Month: March 2017

I’ve always seen Chris when I look in Kensie’s eyes…but these cheeks are another story! Haha!!

This weekend me and Kens were all about the twinning!!! (Yes I’m most definitely going to be “that mom”.)

K had a great weekend full of playing, naps and brunch – just how she likes it! Chris and I had a surprise party to go to Saturday night so Grandma and Uncle Matthew came down to hang with Kensie!

On Sunday we went to brunch and K got her much loved attention as usual. We are so lucky to have a great friends that like having her around and keep her entertained! At least we won’t have to worry about her being social…

Also, Kensie has moved on from sucking her thumb. As of this weekend, she prefers her toes. 😳 I don’t have a photo yet – but you know it’s coming!!!

This my be the hardest and most vulnerable post I’ll ever write and I almost didn’t post it…but this day will always be a part of Kensington’s life so may as well start here.

My dad was a police officer. 19 years ago today, he was killed in the line of duty. That was the worst day of my life. As anyone who’s lost a parent knows, it never gets easier; you just get used to it. There’s highs and lows. There’s days it doesn’t cross my mind much, and there are days it hurts like it just happened yesterday. Days like Christmas. Days like Father’s Day. Days like my wedding. And of course, the day that Kensie was born. They’re things most people take for granted. Growing up, they’re things you assume your parents will always be there for. 

So today, Chris and I took KB to “meet” her grandpa. Or at least the memory of him. 

Though I take it for granted all too often, everytime I see Kens with Chris I am so deeply thankful for the opportunity to raise her with both of her parents in her life. She’s going to learn so many different things from each of us. My dad taught me to fish. He loved baseball. He let me be the only girl on the baseball team he coached (I liked showing up the boys but other than that I actually hated it. Haha!) He let me help him rake the leaves in the yard and picked me up and put me in the trash can to jump on them (a clean trash can, of course…I think). He held me up to put the ornaments on the “tall part” of the Christmas tree. He made himself a human roller coaster ride and we would blast Garth Brooks “The Thunder Rolls” and he’d throw me up and down to the “boom boom boom” part. There’s some things a little girl just needs her daddy for. 

Dad, one day she’s going to ask about you. I miss you so much every single day – but I’m proud I can tell her that her grandpa was a true hero. 

“You know that if I had just one wish, it’d be that you didn’t have to miss this. You should be here.” -Cole Swindell

They say babies grow so fast and you’ll forget all of “this”. How true it is. K is barely 4 months old and I’ve already forgotten how to swaddle her, haha!!! She was sweating in the halo sack last night so I decided to use the good ole fashion thin blanket to keep my little arm flailer asleep tonight. After 3 tries, I sort of remembered how to do it. I am going to blame it on her being much larger than she used to be. I put her in her crib and when I went to check on her less than 5 minutes later she had both arms free. She was also asleep…so either way you look at it, I win. 

Kensie was extra sleepy tonight – of course. She must have known we had to be at the gym late so I wouldn’t be able to get her in bed on time. 

After I coached we came home so I could bathe Kens and get her in her PJs. She fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep the ENTIRE time I got ready. Normally she wakes up when I take her out of the car or at least a few minutes after being inside. Nope. I had to wake her up to get her to eat and change. 

Her newest thing is refusing to sleep in her swing at the gym. She’ll fall asleep if I wear her and when I set her down it lasts maybe 2 minutes and wakes up. I didn’t even attempt it tonight. When we got to the gym I put her straight in her ergo baby and she stayed asleep for the entire event. Hallelujah! 

Today was a loud day in the life of Kensie Brooke. Or maybe just a loud day for me. Homegirl found her voice today…over and over and over again. She was screaching at the TV at the top of her lungs just having a grand ole time! If we are friends on Snapchat, you got to witness a lot of Kensie Pterodactyl Hall today. 

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KB had a good day but her naps were way too short. Luckily, she was extremely happy in between them so I was still able to get some work done. 

Kensie wanted to take her long nap RIGHT before I had to leave for the gym. Figures. Thanks girlfriend. I woke her up to put her in her car seat and I paid for it at the gym. Sleepy girl was nice and cranky because her FOMO wouldn’t let her sleep when she got there. 

K has been loving naps in the ergo baby at the gym; so when she got to her non-stop fussy phase of tired, I put her on and she went right to sleep! I think it’s the combination of being held and it also blocking her sight some so she can relax. It’s wonderful while I coach. It’s not so wonderful when I want to workout. We improvised today. 

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​After the gym we had to run to the grocery store and Kensie shared her smiles with EVERY one that walked by her. And for the ?? night in a row, her sleep sack has worked and she put herself to sleep in her crib once again!!! I hope I don’t jinx it, but it’s amazing while it lasts. 

Ohh mamas. Momming is hard. And not for the obvious reasons like lack of sleep, someone constantly needing you and the energy it takes just trying to keep a mini human alive in general.

It’s hard because of social media. It’s hard because of opinions. It’s hard because in our generation, opinions are way too easy to share and keyboard warriors are assholes that post rude things without a second thought because they’re behind the security of a screen. 

When I was pregnant, a friend of mine added me to a mom’s group on Facebook. 90% of the time they post ridiculous drama that isn’t at all useful for a new Mom, but I stayed in because it was like watching a train wreck – and you just can’t turn your head on that!

Every now and then there are useful posts and people share helpful resources. More often than not, there’s moms telling other moms they’re going to kill their child because they gave them Tylenol instead of Motrin, didn’t take them to the doctor when they sneezed twice in a row and how “in that one picture they posted” there was an outlet not covered in the background and therefore, call DCF. 

Recently a mom posted asking if anyone had heard about putting whiskey on babies gums for teething. From some of the responses she got you’d think she asked about taking her baby to the local bar and going shot for shot with them. 

Get. The. Hell. Out. 

We need to support each other. Stop sharing opinions and share experiences. What worked for you may not work for someone else. What you think is best, someone else may not. 

No one cares what you think/feel about breast milk v formula. They care that their baby is fed no matter what method it is that can keep them alive. 

No one cares if you think cosleeping is right or wrong. They’re going to do what works for them. 

What happened to just sharing things that may have helped you and how/why? Why is the other Mom “wrong” because it didn’t work like that for her?

As a country, ladies have been extremely outspoken lately. “We” march for equal rights and complain left and right about not being appreciated. How about we start with appreciating each other? 

Aside from that, for the friends and family that check this blog for updates on K: she had a great day and so did I! She’s completely off her Zantac and very little fussing occurred. She played, napped and let me get work done…and my day was great because my hair fell out way less today than yesterday! (Why does no one tell you this is going to happen?! I have lost enough hair in a single day to create a small animal.)