Bath-Time

Bath time is always interesting at the Armstrong house. It usually involves a few different things.

Screaming and plenty of tears.

Our little girl gets better every time, but I still feel like I am torturing my princess when she lets out the loudest scream we have heard from her. Last night singing "Splish-Splash-I-Was-Takin'-A-Bath" seemed to help for a few minutes, but washing her hair always seems like the worst thing that could ever happen to her!

The best thing about bath time is: snuggling with the best smelling girl on the block afterward.

Enjoy a bath today.

Eyes

Today Alivia and I went to Stillwater by ourselves for the first time! We were meeting Papa Bear, Grams, and Gramps for lunch at 11:30, so we were on a time frame. Well, Momma over-slept-big-time.

Despite the fact that I over slept for 2 hours: I still got in a quick shower before my little sunshine woke up. After the shower I went to go check on Liv and my beautiful blue-eyed-baby-girl was laying in her pack-n-play wide eyed with a little smile on her face.

The long nights, dirty diapers, crying, and everything else that seems not-so-fun about bringing this little bundle of joy home completely disappears when I make eye contact with the sweetest girl in the world. I love being her Momma Bear.

Make eye-contact today.

Ruffles

Saturday night I sat up the ironing board in the laundry room to iron Alivia's first Easter dress. To be honest Brandon and I never wear clothes that require ironing. So, after 20 minutes the dress was back on the hanger ready for her big day.

Her little dress had so many ruffles, there was more fabric then baby for sure. She was beautiful.

Although she was screaming in all of our family pictures I think she enjoyed her 1st Easter. It had its rough moments, but also it was full of nothing-but-wonderful-moments. She got to meet more family and friends, spend time with Aunt Sarah and Mr. Jacer :), and hang with Grams and Gramps!

We survived our first holiday as a family of 3.

Survive today.

Progress

Progress has been made in the Armstrong household today!

Momma took her first shower with just the two of us girls here.

Usually the shower is put off until Papa Bear gets home from work, but not today. Alivia went down for a nap and I thought it was a great opportunity for me to jump in the shower for a few seconds.

The-good-news: I made it through most of the shower before hearing my little girl on the monitor.The-bad-news: I was half way through shaving my legs when she started getting upset.

It was nice to have a few moments to myself, even though my left leg only got shaved from the knee down.

Make progress today.

Mid-Week Weekend

Wednesday's are becoming my favorite day of the work week.

That is because my husband has most of the day off on Wednesdays. It's like having a mid-week weekend. Today we got to spend most of the day together with our little girl. She is growing so fast.

As much as he hates sitting around and waiting for his load to be delivered, I love it so much. I get extra time with him, and today I got a really good nap. His little girl enjoyed her time with her papa bear too. Sleeping on his chest and cuddling with him all morning long.

There is one bad thing about Wednesday's: Brandon's load eventually comes and he has to leave his girls. I hate seeing that big truck pull away from the house. Especially at 4:00 in the afternoon.

The real-weekend is just a few days away.

Treasure today.

Zombie

Two weeks ago today we met our little girl for the first time. Today, I am looking at a little human that is so amazing I can hardly look at her without tearing up a little bit.

It seems like not a lot has happened in the past two weeks, but at the end of each day I lay down in bed and I become a zombie for 2-3 hours at a time. We have quickly learned that one hour of zombie-sleep can easily compare to 4-5 hours-of-what-used-to-be-our-normal-sleep.

There is still a lot of adjusting going on in the Armstrong house. We have had much help from the community of Perry, and also from our generous family. Our house has been full of wonderful food, guests, and help!

We are looking forward to spending some good quality just-the-three-of-us-time this week.

Enjoy each other today.

Last Night

I am pretty sure I saw every hour pass by last night. My little girl and I watched Back to the Future III three times last night. I love our bonding time even if it is at 3:00AM. The weekend is almost here and I can't wait to spend some much needed time with the most handsome man in the whole-wide-world. Tonight he is taking his girls out for a burger and a milkshake. We are going to rent a movie, and if I am lucky I will get to watch it three times. :)

Stay up late tonight.

The Garden

Alivia and I make a point to go out in the backyard a few times each day. We walk around the garden taking in the beautiful colors that are staring to appear. I get excited when I think about what that garden could be for our family. I see many years of spending countless hours exploring, picking, planting, weeding, and learning in our future.

Right now the flowers are staring to bloom like crazy. The Irises are taking over! So far the yellow and purple ones have started blooming, but today I have a feeling the pink will make their grand appearance.

We are impatiently waiting for the strawberries, tiger lillies, roses, and everything else that I don't know much about to bloom! I have a lot to learn, hopfully before we know it I can develop a green thumb.

Grow something today.

B & B

Blogging with a Baby: Blogging is something that I have grown to love within the past couple of months. I love sharing our journey through words for all to read. Even if my crowd is small, I still enjoy expressing myself each day through a few short paragraphs. The past couple weeks have been a struggle for me to stay on top of the goal that I set for myself and this blog. My desire was to write daily. Now that our lives have been blessed with Alivia Nicole I have a feeling that reaching my goal is going to 10 times harder than it was before. The days are passing with a blink of an eye, afternoons are here before we know it, bed time is right around the corner all day long. Despite how hard it may be: I will try to fulfil the goal I have set for myself...

Multi-task today.

The New Normal

One week ago my little girl entered this world. Now, after being home for almost a full week our normal (to say the least) has changed.

Today is Brandon's first day back to work, and this morning when I heard the big coffee truck pulling away from the house my heart broke. I have enjoyed so much getting to know my husband as Alivia's father this past week.

Our new normal does not involve: sleeping, eating, bathing, or anything else in a timely manner. It does not involve: quick trips out of the house, less laundry, or silent moments.

However, our new normal does involve something so much better - A little 7lb 11oz baby girl that interrupts our sleeping, eating, and bathing schedule for her more important sleeping, eating, and bathing schedule. I am in love with our new normal.

Adapt today.

Joyful Misery-His World

To look back at this week and say it was anything but normal would be absolutely correct. To look back at this week and say it was anything but "smooth sailing" would too be correct. But to look back at this week and say I am glad it's over would be anything but correct.

12:55pm on Monday, April 4th, 2011 will forever be engraved in my mind, see that was the moment that my daughter, the most beautiful living being, decided to enter our world. As she lay in her warmer receiving her first bath, I spoke 5 words to her "Hello, I am your Dad", and as if she remembered my voice from the months prior she locked eyes with me in silence.

The moments leading up to her entrance were not so grand, however I will never forget the fight that my beautiful Bride put up, she endured what I could never fathom as well as withstand. Megan you are my hero, you stood up to difficulties for 30 hours, you endured much hardship without relief. You Are "The World's Best Mom".

After a few sleep deprived nights and much adjusting at home. We are starting our lives together. Monday I will go back to work, Megan will regain her post at home and Liv will continue to develop and change our world forever.

Thank you to everyone who prayed and supported us during this time. We are more than thankful and appreciate all the extra energy.

Interact with someone new today!

One-Hundred-Percent

Headed home with our purple bow and dress on- 2:00PM Tuesday April 5th.

Well, we survived night #1. I would be lying if I said it went prefect and the night ended with no tears from mom, but I will say this experience has been very rewarding so far, and I never truly realized how strong of a person I could be. I am so thankful for my baby girl. Making eye contact with her brings me so much joy. Smelling her, cuddling her, changing her, feeding her... everything is 100%-better than I ever thought it could be. Above all of those things the only other thing that brings me more joy than that is watching Brandon get to know his daughter. I see more love in his eyes when he is looking at her than I have ever seen from him. I am so proud of the man that he is, and the help that he has already given. She already has him wrapped around her little finger.

Thrive today.

4.4.11

Yesterday the most amazing experience happened in our world. Sunday morning we woke up to contractions and Monday night we went to sleep to the sound of a baby girl breathing. She is beautiful, perfect, and amazing. Thank you Jesus for your many blessings.

Count your blessings today.

100

Today is a special day for our little blog.

Today is the 100th post!

So, to celebrate I am going to keep it short and simple. Today is going to be full of good times, love, and waiting.

Good times=gardening with my husband, walking to the snowcone stand down the street from our house (this will be our 1st-snowcone-of-the-season), watching my belly move like crazy, soaking up the (hopefully) last childless Saturday Brandon and I will have together, and lastly spending some time with my parents in Stillwater tonight.

Love=eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the love of my life, doing laundry together, working on the last little project for Alivia's room, dancing in our kitchen, and holding hands all day long.

Waiting=staying as patient as possible today with all of the aches and pains my body is beginning to feel, walking even though my ankles are almost the size of my double-the-usual-size-of-thighs, bouncing on my exercise ball every chance I get, and praying my little girl isn't becoming the size of a baby elephant in there.

Experience good times today.

Love today.

Wait today.

Happy 100th post / Happy Saturday everyone!

Stuck

Well, to say the least I have dropped the ball on the blog this month. Skipping days, Brandon not being able to write on Thrusdays, and now I am sad to say: No First Friday this month. Maybe it is our way of preparing-for-childbirth.

Things have just been out of control. I feel like I am stuck. Stuck with this baby inside me, stuck sitting on the couch instead of getting up and doing something, stuck with no shoes on because it is so hard to put them on.

Last night I am pretty sure I got four hours of sleep (if that). My mind was racing. I couldn’t stop thinking about Alivia, the blog, Brandon, and his job. It might be my body preparing me for the lack of sleep that is going to take over my life here in (hopefully) a few short days or it might just be my mind trying to figure everything out when it is not my place.

All I know is that our world is turned upside down, and I am becoming very impatient with the little girl inside of me. I know she will come on her on time, but I am pretty sure we have to be getting close. I can’t imagine being stuck here for much longer.

Get unstuck today.