Washington

Kensie and I had our first 'Girls Trip' to Washington for a week to visit my parents and family. The two hour plane ride was exhausting with my squirmy, short-attention spanned, baby who wouldn't nap on the plane. But I came prepared with a fully loaded diaper bag of toys to entertain. I was so worried she would start crying and everyone would want to kick us off the plane. Luckily, she never cried! The only person who wanted to kick us off the plane was probably the girl sitting next to us who Kensie pestered by repeatedly trying to grab her earphones, book, drink, etc. Overall it went a lot better than I thought it might go.

When we arrived at my parents' house, I was surprised that Kensie acted really shy and clingy to me. I guess it's because we were in a new environment with new people. After a day or two she warmed up to my parents and really enjoyed being there.

It was my dad's birthday while we were there. My Brother Brent, Sister Lori, and their families came to Quincy to celebrate. We had a BBQ, opened presents, and ate Birthday Pie.

Then my Dad gave everyone rides on his new combine.

Kensie loved playing with all of her cousins. She got so much attention, especially from Tiffany and Allison. I fully enjoyed having little babysitters around to give me a break. More Washington posts to come!

Cannon Ball

I did my first cannon ball of the season on Saturday. I thought it should be documented.

I haven't put my head under the water much because it hasn't seemed warm enough. And also (mostly) because I don't want to mess up my makeup or get my hair wet. But it is HOT in Vegas now and all I want to do is jump in the pool to cool off. The last couple of weeks it hit the triple digits for the first time. Welcome to summer.

Yes, I plug my nose approximately 90% of the time when jumping in the pool. I hate getting water up my nose. Don't you just love my rat-tail pony tail? How would you rate my form on a scale of 1-10? I'm thinking it's about a 6. I'm hoping to be at a 10 by the end of summer.

9 Months

16.5 lbs. 10th percentile

26 1/2 inches. 10-25th percentile

She got her first tooth at 8 1/2 months.

She learned how to clap & wave

Shows no interest in crawling but loves to stand and 'walk' with help of mom or dad.

She went through a phase when she preferred Niel over me...

But I'm the favorite again

She is an excellent eater and will eat just about anything

She went through a shy stage when she would turn her head or bury it on my shoulder when a 'stranger' talked to her.

She is very wiggly, rarely sits still, and doesn't like to be cuddled.

Prefers to be put in her crib rather than being held to fall asleep.

Still does an ear-piercing scream when she is excited or getting anxious/annoyed.

She gets hot and sweaty very easily.

I stopped nursing her shortly after her eight month mark. She didn't seem to mind at all. She loves holding her own bottle and feeding herself. Sometimes she won't even let me help her hold it.

We had a rough week when she started waking up several times a night again. Luckilly, we are over that. We figured out that her room has to be really cool with the fans on, otherwise she wakes up hot and can't sleep. She goes to bed at 7:30 a.m. and wakes up between 5:45 a.m. and 6:45 a.m.

She is so smiley, talkative, and animated. She only gets cuter and cuter.

Smiley

Kensie has lots of different adorable smiles. The problem is, as soon as I get the camera out she won't smile as big for me. I finally got her big, 'scrunchy-nose' smile. I love this one. She usually does it when she first wakes up in the morning and after naps. Or when something is really funny/exciting. This picture says a lot about Kensie's personality. Love her.

Memorial Day

We hosted our first BBQ on Memorial Day. The morning of Memorial day (because we are last minute like that) we bought a BBQ for the big event. The Schelins, Hunts, Eliasons, and Nelsons showed up for BBQ'n and swimming. We spent all afternoon in the backyard socializing and swimming. It's great having our backyard landscaped...more on that later.

S'mores

A few weekends ago we headed up the canyon to Mt. Charleston for a campfire dinner and s'mores with some friends. The idea was to bring your own tin foil dinner. I had good intentions of making some for our family but instead we stopped by Albertson's on our way up the canyon for some chicken strips and potato wedges. We are awesome like that.

After dinner we made s'mores. Niel thought it was lots of fun to let Kensie eat marshmallows and a little bit of chocolate. Mom wasn't too happy about it but Kensie loved it.

These two just have a mischievous look don't they? Up to no good.

I love how Kensie is holding the roasting sticks in these pictures. She looks like she already has the whole roasting marshmallows thing figured out.

8 Months

LOVES food

she started sitting up soon after her 7 month mark

no teeth

lots of rolling and wiggling around

loves playing in the pool

she's really loud

...and has a crazy laugh

she loves it when her dad plays peek-a-boo with her

she pulls her bows off her head and tries to eat them

doesn't mind going to strangers

If she is left alone in a room by herself though she will start crying

loves reading

her favorite books are the Usbourne books

She is a silly girl with lots of energy. She makes us laugh with all of the funny faces she makes.

People frequently comment on how beautiful her eyes are.

She still hates wearing shoes and socks and will rub her feet together and kick until they are off.

I love her sweet little profile. It's so cute how her top lip sticks out.

Her hair is finally growing back in on the sides and in the back. Sometimes her hair looks blond and other times it looks auburn.

The rest is mostly for me to remember but feel free to continue reading...

One of Kensie's favorite things is food. If we let her, she would try to eat everything we eat. She gets so excited when it's mealtime. Her eyes open wide, she licks her lips, she sticks her tongue in the corner of her mouth, and twirls her feet in circles. This month she has tried pretty much all of the fruits and vegetables in stages 1, 2 and some 3. She will eat just about anything we put in her mouth. She likes eating the mum mum crackers especially since she can hold them and feed herself. She also started eating the sweet potato and cherry puffs. She still drinks milk four times a day.

Naps: Two naps. One around 9 a.m. and she usually sleeps for an hour and a half or two hours. Her second nap is around 2:30 p.m. That one is usually only 45 minutes to an hour. Sometimes I get lucky and it's an hour and a half. She almost always cries when she recognizes that I am putting her down for a nap. I grab her binky and wrap her in her blanket while she cries and tries to roll away. Then I lay her down in her crib and she usually goes to sleep within a few minutes. Naps have gotten so much easier the last two months.

Nighttime sleep: She sleeps from 7:30 p.m. till 6 or 7 a.m. Luckily she isn't pulling the 5:30 and 5:45 a.m. wake up time anymore. Usually when she wakes up in the night she will go back to sleep on her own but she still wakes up now and then and won't go back to sleep on her own. She wants to held or rocked or given a binkie.

Her blocked tear duct finally cleared up for the most part this month! I am so relieved that she won't have to get surgery. It is so nice not having to wipe her eyes out numerous times a day.

She gives us lots of smiles and slobbery open mouth kisses. She is always squealing, chirping, and shouting. She is so much fun and we can't get enough of her chubby cheeks, chunky thighs, and soft baby skin.