Early Mornings

I am sitting in a very quiet house wondering why I am the only one still not sleeping.  Isabelle woke up about 6:30 to eat but then went right back to sleep.  She is currently laying in my spot so I had to move over to Ryan's. 

 The boys are tucked away under their beds sound asleep. 

They have been enjoying their summer nights of staying up way too late and then we have to wake them up in the mornings.  Our boys are smart and they are playing the "we are not used to the new house" card so they request every night to sleep under their beds instead of in their beds.  Not sure what the comfort is for them, but we are going with it for now.  Had I known that they would enjoy sleeping on the floor rather than in a nice comfortable bed, I would have saved a little money when purchasing their new comfortable beds.
I haven't learned the concept of sleep when your baby is sleeping.  I have tried but then my mind races with things that I could be getting done and the nap is over.  I think I lasted about 5 minutes yesterday before I was in the kitchen doing some organizing.  Then, when I really could use a nap and feel like I am going to fall asleep standing up... Isabelle is wide awake.  Thankfully, Isabelle is a great sleeper at night so I am not waking up ever 2 hours like I did with the boys.  Although, I will hopefully get smart one of these nights and actually go to bed when she does so I can get a full nights sleep.  I am returning to work next week so I need to get everyone back on a regular schedule since the early mornings are coming fast.
But right now... I am enjoying being lazy and waking up slowly listening to Isabelle make all of her noises.  The fast pace of my world can wait a few more days.
And now, that I am just finishing my peaceful blog post, I have one little boy that just woke up and is asking to eat a twinkie for breakfast.  I already let my kids sleep on the floor, would allowing them to eat a twinkie for breakfast make me sound any worse??
My few minutes of peace and quiet have now come to an end and the day has begun. 

First therapy session

Isabelle had her first physical therapy session this morning.  She was a real trooper.  I love that her therapy will take place in our home.  It is much more comfortable and I think as Isabelle gets a little older, she will enjoy being in her own environment while getting a work out.  Mrs. T is great with Isabelle.  She is very loving while making sure Isabelle doesn't cheat during her exercising.  I made sure to make some mental notes during the session so we can start doing some of the exercises at home to help build up her strength.

Since Isabelle is so young, she will begin having sessions every 2 weeks.  I am excited to see the progress she will make and the milestones she will reach.

Isabelle having some tummy time before her session.  Please forgive her hand gesture.  We had a little talk about how inappropriate that was.

This is Isabelle after her session.  Mrs. T wore her out.

 

 

Moving in

We have been busy moving everything from the old house into the new house.  Surprisingly, for such a small home it held a ton of junk stuff.  We have had a lot of help moving so we have actually gotten a lot accomplished in just a few days.  My goal is to be completely moved in by the time I return to work which is next week.  I think I can make that happen.
We have all pitched in with putting things together.  Even the boys!

Isabelle's cubby organizer was put together with love

Do you see his concentration?!?

I even got busy and put Isabelle's bouncy seat together mostly by myself.  She loves her new chair.

And this is where we find Isabelle most of the time.  All of this moving has been rough!

Brotherly love...

Isabelle's protector.  Ethan is never too far from her.

Catching up...

We have been busy with moving and getting adjusted so I am now sitting down to catch up with blogging.
It is so nice to be in our new home and to be less cramped.  We still have a lot to do before we are finished but we are enjoying our new space.  We did get hit by the neighborhood pranksters our second night.  We heard the doorbell ring late Sunday night. We didn't think anything of it when we opened the door and no one was there.  The next morning, we woke up to find glitter sprinkled all over the windshield.  Welcome to the neighborhood!!  If that is as bad as the pranks get, then we can handle it.
A few weekends ago, we had dinner at a friends house then headed over the Jetty's so the boys could swim and catch some sand crabs.  They had a blast!!

Nice sunset!

Poor Isabelle- Daddy didn't realize as he was carrying her in her car set, his flip flops were flicking sand right in Isabelle's face.  

Then, we spent a little more time at the pool.  This is the boy's new favorite hang out.  Unfortunately, we didn't take full advantage of this amenity before we moved.  We will have to sneak over there a few more times before we rent the house out. 

My boys

Both boys trying to get on Daddy's shoulders.  Didn't work out so great.

Isabelle relaxing in the shade

The boys have been good sports with the move.  We were without TV for 2 whole days (they thought they would die!!) so they actually had to play with their toys in their new play room and surprisingly they managed not to fight too much.   We also had to find different ways to amuse ourselves often times at Isabelle's expense.

We dressed her up in these silly sock rattles.  She is a bit too young to know what to do with them but we found them entertaining.
We have kept the boys cooped up in the house so we could get things organized so we will have to head to the pool for some much needed relaxing time.

Isabelle's first assesment

Who knew waking up today that I would be so emotional and I don't think I can get away with blaming the tears on hormones for much longer.
We met with Isabelle's physical therapist and RN today and we are excited to be working with them for the next 3 years.  They did the initial assessment to determine Isabelle's baseline and determine what resources she will need and how often.  We were asked a lot of questions while the therapist worked with Isabelle.  We found out that Isabelle does have low muscle tone which we knew her neck was floppy but we weren't aware her other limbs were that affected by the low tone.  Her arms often lay open to her side (As we like to say, it looks like she is praising Jesus) and she moves them around all of the time but we were told that she is having to work extra hard to fight gravity and right now... gravity is winning.  So soon we will learn the right exercises to help her build her tone.  It will be important that she learns the proper way to do things because she will probably try and cheat and learn the easy way instead of the correct way. At first, Isabelle will have to work harder than most in order to get the same outcome.  After hearing the outcome of the assessment, we were encouraged about getting Isabelle started early and the progress that she will make.
But...
As soon as everyone left and Isabelle and I were left alone in the house it hit me and I broke down and cried for a while.  I got myself pulled together and packed us up in the car and then I cried all the way to the store.  See... I wasn't kidding about being emotional.  I knew in my mind and heart that Isabelle would have delays and struggle in order to do the same things "typical" children can do but to actually hear it and it be confirmed was very difficult.  She is my special little girl and I don't want life to be hard for her.  I want to protect her as any mother would want to do for their child.  With this being said, I also know in my heart that Isabelle will learn and reach each milestone that the "typical" child does even if it is in her own timing and that is what gives me hope.
I am grateful that this program is offered to Isabelle and believe me... we are going to take full advantage of it.  Let the exercising and learning begin!!

Big brother

Look who loves holding his little sister now!!