and the fun begins!

I'm a little nervous.  Anyone else?  Ok, just me then.  It is hard to believe that my life could be anywhere near interesting for anyone, including myself, to read about.  But at the urging of several of my friends, I am finally going virtual with my life.  The good, the bad, the beautiful, the messy, the silly, the serious (but never too serious).  Because anyone in their right mind knows that the life of a stay-at-home mom is anything but easy or boring (okay, so maybe a little boring).  Ever wonder what it is like to have 2 babies in 2 years?  Me neither, but you are about to find out.  I am just coming back from the dead and have just celebrated the babies 2nd and 3rd birthdays.  It has been a tremendous ride so far.  From begging people to come over to our house just to hold a baby... any baby, to watching them blow out their candles on their cupcakes.  We survived... so far... barely!

So now to the good stuff... the babies' party!  10 weeks of planning, cutting, gluing, shopping, organizing.  Come on, you only turn 2 and 3 once, and this mom has learned that separate parties for the babies (who are exactly 12 months and 2 1/2 weeks apart) are absolutely out of question.  So BIG it was going to be.  Throw Christmas right smack in the middle, and you have to start early.

The inspiration... our family halloween costumes.  Starring mom as Ernie, dad as Bert, Carter as Elmo, and Caroline (aka: Moo Moo) as Cookie Monster.  Sesame Street it was.  But this mom was not about to plaster cheesy Elmo banners from Party City all over my shabby chic house.  The challenge... Sesame Street Chic.

Here are some highlights.  All handmade by mom (who needed several glasses of wine to recuperate when all was said and done!).

Monster shirts courtesy of Kookoo Kids

http://www.etsy.com/shop/KookooKids

I must say... it was our best party yet.  So many friends and family members to share in the babies' special day.  Moo is still says "be happy birthday party" every day and "Happy Birthday to You" is currently our favorite song. 

But, let's just say, I plan to really enjoy my year long break until it all starts again.  Not that the party was too much work, but the babies are getting too big too fast (and for the record, they will always be "the babies" to me).  I would like to tell you that I want to freeze them just as they are right now, but we are in the middle of potty training... and that is another story.