Decs the Builder

[ignore the copious amount of drool. i'm thinking the 2 year 

molars are thinking about pushing through] 

Keeping it Real

So I borrowed this topic of Keeping It Real after reading one of the most hilarious posts by fellow adoptive mama at Rage Against The Minivan. Seriously, if you need a laugh-out-loud moment, read her most recent entry involving rolling down spanks and wet fingernails- all women can relate. 

In the spirit of realness, I'm pretty bummed at how tonight ended up. We  were uber excited to attend our church's tailgate party tonight. I live in Hus.ker country so this tailgate was all things Hus.kers with a lot of extras for the kiddos. Plus we had good friends going, so party all around, right?!

Well as I was getting ready tonight, Declan was playing in the recyclables. Anything to keep a toddler occupied, right? I look over and he drops a straw that he was playing with and pukes. Immediately, I was sure he had stuck the straw a little too far and hit his gag reflex. Mark bathed Decs and I cleaned the puke. Lovely. Anywho, we went on with our plans and headed to the tailgate since it was just an unfortunate gag reflex thing.

Wrong-o. At the tailgate party we were chatting with a friend and he barfs again! Poor munchkin. We high tail it out of there and lets just say our drive home consisted of 4 exorcist like moments. The next hour+ was spent disassembling my car seat and vigorasouly cleaning it with soap and water (I thought the cover could be thrown in the wash but the care instructions said not to). The inside of my car ate through half a container of Clorox wipes (picture Exorcist, barf everywhere). 

Decs is currently tucked away in bed. The pukes have stopped and his belly (with some Pedia.lite) seem on the mend. Thank you, Lord.

So I know this is way too much information. I would be queasy reading this pre-kids. But, this is our life. Just keeping it real. 

Full, Fun Day

Though Declan knows no different, I tried to make his birthday today an all day celebration. We had a first- our very own Decs/Mama morning at the zoo!

on the train:

Declan was asking the turtles for a hug:

digging in the sand pit- one of his fave things at the zoo:

is he 2 or 3? looks sooo old here:

we had a little picnic lunch:

after nap and dinner, we met the grandparents at Holmes.Lake:

oh, and it was gorgeous out. mid 70s and not humid.

We finished the night off at Dairy Queen but Declan's desire for independence led to a major meltdown. He wanted to hold the ice cream container but the ice cream itself was too hard to scoop out without our helping. A picture of what's to come?! Ha!

Two.

My baby is two.

TWO.

I want to bottle him up at this very moment so I can remember each and every characteristic. 

Before I knew it he was counting, talking in sentences, and having strong opinions.

He plays harder, loves deeper.

He whines and throws tantrums.

He's passionate- mostly about balls and Dora- but passionate nonetheless.

I can't go 10 minutes without laughing at his quirky humor.

Declan, two is so good on you. 

Love you more than I could ever explain.

Happy Birthday, little man.

~your proud mama

2nd Birthday Party!!

How has time flown so much that I'm sitting here blogging about Declan's 2nd birthday party??! Despite the not-so-fabulous-for-a-park-party weather (upper 90s, humid as heck), we all sweated together and had a blast!

This year's theme was balls. Declan has a crazy obsession with all balls and received some great new ones for his collection. I took it easy with decorating- a Happy Birthday sign, some balloons and cushy baseballs/basketballs/soccer balls on the tables for the little ones to take home. We set up a soccer goal and brought balls from home and the kids had fun! We had a classic summer lunch- hot dogs, chicken brats, fruit salad, pasta salad, homemade pickles and chips. Yum-o.

the spread:

cousins and friends:

time to open gifts!

the crew. we have such a fabulous family and are blessed with great friends!

cupcakes this year!

big boy blowing out his candle:

LOVE these guys!!

Here's to year #2 with the most precious gift. Love you, Deckers.

Gulp

My heart is beating fast thinking of putting my photography out there as a business. I've been doing it on the down low for a year and, with more and more referrals, I felt the need to create a blog for sneak peeks, information, etc. So nervous. Yikes. It's definitely not a pro site, but still loads of work to get running. Okay- off to hide.

http://ashley-nicole-photo.blogspot.com/

Wordless Wednesday