Kinsley's first thanksgiving

We had a busy day but it was great seeing family and friends! We started out the day at Maw maw snider's where kinsley got to play with her auntie and uncle, 3 kiddos, Grammy and the rest of the fam. She took a brief nap on the way to the boone's. .
We visited with aunt b and uncle Caleb from va and pops and Nana from Raleigh. We also had a special guest from Denmark. We played games after we put lil boo to sleep.
Phew, we are almost back home and ready to slip into a turkey coma ha. Thankful for our family!

Four Generations of Girls :)

Nana, Shuggy, Aunt B,  Me, and Kinsley

SO much to be thankful for this year!

Some things that are on my list are my healthy beautiful baby girl, a hubby that has loved me unconditionally during our first year of marriage, forgiveness even when I've been too prideful to ask for it, a church that we adore and that fills us up, family that loves the Lord, grandparents and great grandparents that love to spoil Kinsley, a home, lost baby weight and finally a sense of contentment  with my body image, a job that is Christ-centered, and so much more!

Bath Time!

Love this little stinker!

Dear Kinsley

Dear Kinsley,
I'm sitting at the kitchen table with you in your bumbo. You are playing with your jingling dolly trying to eat the tag. I love watching your eye brows raise when you see it. You love tags. You also love the ribbon on your paci clip. You have both of your socks on right now, but one is starting to come off. You have about 1 sock in every room. Oops, you just threw your dolly. You lean way over the bumbo to see where it went. Mommy will pick it up again, and again, and again. Your eyes are heavy but it's not bedtime just yet.  Yup, those are your toes you reach over to grab. They are beneath those silly socks you have been trying to get off. Soon you'll be eating some carrots and we'll go upstairs, get you nakey and get you in your bath. You'll splash the water with your legs and hands... trying to figure out how your face gets wet. And rock you to sleep.

I love this time with you. Your smiles, your giggles, your amazement at the world. You frustrate the heck out of me sometimes but then you do something the very next minute that makes my heart swell and i feel happier than ever. Love you mini bff!

Playtime with Daddy

She likes to grab EVERYTHING... including daddy's mouth haha

halloween

Time for Crib

So I decided that I need to break away from cosleeping with Kinsley and get her into her big girl crib... my friend Sarah told me some tips she used to move her daughter Bryleigh into the big girl bed time routine.

I fed her baby food the first night (can't remember if it was carrots or sweet potatoes) about 8pm. We then headed upstairs for bath time. At about 8:30 we turned off the lights and turned on a dim table light on the floor.... (I should really invest in a night light haha). She nursed and rocked til 9ish while we listened to her Bible lullaby cd. At about the 4th or 5th song, I got up and put her in her crib. She woke up a little and I tried to get her back to sleep but no such luck. I tucked her in and kissed her goodnight and left the room.

10mins passed and she was not only crying but pretty much screaming. I knew as soon as I went in there and picked her up, she'd stop, so I let her cry it out. After about 10mins (which was a LONG time), I went in there, picked her up and comforted her as much as I could without giving up and taking her back to our room. After about 10 mins of bouncing and swaying, I put her back in the crib and tried to leave once again. She cranked her attitude up again. At 9:45ish, I didn't hear a peep through the monitor so I went to check on her... BAD IDEA.

I opened the door and she peered through the slats and cranked that tude up again. Ughhh that's when I realized the benefits of a video monitor. She finally fell asleep about 10pm and of course we were already in bed too by then. I could barely sleep at first, just thinking about how I forgot to take off the bumper and wondering if she was only quiet because she couldn't breathe or something horrible. Before I got too worked up, I realized that she was in God's hands and I had to TRUST that he would take care of her and take care of me no matter what was going on inside that room. I finally fell asleep and drifted off into a hard sleep for the first time in 5 months.

I woke up and freaked out because she wasn't in my room and I almost forgot I even had a baby... it was the weirdest feeling ever! It might have been about that time, Gray was getting up for work and she woke up about 6:30am. Pretty good - 8.5 hrs of sleep the very first night away.

The next night she went down great! But woke up at 12:30am.. I went in her room (totally forgetting what it was like to have to wake up in the middle of the night to go in the nursery to feed her).. and pulled her out of bed to rock and feed her. The smile she gives when I come in her room is priceless and is almost worth the loneliness for a bit. She fell right back asleep and slept until 8:30.

The fourth night was awful again- crying on and off inbetween me going in there and trying to put her back down. Hearing her cry herself to sleep is one of the worst things to hear.

Then she started going to sleep about 8:30 and waking up at 6:30am but I'd get her when she woke up and pull her back in bed with me and we'd go back to sleep until 9:30. Which was awesome.

Then the stupid time changed ugh. Got naps and everything off track. She started going to bed at 7:30am now, but wakes up at about 5:30 or 6 and wants to stay up for an hr or so before she'll go back to sleep.

Tonight when I was rocking her little chunk of a baby, I teared up thinking about how she has grown so fast. She used to be just a tiny little 6lb baby learning to nurse and we didn't even really know each other. Now she's 15+ lbs sleeping in her own room all by herself. Ahhh time flies. I love that little girl!

FIVE fun months!

For some reason my 4 month post got deleted :( So this post is from 4-5 months.

NEW things:

- She's rolled from her back to her tummy and her tummy to her back- not often and i'm pretty sure it was only two days, but still

- she's got an attitude- she wants what she wants when she wants it

- She's still nursing and eating rice cereal by bowl and spoon about 1-2 times 4 days a week

- she's a busy-body.. I love watching her discover all the things on her exersaucer

- She pulled herself up to sit from laying on a pillow and sits a good bit all by herself when her attention is on a toy

- she can finally put her paci in by herself (most of the time)... she know's it's on the end of that string

- she's still so alert

- she won't go down for the night unless we are

- we get up between 8:30 and 9am every morning then she goes back down for a nap about an hour later.. sometimes

- mommy and daddy managed a few hours to get stuff done around the house and go on a date while Kins was at Shuggy's... a stepping stone for sure, but leaving her while she was still asleep was hard knowing she'd wake up without knowing where mommy was

- between baby toys and squeaks, our house is finally looking like a family lives here haha

- She can pull to standing position and even take steps with her legs

- she could be totally content playing with an empty plastic bag, old remote, tags, and now her feet.

4 months we went to Raleigh and the Mountains with the Boone's, the beach so I could photograph a wedding, and the Porter's big annual cookout. I've been trying to get out more and more with her.

4 1/2 month stats:
weight:15lbs 10.5 oz (75%)
height: 25in (75%)
head circumference: 40cm (25-50%)

4 month mountain pics:

Celebrated our 1 year!

Raleigh For Nana and Pops Golden Anniversary

Porter Cookout

Fun in the Leaves