time to catch up

it's about time you heard from us--
do you find yourself wondering how on earth it is possible that we are almost in december? i wrote a post bidding goodbye to summer, discussing the newness of fall and change, etc. i decided that being two days from thanksgiving precluded me from ever using it here. too bad because it was kind of cute. and it was to coincide with the unveiling of my new "fallish" blog design by vanessa at butterfly sparks designs. consider the blog officially unveiled...i've always had good intentions. anyway, this year has proven true to the armstrong way of life... many changes, preparing for another baby, all of the fun things that happen when you are a part of this family!
this isn't going to be fancifully written or clever post. it's just going to be an update. i've held out on you regarding our life's happenings but you're going to get it all now. be excited ;)

we're still here in beautiful yoakum!

(sunset from my in-laws drive)
well, i guess "we" is debatable. michael did take a job as a worship pastor in humble (n.e.houston) and has been there since april. our home never sold though, and the pastor who hired michael took an out of state position about four months into michael's start. michael usually stays in houston about 4.5 days a week and is in yoakum 2.5 days. the hard part is when he can't come home in between and has to stay away for 10 days at a time. we were visiting houston a bunch...actually had an apartment for a bit until a contract on our yoakum house fell through. but after cancelling the apt. and being only weeks from my due date, the kids and i have not made the trip. this is not a lifestyle we were counting on but is it ever? i mean to say, everybody has something they are not counting on but has to deal with... the Lord is faithful to His promises and there have been many blessings in the adjustments that have had to be made.
one is that we are still in yoakum! i can't say enough how much this little town means to us. with michael's work situation still in transition, we are unsure about our future. we are in constant prayer for clarity, patience in timing, and good decision making. but we are sure enjoying our home in between. i think we all feel so much a part of this community, including the kids. speaking of...
we're getting big. let's do a year in review of pictures. and yea, i said year. we're going back to march. don't know if you recall of my grumblings about my camera and computer. well i have my precious macbook now and can download to my heart's content. brace yourselves.  we're starting at easter.




easter

mowing the lawn like daddy--he did that for an hour straight

my girl...always a mess, always fun

how we do sippy cups in the country...michael found her like this one day


our first harvest in the garden...one of our favorite evening activities was picking the garden. after growing tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, lettuce, we were able to can lots of pickles and homemade salsa!

first trip to the zoo...lori screamed in delight the whole time

a new haircut (matching? haircuts...lori still has no hair!) and a new hiding spot



tom-tom festival in yoakum--the kids participated in the kiddie parade with their mother's day out program. our group's theme was nursery rhymes and so my precious children represented baa baa black sheep and jill, of "jack and jill." kylie, my niece, was also in the parade--mary, mary. aren't they sweet?


the big tom-tom parade--uncle tommy (and the parade coordinator) poses for this picture every year

found--michael saved the sweetest kitten in our yard. we named her bella and brought her to live with michael's parents. (away from the highway!) she grew a little bit and we found out she was a fella, so we re-named him. Fella Kitty is lori's favorite "toy" at her doc and doe's house.

lori--about as accurately as i can describe her personality without using words


another baby growing...finally taking a picture of the third!

crave--and speaking of the third, if i could have had this meal every day of this pregnancy, i would have. it's pho-a vietnamese noodle soup but with so much flavor. and salad rolls dipped in peanut sauce (chili paste mixed in for heat). i couldn't have this often because vietnamese noodle places don't thrive in this town and b/c of my son's allergy to peanuts. but after our two day trip to vegas (one last getaway!) we ate this in austin. i was so happy i took this picture. best meal of my life, right there folks.




beach--the babies first time. we visited our amazing friends in lake jackson. one week later, hurricane ike would hit this exact spot in freeport.




the wild woman--just as much spunk, this time with a little more hair on her head





the boy--happiness is concentrating on things...my phone for example, and listening for the baby in my belly.



and on that note, the boy is now potty trained! here he is enjoying a victorious day at the toilet. ice cream...



let's not skip halloween--at the houston church's fall festival. it was a stretch but aren't they the cutest, caucasian dora and diego you've ever seen? we tried...the wig staying on my daughter's head for more than 10 min should have merited some kind of award...


and so, we get to november...

an adorable cowgirl and cowboy

a new, little cowboy on the way...(see the belly)

and a mama and daddy who couldn't be more proud!

i mentioned not planning our lives like this. we also didn't plan having three babies, aged 2 and under (okay, so nolan will be 3 in jan. and lori will be 2 in mar...but when this baby is born, i will definitely have three kids aged 0, 1, and 2). but you guessed my next sentence...wouldn't have it any other way! i've never felt more purposeful or more blessed than i have becoming these babies' mother. thanks for sharing our year with us. it's been an adventure. and there is more coming. i'll try to keep you a little more updated should we officially move. until then, y'all enjoy your upcoming celebrations--and stay posted for the newest armstrong! the official due date is 16 days from now, dec. 11th. love to you all!

good read

save me some time...i was busy trying to think of a blog to write that made me sound super smart. then i read my a friend of ours' blog. he actually is really smart and a genius writer. i'm giving up now and just linking you directly to a well-functioning brain. enjoy! (his nov 5th entry)
home anywhere

in progress

working on freshening things up a bit...
more soon!

until then, enjoy the new look courtesy of my friend, vanessa, at butterfly sparks designs
isn't she amazing???

more about the potty-kind of.

so...you just have to hear this story. or maybe you don't. maybe this is funny to me because it's my child and no one else will think this is humorous. hmm...either way...

keep in mind that froggy is nolan's "lovey." froggy has slept with nolan almost since his birth. froggy is one of those square, little blankets with an animal head in the center. you know what i'm talking about?

alright, so it's about 6am and nolan persists on his new habit...coming to my room, waking me--and telling me he has to go potty--when all he really wants is for me to get up with him. he is not supposed to get out of bed until the sun is up. being the genius he is, he knows The Potty will get him what he wants.
and i give in again. because i just have no defenses at 6am people. you want me to agree to something? wake me about then and start asking. i'm yours for another good hour...
we are in the bathroom and he exclaims, "no, mommy, this potty won't work."
excuse me?
"this potty won't work, mommy; we have to go to the other potty."
sigh, walk to the other potty...remember, NO defenses.
upon arrival he tells me that i need to go first. no problem, 33 wks pregnant, third child in less than three years, i can go at any second.
when i'm done, i demand that he goes so we can get back to bed (i started waking up a little--but still, demand is probably too strong a word. it's still only like 6:07am)
at this point, he starts toward the toilet with froggy in his hands. i ask him to give me froggy so that our little, green friend experiences no natural disasters. nolan says,
"no, mommy, froggy gotta go."
"nope, nolan, i will hold froggy, you go."
we repeat.
finally,
"no, mommy! froggy gotta go POTTY!"
sigh again. give in again as i finally understand. froggy going potty was one of our desperate first attempts (several months ago) at getting the boy interested in the toilet. we'd hold froggy up to the seat and pretend he was going.
thus, nolan's idea that froggy now has to go.
very seriously, he takes froggy from me. with a purposeful lift of his chin, he holds that frog at just the right angle and waits patiently.
i mean seriously, like a minute goes by.
all of sudden, he hands me the frog and looks at me with a less serious, somewhat silly expression (as if this whole froggy charade was my idea), and says,
"oh no, mommy, froggy not going potty. froggy don't have a booty!"
and with that observation/exclamation, he climbs up on the toilet seat and completes his original plan.

it was kind of worth it though, 6am and all. thank God for the funny stuff. that's the fuel for motherhood isn't it? that and the sweet stuff. love those babies...

My vote is for the poop ;)

I am currently debating something of great importance.

Was I more excited at seeing my son's first steps or at the realization that he (for the first time), of his own volition and unbeknownst to me, ran to the potty and pooped?
He's been peeing and pooping by himself now for about four days (on the condition that I leave him naked all day...details, details...). He's peed and pooped at my in-laws. He peed and pooped for my mom when she visited. I even checked on him tonight, a while after he went to bed. He was laying there awake. I saw his pants and wondered why I put them on backwards and didn't notice. And then he tells me that he went pee pee. And I believed him with all of my heart.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT I AM SAYING TO YOU?????!!! (And yes, I am well aware that all caps means I am yelling.) DO YOU, DO YOU???!!
MY SON MIGHT ACTUALLY BE ALMOST (and now i'm totally whispering because i don't want to jinx it) p o t t y t r a i n e d.

Anyway, I can't talk about it too much because I just cannot believe it. I REALLY was preparing myself for having three children in diapers. I mean, when we officially have three children in our arms, they will still all be under the age of 3. And the oldest, well, he's my emotional one. Very emotional about all things, including relieving himself in a diaper vs. the toilet.
Until now.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All of this to say, I believe I have been more taken aback, more in awe than I was when he walked for the first time. Is that like total mom heresy? Sorry to disappoint anyone. I'd love to know your vote--have you had children that learned to use the potty? Where do you stand on this debate?

The Motherland Adventure

**There are actually pictures included in this post! Read on...**

so, hi…it’s been a while…blah, blah, blah.
For today’s blogging entry, I promise not to whine and complain about not being able to download pictures from my camera. I won’t even mention my sweet but memory-challenged mac mini. But since I have brought that up, will you pause while I take care of something that has been weighing on my mind?
Dear Mr. Steve Jobs and your entire Mac world staff and friends,
Could you please, please release your new Macbooks to the civilians? Didn’t the rumor leak that it would be the end of September? Aren’t we getting dangerously close to October? Any closer and those numbers on the calendar are going to run right into one another! I’ve been saving up for one for a really, really long time. In fact, it took birthing two children and the IRS check we earned for pushing them into the world to save up. That IRS reward check is practically disintegrated in my hot, little hands and I need to use it now! Please understand my concern.
Sincerely,
Your growing-more-impatient-with-each-passing-day-but-faithful-Mac-customer.
p.s. Macs forever

Oh my gosh, I feel better. Thanks for pausing.
Like I was saying,
In the spirit of not complaining, I’ve taken matters into my own hands. I used my handy new phone (b/c YES another phone of mine broke—the LCD display just decided to heck with all of these numbers and went out. I had NOTHING to do with this and NO I don’t have your number. Again.) to take pictures and email them to myself. From email, I can snag them like Swiper (what-you don’t watch Dora? Weird.) and post them on my blog without my computer memory ever knowing. So sneaky I am.
Ahem-what I’m trying to say with all of this is, we’re not going to complain today. We’re going to talk a little Texas history, folks. Yep. Things you should know about this state. Texas history was one of my favorite subjects. And while Ms. Boone wouldn’t have guessed it, I particularly loved reading about early Czech settlers (my family). Did you know that, at some point, the Czech language was the third most spoken language in Texas? You care. I know you do. Anyway, I wasn’t planning on being able to share the next story with you but it became an adventure. I am delighted to have something to blog about, pictures to accompany the post, and to share a piece of my own family’s history!
You see, my sister in law moved with her family to Costa Rica…their next stop for a few years or so. Someone is coming to Yoakum today to load the car to be shipped. The car had more gas than the company would allow, and, after a few attempts at getting people to siphon gas from the car (would have done it myself like the guy at the full-service station suggested, but my siphoning techniques are underdeveloped, to say the least) I decided we would take advantage, spend some gas, and go on an adventure. One diaper/wipes/triscuits/cheese/sippy cups/sonic tea-with-lime run later, we were on our way to the Motherland…

My husband grew up in Yoakum. The cool thing about that, not to mention what made up the jist (sp?) of our first-ever conversation, is that my family helped settled land not too far from Yoakum in an area called Moravia. The subject of our day’s adventure!

My great-great grandfather came to Moravia (named after the REAL motherland-Czechoslovakia--it's not a city or even a town really. my grandmother used to say, in its' present state, it's more like a community) in like 1887, or 1870 something…help me familly! In helping to settle that area, he (my family) helped build a Catholic church among a few other things. The church is still there, with an attached cemetery, of course, and still holds masses from time to time. Sometimes, they even have polka masses. For all of my non-Czech friends, that means that they sing the songs to polka tunes and if the priest can do so, he’ll speak in Czech.
So, I decided my children needed to see the ol’ place. And they wanted to see it too, I’m just sure of it. I had to stop once and check my directions at a gas station in Halletsville, and with one more assurance from a TX D.O.T. guy on an old FM road, we drove up to this.

Ascension Catholic Church in Moravia. My grandmother (as I’m sure many other members of my family) was born here (okay, maybe not IN the church but somewhere really close by…), baptized here, sang in the choir here, taught school right around here, married here? (help me again!)

Remember, this was taken on an iphone!
I’ve been here before but was unable to go in. They don’t just leave special, historical places unlocked y’all. But this time, even though the doors were locked, they left the inside doors open and we could see most of the church. I can’t believe this picture came out…I was holding my phone to the glass.
Look closely. REALLY closely. See that chandelier hanging in the center of the aisle? My great grandparents donated that chandelier to the church. The crystal chandelier was brought from Czechoslovakia; my grandmother told me once that the crate in which it arrived was what she used for a closet as a girl. Isn’t that cool?
Next on the adventure list, we needed to go find the headstones of our ancestors buried in the attached cemetery. I did my best to keep my children off of people’s gravesites. I really did. And when Lori started picking up pretty flowers from tombstones, I also did my best not to yell too loudly or act too brashly among those peacefully resting. But, as it turns out, a graveyard

is just not suited for children to whom death is not even a concept. I decided to skip the lecture on respect and allow them to throw rocks. But only on the sidewalks. They finally complied. Sweet, respectful children.
Okay so here was one of the areas marked out for my family.

And you thought my maiden name was tough. This side of the family only got one vowel! And, if I remember another story correctly, this vowel was included only after the typical insertion as new immigrants got off the boat and became Americans. When I got married, I kept the vowels to a minimum like my maiden name. Good job, Michael, for helping me keep it close to home.
We found all of the rest of our family in that cemetery and I decided it was time to record this historical moment. After all, here I was, generations later, with my own children. It was time for pictures.
My sweet, respectful children tried to cooperate. Their little toddler hearts wanted me to have this memory to treasure…but this was about all I could manage.


Lori has decided that looking at the camera is just not in her contract anymore.

this one got a little closer.

at this point, long past lunch time and bordering on nap time, I figured we’d had enough. My children were champions though, and after changing a really nasty diaper of Lori’s, we were back in the car for the ride home.
And then, it hit me. That 32 oz sonic-tea-with-lime. My, only 11 weeks from delivering, heck of a pregnant belly rested oh-so-heavily on my bladder, ensuring that I needed to do something quickly. (Did I mention that Moravia is an AREA...not a town with public restrooms?) So...for decency's sake and for respect of the motherland, I will leave out this next part of the adventure.
As we turned to get back on the FM road I first mentioned, I realized we couldn’t leave without passing by Moravia Store. Another Texas historical marker. Read about it…





This place is famous y’all. And here is where the high profiles enter—a side entrance so as not to be confused with the regular folk.
Hee hee, I just took this as a tribute to my husband. Playing in halls like this is how he honed his musical gifts. He knows all about those side entrances, oh yes he does…being high profile and all…

And thus, as we drove home toward the sunset, filled with the memories of how "they became us", our adventure ended…after one stop at a feed store, of course, since I decided to go home a different way. I couldn’t have called it an adventure if I didn’t do something risky, right? And besides, the empty gas light on the way home was proof that all of the driving was worth it. The car can be shipped now! Thank you, my in-laws, for sponsoring this adventure!

please...

dear friends,
would you join me in a few prayers?
first, thanking God that my family is well after hurricane ike--michael rode out the storm with a friend while we were in yoakum. my mother and stepfather (and aunt, cousin and 2nd cousin) had a scare as the flooding came close to entering their home. my brother and sister in law had only a little damage (and they already have power!). my sister and her fiance were able to leave town, my dad and stepmother are well, all of my mother's family live on the coast and are well, and finally, our close friends (they literally live in the exact spot where ike entered land) were able to evacuate safely and find shelter elsewhere!
as far as clean up, we'll be praying that my mom's water and power are restored quickly-that they can continue to clean the yard/uprooted trees and the area surrounding them, that my mom's family and our friends, who all live on the coast, return to reparable damage, and that energy/work crews are able to sustain all of the hours/setbacks, etc that they will encounter.
we have a good God--i am so thankful that, just as He allowed this hurricane, He allowed many of the mercies that we experienced in it as well.

thanks so much for your thoughts!!