Happy Halloween!

Yes, I am just going to act like it is normal that I haven't posted in many months. Here are some fun photos of our Halloween at the Dog Parade on Main Street. Park City Halloween is the best time! Ruby kept saying "Thank you a taking me trickortreating...this is fun!" It was pretty much the best day of her life!

http://s562.photobucket.com/albums/ss64/kelliejhatcher/?albumview=slideshow&newest=1

Sorry, I am not smart enough to actually put the slideshow in my blog.

My new hobby

I have always loved taking pictures, but in the last month my little photography hobby has become a complete obsession! Anyone who wants some photos of their kids just give me a call bc I really need some new subjects! Here are a couple of the most recent, if you want to see more, click here www.flickr.com/photos/kelliehatcher

May Baskets...A Nebraskan thing??

I kindly stole this post from my friend Ashley because I am wondering the same thing and am too lazy to write this in my own words. She is quite hilarious, so I will just paste her whole post in here. I would love to here the response from my friends because we made these every year when I was little and wanted to do it with Ruby, but thought my neighbors might think we were crazy! Here is her post...thanks Ashley!

I love the first day of May because it can mean only one thing…it’s May Day and it means making May Day baskets, filling them with candy, leaving them on a friend’s doorstep, ringing the doorbell and running like hell. Okay, I actually haven’t done that since I was little but I would love to do it again. When I mention this tradition to people, I get a look like I have horns growing out of my head. I get this look often when I refer to things from Nebraska or my childhood. Like the time I asked Holly to hand me a koozie for my beer and she looked at me like WTF??? She politely told me that they refer to them as “huggies” in Illinois and that she had never heard the term koozie before; therefore, I must be nuts. Or, like the many times I ask for a pop and I get the “Oh you poor thang, you must be from the Midwest” response…whatever that means.I want to know if I’m alone in my May Day haze and if this special little holiday spans other states besides Nebraska. Man, just talking about it makes me want to get out my Styrofoam cups so I can decorate my little heart out. It's too bad my neighbors have security cameras on their house otherwise; I would be ringing doorbells like crazy tomorrow.

Friends

Just so you know. For those of you that used to be on my blogging friends list and are no longer there...I accidentally erased all of my friends a couple months ago and haven't had the patience to try find and re-enter everbody. So, if you are reading this, and your name isn't on here anymore, leave a quick comment so I can add you again. Thanks. Sorry, I am retarded.

Last week

Ruby always has pretty bad breath in the morning. I mean, I'm not saying that my breath smells delicious either, but what happened to that sweet baby breath? I love letting Sidney breathe in my face, I want to eat her up...she just smells so good, most of the time...if you know what I'm sayin'. So, the other day I told Ruby to run and brush her teeth and I would be there in a minute. Well, being the really great mother that I am, I forgot that she was brushing her teeth. Having realized that I had just folded a whole load of laundry and didn't hear Ruby, I got a little scared. So, I called her name and realized that I had told her to brush her teeth. When I arrived in the bathroom Ruby was slamming the drawer shut like she was hiding something.

Me: What are you doing?

Ruby: Paste is gud.

Me: Wow, Ruby, you're breath smells so good.

I opened the drawer only to find the entire tube of Dora toothpaste gone. While I triumphantly folded a whole load of laundry, Ruby sucked down a whole tube of toothpaste...no brush involved. Nice.

I sold my washer and dryer last weekend. My clothes were locked in it all week. After unplugging and plugging it in several times trying to get it to unlock, it successfully opened and I put sopping wet clothes in the dryer for 3 hours. I listed the dryer on KSL and included the washer for free. Even tried to warn the excited couple about the stupid washing machine. Kicked the machine on the way out the door. I hate Whirlpool Duets. Bring on the top loader!

I felt a little guilty about the whole toothpaste incident, so for Easter, I thought I would try to be Martha Stewart or Betty Crocker, or June Cleaver...one of those cute people. When Ruby woke up I gave her clues leading to clues and more clues and then to her Easter basket. She wasn't that into it (I was way more into thinking about what a good Mom I was), but she loved the basket at the end. She also loved finding the eggs that I decorated. Note: I did try to decorate the eggs with her, but after she start crushing the eggs with her bare hands, I knew this was not going to be the Mother/Daughter bonding experience that I had hoped.

Lots of photos from Easter.

Final Name

Sidney Rose. It's final. First, Greg and I did rock, paper, scissors and he won. Fair and square. I told him I would be fine with whatever name chosen (knowing he would be choosing Sidney). He agreed that he now had the choice but would not commit to a name. Ugh. So, March 24th, my birthday, Greg comes up with a surprise gift..mm, hmm. He would give me the naming rights to our child. Having the ball back in my court opened up all sorts of names, Charlotte Rose, Reece Charlotte, Rose Something, Emerson Rose, all names I loved during my pregnancy, but did not take to the hospital for one reason or another. Long story short, every name I came up with, Greg winced. So, I folded, gave him the name he loves...he won. Sidney Rose it is.

"Ruby Hatcher tant walk"

She started saying this the other day when she dropped a can on her big toe and I am so excited that I got it on video.

They're SLEEPING

Yes, both kids are sleeping, for the first time in 10 weeks....I have a break during the day! Hallelujah!! I thought I would take a minute to get caught up on our last couple months. I will do my best...bear with me. I don't know if I can remember everything, but I have pictures....of course I have pictures. First up, Thanksgiving. We had all of my brothers and sister here, and my Mom and Mike. We also got to see my Dad and Judy and Greg's mom and sister, Lori. Needless to say, we had a full house. I am sorry to keep having to do these boring posts, when Sidney...whom I am thinking of calling Rose, her middle name, I change her name daily, but anyway, when Rose starts thinking of taking naps during the day, I will return to my usual fun posts. These days its just journaling our lives. But, I digress. Let's get to the pictures. This is Ruby with her cousin Alia, who is about 3 months older than her. She is so cute and could not be more opposite Ruby. She just walks really slowly around the house...chatting with a whole bunch of toys in her hands. Meanwhile, Ruby is jumping from the couch to the ottoman to the chair to the floor.

The whole group.

When Dad and Judy stopped by.

They are both awake....to be continued.

The Polar Express

We got to go to the North Pole last Tuesday! It was pretty cute. Every year the Heber Creeper does a Polar Express train ride for little kids. They dress in their pajamas, drink hot chocolate and cookies, given to them by Santa's elves and go to the North Pole. Santa comes aboard and gives each child a bell and the conductor comes and punches their ticket. We got to sing carols and visit with friends. It was a pretty cute trip. We went with our Aunt Keri and cousin Jetty and friends Denise, Kimball, Mia, and Kate and Hazel. Notice Ruby's new camera ready smile! This is how I felt most of the time....the mounds of children were testing my lack of sleep. Notice Denise, above, with a baby the same age smiling and looking perfect. She has a perfect baby.

cookies so good!
Ruby plotting with her friends to take over the train.

The reason for my nightless days

She sure is worth it though! And is smiling all the time, although I still don't have a good picture of her and her darling dimples. Unlike Ruby, this little girl is very consolable. She cries a lot but we can alway calm her down...she cuddles up to our chest and just looks around and then falls asleep. I keep her in my Moby wrap most of the day. For those of you that are going to have babies, I would definitely recommend this carrier over all others. I have tried the bjorn and slings and this is BY FAR my favorite. See pic below. I can tuck her head in and she just falls asleep, I pulled it down in this picture so you can see her face, but usually you can't see her at all. I have the freedom of both hands and can easily bend over without supporting her head. Am I a commercial or what?