Ben is Officially 2

Ben had the fun zoo visit for his birthday but that night I had to tutor so there was no celebrations that day. That night I finally built one of his presents (go me!) so when he woke up the next morning we had him open our gifts to him. He had after all been officially two for a day now, he deserved to open them. He was pretty cute about it. He enjoyed posing with the wrapped gifts and was very open to lots of help from his big brother. However, his big brother felt because of that help he was entitled to all of Ben's gifts....

That evening we had Ben's party with the family. My friend Katrin and my other friend Rebekka happened to be in town so they stopped by too which was a fun surprise.  I didn't deck things out like I did with Steven's party nor were there any games but thanks to Rebecca Brady's homemade pizza it was a smashing success! If only Ben felt that way too....He is still on a hunger strike and didn't eat any pizza and he wasn't too in love with the singing part. Just like his last party he burst into to tears and wailed throughout the song. It took a few presents before his spirits lifted and smiles were to be seen again. Steven was nice enough, once again, to help with the opening (and the playing of the presents).

Rebecca's AMAZING pizza

Ben loves the movie "Wall-E" (or as he says "Lale") so his daddy made him a Ben-E cake- version 2.0

No singing yet so the boy's still happy

But then the loud Hatch Family bursts into song and....

Still too upset to blow out his own candles so Steven & his cousin, Bryson, have to help him out

Still unsure about this whole party thing- what's going to come out of that bag!?

Finally feeling better

I can't believe my Bennie boy is not a baby anymore! I love that little man, drama and all! 

The Zoo!

My friend Karen has a membership to the zoo and invited us to go with her and her kids on Ben's birthday. We couldn't pass up a free day to the zoo, especially on Ben's birthday, so of course we went!

I am so glad we did! The boys had a good time with friends (and animals) and the weather was nice. They loved playing in the play house there, hearing the tiger roar and sitting down by a monkey with only a glass in between. The orangutan was super cute as it pulled in palm leaves and cuddled in it's blanket. And Chaparral's First Grade happened to be there at the same time as us so I got to see an old student of mine and my old co-workers. That was a fun coincidence! 

We did have a rough patch at one point but Jenny Smith (another friend that came with Karen) saved the day. She gave Ben a lollipop and Steven a fruit snack and they were both pacified. And then the rest of the trip went smoothly. All and all a fantastic outing to the zoo!

The birthday boy

Best buddies- Steven and Colin

A visit with a monkey ("mommy it kissed me!")

The lollipop that saved the day

Boys will be boys

Ben smiling at pretty Oakley Smith

Ben used his birthday money from his Great Grandma and Grandpa to get a new "baby" He picked an owl which was very Harry Potter like of him. He also got yet another lollipop and was nice enough to get Steven a lollipop too.

A New Shirt

Can you read my new shirt?

(Shiver me timbers! I'm going to be a big brother!)

I have been delaying posting this because I know I have more than family that reads this and I did have some complications with my last pregnancy but I stink at keeping secrets PLUS this is my "journal" and I shouldn't keep secrets from my journal right!? But please friends, I am not ready for a Facebook sort of spread so no sharing would be appreciated.

ANYWAYS, I am 9 weeks along and sometimes I think I must be insane. I was SO set against having another one anytime soon, I was much thinking I would have sort of a "second" family in a couple years due to finances and the overall craziness of the 2 I already have. But geeze, when Heavenly Father wants you to have another one, he doesn't let your own fears stand in the way very long and I know for a surety that I am doing what I am supposed to and I know it will be ok.

And now for the baby stories that I have desperately wanted to share. 

#1: The Test: The first test I took showed a very faint line in the plus sign so Tyler was not convinced, I was though. It wasn't until I bought a digital one that said "pregnant" that he would finally get excited. This was the earliest I had ever found out though, I was only like 3 weeks along.

#2: Breaking the news to my family: I had Ben wear the above shirt to family dinner. I thought that would he a fun way to let them know but apparently my family doesn't read shirts for understanding. My dad, read it aloud and then moved on- no comprehension at all! After a full hour and no congratulations, my brother Mike finally read it- saw the Capt. Ben part and went "Wait a minute...!" They weren't as thrilled as I had hoped-- my mom saw more kids to watch & my dad worries about our finances but I'm happy, so there ;)

#3: Oops I did it again!: So we weren't going to tell his family until about now BUT just like with Ben, I was blatantly asked by someone in his family if I was pregnant (Thanks a lot Steven for telling Keshia "Mommy's going to have a baby at Halloween/Christmas") And because I stink at hiding things I turned bright red and the truth was out (again-just like last time- you'd think I'd have learned how to keep a secret by now...).

#4: Steven: Steven is pretty excited about me having a baby. Originally he was convinced it was a girl. When he heard me talking to my brother and expressing excitement that they were having a boy he shouted. "No mommy, you're having a girl!" But now he's convinced it is a boy. He has also decided that it will be called Jayden. That's my fault, though. We are all set on girl's names but if it's a boy we've got no idea. I have been throwing boy names out there and this was one that Steven just can't let go of. Too bad, I have decided against it. But regardless of name or gender, Steven can't wait to have it sit by him in the van so he can touch it's head "and then he'll be happy." My goofy boy.

This Friday I finally get to go visit my new doctor (which was tricky to get into, I got quite the interview before they set up an appointment) and I am super excited to hopefully hear that heartbeat. I am also super excited to finally be at an OBGYN close to home, that isn't supposed to have long wait time and that is positive about me having a VBAC. And despite the nausea and tiredness and my new found lack of patience, life is good :)

Nothing But Fun.

This week has been a little nuts. Breezy left us Tuesday morning, as previously posted, and then I subbed for a Kindergarten class Wed, Thurs & Fri (plus I had tutoring Wed & Thurs night). Let's just say by Friday afternoon I was exhausted. Kindergarten teachers are very special people and I seriously idolize them. I don't know how they do it. 27 needy kids with small attention spans and no aides to help was just too much for me. 

But before I began my crazy work week I did share some fun moments with my boys. We did a little crafting and my boys are quite the artists. Steven did some excellent dots with his water colors and Ben loved showing me his phenomenal play-doh creations ;)

 

After all the work I did this week, I was able to reward myself with a little getaway with Tyler. We went and saw a "Fun." concert in Tucson. The lead singer was in a band that I was a bit obsessed with in my college years.I think this concert may have just restarted my obsession....It was WAY too much "fun". And seeing how we are getting old, we much appreciated that there was balcony sitting so that we didn't have to stand for the entire night squished together like sardines.

After the Fun. concert we stayed at a hotel and then the next morning we were able to have breakfast with my friend, Katrin, who lives in Tucson and her husband, Todd and their daughter Anika. It was nice to have time to visit with her and her little family. 

We then headed back home and saw "The Hunger Games" with Mike & Rebecca and my cousin Fred & Damon. It was a great movie and I think it did justice to the books. Afterwards, we went to Red Robins with Mike & Rebecca and then picked up some Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for the Saint (aka Mariah) that watched our children all weekend.

It was literally a fun little escape and worth every penny! 

Company

My cousin Breezy, her hubby Josh and her 2 boys, William and Richard, came to visit us St.Patrick Day weekend. It was great to have them here. Unfortunately, we had to abandon them their first full day at our home. We left them to attend Tyler's Great Aunt Ruth and Great Uncle Gerald's funeral in Snowflake. The funeral was nicely done and his Great Aunt & Uncle had much family and friends in attendance. It was amazing to have their son and daughter-in-law attend the funeral as well, they had been in the same plane crash and it was truly miraculous that they survived. As always I cried, it never seems to matter how well I know someone, the spirit is always strong. I do know that we will see them again and that I will have the opportunity to get to know them better.


The next day we went to church and then spent the afternoon with Breezy and her fam at my parent's house. I absolutely love hanging out with family. It's my favorite way to spend a Sunday.


Monday morning they hung out with me and Ben (Steven was at pre-k) and then they went out for the afternoon while my boys napped. When they came be back I made them dinner and again, more much loved socializing. 


I think though, that Steven was probably the saddest when they left Tuesday morning. He and William got along so well, and they even had a "sleepover" in his room. He kept insisting that William should stay and it reminded me a lot of how Breezy and I used to be when we had to part ways after summer fun. I love that!


I, as usual, failed to take pictures but I did steal this picture of them off Facebook. 

A Steven Centered Post (I Still Love You Too Ben)

What do you do if you don't have the money to go on a trip? You go watch other people leave on theirs! This past Saturday I took Steven on the Light Rail to Sky Harbor so we could do some plane watching and I managed to enlist my brother and his wife to come with me on this adventure. Tyler had to stay behind to plumb but was kind enough to take Ben plumbing with him (Ben generally doesn't do so well with traveling places). 

I was worried that we'd get to the airport and Steven would get bored after watching one plane take off. Thankfully, that was not the case at all. Steven had a blast watching the planes. He was totally enthralled and we spent a good amount of the morning there, traipsing back and forth across the roof top gazing at all the airport sights. It was a way fun way to spend a morning.

Steven and mommy waiting for the "train" (aka Light Rail)

Steven with his favorite Uncle (and me)

 Cutie pie Mecca (you can't even tell she's pregnant without seeing her tummy)

From serious to the goober he really is!

Funny Steven:

- Steven and Ben were driving me crazy so I told them I was taking them back! Steven said, "Back in your tummy?" I said, "Yes!" And Steven said, "But I don't want to be a seed in your tummy again!" 

- During Sharing Time in Primary, a stuffed cow was being passed around and if you were holding it when the music stopped you had to tell a way that you followed the Prophet. That stuffed cow landed on Steven and after a prompt from his teacher ("help your mom") Steven declared, "Help my mom feed the cows" 

- After reading Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs for the millionth time Steven declared that he wanted food to rain from the sky. I explained that God is the one in charge of that stuff. So he then said a prayer, "Dear Heavenly Father. Thanks you for this day. God will you please rain food- like broccoli, carrots, apples..." (He really did ask for it to rain all that healthy stuff) Then as he was laying down for nap he kept making comments that he thought he heard food hitting the roof. That kid has strong faith :)

More Steven fun this past week: making pink pancakes (not my choice, his), seeing a dust devil (which he calls a "tomato" ) and painting with his cousin:

Hatch Tidbits

Thanks to Pinterest I made two easy & cheap toys for Steven. I was amazed at how entertaining he found these simple things. The first one was made of popsicle sticks with magnets. He loved making shapes, letters, rocket ships, whatever with them:

The second one was made from cut up sponges. These were used to build towers, tunnels for his cars and they were used liked dominoes:

Today we used Steven's "shaving" kit that he got for his birthday during bath time. He had a great time shaving his chin and chest. Ben enjoyed shaving pretty much his whole body.

I love that my boys love books. Lately they have been hanging out in Ben's room before nap time or after bath time and making a complete mess. But I let them because once they take down all the books, they "read" them. And I just love watching them study the pictures from the books and smile.

This past week we made green cookies in celebration of March. They have been enjoying them all week as noted below. 

I love all of Ben's silly phrases. With the toy above, he loves to say "Snap!" when the cars get in the snakes mouth. He also joins in Steven's competitiveness and will shout, "I beat you!" when we get to the top of the stairs (even when he clearly didn't beat him). Equally cute (although sometimes annoying) is his need to say "Ow" when anything hits something else- he crashes his car, "Ow!" His "baby" (aka his green bunny doll) falls, "Ow!" He drops his spoon "Ow!" It is truly his favorite word of the moment.