Fun in DC

So last week while we were in Virginia, we found out that Tio Jason was going to be in the DC area for an art convention. We were so excited! After living so close to all the Harmon family for the last 6 years, the last 4 months have seemed so long without seeing our family. So Josh, Madsen and I headed up to DC to spend the day with Jason. We met up with him at the National Art Gallery, and I'm ashamed to say I hadn't been there since elementary school. So Jason took us for a quick tour and we got to see quite a few paintings from the greats, like DaVinci's only painting outside of Europe and Rembrandt's self portrait. It amazes me to see the talent that people on this earth have. We also got to visit the Portrait Gallery which I had never been to. Madsen did pretty good while at the museums and even took a long nap. After he woke up though, he was ready to run and play so we had lunch and just walked around and enjoyed the sunset and nature while out on the lawn in front of the Capitol. It was so much fun to spend time with Jason. Hopefully we'll get more of our Harmon family to visit us here on the East coast soon :)

Madsen's idea of fun. Chasing pidgeons with his dragon.

It was fun seeing you Tio Jason. Can't wait to see Tia Tally and Isa in June. :)

Just enjoying the pretty sunset.

ServPro's Greatest Fan

So while we were driving on the freeway a ServPro truck pulled up next to us. Madsen immediately noticed and got so excited. "Look Mami, it's daddy's green work truck! He's here, he's here!" It was so cute, and it made me so sad to tell him that unfortunately that wasn't his daddy's truck. He took the news well and said, "Okay, okay, Mami. It's not daddy, it's Jeff." It was hard to convince him that not all ServPro's are operated by Daddy and Jeff. It's so funny how a bright green truck for a disaster restoration company can get a little boy all excited and make his day. :)

A fun sunny day

So I know it must seem that I'm always in Virginia, but this trip was a definitely unexpected and unplanned trip. Josh ended up going to Rhode Island on a ServPro trip to help respond to all the flood and water damage that they've had up there. So since he was driving past my parent's house, and would be gone for an indefinite amount of time, Madsen and I came up to spend time with my family. After all, who knows how often we'll be able to come up after Pierson gets here. Traveling by car with a newborn is not a feasible thing. We finished of an amazing Easter/Conference weekend with a trip to the zoo yesterday. Madsen had so much fun. I feel bad that I didn't take more pictures, but we just kept moving since there was so much to see. It was such a beautiful warm, sunny day. I'm so glad spring is here. Madsen's favorites were the elephants, the giant pandas, the gorillas, and the lions. One of my favorite moments is when we were at the lions and Madsen turns to me and says, "Mami, look at the lions. They didn't hurt Daniel, because the angels calmed them." I'm so glad that I have a boy who just loves to learn, especially through music and scriptures. His current favorite song is Follow the Prophet and he just loves singing it all the time, especially the Daniel verse. :) After a full day at the zoo, we took Madsen to this park by the airport where you can watch the planes land at the Reagan National Airport in DC. He loved it. He is so much like Josh, where anything with wheels, and/or a motor, that can go fast interests him. Thanks to my dad, for taking us out for a very fun filled day.

We love the elephants.

Ice cream break!

Here comes a plane!

Madsen loves hanging out with his uncles.

So close to the planes!

Our helper

So this last weekend, we finished building our raised gardens and started filling them with good dirt from the local nursery. This turned out to be a longer project than we had anticipated. Josh and Jeff were so sure that they could use the Servpro dump trailer to just dump the dirt out for them. Unfortunately this didn't work out and they had to hand shovel it out of the trailer. :/ So yesterday Josh and Madsen finished filling in the dirt in one of the boxes. Madsen was SOOO excited to help his Daddy out with his own wheelbarrow and shovel. I love this boy so much! Notice his green frog rain boots? He found these at Target and just had to have them. I meant to post about them a while ago. Let's just say these boots are one of his most prized possessions. If we tell him they're too dirty to wear inside the house, he'll go and grab my kitchen towel and clean them off and exclaims, "They're all clean now Mommy!" What more can I do besides just laugh? :)

They're all clean now!

Visiting Uncle Emmanuel

When Madsen and I come up to visit my parents, we always go at least once to eat lunch at school with Emmanuel. Madsen LOVES his uncle and especially to visit his uncle at school. We have to pack them the same exact lunch, because if not neither boy is happy. Emmanuel loves showing off his nephew to all his classmates. It's really cute to see him so proud to be an uncle. Well, the only bad part is when we have to say goodbye after lunch is over. However, Emmanuel has the sweetest teacher this year, Mrs. Hankerson. She loves to have Madsen come visit and today when lunch was over she invited Madsen to join the class for recess. Lets just say Madsen along with the whole class were overjoyed and had a fun time. All of Emmanuel's classmates chased Madsen around and were his bodyguards when the other classes came outside. None of them wanted to see Madsen get hurt, especially the girls :) Madsen was definitely tired once recess was over yet he still didn't want to leave, he wanted to go to class with Emmanuel and all the kids, as he put it. Maybe when it's time to try potty training we can bribe him to go on the potty, so he can go to school. :)

We love Costco :)

I will say one of the things that I've missed since moving to Chattanooga is Costco. The great prices, the baby wipes, and the PIZZA! When I know I'm coming to visit my parents I always wait to get certain things and make a trip to Costco while I'm here. Madsen and I went yesterday and the whole time we were shopping and browsing the aisles he kept asking me if it was time to go get pizza yet. Finally we made it to the food court and he was so excited about his pizza. He has been able to eat a whole slice of Costco pizza since about 18 months. Every time people around us are surprised to see this little boy devour his pizza. He's a boy after my own heart, we both LOVE pizza :) The good news is that Costco recently announced that they're building a Costco in Fort Ogelthorpe which is only about 25 minutes away from our house!

Happy Birthday Papi!

Madsen and I made the trip up to Virginia this week for my dad's birthday. It has been so nice to be able to make it home for special events. I made a homemade cheesecake for my papi, which is his favorite. We love you Papi and we're so happy to be able to share your special day with you!

Happy Birthday Papi!

Another successful cheesecake. Yeah!

Here are some pictures of the seeds we started last week.

Everything is growing well, but we're still waiting for some progress from the peppers.

Yay for lots of lettuce and sugar snap peas!

Gardening Time!

After enjoying our garden so much last year, we're super excited to have our own yard and try our luck at an even bigger garden. I started some seeds last week, and they're doing fantastic! I'm so surprised that they're doing so well already. Our whole family enjoys gardening, and it's so fun to get started on our family project. I had doctor's appointment on Tuesday, which went super well, and we had a 4d ultrasound done. I wasn't anticipating it, and then to find out my doctor did it for free was such a nice surprise. I think Pierson looks so much like Madsen did as a newborn. Afterwards Madsen and I headed to walmart to pick up some stuff for Josh, and Madsen found this adorable wheelbarrow. I broke down and let him get it since it was an outside only toy, and he has loved pushing it around and talking about using it to help daddy in the garden :)

Madsen loving his wheelbarrow

Our cute little Pierson. (that's his hand up next to his face)

Spring is almost here!

So since we've gotten to Tennessee, everyone has been telling me that it has been an unseasonably cold winter. Honestly, after living in Utah/Wyoming are for the last 7 years, I don't find it that cold. But I will say I am ready for warm weather once again, and it has come, sort of. We had some wonderful warm days this last week, with highs in the 60's! On Monday, Madsen and I headed out for a day of errands. First we took our puppy, Moij (which means white in marshallese), who we've had for almost 2 months now to go get a hair cut. I'm still not used to his haircut, but hair grows back is what I always say. :) Madsen and I had a picnic lunch at Heritage Park, while waiting for Moij to get done, and it was so much fun! It was so beautiful and warm and we loved spending the afternoon outside. In fact, we went home and worked on outdoor activities and chores. And for FHE we met Josh at the park close to the office and spent the rest of the night walking along the riverwalk trail and playing at imagination park. Then we had a pizza picnic dinner at home. It was so nice to spend the day outside. It's now been rainy for the last couple days, but rain = flowers, which equals spring so we cant complain.

I'm back!

So after 2 1/2 months of no internet, my blogging has truly suffered. But my loving husband caved in before I did, and got me the internet at home. He said it wasn't fair that I was cut off from the outside world. So here I am, wondering why I didn't cave in sooner. :) So the month of February is already over. I can't believe it! Madsen and I were able to visit my family for a week and half, and Josh joined us for a weekend. We got there right after the crazy blizzards of 2010. I couldn't believe how much snow they had. I hadn't seen that much snow in Virginia since the blizzard of 1991. Madsen loved the snow and especially loved playing outside with his Tio Cesar and Emmanuel. My brothers had built an igloo and it was funny to see all three of the boys trying to fit in, plus the dog, Champ, thought he could fit too. Josh's little brother, Travis, sent us a Flat Stanley and this stanley was particularly lucky to visit not only Chattanooga, but also DC. It was fun to walk around in the snow. All the boys and I went, and they had the genius idea of walking on the pond at the mall, since it was frozen over. Well what they hadn't predicted was that at the other end, the ice all around the edges had melted. So lets just say my Dad, Cesar, and Emmanuel, all went wading in the ice cold, nasty duck pond water. I didn't see my dad fall in, but I did see Emmanuel and Cesar. I realized later, I should have taken a picture but I was just too busy laughing my head off at the moment. Josh and Madsen were lucky to find a safe place to get off the ice after everybody else had fallen in. Time is flying by so quickly I can't believe it. I had a doctor's appointment last week, and little Pierson is weighing in at 2 lbs 4 oz. I'm in my third trimester and I can't believe that we're here already. I'm so grateful for another low stress, normal pregnancy, let's just hope it stays this way. :)

Inside the igloo!

Walking out on the ice

An overdue tummy picture. This is me at 26 weeks. 2 weeks ago.