Birthday Party Recap

I've finally recovered from the whirlwind tour and birthday party extravaganza to post a few pictures from our incredible day. The girls' first birthday party in St. Louis was absolutely wonderful, and I could never thank my family enough for going above and beyond to celebrate Anna and Margaret's special day in such an amazing way. We feel so spoiled and so lucky.

I didn't take any photos during the party, but my Dad took a bunch. I haven't gotten them from him yet, so I'm shamelessly stealing my friend Anne's photos to post here - thank you, Anne!

The beautiful party table that my mom decorated - she's truly got a designer's touch! Do you like the pink and purple overload? Pre-children, the idea of a princess-themed party would make me a little nauseous. Somehow it's a little more palatable when you've got 2 pretty little girls who look great in pink.

My completely amazing and overwhelmingly generous friend Anne, whose has furnished half of the girls' wardrobe over the past year, had these M&Ms custom printed with the girls' faces and names on them - pretty cool, huh? She had 5 lbs (!) of M&Ms printed, and now they are all sitting in our kitchen in a canister, and I think I alone have eaten 1 1/2 lbs of them. Darn you, Anne!

Joey holding Anna as the festivities were kicking off. I think Anna was a little bit overwhelmed by all the activity - particularly since she woke up from her afternoon nap to 8 new people staring at her. She clung to Joey for the first 30 minutes from waking up - quite the Daddy's girl.

Finally warming up to everyone and allowing Aunt Aggie to hold her - particularly since she's got a cool bracelet to play with!

Our little family. Why do I always have some kind of stain on my shirt (check out the drool stain on my shoulder)?

These cute little party hats lasted approximately 15 seconds on their heads

Singing happy birthday!

Margaret's reaction to the cake in front of her. Just its very presence seemed to bother here. Don't worry, Margie, you will soon learn to love desserts, particularly in this family. While she didn't touch the cake, she ate her weight in blueberries over the course of the past week. Where does this love for healthy food come from? She's reassuringly a fan of Macaroni and Cheese.

Margaret says, "I said, No Cake!" Don't you like her pout face?

In completely opposite fashion, Anna dug right in.

That's my girl!

Trying to shake the cake crumbs off their dresses outside - and realizing our attempts were futile. So the dresses came off.

Opening some very cool presents. Nana and Grandpa gave them the Little People school bus and SUV, which they totally love. And the SUV looks exactly like (and is about the same size as) my Honda CR-V, which Joey oh so affectionately refers to as the "grocery grabber." I guess I should have been a better steward to the environment and searched for a hybrid car instead - or perhaps a Fisher Price bicycle.

In the end, though, the present bows and ribbons were far more entertaining than the actual gifts.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, Mom, Dad, Amy, Anne, Linda, Pat, Grandma, Mary and Aggie for hosting and throwing such a fun party for the girls -they were truly treated like princesses.

We're headed up to Mishawaka to visit Joey's family this coming weekend and can't wait to spend the Fourth of July with them - and celebrate the Twinski's first birthday, round 2!