A stumbled upon tip

The room Audrey is in had a malfunctioning door knob and so it was removed.
As long as Audrey has been in the room the door has had a hole where we have never replaced the door knob. Surprisingly, it's been perfect! I can peek in at her at any time without disturbing her. It's a lot cheaper than an official peep hole or a video monitor. I think I will purposefully remove the door knob on my babies rooms in the future. (I happened to position the crib within view, something I will have to remember to replicate later.)

PS: Hyrum's meds: Amoxicillan mixed with about 2 Tbsp of grape juice; drink with a straw. The straw is an absolute necessity.

From Bad to Ugly

Morning

(The bandaid is just for comfort)

Noon

And Night

Today I took Hyrum to urgent care. We waited for over an hour in the tiny room with the crinkly paper for the doctor to examine Hyrum. We lost it. We went through all the treats in the diaper bag, told stories about the artwork in the room, changed diapers, and we even played Hide and Seek. I finally just opened the door, and we went back to the waiting room and played with the toys. We brought some books back and read them and still waited. The receptionist could tell I was on the verge; she brought us fruit snacks and a juice box 55 minutes into our sentence. I was just about to go home when the doctor finally came in. Needless to say, Hyrum had little patience for the exam. And I had even less. It's hard work keeping a two year old from entering "Melt Down Phase" when all roads are spiraling in that direction, especially with a tired baby on your hip.

It's a good thing we went because not only does he have an eye infection, he has a sinus infection. The doctor said his throat looks very sore and that he has a the beginnings of an ear infection also. Poor kid. We tried everything to encourage him to take his medicine willfully. But now there was no stopping it, we entered "Melt Down Phase" in it's entirety. In the end, we held him down and forced him to take it. "Take it" being used loosely, referring to what he may have swallowed while he was trying to spew it back in our faces. Twice a day for 10 days...and eye drops every 6 hours.

Can anyone identify which Disney cartoon this character comes from? His name is Pink Eye Pete. I remembered him, and thought he was from Recess, but I was wrong.

This is how Audrey communicates much of the time. We have screaming stand-offs every morning; she always wins.

My dad and brother like to yell her name when they see her in a tone that would start most kids crying (Hyrum still cries when they do it to him), but Audrey just growls and then screams right back. It makes me laugh every time!

Another Welcome Addition!

Welcome Baby Taylor!
....only four more babies to go! (2 Hatch side and 2 Bezzant side)

Tag

Name/Meaning behind it: Hyrum William Hatch;

William is Ammon's middle name; from his family history.

In May 2005, Ammon and his brother, Andrew, were doing baptisms for family in the temple. Ammon was baptized for Hiram Anderson. He came home and told me that we were going to have a baby boy and that we were going to name him Hyrum. We found out we were pregnant in July.

Age: 2 and a half

Nicknames: Hybug, Harvey

Favorite Activity: "Ball and Bat" (Using anthying that resembles a bat or paddle to hit anything that resembles a ball)

Favorite Food: "Chicken"

Least Favorite Food: He doesn't get a preference.

Favorite Music: "Jesus song" (Tell Me the Stories of Jesus); "Temple Song"

Favorite Toy: "1, 2, 3 Toys" (Too many to name just one)

Favorite Book: "Apple Animal Book" (Recent library find)

Favorite item of clothing: "Eagle Shirt"

What makes me happy: "Audrey Happy, Daddy Happy, Mommy Happy, Hyrum Happy"

What makes me sad: "I hit Gunner. I hit Kaden." (These are his friends in nursery. When he hits he gets in trouble.)

Fresh Ideas

Hyrum was in his room playing with his Play-Doh just the way his mommy taught him: you play with one color and then you put it away before you get out a new color. (For Play-Doh longevity and avoiding added participation in Play-Doh time, I chose to never suggest the idea of mixing colors, a decision every parent has to make for him/herself.)
But this particular day Hyrum found a fresh source of information: the forbidden Play-Doh owner's manual. He unfolded the pamphlet to reveal the novel material. After making himself comfortable, he seriously studied it.

I left him to his investigating for a time (thinking nothing of it, really), but when I came back Hyrum was thrilled to show me his work. His eyes were opened to a whole new world! Gone are the days of the clean, pure hues of Play-Doh.

Yes, that is every color we own.

I couldn't keep it from him forever.

Coming Home

When Hyrum woke up on Thursday morning, I made this mistake:

"We get to go to the airport and see Adam come home today!"

The plane came in at 11:30 pm. I wasn't lying, buy I might as well been, because to Hyrum today means now. From that moment on he couldn't stop talking about it. He even brought his Spiderman bag upstairs and told me he needed to pack. He was a little disappointed when he realized we weren't riding on an airplane. He was so confused when I put him down for his nap, and even more confused when I put him down for bed.

But he was thrilled (after a few groggy minutes) when we woke him up and told him it was time to go! He stayed awake the whole drive up to the "hairport" talking about seeing Uncle Adam.

And see Adam we did:

Anticipating

The Sighting

First Meeting

We commented on how skinny he is and he said, "You don't know what it's like to eat beans and rice every day." Then he looked around at all of us and said, "You've all been eating well." He then came right out and called us fat. We thought that was funny. He will fatten up too. (He's so skinny he has even lost his cheeks--that is hard to do for us Bezzants!)

Adam had been in lock down the last week in Honduras because a gang, angry at the United States because of this, was out to get all the gringos.

When he went to leave Honduras he discovered that his visa had not been done properly and that he had only received permission to be in Honduras for 90 days. They were going to arrest them and not allow them to leave the country. Adam said the church paid 7000 lemps for each elder to get through, as kind of a bribe.

Good thing he served an honorable mission and we were all praying he would get home safe!

Welcome home Adam!

And in other news: Welcome baby Tristan!

The Little Things

She doesn't always do the one leg thing; I think the dress threw her off a bit.

I didn't edit out Hyrum getting into trouble because I thought Audrey's reaction was funny.

SUMMER

We've been busy.

Audrey has been officially crawling for 2 weeks now.

Welcome Baby Eli!

Happy Birthday Lissa.

New Discovery

Today I found this LDS mom's blog.
It was too funny not to share.
I recommend the "Readers Favorites,"
(except maybe the "paper underpants," it might be a little too graphic for all readers.)

10 minutes is plenty of time for a 2 year old...

I left Hyrum upstairs while I put Audrey to sleep. He was playing with the straps and little buckles on my shoes. I was gone for about 10 minutes...and he was being very quiet. I was hoping he had kept himself occupied with the shoes, but that was just too good to be true.

When I came back upstairs, this is what I found:

I only took a picture of one tube, but he emptied TWO!

This is the second time he has done this! I didn't catch him as fast this time, which gave him ample time to smear it ALL OVER his body. First I tried to use his shirt to wipe off as much as possible, then I put him in the bath. He only had the patience to let me wash his hair twice...so it is still a little greasy.

Does anyone know how I should go about removing oil-based diaper ointment from my couch?

First Pig Tails!!

It wasn't easy, but we did it! Now we just need to get some bows!

4th of July FUN!!

Neurosis

A Salesman just came to the door. I answered the door.

"Hello, is your mom or dad at home?"
Now instead of just laughing and telling him I am the Mom...or something normal.

I freeze up and lie.

I say, "No."
"Do you know when they will be back?"
I say, "I don't know."
"If I come back after 5pm will they be here?"
I say, "Yes."
Then he gives me a spill about how he is a student from somewhere in Europe and he is selling educational programs for children.
"And how old are your brothers and sisters?"
I pause...and then say, "We just have a two year old."

I am such a dork. I hope I won't have to continue the charade if he comes back.
Apparently I look young, or maybe just younger than European women.

Birthday and Anniversary

Today is Abby's birthday. Isn't she great? Since we are mostly poor the only thing she really wanted was for me to be around to spend time with her; Sadly I got distracted a few times. We went to see WALL-E with Hyrum; Thank's Big-Mamma for watching Audrey. Then we had lunch at Abby's favorite steak house "Ruby River"; she has now eaten there twice. Thank's Big-daddy for the birthday dinner. All in all it was a fun day and we are most grateful for Abby.

While birthday celebrations are enjoyable today is also the anniversary of Dad's passing. The last week has been rather emotional. I may never know everything my dad means to me. I miss him. Looking back I am grateful for countless hours I spent with him doing projects. At the time I often dreaded it. I remember well a trip I made with him to pick up a car. As we drove I expressed my frustrations about how much of my valuable teenage time his projects took from me. At one point I said, "Isn't our purpose to have joy?" His response was to the effect of, "That's just a matter of where your joy is." I thought of that again recently as I participated in a car venture of my own. I invested in a vehicle that needed an Engine thinking I could make a profit and ended up taking a loss. As I contemplated the experience I wondered wether dad profitted from many of his "Car Projects." My conclusion was probably not and while he may have invested a lot of time rebuilding random things whith his children more important than the project he built a lot of character in his kids. Whenever an employer comments on my work ethic I attribute it to dad. Whenever friends and neighbors say we Hatchs' know how to work it is a tribute to dad. That was what he built all those years working with his children. And although the cars we worked on will end up, and may already be, in scrapyards, and the sidewalks and buildings may one day be replaced, the legacy of his family will endure forever.