thanksgiving in florida

Friday, December 6, 2013

we got back late wednesday night from our 10 day trip to florida.
my sister and her family moved out to destin, fl because of my brother in laws dental residency with the airforce. since they moved out there, we decided why not bring the whole family over there and do something different for thanksgiving. my parents, my other sister's family, and us, made it over there to spend good quality time together and check out their new home for the next year. (although we were so sad my brother and his fam couldn't make it - we missed you guys!)
what an amazing and beautiful place that area is. i would have never known. it truly is a hidden gem and pictures don't do it justice. the water is clear and turquoise and the sand is like sugar.
piper was a dream the whole time. slept great, traveled great, and took all the attention from her cousins great. they were always wanting to hold her, read her stories, sit next to her, try to make her laugh.. and she didn't mind one bit. melted my heart.
we pretty much got to experience everything that area has to offer - including all of the weather extremities for this time of year. it was hot, humid, freezing, pouring rain, windy, perfect, and everything in between. it made for an adventurous trip, which made it exciting. 
kate and pehrson really out did themselves. she had every single day planned out on a calendar including meals and activities. she truly is the domestic goddess of our family..I'm working on becoming more like her. 
also, we had fried turkey for thanksgiving. 
a true southern way of cooking.
im not a huge fan of turkey, but this really was good. i thought it was better.
ps. remember how i got a real legit camera and said i would post better quality pictures? well yeah, i still haven't gotten around to learning how to use the dang thing so once again, my iphone saves the day when capturing these life moments. thanks iphone.
here are some pictured highlights:
the pilot let pipe's sit in his seat when we were getting off the plane. the whole flight crew got a real kick out of it. 
 florida's idea of a white winterland
beck was piper's biggest fan
the adorable little beach town Rosemary

family bike ride through watercolor. (where the truman show was filmed) it was the cutest place ever




thanksgiving day
spent a day boating through the bayous and bays of the gulf. saw some dolphins..we were hoping to see some crocs.

 biking to Jolee's island

 we saw some unreal sunsets







 dipping her toes in the water.
 & she met santa for the first time! didn't even phase her.

i miss this fun trip already and feel so lucky to have such an awesome family who i love and look forward to spending time with. they are the best!
thanks again hawkleys.

2 months

Thursday, December 5, 2013

My baby girl is already 2 months!
12lbs 11.5oz (82%) 23.75in (94%)
She is starting to get some good chub going on and is above average on her weight and height.
I especially love the rolls that are forming. oh, and her awesome double chin and cheeks. She is just getting yummier by the feeding. 

This girl has had quite the second month. 
2 month highlights:
-got blessed by her Daddy
-went on her first plane ride to Florida and did amazing. We went on 4 different planes (2 each way) and she was great every time. Never made a peep.
-Put on a swimsuit for the first time and dipped her toes in the Gulf of Mexico
-is sleeping 4-6 hours every night (one night she slept 7 - woohoo!)
-started smiling and doesn't stop! we ooh and ahh over her smiles all day long
-went to a few more showers & movies
-let mommy and daddy go out (twice!) while grandma watched her
-has a really strong neck and can hold it up really well
-got her 2 month shots and it killed me. I totally cried...couldn't stand hearing her scream and cry that hard.
-we call her our party girl. she loves being around noise and lots of people. she is most content when we are out and about.
-first thanksgiving (spent in Florida)
-is already a daddy's girl. she loves cuddling with him.
-fitting into 3 month clothes

love this girl more and more everyday.


1 Month

Thursday, November 14, 2013

I'm about 10 days late with this post, but I want to make sure I write this down before I forget anything.

Our baby girl is 1 month! (Nov. 5th)
This first month of her life we have done quite a bit. We have taken her to the beach, the movies, the lake, the park, on walks, to the pumpkin patch, and trick or treating. She even came along with me to some baby & wedding showers, weddings and a few birthday parties. 
She loooves the beach. Everytime we are there she relaxes and calms down..and takes a REALLY good nap.
She also loves to take baths. She relaxes and could be in there all day long.
She's become a really good sleeper and eater.
She has learned to take a paci and has also learned to like the car.
She is very strong and can hold her head up very well.
She loves to sleep on her side and loves to sleep with her hands on or by her face.
We love our Piper girl so much and cannot get enough of her.
I almost take a bite out of her every single day..she's that yummy.

 Here she is on Halloween as a little ladybug.

3.5 Weeks New

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Here's to being honest and completely real with you..

People say time flies with a newborn..but time is not flying. I feel like this has been the longest 3 weeks of my life. Am I the only one? Does that make me a bad mom? Yes, the days are all blurred together and I have no idea if today is tuesday or saturday, but it kind of feels like it's been longer. Not that Piper isn't the best thing to ever happen to us, but (very) little sleep and a big life adjustment takes time, in my opinion. We are new parents learning the ropes of parenthood. We are learning what works and what doesn't for us and for her. We are learning how to work together as parents. We are simply learning new things every day. One day goes great and we are feeling super confident and the next day we are completely off. But that is what this is all about and that is what makes this all worth it. Now I really do understand when they say that being a mom is the hardest and most rewarding job, ever. 
Jason being home with me and helping every day has been huge. I don't know what I would do without him. He has been the best help and my number one confidant when I am feeling inadequate or lost. Now although it's been a bit rough, it's also been the best ever. I mean, she really is a dream baby in our eyes. She is the sweetest and we really cannot get enough of her. When she's taking a nap I look at pictures of her and want to wake her up because I alreay miss her (even when it took me an hour to get her to sleep). When she's waking up from a nap, we race to her to be the first to pick her up. She is so yummy and is becoming more alert. She is growing every single day and she already looks so different than when we first laid eyes on her. She smiles in her sleep all the time and she loves to snuggle. So...although the newborn stage is proving to be harder than I thought, I already know that I am going to be so sad when this stage is over. She is just too sweet, but from what I heard, it just keeps getting better. 
I love being Piper's mommy and I feel so so blessed that she is mine forever.

Speaking of newborn stage..surprise surprise, my sister snapped a few shots of her when she was just over 1 week old. (it really is SO nice having a sister who is a photographer..I owe you big time jill!) I feel like we have had a photoshoot with her just about every 3 weeks for the last few months..oh wait, that's because we have. Thanks sis!











Piper's Birth Story

Monday, October 14, 2013

Piper Anne Kimball
October 5, 2013 @ 6:37pm
8lbs 6oz 21in long

Where to begin...well I'll start by saying giving birth was a LOT more intense than I could have ever imagined. It's true what people say; you really can't explain it until you've experienced it yourself. Crazy, amazing, and insane all at once. So here's how it all went down..

My original due date, being Sunday the 6th, was slowly approaching and I was doing all I could that week to induce myself and go into labor. I was walking every day, jumping on trampolines, bouncing on balls, etc. Like I've said before, I was SO over and done with being pregnant that I could barely stand it any longer. Friday (the 4th), I woke up and went on a long walk with my sister Kate and then we took her kids to the park. After that, we went to the beach and met up with my other sister Jill and her kids. We then went to the pool, got some Golden Spoon and headed home. I made Kung Pao chicken for dinner and while eating it, there was a small chili pepper in it and Jason dared me to eat it. I thought, hey, this is spicy, maybe it'll put me into labor. It was probably the spiciest thing I've ever  eaten (not sure if it really worked or not..I might never know)
It was only 8pm and I was straining to keep my eyes open. I was beyond exhausted for some reason, more than normal. (maybe it was my body's way of preparing itself?) So I went and laid in bed. Jason came into bed at around 10pm and we were talking and I all the sudden felt like I peed, but I know it wasn't pee. I ran to the bathroom and more water came out. I kept telling Jason that I promise this isn't pee, this is definitely my water breaking...and the leaking didn't stop. I started to get light contractions that progressively got stronger. Jason started to time them and they were consistently 5 minutes apart.
I called my doctor at around 11pm to tell him what was going on and what he recommended. He told me to take a shower and come to the hospital within the next hour. He said, "Looks like October 5th is going to be your day!" We were on our way and we were kind of freaking out. This was it!
We got to the hospital around 12:30am and they checked me in immediately. I was dialated to a 4 and my water had definitely broken. They put me into a room and the waiting and laboring began. Little did I know how long this was actually going to be..
So originally I had wanted to do this whole thing naturally. I wanted to see if I could handle it and really experience it all. Well..after 8 hours of laboring naturally and only progressing to a 5 within those long hours, my pain was truly unbearable and I couldn't imagine doing this any longer. I was a little disappointed in myself at first that I wasn't able to hold out any longer, but once I got that epidural, I was in heaven. Immediate relief and it was amazing. I finally was able to sleep a little bit. I labored about 11 hours after that and I am so glad I got the epidural. No way I could've done 11 more hours of that.
After 20 hours of laboring, the time FINALLY came where I was dialated to a 10 and she was low enough for me to actually get this thing going. She was really high so it took forever for her to descend. Pushing was really hard. Harder than I imagined. My epidural had worn off by then, which was actually what I wanted because I was able to push when I felt the contractions. After an hour of pushing our sweet Piper girl was born at 6:37pm. I even got to pull her out! It was intense and a moment that I will never ever forget. I have truly never felt more exhausted in my life and I even got to the point when I was pushing where I wanted to ask for them to just do a c-section and get her out of me already. Not really..but I really did think about it.
Giving birth was such an amazing and crazy experience that I honestly can't believe I actually did it. As hard as it was, it was so worth it to get our beautiful baby girl. She really is the sweetest and purest little thing and we cannot get over her. We just stare at her and kiss her all day long. It's hard believe she is actually ours. We made her!

Pre epidural..this was right before I got it. Truly unbearable.


Jason kickin back enjoying some candy...guys have it so good..
Post epidural. BEST THING EVER. Feeling good.






E x h a u s t e d.


Ice chips woohoo
Pushing begins..




Love that little dimple.



My favorite picture of them all. Love how she is staring up into my eyes for the first time. Gosh I love her.
We did it!




Welcome to the world Pipes.
We couldn't love you any more.

all pictures were taken by Jill Facer :)
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