"It's the Princesses, Over..."

I heard Grace playing with her dolls today and it was so funny. The two princess dolls had 'walkie-talkies' and they were talking back and forth about saving a cat stuck in a tree. It was so funny to hear Grace use all the lingo correctly. I love the new things kids learn.

We went to the kiddie dentist today for Grace - we left the house at 6am for our 7:30 appointment. (Guess how early I had to get up?) She has two big cavities and now we get to schedule an appointment to get them fixed. That will entail two crowns, and a round of general anesthetic. FUN! (do you hear the sarcasm?) We were assured by the fabulous kids dentist that we are going to, that she won't remember any of it, and she will be fine. I hope so!

We got a call today from a therapist for Libby. We have an evaluation scheduled for later this week, and we are glad! We were told that things like evaluations and different therapies would be happening quickly, but they have not. I guess any little win is a victory, and we are happy for any help we can get for her.

I am mostly excited for my MOM to come for a visit all the way from Wyoming!! Yippee!! She is coming tomorrow, and will get to be with us for a week. I am so so excited to see her.

Here is a picture of our three girls recently. They were actually all sitting on the couch quietly for a little bit, so I snapped a pic as quick as I could :)

Beach Baby #4

So, I neglected to announce (here) what the results of our ultra sound were. Aaannnddd.. Drum roll... A GIRL!!!

I feel that a pepto bismal bottle has officially exploded all over our house!! Four girls!!! We are excited, though. I was thinking of all the things I would have to buy for a baby boy - clothes, jackets, blankets... Now she can wear lots and lots of hand-me downs :) Poor thing will never get anything new.

We have not decided on a name yet - other than her middle name. It will be Mary, but we just need a good name to go in front of it. Any ideas?

Ooooh - My Lip Hurts!!

MMMoooommm - the toy castle hurt my lip! I need something that will make it feel better. I know! Pop will make my lip feel better, can I have some pop?!??? .....

Sneaky silly Grace!

Updates updates updates.... Lots to say today.

There is quite a run down of news for our little family. I'll start with the most exciting news. We are expecting baby #4! We are so excited. Our little bundle will arrive near the middle of September. As is par for the course in our world, this new one will be about 16.5 to 17 months younger than Leah. That's just fine with me. As soon as I get going back to church, Leah will be close to going into nursery. Good timing, eh? We will find out what we will be having in a couple of weeks. Who wants to bet it'll be another girl. When we got married, I said, "we better have boys, because I don't think I like girls!" Ha ha, HF said. Now, of course I love our little girls, and wonder what in the world I would do with a little boy!

Next is some, oh, I hate to day BAD news, because it is what it is, and it's not the end of the world. Curious, yet? Well, for the last year we've been taking Libby (now 2.5 yrs) to developmental pediatricians, speech therapists, and having lots of other consultations. Well, the other day we had official confirmation that she is autistic, and is somewhere on the autism spectrum. As we are new to this we are starting lots of therapies, and are lined up for all sorts of evaluations and programs. We are going to be busy!! We are glad to finally have an official diagnosis (no matter how painful) because now we can get down to the business of getting her help. Libby is the sweetest girl ever, and loves to play and sing, and be held my her parents, and we love to love on her and hug and hold and play with her. After a few rough days (for me. anyway) I have felt the comfort of the spirit, and just feel that everything will be OK with her. Whatever "ok" means, we don't know, but it helps me feel that, well, we'll be ok no matter what How grateful I am for the gospel and the love of our Heavenly Father.

As to Libby, we are going to try and do a milk free diet for her. And since I don't want to make two separate meals for her and us everyday all day long, we will all go on the milk free roller coaster and see if it helps her out. I feel pretty good about it, so we will, see. If you have any advice on the topic or hints, any and all would be appreciated.

Love to you all! (that is if anyone reads this anymore :)

Earrings

So, I wore earrings to church today - I stopped wearing them probably three years ago because too many baby fingers tried to rip them out of my head. I found a pair knocking around, so I thought, hey I could be stylish again! So on they went.

Grace noticed them later and said "Mom, do you have earrings on?!" She had such surprise and a little disdain in her voice, kinda shocking.
I responded "Yes, I do."
G: "Why?"
Me: "Because they are pretty."
G: "Mom's don't wear earrings."
Me: "Oh, who does?"
G: "OLD people!"

I gotta get my fashion on more often!

Four Month Photo Catch up!

Well - we've been off line for four months or so - and glad to be back. Here is a run down as to what we've been up to:

Moved from our rental house in Benson, AZ without anywhere permanent to move to! Crazy
We are thankful for lovely mothers and other family and friends to take us in in our time of need, truly!
Logan looked for and found us a house to buy in Sahuarita, AZ, which is where we are now, but between the end of September and the end of Dec, we were at the mercy of the winds!

Karen and the girls went first to Wyoming with Mom and Bob (her family) then to Mesa with Laurie and John (Logan's family).
While in Wyoming there were fun times in Grandmas garden, Halloween fun, smores in the backyard, trips to Laramie and Martin's Cove, painting with Marianne, wonderful visits with brothers and sisters, and a reminder of how much I love Wyoming and all that is associated with it! I especially loved being near my mom - how I love her!

Then the first part of November we overtook Laurie and John's house. They are super great sports! While there Grace learned how to play fun games on Grandma's phone, watched grandma's fun sewing machine, we caught up with friends in Mesa, enjoyed being close to the Mesa temple and the temple lights, had a quick visit with Joel and Sarah and Logan and Mary. It was great to see you and catch up. We visited our old ward - the Olive ward, there by the temple. What a super ward. Whenever we go there, we have the talk that if we EVER move back to Mesa, we're mmoving back to that ward :)

Lots of fun and good times we had these last four months. We are so happy to be in our own house and all together as a family. Soon, I will post some pictures of our house - nothing super exciting - a subdivision in AZ - a brown house in a sea of brown stucco houses :) be we are glad to be in it and that we will be here for a long time.

























and back to Wyoming pics again...

Photo catch up

Lots of things have happened since we last posted... Here are a few photos...















Lots of fun and lots of love! Can't wait to see what is ahead!