Como Zoo

I couldn't resist putting these pictures side-by-side!

Reading

Makayla loves to read and Allie loves to be read to! Allie could sit in her seat forever if you read to her. Even at night when we read our stories before bed, Allie will sit in your lap very calm. Normally she squirms wanting to be entertained.

Sleeping Through The Night

Allie started sleeping through the night the day before Mother's Day, what a great gift! Though, no matter what time she goes to bed, she wakes up between 5am - 6:30am. She will eat about 6oz and then immediately go back to sleep for 2-4 more hours.

Sisters

A Visit With Nana

My parents came up on Saturday morning to spend the night. Papa refuses to hold babies once they start moving their legs and arms ... hence all the pictures with Nana.

Our Little Hurley

Allie has been given the nickname Hurley, stems from the outfits our neighbor gave us.

She is growing like a weed, eating 4-6 ounces every 3-4 hours. A pro at the bottle, she can now take it anywhere and everywhere. She will even take a pacifier on a good day to sooth her. Allie has officially switched over to formula as I stopped producing a lot of milk once I got back to work ... we are on day 4.

She talks up a storm and said her first word about three weeks ago. Click here to see the video. A few weeks before this video, Dwight was playing with Allie under her play gym. She was looking up at Alan's memorial displayed on our wall. Dwight asked her if she saw Papa to say Hi and sure enough she did, plain as day. Both Dwight and I looked at each other in shock, he asked her to do it again and sure enough she did! She only says Hi to Dwight but the other day I was showing Makayla her one year scrapbook with Alan's picture. We were talking about him, as soon as I left the room with the scrapbook Allie looked at Makayla and said Hi! We believe Alan is at work here!

Bicep Tendonitis

Saturday, coming back from the Swanson's, my left arm started to hurt at the elbow. Sometimes this happens to me on long car trips because my arm was resting on the arm rest for a long period of time. On Mother's Day it moved to my shoulder and then when I woke up Monday morning I couldn't move my arm. I was in incredible pain when I lifted Allie and it hurt worse to change her diaper. My range of motion was limited, I couldn't raise my hand up to touch my nose, comb my hair or even put on a shirt.

I went to the doctor and she diagnosed me with bicep tendonitis. Bicep tendonitis also called bicipital tendonitis, is inflammation in the main tendon that attaches the top of the biceps muscle to the shoulder. The most common cause is overuse from certain types of work or sports activities. Biceps tendonitis may develop gradually from the effects of wear and tear, or it can happen suddenly from a direct injury. The tendon may also become inflamed in response to other problems in the shoulder, such as rotator cuff tears, impingement, or instability.

My doctor thinks I have been over-working my left arm with carrying the carrier and Allie that when my arm rested the inflammation settled in. She gave me some pain medication and then recommended physical therapy. Thankfully, my arm got better as the week went on and I haven't had to schedule physical therapy.

Happy Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day filled with lots of love from my two girls. Makayla made me a book of poems and her writings at school, along with a bookmark that had her school picture on it. I also received Justin Timberlake's new CD, the 20/20 Experience. They took me out for lunch at Culver's where all the moms received free ice cream.

A Visit With The Swansons

Last Saturday we went down to Nevada for the day to visit with Dwight's brother and his family. It was their first time meeting Allie, she was surrounded by lots of love, hugs and kisses!  The cousins had fun time playing at the park and building a fort in the sun room.

Nice Weather

We finally had some nice weather for Makayla to play outside with her friends and for us to figure out that she has grown out of all ... yes, all her shorts and Capri's! Her hips are big and her legs are long so we had to make a shopping trip to Target to pick out some much needed summer attire.

As you can see from many of the pictures she has been growing out her hair for Locks of Love. She needs to grow out more than 10 inches to donate and we are almost there. She has gone in for trims and deep conditioning treatments to make sure her hair is healthy to donate. She decided to donate her hair after a good friend of mine from work was diagnosed with lung cancer and had lost all her hair. Since her diagnoses in September, Makayla has been growing her hair out. What a thoughtful girl we have!

Allie's 2 Month Check-Up

Allie had her 2 month check-up on Wednesday.  She is now at 11 pounds, 4 ounces (62%) and is 22.5 inches long (57%). She received three shots, DTap/DTP/DT, Hib, Polio, Hepatitis B and Pneumococcal.  Poor thing cried for a minute but Dwight eventually had to give her some Tylenol later in the afternoon. Her next check-up will be at 4 months.

Back At Work



On Monday I went back to work. Dwight took this last week off so I could get settled in and work longer if I needed to. I think it was harder to go back this time around just because I really enjoyed Allie. Being a first time mom with Makayla it was hard because I didn't know what to do or what to expect but it came to us naturally the second time. It's nice though to be around adults again and sure enough my first week was challenging with serious employee injuries and a surprise visit from OSHA that I had to handle. Yikes! This week will be the true test with both Dwight and I working, Makayla in school and now juggling time with a baby .... meanwhile being single parents until Thursday evening. It's going to be a challenge for sure!

2 Months Old

Allie is 2 Months Old!

She loves to smile, laugh at sissy and say "Hi" ... yes, she really does.

Loves to suck on her hand and likes to be read to.

Only likes cat naps ... she's a true Janssen for sure!

Only takes her bottle underneath her play gym and occasionally in mom's lap.

She taps her head with her fingers while she eats and pulls on her hair.

Loves bath time and screams when she has to get out.