2 YEARS OLD!!

 HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY DECCY BOY!!  What better way to celebrate than to decorate your own minnie cupcakes with your brother!  Lots of sprinkles and licking fingers ;)!!

Declan is all about balls!  He knows the name of each different ball and what to do with it.  He is left footed which makes Daddy happy.

Our friends, Kelsey and Kaytlin Gross who just lost their mommy to cancer :(.  We will miss Joanne.

Our alternative to holding Slimy Max.  Not as bad if you accidentally squish a worm!

LOVE FOR MY DECCY BOY:

A moment I don't want to forget.  I was putting Declan to bed.  In true Declan style (he is the best cuddler in the world), he nestled his head into my neck while I sang "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission."  For the first time, he started singing the prominent words with me.  My heart melted at his soft, sweet little voice and his ability to finally form some of the words he had been hearing for years.  In the middle of the night he will wake up and call for me.  All I have to do is hold him and let him snuggle in for about 30 seconds.  Then he lets me put him back to bed and goes right back to sleep.

Another funny Deccyism is that he has not liked bread.  Only fruit, really!  I can get him to eat grilled salmon and grilled chicken...yogurt...carrots and cucumbers...chicken nuggets and hotdogs.  After that, we're lucky to get a bite here or there.  Unfortunately this has included the sacrament bread.  Finally, right around 2 years old, he partook of the sacrament!!  Whenever I realize he's eating, I try my hardest not to look at him or make a big deal--I tell everybody not to look at him.  The attention makes him stop.  So funny!

One day I said, "alright Dec, it's time to rock n' roll" which is often what I say to the kids when we need to get going.  This particular time it was just he and I.  He responded with "rock n' roll mama."  Unbelievably cute!

We can't get enough of this cute, athletic, smart, happy, loving little buddy of ours.  

We love you Declan!!

4th of July and OBX

A little birthday sneak peek!

Boys of Summer!!

Play until you drop!

Summer is here and it's time to rock and roll!

All in our Michigan gear

What happens when Mom forgets to put me down for a nap.  Such a good boy.  At bedtime Declan has made a big boy realization...he doesn't like to be left in a dark room by himself with the door closed.  For a while it was a struggle to figure out what he needed and I hated hearing him cry.  So I tried to reason with him and figure out what would help.  I simply asked if it would help to leave the door open (thinking that he wouldn't understand).  He said "yes" with perfect clarity like he has learned to do--no lisp on that "s"...clear as a bell.  So, we tried it and it worked!  Thus begun months of him saying on his way to bed "leave a door hopen!"

End of year school parties are very lucrative!

Family End of Year Celebration is also very yummy!  Sweet Frog!!

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Getting ready for beach vacations!

Eating with the BairdLow kids

Slimy Max is our pet frog.  He is the best pet in the whole world because he lives in the telescope on our playground in the backyard.  He doesn't require any maintenance.  He is always there even if we put him down in a different spot of the yard.  He lets the kids easily catch and hold him.  We love Slimy Max!  Declan is learning to be soft but admittedly it makes us nervous to watch him hold "Matsie"

Just learning to keep his feet under him with the Float Suit.  By the end of the summer he is a pro!

Spring!! 2014

 For Spring Break we headed to Tennessee and the beautiful Smokey Mountains.  Dollywood was also a big hit!  Declan loved the hike up to the waterfalls and especially throwing rocks in the creek.  Everybody had better watch out as the sideways arm swing is very...shall I say...hit and miss ;).  When I remind him to throw it like a football--arm cocked over his shoulder ("like this" I would say as I demonstrated), his aim is spot on and boy does he have an arm!

Who would have thought a 1 foot slide could be so dynamic and fun!!

 THE EASTER BUNNY CAME!!!

Assume the mommy-helping position!!

The cuteness is just...too much!

Declan LOVES babies..."bay chute."  Tatiana's baby Isabelle.

Happy 13th Birthday Lorin!

Brothers at the Bar!

Friend, Clay Ludlow.

Monkey see monkey do...even on a bed of rocks!

The sock gang!

More Cousins came to visit.  Welcome Spencer and fam!

Such luscious kissy lips!

Enjoying each other during FHE dessert.

Embarrassed being caught as a student of Graf's "cool" teachings.

All he needs is a basket of puzzle pieces, and the boards laid out.  No more help necessary!

 Going to New York with 5 kids is quite the rush.  Keeping Declan alive was the main goal!  He desperately wanted the $17 school bus he saw in the gift shop.  When he sees the girls get on the bus he says "I doe bus!" so I had to indulge him.  Only problem?  He wanted to drive it on the sidewalk the whole 20 blocks back to the hotel room!!!

I LOVE that he enjoys creating with blocks...always a different look too!

A day at the beach finding shark teeth fossils with friends...

ends somewhat like this! (Declan, Michael Baird, Clay Ludlow)

Drew Healy and Declan

This boy loves his Daddy and tries to be just like him!  In the mornings he wants me to stand him on the railing in the garage so that he can cheer as the Carolla comes to a squealing start and then say "bye Dad...I wuv you Dada" about 20 times while he backs up. 

The skateboard crew tries to kill themselves daily riding down our super steep driveway!!

Goof balls!!