Thanksgiving with the Grays

This year Kingsley got to spend Thanksgiving with the Gray family. We drove up to David's parent's house on Wednesday night and then to Jacksonville on Saturday morning. Pretty much all of David's extended family lives in Jacksonville. His grandpa, grandma, and Uncle Daniel's family. We did Thanksgiving in David's aunt's sister's house (are you keeping up here?). The food was fantastic. I made an apple custard pie for the first time which turned out pretty good.

I really thought I was adding to the Thanksgiving bringing a pie but it turns out the Gray's had baked about 15 pies between them. That's almost a pie per person! Kingsley loved it because she got a lot of attention and got to meet her Uncle Daniel (different Uncle Daniel than above). She wore her pink Thanksgiving dress and pink trench. Such a Diva :)  Check out the tons of pictures below.

So this wasn't actually part of the Gray Thanksgiving, but I thought they were really cute and Thanksgivinging (not a word I know). I made them for the Scout activity. 

Passport Pictures

Kingsley and I are visiting England in January with Grandma to see her Great Grandparents (my grandparents). As such, David and I are in the process of getting her passport. We filled in all the forms and now the last thing to do is pictures. Oh pictures. For children, the State Department suggests sitting them in a car seat, or laying them down, with a white sheet behind them. I chose to use the mamaroo. What ensued next had me crying I was laughing so hard. Please enjoy our many attempts at passport pictures. Note: this is just a sampling. Which one is your favorite?

Two Months of Motherhood

Yesterday, Ms. Kingsley turned two months old, which means I have officially been a mommy for two months. I am completely obsessed with my baby. I would do anything for her. I was telling my mom that it's like the line Mr. Darcy feeds Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice: she has bewitched me body and soul.

Anyways, now that I got all the mushy stuff out of the way, let's talk about the changes I have seen in Kingsley this past month (Note: I started the blog after her one month birthday so there is no one month post on her, I will create one a bit later).

This month Kingsley began to smile. She smiles when mommy makes funny faces that mimic hers or when mommy says "oooo" or "ahhh". She loves playing with daddy when he tickles her or makes funny noises. Sometimes daddy's noises scare her a bit but she bounces back relatively quickly :)

She now kicks all the time and moves her arms. She likes laying down on her play mat; kicking, listening to the fun music, and watching the bright lights. She also like napping in her mamaroo.

She still likes sleeping next to mommy best and prefers snuggling under mommy's chin on her tummy (don't worry it's mommy's favorite spot for her to be :)) Lastly, her binky is still one her favorite things, but she is slowly growing more interested in rattles and her vast amount of stuffed toys. We love our little princess!!

She's all Smiles!

This week I am one proud momma. Why you ask? Because Kingsley started smiling :) And her smiling makes me smile :) At first, I wasn't sure if she was smiling or if it was just gas, but now I am pretty sure that she is smiling. And what's more is that she is smiling at me!

It usually happens when I make funny faces or when I talk to her to ask her how her day was. It is the best feeling in the world! Now, I never want her to stop. Once my phone works again, I will post pictures of my smiling baby :)

Kingsley's/My Christmas Wish List

Let's face it. Everything on Kingsley's Christmas list is pretty much on mommy's Christmas list. She's a baby, she doesn't even know what Christmas is yet. :)  So, here we go. NOTE: This list will pretty much be amended on a daily basis.

1. Mamas and Papas stroller activity spiral. Pretty soon Ms. Kingsley is going to be big enough to enjoy toys on the go. I love the idea of something that wont fall off when we are on the go. 

2. A christmas stocking that we can get her name on. These ones are from Pottery Barn. I still have mine from when I was a baby :) 

3. Solly baby wrap. I love the idea of this. And because we are going to England in January, I for sure need a way to snuggle my baby on the 9 hour plane ride.

4. A rocking horse. When I was little I had a rocking horse. I loved it and I named it dobby (pre harry potter existence). My parents still have it, but its a little worse for wear. Not really too good for use. I would really love for her to have one of her own, And lets face it, this one is beautiful!

5. A diaper pouch. Sometimes we go places and they only take the garbage out once a week (church cough cough) and sometimes Kingsley decides to explode all over her diaper and clothes. On those days it would be nice to have a waterproof container to keep it separate from the clean stuff. Hence, the reason for the wet diaper pouch.

6. I really like the idea of this. I am super bad at keeping a journal, but this book gives you five lines a day to basically write down one funny thing that happened. Even I can do that. This one is obviously for me and not so much Kingsley :)

7. I LOVE this necklace. It's by a designer called Maya Brenner. It's so dainty it will match any outfit.  Obviously, I would want a "K" not a "M".

Lovin' the Mamaroo

So a few days ago, Grandma Stokoe bought Kingsley an early Christmas present; the mamaroo. The mamaroo is pretty much a swing/ bouncer all in one and aside from my bugaboo it is pretty much my favorite mommy gadget of all time!

One of my biggest struggles as a new mommy has been putting my baby down. Even when she falls asleep I cant lay her down because she wakes up and then I cant get anything done because I can't stand it when Kingsley cries :( It really is pathetic; she sounds like a baby sheep. Cue the mamaroo. The mamaroo bounces up and down and rocks side to side; basically it moves with your baby as you would. In short, it tricks your baby into thinking that you are still holding them. Hehe. Anyways, I highly recommend it for any new mom. It is fantastic! See picture below. I will add one of Kingsley in it later because my phone is not cooperating right now :(

It comes in so many fun colors! Kingsley has the grey one because she is classy like that :) 

It's Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus

This month we celebrated Kingsley's first holiday: Halloween.

To kick of the celebrations, Kingsley, daddy, and myself went to the pumpkin patch. The nearest patch with a hayride was about an hour away so, mostly because she would never remember it anyway, we settled on the pumpkin patch around the corner at the Boys and Girls club. I dragged David up and down the rows and rows of pumpkins looking for the perfect one. Finally, one of the workers came up to us and asked us what size pumpkin we were looking for. I hesitated, but David jumped in and said "one my wife can fit her (gesturing to the baby) in." The man hesitated, laughed, and asked if we were serious.

We totally were. All I wanted to do at Halloween was take a picture of my newborn in a pumpkin is that too much to ask? So the worker helped me. He grabbed pumpkin after pumpkin sizing it up against my baby until we found the perfect one :)

After buying the pumpkin, we paused to take a few pictures with the wooden pumpkin at the entrance. The worker carried the pumpkin over and propped it behind Kingsley. Daddy positioned the pumpkins perfectly and the picture taking began! Note: the candy corn bow and booties were a present from my mom's friend Tina; adorable aren't they.

The day before Halloween we went to the ward Trunk or Treat. For the festivities, Kingsley dressed as Snow White and mommy and daddy dressed as two of the seven dwarfs (sleepy and grumpy - quite fitting right?) Note: the dwarf costumes were a last minute decision as you can see :)

On Halloween, we all drove to Boca. We went to a driveway BBQ at a friends house and gave out Halloween candy to trick or treaters. Kingsley got to wear her Snow White costume for a second day in a row and she looked adorable. In fact, mommy didn't have to hold her the whole night because everyone was fighting over her.

I also took the pumpkin pictures on Halloween. My first attempt did not go well and poor Kingsley screamed the entire time :( But I tried again the next day and those came out much better. What do you think?

A few pics from the first few days :)

The Arrival of a Princess

The 21st of this month was Kingsley's one month birthday, and boy has it been a whirlwind of a month!

Can I just take a moment and give all you moms mad props? Like seriously. Being a mom is really hard work. I completed high school, four years of undergraduate, three years of law school, a bar exam, and currenlty work as an Assistant State Attorney and it all pails in comparison to being a mommy. Thank goodness I have my mommy to show me the way :)

Kingsley was born on September 21, 2013 at 7:48 AM. I worked pretty much up till the day she was born. I left work on that Friday at around 7:30 PM. My stomach had been bothering me all day, but still I finished up a few close out memos and continued to deliver files to the appropriate persons/rooms. At around 5:00 PM I went to say bye to my boss. After a few minutes, I told him I was taking off because my stomach was aching. I NEVER thought I was having contractions; however I should have known better because my Doctor had just told me the day before that he didn't think I was going to make it through the weekend :) I went down to my office to box up my stuff for its next occupant (my friend Marshall was taking my office in my absence because it was bigger), but my stomach ache wouldn't go away. Eventually, I called David and asked him if he would help me clean the office out over the weekend if I just came home. He said sure, so I got in my car and headed home.

As I was driving, David called me. He asked if I thought I was really in labor because someone from church had asked him to help them move a piano. I told him that I needed to get home and then I would start timing my contractions to see if it was real or false labor. I told him I would be home in a minute, but he said, in true David fashion, that he had already left to help them :) What was the point of calling me then I ask you?!

I got home, laid on my left side on my bed, drank plenty of water, put "Dinosaurs" on Netflix (for some reason an escape to my childhood seemed appropriate) and started to time my pains. They were five minutes apart and they weren't going away. Oh boy. David called to check on me and I told him I wanted Chinese food, so in true Rebecca fashion, I ordered it and had him pick it up on his way home. Meanwhile, I took a shower and thought about how I really needed a few extra days to prepare for this baby; a few extra days it didn't look like I was going to get.

David came home Chinese food in hand. My hero :) I came downstairs ate and egg roll and some fried rice and continued to breath through the worsening pains. We then decided to watch TV. A movie called Paul was on. It's about an alien and the guys from "Shaun of the Dead" are in it. Pretty funny movie, but if I wasn't in labor I may have enjoyed it more... David will probably never forgive me that we didn't get to see the end of it. We then took the dogs out for a walk because our baby class instructor told us that movement was beneficial in the early stages of labor. I don't think the dogs liked it too much  because I had to stop every few minutes because the contractions were growing stronger.

When we came home, David suggested that we go to bed. I looked at him and said that I didn't think I would make it through the night. So, I finished packing, I procrastinated, David packed the car, and we headed to the hospital. This was around midnight.

When we got the hospital, I realized that David had forgotten the baby bag. I didn't panic because I still hoped that the hospital was going to tell me to go home, giving me a little more time to prepare for my little princess. No such luck. We checked in and I was already about 5 cm dilated. I was having this baby today.

I thought I would be nervous or panicked about all the things I had yet to do, but instead I was just excited! I had waited nine months to meet her; to tell her how much I loved her. To see whose eyes she had and to see her smile. Now, I just wanted to meet her and I couldn't wait!!!

At around 7:30 AM it was time to push. It only took about 15 minutes and she was here. The nurse announced her weight, 8 lbs 2 oz, and length, 21.5 inches. My doctor  told me I had a good pelvis, and it turn out he was right :) She was absolutely beautiful, and I cant describe how much love I felt in my heart at that very moment. Mommy was smitten and my princess was finally here :)

Pictures to come!!!