Our Hatchlings

Lily's BIG Promotion

In July Ryan and I took the girls to one of our favorite sandwich and custard places - Nielson's.  As we're sitting there surrounded by our crazy kids he leans over to me and says, "I think I'm ready for another one."  I was floored.  FLOORED!  Which is a huge understatement.  If you know anything about Ryan, I pretty much had to beg him to get the three here that we've got.  So for him to say that when Lily wasn't even a year old was a big deal.

So, here we are a few months down the road.  I thought of a million different ways to let the word out.  Something fun and cute, similar to our announcement with Lily, but frankly I'm just too darn tired.  I guess it just comes with the territory.  But we are excited to announce that Lily will be promoted to BIG SISTER this August.

Baby #4 - Due to arrive August 6th, 2012

So far it's been a pretty good pregnancy.  I'm exhausted, can barely keep up with my kids, or the house, and Ryan has had to step up to the plate, WAY more times than he's wanted to to help out.  He's a rockstar!  I've even had my fair share of running to the toilet, and throwing up in random places like the parking lot of the DMV, and while driving home from picking Brooklyn up.  Thankfully, this time around I haven't had the debilitating nausea I had with Lily.  As long as I eat, I feel great.  I crave everything under the sun and if I see a picture of it....I want it, NOW!  All the yummy food on Pinterest kills me!  Over the past two weeks I've been feeling a lot better, and I'm just grateful this sickness stuff is ending with first trimester as opposed to hanging on for another 6-7 weeks!

There you have it!  First trimester is done (finally!), just 27 weeks to go!

Making Way

On Wednesday morning I got a text from my friend saying President Obama was flying in on Air Force One to the little airport just down the street from our house, and invited me to go see it land and watch the presidential motorcade.  My first reaction was, "No thank you!"  I had no desire to go welcome him to Arizona.  But it's not often that Air Force One just flys into town, so Ryan and I decided to make a day of it.

We headed over to the access road just north of the airport and got there just in time to see the descent and landing.

Then after Brooklyn's piano lessons (which she was late for, thanks to shut down highways and me thinking we had 30 more minutes before she needed to be there) my friend called to say they found a good spot to see the plane a little closer up.  So we turned around and went back.

After we had our fill of Air Force One we decided to stick it out a little longer, grab some dinner close by, and wait for the presidential motorcade to come back to the airport.

It was pretty fun to see all the hoopla surrounding the president's arrival.  But after waiting 30 minutes longer than I thought we'd have to, when it was colder outside than I was expecting, and when we were walking the line of Lily's bedtime, I was done.  Maybe I'll be more excited when the next president comes to town.

Little Lessons Learned

Today as I was frantically digging through drawers and cupboards, flipping through jam-packed files, blowing the dust bunnies off books from under my bed, and hauling a barstool out to my garage to look for a certain missing box from years back, I realized....

I have a LONG way to go with all this organizing mumbo jumbo.

This all started when I learned that Kindergarten registration started today at the girls' school.  I called and asked what I needed to bring, which is simple enough for those who are organized.  Yeah, I don't fall into that category.  I had Emma's birth certificate, and proof of residency, but her shot records.....totally different story.

Not only did I have to contact the doctor's office here, I had to track down her medical record number from the medical facility in Virginia, print off a release form asking for her immunizations, and then fax it to them - not once, but TWICE!  Then my blasted fax machine refused to answer the response from them and I had to call them back three times asking if they'd fax it again....and again.

The lesson I learned: I have got to be the least prepared person on the face of this planet.

If a disaster were to hit tomorrow, I'm toast.

The first few weeks of this new year my focus has been on meal planning.  Next up on the Organizing To-Do List....getting my important documents in one place.

If I keep telling myself I can do this, then I can, right?!

My ONE WORD for 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can hardly believe that 2012 came upon us so quickly, and I must admit that I am feeling a little relieved that the holidays are finally over.  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas just as much as Clark Griswold, but the holidays can be tiresome for parents.  Plus I'm excited for all the things 2012 will be! 

To start the new year off right I decided to jump on the ONE WORD bandwagon.

Last year I came upon this "ONE WORD" concept from my friend, Shawni's, blog.  I love the idea of focusing on ONE thing throughout the year.  I'm a victim of not following all those New Year's Resolutions I write down each January.  They always seem to get lost in the hustle and bustle of life.  But ONE thing is easy for this easily distracted mom to remember.

I thought about a lot of words as I was going through my search.

I thought about the word PICTURES because I love to take pictures of my girls.  But at the same time I got burned out on my second Photo A Day and it came to a screeching halt in August.  Plus pictures didn't make me stretch.  I wanted something to help make me a better person.  So, that wasn't my word.

Then there was FOCUS.  I have a really hard time keeping my focus on things for too long.  I'm always floating from one thing to the next.  It would definitely mold me into the person I need to be, but while I could really use help in the focus department, that wasn't my word either.

That's when I came upon the word ORGANIZE.  It seems cliche' to even talk about it at the beginning of a new year.  What mom out there isn't thinking about organizing right about now?  But the more I thought about it the more I realized that "organize" is something that incorporates a lot in our lives.  Off the top of my head I can think of 10 different things I need to "get organized" in my life.  That doesn't necessarily mean cleaning out closets or drawers or shelves, etc.  It means so much more.  So my focus is to find one thing each month to work on and organize.

Frankly, I NEED the motivation.  Organiztion is not one of my strong suits.  I can do it, and there are certain parts of me that are often times a little hyper-focused on organizing, but for the most part it takes a lot of effort.  This is going to be good for me!

I'm looking forward to this challenge, and I am really hoping I can report back at the end of 2012 with a successful year of my ONE WORD.

Merry Christmas

Here is our Christmas Card for 2011.  Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year in 2012!

Love - The Hatch Family

Christmas Cheer

Christmas is my most favorite holiday of the year!  And because of it I am way behind on updates, and Ryan informs me often that I neglect the blog, but its Christmas and I'm doing my best to survive the madness while trying to enjoy the season.  So I leave you with these sweet pictures of Lily who is so curious about those ornaments and since then has systematically pulled off every one within her reach.  It looked pretty for a few hours at least....

The Turkey Trot

For the third year in a row Ryan and I have hosted Thanksgiving at our house for my side of the family.  I love that everyone comes to me, mostly because the thought of getting on an airplane with Lily would send me over the edge.

When my family first started coming for Thanksgiving we all ran the Mesa Turkey Trot together.  And since then it just became a Thanksgiving morning tradtion.

This year some friends of ours threw together a Gilbert Turkey Trot right here in our neighborhood.  It was so fun to get together with so many of our friends and neighbors that morning.  There was quite a turnout too!

Before we had heard about it we opted to not sign up for the one in Mesa and made our own family shirts to run in.

The starting line....

It was so much fun getting together and running with so many of our good friends and neighbors.  I'm really hoping this will become a Gilbert Thanksgiving tradition!  (Shawni....be sure to pass that on to Dave!)

(Oh and PS......can you tell we let the kids decorate their own shirts?!  They were really excited about it!)

Starting Young

In September Emma began her first year of preschool.  Yes, I realize she is about to turn five, and that several of her friends are already on their 2nd or 3rd year of preschool.  But I just didn't have the heart to send her yet.  With Brooklyn I was gung-ho about her going and was literally pushing her out the door to preschool when she had barely turned three.  I claim that my sanity was on the line, because it was.  But Emma is of a different breed.  Happy and content to be at home, and frankly I was fine with that.  She's not a trouble maker and could entertain herself for hours on end.  So we waited.

By the end of Brooklyn's school year in May, Emma began asking why she couldn't go too.  Which meant is was time to get her signed up.

After calling four different preschools, we finally settled on one that came with lots of recognition and praise from friends and neighbors.  And the big day finally came right after Labor Day.  She was so cute holding her teacher's hand up the driveway, big grin on her face, and when she climbed back in the car she was more than happy to tell me all about her day, and the songs they sand, and the snack they ate.

By two weeks into preschool we learned that Emma had made a good friend in class.

And it was a boy!

She talked all about this little friend of hers.  He sat by her, played with her, talked to her.

Ryan hoped it would wear off, but she still looks forward to seeing her "friend" everyday she goes to school, and the first thing out of her mouth when getting in the car afterwards is always about him.  It's a sad day when he isn't there because he's sick or out of town.  Which we hear about too.

I didn't think we'd hit boy crazy for another few years, and I'm talking with Brooklyn.  Emma has totally beat her to the punch!

Thirty-three

This year I was having a tough time getting excited about the fact that I was turning 33.

Forget 29, 30, 31, and 32.  Turning 33 makes me feel OLD.  I think I'd rather be 32 again.

To put it into perspective....seven years ago I was holding my first baby in my arms.  I blinked and now she's riding off to school every morning on her bike.  In another seven years I'll be....40!  And that probably makes my mom feel old.

Although turning another year older is a tough pill to swallow these days, last week was especially fun as I enjoyed lunch with my girlfriends the day before, and planned my whole birthday around food and birthday freebies.

We woke the girls up early on Wednesday and took them to get a dozen doughnuts at Krispy Kreme.  (This is quickly turning into our birthday tradition.)

After sending Brooklyn off to school Ryan and I took the younger two out for a more hearty (and free!) breakfast at Liberty Market:

Then after getting Emma situated at preschool we headed off to Joe's BBQ for free lunch:

Once everyone was home we finished up the day with free dinner at Joe's Farm Grill:

The girls were most excited about me opening my presents I got from my parents, Ryan and the girls, and my sweet friends:

Last but not least we had red velvet cake from Costco:

And just because I'm another year older, doesn't mean that I can't make a wish.

So I did.

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday such a great day!

California Trip

Somewhere around the time Lily turned 9 months I found myself dreaming of going somewhere far far away.  Three kids was doing me in, and I needed a break so very badly.  Ryan and I had toyed around with the idea of going on a cruise, but threw that idea out when we realized just how long we'd be gone, and during hurricane season no less.  Instead, we took advantage of California's close proximity and much milder weather.  We even conned my mom into spending a week with three of her favorite granddaughters so we could sneak away for awhile.

Our first stop was in downtown San Diego where we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel.  It was such a nice place, with some fun modern rooms, and in a great location, too.  I could have done without the heavy drinkers and partiers that it's club/bar attracted on the main floor, but it was still a great hotel.

While in San Diego we hit Sea World:

Made a stop at the famous Hotel Del Coronado:

Visited the Cabrillo National Monument and lighthouse on the San Diego Bay:

And stopped at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetary in Point Loma:

After a few days in San Diego, we headed north towards Anaheim for a few kid-free days at Disneyland.  But first we had to stop at the Rainbow Sandals store in San Clemente.  My two sisters, my mom, and several of my friends rave about these sandals, so I had to get a pair {or two}.  Let it be known, I am a Rainbow sandal convert.  I love them!

The last few days away we spent enjoying Disneyland without the kids or a stroller.  I have to admit I felt a little guilty at first, like I was betraying the girls for being there without them.  However, if you ever get a chance to go with just your husband....go!  We had such a good time going on all the rides together.

We took a peek at the new Cars Land they are building and can't wait for it to open in 2012!

On our last visit to Disneyland we had made reservations at the Blue Bayou Restaurant (inside the Pirates ride) and Lily screamed the E.N.T.I.R.E. time.  It was awful!  We had a re-do this time around.

We saw World of Color for the first time.

We ate, and slept in, and took it easy, and ate some more.  It was such a nice, relaxing, enjoyable vacation and it felt great to spend time alone with Ryan.  But truth be told.....by the end we were ready to go home and see our girls.  How could you not when you are welcomed home like this:

...and this:

We are definitely going to have to make this an annual thing!