Hawaii part 1

I have tried to whittle down the amount of pictures I wanted to put up here several times, so just know that there could have been A LOT more :) Oh blessed, glorious Hawaii.  It was such an amazing vacation.  The vacation evolved from my deep desire to go scuba diving again.  It had been put on hold for awhile during the trying to get and being pregnant phase the last 2 years.  So it was going to just be me and my dad and mom going to Mexico or something, but then one of the doctors I work with who lives in Hawaii said we should go there.  And when the trip got mentioned to the rest of the fam, Kathryn and Laura and Dallin jumped in too - and Dr. Martin still said it was cool if 6.2 of us crashed at his place.  So - tickets were bought in January and then it was just a waiting game.

It started out a little rocky.  I was supposed to fly Monday from Williston to Minneapolis to LA to Kona by myself.  16 hrs of traveling with Harvey, which I was very nervous about.  Well, typical of my bad flying luck, the first flight got delayed severely which meant there was no way I was going to make the last flight to Kona that night.  Instead, they switched my flights so I flew to Salt Lake that night, stayed at my parents and then was on their flight the next morning to Honolulu and then to Kona.  SOOO much better.  It was so nice to have their help with luggage, and child etc etc. AND we got to go to Ruth's diner with my inlaws so that was awesome to squeeze in a bonus meeting with them!

Just a picture of him getting ready for bed at my parents.  Too cute not to include.

 Somehow I got to change my seat to a preferred seat without an extra charge and it was right in front of my parents.  As frustrated and stressed as I was Monday morning, it could not have worked out better. I was already exhausted by the time I got to Salt Lake - Harvey did pretty good but we had a couple longer melt downs which added to my stress.  The next day went so much smoother and even though he did freak out for a minute once (after he was sleeping peacefully and a guy walked by and knocked his head so he woke up ANGRY and it took a bit to get him back to sleep), for the most part he was a trooper.  That was just the beginning of his trooper-ness.  He got dragged around that island and was expected to sleep when and where he could all week and he did awesome.  I didn't feel like he took away from the vacation for anyone (hopefully not, anyway) because of bad behavior. 

 When we saw these views coming into and leaving Oahu - the real excitement set in.  I had been nervous about Harvey for a good part of the upcoming months. Not anymore :)

 

Laura and Dallin had gotten there Monday night. When we got there Tuesday afternoon, we rented our car and drove to the place we were staying.  After getting mostly unpacked and somewhat organized, we walked down the road a bit to Tommy Bahama's Restaurant for a fancy pants first Hawaiian meal.  It was delicious!

K and I slept on the pull out couch, Laura and Dallin on a blow up mattress over by the kitchen table and Harvey on the couch cushions by us.  My parents got the bedroom :)

A 5hr time change was a little hard to get adjusted to.

The next morning Laura and my Dad and I had our scuba diving adventures. We went on a 2-tank morning dive and then came back and met Jim for lunch at a yummy Italian place, then we went back out on the boat, with Kathryn this time (who snorkeled) and had an afternoon dive and then waited till it got dark to do our night dive with the Manta Rays. My mom and Dallin and Kathryn first went to some place of refuge while we were diving and then Dallin and my mom hung around Kona for a bit and went to a beach during our night dives.

 

These are some pics from the place of refuge...

I was about to go off on how much I love diving and how awesome it all was, but this is going to be long enough.  I will shorten my passionate diatribe to just this - I LOVE diving.  We saw dolphins on the way out to the dive site which was sweet.  This was Laura's first time after getting certified and also first in the ocean, so it was pretty exciting for her too.  Visibility was amazing and we saw tons of cool things.  The afternoon dive was even cooler and then the night dive probable one of the neatest things I've ever done/seen.  There were a bunch of other dive companies, so lots of boats with their lights on over a pitch black ocean.  Then they hand you a flashlight and you jump into the abyss.  Then you go to the bottom (about 35 feet) and sit there with your lights facing up.  That attracts the plankton which is what the manta's eat. So they come along and float through the light beams with big open mouths.  Seven different rays showed up the night we did it.  They ranged from like 8-14 feet wide.  Huge, amazing creatures! It was SO amazing to just sit and watch them in their element, doing their thing.  It was kind of majestic, really.  And they would get SO close to you too! We all got bumped on the head a few times.  Kathryn got to snorkel and see them from above, and they got way close to her too.  So awesome!

 

 

 

Even though we knew they were harmless, it was still kind of unnerving seeing a huge sea creature come RIGHT towards your face with a big open mouth - toothless or not! We sat down there for like 45 minutes.  If you're ever in Kona - DO THIS! Either snorkeling or diving.  Amazing!

The next morning my dad and I did one more 2-tank morning dive, which again was awesome.  Especially since we got to see a sea turtle up close and personal.  After that we met the rest of the crew at the beach just a few minutes from where we were staying and hung out there for a few hours.  That was Harvey's first ocean experience.  He sat in the water with his toes in the sand for awhile till I think he just got a little cold. He seemed really enthralled or confused by it all - but mostly I think he loved it :)

That night we went to Waikoloa Village for dinner.  I got some awesome Thai to go and everyone else went to some cafe.  All very tasty :)

Father's Day

So Harvey started at a new babysitters this last week. Tanner and I are both really liking her so far. She sends pictures to me and is home all day and he gets lots of love and attention it seems. (Downside is he's already sick...makes him stronger, right??) Anyway, Saturday Tanner found a folder in the diaper bag that had this in it. 

I was wondering why he had blue on his feet Friday night! But I thought it was really cute and made me happy she does things with the kids (not that Harvey cares at this age anyway). But it's still nice. 

ANYWAY...that's just a side story. I really wanted to just take a quick minute...a few days late to share my feelings about fathers :)

I have an awesome dad. He's been my hero my whole life. He is a basically a perfect example of patience and long suffering. I look up to him for just about everything. Advice, counsel, problem solving, etc. I don't think there's anything he doesn't know, can't fix or can't do. He got me into running and scuba diving and triathlons, etc and has helped in so many other ways to shape who I am. I love him for that. I've definitely put him through a few ringers but I've never not felt loved by him! He is fun, funny, smart, capable, unselfish and so giving of any and all parts of himself. He is a spiritual giant and I envy his testimony and faith. He inspires me to be better and try harder and to never give up, and never surrender 😊 He would do anything for anyone at any time no matter how busy he is himself. He's bailed me out of a lot of predicaments. Anytime I call with a problem he spends so much of his own precious time to try and investigate and solve my issues. I know everyone has the "best dad ever" but he has been the best and most perfect dad for ME. I can't really adequate express my feelings and gratitude about being his daughter :)

Number 2: I was blessed with an amazing father in law!! Clare has always made me feel like part of the family from the beginning. He is so nice and I have always felt so comfortable around him. He has a great sense of humor. I love the relationship he has with his boys and I love how much he loves his grandkids. He is incredibly talented with his hands and I admire his passion for cars. I also like and appreciate his sweet tooth! I can always count on him to get in on some dessert with me :) I don't think I could have married into a better family. 

And speaking of marriage...last the best of all the game! The newest father in my life. I have a hard time writing stuff like this because I have so many feelings and thoughts that I can't even begin to cover it all. That's how I feel about Tanner. He often asks what I would do without him and it's a darn good question. He keeps my crazy in check. He takes care of me when my street smarts fall short. He's got mad street smarts. And brain smarts for that matter. He's incredibly unselfish and loves giving to people that aren't as fortunate. He's a great example to me. He makes me laugh every day and never ever makes me question how he feels about me or my ability to trust him. I love his passion for golf and baseball. There are so many wonderful things; this is only barely scratching the surface. And I didn't think it would be possible to love him more, but seeing him be a dad has exponentially increased my love and appreciation for him. He has spent a lot of evenings home alone with an often fussy baby since I've gone back to work and he still loves the kid and looks forward to more time with him. He changes LOTS of poopy diapers and has sacrificed lots of golf in the meantime. He is already exceeding all my hopes and expectations of a father.  I can't wait till he gets to teach Harvey about golf and baseball and fishing, etc. I'm grateful I have someone so much like me and yet so different in all the best ways to help raise our kid(s). I don't think Harvey or I could be luckier to have such an awesome person in our lives. 

4 months

Last week Harvey crossed another month mark.  And now this is my new favorite age :) I don't know how to say this correctly but I feel like time is passing nicely - like not too fast.  We went and visited a friend who just had a baby and even though it's only been 4 months, it was crazy to me that Harvey was ever that small.  So it is going quickly, but I feel like I am trying to savor all the moments, combined with a healthy dose of excitement for his future - so I don't feel like it's just running away from me and I'm desperate for him to stay this small. Sometimes I do want him just like this forever - but then he grows, and I want him like the next stage forever.  Maybe that doesn't make sense. Sorry. Summing up - I love him. Each day brings fun new adventures and it's so fun seeing him learn and develop little by little.

 

I kept squeezing him into his 0-3 month clothes and now that I finally am doing the 3-6, I'm finding that lots of those fit him almost snuggly.  Nuts.  He has been bubbling his lips a lot more and he usually thinks spitting with the tongue is pretty funny. He still is drooling like crazy. No evidence of teeth yet. Just lots of soppy shirts. He is seriously getting after sucking on his fingers/hands lately too.  Sometimes it's one finger, sometimes 2, and sometimes all of them.  

He loves being outside I'm finding.  At least it seems that way to me.  Which makes me happy.  I hope he grows up loving the great out doors as much as we do. We've spent a little time at the park and he's joined us on a couple golf outings. 

He's getting ever more talkative.  And lots more observant.  He loves looking at things - books, toys, babies, other kids, cereal boxes. This is him talking to the cereal box while I'm eating.

He is loving his bumbo now too.  He sits in it a lot better.  He's very grabby as well which I've noticed a significant change from the beginning of month 3 to the end.  Actually just in the last week it's really jumped up in intensity. Hair is a favorite. He likes the vibrating tooth brush.  Just about anything he can get his hands on he tries to grab and then he bends in half with mouth open to try to get it in his mouth.  He's still not very coordinated at that but his hands shake a lot less when going towards an object and he has a lot more accuracy.

He still loves the water. I had to edit the photo a bit, but his body looked SOO long to me in the tub.  Weird. He also still does funny things with his hands and body when he sleeps.

He's loving our morning runs/nap time.

His latest thing is loving to lay on his side and have a light blanket covering his face.  He'll be screaming and crying while I'm trying to get him to fall asleep and then I will flip him on his side and throw a blanket over his face and he's asleep almost immediately. He is getting closer to rolling onto his stomach too.  He kicks both legs straight up and then it propels him to the side.  (I woke up to him halfway off the couch cushions in Hawaii - on his stomach with legs draped over. Oops.  Guess we are going to have to keep a closer eye on him).

He's still not sleeping at night in his crib.  He still wakes up about every 3 hours to eat and his room is far away.  And it would probably seem even farther at 2 am. We need a monitor too. So he's still in the lounger which is fine although he's getting almost too long for it.

He's also really liking his bouncer seat.  His legs are still a titch bit short to give him some good bouncing action but he is more entertained by it and for longer than the first time we tried it out.

The day of his 4 month "birthday" he gave me this present...

He looks so innocent.  He was sitting in that chair while I was getting last minute stuff together to drop him off at the babysitters and for me to head to work.  I picked him up out of his chair and brought him to my face to kiss him and felt like a river of wetness.  Poop just poured out of his pant leg.  What the heck?! It was dripped all over me; all over the table; all over him, obviously.  SICK. I set him back down to gather my thoughts and figure out a game plan to get this all cleaned up and he just smiled and kicked his feet in it. Such a mess.  I was an hour late to work after getting cleaned up and him to the babysitter, etc. Definitely his best to date.

Even with all those "fun" aspects of parenting - I can't believe how much joy having a kid brings.  I'd clean up quite a few more of those nastie's before thinking about sending his cute self back!