Birthday Celebration # 3 of 3

Charlotte and Jensen's 2nd birthday fell on the Sunday after their birthday party. They were up and at 'em and Brian (such a good Daddy!) set the alarm on his phone for 7:31 a.m. so that we could remember to sing "Happy Birthday" to Charlotte at her exact birth moment. And at 7:32 a.m. we sang to Jensen, and the kiddos spent a happy morning playing with some of their new birthday gifts. Then it was time to get dressed and head outside to present C&J with their birthday gifts from Mommy and Daddy...

Scooters!

If you blow up the pic you can see Charlie's excited grin. Also, Brian asked me why I had dressed her in khaki shorts and crocs. He said she looked like a "nerdy archaeologist".

 

 

 Charlotte hopped right on!

They also got helmets to wear with their scooters. Charlotte wore hers for half a second...

...and Jensen wore his for just a few minutes.

But once the stinkers realized that they HAD to wear their helmets while riding their scooters, they were not pleased. They wanted their helmets "OFF!". They wanted to get back on the scooters helmet-less. And when they were told "no", they did this:

Nerdy archaeologist throws a tantrum!

(We tried again with the scooters the next day and again they refused to wear their helmets. So I had my mom load up the scooters into her car and we told the twins that the scooters have to go bye-bye until they are ready to wear their helmets. Every once in awhile Charlotte asks for her scooter, so I'll ask if she's going to wear her helmet. She says no. (At least she's being honest!) So the scooters have stayed at Grandma's. Birthday present FAIL!)

After naps we headed to Tita and Papaw's house for a visit, then to Grandma and Grandpa's house for their birthday dinner, cupcakes, and of course, one more round of "Happy Birthday to You!"

And so birthday weekend came to a close. I know I said I'd save the sappy stuff, but these two really are the most hilariously awesome kids in the world and I sometimes can't believe how blessed I am to have had two whole years with them.

Birthday Celebration # 2 of 3

Birthday celebration number two took place the day before the kiddos' real birthday. Last year I had their party at our house...a grand owl-themed affair for which I spent tons of money on etsy and my mom, Tammy and I spent tons of time making crafty little owl-themed decor. We cleaned the house before and after the party. We served tons of food and drinks and invited all our friends. After the party I said "Never again" to having the kids' party at our house. (Actually, at one point during the party, I turned to my friend Nick and said, "OWL be glad when this party is over!" Ha! I'm so funny!)

This year, I decided on a Sesame Street theme and before too long the ideas for a party at home were flowing. There would be a bounce house, cute little matching outfits for C&J, and oodles of pinterest-inspired goodies (Pinterest wasn't even around for the first birthday party, which is probably a good thing). As I planned, Brian questioned my sanity. My mom and Tammy questioned whether they would be put to work making Elmo-shaped paper lanterns. And at some point I wised up, logged off of Pinterest and called the local bounce house place, Pump It Up.

I still got cute invites on etsy though...

And cute cookie favors...

And yummy cupcakes...

And matching outfits on etsy...

Sadly this is the best pic of her dress...and it's mid-tantrum. More on that in a sec.

So we headed off to Pump It Up...we just had to bring drinks and favors and the cupcakes and they took care of the rest. We arrived 15 minutes early (as instructed) and got signed in and ready to go. Then we had to wait for 14 minutes. When you have two 2-year-olds who have been waiting all week to go to the "bounce house!", that's quite a long time. Charlotte was not pleased and when we told her there were other people using the bounce houses and we had to wait our turn, she started saying, "Other people in there. Other people go bye-bye." And even two days later, when I ask her about her party, she talks about the "other people in there." Poor girl...I'm not sure that patience is one of her strong points!

Then, the cupcakes were delivered and poor Jensen, who has his mommy's sweet tooth, had to practice his patience too.

But soon it was time to play. Charlotte and Jensen had so much fun playing with their friends!

Charlotte was being quite fearless and wanted to go down the big slide with Aunt Beep!

After playtime it was pizza time. C & J sat together (nicely, I might add!) in the big inflatable chair and chowed down on pizza and fruit.

Family pic. Brian and Charlotte look equally pleased.

Table of friends!

Time to sing!

J blew out his candle like a champ, but C needed some help from Daddy.

Let's eat!

 

And then the party was over! I made a cute little insert to put in the invitations requesting no gifts (and not because I'm some kind of awesome mom whose kids aren't spoiled but for selfish reasons...we are seriously running out of room to put any more toys!) but a few friends couldn't resist. So we went home, the kids napped, then they opened their loot. One particular favorite was this little doll from their friends Camryn and Cailyn. Both Charlotte and Jensen love to feed her and give her her sippy cup!

 

Overall, the party went great! We are so thankful that we had so many of Charlotte and Jensen's friends come celebrate with us. My brother even worked a double shift the night before so he could have the kiddos' birthday off.  And yes, I am so glad I didn't have their party at home...I'm already scouting out locations for next year's bash!

Birthday Celebration # 1 of 3

My sweet babies turned two today! Before I get into the sentimental stuff, we have three birthday celebrations to cover! The first took place on Friday at their school. One of the other moms had the great idea to send a camera on her son's birthday, so I copied her and sent a camera to school on C & J's big day so that Mrs. Clark could get a few pics of them in action. It's so neat to have a little peak into their school day!

(And apparently some of them uploaded sideways...I thought we were through with that little issue but I guess not.)

Birthday cupcakes with Hunter and Lane!

???

Mrs. Clark even took pics of naptime...apparently preschool is exhausting!

One of the best thing about looking through all of the 57 pictures Mrs. Clark took was noticing how, in many of the group shots, Charlotte and Jensen are beside each other. It makes me so happy that even when they're away from home, they have each other.

Next up...the bounce house birthday party!