March 2012 - (Time to Catch Up)

It's been over a year since I've added anything to our family blog.

So much has happened, so I'll be playing catch up for the next little bit...

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Beginning of March 2012

Walked to the park with Max & Maggie for some fun. Max was so brave.

He tried all sorts of stuff that he usually tries to avoid.

Maggie went from eating wood chips to climbing into the little house with her brother.

What a fun day!

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Middle of March 2012

(stolen from facebook status)

It keeps snowing in the middle of the night and my babies keep missing it. So I took the opportunity to take my boy out in it at 1am. He was only wearing a t-shirt and diaper, so I wrapped him in a blanket and carried him out. I handed him handfuls of snow and he threw them for me. We had a great talk in gibberish about how beautiful it was and then ran inside to get warm. I hope it stays so we can build a snowman together, but if that moment is all I get this winter... I'll take it!!! (Yes, I know it's late and we should all be sleeping. Thankfully they're finally falling asleep now.)

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End of March 2012

We got the opportunity to head to the beach. It was just overnight, but we love every second. 

The babies explored, ate sand, collected sticks and jabbered a lot. We had so much fun!

Time to lose the curls

Max's hair has finally started getting thick these past few months. We love the curls, but in the past couple weeks it's become unruly. So Wesley asked Netty to give him his first haircut. She was sweet enough to come to our house to do it. I think it made him a little more comfortable. He wasn't too happy about it. I think he did a great job over all.

Here's a great example of why it needed to be cut. He really looks a lot older now. Such a handsome boy!

Sad Adventures in the Life of Maggie

Yesterday was just like any other day till baby girl woke up from her afternoon nap. Max stayed asleep while baby we watched a movie and snuggled. She stood up, took a couple steps away from me and tripped. She ended up smacking her sweet little face right into the couch. I thought she'd bumped her head till I saw blood on my hand. I ran into the kitchen with her where we have better lighting, so I could evaluate the damage. I tried to gather my wits and strength quickly, because I found out rather quickly that I can't handle the site of blood very well. Especially from my baby! I couldn't get a good enough look at the cut, so this is what I ended up doing. Max woke up while I was drawing the bath for her, so we got him from their room so he could play too. Her face lit up when she saw her big brother join her in the bubbles. All seemed well, until...

Dun, dun, dun!!! (This is me being dramatic!) The babies and I were hanging out with our friends and their baby for lunch and then at the sportsman store. I decided to take the opportunity to check my calm unsuspecting baby girls mouth and make sure her teeth were OK from the day before. Being a smart, kind dentist, my friend decided to take a look as well. After some frustrating looking around in her mouth we found that she'd done quite a number on her front tooth. Not only did she chip it, but she'd exposed the nerve. My calm 'I've got everything together' attitude went right out the window. I felt panic coming on. He helped me make a plan of what I was going to do to take care of her which helped me from panicking (thank goodness!). Together we were able to find a pediatric dentist that could see her today. We got semi-good news that she didn't need the tooth to be pulled right away. We'll keep and eye on it for now, but boy am I thankful for my many blessings. I have a sweet happy baby girl who even though she's clumsy, is quick to recover with a smile. A super handsome husband that knows what to say to calm me. I have a wonderful Father in Heaven who sends wonderful friends into my life to help me to know what to do. A wonderful family who is there for me at a drop of a hat, to lend a hand or send me love through their prayers.

I know I'll probably get better at this Mom thing. I'm a 'work in progress'. Now it's time to rest so we can have more adventures tomorrow. Hopefully fun, non-painful adventures!

Jeans for the Little Girl

I had to buy baby girl a pair of jeans today because she's just growing so fast. When I found these, I was reminded of a time when I was about 6 or 7. My Mom bought a pair for me that was pretty similar. Being #8 out of 8 kids at the time, my parents didn't have much money. I usually wore hand-me-downs or thrifted clothes. These pants were new and super stylish. When she brought them home she showed them to me and explained that they were for school, not play. I wanted to wear them and show them off to my neighborhood friends really bad. When my Mom went to take a nap she left them on her nightstand. As soon as she was asleep, I grabbed them, put them on and immediately went outside to play with my friends. I put them back before she woke up, but somehow she knew. Thankfully she took it easy on me. Now I understand that you can tell when jeans have been worn, but at the time I just thought my Mom had ninja skills. I loved those jeans and I love the memory of that day. I also love that jeans with designs on the back pockets have come back in style in time for my baby to wear them.

Star Wars

Our nephew Charlie invited us to the theater he works at to take pictures with Star Wars characters. I'm so glad we were able to make it. The babies reactions were priceless! Max was smart enough to only want to be near the nice characters. He was determined to have a light saber fight with the Jedi's. ;0) Baby girl just enjoyed being able to run around I think.

Charlie explained that all the characters were volunteers. They just do it because they love the attention and excitement that goes along with it. Their costumes were great and they were super patient with all the kids. They even signed posters for all their fans. 

Daily January Fun

Handsome watched our babies while I went out with friends. While I was gone he built this sweet fort for them. They played in it all night. He's the coolest!!!

Our big shopping trips are usually at the beginning of the month. The babies were so sweet, I decided to reward them by taking them to the dollar tree to pick up some fun toys. I unknowingly dressed my little boy as one of the village people when we got home. ;0)

Kid-pile on Daddy. Awesome picture. Wesley's so funny. We didn't pose the kids or plan this, they just like him A LOT! ;0)

The babies went down for their nap at their usual time, but then I heard something on their monitor. I went to investigate and found no little boy in his bed, under his bed, behind the chair. Not even in the closet. I felt panic starting to build. I opened the bathroom door and there he was tossing blocks of toilet paper down the laundry chute. He jumped up and bolted out the door and down the stairs to see his handy work. Until this moment, we didn't know he could open the door. Scary, but so funny!!!

Daddy made another sweet fort for the babies while I went out for one of my birthday dinners. The dogs even found a spot to relax.

I had to run outside while the babies were sleeping for these shots. By the time they woke up, the snow was gone. I wish they could have played in it. Oh well!

Fun times with these two. I love that Wes caught this reading moment with Max. I was going through the paper looking for coupons and Max joined me. He LOVES reading time. Maggie tried to get in on it too. 

Our indoor fun on a rainy day.

We took a very long family walk to the Rhododendron gardens because it was a BEAUTIFUL day!!! We had so much fun. The babies were super adorable and funny!

When we got home from our walk we still had enough daylight to play in our yard. Our little girl is walking! Everywhere. They really do grow super fast! She now has a fascination with sticks. Our babies now have that in common. ;0)

This is how we ended January. Super cute, but baby girl was sleeping because it was the beginning of her 'super sick & sad' week. Magnus was there to comfort her every day as we all were. I'm sure glad she's feeling better!

December Fun

The end of December all jumbled together. That's what you get when there's not enough hours in the day. LOL!!!

Top left: I fell to the floor from exhaustion after church and the babies decided to join me. ;0) Top right: Babies playing under the computer desk together. Bottom left: Hatch family caroling pic under the Zeller's hanging Christmas tree. So cool!!! Bottom middle: Cutie baby girl posing in her rocking chair. Bottom right: Max in his favorite santa hat being silly. ;0)

Family Beach Trip 2011

I love that we have the opportunity to stay at the beach every year. It's so relaxing at fun. We usually get the best family pictures while we're there too. Bonus!!!

This was Maggie's first time walking on the beach and playing in the sand. I hope we're able to take them when it's warm. We have sandcastle buckets and tools Max got from their awesome Aunt Sam that we haven't used yet.

I love these shot's off Max walking in the clouds!

We also found out that he floats in mid-air. Cool!!! Baby girl did NOT like falling in the cold water. Poor thing!

Best part of all... We were able to have our super wonderful friends Todd, Erin & Ryker stay with us the last 2 nights. This is our second year to have them share our tradition of going to the beach house and I hope it continues. ;0)

We went out for a late stroll the night before we left. When we came in from the cold, the Daddy's bathed all the babies. Let me just say, us Mommy's really appreciated the help!

Beautiful November

I have a couple models on my hands. I just click the pictures and they pose. We're such a team. Such great memories!!!

I was lucky enough to catch a couple silly ones too. I was chasing Max with the camera and Maggie totally got caught getting into Dad's stuff. The scissors you see next to her have since been moved to a different locations thankfully. Yikes! I can't get enough of their sweetness!

We had our annual Hatch Family Thanksgiving brunch. This year Cline & Alli were sweet enough to host. We had lots of fun and yummy food. Charlie got this great pic of us before everyone took off. I'm so glad he did. These are really difficult to get with smiles. :0)

Time to Read

I started reading 'The Real George Washington over a year ago, and then stopped after 70 short pages. I really loved the book, but I was in the difficult last couple months of pregnancy with Maggie. I was having a hard time sitting in one position for long periods of time and had no patience to read. Since then I haven't been able to make much time to read for myself. I read to the babies every night though. Wes mounted this sweet shelf for them in their room recently that he and a friend made. I posted this in my 'Honey Do Project' post. I'm quite proud of him if you can't tell. I love just staring at it.

My sweet husband challenged me to read The Book of Mormon before the end of the year. It's a goal that we're trying to accomplish together. So, instead of the usual 3 month challenge, it'll be 2 months. I'm determined and I know that I'll not only be able to meet this challenge, but that it will enrich our whole family with the spirit that it inevitably brings into our home. When I began the other day, I remembered my George Washington book. I decided that I needed to accomplish that goal as well. Today I found that taking these both on at the same time actually helps. When I get to the point of needing to stop, I get revived by switching to the next book. Who knew?! The only catch here is, I have to get up early to read. I've also found time when the babies nap.

So tonight when the babies woke from their naps and dinner was complete, we put on a movie for the family to watch together. I read my George Washington book instead. Max saw that I had a book in my hand and climbed into my lap. Unfortunately I've failed in the part that this was one of the first times my boy has watched me reading to myself. But the part I love is that he insisted that I read to him. He grabbed his favorite blanket and climbed into my lap.

Such a fun memory that I hope happens over and over again in the future. I so want my children to have a love for reading and this is how to get it done I think. Read good books often and as a family.



Such a wonderful ending to my exhausting day. Now to sleep a couple hours and do it again.

Church Halloween Party

We invited our friends from across the street to our church Halloween party. It was crazy busy and super fun!!! The pictures of the babies with Daddy are priceless.

October Fun

We had so much fun this month as we usually do. Max moved from his crib to a toddler bed, then tried to claim Magnus's kennel. I can't resist a good family pic or sweet sleeping babies. What can I say. ;0)

We were outside every chance we got so baby girl could practice walking. She's getting pretty good and we're having a blast!

Pumpkin Patch Fun 2011

We had a fun-filled time at the Liepold Farm pumpkin patch. I just love seeing the excitement on their sweet faces when we do stuff like this. It'll only get better from here. That's my prediction.

Honey Do Projects

Handsome asked me to make a Honey Do list this week and these are a couple things he made. I've been looking for these on Craigslist and yard sales for a while now. I don't know why I didn't ask him sooner. So awesome. What a talented hunk of man!!!

Magdalena's 1st Birthday

Our baby girl turned 1 already. Can't believe how fast time fly's by. Red Velvet cake is a tradition in our family and she thoroughly enjoyed her cupcakes as you can see.

We had some of our family and a couple friends come over for the festivities. So relaxed and fun. I love these kinds of parties the most. Baby girl loved her presents, but mostly she loved the company.

September Family Fun

These are my favorites out of a month of fun.

Maggie and Max climbed onto our Moose cabinet and tossed the laundry everywhere while I was in the kitchen for a second. It was one of those, 'It's TOO quiet in there' moments.

The babies were feeling especially lovey dovey in these. Oh my teeth hurt when I look at them. LOVE!!!

We were able to spend time with our friends at our neighborhood park. We all had so much fun. They're all growing up super fast and they're all so smart and cute! It was a beautiful day to be able to spend time with friends!!!

Our Vacation to the Bonds

We had the fun opportunity to spend time with Sam at her home recently. Oh how we all loved it. Max chased the chickens and played in her backyard, Maggie ate lots of yummy new food and made messes while Sam tried to feed us. We all relaxed on her comfy grass in her yard as often as we could, which was pretty often. Even though Wes decided to pass a stone on the first day of our vacation, then rest of our trip was not interrupted. He's one tough cookie!

We drove up to Boulder Park for a little hike to a creek. The terrain was a little too much for our all terrain stroller, but Wes used his muscles and got it done. It was quite beautiful. We even got to see a dear family.

We relaxed at the creek for a while and let the kids play. Maggie mostly ate rocks and Max climbed the bigger ones. Max's favorite part was when we let him throw rocks in the water. Wes and I tossed a few big rocks in to get some big splashes. Max and Maggie loved it. We had an awesome time!

Such a wonderful family vacation! Can't wait to visit again!!! Thanks Sam!!!