a ceiling filled with yellow.

We popped her presents at the end of her bed, and waited till the morning for the celebrations to begin.

Our girl opened her eyes on her birthday morning and this was her face upon seeing her decorated room. I think she was happy!

We all eagerly gathered together in Emily's room to watch her open her presents. Her big smile and squeals of delight made my Mummy heart very happy. I am just so grateful that we could spoil Emily with some gifts that she dearly wanted and hoped for too. Birthdays are fun!

Firstly, she opened her gift from her brother Jasper, including the most gorgeous handmade card.

Jasper gave Emily a super cute Blythe hat made by the lovely Sheree Forcier of Poppy Tree Lane.

Next she opened her first gift from us. This time it was a super cute little knitted dress for her Blythe dolls from Tinker and Pixie knits. While Emma was here, Emily borrowed Emma's Blythe dress the same as this one, and it looked perfect on Emily's Blythe doll Milly, so I was thrilled when the lovely seller Joanne agreed to make another one for us.

There were only a few things on Emily's birthday wish list this year, and we have been saving and buying a few to pop away for months now. I must admit I was bursting at the seams to see her face when she opened her gifts. Next was a pair of yellow saltwater sandals. I think she was pretty excited to receive these too.

Next up, she opened her MUCH wished for present, a wacom tablet. With Emily's love of graphic design and all things computers, we really wanted to give her this present, to encourage her with her hopes and dreams. I can't wait to see all that she creates with this too.

That brought us to the end of the presents, or so she thought. We covered Emily's eyes and brought her to another large gift just outside her birthday and covered with a vintage sheet. We decided that it was time to get Emily a new bike. After her serious bike accident several years ago, Emily stopped riding her bike. It just held too many bad memories for her, but I felt that enough time had passed and it was time to make some new and happy memories. I am SO glad that I took the risk and bought Emily a new bike - she was SO surprised and so excited to have her own retro style bike. She was out the door and riding it straight away. (please know both of my kids always wear a bike helmet when riding, we just allowed her to have a quick try of her bike without one as it was about 6am and we were both with her)

Her face said it all - we had one happy 14 year old girl.

With a little more effort than usual, Emily dragged herself away from her presents and I dropped her and Jasper off at school. At the end of the day when I picked them up, Emily had a huge smile on her face. For the first time ever, her friends had thrown her a surprise party at lunch time, complete with snacks and presents. She was totally blown away (and so was I). It was a perfect way to celebrate her special day.

We normally celebrate birthdays with a special dinner and a cake however Emily headed off to Sydney with Daddy to begin a wonderful adventure. This birthday really was SO very special. I will be back to tell you all about her adventure soon. Birthday's are so special and definitely cause for celebration... Happy Birthday Emily xx