Chase met his shadow!

So we were outside playing and Chase looked down and kind of stared at his shadow and noticed that when he moved, it moved. Then he waved and I ran to get my phone! It is so amazing to watch him learn and discover things for the first time!! Love you monkey!

Soergel's

I guess we didn't get enough of the animals at the zoo! We decided to go the farm route and met Chase's best buddy, Owen, at Soergel's Farm.

Clearly Chase was over the farm at this point! Still LOVE the picture!! Owen is always ready with a big "cheese" for the camera!!

It's a jungle out there!

We decided to make our first zoo trip before we lose Daddy to football and we had a great day!!

Chase's way of saying he had a great time!!

Summer flies...

and I've been slacking!! I can't believe the summer is almost gone ~ we've had a great one! Here are just a few highlights...

A Happy 4th of July came with a new retaining wall ~ aka "our summer vacation"!

Mommy made a quick trip to Minnesota to meet handsome cousin Micah! Chase can't wait to meet him too!!

We went to Lake Morraine for an afternoon to the "beach".

Chase had a little fun playing in the water...

but, he mostly preferred the lunch portion of our visit. He kept walking back from the water to get into the cooler!

Chase and mommy took a swim class throughout the summer and he "graduated" in August!

I have to admit I got a little choiked up when they played actual graduation music at the end of class!

Chase also got his first guitar lesson from Uncle Craig!

That pretty much takes us up to date. Hope you all had a great summer, too!!

Carman Family Reunion

We had a great weekend in the Poconos for the Carman Family Reunion! I had full intentions of taking lots of pictures with all our cousins and relatives, and I got one! Guess I didn't anticipate "Chasing Chase" around the lake all weekend! This is still a great picture of our crew ~ of course we missed family Decker!!

North Park Swimming Pool

It was a hot Sunday afternoon, so we decided to give the pool a try. Chase did pretty well in the big pool, and checked out the mushroom sprinkler with Daddy:

Doesn't he look just like Kevin with a bink in!!

This is our new fuss-face! Always makes me laugh!! And, look at all those teeth!

So, we lasted about 15 minutes in the water, then retreated to our towels for some fishies.

And more fishies,

and more fishies,

and more fishies, and then we went home.

But not before Mommy got a picture of her favorite little chubby foot!!

In case you were wondering...

Chase still LOVES his vaccuum!!

At the car wash...

So, I'm a little behind on getting some pictures up! I'll post as many as I can while Chase is sleeping!
This was a fun day when Daddy decided to wash the cars. We got Chase in all his swim stuff and he was a big helper! Funny, when I think of the pictures I just uploaded, most are of Chase having a ball helping Daddy outside! So here are some of the car wash pics:

MICAH IS HERE!!

After a long wait, on June 8, 2011, cousin Micah David Decker was finally born!! And, what an entrance!! Auntie Kim and Uncle Jason had probably the scariest morning of their lives, but with many prayers and love, both Auntie Kim and cousin Micah are doing great (and I'm sure Uncle Jason is maybe starting to relax a little bit!)!!

And, isn't he the most beautiful little dark haired baby you've ever seen! (Thanks Micah for not coming out a blondie like your cousin Chase so I can say that!) Truly amazing what a perfect little mix of his mommy and daddy he is!! Can't wait to meet you little monkey!!

On the homefront, while waiting for calls and making calls to give updates, I gave Chase a piece of chalk to keep him occupied...

I have to say, I'm quite impressed with his penmanship!! He's quite gifted! Not a doubt that cousin Micah will follow in his footsteps!!

Micah David Decker, I love looking at your pictures and I'm counting the days til I can hold you and squeeze you tight!!Love you Micah!!

Chuck-E-Cheese

We also made a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese for Chase's Birthday.

Wasn't too thrilled with the big mouse alone.

But, didn't mind him with Daddy as backup!

Thanks Grandma & Granpy Charlie for our 1st visit with Chuck-E-Cheese!

1st Haircut

We found a fabulous place near us to cut Chase's hair! They had a little kiddo room with lots of toys and every station had a little car or boat for the kiddos to sit in. I wasn't sure how Chase would do, but didn't expect him to giggle and smile the entire time!! Love this little monkey!

Seriously, how cute is this? And why don't they let grownups get their haircut in a red car like this??

Yeah, it was definately time for a trim!

"Hello, Maam!  I'd like a #2 fade off the top!"

Bye, bye comb-over!

He didn't even flinch when she got the buzzers out!

Our big little boy! Mwah!

MMM, CAKE!!

We had a small but nice little Birthday party for the Chase~man and of course had cake!

Chase's farmer cake.

Everyone else had farmer cupcakes.

Laila even "farmed" it out with her bandana!

And, Chase's best bud, Owen, even wore a tie for the party!

He started out a little slow ~ checking out this chocolate wonderfulness!

Then, went straight for the money!

It was in his hair and ears ~ as it should be!!

Love this pic!!

We had a beautiful day ~ shared with beautiful people! Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us ~ especially to Uncle Mike & Aunt Sabrina for they're great gift!!!!

A Vaccuum for your Birthday!?!

So, to say that Chase has been obsessed about the vaccuum is an understatement! He will literally stand at the closet door screaming because he wants to see his precious vaccuum! And, once we get it out, he'll stand at stare at it, caress it, and follow us around clapping.
So, with his birthday approaching ~ Kevin and I had a moment of genius and found him his own little dirt devil!! It's even red like ours!
We were so excited to see him open it, but weren't sure if we'd know that he liked it...

Moment of truth...

He sat very patiently as Daddy took it out of the box, but didn't take his eyes off it!

He even held the screwdriver while Daddy put the batteries in ~ Thank God we thought to get batteries!

And, he was off!

Kevin taught him how to turn it on in about 2 minutes and he was a vaccuuming man!

The thing even leaves lines on the carpet! I'm so putting this kid to work!

And, so we've learned that a 1 year old can definately show you how much he loves his 1st Birthday present!!