Grandma Jean

Stephen's Grandma Hutchings passed away last night. His biological grandma died before he was born so Grandma Jean has been the grandma he's known his whole life. I had the brief opportunity to get to know her for the 3 years we lived in Provo.

The Hutchings' cousins in the area had a great tradition to hold family home evening at Grandpa and Grandma's once a month. While it was difficult to coordinate student schedules I'm glad we were able to be a part of so much fun, laughter, and spiritual strength. For those who were there my favorite memories were Grandpa's prayer about horses and when Shaun played the wrong chime at the end of Silent Night. I'm sure there were a million more fun times too.

As time went on, the cousins in the area occasionally took turns (some more than others I'm sure!) helping Grandma and Grandpa get ready for bed on Sundays. It was neat to help Grandma. Even though she moved very slowly and spoke very quietly, I never felt frustrated by her because of the patience she had with HERself and her limitations. She had great reason to be depressed and cranky, but instead she was always ready with a smile and a sincere thank you. What an example of enduring to the end!

It was difficult for her to speak loudly enough for everyone to hear but every once in a while she would feel strongly about sharing one of her experiences with us. I also remember that she would give compliments and ask questions about what was going on in our lives. I loved to lean down to her chair and have a hug from Grandma Jean before leaving because of the love and acceptance I felt from her.

I'm glad Seth got to meet his great-grandparents (he has met 8 of them and we LOVE each one! )

Since this blog post will help us tell Seth about Grandma Jean someday, I wanted to include what Stephen's mom said: "My feelings are bittersweet - sad, because I will miss her and sad for my father who has lost 2 wives - but also happy for her that she is released from the infirmities she has endured so well and patiently. Thank you Mom for being such a great mom after I lost my dear mother! I love you!"

And also some of Stephen's memories: "She lived a wonderful, long life full of family and dedication to her faith. I bet some of her proudest accomplishments are her 70 or so grandchildren, opening LDS missionary work in Zaire, and her awesome seashell collection!"

This tribute wouldn't be complete without this picture, taken a few days ago, which has been understandably circulating among the Hutchings on facebook. What an example of devotion and love!

 

Spring?

February and March have been amazing. February had lows in the 40s/50s and highs in the 60s/70s and now at the end of March we see lows in the 60s and highs in the 80s nearly every day. I love the beautiful trees outside our apartment:

And so does Seth. He likes to go outside on the balcony everyday. Our balcony looks over a large undeveloped area. Seth loves the birds and stray cats and one night we even heard a group of coyotes!

We all enjoyed a spring break visit from Todd. Seth loves his Uncle and even walked around the apartment this morning saying his name and looking for him.

Stephen is very happy with his job. The guy in charge of budgeting took a new job so Stephen has taken on an expanded role and always has plenty to do. At home he's still enjoying post-school life with more free time (just finished the Leviathan series and loved it). At church he's doing lots with the young men, from teaching lessons to service projects to camp outs. 

Camp out #1:  It happened to be one of the only nights in February where the temperature dipped down to the 30s. Also it happened that Stephen's sleeping bag was accidentally used by someone else and at 1am he didn't know there were extras in someone's truck. This made for a very cold, mostly sleepless night by the fire. But all the boys thought he was awesome afterwards.

Camp out #2: Much warmer. Got a few cactus pricks and welts from paintballing. Had fun.

I am just being the Mom. Lately this has included wiping a sick nose, dealing with a little toddler separation anxiety (therefore lots of cuddles!), searching for a home to rent or buy since our short-term contract is almost up, working on a new system for organizing meals, reading, and transforming old pants into shorts.

Seth is 16 months and we love this age. He's a 100% walker now. The Haskin side of the family has noted the similarity between Seth's gait and Jack Sparrow's... which is pretty true, but he's a tall boy so I'm not surprised that he's still a little wobbly.

After repeated offenses to the computer keyboard, we decided to try a little time out. He doesn't exactly hate it, but we're consistent and it seems to be helping.

Seth owns 2 Elmo bibs, 2 Sesame Street books and has watched a few episodes of Sesame Street from the library, but it didn't take him long to LOVE "Elmos." We were excited when a guy in our ward asked if our son liked Elmo and wanted some old toys. YES!

Seth surprises us with words we didn't know he knew. He said "boos" when he saw a picture of a balloon in a book, "saaf" (soft) when he saw a pig in one of his books, and called a strawberry "apple."

Another picture post for family

When Seth was a little baby, I remember seeing 15 month old toddlers at church. They're easy to spot: running around, crawling under the pews, jabbering loudly, constantly wriggling out of their parents' grasp, throwing books and goldfish crackers... "Shouldn't he be in nursery?"

I felt afraid to have a 15 month old. And now we do! Although at times our patience is thin, we are having a great time.

$Free$ free play at a gymnastics gym

He often carries books around the house, especially when he's really interested in a particular page.

Seth loves rough housing with Dada. (notice the toy vacuum on the printer haha)

Macaulay Culkin

A few months ago I never thought Seth would be that interested in books, but now he LOVES them and also enjoys getting into his book basket.

Touring Minute Maid Park (where the Astros play) in Houston

Seth's first covered slide ride

He is loving the freedom of better walking skills

Love mama

Love dada

I knew he was being a little too quiet...

Seth learned to say "pull" after checking this book out at the library. He loved the repetition.

24 month PJs from Uncle Allen, Aunt Trina, + family (never thought he'd fit into these- what happened?!!).
 Blankets made by their daughters, Rachel and Abby. What great, young quilters!

First time falling asleep on the floor.

Wearing dad's shirt.

Can you see how much he's growing up?

At 15 months he

• weighs 24 lbs (55%tile)
• measures 33" tall (93%tile! maybe there's a reason why Uncle Todd seems to be his favorite lately)
• has a head circumference in the 90%tile.
• impresses me daily with new words such as Elmo, cccookkieee, eas- eat, baf- bath, bawf- bread/breakfast, wash, wa wa- water 
• signs all done and milk
• repeats family names Todd, Zappy, Bapa (Grandma or Grandpa), Tatie, Nate, Rissa, Tista, Lala. Poor Ben- we're still working on his name!
• says yay when we finish anything
• doesn't use a bottle, but does love his pacifier and monkeys
• walks and sleeps through the night, giving my tired mom body a huge rest
• enjoys walking around outside- thank you San Antonio spring!
• looks at books all the time
• is a pretty happy guy