Sunday, November 30, 2008

Hunter's First Party



Tonight my nearly two-year-old went to his first party, for his friend Alexa's 2nd birthday. These two are in school together, and go to church together as well, and are buddies. They had so much fun playing, sharing a cake :), and playing some more. Fun, Fun was had by all!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Eli the Elf (On the Shelf)




A new tradition started in the Hatcher House night~ The Elf on the Shelf. I posted about this earlier this month (check out the Elf on the Shelf post).

We had a great Thanksgiving day at Nana's house~ had a wonderful meal, took a walk to the park to let the kids (and us!) play for awhile, threw rocks and sticks in the lake by her house, came back for pumpkin pie...greatness. When we got home it was time to start our new tradition. Out came the Elf and the book that accompanies him. Brian read the story to them, and Harrison and Hudson were completely intrigued. Hunter was curious for awhile, but then had other things to do, like steal the camera away from me. :)



Anyway, the boys named our elf Eli, and we placed him on top of the tv for his first night in our house, on duty. Hud is not quite sure what to think of him, I think he is a little freaked out, yet fascinated at the same time. He wouldn't talk to him, didn't want to touch him, and asked Brian to move Eli so that he wasn't staring at him. Too funny. :) He's apparently got a little of his mama in him. :) I think he is darling though, and love that he is all retro-y and cute. We'll see what kind of effect he has on the Hatcher boys...

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Snickerdoodles and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving



Does it get much better than this? We don't think so. :)

My Baby LOVES Babies!


I had no idea...he's usually the youngest one around. But today my sister brought over her nephew for a few minutes, and Hunter was so excited! He kept putting his head on Carter's head, and saying "baby, baby" over and over. It was very sweet...isn't it great to see your kids showing love to other people? For a fleeting moment I thought of how great it would have been to have had one more baby ourselves, so that he would get to be a big brother, but the moment quickly passed. You have to break the chain at some point. We're all good in the kiddo department around here. :)

On a different note, I saw a side of him I didn't expect to see this morning while we were at the dentist. Harry and Hud were getting their checkups, and we were waiting for them. There was another little boy about his age playing in the waiting area, and he wasn't real keen on sharing, b/c every time Hunter would try to play with him the brat would scream bloody murder. I fully expected Hunter Man to hold his own with that kid, but instead he came running to me with the saddest lip and eyes full of tears. So many emotions hit me at once: 1) sadness that he was treated that way, 2) thankfulness that he relied on me to save him from the bratty kid, and 3) surprise~ those of you who know Hunter well know he is as stubborn as he is sweet...I'm surprised he put up with that nonsense. He has two brothers who both protect him and also give him plenty of opportunities to learn how to hold his own, so I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough. :) In the meantime, I perfectly happy with him running to the safety of my arms.

Miss Sterling is HOME!


Actually, she came home last Friday, and is doing so very good. She seems very happy in her new home. :) I got the pleasure of getting to go see her and FINALLY hold her on Sunday before Tomi and I went to see Twilight (which I HIGHLY recommend, by the way, but only after you've read the book!!!)

It was so fun getting to love on that baby girl~ feeding her and changing her diaper was fun...partly because I love babies so much, but mostly because I (we all) have been so worried about her, and it was great to see her at home, healthy, growing, content as can be, and free from all of those scary machines, tubes, and wires. She is doing great, and seemed to love her Aunt Jac very much. :)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Sweet Sleepy Boy



Hunter is FINALLY sleeping good in his big boy bed~ yay! No fussing, sleeping through the night (with the exception of one attempt to get into our bed, to which we promptly put him back in his bed). So we'll take that, over the hours of sadness and getting up repeatedly. All of the Hatcher's are sleeping better...happiness.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Bigger the Bow, the Better (Healthier) the Girl

I am thrilled to report that Miss Sterling is making big steps towards getting better! Her vent is on the minimum output (which is a big step, even though they have told Tomi and Randy to expect her to still be on it for a few days possibly), one of her chest tubes came out yesterday, and the other one should come out soon (tomorrow?) hopefully.

Tomi was able to put one her darling big bows on that sweet baby's little punkin head last night, and that seems to make all of the difference. She opened her eyes, and has been making big improvements ever since! Check out the pics on Tomi's blog!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Elf on the Shelf



Today Mimi came by with a special present for the boys. She brought them the "Elf on the Shelf". It's this super cute little elf that comes with a book and a special story. The story of the elf goes as follows:

Santa sent this elf to live at our house and keep an eye on the boys. Throughout the day he will sit in one spot and make sure they are behaving. Then at night after the boys are asleep, he will fly back to the North Pole to report back to Santa. The next morning when the boys wake up, they will have to search the house to see where their elf has decided to sit and watch for that day. They can talk to their new little friend as much as they want, but they are not allowed to touch him.

They were very excited about their new elf friend...I'm excited to see what kind of impact he has on their behavior. :) The elf will be set out on Thanksgiving, and then the fun begins! Will report back soon!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Miss Sterling Maye


She's here! Tomi and Randy became the parents to a beautiful baby girl last night at 10:57 pm. She weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and is 18 and 3/4 inches long. She has just the right amount of dark hair, and the prettiest little mouth. She is all kinds of yummy, that one. I was in such a hurry to get the hospital in time last night that I left without my camera, and therefore missed all kinds of GREAT photo opps. At about one o'clock this morning, the nurse brought her in so Tomi could hold her for a little bit, and it was so precious. I was so thankful that I stuck around for that, and that I didn't miss the chance to see her.

Because she is a month early, her lungs are not quite ready yet, so she will be spending a little bit of time in the NICU. Randy took my camera in there so that I could have a few pictures of this sweet baby girl. She is breathing on her own, but is on about 23% oxygen right now, and will be fine. She just needs a little time. Tomi and Randy are handling all of this like champs...they are tired, and would love nothing more than to have her in the room with them, but are trusting that it won't be long before that will happen. In the meantime we are keeping them company. :)

I can't explain the emotions that come with being on this side of things. I'm always a sap when it comes to babies, but it's different when it's a baby that belongs to someone I care about so much. Tomi has always been the friend that was there for the duration with the births of each of my boys, and it was so much fun to get to do the same for her last night. And to see Tomi at a place in her life where everything is right~ she has an incredible husband who adores her, and sweet, fun 12-year-old son, and now a precious baby girl that she and Randy will get to share. Tomi had to go through a lot of yuck to get to where she is today, so I get a little emotional now when I see her getting to experience things like this, the way they are meant to be...minus the whole NICU thing (I really wish we could have skipped that, but I know Sterling is going to be fine)...it's pretty incredible.

I will post more pictures soon...please pray that Sterling can move out of the NICU very soon!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Big Boy Haircut


Hunter will be two in two months (REALLY?!?) and he has never had an official haircut. My friend Tomi has given him a much needed trim once, but that has been it. This week I noticed that his hair was hanging in his eyes, and looking really shaggy, so I took it upon myself to give him a trim. Big mistake. I totally messed his hair up. And I had loved it so much~ I'm still in mourning.

Monday afternoon I took him for a haircut, begging the girl to just trim what she had to in order to even up what I had messed up, thinking it will grow back eventually to the awesome hair he had before. He was a champ through the whole thing, and we left, my baby looking like a little old man with a combover. So sad.

Today I played with it a little and gave him a messy, curly spikey 'do. His hair is so different from the boys, I don't know what to do with it. But we're figuring it out, and he's looking pretty cute, just too old. My baby is growing up.