Day Out With Thomas

Wanna know how to blow the mind of an almost 2 year old that loves trains?

Take him on a real choo-choo ride and let him meet Thomas the train.

There was a firm "Don't touch Thomas" and "stay on the yellow box" policy, that I thought might be an issue for our little guy, but he was very cooperative. That smile there was permanent.

Daddy & the dude.....I dare you to tell me they don't look alike.

We rode in a 1912 train car that was being restored, the event took place at a train museum, and everyone got to sit in wicker chairs close to the windows. I had a hard time looking out the window, because I couldn't take my eyes off Harrison. He has the most expressive face and was just so thrilled with the whole experience.

This is, by far, his best expression these days. He always makes this face when he hears a loud noise and then says "What's dat?".

We choo-chood past Snoqualmie falls and the view was just beautiful.

At the conclusion of the ride, Harrison received his official Jr. engineer certificate and beamed with pride. I think we made some great memories to begin this new year of Harrison's life.

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 ❤

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!

A Post About A Bunch of Random Stuff

Did anyone else have an expected weekend full of beautiful weather?

The meteorologist have been butchering the Seattle forecast lately, but I don't mind when we get blue skies instead of rain, rain and more rain. Here's 5 things that made this weekend the J-A-M!!!

• After 2 1/2 months of no cable {we dumped Comcast back in January}, Jody decided he couldn't live any longer without his sports fix and we signed up for the Dish. They gave us a great deal, Jody doesn't have to search for illegal sports feeds on the interweb and baby boy got his Disney back.....all is right with the world. I do feel very 1990's with a satellite dish on the house, but get a load of those blue skies......Seattle in March!!

• Taking advantage of the nice weather, Jody & I took out some planter beds and a large bush in our front yard. I did a whole post on our house blog......check it our HERE. I put down the grass seed, in the front yard, this afternoon and can't wait to see what it looks like in a few weeks. We had a lot of success with seeding in the back after we put up the new fence. Here's a picture of what it looked like back in September and what it looks like now.

• Spending time at the park was another perk of the dry weather. Our neighborhood is peppered with them and we tried a new one out with a huge slide. My fearless little boy had a blast......we went down a couple times as well :) Pure joy I tell ya!

• I hit the 30 week mark of my pregnancy, which puts us 9 short weeks away from meeting baby Grace. I haven't mentioned this yet, but during my 20 week ultrasound they discovered that I had marginal cord insertion......which means Grace's umbilical cord is not attached in the middle of the placenta. There is a small risk that, as she gets bigger, this placement will not allow her to get enough nutrients inside my body and she will need to be delivered early. I will know more when I have another ultrasound {and stress test} at 36 weeks but my Dr. seemed hopeful that she would make it to 39 weeks. If you don't mind......I could use some prayers. Thanks!

• We got Krispy Kreme donuts after church. This is a becoming a normal part of our Sunday afternoon......rain or shine.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! 

We Found Santa At Cabelas

Forget the long line at Nordstrom or the faux beard at Macy's, this year we went between the fishing poles and under the stuffed bear to find Santa. Most photos I've seen, of toddlers visiting Santa, look like the child is being physically tortured by the presence of jolly ol' Saint Nick, so I wasn't sure what H's reaction would be. I braced myself for tears, but he gave this sweet man the furrowed brow and then jumped in his lap. It was definitely not a fancy operation they were running at Cabelas, I'm talking digital camera and a printer from home, but it was free.....good enough for the mantel! 

 With the picture out of the way, it was time make a loop around the store. We got lost in a sea of camo, looked at all the tacky home decor, walked through the aquarium and tried on lots of hats......this was my personal favorite.

 We left the store with a couple new fleeces and a bag of chocolate covered pretzels.

Guess who thoroughly enjoyed those pretzels??

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.

A nice little Saturday

Harrison helped his dad pick out some new waders & boots, checked out the fish in the aquarium and even picked himself up some new kicks. I stuck with 3 bags of old fashioned candy and considered our trip to Cabela's a win for the entire Duvall crew.

13.1!

Well it's done......I ran my first 1/2 marathon and it was such a great experience. When we signed up for the race, I hoped to finish around 2:15 and my official time was 2:06. {Wahoo!} I really committed to the training schedule and feel like it paid off in the end. Along with training, it was also super helpful that the race was in a beautiful location. I'd never visited Vancouver, BC and it did not disappoint. Jody and I could not get over how nice and helpful everyone was......not to mention the place was SO clean.

We also took advantage of the kindness of Jody's folks and turned our weekend of running into an early anniversary vacation. It's hard to believe, but we haven't spent any time away since Harrison joined our family a year ago. I missed the little dude like crazy, but it was so nice to be able to focus on my husband and spend time with good friends. 

I have to say that the only bad thing about being in Canada was the international roaming. It cost a small fortune to use our phones, so we were forced to organize meet-up locations and use paper maps {so old school}. I also didn't bring my camera, thinking I could just use my phone, so this is the only picture Jody took. Thankfully, one of the other ladies brought hers and will be sharing them shortly. 

Registration for the Lululemon Seawheeze 2013 opens up in January........who's in??

Look at that form!

It's hot up in here

We're currently sweating it up in our house......it got in the 90's today and our casa is holding strong at 84 degrees. Wish we could just flip on our AC, but the closest thing we've got is hiding out in the basement {thank goodness for that basement!}.

Even though it was warm, Saturday was beautiful in Seattle, we loaded up H in the Burley and headed to watch the Blue Angels. 

The Angels!

My guys watching the show.

We did a quick clean up after our long ride and headed to Harrison's very first birthday party.

His buddy Matthew lives a couple blocks over and his folks, who are from Texas, went all out for his rodeo themed birthday. The pool came out once most the kids had gone home and was, by far, the hit of the party. 

There are few things cuter than a bunch of little boys in their Dora the Explorer swim undies.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. We are gearing up for a visit from grandma & grandpa Duvall and a little 13.1 mile run in BC. 

Stuff

Seriously.....is anyone else's kid this dramatic about a diaper change?

A few housecleaning items/thoughts on this here 1st of June......

1. I've changed my blog template, if you hadn't already noticed. I plan on changing it back, at some point, but for now I just want plain & simple.
2. I did a little "googling" and worked out some issues I was having with the comments. Now ya'll can comment with ease......or not {mom}
3. This time next week Jody's entire side of the family will be arriving in the PNW. I get nauseous {in a good way} thinking about it.
4. 70 days until the big 1/2 marathon!

Have a lovely weekend!

I love sun!

We're back in pants & hoodies today, but this week has been all about shorts.

Here's hoping the sun comes back to visit for the weekend and this grey is short lived.

Happy weekend folks!

Happy Friday!

Discovery Park

The Pacific Northwest has really been killing it in the weather department the past few weekends. Today we reached 70+, which is crazy for April in this part of the country, there was porcelain skin peppering parks all over Seattle.
We're lucky to live close to one of those parks and went for a trek to check out the water.

We were pretty excited about Harrison's first dip in the water, but he did not share our enthusiasm.

Jody tried giving H a pep talk {He's crying in this picture}

but he still hated it.
Side note......does anyone else bruise easily?
I seem to always be sporting a hand full of bruises on my body.

Days like today make all that rain a tad bit more bearable.

What a week

We tried to buy a house this week.
Key word TRY.
Turns out 22 other people also wanted the same house and the winner brought cash.
We were bummed and it kind of got me in a funk.
Well around here when things are getting us down......we eat ice cream!

One more thing.......I ran 8 miles this morning.

High Five Me!

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!

A celebratory weekend

We said HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my love this weekend.

It seems oddly appropriate that this is the only photo I took.
I had the best of intentions to document all the birthday love, but all good intentions went out the window with these sinful pastries.
Jody requested a relaxing weekend at home and I was happy to oblige.
We did get out of the house for a long walk in Seward Park, the weather was beautiful on Saturday, and a drive into the village.
I also made steak, green bean casserole and creamed corn.....it was delicious.
Sunday, Harrison woke up with a runny nose and congestion.
{I'm convinced the kids club at my gym is a cesspool of germs }
His cold gave us another excuse to lay low and snuggle on the couch.
I'm gonna miss this weekend......and those pastries.

PINspiration!

We had one of those weekends that you're sad to see end.
There was a dinner out with friends, a dinner in with friends, coffee, movies, walks and crafting
{the above "In this house" inspired by pinterest}.
Looking forward to enjoying the last few days of February ❤

Jump, Jump, Jumperoo.....

Harrison received a late Christmas present from his mom & day. 

 To say that he loves it is an understatement.....he was in the thing for hours!

Fabulous Seattle Weekend

First let me say that my husband knows me oh so well.
Friday he came home from work and told me we were going out for the evening.
It was a picture perfect day in Seattle and he knew I needed to get out of the house {which I did....desperately} for some fresh air.
We headed over to Alki Beach, strolled along the water and enjoyed the amazing sunset.
Later that evening we stuffed our face with Red Mill Burgers and watched a movie.
Perfection!!!

Saturday was filled with football and a quick trip to Ikea {if those exist}.
All our teams were victorious, which always makes the weekend more pleasurable, and the day ended with a few good naps from Mr. Harrison.


The weekend wrapped up with a productive little Sunday.
We FINALLY got all our pictures hung and the basement organized.
I also got my birthday gift......A TREADMILL!!!
It is going to be super helpful having the treadmill since, if you haven't heard, it rains a lot in Seattle.
The best part of the weekend though was capturing this precious photo.....

well actually it was a toss up between this photo and getting to go to the grocery store by myself.
I loved this weekend 

The name of the game is FLEXIBILITY

This may come as no surprise to those who've ever had a newborn, but we made big plans for Saturday that never happened.  Our PLAN was to wake up and watch the CSU/CU game with the Seattle CSU Alumni and then meet up with Jody's buddy for more football.  Unfortunately, Mr. Harrison decided to not let mom or dad sleep the night before and, come morning, we were beat.  We decided it would be best to ditch our plans and cheer on the Rams from the comfort of our own home.  Jody managed to get a shower but I stayed in my pajamas all day {keeping it real people}. 

The day was totally redeemed, since the little onion was in pretty good spirits, and he once again wowed us with his big boy skills.

I mean seriously........check out that upper body strength!!

Harrison also spent some time getting acquainted with his activity mat.

He was over it in about 5 min.......

but it was fun while it lasted.
Sure turned out to be a pretty great Saturday