All over the place

Miss Grace decided to just up and start walking 2 weeks ago. I posted this cute little video on Instagram and wanted to share it here as well......check out the link below

SnapWidget | A whole lot of this going on around here #milestones

Potty Training

We started potty training.
So far so good.
We'd been prepping him for the big day since he got big boy underwear in his Christmas stocking. Not going to lie.....I pulled out the big guns for this one. I'm talking M&M's, Hersey Kisses, stickers, bouncy balls, Hot Wheel vehicles and monster trucks. I was willing to gift him to death if it meant doing his business on the pot. Thankfully, he was very receptive to all the "treasures" and it hasn't been a huge struggle. We've been going strong for about 6 days and each day there have been fewer accidents. When I woke him up this morning the first thing he told me was "pee pee and poo poo in the potty, not on the floor".....exactly!

Grandma Mary Lou turns the big 9-0!

This is hard to believe, but all 4 of Jody's grandparents are still living. Grandpa Al, Jim's father, has settled nicely into his 90's and this year his wife joined him. We happily loaded up and headed to Vancouver, WA to help celebrate the big milestone. Oh I almost left out that the party was the weekend before we moved and the day after my mom flew into town.....we like to keep it exciting around these parts. Greg, Jody's uncle, graciously hosted the entire crew and,  since Jody's folks had also flown in, my mom was happy to catch up with Jim & Jill. There were also lots of kiddos running around, so Harrison was thoroughly entertained. He found himself a pink big wheels and parked it. It will be a special memory to share with our kids, one day, that they got to meet their great grandparents.

Haircut Take #3

Jody and Harrison had a little "Daddy & Dude" day on Saturday while I was getting my hair did {& crying over Georgia's loss to Alabama}. The guys headed to Toys R Us, for a new toy box, had lunch at Burger King and made a quick stop at the Wal-Marts. Unbeknownst to Harrison, that last stop was to pick up some hair clippers {& shot gun shells.....when in Rome people}. Jody convinced me to let him have a shot at cutting H's hair, since the last 2 cuts didn't remedy his mullet situation. Lucky you, I photo documented the process.......

"Grandma....come quick! They are trying to cut my hair. You can find me hiding out in my toy box."

We coaxed him out of the toy box with the "C" word.....cartoon {works every time}

The hair cutting torture began and the cartoons were no use. I had to hold H's arms down because he kept trying to rip the clippers out of Jody's hand. It only took about 20 mins, and a few years off my life, but we were happy with the end result. So long mullet. Hello little boy!

Not sure if he was smiling about the completion of the haircut, the haircut itself or running around in his skivvies. I would like to think he felt a little lighter on his feet with the his new do, but I'm 99% sure he was just happy to let his skin breath. 

We rewarded him, for being such a good sport, with a little bike helmet before bed. What? This isn't your kids happy place? Weird.

1st Haircut Adventure

I like to think, as the woman who brought him into this world, that I can guess what was going through Harrison's little mind during this experience.....

This place is pretty fun......I get to drive this sweet wooden boat and they give you a bucket of toys.

Wait a minute....what is this huge bib and why is this stranger touching my hair?
btw...these toys are super lame.

Abort mission, abort mission. This is the worst boat EVER!

Awww sweet freedom.....how about we do that again NEVER

Turns out Harrison wasn't the only one having a rough day in the baby salon. The little girl, in the spaceship next to him, had locked herself in the bathroom and given herself a reverse mohawk. The ladies were trying to convince the mom that they would fix it, but there wasn't anything that was going to "fix" that head of hair. Did I mention there was scalp showing in the back?  *yikes*

Party Pics!

Here's a little word of advice, for you mamas who have babies about to turn 1, don't get vaccinations the day before the big fiesta. Harrison has never had any bad reactions to his shots, but this time he threw up, had a fever and wanted to be held....all day. Thankfully, he was in pretty good spirits by party time and was happy to see his buddies. Here's some of the highlights....

*The party crew included family, community group, mama friends and lots of cute babies.*

*Mom's group  - we've been meeting since our babies were 8 wks*

*Couples from our church community group*

*Now that Harrison can walk, he was much more interested in hanging with the big girls.*

* Cupcake.....take #2*

*We respected his request to not wear pants at his party*

A huge THANK YOU to grandma Jill & grandpa Jim for watching H while I got everything prepped for the party. They always make parenting look so easy :) Love you guys!!!

Sippy Cups are for babies

This morning Harrison was, very kindly, asked not to come back to the nursery at church. Turns out he is very "strong" {a.k.a. using the other kids heads to get to a standing position is unacceptable} and needs to move on up to the Toddler 1 class. So next week he makes the move and will have to hold his own with the big kids. Pray for me.....I guess he is officially a toddler {who walks like a drunk ol' man}

WALKING??!!!??!!

Somewhere between building a shed and almost losing my life to the treadmill {check out the house blog for more details}, our baby boy took his first steps. Not gonna lie, I teared up......just one step closer to toddler and further from baby.

Mess

This is my attempt at creating a play area for the human tornado.

I'm starting to accept the fact that our house may never be tidy again. 

One more thing.

Please get a look at my kid.

I've tried to keep him from sleeping like this, because it freaks me out, but he's obviously comfortable.
What a weirdo!

Got One!

Finally got a picture of those teeth

We've got teeth people!!!

Harrison's bottom bunny teeth have FINALLY popped through.
Unfortunately, getting a picture of his little nubs proved to be more difficult than expected.

Lend me your ear...

Hmm.....guess he just needed a little help balancing 

Still Snowing

So here's the deal.....folks in Seattle don't know what to do with all this snow.

What they do know how to do is shut down streets & get their sled on.

We live near one of the steepest streets in the city so we bundled up the baby & went for a walk.

Harrison in his snow bubble 

I really wished we had a sled.....or a tube. 

On a separate note.
I've been working with Harrison on his sitting skills, but he is not really interested.
He prefers standing.....and eating bananas
He is REALLY into bananas

Dear Meatball

Today you are 6 weeks old!

For the past 5 weeks you have been napping like a champ but today you decided

NAPS ARE FOR SUCKERS!

and you, my sweet little onion, are no sucker.
This is your party face and you were in a partying mood......well for at least 1 hour today.
The remainder of the day you spent eating large quantities of milk and crying.
No Bueno!
I guess you follow the motto "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to"

I guess I'm exaggerating a bit when I say all you did was eat and cry.....
you did take 1 short 45 min nap but insisted on being held {Thanks Mom!}.
Luckily you don't mind snuggling with me when I've just gotten back from a run....
or that you have poor eye sight because I was looking rough.
{who am I kidding? this is what I look like 99% of the time these days}

I did manage to find 1 thing that made you pretty jazzed today, laying on your belly.
I'm convinced you just wanted to show off your mad head lifting skills.
Your dad and I were thoroughly impressed since you have such a heavy noggin.

This may be a touchy subject, but I feel I should point out that you are losing your hair.....
another indication that you truly are a Duvall.

After a long day of celebrating and neck tricks you finally decided it was time to call it a day.
What do you say we sleep in tomorrow?
I love you little man
**********************************

In all honesty today was hard and frustrating
I cried when Jody got home.....it was that kind of day
This is a tough job but tomorrow is a fresh start
I count myself blessed for the opportunity to be a parent
Even on the challenging days