32 weeks :: weekend away

We visited Grammy’s house this past weekend for the first time since
we celebrated Christmas in early December when Kenley was only seven weeks old.
She was such a tiny little nugget back then. Can’t hardly believe it.
I would like to think that we packed less this second time around,
but I don’t think we did,  I just think our necessities have changed.

 We left right after Kenley had her last meal and was ready for bed,
the car was locked and loaded and she was asleep as soon as we hit the highway.
She slept the entire way, which was our hope, and went to bed relatively easy once we arrived.
It was obvious the next morning that she knew we were someplace different.
She kept looking around side to side, quite hysterical actually.

Saturday was great, sleeping wise. Sunday, not so much.
You could tell that she wasn’t feeling very well all day,
between her teeth and some tummy issues, she just wasn’t a happy camper.
She actually let me cuddle her on the couch and take a nap with her,
which doesn’t happen often. I loved it, but hated that she didn’t feel well.
Bedtime was a challenge too, but we powered through.
Monday seemed to be a little better
and once we got back to our own bed, all was right in the world.

Some fun things that we learned during our weekend away:

Swimming is fun!

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The Bumbo makes a great high chair for meal time,
which makes me feel better since we rarely use it at home.

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Umbrella strollers are awesome and easy to pack (thanks Charlie for letting Kenley borrow yours!)

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Never underestimate the power of a nap.

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We love our cloth diapers (especially after using disposables again).
Even if you feel like you’ve over packed, you definitely forgot something you need.
Roll with the punches. She was definitely out of her element, but overall she did great!

32 weeks today!

water you doing?

Kenley went swimming for the first time over Memorial Day weekend at Grammy’s house.

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She was more subdued than we thought she was going to be.
During bath time, she is a maniac in the water, splashing around and having a blast.

In the pool, she just floated around and took it all in.

She was very confused at first, but then got the hang of it very quickly.

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As I was packing our bags for the weekend, I found it very odd that she had more swim suits than I did,
but turns out that it worked out perfectly since she didn’t have to put on a wet suit when it was time to go swimming again.

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Playing in the pool with mom and dad!

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 After swimming this past weekend and our quick pit stop at the beach,
we are pumped to head back over there this coming weekend for more fun in the sun!

my [memorial day] weekend in photos

[sorry to those who receive email updates, i’m trying to find a different host for photos
and mistakenly published a post… whoops. technical difficulties. forgive me.]

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we loaded up the car to head down to grammy’s on friday after dinner.
kenley was well aware that this wasn’t our normal bedtime routine.

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we stopped off for a road trip treat.
half chocolate, half vanilla milkshake.

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we were up early and ready to swim on saturday.
many more pics to come.

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i took advantage of nap time to soak up some rays
and catch up on life, fitness, fashion, and decor.
i finally also finished the second hunger games book. holy moly.

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the new coozie of the rest of my life.

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hanging out with grammy!

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hanging out with mommy!

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not sure if we packed enough toys.

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jeremy and eric came down to hang out too!

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rocking her red, white, and blue for memorial day

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cousins from colorado!
we were able to stop by the beach on our way home to see them,
which was somewhat of a tease since we had to come back and go to work tomorrow,
but looking forward to spending this weekend with them.

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first time at the beach, can’t wait to go back.

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kenley loved seeing her cousins.

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what was supposed to be a quick trip home turned into a closed interstate
and long detour through the citrus groves.

oy.

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how was your long weekend? 

31 Weeks :: fun facts

31 weeks.

this girl’s hair is long. it’s getting long. so long that it blows in the wind.
all of a sudden, she had hair! it’s fun.

we are so close to be on the move. fully on the move. she gets where she needs to go now,
which is usually just to the edge of the mat to start tearing it apart (evidence below),
but soon she will realize there is a whole world beyond the mat.
it’s going to blow her mind.

 

Greg lowered her crib mattress yesterday, which was probably good timing.
we went in several times at bedtime last night to find her sitting up,
grabbing onto the top of the crib, getting to her knees, and playing with her bumper.
she just didn’t know what to do with herself.

she is either really annoyed by her two current teeth, or we’re getting ready for a couple more to poke through.
she was clearly uncomfortable today after school, clawing at her mouth and ears, and shaking her head a lot.
she was even whiny on our walk, which rarely happens. That’s usually our “go-to” if she’s upset.
she’s also got a tiny rash around her mouth from enormous amount of drool that’s coming out.

we’ve got some fun first-time things planned this weekend,
I’m sure there will be a ridiculous amount of pictures to follow.

my weekend in photos

kyler came to play

kenley is so interested in her

kenley took it upon herself to pull kyler right over to her

oh just chewing on kyler’s fingers

celebrating

the girls

celebrated seven months… not even sure how that’s possible

had been waiting for this dinner all day and checked out the new location which was awesome

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[hopefully] our last photo together before baby margot is here

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somehow, we also walked 10.15 miles this weekend in two days,
so i’m pretty sore tonight.

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how was your weekend? what were you up to? 

Seven Months!

We are past the half way point to a year.
Seven months!

Kenley is quickly becoming more mobile.
She can go from sitting, to laying, to her tummy, and even did a little summersault the other day,
unintentionally, of course, and it didn’t phase her one bit.
She can turn on her belly and do a full circle to reach anything,
but no signs of army crawling yet.
She can pull up onto her hands and knees at times and rock back and forth,
but quickly gets frustrated that she can’t go any further.
Like I keep saying, it’s only a matter of time.
Right now she can get to where she wants, majority of the time,
but I have a feeling it’s about to get fun.

Items on the to-do list:
Get baby gates
Baby proof the house
Adopt a no shoe policy in our house

Kenley loves her toys, but would much rather play with things she shouldn’t be,
specifically cell phones, remotes, electronics, her foam play mat, etc.
She’ll put anything in her mouth, but it’s a struggle to get her to really utilize the chew toys,
she’d much rather have her fingers, your fingers, or anyone else’s fingers in her mouth.
Her favorite toy now is her Fisher-Price learning table. The legs can be removed so she can sit with it.
I think this is because we plop her down in front of it and she will play and play.
I’ll be anxious to see what she likes when she can choose where to go and what to play with.

Items on the to-do list:
Get the Fisher-Price iPad or iPhone apptivity case
Baby proof the house

 Kenley’s sleeping schedule at night is pretty consistent and her wake up time varies from day to day,
but is normally between 5am and 6am. She goes to bed between 7:30pm and 7:45pm each night.
Occasionally, she throws us for a loop, like Wednesday when she was up a 4am and ate at 4:30am,
or today when she slept until 7am! (Thanks girl.)
She also sleeps with her little toosh in the air and it’s the most adorable thing ever.

Happy seven months Kenley!

my weekend in photos :: mother’s day surprise

“my weekend in photos” will be more words and less photos this week,
just to forewarn you.

Where to begin.
Friday I came home to two awesome surprises.
My amazing husband flew my mom down for the weekend
and I didn’t know it until I came home from work on Friday to see her holding Kenley.
My amazing father flew my brother down this weekend to surprise both my mom and myself,
and I didn’t know it until after I saw my mom and was already surprised.
All these men in our lives were in cahoots together.

Later on the Jenkinson’s came over to play!

Kenley just loves grabbing at Kyler.

Saturday morning we headed to the Winter Park Farmer’s Market, which was amazing!

Greg and I snuck away for a lunch-time date to our fave restaurant with an amazing view.

Saturday night, we played Sink the Biz.
Alicia was in town, so we were pumped when she came by to visit.

I don’t think I could have had a better first Mother’s Day.
After some chocolate chip pancakes, we headed to church, then to lunch.
My mom and I did some shopping this afternoon (shocking, I know),
then had an awesome dinner!

Hope all you mommies had a wonderful Mother’s Day, especially the first-time mommies out there!

29 Weeks :: loving food

There is no doubt that this girl loves food.
She intently watches if anyone around her is eating
and even goes as far as opening her mouth like you’re going to feed her your food.

Her menu now consists of…
organic frozen peas
organic squash
organic zucchini *least favorite
organic white sweet potatoes
organic orange sweet potatoes
organic bananas
rice ceral
organic banana flavored puffs

Foods on deck:
organic oatmeal
organic brown rice
organic avacado
organic apples

Right now she’s eating two pureed food snacks a day, one in the early afternoon and one in the later afternoon.
in addition to her five breastmilk feedings a day, ranging from as early as 5am to about 7:30pm.

We have been blending up foods on the weekends
and have decided what to feed her by what organic veggies are in stock at either Publix or Target .
We freeze some of the food, then thaw it mid week for the next few days.

My plan is to get a bunch of fruits and veggies and make a huge batch that will last several weeks,
but we’ll see when we actually get around to that.

I am definitely feeling much better about solid foods,
after her six month check-up and talking to the pediatricians, I felt much more at ease.
It’s fun to feed her and watch her eat; and she likes it, which helps.

Our Must Have List Part II

Here is our first must have list, in case you missed it.
Some items we still use everyday, like the car seat (obvi), breast pump, and Boppy,
and there are some things that we’ve grown out of  like the swing and the play mat,
but there are other new items that we’ve grown into that we love, so we want to share.
This list is probably more for months three to seven.

Fisher-Price Jumperoo

This was a hand-me-down that we are so thankful to have gotten!
I feel like it was just yesterday that we had to put my sports law book under her feet so she could reach the ground.
Now she can reach the floor perfectly and loves to jump around in it.
It plays music and lights up with is fun for her.
It’s also great because she can stay in one place and we know she can’t go far.

ERGObaby Original Baby Carrier

I love the Ergo, but we didn’t get it/start using it until she was a little older and weighed more.
We also have a Moby Wrap that was also a hand-me-down and it worked great when I was home with her
during the day and when she was a newborn and didn’t weigh as much.
The Ergo is so easy to put on and is very comfortable.
I’ve worn it on the front, as well as on the hip and would say that I prefer the front better right now.
We may still use the Moby later on, but the Ergo is much more handy to just put on and go.
I also think it’s a little more manly than the Moby wrap, so Greg has no problem wearing it around.
As silly as it sounds, I also love having the zip pocket on the front for my cell phone. It’s the small things.

Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether

We love Sophie, but this also goes for any other teething toy as well.
From about four months on, everything has gone into Kenley’s mouth, so having these toys on hand has been great.
We are now starting to utilize the teethers that can be put in the freezer (for small periods of time only)
as well as just a plain damp washcloth that she can chew on.
Anything that can help with the teething, chewing, drooling phase is a must!

Graco Sweet Slumber Sound Machine

Growing up, I didn’t sleep with any kind of noise maker. Just the silence.
Probably because my dad is the lightest sleeper you’ve ever met!
Freshman year of college, however, Lisa and I slept with the TV on every night. EPSN. Every night.
I quickly grew accustomed to sleeping with either the TV or the fan on at night,
but let’s be serious, I can sleep anytime, anywhere, so it’s not a must for me.
From the day we brought Kenley home, she has slept with the sound machine.
We usually keep it on the rain forest or the white noise setting.
I like to think it helps her sleep, but it also allows us to be as loud as we want
and not have to worry about waking her up, especially when we have friends over.
We also have the Cloud b Gentle Giraffe that we can strap to her car seat or strollers if she needs to sleep.

Burp Cloths

I swear, we have at least 12 burp cloths and I still think I could use more.
It seems like we are going through these like crazy, whether it’s spit up or drool,
we also have them within an arms reach.
I will say that with the Carter’s brand, the cute fabrics fade so fast when you’re washing them so often,
they still do their job, but just don’t look as cute.
I’ve actually started making some for friends with leftover fabric and the plain Gerber burp cloths.
In my opinion, it’s the perfect gift because I know they will get used!
Bottom line, you can never have too many of these bad boys.

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What other goods do you mommies use that I’m missing?