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For Memorial day weekend, we had a bunch of Jeff's family visit. His cousin's husband had some business in Alabama and then they were headed to the beach. Jennifer's bunch included a husband, 2 year old and a 9 month old and her parents. Jeff's parents and aunt and uncle stayed here and then the cousin stayed in a hotel since she's allergic to cats. Jeff's parents brought some steaks to grill out, so we had a nice feast. The weather didn't quite cooperate - rain off and on, but it's been that way all month. I got to see what life is like with a 2 year old, and if Allison is as good as Hailey I think I can handle it.
Jeff's dad has taken some photography classes and loves to practice on Allison, so we get nice photos when they're here. I think I may have to teach him a little about composition though (photoshop can only do so much)

Allison has had a few nights of sleeping 6 hours in a row but it still seems to be sporadic. Usually though when I come in her room in the morning she looks up at me with a calm smile :) She's definitely a happy baby in the morning. Afternoons are a toss up for whether she'll be fussy or not. She's got more head/neck control now, but still has a good bobble head that will head butt your chin pretty hard. she does require more play time, but hasn't realize her hands will help out with that playing. oh, a few people have asked about hair color - so far it's coming in light brown and in the sun there is a hint of red/auburn color.

This was supposed to be her week in daycare and my week off, but there was some mis-communication. Evidently they prefer you to transition your infant for 3 - 2 hour days. I also did not have her blue vaccine card which takes the dr office a day or 2 to get. I didn't want to pay the full daycare price for 2.5 days so I've been home with her. So much for my pedicure and car wash and other fun errands. And since I've only left her there for 2 hours I haven't had the meltdown I hear so many first time moms have. We'll see about Monday.

My crying spells have greatly reduced, so I hope my hormones are normalizing out. Though I've heard that doesn't happen till after you stop breastfeeding. I'm not liking the hair loss that has started. I've seen this with other friends and heard it's normal. I am relieved to say that most of my summer wardrobe for work fits. Luckily I wear mostly skirts, which is good since the pants button but don't look flattering. It made me remember a college friend explaining what panty craters are. lol. I'd rather not be one of 'those women' who wear pants too tight and have 4 butt cheeks. I still have about 10 pounds to get back to pre-pregnancy weight. Another reason I love being tall, 10 pounds won't necessarily increase a dress size.

So in summary, life is still good, no routine yet but hope that daycare will fix that. I'm about to see the ways of juggling work and mommyhood. My biggest blessing in that is that I have an easy baby and a helpful husband. And maybe when the hard challenging part of toddlerhood starts we'll have her grandparents much closer to help.

Yesterday Allison rolled over from her tummy to her back. I was worried that I wasn't giving her enough tummy time but I guess she progressed quickly. Last night Jeff woke her up from her car seat which was a huge mistake. She cried for 15 minutes or so. It wasn't the pain scream we heard on the day of shots; to me it seemed more like a scared dream. I wonder if she was dreaming and woke up stuck in it :) We turned on the vacuum cleaner which calmed her down finally. I feel pretty lucky to have not had many of those. Almost always her cries can be fixed with food or a diaper.

This weekend we have some family coming; Jeff's parents, aunt, uncle, and a cousin and her family. I have my fingers crossed for nice weather.

This is my last full week at home with Allison. She'll go to daycare next week and then I go back to work the next.

Well, I'd rather work on photos than blog, so back to it.

This is her new mobile she loves.

She weighed in at 10 lbs 9 oz today, but we're not sure how accurate that is considering she hasn't pooped in 3 and half days. (I had to laugh thinking my sister and a friend have popped out 10lb babies at birth) She ranked right at 50% percentile on her growth charts. She also got her first shots which made her scream but not for too long.

Yesterday I went to the botanical gardens with Stacy. I didn't know about their new childrens section - it was awesome. They butterfly area is now a huge inside building that looks like a mini rainforest. I've been in bigger and better, but hey, for huntsville this was a definite improvement. Yesterday was the first nice sunny day we've had in a while, so it was packed with moms and strollers.

In an attempt to get more efficient, and since I don't blog much anymore, here are some quick notes of whats been going on...

Tornado sirens again! I think we've had 5 in 4 weeks. Makes it hard to crouch down in the closet with a pillow for protection, but this last one did hit close to home. Speaking of - that may have been the first time I saw middle class white people with all their teeth interviewed for the news.

Rain again! Everything is very green around here.

Happy baby starting to come out. Allison is smiling more. It really makes this whole baby thing easier when you have a cute face smiling back at you. I have a friend that had a baby a few days ago, and I do remember the crazy hormones, both of us crying, sleep deprivation, etc, but it's fading everything she smiles back at me. That smile has actually caused me to cry so I guess the hormones haven't quite gone back to normal :)

My inlaws are already planning their move here. It maybe as early as next year. Our big ground rule was not in a 5 mile radius. Seriously though, they are wonderful grandparents so I'm excited.

My latest addiction is the show Las Vegas. Yes it's an old one, but daytime tv sucks, so I'm thankful for TNT. Hey, it's not as bad as an addition to Days of Lives.

I've never done as much laundry as I have been. At about 6 weeks I packed up the preemie and newborn outfits. We'll find out how much she weighs on Wednesday. We're still not sure of a hair color. The most hair she has is a dark brown ring towards the neck - like her daddy.

I miss surfing the internet. Now it seems I respond to an email or two, check facebook and someone starts crying. For instance, I started this 6 hours ago.