Crazy Hair

I'm still getting used to having a little girl with hair that can actually be styled.  Honestly it took me until I was about 28 years old to finally be able to do my own hair.  Hopefully that learning curve will improve with Sanna cuz right now I'm not doing so hot... :) This hairstyle was from my bright idea to put it in little ponytails the  night before when her hair was wet.  This is how it looked when she woke up...

Crazy hair... crazy week....but not crazy in a good way.  Crazy as in I think my brain is going to explode because I can't deal with any more diarrhea or throw up coming from these cute kids.  Griz threw up in the shopping cart at walmart earlier this week, he also had bad accidents possibly due to this stomach bug in his pants 3 different times, one of which happened today at church (thank you Brent for cleaning that one!!!) Sanna woke covered in aforementioned grossness coming from her diaper pretty much every day this week. So yeah, this week stunk, quite literally.
Saturday night was fun though.  Brent dragged me and the kids out of the house by tempting me with going out to eat for dinner at Steak n Shake.  As we drove there he told me the kids needed to run around so we went to check out a park we hadn't been to yet.  A friend from the ward just happened to be there too so that was fun to chat with her while the kids played.  And then we got to have yummy hamburgers and shakes then rented a movie.  So yeah, that was a really fun day to help my mood.  The weather has been so nice the last couple days too, so nice to walk outside and enjoy the beauty in the nice temperatures.  
Brent and I spoke in church today.  It's good to get that over with.  I hadn't spoken in church since I was 17 years old.  Right before I was going to go up there I felt like I was going to puke, it was so weird! I didn't think I normally got that nervous. Anyway, like I said, glad that's over!

Oh and one more picture...
These cardinals are so beautiful.  Brent took this picture from our porch. I know I keep saying how cool it is to have a forest right outside our apartment, but it really is!!!

Lately I've taken a bunch of pics with my phone and have been posting them on Instagram.  I like doing that more than on the blog or Facebook for several reasons, mainly cuz it's easier and less people see it I think. Anyway my username is hatchmama65 so feel free to start following me on Instagram so you can see cute things the kids do during the day like this...

When we caught her in the act, before we could say anything she said, "uh-oh"

A photo posted by Sarah Hatch (@hatchmama65) on Dec 29, 2014 at 9:56pm PST

And yes I know, the majority of my pictures seem to be of Sanna. In my defense, the boys don't let me take their picture as often, and let's just face it, toddlers are fun to photograph!

Funnies from the kids...
Chico was talking to Brent about rings (he recently got a CTR ring from church) and he was asking Brent if he ever takes off his ring.  Brent takes it off to play with it while he's bored in class or just as a nervous habit sometimes and so in answer to Chico's question he said, "Yeah, I take it off sometimes when I'm bored..." and before Brent could finish his sentence Chico interjects by saying, "with mommy?"  ... Bored with mommy?  Seriously? Where in the world did he get that from? We were laughing so hard on the inside and made sure to correct him that daddy would never take off his ring because he's bored of mommy. Still surprised he'd say that!

Something I want to remember about Griz cuz I don't know if he'll always be this way, he only eats the frosting off of cakes and cookies.  Guess he's conserving his calories.  Also Griz has been so outgoing about everything during this last month in Tennessee.  He is definitely not as shy about things.

Sanna is starting to say words a little more.  Besides just singing "go" and "door" when singing Frozen she can also say, "doas" (toast), toa (coat), shoe, "deez" (cheese), Dadda/Daddy (which she LOVES saying cuz she LOVES her Daddy), and of course mama.  Oh, and let us not forget, "NO!".  She is really good at making us laugh when she says no "No, no, no!"
For a while she's also been saying, "uts is?" (what's this?), and "dat" (that).
Brent does this funny growling thing with her, he growls REALLY loud.  She doesn't even flinch even though by all means she should, I mean I'm flinching when I watch it cuz it's so loud.  But if he tells her "no, no" or "don't do that" she gets SO sad and just cries and cries.
She has the cutest cheesy grin.  I love how she shuts her eyes and her teeth just jut out while she's smiling.  It brightens my day. :)

School Has Started

Brent and Chico have both begun school.  It is so unreal having them gone now. I have absolutely LOVED having my whole family home with me all day long.  Sure there was fighting and chaos associated with that but it still was really nice.  It breaks my heart to see how nervous Chico is about going to school. He's always been nervous about school but now that it's a new school with completely new people that fear is multiplied by 20. Their schools are a little ahead of what we were used to in Utah, wouldn't it be nice to only have 19 kids in your class instead of 30 or more!? I think he'll catch up eventually, he'll just need to work hard and I'll have to keep up the pep talks.  He was having a bit of a panic attack last night about going to his second day of school, he just felt like he had no idea what was going on and it made him feel like he was too stupid for school.  After a long talk with Brent and I he remembered he is a smart boy, I mean how many kids know as much about science as he does!? And what an artist he is! Finally he had a smile on his face and he said to me, "There's nothing wrong with me!"  

Chico seems so old lately. He is a master builder with his legos and is always creating something! He is such a sweet kid.  He was pretty happy after his first day of school and as he was talking about things in the car ride home he kept slipping into a cute little southern drawl.  Brent and I were laughing silently about it to ourselves (not wanting to make him feel self conscious).  I can't really blame him for slipping into the local accent, I find myself doing it all the time as well.  I love the way everyone talks out here, reminds me of my time I spent as a nanny in Raleigh when I was 17.

The days of Brent and I staying up late watching Netflix together and spending all day together are now gone.  He will no longer have time for much other than studying from here on out. I know he can do it.  I know I can do it.  I just wish we could fast forward a year to next Christmas break though... ha ha, if only! 

I'm diggin' how close his school is to our apartment though! Gone are the days of 30 minute commutes in heavy I-15 and downtown SLC traffic.  Now his commute is around 4 minutes through our little town.  Love it!!!  We can drop things off to him easily or eat lunch with him conveniently (if he has time for lunch, lol) It's such a nice change from our time at the U.  I really can't say enough how excited I am about that.

Griz loves to laugh.  I was going through old videos recently from when he was 2 years old. Even back then he loved making people laugh.  He loves watching this one clip in particular where he calls Chico "Mama" when he's on the ski lift.  He laughs so hard every time.

He's so good at getting Sanna to laugh.  He'll just do random things like drop something on the ground but the look on his face and his infectious laughter will get her cracking up so hard. He doesn't have a preschool to go to out here that I  know of so she and he will be spending a lot of time together. They can get along so well sometimes, it's so cute.  Griz had the hardest time adjusting to the move but he's finally feeling at home, in fact the other day out of the blue he said, "Hey, this looks like our old house!"  I think the kids still really miss Centerville and all the grandparents.  Even though they miss them I feel like they have grown so much from the move in so many positive ways.

Sanna doesn't talk very much but she will sing along to songs.  Frozen songs are her favorite to sing to.  Followed by "It's always a good time" She sings the "Oh oh oh oh oh.." She's totally right on, it's awesome.  I love the way she dances.  Her little hips get going as soon as the music starts and she loves spinning in circles.

Sanna has started saying "no no no" when we tell the kids it's time for bed.  It's hilarious how immediate of a reaction it is for her to say it.

She likes climbing into the boys beds. At bed time I'll be looking for her and shell be cuddled up all snug as can be in bed with Chico.  I wish I could leave her in there with him, it's so cute and hilarious. I know that no one would get any sleep that way though.

Griz and Sanna take turns coming into our bed at night which I could do without.  It'd be fine if Griz wasn't so big or if Sanna didn't insist on laying sideways.

Brent is loving life and is doing better than ever. This move has been the best thing for him just as I knew it would be.  The Lord really knew what our family needed and we're so grateful to be here on this adventure together. I've been so grateful to have his help with the house lately, he's made it so nice to live here. I've been kind of on vacation mode these last few weeks and he has taken care of so much.  It's hard to realize it's time for me to wake up from this vacation and step up and take care of things here at the house while he is gone. I still miss home a bit here and there but overall I'm doing really well.  Mostly I miss family and friends and the grocery stores. :)  I don't know what I'll do without the shredded mozzarella cheese from Costco my mom would always pick up for me. Other cheeses just don't compare when you're making homemade pizza!!!  We talk to family on Skype and FaceTime. That has been fun, hopefully it helps Sanna remember her grandparents so that when they come to visit she's not too scared of them! :)

I went with Brent and the kids on an adventure in the woods out back of our house.  It was fun and really cool out there.  It rained while we where out there but it wasn't terribly cold.  Today however is bitter cold.  The weather changes quite a bit day to day, but that's how Utah is so that's not too weird to me. :)

Here are some pictures from our little hike...

I love going through photos after Brent has taken pictures and finding gems like these ones that show what an artist and photographer he is:

They found this little "fort" out there too.  Chico thinks it's pretty dang cool and begged me to take a picture even though it was raining harder at that point.

Miss you all, thanks for reading!