pizza pizza

My two chefs making homemade pizza for our monthly supper club with friends.

Mike found a neat place that had glow in the dark miniature golf.  Declyn almost made it to the end of the course before getting bored.

Keegs and I like to keep the Christmas spirit alive throughout the year.

fishy face

Perfecting our fishy face while riding the carousel. 

It was seventy degrees out, and this is how he wanted to start the morning. 

He kept laughing while telling me the dinosaur was picking his nose.

odds and ends

Pops forgo-ed his Sunday chores to spend some QT with this little guy.  And clearly Declyn couldn't be more thrilled with his decision. 

We are big into the 'dress ourselves' phase right now.

These two and their hugs.

Dan sent me this gem... apparently he was keeping it to himself.  :)

Yes, please, sunshine! 

a family that naps together...

How perfect is this?  I never realized they slept the same way, until I saw it in person.

I'm not even sure how they fell asleep like this.

college love

My good friend from college came to visit before her little babe is born, and of course I took her to a winery... whoopsie.  Don't mind my awkward pose -- the fact that she looks so good for being due in July offsets any pose I put my body in.

And then our other good friend drove in from Maryland to join the fun, and was peer pressured into a slumber party (as well as her husband and dog).

"Daddy's shoulders" is a phrase that is constantly on repeat for this one.

conquering the playground

Testing his boundaries on a playground geared towards bigger kids.

Friends don't let friends ride alone.

This is why we have multiple kids ... so they can take care of each other.  :)

on the catwalk ... fountain day style

I don't care how blurry this picture is, it still cracks me up to look at it.  That little strut would work wonders on the catwalk. 

James (and Brent) were all about removing their clothes and jumping in the fountain.  Declyn removed everything besides his shorts, then didn't want to go in, so we had to get re-dressed.

Being a spectator. 

Declyn wanted a shark, so guess who else followed suit...

[this is the first time he sat still for awhile and let someone paint his face]

The artwork was pretty legit.

sleepy cheeks

Poor sick little man fell asleep on my arm (right after waking up from a nap) and so I gently laid him down and put a blanket on him.  When he woke up about an hour later, he rolled over, looked at me (I was on the floor playing with Keegan) and in his sweet, sleepy voice muttered, "I fall down, mama."  I laughed so hard.

Falling asleep in his highchair has become the norm.

Fresh air really has its advantages.  Or maybe it was because he couldn't see anything...

A propped arm is a new look for him.

Declyn turns 2 || friends

And on his actual birthday, Declyn had his birthday party with friends (about 12 of his little peeps)!  We kept with the baseball theme, and it was a hit!

Some of the party-themed snacks. 

The inflatable moon bounce is a must.

We set up water balloons in lieu of baseballs to use on the T-ball stand.  Needless to say the balloons themselves were a hit and the kids were covered.  Luckily, I gave the parents a heads up so that they brought a change of clothes. 

I used a mold I found online to make chocolate baseball hats, baseballs and bats as favors.

Digging right into those balloons. 

Caden and Declyn 'cheers-ing' their rice cakes. 

Brent caught in the action. 

Too busy to even look at me.  :)

With all the water on the sidewalk, of course they had to splash in it.

Keegan is almost the size of Smalls. 

Giving some love to the Dad who made the day happen.  Because if it were just Mom, she'd still be getting ready.

I got invited to bounce in the house.

And of course he can't do anything without his CC.

Best buds.

He was already down to just his underwear post-party, so why not use his new paints as body paint?  Little did I know it would take a shower, a bath and some wipes to get that coloring off. 

Declyn turns 2 || family style

Mike had the brilliant idea of taking our family to a minor league baseball game to celebrate Declyn turning two since those games are much more kid friendly.  Jamie was sweet enough to come up and hang with us despite it being her actual birthday and my parents were kind enough to host a little post-game BBQ at their house where we had food, cake, and lots and lots of drinks.

Jamie took this sweet photo, capturing his smirk at the right moment. 

I took an idea I saw on Pinterest, handed it to Joe and Mike, and this was the result.  Absolute perfection. 

The original three amigos. 

Gang's all here.

take me out to the ball game

We headed to our first major league baseball game of the season!  It took a little while for Declyn to warm up to the idea of staying in a seat and watching the game (he kept asking to 'go potty' to get out of his seat) but eventually he came around -- after we moved to the back of our section and sat on the end.  And of course once the game was over he kept pointing to the diamond saying, "go baseball game."

People watching -- just like his mama. 

I love this photo.  It really sums our relationship quite nicely-- (we find each other funny, in case you couldn't tell)

This one fell asleep around the sixth inning and stayed asleep until we got home.  Definitely my child. 

I like to think he's shouting something vulgar at the ump for calling a bad play. 

No wonder he fell asleep.  I would do the same thing if Mike was holding me. :)