Saturday = Birthdays X 3

Saturday was a big day of birthday celebrations for Charlotte and Jensen (and Mom and Dad, too!).

Birthday Celebration #1: Happy 9-Month Birthday, Charlotte and Jensen!
Brian and I woke up and were excited to get the day of birthdays started...unfortunately, when we went to get Charlotte and Jensen out of bed, we discovered that sometime during the night, the upstairs heater stopped working. The thermostat in their room said 62 degrees (which is not, despite what my Canadian mother said, a "perfect" temperature for sleeping). So Brian called the AC repair company and headed to the hardware store to get a space heater to use in the meantime. While he was doing all this, I took on the job of taking Charlotte and Jensen's 9-month pictures (I'm a stickler for doing it on the exact day of their monthly birthdays, and I knew we wouldn't have time later in the day). As has been the trend in recent months, they did not turn out so hot. Example:

Mmmmmm, who needs birthday cake when you have this tasty window?

Birthday Celebration #2: Happy 2nd Birthday, Cailyn!
Good news: the AC repairman could come out that day to fix the heater. Bad news: he would be there at 11:00 a.m., which was the exact time of the day's first birthday party. I was very excited about this party because not only is Cailyn really stinkin' cute, but this was Charlotte and Jensen's first non-family birthday party. So we decided that I would take the babies by myself while Brian stayed home with the AC repairman. I first called Cristi to make sure she would be at the party and that she was up for some baby-wrangling so I wouldn't be on my own, and we headed to the Samuels' house. I couldn't be happier with Charlotte and Jensen's behavior at the party! They were so great...Cristi and I took them in and they immediately began playing with toys and socializing, and there was not a meltdown to be had the entire time! Jensen was all over the place as usual, and Charlotte found Cailyn's papasan chair, took a seat, and did some serious observing. A good time was had by all...and check out this precious birthday girl:

Cailyn getting serious about blowing out those candles (with some help from sister Camryn)

After the festivities, we hopped in the car and drove home for some lunch and a nap before it was time to drive to Dallas for...

Birthday Celebration #3: Happy 3rd Birthday, Piper!
Charlotte and Jensen's cousin Piper turned 3 the day after Christmas, but her party wasn't until yesterday. We drove up a few minutes late to find tons of people (and kids) and a huge bounce house in the front yard! I was afraid Charlotte and Jensen would be overwhelmed but once again they surprised me and were total angels the entire time we were there. Charlotte chilled with various family members and played on the floor with a few "big girls" and Jensen was once again all over the place. He had his first experience on a trampoline:

He crawled on and off and ate a bit of grass while he was at it.

Jensen had also really been eyeing the bounce house. He is too small to get in with the other kiddos, so while everyone else was enjoying their cupcakes...

 Birthday girl Piper chowing down! Yummy!

...we let Jensen go crazy in the bounce house. I opened the flap and put him inside and he began crawling around without any hesitation whatsoever. The boy knows no fear.

Little dude, big bounce house.

After I put him in, Brian was like, "How are you going to get him out of there?" Fortunately Jensen came right out to me so I didn't have to squeeze myself through the entrance.

So we had a great time at Piper's party as well. We did not, however, have a great time on the way home as we sat in Dallas traffic listening to Charlotte scream at the top of her lungs for about 3/4 of the trip to our house. I suppose if she's going to melt down, it's better to do it in the car as opposed to in a house full of people, but it doesn't make it any easier for Brian and me to listen to (especially since nothing calms her down during her car seat meltdowns). Poor kiddo. Despite the car meltdown (and the $250 to fix the heater) we had a great day and were so happy to be able to celebrate Cailyn and Piper's birthdays with them. Charlotte and Jensen's 9-month birthday post coming soon!