A garden full of flowers: Chase's Paw Patrol Birthday

In May (I'm super late), my sweet Chase turned five. I know I say it all the time, but Chase is seriously the sweetest little boy. He is full of love, and wants to cuddle with me all the time. He is very shy, and still goes to speech therapy due to articulation issues. The last few years he has been too scared to have a big party where he is the center of attention. This year, however, he really wanted to have a big party. He decided on a Paw Patrol Theme, and helped me pick out invitations and games to play. He told me which friends he wanted to invite, and was so excited to have his very first friend birthday party. Mommy, as usual, was stressing out over the details and wanted everything to be perfect. Also, as usual, everything turned out great. Unlike in California where all the parents stay for Birthday parties, in Utah all the parents drop the kids off and leave. My cousin was kind enough to us, because I probably would have gone crazy trying to wrangle eleven little kids by myself. Five year old boys have A LOT of ENERGY! :-) We had Pizza and fruit for lunch, and played simple games like pin the tail on Chase (the dog), puppy adoption, dig for bones, and a piñata. Chase did great the whole day, but got very self conscience when it came time to blow out the candles. He didn't' want anyone to sing to him. I think it was the first birthday party I've ever been to where we didn't sing the birthday song! He quickly blew out his candles, and that was that! It was a good and exhausting day, but seeing Chase so happy made it all worth it!!

On his actual birthday he opened some gifts from the Grandparents, and other family members who had mailed up their gifts for Chase. One gift was a cowboy outfit, and he insisted on wearing it to preschool that day. He is normally too shy to wear costumes in front of other people, so I was surprised when he wanted to wear it to school! Blake was in heaven all day since he got to play with Chases' new toys (Blake thought they were all for him). They love the same things - trains, Paw patrol, and vehicles, so Blake was a happy baby! Later that day I took Chase to Target and let him pick out some toys from Jason and I since our main gift was the party, and it was easier to have Chase pick out his own toys this year. I sure love my sweet Chase. His loving little personality brings a lot of joy into my life. He is so eager to help Blake out of his carseat, or to open the door for me when I need help. Yes, he cries when he has to clean, and yells at his brother when they take his toys (one of the only times he yells I think), but he is such a good kid. He is so well behaved at church and at school. He is polite, and loves to dance (as long as not too many people are watching). He loves playing dressup, playing in his room with his cars, and playing with trains. He loves when I tell him bedtime stories about when I was a kid, and he loves giving me long hugs at night. When I put him to bed I have to close the closet doors, turn on his rocket light, turn on his octopus light, tuck him in, give him his blanket, turn on the fan, and spray monster spray. If I forget even one step, he won't be able to go to sleep. Some things he loves to eat are olives, cheese pizza, apple sauce, string cheese, hamburgers, fruit snacks, and macaroni and cheese.

Thank you Chase for picking me to be your Mommy!! I love you TTTTTTHHHHHHIIIIIISSSS much!!!!