It's the small stuff...

Today I opened a tub of Samuel's baby clothes and the smell of mold and cedar wafted out. Ah, the smells of my bedroom from my time in Guatemala! Blame it on sleep deprivation or hormones, but I got all sentimental. It wasn't just the memories that the smells brought back, but realizing that just yesterday Samuel fit into those 6-9M clothes! It is cliche to say, but wow, it goes fast and that makes me sad!

More small stuff... today I also had my first outing with no children in six weeks. I made a grocery run completely alone! It's amazing how easy it is to get in and out of the car with only yourself to worry about. Soon I'll be leaving the boys more than I'd like. I have one more week of maternity leave and then go back to work for the last six weeks of the semester. Leaving Andy and figuring out the nursing/bottle bit is daunting, but I know lots of women do it successfully! My other worry is that I'll be able to teach effectively with the clouded brain I have lately. I blame it on sleep deprivation, but I can be pretty socially awkward these days as space out or struggle to find the word I need, etc. I'll get used to it, right?

And not so small stuff...Andy's weighing in off the charts as of his one month appointment. He's 13 pounds 10 ounces!

Children of God

Love this video from Third Day...

One in 100 for Kairos!

I've shared a lot about Kairos Christian School in Guatemala over the past couple of years. The mission of the school is close to our heart - to educate and minister to impoverished children and families in Guatemala. The school has grown rapidly and is currently critically low on finances. While the school has been blessed with many generous one time gifts, they are in need of faithful monthly contributors in order to have a stable budget.

We are working with others in the KC area on a One in 100 campaign this month. We are looking for 100 individuals who can commit to $100 a month. If you are interested in being a part of this initiative, please contact me and I will get you more information. Obviously, the students and staff at Kairos would be greatly blessed by our prayers and by financial support of any amount.

To see more of the school, here is the link to our church's blog. It shares pictures and stories from the 2010 and 2009 Guatemala trips to work with Kairos.

TV Confessions

I'm not much of a TV watcher. Jimmy wishes I were, but there are just few programs that I've gotten into. I have watched Grey's Anatomy faithfully, but that's about it (ok, and if I'm being honest, I've watched more of The Bachelor than is good for anyone). However, having a newborn gives me a whole new appreciation for the DVR. I have tried reading while nursing, but Andy's squirmy, so TV it is. In the last few weeks, I have gotten all caught up on bad TV shows. With foster baby, I got hooked on The Hills- yes, super trashy, I know, but it was on at 3 or 4 in the morning! I think I watched all of the seasons. The most intriguing show I stumbled on this weekend was the TLC reality show Sister Wives. Have you seen this show? I catch myself watching it thinking "Why am I watching this?" The man has four wives- FOUR! And I think sixteen kids! I can't imagine the couple's counseling needed to survive that on a daily basis! The women talk about how it is sometimes hard for them... you think? Wow... I need to find something else to watch and pray that Andy starts sleeping more! I got two three hour stints last night and feel like a whole new woman today. We'll see if that can happen more than one night in a row!

And just for fun... Samuel was "sharing" with baby brother...

Andy...

Thanks to Miss Blair, we have some fabulous pictures of Andy! He is a big and happy baby. At his two week check up, he had gained 1 lb 5 oz in a week- the doctor was very impressed- so he's close to 11 pounds and isn't going to last long in the 0-3M sized clothes!

Even with bouts of stir-craziness and sleep deprivation, I love having two boys. Through the whole pregnancy I was subconsciously still waiting for something to go wrong. Getting pregnant was such a surprise that I think I was in disbelief it was really going to result in another child. So with Andy here and healthy, I am in awe of the blessing of this child and of the very different stories he and Samuel have of how God brought them to us.

Because so many of my friends had gone through pregnancy before and because I'd done a decent amount of reading, I felt as "prepared" as possible for delivery and a newborn. After all, I'd been with Samuel at a fairly young age and we had fostered a newborn last summer. Well, I have to say I've had my fair share of post-delivery surprises. First of all, with foster baby, Jimmy and I shared feeding duties. Therefore I slept a good amount at night. None of this getting up every two hours or so business! And so many pregnancy books end with the delivery... or maybe that's just as far as I read. Or maybe because that is all TLC's Baby Story shows, I just ignored the whole recovery piece. So I was blissfully unaware of how your body gets hijacked by sleep deprivation, nursing, and the other gross details I won't mention. The whole C-section incision and recovery has also been more involved than I thought. So my plans of trying to train for Hopsital Hill in June may not be oh-so-realistic... maybe the 10K, but I don't think I'll be going for the 1/2 marathon at this point.

I have four more weeks off before I head back to teaching. I miss my students, but love being home. My heart hurts at the thought of leaving the boys in April, but at least it will just be 6-7 weeks and then I'm off for summer. We're re-evaluating if I'll go back to work in the fall or not. Love my job, but LOVE these boys more!

Random side note- anyone read CHOOSING TO SEE by Mary Beth Chapman? I just finished it this week! SOO good. It clearly deals with their adoption stories and the loss of one of their daughters, but I was surprised that it is really just Mary Beth's life story and her struggles/challenges. I loved her honesty and transparency. I highly recommend it!

Worth the wait!

Andy Armstrong made his arrival on Tuesday, February 15, weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces! I had gone in to the hospital the night before for some medicine to help my cervix efface. I was scheduled to be induced the morning of the 15th. The medicine, which was supposed to have "mild cramps" as a side effect, put me into labor Monday night. By the early morning hours all visions of trying to avoid an epidural had gone out the window! I took the epidural (amazing!) and we got a bit of rest.

Andy's heart rate had fluctuated somethrough the night, but would regulate with me taking extra oxygen and when the nurse had me roll to one side or the other. However, Tuesday morning his heart rate took a couple of nose dives and didn't come up very quickly. We had a brief, scary moment involving nurses running in and the doctor being called in quickly. I remember feeling relatively calm and having verses from Joshua 1 flitter through my mind (do not be terrified, be strong and courageous!). I also remember not really caring that all of the nurses and doctor were seeing my bare backside hanging out of the hospital gown (they had me on my hands and knees on the bed- no small feat considering I couldn't use my legs at this point!). The doctor made the call to do a C-section and within ten minutes I was in the operating room. Jimmy and my mom both got to be in surgery with me. Andy was out in no time and healthy!

We are adjusting well to life as a family of four. I'm sleep deprived, but I think that is unavoidable with a newborn. Samuel is a doting big brother who is anxious to play with Andy. He's been acting out some with me and Jimmy, but we're not sure if that is related to the baby or just being stuck inside a lot and being 3! We believe that both our adoption journey with Samuel and the pregnancy with Andy are miracles and huge blessings from the Lord. We are grateful for the meals, visits and gifts that keep showing up at our house! Much love to all for the support!

The Waiting Game

I'm officially five days overdue. The pregnancy has flown, but this week has not. I'm proud of myself for not being too crazy yet. I think I've tried everything on the old wives' tale list of ways to induce labor (except red tea and castor oil which my doctor warned against!).

I even went to a chiropractor for accupuncture. Needles and I are not friends. I have a lot of really embarrassing stories relating to passing out because of needles or pain- getting my ears pierced, a failed attempt at getting my belly button pierced in college and in my stint as a Kanakuk counselor (accompanied a camper to the ER- she got an IV, I hit the floor!). Since becoming a mom, I've toughened up some, but I'm still wimpy. So when I started feeling woozy from the accupuncture (and probably from her having me on my back for 20 minutes), I was ready to be done. Baby Boy was certainly more active after that, but still no labor!

In the meantime, I have enjoyed the week with Samuel. I had already planned for my subs to take over teaching this past Monday. It was a good transition point and I was anxious about having to call them last minute and risk canceling class, so I have been off this week. I feel guilty burning leave, but it has been nice to rest and enjoy the time with Samuel and Jimmy. Besides, I've done lots of important things like fix my blog background and shampoo the carpet!

Tomorrow I see the doctor again for a sonogram and non-stress test. I'm excited to at least "see" the baby on the sonogram! If all's well, the doctor plans to schedule induction for early next week. That's right, 10ish days after my due date. I'm still praying to go into labor on my own before then, but we shall see. I know that if God can get me through eight months in Guatemala, He can get me through ten days overdue and the delivery!

My other form of coping has been shopping. I am not typically a shopper. I don't enjoy it and neither does my husband (remember, he's in the Dave Ramsey fan club). I heard about Amazon Mom- you guys know about this? If you sign up (free) then you get three free months of Amazon Prime (free 2 day shipping on any order amount). Then, any "qualifying baby purchases" extend your Amazon Prime membership for up to a year. They also have a diaper deal where you get 30% off (mainly Pampers brand) if you sign up for a recurring order. I should be on their marketing team. Anyways- I've done some Amazon shopping. One purchase was this Moby wrap which I convinced myself I needed. We broke it out to practice wrapping and Samuel and Jimmy modeled it. Here's Samuel with his "baby bug" (a baby toy I got out a few weeks ago and he's been carrying around like a baby since then)....


Hopefully next post will be some exciting news about the 4th member of the Armstrong family...

February 5

Today is my due date. After months of February 5 seeming so far away, the day has come and gone uneventfully (so far at least!). It seems baby boy is pretty content to stay put for now. Thanks to the internet and suggestions from friends, I have a long list of natural ways to induce labor and I'm working on it!

This week was a bit long with all of the snow, but we stayed busy with 50 million games of Candy Land and Toy Story Memory and tried to enjoy the snow (snow ice cream shown here... and my messy kitchen in the background- this was in the 48 hour period where I hardly left the house!). I am posting this picture despite how tired I look in it, not to mention how I've taken over Jimmy's selection of XL tshirts!



Happy Weekend!

A must read...

I've linked to this blog several times, because her posts inspire and challenge me... to not limit God, to not expect someone else to respond, to keep pursuing what His calling for me. Love it.

Most Bizarre Date Night Yet....

So last fall my cousin told me about this Ghost and Gangsters Tour in KC. I read about it and it supposedly included KC history, mafia history and some legends/myths of "haunted" places. When it popped up as 1/2 price on Groupon, we got tickets thinking it would be a "different" date night idea. I had no idea how different we were talking!

The tour met at The Edge of Hell (a well known KC haunted house, as the tour is run by the people who own it). That should have been clue #1. If you're familiar with the haunted house district in KC, it isn't in the best area. Jimmy asked me if we should worry about our car still being there after the tour since it was just our car and one other on a deserted street. The "tour" ended up being us and the Johnson's (who I had talked into going with us). Pretty sure they lost money on us! We rode the "Ghoul Bus" for the tour, with our tour guide dressed up like a ghost. He used an "ichapod" (IPOD) to narrate the tour and then interrupted with his own stories. It was quickly obvious that this tour was a lot more about ghosts/hauntings/"orbs" (didn't know what that was pre-tour) than just KC and mafia history!

It was fun to go through the various parts of town and learn some history... I could have lived without his creepy ghost stories that the tour guide was so passionate about. Apparently they are working on a tour that would be more history/mafia and less ghosts- I would recommend that part- the ghost stuff, not so much. We were amused that the story of Bob Berdella made the tour (it's a long story, but my brother's house includes half of his house's plot of land after the house was leveled). The "Boss Tom" stories of KC mafia were interesting, too. We also learned about Sauer castle (see below). It was really random, but the house is gorgeous (even rundown!).

So with that review, anyone intrigued enough to go? I have two additional tickets that I'll give away if anyone's interested? I can promise that you have probably never had a date night like it! The tours run Friday and Saturday evenings....

Snow Day!

Even though I'm not teaching high school now, I still get excited when I see the school closings coming through on the news. Some teachers hate snow days and the thought of getting out later in May/June. I was never that way- give me a surprise day off anytime! Longview doesn't start until next week, so no snow day excitement for me :). We have around five inches, I think, and it's still coming down. Samuel made did some sledding with Jimmy this evening...



I realized I didn't have boots for him, so I had flashbacks to a childhood solution and wrapped his feet in plastic baggies. Then I used packing tape to tape them to the snow pants. He was a little confused as to why I was doing this, but appreciated the post-sledding dry feet. I was pretty proud of myself!

I'm looking forward to teaching next week- partially because I love the first day of meeting new students and partially because it will be a good distraction from counting down the days until my due date. I have just under four weeks at this point. I had four people at church on Sunday feel the need to tell me how big I look. I kept all of my sassy responses to myself and just smiled sweetly. Next week, however, I'm not making any promises. God bless the church member (who I see weekly) and still said "I didn't know you were pregnant! Congrats!" He made me smile- I don't care if he was lying or not!

Happy Monday to you all!

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

So I picked up Samuel from preschool today and his teacher said he was talking a lot about baby brother today. At lunch I guess he said "I'm having a brother." One of the other kids (whose mother is pregnant) said "We don't know what ours is yet." To which a third kid chimed in "Yeah, sometimes it is hard to see the bow."

I was anticipating something different than the 'bow' for determining gender. Love the innocent logic!