It's a.... BOY

Casey and I went to the doctor today for our 20 week sonogram. We were so excited to learn the gender of our precious second child. It took no time at all for us to see that baby Armstrong #2 is a BOY! We were shocked. I have felt, looked, acted, and gained the same.... everything has been the exact same in this pregnancy as it was when I was pregnant with our daughter Avery. I just knew that meant it had to be another girl. Everyone told me I was carrying "high" and it must too be a girl.... wrong. Guess you really don't know until you see the baby. We are excited to have one of each and can't wait to see him in person!

Baby Boy Armstrong 20 weeks!
Clearly, it's a boy!

Christmas Parade

Tonight there was a Christmas parade in Borger. It was so incredibly cold outside, but we thought it wouldn't last too long and Avery was so excited at the thought of going. We waited in the car with the heater on until it started passing by us.

Warm and cozy in the car with Dad.
Brrr.. my jacket barely zips now, but I was determined to fit in it for the freezing temperatures.

Avery and her friend Brynne had matching toboggans - cuties.

Picking up the candy.

Avery even got lucky and caught a bear thrown by someone that looked like Elvis???

Poor baby was sooo cold her face was turning red. At this point, she had to get back in the car and watch the rest from there.

Santa and his reindeer. Merry Christmas. What fun - even in the cold weather.

Horses and Oreos

So two of my daughter's absolute favorite things as a 2 1/2 year old are horses and oreos. She ALWAYS wants to go to the barn and ride "Little Buddy" or help dad with anything horse related. We have been trying to take her riding when the weather permits and the wind isn't blowing us over. She automatically grabs her boots and hat while heading out the door.

I believe that Casey's love for oreos and milk has been passed down to Avery. Anytime she sees him get them out of the pantry she is right there ready for him to share. She eats them just like dad, dipping and all, except insists that he open hers before she dips so that she can lick all the icing off!

Thanksgiving

Wow - I think I am still full from 4 days of eating and eating! We were so excited to welcome my mom, dad, and pop to our house again this year for Thanksgiving. We cooked a huge meal here on Thursday and just watched Football and hung out. I did get all my Christmas decorating finished Thursday because #1 I was ready to get it all out and #2 I didn't want it to interrupt my shopping plans on Friday. Mom and I woke up early (not crazy early, just 6:00am) and headed to Amarillo for some shopping. I almost thought I wasn't going to make it when we entered our first store, Toys R Us, which had been open since midnight... it was still packed with all sorts of people (some smelly), kids, pajama wearers, and chaos. BUT, we survived and I got almost all of my Christmas shopping finished - great for me! What a fun weekend it was. Here are some pics of Aves around the house. She did have a sinus infection this weekend, but was a trooper and loved having company at our house.

Wearing her princess accessories - or as she would say, "I princess Aurora!" Thanks Aunt Karla.
Helping Nona tear bread for the dressing.
Eating most of her pieces!

Tired baby sleeping with her Pop

Hmmm.... this peppermint ornament looked too good not to taste!

Figured out what to do with it.

Putting the star on the top.

Cooking in her kitchen wearing her leggins (that appear to be getting too short!)

Fell asleep wearing her apron while I was holding her and cooking

Enjoying some pumpkin pie

Playing with Papa

"Hold me Papa, I can help"

Such a big girl! Love her!

Weekend

This weekend, we went to Abilene for our nephew's 5th birthday party on Saturday. I didn't get too many pictures amongst all the action, but thought I would post the ones I have. On Sunday, we were excited to go to our old church and see many friends we have missed so much. We then had Thanksgiving lunch with Casey's family since we will not be back on Thursday. The weekend was fun and too short as always.

Boone swinging into the foam pit
Aves and Dad jumping on the trampoline

Casey jumping on the trampoline - he had as much fun as the kids.

Me and sweet baby Bella, our niece

WRCA Rodeo

This weekend Amarillo was packed with Ranch Rodeo contestants and their families for the WRCA Finals which is a 4 day rodeo that is held annually. Casey was not in it this year, but several friends were and we enjoyed spending the day at the coliseum shopping and visiting with before the rodeo started last night. Avery absolutely LOVES rodeos (wonder where she gets that?) and had a blast. She was SOOOO good the whole day and is still asking when we will go back to the rodeo (pronounced radeo in her world). I didn't think to get a picture of it, but her one request was for a purple rope... actually I think she initially announced that she wanted a "purple princess rope with Aurora on it" but as you can imagine, we never ran across that one. (Aurora is Princess Sleeping Beauty's name by the way if you don't have girls.) Anyways, we did find a small purple rope in which she didn't put down all day and has played with a ton today also.

Me and Shawna - yes I am aware that my boobs look more pregnant than my stomach in this pic which is exactly how it feels in real life too!
Avery refused to look at the camera and smile for a pic... my "encouragement" just made her laugh more!

Aves and her buddy Hazen

She literally watched the whole thing and didn't try to run around! So fun.

Just playing

Avery has such an imagination these days... from turning everything she can pick up into a baby and caring for it, to going shopping, and getting in her "car" everywhere. The other day, I cleaned out the laundry hamper in our bathroom to wash clothes and it was like she realized it was a fun spot to play in for the first time. The laundry hamper is now her "car" of choice and she gets in and shuts the door while she's driving! She tells me that she is going to school or the babysitter's house or her grandma's house. She played in that thing forever and was cracking me up the whole time.

Halloween 2009

This year Avery was Minnie Mouse for Halloween. Although she isn't old enough to tell me exactly what she wants to be for Halloween yet, I had a pretty good idea that Minnie would go over well since she LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Sure enough, the first time she dressed up in her Minnie costume she was soooo excited and didn't want to take it off. I was glad she got to wear it a few times to our church Fall Festival, a Halloween party, and then to Trick-or-Treat. We had so much fun this year and got many compliments on our precious Minnie. Tonight when we went Trick-or-Treating, a lady called Avery Mickey Mouse and Avery was quick to correct, "No I not Mickey, I Minnie Mouse." Not sure if the lady understood that whole correction, but she smiled and gave her a handful of candy. She also loved her trick-or-treat bag, or her purse as she called it, which my mom actually made for me when I was little. So fun! The first picture is Halloween last year when Avery was a little which - I can't believe how much she has grown in one year!

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2009 - Avery's "cheese" face
Playing a game at the church Fall Festival

Waiting for the music to start for the cake walk with Hazen

Climbing up the inflatable slide with Hazen

Sliding down the slide

This time she came down the stairs

Choosing a duck (which she really wanted to put in her bag rather than the candy)

Abby wanted to take Avery trick-or-treating with her

Warming up to the idea of trick-or-treating with dad - he held her the whole first part of the adventure

Mom's turn to hold sweet Minnie

She finally got brave enough to walk up to the door with Abby by herself! What a fun night and the weather was great.