Kennedy's first Halloween was exactly as you'd expect it - a baby who didn't know what was going on and had nothing to do with trick or treating, and a mom that dressed the baby up in an adorable costume and took her house to house to binge eat candy later :)
It all started with an impromptu photo shoot in a neighbor's yard. I'd seen his blow-up yard art every day and always told myself, "We should take her picture some day." I finally pulled the trigger on our way home from a walk with Kennedy still in her pajamas.
Sorry to change the tune, but we were all so devastated when G passed away, for so many reasons. I was getting married later that year and Lindsay had recently found out she was pregnant with Jackson. Even though she was ready, we were not, so you can imagine the tears - of both laughter and sadness - when we found an adorable little "Baby's 1st Halloween" bib tucked away in her dresser. She had saved the receipt and left a note with it. The funny part was the receipt showed she had purchased it in the fall of 2007, the first year Lindsay and Ben got married! The bib was sitting in there for over 5 years... and patient G didn't say a word. During our last trip to Dallas, Lindsay passed the bib down to Kennedy, and it couldn't have looked any cuter <3
That afternoon, Nelson's office had a Halloween party and invited kids up to join. Kennedy and I got there at 3pm for the festivities. Nelson had fun showing her off to his co-workers and I had fun seeing is swanky new office (and all the food to go with it). While she was too young to participate in the games, I sure enjoyed the sugar cookie I decorated - hah! Unfortunately, we left at the worst possible time (4:15pm) and it took about an hour and a half to get home. So that was the first and last time we go downtown on Halloween.
We stopped by my mom's so she could see Kennedy in her costume, and then came home just in time to join our new neighbors for some trick or treating on the street. The weather was pretty yucky out and right after I told Nelson we could leave after the next house, we got our cue to go home then when it started raining.
Happy Halloween from the sweetest little strawberry!
You are officially 2/3 of the way to being a one year old - what?! I know I say this every month, but you are just the happiest and most easy going baby. You love to hang out with me on days that I'm not working, either running errands, playing at home, or eating.
No crawling yet, and not any closer than you were a month ago. But you have pulled yourself up to stand at your cube! If you want to get anywhere, you just roll around until you get there. I think you have realized it's frustrating not being able to get there quickly, so I wonder if you will eventually clue in that you should crawl. But I'm also not pushing you too hard because that means we have to baby-proof the house.
The highlight of the past month is that you are officially sleeping allllllllll the way through the night - woohoo!!! It was kind of a fluke when it happened. At your six month appointment, your pediatrician said that you could definitely go eight hours without eating, so that has been my rule of thumb. One night, you woke up around 2am, so I ignored you since it hadn't been eight hours. When I heard you, again, around 3am, technically it hadn't been eight hours, and I knew you would be waking up around 5am (per usual), so I ignored you and you went back to sleep.... until 7am!!! You had gone 12 hours! I was so ecstatic, but also realized you didn't need any of those night feeds; it was all just habit. So for the next three nights, I never went in your room (only one night were you actually crying, so dad went in; the rest you just fussed). It's been over a week now and it's amazing how refreshed I feel! So you now go to bed between 7 and 7:30pm and usually wake anywhere between 7 and 8am, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later.
As for naps, I've tried to be a little more strict and put you down after being awake for three hours. If you wake at 7am, you go down for nap at 10am. And then if you wake from your nap at 11:30am, I put you down for your afternoon around 2:30pm. You have gotten into this rhythm and I think it's helped our evenings (you're not as tired during bath). It's also helped me plan things to do because I can pretty much guess when we'll be available :)
You've continued to be an amazing eater. You get excited when we start to get your high chair ready. You still love pancakes, and we still oddly like seeing what you've eaten in your diaper later. I think that's mainly because it confirms that you're actually eating the food and not just playing with it. It's so cute, too, when you drink water from your little cup afterwards. It makes you look so grown up.
These next couple months are going to be super busy with Halloween, your first trip to Taiwan, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas! It's going to be the best holiday season because we get to experience it with you. We can't WAIT!
xoxo,
Your Mom
{8 Month Stats}
Weight: Estimated on home scale, around 18lb?
Height: n/a
Head: n/a
Clothes: 9 month (I wonder if we need to start putting you in 12 month sleepers soon)
Diapers: size 3 during the day, size 4 during the night
Shoes: I got shoes for you! I ordered for 4.5". They're a little big, but that just ensures you can wear them for a while. You can see your new black moccasins below :) I also got little leather sneakers and t-strap Mary Janes.
Likes: going on walks, playing with a cup in the bath, eating food and drinking water, and playing with your activity cube
Dislikes: being put down / left alone and sitting if you want to stand,
This past weekend was the coveted Texas OU weekend, and Nelson had a ticket to go to the game with some friends. Kennedy and I tagged along so that we could see Lindsay and the boys. Kennedy was a rockstar on the drive up, only starting to fuss about 15 minutes from their house - and only because it was after her bedtime.
Saturday morning, I joined the Liggett family at their mini-session for Christmas pictures while Nelson stayed back with Kennedy while she napped... or not.
We made a pit-stop on the way back to get Jackson his treat for doing so well at pictures and Dean tested out a new car for Kennedy.
We had fun hanging out at their new house and playing. Jackson and Dean simply adore Kennedy, and it's so cute to see them dote on her. Of course it's near impossible to take a picture of them.
But she loved smiling for Uncle Ben :)
We also had fun showing off our new eating skills, enjoying our first (and probably new favorite) grilled cheese! Kennedy would suck the cheese off and then eat the bread. Girl after my own heart.
Later that day, we went to a Special Olympics fundraiser in Plano that had a fire truck pull, all sorts of cop cars for you to explore, booths with candy, a garbage truck and bus, a helicopter, and a (young) fireman's obstacle course. Kennedy was in awe of everything going on. And obviously Jackson and Dean loved it.
The ride home was not as easy as the ride up, and I attribute that to the fact that we had to say goodbye to our favorite 2 little boys. But we had such a great weekend seeing them and can't wait until next time!
Now that the conference is over, my life is officially back to normal. It got insanely busy leading up to the event and I was working 50+ hours/week. I only go into the office 2 days/week, so all those other hours were logged anytime Kennedy was asleep. So here's a look into what we've been doing the past six weeks when she's awake!
Well, this was without Kennedy, but we went to a baby shower for baby boy Whitworth! I can't wait for Leanna and Marcus to join us on this crazy ride called parenthood :) I'm so happy for them!
Lots of playing on our mat...
Before our 6 month appointment, I wondered how big Kennedy was. When I compared her to her cousins, it's safe to say she's not quite as big as them ;)
Getting ready for football season!
Eating lots of food:
Spaghetti and apple slices :)
Sometimes we aren't sure about food....
Playing with Maya, who we just so happened to match - not on purpose!
Does she look more like Nelson now?
Mmmmm avocado and squash.
Sucking that pork chop dry.
Hahaha strawberries!
I cannot stand the cuteness!
Josh, Kimberly, and Madeline evacuated Houston during Hurricane Harvey, so we got breakfast one morning so the babies could meet.
More football season ready (she has a few Texas clothes, but I guess I just don't take pictures of her in them haha).
Nelson's parents came into town one weekend, so we went to the neighborhood one last time before the end of summer. Kennedy had SO much more fun than she has in the past! She splashed herself and us. I'm sad there's no more weekends for pool time until next year, but it was a fun glimpse into next summer :)
Before they left, we had brunch at Kerby Lane Cafe.
More random pictures - playing and our first try at yogurt!
Ben had to be in Austin for work, so Lindsay and the boys came down, too! Unfortunately it was when things were crazy busy at work, but they all got their Kennedy time in - just no Aunt Holly time. I think they were ok with that ;) They watched morning cartoons....
Walked to the park near Mimi's house...
Got snuggles while everyone else napped...
And played with the big kid toys!
They hung out another day while I went in to the office and did other big kid things :)
Awesome like Auntie :)
Probably one of the hardest pictures ever.
I love his little arm around her <3
Nelson's sister and Rudy came to town, too, so we had to show everyone how awesome our other auntie is!
Kennedy also had her first big trip! Our flight to Scottsdale left at 6:50am on Friday. I woke Kennedy up at 4:30am and fed her, and then we headed out. It was perfect because she stayed awake driving to the airport, parking, going through security, and waiting at the gate. I had it all planned out in my head, "I'll feed her during take-off to help with her ears, and she'll fall asleep eating for sure. It's a 2 hour flight, so she should be pretty tired and sleep the whole way!" Well optimism got the best of me. She did fall asleep eating during take-off, but I had to uncross my legs about 45 minutes in and it woke her up... and she stayed up! Needless to say, it made for a very long flight.
This is a series I call: Tired Mom.
Luckily one of our rooms had a sort of mini-bar with a sink, and it was perfect for baths.
Breakfast as Snooze!
We went to the pool on Saturday to take a break - and show off our adorable bathing suit. Someone actually stopped me in the hallway a couple days later to tell me that my baby's bathing suit was adorable :)
Since Kennedy didn't adjust to the time change (2 hours), she was up by 5:00am. Since I was going to bed after 10:00pm and getting up with her in the middle of the night, Nelson was so wonderful and would take her walking to the shopping center across the street. Here she is one morning, Mitratech's littlest fan :)
She did love my badge
This was one of those mornings she woke extra early and then fell asleep on their walk ;)
We tried to get a family pic before we left, but you can see how well that went.
When we got home, it was so nice to have a day of just hanging out and not checking email ONCE!
This is that love of tags I was talking about:
Not sure what dinner was besides broccoli and banana, but she clearly liked it!
We've also gotten better with the sippy cup.
We had lunch with my former co-worker Marcie and Kennedy was an absolute DOLL.
Some things never change:
Kennedy is sitting up so well now, we got rid of the baby tub and she's now bathing like a big girl!
Pre-baby weekends were spent laying around and watching football. Now they're spent playing at home and going to the park!
And there you have it. All caught up! Until I fall behind again this month ;)
