Our first night away!

Ben and I had our first overnight getaway since Colter was born. I've been wanting to stay at the Chrysalis Inn and Spa for years! We left midday on Sunday and after making a pit stop at the outlet stores to get yet another round of baby girl clothes, we checked in to our amazing room. I wish I would have taken more pictures of the room, but the view with the window seat was my favorite part. There was even a cozy throw just waiting to be snuggled with. Also in the room was a fireplace, and HUGE soaking tub with a window looking through the room outside, and a super cozy king size bed. We were both giddy with excitement when we walked in. 

We went out to dinner that night to the Black Cat restaurant and then scooted off to the Brian Regan show where we were not at all disappointed!! Even the opener, Kermit Apio was absolutely hilarious. He told these two jokes that were some of my favorites 

The scenery is absolutely beautiful right now in the Fall. I love little things in nature that just make you stare in awe at the beauty.

The next morning we went to breakfast at the hotel, and then we were treated to a couples massage! We both had to get over being massaged by men, but it was still really relaxing. Afterwards, we played some board games and then got some tasty drinks at Woods coffee before walking along boulevard park. 

We took the Chuckanut drive home and the Fall colors were amazing. I didn't take this pic, but it is very similar to what we saw. 

                                

Such a perfect first getaway!! Thanks Nana for taking care of our little man!

Nana's Fall visit

Nana was in town this past week for her Fall break, which is pretty much one of my favorite visits of the year. So much excitement with the changing of the seasons, lots of fun festive activities, and it's pretty much amazing to have my mom in town. Ben and I are NEVER more productive than when Nana rolls in. This time I was prepared with a white board full of a to do list, because I know she likes to get the ball rolling right away. We got so much done this week- pictures hung in the living room that have been sitting in the corner for a year, moved all Colter's bins of clothes to his new closet, planted some flowers, mounted a new light in the living room, cleaned the kitchen baseboards, went through ALL my loose socks and made matches, etc. etc. etc.  And this was pretty much all during nap time!

In the beginning of the week, Ben and I went away for our first overnight without Colter! We didn't worry for a second- we were sure Colter probably wouldn't even care we were gone. I'll blog about our getaway in a different post.

Early in the week, mom got to come to one of our doctor appointments and hear the little lady's heartbeat. We also got some coffee/hot chocolate downtown, and strolled the streets in the sun.

That night we came back downtown and went to Wicked! This was my 2nd time seeing the show, and it was just as incredible as the first! In fact, I didn't even remember much from the story line at all so it felt like seeing it for the first time!

                       

Another morning we ventured down to Edmonds for a stroll and had fun looking for choo choo's and ferry boats.

The next day we made some Fall goodies and delivered them to the fire station before heading to the WA arboretum to check out the leaves.

That night my mom watched Colter so Ben and I could go out with Aus & Kels on a double date to the Barking Frog. The food was fantastic, and it was so special to have uninterrupted conversation with my bro and his wifey. I honestly don't know if we've ever gone out with them other than our triple date a few years ago. I am so so thankful that they live up here now.

                           

                                          

Friday was a pretty low key day- mainly spent at home. That night mom and I went to Jill's house and spent the night making girly headbands. We are both due with girls 2 days apart, and Jill's mom happened to be in town too. I can't wait to put these headbands on our sweet little lady in just a few months!!!!

Saturday was pumpkin patch day. .. seriously one of my all time favorite events!! Pumpkins, animals, hand dipped corn dogs, come on!!! Saturday night Aus & Kels came over for some dinner and then games once Colter went to bed.

Thank you Nana for not only blessing us with you just being here, but for your constant outpouring of love to our family. We'll miss you!!

4 years

Ben and I celebrated 4 years of being hitched at the end of September. Ben has quite the work cut out for him with back to back anniversary bday celebrations. On the morning of our anniversary, I made this delicious recipe for breakfast- Orange Pecan French Toast. I am not a nut fan, but this was SO fantastic I didn't really even notice it. I was too anxious to wait until the night for Ben to open his gifts, so he opened his in the morning- an NAU golf shirt, a new umbrella, and a golf driver. Ben had been mentioning needing new clubs for a while, so he was shocked when I walked in with it. Thanks to help from my bro in law, I scoured craigslist and found a good deal.

In the middle of the day, I got a special delivery of a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I recently read a book called The Language of Flowers, (which I highly recommend), that talked about how flowers used to be given to people based on the meaning behind the flower. I told Ben how cool I thought it would be to get flowers from him with a description of the meaning for the different flowers. On the morning of our anniversary, he put different flower descriptions on notes and hid them around the house. The bouquet of flowers matched up with the different meanings and my heart melted.

                

Since it was a week night, we didn't do much celebrating that night, but we did to get out on an incredible date that night! My sister tipped us off to a mini golf course that sounded spectacular and boy did it live up to our expectations! The views were incredible, and got even better as the sun went down and everything turned that perfect golden color. We ate dinner at the golf course restaurant, and were greeted by a bag piper walking the hills as the sun sank below the sky line. It was such a perfect moment with my man.

Every year we talk about how amazing it is that God brought us together in such a super random way. We never dreamt that we'd be here with almost two kiddos in Seattle! It is no joke when people tell you that marriage is hard work. We're two sinners living together, and there's not much more than marriage that can bring out the ickiness in your heart when you start to get comfortable. We're thankful every day for the grace we can give each other because of Jesus and the grace he's given us. I'm thankful for a hubby that constantly makes me laugh, will always go above and beyond to serve Colter and I, and for a man who has one of the most caring hearts out there. Here's to many more years ahead! I love you hubster.

Happy Birthday to me!

I better start cranking out these posts or before I know it I'm going to be buried in Fall, birthday, anniversary posts galore!!

I turned another year old- I'm sure 29 will be a fantastic end to my 20's. Crazy to think about all that happened in my 20's! I met, fell in love, and married Ben. I graduated from undergrad and grad school. I moved to Washington, worked, and will have had 2 babies by the time i'm done with this decade! Crazy. As a reminder that I am getting older, I discovered my first wrinkle by my eye on the morning of my birthday. no joke. Oh well, off to botox I go. j/k 

My birthday was absolutely wonderful. The super hubby got up early to cook me breakfast- swedish pancakes, an aunt Jo classic. God gave me a birthday hello with an incredible double rainbow.. I can't even remember the last time I saw a rainbow!

                         

In the morning, I met up with some friends for a Starbucks and walk down in Edmonds. The leaves were just starting to change and it was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day. I started getting a barrage of sweet text messages- turns out Ben had organized a massive schedule of texts throughout the day from friends & family. My sweet sister made me an absolutely delicious salad for lunch.. seriously I keep thinking about it. (http://jessieheaviland.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-of-september-24th-2012.html) Came home for nap time, Colter took a super long nap, and then I ran a quick errand. Ben got home early and made an insane fest for some friends and I for........... my murder mystery party!!! 

I absolutely love murder mystery dinners. I've done a couple in youth group and one living in Washington- they are so fun to get people out of their normal element and try something different. I picked one off amazon called murder at mardi gras, and we had SUCH A BLAST. I was a little over the top- I was a gothic author. It was so fun to have people show up in character and do something out of the norm. What a fabulous way to celebrate my bday. Sorry about the camera phone quality.

                              

I can't end this post without talking about Ben's super special gift. For about 2 weeks before my bday, he would retreat to the garage to work on a super secret project. I heard hammering, sanding, painting, and printing.. I had NO idea what he was doing. Well, Mr. Wonderful strikes again with this super sweet, sentimental sign that is seriously AMAZING. If it didn't take so long- I told him he needed to go into business! I saw this quote once on a blog I love and emailed it to him- saying I wanted something with this saying. Well what a surprise this was!

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so wonderfully special!

some random things I don't want to forget

Colter is amazing right now and there are usually a few things during the day that I think "I've got to write that down."

One of my favorite things to see is his memory of books that we have read. He knows a ton of books  by just looking at the cover (cats, gladys, goldbug, llama, cookie), and he'll randomly bust out something from the book and it always cracks me up. For example, We have a fish book where the fish bonks into a pearl because he thinks it's his friend, but it's really his reflection. One day, he saw the book and said "CLONK," in a super loud voice, which is what the fish says. Another time that made me laugh was when he saw a Sandra Boynton book and said "shimmy" in the cutest voice.. there's a line in the book that says "shimmy shimmy shake in your very own style."

He's totally obsessed with the moon right now. He also loves the book "Papa Get the Moon for me." Because he gets up early, we normally go outside in the dark and look for the moon. One day we were looking at the moon and in a high pitched voice he said "papa?" It was the sweetest thing. When the moon stays visible during the day, he'll always find it and will randomly shout "moooooon" which sounds exactly like the way he says balloon so I have to figure out which one he sees.

It is a battle for the favorite toy on a daily basis. Digger or "Dit" vs. Bus. He almost always has one of them in his hand and will carry it everywhere.

He loves to cook with me and always wants to sit on the counter when I am finishing up. Even if i'm trying to finish something up quickly he'll hang on my legs, or try to climb up the cabinet doors begging "COOK COOK." He thinks olive oil belongs in everything and will shout "oil oil" while holding a measuring spoon. He also loves to dump in spices. Sometimes cooking is a little challenging, like yesterday when I filled up his cup with lemon peel to dump in and he flung it everywhere.

He's super observant and notices way more than I realize. Today he pulled out my starbucks card out of my wallet, pointed to the logo and said "drink." I don't go there that much do I?? He's also obsessed with the handicap logo and always walks right up to it and says "man." He loves walking over speed bumps, and can actually balance along the whole thing while practically running. He thinks that the white parking lot lines are also bumps.

We went to the pumpkin patch this week and I told him we were going to pick pumpkins. Anytime he sees pumpkins anywhere he shouts "PATCH!" Then he'll go up to the stem and say "pick."

One of his favorite things to do that he made up all by himself is to take one of his cars over to the toy house and drive it up and down the bumps on time going "mountains mountains."

It's scary how much he has started to mimic us. Sometimes when he finds a certain toy he thinks is cool he'll get really enthusiastic and go "oh WOW! WOW! WOW!" One time I hit your head as I was putting you in your car seat. I said "Oh sorry! I bonked you!" Now you will randomly start saying "sorry bonk sorry bonk" over and over.

He still loves my phone and love to listen to ring tones. He'll start waving his arm around to tell me he really wants to listen to music.

He loves to cuddle up on the couch to read books and will always reach up and say "blankie." He loves to be all cozy.

Not a super recent development, but one of our favorite things he does is when he toots, he'll look at us with a big grin and go "I TOOT!" In a really high pitched voice.

Counting, letters, colors, and numbers are coming really easily to him. I usually count when we're going up the stairs and yesterday he started counting all on his own. He started by saying one (still sounds like no so I get confused that he's actually counting), two, then he lets me continue, but this time he randomly counted six when I got to it. A couple times now he has pulled out blocks and correctly named their color. One day it was orange, another day blue. He can always recognize the letter "O" and the number "7 & 2" He's getting really good at puzzles and can almost always put back all of our Melissa and Doug puzzles by himself.

This week he's started to say "This is a ...." It's so amazing to watch his language come together.

I swear all of this was just this week.. constant amazing changes. Thank you God for giving us a little learner of a boy.