Dancing

Here are some amazing pictures my sister-in-law Laura took of Kinnie. Laura is an amazing photographer! Kinnie was not very cooperative and yet Laura was still able to capture some great pictures of her. At first Kinnie was scared of the bright flash in the studio and then when she warmed up to that she had nothing to do with wanting to sit still for even a second. She just wanted to run around or look at the camera, anything besides sit where we needed her to. We would stand her on the couch and she would want to immediately get off and run around. Really, thanks to Laura we got some fun pictures. Of course we can't post them all so here are just a couple...

No Crying???...

I took Kinnie in for her flu shot today. I thought for sure she would cry and she didn't! I was stunned. I kind of looked at her like are you sure you don't want to cry? Go ahead, cry. You were just stripped of your pants, laid down on a weird table with weird tissue paper in a weird room and stabbed in the leg. It was kind of funny when the nurse was done, we just looked at each other and were both like well, that was easy. Even after picking Kinnie up to give her the comfort I thought she was going to need I thought maybe she would cry then. Kinnie did give her look she gives when she gets slightly hurt, she furrows her eyebrows and drops her jaw. But no tears. Unfortunately she has to get another 2nd part flu shot and her next set of vaccines in about a month, maybe she will want to cry then.


We are loving the weather. I keep thinking that it is colder then it is and am surprised at how warm it really is when we go outside. I love the colors of fall, they are so bright and warm. I am not looking forward to winter when it is so gray, and white and black...and cold and wet. At least we have the holidays to get us through it!

First Pet!!

Kinnie loves fish! I am not sure when it all started actually, but she loves them.

Here are some of the fish that she likes... She loves "One Fish, Two Fish," and in "Go Dog, Go" there is a page (shown in the picture) that has a little tiny fish on it that she always points to. She discovered her baby chew toy fish today too and is loving it. Kinnie is very good at making a fishy noise and signing fish.

We have watched Elmo's World a few times and she loves Dorothy the fish too.

So we decided last night that it was time for Kinnie to have her own fish. We headed to Petco, which was just as good as the zoo. Of course I didn't have my camera but I wish I would have so I could show you how much she loved it or was mesmerized by it.

Here are the things we bought.

Here is Kinnie watching Landon put everything in the fish bowl.

Here is Kinnie taking a look at her new pet.

Kinnie is loving her new fish (Pez or Mr. Fish) we can't decide. She had been awake for about 5 seconds this morning and started making her fishy noise and signing fish so we went and said good morning to the fish. She was so happy to see it again. She has been waving to it all day.

Square One, Babies, Nightgown, Interviews!

Again I have to say thank you to all of you for your advice. However, we are back at square one. After two days, yes just two days, Kinnie came down with a cold and I was not about to let her cry anymore when I knew she was not feeling well; sneezing, congested, couldn't breath...Actually, I am pretty happy she got a cold because that gave me a great excuse to quit. The day after I gave up, as I was just putting Kinnie in her crib who was sound asleep in my arms, after reading books and rocking with her, I realized how content we both were at the time. I will try again in a couple of weeks...perhaps, and not do such a "cold turkey" approach but maybe something a little more subtle. I think I was trying so hard to follow the book and was so excited for it to work, but didn't realize at the time that it wasn't my style and didn't really suit Kinnie.

Kinnie is so into baby dolls lately. Her aunt Lindie let her borrow this one and bring it home the other day. Kinnie played with it for about a half hour straight, she was busy carrying it back and forth from her infant car seat to a big box in our basement. After she took a nap she played with it some more. I put it in a push toy that she has and we took it outside for a walk, she loved that! When she woke up the next morning she saw the baby on the couch and was soooo excited to see it again. We returned that baby to Lindie and Grandma Bell sent us home with another little baby doll. She has had just as much fun with it as the first one. We are also borrowing a stuffed brown, cozy dog that she loves too. Maybe I should make a check-out list for everything.

My mom kept a few of my clothes I wore when I was little and I brought some of them home before Kinnie was born. Not that they are in style or anything but I just wanted them to have. I hung up a nightgown of mine in her closet and decided to try it on Kinnie last night. It fit so well and she looked really cozy in it, I had to post a picture of her in it. My Grandpa Herman's brother's wife made it. Pretty amazing to be able to sew like that. I wish I could!

Last but not least. Landon has been invited to four interviews for dental school so far. We are so excited. Landon first heard from Nova in Florida, then USC, Marquette in Wisconsin and Dalhousie in Canada. As we have been receiving the invites I have thought how we might be living in one of these places next year. It is really weird for me to even think about because I can't imagine being away from family. It is kind of like I just think about it for a few seconds and then distract myself with something else before I start feeling scared or sick. It will be hard but a fun adventure I'm sure. His interviews are within the next couple of months so wish him luck!

Kinnie was reunited with her rocking horse for her birthday. I took it away for a week while I sanded and painted it...finally. I was nervous that she wasn't really going to care for it anymore since she was apart from it for awhile, but she loves it even more than before. She even noticed the newly painted eyes, before they were just glued on. Kinnie pretty much just loves her horse, her horse book, all books, dogs and playing outside. All day she brings me my shoes so we can go outside, it can get kind of old...what are we going to do when winter comes?!

One Year Old Tomorrow

"How old are you?"

I can't believe Kinnie is going to be ONE tomorrow! It seems like it was yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital. I can't imagine life without her. Landon and I tried to remember what our lives were like without Kinnie around and it was hard to even think of her not being here. She has amazed me since day one! I love to just sit and watch her play (when she lets me) and am fascinated at how much she has learned in her first year of life. She keeps us smiling...all of the time.

6 MONTHS OLD!

Happy half birthday to me! :)