Chase's 2nd Birthday Party

The day started out like any other day... Braedyn asking for presents, and Chase asking for second helpings of yogurt and cheese. Braedyn was so excited about Chase's birthday party. And Chase, well, he really just wanted some yogurt and cheese. I wasn't quite sure how Chase would do once everyone started to show up, because it takes him a little bit of time to adapt to a roomful of people. Luckily, he only clung to my hip and shoulder for the first 30 minutes or so. Once he got a little comfortable, then he was finally able to enjoy his own celebration.

About halfway through the party, Braedyn was going insanely crazy over the stack of presents, especially the one wrapped in animal print gift wrap, and Chase was finally ready to cooperate for the camera. We went with a vehicle theme for the cake because Chase loves anything with wheels. Here are the cake pictures, or what I like to refer to as the Before, During, and After.

~ Before ~

~ During ~

~ After ~

As you can see, Chase pretty much tore the cake apart. But you know what, he was giving us some great camera pictures, so umm, yeah, I just let him do whatever the hell he wanted. I did notice, though, that he didn't seem to be a big fan of the icing. He kept scooping it off, but he wouldn't eat it. Huh? What? Is this my child? I'll give him one more year. Trust me, he will love buttercream icing before it's over with.

This is the face that Chase had for the first hour or so. He was starting to warm up at this point, but still not totally sure that he liked all these people invading his space.

But then it was time to open presents, and Chase suddenly became much more interested in the party. He started to get more excited (or as excited as he could get with all eyes on him) with each car, truck, and train that he unwrapped.

In case you can't read Braedyn's mind, he's thinking, "Hmm, that big ole' dump truck is going to be mine before it's over with, just like this Toy Story present that I've already confiscated".

Now, I'm not going to lie, it took a very long time for Chase to flash us that adorable smile of his. You want to know what finally did the trick... a bag. A gift bag. A 99-cent gift bag. This Friggin Bag...

The good thing about having two boys is that they both play with the same type of toys. So Braedyn loved it when all the presents were finally opened, and he was able to play with everything. I secretly grinned inside when he started to play with the toy stethescope, thinking to myself, "Yes! My little genius child is going to be a doctor!"


Or, Umm, maybe not...


Chase used to be really scared of the vacuum cleaner, but recently, he has become more interested in it. Of course, this probably has something to do with the fact that when I vacuum, Braedyn runs circles around the vacuum like a crazy child. When he opened a present and saw a toy vacuum in the box, his eyes lit up, and I could see his excitement. And seriously, it's moments like that, that make me just sit back and smile.

And let's be honest here, what good is a dump truck if you can't actually ride in it, right? Although I'm not quite sure what happened here. Shouldn't Braedyn be pushing Chase around? I mean, not only did Braedyn get Chase to push him in the truck, but he somehow made him believe that it's fun to be the one running behind the truck.

And finally, a picture of all the birthday loot, neatly organized on the floor (because I'm anal like that... whatever!). It's now my favorite time of year (and Ben's least favorite)... Recycle Time - out with the old, in with the new.

Thanks to everyone that joined us in celebrating Chase's 2nd Birthday. Oh. My. Goodness. My baby is TWO. ((secretly crying inside)) And most of all, thanks to my wonderful friend, Joy, for once again being my fabulous photographer and giving me a huge selection of great pictures to choose from! I truly do appreciate it!!