Changes

Last week we had a change in our weather...

A couple inches of snow shut down the entire city of Seattle the few days before Thanksgiving. That was good for us because it meant that Evan stayed home from work Tuesday and Wednesday and so we...

decorated the Christmas tree, the day before Thanksgiving. I've always thought it's "proper" to wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate the tree, but it just seemed like the right thing to do since we were all home and snowed in. I love being snowed in...there's something about being "trapped" at home that makes it okay to stay in your jammies until noon and drink large amounts of hot chocolate. It was splendid! :-)

On Wednesday another change occurred at our house. Lauren and I ventured out into the snow to get her hair cut. I had gone back and forth on whether to cut bangs for her because her hair grows straight forward from the crown of her head. It drives me crazy. I try and comb it to the side, but it's so straight and wispy that it just hangs down in front of her eyes. Hence, I considered the bang option and in the end went with it. Here is the result:

What do you think? It's definitely growing on me. The morning after I almost cried because it just didn't seem right, but now I can honestly say I like it. It helps that she's so darn cute. Love this girl! :-)

Thanksgiving day was spent at Grandma's house with lots of Hatch relatives. It was such a fun day and Grandma made an amazing dinner for all 25 of us. While Grandma was busy cooking the mashed potatoes Sam and Daddy made a snowman on her front lawn. Sam LOVED it and thought his snowman was the coolest thing ever...and it was.

Meanwhile it's officially Christmas time at our house. I love this time of year. I feel such gratitude for Jesus Christ and the mercy He extends to all of us. I'm always trying to tell Sam that when we mess up or if things don't go the way we want them to we have to just "try again" and we can always "do better next time." I'm learning that I need to listen to my own advice. I'm humbled by this and grateful for the Savior who makes it possible to "try again" and "do better next time".

A Sunday Stroll

This afternoon something very exciting happened at our house...it snowed! :-) The snow didn't stick to the ground, but Sam was not to be deterred from being outside. So, Evan being the amazing daddy that he is took Sam on a walk around our neighborhood in the freezing cold...for an entire hour!! He sent me this picture that he took with his phone. It's classic Sam. He wanted to wear a hat and only this sun visor would do. I guess sun visors go well with puffy jackets, especially when you're three. Of course he had to push his baby "Judah" in the stroller (there's a kid in his preschool class named Judah. I think that's why he named his baby this). And of course there's the stick he picked up along the way that turned out to be a great walking stick. Walking stick in one hand and the stroller in the other. I love it. I love that he had such a fun time being himself outside in the cold. I love my little boy and all the quirks that come with being three years old! :-)

Halloween 2010

In case you are wondering, Sam is an elephant and Lauren is a lion. ;-)

This year's main Halloween event was our ward's annual "Trunk-or-Treat!" Both kids were very tired and equally as grumpy right before we left for the party...so much so that Evan and I thought about putting them to bed and watching a movie downstairs with our big bag of Halloween candy from Costco. But we decided against it and put both kids in the car (without their costumes on) and left. At the church we coerced them each into their costumes (as long as there were no hats/hoods that had to be worn they were okay).

They both ended up having a great time (although we couldn't get either of them to smile for the camera). Who wouldn't have a great time in a parking lot full of friends with a big bucket of candy?!?

Later that night Evan and Sam lit our jack-o-lanterns. Sam thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Love this picture of Sam with his Daddy. :-)

The Pumkin Farm

This week I took Sam to the pumpkin farm with his preschool class. We had such fun and I was so glad that it was just him and me (thanks, Natalie!). I took a few good pictures, but none in the actual pumpkin patch. Darn. I was too busy trying to convince Sam that ALL the pumpkins were dirty and that we'd have to wash it when we got home. He was determined to find a small, CLEAN with no dirt on it, orange pumpkin. No such luck. I finally convinced him that we could wash it at home and he chose a pumpkin. It helped that the tractor/hay ride was pulling up and everyone was lining up to get back on.

Double the Pleasure, Double the Fun!

So, remember when I mentioned in my last post that I bought a second baby and stroller for Sam. Well, I think we've already got our money's worth. Sam and Lauren been having a great time chasing each other around while pushing their babies around the house.

The other night they were especially having a good time with their favorite new activity (pushing strollers). I thought it was hillarious so I got out the camera. Well, as soon as Lauren saw the camera she didn't move and would only stand there and say, "Cheese!" She's such a funny girl. It's been fun to see her personality shine a little more the last little while. I think preschool has helped. The poor girl is constantly in Sam's shadow and now that he's in preschool three mornings a week she gets a little time to herself.

Happy Birthday!

 Last Wednesday (September 22nd) was Lauren's birthday...she's 2 years old!! Evan is super busy at work so we picked him up for a few hours and drove over to Gasworks Park to celebrate. It was a beautiful day and so much fun!

For her birthday Lauren got a baby and a stroller. Wow...I had no idea what kind of a hit this would be. She loved it! I was so happy! Funny side note: Sam also loved the baby and the stroller. Let's just say that by Saturday he had *his* own baby and stroller. I never thought I would do that...buy two of the same toy, but sometimes sanity doesn't have a price tag. :-)

 We had cupcakes with lots of yummy frosting. Sam ate so much that he got a little sick. It's funny because now if his tummy feels sick it's because he ate "too much cupcakes."

 They had cupcakes at preschool this week for someone else's birthday. He made sure to tell me that he didn't eat "too much cupcakes" and he didn't get sick. Phew! :-)

 Lauren loved her stroller and baby so much that she just pushed and pushed it all around Gasworks Park. It was hillarious. The funniest part was that she wouldn't push it on any of the paved paths, just all over the grassy parts.

 She also loved looking at her cards or "papers" as she calls them. She'd push her stroller for a while and then plop down in the grass and read her "papers."

It was also Evan's birthday this week (September 21st). On his actual birthday the poor guy worked the entire day. I think he left home around 6 am and didn't get home until 9:30 pm. We made sure to listen to Earth Wind and Fire's classic song "September" before we went to bed and he did open have a few presents to open.

We had an impromptu birthday party for Evan Friday night. It was so fun! I think we had almost 20 adults here and who knows how many kids. We just ate pizza and had cake. We feel blessed to have so many great friends here in Shoreline and a place big enough to have them all here at once. A fun night!

First Day of Preschool

This past Wednesday was Sam's first day of preschool. Can you believe it?! I know it's just preschool, but it's hard to believe that he's old enough to be attending school of any kind. He goes to preschool at the Shoreline Covenant Church. I'm super impressed with the school and teachers. His teachers' names are Miss Katie and Miss Sarah. Miss Katie has been teaching preschool there for 15 years and she's really good with the kids. Sam loves her. I love her. I think it's a good fit. ;-)

Funny story: On Thursday when I went to pick Sam up he was walking in a line with his class in the hallway back to his classroom. Later when I asked him what he did at school one of the things he told me was he walked in a line...just like in Make Way For Ducklings! So funny! I love that he made the connection from walking in a line to one of his favorite books. Anyway, so far Sam loves going to preschool! Yeah! I knew he would just eat the whole experience up. I'm so thankful he can go this year. Three cheers for preschool!! :-)

Ouch!

Yesterday on our way into the YMCA Lauren tripped and hit her head against the corner of a concrete stair. OUCH!! It gave her quite a gash in her forehead and we had to take her to Children's Hospital to get some stitches. Because we were at the YMCA they had to call an EMT and we had to let them drive us to the hospital in the ambulance. It was all a little traumatizing for Lauren, but I have to admit a little exciting for me. :-) Despite the trauma, Lauren was quite the little trooper and handled it all like a pro. Here are some pictures I took (with my cell phone) to prove it.

In the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Ouch!

Waiting to have the stitches done. The green "princess" band (that's what they called it) is holding the anesthetic to the wound to numb it. I think she looks more like a little Indian, especially with her hair (feather) sticking straight up.

This whole trip to the E.R. was a little bit of a Déjà vu experience for me. We went through the exact same thing with Sam two years ago almost to the day. Crazy!

Vacation 2010: Cannon Beach

We spent five fabulous days at Cannon Beach in Oregon with Evan's family this month. We had such a great time playing in the sand at the beach, flying kites, cooking foil dinners and having S'mores on the beach, going for lots of walks on the beach, visiting Hug Point, gazing at Haystack Rock from the balcony of our hotel room, playing in the hotel pool, eating clam chowder from Mo's, and visiting Bruce's Candy Kitchen (my personal favorite). We especially loved the opportunity to be with family doing all of these fun things! It was a GREAT vacation!

Lauren was a little unsure of the sand. It took her a while to get used to it. Both my kids don't like their feet or hands to get dirty. They certainly don't get that little quirk from me...that would be ALL Evan! :-)

Sam discovered he could make an endless amount of roads for his Lightning McQueen car. He loved driving them around on the sand.

Haystack Rock...Sam got so excited everytime he saw this (which was often). He kept telling us how HUGE it was. It's not big, it's HUGE! :-)

Sam playing with Uncle Brian. He had a great time playing with him...Thanks, Uncle Brian!

Uncle Brian just got home from his mission to Atlanta, GA.

I love this picture. Sam was sad about something and I snapped this picture as Evan was comforting him. Very sweet.

So tired! Lauren fell asleep as we were packing up to come home.

Summer

I haven't blogged in a while...sorry. My only excuse is that we've been busy. I know, that's a pretty lame excuse. "Summer" has been a little scarce it seems here in the northwest, but we've had a few warm and sunny days. It's funny what I think is "hot" now, after living here in Seattle for a few years. Yesterday it was about 79 degrees with 45% humidity and I thought it was HOT. Thankfully, Mother Nature kicked on her air conditioning again and we're back to a little cloudy and 57 degrees this morning. Phew! :-) Anyway, here are a few pics from our SUMMER 2010!

Kids playing at Richmond Beach Park. They love to go here and throw rocks in the water, especially Sam.

Like I said, we have had a few really HOT days. We've enjoyed a couple trips to the wading pools in the neighborhood.

I love this picture of Sam with his little friend Marie. Marie is moving soon...we're going to miss her! :-)

We had a neighborhood barbecue the other night and the sheriff showed up for the fun. He was nice enough to let my two little kiddos sit on his motorcycle for a bit. They LOVED it!

We recently took a trip to the local fire safety station with friends in our ward. Sam especially loved this trip. It was hard to get him to take off his fire jacket when it was time to go home.

Sam with his buddy Josh. Too cute.

Family Fun

Tonight for FHE the activity was playing Simon Says. The kids are so cute when we play this game. I especially love to watch Lauren try and jump when Simon says to jump. We sure love our kids and love being a family.

The kids have been having a little fun in the bathtub lately. :-)

Sam's Potty Training Story

Where to begin? I guess I'll start with just saying how much I love this little boy and how sincerely proud I am of him. He's is successfully on the path of being diaper and pull-up free. Yeah! Yeah! Such a big boy!

Here's the story (I would stop reading here if you don't want the gory details):

Sam has been ready for a few months now to potty train, but I've been the lazy one. Let's be honest...diapers are just way easier and the idea of potty training really overwhelmed me. Call me a pessimist, but in my mind potty training meant loads of frustration and staying home for two weeks straight. Yikes! I like to be out and about with my kids so the idea of staying home with them both for two weeks made me a little crazy even thinking about it. Well, my friend recommended this method (potty training in THREE days) and I jumped on it. You mean I only have to do this for three days and you say it will work? Sign me up. Evan and I both read the short e-book and picked our three days and went for it...full throttle. Evan even took a day off of work (Friday of last week). I'm so glad he did because I really don't think I could have done it by myself, especially the first day.

How did Sam do? Simply put...AWESOME!

Day #1: Sam helps me throw all his pull-ups away in the trash because he is a big boy now and big boys don't wear pull-ups or diapers. He really bought into this idea of being a big boy. It worked like a charm. We started and he had a few accidents in the morning, but then was dry the rest of the day. Yeah! :-) He did poop in his underwear. Sigh. But I can't expect a full miracle on the first day, so we're proud of him and hopeful this is going to work.

Day #2: One accident in the middle of the day, the rest of the day dry as a bone. :-) No poop...he's holding it in. Lovely.

Day #3: He poops in his underwear before church, but no other accidents the whole day. We even went to church and he stayed dry the entire time. Yeah! Yeah! So proud!

Day #4: Normal life resumes...we go to the gym (no accidents) and to McDonald's with some friends (no accidents). He takes a 2 1/2 hour nap (no accidents). Then tonight he pooped in the toilet...ALL BY HIMSELF! We were sitting at the dinner table and he announces he has to go potty and wants privacy and to do it by himself :-). We say okay and he goes trotting off to the bathroom. The next thing we know he's screaming, "I went poop in the toilet! I went poop in the toilet!" WOW! We were so excited and proud! I wanted to call everyone I know and tell them (instead I'll just blog about it). Sam just wanted to call Grandma and Grandpa and his cousin Malachi because in his mind Malachi is his very best friend and the coolest kid in the world. Anyway, it was a very fun moment. :-)

Here are a few cute things Sam has said while potty training:

"Mommy, the pee-pees are trying to get on my underwear..."

"Mommy, my penis said it needs to go pee..."

Sam: Mommy, Did you go poop today too?
Me: Yes, Sam...I did.
Sam: I'm so proud of you mommy! :-)



There is one minor issue that Evan and I just hope goes away. When Sam is bored (like in sacrament meeting or when he's trying to fall asleep on a day when he had a 2 1/2 hour nap) he tells us he has to go to the bathroom literally every 3-5 minutes. What do you do? You have to take him. We're not sure what to do about this and just hoping he stops doing it. On Sunday it was fast and testimony meeting and I don't think I heard one testimony. I must have taken him to the potty 10 times. No joke. And tonight Evan probably took him to the bathroom every 5 minutes for about two hours (I was gone). Yikes. Anyone have any advice?

All in all I have to say that potty training has been a positive experience. Not even close to being the beast I thought it might be. Thank goodness!

Memorial Day 2010

We had a great Memorial Day as a family. The day started with this...

Evan took Sam to the cemetary near our house early Monday morning to help distribute flags to all the burial sites of those who died while in military service.

This was right up Sam's alley...He loves flags AND lining things up in rows. As you can see he thoroughly enjoyed himself!

Mostly Sam just loves his Daddy and spending one on one time with him.

Later in the day we went to a great barbecue at Grandma H's house complete with lots of fun relatives and yummy food. After the barbecue we went to the cemetary where Grandpa H is buried. We tried to tell the kids about Grandpa H, but all they wanted to do is chase eachother around the cemetery. 

All in all a GREAT day together! Wish we had these sorts of days more often!