Pretty in Pink

     Before the Christmas holidays I had the pleasure of taking some photos of this sweet little lady.  Let me introduce you to adorable little Emmalyn.  This was my first time taking pictures of an infant, so it was another great learning experience for me.  Looking forward to capturing more special moments of her soon!

Beautiful Baby Bump

     So I was recently asked to take some pictures of my friend and her family.  I gotta say I was a bit nervous about doing my first official photo shoot, but I did manage to get to get some good shots.  Photography is lots of fun, but definitely challenging.  I'm always up for a good challenge.   Looking forward to my next one.

Boob to Bottle in A Day!

      So if you read one of my earlier posts you know that I have been stressed out about weaning Kinley from boob to some sort of bottle.  Well we finally had some success!  Like I said we tried the 3 different types of bottles (Nuk, Tommee Tippee, and Comotomo).  Here's the only picture of her actually trying to drink from it.  But after I took that picture she tossed the bottle and didn't want it anymore.

     Since she didn't care for the bottles, we thought maybe she might like drinking her "Momma's Milk" from a straw sippy cup.  She liked it, but couldn't sip up enough for her at a time.  I think it is because the straw is too short.

     Finally, the hubby got the brilliant idea to try Liam's CamelBak water bottle.  She has always been interested in ours (we always have them with us filled with water where ever we go).  So he poured a little milk in it and low and behold....she LOVED it!  Since we finally found something for her to drink out of the next step was weaning her from nursing to only drinking from the CamelBak.

     I was a little worried that it would be a difficult transition, but like everything else she has adapted very quickly and easily.  She totally amazes me.  It think it was harder on me than on her.   I just make sure she gets enough milk throughout the day and especially before bed along with her dinner.  It's has been going good so far (only been 2 days since stopped nursing).  So now, I just pump milk for her and she drinks from her Big Girl bottle.  

     I am feeling so much better and happy that things are going to so well.

9 Months and Counting...

     Well today she is 9 Months...seems like she was born yesterday.  Can't believe how fast my little lady is growing up!  So far she has her two bottom teeth (working on the top ones now), eating solid foods (loves Cheerios), and is almost crawling (just a matter of time).

Breastfeeding, Breastfeeding, Breastfeeding....

     Ok, so I have been breastfeeding Kinley since she was born, she will be 9 months tomorrow.  In the beginning I set some personal goals for myself.  Since, I only BF Liam for 3 months, I wanted to try and go longer with Kinley.  I first set 3 months as a goal, when I reached that I then set it to 6 months, when I passed that, I thought I would try for 9 months.....Well, I have reached that goal too, and I'm really happy and proud of myself for doing it!
     Recently, we have been trying to introduce the bottle with "momma's milk" to her and wean her from the boob, but it has definitely been rough!  She's really never liked the bottle, we've tried two brands so far (Nuk & Tommee Tippee).  The hubby found some new ones to try so we will give those a go.  We have also introduced a stippy cup with a straw to see if that would peak her interest.  It did for like 5 minutes, but she didn't drink all the milk.  The whole reason I want to wean her is that since her bottom teeth have come in and looks like the top two will pop through any day now, she has has started biting me.  I know she doesn't mean to, but it HURTS!  It's gotten to the point of being painful.  I want to continue giving her my milk but I'm just worried I won't be able to produce as much milk that she needs just by pumping.  Does anyone out there have any good suggestions??
     It seems like when I try to pump what I can, there isn't much due to the fact she drank it all.  So either I let her nurse from me through the pain or pump it to try and do a bottle.  Which doesn't always work.  So I feel the milk is going to waste because she isn't drinking it.  When people say "don't cry over spilled milk" they don't understand everything that does into making that milk.  So, when it's not used up and goes to waste it IS a big deal!  I used to have a pretty good stash of stored milk in the freezer, but it has dwindled down.  And I feel I can't make enough to restock it.  I don't know what to do.  We have tried some formula just to see if she would like it and of course, she refused to drink it.  This is really worrying on me and feel a little stressed....what to do? What to do?

8 Months and Counting....

     Since we were on vacation, I totally forgot to post Kinley's 8 month picture!  So here it is!

Kinley's Baptism

     On Sunday, June 2, 2013 the church welcomed it's newest Catholic, Kinley Hazel Masterson.  She was baptized in the same church the hubby and I got married in seven years ago.  All our family and closet friends came to celebrate in her special day.  We are truly thankful that the Lord blessed us with such an amazing little girl.  She is a spunky little one that keeps us all on our toes and melts our hearts with her radiant smile.  We look forward to watching her blossom into the young lady she will become.

     After the baptism everyone headed over to my mom's house for some Texas BBQ! It was a joyous day!