Our Cupcakes Turn 2!

Addy & Lilly turn 2 next week and I'll spare you all the "I can't believe it's been 2 years since they've been in my belly" talk and get on with the good stuff! We moved the party up because they will be making their flower girl debut next week and Daddy's birthday is this week, so we'll be spending 10 days starting Thursday at the Lake! So, 9 days early it was.
We decided to do a party in the park because they both LOVE being outside and honestly, I wasn't sure I was up for 14 kids wrecking havoc in my house. The park worked out great with only a few bumps in the plans. Weather was BEAUTIFUL and we were surrounded by all our family and friends who LOVE our kiddos! Who can ask for more?

Cast & Crew of the Cupcake Party (top to bottom, left to right): Max L., Jack W., Jacob D., Jaxson J., Audrey S., Chase E., Mallory C., Cooper E., Tyson J., Ben S., Dakota J. & Evan S.

Complete with Cupcake invitations, cupcake outfits, cupcake cakes and cupcake bags as favors (I love a good theme and this one was fun!), we had a great time. Of course, the stars of the show were Addy & Lilly:
I had to include a rare picture of my girlfriends and our munchkins! Love you girls!

Good times with old friends..

Addy & Lilly continue to be some of the most socialized 2 year-olds around, we have constant visitors and LOVE every minute of it! Here are some pictures with some old friends who we've gotten to hang out with over the last few weeks....

Brooke, from thejonessquad.blogspot.com/, came a few weeks ago with her little ones. She's a friend from high school and since she joined the world of multiple mommies, recently, our friendship has only strengthened. I bragged in an earlier post about her babies, but they are only beautiful because she is! Inside and out--and she loves some Ash love!
Jamie & Stephanie were my college roommates, sorority sisters and more! We see Jamie periodically, but a visit from Stephanie last weekend was a treat and them together was twice the fun. The last time I saw Steph was at my baby shower! Anyway, I wouldn't want to be sipping Sangrias on a Sunday afternoon with anyone else...thanks for the visit!
Auntie Yen (aka Jenny) was a graduate school roommate of mine, bridesmaid in my wedding, co-cross-country road tripper...the list goes on. She always manages to squeeze in a visit despite a crazy schedule and spoils the girls with outfits, lollipops and a lot of love!
Abbe helps me survive the summer up at Lake Tippecanoe, typically surrounded by the boys! She's the girlfriend of Jeremy's parents best friends' son (did you follow?) Her boyfriend is 1 of 3 boys, as is Jeremy, so here we are contributing to the girliness factor.

Look What We Learned

About a month shy from the second birthday, I thought this might be a good way of highlighting some misc. pics I've neglected on posting....

Look what we learned!

We learned to talk to EVERYTHING, including the plastic rabbits and garden gnomes people insist on displaying. Addy was caught last weekend, literally yelling, "HI", "HI", "HIIIIIII" waiting for it to answer her.

We learned to play yard games....well, atleast play with all the equipment for yard games.

We learned we LOVE peanut butter and jelly (especially the jelly).
We learned to walk like a super model. The girls will be doing their flower girl debut next month and we've been "practicing". Notice, that even while walking like a supermodel, Addy is still holding a ball of some kind.

We learned picnics in the park are a blast and we CAN sit still long enough to eat a meal without being strapped to a chair!

We learned that we LOVE babies! Here are the Jones twins, who visited last week. The girls were totally enamored, wanting to help with everything. This lesson also led to mommy learning that 2 is plenty for me!
We learned that craft time with Grandma Jody is the best. She makes her own playdough AND lets us chalk INSIDE the house.
We learned to wash each others hair in the tub!

Sunny Sunday....

We had a busy weekend, topped off with a 12 hour stomach bug for Ms. Lilly. It was temperatures and vomiting all night last night. Jeremy and I had flashbacks to long nights with awake babies. She slept on each of our chests for part of the night. She slept most of the day today and barely ate, but like a lightswitch, after her afternoon nap, she was fine.

Addy continues to RUN EVERYWHERE...the girl never walks. During one of her spins around the house this morning, she faceplanted on the tile and immediately got a goose-egg that resembled the last head injury--I tell you, it is always something around here!

Dancing before "school" on Friday--Lilly's dance consists of twirl after twirl after twirl until she topples from dizziness....

Addy's dance has started to resemble the Monster Mash--she mixes a bit of Frankenstein with hip-hop, it's an interesting combo, but working for her....

"Excuse me--I said I was feeling BETTER, now get the hell out of my way!"-Lilly

"Daddy's been slacking in the yard department, so he called in reinforcements..."--Addy

During Lilly's long nap, Grandma Linda was planting flowers and our neighbors (ages 8, 8 and 4) came to ask Addy to play...she was such a big girl, waved bye-bye to me and trotted off to play with the "big kids". Each time I checked on her and asked if she wanted to come home, she said "No, please". She thought was was seriously cool. She may be 2 going on 12....

Lastly, a HUGE congratulations to Brooke & Brian who welcomed twins last week. Brooke was a total rockstar, delivering both without a c-section and carrying those babies to 34 weeks--I am so proud of her!

Addy & Lilly (mommy too) can't wait to meet you, Jaxson & Dakota!