Growing up TOO fast!!

Well, believe it or not, Isabelle is 6 months old today! WOW, I cannot believe I've had this precious little terror for half a year...its amazing how fast the time flies! She has brought me more smiles and tears in her short 6 months than I've had my whole life. I love everything about her and still can't believe that she's mine!
I remember, the day I went into labor, telling Eric I wasn't ready to be a mommy yet! When the nurse came in and said "Well, the doctor wants to keep you! You're having a baby today!" it started to set in that my life was going to seriously change and I wasn't quite sure I'd prepared enough for that. Then I held that tiny smashed face angel in my arms and all my worries melted away....for about 48 hours until they released me from the hospital! It is an overwhelming sense of fear and responsibility you feel as you walk through the front door with this miniature human package. I still don't know how I (or anyone who's ever had a child) survived those first 6 weeks. It is such an adjustment figuring out how to go from a couple to a family, then you add taking care of aforementioned small person and it kind of blows your mind how stressful life gets. And yet somehow, through all of it, you experience a tremendous amount of happy.
I will never be able to express the love I feel for my little Belle. I've always heard mothers talk about that special love that you feel for your child. The love that makes you want to kill anyone who looks at them wrong and makes you cry every time they bump their head. After about 4 months I finally felt that I had discovered that love and now I feel it grow every time she does! The bigger the baby the bigger the love!
Isabelle is a sweetheart at least 80% of the time! She grows and changes faster than I can keep track! To help me remember, here's my profile of Tiny at 6 months old!

Isabelle Julianna Armstrong
6 months old
Isabelle is 27 and 1/4 inches long (89th Percentile)
Bellie weighs 16 lbs 14 oz (69th Percentile)
Isabelle can sit up all by herself!Izzy can take steps holding onto Mommy's hands! (This is my favorite!)
Isabelle is eating all sorts of food and can even feed herself crackers.Bellie loves show tunes and screams if there's not music playing in the car.
Isabelle can roll over from her back to her tummy, but she immediately regrets it.Izzy can say "dada", "nee", "ahhh", "grah" and "booth"
Bellie still loves to "sing" herself to sleep.
Isabelle can stand up by herself when holding onto furniture.
Bellie loves to laugh!Izzy is already a bit of a flirt and almost always prefers men!
Isabelle sleeps in her own bed, un-swaddled all night long and takes great naps.
Izzy still loves her "jump-jump"Isabelle's favorite TV show is Bubble Guppies (Yeah, that's a real thing!)
Bellie's favorite toys are: Her blanket frog "Wubba", her pink plush blocks, her link toys, and her "lamby pie"Izzy is crazy about grabbing her toes!!!Isabelle is only 6 months old and has been to movies and stage plays. She has gone to Wheeler Farm, the South Jordan pool, the mall, the park, and the hair salon! She's even been to Idaho! She's held hands with a younger man and been kissed more time than I can count! She's quite the lucky young lady.

Oh, how I love this little girl. There is so much life has in store for her. So much I want to show her and teach her and FEED her! She is truly the light of my life! I'm so blessed to be home with her so that we can make memories every day! I treasure all of the moments with her, the happy and the sad and cannot wait for all of the tomorrows I'll have with her.And so, to my sweet Tiny, a very very happy half birthday! Let's celebrate with lots of hugs and kisses....and Mexican food with Aunt Sunny!

Our new edition!

Okay, I haven't written forever, things have been crazy!! Before anything else I need to introduce you to the newest member of our family. This is ta Tanka, our 185 lb Newfoundland. We saved him from sudden death! Okay, maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but we did give him a very impromptu loving home that no one in Idaho seemed to be able to offer. He's a big sweetie and we love him so much! Unfortunately, he brought to our attention just how much our lifestyle had changed. We need a dog that's friendly with people AND other dogs...which our sweet Hilo wasn't, so, we had to part with her. :-(She was such a ridiculous girl and we really did love her, but we could no longer have a dog that was as possessive as she was. We need to be able to take our dog for walks, leave him at day care, not worry that he'll get in a fight with Snoopy, or ever hurt the baby. None of those things were really possible with Hilo. We were sad to say goodbye but we found her a wonderful home!! They're taking great care of her and spoiling her rotten! They love her, she's a perfect fit for their family!
So...there was a huge snowstorm the other day...yeah, its the middle of April and there was a massive snowstorm!!! Oh, Utah! I was so sad that we hadn't gotten any pictures of Tiny's first winter and, thanks to the April snow, we have some now! And THIS one is one of my favorite pictures of ALL TIME!!! Oh my gosh, I love this little girl! She gets bigger and smarter everyday which makes me very happy and a little bit sad. She even rolled over from her back to her tummy the other day! I thought she was never going to do it! :-) I was so so proud of her!
Isabelle loves eating! She really does! I've never seen a kid down their food in such a short time. She's very adventurous at trying new food, which mommy is very happy about. In her short 8 weeks of eating solid foods she's already tried a lot of stuff! She's had apples, bananas, oatmeal, peaches, pears, prunes, squash, rice crackers, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, and carrots of the baby food variety. She's also had quite a few tastes of grown up foods...cuz I'm a bad mommy. ;-) She's had crackers, ice cream, french bread, strawberry compote, garlic cheese biscuits from Red Lobster, crepes, key lime yogurt, Milano cookies, whipped cream, and pickles....she LOVES pickles!! On top of that, we've dipped her binky in just about everything we've ever eaten! She's particularly fond a delicious lemon sauce that comes over shrimp at Chin Wah and pesto sauce. HA! Oh how people are going to judge me now!! But what can you do, I love food and she loves food so...we eat food!! :-)Speaking of food, I'm going to FINALLY start making Tiny's meals this coming week. My Baby Bullet arrived (after a lot of waiting and frustration) and I couldn't be more excited! We also received our "Food Lovers Diet" package in the mail. Eric and I are really excited about starting this program! Now, I am NOT a dieter! I think diets are stupid and don't work and quite frankly, I don't have the willpower to stick with one. But this program seemed different enough that Eric and I were willing to give it a shot. There's no calorie counting or membership fees or food that has to be shipped to you. Basically the whole program is just teaching you how to eat the foods you like in the right portions and combinations that your body is always in a "fat burning mode" rather than a "fat storing mode". There were 2 things that sold us on this program. 1.) NEVER having to give up foods that we love or eat foods that we hate and 2.) Because there's no counting or prepackaged food, we can cook and eat like normal people. That means we can maintain this forever and Isabelle can grow up learning about healthy eating habits instead of watching mommy and daddy dieting (which is basically just teaching her what to do if she gets too fat.) Anyways, I'll keep you posted on our progress and all of that once we actually start...which will be tomorrow!
I leave you with this picture of Tiny the day we took her swimming for the first time...which she loved by the way! I'm so lucky to have her!

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