At The Park

 

(I'm having a hard time with blogger tonight with the sizing of my pictures)

Hanging Out

 

Allie hanging out in the bumbo seat. Her gums are so white, her teeth have to be popping through soon. She is a drooling machine and wants to put everything in her mouth. We started putting her in a bib because her shirts would be soaking wet.



Last Week of School

 

 

Makayla is an official 3rd grader! Last day of school was on Wednesday and it was a busy half week. They had their talent show on Monday, it was also Hollywood Day ... Makayla dressed in her boa and sunglasses. I came to have lunch with her. On Tuesday was Beach Day but it was freezing so she didn't wear her beach attire. Dwight and Allie had lunch with her on the last day of school. Usually we give her a bucket of stuff for the summer, this year we gave her a bunch of writing supplies.



Almost Summer Time

 

My good friend, Paulette, hashed a plan with Dwight to surprise me by babysitting so we could go out on a date. If you know our nervous Nelly, Makayla, I'm very shocked that she allowed it. She had such a good time with Paulette, she kept asking when she could come back to watch them again.

 

Dwight and I were able to run a few errands before our movie started. We saw Hangover III ... if anyone happens to see it, stay for the credits!

 

 

We also worked on our Swanson summer bucket list this weekend. We have been collecting ideas of what we would like to do this summer, Makayla is shown here typing them up. Some of the things include: Go to a Twin's Game, Visit the Minnesota Zoo, Play at a Splash Park, Go to the Beach, etc.

 

Makayla is also showing me her typing skills, in computer class they are teaching them how to use the keyboard. She only has three more days of school left! Makayla is super excited for summer!

 

3 Months Old

 

Allie is 3 months old!

 

She is a pro at the bottle and still pulls her hair when she eats.

She giggles when you tickle her belly and side.

She is more regulated on her naps and loves walks with daddy.

She holds her head up and loves to watch what is going on.

 

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.