Christmas 2010

This Christmas is one I will never forgot, not only was it Kinsey's 1st Christmas, but we have been trying to move, it's hard during the holidays, devoting time to packing and spending time with family.  It's been stressful but it's almost over, the moving part anyways, and Kinsey had a great first Christmas and that was SO important to me, and I am glad it worked out.

Christmas Eve 2010:
Christmas Eve in the Swift family is always spent at Tom's Grandpa's house, and of course in the middle of moving all day and trying to get ready, I forgot my camera and didn't get ANY pictures, but we had an awesome time as we always do, Kinsey got some really cute outfits, a few toys, and I got a really pretty purse with a wallet to match, and some beautiful earrings, and of course everyone was so happy to see Kinsey.  My wonderful husband came through on Christmas Eve and suprised me with a new Iphone for Christmas! Needless to say I was speechless, I couldn't believe he actually bought me one, I had accepted the fact that I was just going to have to wait to have a new phone, I am so proud of him!

Christmas Day 2010:

The aftermath of Christmas Morning

My Browning Jacket from my husband

Christmas morning for us started out at 7:30am, we got up and let Kinsey play for a little bit, we waited on my mom and dad to get up before we opened gifts, then the chaos ensued! Kinsey got SO much stuff, she got clothes and toys galore! We also got presents from Nana, she sent them via Aunt Marcy since she was out of town for Christmas, I got two very nice cookbooks and the Eclipse DVD, Tom got two giftcards and we got a giftcard from Outback Steakhouse, which I am excited about! Tom also suprised me once more with a Browning Jacket!  I was so shocked!  Kinsey was wore out afterwards and fell asleep with no fights and slept for about an hour and a half.  Kinsey, Nini, and I hung out at the house most of the day yesterday and just laid around in our pjs, my mom went and got my grandma later in the afternoon, then me and Kinsey laid down and took a nap while mom and dad fixed Christmas supper, man that was some good eating! After dinner, Daddy, Kinsey and I went to Tom's dad and Stepmom's house for Christmas night, she got to see her Grandpa, Unlce Rusty and Aunt Lindsey, Uncle Justin, Grandma Lisa, Great Grandma Jo, and her cousins Kim and Thomas Keith, Tom's dad and Lisa hadn't seen her since she was born, so they couldn't believe how big she was, and they couldn't belived how GOOD she is! She never made a peep the whole time we were there, except when we got ready to leave, she was exhausted from her first Christmas!

Grandpa and Kinsey

Lisa and Kinsey

Even though this Christmas was stressful and a little different, I am thankful that we all got to be together this Christmas.  I actually like waking up Christmas morning and being at my mom and dads, it was like being a little kid all over again.  I am very thankful to have my mom and dad this year, I am thankful for them every year, but this year I am even more thankful, because without them I don't know what we would do, I am so glad we all had a good Christmas!

Christmas at the Capitol

Satuday, December 18th, 2010





I can honestly say besides the day Kinsey was born, this has been the most stressful day of my life! Long story short, it is no longer safe for the three of us to continue to live where we are living, so for Christmas we are moving in with mom and dad for awhile until we can find a new house, stressful needless to say but I am so glad I have my parents! Something fun we did do tonight, me and mom took Kinsey to the Capitol to take some pictures for Christmas, (I decided to wait on Santa and maybe try next year) it was not nearly decorated the way it usually is for Christmas and the tree that is usually down in the rotunda was upstairs, it was not as big as previous years, not to mention it was poorly decorated, looked like it was dying for water and about to catch on fire, and did not have ONE single light on it, needless to say; very dissapointed. But we got a few pictures, and we are going to go into Benton where the Courthouse is all lit up and they have all the animation sets up, maybe we will get some more good pictures before Christmas.










This poor tree looked like it was about to catch fire from being so thirsty

Kinsey

The steps leading up to The House of Representatives





A new meaning of "hectic"

OK I have decided to do this for Kinsey so she can have memories about her childhood as she gets older, I am going to try to stay dedicated and update alot especially when something really big happens in her life or ours, we'll see if I can do it! Well so far the biggest milestone in Kinsey's life is well, being born! You know that has to be traumatic for a little baby, I think it would be, one second you're in this safe little cocoon and the next BAM! You're cold, being stuck and prodded and then they hand you to these people who are your "parents" and you know they are not professionals at this kind of thing, you keep wondering how you are going to get back and you never do. Man, I am glad I am not a baby, but on the upper hand Tom and me have managed to keep Kinsey alive the past 4 months. I am officially a pro at doing things one-handed and running on about 4 or 5 hours sleep, on average and eating with a squirmy baby in my lap, who keeps trying to grab my plate. Kinsey has managed to go from a lump that does nothing to this squirmy little rugrat who rolls all over the place and manages to end up on the other side of her crib by morning, it's crazy! She's rolling over, trying to sit up, and she has realized she can "talk", she talks herself to sleep most nights, and in the mornings she entertains me on the way to the sitters with her conversations she has with herself every morning, she talks to her blanket, her toy, the seat, and the window, although none of them are much on holding a conversation nine times out of ten. So far, Kinsey has survived the trip home from the hospital, one round of shots, a trip to Branson, Thanksgiving with both sides of her family, and Tom and I as her parents. She has puked all over herself and me, shot poop across the changing table, pooped all the way up her back and front, and I have managed to be able to clean up any mess she throws at me. I have changed diapers on the floor of a bathroom stall, in the seat of my truck, I have drove down the road with a screaming baby and drove one handed while she sucked on my finger, I have managed to work an 8 hour day with only about 3 hours of sleep the previous night, I think I have superpowers most days.  But then I realize, no I don't, I am just a mom!

Work
On top of trying to juggle a house, a marriage, and a new baby I have gone back to work full-time.  I work at Motion Industries in Little Rock, I do Accounts Receivables/Accounts Payables, so basically I make sure bills get paid and make sure people pay us, let's just say STRESSFUL! My job has a way of making me want to curl up in a ball under my desk most days, but I like it and the people I work with are always around if I need help, it's nice to be able to go to my boss and tell him I need to take half a day off because Kinsey needs shots or I might have to leave because Kinsey has a fever and not get punished for it, makes for a very nice working environment!

Going to Mrs. Laverne's
With me gone back to work full time this means that Kinsey can't stay home by herself, although I am sure the dogs would look after her they don't have my full trust on that! She has been going to the sitters since she was 5 weeks old, and loves Mrs. Laverne! This woman is a life saver and has raised just about every child in Saline and Pulaski county including my best friend, her brother and sister, and her kids. I do not worry about Kinsey when I drop her off in the mornings, I know if something even remotely seems odd Laverne will call me to let me know. But I can tell you this, at the end of the day I am sure glad to see my munchkin!

Teething
This stage in "baby life" can only be described as hell! Poor little Kinsey screams and cries with her mouth. Two nights ago she was up from 2:30am to 5:30am crying off and on with her mouth. This is how this night played out:
I have been battling either a horrible head cold or a sinus infection, I have yet to figure out what it is or where I picked it up from, but it has been horrible. Tuesday I stayed home from work so I could rest plus I was running fever. So Tuesday night I got Kinsey to bed a little early so maybe I could go to bed early so I would be able to go back to work the following day.  About 1:00am I hear a little person making noises in her bed, which is not unusual for her, hoping she would go back to sleep I laid back down. But instead of going back to sleep she proceeded to scream, so I got up and we went into the kitchen for a late night cereal bottle. After drinking an ounce of it, she fell asleep. I proceeded to make my way back to the bedroom to lay her back down and go back to bed, but as soon as her head touched the mattress of her bed she started screaming bloody murder. So I picked her back up and we made our way back into the living room for some more time in the rocking chair. (Just a note, it usually takes me two to three times before she's asleep for good). After rocking for about 30 minutes, she fell back asleep and was snoring, so I made my way back to the bedroom for the second time, went to put her down and the screaming proceeded to happen again, by this point it's about 2:15am on Wednesday morning, against my better judgement (seeing how I just got her broke from sleeping in the bed with us) I decided to put her in bed with me, at this point I would have done anything to get some sleep. I laid her down and she proceeded to, you guessed it, scream.  At this point it's getting on to 2:30am, Tom then joins in the crusade with me to get Kinsey back to sleep at this time. It is now almost 3am, and Kinsey is screaming at the top of her lungs. We patted, rocked, walked, fed, hushed, and even at one point considered putting her in the truck and driving around, anything to get some sleep before 6am reared it's ugly head. At 4:00am, I fell asleep in my chair and Tom was in his chair with Kinsey and she was asleep, we tried the going to bed thing again, nope it wasn't happening.  FINALLY at 5:30am, she was asleep and I put her in bed with me and she stayed asleep, I got a 30 minute nap while my husband went ahead and went into work, at 6:00am when my alarm went off I could've cried, I was so tired and felt so bad from being sick I didn't know how I was going to survive an 8 hour day at the office, but I did and Wednesday night we all went to bed early and got some much needed rest.  We discovered on Wednesday night that Kinsey has a tooth coming in on the top, actually Tom discovered it after doing an exploratory mission in her mouth with his finger. She has been running a low grade fever, drooling like a wide open faucet, and putting anything and everything in her mouth, I am hoping for Christmas we get a tooth! That'll make the little munchkin (and mommy) feel better!