Our 'celebration of life' party

We didn't know what else to call our little get-together on Saturday, so 'celebration of life' was it!  Very cheesy.  I know.

The backstory is that Rob and a group of guys from Taylor have remained close friends over the years - 2 were his post college roommates before we got married.  All of the wives have become good friends over the years, and it's a lot of fun when we are all able to get together to catch up since we are sort of scattered around Chicago and the suburbs (with one outlier in Madison, WI!).  

Over the last 5 months or so, there have been many additions to our collective brood of children and milestones as well.  The birth of 3 babies, and the 1st birthdays of 2 kids had kept us from finding time to get together.  We realized that there was a small window of time in early June before I had our next baby, but after the Bellito twins would be released from their doctors' orders to stay home and out of public (they were premature and their health needed to be carefully protected until they grew a bit more).  

So Saturday we had everyone over - and it was as hilarious as it was exhausting!

This is what it looked like with all of us in the family room (minus Rob and I):

I was pleasantly surprised by Robbie's response to the babies... he sat next to Jeff while he held one of the Bellito boys, and was very still and quiet.  He seemed to know that he needed to be gentle, and was very curious about the little one.  I think he even kept one of his little chubby hands on Jeff's knee while he sat there.  I hope that his predisposition towards babies in close proximity lasts for a few more months!

Things got a little wild at one point...

...and Charlotte joined in by dancing along to Miss Spears!  This always cracks us up!

A little pringles snack after working up an appetite.

Our little cake, celebrating the new lives of Graham Hill and Luke and Ryan Bellito, and also the first birthdays of Charlotte Larson and Robbie.

Never one to pass up cake...

A picture of the moms with all of our babies - we forgot to do this before the Hills left!  So Lauren, Graham and Austin are missing.  (I am holding one of the Bellito boys - I forget which one!)

Almost bath time.  Who can resist these two together in their diapers?

Ending the day by playing in the tub.  Charlotte was her usual charming self and Robbie loved the company!

It was so much fun to catch up with friends, discuss parenting as moms (while the guys played Bags outside), and watch our kids play together.   

Some of the funnier moments that day:

- Charlotte's big personality and enthusiasm upon first arriving at our house, which took Robbie by such surprise that he cried like a little girl, shrieking and pointing at her through his tears!

- One of the dads fumbling his beer on the couch, soaking the bottom half of his shirt.

- Being reminded of just how often babies spit up as I watched Lauren wipe her cute outfit clean of baby-vomit pretty much the entire afternoon!  

- The many times we all thought our spouse (or one of the other nearby adults) was watching our child, only to discover them on the side of the house trying to escape / into something they shouldn't have been / grabbing for a beer on the coffee table.

We are so thankful for these friendships and the way that God has blessed our families with the children that we all have (and the 2 additions that will be arriving in the near future).