Month: September 2017

I only have a few “appropriate” photos of K today because her romper was too big and kept falling off her shoulder…but she looked cute. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I finally used my brain and tied the straps in the back so it would stay up. If only I figured that out 6 hours earlier.

Kensie had a fun day with 2 of her favorite boys! She gave Riley some sweet kisses and we worked on “gentle” hands with Baby Levi.  🤦🏼‍♀️😂

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K took her morning nap again today so we celebrated with a trip to Target and got NEW BOWS!!! Okay I actually went in for Q-Tips and air freshener but I got lost and ended up in the baby section. 

For the record I still don’t like the color purple; but, sometimes there’s a hint of purple in a cute outfit and you need a bow to match. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Also, I almost didn’t get the dinosaur bow but I feel like every day is National “insert something stupid” day so there has to be a Dino day in there somewhere. And when it comes, K will be ready. 

Another fun fact: mamas, Cat & Jack is BOGO 50% off right now! I don’t know what’s included in the sale since I didn’t know it existed until I checked out, but you’re welcome. They must have gotten my Instagram story I sent them saying to make a cute fall line and stop sewing cat ears on everything, so now they have to mark it all down to get rid of it. 😝

Well, tonight’s post is going no where important, so I’ll just post this video of Kensie finishing her dinner in the bathtub (since she hid it in her cheeks again) and call it a night. 

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Y’ALL! THE GOOD LORD SENT A MIRACLE DOWN (and I’m not referring to electricity). KENSINGTON NAPPED BOTH DAYS THIS WEEKEND! 

KB had a fun weekend of shopping, eating, climbing and staying up past her bedtime!

Kens was the best shopping buddy, as usual! She fed herself lunch and would only drink water from Titi Char’s Yeti, because you know, she’s too fancy for her sippy cup. 🙄 

Since KB has been boycotting her naps, I gave up on the 2-3-4 method this weekend and decided I wouldn’t put her down for the first nap anymore. Saturday she seemed really tired just before lunch so I gave it a go. Success! She went down for her nap Saturday and Sunday without a meltdown! 

I see KB pretty much every second of every day, but I swear some days I look at her and think she grew up overnight! Today was one of those days. 

Is it just me?! Or does my baby look like a little girl? (That’s rhetorical). 

We had a fun family lunch and then did some adulting at Publix. Though, I don’t know how adult it seemed since Chris and Kensie ran down half of the aisles. 

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When we checked out at Publix the cashier asked me if I made her bow. I told her yes (well, Casey did) and she said I should start a business. Well fancy that! LOL Bows of Kensington out reppin’ today! 

On a sort of unrelated note: is it normal for breastfeeding to start randomly hurting almost 11 months in?! I am extremely thankful she’s been eating other food lately because breastfeeding has been painful this week and I am not sure why. From Day 1, it was never painful for me. Lately, it’s extremely uncomfortable, sensitive and flat out painful at times. The thought crossed my mind that she’s changed her latch now that her teeth have come in. Not sure how legitimate that theory is. All I know is I am not a fan and each day this has been going on I’m more and more thankful that we’re almost to that one year mark! (For breastfeeding purposes only. We all know how I feel about her turning a year aside from that. 😭)

I know, I know. 3 days later…we’re finally back! It’s been a long week. We got our power back Thursday afternoon and we’ve been trying to get our lives back in order since. 

Kensie has a few new tricks from this week! Her new favorite is to ask you to pick her up, and then point where she’d like you to walk. She points a few different places and then when she’s at her destination, she reaches to get down. I’m not sure where she learned it but I guess I’m proud. Kens has the “work smarter, not harder” concept down. 

She has been boycotting her naps, but after her late feeding last night, she slept until 6a today!! Then, she ate and went back down until 7:30. I think I’ve discovered the real secret to sleep training: alcohol and a babysitter. Hahaha! I’m only half kidding…

Kensie is currently obsessed with looking at herself. Yesterday she was super cranky (see above: boycotting naps) and I took my phone out to video her crankiness and the second she saw herself she was happy and smiling. 🙄

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KB has also been a great eater this week! I am not sure if she is starting to wean herself or it’s just too hard to breathe while she breastfeeds with her super stuffy nose, but she’s been going a lot longer between feedings, they’re shorter than usual and she’s been eating 2 “real” meals a day and not asking for milk right after them! 

I have a severe lack of photos from the last few days and that isn’t because I’ve been busy – it’s because my phone is the WORST. It decided to randomly delete all of my photos a few days ago, my contact names disappeared for a while, and it keeps telling me I have no storage, even though I’ve deleted everything I possibly can. 🙁 

I think Apple purposely bugged my phone so I’d buy the new one next month. I would have done that anyway, but now I’m getting the largest one they have. Well played, Apple. 

Bad news? Still no power and KB didn’t nap today. Good news? She went to bed easier than ever and WE HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE FOR YOU! 

We are SO excited to team up with Silli Chews and support their small, woman run business! I posted about this adorable donut teether Kensie got from her Aunt Shell a few weeks back. It’s still her favorite and now we get to offer you guys 10% off any of their teethers with code BOWS10!!! I think KB’s next one will be the phone since she won’t stop putting mine in her mouth…

On to our day…K was great and had a blast, but being off her routine is definitely getting to her. KB took 2 brief naps while I ran some errands and that was it. 

She was extremely happy to wake up and see Titi Char and Uncle Bah Bah!

Her lack of naps created one extra snuggly KB at the gym tonight. I was thankful for Erin and Kristy holding her while I worked out and she gave Kristy the sweetest snuggles. I missed the photo op, but you know Kensie posed for one once she picked her head up from Kristy’s shoulder! 

Not sure what sucks more, still being out of power or that starbucks has no milk so they can’t make me a Salted Carmel Latte. I think it’s the combination that’s really hitting where it hurts. 

All joking aside, I am thankful all we are out is power. I know there’s people that lost a LOT more than that. Looking forward to our lives and all of Florida getting back to normal soon! 

What a long 2 days it has been! We made it through the worst of Hurricane Irma only to lose power at 6am. Kensie wasn’t too phased by it. 

On a positive note, KENSIE SAID MAMA last night!!! About damn time. It was clear as day and Chris, Charlotte, Emily, Carolyn and Sam were all there to witness it. She hasn’t said it again, but beggars can’t be choosers. 😂

Chris and I have been pretty exhausted and stressed out, but thankfully Kens has been amazing the last few days. She’s even replaced one breastfeeding with real food for 3 days in a row now! 

Uncle Rob and Titi Char have been our saviors by taking in the entire Hall clan -dogs and all! Kensie’s had no problem making herself at home. 

If you’re like the rest of us Floridians right now and need a pick me up, here’s a video of Kensie’s latest random “skill” for your enjoyment. 😂

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Kensie was no different than the rest of us today: Stuck inside and shoving her face full of Hurricane snacks. 

She was sure to share with the dogs as usual. 🙄 K actually took her sharing to a whole new level today. 

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KB will straight tackle you for a peanut butter sandwich. 

I learned a fun fact yesterday – I’ve always tried to help squeeze the food out of the pouches for her…well, she apparently doesn’t need my help and if I just let her have at it, she sucks them empty! She likes to feed herself and I like that she eats really food so it’s a win win. 

Kens was pretty pissed about nap number one but after a while she finally stopped yelling and gave in. Nap two was an easy start but way too short lived. She was either eager to join back in on the Hurricane Party or ready to watch the Packers play!

For being stuck inside, it was a pretty great day! Kens loved the extra attention and got to spend a lot of time wandering the house wherever she pleased since there were some extra eyes on her. 

Now Kens is sound asleep and it’s time for the real hurricane party to begin. The winds are starting to kick up and the rain is off and on but for now, we are all good. Hoping to wake up to nothing more than some leaves in the pool and some branches on the street tomorrow! 

Happy Hurricane Eve! We spent the morning doing some final hurricane prep and then decided we all needed to spend the day outside of the house while we still could!

Before we left I tried to put Kensie down for a nap. Holy hell. KB screamed for an HOUR. AN ENTIRE HOUR…before she finally took a whopping 40 minute nap. 

It wasn’t bad crying screaming. It was on and off tantrum/yelling screaming. A whole new adventure. Sooooo…that was fun. I did go in once and so did Chris. I refused to take her out of her crib until she napped because I don’t want her to think she will get her way with her newfound “skill”. Positive reinforcement is the name of the game in the Hall household.

Once she got her shit together (post nap), we headed out to grab lunch with a few friends! 

Party Kens had a great time. (That’s her nickname for when we go to bars. I mean restaurants with bars.) 

After a few hours we moved the party back to the house. Kens got to feel included in our card game by sitting on the couch and trying to get her food in her mouth before the dogs took it from her. 

Kensie loved all the attention she got today and this momma loved all the help everyone gave by entertaining her! 

We hope everyone stays safe through the storm and minimal damage is caused. Especially our friends in South Florida that are getting hit a lot harder than it seems we will over the next 48 hours. Praying you go back to a your home just as it was when you left!  

Kensie said her first “sentence” today (she said “Hi, dah!” – dah is dog and that’s what she calls our lab, Jack), and started using “hi” and “bye” in the right context! All that screaming must have fused some nuerons together or something. 😜

As you can see, our morning was full of drama. If you saw our Instagram story today, you basically got to listen to KB scream and whine. 

I went to workout early when Kens first got up. She’s usually happy for at least 30 minutes playing in Baby jail alone when we first get to the gym. Today she wasn’t having a minute of it. She just wanted mama! That was pretty much the tone of our morning and it led to another day of screaming instead of sleeping and therefore, skipping naps. 

Judging by the random runny nose, funny tongue movements, refusal to sleep, clingy/whinyness – I’m pretty sure homegirl is about to cut some teeth! As I figured that out, I also put her Amber necklace back on. She hadn’t been wearing it since she didn’t seem to be teething. Big mistake. 

Since Kensie wasn’t having it anyways and we will be locked inside Sunday-Monday, I figured we’d go run some errands to get out of the house. 

That was exactly what KB needed!

As you can see, Kensie was thrilled with the new scenery and hammed it up allllll the way through target. Normally when people say hi she stares at them. I can’t usually get her to say “hi”/wave on cue. Today it clicked. Throughout our errands she got easily 20 “omg she’s sooooo cute! Hiiiiiii babyyyyy!!!!!!!!” and each time, she’d at least wave back!!! A lot of them also got a “hhhhiiiiiiieeeeee” with it! 

As the day went by she started waving to anyone and everyone walking by. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Kensie also decided that the cart seats face the wrong way. Once I got her to sit back down, she turned herself around and sat like this though the whole store. 

Such a goof. I promise I was a good mom and made her sit in the right part of the cart while I shopped, but as we stood in lines she kept trying to get out of the seat so we relocated. 

As long as she wasn’t whining, I was happy with it. 

I had to hold her pretty much the entire time I coached this afternoon. At one point I set her down to give my arms a break and I caught these super cute photos of her “helping” Fabian unload his bar. 

I got K to bed late and I think that, combined with the lack of naps, is what I have to thank for an easy start to bedtime tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll be sure to put that necklace on AS SOON as she wakes up in hopes we don’t have Day 3 of a grump butt! 

Kensie took a page out of Irma’s book today and turned into a Cat 5 with no chill. 

I guess all that sleeping she’s been doing finally caught up with her so she went in for a celebrity shot on team no sleep today. 

I coached this morning so we got to the gym right around when her morning nap should have been. I had a lot of work to do but KB wasn’t having it…so she helped. 

While I coached, she was only happy if she was being held, or crawling places she shouldn’t be going. 

I got a short nap out of her in the car on the way to get some plywood and then we went to Aunt Casey’s to help them board up!

I thought when we got home, K would just take a really long afternoon nap. I was so wrong. She was so overtired that she screamed bloody murder if I put her in her crib. Full on screaming, coughing, red splotchy face DRAMA. I went in to calm her down. Once she did, she’d rub her eyes and relax. We gave it another go…nope. More category 5 drama. The back and forth went on for over an hour. I finally said screw it and put her in the playroom. By some stroke of magic she was pretty content in there, even when I left the room. 

We headed back to the gym and I thought she would for sure fall asleep on the way there.  Basically, I was wrong all day. 

Aunt Emmy stopped by with a present for KB (because…spoiled) and she’s super pumped to rock her bee UCF bow and kicks!!! Well, if her chunk feet fit. 😂🤷🏼‍♀️

Kensington capped the day off with fighting bedtime since she was so overtired. After 30 minutes of off and on fussing (at least she took it down to a cat 2 for bedtime) she finally laid down and stopped. 30 minutes after that I see her arms moving up and down. 🙄 How she stayed awake another hour is beyond me but at least she gave up on the vocals. 

In between parenting we got lots of hurricane prep done today. Chris did the hard part… I just ran some errands, attempted to stay awake and tried not to lose my mind with Ms. FussButt. We’ve got water, a generator (frozen breastmilk=priorities), boarded up windows, gas, food, games and booze. Looks like K is going to get a quick introduction into what being a “native Floridian” is all about this weekend! 

Hoping Kensie wakes up in a much better mood tomorrow and remembers how to NAP! 

I’m just going to start this off by saying Emily is the true MVP of the day. KB had a dirty diaper at the gym that was stank enough to take out a small army. I was coaching when Emily discovered the loveliness so she took Kensie and changed her for me! 

Lunch may have attributed to the situation we found ourselves in. We met up with a friend of mine, Bella, that is due with her first baby boy next month! 

Kensie slept great again last night and woke up around 5a to eat. I put her back down and she was back up at 6:30 and I assumed that was it for the day. I picked her up and she went right back to sleep somehow. 

I put her in bed with me and she slept until 8am!! She still napped like a champ, too. After an hour and 40 minutes I had to wake her up so we could make it to lunch. 

The most exciting part of our day? Kensie walked with her walker!!! She’s just been playing with it so I got extremely excited when she started taking steps!

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Only a matter of time before she realizes she can do it with nothing in front of her. 😳