Happy 1st Birthday Kinley!

Happy 1st birthday to our sweet baby girl!

A year ago...





To our magnificent 1 year old,

Where do I even begin?! This has been the most amazing year of my life. You have inspired me to be a better person. You have truly filled a gap in my heart that I never knew could be filled. You have given me passion to live every day to the fullest. You have truly given me the opportunity to fill a calling that only God could have placed on my heart, to be your mother.

I thank God every day for you and the happiness that you have brought to your daddy and me. You won’t understand for a long time what I mean, but just know that you have changed our lives in an undreamed of way.

Thank you for the bottom of your belly giggles that you let me hear every day, for your Popeye face that brings tears to my eyes, for letting me hear “momma” at just the right times, for snuggling on my chest when I’ve lost my patience and need a rest, for the biggest most sincere smiles when I walk in to get you out of your crib, and for the sweetest little kisses, and occasional lick, that make me know that I will forever be a changed person because of you.

Even though I find myself weepy and sad that this day has come, I know that it’s happy tears that fall on my cheeks. Happy tears that symbolize all of the love and joy that you have given us during the last 12 months. Thankful tears for having the opportunity to watch you grow and learn and love… something that we prayed for for so long. It is so clear that God had a plan all along for us, and unmistakably that plan was you. How could we have ever doubted His plan, you are more than we could have ever hoped for.

Happy first birthday our sweet Looney... may this second year be just as amazing as the first. May you continue to learn, laugh and love each and every day. Thank you for being an incredible gift to us.

We love you sweet girl.
Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Kinley's 1 year photos to come this week, for now I'm off to enjoy our sweet girl on her birthday!

It's been a while... ha!

Ok, so I'll be the first to admit that it's been a while, can five months even be categorized as "a while"?! Anyway, we are alive, doing amazingly well, and as would be expected, we have a lot to get caught up on.

I'll attempt to back log a few blogs as the weeks pass on, but today's post is going to be short and sweet, because I have other big things to say in tomorrow's blog. What's so big about tomorrow's blog you might be wondering... only the FIRST BIRTHDAY OF OUR BABY GIRL!!! Can you even believe that it's been an entire year since Kinley was born?! I can't. So before I get all sappy on you (because I will, and I plan to tomorrow) I'll just say that it's nice to be back. I've missed the blogging world and the support that it offers, but darnit I had ZERO time for it... which is a good thing because it meant that we were living it up with our baby girl, and swamped with our blooming photography business.

See you tomorrow for the big "1 year old" blog (and lots of updated pictures of our cutie pie!)

cloth switcheroo??

I've had this crazy thought in my head for the last few weeks... I'm not sure why I suddenly have this nagging feeling/interest to switch over, but I definitely do!! So, any suggestions or things to consider if we do switch? I don't know much about cloth diapers, but I do have several friends that use cloth and I think it may be worth it, especially if we are able to have more kids.

I know that we certainly can't handle switching until we move in 6'ish weeks. So we have time to research and would love some advice!

6 Months Old!

Dear Kin-
You are becoming quite the little lady these days! Your laugh is contagious! Daddy can make you laugh so hard, which then makes me laugh... there is nothing better in the world than all three of us laughing. You are starting to know what you want and don't want, it makes for some interesting situations, especially when you have decided that you don't want in your car seat. =) Your daddy and I still can't believe that your ours, and that we love you SO much! Thank you for being such an amazing little girl.

Love,
Mommy & Daddy


And now for your latest stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 9 oz : 50tht percentile

Length: 24 1/4 inches : 10th Percentile (Not sure how she LOST an inch, I swear the measure SO different each time... oh well)

Diaper size: Size 3

Clothes size: You are wearing 6-9 month clothes.

Sleep: You are still consistently sleeping 10 hours each night.

Favorite activities/things: Playing with the cats and grandpa's dog, Wilson. You also love it when we hold your hands so that you can "walk".

Eating: You are nursing every 3-4 hours during the day and are now eating homemade baby food twice a day, breakfast and supper. You usually eat 2 veggies, a fruit, and some baby cereal each day.

Nicknames: LooLoo

Talking: I LOVE hearing you babble and "talk", you make a lot of little sounds. You can hold quite the conversation with us now. =)

New adventures: You got to go to Chicago with mommy and daddy for a weekend. You had your very first full day with just daddy while mommy was at a photography conference, and you guys did awesome together! You were a trooper in the car and slept nearly the entire 6 hours that it took us! While you were at the hotel in Chicago you also got to take your first swim in an indoor pool, you loved sitting in the baby float that we got for you!

New Skills You can now sit up completely on your own, although we still keep a watchful eye on you since you occasionally tip over if you get really excited about something, like the cat coming close enough to you to grab (not pet- just grab). =)

Still alive...

We are still alive, I promise. We are in the middle of moving (to somewhere with dialup internet), finishing our new house plans, and trying to update some photography stuff. To say I've been swamped is an understatement.

I promise to get Kinley's 6 month post up soon!

5 Months Old

Dear Kinley-
You are such a happy, fun little girl. You are such a blessing to your daddy and I. You have the sweetest laugh EVER! There are nights that we can tickle and play with you and get you to laugh for 10 minutes straight, your laugh makes me smile so much that my cheeks hurt. Thank you for making my first first Mother's day amazing, it is truly amazing to be your mommy.
Love,
Mommy & Daddy


And now for your latest stats:

Weight: 15 lbs 6 oz : 51st percentile

Length: 25 3/4 inches : 65th Percentile

Diaper size: Size 2 (you are on the last box and will be in size 3's next week!)

Clothes size: You are mostly wearing 3-6 month clothes, and just a few 6 month outfits.

Sleep: You are still consistently sleeping 10 hours each night.

Favorite activities/things: Playing on the floor, holding your toys and chewing on them, jumping in your excersaucer, smiling and laughing at daddy, reading "touch and feel" books, and "talking" with mommy.

Eating: You are eating every 3-4 hours during the day.

Nicknames: Sweet Pea

Talking: I LOVE hearing your happy little squeal, it went missing for a few weeks and is back, louder than ever. =)

New adventures: You got to go on your first vacation, and first flight! You were a champ! You slept almost the entire flight, both ways. You had a blast with Aunt Keri in Florida and enjoyed the warm weather.

New Skills You just started to sit up all on your own!! I love watching you sit and learn about your new surroundigns and view. A few weeks ago you began to roll from your back to tummy, you've only done it a few times and only when it's been just you and daddy. It's ok... I KNOW it will be my turn to see something first next, and that means I'll see the first crawl. =)

Your photoshoot this month was painful. You wanted nothing to do with pictuers. I'm not sure if you are afraid of my new camera, just hated the wind outside, or were not a fan of the fluffy blanket I tried to put you on, but no matter what it was you were not into pictures this month.

Here are a few of the pictures that are decent, although to be honest, as a photographer these really frustrate me to look at because the focus is off, the exposure was off, but it was all we could do just to snap a few between the crying- we did it without really even checking settings. Oh well, it will make us laugh someday. =)

Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye

See ya later Cherrywood Dr!

That's right, we're moving!! We (finally) sold our house today! We close on June 16th, so now we begin the race to get everything moved, find a place to live, and get our new house plans finalized. We are super excited and thankful that everything is coming together. I CAN NOT WAIT to be sitting in our new living room, looking out the windows at an amazing sunset over the fields in about 5 months!

Kinley's 1st Easter

We had a great first Easter with Kinley! We weren't going to do a fancy Easter dress, and then last minute decided we really did want to. So off to Kohl's with Matt and my mom we went, we FINALLY all decided on this dress, I think it was darn cute!



We went to my Aunt's house, and of course, Kinley needed to nap just as we were about to start the egg hunt, so we put her in the carrier (the one that straps to me) and then she slept through every single minute of her 1st Easter egg hunt, oh well. By the time we got to our 2nd Easter she was wide awake and ready to go!

Here she is picking up her very first Easter egg- I think her daddy might have helped eat the candy this year. =)



Our first family Easter picture! It's so weird to see this, I remember being barely pregnant last year at Easter wondering what this Easter would be like.

Florida Vacation

We had an amazing time in Florida last week! We got to stay with my sister Keri, meet her boyfriend Mike, see lots of great things and enjoy 85 degree weather! Here are few highlights from our trip.

Kinley and I with my sister Keri, this is the best we could get =-/


Kinley's first trip to the ocean.


A little dip in the water, she wasn't sure what to think of it.





Then she decided she hated it, I think it was a bit too cold.



A trip to sea world to see where my sister works. This is the best picture we got the entire day of the 3 of us. oh well.


Here is an alligator topiary that my sister created.



And this manatee really wanted to see us!



The dolphin show was great, Kinley LOVED watching them jump! Here she is ready for the show to start.



The dolphins pushing the trainer with their noses under the water while spinning, so cool!


Kinley getting ready for the shamu show.



The MASSIVE "shamu", or Tilikum is his actual name, this is the same whale that tragically killed the trainer last year. It was so surreal to see how big he really is!



We thought we'd try the pool to see if kinley liked that better than the ocean (she LOVES baths so we thought she'd love the pool)... NOPE!



Our last day in Florida we decided that we needed to get 007 (my sisters dog) and Kinley to take an Easter picture together, I don't think we did too bad!



Now we are back in the 45 degree rainy weather. Keri and Mike are coming back in May and Kinley CAN'T WAIT to see them again! Thanks for a great trip sis!

On our way home from vacation!

We are on our way home from our vacation to Florida. We had a great time, saw lots of neat things, and Kinley LOVED spending time with her aunt Keri. TONS of pictures to come later this week!