Look who can feed herself with a spoon?

Yep, that's right... Belle can.  It's  definitely not pretty and she makes a huge mess, but we celebrate anyway!

Until next time,
angie

Who left the fridge open??????

It is common practice around our home to find the refrigerator door left wide open and no one around.  Common, almost as common as leaving the lights on when no one is in a room.

So the other day when I was in the front room cleaning up some of Isabelle's toys, I walked around the corner to see this...

 At first I wasn't too surprised, Gabriel or Michael forgot to close it.  However as soon as I yelled "BOYS!!!"  I remembered they weren't even home.  It was just Isabelle and I.  So around the corner I went a bit more...

 I recognize that little person.  Somehow she either finally figured out how to get the refrigerator door open or someone left it slightly open and she decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

So I quietly peeked around to grab my camera and came back without her hearing.  She must have been pretty focused on getting into one of the vegetable drawers.  I said, "Whatcha doing?" and startled her.  She hightailed it out of that fridge so quickly, I've never seen her move so fast.   Guess she knows thats not a place mom thinks is okay to play.

 

It was pretty cute but it made me realize, gone are the days of assuming it was the boys leaving the fridge open 

 

Until next time,

Angie

 

The fire in the neighborhood

Last night, the house directly across the green belt from us was burning.  I guess their chimney caught fire and thus the entire neighborhood was lit up with fire trucks.  When I went outside to watch what was happening, there were 4 fire trucks, including a ladder truck and a whole slew of police cars.  It was a pretty big thing for the neighborhood.

This morning when I woke the boys up for school I told them about the fire and using anything I can to motivate them to move faster, I told them we'd drive by the house if everyone was ready to go early and didn't have to have me telling them to do each and every step of getting ready.  Turns out, it worked and what can only be described as nothing short of a fluke, we were all ready ahead of schedule this morning and so as promised we left in time to drive by the scene of the fire.

As we drove by and with the sun barely up, the fire crew or family who lives in the house, had already pulled a huge pile of burned items out of the house and to the curb.  Looking at the house, it was clear the entire side of the house where the chimney was, was destroyed.  Slowly driving by I said how sad I felt for the family as they couldn't stay in the house.  Immediately Michael and Gabriel asked, "Mom, where are they living now?"  I responded, "They probably stayed in a hotel last night or maybe with family."  "Why mom?  Why can't they stay there?"  (being that the structure of the house is still in tact, I guess it was a legitimate question).  "Well Gabriel, they can't stay there because of the damage done to the house.  The inside is probably burned, plus smoke is inside and right now the house doesn't have any power so they wouldn't have any heat."  Upon hearing my response and as they still plastered their faces to the window to take in every detail, Michael asked, "Mom will they stay in that house tonight since the fire is out?"  "Probably not Michael, the house doesn't have any power and so it would be very cold.  They'll have to wait until the house is repaired.  And immediately Michael responded, "Mom, we should go help them.  I have tools and I can fix their house."  Gabriel thinking he was one step ahead said, "Michael but you can't because they don't have any heat and it would be too cold."  To which Michael said, "Gabriel we can just take heat with us."  "No we can't Michael, you can't take heat." Gabriel said as if Michael suggestion was completely silly. By this point we had left our neighborhood and were on our way to school.  Given that it was only 35 degrees when we left the house, there was steam rising as we crossed over a water canal.  Back to their conversation Michael retorted, "Gabriel yes we can take heat with us, we can just put it in a bag and carry it with our tools."  Expecting Gabriel to come down hard on Michael for such a silly idea, I was waiting for his response.  Being that Gabriel is the self described older and more smarter brother (only because he's older though), I was surprised when instead Gabriel was quiet.  he was in thought.  Just a few moment's later Gabriel started pointing to the steam coming off of the water pump near the canal and exclaimed, "That's a great idea Michael, we can just put heat in the bag, see Mom there's heat right there!" 

Until next time,
Angie

One

Dear Isabelle,

 

Today you officially turned one.  It still makes Daddy and I think someone hit fast forward on our life as we shake our heads and say you can't already be a year old. But the truth is that 365 days ago you made this world better by your presence, brought us more love than we ever dreamed and made our lives complete.

Daddy and I will never forget how surprised we were when we got the call about you.  See, you are the dream we had for many years and, if I'm being honest, I some times lost hope that it would ever come true.  And then, when we least expected it, you were there.  Just like when we learned about your brothers, being told that we were going to get to be your parents, restored our faith.  And meeting you, brought us love, a love so strong, so true and so wonderful, that my heart overflows each and everyday with happiness.

Simply put, in our eyes...You are perfect.  From your tiny fingers to your tiny toes,  you are the perfect addition to our family and you make us complete.

You have taught us to enjoy life's simple things, to smile just because you can, and to love with as much love as you can give.

If you ask each of us, we'd all agree, we think your name fits you perfectly, for you are a thing of beauty.  Those eyes, those beautiful deep eyes that tell a story with every glance.

And your reactions, your personality, the silly faces you make and the funny moves you share...

it has been so much fun watching you grow and seeing your personality come to life.

As I think about the past 12 months, I can honestly say there hasn't been one day that has gone by that I didn't love everything about you.  Everything from your heart-melting smiles, to fully body giggles.  I love everything, even the drool as it rolls down your shirt.

And this look... the wide eyed look of surprise and happiness.  It is what I dream about when I'm at work, and the vision I can hardly wait to see as I pick you up from school. That moment when you realize you really are seeing me and that I have come back to get you.  Then, that moment of surprise turns to....

this.  To happiness and smiles and big "O" faces.  With the waving of your arms and the shrieks of your voice, I know that that is love.  Seeing you recognize me as your mom, and that you missed me as much as I missed you melts my heart each and every time. 

I love you Isabelle Grace. We all love you.  God has a special plan for you my child, I can feel it and with my whole being I believe it.  For God spent a lot of time making you special...

so very very special. 

As we celebrate your first year, and cherish all the memories; we look forward to the future. I can't wait to experience the stories that those eyes will tell. 

I can't wait to capture all the laughs, the giggles and the belly jiggles as you play with your ever so loving brothers.

My sweet and precious child, thank you.  Thank you for being such a wonderful gift.  For getting to be your mom is just that... a gift. 

So tonight as we celebrate your first of many birthday's to come...

we wish you happiness, health and lots and lots of love.

Happy 1st Birthday Isabelle Grace...

now let's go celebrate and eat some cake!

Until next time,

Angie

 



9, 10, 11... I've got some catching up to do!

In less than 48 hours our baby will turn one, as in yes, one year.  How can that be?  I'm not sure, I'm asking myself that question also.  It seems she's literally grown up in front of my eyes.  I guess that means she's not a baby baby anymore. When I look back to those pictures of her being just days old, they really should only be weeks, not a year.  I have to admit, in my eyes though she'll always be our baby. 

So you'd think with the fact that she is turning one in just a day and a half, we'd be celebrating.  The truth is, I have one major thing to do before we start celebrating her hitting that milestone.  See, I told myself when we brought her home, I'd try to blog once a month for her first year to record the memories, the developments and the accomplishments.  The truth is I did okay for the first few months, but by month 9, maybe you've noticed; the updates didn't just become infrequent, they became non-existent.

So since back in November each and every day I tell myself, I need to sit down and record what happened for her 9th month.  Then in December it became her 9th and 10th month and now you can see we are already into February and well, I'm way behind. 

That being said, I still have 46 hours so here is my best attempt to recreate the updates for the last quarter of her life...

9 months

Isabelle turned nine months as we were in the middle of everything going on with finalizing her adoption.  That day was so special, we will never forget the feeling when she officially became ours. 

Isabelle continues to grow and change, I feel daily. She is a happy baby, who loves being at home, playing with Jack and her brothers as well as Mommy and Daddy. In her ninth month we have seen her learn to many new things and the way she can engage and respond to us is awe-inspiring. While Grandma and Grandpa were here for a couple of weeks, Grandma taught Isabelle how to play Paddy Cake. Isabelle LOVES it. Literally within 20 seconds of waking up in the morning she sits straight up and starts gently clapping her hands together. Then she looks at me and gives me the look to say, “Okay mommy, now it’s your turn, start singing…” so we join in, “Paddy cake paddy cake…” As we finish and say “YAYYYYY!!!!” she smiles from ear to ear and then starts clapping all over again. It is truly precious and one of the first times I’ve seen her actively communicate to me what she wants (other than reading her cry).  

She still only has 2 teeth but it is clear there are more on the way.  We are starting to introduce more and more table food but with only 2 teeth, she seems to gag on anything bigger than those puff snacks.  As far as food, she is perfectly content eating vegetable after vegetable after vegetable.  I applaud her and thank her for eating mommy's portions of vegetables too. 

As far as movements she is still doing the army drag crawl but gaining more and more confidence to keep her belly off the floor and actually crawl. It has been fun watching in excitement, as Dad, Gabriel, Michael and I gather in the living room anticipating her big debut of the "real crawl".  The boys shriek with excitement that she's "really going to do it this time" and then she shows us all she's really in charge and will crawl when she's good and ready.  Until then, we celebrate each almost victory.  

Some of Isabelle's favorite toys are Jack, who she continues to laugh at each day we come home to him greeting us at the door and Tigger.  Yes good old stuff animal Tigger.  I think Isabelle believes he is real and that my arm bouncing him up and down on the couch is just a part of him.  When she sees Tigger she smiles widely and giggles, you know, that whole body shaking laugh.  It is completely contagious. 

 One of the other great things about Isabelle being 9 months is that she was still able to spend quality time with my sister MaeLyn (aka our wonderful amazing live-in nanny). Having my sister here and getting to spend continuous quality time with Isabelle was completely comforting and calming, only second to me getting to spend time with her myself :-)). We are so completely thankful to MaeLyn for taking almost 6 months out of her life to come out here and spend time with Isabelle, our boys and our entire family. The bond you and Isabelle formed is something I will be forever grateful for. In fact, each time she is fussy as I change her, I still think of the tips you told me, "Sing her Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and you know what, it always worked. Some days I felt like the baby sitter and you the mom, the bond is so special and we all thank you for that gift.

At 9 months Isabelle now weighs a whopping 16 lbs, 13.5 ounces (10th percentile) and is 28 1/2 inches long (the 75-90th percentile). 

Perhaps the best memory from her 9 months is the day we celebrated her adoption.  It is a day Jarrett, I and her brothers will cherish forever.  It is a day I hope she comes to love and cherish as well.  Although she won't remember, I hope we've captured it in enough videos and pictures where she'll feel the overwhelming amount of love that was present in those special, special moments.

10 months
Celebrating Isabelle's 10th month during December is something I have been looking forward to since we learned of her. Christmas is absolutely my favorite time of the year and what can be more special than a baby's first Christmas? 

Although celebrating the entire month of December was something we were hoping for, unfortunately things didn't go as planned.  Right before Thanksgiving Isabelle starting attending day care and just 3 days into her enrollment, she got sick.  I was expecting her to catch things, that's just what happens when you introduce 12 babies together in a room.  Little did I expect for her illness to continue and to turn into one thing and then another.  From my previous post,  you already know Isabelle's illnesses turned into a scary situation and a stay at the hospital.  I pray we never have an experience like that again. 

Isabelle now has 5 teeth, yep, within a matter of a week, 3 more teeth popped through.  And just for records sake, yes that all happened in the middle of the sickness and hospital stay.  Why not have one more thing added to the mix.   Having lost a lot of weight during her sickness and down to 15 lbs, we spent the latter part of December, trying to shove her full of calories.  Yes, there may be a picture of Isabelle enjoying a sugar cookie for breakfast on Christmas morning.  The doctor said to give her what ever she would eat. 

And speaking of what ever she would eat, we've now moved into feeding her more table food.  Of course she continues to love her squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce and mixed vegetables.  But were also adding in crackers.  The girl LOVES saltine crackers.  And on a side note, so do her brothers.  While at the hospital we brought her a sleeve of saltines to eat over the course of several days, however the one day when her brothers visited, that sleeve of crackers disappeared.  "Mom- these crackers are delicious.  They are so tasty! Mom- can you make more of these?"  Man I'm thankful they are so easily pleased. 

Isabelle's favorite toys this month have changed from being anything that is hers, to anything that is a Christmas decoration.  Isabelle loves to crawl in, yes in, the end tables and play with the pine cone decorations I have on display.  In fact, when she's fast enough to get there, she enjoys trying to eat them.  Oh and I guess I didn't mention it but, Isabelle finally mastered the actual crawl.  She is now an expert crawler and can move from one end of the house to the other in less than 10 seconds.  I know our house isn't very big, but she really is fast.  The other toys Isabelle loves are the Christmas lights, yes the lights from the bottom 2 feet of the Christmas tree.  When she watched me put the lights up, I guess she thought I would enjoy restringing them every day.  Oh and in order to pull the lights off the tree each day, she first decides to pull of all the ornaments.  I've decided people will just have to look at the top 1/3 of the three to see how it was nicely decorated.  The bottom 1/3 we'll just call Isabelle's special touch.  :-)  Some other toys Isabelle enjoys are the outlets the trees are plugged into and the dancing/singing reindeer toy that sings "Grandma got ran over by a reindeer."  We've heard that song a few times this holiday season.

Isabelle has also mastered the art of pulling herself up on things to stand.  I think the baby books call it cruising.  I call it, the moment before the bump.  Our house never was the most baby proof, with tile being 99% of our flooring and sharp corners on every turn.  When Isabelle's on the move, you don't hear much but "gasp"  "ohh" "MOM!!! come quick Isabelle's on the tile"  "Isabelle's on the corner of the table"  "Mom-Isabelle's trying to crawl out Jack's dog door"  Thankfully Grandpa Ray and Grandma Darlene were here for a while to help us in the chase that is Isabelle's daily race.

Although I haven't touched on it too much before, I feel I have to mention it now, because some day, in the future, I'm going to think I'm tired, and I want to be able to look back and remind myself, that there could be no way I am as tired as I have been this past month.  Isabelle was a good sleeper when she was little, as in a few weeks old.  She wasn't even so bad when she was 6 or 7 months old.  When I returned back to work full time, I remember for the first 4-6 weeks being exhausted with her being up a couple of times during the night.  Even that I'd take back for what we've been going though the last few weeks.  When Isabelle was so sick and in the hospital, the only way we could get her to sleep is if I would hold her sitting up in a chair.  She'd be propped up so she could breath and I'd rock her for hour after hour.  I think she liked the calming beat of my heart and the warmth and safety of my arms.  I guess I couldn't blame her after all the poking and prodding they had done to her.  For some naive reason, I thought that when we'd get back home, she'd gladly return to her bed and to sleeping for several hours at a time.  I was WRONG.  Why in the world did I ever let her get so comfy on my lap and use to the hours of rocking.  That now has become her favorite way to sleep, actually the only way to get her to sleep.  Six and seven times up during the night are good nights.  Jarrett and I can't wait for the day when she sleeps through the night, even at this point we'd like 3 good hours of continuous sleep.  Oh and I've personally set a goal that by the time she turns 1, she's sleeping at least for 8 or 9 hours straight.  We shall see how it goes.

Finally, Isabelle said her first official words.  Momma and Dada and although I think Dada was technically her first word, Jarrett so kindly insists that it was actually Momma since she sometimes calls random objects,(Jack, the tv, her toys) Dada, while Momma is reserved for me as she crawls to my legs and pulls herself up, clearly indicating she wants to be held.  Hearing her call us those names is one of the best sounds of my life.  Hearing her identify us is so magical and a gift each time.  I will never forget how lucky I am to be these children's mom.

11 months
How can it be?  How can it be?  I sound like a broken record.  In less than a month, our daughter will be a year.  How strange does it sound that Isabelle is in her last month of firsts.  Now 11 months, I look at Isabelle and now see her as a little girl, a toddler, no longer a baby. 

Of course she still likes to be rocked and held, but more and more she's exploring the world by her own hands and feet.  Isabelle is a super crawler, not yet walking, she prefers to cruise around our house on all fours.  I think part of it is the tile scares her, with 1 or 2 attempts to take a step resulting in a ouwie, she's safer on all fours.  One of her favorite games to play is "Get you"  where you tell her obviously that you're going to get her, and then chase behind her to the carpet.  She loves it and thinks it is soo funny.  Okay maybe mom likes the game too.  She LOVES to get into everything.  From our pots and pans cabinet to the Tupperware drawer, and her favorite the under the sick counter where the dish soap is.  We've learned child proof locks, are actually adult proof.  In fact they're super easy for babies to get into.  And if she's not in the cabinet under the sink, she's over by Jack's food and water.  Another favorite thing to do, dump jacks food and then pour his water all over the food and yourself.  I almost think it is a game of how many messes can I make for mom. 

The good thing is, that although she is mobile, she is also very verbal.  Our Belle does not stop talking.  From babbling to shrieking to giggling, it is always obvious where she is.  She's now perfected the momma, dadda and has added in baba for bottle and jaaa for Jack.  She just starting to figure out how to say her brother names, but there is no doubt she LOVES them.  In our hallways where the three kids pictures are, she loves to look at all three.  She smiles at each one, especially her own and when I ask her to show me where Michael or Gabriel is, she points to each one (when the correct name is said).  And when they get home from school or we are tucking them in at night for bed, she is all smiles and leans into give them one of her famous kisses.

It is the classic open mouth, full of drool, slobber all over your face kiss.  It is the greatest kiss and the boys are getting use to the drool now.  At least they dont' say "yuck" anymore. Speaking of bed, Isabelle has been getting better at sleeping and in fact was sleeping through the night for just over 2 weeks, (Yay!!!!), and just as Jarrett and I were beginning to think we had a great thing going, she got another ear infection and our pattern left as quickly as it came.  So with 2 more ear infections this month, Isabelle is also getting set up for a special birthday present... tubes.  The doctor assures me it is a simple surgery and one that will help with the number of ear infections.  It still scares mom and we pray it will help.  This latest round of ear infection brought with thrush, accompanied by a rash due to an allergy to penicillin based medicines.  And when we visited with the specialist just last week, he said she had another ear infection, less than 10 days after getting over the previous one.  I can't argue with him, I guess we have to do something to break this ear infection train we've been on.

Although she's been fighting ear infections, cold and an allergic breakout, her appetite has been consistent.  She is pretty much on all table food and we are trying to take away the afternoon bottle.  Lord knows, we have a big hurdle to overcome when it comes to removing the bottles completely so we are slowly starting that process.  Some of her favorite foods are now spaghetti, applesauce, fish, rice, bananas, cheese, crackers, graham crackers, and homemade bread. 

Some of her favorite toys are the little people Disney princesses Nana and Papa gave her for Christmas, a bus to push them around in, a camera and of course Tigger.  Oh and I can't forget to mention her blankie.  Oh my goodness does she love her blankie Nana made.  She takes it everywhere she goes, and the day care is begging me to have Nana make about 10 more, as the kids there all fight over who gets her blanket.  Usually most days I pick it up to find it sealed up tightly in a bag. "You're going to want to wash this."  the teacher tells me.  I ask, "Oh did she eat her lunch with it again?"  "Um no, Emily did though. "  Or I'll get, "Um Tyler was holding it and spit up on it"  I've heard several stories like that.

Isabelle is finally back up to 17lbs and with the way she's been eating her table food, I'll be interested to see if at her 12 month check up she's moved into the 15%.  I'm thankful this month she's been pretty healthy and as we look forward to her beginning this next year of her life, I look back on the past 12 months with nothing but pure happiness and love.

Although the baby stage was so quick, I am truly thankful for the opportunity to experience it.  Just like watching life through Gabriel and Michael's eyes is magical, watching life through Isabelle's eyes is just as great.  I'm honestly sad to see my baby growing up so quickly, but I know, as with each stage of being a parent and watching your kids grow, there are many things to celebrate and enjoy.

So until next month
(or maybe just 2 days),
Angie

Big chair...

Guess who tries to be just like her brothers?  See this is the art table/homework table/coloring table the boys use to do, well all of the above.  It is one of Isabelle's favorite toys and if the boys are at the table, you can guarentee she'll be right over by them standing on the corner of the table trying to steal their colors, their homwork papers or books.

 

The other day when she was home sick (yes she has a double ear infection in these photos), she found herself over at their table searching for something of theirs to touch.  I decided to give her a chance to sit at the table, and when I said, "who's the big girl?" it was pretty obvious, she was enjoying every moment.

I'm the big girl mommy!  This is MY table now!

 

Did you hear me?  I said MY table.

And my new book.  Look how high I can hold it!

It really is a nice book mommy.  I think I'll draw on it.

Let's look at the pages...

See this is what my brothers do.. they are always looking at something and holding their hands like this...

I told you mommy, don't get too close, I'm working.  I'm a big girl now.

I mean it mommy.  I'm a big girl and I don't want to get out of this chair.

Until next time,

Angie