Carving Pupmkins

For FHE last night, we carved pumpkins. Matthew was really exctited...he's been asking for the past three days if it was time to carve pumpkins yet. James and I have been really surprised, but Matthew remembers last Halloween in surprising detail. He even knows where I hid (I guess I didn't do such a great job of "hiding") all the pumpkin carving tools and tried to hack his way through one the other day (eek!!). Ethan really got into it this year, too. Let's see, he ate the pumpkin pulp, he tried to eat a pumpkin seed, he ate part of a crayon that we used to draw on the pumpkins with...you know Ethan!

Anyways, this year has been a lot of fun for me because both kids are old enough to really have fun with traditions. This year we even let Matthew choose what he wanted to be for Halloween...I guess that's why it's something more normal...sadly, no more Harpo Marx or Magnum PI.

I guess I'm just trying to say, it's fun to be able to do some of the things that James and I did with our families growing up and have it not be just for us, but have Matthew and Ethan really enjoy it, too.

Matthew LOVED scooping out the pulp.

Ethan just enjoyed everything pumpkin carving had to offer...the pulp, the crayons, the messiness in general...

Matthew had to put his own creative stamp on the face and "fix" what I drew.

Yay, they're done!

Happy Halloween!!

Making Halloween Cookies

My parents came down for the weekend. My dad was presiding over a funeral for one of the members of my home ward that passed away. It was held in Provo. I'm sad for their family, but I'm glad that we got to see my parents. While they were here, my mom gave us some fun Halloween cookie cutters to use...and today we did! As you can see we made quite a mess (I'm not the cleanest person when I cook!), but it was a lot of fun.





These are the finished cookies.

Matthew had fun choosing which shapes to use and pressing them into the dough.

Ethan had fun making a mess...

...and eating the finished product.

And mom, if you're reading this, Matthew just pretended to call you. He said, "the cookies are selicious (that's what he said, it's not a typo), thank you for giving them!"

Halloween Preview

I know it's not quite Halloween yet, but I couldn't resist posting these pictures. James' parents are going to be out of town for Halloween, so we got the kids dressed up for them today so that they could see their costumes. It was also good for me to have a trial run, so that I can work any kinks out of their costumes before the big day. Surprisingly, Ethan didn't seem to mind the hat, glasses, or sideburns, so I hope that holds true for Wednesday night as well. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I'll post more of them after Halloween...and maybe even some video of them trick or treating at the mall...I know, too exciting for words...

Oh, and in case you can't tell, Matthew is Captain Hook, and Ethan is Mr. Smee.

Bug Stories

Last week, as we were getting in the car to run some errands, Matthew spotted a praying mantis, and freaked out. I kind of don't blame him, because they're huge and they are creepy looking (and as my father-in-law pointed out, their eyes are so big that you can actually tell that they're looking at you), but I did my best to persuade him not to be afraid. I kept telling him that they're nice bugs, and that it can't hurt him. He didn't look totally convinced, but he said "okay mom" and I felt I had made some headway in my quest to make him less terrified of all things creepy-crawly (including flies). Well, a few days later, it was Thursday night, and James had his woodworking class, so of course I had parked myself on the couch for a night of TV watching. During Survivor, they cut to a clip of a praying mantis, and I turned to Matthew and said "oh look, it's a praying mantis, we had one of those in our garage". Just as Matthew started watching, the praying mantis whipped out its huge front claws (for lack of a better term), and attacked a beetle. It ripped the head off and started gnawing on it, and that was the end of the clip (and the end of the beetle for that matter). It was all surprisingly violent. I was shocked. It was one of those few times in my life that I was so stunned that my mouth was actually hanging open. I glanced over at Matthew who was sitting there in wide-eyed horror, and I didn't know what to say. Then he said "see mom, that is NOT a nice bug!!" Unfortunately, after what we had just witnessed, I couldn't disagree with him (aren't I a good mom for directing his attention to the clip?...right) - Mom: 0 Bug phobia: 1

My other bug story happened on Monday morning, right after I had given Ethan a bath after he had thrown up. I had settled Ethan all snug in a chair, and put a blanket over him to make him as comfy as possible, and when I turned around, I came face to face with the biggest spider I had ever seen in my house. It was coming down from the ceiling, so I ran and got a broom and knocked it to the ground and then killed it. After examining it, I thought that it might be an aggressive house spider, so I swept it into a ziploc bag and headed to the internet for some research. I'm from Montana, and aggressive house spiders are a problem up there, so I know a little bit about them, and what they look like, but I wanted to be sure...yep definitely an aggressive house spider. I wasn't too concerned because it hadn't bitten me, but then my thoughts turned to the 16-month old in the living room who had been throwing up that morning, and I began to worry that maybe he had been bitten and was slowly dying (dramatic? maybe a tad, but I'm paranoid and a mom...not the best combination). I tried to find out what the symptoms of an aggressive house spider bite were (I knew it had something to do with a large wound), but all the information was rather sketchy, so I called poison control. They assured me that it was probably just a coincidence that Ethan was throwing up on the same morning that I found an aggressive house spider, because it would be extremely rare for their bite to cause vomiting...instead, it causes an excruciatingly painful wound that continues to fester and deteriorate the skin unless treated (you all want to come to my house now, don't you?). I searched Ethan for a bite, and didn't find one, so I was relieved, but I've felt like I have spiders crawling all over me for the past 3 days now, so that's not good (I told you I was paranoid).
Anyways, maybe I won't try to convince Matthew that bugs are nice...

Making lemonade out of lemons

Okay, so I know I complained about all my little trials last week, but this week, I can honestly say that I'm grateful for them. Those smaller trials have helped prepare me for the last couple of days. Ethan woke up yesterday throwing up, and had a rather miserable day (he's doing fine now) and Matthew has a nasty cold that makes it very difficult for him to sleep. Long story short - I've been doing a lot of laundry (to clean up after Ethan) and I've had to stay up with both Ethan and Matthew to try and make them as comfortable as possible so at least they can get some rest. And you know what, it hasn't really been that bad. I normally get really stressed out when my kids are sick (especially if they're throwing up), but last week prepared me for this one. I was used to not getting as much sleep because Ethan hasn't been sleeping as well, and I've been used to doing a lot more laundry than usual because Matthew's been having so many accidents (he's doing much better now - Yay!!) plus, I have a little more patience now. So yes, I really am grateful for those trials because they've made handling these bigger ones a lot easier.

Not to get all dramatic or anything, but I think my biggest problem last week was that I allowed the adversary to frustrate me. I had set all these goals to be a better wife and mother and to raise a better family, and I think he wanted to do whatever he could to stop me from following through, and I let him. Now, one of my goals is to quit being so pessimistic, and just adapt to things better. Nothing is ever as bad as I let myself believe and our trials really do work for our benefit, if we let them. I'm going to try harder to not get discouraged and look for the bright side of every seemingly bad situation. For instance: yesterday when Ethan was feeling miserable, I was holding him on my lap on the couch. Then, Matthew came in and sat in a different chair. When Ethan saw him, he jumped down from my lap and climbed up on the chair with Matthew. Matthew could tell that Ethan wasn't feeling well, so he put his little arm around him and patted his head and kept telling him "it's okay, it's okay". They don't always get along, but they really do love each other(and for that I'm thankful). When Ethan was sitting there with Matthew, it was the first time he had smiled all day and I was glad I got to witness it. It's moments like those that make me thankful that I'm a mother. My boys may be sick, I may be dead tired, I may have more chores to do than energy to do them, but I wouldn't want to be doing anything else. What I'm doing is the most worthwhile thing in the world, and it is worth it, after all...plus I have the support of a really great husband who actually thanked me this morning for all that I do for our little family. Yep, life is good.

Just one of those weeks

That's right, it's only Tuesday, and already it's "one of those weeks". I was all geared up to have a great week, coming off of conference, and all. It seemed like there were a lot of talks on strengthening your home and family, and I've been really excited to put some new ideas into use...but it hasn't been easy.
Yesterday started out fine. We have this tradition in our neighborhood in October of the "Halloween Phantom". What happens is someone makes treats for two families, along with a picture of a ghost and a letter. When someone leaves treats on your doorstep (all in secret, of course), you post the picture of the ghost on your door (so everyone knows that you've already had treats), and you follow the letter as it instructs you to make two copies of the ghost picture and two copies of the letter. Then you make treats for two families and leave them (along with the picture and letter) on their doorstep. The goal is for every house to have the ghost picture on their door by Halloween. Anyways, we were "phantomed" yesterday morning, and I was excited...I think it's a fun little tradition. I had already been planning on making a pumpkin cake roll for FHE treats (that's one of my goals...to have FHE consistently, which we haven't been good at), and decided to make two, so that there would be enough for the phantom thing.
I had to pick up a few ingredients for the treats, so once everyone had had their naps and we were ready to go, it was 1pm, and I had to brave Wal-mart and face the dreaded midday crowds...I go grocery shopping at 7:15am just avoid them.
An HOUR later, we were back home, and I was exhausted. I wanted to make the cake rolls before I picked James up from work, so I wouldn't have to deal with making them that evening...but it was not to be.
I almost forgot that Ethan had his well-baby check-up that afternoon...that's another thing I hate, braving the doctor's office in the afternoon, but I had no choice. So, I packed up the kids again, and headed for the doctor. Ethan had to get one shot, but I didn't really worry about it, because he normally doesn't seem to mind them too much...except this time. He's been fussy since we got home yesterday. And that, coupled with him getting a molar and two of those pointy canine teeth, have made my easy, angel-toddler a little terror...not to mention the "atomic" diapers he's been having...
Well, after we got home from the doctor's, I was completely exhausted, and I still had to make two cake rolls, and dinner...oh and do something about the dishes and mountains of laundry that seem to spring up from nowhere. With James' help, I was able to get everything done, then came bedtime. This is usually not an issue for Ethan, but he started screaming the moment I put him down. I let him cry for awhile, then I went in to rock him and give him some Tylenol, but when I put him back in his crib, he started screaming again. This time I let him scream for longer...over an hour...because I didn't want to establish any bad habits. In the end, since I was exhausted myself, I held him until he fell asleep...then he woke up again at 1am, and also at 3am (thankfully James took care of that one)
Well, James had to be at work at 7am this morning, so we all had to get up and have James to the bus by 6:15am...I would have let him have the car and drive himself, but I still had to deliver the phantom treats (fun little tradition?!)
Well, the kids are tired, I'm tired, and Ethan still refuses to go near his crib. He can hardly keep his eyes open, and he refuses to take a nap. Matthew (I'm STILL trying to potty train him) has gone through three pairs of pants and underwear (one of which was also messy, not just wet) just this morning, and I still have an endless amount of tidying, dishes and laundry to do (where does it all come from?!)
I guess I shouldn't complain, I did sign up for this job, right? It just doesn't bode well when you can't wait for the weekend, and it's still only Tuesday...
PS It sounds like my friend Rachel is having a worse week than I am, so I REALLY shouldn't complain, but you know me...

Conference Weekend

Let me just say that I love Conference weekend! My parents drove down from Montana to go to conference (they haven't been to a live session of conference in a long, long time, and never in the Conference Center). They left our house on Saturday morning at about 6:30am to try and get standby tickets for the morning session. They ended up standing in the cold rain for a couple of hours, only to get up to the doors and told that the session was full. Then, they rushed over to the Tabernacle to watch it there, and ran into a couple they knew from their Peru trip (what a small world in the Church!) After the morning session, there was a reception in the Joseph Smith Building for all BYU Law Alumni, so they headed over there for lunch, and then James and I met them on Temple Square for the afternoon session (this time they had tickets, so we all got in). It was really cold and rainy, but on the up-side, not many protestors ventured out into the elements, so it was a relatively peaceful walk to the Conference Center. I hadn't been to a session of Conference with my parents in years, so it was fun to be able to go with them. It was really neat to be there in person, because that was the session that Elder Wirthlin spoke, and had to be supported (literally) by Elder Nelson so that he could finish his talk. It was really moving to witness such an act of love and charity in person. When Elder Wirthlin started to shake, most of the apostles got ready to jump into action...they were all very concerned. There were also two men who started coming up the stairs from the level below (medics?) to help and they brought a wheelchair for him, but he refused to sit in it. I think after his talk, they tried to convince him to leave, but he wouldn't, and after conference, they tried to take him out in the wheelchair, but he insisted on walking...what a man! I'm really glad that he finished his talk, because it was one of my favorites from the whole weekend. My dad was saying that people have asked how they know when they've "done all that they can do"...just look at Elder Wirthlin's example at conference, and I guess then you'll know.

After conference, as we were walking through the pouring rain down the steps of the Conference Center, a photographer came right up to us and took our picture. We probably won't make it into the Ensign, but it would be fun if we did (if I was showing more, we'd make it in for sure, pregnant women always make it in!) After our session, my dad stayed to watch the priesthood session with his dad and my two brothers. Then on Sunday, they headed back to the Conference Center for the Sunday afternoon session where they met my brother and his friend...when you're the bishop of a small ward in MT, and no one else can make it to UT, you get tickets to a lot of sessions of conference!

Aside from conference, it was really fun to be able to see my parents and have them stay with us for a few days. Matthew and Ethan loved all the attention, and had a fun weekend, too. They were in heaven, because grandma and grandpa would read them book after book after book, after book, after book, after book...

What are we having?

Okay Dad, if you're reading this and don't want to know what we're having, don't read any further because I'm about to say if it's a boy or a girl. Well, to start off with, I should say that everything with the baby looks good. All of its measurements are right on to where they should be. The only thing that makes me a little bit nervous is that it is really active! It wouldn't stay still for very long, and the lady doing the ultrasound literally had to chase it around my belly! Well, I guess we could tell you now that we having another boy! Yep, that makes three. We're excited, though I have to admit that the thought of three boys does make me feel tired!! We don't have a name picked out yet...I don't think Thomas Magnum Hatch will really fly, so we have to come up with something else. We'll keep you posted.
I guess that I should also mention that I had my 20 week checkup yesterday...I gained 9 pounds (yay!!). I had been feeling really sick in the first three months of my pregnancy, so I actually lost 3 pounds between 6 and 12 weeks, which isn't really ideal. So, as my doctor says, gaining weight is my job from now on. We took it to heart, and even tried to implement icecream as much as possible (he he). I guess 9 pounds in four weeks is pretty good, right?

Me at 20 weeks

Okay, so some of you who don't live in Utah wanted to see a recent picture of me...pregnant. Well, this is me at 20 weeks. This is in our backyard...you can see that the field in back of us is full of corn. They planted it just far enough away from our fence that you can't reach through and pick some (probably on purpose!) Darn! Just kidding, you know I would never steal someone else's corn...

Anyways, hopefully this picture is good enough for you to see what I look like. At 20 weeks, I'm just starting to fill out my maternity clothes, but trust me, from here on out, I'll really start to show. I'll keep posting more pictures so that you can see my progression!

Heather

So, after searching for pictures of me to use on this blog, I realized that there aren't any!! I'm usually the one taking the pictures, so I don't have many of me (or of James for that matter)...I'll have to do something about that!

Well, life for me is pretty busy, but very happy. What can I say? I'm a mom, plus, I'm 20 weeks pregnant with our third child. We find out what we're having on Friday, which is very exciting for us. Of course I'll be ecstatic with either a boy or a girl, but since we have two boys now, it would be fun to have a girl this time around...we'll just have to wait and see! My pregnancy has gone pretty well, though I had a lot more morning sickness with this one than I did with the previous two. However, I've finally hit that point where food is GOOD, so that's an exciting thing for me. I've also been trying to get up at 6 o'clock in the morning to do a prenatal yoga dvd. I'm hoping to have a natural childbirth this time around, so I figured I should do something to help with strength, flexibility, stamina, breathing, and relaxation. I heard that yoga would help with all of those. I guess we'll have to wait and see if I actually make it through childbirth unmedicated, but in the meantime, the yoga has really helped me to feel better and more energized.

I guess you could say that being pregnant is my main hobby right now, but I also enjoy reading, crochet, photography, scrapbooking, cooking, being with James and the family, and sleep. Oh, and eating. I'm also the assistant nursery leader in our ward, which keeps me busy - at least on Sundays!

Well, I guess that's it for now. I look forward to being able to keep in touch with all of you better.

James

James is a wonderful husband and father. He currently works in Salt Lake for Merrill Lynch Bank. I drive him to the park and ride in Kaysville every morning where he rides the express bus to work. He's looking forward to the completion of the TRAX commuter train so that he won't have to sit in traffic anymore. All that time on the bus, though, has allowed him a lot of time to read. He constantly has a book he's reading - everything from the classics, to biographies, to books on Church doctrine.

In his spare time, James enjoys woodworking, golf, working in the yard, spending time with family, XBOX, and keeping up with his favorite sports teams. He also team-teaches the 5-year old primary class in our ward.

We really love James and appreciate all the hard work he does for our family!

Matthew and Ethan

Matthew and Ethan bring a lot of happiness to our home. They play pretty well together most of the time. Sometimes we have to remind Matthew to share his toys, and we have to remind Ethan to "be soft" (he likes to roughhouse). On most days I can find them building things together, playing catch, and laughing their heads off at each other. Matthew is constantly telling me that Ethan is his best friend, and I think that's the truth.

Matthew loves to build things, especially with his blocks. He spends a lot of time building elaborate cities and then calls Ethan over to help knock them down (if he can keep Ethan from doing it sooner!). He also really loves sports, and James is proud to report that we are raising a little Dodgers fan (sorry, dad). He likes to watch sports with James and claps and yells at the TV at the appropriate times. He loves superheroes, pirates, tools, and just being a boy. He's a lot of fun, and a really big help to me.

Ethan is also a lot of fun to have around. He really loves his big brother and is usually found copying whatever Matthew is doing. He also has a bit of mischievious streak in him (as you can see by the picture). More than one time he's gotten into the trash, pulled things out (in this case leftover chocolate frosting) and had a grand time making a huge mess. Ethan loves tools, balls, and food - especially grapes. He also loves to wrestle with daddy and Matthew, though Matthew doesn't always appreciate it.

We love both our boys. They make our lives happier, and definitely more exciting!