A Post Full of Happy!

These are things that make me HAPPY!! (In no particular order...except for Eric and Izzy!)

• My sweet husband, Eric, who does so much for me! I know its what everyone says and it seems so cliche but I honestly don't know where I'd be in life without him. He can make the worst days better with just some scrakles! I'm so lucky to have him around. He works to hard for our family and would do anything for us. He's learning more about being a Daddy everyday and I think he's gonna be amazing!! He's the half that makes me whole and I love him more than I ever thought was possible!
• My gorgeous baby girl, Isabelle. Don't even get me started on Tiny! I cannot believe there was life before her! I've loved her since that first moment I felt her kick inside me and the love has grown everyday. It took me the first few months to fully comprehend how lucky I am to have her in my life and what a joy she is, but now its all I think about. I finally feel that sense that I would do anything for this girl, I would fight lions, or tigers, or bears, or really mean girls if it would make her life better. My love for her is so strong and grows so fast, it scares me to think how I'll feel when she's 5!
• My happy camper little brother, Caleb. This kid brings constant happy when he's around! I've known him his whole life and I still adore him, that's gotta be saying something! Our time together is so precious, I try to savor every moment we have together. This usually means lots of laughing, joking, and eating and some occasional hitting! Its wonderful!! He's such a great boy, so trustworthy. So talented and humble! So kind to everyone, there's not a mean bone in his body. He's a perfect example of what everyone hopes their teenager will be! I love him so much!
• Theater! There are very few things I like more in this world than sitting down with some candy and having talented people rock my world. I love the singing and dancing just as much as the next guy (especially men singing....ahhhh, so lovely!) but I'd take a drama or comedy over a musical almost any day. I love a good drama with lots of heart that really makes you feel something. I love watching people completely lose themselves in a character! I LOVE theater...and it makes me happy!
• My doggies, past and present: Faithful, Sophie, Snoopy, Zero, Kona, Kalea, Hilo, and ta Tanka. I don't know if I've ever had a day that some snuggles from my puppies can't make better. I love dogs so much and don't know how people live without them! I love the kisses, despite the slobber and I love to pet their soft fur despite the shedding. I'm so so glad that Eric's a dog person so that we can raise our Tiny to be one as well.
• FOOD!!! OMG, I love food! I love trying new and exotic foods and I love eating the old classics. I love healthy food and junk food. I love fruits and veggies, meat and potatoes, pasta and sauce, brownies and ice cream and everything in between! I can't wait to go to Culinary school and learn how to cook sophisticated and yummy dishes for my Hubby and my Tiny! Hmmm, now I'm hungry!
• My Sunshine. Not just any Sunshine...MINE! :-) Yeah, Sunny sure does make me happy! I've never had such a great girlfriend! Every time I see her I leave feeling so grateful that she's a part of my life. She makes me laugh and she's the first girlfriend I've ever had who I feel like I can talk about anything with. I love having a confidante and a buddy. I'm so glad that Seth Barney forced me to go to his Labor day party in 2009 otherwise the amazing adventures I've had with my Sunny may have never happened! I am so happy and feel so blessed that Sunny liked me back!
• Dr. Pepper. Yes, some might say this could have been lumped into the food category with everything else that you put in your tummy but this deserved a mention all its own. Dr. Pepper makes me oh so very happy. From the first taste to the last, Dr. Pepper is the happy maker. And on a semi-side note: My most comfortable, and therefore my favorite, pajamas just happen to be covered in Dr. Pepper logos...go figure!
• My angelic mommy. It's strange how something can make you feel so happy and so sad at the same time isn't it? I think about my mommy several times a day, sometimes it helps me through the hard times and sometimes it makes the hard times harder. My mama was such a perfect example of what a mom should be and a value so much the time that we had together and the things she taught me. I think everyday about how excited she was to be a Grandma and how tragic it is that she isn't here for Isabelle but then I think about the kind of mother/best friend she was to me and realize that her wonderful example, in every way, makes me a better mother. So even though she's in heaven, she's blessing my sweet baby's life by reminding me how an amazing mother acts. Oh, I love you my sweet Mommy!
• Television and Movies. I know, it seems lame right but TV and movies make me really happy! I love going to the movie theater and I love watching movies at home. I love the DVR that allows me to watch my favorite shows without commercials! I love TV shows that are now on DVD so I can watch TV like a movie! I think, along the same lines as Theater, I love to be entertained...that makes me HAPPY!

• My amazing friends. I have some amazing friends that make me very happy!! I'm so grateful for all the people who make my life worth living. I hope you know who you are and how much I love you!!! Here are just a few of the standouts! (Unfortunately I don't have time to list everyone!)

1. My own, very own, Nicholas Park-Romney Brown...that boy makes me VERY happy! Having a friend like Nic, someone who I've known for as long as I can remember and who loves me no matter what, is so amazing. I sure don't see him as much as I'd like but whenever we're together it's like nothing in our lives has changed. We still play like we're 5, like we don't have responsibilities and things to worry about. We always laugh and genuinely love being together. I can't imagine my life without Nic, he's my Besty!
2. The Godparents to my Tiny, Eric and Sandy Jensen. Where do I even start....such amazing people the Jensen's are. I am so glad they're such a big part of our lives. They make every situation a fun and happy one. The last I don't know how many years of their life have been spent making people laugh, how can there be anything wrong with people like that?? The dedication they have to what the believe in is so admirable. They've been through so many trials and they remain happy and always willing to help others. They are truly and inspiration to us and we are honored that they were willing to be Isabelle's Godparents...we couldn't ask for anyone better!
3. My Mama Sue makes me very happy! Spending a day with her reminds me that I have people who love and support me. I know I could turn to Sue with any problem and she would be there. I can't say enough about this amazing woman and the love she shows me, my husband, and Tiny. She and Bob are some of the nicest most genuine people you'll ever meet and they both make me so happy!
4. The oh so talented Anne Puzey!There's something about seeing and spending time with Anne that makes my heart happy. She's so honest, compassionate, and loving. She treats people with respect and doesn't say anything she doesn't mean. She loves me and that makes me happy!
5. The adorable and ridiculously funny Rusty Bringhurst. Sure, he's Sunny's boyfriend and all but I've loved Rusty for a long time! There's a slice of my heart that Rusty holds. Seeing Rusty always makes me smile and knowing the way that Rusty loves Caleb makes me happy! Rusty's such a great guy and a wonderful friend. I'm so lucky to know him!
6. Super cute Kori Witmer and her monkey, Logan. What a blessing it has been for me to get to know Kori! She's such an awesome person and I love having a mommy friend who is so nonjudgmental! She's fun to be around and we can talk about anything. We've got kiddos close in age which will make for lots of fun as they get older. Spending time with Kori makes me happy...that's what friends are for right?

I'm sure I could think of about a million other things that make me happy but this is a great start!!! I really am very blessed to have wonderful things and amazing people that make me so very happy! Thank YOU for being one of them!!

I feel like a slacker!

Well, I'm feelin' like a slacker in pretty much every aspect of everything. Thus, that is what this particular blog post shall be about. If you would prefer not to read a slight rant from a crazy mother, now would be the time to stop. :-) Listed below are the areas in which I feel I'm slacking.

Firstly, my bloggy.

One of my newest and most dearest friends, Kori, has also started a blog. Her son Logan and my Isabelle are only a few weeks apart yet she actually finds time to blog consistently. She's only been a blogger for a week or so and already has as many posts as me! Geez, kuddos to her, she's amazing!!!

Secondly, my housey.

OH MY H! I swear I have every intention to get stuff done around the house and somehow I never do! Okay, not never but it feels like I never move forward, like as soon as I do something, everything else gets worse and then when I get around to one of those things the first thing I did is really bad again! Ahhh, how does anyone do it?? Every other parent in the whole world has a house that looks like this, I'm pretty sure!

I swear I don't ever just sit around and do nothing but if that's true than how is nothing getting done?!?!? It feels so frustrating and overwhelming! Anyone else out there feel the same....anyone...anyone....Ugh!

Thirdly, my Tiny.

I feel like there's so much more I should be doing with and for her. I'm so bummed that we're still waiting for her baby food processor.

(I LOVE that the bowls have faces. lol So cute!!) I'm so so super excited about being able to make her food, and its been my intention since I got pregnant. But here we are, Tiny is 5 months old, been on solid foods for 6 weeks, and I've made NONE of it! Seriously, I'm a slacker.
Besides that, I'm sure there are about a million things I should be doing that I'm not. I should be playing and talking and singing with her more. I should probably be introducing her to new toys, people, places, and games than I am. I should probably be taking her outside more and forcing her to spend time on her tummy and I'm sure having the TV on is grounds for harsh punishment. Why is it that simply spending every waking moment caring for Tiny doesn't seem good enough? Everything I do all day - and night- is for her (Or for Eric but if he's happy that benefits her as well) so why should I ever feel like I need to do more for her? I dress her, feed her, play with her, sing to her, change her diapers, read her stories, etc... Why oh why does it not seem like enough?

Fourthly, my cookie.
(Which is to say cooking following the 'y' ending
that everything else had, not actually referring to a cookie)

Ugh, what can I say about cooking. I did really good for about a week when Eric and I first go married and then again for about a week after Sunny helped me go shopping and now...not so much! Why? I get on a role and feel so awesome about it and then as soon as I fall out of the swing of things I can't seem to get back into it. I really do love cooking and feel so accomplished after I make a delicious and semi-healthy meal for us!! But I have a serious lack of kitchen confidence and its so hard to find the time to do anything now-a-days. Also, I think the lack of dishwasher doesn't help. Its so discouraging to make all this food and then have to spend so much time doing dishes! Plus we don't have very good cooking tools or kitchen space....But see there I go making excuses for something that is totally and completely 100% possible for me to do everyday. And thus, the slacker feeling.

So, there's my rant about how much I don't do, which actually made me feel a lot better!! :-) I decided this was worth posting because when I look back on this year I want to remember that there were hard times. I want Isabelle to know that taking care of her and everything else was really hard work and that I'd still do it 100 times over because she's worth every bit of it!!

I promise a happier post is already in the works!

A Much Better Week

Healthy Baby!!!!
*sigh* Finally, a nice calm week free of sickness and hospitals! Thank goodness! (By the way, it took me more than a week to finish this one post! So be thankful you're finally reading it, cuz it took a lot of effort!)

First things first, of course! Our amazing Eric was cast in "The Hasty Heart" at Hale! Whoot! We're so proud of him. Eric is stoked to be doing this show as it was the first show he ever did at Hale over 15 years ago. He and Rusty played the Orderly and now they're all grown up and playing REAL roles! :-) Eric gets to play 'Tommy', the comic relief which is so great for him. I'm mostly excited and trying not to think about the fact that I'll never see him anymore! lol Rusty gets to play 'Yank' who's the handsome American. ;-) Eric and I joke about it because Rusty is the MASTER of accents and everyone BUT Yank has an accent in this show! Ha! I'm so so happy for Rusty though, I think this will be an amazing experience for him. We're so happy that Hale is trusting him with such a big role, I think he deserves it. (Plus, Sunny and I will get to spend lots of time together since both our boys are doing the same show in the same cast!!) We've also got a couple of other friends in the show: David Stensrud (who also did the show with Rusty and Eric 15 years ago), Justin Bruse, Jon Baty, and Adam Dietlein. I think it will be awesome for Eric!!

Izzy has decided that ALL she likes is veggies. Eric is not a fan of veggies so he wanted her to try some fruit. He decided pears were the best so that's what we decided to give her...she gagged!! It was so funny! We tried it 2 days in a row and both times as soon as she would taste it on her tongue she'd start gagging. Carrots on the other hand she adores!!! Yeah...daddy's not the BEST at feeding her. But at least he tries! :-) She's such a goofy girl! She's super super into food (like her mommy) so dinner time is a blast with her!! I can't wait til she gets to move onto meats and spices and finger foods! *squeal* Watching her learn about food is probably my favorite 'mommy experience' so far..or maybe its her giggle....or cuddling with her....or her big smile every morning when I go in to get her..or maybe I don't really have a favorite! :-)

Speaking of favorites...HER favorite is looking at herself in the mirror! Its the only way to get her to lay on her tummy! She starts to fuss as soon as you lay her down and then as soon as you hold the mirror in front of her face she picks her head up, smiles really big, and squeals at the adorable baby looking back at her. Its SO cute! See what I mean?!?!? Look how happy that baby is!! She's such a riot!

Uncle Caleb came up last weekend to watch Iz biz while we went to dinner and "Phantom of the OBT" with Grandma and Grandpa Morris and Uncle Nic. Unfortunately she's developed this new thing...and just happened to develop it for the first time with Caleb. She likes to have a big, dramatic, inconsolable, crying fit if she gets over tired...at all! I hadn't seen it before because I'm her mommy and I'm home all day with her so I know when she needs a nap BEFORE she does. I felt really bad for Caleb! It was the first time we'd left him alone with her and she cried almost the whole time! Arg! Luckily he helped us discover that food ALWAYS cures it! :-)

Isabelle and I got to spend time with friends last week!! YAY friends! On Monday we went to visit Kori and Logan.(Yes, my baby is the big head stoned looking one!) We had lots of fun! It was so nice for me to chat with Kori, mommy friends are awesome and she's one of the best!!
Wednesday we went to Sushi with Aunt Sunny! OH MY GOSH, deliciousness!!! For starers we got the salmon cream cheese wontons...HOLY WOW! So amazing!!! Then we got the Mainlander roll which is tempera lobster with Kobe beef on top and an amazing lemon aoli to dip in. Mmm! We also got a Vegas, cuz you can't really go wrong there, and the Jenny...pictured here. :-) Everything was so good!!! Writing about it makes me want to go get more!!
Friday we went to see Shy and Grace! We've been wanting to get together for months now and it just never worked out. We've both had sick girls and it seemed like everything was working against us, so we were so happy to finally get together! I really really enjoyed talking with Shy! I feel like we have a lot in common and we're both a little silly...so that's fun! Grace on the other hand, was not so thrilled that we were there. Poor sweet girl is teething and I think she would've liked to have been alone with her mommy. She did take a nice long nap though so Shy and I got some good bonding in! Looking back though, I probably should have left sooner than I did for their sakes. Selfish me...just wanna hang out all the time!
Anyway, it was a really great week that ended with Eric and I going to an AWESOME Mardi Gras party that Camille Van Wagoner threw!!! She the party master and it was so fun. We got to spend time with lots of friends and have a crazy night! Luckily it was a late enough party that we pu
t tiny to bed and gave Grandma the monitor and off we went! Thank goodness too because the babysitter had to cancel last minute. YAY for good sleeping babies!!

Well, today a new week begins that will be full of fun! Jami Stensrud is going to take Izzy's pictures on Wednesday and then do our family pictures on Saturday! We are SO lucky to have such an amazing friend who is so talented!!! Look at some of the great ones she's already taken for us. We wouldn't trade our friendship with the Stensrud's for anything...and not just because Jami takes amazing pictures! They're great friends and they have 4 amazing and super cute kids!! We are so blessed to have them in our lives!

Isabelle and I have also taken on a new task. We're going to watch Miss Cameron twice a month so Marissa can work. We're really excited and it will help me decide if I feel like I can ever actually have more than one child! :-) We we get to watch Peach this Thursday! I hoping some of Cameron's super smart will rub off on Izzy!!

So that's what is going on in the lives of the Armstrong's! All of that and waiting for our awesome tax return! Huzzah for having a baby!!!

xoxo

Hospital Trip

Oh, what an eventful week we've had. First off, let me say what a trouper Tiny is. She was poked and prodded and had things attached to her and was sick yet, through all of it, she remained her overly happy self. I'm so proud of how brave she is! I love you Izzers!
So, Thursday baby seems to be sick. I try ALL day to get a hold of her pediatrician (her former pediatrician) but to no avail. So, Eric gets home and we take her to the insta-care. They check her out and then decide she's too tiny for them to see so they send us to a kids care (no problem with that). They were great at the kids care, very helpful and attentive. Doc tells us that she has a sore throat and the baby version of bronchitis. :-( Says to keep an eye on her breathing and bring her in if it gets any worse. So, we go about our lives and she doesn't seem to get any worse, but she doesn't get any better either. Saturday night we go see "A Tale of Two Cities" at Hale Theatre, which was amazing by the way.

Tale is one of my favorite books and the musical was great! We had lots of friends in the show and the singing was GREAT, I'm sure partially because of their amazingly talented cast and partially because of the talent of their musical director, our dear friend, Anne Puzey. She's amazing! ANYWAY...we left Izzy with her favorite babysitters, Aunt Celeste and Uncle John Thibeault. They're so sweet with her and she loves spending time with them. Well, when we got back from the show she said that she had been having a hard time breathing and that we should take her into the doctor again. Of course, as soon as we picked her up she was ready for sleep so she didn't sound so bad. We decided to wait til the morning and see how she was doing then. (By the way, through this WHOLE thing, I had the worst migraine I'd ever had! When we got home from the show I could hardly move my own body...it was bad. Poor Eric had to take care of a hurting me and a sick tiny. Somehow he survived, he's so tough.) So Sunday morning Eric gets up with Iz and lets me sleep in (He's awesome right??) and about 10am he comes in and sets her on the bed and her breathing was so raspy and wheezy that it woke me up. :-( So we waited til the Kids Care opened at noon and took her right in. This time her throat looked better but she had an ear infection. Ugh! They listened to her and checked her oxygen levels and they were fine so they suctioned her out again (That is AWFUL by the way. They take a tube and stick it in their nose and down their throat...*shudders*!) and then we were packed up and ready to head home again. The doc wanted to check her oxygen one more time before she left and that's when everything went down hill. Her oxygen levels were too low - the wanted her to be around 100 and she was at 80 - so the doctor gave her an Albuterol treatment which actually helped a lot in the long run but in the moment it didn't do anything. :-( So they started her on oxygen and called Riverton Hospital to have a room ready for her. Then, because they had already started her on oxygen, they couldn't let us drive her so they had to call an ambulance for her.

Poor little tiny thing having to ride in an ambulance. It was actually kind of funny though because they strapped her car seat onto the stretcher. It looked ridiculous!
The people at Riverton were really great. The doctors were very willing to offer information and the nurses were very attentive. Other than the fact that our baby had to be in the hospital, it was a good experience.

Oh look at her, sweet little thing! She really did so great! She had that oxygen thing strapped to her face the whole time we were there, even though she didn't need it after about 11:30pm. Apparently she didn't want to be there anymore than we did because they said we'd be in the hospital til she could go all night without oxygen...it was looking like we were going to be there for a long time, but she did it the very first night! Thank goodness too, you should have seen Eric and I both trying to sleep on the tiny pull out bed they had! RIDICULOUS!!

Grandma and Grandpa Morris came to visit and bring us food which was so wonderful of them cuz Eric and I were STARVING!

They even stayed and watched "The Emperor's New Groove" with me while Eric ran home to get us pajamas. They are such amazing people, such good friends, and such wonderful Grandparents to Izzy! I feel so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I don't know where I'd be without my Sue! We have SO much fun together!!!

(An example of aforementioned "fun")

I think this trip to the hospital was definitely more stressful for Eric than it was for me. Eric's hardly spent any time with babies so, naturally, he's never spent time with a sick baby in a hospital. I, on the other hand, have spent many a day in the hospital with a Bree and Brady.

Eric...not so much....

I'm crazy about this concerned look on his face. It took him a little getting use to but he finally realized that it is possible to hold her even when she's attached to everything under the sun!
Turns out Isabelle had RSV! We were really lucky that she had such a mild case, some kids spend weeks in the hospital with RSV. She was a tough little bucket and got through it with very few problems! Good girl!!
As sad as it was for me to see Tiny in the hospital...I still can't get over how cute she looked in the itty bitty hospital gown!My goodness that girl has rolls! :-) She really was great! She was all full of kicks and smiles for the nurses and she slept through the night even though they came in every hour to check her temperature and stuff! She's the best baby a mommy could wish for!

And that was our oh so eventful week! GEEZ! Let's hope that this week is very UNeventful!!

Baby's First Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!! Not only is today Valentine's Day, it is also my sweet Isabelle's 4 month birthday! I cannot believe how fast she's growing up! We had her 4 month check up on Friday and the doctor said she looks incredibly healthy and he believes she's in good hands....that's me! :-) Here's a profile of our tiny bucket at 4 months old! (There are some picture examples of the things she can do...cuz I'm crazy about pictures!!!)

Isabelle Julianna Armstrong
4 months old
Isabelle is 24.5 inches long. (The 70th percentile)
Isabelle is 15 pounds (The 90th percentile)
Izzy can support her head all by herself. Izzy makes really funny faces and loves to play with her tongue.Isabelle can roll from her tummy on to her back...but not consistently.
Izzy is eating solid foods. She's had rice cereal and applesauce so far and she loves them both!Isabelle can smile, and she does all the time!Izzy sleeps through the night. 10-12 hours at a time. YAY!!!
Isabelle not only sleeps through the night, but this girl can sleep anywhere!Izzy likes to put her hands, and anything she can grab with her hands, into her mouth.Izzy makes all sorts of funny sounds. She even "ahhhs" herself to sleep. Too cute!
Isabelle loves to spend time in her "jumpy". Isabelle is almost laughing, but it takes a lot of effort on my part!
Isabelle loves watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the Jazz games (even when they lose!)Izzy can sit up if she's supported a little.

Seriously, this girl is the light in my life! She is so much fun!!! I'm so proud to be her mommy!! I love watching her grow and learn and turn into a little person! I'm so lucky to be able to be home with her all day and for that, I thank my amazing husband!! Speaking of which...

Eric and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day weekend full of happy feelings and delicious food! Eric's sweet friend Hannah volunteered to watch Iz on Friday night so Eric and I could spend some good time together. OH WE DID! :-) We ate at Rodizio Grill, which may be one of my most favorite places in all the world. We ate and ate and ate that endless meat until we thought we were gonna burst. Then we went and saw True Grit. It was not as good as we were hoping for, but it was definitely entertaining! And Isabelle had a great time with Hannah...we could tell!

On Saturday we spent the morning together as a family and took it easy, which was lovely! Then at 4 we dropped our little pumpkin off at my Auntie Kim's house. There is no one in the whole world I would trust with my tiny more than her. I was thrilled that she was willing to watch her for the night! Eric and I then proceed to have an incredible night! We had dinner at "Faustina", (because I had won a $50 dollar gift card at the OBT Christmas Party) and it was super yummy! We had amazing calamari for our appetizer! Eric called it "popcorn calamari" which was very appropriate. I told him I would LOVE to be snacking on it during a movie! :-)Eric got the Stuffed Beef Tenderloin Medallions, which were delicious! I, being the adventurous foodie that I am, got the lamb chops. I know, I know, it doesn't sound that adventurous but I'd never had them before. Let me tell you though, being adventurous pays off! My food was amazing! We shared an absolutely delicious Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee for desert. Wonderful meal, wonderful company! ;-)
After dinner we went to the Voodoo Darling's Valentine's Day Burlesque show! This is our fifth or sixth time seeing them and it is always SO much fun! We're crazy about sexy dancing girls!! :-D They're so entertaining and tasteful. I think Jen and Danny have done an incredible job!
Auntie Kim kept Izzy over night so Eric and I were actually able to go to a baby-free home. Don't worry, I won't share any details but, it was a wonderful night!

Since its Valentine's Day I posted a little something something on Eric's facebook wall and I thought I'd share it here too. I thought he'd like the post better than a card. He claims that he likes receiving cards, he just doesn't like buying them for other people but I don't know how true that is. I think he hates cards a little. Anyway...here's how I feel about my sexy honey! (The short version)

To my handsome Valentine,

You are my everything. You bring me so much happiness. I'm so honored to be the mother of your tiny one and cannot wait for the rest of our lives. I feel so blessed to have you, you make life worth living. Thank you for being my rock.

Loving you eternally, with everything I have, Your Kia

Isn't it wonderful that we have a whole day dedicated to loving the people around us. I know its source is lame, but "Hallmark" this year has a campaign that Valentine's Day isn't about saying "I love you" it's about saying "I love us". How true that is. And so I close this blog post reminding my sweet husband that I love us! I love us as a couple and I love the three of us as a family. I love the love I have and couldn't ask for more!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!!