William Henry DeBry

He finally made it! Born March 26, 2009 in Kingsport, TN.

6 lbs. 12 oz.

21 inches

Name after my grandfather (Alonzo William Leckie) and Marilyn's grandfather (Henry Pieper).

See more pics at http://www.msha.com/webnursery
Passcode: DEBR4430--6514

Superman

The other night the ladies (Eliza and I) headed to Enrichment Meeting and David took care of things at home. He had 12 children (he was watching some extras so that Moms could attend Enrichment) to take care of, the missionaries to feed, and on top of that he managed to give two of the boys haircuts. Good thing he got the right heads. The only near catastrophe was a "missing" child just as I was headed out the door. Thank goodness she had not gone far! We found Katherine sitting in her highchair, just where we had put her, happily eating her dinner!!

David is such a great Dad and husband . He takes care of us so well. We sure love him. Thanks for being our SUPERMAN!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Yesterday I went to the doctor and I am going to be induced a week early, due to risks associated with my “advanced maternal age”. Everything is fine—I’m just old and worn out. I feel way better today (at least mentally) knowing that there is “light at the end of the tunnel”! We will have our little baby boy on March 26th—and we are all SUPER excited. I took the boys shopping to pick him out an outfit to come home in—I figured that he deserved to have at least one new thing!! Parker and Michael were oohing and aahing over all the little baby clothes, shoes, hats, etc. It was SO funny and cute—I’d never have expected that. They picked out a cute little outfit and we are all set!

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

This is one of those cravings that I give into often—really any type of dessert. This is a definite WINNER! It is from the Lion House Cookbook:

Oatmeal Fudge Bars
1 cup margarine
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
¼ cup margarine
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopping walnuts (optional)

Grease 9x 13 baking pan (I used a slightly bigger pan and they turned out great); set aside. In large mixer bowl, cream margarine and brown sugar; add eggs and vanilla. In small bowl, sift flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture. Mix in oats. In heavy saucepan mix sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and margarine; heat just until melted. Stir in vanilla and nuts. Spread two-thirds of the dough into prepared baking pan. Spread with chocolate mixture. Drop remaining one-third of dough on top by spoonfuls. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool, then cut into bars. Makes 36. Share with family and then create your own private stash that will get you through the next few days!

These remind me of “Fudge Jumbles”—a boxed brownie mix that I remember my Mom made often when we were younger.

The Perks of Being Pregnant

A few weeks ago someone asked how long I had left, I told them that I had 1 month ‘til the baby was due. “Oh, that’s not very long!” was the reply. Yah, well if you aren’t the one carrying a baby inside of you, it isn’t very long, but try constant pain and daily emotional breakdowns and 1 month is an eternity!
I decided to think about some of the perks of being pregnant. (David helped me with this list—and I purposely left some out to save us both from embarrassment!)

Anyway, here goes—in random order:
1. Your husband allows you to wear earplugs at night.
2. You can give into any craving you want.
3. Another $1000 in your tax return next year (like that makes it all worth it J)
4. You can’t tell if your pants are too short.
5. No one else in East TN is pregnant (except other Mormon women), so everyone dotes on you and calls you sweetheart.
6. You will lose 20 lbs. within 9 months
7. No one dares cross a pregnant woman (Can you tell that David wrote this one?)
8. The pregnancy “GLOW”—just a glorified term for the grease mark on your forehead because you haven’t had a shower in a few days—you have to conserve your energy for more important things.
9. The “Expectant Mother” parking spot—not worth it! I’ve used them maybe once or twice and anyone who is pregnant and takes kids shopping knows it is better to park by the shopping cart return anyway!
10. You can use being pregnant and not feeling well to get out of lots of obligations! (I just did that yesterday!—and didn’t even feel guilty) An added perk for the kids is WAY more movies during the day!
11. AND, the best thing about being pregnant is the sweet little baby that we will welcome into our family when the 9 months of agony is over!! I am super excited about having another baby. I absolutely LOVE the newborn stage. It just seems so far away.

A Baby in the Kitchen

Katherine is such a sweet fun little girl. She is happy if she is busy with something. (I have a friend who calls her "Little Marilyn"). When I'm in the kitchen, she loves to be up on a chair--"doing dishes", or sorting silverware. The other day I got the urge to clean out some of the drawers in the kitchen--how is it that the silverware drawer is littered with crumbs?--Do people just drop crumbs in when they walk by? Anyway, I had a GREAT helper. She was content for hours just putting the contents of every drawer in and out several times. It is fun to have her around and watch her grow up. Our sweet little KK!

How Firm a Foundation

I've been experimenting with different bread recipes and have had some real FLOPS! The other day I made some bricks that would be great for a solid foundation in the food guide pyramid! My kids are sure good to put up with all of my experimenting. I try lots of new recipes and sometimes they are not too tasty. The other day I had a craving for a dessert and the recipe called for graham crackers--we didn't have any, and I would have ran to the store, but our van was in the shop--so I made some! They weren't too bad and worked great in the recipe--but to eat them plain was a different story. Peter took a few bites and said, "They're just a little yuck!" I guess that is a step up from A LOT yuck. A while back, Eliza suggested that I "save this for the 2nd coming". Another meal that wasn't too satisfying.

Well, the other day, I went to visit my friend, Faye--she is the master bread maker, I shared my woes and she shared her tips and recipe. I went home and made a WONDERFUL batch of bread. Here is the simple, foolproof (or at least Marilyn proof) recipe:

Great Bread
5 cups hot water
1 1/4 cups oil
3/4 cup honey
2 1/2 T. yeast
12-13 cups flour
5 tsp. salt

Combine water, oil, and honey. Add 8 cups of the flour (I used about 10 cups whole wheat flour and the rest white), yeast, and salt. Mix thoroughly. Add the remaining flour and mix until smooth and elastic. (I mixed mine for 10 minutes on the lowest speed). Let rest for about 10 minutes, shape into 5 loaves. Let rise until double. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

The bread was great. Come over and I'll cut you a big, thick slice!