The Babies' First Birthday Bash

Last weekend I felt like I had just crossed the finish line for the longest race I've ever run.  I'll be honest:  the first year of raising twins was something that scared me when I was pregnant.  Both then and later while we were in the midst of sleepless nights and around the clock feedings, I would tell myself that I just needed to make it to their first birthday and then things would get easier.  Those first few months drug on and on, and then before I realized it, they were six months old, eating solids, and actually interacting with us.  Then before too long, they were nine months old and crawling around and getting into trouble.  And then I blinked, and they were a year old.  What just happened?!  We just survived the most daunting year of our lives is what just happened!  So of course we had to throw a party to celebrate!
So we broke out the decorations, served up the party food and invited all of our family and friends to help us mark this momentous occasion.  

 Those were the only pictures I managed to take during the party.  When it was time for cupcakes (the babies' first taste of sugar), I handed the camera off to Aunt Beth to take some pictures while I was busy with helping the babies and other guests.
What followed should not have been a surprise considering Wren and Judson's voracious appetites, but it was surprising nonetheless.  Now, when Caleb turned one, he sort of licked the icing off his cupcake in spots but he didn't really eat much of it...

Wren and Judson, on the other hand, ate every...last...crumb.  And Aunt Beth took no less than 75 pictures of the scene.  (Thanks, Beth!)  What's funny to me is that you can see all kinds of activity going on and people coming and going while they're eating, and they just kept on truckin'.

 Wren loved it when we all sang Happy Birthday.

 And then the fun really began...

 "Oh, my gosh, Judson!  Have you ever had anything so good?!"

"Don't you even think about touching my cupcake, PeePaw!"

 "Ra Ra, you have got to try this!"

 "Judson, you won't mind if I take just a little piece of yours..."

"I did it!"

 "Are there more where those came from?"

Happy birthday to our cupcake-loving munchkins!