The Armstrong Six-Pack

2011-04-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

Snow in April?!?!?! There were mixed feelings about it in our household yesterday. Here is Skylar's reaction...

Bryant, however, had a totally different response. He goes outside to wait for the bus and just sits down in the snow and starts playing with it. Then he gets up and starts to throw snowballs with some coaching from his friend.

This week also marks the beginning of Skylar's prep for his surgery this summer. He goes in to the hospital on Wednesday to have a heart cath done. The results get presented at a conference with cardiologists and surgeons who will discuss what will need to be done for his heart and come up with some dates for the procedure. This surgery is supposed to be technically easier and less dangerous than the previous two, so you would think I wouldn't be very emotional about it. This time, though, I know who Skylar is, and I know his little personality. It is a little difficult to explain. For the past three years, I haven't really had to think about it, but now it's right on top of us and I can't ignore it anymore. So here goes! Skylar is so strong, and everything will probably be fine, but I've watched too many episodes of House to just sit back and relax. My Plan: get through the heart cath on Wednesday, get the date for the surgery, put it in my phone, forget about it until my reminder goes off the day before. Wish me luck!

2010-10-27T00:44:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time to repent and begin anew. It's pretty sad if you have to go to your sister's blog (thanks Krista) to be able to get to your own because you have forgotten how to get to your own. And the reason I can get to hers is because I made it one of my "favorites" buttons/links. Make sense? It's not supposed to. But it works for me. I actually have a semi-valid reason for not posting. I lost our camera. Yes, we had just gotten a new camera. I was taking the kids to Bryant's t-ball game, and it got lost somewhere in between the van and the field. I searched and searched without any luck. So, now we have a new camera... again... and hopefully there weren't too many pictures on the one that was lost.

There have been a few changes this fall. Owynn has started first grade. The new school year was quite an adjustment for her. She came home crying the first couple days because it was just "so much sitting." (I personally think she was missing her naps.) Sorry about the sideways picture.

Bryant started kindergarten. I was concerned that it would be difficult for him. He just barely turned 5 before the school year started, but he loves it and seems to be doing well. I bought his backpack last year on clearance, and didn't think about how big it was. So, yes, his backpack really is that big, it's not some camera trickery.

Skylar is Skylar. If you didn't know his history, you wouldn't know anything was different about him. He keeps up with his big brother and sister and is always the first one up in the morning. He is finally starting to potty train. I had to force it on him. He's more than 3 now. It's time. He gets a sucker every time he keeps his diaper/underwear dry and goes in the toilet. Hence the blue lips in the photo. It is candy, not his heart making his lips blue this time! I was looking at pictures from his first surgeries, and it makes me glad that I have such a terrible memory. I think I try to block it most of the time because it is the one thing that always gets me to cry. I don't know why. Yes it was traumatic, but he did so well and he is doing so well. I just blame it on being a mom.

Taylor is growing up so fast... and at the same time so slow. It seems like he has been tearing things apart around the house for years! I keep waiting for the day that he understands that DVDs are best left on the shelf and not pulled out all over the floor. I was really lucky, I guess, that I didn't go through that with the other three (at least I don't remember it), but he is certainly making up for it! Taylor's loves right now are food (obviously) and water. He lets you know when it is meal time, and when he hears bath water starting, he is there trying to get in before I even get the temperature set.

I promise to try to better at keeping current with the blog. If for no other reason than the fact that I have to take pictures to put on the blog. I never think to take pictures. And that's pretty much the only thing I look at on other blogs, so I assume that's what you all will do at my blog. At least that is what I hope, since I am doing this at 1 in the morning... I will do better!

2010-10-27T00:40:00.000-07:00

We like to go to the park a lot. The kids have so much energy! Except maybe for Taylor... At the time these were taken, we were phasing out his morning nap.

2010-10-27T00:25:00.000-07:00

I can't remember if I posted this before or not, but I'm throwing it in again anyway... The kids love to play Just Dance on the wii. The videos are hilarious, but I haven't figured out how to get the videos from the new camera to work online yet... actually, just haven't tried it yet, and I don't want to take the time right now to do it. But the pictures are almost just as good!

2010-03-14T23:08:00.000-07:00

Skylar wasn't too excited about adding Taylor to our family, but he has fully accepted his big brother roll now. He loves to get toys for Taylor and tries to make him laugh.

2010-03-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

It's always fun to watch the kids learn new things. Skylar really loves trying to figure out puzzles and games. Taylor has learned to get around by arching and scooting on his back. Owynn is reading books all by herself now. They just grow up so fast.

2010-03-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

2010-03-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

Dan finally busted out the old skates to see what he could do. (He also had a few of his high school kids there to show off for.) He had fun, but he came away with some pretty good bruises.

2010-03-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

Here are just some random fun pics. Taylor is practicing his "look." The kids love getting a ride from dad as they go to bed. All 3 kids are on his back. Skylar is sitting right in front of Owynn. Dan has already started introducing Taylor to the "finer" things of life. And poor Skylar... His body needs sleep, but he just doesn't want to miss anything, so here he is, ready to get up and run as soon as he gets the sleep out of his system.

2010-03-02T13:25:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to one of the indoor water parks in town. Bryant ran the whole time. Owynn went on all the big slides. Skylar needed some convincing to go down the little slides. He would only go if he was sitting on a lap. Even Taylor splashed around a bit.

2010-03-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, so it's been a while since I last posted. But I actually do have a valid excuse... Our camera broke. So, now I've got the new camera figured out and it has some fun extras like borders. Dan thinks it's kind of nerdy, but he puts up with it anyway.

Baby it's cold outside

2009-12-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

Cold can be fun. It brings out the hat hair for those brave enough to venture outside. For the rest of us, we find inside things to do... like making a slide out of couch cushions when we take them apart to clean them. Or making a hat out of a soda box. Dan's favorite is teaching the boys about football. Poor Dan has to watch his beloved Broncos on the internet. Better than nothing, though.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2009-12-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for Christmas has been really fun this year. Owynn Bryant and Skylar were all able to help decorate the tree. Bryant found out what happens when you bang two glass ornaments together. Who gives a kid glass ornaments anyway? We even manages to get them all with Santa!

More Amoxicilin Please!!!

2009-12-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

Wow, what fun we had. Back to back to back ear infections. Bry then Owynn then Skylar. The Doc assured me during Bryant's visit that they were not contagious. Hmmmm... The kids were good sports about taking their medicine though! I think it helped that they were all doing it.

2009-11-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

Skylar is getting better at dressing and undressing himself. He gets stuck for a while when he tries to take off his shirt, but it sure is fun to watch!

2009-11-15T17:49:00.000-08:00

Grandma came up to visit us this week. Unfortunately, she picked a terrible week to be with us. (She had to come up for a school conference, so it's not like she had a choice.) All the kids were sick this week. Owynn was kind enough to bring home new yucky germs for us. Among the runny noses and coughing, we were also blessed with back-to-back ear infections. We have not experience that in our family before. Bryant had his first and was up all Friday night. Then Saturday came around and Owynn started complaining about a hurt ear. Being the kind and compassionate mother I am, I gave her half a dose of Tylenol and told her she would be better in the morning. I thought she was faking... Oops.

At least Grandma was able to get some smiles from Taylor.

2009-11-15T17:40:00.000-08:00

Skylar has been getting up extra early this week, which does not agree with his little body. For those who don't know, Skylar was born with a heart problem and has had 2 open-heart surgeries already. As a result, his oxygen levels are significantly lower than that of a typical person. This makes his tired easier.

Tuesday this week, just after lunch, the boys were reading books while I was playing piano. Skylar was standing next to the couch reading his. After I finished playing a song, I looked over at him and saw him just passed out on the floor! He was out!

2009-11-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

So far, so good. I think this blogging thing is going to work. I hope to be able to post every week. That's the goal anyway.

This will also help me remember to bring my camera places so I can actually take pictures (instead of relying on sisters for pictures of things when I forget, like baby blessings. Thanks, Krista!)

2009-11-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

Taylor is learning how to smile and laugh and I have been trying to capture it on camera, but everytime I pull out the camera, he just stops and stares. So I finally had Dan sneak up on us, and we got a couple good shots!

2009-11-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

This has been the Year of the Bruise for little Skylar. Earlier this summer, Bryant used his head for putting practice. I don't who gave Bryant a real golf club, but the little scar just above his eyebrow is all that is left of the golf ball-sized goose egg he had on his head.

This is the second time he has split his lip. This last time it looked really bad inside his mouth, so I ended up taking him to the doctor. It was worthy of a couple stiches, but Skylar would have to be sedated in order for that to happen, so the doctor just prescribed Tylenol and popsicles to bring down the swelling. His lip was just getting back to normal a couple days ago when Skylar got too close to Owynn't foot. More blood, more swelling, more bruising... You get the idea.

2009-11-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

I'm obviously not well acquainted with this yet. This post is a little backwards. Oh, well. Here are a couple of pictures of Taylor now and when he was born. He was a scrawny little thing when he was born, but he's filling out nicely.

2009-11-01T18:23:00.000-08:00

Hmmmm......

2009-11-01T17:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I've decided to jump on the bloggin' bandwagon. It's our attempt at staying better connected with family and friends. This first post is going to be a little short because I'm doing this one handed (don't say anything about that being a lame excuse, John. I don't have as much practice as you do.). I'm trying to hold Taylor and get this done at the same time. For those a little out of the loop, Taylor is the six in our six pack. He was born August 13 (my mom's birthday) and he keeps getting bigger and cuter every day.

Since Halloween just happened, this will also double as our Halloween post. I managed to convince Dan to put on the Incredibles costume again. (he really doesn't like it.) Owynn and Bryant were able to go door to door for the first time this year. All in all, fun times were had by all.