So hello blog and my six followers.  I am the worst blogger known to man.  The funny thing is I am an okay journal writer.  I actually have two other journals (one online and one in book form) plus I post on Facebook here and there.  I find myself sometimes saying, "I need to be a better blogger", but uhhh I just am not good at it.  Plus, I am a horrible picture taker.  Jay takes all the pictures and usually with his phone. 

Well excuses, excuses...  For those who only keep in contact me via this blog we are going to be having another girl.  Super excited and way stunned with how fast it is going.  I cannot believe I am already 28 weeks!  I was just at a baby shower this evening and met a wonderful lady who just had her fourth child and her oldest is 6 years old too.  We both had this "connection" moment like, "you are just as crazy as I am".  "Ah, it feels so good to know that I am not in this boat alone".  I definitely feel like I am alone at times.  So many people I feel are looking at me with three little kids and pregnant with the, "wow, she is out of her mind for having so many little ones".   Well news flash - there are many times where I do feel out of my mind with all of the demands of my family, but I sure do feel like having a fourth child right now is the best thing for us right now.

Today Brooklyn and Kaelyn had their first dentist appointments.  They both got their teeth clean and a clean bill of health.  I did take pictures, but somehow they didn't get saved on my phone correctly (telling you I can't take pics).  They both did super well!!  I was so proud of them as I was sitting there watching them in the chairs.  Such beautiful little girls!

Well we leave for a one week trip to Las Vegas in a week.  I cannot wait to see friends and family that I haven't seen for a while.  I love Colorado, but miss all of the close friends in Las Vegas.  I miss the coop group and was actually talking to another mom in our stake tonight about starting one here.  She loved the idea so we shall see.  Loved the coop because I felt like I had instant friends and so did my kids.  We shall see.

Seventeen Weeks and Counting!

I am so excited to be celebrating 17 weeks along in my pregnancy! I just recently got over morning sickness and feel like I have more energy than I did a few weeks ago. I am hoping to find out what we are having in a week and a half (at my next appt.), but we shall see if they will let me have a sneak peak.

The girls are still excited. I feel like we told them about the baby a little too early, but the older girls have really enjoyed looking at developmental pictures and telling grandma over the phone how big the baby is getting. I still can't get over the fact that I will have four kids under the age of 6 (used to think that people who had kids this close together were crazy). I really feel like I will be able to handle it though. Madelyn will be in all day school, Kaelyn just got accepted into half day preschool four days a week during the afternoon when Brooklyn naps. So far it looks like I will have a break during the day for myself.

I am really acclimating to Colorado. I love it here and feel so blest with all blessings we have received during this time! Even though I am super busy with running the house, taking care of the kids, being the bread-winner for the family, taking voice lessons, barbershop, and having two church callings I seem to be managing it.

My Holiday Rant

The first few weeks of December is always so busy for Jay and I. Between his choir concerts and my voice recitals our poor girls are with the babysitter more than us. Well this year has been the worst of all years. All together we have had about 12 concerts and recitals in two weeks! Kaelyn (my almost 4 year old) has reverted back to pooping in her panties and having pee pee accidents, my kids are not listening to anything I am saying and there is more arguing than playing between them. Happy holidays at the Dougherty house!

I love Christmas and the chance I have to celebrate it with music, but this is ridiculous and I cannot wait to be able to see my family. After tonight Jay will be done with his performances and then I will only have a recital next Friday so I am hoping that our schedule will slow down so we can spend more time with our beautiful daughters and focus on family (and my house, but we won't go there)!! AND have a date night with my husband - which I haven't had since the beginning of November because our Friday and Saturday nights have been jammed with something or the other. Oh and I have not started shopping yet!

Sorry to my readers for complaining, but I needed to write this down to remember it for next year and hopefully find a solution! Maybe Grandma can come to live with us next year for the first three weeks in December. What do you think Grandma? Oh man I love my kids! I hate to see them like this!

Three Little Mommies

The other day I caught my girls playing babies on my bed. Brooklyn is a baby fanatic (sleeps with a baby doll, pushes her babies in stroller all day, etc.) and when it comes to real babies Brooklyn can't help, but mother them. The older girls however, aren't huge on playing with dolls. It was cute to hear them mother the dolls and talk about when they are real mommies.

Oh and the video at the end is of the girls having fun during one family night. It was so much fun to watch them.

Halloween 2011

We had a wonderful Halloween this year! Here are some random pictures from the festivities we participated in!

Fishing for a treat at the ward trunk or treat

I love Jay's mullet! A sister in our ward came over to our table and wanted to know if he was my brother or cousin. Didn't even recognize him.After trunk or treat eating their stash.

Maddy sporting her new face paint at the school carnival

Kaelyn, the pretty ballerina wanted a pretty flower on her face

Brooklyn was the cutest skunk! People we didn't even know were asking us if they could take her picture! She was darling!

Madelyn and I at her school Halloween Party and Parade.

Madelyn with some class friends at her school party.

Madelyn in her school costume parade.

Snow, Snow and more Snow!

Just a few days ago we were celebrating Fall and now it is snowing! I love the seasons, but snow in October? Really? And it is coming down. Jay said that it was due to snow for 18 hours straight! I don't know who was more excited this morning. Me anticipating the girls reaction when they saw snow outside or the girls when they actually saw snow outside? It was a fun EARLY morning (hence the pictures are in the dark).

Today we aren't going anywhere (Maddy already has the day off). We will probably go out a few times to play, but staying home and enjoying the snow sounds so relaxing!

Here are some pictures and a short video of our morning in the snow. Our cat Eddy has never seen snow so his reaction to it is on this little video as well. He went right out and came right back in and is now hibernating on our couch. We love our cat!Maddy looking cold.

Kaelyn smiling big.

The Girls having a snow ball fight.

The view from my kitchen window

Brooklyn all bundled up! I think she looks so big in this picture!

First thing the girls did was eat the snow. Here's Kaelyn eating away!

Yummy Madelyn!

Our Visit to the Pumpkin Patch!

Thanks to some good friends of ours we can now say we have been to a REAL pumpkin patch. Yesterday we went to a local pumpkin patch where you can go and cut your own pumpkin off the vine. They had field after field of pumpkins!! As you entered the farm they handed you a knife and instructions and then we drove around until we found a good spot. Did I mention there were a lot of people? A LOT! There were so many cars in line and driving around the farm that I felt like we were in the Field of Dreams movie.

After we found some pumpkins we then drove over to an area where they had free activities for the kids to do and farm animals to pet. The girls loved it and so did we. We decided that we are definitely doing this again next years.