The Newest Armstrong

Friday, November 14th--Introducing, Danika Leigh Armstrong. She was born yesterday to Crystal and Dustin Armstrong. She's healthy and beautiful, very much alert and quite the little wiggle worm (Crystal, I can't even bear the thought that she was THAT wiggly in your womb!). Welcome to this crazy family, Danika! You can try and calm us down but it won't work so just jump on in to our craziness when you're ready! And to be a part of this family, you must LOVE Disneyland so we'll get you obsessed in no time! ha ha ha Love you, Danika!

Elise and I visited the U of U hospital tonight to meet Danika. Nate stayed at home with Brady, he seems to have some kind of stomach flu (Please no ER visits! PLEASE!). Elise loved holding her new little cousin and looks forward to the time she can play with her and make her laugh and everything else. I enjoyed holding Danika too, although she seemed to just want to eat and I couldn't help in that department so back to mom she went. Dustin and Crystal are so very happy and I'm happy for them. Congratulations!

Mom & Dad, A Message From Baby Claire

Friday, November 14th--"Hi, Audra's parents. This is baby Claire Pease. It makes me very sad you're not coming for Christmas! VERY SAD!!!!"

I'm Thankful....

Thursday, November 13th--It is only two weeks till Thanksgiving. I'm excited to be able to be with family and enjoy a wonderful feast of food while visiting and mingling.
I've been thinking quite a bit about things I'm thankful for. The list stretches for miles and miles but the things I'm most thankful for, I hope, are very obvious. First, and foremost, my husband, Nathan. I have chosen to spend eternity with him and he has chosen me. Having that freedom to choose is precious. I know, in other cultures and religions, that is not always the case. Our marriage continues to evolve and change as we learn more and more about each other. I think that is healthy for a marriage and I'm thankful it exists in ours. He and I both tolerate plenty from the other but our love for each other remains strong. He provides for our family and works very hard to do so. Once again, his company is going through a large round of lay-offs and he's been informed his job is safe again. I know his faithfulness in paying a full tithe is the reason for this great blessing.
I am incredibly blessed he has such an immense love for our children. He plays with them, he puts them to bed with stories and prayers, he shows them love and tells them of his love for them--I could go on and on.
There's plenty more I could say about Nate but the bottom line is: I'm thankful for him and for all that he is and contributes to my blessed life. I love you with all of my heart forever and always.
More to come on things that I'm thankful for!

PLEASE! Help Support My Crazy Cause!

Sunday, November 9th--Okay peeps, I need your help......as many of you as possible! Let me tell you a little story first. A few months ago I was thinking about Christmas and where we would be for our favorite holiday. I called my folks to see if they would come down here for Christmas or if we should talk about going up there to Washington. Much to my excitement and relief, they said they were planning on coming down and my sister, Amanda, and her family would come as well. YIIPPEEEEE, the whole family down here, in Utah, for Christmas. It would be a first in many years. This is how my children reacted:

I felt the same and so did my other sister, Alishia, and her family, that lives in Salt Lake. Well, certain circumstances made my parents change their minds, recently. So they decided they would stay in Washington and my sister, Amanda, and her family would be in Boise, ID, instead. This is how my children reacted:

I felt the same and so did my other sister, Alishia and her family. So now I ask for anyone's help that is willing to give it, not financially. I REALLY, REALLY want my parents to still come for Christmas and so does my sister, Alishia. We're willing to help with plane tickets and all. So I would like for any of you to take photos of yourselves or your kids BEGGING my parents (Cal & Colleen Blackburn) to come see their kids and grandkids, in Utah, for Christmas. Send them to my email address: auddah@msn.com I will post them on my blog for my parents to see just how much this means to all of us. Your support and help for my crazy cause is so very appreciative! Here's the start:

**Dad, I know you would only be able to come for a few days and may not even be able to fly in till Christmas morning but that's okay with ALL of us. We want you and mom here, the grandkids are so sad and want more than any presents, for you both to be here for Christmas. Please consider it! We'll make your visit comfy and inexpensive! Love you both!

PLEASE COME TO UTAH FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!

ABC Tag

Thanks Lindsay!

A- Attached or Single? Attached fo-evah!
B- Best Friend? Nate
C- Cake or Pie? Cake--yellow cake with fudge frosting......mmm
D- Day of Choice? Saturday
E- Essential Item? spray gel and lotion (preferably from Bath and Body Works)
F- Favorite Color? Blue, Purple, Red (but not together!)
G- Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms? Wormies!
H- Hometown? Bremerton, WA
I- Favorite Indulgence? Coca Cola--a must have, in my mug--gotta be a fountain drink with the "good ice"
J- January or July? At first I thought of January but then Lindsay depressed me by reminding me of the gross inversion so I guess July will do even though I hate the heat.
K- Kids? 2 goofballs, 1 girl, 1 boy
L- Life isn't complete without? My family
M- Movie favorite? No #1 favorite. I like a good chick flick, most Rogers and Hammerstein's musicals, and raunchy comedies
N- Number of Brothers and Sisters? 1 brother, Adam and 2 sisters, Alishia and Amanda
O- Oranges or Apples? I'm from Washington, that's a no-brainer--and my preference is Red Delicious
P- Phobias or Fears? MANY FEARS--mostly involving anything happening to my kids. I'm paranoid!
Q- Quote? "It is what it is." the philosophy of Tao
R- Reason to Smile? My kids and their various goofy moments and one-liners.
S- Season of Choice? Fall/Autumn--I'm in heaven right now, plus I'm a Fall baby
T- Tag a few friends: Amanda Thomsen, LaDonna Smith, Heather Doney and whoever else
U- Unknown Fact About Me? Wow, hmmm, I LOVE fashion but don't have the figure for the things I like so I wear not-so-fashionable things instead, pathetic, I know. One day, my friends, one day!
V- Vegetable? Taters and carrots
W- Worst Habit? My Coca Cola
X- X-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasound
Y- Your Favorite Food? Italian, pasta is my frenemy
Z- Zodiac Sign? Virgo

I Had WAY Too Much Fun!

Monday, November 3--So I had this website recommended to me. It's called: http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ I took Elise and Brady's school photos and just had a blast fitting their faces to different heads from different eras. Here's a few of them. I laughed so hard!
Picture #1: Elise, circa early 1970's. Picture #2: Elise, circa mid-1990's. Picture #3, Brady circa 1960's. Picture #4, Brady circa 1960's.

Brady's School Pics

October, 2008--We got Brady's individual school and class pics back. What a handsome little man, he is! His class pic is worth a good laugh--not only is he, at least, a head and a 1/2 taller than all the kids but, if you look closely, his fly is down. Crazy! In situations like these all I can say is: "That's my boy!" ; ) **And yes, he's standing next to his "love interest", Rylie. She's a cutie, Brady, excellent choice!

Halloween, 2008

Friday, October 31st--This morning I got Elise all ready to go, she looked so adorable in her pirate costume. She got off to school and then it was time to get Brady ready in his costume. Both cooperated so nicely and I was so thankful for that. I decided to spike Brady's hair to look more Jedi-ish. At Bradys pre-school, there were little 3 and 4 year-olds all over with the cutest costumes. I loved to see how creative parents were, some costumes were so original and fun. Brady's pre-school teacher asked that each child bring enough treats for the whole class (12) so we got some fun party bags and filled them up with yummy treats. Other moms did too, as well as Mrs. Petersen, so Brady came home with quite a large amount of candy.
After I dropped Brady off I went to Elise's school to sit in the gym and wait---a VERY long time--for the costume parade. I didn't mind the wait because I got to sit by my friends, Mindy, Lindsay and, later on, Melissa. I enjoyed chatting with them all, I had a great time! When the parade finally began I noticed all the 1st grade teachers were dressed up as different colored crayons, it was so cute! Mrs. Mair was an adorable "preggo" crayon. Mindy, Lindsay and I had fun picking out all the children in our neighborhood and waving/smiling "hi" at them. After the parade I went into Elise's classroom and gave her a quick hug and kiss then I was off to get some last-minute things at the grocery store, right before I had to pick up Brady. The grocery store was packed! I picked up some fun-looking flower arrangements to give to my kids teachers then off to get Brady. I took some pictures of Brady with Mrs. Petersen AND with Brady's "love interest". Her name is Rylie, as you can see, she's shorter than him (she's just about average height for most 3-year-olds!) but she is such a sweet, pretty little girl and both of them talk about each other when they get home. Rylie has an older brother, Camden, who is Elise's age. Last year, Elise gave Camden his very first kiss, on the cheek, of course! It's so funny how our paths have crossed with all four of these kids. Their parents are great too!
Brady and I got home and I made him a PB&J sandwich and used a large ghost-shaped cookie cutter to create a ghost sandwich---he was thrilled! Elise got a ghost-shaped sandwich too and was just as thrilled.
After lunch Brady helped me get the house straightened up and I got things ready for tonight. We invited Nate's parents, Dan & Rosemary, over and they happily accepted. We planned on doing a fire-pit, cooking meat on the grill, and hanging outside all evening but the wind picked up and it began to rain. Once Dan & Rosemary got here we ate dinner and then got the kids in their costumes. I also bought our dog, Bohdee, a pirate outfit. It was hilarious! Then they took the kids, with Nate, out to trick-or-treat while I stayed back to pass out candy. We had TONS of kids come! After a while, I took the kids and my in-laws up to a street that decorated their homes in a "Harry Potter" theme. It seems like only 6 or 7 homes really participated but those that did made their homes look fabulous. When we were done there we came back to watch "It's A Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and to go through all the candy and munch on some of it. What a great Halloween night, even though it rained. The kids had a wonderful day and Nate and I did too! The kids are already talking about next year and making plans!

A Night of Carving Pumpkins

Monday, October 27th--Sorry folks, I'm back-tracking a little. As I was catching up on my blog I was so stressed over the orthodontist thing that I forgot to include a post on our pumpkin carving last night. For FHE, we carved up the 4 pumpkins that have been sitting on our porch for a few weeks. It was the first time we had the kids help us and they did a great job. Elise chose the smallest pumpkin and I helped her carve a bat into it. I chose the largest and carved out three different faces. Nate chose a smaller one and carved a spider. Then we worked on a family pumpkin--which I ended up carving everything out--and we traced a few different things on there. Elise and Brady laughed and got pretty grossed out by the pumpkin guts. They wouldn't handle them but gladly let me and Nate do so. Bohdee was happy to lick up all the pumpkin innards that dropped on the floor (weird). It was a great night and, of course, we put candles in to see how cool our creations turned out.

Elise's Day at the Orthodontist

Tuesday, October 28th--Still mourning over the passing of my beloved hairbrush, I took Elise to the orthodontist for a scheduled appointment. Earlier this month, her dentist recommended she see an ortho since it didn't appear she had a whole lot of space for all the new teeth coming in. He was right.........so blasted right! We spent over an hour there getting x-rays and photos taken. Elise was a good sport as some of it looked very uncomfortable. The news was not good, not good at all. The bottom line: her jaw, upper and lower, is too small to accommodate all the permanent teeth coming in. She's in for a long, uncomfortable process and my heart just hurts for her right now. Even as the ortho explained it and showed us models of the kind of things needed to be done, I don't think Elise could grasp it all. For starters, next week, she'll get imprints done and then spacers put in on the back of her molers. When the molers are spaced out enough then she'll have metal expanders put on both the top and bottom of her mouth. They will "weld" them on so they don't come off. For 3-4 months we have to "wind" the expander, every night, to widen her jaw. If I heard right, the expanders will be in for up to 12 months. Because of this, her front teeth will seperate from each other, leaving large gaps in between so the next phase is braces on the 4 teeth in front, top and bottom, to bring them back together, hoping enough space has been made to make room for the other teeth coming in. I heard the ortho mention "head gear" but I couldn't bare to have him expound upon that. He said she may have to wear a face piece when she sleeps to help align as well. Once the expanders are off she will have to wear a retainer for another year. And, finally, braces on all of the teeth, in a few years, when all her permanent teeth are in. This is the final comments I played out in my head, coming from the ortho, before we went into his office today: "Yes, there's not enough space in her mouth for her teeth to come in straight so we'll do braces in a few years." I was way off! The cost of this all? Well, we won't even go there yet.
I write this not for sympathy but just out of overwhelming frustration and sorrow. Now I have to hurt both of my children, everyday, for the sake of their health and well-being. Brady gets finger pokes and shots, now Elise will have painful orthodontic work for the next, who-knows-what, years. If it doesn't get taken care of now, the measures to fix the problem later on will be far worse. There is a guilt associated with these things that only another mother or father can understand: "This is my genetic flaw," "my DNA," "I passed it on to my child" "Why not me instead of them?," "If I could take it on myself, saving them from the misery and pain, I would," etc. I've heard, many times over, "It's not your fault.", "There's nothing you could do.", "It's nothing you knew would ever happen." As much as those saying are meant to comfort, they don't.
So, after stopping for a very-fattening shake at Artic Circle ("comfort food"), I took my kids home. I know Elise will be okay, she's stronger than she lets on sometimes. Just like Brady, she'll amaze us with her strength and ability to endure. When she cries, we'll be there to comfort her and help her feel better---probably even spoil her a bit! When we cry, we'll do it in private so she doesn't get worried. And this time, I vow not to gain a bunch of weight by wallowing in every fattening food my heart desires.
What lessons we have to learn from this all, only our Father in Heaven knows. I apologize for depressing anyone that reads this, that's not my intent. Just pray for miracles, pray for Elise's mouth to just straighten itself out---without all this hardware! Pray for cures, not just for Type 1 Diabetes, pray for all cures (I'm so optimistic the "cure-all" to just about everything is stem-cells, there just needs to be that special researcher that figures the magic combination).
So now, it's night time and I'm really wanting that peppermint ice cream in the freezer..........hmmmm, maybe I should see if there are any peppermint flavored carrots instead.