Things I don't want to FORGET!

One of my favorite members of the Quorum of the Twelve is Elder Richard G. Scott.  He first caught my eye when I was a young girl.  I remember he used to look right at the TV during General Conference and at "me" (remember the cameras would follow him and he seemed to have his talk memorized). 
Then on my mission while I was at the MTC (Mission Training Center) and then when I was in the mission field he came to speak to the missionaries. 
One topic that he speaks about A LOT is listening to the promptings of the spirit and recording them.  For several years I used to carry a small notebook around with me to record my personal revelations.  Since being a mom I have gotten out of the habit. Ugh!  I am going to try to be better again and so I created a file on my computer to record these impressions.  Here are a few:

• Be Radiant! You are a Daughter of God!

• Always remember how special you are (and others) to our Heavenly Father.

• Eternal Perspective - Keep it daily!

• Say those morning and evening personal prayers.  I am good with getting the family together, but need to be better at quieting my thoughts down for personal prayers.

• Be consistent in everything I do (especially with the kids).

Love the gospel!

On Monday I will be 36 weeks pregnant.  Hitting the home stretch!  I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone.  I keep waiting for it to slow down, but nope it just keeps on flying by.  This pregnancy has been similar to my other ones in so many ways, but different in many others.

I have gained less weight this time around than any of my previous pregnancies (like 20 to 30 pounds less).  My wedding ring is still loose and actually slides around on my finger and I feel like I am all belly!  I have really tried to be mentally aware of what goes in my mouth.  Not perfect, but definitely a lot better than before. 

I have had cravings with this pregnancy.  Never had any with my others.  I craved watermelon for several months to the point I was making a trip to Costco every other day (they usually have the best).  The girls were helping me demolish one pretty much every day, but yum, yum, yummy they were good.  Now I am craving vanilla ice cream (not good)!!  I figure it is because all the baby is doing now is fattening up so it's a good thing!  Right? 

I have never been pregnant in the Summer before and this time around I am ALWAYS hot!  The other day my neck was dripping and Jay (who was sitting right next to me in the same room), at the same time I was wiping my next, proclaimed how cold his feet were.  Really?

Lastly, I have always loved to look at the ultrasound pics of my babies.  They always looks so cute to me, but sadly NONE of the pics that this baby has taken have been cute.  I keep telling myself to wait for the next, but we had one done a few weeks ago and alas she looked awkward.  Obviously even if she came out with an elephant trunk I would love her and think she was special.  I guess I am more curious to find out what she looks like than any of my other babies. 

Super excited for her to come!  She is due July 30th, but as always we hope she come sooner.  The last few weeks are always super hard (I have severe and painful braxton hicks that don't start labor just cause me pain).  It is definitely worth it though! 

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.