Party Time

It seems like I've been planning for Luke and Olivia's first birthday party for months and now it's finally here. There was lots to be done, but I loved every minute.

My good friend Sabrina came over Friday to help me tackle making their cakes and smash cakes. What a lifesaver she turned out to be as it would have taken me ALL day to make the 4 cakes I needed to make. I'm not a cake maker nor cake decorator by any stretch of the imagination, and I never want to compete on a contest on The Food Network-I would lose for sure! Since the babies love to play with blocks, I decided to make the theme of their party a "block party." So we made their smash cakes to look like blocks, and made 2 larger sheet cakes for everyone else to eat. We made their names our of square rice krispy treats to go on top. It took a lot of time and patience, but we think they turned out well.

We decided to have their party at our house since this is where they are most comfortable, and had lots of family and some close friends celebrate their big day. My sister helped me make their shirts and had their names embroidered underneath an "I am 1" applique. They turned out great, and after lots of stain remover from the cake, they can wear them throughout the winter. The party started around 1pm, which worked out perfect because they were well rested from their morning nap, and full from lunch.

After chatting for a little bit with everyone, it was time to open presents. They had SO much fun pulling tissue paper out of bags and playing with the boxes. We questioned whether we even needed to assemble any toys =). Luke and Olivia got some great presents, and were very appreciative of everything. They played well into the evening with all of their new toys and they will be sure to keep them busy for many days and weeks to come.

We thought it would be best to to the cake and ice cream last, since we knew things would get pretty messy. We were so right! We sang happy birthday first to Luke and then to Olivia and let them dig into their block smash cakes. Luke dug into his cake, and made a massive mess. Olivia wasn't too clean, either. They really enjoyed themselves, and I think we definitely have 2 sweet eaters on our hands. Afterwards, we put them into the bathtub for a quick rinse and let them get back to playing.

They also got some great items for their time capsule, and we really appreciate everyone's thought and effort. I know Luke and Olivia will really enjoy opening them when they turn 18. It will be very interesting to see what has changed in all of those years.

All in all, it was a wonderful and memorable 1st birthday party celebration, and we hope Luke and Olivia will enjoy seeing all of their fun memories through pictures. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday!

One year ago, at 11:13am and 11:14am, Luke and Olivia were born and changed our lives for the better forever. We had the best day celebrating with them!

I am very sentimental, and document practically every minute of their life through pictures. I wanted to get a picture of each baby when they woke up, but Luke wasn't sleeping well and woke up on my shoulder in the rocking chair. Olivia woke up in her crib and smiled when all 3 of us went into her room. We spent the morning playing, and then they took a nap. Little did they know they had a big surprise waiting for them when they awoke...their very first cupcake. The babies haven't had sweets before, so this was an extra special treat. We sang Happy Birthday to each of them and gave them their cupcake. They LOVED them. They looked at us as if to say "where have these wonderful items of food been for the past year?" Olivia immediately dug in while Luke was a little more skeptical. Once he got a taste of the frosting, it was all over. They made a HUGE mess and went immediately into the bathtub once they were done with their birthday cupcake. Luke and Olivia laughed and ate and played and truly enjoyed themselves, and Dan and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

After baths, we got them dressed and let them open their gifts from us. We each got them a book and a silver block piggy bank (to go along with their "block party" theme, but more on that later.) They had so much fun pulling the tissue paper out of the bags and playing with their wooden "1's" I had painted for them.

That afternoon we took them to Discovery Place Kids, where we decided to get a 1 year membership. It's a great place for them to play, and I definitely see us getting a lot of use out of the year pass. We stayed for a couple of hours and left when they started getting tired. We came home briefly and then headed off to Steak and Shake for their birthday dinner. Now I know Steak and Shake seems a little unusual for dinner, but it has a little bit of sentiment for Dan and me. When I was pregnant while we were still living in Atlanta, we would go shopping at Babies R Us and then go to Steak and Shake for lunch. The food always seemed to make the babies dance in my belly (perhaps it was all the grease), and we thought it would be fun for them to have some birthday ice cream at a restaurant that always makes us smile. Let's just say Luke and Olivia LOVE ice cream-anything sweet for that matter. Luke was so upset when we took his ice cream away, but we didn't want them to get a tummy ache from their first sugar rush.

We came home and they passed out almost instantly, It was a full, fun, family day and I couldn't have asked for a better way to commemorate the day our family became complete. Luke and Olivia, when you read these posts one day, please know how much mommy and daddy love you. We couldn't ask for 2 happier, healthier, more beautiful, loving, wonderful little babies. Happy 1st Birthday, Luke! Happy 1st Birthday, Olivia! It's been the best year of our lives.

The Little Gym

Dan and I took Luke and Olivia to The Little Gym today to see if we would be interestd in signing up for classes. We would like for them to be able to socialize with other babies besides just one another, and it is a good way for us to meet some new folks as well. Luke and Olivia had so much fun, and loved having so much space to move around in. Each week the class works on different things, ie balance, music, etc and this week was tummy week. They were able to "do" backflips and "walk" on the balance beam. Their favorite activity, though, was chasing bubbles! I don't think we are going to be able to sign up for classes next sememster because the times available don't really work for our schedule, but we are definitely going to keep them in mind for the future.

We have a wobbly walker!

We can hardly believe it...Luke took his FIRST STEPS today!!! Dan and I have been working with Luke and Olivia on how to move their little legs now that they have mastered standing. Olivia will stand for a long time, bend one knee up, and then just bend her knees down to the ground. Luke did the same thing today, but then he took a step, and then another, and then, faceplant! =) Luke crawled for the first time across our bedroom floor, and today that is exactly where he took his first official 3 steps. We would stand him up, and again and again he would walk towards Dan or myself. We hope after a good night of sleep, he will be running beside me by tomorrow. Well, maybe not...but Luke's a walker nonetheless!

Time to give thanks

Happy Thanksgiving! What a fun, FULL day we had. Dan's brother, Jay, and his son (our nephew) Jacob spent the night with us on Wednesday night. His wife and their other son Zachary joined us on Thanksgiving day. It was great to see Luke and Olivia interact with their cousins and get to know one another a little bit. The last time we were together was when Luke and Olivia were about 5 months old, and not nearly as mobile as they are now.

Dan and I hosted dinner at our house this year, and it was SO nice not to have to travel for the first time in what felt like forever. We ended up having 12 adults and 7 kids, and enough food to feed twice that many people! Luke and Olivia enjoyed their first Thanksgiving dinner of dressing, mac and cheese, corn fritter casserole, potato salad, green beans and cranberry sauce (yuck!). We weren't sure how Luke and Olivia would react to having so many people around, but they did wonderful and loved having so many playmates (their cousins). It was interesting to see how all of the kids from both sides of our family instantly congregated in one room and became fast friends with endless chatter. The day went by much too quickly, and we didn't get to take as many pictures as we had hoped. It was dark before we knew it! Luckily the family will be together again for Christmas. We are already looking forward to it!

Guess who's standing now?

Our baby boy is standing! Luke must have been waiting for daddy to get home, because he started standing today. He just grinned from ear to ear and was so proud of himself for his new accomplishment. Of course I grabbed the camera and started taking pics and video so we could remember this day forever. Our babies are just growing up too, too fast.

Home at last!!!

Yay! Dan is home!!! Unfortunately, though, it wasn't quite the happy airport reunion we had hoped for. Due to DC immigration, Dan missed his connection and didn't get home until after 10:00pm instead of 5:00pm. This delay also meant Luke and Olivia were fast asleep when he got home and couldn't shower them with hugs and kisses immediately. We did peek in on them snoozing in their cribs, and it was all he could do to keep from picking them up and holding them.

The next morning as soon as they started stirring he was sure to get Luke and Olivia out of their cribs-it was so cute! They were SO happy to see him, and seeing him "on the computer" everyday definitely helped them remember him. Dan and the babies spent all day playing while I went for a solo run and to the grocery store by myself. It was a great day and we are so very happy our family is finally all together once again!

Discovery Place Kids

My good friend Sabrina and I took Luke and Olivia to the new Discovery Place Kids that recently opened in Huntersville. It is designed for kids 8 years and under, and it did not disappoint! There was so much to see and do, including a puppet show and LOTS of things that bang and make noise! The place has different rooms where kids can pretend to be a vet, a fireman, a doctor, a pilot, or just about anything. I think Luke and Olivia will appreciate DPK even more once they are walking, but they still had a great time and it held their attention for hours-which is no small feat with two 11 1/2 mth olds!

Luke's favorite thing to do was to climb though a whale again and again, and Olivia found a bell to ring that she thought was just hilarious. There were lots of pots and pans to bang on the floor (glad it wasn't out kitchen!), and a really cool water feature to splash around in. I truly could have spent all day there, and I hope to take them back again. Dan said he would like to go and see them play as well, but I really thinks it's just an excuse for my "big" kid to play, too.

She SO wants to walk!

It seems that in the past few days, Olivia has really perfected her ability to stand unassisted, and will now play with a toy in her hand while standing without even realizing it. Today, I held out my arms out and motioned for her to come to me. Before I knew it, she was bending her left knee and about to take a step. Now normally I would encourage this motion again and again, but since Dan gets home on Friday we really want to see her first steps together (if possible!). I don't know if Olivia will wait, though, as she is getting braver by the day.

A perfect fall day

Since the temperatures climbed out of the 50's today to almost 70, I decided to take the babies to a nearby playground for some fall fun. Luke and Olivia has the best time in the swings and playing in the leaves-another first! I love seeing them experience "firsts"-it never gets old! I love how Luke kept showing me the leaves, and Olivia had to examine each one she touched. Then we found a big tree stump, and did they ever have the best time playing around it! As you can see in the pictures, Olivia tried to climb into the stump, while Luke was content putting leaves inside (he loves to clean up while Olivia loves to make a mess). We were all pretty dirty by the time we got home, but it didn't matter because we had a great time. The only thing missing was Dan.