Hello Fall!

So summer is over and fall is here (and has been for a while). We are approaching the holidays and I just can't believe it! This week will be Mckinley's first Thanksgiving! She can't eat all the tasty food, but she has started to eat solids so maybe she can have some sweet potato baby food with dinner. That has been one of our biggest changes in the last couple months--she now eats real food! It has taken her a little while to begin to like it, but she sure does now! See the video attached of her first attempt at food--rice cereal. She wasn't a huge fan!

Our fall has begun with so much excitement. We took our first family vacation in the middle of October to Georgia. Mckinley did so well and we had so much fun. We went to the beach every day and met a lot of new family. It proved to us too that vacations are completely doable!

Daddy and his girl!

We love the beach!

We also had Mckinley's first Halloween. She didn't really know what to think...but we sure enjoyed dressing her up like a bumblebee! All the kidos who came to our door really liked that she was dressed up too!

Buzzzz!

Not too excited about "beeing a bee"!

Mckinley has also learned the joy of playing with toys! Everything is a new learning experience to her. It is so fun to watch her pick up something new and see her eyes get wide with confusion. What is it? What can I do with it? Should I put it in my mouth....YES!

So now we are going to make our way into the wonderful Holidays! I can't wait to make the memories! Turkeys, Santa, Snow, and a New Year here we come!

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Very funny food video...also a little sad...but funny as we look back!

How Quickly She Changes

It is amazing how quickly she has changed. From a little newborn who did nothing more than eat, sleep, and poop (and of course cry!) to this little girl who is developing such a personality. She is amazed at everything. It seems like the smallest thing will make her break out into a huge smile...which of course is a welcome change from 6 weeks ago. She also knows a lot of new "tricks". She can obviously now smile, but she can also roll over, babble like crazy and laugh! The addition of her laugh to our family has been amazing. Even as I write this, thinking back on moments when she has started to crack up, it is impossible not to smile. She still doesn't do it often, but when she does you cannot help but start laughing yourself.


It has been so exciting to watch her learn and change. I know she will only continue to change so I am trying to take in every moment. I say it all the time, but I cannot believe how fast it is going. Today Mckinley is 3 months old! 3 months! It doesn't seem possible that she could be that old (and yes, I am well aware that 3 months really isn't that old). Lucky for her and I though I have recently come to the decision to have a huge career change. This means that I will get to be home with Mckinley as I go back to school (online) to obtain my Masters in Elementary Education. Huge change I know, but definitely the right decision for not only me individually but our family as well.


As always here are a few pictures showing what we've been up to lately...

Her first big girl stroller ride (of course this brought on the laughter)

Our first camping/cabin trip...

Happy 3 month birthday Kinley!! :)

A New Baby

She's a new baby! This fussy stage thing is a distant memory nowadays. Mckinley has really started to change over the last week. She is awake much more, smiling quite a bit, and sleeping around 8 hrs a night!! She is also starting to enjoy playing and reading. All around our days are much more enjoyable. It has been so much fun to start and learn what she likes (baths--who would have thought after those first few, the outdoors, and blowing in her hair). One of our biggest challenges these days are naps. She'll take them, but only for about 30 min at a time. I can't complain too much though--I would rather her be sleeping as much as she does at night than taking naps and not sleeping at night. And if all else fails she will sleep in her swing!

As with the last couple weeks Mckinley had another first this week--her first boat ride! We went down to Tacoma to visit Grandma Cheryl and Papa Steve on their boat and took a ride down the Tacoma waterfront. I think she liked the boat ride, but hated the thought of having to wear a life jacket! Hopefully she gets used to it because I foresee lots of boat rides in her future.

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She loves being in her wrap!

No way was she going to wear this...

PS--I changed the look of the blog a little in case you were wondering what was different.

The Fussy Stage

It is beginning to seem like a distant memory, but for the past almost three weeks Kinley has been in what her pediatrician has called "a fussy stage". Apparently for many newborns they become fussy and only get fussier until a peak at around 6 weeks--this completely describes how Mckinley has been. It started as only being fussy in the evening and then it skyrocketed to crying at almost every awake moment she had. What is funny though is that she also had her first smile during the period. She would go from giving a beautiful, gummy smile to immediately crying (how is that even possible?). The doc says that this fussiness is really for no apparent reason and is usually always gone by newborn two-month wellness visits. Kinley is really so much better now, and it seems even hard (but not completely forgotten) to remember how bad it seemed during those hours of crying. How did I never hear about this joyful stage? It has definitely added a memorable touch to her first 7 weeks of life, but nothing, not even this horrible fussiness, could have tainted that first smile she gave us!

In the midst of this fussiness Mckinley has had some fun adventures and met some new family members too. We had a very fun trip to the Oregon Coast to visit Grandma B and Grandpa D. The ocean was quite calming to our little cry baby---hopefully she will love the water like her Daddy does! She also finally got to meet her Uncle Des and Aunt Barb who made the trip over from Spokane. And just this past weekend Kinley watched the Mariners beat up on the Yankees at her first Mariners game--an event that I was sure would end after one or two innings due to her inability to stay calm for any long period of time, but she made it the entire game with hardly a cry! There is hope yet!


Here are some pictures from these recent events:

Our little beach babe in Newport, OR

The whole family (less Max of course) at the Mariners game (8.16.09)

A Brand New Adventure

On June 29th, at 10:37PM, Mckinley Isabella Hinton entered our world and brought with her the beginning of a new adventure for our family. Prior to her birth it had just been Kevin, myself and Max. I can now say that life was much simpler before she was born. While we had a great life before she joined it, a simple life is not really what we are striving for. In the short six weeks that she has been a part of our life she has already given us amazing memories and a rollercoaster of emotions. It still seems unreal that she is our daughter, and that we are lucky enough to get to somehow shape her life.

I wanted to start a blog to help capture the memories that we will create as a family. I'm not sure if I will be diligent enough to keep up with it, or if time will seem too short to frequently update what is new in our lives, but I will at least attempt to keep to my goal of documenting the events that will become our life as a family of four (and maybe one day a family of four +).