Birthday Party!

We celebrated Ayden and Rylee's first birthday on Saturday!  It is so hard to believe that their party has come and gone already.  Of course, their actual birthday isn't until tomorrow, but still.  We have managed to keep them alive for a year.  We made it through the infant stage.  Phew!

We had their party at the church that Tony's family attends.  It was the best place we could think of for the large number that we were expecting to come.  I don't think we will always invite so many people, but we did feel that at least for this first birthday, it was important to invite everyone that has been so invested in Ayden and Rylee.  I don't really know how to explain it other than they were so long awaited, and are truly our miracle babies, that they tend to hold a special place in everyone's heart.  We ended up with a total of 44 people that came to the party, including all the adults and kids.

Other than the number of people, it really wasn't a big fanfare.  We didn't have a party theme.  I didn't make a bunch of party favors or decorations.  We just.... had a party.

Or course I did a few things....

I did make Rylee's tutu.  I had searched on Etsy for matching birthday outfits for them both and discovered that Etsy is WAAAaaayyyyyyy too expensive for me.  Most of the matching twin birthday outfits on Etsy cost about $98.  Say what?!!!!?!!  No thank you.  So I bought them personalized onsies online from Personalization Mall and made Rylee's tutu myself.  Thank you Pinterest!  I used to be fairly crafty, but that changed over the years. Now I wouldn't say I'm very crafty at all.  The first tutu I made, I ended up stretching the elastic out and it was about twice Rylee's size!  Sooooo, I had to take it all apart and start over.  When I finished it on Friday, I had Rylee try it on to make sure it would work.  You would have thought I was torturing her the way she screamed!  She did NOT want that tutu on!  I gave her a stern talking to on Saturday about how much time I spent making the darn thing and that she better wear it!  Haha. Just kidding.  But I was really, really hoping she would let me put it on her for the party, and she did.  Yay!

  

The stinker wouldn't look at me, but here's her birthday outfit!

I made two crockpot soups for the party.  I had to borrow a crockpot from my mil so I'd have two.  I cut up the veggies and browned the hamburger the night before so it would be ready to throw in the next morning.  I got up early Saturday morning so I could get the soups going, but wouldn't you know it, I forgot to plug one of the crockpots in!  Agh!  Thankfully, it was discovered in enough time that we could turn it on high for the last few hours and it was still ready to go.  We served Mexican Chicken Chili and Sweet Corn Chili (both recipes are from Mix and Match Mama's Family Blog), rolls, and cake.  I didn't realize the number of people that would actually be coming to the party so I was afraid that we wouldn't have enough soup, but it ended up being perfect.

I also printed off their monthly birthday pictures that I'd taken throughout the year and strung them up for display, along with some other pictures.  That's as decorative as we got, except for a few balloons.

The babies each had their own smash cakes and I got a Costco sheet cake for everyone else.  I love Costco cake!  It's my favorite.  But I always eat too much of it.

Rylee's "little" cupcake almost sat taller than she did!

Their first taste of sugar!

They didn't make too big of a dent in their cakes, but they sure enjoyed the frosting! 

First time playing with balloons!

Playing with their new Imaginarium from their Auntie and Uncle

Our little music makers.  They got a new "piano" for their birthday!

It may not have been a fancy smancy party, but it was perfect for us!  Everyone had a good time and the babies enjoyed experiencing their first cake, balloons, and opening presents.  The soups were a hit.  I got asked a dozen times where I got their cool birthday shirts and people were impressed that I made the tutu. We got to visit with some people we hadn't seen in awhile.  Most importantly, we got to celebrate these two special babies with everyone who loves them so much!