Somebody turned 2...

My "baby" may or may not have turned 2 last week. And I may or may not be in denial about it. I finally understand what my mom means when she still tells us "you'll always be my baby." As a side note, blogger usually always lets me arrange the order of my pictures without a problem but today it won't. If this contines to happen, blogger and I are going to have serious issues. Seriously. Anyway, onto my birthday boy:

At least once a day, Chase grabs this dinosaur and chases me around the house with it, roaring at me. It's adorable...

Chase's bedtime line-up: light blue blankie that Mara made him, random star blankie that he grew an attachment to, his duck that he got in the ER when he had to get stitches, and his teddy bear. He has to have these when he goes to bed and he has to take them with him when he gets up. He names them one by one until he has all 4.

My baby in a box...

This photo was taken at the end of a long day. I had been trying all day to get pictures of him doing the things he loves to do, and he had had it. He was running from me at this point, hence the fuzziness...

He's always been great at finding things to entertain himself...

He loves trains...

This is the face I get when I tell him to smile for the camera...

This was taken after his birthday dinner, getting ready for his brownies...

Opening a present. He loves to read and loves the "How Do Dinosaurs..." series.

This is as far as my cake/brownie decorating skills go (but I must admit they tasted really good!)

Chase loves to try on shoes, although my boots present him with a bit more of a challenge...

This crazy boy brings me so much joy. I love how he calles himself "Chasey" and his big brother "Nicky." I appreciate his sweet temperment and that he is usually happy and friendly. I love the inflection in his voice and the way he sings and sings and sings. Happy Birthday, Chasey boy!

A story

Once upon a time in a land called Ohio, lived Jeff and Debbie...

Late in the year 2009, all of their children came to said Ohio to celebrate a lovely holiday we like to call Christmas...

And these children brought their children...
Many adventures took place, such as making cookies...

And eating cookies...

Frosting was in abundance...
As were presents.....

And Mother Earth gave them a beautiful, bright rainbow on Christmas day to enjoy from the front yard...

And Nick and Chase received their much asked for GEO TRAX from Santa, because they don't already have enough tracks in their tiny house...

And Chase thought the perfect cuddle spot with Grandma would be right in front of the fridge (and Grandma took what she could get)...

And Grandma and Grandpa were noble and brave and took all 5 grandkids to TWO movies the day after Christmas...

And Chase ate much popcorn...

And Nick enjoyed having a make-shift bed on the ground...

And Chase would crawl on his parents bed and beg to take naps (oh wait, this is a TRUE story)..

And the week after Christmas (after they all passed around a 24 hour miserable stomach bug) Jeff and Debbie treated everyone to an indoor water park for two days, where these two brothers stayed in their first hotel room...

And they played with Brennen (and Ella and Preston, but Nick and Chase's mother is horrible at taking pictures)...

Afterwards, back home, someone turned 28...

And Mallory is still pretty...

And we brought in the New Year with the traditional and wonderful and delicious appetizer party...

And Grandpa told Nick incredible bed-time stories each night...

And Sunday afternoon looked like this for the adults...

And this for the kids...

And after all that fun, we had to return to the Land of the Freezing, PA, and create our own fun with shaving cream and trucks....

And sitting on the counter to help mom cook...

And we hit the books...

And found out that our voices sound super cool when we yell into the fan..

And the only real entertainment we now have is from this guy...

who makes our faces look like this for half an hour a day...

And the mother of the house refused to take out her recycling (this is the land of the FREEZING after all), and so the pile on the back patio now looks like this...

Because you have to walk THIS far to the recycling bins (do you see them? Yep, neither do I) and then you have to stand there and sort the clear glass, colored glass, plastic, paper, and metal cans...

But we're still enjoying our milk...

And we still cry to go play outside in the cold...

So that we can see our cute neighbor Russ
And we still drink green smoothies in the morning...
And pretend to be pirates, amoung other things, all day long...
And we believe, despite the sub zero temperatures and having to part with our families after the holidays, that we will indeed live HAPPILY EVER AFTER.