The Blankenship Family: October 2009

Well, we never mean to go as long as we do in between posts, but as you can imagine, life at the Blankenship household has been anything but standard in terms of schedules and free time, especially in the first few months of my residency. Well, here is an update on our family since our last post, as well as some pics. I just finished working on the general surgery service, which means I had to wake up by 3:15 AM just to get to the hospital in time for the day, and of course days that I am on call are even worse since I routinely work 30+ hour shifts on those days, no matter what service I am on, with very few exceptions. That makes for one tired Mommy and wife who just wants to love on her family and pretend she doesn't have a career. My schedule will be somewhat better this month, and you better believe that if you see me outside of the hospital, I will be clinging to my baby with my husband close by.

We were able to go out onto the lake with my family a couple of times in August/Sept., so Karis was introduced to the boating/lake experience for the first time. Although, Jared and I actually went out boating on the day I told him I was pregnant, so if you count that, it was technically not her first experience- we start them early in my family :) It ended up being a bit chilly on our second trip to the lake, so we pretty much kept Karis wrapped up in a beach towel most of the time. She did however love the way it felt for the breeze to blow through her "hair." Jared and Kevin (our bro-in-law) got some tubing in, despite the cool water that day.

On October 2, Jared and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Jared's sister, Jenna, watched Karis while Jared and I went out on a much needed date. We enjoyed dinner at Hennen's in downtown Chattanooga, and then strolled over to a outdoor bluegrass concert next to the river. We can't believe it's been 5 years unless we picture all of the things we've done and places we've been since we were married. From Clarksville to Philly to Chattanooga. And then there's that little spunky bundle of joy...

[caption id="attachment_260" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="5th Anniv. overlooking downtown Chatty"]

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Karis will be 9 months old next week. She started eating baby food a couple of months ago, and has established a few favorites. For the past few weeks, her top few picks are bananas (understandable), green beans (which have very little flavor but taste like raw green beans), squash (as of this week), and one of her steady favs, sweet potatoes.

Karis brings us a lot of joy and laughter every day. She has earned the nickname "turbo roller" since she immediately starts turbo rolling as soon as you lay her down anywhere, including her changing table. She will flash her 2-toothed smile at anyone who will pay attention to her, and loves to hear the range of her own voice. Here are some pics of everyday life with our baby over the last couple of months:

[caption id="attachment_268" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Giving her butterfly a piggyback ride. Still not sure how this happened..."]