Once upon a time, several months ago...

...My kids had birthdays!

I didn't actually realize until early last summer that having 2 kids in 2 years - with birthdays just 2 weeks apart would mean that I'd be planning 2 birthday parties every year. Within a couple of weeks of eachother. I have a few friends who are in the same boat with kids who've got birthdays close in the calendar, so I asked around about what to do. The results were mixed- some had a rotating party in the family, for example, we'd do Preston one year and CeCe the next. Some keep it small until age 5. Some combine and do one big party. Us? ...I am still undecided, but have a feeling we'll be completely inconsistent with whatever I choose, anyways. This year, Preston had a 3rd birthday party and CeCe had a first. And they were both wonderful!

Preston chose a fire engine theme and we celebrated by having a bunch of his little buddies over. His red and yellow invites said, "sound the alarm! Preston is turning 3" with a cute little fire truck print. I only got a few pics, but thankfully got a few more from Holli (THANK YOU!) He had an absolute blast and Kevin and I had an absolute blast (read: irrational freak out) while making his fire engine shaped cake. However, the look on his face when he saw his cake was something I'll never forget. It was worth every last drop of Wilton true red professional food coloring.
Here's a look at my sweet 3 year old boy on what he repeatedly called his "fire engine day."



His friends having fun!!



Cecilia's big day was all about pinwheels- turquois, pink and orange, in fact! It was mostly family and we went all out with food and cake. I had a lot of fun putting some fondant on while decorating their cakes. It was actually the easiest part of the process and it was my first time, so I felt like I was learning a new skill. She wore the most adorable outfit that came from her Aunt Natalie (Love you!) and then had a complete costume change after her cupcake. It was such a great day- she got amazing stuff and we felt really surrounded by the love of friends and family for our special girl on her special day!