More Foods

We have been experimenting with more foods lately to expand Kinley's palate a little.  She is still not a fan of cereal, so I will probably try oatmeal soon to see if she likes that more than the rice cereal.  So far, we have tried bananas (like), pears (love), sweet potatoes (like), carrots (so-so) and avocado (definite NO!).  I think the avocado was more about the texture than the taste.  Even though I mashed it up pretty good, it wasn't as smooth as the things she is used to eating.  We might try that one again, though, because avocados are yummy!

Trying pears for the first time.

She thought these were pretty yummy!

Our first time with carrots.

These were ok, but she didn't like them as much

as sweet potatoes.

Go Texans!

Along with Longhorns stuff, Uncle Todd also got Kinley some Texans gear.  The onesies are 3-6 months, but they are HUGE on her!  She will definitely be able to wear them when we watch the Texans in the Super Bowl!!  :-)

Can I Use This Thing?

I was getting some laundry put away and asked John to watch Kinley.  When I was finished and came out to sit down and watch tv with John, this is what I found:

Party Time

Tonight, my good friend Wendy had a 40th birthday party for her husband Dave.  Wendy and I met in college and became good friends.  She and Dave started dating in college, and have been together ever since.  They used to live down closer to Galveston, but bought a house up here shortly after we did.  They only live about 10 minutes from us.  We like to get together with them, although we don't get to do it as often as we would like.  We always have a good time!

Kinley looked too cute in her "party dress" so I had to get some pictures of her.

Ready to party!

Daddy laid her on top of the table and got BBQ sauce in her hair!

Look at those chunky thighs!!

5 Months of Kinley

Well, yet another month has flown by!  It's hard to believe how far our little peanut has come in such a short time.  Yet sometimes, it feels like she has been around forever.  It's hard to remember what life was like before she came along.

Five months isn't a scheduled doctor visit, so we don't have official stats on her for this month.  Thankfully, we haven't needed to see the doctor since her 4 month check-up.  We know she is continuing to grow, and she's very healthy, so we don't have any worries about her.

Here are some quick facts about Kinley at 5 months:

**She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes.  Just like last month, we have some 3-6 month things that fit, but she mostly just wears 0-3 months.  I think we are going to have to move her up in sleepers soon - the 0-3 month sleepers are getting too short, and the feet are getting too small.
**She is still in size 1 diapers, and we prefer Pampers most.  We recently bought 1 more big package of size 1's, and when that (and the big box we already had) are gone, we will go ahead and move up to 2's.  I think those will be better at night, anyway, because she occasionally wakes up all wet in the front.
**She is still pretty much on the same feeding schedule - a 6 ounce bottle, 5 times a day.  We have slowly started trying some foods, but she's still not too great at eating from a spoon.
**She still usually sleeps between feedings.  If we are out somewhere, she might stay awake from one to the next, but if we are at home, she definitely shows sleepy signs and wants to take a nap.
**She has really taken notice of Jake and Jasper lately.  They still don't seem too sure of her, but if they come in the room, she stops whatever she's doing and watches, and usually squeals at them.  I have no idea what they'll do when she starts chasing them!
**She has finally been rolling over.  This started shortly after she turned 4 months, actually.  We would find her on her back, but it took a little while before John or I saw it happen.  She's a pro, now!  If we put her down in bed before she's ready, she will quickly be on her back, squealing.
**From reading the above, you can conclude that we put her on her stomach to sleep.  I know it's not what is recommended, but she sleeps so much better that way, and she's mobile enough now that I'm really not worried she's going to suffocate.
**She is very interested in everything going on around her.  She always stops and looks around if she hears John's voice.  I knew it was only a matter of time before she became a daddy's girl!
**She laughs and giggles a lot now.  John and I both have our own ways of making her laugh, and use them frequently!
**She continues to be an amazingly good baby.  Even though she's my first, I have been around babies enough to know they're not all as happy-go-lucky as Kinley is.  I feel so lucky that we have such a happy baby!

I am constantly amazed at how much I love being Kinley's mommy.  It is for sure the best "job" I've ever had!!

 

I Got Your Nose!

Kinley has really started reaching for and grabbing things lately.  Her latest "victim" was daddy's nose, and I just thought it was too cute!

Sweet Baby

After we got back home from our family reunion today, Kinley was ready to eat.  After that, I could tell she was tired and I just felt like cuddling her.  Lucky for me, she fell asleep while I was holding her.  She doesn't always do this anymore, but sometimes I just want to cuddle her like I did when she was newborn.  Today, I got my wish.  I just sat looking at her, thinking about how incredibly blessed we are to have her as our daughter.

Family Reunion

Today we headed to Carmine, Texas (between Brenham and Giddings) for the annual Krause reunion.  It's held the 2nd Sunday in September every year.  Mostly, everyone sits around and visits with the people from their own "branch" of the family.  There is a lunch (usually BBQ) and then a business meeting.  For us, it's just a nice opportunity to get together and visit with members of our extended family that we don't see much anymore.  Every year they give away prizes (always a $2 bill) for different categories.  Kinley was the youngest member in attendance so she won her $2.  Last year, they added a new category: most recently married.  John and I won that last year, and again this year.  There aren't usually many young couples in attendance, so 3 years and 5 months was "recent."

It was a nice afternoon, and Gran got to soak up some Kinley time.  We got there before Gran, so all the women took a chance to hold her real quick before Gran got to her.  She was definitely the "hit" of the party.  Even all the little girls wanted to hold her and play with her.  She's at such a fun age, and such a happy baby that I don't blame everyone for wanting to have a piece of her.

Kinley with my cousin Katie, who was the

flower girl in our wedding.

Kinley with my youngest cousin, Kyndall.

Kyndall really loved Kinley!

Kyndall's mom, my aunt Diane, holding Kinley

Kinley with her winning $2

Kinley was the youngest in attendance (5 months)

and my Great Uncle Roy was the oldest (85 years)

Kinley with my Pawpaw.

This picture just melts my heart.

3 Grandchildren (Katie, Reese and Kyndall)

4 Great Grandchildren (Kody, Kyle, Kolton and Kinley)

My cousin Reese (Katie's younger sister) with Kinley

Mommy got to cuddle a sleepy baby when we got home

Hook 'Em Horns!

Uncle Todd bought Kinley some new clothes for football season.

Hook 'Em!

Naptime is for Babies

Today, while I was at work, John sent me this picture.  Someone was supposed to be napping and daddy heard some noise and went in and found this:

Uncle Brent and Katie Visit

This weekend, Brent and Katie both had Friday off, so they decided to come down and visit.  This was the first time Katie had gotten to meet Kinley.  Even though we were in La Vernia for a good amount of time this summer, summer is the busiest time for Katie as a youth minister, so she was never able to get out there to see us.  She even had to miss Kinley's baptism, which was sad for us and for her.  We were thrilled that her and Brent wanted to come out to see us for the weekend!

When they got to the house on Friday, John was just getting home, too.  We had found a zebra chair on Craigslist (cheap!) that I wanted for my classroom, so he generously went to pick it up for me.  He wanted to run it up to school before I came home.  So, he went into the house, made Kinley a bottle and handed her over to Katie.  He said he would be back in about 20 minutes!  I think both Brent and Katie had a moment of panic, but when we got home, she was happy as always.

We spent Friday evening just hanging out at the house.  Both Brent and Katie are a little hesitant around babies, so it was nice for them that Kinley is a little older.  They weren't as worried about her being so little and delicate (with a bobble head).  They both had fun with her, and laughed at her new-found squeal!

On Saturday, we hung around the house until it was time to go over to Kathy and Jason's for their party.  Brent and Katie came with us, and left from there, because Katie had to be at her church on Sunday morning.

We were so glad they got a chance to come down and visit with us.  We probably get to visiti with Brent, and especially Katie, the least out of all my brothers, so it was fun to just have some one-on-one time with them and hear about their upcoming wedding plans.

Little Diva

Tonight we went over to Kathy and Jason's house for a Labor Day/Birthday Celebration.  It was actually Kathy's birthday, and they had some friends over for some yummy food.  Brent and Katie were in town for a visit and they came with us.  We also got to visit with our friends Wendy and Dave.  Before we left the house, I was just playing around with Kinley in her room and John snapped some pictures.  He said she looked like the little diva with her sunglasses on.