The First Two Months of Life as a Family of Four

Going two months without posting is too long when that includes two months of a baby's life. However, on top of adjusting to being a mother of two, I was also preparing for a craft show (with lots of help from Jared). Before Rachel was born, we signed up for it as I had the thought, "Newborns sleep all the time so I'll be able to make things." Oh, the amnesia that Heavenly Father blesses us with! But with several LATE nights and days without naps, we now have the craft show behind us. And we didn't do too bad at the craft show. But on to the more interesting stuff...

The First Two Weeks


My parents got here on the day that Rachel was born and were here for almost two weeks. It was such a blessing, and it was hard to see them go. Grandma Bobbie helped with Rachel at night, letting us get get some much needed sleep, and then she and Grandpa "Bobbie," as Allie calls him, helped with Allie during the day. Because of my c-section, I wasn't allowed to pick up Allie for six weeks. And with Jared being in school still, it was a huge blessing that Grandma could pick Allie up and love on her. Allie had fun with Grandpa, too, but she was most comfortable with Grandma. I would let Allie climb on my lap, but she didn't understand the need to be careful, so I sadly didn't try it too much in those first few weeks.

Allie got to have some fun outings with Grandma and Grandpa, though they were limited on what they could do with her due to the 100+ weather. There were even a few days when it reached 113 and 114 degrees Fahrenheit  Being cooped up probably didn't help Allie much in her adjustment to having a baby sister. Here are some pictures from her outings with Grandma and Grandpa Bobbie.

They visited Theta Pond on the OSU campus and fed the ducks.

Allie and Grandma Bobbie as seen through the fountain
in the middle of Theta Pond.

Grandma Bobbie and Allie enjoying the pretty flowers
at OSU.

 They also went to Chick-fil-A so that Allie could play on the indoor playground.

Allie coming down the slide.

Allie loves to jump off the slide.

Allie playing with the fun matching game on the toddler wall.

Allie also got to go visit her Auntie Maria and cousins a few times.

Breya, Allie, and Bella
Three Beautiful Cousins

Our Little Clown

Grandma Bobbie reading to Allie

Grandpa Bobbie stayed at a hotel with a pool, and Allie got to go swimming with him and Daddy a few times, too. Allie loved swimming! Another fun place to go was Walmart, where Allie could get a sticker and a free cookie. It was such a blessing that Grandma and Grandpa Bobbie could take her to all these places to keep her entertained.

My hormones were definitely in full-force as my body adjusted to not having a baby in it anymore, but what seemed to make me most teary was seeing Allie have a hard time adjusting. She never acted out against Rachel - she was actually quite sweet with her baby sister - but she reacted much worse to us telling her no. She also cried a lot more in general.

As stated above, she was always pretty sweet to "Baby Rachel." She even asked to wear clothes that would match Rachel's. For example, I had put a onesie on Rachel that a lot of pink and purple hearts on it. Allie doesn't have a onesie like that, but she does have a shirt with the same color of hearts, and she asked to wear it. She got excited when I put it on her and then her and Rachel matched. She did that for a few different outfits. Allie would also be quite concerned when Rachel would spit-up and/or cough. She'd ask, "Baby Rachel okay?" We'd assure her that she was okay. And when Rachel would cry, Allie would react similarly, wanting to make sure that Rachel was alright. Sometimes it was easier to tell her that Rachel's tummy hurt as opposed to trying to explain that sometimes babies cry and you don't know why, so then when Rachel would cry, she'd often say, "Rachel tummy hurt." Allie also found breastfeeding to be quite interesting, and she started describing it by saying, "eat it, the boobie." We never used that combination of words before, so that was Allie's own way of describing what would happen when Rachel got hungry and needed to eat. (Luckily, she has only said that once at church, and it wasn't very loud.) Allie has been a good big sister from the beginning.

Here are some pictures of the girls from the first two weeks.

Nursing and burping at the same time

Allie and Rachel in their matching heart outfits.

Our first picture as a family of four

Nikki's brother Monte came to visit for a week. He was such a huge help! He fixed the brakes on my sister's car (the one we borrowed) and helped entertain Allie. Allie really fell in love with "Muncle Monte." When he left, we told her that, "Uncle Monte's at school," as he had left to go back to chiropractic school in Georgia. For weeks after he left, Allie would tell us, "Muncle Monte at school." She still tells us that on occasion. Last week she even said, "See Muncle Monte two weeks." I don't think we'll be so lucky to see him next week, but we all look forward to the next time we get to see Uncle Monte.

"Muncle Monte" and Allie

"Muncle Monte" holding Rachel at home

Allie being an elephant

There are similarities and differences between Allie when she was a baby and Rachel. One of the big differences is feeding and weight gain. Allie did not feed well. We had several problems from the get-go, and I ended up having to use a nipple shield for the entire time that I breastfed, which was almost the full year. Allie would not feed without it. (Sorry if that is TMI; I'm including it for journaling purposes.) Once we established good feeding, Allie was always satisfied after each feeding, but she never packed on the weight. She was a skinny little thing, as most of you probably remember. Rachel, on the other hand, has fed well from pretty much day one. Days 2 and 3 were sleepy days for her in the hospital, and she did not eat much. So she went from her birth weight of 8 lbs 10.5 oz to 7 lbs 14 oz at the time of discharge on day 3. Because of this, the hospital wanted us to go back for a weight check on day 4. We did so, and she was already up to 8 lbs 1 oz. Then we had a weight check/one week visit at the pediatric clinic on day 6, and she weighed in at 8 lbs 5 oz. She was gaining about 2-3 oz per day. There was no longer any worry about Rachel's feeding and weight gain.

  

Rachel getting buckled up to go in for her 1- week visit

Allie sporting the cool sunglasses that Rachel got at her 1-week visit

Allie and Rachel
Around 1 week

Allie giving Rachel kisses

Rachel looking alert around 1 week

Sometime in that first week, we gave Rachel her first bath at home. We expected her to cry throughout it, but it turned out much differently. Rachel slept through all but the last 30 seconds or so, when we were washing her head. And even then she didn't cry much.

Allie loved "helping" and watching during the first bath. And "helping" during Rachel's baths has become one of Allie's favorite things to do. She really just plays with the water and occasionally rinses Rachel's feet, legs, and belly.

Rachel sleeping soundly during her first bath

Cuddled up in Mommy's arms after the bath

Rachel got to spend a lot of time in people's arms. She loved it, too. She is much more cuddly than Allie was and she prefers to be held. She'd love to be held ALL the time, but we try to convince her that life is fun out of people's arms, too.

Grandma Bobbie cuddling Rachel

Auntie Maria, or "Ia" as Allie calls her, got to come spend two days and a night with us. She has a way with our girls. Allie loves her so much, and Rachel calmed right down for her when she normally fussed at night. If I could have afforded it, I would have been truly tempted to pay her to be our Nanny. Auntie Ia is loved by all in our family!

Allie, Auntie Maria, and Rachel
1.5 weeks

Sweet kiss from Auntie Maria

Rachel with Grandpa "Bobbie" (Dennis)

More cuddle time with Grandpa Bobbie

Rachel looking at Mommy

In the first few weeks, it seems like you can visualize how babies were positioned in the womb. With Allie, it was very obvious that she was breech (see here). We took a picture of how Rachel kept wanting to be positioned because it explained a lot about what Nikki felt while pregnant. Picture if you can (picture below may help): head down, facing backward, Rachel's left foot resting/pushing on Nikki's ribs, right foot kicking and stretching a lot, and hands down by her head tickling/punching Nikki's bladder.

Rachel around 1.5 weeks

Two Weeks to Two Months

I was nervous, or perhaps terrified, of when my mom was going to leave and I was going to be alone with my girls. It didn't help that Allie was diagnosed with strep throat the same day that they flew out. She had been running a fever the last few days that they were here, but the doctor on Saturday couldn't figure out what was wrong when my sister took her in. The doctor actually looked at her throat and said, "Well, it definitely isn't strep." We kept alternating Tylenol and Motrin Saturday and Sunday, and then Jared took her back in Monday morning, when a different doctor swabbed her throat and confirmed that she had strep. So I had a needy and whiny 2-year-old with strep and a needy 2-week-old at home on the first day that my mom and dad were gone. Somehow we all survived, though. And luckily no one else got strep.

2 Weeks

Rachel playing air guitar
2 Weeks

2.5 Weeks

Allie and Rachel on Play Mat
2.5 Weeks

3 Weeks

Rachel and I first went to church when Rachel was 3.5 weeks old. Her Aunt Wendy had made some adorable matching skirts and shirts for both Allie and Rachel. Here are some pictures from them wearing their cute outfits. Thank you Aunt Wendy!

I tried to take pictures weekly up until 2 months. Here are some more.

4 Weeks
(one of my favorite pictures)

4 Weeks

Rachel got to meet her cousins Nathen, Bella, and Breya when she was 4 weeks and 2 days old. Her cousins were all very excited to meet her. Rachel was happy for some of the pictures. This was also before getting reflux medicine, so that probably contributed to some of her fussiness.

Breya and Rachel

Bella and Rachel

Nathen and Rachel

All the cousins in Oklahoma
Allie, Bella, Nathen, Rachel, and Breya

Allie and Nathen

1 Month

1 Month

Allie, Daddy, and Rachel
5 Weeks

5 Weeks

Rachel rooting and trying to suck on Allie's arm
5 Weeks

Allie laughing about Rachel sucking on her arm
5 Weeks

Sweet Kisses from Big Sister
5 Weeks

Allie and Rachel in purple outfits
6 Weeks

Mommy and Rachel napping
6 Weeks

Daddy and his girls
7 Weeks

Rachel's cute smile
7 Weeks

Rachel's smile at another angle
7 Weeks

8 Weeks

8 Weeks

8.5 Weeks

We tried putting Rachel in the skirt from Aunt Wendy at 8.5 weeks, but the skirt no longer fit. I didn't know it could be so hard to get a skirt over a baby's thighs and bum. It was pretty funny. And the little bulging belly over the top of the skirt made us laugh pretty hard.

Belly bulge over the top of her skirt
8.5 Weeks

Another shot of Rachel in cute outfit from Wendy with belly bulging
8.5 Weeks

2 Months

Beautiful Dress, Hat, and Booties from Grandma Carren
Thank you!
2 Months

Allie and Rachel
9.5 Weeks

Rachel looking big
9.5 Weeks

A real smile from Allie

Rachel smiling up at big sister
9.5 Weeks

Rachel's big smile after Allie was talking to her (Allie turned
just in time for the picture.)
10.5 Weeks

Another major difference between Allie and Rachel is how much Rachel spits up. Allie almost never spit up. If she did, it was projectiling her feeding onto someone, but that only happened on occasion. In the first month, it seemed like Rachel was constantly spitting up. It wasn't just limited to after feedings. And it really seemed to bother her. She cried a lot and we had to hold her a lot. I was pretty sure that she had acid reflux, but I knew she was getting enough to eat because she was getting chubby. At her one-month doctor's visit, she was diagnosed with acid reflux and got medicine to help. It has helped a ton. She is a different baby with it. We are so grateful that she is happy and doesn't seem to be in pain like before. Rachel's second month was definitely easier than the first.

And it was also confirmed that she was growing well and getting chubby at her one-month visit. She measured 23 inches (98th percentile) and 11 lbs 8.4 oz (95th percentile). I marvel at the fact that I have such a huge baby. It's crazy. People always guess that she is a few months older than she really is. One Sunday in the mother's lounge at church, a mom who is probably 6 feet or taller asked me if Rachel was 4 months old. I informed her that she was only 5.5 weeks at that point. I asked how old her boy was, and she said that he was 4 months. How could she have a 4-monther who was the same size as my almost-6-week old baby? We've had others guess that she is anywhere between 4 and 6 months old. Crazy! More recently at her 2-month visit, Rachel was 24 inches (95-98%) and 13 lbs, 10.2 oz (95%). Something that is interesting is that Allie also measured 24 inches at her 2-month visit; however, she only weighed 10 lb, 6 oz - 3.25 lbs less than Rachel. Rachel is big and proportionate.

Allie has continued to be a sweet big sister. She will often bring Rachel's blanky to Rachel and say, "Ah, here Rachel. Rachel's blanky." She will occasionally tell me that she wants to hold Rachel. Luckily, she has not tried to pick Rachel up by herself (knock on wood). She can be a good helper if she wants to. Sometimes she is eager to take a diaper to the garbage or get a burp cloth for me, but other times Allie will just say no and keep doing whatever else she was doing. Allie calls most of her baby dolls, "Baby Rachel," and she will bounce them and pat their backs like we do with Rachel. She will also treat other toys like babies; sometimes it isn't even a toy (e.g. she put a water bottle in Rachel's swing). Allie is constantly putting something in Rachel's bassinet and telling them "night night." Allie enjoys helping burp Rachel. She used to say, "backpack," when letting us know that she wanted to help pat Rachel's back. Now she says, "pat back." She is usually pretty gentle, too. There are times when we have to remind her to pat more softly, however. Allie also likes to swing Rachel in her swing and can push quite vigorously at times. We also have to reminder her not to push so hard sometimes. Rachel's toots and pooping sounds make Allie laugh, and she will say, "Rachel farted," or "Rachel pooping." And when we are changing Rachel's diaper, Allie will say, "Rachel, yellow poop." Though it can be tough with both girls at times, seeing how much Allie loves Rachel brings me a lot of joy. Rachel also seems to love her big sister. She will smile at her all the time, and the closest to laughing that Rachel has been has been when Allie is talking to her or making noises for her, or just when Allie laughs. Allie will say, "She's smiling at you," when Rachel is smiling at anyone, including herself. She will also say, "Rachel's laughing," even though I'm not sure she has had a true laugh yet.

One of Allie's "babies"

Another "baby" that is going "night night" in Rachel's bassinet

Rachel started smiling socially between 6 and 7 weeks. I know that she was at 7 weeks because we caught some of her smiles on camera at 7 weeks. One way that is almost guaranteed to get a smile out of her is to make a smooching sound (see video below). She gets really close to laughing. Sometimes I think it might be a laugh, or at least a "Ha" if not a "Ha ha." I'm excited for her to start laughing more. I think Allie will really get a kick out of making her laugh.

Here's a video of Mommy's smooching sound eliciting a smile.

There's a family at our church who have a pool and allowed us to go swimming whenever we wanted. They said that they'd put a sign up if they had a family thing going on, but that otherwise we could go over without even calling first. When we first started going, Allie was pretty scared of the water. But little by little, she got more comfortable and became a little fish by the end of the summer. We went to their pool when Rachel was 6 weeks old. Rachel and I didn't go in the water, but Allie and Daddy had a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun watching them.

Fearless, Allie would swim far away from Daddy.

Allie would pretend that the noodles were her "horsey."

Allie on her "boat." She had been more comfortable. I was
just late taking the picture.

 Allie had jumped off the diving board on a previous trip to the pool. We expected her to jump off this time, too, but this is what she did instead.

Allie got her first haircut on August 20th. We had trimmed her bangs before, but we finally took her in to get her hair evened out. We took her to a place called Snip-Its. It is a salon specifically for children. We wanted to prep Allie as best as we could, so we showed her some videos on YouTube of other children getting their hair cut at Snip-Its. She was excited to go. She kept saying, "Allie go to doctor and get hair cut." We weren't sure why she thought it was at the doctor's, but at least she wasn't afraid of going (she also likes going to the doctor). They played a video while she got her hair cut, and she sat as still as could be. She had her cousins there for moral support, too. At the end, she got a sucker and a little prize of silly bands out of a machine. For the next week or so she would tell people, "Allie haircut, get sucker." The sucker seemed to be the most exciting part.

Before

During

Moral Support from Breya and Bella

After

Getting a Bow

Sucker in hand and waiting for prize

After with hair dry

Another family outing that we had within Rachel's first two months was going to the Stillwater Fair. It was pretty small compared to the fair I grew up with in Monroe, Washington, but it was still fun. Rachel was happy and/or asleep for almost the entire time. Allie loved seeing the animals, riding a pony, and "riding" tractors. While riding the pony, she had a very serious slight grin for most of the time. By then end she let her joy shine through, and we were able to get a cute smiley picture. She was very upset when she had to get off the pony, so luckily we were able to cheer her up by letting her "ride" the tractors. She's definitely her Daddy's daughter.

Allie found a little pellet (rabbit poop) and was trying to feed it to the bunny. Gross, but funny.

This is the smile that Allie had most of the ride.

Very upset after having to get off the pony.

Happy Again on "Allis" Tractor

Around Rachel's 8.5 weeks, we went to a fun park that is only a half mile away. Allie was really excited and had a lot of fun playing. She loves the slides, hitting sticks on bells, and swinging. Sadly, she got distracted and face-planted off of the swing. We had to calm her down and wash sand out of her eyes. Her fall was a perfect opportunity for us to say we needed to go home, but Allie was still not happy about leaving. Being able to pull the wagon and follow and catch Mommy helped her be okay with us leaving. We had figured that she wouldn't make it all the way home, but our tough little girl insisted on pulling her wagon home the entire half mile by herself. I think we've mentioned that she likes rocks before, but it was really funny and cute how she picked up some rocks on the way home and set them on the seat in the wagon. She had to set them just right and would put them back in place if they moved after going up an incline. We swear that she is going to be a geologist some day.

Thanks to a group-on, Mommy got a good deal on new running shoes. Allie was the first one to run in them. She started to break them in for me as she ran across the apartment in them a few times.

Allie loves to stack things. Sometimes she will get lots of cans of food out and stack them really high. She enjoys stacking things on the table, perhaps because it makes them higher. I get nervous for her hands and feet when she stacks cans on the table. So far she hasn't been hurt too badly. Here's a picture of her after stacking some blocks on the table.

Something else that Allie enjoys is looking at herself in the mirror and making funny noises. I was able to catch a little bit of it on video. She cracks us up. And we often say that, "she's so vain."

An activity that Allie enjoys doing with Mommy is baking cookies. We've only baked a few different types, but Allie loves to sit on the counter, help pour ingredients into the mixer, and, of course, clean the bowl and beater/paddle. I was looking at desserts that I had pinned on my Pinterest board the other day when Allie took me by the finger, led me into the kitchen, and pointed at the mixer and said, "Mommy, make cookies. Allie up there." How could I resist? So we made some yummy chocolate chip cookies. I don't think my baby weight will come off as quickly as I want if Allie keeps making such requests.

Jared has a friend and colleague (they do research together for the same professor) at school who is from India. Her name is Gargeyi, and she loves Allie. Allie loves her, too, and gets really excited if she knows she is going to see her. Gargeyi was really sweet and got Allie a little purse from India so we wanted to take Allie up to campus to say, "Thank you," and just to let Gargeyi see her. Allie was so excited to go to school and visit Gargeyi. She insisted on wearing her doggy backpack since she was going to be going to school. When we got there, Allie played with a remote control car and frisbee with Gargeyi. Gargeyi tried to teach Allie to catch, but Allie still hasn't gotten the concept.

I have to admit that I have not been very good about giving Rachel tummy time. Despite this, she has incredible neck strength (and has since birth). I gave her tummy time a few days ago and was astounded by how high she could hold her neck considering how infrequently I put her on her tummy. When I stated what a good job Rachel was doing, Allie got down on her tummy in the same position as Rachel and said, "Good job Allie. Allie do it too."

Rachel and Allie both doing tummy time

I have exercised with a workout video the last two days, and Allie likes to participate. She especially loves to do jumping jacks and butt-kicks (she mostly just jumps and swings her arms). I just use cans of food as hand weights, so Allie went to the pantry and picked out her own hand weights on the first day. I was nervous about her doing "exercises" with the cans of food she picked out on the first day due to them being so big. So today I got her two little cans (green chilies and tomato paste). Yesterday, I had to feed Rachel immediately following the workout. Allie requested, "More exercise," so I let level 2 (I only did level 1) play, and I had to take a video of Allie doing one of the cardio exercises. Here it is.

Here are some other random pictures of Allie since turning two and after Rachel's birth.

Jared is busy with school. He is taking a very difficult class and is doing research. It is going well so far. As long as he gets A's this semester and next, he will graduate in May 2012. It is crazy to think that he could be done with school so (relatively) soon. I am so proud of him! He has such a difficult master's program, and yet he is such a great daddy and husband.

I am enjoying being home with the girls. As mentioned above, some days are more difficult than others, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is amazing to see both girls grow, develop, and learn new things. I have started going to a Mommy Institute class on Tuesday mornings (except for this week due to having to take Rachel in for her shots) at the Institute of Religion. The first week was tough. Allie had 3 or 4 meltdowns in the first 15 minutes due to a boy taking toys from her. I left early. But the last couple of weeks have been good. Allie plays with kids in the back, and I get to have a little spiritual uplift, as well as a little social interaction with other moms. It is nice.

We're enjoying being a family of four!