Stealing a Whisper of Time: Kinsley turns FOUR!

Where is time going? How is my beautiful baby girl four years old already??
The memory of her 20 week ultrasound is still so fresh. "Looks like its a girl this time"
Choosing her name is one of my favorite memories of my pregnancy with her. After lots of back and forth deliberation with little agreement on a name, I was scouring baby name books and baby name websites. I had suggested the name Mackenzie, but Seth didn't like the 'Mac' part of the name. On one particular day I came across a similar name and scrawled it down on a piece of paper. That day, when Seth came home from work, he told me he had thought of a name he liked. "Kinsley" he proudly told me. I almost fell on the floor. I grabbed his hand and led him up the stairs to the little scrap of paper where I had written the name that I liked..... 'Kinsey.' It was as if she stepped in and named herself. To come up with such a similar name on the very same day when we had been having such a difficult time prior. I suggested a one syllable middle name. "Something like....Paige" And she was named that night, Kinsley Paige.

Fast forward four years later, we are celebrating with the most bright, sweet, funny little girl I every could have asked for. I always tell her that she is my future best friend. While we have a super tight bond, nobody compares to her favorite grown up, Daddy. Kinsley has grown into a Daddy's girl through and through. She amazes me all the time. The witty little sense of humor and the way she uses such grown up phrases and words; always in the correct context too. Things like "Hold on, I'm processing that." or "Are you serious???" She is a constant source of entertainment

This past summer was the Summer of Kinsley in a sense. Not only did she FINALLY get potty trained with pooping in the potty, but she also gave up diapers at night with only a handful of accidents and gave all of her pacifiers to the Paci Fairy in exchange for a Thomas train. Molly, to be exact. :) It felt like a transformation into a big girl was now complete. Also, her reading skills skyrocketed into a 3rd grade reading level. She reads beautifully, complete with emotion and intonation. Just so cute!

Kinsley got to celebrate and extra special 4th birthday. She had a joint party with her best friend Diem and had all four grandparents in town to celebrate with her along with about 10 friends who all came to her Jumping Jax party. She got 2 cakes. One princess one and one Thomas one which she had been asking for for months. She got lots of great presents including a new cotton candy machine, a new bike, lots of new girly stuff like makeup and skirts/dresses (which to my surprise she loves) and lots of art stuff...another fave.

I am feeling so lucky to have had so many wonderful people surround my only daughter with love as we celebrated her entrance into being a 4 year old. For a year I have been saying that I didn't want her to ever be anything but a 3 year old, but now that 4 is here, I am super excited to see what lies ahead for my little star.

Kinsley, we love you all the way to the moon and back. Here's 10 hugs, 10 kisses, and 10 hold your hands.

xoxo