Week 6: July 18th-24th

Colt and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on the 18th. 

A few pictures of us "celebrating" our 6 year anniversary!

Gerald and Allison had their little girl, Hensley Grace. I cried when I saw pictures, and I text Colt and told him that I wanted to start over and do it all over again! He didn't text back. He picked up the phone and called me and asked me if I was crazy?! I was just not wanting Kinley to grow up, and I was wanting her to stay little and cuddle with me forever. It goes TOO fast! 

We drove to Terrell on the 19th to go meet Hensley. It was our first long car ride. Kinley did great! It was mama's first experience of pumping in the car. I'm pretty sure I got milk all over Colt's truck. 

July 19th - Our eyes were definitely still crossing at this point. 

Kinley and her new friend, Hensley

Kinley and Hensley with their grandmas.

I had my postpartum checkup on the 20th. My blood pressure was 119/70 which is pretty close to what my normal was pre-pregnancy. I was 129 lbs., so 9 lbs. away from my pre-pregnancy weight.

Here's a video of Kinley on the 20th that Colt took of her grunting, squeaking and stretching. 

It's not much to anyone else, but evidently we thought it was pretty cute!

We did some shopping at Kirkland's in Killeen because I had it in my head that our living room HAD to be redecorated to get rid of the maroon. 

Of course, I couldn't decide if I liked teal or red curtains so we bought both so I could see them hanging in our house and then take the ones I didn't like back. Colt gets so irritated with me, but he's a good sport. I should've just listened to him in the first place and only gotten the teal ones! We also got a couple of teal accent pieces to help change the look of the room. 

I think we tried to watch a movie. Kinley and I were out. Colt snapped these of us sleeping on him. 

My parents came to visit. It was the first time they had came down since she was born.  

I put Kinley in the little strawberry outfit that my mom had given her. 

Kinley with her Gigi (or Giggy).

My mom says you spell it Giggy, but I spelled it Gigi on their Christmas present this past year. Jennifer spells it Gigi too! My mom has several names... Jacob calls her Memaw, Lily and Logan call her Mimi, and Tenison started the Gigi trend. I guess that one's stuck for Heath's kids and ours. 

At this point, my dad still wasn't holding Kinley!

My mom already got emotional when it was just me, but now she definitely gets emotional every time we say goodbyes because she doesn't like living so far away. 

My parents drove their car down. Colt took a picture and text it to one of the other residents and told him we had a new car. He believed him at first... 

That definitely wouldn't be a baby friendly car!

Another one of me and Kinley sleeping...We did this a lot!

We put Kinley in her swing in her bedroom to see if she liked it. Colt put her in. I went in there to check on her, and he had it on the highest sitting! She was moving.
Here's a video of her swinging on the 22nd.

And because we're obsessed parents, here's another one of us walking on the 23rd.

This was also on the 23rd and is one of my favorite pictures.

Evidently this was one of the nights we moved to the couch. It was at 4am. Kinley was sleeping and I look like I was in need of sleep!

A couple other little things from the week:

I thought that Kinley started giving me little smiles that week.

Jodi Benham brought us dinner one night. It was homemade and had veggies that she had gotten at the farmer's market. It was so good! I'm telling you, meals are the best gift!

I ended up trying Insanity that week after my checkup. It was the first time that I had worked out besides just going on walks. All I did was the fit test. My boobs were hurting. I nearly threw up when I was in the shower afterwards. My lungs were also burning like I had been running in the cold, only I hadn't! I should've kept at it, but sadly, I've only worked out hard less than a handful of times since then. It's definitely time to get back in gear. I'm out of shape, and I've lost all my muscle. I did 5 pull-ups a week or so ago when we took Davallen and Kinley to the park, and I could feel it in my arms and was breathing hard! 

Our 6 year Anniversary

July 18th, we celebrated our 6 year anniversary. We had a 5 week old to celebrate with us and were adjusting to becoming a family of three. We've come a long way since we met in college at Commerce 9 years ago! Our lives have changed a ton. Here lately, there are times that I miss Colt. I tell him every once in a while before we go to bed! It's a combination or him working a lot and us just not having near as much time as we used to have. We definitely don't have a lot of quiet nights to do nothing but curl up on the couch to watch our shows or movies anymore! I wouldn't have it any other way though! Our lives have changed, but they've changed for the better. We both love Kinley more than I could have ever imagined! Of course, I loved Colt back when we got married 6 years ago, but I love him even more now seeing him as a dad! I'm definitely glad he chose me years ago! I look forward to loving him the rest of my life and growing into our role as parents together! 

Week 5: July 11th-17th

Week 5, Kinley turned 1 month old on the 12th. That night, Matt and Whitney brought us over Chili's for dinner. Tina also came over that week to visit and brought Subway for lunch. 

I had a dentist appointment that week and took Kinley with me. It was the first time that we had really gotten out besides to go to the doctor. My dentist appointment was early that morning which forced us to get up and get going earlier than normal. After the appointment, we went for a long walk and ventured to the next neighborhood.

I had what I think was my first breakdown that week. I got so exhausted and drained that I was just crying! I'm pretty sure this was the time that I was nursing non-stop all day and didn't make time to really eat or drink. I felt like she was sucking me dry, literally. Once I got a good cry out, I was back to normal though!

That week Colt said that she flipped over on him when she was throwing a little fit. We started doing more tummy time, and she started turning her head side to side.

I started using the Baby Ktan that Mallory had given me, and it was a lifesaver. I quickly bought another one that was supposed to be a little cooler so I could alternate while the other was in the wash.

I worked a few days at the end of June and first couple of days in July to try to finish transitioning clients and wrap up a few things. I thought I had gotten to a spot to be pretty much done with work by this time. However, there were a couple of clients that one of the partners didn't think needed to be transitioned before I went on maternity leave. We had planned on having them wrapped up, but we had also planned on having an extra month before I was one leave. This week I got a text from that partner's assistant about a client "emergency" asking me to call the office. At this point, there just wasn't a lot of free time to work so it had me worried and stressed out there for a bit trying to figure out a way to fit it in.  Luckily, after realizing it was going to be a big project and that I just couldn't do it timely, I asked for help. Another manager took it over and ran with it. It actually ended up being a big mess and a lot of work for her, but I'm so thankful she was there to step in and figure it out.

Here's some pics from Week 5.

July 11th

These were some of my favorite pajamas.

Ignore what I look like in these pics!

Lucky had to be involved and snuggle with us too. 

July 13th 

Lucky was constantly in her activity mat. Everytime I would look, he was in there! Evidently, he thought it was his. 

July 14th
Another day, but Lucky was still in the same place!

Different activity mat, but Lucky was still down there with Kinley napping. Now, 7 months later, if I lay a pallet in the floor for Kinley, the dogs still think it's their blanket to nap on!

July 16th
Loaded in the car to go to the dentist

Tummy time

Love this pic... it looks like she's smiling.

One of the nights we were sleeping on the couch so I could get a little bit better rest.

 July 17th
I laughed at this because it looked like she was flipping the camera off. I sent it to Colt while he was working that day.

Getting more and more interested in looking at the lights and toys over her head.

1 month outtakes

Monthly photos have gotten much easier as Kinley's gotten older. At first, we had a lot of outtakes, and I think they are just too cute not to include on here. 

1 month old

Kinley turned 1 month old on July 12th. I really wish I had done these posts when it was fresh so that I could remember all her progress and likes/dislikes by month and so on, rather than it all just blend between the months. 

Here's a little recap of her growth that first month:

Birth - 6 lbs. and 19.5 inches long (5 lbs. 5 oz. when we got to go home from the hospital)
10 days old - 6 lbs. 1 oz.
12 days old - 6 lbs. 2 oz.
24 days old - 7 lbs. 2 oz. (7th%) 20 inches long (18th%) 34.5 cm. head (10th%)

Kinley was in newborn diapers, of course. We bought some preemies that fit her too, but we liked the newborn size better. She had at least one set of preemie pajamas that we wore (they were actually handed down from Angie Fisk so they were maybe 11 years old or so)! A couple of people went out and bought us preemie outfits abut they were a little too snug. I ended up ordering a lot of up to 7 lbs. pajamas from Old Navy. They were our primary wardrobe. She was able to wear some newborn clothes by the end of the month and was actually starting to outgrow a few newborn onesies. Every brand is SO different in sizing! 

At this point, Kinley was definitely loving to be up close and on our chest. There were several nights this month, and the months after, that she ended up on my chest sleeping by the time the night was over. We also both ended up sleeping on the couch a few nights too. Sometimes I would move there, and a few times I just anticipated and started my night out in the living room! She did sleep in our Halo Bassinet a little at first during the night but that was pretty short lived. We actually ended up selling it pretty early on because we felt like it was just taking up space in our room! During the day, if I wasn't holding her, she would nap in the rock and play for the most part, sometimes in the swing or on the couch. When I showered or managed to actually get ready, she was in the rock and play.  

She didn't like any clothes that went over her head AT ALL. This is why she pretty much lived in the button up pajamas. I liked them better than onesies because they were just easier to me. 

She peed on us a lot when we changed her diapers at first. It was like when the cold air hit her, she had to pee. She seemed a little sensitive to wipes so we used warm wash rags instead for diaper changes. 

When we would get ready for bed at the beginning, I felt like I took an army of supplies with me to have next to the bed. Luckily, that isn't the case anymore! At first, we left our bathroom door open with the light on so I could see to feed and do diaper changes during the night. Colt is the guy that has to have it pitch black to sleep.  He even always had to cover up the blue light on the cable box.  It's been an adjustment for him and probably, in addition to having a newborn,  a reason why he wasn't sleeping good for a while. We quickly got a nightlight but it wasn't quite bright enough. We tried a scentsy for light. However, Colt put wax in it and wax got all over the carpet and bedding one night That was pretty much the end of that! He ended up buying a Wemo that allows us to control and dim our bedside lamps from our phones. We should've had it from the beginning! We also have the same thing in Kinley's room for her lamp.  

I remember waking up not just the first month, but the first few months, covered in sweat during the night. I felt so oily all the time, like I always needed a shower... crazy hormones! My least favorite thing to do was wash bottles and pump parts. I know it only took 5 minutes or so, but doing that and unloading the dishwasher seemed so hard to get done there at first. I felt like jumping for joy when Colt would do it for me! In the beginning, I thought I was going to like pumping more at first. It seemed easier because she seemed to take a bottle faster than she would breastfeed and it seemed to fill her up more. That quickly changed. Now I much prefer to breastfeed. Luckily, I'm at home, and that's primarily what we do. It's much faster and less cleanup. I still usually pump once a day, in the morning, but that's usually it. It's nice to not be pumping at night while she's sleeping anymore. My absolute FAVORITE thing this month and for months after was cuddling with her on my chest. There was nothing better than her laying there with her head in my neck.  

Here's my babe during her one month photo session with mom. 

And another from the same day

Kinley's Room

I previously posted about projects that we (I should say Colt) worked on to get Kinley's room ready. Here are a few pictures of her room once we were done with everything. 

We now have way more bows than that! The headband hooks are now definitely overflowing!

On this shelf, right now we just have a few keepsakes and knick-knacks. The orange flowers were from the cake topper at her baby shower. We got flowers delivered in the little baby vase and I have her newborn hat that she wore at the hospital and the hat she wore home from the hospital down in it.  We have her personalized bloomers that Dede bought her up there. We have my first baby shoes that my mom let me have as well as my little gold baby ring.  Linda and Tooter got us a lot of keepsake items as a gift when they came to visit. The box that will hold her first curl and first tooth are up there and a personalized cup. They also got us her first silverware set but it's put away. I'm scared to let her eat out of it. We eat out of plastic instead! We also have her trophy her dad won her playing cornhole at her shower and her first stuffed animal that Linda and Tooter bought her the Christmas before she was born. I have a feeling I am going to be like my mom and be the mom that keeps everything!

These are a few keepsakes that we made with Kinley right after she was born. I love them! I wouldn't have been able to do either project without Colt that's for sure!

This was a lot harder than we planned! It's Colt's hand, my hand and Kinley's newborn hand. Her hand was originally going to be hot pink as you can see from all the smears. Then we tried to go over it with orange to see if we could get a good handprint. We got smears with orange too. She liked to crunch her fingers a little too much! It's definitely not perfect like the ones you see on Pinterest, but we think it's cute and it still earned a place on her wall. Plus, we'll always have the story of why it looks the way that it does!  

There was a little more room for error on these. These are both her footprint and her handprint from when she was a newborn. Her hands and feet are already much bigger than that now. 

This K was used as a decoration at her baby shower, and the cross, as I mentioned in our nursery projects post, was actually a gift that Colt and I received when we got married.

I'm happy with the way her room turned out. Maybe one day she'll sleep in it :)