And then there were 4.....

What a week it has been! We are settling into life as a family of 4, with the help of my saint of a MIL, and adjusting to a little less sleep. I'm happy to say that I had another easy c-section and my recovery is going really well. Below is a picture play-by-play of Grace's birthday.......

We checked into the hospital at 7:30am and started the "hurry-up and wait" portion of a c-section. Don't let the smile fool you, I was feeling pretty anxious at this point and ready to be done with the surgery portion of the day.

 Jody had the pleasure of wearing this jump suit and, as you can see, gave it a 2 thumbs up for comfort & style.

 This was right before my spinal took full effect and I felt like I couldn't breath. The anesthesiologist assured me that the heaviness was the sign of a good spinal, but all I heard was "it's normal that you feel like you are suffocating". Shortly after they gave me some oxygen and I quit panicking.

Grace Stanley Duvall was born at 9:54 am and weighed 7lbs 9ozs. Jody was thrilled to see a full head of dark hair and I was just thrilled she was out.

 Just like her brother, she came out with a pouty bottom lip and peeing.

My entire surgery took about 45 min and then we headed back to our recovery room for a few hours. Our nurse was sweet enough to go ahead and give Grace a bath, once she got me settled, so we could get a good look at that brown hair.

 I think it's safe to say that she immediately stole Jody's heart.......and how cute are those hospital hats?

 She looks so much like her big brother......until you take off that hat :)

Thank goodness for Skype!!!! We were able to introduce Grace to her GA grandma and several aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

We spent 48 hrs at the hospital and high tailed it out of there first thing Thursday morning. I was so happy to get home to Harrison and be under our own roof.

 Grace dressed up for her big exit from the hospital

 

 She seems to be adjusting quite nicely to her new environment ❤

T-Minus 3 Days

Floors mopped, toilets cleaned, laundry done! 

Now I'm working on packing my bag and counting down until my MIL gets into town. 

We are ready to welcome Grace to our family ❤

A Heart Full of Joy

I became an aunt {again} today ❤

My brother texted me a picture and you could see it in his eyes......his heart had instantly doubled in size making perfect room to love his new little boy. What an amazing blessing God gives, as parents, that we get to experience a glimpse into the measureless love He has for us as his children. That's joy I tell ya!

Speaking of joy.....

these 2 fellas filled my cup this weekend. On Saturday morning we did breakfast in Ballard at Portage Bay, ran around in the grass at the Locks and drank strawberry lemonade as we cruised Shilshole Marina {daydreaming about one day having our own sailboat}. I attended a sweet friends baby shower, while Jody took Harrison for a ride in the burley. The evening weather was nice, so we grilled chicken and veggies then proceeded to stay up way too late.

We celebrated the morning of Mother's day at church and the early afternoon relaxing. We hit up the zoo after Harrison's nap and, as you can see, he enjoyed himself. Jody & I concluded the evening with some fresh shrimp on the grill {delicious}.

I will always have mixed emotions when it comes to Mother's day, since I know it is such a hard day for so many women, but this year I have so much to be thankful for. God's timing is perfect and, because of that, there are several girlfriends of mine who will celebrate their first Mother's Day {some with baby in arms and some still in the womb} who struggled with long battles of infertility. I can also celebrate the continued love and support of my own mother and my very precious mother-in-law......what a gift both of those ladies are in my life. I'm also crazy blessed to have the most amazing sister-in-laws who have given me lots of nieces and nephews to love on and continue to be great examples of how to parent well. Though not a woman, my greatest joy comes from my husband who continues to be my biggest cheerleader. He is such an encouragement in my life and is always making me feel like I have this mothering thing in the bag. I respect his patience with me, as I fumble my way through this child raising thing, and his kind words. More joy!

Of course it's not all rainbows and unicorns at the Duvall ranch.....I do have an almost 2 year old......but today I will focus on the gifts and blessings. The fruit of the spirit is Love, Joy and Peace {Galations 5:22}......and heaven knows we all need a little bit more of those things in our lives.

Oh remember those fresh shrimp we grilled? Well Jody caught them! Last weekend he went shrimpin' with a buddy of his, on Whidby Island, and they hit the crustacean jackpot. Now, I'm not the hugest lover of food from the sea, but these shrimp are good eatin' and luckily we have a freezer full. We plan on sharing our shrimp harvest with Jim & Jill {my in-laws} when they are in town next week. Why are they going to be in town you ask? Remember I'm having a baby......

next Tuesday!!!! Here's to the JOY of becoming a mother of two ❤

3 Week Countdown

Yesterday I went in for my big 36 week appointment, which included an ultrasound, stress test and check for dilation. I'm happy to report that we got all good news and baby girl is in the 50th percentile for growth. The nurse monitored me for about 30 minutes and didn't see any contractions and I had no dilation. So, as long as there are no changes in the next few weeks, Grace will still make her grand entry on the 21st. My doctor is still requiring me to be strapped to the machine at my next 2 appointments, but I think it's just protocol because of the umbilical cord issue. With all that said, I'm feeling pretty relaxed and excited about this new season of our lives.....bring on our family of 4 ❤

Remember the last time I was hooked to these monitors.......not such a pleasant memory

The largest pillow EVER is back!

The pregnancy pillow is back and I think Harrison is enjoying it as much as his mama.

It really is super obnoxious, but is a dream in the sleep department. Jody has been very gracious about the whole bed invasion, but luckily I won't need it for much longer. Countdown to baby Grace's arrival is only 27 days away!

I almost forgot.......check out The Craftsman to see how things are going with our grass. I'm a proud mama in the grass seed department ❤

Sunshine and Snot

Harrison & I have come down with nasty colds. The little guy is handling it much better than his dear ol' mom, who could really use a heavy dose of NyQuil. I really wanted to stay quarantined to the inside of the house all day, but I managed to suck it up long enough to hang with H in the yard for a few hours. 

As promised, I also worked up a post on our den and there are bunches of pictures of the refinished furniture. Click the link below to check out my handy work......

The Craftsman - Den Redo

Happy Easter

Our Easter started out a bit rocky, thanks to our church service being "family style". I've quickly learned that family style is just a fancy word for no childcare and lots of squirmy kiddos in the service. Despite my best efforts to come prepared {milk, snacks, ipad}, H was in a particularly spicy mood and wanted nothing to do with my distractions. We didn't catch much of the sermon, because of toddler wrangling, but the music was phenomenal and they also had several baptisms. We're thinking next year we might just watch the live feed from the comfort of our couch......I can't even imagine trying to contain 2 babies!

The weather did not disappoint and was absolutely perfect. Our sweet friends from church invited us over for brisket and the fixin's for lunch. The fellas broke out the corn hole while the ladies visited and talked about babies {there were 3 pregnant mamas and a mama with a 3 week old}. I made a batch of banana pudding {Here's the recipe I used}.......and considered it a success when it was deemed "delicious" by another southerner and a bunch of Texans. 

Later in the afternoon, we hopped over to Harrison's buddies house for dinner. The evening commenced with a smoked a ham, adult egg hunt, and more lawn games. It was a really nice day and we feel so lucky to have such great friends to celebrate such a special day. He has risen indeed!

Let the nesting commence

As of tomorrow, I'm 31 weeks and 8 weeks away from becoming a mother of two.
I've been pretty relaxed, in regards to preparing for Grace's arrival, but something stirred inside of me when I picked up this bassinet on Friday. I tucked it into the corner of our bedroom and suddenly a very extensive list of "must do right this second" tasks popped into my head. Today's projects included  arranging a space for a few of baby girl's things in our closet {for those middle of the night diaper and outfit changes}, updating a very short list of things we need to purchase and completely overhauling the basement. Though we rarely use our basement, I felt the nesting monster rest with everything in order and uncluttered. Now if only my grass would grow.....because that is seriously essential to bringing a child into the world.

On a completely different note.....Jody will be having cataract surgery on Tuesday. Poor hubby has been blind in his left eye for the last couple months and, thanks to a cancellation, his appointment was bumped up a week. Between cataract surgery and a c-section, the Duvalls will be killin' it in the deductible category. Take that insurance!

Baby Grace - 25 weeks

I had my 25 week appointment last Friday and my OB said everything was looking great. My blood pressure was good, weight is rapidly increasing and Grace's heartbeat was strong. Up to this point I haven't had much to complain about with this pregnancy.....until Saturday. In the middle of cooking breakfast on Saturday morning, I leaned over to get something out of the frig and there was a familiar shock in my back. Turns out I pulled a muscle, which also happened when I was pregnant with H, and it is making putting on/off pants and shoes really painful. On top of that, I have some really painful varicose veins. Did any of you ladies have this issue when you were pregnant? I will continue to be shocked and amazed at the bizarre things our bodies do when growing another human. Third trimester here I come!!!

Big Changes in 2013

In September, the day before my 34th birthday, I got a surprise birthday gift......

So that was then.....

and this is now.......20 weeks later.
Oh and by the way
It's a GIRL!