my crystal ball

My crystal ball is showing that I have a vacation (sort of) coming to me soon. Yesterday I signed up for Women's Conference down at BYU. When I went last year I went alone (which was actually really nice) and I came home each night. This year I am leaving Wednesday night and staying in the dorms until Saturday morning. Renee, Michelle, and Melissa (my sister-in-law) are all coming with me. I am pretty excited - two and half whole days without doing dishes....

Now before you all come rushing to my house to use my crystal ball, I should come clean and tell you that I don't actually have one...sorry.

P.S. Did you notice on my pregnancy counter that I am 20 weeks today - YEAH; I am half way done!!!!!

so clever

So my blog is turning into Lily's personal art gallery. She is just really clever. Here is a Batman mask she made for Adam (I know it looks a little creepy - but isn't Batman a little creepy anyway) and a neat top for her Barbie.

The Barbie top is made out of paper tha tshe colored. Then there is a ribbon for the belt. Pretty clever...

don't you just love love? and curls...

Today, of course, Lily is having a Valentine's party at school. She and I were very crafty and made the cutest Valentines. The heart is made from Lily's fingerprints.

Last Saturday night I put sponge rollers in Lily's hair. Scott was so intrigued by the whole process and thought it was funny that girls sleep in them - apparently his sister didn't use these; or he just never noticed. Lily looked so pretty in the morning. My camera wasn't working first thing, so this is a picture of her after church.

Because neither of us love crowds; Scott and I have decided to go out tonight for Valentine's Day rather than tomorrow. It should be pretty fun - he is taking me to a Middle Eastern restaurant that he really likes. Good times! I am mostly just glad that after seven years I still really love my husband; I think that is pretty cool!

it's a........

BOY!!!!!!!!

I apologize for the obvious censored shot of his ah-hem; I promise I am not trying to be crude.....but honestly it was the best of the ultrasound pictures - the rest just looked a little alien.

Adam is totally thrilled and Lily started crying when I told her. Apparently she has really liked having a little sister and one brother is plenty. Oh well, you can't please everyone. I am really excited and I am so happy that he is looking good and healthy.

P.S. Scott made me change the picture to this one with a BIG censor box covering the part that actually shows he is a boy. Oh well, this is probably less offesive.

poor peeps and YEAH grape...

Apparently Adam thinks he has found his calling in life - he wants to cut hair. Or maybe it is just a phase (I am inclined to think the latter). The other night I heard a strained Mr. Peeps cry from the basement. In my laziness I ignored it. Later when I went to tuck Adam in bed I was a little confused as to why my scissors were on his bedroom floor. Again I chose to ignore it (after I told him to quit taking my scissors and then I took them with me upstairs). So later that night Scott and I were working on probably the hardest puzzle I have ever attempted - another story for another day - when we looked down at Peeps and noticed something funny about his fur. Was he suffering from a strange hair-loss disease? Had he been in a terrible cat fight? No and no. Upon closer examination the answer was found - Adam had tried to give him a haircut! After putting all the clues together and finding a lot of cat hair in Adam's closet we solved the mystery - that naughty boy. It was a good thing he was already asleep, otherwise I think Scott would have had a difficult time not getting very very very angry with him (I think Scott likes Mr. Peeps more than Adam sometimes). Scott and I talked about it and decided to talk to Adam about it in the morning and start taking a toy away forever when he disobeys (if he thinks there is a chance he will get it back then he won't care if he loses it or not). He doesn't love this form of discipline, but.....none the less, two days later I found a big chunk cut out of his own hair. AHHHHHH, when will that boy learn?!!!? He had to hand over two toys for that. Needless to say I have hidden ALL the scissors in the house and the Toy Jail is filling up quickly! Not to mention poor Peeps looks terrible...

In other, much happier news, we celebrated Little Miss Gracie's birthday on the 3rd. She turned two and I can tell you she acts like it. We love Grace - I sometimes think the only reason she was sent to me is to bring happiness and sunshine to my life. No one can make me laugh like her. She also has the strongest will of anyone I have EVER known. I think it will be a good thing for her in the future...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACIE - WE THINK YOU ARE THE BEST, BEST, BEST!!!!!!

four months (and forever to go it seems)

I have never taken pictures of myself during pregnancy before. Not necessarily because I didn't want to, there just aren't any. So I decided that since this is the last time I am doing this maybe I would document my belly growth until the end. (Seriously with the other kids I have maybe three pictures total from each of their pregnancies).

**I know I look really huge for being not that far along, but please keep in mind that this is my fourth pregnancy so I am poking out much further than I did with my first. The minute my brain knew my body was pregnant it was all over in the flat tummy department...

warning...

I'm tired, and I need a break. So therefore, I will probably not be doing much blogging for the next little while (as if I have been a really active blogger lately anyway). But rest assured, I still read your blog - although, because I am feeling lazy I probably won't make any comments. Maybe next month I will feel like getting back into the swing of things....until then; adios.

hi, i'm gracie, and i am AWESOME!!!!!

please don't go.......

If you are wondering what is in his hair - they are chopsticks. We were wondering if they would stay in and sure enough they did!

Yesterday was a sad day at our house. Since Thanksgiving Scott's brother Darren has been living with us. It is no secret that I have really difficult pregnancies - especially during the first trimester and as it was with the girls well into the second and sometimes even the third trimester (it is a wonder I am doing this again at all). Well I am now of the firm belief that Heavenly Father does watch over us and he does send people to help when we need it most. Darren has been that heavenly helper for the past six weeks! My kitchen has been spotless, floors clean, basement clean, and the downstairs bathroom always immaculate (the one he and Adam shared - poor Darren; Adam often misses. if you know what I mean). Plus he was so good about helping with the kids when I wasn't able. Normally the T.V. would be my best friend during this time because it could babysit for me and normally I would feel so guilty the entire time for letting it come to that. But this time around the kids didn't watch too much more T.V. than usual, instead they played and did little projects and Uncle Darren would roll them up in a blanket to make the incredible human burrito (they loved it). And he never made me feel bad or make me feel like the lazy slob I was being (this was probably a much too vivid introduction into pregnancy for him)

We are really going to miss him here - not just because he cleaned and entertained the kids, but because he is just a great person. We had so much fun hanging out with him (we probably liked it more than he did). It was so fun to hear about his mission (he just returned from Jamaica) and his travels around Europe while visiting his and Scott's parents. Plus I gave him some good books to read and it was so fun talking about them together. Also he would always make me feel good about my cooking - I love cooking for people who rave about the meal. In my family we call it the "DeLong response" - lots of "mmmmmmm" and "yummy"...

.

So, Uncle Darren we will miss you. Hopefully your life won't become too busy down there at BYU that you can't come and see us occasionally. After all, who will come and eat all my leftovers (I hate leftovers) and where else are you going to get to do laundry for free....

christmas and such...

Christmas was a hit (as always). Uncle Darren, Uncle Eric, and Aunt Michelle spent it with us. The kids all got just what their hearts desired (it is a good thing their hearts only want things that are cheap). Lily finally got her Barbie car - she has been asking for one since she was two. She also got a bag full of fun art supplies, which I think she liked way more than the Barbie car. Adam got a firetruck, and Gracie got a stroller. Scott got his welding mask (auto-darkening with flames painted on the side - yeah, I am a pretty rad wife) and Lily insisted on getting him a G.I. Joe T-shirt. He loved the shirt and she was so thrilled with the response. Scott was so generous and got me a day at the spa (I went on Friday and can I just say, I really love facials) and a new set of scriptures (the big print ones. I have been wanting them for years). All in all it was a nice day. But I am glad to settle back into schedules and real life.

For New Years Scott and I usually have a quiet evening eating sushi and going to bed at 11:00-ish. But this year our quiet evening turned into quite a party. Michelle, Renee and Ryan, Ryan's brother Tim and his girlfriend, Eric and his girlfriend, Darren and a pre-mission friend all came and we had an Asian feast. Sushi (California Rolls), Tempura, Pot Stickers, Egg Rolls (Michelle made them and they were soooooo good), and yummy drinks. It was a lot of fun - although I have to say, I am just not a night person. It was fun having everyone and all the good food they contributed.

soup

I have had some requests for some of my soup recipes so I added a whole bunch on the cooking blog that I contribute to. If you are interested in taking a look click either here or go to the sidebar and click on What I Ate Today.

I LOVE SOUP!

shall we dance

Scott and Grace are dancing to Bing Crosby's And the Angels Sing playing on the Victrola

**A Victrola is a antique record player from the early 1900's (manufactured from 1901-1929) that we inherited from my parents - Scott is in love with it.

one, two, three, cuatro!!!

That's right! Number four is on his/her way! I am ten weeks along and due July 10th. Other than feeling absolutely terrible, we are really excited...

P.S. Happy Birthday today Jessica!

another great lily creation

Apparently Tubby wanted to be Frankenstein for a day, so Lily, in all her creative glory, came up with this clever mask and hairpiece. Tubby was so excited and Lily was so proud. I thought it was pretty cute.

giving thanks

We had such a great Thanksgiving! All of Scott's siblings came to our house and we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast together. The only thing that would have made it better was if his parents had been able to join us (they are serving a mission in Slovenia/Croatia). Here are some pictures of the Turkey Bowl the morning of and dinner that evening (and the top one was taken after Karen's baby shower on Saturday - Karen is Scott's sister).

Scott and his four brothers.

Just before dinner. Don't you love the mismatched chairs!