Six and a half weeks

Graham is six and a half weeks, 7 weeks on Friday. It's so fun to see him growing, his personality developing, and him staying healthy. We haven't been so good at keeping everyone updated on our blog, so we have a slideshow of some of the pictures that we have from the hospital to yesterday. They are chronological, or should be anyway. He's starting to get some cheeks and leg chub. We also included the first smile that we caught on camera, which is fantastic.

We're making it through the semester. We have one more week of class and then finals, and we've been fortunate to stay healthy and do well in our classes up to this point. Hopefully we're able to finish our final projects and do well on our tests.

Anyway, enjoy the slideshow. Also, we really appreciate the support that we've received from our parents, siblings, and extended family. The gifts that we received and some help baby sitting really helped.

Baby-Graham!

Graham Verlin Hatch was born on October 10, 2008 at 9:35 am. He weighed 7 pounds 4.8 ounces. We have a picture of him on the scale to prove it. He was 20 inches long, and as you can see in the pictures, has lots of dark hair. He's doing really well. He's been really sleepy as have the parents. He has this wonderful ability to fall asleep anytime anywhere, especially while he's eating. His head is back to its normal size and shape now and he is so handsome. Maybe this happens to everyone when they have kids, but all of the nurses have given him compliments and have told other nurses to come have a look at him because he's so cute.

Laura is doing really well. Labor in the hospital was relatively short and the epidural helped a lot. She is very tired, after a few days of contractions through the night before birth, and a couple of nights of interrupted sleep here in the hospital. She's learning how to nurse well, and recovering very nicely. I am very impressed with her. She's been very strong and patient and selfless. I think giving birth is the most Christlike thing anyone could ever do.

We are all very happy, a little bit tired, and excited to come home from the hospital this morning. We appreciate the congratulations and support that we have received. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

P.S. Graham also brought snow with him. Since he was born it has snowed each morning, and we are fortunate enough to have a nice view of the mountains, that have remained mostly covered by clouds, but then peak out every now and then and show their new white attire.

Who's the Rocket Scientist Now...

I just figured out that if you click on the picture it will take you to a larger version of it. So, everyone should be able to see his handsome face now. (Reference the previous post if you have no idea what I am talking about.)

Homework Break

Alex and I are at the USU library doing some homework, whoopee. Well, we just wanted to let everyone know that our brother-in-law, Mike, is famous. USU Homepage baby! Way to go Mike. (If you can't find him, just look for the only guy who forgot to wear his blue shirt that day.) We love you!


P.S. Sorry this picture is incredibly small; I couldn't figure out how to make it bigger. Mike could probably figure it out; he's a rocket scientist.
P.P.S. Nine days until we are supposed to have our baby!

Sweet Sixteen

A shout out to my brother Stew on his 16th birthday! This picture is a couple of years old but I carry it around in my wallet because it makes me laugh. Here's to you Stew-Pac.


Stew, Laura

A Few Weeks Gone By

For anyone that checks our blog fairly regularly we apologize that for the last few weeks you've had the opportunity of seeing our lovely pictures of our dental woes. With a little nudge from a comment from Jess we've decided to update the old blog.

Last Saturday, my brother Ammon and I hiked to the top of Mount Timpanogos. It was a pretty good little adventure to say the least.



We had to park quite a ways away from the beginning of the trail because of the number of vehicles that were there. So after some creative parking we began our hike. Things went smoothly until we got to the upper meadow. It was then that we decided to follow some directions that we found online to find a B 25 Bomber that wrecked on the top of Timp in the fifties. Our suggestion to anyone else that may choose to try and find this airplane in the future is not to follow the directions that we received which included following the trail past a toilet in a northwest direction where the trail fades and 1/2 of a mile after some ponds you're there at the airplane. That was the basic idea. We didn't make it to the airplane. We saw it off in the distance after wandering through some intense vegetation for an hour or so. It's just above the vegetation in this picture, kind of a twinkle in the picture.



After making it to the top we decided to slide down the snowfield close to the peek. While walking across the top of the mountain toward the snowfield we heard an interesting noise, which ended up being a life flight helicopter. Someone else that went down the snowfield broke their leg somehow and was stuck there in the middle of the snow with his bone sticking through the skin. We didn't get really close to the person, but we were able to see the whole life flight operation which was pretty remarkable. It wouldn't have been so enjoyable if the person were more seriously injured or if I was paying for the lift.





After carefully going down the field we decided to take a dip in the glacial Emerald Lake, which is appropriately named. It has a really interesting color, for how clear the water is. It was a cold swim, but nice and refreshing. The rest of the hike down was uneventful, but neither Ammon or I were pleased with the way our bodies responded to a day of hiking. We were glad to see our car still creatively parked where we left it and free of parking tickets.








Beside that, Laura and I have just been getting ready for the most interesting semester of school of our lives. Laura finished a full time summer semester with a 4.0, which is very impressive. She worked really hard in her classes and her professors were constantly complimenting her work. Seven more weeks until Graham's due date. We're grateful to all of those that have been willing to pass on some of their baby goods to us. Also we're very appreciative to those that gave us so much at the baby shower. We love our family and friends and think of you often.

"Health insurance is like a punch in the mouth." -Alex

We've been meaning to make it to the dentist for a while now (we've even been saving our change in a tea pot on our stove) but it's just so expensive. Hopefully it's not too late for us.




Can you tell we don't have any children to keep us busy?

"Bears . . . Beets . . . Battlestar Galactica"

So I am sitting in the computer lab, in the middle of a hot July afternoon, wondering how long this week's reading will take . . . when I look across the aisle and there he is. Big goofy glasses- check. Balding, greasy hair- check. Smirking- check. Yep, it's him. The only thing missing is the tie, too bad. Gotta love Dwight.

Oh, memories . . .

It's been fun thinking of funny old things that have happened. In case anyone else wants to add here, feel free. (This will serve as our memory tag post. I'm just going to go ahead and assume most people have seen this already.)

Random Samplings

Well, here are a few things that we have been meaning to share for a while. I suppose none of them are incredibly significant, just kind of fun. Enjoy.


Though my sister had a baby already I wanted to share this picture. She liked for our babies to be able to converse belly to belly each time we saw each other. She is nine months pregnant and I am about six months pregnant in this picture. We call this one "Nice Talk."


Our fish died this week. When we came back on Sunday, they were gone. We got them the day that we met, coincidentally. We were hoping they would make it to a year, but they were just a month short. They were wonderful fish and we will miss them. So long Lois and Penny. (Don't worry, they are alive in the picture.)

We baked our first loaf of regular bread together (you know, not banana or zucchini). Yum.


These are some babies shoes we bought a little while ago. They are so cute; the blue ones are called "Squeakers" and I think that is awesome. The other ones look sort of like snow boots I think, but I love them. We can't wait till our baby is here. Alex keeps having dreams that he is already born or that he can come out and play for a little while. We are getting very excited!

Baby

My sister Megan had her baby nearly two weeks ago. I've been kind of slow in updating lately but I thought I'd share a few pictures because he is really adorable. He was born June 30 at 9:44 PM. 8 pounds 4 ounces and 21 inches long. His name is Jamison Hughes (Henderson) Parker. He is my first nephew from my immediate family, so this was pretty exciting. Megan was really inspiring for all of us throughout the whole thing and I am grateful that she wanted me to be a part of her experience. I love you Megs!

The White 'Fro

This is me exactly one year ago. I thought I'd take a trip back to the 80s and perm my hair for the summer. Man, it was exciting. Just thought it would be funny to share. I really liked the perm, but I got sick of it after a while so it only lasted just over a month. I still have the rollers, maybe I'll do it again someday. I just don't know if I'm feeling quite as frizzy at the moment.

Warding Off Baby-Head

Earlier this summer I decided to try memorizing one poem a week. So far I have not been very disciplined in sticking with it; I have only gotten through two poems. So today I sat my self down and got to it. I figured I would share because poetry makes me happy and maybe it will make someone else so. And it will help me to remember them better. The poem I chose for this week is by Amy Lowell, an American poet from the early 20th century. Hopefully someone else will enjoy it as much as I do:

September, 1918

This afternoon was the colour of water falling through sunlight;
The trees glittered with the tumbling of leaves;
The sidewalks shone like alleys of dropped maple leaves;
And the houses ran along them laughing out of square, open windows.
Under a tree in the park,
Two little boys, lying flat on their faces,
Were carefully gathering red berries
To put in a pasteboard box.

Some day there will be no war.
Then I shall take out this afternoon
And turn it in my fingers,
And remark the sweet taste of it upon my palate,
And note the crisp variety of its flights of leaves.
To-day I can only gather it
And put it into my lunch-box,
For I have time for nothing
But the endeavour to balance myself
Upon a broken world.

Amy Lowell
1919


In case you are wondering, the other two poems are "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden and "This Is Just To Say" by William Carlos Williams (which can be found on the right of this page).

Family Bonding

I've been able to feel our baby move for a few weeks now, but this week Alex was able to feel him for the first time. It was really exciting. We had our first family bonding moment between the three of us. Below are some pictures of our first baby purchase. It's a little silly but we thought it was kind of funny. And also very cute.

May Already!

A lot has happened in the last month. We finished out the semester and we did pretty well too. Alex got another 4.0, that's two semesters in a row! And I placed third in the school's creative writing contest. Alex got a job doing research at a water lab here on campus and I am starting the summer semester with a few classes. We're keeping busy and especially enjoying the change of weather. Logan sure is beautiful in the summer. We're slow at the blog business, but here are some updates.

Baby . . .

BOY! We went to the doctor's office on Monday for an ultrasound. They did a complete exam of the baby, including the most anticipated is it a boy or girl?. Our baby boy is perfectly healthy and in fabulous shape. He weighs about 9 ounces now and is right on track. We are so thrilled to be having a boy. We're trying to work on some names but are having a hard time coming up with ones we like. So far we think we like Graham. But we'll see where we go with it. We also made our first baby purchase, a little onsie. Baby shopping is so fun. Anything that small is automatically adorable. Hopefully these pictures show up, sorry they're a little blurry.

Arches

We spent part of last week in Moab with my family. I've been to Arches several times but everytime I go it seems even more spectacular. The hikes were beautiful, the weather wonderful, and we had a blast camping by the river. Alex fit right in with my dad and my brothers, climbing all over nearly every rock in the park. The first day we were there it was so windy that I got pretty nervous to see Alex climbing really high on a cliff face. So, it wasn't exactly a cliff but there was possibility for some danger. I think my maternal instincts are starting to bloom. The best day by far was probably the Fiery Furnace day. The Fiery Furnace is one of the most amazing places on earth. There are narrow finger canyons and washes, towers of red rock, and the coolest crack climbing and bouldering of almost anywhere. It's pretty intense hiking and climbing, but so beautiful. I've been before so I decided I'd better sit this one out with my sister who is also pregnant. She, being eight months pregnant and for obvious reasons, stayed behind with me and my mom. So the two pregnant ladies and my mama spent the day doing all the easy hikes while the rest spent four or five hours exploring one of God's coolest creations. The trip was fun and it was great to spend time with all of my family.

Alex being a monkey boy.

A testament to the wind.

Double Arch, my favorite arch. Also in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Alex, my dad, and one of my brothers defying death.

And the famous, Delicate Arch. The two tiny guys underneath the arch are Alex and my brother-in-law Mike.

We've moved!

We got a new apartment just a couple of blocks away from our old one. This new place has two bedrooms, a dishwasher, and even washer and dryer hookups. A total score for us and the area. We really like it. We're still trying to get organized and unpacked so we'll be sure to post some pictures when we do. The only down side to our new home is that we no longer live across the street from the temple. I really miss seeing it everyday when we walk outside. But we are still close and the wonderful spring season seems to present moments of beauty all around. In the meantime, here are some pictures of our old place.

Living Room, the red window is the front door.

Looking in from the front door.

Kitchen Table

This is the view from the street. We were in the basement on the side of the house.

This was our first day in our apartment. How exciting!

Seasons

Living in Logan has helped us look at a few things a little differently. We live in a pretty old house, which includes old windows. It seemed like our heater never turned off in the winter, and it was still too cold for Laura. Anyway, Laura said to me recently, you might think this is kind of weird, but whenever I look at houses now, I check to see if they have new windows. I guess that's what happens when it's the second week of April and you wake up to fresh fallen snow and frosted car windows.

Well, today was a nice day. The sun came out and it was warm enough to go for a walk outside without even a coat (we still woke up to frosted car windows this morning, which is strange.) So we walked across the street and around the temple and a strange thing was happening. There were other people that were also on walks, several as a matter of fact. We walked down to a park close by and there were families out there, and people playing soccer. I thought this was interesting for a couple of reasons. It doesn't seem very normal for people to walk anywhere in Utah. A lot of people drive their car to church around the corner, my Dad was a prime example. But there were people outside. Also, it was snowing earlier this week. How can weather change so fast?

I guess what I'm getting at here is it's nice to have seasons. I don't think I would enjoy the warm weather as much if my nose hairs didn't freeze walking to class in the winter. It's nice to experience change. I should do a better job of appreciating what I have when I have it, just like all these people in Logan who decided to go for a walk. Even then, I'll probably wish for freezing nose hairs when it's 100 degrees in the summer.

Baby Stats

We went to our second doctor's appointment on Monday. This time we were able to hear our baby's heartbeat. It was so amazing to hear this tiny, little whoomph coming from inside me. The doctor said that the heartbeat was about 150 beats per minute, which was perfectly normal. But she said it was a little on the slow side, which, according to old wive's tales, means that it's probably a boy. A boy! Up to this point I have been prone to thinking it's a girl. Alex tends to think it's a boy. So, yesterday we went over the grandkid stats for our families. My side, first child per sibling: 100% boy. Alex's side, 67% boy. We'll find out for sure in about a month, so until then . . . your guess is as good as ours.

Vanity Just Gets You In Trouble, Doesn't It

I have been debating lately on whether or not to cut my hair. I have been patiently growing it out--not one of my strongest points, by the way. For some reason, the second I feel hair dangling at the back of my neck, I have this compulsion to chop it off! So, this time I made it four months, quite a feat. I decided Monday that I would do it, I would get a hair cut. Another strange hair compulsion: I rarely pay to get my hair cut. A) I am cheap. B) I'm perennially afraid that it won't turn out how I want. Anyway, I called around Logan until I found a place that seemed reasonably priced, satisfying qualm A and just tried to swallow B in a lump. When I got there, I knew it was a mistake. My stylist had a picture of a girl on her station who looked like she was straight out of an 80's glamour shot. I know I shouldn't be so snobby, but . . . my fears came true. I went home thoroughly disappointed with my new 'do. I then had a seemingly brilliant idea: "I'll just fix it myself!" For some reason, I figured that cutting my hair through most of my angsty high school experience qualified me to try it now. I did okay, for the most part, there were a few rough spots, but I have zero skill when it comes to bangs. I already knew this; I just wish someone would have been there to remind me: "Laura, you don't know how to cut bangs and you always, always mess them up. Please don't do it!" Alas, what's done is done. At least hair is not that big of a deal, it just grows back, right.

The Appearance of A New Cyber Face

Well, we did it; we got sick of being the cyber losers and decided to give in to peer pressure (mostly a first for us). We love looking at other family blogs and realized that we could do a little better at sharing what's going on in our lives. Hopefully we can keep up with it!