cg and lola turn two

Like I said in the last post, these poor kids didn't get a proper birthday 'party.' They did not luck out in the 'Pinterest mom' category. But they did luck out in the love department, I think. {When my sister has kids I'm going to be in trouble though because she's the queen of all things cute and themed and trendy and DIY and vintage. And then they'll discover that there are such things as decorations and matching fondant cupcake toppers and splendid little treat bags. And they will feel like I have cheated them out of so much. Which is also why they will just not be attending any future cousins' birthday parties.} But, really, I think they were celebrated more and had more fun than they would have had at one big, overwhelming party. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. 

This year was definitely a little more low key. Last year people flew in from all over the place for the big one-year-old bash. This year my brother, Dustin, and his girlfriend flew in from their respective parts of the country {L.A. and Taylor U...woot) to surprise us. The girls literally could not get enough of Dustin. That right there could have been it for their birthday. 

There are a zillion pictures of the three main parts of their birthday weekend. Starting with their birthday morning. {Not pictured: us waking the girls up with balloons while singing. I never wake the girls up but we had to so we could get on the road to the zoo. Waking them up did not exactly yield the excited response we I was hoping for. I even made Paul and my brother and Caroline do it again. The girls were still a little too groggy for that to be very fun.} Once they livened up a bit and realized they could play with the balloons, things got going for real. We put candles in their muffins and sang to them with a much better response this time. I don't think they've ever eaten a muffin that didn't contain carrots and zucchini. So the fact that these muffins had chocolate chips in them just blew their minds. CG very intently picked all the little chips off the top of her muffin and then was 'all done.'

Not sure why she decided to not use her hands...

Celebration Part 1: The Zoo... The girls loved this and the Greenville zoo proved to be the perfect size for their age. They saw all the animals you could ever want to see but we were finishing up just as they were losing interest. {Although the last bit of the zoo was farm animals which weren't nearly as impressive as the elephants or giraffes or tortoises...so that could have had something to do with it.} Speaking of impressive, the first animal we saw was the elephant who immediately went 'potty' right there on the ground. CG was still talking about this at the dinner table tonight. {We're just now starting to have dinner conversations...we haven't yet gotten to the part where we teach what things are appropriate to discuss at the table.} Now if you ask her what the elephant says, she'll trumpet and raise one little arm and then jabber on about poopoo and potty and point at the ground. I will say, it was an amazing/horrifying thing to witness so I don't blame her that it is seared into her little memory. 

Through the whole reptile/arachnid display, Lo would point and say 'ewww' in the longest, drawn out, happiest 'ewww' you ever heard. 

These monkeys were the other highlight that the girls still bring up a week later. Logan thought they were hilarious. Charleigh was a little terrified. I can't remember what kind of monkeys they were but they were so loud and didn't just go 'ooh, ooh, ahh, ahh.' They made a sort of whooping, battle cry noise that the girls try to do now. And they always point up and laugh when they talk about them. 

After the zoo, we walked around Greenville, ate lunch, bought candy at the country store, walked more, saw the waterfalls, walked more, almost went into labor from so much walking, etc. 

Uncle Dustin!

CG pretending to be asleep.

Siblings. Minus Bucky. Who was too busy going to a World Series game! Lucky. We did get a glimpse of the mini-Fenway in Greenville. So that's almost the same. And...

We did catch a glimpse of this guy in the reddish-orange shoes. Who looked exactly like Bucky from the back. While we were at the mini-Fenway. And he was talking just like him. Weird. 

CG really sleeping. Oh, that sweet face. 

Lola talking to Uncle Bucky on the phone. 

Thirty-three weeks. Whoah. 

They look good with a stroller, yes?

In NH, the girls developed a very strong love for a jack-in-the-box toy at Yolande's house. Naturally, their Grammy felt they should both have one. 

Celebration Part 2: Auntie Miriam's house...After our busy day in Greenville, we swung by Paul's sister's house for some cupcakes and presents with his side of the family. The girls got their very own Doc McStuffins check-up kits. If you don't know who Doc McStuffins is, you probably live in a sad world with a lot of broken toys. {Or you don't have toddler-aged  to 7 year-old girls living in your home. We watch one show a day around here, if that. And it's always Doc McStuffins.} These sisters haven't taken their stethoscopes off since they got them. Everyone gets a check-up around here. And a cuddle. And it's all free. 

They also got a practically life-sized Doc from their Auntie Becca. Oh, the joy on that face. 

They really do know where to check for a heart beat but  sometimes it's just too difficult to get to that spot. Apparently, Miriam's heartbeat can be heard just as well in her hip because Lo told us her heartbeat was 'ok.' 

Celebration Part 3: Auntie Lou's visit and cupcakes...My Aunt Lou and Uncle Kent drove up from Georgia to spoil these two. My mom and my sister gave them their presents, too. They now are the proud owners of anything Doc McStuffins. And a set of twin babies from their Auntie Katie. 

Happy birthday, sweet girls! We can't wait to see how you grow and change this year and still can't believe how blessed we are that we get to be your parents!