Tate 5 Months

 Tate hit his 5 month mark on April 11th. Here are a few things about Tate at this age:

First of all, he is the best baby ever! My goodness, he is such an easy going, happy child. I hope he stays this way because it's pretty great. 

He nurses at 7 am, 10:30 am, 2:30 pm, 6:30 pm, and 10:00 pm. He also just barely started rice cereal and so far he's loving it. He still spits up tons, but I think it's a bit less than last month?

He sleeps from 10:30 pm to 7 am. (Sometimes he wakes up at 5:45 am when Josh is leaving for work, but Josh just gives him his pacifier and then he'll go back to sleep until the girls and I wake up at 7 am). He takes one long nap in the morning and then two other naps while Bryn is at school and then in the late afternoon. We still swaddle him every time he sleeps/naps, but he's starting to break out of his swaddle so I don't know how much longer we'll continue the swaddling.

 He smiles all the time and has such a pleasant demeanor. He has a cute little laugh that is usually brought on by something Bryn or Mya does. He rolls from his tummy to his back occasionally, and from his back to his tummy constantly. Every time we lay him on his back to change his diaper or dress him he immediately flips over to his belly, which is so hysterical to his sisters because they think he's trying to be mischievous on purpose. He outgrew his baby bath, so now he takes baths in the regular tub, laying on a hand towel with just an inch or two of warm water. He loves his bath and kicks his little legs furiously in the water. He has two teeth on the bottom that have officially popped all the way through the gums. He has just grown out of his 6 month clothes, so now he wears 9 month or 6-12 month clothes. 

This cute little face makes me smile all day long.

And now, for the comparison: Bryn, Mya, and Tate at 5 months old. 

Utah

 All of my siblings were in town together for about 72 hours for my grandma's funeral services. It was so great to be together that weekend! Josh still had a week of "paternity" time from Tate's birth that he hadn't taken yet, so we decided to take that time off and stay in Utah for the week after the funeral. We had such a great time with our families and friends.

Pictured above is my dad's first time meeting his two newest grandchildren, Tate and Emma, both born out of state. 

 Bryn loooooves babies and was in heaven to have not one but two babies to play with.

 Tate really is such a smiley baby. You don't have to do much to get a good smile or giggle out of him.

 Two of Bryn's favorite things in Utah: climbing trees at my parent's house and eating my mom's homemade bread.

 Dying Easter eggs

 Mya's hands were green for a few days afterwards!

 Singing songs at the piano with grandma

 We checked out the new-ish Museum of Natural Curiosity and we loved it. It's hard to see, but Bryn is pictured above climbing that rope bridge. She ran around like a wild woman and had the best time. Mya was much more cautious, but she enjoyed herself, too. 

Smiles from Mr. Tate

 Josh loves science museums, so he was having as much fun as the kids :)

 That awkward moment when you and your sister head off to church wearing embarrassingly similar outfits...

 Jordy Jord

 Lots and lots and lots of dress-ups

 Snuggles with Grandpa

It was such a wonderful trip.

After a long winter and the sadness of Grandma Tueller's passing, it was so nice to be with family. I always leave Utah feeling so recharged. I wish we saw our families and friends in Utah more often, but I'm grateful for the times we do get to see them. My kids are still talking about this Utah trip every day- luckily, we'll be back there in just a few months!

Utah: Visiting Grandpa Tueller

A few days after Grandma's funeral we drove down to Provo to visit my dear Grandpa Tueller.

 We were joined by Aunt Margaret, Diana, and Ollie. 

 The three musketeers playing upstairs in the game room.

 Oh, this moment was so dear to me. Brynlee has had a tradition of reading with Grandma Tueller every time we come to Utah. Bryn and I were a little sad that there wouldn't be a reading session with Grandma this time, but Grandpa was so sweet to step right in and take Grandma's place. Grandpa asked Bryn to read him something cheerful, so Bryn read jokes from an old elephant joke book. It was so sweet to see them reading together and to hear Grandpa chuckling at the jokes. 

 It's always a treat to spend time with Diana!

She took the photos of the girls below... 

 One of my girls' favorite things about Grandma Tueller's house is the "bridge to nowhere" in the backyard. One of the first things Bryn said when she heard Grandma had died was "Oh no! Now she'll never be able to tell us where that bridge leads to!" (It's just a decorative bridge that leads to a pile of ivy!)

I love these two!

It was a little hard being in Grandma's house without her. She is so missed! But I'm so grateful to have spent a little time with Grandpa Tueller, who we all love so much.

Easter

 Tate's first Easter!

 We were in Utah for Easter and it was wonderful. Easter was on the same day as LDS General Conference, so we got together with Josh's family on Sunday morning to have breakfast and watch the morning session of conference together. The Hawkins tradition for conference is to make my Mother-in-law's famous "griddle cakes". Josh is a griddle cake pro, so he volunteered to make them for everyone this time. Yum!

 Tate, 5 months, and Winston, 10 months, are the youngest grandkids (#29 and #30) and I'm sure they'll be good buddies down the road. 

 Cousins! It makes me so happy to see Bryn and Mya running around with the sweet cousins that they only get to see once or twice a year. They are so lucky to have so many great cousins as playmates.

 Three of my wonderful sister-in-laws: Becky, Rindi, and Jess

 In the afternoon we had a simple Easter egg hunt for Bryn and Mya in my parent's backyard.

 Brynlee proudly found a "real Easter egg" and it was cool for about 2 seconds until we realized she had the "yoke" of the egg all over her hands. Yuck. After a good hand-washing we resumed the egg hunt.

 Easter dinner with my parents and Logan 

Tate's first time meeting his Clarke great-grandparents

Later than evening we went to my Clarke grandparent's new home in Alpine and got together with all my Clarke extended family. We had our annual General Conference discussion (I hadn't been to one of these gatherings in years!) and it was so great to share what we learned from conference and to catch up with everyone. 

Grandma Tueller's Funeral

My sweet Grandma Tueller passed away on March 22nd. What a bittersweet time for our family. I am so sad that she's gone, but so grateful she is free from the pain of cancer. What a remarkable woman! 

We flew out for her funeral and it was a wonderful, inspiring weekend honoring her and celebrating her full life.

My dear Grandpa Tueller at the viewing on Friday evening

The girls with Jae and Amy

The second viewing on Saturday morning.

It was wonderful to visit with so many family members and good family friends. Funerals are so sad, but also such a strengthening time for families. 

 The funeral service was so incredible. I was really sad and teary, but I also felt so full of love and gratitude that I am blessed to be a part of Grandma Tueller's family. She lived such a wonderful life and I am more inspired than ever to be like her.

 Bryn and Mya with some of their second cousins

It's always a treat to be with my sister Marie

Two of my very favorite people

 After the funeral we drove to the Orem city cemetary for the graveside service. It was a beautiful spring day - so fitting of Grandma's warmth and radiance!

 After the service, the children let off colorful balloons "up to heaven" for Grandma Tueller. Grandma was always a woman of color, so the bright balloons were very fitting. 

 All the great-grandchildren placed flowers on the casket. 

 It was a really tender moment.

My family (minus my brother-in-law Devin and nephew Braden).

We live spread out across the country now, so it's always so great to be together - even if it's just for a weekend.

My cousins Diana and Cara

I love this man so much!

 Uncle Mark and Tate

 My mom's siblings. What a great bunch.

 Following the graveside service we ended the day with a family luncheon back at the church. 

(When did Logan become so much taller than me!?)

We shared memories about grandma and then grandpa gave some great remarks. 

 Grandma Tueller's portrait from when she was BYU homecoming queen years ago.

This post was just to document the funeral services, but I'll probably end up doing a separate post on my sweet grandma. I couldn't have asked for a more amazing woman to call grandma.
*Most of these pictures are from my cousin Diana, who was so awesome to photograph the whole weekend!