Amy's Birthday

Amy's birthday was already over 2 weeks ago. She loves being three and likes to tell people that she is. The Saturday before her birthday Amy had an AWESOME birthday party. There were like 20 kids there. We just did it at our pavilion in our complex. The hit of the party was the part where the kids played "Throw water balloons at Amy's Daddy."

On Amy's actual birthday I think her stomach hurt a little for a while, but she got better. It was also the first day of Joy School. That was fun. I made her a birthday crown for Joy School, and we sang her a birthday song. We went out for lunch and then came home for naps. (3 or not, some things don't change. :) I also wrote in her journal some things about her at 3 and let her color a picture. It was a fun day.

Gowen and Biango

Amy got this adorable statue from our wonderful friends, the Gardners (known in our house as Janice and Bishop. Bishop Gardner is the one who was recently released in our ward.) The night Amy brought it home she named her Gowen and decided to say her personal prayers (which she rarely decides to say) to be like Gowen. Gowen has a little doll by her legs who Amy named Biango (Bee-ann-go). We were a little concerned that if we let Amy play with Gowen at all she would break her, but Amy is so careful. She LOVES Gowen and Biango.

Amy has been naming all sorts of toys, stuffed animals, and imaginary things lately. She likes to name the babies in her tummy for instance. And she comes up with the awesomest names. I love this stage. My niece, Lillianne is professional at coming up with awesome names for things, and I'm thrilled that Amy is doing it too. (Lillie's baby in her tummy is named Minas.)

The Very First...

Haircut!!!

Before:



After:





I think Amy looks adorable!

Thanks to my fabulous friend, Heather for doing such a great job and to Matt for letting it happen!

An Update

After more days than I thought it would take of letting movies babysit, having the kids play together with minimal interaction from me, and having barely passable meals at infrequent times - not because I am SO sick but because I want to take good care of myself so that I can get better - I finally went to the doctor yesterday. He said I have a sinus infection. He gave me some antibiotics, and I am resting as much as possible still. I am feeling better than I have been but not all the way better. So many friends have been so nice to help - taking the kids and more. Thank you all. Thanks to wonderful service, I have enjoyed much more rest and relaxation than I am used to. Granted, the symptoms aren't great, but I do take some pleasure in lying in bed reading for long periods of time without feeling guilty about it. :)

Random Catch Up

I finally uploaded pictures and videos from the camera the other day after a long delay. Some of the things in this post I already blogged about; now I'm just showing pictures/ videos. The main reason is because I think my kids are cute. The other is because I like to make sure and post all my favorite pics and videos. This is partly because we once lost our hard drive, and I was so grateful for the blog because I hadn't lost my favorites. Even though things are backed up better now, I still like to save my faves on here. So a lot of these are random.

Look at that face:


Dancing at Grandma Anne's when cousins were here:






At the 24th of July Parade:




The Zoo!




This elephant was cracking us up!

Sickihead

The last few days I have been feeling a little bit sick - enough to make things unpleasant but not enough to stay in bed all day. (Although I do get to stay in bed most of today because Matt is home - wonderful stake conference.) Just achy and fever-y. Comes and goes. Unfortunate. I think it was brought on by not enough sleep and to much stress this week. I'm not planning on doing much this week - we'll see how that goes.

FIRST STEP!

Noel just took her first step! I'm at work, but Bonnie called me to tell me immediately! She was practicing with her standing on her own (she would hold her up and let her go) and she took her first step and immediately fell down, but it counts!!! YAY NOEL! Congratulations!

Education Week

My cousin, Kara, and I switched off babysitting this last week so that we could both attend Education Week. (I think I mentioned that in an earlier post.) Anyway, I got to go to 8 hours of lectures, and it was very enjoyable. I learned quite a bit that is pertinent to things I am interested in right now. That's one thing I love about Education Week. Each time I go, I am in a different stage and focused different things. And there are always things that I am interested in being taught. I really think some of that info is going to help me in some struggles I am having. Yay!

The Not-so-hot Date

Wednesday night Matt and I went to a REAL Salt Lake game. (Thanks, Kara, for watching the girls!) It was very fun for quite a while. During the first half each team scored a goal. Unfortunately, SL scored during the last few minutes of the half when we were getting refreshments. Miss. It was a beautiful night, and we were enjoying being out on our "hot date."

The second half started to get a bit unfortunate. Panama was the other team. They never had control as much as SL the whole game. So they started trying to stall like CRAZY so that SL would have less chance to score. I can't even tell you how many times the first aid people ran onto the field with a stretcher. I'm sure some of the people were actually hurt, but it was so ridiculous how many people milked that for all it was worth. I thought it was ridiculous and a bit unfortunate. Many of the people around us thought it was a personal insult that needed booing. Matt and I are rather bothered by booing and unsportsman-behavior, so that was making things less fun for us. But when a whole section of the crowd started swearing in unison, we were personally offended - I know that doesn't really make sense, but it's true. We immediately left, and I was angry. I don't get angry very often at all so add to my anger surprise that I was angry. I'm over it now. It was just sad.

The other thing is that Matt was so hoping I'd enjoy the game, and I was at first. This certainly hasn't turned me off of soccer or of watching sports in stadiums - I LOVE going to baseball games. But it was really too bad.

I am just grateful that Matt and I felt the same way - and that we so often do. We talked about that on the way back to the car (and about how to work myself back down after getting so upset.)

Amy Conversation

I had the following great conversation with Amy today. After playing a bit, she decided to snuggle with me on the couch.
Me: Amy, cual es tu color preferido? (Favorite color)
Amy: I dunno
Me: Cual te gusta mas: morado o verde? (purple or green)
Amy: Verde
Me: Caul te gusta mas: verde o azul? (green or blue)
Amy: Azul
Me: Caul te gusta mas: azul o anaranjado? (blue or orange)
Amy: Anaranjado
Me: Caul te gusta mas: anaranjado o morado? (orange or purple)
Amy: Morado
Me: Solo escojes el ultimo que yo diga verdad? (you just pick the last one I say)
Amy: ?
Me: Cual te gusta mas: morado o anaranjado? (purple or orange)
Amy: Anaranjado

... yep. Whichever I say last, she picks. I don't think she quite got it. The next bit was fantastic.

Me: Amy, quien es tu amigo preferido? Con quien te gusta jugar mas? (Who's your favorite friend - you do you like to play with the most)
Amy: Ummm... Rudy
Me: Porque?
Amy (in a quiet, cute, tender voice): Because I love him.

You hear that, Rudy! Keep it up!

The Suspense!

Friday night I get a call from Matt saying we have an appointment with one of the stake presidency. Dun dun dun! My first thought was that it was totally unexpected and out of the blue. Then I realized, it's not as unexpected really. Still, we speculated about ALL the possibilities of what it could be about. We were nuts - so antsy for it to be 5:00 on Saturday. Saturday night came and went, and we were so antsy for it to be Sunday at 1:00 for the rest of the mystery to be revealed and to watch the events transpire. You see I am one who LOVES ward business. (Ward business is the time when administrative changes are announced and accepted by the congregation in the LDS church. The juicier the better. I like stake and general kind of business too, but ward business is my favorite because I know the people involved. And the resulting Sacrament Meeting was sweet and wonderful.

















So....
Matt DID get released as second counselor in the bishopric because a new bishop was called. (Bishop Gardner has been a bishop over five years, and it was time for a switch.)

















And...

















the new bishop called Matt to be his second counselor as well. So really, not much has changed for us.

Except that we get to meet and welcome a new couple into our ward who seem WONDERFUL - they actually live in our stake but not our ward - and we have to say goodbye to the Gardners who we LOVE so much! We are really sad about that last part. Bishop and Janice Gardner have spoiled our family rotten. They home teach us - often throwing in dinner or ice cream into the mix. They get us presents for our birthdays. They love on our kids. - Bishop would sometimes get distracted in a meeting because he'd be too busy flirting with Amy or Noel to pay attention. This is in meetings he was conducting, mind you. They really are grandparent-figures to our kids which is so nice, extra nice since our parents are far away. And they served so many so well in our ward all this time. I appreciate so much all the support Bishop Gardner has always given me in each of my callings in this ward. I always felt like anytime I had an idea, it would be taken seriously, appreciated, encouraged, and supported. He'd even tell others to be supportive of whatever I was trying to do. That has always meant so much to me. We'll miss you!!!

The rest of the mystery for us was the identity of the first counselor. President Funk hadn't told us that. It's Brother Coleman, the same first counselor from before.

Oh, and to one City Girl, a friend who reads my blog and who goes by code names on the internet, Bishop mentioned in his talk about the time right after he was called over our ward that you and Cowboy raked his lawn. He talked about how much that meant to him and how that was just one example of how people welcomed the Gardners into this new ward that was formed. Just thought you'd like to know you were mentioned.


UPDATE (Matt writing): Funny, after reading her post, I didn't realize either that we had not mentioned the new Bishop's name! Thanks Maria for pointing it out. =) The new Bishop is Bishop David Handy. He also lives outside our ward boundaries, only a few doors down from Bishop Gardner actually. He and his wife, Toni, have been serving for the last 5+ years as addiction recovery missionaries.

Possible, but...

My cousin, Kara, and I decided to do a babysitting swap this week so that we could both attend Education Week. This morning I was playing outside with Christian, Noel, and Amy, and two different people asked/ commented about how close my kids were. I calmed their fears that I was totally nuts by explaining that Christian is a cousin. He will be 2 next week, and Amy will be 3 the week after. It's possible that the three kids could be siblings. There is enough time for a pregnancy between each one, but just barely. Especially Christian and Noel - 9 1/2 months apart. Some people do it, and I have nothing but respect for them. But that's a little too close even for perma-baby-hungry me.

An invitation to forgive

Watching the story of another's trial, and particularly the overcoming of it, always inspires me to follow the example. This video illustrates one man's trial and seems to accurately depict the peace in forgiveness without underestimating the sorrow of the trial, both of which can be felt simultaneously. Watching this invites and encourages me to let go of my perceived mistreatments, small and big. In the words of Arbinger, it invites me "out of the box."

Books That Have Helped Me

There is a term I hear a lot in my family - being "onto" something. Especially my mom gets onto certain things. Matt does too. In 2010 there are two things I'm feeling particularly onto - parenting and mental health.

I'm pretty much always onto parenting. I love learning about it and finding ways to improve. I LOVE getting to do this wonderful, enjoyable, and most important work. And I love learning how to do it better.

I also have been really interested lately in mental health because I get anxious. So I have been utilizing many resources to help me cope in hard times. And it's been great to learn all the things I have.

With that in mind, I thought I would share about two books I'm currently reading. I probably shouldn't review a book before finishing since I often change my mind about books by the end. But oh well.

My friend, Maria, lent me Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child by Marc Weissbluth because I told her about the struggles I've had getting kids to bed at reasonable times. It's been helpful for me to have reinforced how good and important it is for kids to get good sleep. And somehow, sleep has become less stressful rather than more as I have made it a higher priority. I'm able to say no to things that conflict with naptimes or bed more. I just try to protect their sleep needs. And I feel satisfied about it. They certainly are happier when they get good sleep. Certainly, this doesn't come without some sacrifice. Sometimes I get a little stir crazy and wish that we could go on more outings - although I am often a bit of a homebody anyway and don't know where I'd go if we did go. And there are times when I really would rather keep the kids up - for my sake or theirs - for whatever reason. And I am certainly not an advocate for being totally rigid about it. I think the author goes a little oveboard sometimes. It's just not realistic that EVERYTHING in life will revolve around your kids' sleep schedules no matter how hard you try and what sacrifices you make. Still, I feel very satisfied when I know my girls sleep better, and I know we are all happier and better behaved as a result.

I am also reading Self-Coaching by Joseph J. Luciani. At this stage I am just reading it, not really jumping in and applying it yet, but I'd like to. I am a believer in the power of working on improving thoughts to improve attitude and mental health. I don't think that is sufficient by itself in many cases, but it can be very helpful. On that note, something that I advocate strongly - as do many in my family - is Recovery International. The principles taught there could help ANYONE manage temper and negative though patterns. It is especially helpful for those who struggle with mental health. And it has helped my A TON in a very little time.

Anyway, it would probably be helpful of me to review these books after I finish them. Maybe I'll give a follow-up. But I really wanted to share in case there were others who could benefit.

I'm just getting started on my quest for knowledge and experience in parenting and dealing with mental health. Sometimes I get in an attitude of thinking I know what's what. Perhaps I'll laugh at this teenager-tendency in young-mother-me when I am older. I know there is a lot to know out there on each of these subjects, a million theories, studies, and people sharing from there experiences. I look forward to continuing to study and learn - and hopefully improve - in these areas.

Does anyone else have any suggestions/ resources they have found helpful? I am all ears. Sometimes I just want to read and study with way more of my time. But then I would miss all the chances to practice what I learn. Doesn't work that way. Still, I'll get around to lots of parenting and mental health books eventually.

Thanks for reading my rantings.

July

Wow. July's been busy and wonderful. I haven't taken many pictures, but here are the highlights:

fun 4th - I blogged about that already.

My parents were in town from the 7th to the 19th
Loved having them here. Played some and worked a lot. They had a lot to take care of as they were only in Utah that long after being in China for 10 months. It was a little difficult to balance 4 adults' schedule needs and priorities along with 2 kids with frequent sleeping and eating needs. But I not-so-secretly loved the fact that they were so dependent on me - they had not car for half the time and no phone at all - because it forced them to spend lots of time with me. I'm totally selfish and want all the time and attention from my parents I can get, even if it means doing responsible adult things that I'd rather avoid. We had a good time, and I'm so glad they were here for a while. Then they took off across the country and had a good time doing so, making stops to see/ stay with family in Denver, Kansas City, Nauvoo, Toronto, and Boston, where they will be staying with my sister for the next school year. I miss them already.

My sister and her family were in town from the 15th through the 28th, and we were able to spend time with them from the 23rd through the 28th.
Friday the 23rd I got a wonderful surprise when my 3-year-old niece, Lillianne showed up at my door. I knew I was going to see her that day, but I didn't know their whole family was going to show up at MY house and as early as they came. I was thrilled. Burns and Ry went on my aunt's boat with their 3 oldest as well as some cousins. I kept her two youngest - Lillianne and Sam (1). We had a mostly wonderful and a little bit exhausting time together. We built a fort in the living room and Boochie (Lil's nickname) and Amy and I read 18 books together in our reading marathon. It was great.
Saturday the 24th we had our ward annual pioneer day parade in the morning - love it. There are about 3 times as many people watching the parade as in it, and they make so much noise. It's so informal and fun for the kids. We actually were preceded and followed by a gap so all the cheers for my two little pioneer girls in their wagon were JUST for them and no one else. So fun. That afternoon, we were up at my googalie, Shelly's house to begin "Armstrong days." She is so nice to host our family when Burns is in town so we have a place to gather and visit. Thanks Shelly! That afternoon we went to the zoo for Matt's work party. We all had a good time there. In fact when I asked Amy yesterday her favorite part of our time with cousins, she said the giraffes and the she added the elephants. I don't really believe her that that was her favorite part; she doesn't always understand favorite. We had a nice meal and won a cool outside canopy thing - excited about that. The major drawback of the zoo was Noel getting heat exhaustion. So sad! We didn't realize how hot she was in her stroller sleeping. She was really lethargic and sleepy. We felt so bad about it. It took her until Monday morning to really be recovered.
Sunday the 25th was a normal, crazy busy Sunday. We came home and went to our ward and then headed back up to Shelly's. I was so glad that Matt kept coming back and forth even though he had to work. He spent as much time with all of us as he could, and I was glad.
My brother, Andy was hanging out with us Saturday through Monday. We were so happy to have him there although we missed his wife and kids who are in Toronto. We played games, did races with number and word puzzles, played the piano together - we each take a hand - and had long talks about parenting and mental health in the beautiful back yard. It was such a beautiful and relaxing day. Although Andy had to leave Monday night, we had another wonderful, relaxing, not doing very much day Tuesday. Matt got to stay til like 1 in the afternoon, and that was great! Then he had to go work 12 hours which was not so great for him. Wednesday we cleaned up and packed up and hung out a little. Then took Arnolds to the airport. Sad. What a fun time we all had together though! For our family, the biggest drawbacks were not getting to be with ALL the family the WHOLE time - We missed lots of Armstrongs - and sickness. Besides Noel's heat exhaustion, Amy got sick yesterday as well. Sam had been throwing up randomly throughout the week, and Amy took her turn yesterday. Sad.

Hope you all made it through all that. I don't know if anyone would care about all that detail but us. But we have had a wonderful time. I love time to play, and I've been grateful for a few days in between play time to recover. Like today. Saturday, we get to end the month with a Parks family reunion. Looking forward to that - if my kids are healthy enough to go. Hope so!

Oh, and there are no pictures because I couldn't be bothered taking many pictures when we were all just relaxing. I have a few from the zoo I think that I can add later.