Eight Months

I can't believe it has been eight months! When the doctor placed her in my arms eight months ago it was love at first sight. Life seems to be harder and more complicated with her but the joy she brings outweighs the challenges.

Kinsley had her wellness appointment today and here are her stats...

Weight 16.8 pounds- 22nd percentile
Height 26 1/4 inches- 17th percentile
Head Circumference 17 inches- 33rd percentile

This is how Eric feeds her- when I do it she is much cleaner.

Crawling

I thought I had mentioned Kinsley started crawling but my mom informed me that I hadn't and she thought Kinsley had only been scooting. Well mom, here is your proof.

Kinsley needed some incentive so I put my cell phone on the ground and she went right for it. I don't know why we bother buying her toys- she seems to prefer random things such as: empty water bottles, the TV remote, cell phones, shoes, things that rip, straws, cups, keys, door stoppers, etc... Eric hates it when I give her my cell phone to play with but I figure if she breaks it maybe I can finally get a new one (here's to hoping!).

Birthday Fun

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! I had a great day. For my birthday, Eric surprised me with a wool coat that I told him I liked during Christmas (I thought he wasn't paying attention). We went out to dinner and then we went to FHE at the Fry's. They surprised me with a cake and when I came home Eric surprised me with another cake! Needless to say... I have eaten enough cake to last me until next year.

Feliz Cumpleaños!!

Happy Birthday, Kiley! I'm opposed to expressing sentimental feelings on blogs but I wanted to embarrass you by sharing reason #101 (to continue the list from a couple Christmases ago) that I love you:

I love that when I surprise you with Ben and Jerry's half-baked icecream and make you promise not to eat it yet, you slyly sneak a bite here and there, then tape the lid back on and hide it in the freezer, making me think you kept your promise!

Can't wait to see you this afternoon...xoxo
~eric

Standing Up

This weekend, Kinsley started pulling herself up into a standing position. She is pulling herself up constantly and on everything! In her crib, on the couch, on the stairs, and on her exersaucer! Tonight, while helping Eric study for tomorrow's test, I was sitting on one couch and Eric was sitting on the other. Kinsley pulled herself up by him then would sit/fall down, then crawl/scoot to me and pull herself up on the couch I was sitting on. She is such a little busy body.

A Happy Wife Equals A Happy Life

An older gentleman from my ward gave Eric the following advice when we got married: "A happy wife equals a happy life." Many of you know I was less than enthusiastic to move to the mid-south. Never in my life did I ever think I would live here! I had just had a baby and Eric was taking me away from my family. For a short time, I was rather bitter. When we moved into our townhouse they had installed new carpet and had painted the walls white. I don't have anything against the color white, but I do have something against flat paint. I HATE flat paint! While moving our stuff in and then rearranging it, we bumped walls and scuffed them up. When I went to wipe the marks off, I had a hard time removing them and some of them refused to be wiped clean. So I came up with the idea to repaint. I was really excited about it but Eric wasn't...until I reminded him of the advice he was told 3 years prior. We started with the hallway and kitchen (because this is where most of the marks were). I am new to decorating so I went with a neutral beige color.

Next came the dinning area. I say "area" because that is all it is. The kitchen, hall, dinning, and living room and all interconnected so it is difficult to distinguish between the spaces. I wanted to set the dinning area apart from the rest so I decided to sponge squares onto the wall in three different shades. The process was long and tedious but I love the finished product!

The process looked like this

After

Next came Kinsley's room. I did something I never thought I would do... I went BOLD and BRIGHT. I'll be honest, at first is was really overwhelming to go from white walls to hot pink and green but it has grown on me. As a child I always wanted a pink and purple room. I guess this is my way to live vicariously through my daughter.

Before

After

I need to explain the art in the final picture. I was inspired to do this project by two people. First, my cousins wife, Rachel, who is an awesome artist. Second, my seventh grade art teacher, Mr. Green, told me I was a good artist. I learned two valuable lessons, #1 painting art is a lot harder than it looks and #2 Mr. Green lied to me. The pictures on the wall are supposed to be flowers but they look like radioactive spiders!

New Face

This is Kinsley's newest face. She scrunches her nose at you and then laughs (she thinks it is pretty funny). I promise I did not teach her this but I do think it is pretty cute. I secretly think Eric teaches her weird things behind my back. It seems like my younger brother made a similar face like this when he was a baby.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Kinsley has enjoyed the sweet and refreshing taste of Diet Pepsi since the womb... somethings never change.

Disappearing Act and Other Tricks

This morning I had to use the bathroom so I put Kinsley on her blanket with some toys. When I returned she was GONE! VANISHED!! DISAPPEARED!!!
Not to worry, I eventually found her underneath the end table getting into some mischief.
Here are some pictures of Kinsley trying to crawl. A lot of times she will get up on her hands and tip toes (like a push up) and she'll walk her feet up until she tips over (that is what she is doing in the second picture).

Kinsley hasn't taken a pacifier since she was one month old. We've tried and tried. She went through a thumb phase but that has now passed. We had so many pacifiers and they were small so I would give them to her as toys. She would usually chew on them or throw them but this week she stuck this one in her mouth and it stayed. She will suck on pacifiers now!

After I changed Kinsley's diaper yesterday I sat her in her crib so I could wash my hands. When I came back she had pulled herself up and was standing in her crib! I don't think I am ready for this yet. Whenever I turn my back she is learning something new.