My little fish

We might only be halfway through March, but I'm already dreaming of vacations filled with warm sun and sand. Since our trips will include a lot of pool time, I thought it would be smart to get Harrison familiar with the water. Our local aquatic center offers a parent & tot class, which I knew would be perfect for a daddy/dude outing, so I signed H up for 5 weeks. I wasn't sure how Harrison would react to the water, since he hates getting his face wet in the bath, but he loved it. Here's some pics from his first class......I can't help but laugh at all that pasty white pacific northwest skin :)

I'm the Map!

For SEVERAL days after the zoo Harrison was enamored with the zoo map.....thanks Dora! He enjoyed eating his breakfast, lunch and dinner examining all the animals he had seen and telling me all about it.  

He also shared his knowledge of "all things zoo"with sister. She thought he was very entertaining.

Can't help but throw in this sweet picture of Grace and her daddy. It's always a good time when he gets home from work.

And one last shot......just because I love her so

Zoo in the Sunshine

When you have a true appreciation for something you talk about it to anyone who will listen......so let's talk more about the glorious sunshine. The same week we played in the backyard, all the live long day, we took a trip to the zoo. The weather was perfect and I'm thoroughly convinced that 2 1/2 is a perfect magical age for the zoo. My sweet friend Daron and her son Charlie, Grace's future husband, met us to enjoy all the animals. Harrison was most jazzed about the monkeys and least jazzed about leaving the indoor playground......that part about 2 1/2 was not so magical. 

Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy

I love this time of year in the Pacific Northwest because we start to get windows of beautiful weather, and I know that the rainy season will soon be behind us. There's still a chill in the air but not enough to stop us from soaking in some vitamin D. It's amazing what a little sun & fresh air can do to your overall demeanor.

Harrison thrives in the freedom of our backyard and I think it just does him good to not be constricted to the four walls of our house. He loves to take his lunch on the back steps where he can take a bite, run a lap, dig a hole and come back for a handful of goldfish. Yes......his sandbox is actually my planter bed but for now it's his construction site and a place to get his hands dirty. 

Harrison's days revolve around trucks of all kinds and we often sound like Forest Gump & Bubba rambling off all the ones we know......dump truck, backhoe, bulldozer, firetruck, flat bed truck, on and on. By far his favorite is the monster truck and, thankfully, we live close enough to the country that his eyes get their fill. 

Harrison is a good subject for life style photography because he's not big on the whole "look at the camera" but he's happy to cooperate if you want to take pictures of his trucks. Rocks and dirt are totally his jam.

I love life style photography because you catch moments that are spontaneous or little things that your kids do that melt you.....and you know they will soon be a distant memory. When Harrison really wants me to do something he puts his hands together and says "puweeezzzz"......he wanted me to quit taking photos and play soccer {because I'm awesome}.

If you're wondering what sister is up to during all this glorious outside fun.....well she's stuck watching through the sliding glass door. Girl needs to be contained until the grass dries a bit, but by summer she will be up, walking and joining brother in all his glorious dirtiness. 

Here's to sunny days ahead, lunches in the yard and trucks.....lots of trucks!!

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1:5

GERMuary had a grand finale

I laugh now at my post from January 29th because, just as I thought we were finally getting healthy, I came down with a 24hr stomach virus on the evening of the 30th. Thankfully, Jody was able to take the following day off, thanks to a canceled court appearance, and pick up his parents from the airport. By Saturday morning I was feeling much better and we were able to get out of the house and do some exploring in Snohomish. 

The remainder of the day was nice and relaxing.......as we prepared for the big game on Sunday. 

We were a house divided for the Superbowl, since Jim & Jill were routing for their home team, but it was all Seahawks for the entire game.......and we needn't rub it in :) Our victory would have been a bit sweeter if Jody had felt better, but he started feeling nauseous during the 4th quarter and went straight to bed when the game was over. I wish the story ended there but, turns out, grandma Jill was also up the majority of the night and Jim didn't feel 100%. Come Monday morning, I was the last adult standing while everyone else was still on the crummy side. To make matters worse, poor Jim had to get on a plane and I felt terrible that his departing gift was a nasty bug. 

Jill was here for the remainder of the week and, I'm happy to report, there were no more instances of all night bathroom camp outs :) We celebrated our health, and my sweet boy turning 2 1/2, with cupcakes....because cupcakes make everything better. 

We, reluctantly, sent grandma Jill home on Friday but I'm so thankful she was able to spend the week with us. We're already counting down to the next time we'll see them......in Mexico!!!!

This is totally off topic, but if any of you are looking for a really great book to read may I suggest "Believing God" by Beth Moore. I'm only halfway through and I've filled a dozen pages with wisdom that I don't want to forget. 

January.....you mean GERMuary

Not sure what it is about January, but this month always tries to take us out. We have been plagued with nasty colds, vomiting and Grace currently has hand, foot & mouth disease. I guess it could be worse.....the past 2 years included the flu & an entire house with the stomach virus. The silver-lining is that it's cold & rainy, so at least we're not missing out on amazing weather while quarantined to our abode. When the walls start to feel a little small, we've been retreating to the garage to get the wiggles out. Garage activities include tricycling, scootering, playing t-ball, kicking the soccer ball and (my personal favorite) dance partying. Here's hoping that we might get a little more fresh air in February.....clean, fresh, germ free air :)

2014...whoop, whoop!

A couple days before ringing in the new year, I bent down to pick up Grace and felt a painful shock in my back. I've only felt equal pain once before, when I was pregnant with Harrison, and I knew that I was in trouble. I spent the remainder of that day in bed and followed it up with an uncomfortable night of sleep.  

Fortunately, I was able to put weight on my legs the next morning and made it in to see my doctor. After an examination, the doctor informed me that everything in my hip area was out of alignment and that I had sacral dysfunction. My sacrum was tilted and causing sciatica on my left side. Ouch!!! There wasn't much she could do at the time, since I was in so much pain, so she gave me some Flexeril and a steroid.

Needless to say, I rang in 2014 in a very relaxed state :) I went back a week later for a check-up and my DO was able to do an adjustment to get my hips back in alignment. I've been prescribed physical therapy and lots of stretches to keep my back loose. Not exactly what I had in mind for the start of a new year, but I'm happy that it seems treatable.

The first 2 weeks of January have also been really rainy and grey. All these pictures are kind of a play-by-play of what our days look like. Harrison requests that I make him a dog bed EVERYDAY and then spends all day trying to get Bean to lay in it. Grace is crawling all over the place and getting into all kinds of trouble. Harrison also requests, on a daily basis, that Grace sits in her chair......it's really cute!

Jody & Harrison started a Saturday donut tradition in December and we have continued it into the new year. It's H's favorite day and he talks about it all week long......well that and spiders. Hope everyone is having a lovely 2014.....with healthy backs and a few donuts.