"My Husband Rocks" Fridays!

Although I am not "feeling the love today", Im still going to post why my husband rocks.

My husband rocks because he is working SO very hard on his last year of Vet School. At the moment this includes working a 7 day, 10 hour, 10pm-8am overnight Crictical Care Shift, coming home and sleeping all day only to get up at 4pm to START his day. It means he has to take in emergency patients all night, make sure that they are given their meds and vitals are taken.

My husband rocks because in a few short months, he will finally be done with Vet School and will be Dr. Andrew J. Armstrong, DVM! At that same time he will be named Captain Andrew J. Armstrong in the Army. So his official name will be Dr. CPT Andrew J. Armstrong DVM. LOL. It makes me proud.

My husband rocks because, with the help of me, makes BEAUTIFUL babies :)

My husband rocks because he teaches my daughter silly and disgusting things to do or say (like pee in the drain when shes taking a shower) and thinks its funny when she runs around the house screaming "Im naaaaaaaaaaaked!" And then watches as I shake my head and try to explain the proper way to do things.

Blessings

I never thought that I could love anybody as much as I love my children. I am SO blessed to have such perfect, beautiful, healthy kids and I don't want to take for granted a single second that I have with them. They are my entire world.


*Being a mom means that my heart has the ability to expand, not divide. *

I have so much love to give... do we REALLY want to be done having kids?

Oh Sleep, How I've Missed You!

Evangeline was never a good sleeper. The first six weeks of her life was her best sleep time... and that's only because babies that young sleep around 20 hours a day, so its hard NOT to sleep then. We tried the Ferber Method with her (which is also known as the cry it out method) and it worked wonders. After 3 nights of blood curdling screaming, she would sleep through the night....... AND THEN, she would get sick. Her first year of life she had croup a few times and it was hard to get her to sleep through the night when every 4 weeks she was getting sick again. And we of course didn't want to deny her of any fluids if she was sick, so the second we would get her sleeping through the night, we would have to start all over again. This was vicious cycle that lasted until she was about two. Evangeline would wake up 3-4 times A NIGHT asking for milk, wanting to cuddle, and so on. Still to this day she will wake up twice a week and come into our room and ask for water. My favorite though is when she wakes me up just to say she loves me... oh my it melts my heart!


ANYWAY, Tradd is different. The kid LOVES to sleep. He slept through the night his first day of life. On average, he will sleep about 6 hour stretches at night (from about 9-3) , but it seems recently he has been sleeping for longer periods. Three nights ago, he slept 8 hours and 45 min, ate, and went back to sleep! Two nights ago it was only 5 hours, but then last night it was another 8 hours and 30 min! He went down at 9pm, woke up at 5:30 and drank a bottle, and went back down to sleep... and guess what? He is STILL asleep. It's 8:15 and he's still in his bassinet. Oh sleep, joyous sleep... how Ive missed you!

We planned on moving him into his crib and OUT of our room when he got close to sleeping through the night. Evangeline and Tradd will be sharing a room for a few months and we wanted to make sure he was sleeping well so he didn't wake her up. I hadn't planned on doing it so soon! I'd say probably by his 4th month he will be in his own crib and sharing a room with his sister!


These pictures were taken this morning, of my perfect little SLEEPING man!

Let's Get Organized! (edited)

I realized during my maternity leave that I really don't have a rhyme or reason to the way that I run the household. Typically, the kids go to bed around the same time, but thats pretty much the only schedule we follow in the house. Bath, quiet time, book, teeth, bed. When it comes to cleaning, I am all over the place. Some days I clean the whole house, others I do a bit of cleaning, and then there are days where I dont want to do a thing! With me having to go back to work and Drew now in rotations, I decided that I need a daily cleaning schedule to follow to make sure my house stays clean. It also help the house stay fairly clean each day so that on the weekends I can spend my time with my family, not cleaning! Here is my House Cleaning Checklist!

NOTE: I edited the picture so hopefully you can click on it and get a better idea of my schedule!

Signatures!

I got a new signature... what do you think?

Princess

Evangeline REALLY thinks shes a princess. Daddy is the king, Tradd is the Prince, and mommy, of course, is the queen! Everyday she wears one of her princess dresses... and its gotten tot he point where I don't argue anymore... if she wants to wear it to the grocery store, then who cares! In fact, she wore the whole kit-and-kaboodle to Walmart and kids were pointing at her and telling their parents "look! Theres a princess here!"... Vang was very flattered. LOL

Below is a picture of Evangeline in what was SUPPOSED to be her Halloween costume... Cinderella (her Aunt Erica wore it 20 some odd years ago)! She's worn it so much that mom mom is making a new dress!

Was it really THAT easy?

Minus a few accidents, Evangeline did SO well being potty trained.... almost TOO well. I knew by her strong personality and her determination that once she decided to become potty trained, she would just do it on her own.... but was it really THAT easy? Within a week she no longer wore diapers, was staying dry at night (and still is), can hold it for hours if needed, and tells us when she has to go. I'm impressed by this little girl! And I am happy that I don't have TWO kids in diapers! So, we have officially been potty trained for weeks now... and it is wonderful :)

"My Husband Rocks" Fridays!

"My Husband Rocks" Friday was designed to celebrate the one you love each and every week! You can read more about it here, but here is just the gist of it (taken from Katy Lin's website).

"No husband is perfect and it doesn’t really matter. What matters is how I set myself up to think about him. If I focus on his failures, his annoyances, or ways in which I’ve felt hurt by him, then I will interact with him as a hurt and frustrated and disappointed wife. That makes for miserable living for me and my husband and those around us. But if I focus on his strengths, his potential, and the ways in which I feel blessed by him, then I will interact with him as a forgiving, blessed, and contented wife. And there’s no greater need a man has than to feel respected by his wife. If he feels like all he does is hurt, disappoint, and frustrate, then the same atmosphere and the same actions will be perpetuated. But if he feels that his wife can be happy and responsive regardless of his shortcomings, he feels respected and empowered. Then a positive atmosphere is perpetuated and actions, once destructive, can improve in an environment that is rich forcultivation and growth into deepened respect and intimacy"

Join me every week and proclaim why YOUR husband rocks!

Where have I been?!?!

Paige and Evangeline -- Savanna's Birthday Party

Paige, Vang, and Savanna! The 3 amigos! -- Savanna's Birthday party

Mom at Horsetooth Reservoir


Me and my handsome little man

Evangeline, Savanna (middle), and Paige at Savanna's birthday party

Me and Vang on our way to Savanna's

The love each other!

Holding Hands

Paige and Vang at the daycare party

Vang getting her face painted at the daycare party

Riding the miniature horse!

Miss Sass :)

My beautiful baby girl

Well it's been about 2 weeks since my last post. I haven't posted because there has been SO much going on! Every weekend since the beginning of August has been booked. We have had house warming parties, end of summer daycare parties, birthday parties... parties parties parties! The first weekend in August Tiffany had a house warming party where Evangeline literally played the whole time! It made me cry because her personality is really starting to shine through and shes starting to make friends on her own. The 2nd weekend Evangeline's daycare had an end of summer party equipped with a bounce house, pony rides, good food and lots of friends! The following weekend Angela had people over at her house for a little BBQ. We ate the BEST chicken and pork (her husband is Puerto Rican... they KNOW how to cook)! The last weekend in August Evangeline went to her first EVER birthday party! One of her best friends, Savanna, was turning three and they had a birthday party at one of the local parks. The park was huge! It had so many different play structures, pavilions, sand boxes, and even a splash park! It was a cold day out, but it was still fun! Finally, my mom made the long trip out here to Colorado this past week to see her grandchildren. Between visiting with friends and family, cleaning the house, and of course spending my last few weeks at home with my amazing kids, I don't really have much time to do anything else! Tradd has also hit a few developmental milestones! He can now lift his head, is sleeping between 6 and 8 hours at night (last night it was almost 9!), he's smiling cooing and laughing, he can follow objects, and hes eating more at one sitting!