Monday, September 30, 2013

Surprise

Birthday Surprise
Monday
September 30th, 2013
 
I absolutely love doing fun surprises for my family, It is totally my thing. This year I had all these plans to make Bro's birthday crazy special and hardly any of them happened. The night before his birthday I laid in bed feeling like a failure of a mom because I didn't have any kind of surprise waiting for him when he woke up. I couldn't take it anymore, I jumped out of bed grabbed the left over streamers and did what I could in their room without waking them up. At one point I accidentally dragged a streamer across Bro's face causing him to open his eyes and look right at me. Later I asked if he remembered and thank goodness he didn't!
 

 
Green and purple streamers in honor of Donatello, not much but its something!!


FHE

FHE
Monday
September 30th, 2013
 
Our recent renters were quiet the pain in our butts...to say the very least. Over the weekend we had to make a trip up to our house in Show Low to clean up after them and get it ready for new renters, this fire pit was among the many things/garbage they left behind. I was super excited to bring it home, we joke that it's the only good thing our renters did for us!
 
I thought it would be fun to roast hot dogs for FHE, and other then the abundance of mosquitoes that are still sticking around it was lots of fun!! I love spending time together as a family!
 
 
Also got this wicker bench from them (they left a lot behind!).



Love this man!! So thankful for the wonderful husband and father he is!


 
Enjoying a hot dog and potato salad, fun night!


 
It was Brody's turn to do FHE so after dinner he taught us about the Stripling Warriors, some of his favorite people from the scriptures.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Monstrous
Friday
September 27th, 2013
 
To our surprise we found this monstrous caterpillar outside our front door. I don't know if I've ever seen one this big! Brody thought it was the coolest thing ever, and was beyond thrilled to be able to use his bug measuring thing he has had for forever. Arizona has some strange insects that's for sure.
 



Monday, September 23, 2013

Tooth Fairy Time

Tooth Fairy Time!!
Monday
September 23rd, 2013
 
Mid morning Brody ran up to me and very excitedly told me that his tooth was loose! I honestly didn't believe him at first. He's only 4, plus he had never mentioned it being even slightly loose before. Sure enough it was loose, very very loose!! The picture below shows him completely moving it back with his tongue, just barely hanging on.


 All day he was so excited for his first tooth to fall out, it finally happened while we were eating dinner!! It's so strange seeing that little hole in his mouth!
 
 
We put his tooth in a little bag and got it all ready for the tooth fairy. Still super excited.
 

 
Finding the perfect spot.


 
Showing his new mouth off for the last time. His new tooth is already popping through!



Saturday, September 21, 2013

9 Months


9 Months
Saturday
September 21st, 2013
 
 
(pictures were actually taken on the 24th)

 Weight
Once again no idea. I should know since she gets shots this month but I still need to find a new doctor, so for the time being no weight update.

Health
Some of this month was spent in Washington with my family. While we were there (and a little when we came back) she either had a terrible cold or terrible allergies. She was literally leaking from every possible place on her face…eyes nose and mouth, along with being super congested! The last couple weeks of the month have been good and she’s back to being a healthy baby!
 
 
Sleep
The first half of this month was a living nightmare…like the worst of the worst! She wouldn’t sleep at night. She’s not the kind of baby to give up on her crying either. So being at my parents I felt bad keeping the whole house up at night and gave in very quickly to her crying which only worsened the bad habit. Her naps were also funky this month, I was beginning to fear she no longer needed two naps a day. Luckily by the end of the month she has been sleeping through the night with occasional wake ups but quickly falls back asleep and is taking her regular two naps a day. This makes for one happy mama!!
 
 
Clothes
Mostly 6-9 with some 9 months and of course the occasional 6 and even 12 months that fit. Baby clothes are so weird like that.
 
 
Diet
Her diet really hasn’t changed too much from last month. Still eating all the same food and still not able to figure out the sippy cup. She does have a new favorite snack though, gram crackers. One thing I kept forgetting to mention is that she has a total sweet tooth…just like her daddy! With ice cream being her favorite, she literally gets ticked off if I don’t share. She has been doing a lot better with nursing (although she has bit me 3 times now!), I think we might actually make it to a year.
 
 
Crying
Some days are better then others. She is getting better and better at playing and enjoying entertaining herself, although she still has lots of times where she wants either my attention or to be held. She does really well when I lay her down for naps or bedtime, mostly only crying a little bit to none before she stops or falls asleep. Just recently her temperament has gotten worse though. She has always screamed at us but now there are times she REALLY screams when she doesn’t get her way. I don’t even know how to explain her scream…but it’s a bad one, an I mean business one.
 
 
Milestones
She is still army crawling, hasn’t quiet figured out the actually crawling. She gets on her knees plenty and has even made 2-3 crawls forward but either sits up or goes to an army crawl. She can now pull herself up to a standing position; she does this a lot in the bathtub and while on the couch. She has two teeth that are fully out on the bottom and a third one is coming in. She also does this funny thing where she will get on her hands and knees then get onto her toes and knees and poke her little bum straight in the air.
 
 
Products I'm loving
No new products. We did switch over to some way cheaper diapers (from huggies) which I was very disappointed we had to do, but they turned out just fine. I guess more expensive isn’t always better!

Fun Facts
This little girl can be the hardest baby yet the most rewarding baby. She can be so difficult, yet so sweet and so fun…but that’s nothing new, she has always had that personality. She really loves playing with Brody’s toys, which luckily Brody is very patient with. She especially loves chewing on anything foamy, like his darts…they will keep her busy for forever! She also loves bath time, even more when it is with Brody. I think she just loves everything more when it is with Brody. Her face lights up almost everything she sees him and every time he gives her a hug, kiss, or wants to play with her. She in return is also very patient with him when he jumps over her, rolls her around of the ground and tries to play a little too roughly with her. He isn’t perfect with her (like any other 4 year old), but he is dang close, she couldn’t ask for a better big Brother. She is such a little climber; she will climb over anything and everything to get to where she wants to be, including people. You will be holding her and she tries to climb right out of your arms. She is also starting to be quiet the little explorer around the house, finding her way into things and checking everything out. She will move chairs to be able to get under the table. She likes being in the kitchen with me and especially loves to get into the pantry and fridge while they are open, she also loves playing with Brody magnetic leap frog that is on the fridge. She still has to taste anything and everything she gets her hands on, which can be kind of scary/gross at times. She has to be apart of everything, she will crawl right out the back door to be with Brody…keep in mind we have a dirt back yard once she gets past the patio, and she always fallows us down the hall if Brody and I have to do something. She still totally and completely favors me; Ian even goes as far as claiming she acts like she doesn’t know him at times. She sometimes isn’t too sure about strangers, in fact the first time she met Grandpa Great all he did was say hi to her and she started crying. If she doesn’t cry she will usually try her hardest to get back into my arms. She does really enjoy being around other people just not being held by them. She knows her name without a doubt now, and even some of her nicknames. Some nicknames she has acquired are; Kins, Mae Mae, Miss Kinsley and I often call her Beauty Queen (not sure where that one came from but it stuck!). I cannot even begin to count how many compliments she has received about her eyes, almost everyone who meets her tells us how beautiful and big her eyes are. I absolutely love her eyes as well, but it’s her smile that gets her Daddy and I. Her smile is the most infectious smile you have ever seen. When she smiles her whole face lights up…you don’t even have to see her mouth to know she’s smiling, and you just can’t help but be happy.
 
(Another fun fact, see how her right eyebrow is lifted up a little bit in this picture. A lot of the time this happened when she first smiles, cutest thing ever!)
 

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Outdoors Fun

Outdoors Fun
Tuesday
September 17th, 2013
 
What's the best part about having no grass in your backyard?? (Don't be fooled by the greenery in the background, that's just weeds. It's the rainy season here so its next to impossible to keep them away.) Getting to play in the dirt!! And dig lots of holes without Mom getting mad! And being able to us your sand toys!!
 
It's been very hard having no grass, what can I say I'm a Washington girl, and I still hate it but I have to admit the kids do have fun in the dirt.
Kinsley Mae sneaking out the back door to join in the fun.
 

 
 
I have been wanting to redo this side table of ours for forever, so Ian being the sweetie that he is was nice enough to get it all ready for me today. I'm so excited for this new project.
p.s. I promise our back patio doesn't usually have this much dirt on it. Brody and his cousin Boaz decided it would be fun to throw a bunch of mud on it, silly boys!

 
And here's a random picture of Kinsley during her nap today. I had been wanting to get her a stuffed animal for a while now. Brody has had a stuffed dog since he was 3 months old, so I wanted to carry on the tradition and get all of our children a special animal. I looked and looked and couldn't find anything within reasonable price that seemed right. Then my mom gave me this, It is a panda bear beanie baby that used to belong to my Grandmother before she passed away. I remember her going to the mall to get the latest beanie babies that came out, she had her store that she would always go to. She always had her favorite bears displayed by her front door and a HUGE chest full of them in the back room. It was something fun for her to do, collecting them. I cannot imagine a stuffed animal being more special and more perfect then this, every time I see it I think of her and smile :)



Preschool

First day of "Preschool"
Tuesday
September 17th, 2013
 
While we lived in Prescott I was able to get Brody signed up for Preschool, I was beyond excited since he really should have been in preschool last year. Then we moved...and as I have expressed earlier living on an Indian reservation is quiet different. The elementary school does a preschool but only has 21 openings, and of course they had to registration day before we moved here so that wasn't an option. The only other Preschool within reasonable driving distance (20 miles) cost almost $300 a month and was 5 days a week from 7:45 to 2:45, way too much money and too much time away...I wasn't looking for a babysitter! Brody was super bummed he wouldn't be going to school anymore, so I did the only thing I could...did school with him myself! I know its not the same, in fact the part he would really enjoy is the social but it's something. He was so excited when I told him we were going to do school today!
 
 
I told him I would be taking pictures so he got dressed nice (I wanted to make it feel special) and got his backpack on! Isn't he stinkin handsome!! I couldn't decide on a favorite so I'm putting both up :)

 
He was perfect and listened to everything I told him to do, he is so anxious to learn.
 

 
We learned about up and down with Jack and Jill and even watched the rhyme online. He absolutely loved it, I'm going to try and teach him a new nursery rhyme every week, they are one of those things in life that are slipping away but are so fun for kids!
 
 
We had an awesome first day of "Preschool" and got to spend some quality time together while Kinsley napped. Can't wait to help this little boy learn and grow!


Mommy's little girl

Mommy's Little Girl
Tuesday
September 17th, 2013
 
It is so fun having a little girl, and I can only imagine it becoming even more fun. On the mornings that she is awake she sits with me while I get ready and goes threw all of my things, wither it me my jewelry, fingernail polish, hair things or make up. She just loves going through all of mommy's things, and I love it too. I can remember being young and thinking all of my Mothers things were so amazing to look through, I would especially love looking through her jewelry box. Its so fun being the mother now and watching my daughters happy eyes as she explores :). 
 


background