Just 8 days after we got back from Utah we heard that my Grandma Stoddard had passed away. We knew it was coming sooner than later but we weren't quite expecting it was going to be THAT soon. Fortunately for Tanner and I, we both got bereavement time off so we booked some plane tickets and 5 days later we were on a plane heading back to Utah.
It was Harvey's first plane ride and it was infinitely better than driving. He did so good. Didn't make a peep through any of the take off's or landings and barely fussed during the second flight. He was a trooper. We got to Utah on a Tuesday and the viewing wasn't until Friday and the funeral Saturday morning. Before then we were up and down from Layton to West Valley squeezing in time with our families. Tanner golfed, we ate at Rio Grande, went to Mitt's (our nephew's) baseball game, I did some jogging with my sis and dad, some shopping here and there, and lots of just being together.
That elephant hat was found at Gap and not purchased, but I took a pic because it was awesome. We were shopping for some funeral attire for Harvey. And the sleepy picture is just cute.
The viewing was nice and it was good to be with a lot of my Stoddard family that all lives outside of Utah so I really hardly EVER see them. The funeral was really good. My Aunt Diane gave a great talk and my sister and I both played a piano solo. The electric piano I have here is my Grandma's and when it was at their house, anytime we went there she wanted me to play it. She loved music! It was fun because a few days before the funeral we were looking through my grandma's yearbooks and old pictures that I'd never seen of her. Her yearbooks from Star Valley were 1939-1941. Great hair-do's and cool names :) This sounds cheesy or something but the funeral was cool because I feel like it brought my grandma back to life. She's been sick and not herself for SO long, but still alive, that I feel like I didn't think too much about the old grandma. It was fun remembering how awesome she was and hearing stories that I never had before, but it also made me realize how much I've missed her, so that part was sad. She is definitely in a better place and I can't go to a funeral without feeling so grateful for knowing there's life after death and we'll see her again and that she is happy and perfect and with her hubby!
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| All my dad's family |
One of my favorite cousin's, Natalie, had a baby a month before we did. She graduated from PA school a little after me too and she got to come out for the funeral as well. It was great to see her and meet her little Graham.
Saturday after everything was over we went up to Layton to celebrate mother's day with Tanner's family. I didn't take any pictures there but it was really nice. Tanner had to leave early Sunday morning to get home to take a flight to Oklahoma City the next day for a work trip. Since I had the week off anyway since he was going to be gone, we just had my flight leave a little later so I could squeeze in a bit more fun.
Mother's Day was the next day and it was Harvey's 3 month birthday. It was weird at church getting to stand up after sacrament legitimately for a gift and not just cause they are nice and have all women 18 and older stand up. I'm a real mom. I love it. He's pretty much the cutest. I had Laura try to snag some precious Mother's Day photos.
And this is about how the rest of Mother's Day went...
I figured while I'm at it I might as well give a brief 3 month update. He still LOVES bath time. Man oh man. I had my mom and dad give him a bath while we were there and he was kicking like crazy and splashing and smiling. My mom even got a little giggle out of him while she was washing his feet. Up to that point he had only giggled in his sleep. Laura got him to laugh a BUNCH on Mother's Day. It was so dang cute. AND he rolled over on Mother's Day. Of course - all after Tanner left. I laid him on his belly and like 5 seconds later he plopped over and all of us were like, what just happened!? He wouldn't do it again that day. But he has started to really like tummy time. And he can hold his head up a lot higher than before too. He'll lay on his belly for awhile and just talk and talk. After a bath with Berrie we put him on his belly and he was squealing like I've never heard before. He has rolled over 2 more times since but it seems very much more accidental that anything.
He was giving Rozzi a run for her money with how long a continuous drool he could get :)
He's getting better with his hands - he can grab on to stuff now if his hand can get to sit. He seems to like to be holding stuff. Blankets, toys, his binky, my shirt when nursing, etc. And he's much more vocal. He's loving the high pitched noises he makes and he repeats the sounds we make and we can have some pretty good "conversations" with him. These are just some other random pics from the last month of his life.
He loved watching The Master's with his Dad!
He got his 2 month shots a little after his two month birthday. He was smiling after...until I accidentally pinched his fingers in the car seat. Oops. Then I had to go to work and he was grumpy and poopy all day for the babysitter and dad. Oops again. I made sure his next appointment was when I was off.
I tried him in his bumbo soon after we got home from Utah the first time and he sort of liked it but still seemed a little unsteady. I think his face reflects those two emotions pretty well.
Tanner got a good video of Rozzi licking his face and him just smiling, but he accidentally deleted it. A couple of days later I had him on the mat again and Rozzi cuddled right up next to him and licked him and Harvey loved it I'm pretty sure.
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| He is such a precious sleeper! |
So yep - he's just growin' on up! And we are loving every second of it.
In other Utah news...He also had his first mountain experience. I went up Little Cottonwood with one of my besties and hiked around. He slept through most of it while her 3 year old enjoyed all the bits of nature he could. It made me excited for that age too.
SO gorgeous! Man I miss the mountains so much. I really want to be back by them by the time Harvey can run around. I grew up in the mountains. All of our family vacations were camping somewhere or other and I LOVED that. I want Harvey to grow up loving and appreciating nature like that.
The rest of the vaca was wonderful. And Harvey did really good on the plane ride home minus one short-ish melt down. We all survived and it was still way better than driving.
