"Kinsley" in Seventeen Magazine!

Ooohh-kaaay, well, sort of......

Last Fall at work, I was tasked with naming the items in one of Goody's "trend" collections, Modern Organica...giving each product in the collection a creative, catchy name that our Editor's could use if they featured one of the products in a magazine. (So, instead of saying something like "Goody brown cloth headband," they could refer to the item as the "Goody Fringe Benefits Headband"...you know, a little more fun and playful.)

Anyway, towards the end of the product naming, I was hitting a wall...stuck...and decided to name one of the final items after my favorite little inspiration, Kinsley. The item was a pair of these cute little plastic, pastel, twisty, iridescent clips. I passed the idea by a co-worker who agreed that the name "fit."

Low and behold, months later, the Kinsley Clip ended up in the pages of the June issue of Seventeen magazine!!! I just thought it was SO COOL to see my little girl's name in a national publication, on a product that her mama named after her. I figured, there not many times in life I could say that, huh?

So anyway, I had to make sure I captured this interesting little tidbit of information in the blog...this is definitely something for my "modern day baby book" that I will want Kinsley to read about one day!

The cover...

And here it is!

The Kinsley Clip is the light blue, twisty clip at the top of the page and in the model's hair!

The text reads:

"Try: Goody Modern Organica Kinsley Clip.

$5, Target Stores."

Escape from "Reality"

"Sneak Peek" at Kinsley's 14mo. Photos!

Here is just a little taste of of the many photos that we had taken of Kinsley this past Sunday with DL Photography in Marietta...I absolutely cannot wait to see the rest of them!

Mother's Day and 14 Months Old!

So much going on this past month, as Kinsley turned 14 months old today! And just one week shy of her 14 month "birthday," she finally did it - she.started.walking...on.her.OWN!!! Nope, no coercing her to "walk to mommy / now walk back to daddy"...no furniture cruising...no holding hands or fingers...she has decided that she can do it all by herself! Watching a toddler start the walking process, and then seeing her gain the confidence to do it without help has been one of my favorite "stages" yet. When she takes off, it is one of the cutest things I have ever seen...her little legs and feet get going, so fast sometimes that I think she is going to start running...and the big grin on her face! And she has naturally become even more curious than she was before - if that was even possible. Still getting into everything, of course. Here is a little example of her helping me "organize" my magazines...oh boy.

In this past month, we have also progressed off of formula and nearly off her puree'd veggies - the Beaba BabyCook has officially retired until I have to pull it out to use it again with the next one someday! Now, Kinsley likes trying all kinds of new foods - nearly anything that we are eating, I will usually let her try. In addition to all of the previous posts of solid foods that she loves to eat, we can now add pineapple, green beans, pancakes, toast, roasted carrots/squash/zuchinni, black eyed peas, and some pasta to the list...and even with those same four little teeth (there has got to be some more on the way), she scarfs it all down! And at 14mo, she is proving that she's got the ear for music, just like her mama - every time a song comes on that has a "beat" or is one of her favorite Disney theme songs, claps her hands in excitement and she bounces, upper body and knees, bouncing in unison. Makes us smile constantly!

And finally, Mother's Day - my second one as Kinsley's mom - was wonderful as we got to celebrate throughout the day with both of our moms! We had "Mother's Day: Part I" with Philip's mom...came home to a nap for one tired toddler...and then resumed with "Mother's Day: Part II" with my mom.

Not sure that we can rely on the Bumbo as our "travel" highchair anymore...Kinsley's little legs got stuck when we tried to get her out.

Philip and his mama.

The gracious hosts for our Mother's Day brunch!

The boys...and Hunter didn't want to miss out on anything...

Kinsley and her MayMay

Walking by herself!

Still holding onto the pink gift bag tissue paper...

She fell down, rolled over, and starting giggling!

Papa joined Kinsley while she took a break from all of the walking!

Me and my mama.

Kinsley and her Beebe

Her dress got stuck and revealed the cutest little monogrammed tush.

Our family photo at the end of a busy, but fulfilling day!

Sooo big!

Little girl...big yard.

My girl!

Kinsley and mommy again!

Mommy = jungle gym.

These sweet little feet belong to the reason I can call myself a mom.

March of Dimes

We completed our first March of Dimes walk last Saturday, walking in honor of our own little "preemie-alum," Kinsley! We have so many other friends and family that have been affected by the early, unexpected birth of their babies, and now that we too have been affected, so we felt it was time to make this a family priority for giving (and a tradition to participate in) in raising money for this worthy cause! And after deciding to walk only three weeks before the event, we had a goal of raising just $500, but ended up raising $810 from generous friends and family, and Northside matched our contribution in Kinsley's name, bringing our grand total to $1,620! Kelly, Tom, and Mary met us over in Roswell and we all "Marched" on a beautiful Saturday in April! Kinsley even made it through the entire 2 hour, 6.2 mile walk - content in her jogging stroller, eating cheerios, drinking her sippy cup, and of course talking and waving to everyone!

The Northside Hospital stork!

The "Parents Partnered for Preemie's" Team from Northside Hospital.