Our First Birthday Party

Last Saturday, we celebrated Elizabeth and Mary Charlotte's first birthday in the club house that's located in our town home community. It was a great time to be with family! We are so thankful to have so many loving family members to celebrate special times and to watch our girls grow! We ate taco and potato soup with chicken salad, quiche, corn muffins, cream puffs, french cookies, lemon cookies, brownie bites, and of course, cupcakes!  Elizabeth was a little hesitant with her smash cake, but Mary Charlotte dove right in! We opened lots of wonderful gifts and enjoyed being together and celebrating these baby girls! It was a day they will not remember, but Jason and I will never forget! So here's to an ugly Dora cake and a simple party with cardboard hats next year! Ha!

Love and Hugs from Nashville!

The view from our window on the morning of the party.

We were a little scared about the roads, but it turned out to be a beautiful day!

Love these middle Tennessee hills!

We used antique flower vases from my great grandmother, Eula.

The antique handkerchiefs belonged to Doc Bloomingburg's mother, Mrs. Mary.

We loved the chalks and plan to use them in a playroom or a bedroom later on. 

Watch us grow! From two weeks to twelve months!

Thank you, Jess and AC for helping!

E and AC

Jess and E

E hamming it up!

Cousins, Tyler and Mary Charlotte

Headbands get  us into lots of trouble!

Mommy, Elizabeth, Mary Charlotte, and Daddy

Doc, Mary Charlotte, Debbie, and Elizabeth

Mrs. Debbie and Elizabeth

Dad with Mary Charlotte, Mom with Elizabeth
Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for the lemon cookies, activity table, dresses, books
 and help with the party and clean up!

G-Daddy and Mimi with Mary Charlotte and Elizabeth
Thank you for getting cupcakes, setting up food, and helping with clean up, G and E!
We loved our hair bow holder and smocked dresses!

Tickle hands!

Grandmother Beard with Mary Charlotte and Elizabeth

Grandmother Beard, Aunt Patsy, and cousins Brian, Lauren, and Tyler with E and MC

Jason and Mimi with Aunt Ora Lee and Grandma Baker holding Elizabeth and Mary Charlotte

Mary Charlotte with her pale pink smash cake

Elizabeth with her fingers and smash cake!

Mary Charlotte and Elizabeth in new birthday clothes!

Electric blanket controls, phone chargers, and lotion bottles bring hours of entertainment

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth and Mary Charlotte!

We've had a wonderful day with our loves on their first birthday. We got to have lunch with Daddy and visit his new office. We also played in the bathtub for an extra long time, read books, and ate potato soup for supper. Girls, you are in for a real treat tonight because Daddy is writing the twelve month letter to you! Love and Hugs from Nashville! 

Dear Elizabeth,

It seems like only yesterday I saw you for the first time and heard your sweet voice.  You were known as the squealer, and sometimes you still are!  Dr. Miller looked at me and said, "It's a girl!" My life would never be the same! You are an explorer.  You love to dig through cabinets and peek into closets.  We can already tell you are going to be a talker because you love using Mommy's phone to FaceTime with Grandma and Grandpa in Illinois. You are an entertainer, putting on a show by making your Hercules face and rolling up the dough for Patty Cake. You melt like butter into my arms when you are sleepy and every day you remind me of how blessed I am to be your Daddy.

I love you to the moon and back,

Daddy

Dear Mary Charlotte, 

Perhaps the only thing more surprising to me than hearing Dr. Miller say, "It's a girl!" once, was hearing her say it a second time! That is the moment I met you, my little Peanut. It is hard to believe we've made it all the way around the sun together already! You make my day each evening when I come home from work with your big smile and your hurried crawl straight to me. You love Peek-a-Boo and could play with your blocks for hours. You really enjoy singing and the nursery ladies at church say you can really boogie! It is the honor of my life to be called your Daddy.

I love you to the moon and back,

Daddy

Mommy with Mary Charlotte and Elizabeth

Elizabeth and Mary Charlotte

Grandma Di Pie made our dresses!

Elizabeth

Mary Charlotte

Jessica with Mary Charlotte, Anna Catherine with Elizabeth

A lot has changed since youth group days!

Elizabeth, the night before her first birthday! Last nite nite as a monther!

Mary Charlotte, the night before her first birthday! Last nite nite as a monther!

E and MC

We love our blocks, Becky!

Jason with E and MC visiting at work

Daddy encouraged the holding of the elephants.

MC examines Federal Legislation

And now ponders what she has read...