Thank you AMA!!

I had a bit of a heart pounding afternoon this week! Thursday morning was shaping up to be a busy morning with a few extra errands added on to my day. It was playgroup day, but then Rebecca forgot her glasses when she went to school, I decided that I should return dishes from meals brought to us, and since my older girls were getting a little bored during nap time - I thought I should probably take them to the library for some new reading/watching material. So, I took Rebecca's glasses to her school and let her show off her new baby brother for a few minutes. Then we went to playgroup, picked up Anna from school, took the dishes back to their owners, picked up Rebecca from school and headed to the mall. Since nobody had had lunch, we were there to eat out as well as it was about 12:30 by this time. We got to the mall and the parking lot closest to the library was mostly full. I am getting better at parking Big Red, but I still need a bit of space to feel comfortable. So I looked around and found a spot over by Safeway that even had some shade! It wasn't as hot as the day before, but still a nice day at about 23 degrees. I was getting all the girls out of the van and getting them settled in or close to the stroller. I pushed the button to lock the door to the van and set the keys in my purse and realized that Sarah needed my attention so I set my purse down (in the van) and turned to help her. Anna then decided to be a big helper and shut the door to the van! Now remember that my purse and keys are still in there, but so is my baby!!! Aaaauuuggghhh!!! Now what do I do??? I quickly ran into Safeway and went to the customer service desk and asked for some help. They looked up the number for AMA and told them the situation and I went back out to the van to wait for them. They showed up 5 minutes later and had my van open 5 minutes after that! I was so glad that it wasn't too hot and that I had parked in the shade. Gideon was just sleeping away - this didn't faze him in the least thank goodness. I looked around to find the AMA guy and he was in his truck driving away. He didn't even ask my name or if I had a membership or anything!! I feel very blessed that I was able to get the help I needed so quickly. You can bet that my doors will not be locked until everybody and everything is OUT of the van from now on!!

Gideon

We are excited to announce the arrival of Gideon Matthew Roger Hatch to our family!

Gideon arrived on Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 11:51pm. He is 21 1/2 inches long and weighed 10lbs 8 oz (I know, I know - - I was there!!).

I started having some contractions on Sunday morning though nothing too regular. I went to church at 1pm and ended up going home after sacrament meeting as I wasn't feeling great. After laying down for a couple of hours I felt fine and had no contractions at all for those two hours. We had supper after everybody else came home and cleaned up the house. Later on Matt and I went for a walk to see if things would get moving. We walked for about half an hour and I started having some pretty strong contractions, but again, not very regularly. We went home and put the kids to bed and played a game of Catan. By about 9:30 they were coming about every 5 minutes and so we made a few arrangements for the kids, made lunches for the next day, and finished packing my bag. I sat down for a few minutes around 10:30 just to make sure they were going to continue and by 10:45 I was having contractions every 2 minutes and figured it was time to head to the hospital. We arrived upstairs at about 11pm and I was sent right into a delivery room. I was at 5cm at abou 11:15 and then the doctor came in and broke my water and I was immediately at 6cm and 20min later I was ready to push. And so at 11:51 our BIG baby boy arrived. We are all super excited to have him here and he has been an awesome baby so far. I am having a few problems with some nasty inflammed varicose veins, but other than that I am feeling fine. The kids all love Gideon and want to hold him all the time. Sarah is getting better at being gentle - she thinks Gideon is her personal baby and says "Hi" and waves to him whenever she sees him. What a great way to complete our family!!

Back to school!

What a crazy last couple of weeks! School started on Wednesday last week - I know - weird day to start school, but oh well. We were babysitting extra kids until Monday and Tuesday anyway, so it was nice to have just my kids in the house again. Brendan started Grade 7 (I am NOT that old!!) and he is doing well riding his bike to a new (much bigger) school with all new teachers and schedules. The school is 2 1/2 km away, so it is a nice bike ride for him right now before the snow flies anyway. Grace started Grade 2 this year and she really likes her new teacher. Anna is finally in kindergarten. She was so excited for her first day of school and kept saying over and over "I can't believe it's my first day, I can't believe it's my first day!" all the way to school. She was in that door and had her indoor shoes on, backpack hung up and over playing with the other kids so fast, I hardly had a chance to say goodbye! I am glad she is going to have a great year and that she will enjoy it so much! Rebecca started preschool at ABC Headstart - the same one Anna was at last year. We spent a lot of time there last year and so she was quite familiar with all the teachers and the classroom. She was a little nervous knowing that it was for her this time, but she did really well until they had her take her new shoes off and leave them there. She was in tears for quite a while because she wanted to keep her new shoes with her! The next day she was just fine though. It is a little strange sending my not quite 4 year old on a bus all by herself, but she doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Last week was a little strange because of staggered entry days for Rebecca and Anna - Anna only went to school on Thursday, and Rebecca went on Wednesday and Friday. That worked for me and being able to be with both of them on their first days of school though. Tomorrow is the start of regular schedules for everybody and I will be here at home with just Sarah to keep me company. That is until this next little one arrives. He is due this coming Saturday - - 5 more days!! It seems strange that D-Day is finally here and here already. I have been trying to keep on top of things, but things keep getting the better of me. I know that I will always have something to fill my days anyway. Here's to an awesome school year!