Month 9 Pictures

Here are the pics from the last month.

Month 9

 

Kinsey turned 9 months on Christmas Eve, so I am a little late with this post.

Kinsey is all over the map these days!  She is able to stand up holding on to the furniture and scoot herself along quite swiftly.  When I help her walk and hold her hands, I can also tell she is getting more steady on her feet.  She loves to walk around so anytime she is fussy I can walk with her and she will start giggling. 

We are doing a lot more finger foods now, and she is getting her pincer grasp.  Along with that she is starting to point.  Not at anything in particular.

Napping is going well.  She is consistently napping 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon as long as she is at home.

I worked a lot in December so David did quite a lot of taking care of Kinsey.  Looks like January is going to slow down. 

I'm starting to implement "no".  It's "no" fun!  When I'm wearing my glasses she grabs for them.  So I'm trying to teach her not to do that.  When I tried the other day, I told her no a few times and pulled her hand away from my glasses.  She kept doing it so I gave a firmer no and picked her up and sat her down.  Boy, did she cry!! 

Christmas was good.  We didn't get her anything from us because frankly, she doesn't care!  The other day I gave her my purple comb and she played with it for a good 30 minutes.  We also don't need to spend any money right now.  I was feeling really alone this Christmas because we didn't have any family to be around, but it turned out fine in the end.  My co-worker and our sitter (same family) invited us over and we went there in the evening.  They gave Kinsey so many gifts!  I was shocked.  Their generosity was overwhelming.  Kinsey got lots of clothes, a couple toys, a baby Einstein DVD, an ornament, and a couple books.  She and I got matching scarves, and my coworker gave us a gift card to Applebees and a free babysitting voucher.  Awesome!

Leatrice Update

It's amazing all the people who have prayed and asked about Leatrice.  Thank you so much, it warms my heart to know that you all value and care about someone you don't even know!  It's always nice to know that something that is important to me is also important to you, just because it's important to me.  Does that make sense?

Anyways, she is doing better.  She is off life support and is able to talk, laugh, cry, and EAT!  Hallelujah!

Leatrice

Please continue to pray for my friend Leatrice.  She has now been moved to ICU.  It was not pneumonia, but various complications from Lupus.  Also please pray for her husband Tony and their girls, Embry and Nola.

Praying Scripture

Last time at our small group, we were talking about praying scripture.  Since I have realized how little I do this, and I have started more.  It would help if I actually read the Bible more, but what I do know I have started to pray it.  I sort of had an "ah ha" moment this morning.  I'm a little sick (cold) and was feeling crappy this morning.  I started praying and asking God for Kinsey to be "easy" today.  Then I realized I should be praying for the strength God promises.  Rather than asking for a change in Kinsey to fit how I'm feeling, I'm praying that I will have the strength for whatever comes my way today.  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".  (Phillipians 4:13)

Speaking of Kinsey, I was re-reading the post before last where I gave an update on how things were going.  Well, they're even better than when I posted the update.  She is really getting much better at entertaining herself.  I've also figured out how to keep her from getting so fussy when she comes home from the babysitter's, because she doesn't nap much over there.  If I hold her and snuggle with her for a really long time when she gets home, then she will eventually start crawling away from me and will be happy to play by herself.  Her napping is doing better too.  She will generally nap 2 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the afternoon.  She is also sleeping 30 minutes to an hour longer at night so we're up to about 10.5-11 hours overnight.  She seems less tired overall. 

As for the "twinges" I spoke of in my last blog, I'm even feeling better about that too.  I'm not feeling an overwhelming sadness or jealousy.  Whew.  Thank goodness.

Most of you know my friend Leatrice, but for those of you who don't, please pray for her.  She is in the hospital with pneumonia and is having a rough time.  You can read her story here.

Twinges

I've been feeling "twinges" lately.  That's the best word for the way I've been feeling when I hear about new pregnancies of friends or acquaintances.  Yesterday a friend announced her pregnancy at MOPS and today a patient at work told us she just found out she was pregnant.  I get a "twinge" in my body when that kind of thing happens.  It's sort of a stop-me-in-my-tracks sort of thing, along with a sinking feeling in my stomach.  It just started; I haven't had this feeling since before we got Kinsey, I think.  It's a feeling of sadness and jealousy.  I would like another child at some point, and facing another adoption process is definitely not going to be easy.  It will be worth it, no doubt.  But certainly I would love to be able to get pregnant for the experience of it.  In the end, it won't matter.  Once the baby is here, it's no different to me whether I carried the baby or not, she is my LOVE and JOY. 

So it seems that this feeling comes when I start thinking about having another baby.  The last 8 months I haven't wanted to entertain any thoughts of having another one, so pregnancies have not bothered me at all.  But now things are changing, mostly because Kinsey is into playing and I think about how much I would love to have a sibling for her to play with, and hopefully grow a bond with.  Unless we go with a different agency, then we will have to wait another 10 months before we can get on the waiting list again.  There's a possiblity we would want to adopt an older child.  In that case, we would be waiting much longer because we would think it be best for Kinsey to remain the oldest.

So I'm having mixed emotions.  Sadness about pregnancy but also excitement to think about the possibility of another child at some point, God willing.  We certainly have some things to work through first; namely David getting a job!  But I'm still confident God's hand is in all of this.

Update on my last blog

This cracked me up.  I stole it from Cara's blog.  Mom, you'll have to show Dad because I think he will get a kick out of this.

I'm doing lots better with Kinsey.  I mean LOTS.  It had been a pretty rough two months, but we seemed to have crossed some bridge for the time being.  I've figured out how much alternating I need to do between holding her/giving her my undivided attention and letting her play by herself.  I can tell when the only thing that will help is holding her, so I just do it and hold her for however long I need.  That way, I don't have an expectation that I will be able to set her down in a few minutes, only to have her start crying again.  Then, when there are times she can entertain herself for more than 15 minutes, I just cherish the time and get excited for her that she is able to be independent in that moment.

I'm a little concerned about her sleep.  As in, I don't think she's getting enough overall.  She seems tired almost constantly.  Maybe she is good for the first hour and a half after a nap, but then she'll already start raking her eyes and yawning.  I'm going to read another book recommended by a friend, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby.  I'll see if it has any additional tips, although I don't have high expectations.  Can't hurt to try, though!  I feel bad for her when she seems to be so tired all the time, but I can't get her napping consistent.  Two days ago she took a 45 minute nap in the morning, then a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.  Then yesterday (granted, she was out running errands with David, who had to watch her all day while I worked a very long shift) she napped only about 45 minutes the entire day.  I tried to give her an evening nap at 6:30 when I got home but she resisted. 

As for me, I have been working A LOT.  At least compared to what I have been the last several months.  I have two per diem jobs right now.  In one job I am covering the month of December for vacations, and in my other job I am about to pick up more hours because one of the staff members is resigning this month.  It is a whole different feeling to go to work every day and come home to David and Kinsey.  I actually really like it, because when I come home I can't wait to see my baby and spend the rest of the evening with her.  Working is a LOT easier for me than staying home full time.  I don't necessarily want to go back to work full time though, but if I need to at least I know what it will be like.

Working so much has been a help financially since David has no job prospects at this point.  He's sending out resumes and working really hard to find something.  I'm confident that something will eventually come along, and I feel very patient most days.  Occasionally I get a sinking feeling in my stomach, but I remind myself about friends who have faced the same situation and made it through.  I am completely confident that God is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives, this being no exception.  I know there are things He will teach us along the way.  Already I am learning to let go of material obsessions.  That is a good thing.  I think about what is the "worst" that could happen through all of this, we have to foreclose on our house eventually?  Big deal.  I mean, it is a big deal, but in the grand scheme of things we will still have each other, we'll have food to eat, we'll find a place to live, we'll have our friends, and we'll continue to move forward in life.  We'll have everything that really matters.