D.A.R.-What could it stand for?

Thanks for the guesses everyone, they were all great suggestions. Well maybe not all of them, but definitely most. One of you however, was exactly correct. Exactly except for the spelling. My sister-in-law, Julianna, is apparently gifted with physic ability. She was the first one to guess and she was correct. Our newest little man will be Daric Allen Roberts. Daric is the middle name of Ken's oldest brother, Todd. He past away as an infant. Allen is both the middle name of Ken's brother Tim, and my brother Craig. Therefore, Daric will be named after three of his uncles.

Pregnancy Update

Today I am 35 weeks along. Only 5 more weeks to go, which hopefully really equates to 4 weeks. This little guy is on the big side, but probably not as big as our 10lb. 6 oz. Todd. However, I'll bet he'll weigh in at around 9 lbs. We settled on a name...the initials are D.A.R....any guesses? Shhhhh.....if you already know what it is. I am feeling big, fat, and ready to explode, but other than that I'm good. My doctor has me on blood pressure medicine, which seems to be working well. I am feeling lots of braxton hicks, but since my body doesn't know how to kick my babies out early I'm sure I'm in for the long haul. I am hoping to convince my doctor to induce at 39 weeks. Look at me, I think that's fair!

Todd's Birthday!

I have some catching up to do. Todd turned 4 on October 5th. Here's a recap on the big day, and an update on his speech development. Todd's birthday was the Sunday of General Conference so we had a nice quiet day at home watching conference and eating cake.We ate one of our favorite dinners; Hotdogs, hamburgers, fresh fruit, chips, and corn. Corn on the cob would have been better, but I couldn't find any!We had cake and ice-cream. Then we hid his gifts for him to find. After opening presents we went out to the backyard to play with his new toys.

Todd's speech still has a long way to go, but he has made a lot of improvement. He is trying so hard. Just a few weeks ago he began making a few sounds (B-P-D) that we have been working on for years without success. Now he can make them almost effortlessly in isolation. If he tries to put them together in words he still struggles to articulate each sound, but he is getting better. Ken and I feel that he will most likely require at least one more surgery, but we are very optimistic. Todd is such a fun, good boy. He has settled down a bit this past year and has become a lot more manageable. He is still a challenge and a handful at times, but he is making good progress. To which I am so grateful for. He still attends a special education pre-school two days a week, his teacher reports that he is an angel and behaves perfectly, unlike last year when he beat up any one that came too close. See progress...yeah!

Mommy and Daddy are very proud of you, Todd. And we love you very much!

More House Pics...

Okay, I said I would post pictures of the inside of the house since we moved in. It's hard to get a good picture, I'm not thrilled with any of these, but oh, well. And I didn't pick up anything so you get the real lived in look!

This is the front room. This is the office. Here's another picture of it from the other side. It shows more of the entry. The next pics are of the laundry room. This room gets used alot! It has made washing and folding so much easier, but the putting away part still needs work.Here is the messy kitchen.This is the "Kids Corner" of the family room.And this is any other family room picture taken this morning. The kids had some of their cousins sleep over and this is cartoon time...AKA-Quiet time for mom.

Moving In...

We moved in on a Saturday at the end of September. We had so much help from the ward. We had many offers to help babysit, clean, and help pack. We could not have done it without that help. Our family was also a huge help on moving day and through out the week. The Monday after our move I had a doctors appt. I had been sick during the week and apparently I had overdone it a bit. My doctor sent me to the hospital for observation. I had high blood pressure, dehydration, and a hacking cough. He released me from the hospital later that evening, but he put me on bed rest. We had only been in our house for two days and now I was on bed rest. I slept for two days while Ken took time off work. It was a much needed and enjoyed rest. After the two days Ken had to go back to work and my anxiety from my list of to-do's kicked in. After that bed rest with six kids and a house to unpack was kind-of a joke, but I tried to take it easy as much as I could. Our new ward has also been wonderful, they bought in meals and checked up on me. The following week I was doing much better and my doctor allowed me off of bed rest. Since then we have been slowing unpacking trying to make our new house our home. Want to see it?............ Here are some "THEN" pictures from moving day when it was still empty. Tomorrow I'll post the "NOW" pictures since we've moved in.

This is the front of the house. For some reason I didn't take any pictures of the the entry way, but as you go in, to the left is the front room, straight ahead is the upstairs, to the left is an office, or you can go down the hall to the kitchen.This is the kitchen, standing from the dining area.This is standing in that same dining area facing the family room.This is the laundry room to the left of the kitchen. Between the kitchen and laundry is a 1/2 bath and the door to the downstairs. In the upstairs are four bedrooms. This is the girls room.

This is the boys room.This is the baby's room.This is our room. It has a bathroom and a walk in closet. It is as big as the other three rooms put together, we are feeling spoiled and loving it.Down stairs is our wilderness guest room/craft room. It's very picturesque, almost like camping. :)This is a portion of Ken's man pad. As soon as he saw this pool table he was ready to sign papers. He is very protective of HIS room.This is my food storage room. It is lined with shelves on both sides. The downstairs also has another 1/2 bath and a small storage closet.

Here are a few pics of the back yard. That is a peach tree, but I think it is mostly dead.

That is our house, most of it anyway. We love it and are having a great time making it ours.

Saying Good-bye

Both Ken and I secretly got a little emotional the day we removed the last of our belonging out of the four bedroom duplex we called home for the past seven years.

This is where we moved to with our three young children...it's where three more of our children were born...and where we found out number 7 was on his way.

This is where my kids spent years wearing out the grass in the yard playing on the tire swing. It's where they all learned to ride their bikes, and where they learned to look both ways before crossing the street.

In this house we had many ups and downs. We had successes and failures, good days and bad days. This is was we prayed together and played together, cried together and loved together.

Neither Ken or I can imagine going back to our little 4 bedroom duplex, but we are grateful for our last seven years. It was a good place for us. We have many cherished friends that have left an imprint on our hearts forever. So before we celebrate the new, I just wanted to say goodbye to our old little duplex on 1000 S.

I'm Alive!

Yesterday we finally got our phone and internet hooked up in the new house. Hurry! I have missed my blogging friends and family, as I know you have all missed me terribly. :) Many of our friends have asked me to post pictures of the house, and I will. But, relax...keep your shorts on, first things first.....