This is our sweet little guy, Justin Thomas Hatch. He was born on Wed, the 20th. Such a little guy...6 lbs. 13 oz. and 20" long, but what a sweetheart!! I'll write more details later, but I just wanted to post some pictures while I had the time.
Well, here we are, one week from my due date...I guess the baby could come anytime, now! It's exciting and terrifying at the same time. It's not the labor and delivery that makes me nervous (though it probably should!), it's the recovery and having a new little life to take care of that worries me. Don't get me wrong, we're really excited, too, but I can't help but thinking that we have a good thing going right now with our two boys. They're both really independent, and as a result, I've had a lot of free time for quite awhile now...it will be hard to give that up again, though, I guess it's worth it...I guess (he he). Actually, I'm much more excited about the whole thing than nervous, and I have to say that I'm ready for this kid to come! (at least as ready as anyone can ever be!)
I also have to mention how good the boys have been lately (knock on wood!). A couple of months ago, we were really struggling with Matthew and his inability to listen to us (what, kids have individual personalities and wills of their own?!) We would ask him to do something and he would say "in a minute" (I don't know who he got that from) or "um, I don't really want to" and it was maddening. Anyways, we've been working a lot with him...trying to get him to understand that he's our child and we're his parents, and he needs to listen to us...to which he responded "that's not fair" (he thinks he's one of the adults, too). We tried to tell him that when he's older, he'll get to be a dad someday and have sons and daughters of his own, and they'll have to listen to him. To counteract that little lecture, he made up his own "son". Apparently he (Matthew's son) rides the bus to work everyday with James, he just recently bought a house across the field from us, he goes on lots of outings such as deer hunting, and he recently had a birthday where he turned 3...where does he get this? So, he kept insisting that he was a parent and that he didn't have to listen to us if he didn't want to. Well, to make a long story short, Matthew has spent a lot of time in his room, very unhappy, while we try to teach him respect. Some days it felt like we were getting NOWHERE and wondered if he was just going to be one big headache from here on out. Don't get me wrong, he's a good kid, and most of the time he's obedient, but he just didn't like us telling him what to do...he's three and already has strong opinions on just about EVERYTHING. Anyways, it seems like lately he's been trying really hard to be more obedient. I've been finding him cleaning his room and the playroom without me asking him to (and he does a really good job), and teaching Ethan how to pick up, too. He helps me put away the laundry, clears his own dishes from the table and puts them in the dishwasher, he says "okay mom" or "okay dad" when we ask him to do something (most of the time) and a lot of other good things...all on his own. He really likes the praise we give him and he told me that he wants to be my "big helper" when the baby comes. See, he's a sweet kid.
Well, sorry to ramble on and on, but we're nearing the end of my pregnancy and I'm bored (I'll be wishing for these days back in a couple of weeks, I'm sure). I have another appointment this morning...maybe she'll tell me that I need to go straight to the hospital...but probably not. I packed my hospital bag last night, and I cleaned the carseat and I'll install it today, so it's pretty much all systems go from my perspective. I'll keep you posted.
Hope you all have a happy Valentine's Day!
No, the baby hasn't been born yet, but we have other big news to share. James was recently accepted to BYU's full-time MBA program (YAY!!) How did this all happen, you ask? (even if you weren't wondering, you're gonna find out)
Well, back in December, James had orignally applied to BYU's EMBA (executive MBA) program. That program offers classes in Salt Lake on the weekends for two years...it means that James could have kept his job at Merrill Lynch, and our life, as we know it, wouldn't have changed that much the whole time he was going to school. However, we were operating under the notion that James' work would pay for the schooling, and that turned out not to be the case.
A few weeks ago, James came home from work and said that he found out that his work would pay for other schools' part-time programs, but not BYU's (also, James hasn't been working for long enough to meet the EMBA's minimum requirement, so there was some question as to whether he'd be accepted or not, anyways). So, we talked about it, and after discussing ALL possible options, James really wanted to go for BYU's full-time program (we feel that it will, in the end, give us the most options and flexibility). I have to admit that after that conversation, I was pretty stressed out...I mean, here I was, about to have our third child, and we're talking about making a huge life change...
Anyways, the next day, after a lot of thought and prayer, I not only was assured that we could do it, but more importantly, that we should do it. And actually, from that moment on, I've become excited about it - we both have.
Once we made our decision, James withdrew his EMBA application and applied to the full-time program. A couple of weeks later (last Tuesday) James was invited to BYU for an interview, and on Friday, we found out that he'd been accepted.
So, what does this mean? Well, shortly after the baby is born, as soon as I feel up to it, we're putting our house up for sale, and we'll be moving to Provo in the Fall. First-year MBA students aren't allowed to work, so we'll be living off the equity in home for awhile. It may seem like a step backwards and a huge sacrifice, but the definition of sacrifice is giving up something good for something better. We really believe that's what we'll be doing. And while there are other good part-time programs that James' work would pay for, and I'm sure we'd benefit from, for whatever reason, we really feel like we need to do BYU's program. To be honest, deep down, I think we both knew that we'd be doing a full-time program the whole time, we just weren't ready to commit to that decision until now.
Maybe we're just delusional (in which case, I hope we stay in our crazy-happy fog until James graduates) but we really are excited about our new little adventure. There is an MBA family association where, I'm told, the wives get together quite often to do things with their kids, and there are supposed to be all sorts of family activites, including an annual Halloween party for the kids that sounds pretty fun.
We're hoping to snag a three-bedroom apartment at Wymount (on-campus family housing), because rent is cheap, it's close to campus, and we'd be in the heart of BYU's activities (hey, if you're going to do the BYU thing, do the BYU thing). However, it sounds like that could be challenging. They used to have a waiting list you could get on, but now they post openings over the internet everyday, and it's more luck-of-the-draw, hit-or-miss if you get what you want...wish us luck.
Oh, and if you know of anyone who's looking for a cute starter home in a great neighborhood, with no backyard neighbors, let us know!
...and we are taking cash donations to help our cause - just kidding! I'm really proud of James, and we're both really thankful for this opportunity.
We'll continue to keep you posted on any new developments.
