baby bling

Isabel is five months old now, and to celebrate her fifth month birthday we gave each other gifts. Isabel has given her parents the gift of sleep. I almost hate to mention it because I don't want to jinx myself, but Isabel has been sleeping ten to twelve hours a night without needing too much help from Andy or I for almost a week (with one very painful exception the night before Devin started school). Yippiieeee!
And we gave Izzy the gift of pierced ears. While she was not thrilled with them at the time of piercing... I am confident that she will grow to love her "pretty ears" as much as her cousin Kaley did as a little girl.

She is just so cute. I know I sound like Devin (who constantly gushes about his little sister), but Isabel is such a happy, smiley baby that you can't help but be taken with her.

This photo was taken minutes after Isabel woke up in the morning. It's hard to be grumpy in the morning when you wake up to such a big smile. I love it!!

growing up

Devin had his first day of school yesterday. It was an early morning, made more so my Isabel's hour long binki issues the night before, but he left the house with a huge smile on his face and looking adorable in his little uniform. He loved school. He came home singing new songs and telling me all about the rules (and about the girl who went on yellow her first day!) and asking if he could buy his lunch in the cafeteria. So school was great. The bus ride home was not. Devin's bus driver resembles a defensive lineman and when he yelled at the noisy kids at the back of the bus to sit down, he made quite an impression on the little kindergartner in the front row. Add to that new situation the fact that Dev was tired and hungry and I think a little overwhelmed by his first day, and we have the recipe for tears. Luckily he held it together until he got off the bus, but he told me that he was scared of his bus driver. We agreed to try the bus another couple times and if it doesn't work we will figure something else out. He told me that when school was over he just wanted me. That of course just pulled on the heart strings, but given that both Isabel and Alex were napping while I was waiting for the bus to come... he just might need to take one for the team. I am hopeful that after a couple times he will get more comfortable.


Earlier today I asked Andy to water my flowers. I didn't ask Devin to do it because we were headed out shortly and I knew if he watered the plants he would wind up soaking wet. A few minutes later I looked out the window to see Andy spraying both boys with the hose... best laid plans, right? So Andy walked over to talk to the neighbor and a minute later I saw Devin sneaking up behind him with a bucket of water. I couldn't see the actual attack, but later when Andy entire back side was dripping wet, I knew Devin was successful. now all three Blake boys needed to change clothes before we left, but I had to laugh - Devin is learning the art of payback. Between that and school, my little man is getting all grown up!!

the sweetest thing

I got the boot off my ankle and started PT on Monday - truly a momentous day in the Blake household. The therapist warned me that I would experience good days and bad days over the coming weeks (as far as strength and flexibility are concerned) and said that I have to be very careful not to overdo it. The good news is that when she evaluated me, she said that my flexibility was already much better than she had expected based on my break. So I have been diligent about my exercises (and about elevation and ice), and I am slowly building my strength. I've even tried swimming a couple laps at the pool. It will be a long road back but I'm so excited to be at this point!
On Monday morning when I was getting ready to go to PT, Alex came into my bathroom and noticed that I wasn't wearing my boot. When I told him that the doctor said I didn't need to wear it anymore he got so excited that he ran up to me and hugged me saying, "Thank you Mommy!" I'm not sure if he is truly grateful that this impediment to his "normal" is finally gone, or if he just recognizes that this is a pretty significant thing for our family and doesn't have the words to express his excitement, but it was the sweetest thing. I love that little man.

heinously overdue photos

I apologize that it has been ages since I have posted photos to my blog. I hope these are worth the wait.

The 4th of July parade.

The best part was climbing on the fire truck and getting sprayed by the fire hose at the end.

Life on the couch with a broken ankle.

Izzy the Builder.

I love that naked little bum. Nothing says summer like eating a snack in my birthday suit!!
Isabel loves her grandma. The Blake family.

ankle update

We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I get out of the boot in three days. Three days!! I am so excited. Andy keeps warning me that it will not be the pure bliss (and full functionality) that I envision, but I am excited nonetheless. When I got off the crutches and started walking on the boot I limped along for a couple days until I was able to sustain weight on my leg. I know that I will be sore and hobbling for a couple days, but I am hopeful that with physical therapy and persistence I will rebound quickly.
Our summer is slowly coming to an end. Devin starts Kindergarten next week. They stagger the kids start dates so each day 5-8 kids come in for a full school day and once all the kids have done that they bring everyone in together. So, he will go Friday the 22nd, and won't be back until the following Friday the 29th. I'm a little excited about the extra week, since I am kind of sad about him going to school five full days. My little man is growing up!
Isabel slept eleven hours the other night. Wooooooohooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is not consistent yet, but she is really starting to stretch out her overnight feedings. I am ecstatic.

BTW - this is officially my 100th post. Can you believe it?

crutch-free

I am officially crutch free. I have a couple weeks left in the boot and then I start physical therapy. My ankle flexibility is non-existent and I'm pretty sore, but I am so glad to be off the crutches! Actually, I think we are all thrilled. The boys are ready for Mom to be back at full force, and Andy is excited to have some help at night. We're finally getting closer to normal.

my sweet baby girl

O.k.
So she is making us a little crazy with the eating at night thing. I realize that we may have been spoiled by Devin and Alex, who slept eight hours straight by about three months old. But we are all very ready for Isabel to sleep through the night and she is instead getting up every three to four hours! Ugh!
But I still absolutely adore this little baby girl. We had her four month check up yesterday and she is getting big. She is 25 inches long and 13 lbs 11 oz. She is still pretty long and skinny, but the doctor said that she is doing great. Now if we could just get her to sleep...