K: 10 months

It hit me that my baby girl is almost a year old and I have no idea where the time has gone. The more that I think about her first birthday being less than 2 months away the more emotional I get. Why do our babies have to grow up so quickly?

Kinsley is without a doubt, the sunshine in my life. Her smile reaches her eyes every.single.time and the way she scrunches up her nose with each smile make her smile infectious. She is into absolutely every thing and she sure knows how to keep her mommy busy; but I wouldn't trade these busy, baby chasing stages for anything.

K at 10 months:

- has the most beautiful blue eyes
- is into everything
- is pulling up
- crawls on all fours
- loves to eat! Takes 4 (6-7 oz) bottles a day and baby food 3x/day. I'm also giving her whatever I am eating at the time. I didn't do that with Avery- I always made her something else, and that might be why she isn't the best of eaters. Kinsley, on the other hand will eat anything I put in front of her.
- takes swim lessons and is a water baby for sure! Even though she is only 10 months, she can understand "kick" and "find the wall".....
- her hair receives comments on a daily basis..... multiple times a day! It sticks up all over-- it doesn't matter if I wet it throughout the day and try to comb it down, within minutes its sticks right back up. Duck Fluff- as many people refer to it as. It's the SOFTEST hair I have ever felt. I only wish I could style it like that! haha!
- wears 9 month clothes, but they are quite snug on her.... 12 month clothing is in the not too distant future.
- wears size 3 diapers
- still loves bath time (water baby!!!)
- loves her big sister and is always watching her or chasing after her.
- gets away with a lot more than Avery ever did! (Second Child Syndrome!)
- Has some separation anxiety
- can sign "more", but she typically prefers to YELL if she is not getting fed fast enough. I don't really know how to break this habit and it drives her daddy crazy. Eating out is just not very respectful to others during this phase.....
- waves "hi" and "bye"and can say "bye-bye" and "ba-ba"(bottle)
- is encouraging mommy and daddy to baby proof our new house on a daily basis by getting into everything..... one of these days we might actually baby proof and mommy won't be such a nervous wreck anymore!

A good read

If you haven't heard of "The Busy Homeschool Mom", I suggest you check out her blog! I was just recently introduced to this blog and with the few free minutes in my day I have been reading her different posts. I find them to be extremely encouraging and thought that you moms.... (and dad's!) might enjoy them as well. 

http://heidistjohn.com/blog/

K: 9 months!

Kinsley is already 9.5 months old! Time is flying and I am reminded at just how fast time goes by on a daily basis when I watch my sweet little baby transform before me. She is more and more mobile every day and is fighting for the "happiest baby" title vs. her big sis at this age. Everyone always comments on how happy she is all of the time. It's true! She only fusses when she is hungry. Her smile is so adorable and lights up her beautiful blue eyes. Kinsley makes me so happy and has my heart overflowing with love for her.

9 month Stats:
Weight: 18lbs (25-50%)
Height: 27 1/4 in. (25-50%)
Head: 17 (25%)

- claps her hands
- gives the best hugs
- loves to play with Avery and Bailey and is interacting more with them each day
- "swims" across the floor on her tummy or rolls to the place she wants to be.
- can get into a sitting position on her own
- started her first swim lessons on April 1st. and LOVED it. She is a water baby for sure!
- Kicks and squeals whenever she hears the bath water turned on. She loves bath time and takes every bath with Avery. It's sometimes very difficult to bathe her because she is ALL OVER the tub!
- Has the best laugh when tickled
- Is officially weaned from breastfeeding. The day after she turned 9 months was the last nursing period for us.
- Drinks 4 (6-8 oz) bottles of formula daily and eats 3 containers of baby food each day.
- Typical schedule for Kinsley at 9 months: (boring for you, but neccessary for mommy to remember!)
                          6:30- wake up
                          7:15-7:30 - mommy gets her out of bed
                          7:30-8am - Bottle and fruit
                           10-12- nap (some days she doesn't go down 'til 10:45-11 depending on our day)            
                           12pm- bottle and veggie
                           1:45-3:30/4pm - Nap (same time as Avery)
                           4pm- Bottle
                           6pm- baby food dessert or veggie
                           7/7:15pm- bottle
                           7:15/7:30- bed
- Is really trying to pull up. She can get up on her knees but can't quite pull herself into a standing position yet
- We've had to lower her crib since she is trying to pull up
- Weighs more at 9 months than Avery did at 12 months!
- Can hold her bottle by herself as long as she is laying down
- Wears 9 month clothing or 6-12 clothing
- Wears size 3 diapers
- Had another double ear infection at her 9 month check up
- The Dr. heard a heart murmur at her 9 month appointment, also. The Dr. is not concerned and said this is VERY normal, but I was still pretty emotional that day. We go back in a couple of weeks to check on her heart and ears.
- says "baba" for bottle
- occassionally waves hi and bye and I'm pretty sure she is trying to say "bye-bye"

Kinsley Rae- you are truly a blessing in our lives and we love you so much. Thank you for always bringing a smile to our faces and lighting up our lives daily. We thank God for you every day!

fun things about Avery

I admit- I've been TERRIBLE about blogging lately. I am so amazed that my friends can keep up with their blogs so well because I'm finding it very difficult!

Avery amazes me every day. She is quite possibly the smartest toddler I know. She remembers everything and knows just what I need and when I need it. If only I could get her to listen and obey the very first time.....

Seriously, she is my biggest helper when it comes to her little sister. If Kinsley spits up, Avery is looking for a burp cloth before I can even process what happened. She is such a loving and caring big sister and I look forward to the day I can sit back and watch our girls interact together. Her nurturing personality is also reflected in the HOURS she spends feeding her baby dolls and changing their diapers.

She can sing her ABC's and is consistent with the letters she does know! I'm pretty sure it goes a little something like this: "abcfgjkopqrstvwxyz now abc's next time sing ME!" She also loves "the wheels on the bus go round and round" and every time we get in the car she begs me to turn it on.
We also sing "Jesus loves the little Children" each night before bed and I love that she makes me add "pink" in the song. so our version goes a little like "red and yellow, black and white and pink! they are precious in his sight....." It will be one of my favorite memories, I'm sure.

The girl is a climber! I find her in Kinsley's crib all of the time... thankfully only once have I found her in there while Kinsley was actually in there. The other day she was playing in her room and I thought she was a little too quiet ( never a good sign) so I went to check on her and found her sitting on her changing table with every bottle of butt paste and the hand sanitizer in her lap.

Oh yeah- and last week we found her naked in her bed covered in baby powder and hand sanitizer... this was almost an hour after we had put her down for the night. Apparently she is into trying to change her own diapers.

We were almost potty trained back in the fall and then found ourselves back in diapers after being sick. Well, this week she is showing a little more interest in the potty again. Still not as much as I would prefer, but at least it's something.

She loves to "work out" with daddy. She will do (her version) lunges, push ups, planks, and downward dog . She loves to run and be outside so I will be glad when this cold and rainy weather goes away.

Avery loves to get her hair cut and sits so nicely for whoever is cutting her hair.

Finally lets me put her hair up.... and actually has enough hair for pig tails!!!

She gives the best hugs and kisses and melts my heart when she says "I love you"

She is my pride and joy. I wish time would slow down (except for the times she is a defiant and testing two year old.... those times can fly right on by! hahaha)

K: 8 months

I'm finding it so hard to believe that our baby girl is 8 months old... we'll be planning her first birthday party before we know it! She is still my little baby and I'm clearly trying to keep her that way. I am not sure quite how to describe it, but it's a different feeling than I had with Avery. Not that either one is good or bad, it's just different. I guess since I have a two year old, my 8 month old just seems so much younger. I've had a tendency to always think Avery is ready for the next step or I have too high of expectations for her because I am learning and growing with her.... but I seem to do things slower with Kinsley and I don't have the same expectations for her as I did for Avery when she was 8  months old. It's a weird feeling and I'm sure I'm not conveying myself properly....


Anywho- Kinsley is 8 months old! She is the happiest baby and rarely cries. With the lack of crying comes the most adorable toothless grin. I could just eat her up! :)

- Speaking of toothless grins.... she got her first tooth on Feb 19th, just two days before her 8 month birthday and her second tooth came on the 23rd- two days after she turned 8 months. Needless to say, this has been a miserable week. She has been running a fever since Wednesday and therefore receives pain/fever reducer medication every 6-8 hours which she is not a fan of. Having 2 teeth come in at once  means she sleeps more, eats less and cries a lot and is full of drainage. I miss my happy little baby...... and feel so bad that I can't do much to help her.

- K loves to play with her big sister and my favorite thing to do is to watch Avery make Kinsley laugh. It truly warms my heart.

- Hasn't slept in a sleep sack in a few weeks!

- Always sleeps with two (or three) pacifiers in her crib and her pink giraffe from Aunt Amanda.

- Loves to sit in the bath tub like a big girl and gets so excited when we turn the water on to start bath time.... her little legs just kick kick kick in excitement

- reaches for EVERYTHING

- has tried cheerios, puffs and mum mums, but still hasn't quite mastered the task of feeding them to herself much.

- pulls on mine or Avery's hair constantly and gives the sweetest wet and slobbery kisses.

- wants to crawl so badly, but every time she tries to get on her hands and knees from a sitting position she face plants.

- spent her first night away from mommy when she was 7.5 months old and then her 2nd night away from mommy 2 nights after she turned 8 months old.... obviously it was much harder on me than her!

- was baptized on February 17th by Rev. Greg McKinnon... just a few days before her 8 month birthday.

- is squeezing into 6 month clothing. Most of her 9 month wardrobe consists of spring time apparell and I'm too cheap to by 9 month winter clothes that she will only be able to wear for another couple of weeks... even though she deperately needs to be in 9 month clothing.

- wears size 3 diapers


Mommy and Daddy love you so very much, Kinsley Rae. You are the happiest little girl and you bring so much joy into our lives. God has truly blessed us with two very special little girls and my heart is so full of love for them that words cannot express just how much they mean to me.


I will try to post pictures soon, but apparently I have run out of storage space on the blog and need to figure out how to fix that.....

Kinsley: 7 months

How unbelievable is it that Kinsley is 7 months old already?!!? It's like I blinked and I no longer have a newborn, but this adorable, happy, smiley little girl who is growing way too fast for my liking.

Kinsley is growing by leaps and bounds:

- she will hold her arms up when we reach to pick her up
- eats baby food twice a day
- still nurses 4x a day and after the last three feedings she takes a bottle of formula because I am not able to produce enough for her.
- wants to be on the move so badly, but can't crawl yet so she resorts to rolling to wherever she wishes to be.
- is trying to lunge herself forward onto her hands from a sitting position, but usually ends up face planting instead of ending up on all fours- but she is trying!!!
- has mastered the art of sitting up by herself.
- loves playing with her big sister and smiles at her constantly and loves laughing along with Avery while they play.
- has lost most of her dark hair, but it's beginning to come back in blonde. She has a few random long hairs scattered on her head- it's so cute!
- sits in her high chair during meal time
- takes 2 long naps during the day and the occasional cat nap in the evening but the cat naps are few and far between
- loves sleeping on her tummy
- is ticklish and has the greatest laugh in the world!
- loves jumping in her jumper
- loves to "talk" and squeal
- drools ALL the time.... and chews on everything- her first tooth must be getting close!
- Traveled to Miami for the first time!
- wears size 3 diapers
- wears 6 month clothing and the occasional 3-6 month clothing.

Kinsley's 6 month photo shoot

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