The never-ending birthday!

March was quite a special month for Declan! (Other than the fact that he got RSV on his birthday!) He had FOUR seperate birthday parties! The first 2 were in South Carolina during the first weekend in March; the 3rd was on his actual birthday (the 13th) and the 4th was his big birthday bash at My Gym this past weekend. And let me say...this was one Rockin' party! Everyone had a great time and Declan was so excited to get to play with his friends and cousins in his favorite place...My Gym! (no, not MY gym..."My Gym" children's fitness center.) They sing, dance, do gymnastics, and play their little hearts out. We love My Gym! And we love our little birthday boy!! Happy "BIG 2" Declan!

Let them eat cake! (and pizza)

This was my second attempt at making a guitar cake. I'd say I did a pretty good job! But what made this cake even better was the fact that it was SOOOOOO DELICIOUS!! I highly recommend Betty Crocker Chocolate "butter recipe" cake! Everyone loved it!!!!!

Grand Entrance

Declan was pulled around on this sled while all his guests cheered and wished him a happy birthday! It was so cute!!!! They really go all out to make the guest of honor feel special on his special day!!! :)

Puppet show

Declan high fives a bear during this fun puppet show! The kids loved it!

3..2...1..BLAST OFF!

A big hit at the party was the "space flight" ride. Each guest got one ride down this zip line. The birthday boy got to ride it twice! I admit...I was a bit jealous! I wanted to ride! :)

Party guests!

The party guests included Declan's cousins and friends! Below is a picture of Declan's favorite girl...Mikayla. The second picture is of Declan's cousin Kate. Don'tcha love her red curls? Both girls are dolls!

Everyone look at the camera and say "cheese!"

The following pictures make me laugh because we could never get the kids to look at the camera at the same time!

Pucker up baby!

Happy St. Patricks Day! Ok, I'm actually a day late on this but better late than never right? Anyway, Declan has a wee bit of Irish blood in him...and that is why we gave him the Irish name "Declan." Plus, we heard the name on a tv show and both agreed on it. :) And it goes great with our Irish last name "McAlhany." The name "Declan" dates back to the 5th century. The great Saint Declan was an Irish missionary. The name "Declan" also means full of goodness or man of prayer. We thought that was pretty cool! To celebrate St. Patty's day I wanted to take Declan to McCool's Irish pub where they have music and dancing and go all out for the big day but we are both still really sick! :( Maybe next year.

Declan turns 2!!!!

And the face says it all. Our little boy was sick on his second birthday. He has a nasty virus called RSV. We had to re-schedule his big birthday bash at My Gym. :( But we still made sure his day was special. We made him heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, let him watch tv all day long (including his favorite Britney Spears video) and he opened presents and ate cake with mom, dad, and nana and papa. I still can't believe my little baby is 2!!!!!

We hate to see you sick on your birthday Declan! We love you and hope you feel better soon. And in a couple weeks....we are going to party like rockstars at My Gym!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

A fun birthday...

Heart shaped pancakes for breakfast!

A drum for his birthday!

A guitar cake! Who could ask for a cooler birthday??!!!

Goin' home

Declan's daddy is from South Carolina so we all took a trip to visit family and see the sites in Charleston, SC. Declan met his grandpa, great grandma's and cousins for the first time. And we all celebrated Declan's birthday a little bit early too! We all had a wonderful trip! We can't wait to go back! We love ya'll!!!!!!!!

Grandma McAlhany

Over the river and IN the woods....

to Grandma McAlhany's house! This is a pic of Declan in grandma's backyard! He had fun running and playing with grandma's many pets!

Fun at Grandma Alice's house

Declan and great-grandma Alice

A hug from cousin Walker

Declan met his 2nd cousin Walker (2 months younger than Declan) and they quickly became best buds! Can't you tell by the head lock he has on him?? ;)

Declan and Papa McAlhany

Declan's birthday cake

Thanks for the cake papa & nanny!

Look at that concentration!

Grandma Jean

Declan met his Grandma Jean for the first time. We love her and wish her well with her cancer treatments.

Chillin' at the hotel

Rubber ducky!

Declan loved tossing rubber duckies into a small stream at the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant. It was probably his favorite activity of the whole trip!!!

Cool guy with guitar

Give that cool guy a dollar!

The Battery

Seeing the sights by carriage ride

Hangin' with the Charleston fire dudes!

Streets of Charleston

Sweet tea for our sweet pea!

Declan couldn't get enough of that sweet tea!

South Carolina BBQ

mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Name calling!

Something suprising and funny happened this afternoon while Declan was supposed to be napping. He was restless in his crib and I was trying to get a quick nap in, but I heard Declan in his bedroom calling for me. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" he said. I just put the pillow over my head and tried to ignore it. Then I hear "mom! mom! mom!" Again, I pulled that pillow a little closer to my ears...it pains me to hear him call out for me. I'm a sucker and usually will go and answer to his every call! This time I decided to wait it out. Then I hear him again, but this time he says "Chauntelle! Chauntelle! Chauntelle!" LOL!!!! I immediately sat up and busted out laughing. I couldn't believe he was calling me by my first name! I guess he figured since I wasn't answering to mommy or mom that maybe Chauntelle would work...afterall, it works for daddy! It was the funniest thing I've heard him say in a long time. And of course it made me go in his room and remind him that it's "mommy" to him. :) Still, he kept calling me by my first name saying "Look at me Chauntelle!" as he danced around his crib. After an hour or so he finally drifted off to dreamland and I was able to get a nap in too. I tell ya, I have one funny, clever little boy. :)