Spring Break

I started off Spring Break trying to be a super fun mom! We painted, we hiked, we went to the library and the playground but by Wednesday, I was SO over being a super fun mom. 

The paintings turned out cute but only because my OCD self couldn't handle their swirly painting in of shapes and had to take over at times. It literally pained me to not be in control, I have issues... 

The hike was super awesome because we saw wild turkeys and heard them gobble and Steven was convinced they were responding to his gobbles...But it wasn't awesome because Benny whined the whole walk back and Lucy insisted on being carried back and Steven, of course, was not happy about leaving.

The playground wasn't even a little fun because Lucy decided to throw a tantrum over the fact there were no swings for her and the tantrum lasted the ENTIRE time.

SO on Wednesday, I said to myself, "Self, let's go nowhere and plan nothing and see how that goes." And my self agreed.

And this is how it went. My kids blew bubbles in the back yard and played with side walk chalk and made up games in which Steven bought gas from me and then took Benny and Lucy on wagon tours of our backyard and garage...

And they even decided on their own to make some paper bag puppets in which all I had to do was print something off and then they did the rest...

And I was also able to finish a book in two whole days because they pretty much entertained themselves. So Wednesday and Thursday were lovely days.

Then Friday came. On Friday we were invited by some church friends to go to the Detroit Zoo and since I want to make friends and I want my kids to make friends, we went. And I really did enjoy socializing with super nice adults BUT I did not enjoy the drama my children put me through. There was a reason I had decided to stop going places on previous days- I think I am just not as adept as I used to be with taking all three kids out in public by myself.

Benny and Lucy could never decide on whether they wanted to be in or out of the wagon. When Lucy was out it was so hard to keep track of her while keeping track of Steven who kept running off ahead with his friends. And then near the end Lucy just lost it, but in her defense it was past bedtime. SO I ended up pulling all 3 kids in the wagon, as quickly as possible from one side of the very long zoo to the other. There were definite moments where I thought I was going to collapse and even in this beautiful 60 degree weather, I was sweating up a storm. They were quite the load. 

But the kids had fun making new friends- so though it felt deathly awful at the end- it was worth it I suppose....

And today we ventured out again, not because I was feeling braver, but because it's Saturday and Tyler's home and everything is much easier when you have your husband. So we went to an Easter egg hunt at a park. The lines were crazy to do anything (like face paint or sit with the creepy Easter bunny) but the actual Easter egg hunt was perfect. They had the kids line up around the edges of the field and then let them loose. It was so fun to watch Steven dashing around in attempt to get as many eggs as possible. Tyler went with Benny and Lucy and apparently Lucy had absolutely no interest in picking up the eggs and Benny was very thoughtful and careful with each egg he got. 

Also this week I got my secondary ultrasound (since Penny was not cooperating the first time) and got some more fun picture of her. She is quite the poser, with her hand on cheeks and then later covering her face. Everything is still checking out well for her so at this point my 2 vessel umbilical cord doesn't seem to be affecting her:

Blessed

Do you ever feel like you are just too blessed? Does that sound silly? Lately I have been feeling extremely blessed. It is not always easy to care for one very emotional boy, one very strong willed boy and one crazy little monkey/toddler but I still feel so blessed that I get to be there for them. That I am the one raising them day in and day out. That this is my sole job. I have the privilege of molding these little ones. I finally have time to not only work on their behavior but I get to educate them too. I get to spend time daily teaching Benny his ABC's and he's progressing- at last he can recognize 4 letters! Baby steps, but progress none the less.

Every night I have Steven choose a book to read to me and it is amazing to see his growth as a reader:

I'm getting to teach Lucy her body parts and animal sounds. She does well with head, eyes and nose. Animal sounds, pretty much every animal roars but every once in awhile she will say "baaa" for a sheep.So though her progress is slow, the beautiful thing is I have all the time in the world to teach her:

In addition to the blessing of being home with kids, I also have the blessing of having a husband in the evenings. After 8 years of hardly every seeing him, I get him all the time now and it makes my job so much easier. The other night I got to sit on the porch and watch him chase the kids around with a Nerf sword.  In the evenings it used to be me having to reluctantly chase them around or I wouldn't and then they would be grumpy. But now I have a husband who is home, now I get to sit back and watch them giggle. It's really a rather a beautiful thing. 

And then there is the blessing of living in this beautiful place. Do I miss my family? Absolutely. But at the same time I am loving the beauty of here. I know the trees are still leafless and the ground is still muddy and brown but coming from a place that lacks water and trees, I can see the beauty that will come and I am so excited for the weather to improve so that we can enjoy this beauty more frequently. Literally just down the street here's a river:

Then there's the park just an extremely short drive away (that of course I didn't take pictures of) that is surrounded by trees, has a river with a bridge behind it and to the side of it a huge lake with lots of ducks. AND in addition to all that nearby greatness, about 10 minutes away we have a farm that we can visit anytime for free:

And as though those aren't enough blessings, I am having a girl! I will have a perfectly even family just like I wanted. Here is my baby girl at 19 weeks (I took this a week ago):     

So yes, I am blessed. I think, even a little bit too much so right now. And I am feeling so grateful. I think when you experience the bad, it truly does help you appreciate the good SO much more. I have experienced being a working mom, I have experienced hardly seeing my husband and maybe not bad, but I have experienced living in a desert. And with those experiences, I feel like I appreciate so much more my life that I have now.

And to end things on a non reflective, totally light hearted note, Steven lost another tooth this week. It was getting really wobbly and would you believe that he actually asked his daddy to pull it out!? Yes he still cried but there was a lot less emotionalness this time:

Our Newest Girl

This week we got to see our newest addition. Isn't she beautiful!? However beautiful she is though, she is already causing trouble. She did not want to cooperate during her ultrasound so now I get to go back next week for another one. Hopefully this time she won't be covering her heart with her hands. But that won't be my last ultrasound either. Thanks too her abnormal umbilical cord, I will need to get an ultrasound monthly. At our appointment we found out that her umbilical cord only has 2 vessels, instead of the usual 3. The doctor said it's nothing to worry about. They just have to monitor her monthly to make sure everything is growing properly. Of course I am going to worry though...

On another note, the gender reveal! We kept the gender secret from Benny at the appointment and Steven was at school during it SO when he got home we decided to reveal the gender to both of them in a fun way. We made two volcanoes out of play dough. Ben was rooting for a girl so he got the pink one. Steven was rooting for a boy so he got the blue one. In one their was baking soda, in the other corn starch. When they poured in the vinegar..Ben's exploded! Yes, it's true, we set Steven up for failure on this one and he was NOT happy about it. Not so much the fact that it was a girl but mostly the fact that his didn't explode. He immediately complained that we didn't give him enough vinegar and then proceeded to try and break his volcano. Oh that child has been on one lately...

And since we are having a girl, we have a name 98% decided on. There is always that 2% chance that we might change it but for now we're thinking Penelope Paige Hatch. We would call her Penny. Here was my inspiration for the name:

And here is the reason I believe Tyler is in complete agreeance with the name:

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Benny's Birthday

 Yesterday Benny turned 4! Benny is my sweet boy. He loves to snuggle (probably because he's always cold). He loves to be loved on. He is *typically* very good at sharing. He hates being alone. And he feels emotions very deeply. When he is upset, the whole world knows.

We started off his birthday by opening cards. Why cards you ask?Because that's where the money is at!

Just like Steven, he got completely spoiled so he got to go crazy at a Toys R Us. He got a Spiderman Lego Car, a Spiderman Motorcycle, a play set for cars and an Angry Bird Board Game. After we finished up at Toys R Us we ate lunch and then headed to the zoo. Lucy, our little pink monster, took a nap on the way there:

For his birthday he was presented with several options on how to spend the day and he chose to go to the zoo where he would be allowed to pick out a "baby" (aka a stuffed animal). Last time we went to the zoo, it was very cold and he complained a lot. I think he just wanted to go this time with the sole purpose of picking out a "baby." 

The weather was much better this time (no snow/rain, little wind, and temps in the high 30's) but he was still a complainer. "It takes sooo long" he would cry as we walked to each animal exhibit. Once in the exhibits he had fun. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. But we did see a couple exhibits that we didn't see last time. Like the amphibian house, which oddly enough housed a Sting Ray that Steven was OBSESSED with: "Will it kill you if it stings you?" "What if it stings your jacket?" "What if you touch it?". And we saw the butterfly room for the first time:

And we saw a lot of the same animals (because they were inside and warm). This time we didn't see the penguins during feeding time so the kids were a lot less excited by them:

And some more zoo pictures:

When at last we were all done, Benny had fun picking out a baby. He decided to get a giraffe because it was pretty much the only animal there he didn't have:

For dinner we went to Big Boys and they sang to him. It was pretty adorable how shy he got. He tried to hide behind me. When we came home we had some shark cake (a creation by both Tyler & I) and then he opened presents:

It was truly a fun day! 

I feel so blessed with where we are at as a family right now. For so long, Tyler couldn't be involved in a lot of our family outings and if he was, it was completely difficult for him to be there. Now, he can just come. No stress of what he should be doing when he's hanging out with us. We can be a family and do normal family things together- like go to the zoo! Though life is cold here and I often find myself missing our extended family, I know I am blessed and life is truly good.