Two Babies + Two Birthdays = Twice the Fun

We were in Michigan this past weekend celebrating Elsa's and Carter's first birthdays. I just can't believe the cousins are already one!

We had a joint birthday party on Saturday afternoon at Grandma B.'s house. Although the guest list was small, I made invitations, pictured below. Each guest received TWO invitations—one for Elsa (the froggy) and one for Carter (the fishy):

Here's the inside of the invitations:

Paper flags, balloons, and cupcakes decorated to look like froggies and fishies completed our "theme":


The birthday girl, clearly thrilled about wearing her hat:

Opening presents was quite a production, with so much for both babies to unwrap. Elsa got a wooden shape sorter and a baby animal book from Cheryl, Abby, and Joey; bubbles, a fishbowl puzzle and a wooden froggy pull toy from Grandpa and Grandma J.; overalls personalized with her first name and a shirt from Grandma B. and Grandpa P.; a savings bond from Aunt Nancy; the cutest pair of baby Merrells from Carter's Grandma Sandy; and from Ellen, Dave, and Carter, she got a toy lawn mower and an adorable outfit with retro flowered pants.

Here's Elsa enjoying her cute frog pull toy, which was certainly appropriate considering our fishy and froggy theme:

Carter opening the truck that Bob, Elsa and I gave him (it has blinking lights and a revving engine):

Carter enjoying the wrapping as much as the toys:

After the presents, it was time to sing and blow out the candles:

And then, the moment everybody was waiting for—cake! They started by poking it, prodding it, squishing it and squashing it:

After a thorough examination, Elsa took a bite and decided she liked hers. Alot.

Carter ... not so much. He hardly touched his!

Here they are eating their cake (or not):

Elsa ate her cupcake very carefully, one tiny little crumb at a time. So we were pretty surprised when, just a few minutes later, it seemed like almost her entire cupcake was suddenly gone! That mystery was solved when I got her out of the high chair—a big chunk had fallen down in between her leg and the chair. Cake was officially everywhere:

So we had to do a very quick bath in Grandma's laundry sink:

Elsa has another birthday party coming up in Milwaukee, but we had a great first first birthday party! A very happy birthday to my beautiful girl and adorable nephew!