When I found out I was pregnant we went shirt shopping because I wanted her to wear a big sister shirt when David came home. I thought it would be a cute way to tell him. I mean it wasn't a big surprise to him but still fun.
I did the same thing at my parents house. I changed Scotty, gave her to my dad and told him, "check out Scotty's shirt Grandpa." Instead my parents cooed over Scotty's cuteness for five minutes before I reminded them to look at the shirt again- haha! I guess it was a little too subtle for everyone. It did work at a Smith family dinner though so I finally felt like my idea was justified.

We pre-gamed for a couple days with my parents in Santa Clarita and headed out to the beach. We hit up the fish hatchery in Ventura on the way. Scotty was semi interested and since the fish food is free, I'd say it was worth it.

This wasn't her first time at the beach (that was last Summer in Oceanside). But it was her first time as a toddler with a capacity to explore. She really liked the water and the warm sand. And of course she had to do a taste test.
It was a little chillier when we went to the beach again during reunion, so she mostly discovered a newfound love of goldfish while chilling in a chair. David got to play some beach volleyball while I enjoyed hanging out with Scotty and the kids.




"Get away from my goldfish seagulls, I have the force!"
Honestly this was maybe the most fun reunion (for me) because it was so laid back and perfect for our current stage. Aunt Quenta and Amanda did a great job getting crafts and activities for the kids to do at the pre-school and the pre-school itself was like heaven with all it's toys and playground.
We had to drive back Sunday so we left straight from family pictures which were right at nap time. Please enjoy these pictures of Scotty's impending melt down/ her melting down. Haha.

This spot was perfect for pictures minus the sun in everyone's eyes. I took at least 10 of Colleen's family and could not find one where everyone had their eyes open haha. I do love the facial expressions though.

Grandma Sandra did a great job sharing family history stories again as part of the activities. They're always so interesting and make me wish we had time to hear every ancestor's stories.

We had to wait a while for everyone to get there and get the group picture all set up. Here's patient Sterling.
 And not patient Scotty.
I like this picture of Grandma Nola calmly in the middle of everything. I felt like it was accurate.
We missed the rest of the Sandra Hatch clan but we definitely love getting to spend time with everyone who was there! Can't wait for next year already!
Previous Hatch Reunion Posts: 2016 | 2015 | 2014

Being a mom of a toddler is the craziest. It's fun and exhausting and hilarious. But the thing about any problem that occurs is that it breaks up the expected monotony of my daily routine and if looked at with a sense of humor, problems actually become laughable blessings. So here's some recent crazy things that've made me laugh.



Sour Scotty

Scottlyn has recently acquired the useful skill of unscrewing lids (the smart little monkey!). Dinner time is a challenge because she's usually a little cranky and mom is not providing undivided attention. I had two almost empty bottles of lemon juice I pulled out for the dish I was making so I handed her one thinking it would be fun for her to hold and be involved with dinner. That cray-pants baby took off down the hall with her prize.

Mommy finished up what she was doing and found Scotty in the office sucking on the bottle of now open lemon juice. There were also tale-tale drops of moisture on the carpet around that area. I don't know how much she drank but I just sat there and laughed as she drank her lemon juice before confiscating it and taking her outside to move wood chips around the yard until Daddy came home.



Gross. Gross. Gross.

I marvel again and again that I deal with a fair bit of gross stuff without much hesitation. The cliche about it being not as bad when it's your kid is true for me at least. With ONE exception: tub floaters. I have banned and re-banned Scotty from taking baths, exiling her to showers with mom, vowing to never again be naive enough to let her into a tub full of warm water only to soften up and run a bath for that water loving baby.

I can't even tell you the level of panic that occurs when those ominous bubble float up from that tiny derrière that foreshadow the arrival of floaters. This last week I was (of course) not fast enough at snatching her away from doing the deed and not only did she go but she proceeded to grab for her um... nuggets. Much shrieking came from me. I don't know if this is hilarious or pathetic but I just could not deal so I let the tub drain and just closed the door and came back later after I mentally reconciled myself to cleaning the biohazard. If you're wondering, she had an uneventful bath today. I like to live on the wild side apparently.


What a hot dog

She used to fling her food onto the floor but we think she wised up to the fact that sometimes mom and dad put that same food back on her tray. So yesterday Scotty was dipping hot dog pieces into her ketchup and was apparently done but had two pieces left. Anticipating mom trying to get her to eat more she covertly dropped them both down the front of her shirt.


And if none of this amused you, this story a man told about what happened when his roomba ran over dog poop made me laugh until I teared up.

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Here's my insta-story explanation of our current status (I'm a professional DIY-er obvs). Our plan is to tear down the unnecessary ledge, patch the drywall, extend the hickory hardwood from the entry into the room, paint and then add the wainscoting. We won't be doing the hardwood ourselves but all the rest we will.


Then we'll have a gorgeous empty front room until I refinish the piano (I'm scared of this project) and we save for fun furniture. I'm excited to bring this house forward from it's 90's origin and make it feel like our style.