June 2019 – Bows of KB & Elle

Day 22-24

June 28, 2019June 28, 2019Leave a comment

Today was such a proud day in my motherhood. Kensie got a “guitar” from the store and when we got home she was so disappointed it didn’t play “Jingle Bells” and told me it was broken and then had to FaceTime daddy to ask him for batteries to fix it. 🤣🤣🤣 We explained to her she had to use it to play jingle bells herself and then we got the performance.

Thank goodness she’s got her mama’s love for Christmas. 🎄❤️

Leighton has been a dream baby as usual (knock on wood) but has definitely increased her want to be held; which I fully welcome. 😆

Luckily we’ve had some wonderful visitors that provide a break for my arms and L doesn’t discriminate as long as SOMEONE is snuggling her.

She also LOVES her some Dan + Shay! If I set her in the mamaroo and she’s fussing, I turn on Alexa and play Dan + Shay and L goes to sleep. She got fussy in the car today and their song came on the radio and she immediately stopped! I don’t think it was a coincidence.

I also think I might have to leave dairy out of my diet for a while. I’ve mentioned Leighton is a spitter upper which I am not used to since Kensie never did. I took dairy out for a few days and she still spit up, but not a ton. I added a little back in, and was spewed with my regurgitated milk one too many times today. 🤦🏼‍♀️

After.

So yeah. Almond milk lattes only. 😆

Today we went to our Chiro appointment and Kensie insisted on bringing Elmo. She then adjusted him and informed us all that she’d be adjusting Leighton, too. 🤦🏼‍♀️ She said she’s “Dr. Anna” (from her Daniel Tiger book). OKAY, Kens. Okay.

Oh, and I was also corrected from my previous post explaining that Kensie’s “Ugga mugga” she said to Leighton in their video was a hug. It’s an ESKIMO KISS!!! And she loves giving them to L. 🥰

Day 19-21

June 25, 2019June 25, 20191 Comment

Today marks 3 weeks old for L and 3 days straight of no car meltdowns 🎉

I was certain she didn’t scream this weekend solely because Chris was in the car. It’s like when you tell the other parent how horrible your child has been acting all day and then they second they get home, the kid turns into an Angel and they’re like “what are you talking about?!” 🙄 I KNOW my fellow moms can relate. Anyway, we made it through 2 car rides today (without Chris) with only one brief fuss. 🙌🏼

We had a wonderful weekend with Aunt Shell and Leighton had her very first bottle!

I had to run some errands for a gym event on Friday and L decided she was starving while I was gone and it’s safe to say this little poop monster doesn’t care what the milk comes out of as long as she gets it. 😂

We are so thankful for the time we got to spend with Aunt Shell and she spoiled us stocking our freezer with homemade meals and our fridge with fresh cut fruit.

Last night our photographer from the newborn photos sent me a few sneak peeks and not only do I LOVE them, but I was also shocked at how it looks like Kensie was actually making our lives easy in them. 🤣

We’ve used Briana for all of our photo shoots since K was born so I knew she was good but if you only knew exactly HOW good…

She snapped these while playing with/distracting Kensie to get her to somewhat participate.

Chris, Leighton and I basically had to freeze in our pose while Briana tried everything possible to get Kens to be in the photo in one way or another. The one where she’s behind us, K was playing peek-a-boo. And the one where she’s jumping on the bed…yeah. She was just living her best life refusing to pose with us and playing “monkeys jumping on the bed”; not that I really expected her to full on participate for photos but I thought we could get a few of them out of her.

Also, the dress she is wearing was not even remotely planned to be worn at any point on this day. She BEGGED to wear a tutu that morning and so I put it on her planning to change her once we got there. Spoiler alert: she refused and I said screw it to avoid a meltdown. She wouldn’t let me fix her hair. Ripped out her bow…basically she was a dream. 🙄

My unsolicited advice for any moms going to a newborn session with a toddler in tow, have zero expectations. Just let it flow and know if you have a good photographer, all will end well. 😜

Even though it felt like an exhausting disaster in the moment – the memories we have from it are (now) hilarious and we got some very REAL, sweet family and sibling moments captured!

And while we’re on the topic of sibling photos, I finally got one of them where Leighton doesn’t look completely miserable during their morning snuggle sesh. 😂

I’m looking forward to getting the rest of our photos back and spamming you guys with all of them!!! 🤪

Day 16-18

June 22, 2019Leave a comment

I’d like to use today’s post to extend an extra shout out to each person that gifted us diapers…Leighton is working her way through half a pack a day.

You can use your imagination to figure out what’s going on here.

L’s signature move is laying on you calmly. Snuggling up to your neck…and then farting like a grown ass man. 🤢 Hopefully she gets it out of her system before she becomes a teen. Literally.

Anyway, I’ll move on from the poop (it’s just so hard to not talk about since it’s 80% of our day 😂)

Leighton is the BEST napper/sleeper and cuddler. (*knock on wood*) She loves to sleep with her hands by her face and will wiggle her way out of any swaddle to achieve her goal. She was actually in this position during every ultrasound, too!

She does NOT love the car. 😫 She’ll have to suck it up and get used to it because we’ve got places to go and people to see 😆, but we have yet to make it through a whole trip without at least one scream fest.

On a positive note, after she gets a few screams out of her system, she chills out, looks around and will put herself to sleep!

On to KB…I got these photos a few minutes apart yesterday and I may or may not have teared up a little. WHEN DID SHE GO FROM A TODDLER TO LITTLE GIRL?

Shopping with Aunt Shell!

She’s SUCH a little adult and back to hamming it up for the camera at all times.

I love that she’s finding her independence in and outside our home but it also makes me sad and want to just hold L longer and keep her small forever! 😭

We’re super excited and lucky to have Aunt Shell up here with us for a few days!!! K is SO happy and keeps telling her “don’t go bye bye, ok??” every time she walks out of a room – and L doesn’t seem to mind having her here, either. 🥰

Living the good life

We’re ready for a fun, relaxing weekend and here’s hoping Kens sleeps in as late as Leighton does tomorrow!!! 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼(wishful thinking…)

Day 14-15: we get to SLEEP!

June 19, 2019Leave a comment

It was a monumental day in this Hall baby’s life.

You’re gonna be so pissed when I finally show you this blog, Leighton. 😂

L had her first blowout. 🤣

If you followed our blog with K, you know she set a record that will be hard to top; but it seems Leighton is getting an early start. Lucky me!

Yesterday was our 2 week check up and this lil’ chunk not only achieved the goal of being back at her birth weight but almost a whole pound over!!! Why should you care? You shouldn’t…but I’m pumped because it means I can let her sleep through the night and don’t have to wake her to feed her. 👏🏼👏🏼

Thanks for drinking alllll the milk, Leighton!!

We also had another visit to the Chiro and for those worried or picturing a doctor cracking her back (that is not what they do, FYI 😆), it’s actually so gentle that she slept through the whole thing!

Today we celebrated Taco Tuesday at Titi And BahBah’s house and L was the life of the party.

I’ll give you one guess on who put the babydoll there…

Yep, you guessed it (I hope…) but at least she loves sharing with her sister!

While the last 2 photos may seem peaceful, this kiddo was actually awake a good part of the day today! Luckily as long as she’s not gassy or hungry, she’s very content just looking around.

We’re still working on L’s less than thrilled facial expressions, but nothing beats Kensie’s genuine smile every time she gets to hold “baby sister”.

These morning photos are quickly becoming my favorite because there’s nothing better to wake up to than this sweetness!!

Days 11-13

June 17, 2019June 17, 20191 Comment

Coming up on 2 weeks young and there’s not much to report in L’s world. She loves to sleep, snuggle, sleep, eat, sleep, poop…and sleep. She’s seriously an angel baby (knock on wood) and making this transition from 1 nugget to 2 feel like it was a great idea…so far, anyway. 😆 I heard this is how they trick you into 3.

But how could you not want another one of these?!

I think I was wrong about K not being jealous, though. We noticed every time I feed Leighton is when Kensie starts to act up. She’ll come up to me and grab Leighton’s burp cloth and pacifier and either toss it on the ground or “hide” it behind her back.

When we reacted to it, it quickly escalated to a full blown temper tantrum. We tried just ignoring it when she does it and it seems to have gotten better as the weekend has gone on. She only had a slight attitude during L’s first feeding this morning and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. 😅

K is obsessed with holding her little sister!

As of this weekend, Kensie has added the phrase “but, whyyy?” to her vocabulary. So, that’s super fun. 🙄 But, on the up side – she’s been doing AMAZING with potty training!!! They’ve been training her at daycare and now at home she keeps asking to wear panties and is so great about telling us and going on the potty!! We’ve only had one accident so far! 👏🏼

Leighton got to meet her Uncle Matt, Aunt Valerie and her cousins today! I’d say she approves!

Uncle Matt is the baby whisperer

She wasn’t terrified though her facial expression looks questionable 🤣

We are loving watching these little girls grow together and getting used to being a family of 4! While L makes some extremely expressive faces, she enjoys her lovin’ from Kens a little more than the photos let on 😜

For those of you that don’t have kids or watch Daniel Tiger, “ugga mugga” is what the dad and son say to each other when they hug. 🤗

To wrap this all up, I want to give a special shout out to our rock behind the scenes. Chris is the best daddy and such a natural at having 2 kiddos and a Jenn to balance. 😂 He takes care of all 3 of us girls in every single way – including being my daily barista (y’all KNOW that’s the way to my heart ☕️) – and we are so lucky to have him. 🥰

Happy Father’s Day to our very own Superman (according to K, but I don’t disagree).

Day 9 & 10

June 14, 2019Leave a comment

We’ve had a jam packed couple of days since Aunt Casey got here!

But still finding time for all the baby snuggles

Wednesday we had Leighton’s newborn/family photos and this behind the scenes photo says basically everything you need to know about that experience.

Briana’s son came to the rescue to build train tracks with K

Family photos with a toddler is…um…well, there are more relaxing things that’s for sure. 😂

Overall, K was actually great considering the circumstances. Aside from her running away, refusing to change or wear her bow and not being bribable (is that a word?) I think we may have got a solid shot or 2. 😆 At least L participated. Ha!

Kensie is seriously LOVING being a big sister and while she’s quickly realized that testing me by misbehaving while I feed Leighton is an easier feat for her 🙄, there’s nothing sweeter than her love for her baby sister!!

Training for her newest chore: butt wiping

One of these girls is more excited than the other.

Kensie tries really hard to get Leighton to have conversations with her…especially in the car. “What are you doing? What? You miss daddy?” <—- that’s an actual one sided conversation she had today, haha!!!

Another day, another set of matching rompers. 👯‍♀️

We got the girls a wagon this weekend because Kensie was obsessed with Henley’s and we knew she would love it, so we went for an evening stroll and have officially named our adventure #WagonWednesdays

Obviously, L couldn’t ride in it just yet, but I think she was okay with her situation. 🙌🏼

Meanwhile, this kid lived her best life. (DCF DISCLAIMER: the Trulys weren’t hers. At least not both of them. 😜)

We had another Chiro session today and ALL the girls participated!! K actually sat for hers for the first time (I usually hold her) so she could show her little sister how it’s done. 😉

Then, Dr. C gave K a fake clicker and she got to help “adjust” L. She spent the rest of the day telling me she was just like Dr. Anna (the doctor in Daniel Tiger). 🤦🏼‍♀️

K was off to daycare after our appointment and L got to hang with us and do our favorite thing…SHOP!

Leighton is adjusting to life outside the womb like a boss. She eats, sleeps, snuggles, burps and poops like a seasoned champion and while I would prefer time slow down, I’m loving every second of it!

Day 7 & 8

June 12, 2019June 12, 20191 Comment

Can your own baby give you baby fever? Not asking for a friend.

I mean….how can I not want more of these?!

KB came into our room the past 2 mornings and climbed into bed with her bunny and gave it right to Leighton. She told her good morning and kissed her. 😭 The only thing I don’t like about their relationship is K used to get in bed and snuggle with me…now I get a quick hug and she’s off to love on L. Basically, I’m jealous of a week old baby. 😂

K has been going to daycare during the day and I definitely battle between missing her yet loving that I get the same one-on-one time with L, like K and I had when she was born! When Chris is gone or working and I have both girls Kens wants alllll of the attention. Luckily Leighton is still little enough to just go with the flow…but damn it’s exhausting. 😂

Plus I need time for our photo shoots so she has as many as Kens got 😂

Going to be a great shopping companion…and mean mugger.

Leighton had her second Chiro appointment and I’m still convinced it’s magic. 😂 L spits up after pretty much m every feeding (didn’t have that issue with K). I told Dr. Christina and she did her adjustment and immediately after, she ate for 20 minutes, burped 3 times with no spit up, and has only spit up twice since! 😯

Tonight we picked up Aunt Casey from the airport and as you can see, Leighton immediately approved. 😉

Leighton was awake much more than usual today so here’s hoping it’s another great night of sleep and BOTH girls participate for our photos tomorrow! 😳🤞🏼

Day 6

June 10, 20193 Comments

It’s been a crazy, busy but awesome and fun first week adjusting to being a family of 4!

Leighton had her first check up and we made our first visit to Dr. Christina for an adjustment.

Thankful for a perfectly healthy little nugget!

We started taking K to her when she was 2 months old and having serious gas and tummy issues which was leading to a lot of painful teary screams.

It was a game changer and has made a huge difference in her health over the last 2 years – so we are excited to get Leighton under care right away and hopefully avoid that this go around.

K was sooo happy to spend the weekend home with her “sister! Leighton!!” …which is exactly how she greets her every morning. 😂 Kens also really likes to touch her and give her pacifiers and shake her swing while she’s sleeping and then gets super excited when she opens her eyes…”MOMMY!!!! She’s awake!!! Hi sister!!!! Hi Leighton!!! Awwww. I kiss her?”That’s word for word how the script goes every. single. time. 🤦🏼‍♀️

L hasn’t made up her mind about this large child that wakes her up yet 😂

Kensie got to hang out with her bestie Henley most of the weekend so she was THRILLED (and exhausted 🙌🏼)

Aunt Ashley took them to the splash pad and K was in heaven!

L got to meet lots of new friends and had a special visit from Gramma and her uncles!

We’ve also concluded K and L are practically twins. Somehow, we made the same child twice 😂 I’ll work on a more solid side by side, but their facial expressions crack me up and I see so much of Kensie in Leighton and I LOVE it. 👯‍♀️

We’re looking forward to getting back to a “normal” (our new normal 😆) schedule this week and enjoying the moments along the way! ❤️

Welcome to the party, Leighton!

June 8, 20192 Comments

We’re baaackkkk!!!! …as a family of 4!

I got asked SO many times about our blog once I announced this pregnancy and honestly I wasn’t too sure what my plan was!

I decided I wanted Leighton to have the same sort of journal of memories as KB does so, here we are! I also decided a whole new site wouldn’t make sense as they’ll always be part of each other’s lives and I think it’s only appropriate to document it all in once place!

As you know, or at least those that used to follow us know 😝, this started as a place to post K’s daily bow and turned into much more. Maybe now it’ll be to document their matching outfits 😂

I went into labor the EXACT same day of my pregnancy that I did with KB!! 40 weeks and 5 days; though the stories and situations were worlds different. L was a much more enjoyable, peaceful and quicker process, that’s for sure! 😅

Lots of dancing through the halls and bouncing on balls to get L out!

When L first came out and the doctor handed her to me we locked eyes and all I saw was Kensie’s twin! L was .7lb lighter, the exact same length, and they both have a matching “stork bite” on their forehead!

The biggest difference is that Kens had (has) chunky feet and L’s are long and skinny. Hahaha!!! Maybe they won’t have to fight over shoes when they get older. 😂

Kensie is LOVING being a big sister. She talks about Leighton non-stop and is so excited every time she wakes up or gets home and sees her. She gives her lots of kisses and constantly comments that she’s “so cute”. She loves to tell L allllll about her day when she gets home from daycare.

I won’t pretend like it’s been all ease and sweetness – K is still being an OCD 2 and 1/2 year old and wants things her way and goes into tantrum mode when she can’t have it like that. She’s slightly possessive over Leighton; she wants to decide where, when and how L lays down, what blanket she has, what toys, etc…

We’re finding the balance in letting Kens be involved but helping her understand that she’s not in control and there are limits to what she can and can’t do.

While having a newborn and a toddler presents a whole new set of challenges, having a newborn has definitely been a lot “easier” the second time around! The worries and stresses I had with K taught me a lot and it all feels much more natural this time – and from watching Chris with her I’m pretty sure he would agree!

For now – L is being a dream. Sleeping well. Breastfeeding great and is so extremely laid back. Guess you have to be with a big sis like K 😉

In all honesty, several tears were shed toward the end of this pregnancy as I looked at my sweet Kens and felt guilty or wondered how I could love another baby as much; and now that she’s here, I don’t know how I couldn’t. It is the most natural, normal feeling and I just know Leighton was meant to be part of our family! ❤️

Not sure if I’ll quite make the daily posts I did with K but I know WordPress doesn’t post through social media anymore since they updated their privacy laws; so, if you want to follow along there’s a “follow” or “subscribe” feature on here somewhere that alerts you of new posts! 🤗