WOW...it's been a while

So, here we are, almost two months later and I realize how much I didn't blog about. Tarin turned nine about month ago. She is an amazing little girl. She has been moved around so much lately and has taken it like a champ. She didn't have a "friend" birthday party because we don't have too many "friends" here yet, so we are going to plan a fun one for next year, we hope. We did have a fun dinner and yummy cake. She seemed satisified with it. For her birthday she (we) got a new Wii....which we all love. It is fun to hear all three of the big kids up in the bonus room playing together. Although it is a video game, which I do not love, I do love that they are playing it together and interacting, rather than watching the tube and not even communicating. Dan and I have had to set a timer when we play at nights so that we can get to bed at a decent hour.

Dan is SO busy right now, I don't know how he hasn't had a nervous breakdown. The ARkansas liscensure board is still trying to figure out what their laws are, so he hasn't been able to get his AR liscense to dispense hearing aids. In the mean time, we have hired an audiologist to work at the office until Dan can get the liscense squared away. He is still working for Starkey and still on the road and in his very limited spare time, he is working at the office here, putting together marketing pieces, and planning out marketing events for the office, as well as trying to do all the honey do's I require of him. He is simply amamzing to me right now. He just got called to be exec. secretary in the ward too, so, now he is busy most of the only day he really has off. Poor guy. I sure hope he can hold it together for a bit longer.

As for the other kids, Ella is doing great in the 1st grade. She has a super sweet teacher and loves it. Her favorite day of the week is Friday because the football players from the highschool help with opening the car doors during drop off. She is also doing gymnastics on Thursday nights. She is super social and has made some cute friends here already.

Walker is doing great. A few mom's from church and I have started doing a pre-school co-op. It is working out pretty good. He is such a good kid and so social. He loves to play with all his friends. This past few week he has decided to commit to riding his bike without training wheels and he can pedal all over the creation. Up into the cul-de-sac and then all the way down the big hill home. Brave little kiddo.

Wyatt is turing into a little stink. He is scooting all over the place, kindof crawls like a wounded soldier. He is going to be the first kid to require me to baby proof the house. He is a squirmy little guy and more often than not, has a big ol' grin for anyone who will give him a smile.

That is the update for now. We are looking forward to Dan's parents coming to visit this weekend. We Love having visitors. . hint hint.....

Hopefully this isn't the last post of the year. . . . .darn facebook.

Officially in my 30's

This past week was my 31st birthday. Dan's mom has a tradition of making us photoshows on our birthdays.....so this is mine. I spent the day with Livia and the kids in Austin. Went to our own Pflugerville Chic Fil A for lunch with a WHOLE bunch of friends, and then later that night, Bill was nice enough to watch six kids so the girls could go GNO. We went to CPK and then shopping at the Domain, it was great. Dan sent me an "edible Arrangement" that was FANTASTIC. And in true "Welling" style we carried the celebration on to the next night when we met Dan in Dallas, went to dinner, and then on a shopping trip to Ikea the next day. It was FABULOUS! I got all new dishes and new silverware...and a dresser for the girl's room. It was great! Thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes and making it FABULOUS!

Lessons Learned

This could get kindof mooshy . . .warning. . . read only if you dare.

So I had one of those "ah ha" moments today in Relief Society at church. The lesson was from Elder Uchdorf's talk from last conference. . "You are My Hands" It is all about using our hands as if they were the Hands of the Savior and using them for good and to serve those around us. I was thinking, as I sat there, about all the service that had been done for me over the past nine months. It seems every time I move I spend some time reflecting on what I have learned in our last location. Living in Rogers to me was like a dream. Right next door I had a friend one could only dream about. She walked right into our life and invited us right into hers. She taught me more about love and charity than I have ever learned in any church meeting. She more than believe that charity was a good thing, she practiced it daily. She is constantly thinking for and doing things for those around her, regardless of life circumstance, race, religion, or color of car. She is truely one of the most accepting people I have ever met. At one point I felt like I was in Rogers to help "share the good word" and after reflecting I realize that I was there on a intermission to see what true charity is and how much happiness it can bring.

We also moved into one of the most fabulous wards, I am pretty sure, on the planet. Right away the girls from chruch welcomed me in. They included us regardless of the fact that Dan wasn't around a whole ton. They had us for dinner, and invited us to all the fiestas!! The girls were invited for play dates from the minute we got there, we in a sense, found a whole new set of family members. We had Sunday dinners with friends we will have forever.

The entire time spent there I feel was a little "re-grouping" or "intermission" for our family. As I look around in our new ward, I realize that all the things I was a part of the past nine months, were meerly preparing me for what is about to be. Although things are not going as WE planned here so far, I feel like they are definatley going according to "the plan" for our family. We are learning patience like we have never had to before and also learning about true faith. We are moving forward with hopes that we can keep ourselves sane and our family strong. We have been seriously blessed in our life to have had some incredible people helping us along, including both of our families. . . now I guess it is time to pay it forward . . . Like the song says "Onward Christian Soldiers."

Wyatt UpDate - - and some June stuff

So, I guess I should update on the newest member of our family. I took him in for his 4 month well check last week . . .he is actually 5 months old, but who's counting. Seriously, poor baby number 4, does get neglected some. Anywho, got him into the doctor and he did great. Got his shots etc. He weighed 16lbs and 2oz. . and was 26 inches long. He was in the 50th percentile for weight and the 75th for height. I wonder if he will follow suit after his brother. Walker was 20 lbs at 6 months. . .I think he can do it. My kids always gain a little weight when I switch them to formula. I guess I don't have very fatty breastmilk. Anywho, here are some recent pics of our adventures. . .

Wyatt got blessed on June 12th in our new ward in Hot Springs. He was my first baby that ever fit into his blessing clothes. That was the longest we have ever waited to bless one of our babies. It was nice to have my mom and dad and Robby and Katie here with us. We also went out on the lake here in Hot Springs while they were here. It was so much fun. Wyatt was a trooper wearing his fancy life vest for the day.

He even went for a swim in the lake

We all decided after a fun day on the lake . . that renting a boat is the way to go. Drive up, get on, play for a few hours, park it back at the dock and get off. . no pulling, storing, launching, etc. It was great, and really not that expensive when you consider the costs that come along with owning a boat. For the amount of time that we actually could use one, this was the perfect solution for our family. Unless, that is, we one day live on the lake, and then that will be a whole different scenario.

Walker enjoyed riding on the tube. . .slowly but mostly jumping off the boat and swimming back to it. We spent a lot of the HOT day swimming in the lake

Robby and Tarin were the brave ones that got whipped around the lake some. I think Tarin would have lived on the tube if we would have let her.

Ella and Katie rode for a bit, but we decided it probably was not the best idea for Katie to be on the tube. Ella was the perfect partner for her because as you can see, Ella was a little, or a LOT nervous. Dad had to bribe her with silly bands to even get her on. It was funny.

Welcome to our home. . .

Most of you know that we have made a move....on the anniversary of our move last year from Austin, we have moved again, to our new home in Hot Springs, AR. It is beautiful here and I am not gonna lie to you, it is SO nice to have a little more space to roam around in. We actually have been sleeping in because we can't hear eachother breathe in the next room. It has been super duper nice. We just love our new house! Here are some pics. I have SO many more pictures to update. We have made about 25 trips to Hot Springs that are documented in photos. One trip was for Spring Breat, another with Livia in April, another with Dan's parents in May and another quick weekend drive by in May. This is a totally different experience for us. We are used to neighbors and a neighborhood, not the case here. Here we have few neighbors and not much of a 'hood. Noone out at night to play with, etc. I think we doubled the number of children in the neighborhood just by moving here. I have gotten SO SO SO many comments about the number of children I have, mostly nice ones, some "Oh mY's", etc. Coming from people who live in the same state as the Duggars. . . . 19 and Counting family on TLC. Anyway, Robby and Katie and my mom and dad came to help. We worked them to death and I think they sweated off about 10 lbs each. IT was the HOTTEST week ever., We were so grateful though! LOVE THEM! I don't know why it is all underlined. . . oh well. . .

Here are some pictures for those of you interested. . .

Entry Way - Pre-Move. . . the lighting was bad for some of the rooms, and they were messy, so some are before we moved in and some are after. . .

Back patio . .. pre-move in because I was too lazy to go outside

Front Room . . .maybe we will call it the Great room . Need decor help . . PLEASE


Dining Room - - Lighting was bad for photo post move in

Wyatt's Room . . .once he is bigger it will be made into the guest room, but as for now, it is his. It has a bathroom attached to it and a really big closet.

Master Bath - - it is fabulous! Need I say more. Walker averages about 2 showers a day in here.

Master Bedroom . . it is plenty big for our eliptical. YEAH

Kitchen - Yes those are cookies next to Tarin . . had to break in the double oven and promptly find people to deliver the cookies to.

Walker's Cowboy Room . . had to bring a little TX with us

Girl's Room . . will be a beach room one day. Oh, Walker

I thought Ella's sunburned cheeks looked cute in this one

Bonus room . . .the room we all LOVE. Already preformed plays and housed sleepovers. Robby and Katie broke it in . .. poor them, with my broken air mattress.

The Front, and the red door is staying. . . we LOVE it!

Welcome. . . and please come if you want. .. we would LOVe to have ya. We Love visitors!!

Happy 6th Birthday Ella

Kindof ironic that the day Ella was born, in Arlington TX there was some severe weather and my poor mom was home with Tarin listening to our NOAH weather radio go off every few minutes telling her severe weather was coming. Dan's parents drove from Waco, TX , with Grandma Green, in some serious severe weather, to see little Ella. This morning we woke up to severe weather in Arkansas. I wonder if, as long as we live in the South, we will have Severe weather on Ella's birthday. Thanks Nana for making this fun photo show! We look forward to these and LOVE sharing them.

WE are so happy to have Ella in our family. She makes us laugh and keeps us on our toes! She is so sweet and loves her brother and sister. As you can tell, where Ella is, there is alwasy a party! Never a dull moment!

Happy Birthday Ella!

On The Move....

It's official, this past Thursday we closed on our 4th, and hopefully FINAL house. We bought a home in Hot Springs, AR. Who would have ever thought that I would be living in Arkansas?? Well, I for one, never did. Of all the states in the USA, Arkansas was probably not even on the long list of states I thought I would live in, but we are, and we LOVE it here. This past week Dan's parents were here and we got to show them our new life in Hot Springs. The weather was beautiful, we went on a Duck tour on the lake and it is just a fabulous place to live. We won't be moving until school is out on the 8th of June and then that next weekend we will move..BY OURSELVES. This will be the first move for us that we will have packed our own boxes and loaded our own truck. Thankfully Mom, Dad, Robby and Katie are coming to help, which we are SUPER grateful for.

Still taking input on the red door....it seems a little bright tio me, but I think it is growing one me a little bit....more pics to come

Updated Wyatt Pics

My neighbor has been snapping a few pics of Wyatt lately and they have turned out really cute. It seems that no matter where I live, my neighbors take more pictures of my kids than I do. I love it because they share them and then I have them, and don't feel like such a bad mom for not documenting all of them.....it is great. Wyatt is doing great. He has no choice but to be an on-the-go baby.. He run errands in the day and then in the evening goes from activity to activity with the kids. He is a good sport. We are in the process of buying a house and moving, so his days in the car seat are only going to increase as we get ready to move, etc. More details on the move to come . . . once things are really settled. I have learned, over the past year, not to count my chickens before they hatch.

Anywho....here are the pics

Spring Break

So, our spring break started with a bang...8 inches of snow. Thankfully by Wednesday it was all gone and the weather was great. We made it outside to do some bike riding and playing with friends, etc. Here are some pictures to show you what we did this week.

I finally used my brain and made the kids chore charts. Seriously, I never had thought of this before? They worked like a charm and seriously helped with my stress level. I knew at least one or two things off the house cleaning list would get done everyday, and they all, including Walker, were excited about helping. It was great. Tarin came up with a plan for every day of the week. It went like this...

Makeover Monday - Hair, Nails, etc. Walker got his toes painted too, but we didn't manage to get too many pictures of him this week.

Target Tuesday - we went to Target to get new shoes with the money grandma gave us for Easter...kindof turned into a fiasco with 4 kids, but we did it and made it work. Not much a post c-section mom can do about her 40lb - 3 -year old who won't get off the floor...Thank goodness for bribery and treats at the end of the store.

Walk Wednesday - We went on a walk/bike ride and the kids also made some fabulous crafts. . Guitars made from cereal boxes...Tarin came up with this all on her own. . LOVE HER. She was such a gem and was THE biggest helper this week. I never even had to ask her to do things, she just did them with a big smile on her face. I have never been more grateful for my sweet 8 year old in my life...or her life, for that matter.

Travelling Thursday - We drove to Hot Springs to meet Dan for the weekend. This was quite the feat to get all 4 kids ready for a weekend getaway, pack the car, snacks, movies, etc without the help of a husband, etc. I think I spent a good 24 hours solid getting ready. Tarin stayed up late with me Wednesday night to get all the laundry done and pack the bags. That is one HUGE difference I have noticed with 4 kids. Getting out the door took us until at least 1PM each day. I am usually out the door by 9AM excercised, showered, etc. Life with a newborn is loads of fun. We made it though. 3.5 hour drive with NO stops and just in time to feed Wyatt again. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Hot Springs and it was nice to be able to swim, sleep in a little, and enjoy some spring-like weather.

Fabulous Friday - Simply because all Friday's are fabulous, especially the ones where we see Daddy. We did a few work things for Dan, but mostly went swimming. Went up the Hot Springs Mountain Tower. . .rode the elevator up and walked down..which is the way to do it when you are packing 4 kids. Walker started to get sick Friday afternoon, so we took it pretty easy for the rest of the day.

Sonic Saturday - Duh...Sonic Happy Hour. We went to a really fun park in Hot springs and the kids hiked around the lake and got to throw in lots of rocks. Dan took us to a fun restaurant for lunch called the Purple Cow? Ella even got a purple cow milkshake. It was Purple Vanilla....and of course she loved it. The food was great. And we made it to Sonic Happy Hour with 1 minute to spare before the prices went back to normal. Slushes and Diet Coke all around. It was FAB.. Thanks to those slushes and diet cokes, the drive home took us more like 5 hours than the 3.5 it took us to get there. Lots of pee/puke stops. Walker was still sick.

Spiritual Sunday - which didn't really happen because 3 of the 4 kids are sick...with fevers/coughs. Looks like my spring break will end with a bang and kids home from school on Monday. YIPEE!! Tarin, my saving grace this week, is now suffering from a 103 degree fever and Walker seems to be on the mend. His fever is now low-grade, but still there, and his cough is still the same. Ella is just coughing. We decided to spare the ward our illness and just stayed home today. Dan felt bad leaving me with 3 sick kids and going to church, so he stayed home too, since he really will be leaving me with 3 sick kids tomorrow and going to Minnesota for the week. So, Dan made crepes for those children who could eat and we just had a nice relaxing Sunday morning. It was LOVELY. Happy Spring Break to you all....For the most part, our was AWESOME and SO SO SO much better than what I thought it would be!

First Day of Spring....AKA Last Day of Winter...

This is the masterpiece that Dan and the kids built last Sunday. It was supposed to be the world's largest snowman, but ended up being the worlds only conjoined snowman twins. Our neighbors thought it looked like something else....come on people, get your minds out of the gutter...

Hopefully this first day of spring will also be known as the last day of winter. Living here in Northwest Arkansas for the past 7 months has really been a shock to the old system. I don't remember my feet being in shoes so many days in a row as they have been the past few months. I honestly didn't paint my toenails for 3 months. . . that's a record for me. The first day of spring was on Saturday and at 4PM it started to snow, it is now 3 PM on Sunday and it is still SNOWING. Not just snowing but raining ice and sleet. There is probably about 6 to 8 inches of accumulated water. It is CRAZY. I am trying to convince one of my crazy kids to go out front and take a picture to document it. After sacrament meeting, they called off the rest of church, it has been kindof nice to come home and enjoy a few extra hours together before Dan takes off for the week.

It is spring break for the girls this week. I am grateful because it means we won't have to wake up and get out the door to catch the bus, but nervous because it leaves me with all 4 kiddos all day by myself. . . at least through Thursday night. Thank goodness I have some good neighbors and friends and hope to have some playdates planned for the week so we don't get too bored! I am praying for patience and the desire to do fun things with the kids, since it looks like the first day of the break will be spent inside waiting for the snow to melt.

Wyatt is almost a month old, can you believe it? I can! It has been a LONG month..I keep reminding myself that the first few months are the hardest and then things progressively get easier..at least with the night time part, and the feedings will be spread apart, etc. He is starting to give us some real smiles and be awake for longer periods of time. He is such a great baby, and I feel so lucky to have him. Poor kid, as number four, I have a feeling he will be spending the bulk of his babyhood in the carseat. I figure to celebrate Wyatt's 1 month birthday I will begin a new diet. Wish me luck! I have two more weeks before I can get back on the exercise wagon, so I will hopefully get a kick start on the weight loss......

Anywho...those are my Sunday ramblings. If I can convice someone to go out and take a pic of all the white stuff, I will post it!

Happy Birthday Walker

Tomorrow our big boy turns Three...If you can't tell from the pics, he has always been such a happy fun baby to be around! He cracks us up daily and is such a good boy! Thanks Nana for making such a great photoshow and taking us down memory lane. This little boy has had quite the life so far....trip to Orlando, Hawaii, Utah, San Antonio, TX Hill country, and many more places. Let's just say he is pretty well traveled for a three year old!

We love you Walker! Happy Birthday!

Welcome Wyatt Don

Wyatt Don was born Tuesday the 23rd at 12:41 PM. He weighed in at 7 lbs 5 oz and was 20.5" long. He is a LONG skinny baby. He came into this world just screaming. The nurses in the nursery couldn't listen to his heart because he was such a screamer. Start to finish, this was a piece of cake delivery, as I guess most scheduled c-sections are. He is doing great. His sisters and brother were so excited to meet him.

If you can't tell, the girls were pretty excited. They will be even more excited once he gets home and they can hold him all they want.

I think Ella has found her new snuggle partner. . .

Walker is ready to wrestle.

The proud papa...i think we have a pic exactly like this with Dan and each one of the kids.

Mama and Wyatt..both of us so happy to be done and have a little more breathing room.

Here is a little video to show you what a screamer we have on our hands. Thankfully, this was just indicitive of the first few hours of his life, he has been pretty peaceful ever since.

The Grand Finale.....

So, I have jokingly named this baby in my tummy, "The Grand Finale." I don't know how people have more than three kids, and I am not quite sure how I am going to do it either. My body is really not enjoying this pregnancy and it seems my sanity is slowing seeping away from me. Wyatt is going to be born next Tuesday and to be truthful, I don't know what I am more excited about, not being pregnant anymore or having Dan home for a little while. It will be nice to be a real family for a while. The best of both worlds would be for me to be feeling fabulous the entire time he is home so that we could go and and do some fun stuff, instead it will be time spent relaxing, sleeping, watching movies, and probably changing diapers, doing laundry, and did I mention napping? Oh well, I will take what I can get.



Anywho....all of you out there with 4+ children...send your advice my way. I will be needing it!

Grumpy

So, today Ella asked me why I am so grumpy...I could go on for a countless number of reasons...which I will not bore you with, but this has me really thinking...am I always grumpy. Is Ella always going to remember her mom as being grumpy? Food for thought. Hopefully once I am back to my normal hormonal self I will be back in control of the grumps, but for now I have yet to determine what it is that makes me so grumpy in the evening...which is basically the ONLY time Ella sees me during the day.

Any suggestions for overcoming the evening blues? Homework, after school activities, Dinner, Baths, Bedtime...how do I make them less of a chore especially while doing them as a single parent most nights?

Snow Days

So, as we drove out of my mom's driveway after our Christmas visit, i wondered to myself if maybe I should have packed up the kids's snow clothes and brought them home. Nah, how snowy can Arkansas really get...well boy was I wrong. Since Jan 1st we have missed 6 days of school so far...and this is just the beginning of this storm. I am running out of ideas on how to keep the kids happy and alive without the TV being the main source of entertainment.

"Go play in the snow" you say....well, noone has boots. I guess I need to do the plastic sack over the shoe thing that my parents used to do to us....hey, not a bad idea. At least we have hats and gloves, which is more than what we had in TX. So, if any of you have ideas other than making cookies and drinking hot cocoa, I am all ears. I am actually tempted to brave the weather and head to the golden arches tomorrow, despite all the nastiness and germs, to burn some of the energy bursting at this house. Maybe I will make them each do 30 minutes on the eliptical....another idea I am sure they would eat up.

Anywho...any suggestions, send them my way. Got a few crafts planned, but gotta fill up 14 hours....

Funny Videos

Here are some funny videos we shot at Christmas time in Eden.

Sledding off Grandpa's Barn

Kirk Wrecks..

And Robby Wrecks....

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Dear Friends and Family

This past year has been one for the record books. We started off in Pflugerville, TX. After several thousand prayers and a huge drop in the price we finally sold our house in TX, thus officially closing out the TEXAS Chapter of our lives… Off to Arkansas we went to start another great and fabulous DeLong adventure. We were dangerously close to buying again, but it never really felt like it was the right decision for our family, so at the last minute we pulled the plug and decided to rent. We literally were looking on Craig’s list for a place to live 2 days before we had to drive across country to our new life in Arkansas. Nothing like adding a little sense of urgency! However it all worked out, like it always does. We’ve been in Rogers Arkansas 4 months now and we love it!!! Here’s a brief synopsis of what each of us have been up to:

Dan still spends the bulk of his time on the road. Most weeks you will find him at a Hampton Inn either in OK, AR, or LA. He has put some serious miles on his suitcase and LOVES the weekends home and the time he can spend with his kiddos. .

Angela is currently 7 months pregnant and excited to be officially done. She continues to make friends wherever she goes and she stays busy keeping the family afloat.

Tarin is 8 years old. She got baptized in October on her Grandma Welling’s birthday. She has started piano lessons and is doing GREAT. She is very disciplined with her practicing and has a great love for it. She has also started attending activity days at church and loves feeling like a big kid. We were too late getting here to get her into soccer, but she is looking forward to starting in the spring. Tarin was also elected by her classmates to serve on the student council at her school. She is a natural leader and has lots of friends.

Ella is 5 and started kindergarten this year. She is LOVING it and is doing SO well. She reads like a champ and her teacher says she is catching on quickly to each new concept. She has lots of friends at school and is enjoying it. She has a long day for a little 5 year old. They catch the bus at 7 AM and then don’t get home until 4 PM, needless to say, she comes home pooped and ready for some down time. Another big accomplishment for Ella is that she learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She just decided to do it, and she did. She is a very determined little girl. Once she sets her mind to something, it usually happens. Most afternoons you can find Ella coloring at the table, as that is her new-found love.

Walker is so big and is doing so great. We always joke that he has more friends here than any of us. He has a playgroup that he goes to a couple days a week and he LOVES it. He learned how to ride a bike this year and that is where you can find him most every afternoon. Hopefully next year we can report that he has been potty trained and has no pacifier, but as for now, he is clinging onto the last strings of his babyhood.

We hope this letter finds all well with you and your families. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Dan, Angela, Tarin, Ella, Walker and new Baby Boy DeLong