7 Months

I know I am way late on this post but I wanted to get it up anyways. Kinley was 7 months on June 27th. We didn't have a doctor appointment this month but I took her in anyways to get her weighed. She is still slowly gaining. She was 15lbs 1oz and 26in long. She didn't grow in any length so all her weight gain was ounces. Yippee! She is wearing size 2 diapers and we are finally in 6 month clothes. She is at such a fun age right now, we are enjoying her very much!

Sleep: We have officially transitioned into her crib this month. The first night I don't think I slept at all between watching the monitor, checking on her and missing her terribly. Yes I know that might sound silly as she was in the next room but it was really hard on me. Even Matt said he missed her in our room. If you asked me while I was pregnant I said she was going to be sleeping in her room shortly after we all came home. This was just one of many things that didn't go how I had pictured. We both loved having her in our room and I would not change it but it was time for her to get use to her room and her bed. She still isn't napping in her crib but I am ok with that! She still naps in the pack and play in our room. This past month she has started to do really well at night with the exception of a few bad nights. We start bath at 6, then lotion, nurse and bed. She is usually in her bed around 645. She continues to wake up at the 30-45 minute mark but usually takes her bink and goes right back to sleep. She has been getting up once, anywhere from 1-4 to eat. This month it has been kind of a struggle to get her to go right back to sleep. There were many nights I was up for an hour or two with her. That makes for one tired mamma the next day at work. After I finally get her down she gets up for the day around 530-6. Some times she will surprise me and sleep until 630 or 7 which is AMAZING. Funny how 7 becomes sleeping in when you are a parent. And for naps. She is still quite the cat napper. For a week or so she took an hour and a half nap every day. I thought she was finally consolidating naps. I was wrong. Back to 30 min naps. Boooo!! Though she still usually takes 4 30 min naps a day which isn't bad you just can't get anything done in 30 mins. I really am beginning to think she will forever take 30 min naps. Time will tell.

Eating: We are in full swing with BLW. For the first few weeks I waited a few days in between foods then decided since there are not any allergies with Matt and I we were going to go for it. This girl LOVES her food. We were doing oatmeal to help her gain some weight but towards the end of this month she was not having being fed so we just eliminated it. She is much happier when she can do it or she has to chew the food. We tried eggs, lasagna, plum, steak, lemon, peach, spinach and various spices. There hasn't been much this girl doesn't like. She continues to get breast milk in the bottle while I am at work and I nurse her before bed and in the middle of the night. On the weekends I nurse her more and I love it! I never really had an ending point in mind when I was pregnant and then when I started it was 6 months and now that we have passed 6 months I am hoping to make it to a year. I am still pumping 4 times a day, morning, 2 times at work and before bed. I am trying to keep a stash in the freezer for emergencies. You never know when my supply will crash or something unexpected happens. I love the bond we share while she nurses. It is truly an amazing feeling!

Play: Oh my has play time been fun! She loves her toys and actually plays with most of them, though the iPhone seems to be the best toy. :) We got her a new Baby Einstein table this month that she loves. She stands with help but what is best about it is the legs come off and it can sit on the ground. She loves banging all the buttons for the different music. We bought it at a consignment shop for about 1/2 the price. Best idea ever! She mastered sitting at about 5 1/2 months and now all she wants to do is stand. If you try to sit her back down she arches her back and gets mad. It is pretty cute. Sophie continues to be a favorite.

She has learned to play peek a boo and thinks it is hilarious. She loves to interact with the animals. She just looks at them at starts laughing. It is the cutest thing ever! She went in her pool in the back yard and seems to enjoy it. We haven't taken her to a bigger pool yet but hopefully will get to that before the end of summer. She is talking so much more and very responsive when you call her name. She still does not have any teeth but chews on things like she has a mouth full. She celebrated her first Father's day with Daddy and made him a cute frame for his desk. He loved it and we had a blast making it. She continues to do new things ever day and is such a blessing in our lives. I have so much love for this little monkey.

Other monthly updates:

3 Months
4 Months
5 Months
6 Months

Ok here you have it! It is only 2 weeks late. Hope everyone has a great day! It is a long week for me because I have to work Saturday. Hate 6 day work weeks!

Catch Up

How is next weekend 4th of July? I can't believe we are half way through the year already. Happy Friday! This weekend we are finally back to our normal schedules. After being in Colorado and then another wedding next weekend things have been so crazy.

We had so much fun at our friend Chelsea and Tony's wedding last weekend. It was much needed adult time and Matt and I had a blast with everyone! Congrats to the newlyweds.

We had a wonderful Father's Day and Kinley made Matt new pictures for his frame on his desk at work. And I thought it was hard to get pictures last year, not so much!

This week has been so busy with all the catch up at work and home. I have been so tired but am finally getting back into the swing of things. We are going to enjoy a fun filled family Friday, so a short post for today.

Enjoy the pictures and I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday.

Colorado Summer Wedding Part 1

What a beautiful wedding! We just got back from Colorado where my younger, yes you read that right, sister got married. Everyone thinks she's older than me but I am 13.5 months older.

She got married in an evening cememony in Pine, Colorado. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect. It did start pouring a little into the reception but we were indoors so it was fine.

We started the morning with a dad's breakfast with lots of food. He really is the best cook! I think that is one of the best parts of going back to Colorado, getting to enjoy his cooking! 

Julie had hairstylists and makeup artists come to my dad and Darlene's house so we all could get pretty. It was great to chat with everyone while getting ready and enjoying a glass of wine. Kinley got to take a nap before her long night ahead! She had big shoes to fill and did awesome! 

She was the flower girl and we all know that is no easy task to fill, especially at 18 months old. 

The limo picked us up and we headed up the mountain. It was sooooooooo hot in the limo it was awful! The air was on full blast and only coming out of one vent. Horrible! It wasn't cool out either. It made for a somewhat miserable limo ride unfortunately. Though on an exciting note Kinley got to ride with us. 

After getting up to the ranch we all were able to freshen up and get in our dresses. It was picture time. 

Oh my what a stressful time. Kinley was not cooperating and did not want any pictures taken. I felt so bad! I just wanted the day to be perfect for my sister. I just hope the photographers got some pictures with her. My pictures are by no means professional but I was too impatient to wait for those. So you get what I have :). I'll share the professional ones when I get them.

It was ceremony time! I was so happy Kinley was ok staying with daddy while I walked down. Then she came! The look on her face was priceless. It seriously was the cutest thing ever! She walked with my nephew and did awesome! She didn't hold the sign my sister wanted her to hold but she made it all the way down with Connor without any tears! After Julie I'm pretty sure she stole the show!

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. The location, the sharing of the sand, the vows and everyone included. 

This is getting long and if you've made it this far thank you!

7 Easy Tips For Flying with a Toddler

We are about to fly with Kinley for the 5th time. This time Matt is going with so overall it makes things easier. I thought I would blog about some tips I have learned along the way when flying with a baby/toddler. We just bought a new car seat for Matt's truck so we will try it out on the plane this time.

Packing is so overwhelming when you are traveling with a toddler. I feel like I need to pack my whole house and I still end up forgetting things. We always check our bags because it is really difficult to get through the airport and catch a connection with a toddler, all of her things and our bags. It just isn't very realistic. Plus it is one less thing to keep track of and that is extremely helpful. The less the better.

My number one thing to bring is the Ergo. I seriously don't leave home without the Ergo. It has saved me so many times! When you are traveling and not on a schedule it means naps on the go and having her in the Ergo to nap is wonderful. I also love the Ergo to get us through the airport in a timely manner. You know toddlers like to take their time, look at everything, wave and say hi to everyone. While it is super cute, it is not time conducive to making a connection in 30 mins.

Last time we went to Colorado I traveled with Kinley alone. I went to the dollar store and found a TON of things for her. I wanted her to have some new toys that would be new and interesting to her when we were on the plane. I did not have a seat for her since we decided to go at last minute. This time we have purchased a seat. Luckily there were a few empty seats on the plane and she was able to sit in the seat and do her own thing. Having her own bag was helpful and I think it made her feel special because it was hers. One of her favorite new toys I brought this last time was this easy DIY craft I made. I took an old spice jar (after cleaning and sanitizing it) then took pipe cleaners and cut them to fit in the jar. She loved putting the pipe cleaners in the jar, having to get them in the holes. We made up several different games while putting them in, counting them and naming the colors. I think that took up an hour.

Lots and lots of snacks!!! You never know how long you are going to be stuck on the runway or if you are going to have time to grab food or drinks in between connections. I learned this past time you can bring liquids through security if they are for the kiddos. I had always brought breast milk because the last times I was pumping but this time I brought her cups full of milk and water. They tested it, but gave me no hassle. It was honestly a breeze. I can only hope it is that easy this next time. I can't even begin to tell you how many snacks I brought. I had a whole bag full of snacks, plus Kinley likes to eat so I needed to be prepared. I also brought some dum dums, though I never gave her any because she was so good and content with the healthier options I brought.

Previous trips I would nurse her on the way up and down to help with the pressure in her ears. But we are done nursing now so we use a binki when flying. It was challenging nursing in such tight quarters so I definitely don't miss that. She still gets a bink at night time and in the car so when we are traveling I let her have it in the plane. I would rather her suck on a binki than her ears hurt from the pressure. I have dealt with that and it is awful! I don't want her to go through that. So with that being said I make sure I have a baggie full of binkis because we all know they are the first to fall on the floor.

She did so awesome when her and I flew last time so I am not making many changes when we fly later this week. We are bringing her car seat since we purchased a seat for her. We also bought a smaller backpack so she could carry it herself through the airport if there is time for her to walk. She is so proud to do things on her own so we encourage her to be independent.

If anyone has any other tips for traveling with a toddler I would love to hear. Share your experience in the comments!

Lets recap:

1: Bring a carrier. I can't stress this enough! Especially if you are traveling alone. It is so much easier to wear them and not have to worry about a stroller.

2. Pick a window seat. Who doesn't like to look out the window Also I bought cheap window clings that kept her busy for a good hour! She loved them.

3. Purchase a seat if it is in your budget. #1 reason it is safer! And secondly it is nice for them to have their own space and be able to sleep in their car seat if they fall asleep. I recently learned that if you have a car seat that won't fit (if you want it rear facing and it won't fit) you can request to be moved to a seat it will fit in.

4. SNACKS! This might be the most important one! Toddlers love food. And if you have options they won't get bored. You can also bring any liquids for them through security. We brought her milk and water and had no issues.

5. Toys, books and crayons! I also bought a $1 pack of Minnie stickers and she loved them. I like to have one new toy so it keeps her occupied longer than something she has been playing with for months at home. The dollar store has great options for this. I got a few things that she loved. Educational too.

6. Kinley still uses a binki when she sleeps. I let her have it when we fly to help with her ears and to save everyone else's ears. I also bring her Wooly lamb she loves.

7. Bring a change of clothes for you and the kiddo. On our last flight Kinley threw up all over me and we still had a flight to go. Thankfully I had a sweatshirt I could change into. If not it would've been awful.

Half of My Weekend

Happy Friday!! It technically is my Sunday since I was off yesterday too. I really am enjoying being off Thursday and Fridays. Kinley and I have such a great time. It is a bummer working every Saturday but then having Sunday off is nice too. I'm not minding it too much.

We had a good week. It always seems to go by so fast! We leave for Colorado in less than a week for my sisters wedding. WOW! I can't believe she is getting married in a week! We are really looking forward to seeing everyone! When Kinley and I went to Colorado a few weeks ago Matt didn't get to go with us so we are very excited for Matt to go with! It makes life so much easier to have an extra set of hands when traveling with a toddler. I can only hope she is as good as she was last time!

We have a lot of things planned for this weekend, to include packing. BOOOOO! I really hate packing. I always pack too much because I get anxiety thinking I won't have what I need. Though I never pack more diapers and wipes than we will need on the plane because they are just too heavy to travel with. We are renting a car so will just make a stop when we get there. It makes life much easier to have a car and be able to go and do what you want on your own time :).

Yesterday Kinley and I went to the library for the first time. She had so much fun! She loves reading all day long so I knew she would have a blast! It has been very rainy here the past few days so the library was perfect! We spent time picking out some books to take home and playing with the toys they had. She loved the computers. Some of the pictures are blurry...she was on the move. You can tell at first she was a little unsure about entering the "children's" zone.

Later in the day The Little Gym had an open gym so off we went. With this being our last week of introductory classes we decided to take advantage of the open gym time. She loves running around and jumping on the spring board. With summer in full effect and lots of fun summer activities ahead we have decided to wait until the weather gets colder to enroll her. I don't want to have to plan our summer life around an indoor activity, though I might regret saying that when it's 100 degrees and humid as hell out :). We really want to get her in swim lessons, we just haven't found anything that works with our schedules yet.

We are getting some pictures done on Saturday (if the rain holds off) that I am really looking forward too. We didn't do 1 year pictures for Kinley since we did Christmas pictures 2 weeks before she turned a year. So I think doing 18 month pictures will be perfect. We love Lori Woodhouse Photography so they should turn out awesome!

Hope everyone enjoys your Friday! We are off to enjoy a fun filled family day.