Don't Shoot!

WOW!  Slacker? I feel terrible that it has been so long.  I will quickly try to catch y'all up to present day.  Since the last post, we've obviously have gone on our family vacation.  Not sure if it was the sun, the ocean, or her crazy cousins but seems like Kinsley slept most of the vacation.  Here are a few shots:

Come June or Birthday Month we like to call it, things got crazy!  Here's one cute picture we got from Madison's birthday party.

Shannon celebrated her 30th birthday this year and we all got to spend a few hours out on Lake Lanier with her and her friends.  Kinsley got to ride a jet ski for the first time:

Since June, July has really seemed to fly by.  Adam and I are both extremely busy at work right now.  It is really hard to believe that Kinsley turned 9 months last week!  Here are a few of our favorites of her 9 Month Photo Shoot.

She went last Friday to get her shots :( .  Everything went great (only one shot this time).  She was a little over 20 lbs, 75% for weight, 50% for height (I think 27"?), and a 95% for head size!  The doctor had to remeasure her head cause it had grown so fast since 6 months.  While this is funny and probably means nothing cause Adam and I both come from a family of big heads- we have to take her back in a month from now to get her head remeasured.  Apparently, it could be a sign that brain fluid is not getting absorbed back into the brain (again, doctor laughed at this and really thought this would not be the case).  I think it just means that she will be the next Telsa (if you don't know who I'm referencing- look it up).

She now has two complete bottom teeth, one upper, and one more upper trying to make its way through.  She is experimenting with real solids now, losing interest fast in purees.  She's a talker, an all around joy.  She now reaches for familiar faces when she wants to be held and has very fine motor skills (putting items between her thumb and index finger).  She can pull up on items and "walk" when assisted.  The biggest thing since this past week even- she crawls!  And crawls fast!!!!!!!!!!  I will post a video as soon as I can capture one.

This Thursday-Saturday I am attending Thirty One's National Conference here in Atlanta.  Other than that, Adam and I are keeping very busy at our normal "day" jobs.  In the meantime, I am slowly starting on planning her first birthday party- "Under the Sea".

~ABDK

4 Month Checkup/ER

So Friday, Kinsley went for her checkup/shots.  All is well.  She is now 15 lbs, 24" long.  She is 60% for height, 80% for weight, and 75% for head size.  None of which I take seriously.  She was not happy the entire visit to the docs, lets just say we were the ones with the crying baby.  Getting her shots didn't make it any better.  She has a nice bruise from one shot in particular- stupid nurse!  She was quite cranky and tired till about Saturday evening.  At one point, we were on the phone with the nurses cause she was just not acting herself (not eating, sleeping all the time, etc).  Well come Saturday this cough kept getting worse and worse.  Fast forward to Sunday- we were putting her to bed and just started to really worry about her breathing.  She was constantly coughing- as if she was choking/not able to get her breath.  She was having short/quick breaths...we called the nurses line again.  Sure enough we were off to the ER.  To sum up our 6 hr trip, she was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection.  She received a breathing treatment while in the ER and we were sent home with an inhaler.  She is still wheezy and coughing but seems to be more "controlled" now.  She went yesterday for a follow up her with her doctor- she has bronchitis and an ear infection :( .  We got new meds to try.  I'm so ready to have my happy/smiling little girl back.  As bad as this sounds- mommy just happened to have her camera on her while at the ER...so I snapped a couple of photos.  NOTE:  I said a couple...I kept getting "that" look from her so I quit.

As a parent- it is the scariest, worst feeling in the world to be sooooo helpless when it comes to your child's health.  I would give anything for her to have to not go through any of this.

In other news, I had my launch party for Thirty-One over the weekend.  Boy, was it a success!  I'm still working on getting my business up and running but I have complete faith that once things pick up- it will all be worth it!  Did I mention how thankful I am to have a supporting husband in all of this?  It is not easy on either of us but I'm glad that he sees this is something I want to do (and enjoy so far), and he's so supportive.

I had my own health scare last week as well.  I won't go into details (cause its private stuff) but so far lab results have all been normal so that is good.  I'm still waiting for things to pan out- but so far, so good!

March is a crazy crazy time for our family.  The majority of the men in the family are celebrating birthdays this month.  First up- and to whom this post will recognize- is my Dad.  I won't embarrass him by posting his age but his birthday is this Saturday- HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

~ABDK

Monthly Photo Project

Time has flown by...sorry no update.  I kept saying "well when we finish this project then I'll post", well that still hasn't happened yet so no more waiting.  Adam is still busy on the DVD case/seat/thing- that one will take a while.  Meanwhile, I worked on a stair photo wall.  Thank you Pinterest.  Great tip I used?  I made replica frames out of printer paper and taped, measured, arranged on the wall before hanging the pictures- that way, I could mess up and rearrange as much as I wanted.  And I am an engineer, so I had to measure everything.  The most time consuming aspect- that stupid vent right in the middle of our wall/stairway.  It's so unsightly.  When we first moved in, one of our first jobs was to paint that thing same color as the wall and the actual exchange part black.  Now that I put pictures around the vent, I framed it to blend in even more (another idea from Pinterest).  Thank you to Adam for going with me to Home Depot to piece together exactly the idea I had in mind.

Can you tell we only have one kid? LOL

In other news, I have decided that Adam and I need some extra money on the side.  We are saving up for our next house (just not near enough room in this thing).  We'd really like to move in the next three years or so- no baby #2 till then!  So, why am I telling you this?  Because.....I have decided to start selling Thirty One products!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am very excited (and nervous) about this.  If you have no idea what Thirty One is- check it out, Thirty One. This is my plug- if you'd like to host a party or just order anything let me know!  BTW this was a very hard decision for Adam and I- I, by no means, just jumped into this.  My biggest fear is missing out on my daughter's life too much.  We will play this out and see what it can do for us- I hope that even a little extra money could get us out of this house even faster!

Third, I have now made it back to pre-pregnancy weight!  Thank you Weight Watchers!  While my body is by no means the same as it used to be, I'm happy to make it to this first goal.

Kinsley is doing great!  She really is a ball of joy (most of the time).  She has fallen into what is apparently known as "4 month sleep regression".  She was waking up every 1-2 hours.  I did some research and have since been on a "routine" and she is now mostly back to sleeping through the night (woke up once last night).  The worst part is, by 7 pm she is sooooo tired she literally throws a temper tantrum.  Plus, I think I fill a little bump coming in....so here comes some fun!  We are also fighting some cradle cap- but its already starting to go away since I've been treating it.  She goes for her 4 month checkup/shot routine Friday (24th).

Rolling Over

Talking

So I've been slacking but would now like to start this Monthly Photo Project.  Here is my first photo, month 4 (FEB)!

Lastly- my cousin/brother "by" law (adopted by my dad- no Alabama thing going on) got deployed Thursday to Afghanistan. One of the hardest days for me.  He called me for a brief "I love you, give a kiss to Kinsley for me".  I know he'll be fine (at least that's what I'm telling myself) but of course I worry.  We really do take for granted what these men and women are doing for us.  And this is just a reminder of just because war has "ended" in Iraq does not mean that all troops are done- cause in point.  There is still a war going on in Afghanistan.  Please pray for my cousin and the other men and women (and their families) that are fighting for our country.  

~ABDK (sorry Ben Ben)