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Another day of no AC and somehow KB continues to handle it like a champ! I think she’s so used to the gym that she has a high tolerance for heat and when she sweats it doesn’t bother her much. 

Kensie is more of a champ than I am. The second the “repair” man left we booked it out of the house to blast the AC in the car and run errands in air conditioned stores. I say “repair” because it is still NOT repaired. 😣

Anyways, Kensie was a waving fool today. It used to be hard to get her to wave on cue. Now she just waves at everyone and every…thing. 

Since I’ve been coaching 2 classes in the evenings, K has been eating dinner at the gym. She is a pro at feeding herself and tonight she ate a WHOLE pouch in one sitting. That’s 2 meals! 

Being all over the place this last week, these pouches have saved my life!! Kens has been downing these and turkey every single day. As soon as our lives go back to normal (hopefully tomorrow) I’m going to go back to cooking and hopefully expanding her food horizons. 

Kensie has been selective with her walking but she’s been standing a LOT. For minutes at a time. Just stands. Claps. Slaps her leg. Points…and continues standing. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Her balance is impressive! She did used to crawl out of her baby gate and now she walks out, holding on with one hand. I’m waiting for her to just take off one of these days! 

The good news of the day: my new (largest memory possible) phone came today!!! Now I can take photos and videos and check my email without getting the the dreaded “storage full” message. Maybe that’s what Kensie’s been waiting for. 😉

Normally I’m not one of those “Monday’s are the worst” kind of people. I’ve actually always liked them in a way because I like schedule, routines and order. Don’t get me wrong I love weekends as well – I just don’t dread Mondays. That being said – today was the worst kind of Monday. For me, anyway. Kensie was unbelievably happy today so apparently she wasn’t phased. 

Now that we have power back, the AC decided to break. I’ll spare you the details but it’s been out since Thursday and once again, we are thankful for Uncle Rob and Titi Char for taking us all in. (And Carolyn and Em for taking care of Lucy!) 

Kens spent the morning partying in her diaper while the tech was “troubleshooting” the unit. We made many laps around the house, emptied at least 3 cabinets, did a little walking and played in her swing for a solid 30 minutes. You know it’s bad when the outside breeze is cooler than inside the house. 😰😭

Ah, the life. So young to know nothing but happiness! 

We met my friend Becki for lunch and then did a little shopping for some final One Year Photoshoot items. When we scheduled these it felt so far away, now I can’t believe they’re almost here! 

Becki is creating a “one second a day” video where she takes a video for one second each day and then an app puts the year together! How cool?! I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do with K’s blog after she turns a year, but if I remember to do it – I think it would be a fun thing to try out for Year 2! 

Annnnddd those are all the photos I have from today. The heat got to my brain. (I didn’t even take the last one. It’s from Becki. I slacked today for sure).

Today, I made our first “we have a little girl, not a baby anymore” purchase. A car seat. A real, big girl, car seat. 😪 K isn’t quite ready for it yet; but, mamas – Babies R Us has 25% off all car seats until 10/1!!! It saved me $92…so go get one if you need it any time soon! (Code SAFETY25 if you order online. They’ll give you a coupon in store!) 

So what’s the “latest and greatest” on baby shoes? Do? Don’t? I was chatting with my mom this weekend and when we were little they recommended not putting shoes on babies. Is that still a thing?

Kensie is taking a few steps here and there but still results to crawling so I don’t need to put any on her yet – but I’m interested to know the “recommendation”. I figured barefoot at home and shoes in public (once she starts wanting to walk around). 🤷🏼‍♀️ Is that not normal? 

She may not be waking on her feet yet, but Kens is a pro at walking on her hands. 

We took a quick trip up to Jacksonville this weekend to celebrate one of my oldest and best friends engagement! K got to spend some time with Gramma and Grandpa and her Uncles while Chris and I were out. All the playing and excitement (and her doc-a-tot) led to a great nights sleep! 

 

Today we all went to breakfast before heading home and Kensie ate so much food that she skipped 2 breast feedings! She devoured most of her pouch, some toast and scrambled eggs. 

Tonight we went to the food trucks in our neighborhood for dinner and fun fact: K LOVES Mac & Cheese. 

I saw an article this weekend titled “Tonight, I nursed you for the last time” and the title almost made me cry. I haven’t actually read it yet – just saved it – but just seeing it made me realize how quickly this phase has gone by. I posted more detail months ago on how I thought breastfeeding would go and the fact that my original goal of 6 months has so quickly turned into almost a year, it’s just the new “normal” now. In some weird way, something I thought I’d never enjoy I think I’m actually going to really miss! 

Anyways, I’ll save this snappiness for another day…this party animal isn’t done just yet! 

Kensington took her first 4 steps today!!! So I take it she’ll be straight running by next weekend. Of course I missed the video ☹️, but I’m sure we will get a good one soon! This is all I’ve got for now….

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Robin and Jenna were playing with K while I coached and they got her to walk by reaching for car keys! She was holding one finger, then when they let go she’d take a half a step or so. Eventually, she let her go and Kens waltzed 4 solid, normal steps to grab the keys!!! She didn’t even lose her balance; she just grabbed them and then sat down like it was nothing! 

The rest of K’s day was spent in her diaper since our AC is still not working properly. Luckily, Chris fixed it last night so we didn’t have to sweat in our sleep. This morning it stopped working again so we didn’t take a chance on any extra layers. 

Kensie roamed the house while I got some laundry and reorganizing done. By roam I mean she harassed the dogs until they got up and played with her. And when they did that, she fussed and wanted to be picked up. Figures. 

Walking is great and all, but the real notable moment of the day was Kensie’s nap.  She got up from her morning nap after her usual 45 minutes. I laid down with her for a second and she was back out for another hour and a half! I was in heaven. Must have been saving up all that energy for walking. 😉

Guess I’m going to spend the weekend finding shoes that fit this kiddo, that also  aren’t impossible to put on. (I know she has chubby feet but I swear the people that make baby shoes have never actually tried to put a shoe on a baby. )

Of course as soon as I post that Kensie is sleeping (almost) through the night, she has a TERRIBLE night of sleep…which means I also had a terrible night of sleep. 😣 The main difference is that K seems to function better than I do the next day. 

I also meant to weigh Kensie today but I’ll blame my sleep deprivation for my crappy memory. 

KB was the best little sidekick today as usual and we knocked out tons of errands! One of them was depressing. We went “big girl” car seat shopping. 🙁 (Mamas – if you need a car seat anytime soon, they’re 25% off at Babies R Us until October 1st!) She’s not big enough for one just yet – but I’m trying to buy it while they have the sale because that means more money for clothes, duh. 😝

Kensie was loving being out of her car seat while we shopped. I ran into BJs just to grab a few things and the buckle was broken so I held her instead. (I’m not actually concerned about a broken buckle but if there’s nothing holding her down she tries to stand while I push the cart…) This is how she positions herself if you walk around a store holding her. 

This afternoon we went back up to the gym and got the sweetest surprise! Aunt Ashley and Baby Henley came and brought Starbucks!! 

Kensie had a blast since I let her roam free for most of the class. I caught her across the gym playing all by herself (she usually positions herself in the middle of everyone) and it made my heart melt. 

I was looking forward to going to sleep early tonight but our AC decided to break. I’m still going to bed early, but now I’m not as hopeful that it’ll be as good of a night as I was imagining. I’m hoping Kensie doesn’t wake up looking like Sweaty Betty. 😰 

It’s an exciting day over here in the Hall house! It’s Chris’ birthday and Kensie is 11 months old today!! 

We surprised Daddy at the gym this morning with balloons, coffee, and of course a sweet visit from KB in her “Happy Birthday Daddy” onsie. 

She was all about posing for a birthday photo with daddy, but getting her to take her monthly photo was a completely different story. 

I guess we can kick off her monthly post with the obvious fact: K is a drama queen. In the best way of course. She can turn the tears on and off like a pro. At least at this age, it’s still cute.

Kensie is crawling like crazy, climbing on everything, standing up on her own and walking with assistance! 

Kensie loves eating at restaurants. By eating I mean eating anything you’ll give her for the first 20 minutes, then reaching for anything she can grab and throwing it on the floor while attempting to climb on to the table. It’s a real adventure…

Speaking of getting out of trouble, K knows EXACTLY what the word “no” means and she likes to test that boundary every chance she gets. 

As you’ve seen in recent posts, she’s mastered cheek storage. Turkey is her favorite food to store in her cheeks and she’s a pro at hiding it. If you do anything short of scoop her cheek out with your finger before letting her get out of her chair, you’ll catch her finishing it off about 30 minutes later. Her favorite food is still zuchinni and turkey is a close second. 

Kensie is still going strong with breastfeeding and is finally sleeping through the night. Sort of. She still wakes up once, but she puts herself back to sleep. So, I’ll claim it. 

This month KB learned how to drink from a straw and momma learned she has that ability the hard way. She can also feed herself and once she realized that, she stopped letting anyone else feed her. She doesn’t want you to put food in her mouth, you have to hand it to her first. 🙄

Kensington is unbelievably smart and impresses us with the new things she figures out every single day. She can tap her nightlight on from watching me do it, holds phones up to her ear, uses her finger to “scroll” when she’s holding my phone, points at anything she wants or to tell you where she wants to go, reaches for the door handle to open doors, uses her sign language in new contexts and copies everything she sees us do! 

K is officially in the “open and empty all of the cabinets” phase and it would keep her entertained all day if we let her. She loves to crawl around the house and explore. She’ll only go so far before she turns around to see if we are watching. Once we make eye contact, she tells us “bye” and continues on her way. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Kensie has an obsession with remotes, babies and dogs. She gets unbelievably excited when she sees any of them. We are still working on being…um, gentle. 

Kensie still loves car rides a and has started “singing” in the car. I guess it’s more like humming, but I know what she’s going for. 

This little lady is extremely strong, happy, loving, independent and fills our lives with so much joy!! 

Alas, next month is the big O-N-E! I’ll just be over here sobbing about how quickly this year has flown by. No matter how much you cherish the moments, one thing is for sure, the time will pass anyway! 

 

Kensie Cranky-Pants Hall wore this momma OUT today. She was her happy self…as long as she was being held by me. Actually that’s not even completely true. Holding her even involved slight fussing if I didn’t walk where she was pointing and let her grab things she isn’t allowed to grab. Both of her naps came early because K just wasn’t having it today. 

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Kensie was still in full on hambone mode, bad mood and all. She sure knows how to play it for the camera! Every time she sees herself she stops in her tracks. 😂

The first hour of our morning was business as usual and KB wasn’t a crank butt yet. 

(For those thinking it: yes, I was watching her during every second of this party she was having. She wasn’t going to suffocate with a bag.) 

Every single day this little lady does something like that to remind me that she’s not a “baby” anymore. But, on paper she is for one more month. So I’m holding on to that! 

That reminds me. Daycares will let her start going part time in 2 months. No worries – I still haven’t made a single effort to actually look into one. 🤷🏼‍♀️🙈 Though, with all the drama she provided today the thought did briefly cross my mind. 😉

K was better than I expected while I coached today. I pictured my afternoon involving coaching 2 classes while holding her the entire time. Some teething crackers saved me at 4 and Emily playing with her saved me at 5! 

I got up to the gym early to try to workout. Luckily Megan helped keep her distracted while I finished my workout. Kensie was enjoying the jumper (or twirler since that’s what K does with it – see video below), but only if I stood right next to her and watched her in it. 

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Since she had super early naps, Kens was exhausted after the gym and didn’t even want her bath. She got one anyways, because you all just saw her dirty knees and feet, but she reached right for her bed when we went into her room. 

OH, and since this is called BOWS of Kensington, I can’t leave this part out. I thought I’d try to put a bow in K’s hair without a headband and see if it would stay. It actually did, it just looked ridiculous. 😂 Come on Kens…I just need a little more!!! 

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.