Merry Christmas!

Wishing you many blessings this holiday season!

Merry Christmas!

Love, the Allens

6 months

Baby Girl is 6 months old.

Wow, how time flies by.

What is her life like as a sixth month old?

She is still our smiley girl, but reserves most all of her smiles for her mommy and daddy and people she knows. When strangers say 'hi' to her while out shopping she typically just looks at them with a serious face like she is trying to figure out why they are talking to her.

I caught her holding hands with Daddy when we got to the doctor's office, but I told her it was okay because I like to hold his hand too!

We went to her 6 month well-visit and she got more immunizations, the seasonal flu, and the H1N1 flu shot. Her recovery time (aka. length of screaming and crying!) at the doctor was noticeably shorter than the last few visits. She must be getting braver in her old age! She weighs 18.8 lbs (90th percentile), is 27 inches long (still off the charts) and her head measures 42 inches (50th percentile).

Sitting up like a big girl while waiting on the doctor.

She nurses 4 times a day now (every 4 hours between wake up and bedtime) and eats puree fruits/veggies and oatmeal in the morning and in the evening. She LOVES to eat and hasn't turned down anything new that I have offered. She drinks undiluted pear juice (per the doctors orders for her constipation) or water from her sippy cup and loves it. I am not sure why she hated the bottle so much considering how well she is doing with the sippy cup. She has even taken breast milk from it a time or two, so we may explore that option more in the future!!

She rolls over very well now and does it frequently. She even rolls over while getting her diaper changed when we do it on the floor. She is one wiggly little girl! Tonight I even found her under the coffee table!She picks up pretty much anything she wants and can manipulate toys with her hands well. Her favorite toys are ones she can get into her mouth, ones that make noise, and things that light up. She requires support to sit up, but I am looking forward to the day where she can sit on her own. I just feel bad always having to lay her down on the floor. Life must get rather boring when your always on your back or belly! She does like to sit in her Bumbo though. She also still loves her exersaucer and jumparoo.

Her sleeping habits continue on the same pattern although our nights without wake-ups are more frequent, which is wonderful! is great to put her down at 7:30 and not hear a peep from her until 7ish the next morning! It is a nice break for me. When she does wake at night we are working to settle her without feeding her. Those feedings are more of habit rather than need, and we are working to break that habit slowly but surely, but that doesn't always work. I think after we are done traveling this next week we will really work at it. However, in regards to sleeping I have made major headway on her putting herself to sleep!! Praise God! We go through the same routine prior to each nap and/or bedtime and I lay her in her crib sleepy but still awake. About 70% of the time she then goes to sleep on her own. Sometimes she plays a bit, other times she cries a bit, and other times she just simply drifts off to sleep! It has taken consistency and determination, but I feel that we are definitely making progress.

Her language development is still random consonant and vowel sounds. I haven't picked up on any combinations (e.g., 'ma ma') yet, but I am listening hard! The speech pathologist in me can't help but continually analyze her vocalizations! I am introducing sign language to her as well in simple words and songs, which is fun. I like that my education is making a difference in my own child's life. I haven't signed in a long while and I have enjoyed doing it more. It is amazing how quickly it has come back!

I am avoiding packing by writing all of this, so I need to get refocused on the task at hand! We leave for Indiana tomorrow and I have so much still to do!!!!!!

I still believe...

I was talking to one of my sisters the other night and she told me about the letter her daughter wrote to Santa this year. In her letter she said, "I know that some people say your aren't real, but I still believe". This statement touched my heart because I think, at the young age of ten, my niece has it all figured out!

Of course she needs to believe! And so do I! And so do you! It is Santa Claus, after all! He stands for all things magical, and good, and exciting. He represents giving at its greatest. One man gives a gift to every child in the world in one night- you can get much more selfless than that!

I remember the magic of Santa Claus very well. As a child, nothing got my heart racing like the anticipation of waking up Christmas morning to the surprise of a living room filled with toys and stockings filled with candy and special treats.

Although I may not have realized it at the time, it didn't matter much what was underneath the wrapping paper or inside the stockings. It was the magic of the moment that really made it special -the paper strewn about, Dad in the same grey sweat pants he wore every single Christmas (we have the pictures to prove it!), me and my sisters in our new matching holiday pajamas, riding our brand new bikes in the snow with our winter coats over our pjs, and smiling with excitement when someone opened a gift I had picked just for them. Those are the moments that make Christmas mornings some of my favorite childhood memories. And although Santa wasn't responsible for any of those memories, he sure got the morning started off on the right foot!

There is something contagious about believing in something when your aren't really sure if you should, and then seeing it happen right before your very eyes. The anticipation, the smiles, and the magic of it all makes it something worth believing in even as adults. Unfortunately, we live in a world where there is too much crime, hate, and tragedy and I am enlightened by the thought of a man (along with his reindeer and sleigh) bringing goodness and joy to others.

Now I know that Santa Claus is not the reason for the season, but believing in him is a tradition that I will pass on to our children. I have heard of parents who don't tell their children about Santa because they do not want to encourage white lies or break their children's trust. Come on! Really? I am here to say that I still believe, and I hope you do too!

busy girl...

We have been having lots of fun the last week. Olivia has had three birthday parties over the past two weekends and we also went to a "Reveal the Sex" oyster roast for our friends Mary Beth & Andy. We discovered, at the same time as them, that they are being blessed with twin boys! Such great news as they will be wonderful parents!

Below are some pictures from a few of our adventures.

Olivia sitting up like a big girl (with some help from Auntie Christina) at the oyster roast. Grandma Allen made her hat and it is a big hit everywhere she wears it.

Olivia met Kieran, one of our friend's triplets, at the birthday party for him, his brother and sister. He was intrigued by Olivia and kept putting his finger in her mouth. It was rather amusing because she didn't seem to mind! oh no!

After the triplet's birthday party we went straight to the twin's third birthday party! Can they really be that old? Somehow we managed to not get any pictures of them that day. Hmmm. They were too busy running around Gymboree, I suppose.

Come on, Molly Paige, smile for the camera!!

Olivia still likes to snuggle with Auntie Emily.

Hanging with Molly Paige.

video time!

Laughing, bouncing, rolling - what a week we have had!!

First up, you will see proof that I am the funniest person around. All I was doing was turning my head side to side and it got this reaction! If I had known all along that was all it took then I wouldn't have wasted so much time on all of those silly faces and noises!

Next up is Baby Girl in her jumparoo that our neighbor loaned us (thanks Robbins family!). She has always enjoyed it, but mostly for the toys. However, today she discovered that jumping is way more fun than any toy ever could be!

Last you will see our rolling girl. She can now consistently roll both ways and likes to go back and forth. She gets more efficient with it each and every day. I was rather pleased with myself the other night when I caught both her belly-to-back and back-to-belly rolls on camera within a few minutes of each other. Also, please enjoy the Christmas music ;)

a new normal.

Change is always hard. No matter how exciting or anticipated there is always an adjustment period. However, eventually you adjust to your 'new normal' and often it is hard to even remember what life was like before the big change.

I thought my adjustment to being a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) would be a little tough. Given how I agonized over my decision and dreaded telling my boss, I thought that I would have a bit of regret, especially in these first few weeks. Also, I have some friends who really didn't embrace the SAHM gig, which made me wonder if I would have some trouble adjusting too. But truth be told, I love my new life!

The words that were casually mentioned to me the weekend before I drafted my resignation letter hit the nail on the head. It really was a matter of what I was walking towards rather than what I was leaving behind. My job will always be there. Well, not in the true sense of that statement considering they have filled my position, but A job will always be there. On the other hand, Baby Girl will never be a baby again. The things that I would have missed these past 4 weeks could already fill up several pages in her baby book.

My new normal isn't all about staring at a baby and waiting for her to do something new and exciting (although she is rolling rather consistently now and I love to admire her skills!). My days are filled with lots of productive tasks, believe it or not. I think the perception of what a SAHM does is part of the reason I had some anxiety over my decision. I thought I would have lots of free time on my hands, thus creating a situation where I had time to feel regret, loneliness, and boredom. Well, I am here to tell you that I feel even more productive in my new life as a SAHM than I ever did working full time and raising a baby at the same time. It is bizarre and I can't quite figure it all out. However, I think the explanation has something to do with being fully present in my life now. I don't feel pulled in a hundred different ways anymore. I have a sense of calm that had been missing and that missing piece was what was contributing to my unhappiness.

When I was working full time I never felt like I was where I needed to be and I always felt behind. I ran around work trying to fit my therapist and management duties in between nursing a baby at daycare across the street. I plowed through the 2 hours at home prior to Olivia's bedtime like a crazy woman trying to get our supper planned and cooked while entertaining and loving on our baby. I spent the time between Olivia's bedtime and my own catching up on the things I didn't have time to get to earlier in the day (ie., laundry, kitchen clean up, email, a conversation with Andy), but there was never enough time. I was irritated and exhausted as I fell into bed each night knowing that I was going to wake up and do it all over again (well, in reality I was going to wake up a time or two before morning thanks to our precious little one), but you get the picture. I was always doing something, yet I didn't feel productive. I felt the complete opposite. I felt a bit out of control.

However, that is all behind me now! I feel calm and balanced again. I know that we made the right decision and that makes my heart happy. My new normal consists of nap schedules, tummy time, reading books, singing songs, lunch dates, play dates, cooking, cleaning, and always knowing that I am right where I should be.

you never told me we have a cat!

Olivia has discovered Vegas! She loves to watch her. She loves it to the point that if Vegas is in the room Olivia will not focus on anything else (such as nursing!). That can be rather frustrating, but putting that aside it is fun to watch her eyes as she follows Vegas' every move. Vegas seems somewhat interested in the baby as well; sniffing her and letting her touch her back as she saunters by. Oh, silly cat, times will change because the sweet baby will soon be on the move and the calm and sleepy life that you enjoy so much will come to an abrupt end!
Poor, poor, Vegas.

And, in other family news.....Purdue plays Wake Forest tonight in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Last year it was Duke and we got creamed. Today Olivia dressed up in her best Boilermaker gear to do her part in supporting the Big Ten! Do we have a future cheerleader on our hands?!

"Let's go Boilers!!"