the birthday bash

And finally, Mommy is getting around to recording the events of our birthday party a couple weeks ago.

Although this wasn't actually AT the party, Daddy spent quite a bit of time making blocks for Noah and Lily. It'll be a while before they can fully appreciate all the construction capabilities, but they already enjoy knocking them down!

I went and picked up the balloons for the party while the babies were napping, and they were quite impressed when they woke up:

In case you can't tell, the big balloons are a dragonfly (I thought it was a butterfly when I ordered it) and an elephant. They have been quite fun. They're still "alive", though they are quickly dying, and the babies are still fascinated by them.

And, since it wouldn't be a birthday without cake... The small cakes were for Noah and Lily, the big cake was for most of the rest of us, and the cupcakes were for any small dairy-allergic partygoers.

They didn't need a lot of explanation on what to do with their cakes:

Noah pursues star power:

"Oh, uh-oh, I think I got a little something on my hand..."

Noah was the most talented at making an incredible mess.

Even Lily can't quite understand quite how he got THAT messy.

After the cake and a lengthy clean-up, it was on to presents! There were a LOT of them. The kiddos didn't quite have the expertise or the stamina to stay focused to get through them all:

Luckily, they had a couple of professional present-openers to help out. Jenna was very excited to help Noah open the present she and her mommy brought:

And Dylan was happy to demonstrate how this EXTREMELY loud toy worked. Notice the shocked looks on everybody's faces!

I was very proud of the cute plushy doll I found for Lily. She liked it too, and immediately gave it a big kiss:

By the end of the presents, our living room looked like the toy section of Wal-Mart had exploded. There were like 10 other people there, but it was standing room only for the rest of the crowd.

Other pictures of birthday party fun:

Okay, this one isn't from the actual party--it's not even from the visit. But I realized I didn't take any good pictures of Michael and his fiancee Danielle. So I stole a picture from facebook:

no more babies

One year ago at this moment, we were on our way to the hospital for what I had convinced myself was a false alarm. After all, I couldn't be in labor--they had just scheduled my induction for the following week. About 12 hours later, these guys proved me wrong:


And today was the last day I held my babies, and the last night I kissed them goodnight. The last time I nursed my babies and fed them. The last time I heaved myself off the floor holding two babies.

Because tomorrow, despite the lack of any two-legged ambulation, they are officially toddlers. I guess. (There needs to be some sort of in-between word for my poor mobility-challenged younguns.)

I can't decide if it feels like it has been a year, or whether it feels like only a few days, or like a lifetime. I was so afraid of having children because I knew they would take over my life. Little did I know the extent to which they would consume me. And I was absolutely ignorant of just how thrilled I would be to hand my life over to them, gift-wrapped. (Babies love wrapping paper, you know.)

Speaking of wrapping paper, the birthday party last week went just swimmingly. Of course, I was too busy being Party Referee to manage to take any pictures. So as soon as all the folks who took pictures manage to email those to me, I will make a birthday party post. (Hint-hint...)

Until then, here's a little picture tribute to my kiddos and their first year...

Newborn

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months

nearing the... end?

A year ago, I was very, very, VERY tired of being pregnant. Luckily, I am not very tired of my children. I hear they stick around awhile.

And as much as I will miss their babyhood and as much as a part of my wants them to stay small forever, a very large part of me wants them to be old enough to STOP POOPING IN THE TUB. Seriously! It's a major mess. And while you clean it out, what do you do with two naked babes who still have crusty pudding in their hair?

In other news, Lily is almostalmostalmost crawling. SO close!!! She will wiggle and squirm and squeal and roll enough to propel herself a few inches at a time. A couple times today she even did the face-plant-and-leg-push thing that Noah did at first. I don't think it'll be long now. She may yet be a crawler before she's a year old!

Not much else has happened lately, although birthday preparations are in full swing. I have decided to opt for a mommy-made cake, with high hopes for its appearance. So we'll see how it goes. Otherwise, here are a few pictures of things lately...

What's more fun than having pink piggies on your clothes? REALIZING that you have pink piggies on your clothes, of course!

It got warm enough yesterday that we broke out the little turtle pool I found on clearance last fall. The babies kind of liked it... I think. Lil was a bit chilly--she was covered in teensy baby gooesbumps for awhile until she got used to it. As a bonus, the turtle squirts water out its head. The kiddos didn't feel like the squirting was necessarily a bonus.

Why does baby-friendly food have to be soooo messy?

Just hangin' in the swing like big people...

Lately, Noah has been sticking his rear end up in the air sometime around 1 a.m. When Mommy checks on him around 11, he's lying flat. When Daddy comes home late from work and checks on him, he looks like this:

One of Noah's favorite things these days--opening and closing the gate. Or any door. Or anything that remotely resembles a door.