6.02.2014

The Two Year Birthday Party!!!!

I'm still floating on a happy high from the quad squad's party, which was a smashing success in every possible way. Not one thing went wrong, not one child or party guest threw a massive tantrum, not one cookie was left over and not for one second did a smile leave my face! In fact, I'm pretty sure my own crew had perma-grins stuck on their sweet little cheekies the entire afternoon because they had an absolute blast!


I'd been assembling bits and pieces of their shindig for a few months prior to the big day since it takes me half a year to conquer any type of project I set out to do. Baby steps, friends. They keep me from breaking my neck. But this approach also kept me from stressing out very bad as the party crept up on me and I had most everything done by the day before. Decorations were up, food serving dishes were set out, the house was clean, details prepped and I even showered.

The morning of the party, the husband and I managed to sleep until 8:30am before we heard the first of tiny voices over the monitor (yes, we still sleep with baby monitors in our room because I'm not comfortable nixing them yet and just keep the volume turned down low!). I leaped out of bed and threw together a quick blog post commemorating their second year then dashed downstairs to make a batch of sprinkle and chocolate chip pancakes for their birthday breakfast. I even drizzled the syrup in them while they were still cooking on the skillet to keep any sticky mess at bay, which totally worked! They wolfed them down along with turkey bacon and fresh fruit. Next, they happily went into the playroom to wallow in their baby pool-turned-ball pit with the husband while I picked up their sheet cake at Costco, grabbed a few things at Trader Joe's (my husband loves Fireman's 4 lager beer) and some Bubble Guppies balloons from Party City.



Back at home, things quickly got put into motion. My parents had arrived and my step-dad was voluntarily cleaning all the play room windows—he's so hired!—while the husband fed the crew lunch and my mom started preparing strawberries and snacks for the party. Then the babies went down for naps and my nanny arrived, so I assigned her to stuffing goodie bags, which included a snack pack of goldfish, bubbles, Bubble Guppies stickers and a Mr. Grouper cookie.


Here's a look at party decor!








The party started at 3pm and by 2:30, I had my makeup done, clean clothes on and was finishing up a few final details when who blew in but my BFF....all the way from Malaysia! Lisa moved there last fall and I haven't seen her in months but knew she was back in the States visiting family. We'd made plans for her to come stay a few days later in June but I had no idea she'd been sneakily planning to crash the quad's birthday party as well! Her mom had made the road trip in from Houston with her as did Lisa's adorable son, Warren, and I was all too happy to see them. In fact, I burst into tears when I turned around and saw Lisa waltz into my kitchen! What a sweet surprise!


With my bestie at my side, I cracked open a cold beer and clicked on the video camera in time for the kiddos to scooch down the stairs from their naps, all dressed in their Bubble Guppies birthday shirts, fittingly made by my talented quad momma friend—check out her Etsy shop, Sweet Dumpling Boutique! They loved the party decor and Logan made sure to check out every picture, banner and balloon she spotted.



After that, it was game on! I had a Bubble Guppies DVD on repeat on the TV in the play room and an underwater fish-laden ocean DVD streaming in the other living room, which were both huge hits with all the little ones. Guests began arriving and I took all the kids' pictures on a tot-sized bench by the front door complete with a Guppies poster in the background. (I'm getting prints made to include in thank-you notes to everyone.) These are the only photos I got with my whole crew sitting in a somewhat orderly fashion...even if Harrison is picking his nose. Ew.




Most of the little folks made a beeline for the bustling play room, which at one point contained all 17 kids that attended—and that included a second set of quadruplets and one set of triplets! Though it didn't feel chaotic in the least. Everyone played so well together and shrieks of laughter could be heard constantly. I loved it. Thanks to my nanny and both mine and the husband's parents, the quads were well looked after and we all had opportunities to sit down and enjoy the party, a beverage or food and chat with friends.





the husband's youngest brother and lolo bear

the babies love their "jojo," who comes to help me weekly! she's a true blessing!
In a corner of our dining room, I'd set up two coloring tables clad in brown paper and scattered with print outs of Bubble Guppies pages and small buckets of crayons. It remained a popular attraction throughout the party and I plan to keep one of the tables up for awhile to let the quads continue to work on their art!

pictured above is my fellow quad mama friend who's also named amber,
as well as my wonderful nanny in the green shirt


The sheet cake I purchased from Costco turned out to be delicious and we used it for the quad's to each blow out their own candle while we all sang happy birthday. My friend, Mary, a mom to triplets and an extremely gifted cookie artist (you can find her Sugar Coma Cookies Facebook page here), made the adorable fish-themed sweet treats for the party and Mr. Grouper cookies that went into favor bags. Every single cookie was consumed at the party! Yup, they were that good.






Once we'd all indulged in a piece of cake, it was time to open gifts. Man oh man, everyone was so generous and thoughtful and the quads received so many wonderful toys, presents, books, clothes and more! I can't thank everyone enough who helped make the party such a wonderful and memorable one! The babies had a blast ripping into packages and tossing tissue paper out of gift bags like it was their J.O.B. And they received quite a few Bubble Guppies toys as well, which was icing on the proverbial cake. ;)




The husband and I graciously thanked everyone for coming then prepared for the babies to commence with their cake smashing at the quad table. This went much the same as last year: Harrison took a little while to warm up to it, but eventually dug into his cake and ate quite a bit; Trystan immediately stuck her face in the icing and elicited the most cheers from onlookers for her enthusiastic cake assessment; Kailey delicately licked icing off her fingers until she noticed Trystan was being praised for nosing the frosting, so she followed suit; and Logan preferred to only dirty a few of her fingertips before resorting to a fork, which she used to hollow out the middle of her dessert. Lots of laughs and fun pictures ensued!



Once they were done demolishing their funfetti cakes—which I'd decorated very simply by using a wax paper #2 cutout that I placed on the frosting before dumping sprinkles all around it then peeling the wax paper off—the fab four were whisked upstairs to the bath tub and quickly cleaned up. Then they reemerged back downstairs with freshly combed hair and new PJs to play to their heart's content until it was time for dinner, an easy meal of grilled cheese, Cheetoh puffs and fruit.





The husband's parents helped clean up quite a bit, so he and I were able to spend some time with some of our buddies who stuck around after the initial party ended. It was so nice to hang out with friends and family and the quads were allowed to stay up past their bedtime since they were having such a blast playing with their cousins and all their new toys! I poured some wine and put my feet up to laugh my face off at a comedy show we put on in the "adult living room" while the little ones entertained themselves in the play room. The husband and I cooked four delicious pizzas to dole out to everyone for a makeshift dinner and opened more wine. At one point after the babies' dinner, most of the little kids, including the quads, had gravitated toward the new toys peppering the floor in the adult living room. Then someone must have called a meeting because they all suddenly bolted off in a flurry of laughs and a stampede of bare feet and ran down the hallway to congregate in the play room. It was just so awesome to have all these kids able to enjoy each other's company and not stress out the adults and parents in the process!

Before midnight struck, the last of the guests and family cleared out and we checked on our babies who'd been sleeping since just before 10pm. With everything peacefully and blissfully quiet, it was time to call it a night. It seriously was such a great day that I was able to enjoy so much, I didn't have the usual "exhaustion hangover" the next morning. That's usually what happens when we've had a really, really busy day dealing with the quads and a lot of activity. But so many helping hands made light work and with so many folks scattered around the house, the quads were able to roam the place as much as they wanted without fear of getting into things or not having someone nearby watching over them.

the proud quad parents!
And thanks, by the way, for sticking with me as I excitedly recount the entire day in length! To top it all off, here's a little video I put together with highlights from the festivities...



It's been a truly amazing, enjoyable, memorable, special birthday occasion and a wonderful weekend spent with our sweet babies as well as family and our closest friends. We're so blessed to have a house that we love and that can accommodate these types of great get-togethers, to have four healthy kiddos and to be celebrating a thriving second year with quadruplets! Here's to Year Three!
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P.S. Wanna read about their very first birthday party? When we loaded up a U-Haul and rented a lakehouse!? Check it out here. :)

18 comments:

  1. Awesome, Priceless - oh what a party! The video made it - I started to cry and laugh aloud ( at our island on my own. So much so that both of my dogs came to check out on me ). Aren't you all so blessed?! Aren't these TWO year old toddlers so loved!? So wonderful!!!
    Thank you for sharing the blast!

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    1. Life is very full of happiness and love right now :)

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  2. So sweet, happy bday!!!! What a great way to celebrate!! :)

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  3. What a fantastic day! Tears came watching those beautiful litlle ones come down the stairs
    The expressions on their faces is priceless
    Thanks so much for sharing all the pictures and video.
    The birthday t-shirts are adoreable!

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    1. So glad you got to see the celebration!!

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  4. Aw, so sweet! What a perfect party for Logan, Trystan, Kailey & Harrison!!! (and mom, too!)

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  5. Oh my gosh - that video is amazing - I totally teared up watching their excitement as they came down the stairs! You did an amazing job and look gorgeous!
    loveandlifesimplified.blogspot.com

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  6. What fun! Making great memories. Happy Birthday to each of your babies!

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  7. Gosh. I teared up. How sweet is your little-big family?! The party looked absolutely amazing!

    Jenny
    www.chibistk.com

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  8. Wow! I can't believe they're already two! You better be giving yourself a BIG pat on the back...their birthday is a celebration for you too! :)

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  9. Thank you so much for sharing this special day with us! The love is palpable in these pictures and your story. Both you and Mike are doing an excellent job with your family. I love checking in to see what's happening next.

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  10. Aww thank you so much!!!

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  11. Wow I can't believe it's been two years already.
    How sweet of Lisa sneaking end to surprise you. Looks like a fun and really busy day.

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