3 Months Old

Allyson turned 3 months old yesterday! She is getting so big and has learned lots of new things this last month including how to grab toys (and clothes and hair) and put things in her mouth. She loves to play on the floor with her toys but still prefers laying on her back to her tummy. She has not yet rolled over but we expect that to come soon, she can get herself rocking pretty well now and is starting to use her arms a little. She is still very awake and active during the day and sleeps between 6 and 8 hours at night. I have been trying to get a bedtime routine together with her but it hasn't really been very effective yet. I haven't been able to just put her to bed when she is awake which is something I need to work on. She normally falls asleep after a feeding between 11 and 12 but I am really hoping we can move things up. Ive been trying to take her into her room for some quiet time and feeding a little earlier each night but the holidays have kind of put a kink in that. I start work on Monday so I hope it wont be too hard to adjust the schedule now that she will have to wake up earlier to allow me time to feed her, dress her, get her to daycare and myself to work by 8am.

This month included another trip to Wisconsin for Ally to celebrate her first Christmas as well as a few other holiday parties in town. She saw her first snow and her set up her first Christmas tree too. She has been keeping busy on her wiggle worm play mat and enjoys going to women's basketball games to cheer on the Boilers and watching Purdue men's basketball on TV at home. She doesn't have her next doctors appointment until next month but we are sure she is growing like crazy. She is almost out of her 3 month size clothes and is moving on to the 3-6 size, which has now been rotated into her closet and drawers. Here are some of our favorite photos from this last month. Enjoy!

A Baby's First Christmas

Thanks to some cooperative weather, we were able to get home to my parents for Christmas day celebrations. We left early on Christmas Eve and went to my dads for the annual "Christmas Eve ham" with my grandparents. Allyson is great in the car and slept almost the whole way. We were concerned about the weather but we left early in the morning and the threat of bad weather must have kept everyone off the roads because there was no traffic and it ended up being one of the quickest drives ever. Our Christmas eve tradition also includes watching Christmas Vacation but Ally missed out on most of that as she was tired out from playing with my dad and grandparents. On Christmas Day, we got up and opened presents with dad before heading over to mom's for the big family event. Ally had gotten so many Christmas outfits when she was born, it was hard to decide what she was going to wear first! She had a few outfit changes on Christmas Eve but managed to stay in her red and pink party dress for most of Christmas day. She was able to meet my aunt, uncle and cousins that she wasn't able to see last time we were home and spend some quality time with grandma Marilyn in the rocking chair. Of course she missed out on all of the delicious food and slept through the presents but she had fun playing and was exhausted at night. Santa brought Ally lots of great toys and cute clothes at both of my parents houses...she is such a lucky girl! We came back home on Sunday to have another Christmas with her other grandparents. The car was packed so full we barely fit but the weather cooperated again for the most part and we came home to a slippery highway and lots of snow. Ally again slept through the presents and we couldn't fit them in the car so she still doesn't know what kind of goodies she got. Ella stayed with Karl's parents and spent Christmas playing with Bob and getting lots of attention and love. She is now back to her depressed self at home but has lots of new toys and treats to enjoy. We had a great time celebrating the Holidays as a family and are very thankful for all of the gifts we received!

For the first time, I decided our house needed some holiday decor so I surprised Karl with a tree. Ally and I decorated it with some lights and ornaments, nothing too crazy but enough for us. We also got new stockings and hung them up by the fireplace. Over the years we have received a few ornaments for special occasions but we never displayed them until now. Honestly, I was surprised I even remembered where we put them. I am looking forward to doing this with Ally each year and adding new ornaments to the tree. She loved the lights and colored balls already so it will only get better!

Holiday Cheer

Happy Holidays!

Love: Karl, Erin, Ally & Ella

Big Girl

Now that Ally can hold her head up well, we decided to test out the Bumpo seat. She didn't hate it but she certainly wasn't too excited about it. She really likes to hold her head up and look around and can sit up when someone is holding her but she didn't really know what to think of doing it alone. Ella was very interested in what was going on as you can see.

I just thought this shirt was so cute! Ally looked so grown up wearing jeans- if only they weren't so hard to get on and off when its time for a diaper change. She was pretty happy playing on the floor the other day so I tried to capture a smile but the camera just doesn't seem to take the picture fast enough to get it.

Visiting Corey

This past weekend we took a trip to Bloomington, IL to visit Corey. He had to work on Saturday night so we had lunch with him then went to the ISU basketball game. Ally enjoyed the atmosphere much better there since it wasn't nearly as loud as Mackey Arena. The Redbirds won the game and we got to see Corey in all of his "ticket office staff" glory. Mom and Dew also made the trip so it was a fun weekend. Ally loves her uncle Corey!

Karl carrying Ally into the game in the Bjorn

Ally sporting her winter hat

Uncle Corey with Ally in her red and white Redbirds gear (its the only red she owns!)

Home Videos Take 1

Just before Ally was born, Karl bought one of the new HD Flip video cameras. Its a super small digital video camera we can use to record and document things then plug right into the computer to make movies. Its really easy to use and here are my first attempts: Ally enjoying some tummy time followed by Ella stealing her toy. As I learn more about it, I hope to get more advanced with my movie making.

2 Month Check-Up

Today Ally had her two month check up with our pediatrician, Dr. Ho. She checked out perfectly weighing in at 11.5 pounds and 22.25 inches in length. She really has grown so much! This puts her in the 65% for weight and the 55% for height but this will change as she grows. Today she also got her first round of shots- 2 in the left leg, 1 in the right leg and one given orally. She took them like a champ and only cried for a brief second. We go back for our next visit in another two months.

2 Months Old

While we were in Oshkosh, Ally celebrated her two month birthday. She has really changed a lot since week 6 and seems noticeably bigger in size, more expressive and much more talkative. She can hold her head up very well when sitting and is still working to push herself up with her hands when she is on her tummy. She makes all kinds of noises and even smiles at you when she is happy or you do something she likes. She has her two month check-up and gets her first round of shots tomorrow so I will have her stats to report then. Here are some of the things that I have learned in the first two months of her life (in no particular order):

- No two brands of diapers and wipes are the same. Newborn huggies are bigger than newborn pampers and huggies wipes are terrible! We just graduated to size 1 diapers last week and our current favorite is Pampers.
- Ally hates to have a wet diaper. If she seems to start crying for no reason, its a safe bet that she is in need of a new diaper. On the same subject- don't jump the gun or she will pee mid change then you have to start all over and include a change of clothes.
- The swing is awesome! She is now starting to enjoy it so I don't feel bad putting her in it so I can get some things done. Sometimes she falls asleep but most of the time she just looks at things.
- Managing a dog and a baby is not easy, I don't know how people with multiple kids handle it if I can barely get the dog outside while Ally is awake.
- Having family around is priceless. Its hard not being near my family all the time but its awesome to see everyone interact with Ally when we do get to see them. Even with Karl's parents in town we don't see them that much so the time she does spend with everyone is even more special. She is a lucky girl!
- I enjoy being home with Ally during the day but I miss work. Not actually doing work but I really miss being in the loop and going to events.
- Driving with a screaming child in the back stresses me out, I hate it but hopefully I get over it because there is usually nothing I can do about it.
- Taking a shower is one of the highlights of my day. I have always used showers as my "thinking time" but now it really is my only time to myself so I like it even more. There is no way I could survive without a daily shower.
- Its hard to love a new baby, a dog and a husband equally- someone is always feeling left out or attention deprived. Its a work in progress to ensure that Karl and I aren't always the last ones to have their needs met.
- Nursing is a much harder undertaking than I ever expected but I am proud of myself for sticking it out and continuing to improve every week. Seems like any idiot can do it but that is not true!
- Baby girl clothes are so cute and even though we usually aren't going anywhere where anyone will see what she has on, I still feel the need to think carefully about what she is going to wear each day. I know it won't last long and I know she doesn't care but I try to switch up colors and styles each day.
- Sleep sacks are a great invention as is the bundle me for the car seat. A warm baby is a happy baby.
- I can run on much less sleep than I ever thought possible and I can now fall asleep instantly anywhere/anytime.

Here are some of my favorite photos from month two with Allyson:

Happy Thanksgiving

To celebrate Allyson's first Thanksgiving we packed up everyone (baby, dog and injured Karl) and headed to Oshkosh. Karl's parents went on a cruise over the holiday so we went to visit my family and spend some time there. It was quite the chore to get everything packed and the car loaded but once we finally got on the road, everything went fairly well. Both Ally and Ella slept almost the whole way- Ella riding shotgun and me and Ally in the back. We enjoyed our first Thanksgiving meal of the day with Grandma Sandy, Grandpa Paul, Aunt Judy, dad and Patty then we headed over to Aunt Kelly's for Thanksgiving meal #2 with the other side of the family. Ally was loved by everyone and Ella got to spend time running around with Jake in a big fenced in yard at Kelly's. Karl was able to get a walking boot right before we left and has learned how to use it enough so he doesn't have to use the walker. He is still in some pain and his staples look pretty nasty but its healing well and he was able to get around easily while we were away. We were able to spend almost a week there so Ally could have lots of time with the family to show off how much she has grown. We visited the outlet mall, went to brunch at Robbins (were Ally decided to fill her entire diaper and outfit with poop, requiring an immediate wardrobe change and lots of laundry when we got back to dad's house) and just relaxed. Ally was given this bib as a gift to celebrate her first Thanksgiving so we had to show it off during dinner.