Posts filed under 'Family'
Well okay, maybe not pouring, but we Finally FINALLY got rain this morning between like 4-5 (somewhere in there, and I’m so vague about it because I didn’t actually hear it; Kevin did. But the ground was so wonderfully moist this morning when we woke up.) We hadn’t had rain at our house for almost 2 months, seriously. And we did our part to help it along by watering the grass last night. (I know, God doesn’t need our help, but my next step was to wash my car in the driveway while doing a rain dance.)
Sooo, something else that got a little watering was our brand new LANDSCAPING! (insert Price is Right announcer’s voice there) We tried and tried for the 6 years we’ve lived in our house to get something to grow in our front flower bed but nothing was working. Whoever designed the front flower beds was either a dreamer or a schemer, because there’s an odd mix of 5:00 blaring sun and complete shade in our front yard. So Kevin called in the expert; one of our friends from church owns a landscaping company here in town and was able to help us get just exactly what we were dreaming of having. It really looks very nice and I’ll promise that Kevin will have pictures (and maybe explanations of the flowers since I have no idea…) up later.
This weekend we were graced by the visit of our friends Gregg & Erin. My due date and Erin’s due date are within 2 weeks of each other; we are both having little girls, and this is G & E’s first baby. We could not be more excited for them and can’t wait to see them again. It’s been a very very long time since we’ve seen them; they hadn’t met Kennedy, and I think the last time we saw them was 2.5 years ago, when they moved away from BCS. Even more shocking is that they only live 45 minutes away from us, and I didn’t even realize it.
Plans are in the works for the next time we will see them, which is good for our blog readers, since we spent all day together talking and eating Wings N More and the boys getting JJ’s snocones…. and we didn’t take ANY pictures. We even got Kevin’s camera out and Erin played with it for awhile… I am ashamed of us. I blame mine and Erin’s pregnancy brains AND the snocones.. they play tricks on your mind. :) I always like hanging out with Erin and Gregg; we don’t get to talk to them a lot, but when we all get together it’s like we’re just picking up an old conversation again. I love how candid and personal we can be with them.
That about wraps up the weekend. That, and we all took a very very long nap on Sunday afternoon. Hooray. And, Kevin and I are going to get massages tonight. Double hooray.
June 30th, 2008
UPDATE: I’ve unprotected the post so the world can see it.
Jenna and I had the big ultrasound appointment today, and now we have the results. Thanks to all that participated in our vote, it was a lot of fun for us! We actually had the polls going on in two different places. The first was here and the second was on a local Mamas forum that Jenna regularly reads and posts on.
Anyway, the ladies on the forums really threw the vote in one direction… towards the girl result. The total between the two was 65% for girl, and 35% for boy. See figure 1, the beautiful pie chart: ooooh, ahhhh!
So who was right? Drumroll please! Wait, not just yet… let’s do the “funny” item I referred to in my previous post. We had some funny commentary come along with the votes, and I wanted to share a few of them.
“I say a boy because you are carrying like me - and that’s what I think ours is. No other reason.”
- Erin J
(Erin and Gregg found out two days ago that they are having a girl… hmmm…)
“Girl - Kevin and Colby are enough man for one house.”
- Kyle G.
“The new child in Jenna’s womb is a boy.”
- Thomas S.
“I have mathematically determined the sex of your child!! This was done through multiple tests of the theory of probability. The majority of the time the result was GIRL!!!”
- Clay S.
(Clay then proceeded to go into a long mathematical explanation. I’ll spare you.)
You guys are pretty funny. Lets reveal who got it right in the KevinAndJenna blog vote. These people voted correctly:
- Suzy J.
- Ashley S.
- Tiffany R.
- Shala S.
- Grandmom (Kevin’s mom)
- Chris H.
- Kyle G.
- Clay S.
- Granddad (Kevin’s dad)
- Rachel S.
- Doug S.
Can you tell I am dragging this out? Well for all you smarties that looked back at the quotes above and compared them to this list, I’m sure you figured out we’re having a Girl! Everything with her looks great and she was a very wiggly girl. She’s estimated to weigh about 11 ounces right now and the due date is now November 17th (as opposed to the 19th). We told Colby and Kennedy this evening, here’s the video:
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
And finally here are some pictures. As I said in the previous post, we were pretty disappointed that we didn’t get to do the video of the ultrasound this time. The technician did print out a lot of pictures, but most of them weren’t that interesting. Click on them to enlarge:
^ Profile Shot ^
^ Screen measuring the hearbeat ^
^ And finally, the “proof” that we are having a girl. ^
Thanks again to everyone for playing, we had fun with this.
June 25th, 2008
Well today is the day of the big reveal. Thanks to everyone who has participated in our vote so far, it is turning out to be an interesting contest. I’m going to say that the voting polls will be closed at 2pm today, so if you haven’t voted already, click here to find out how to get your vote in now are officially closed!
Just to entice you a little bit, here a few things that we are planning for those that participate in the vote (no matter if you guess correctly or not):
- Access to a secret post sometime this evening revealing the sex of the new baby
- Video of the sonogram showing the baby and the “proof” of the findings
UPDATE: They’ve stopped doing the VCR recordings of the sonograms… so sorry, no sonogram video. But there will be pictures.
- Video of us telling Colby and Kennedy that they will have a new baby brother or sister
- UPDATE: Full poll results with graphs (insert “oooooh, ahhhhh”)
- UPDATE: Something else kinda funny, but can’t reveal at this point
- Anything else cool that I can think of between now and tonight…
Remember, those who vote will get all of these things (at least) a full 24 hours before the rest of the world. And its free… What a deal!
Ok folks, that’s all!
UPDATE: Polls officially closed. The votes are being tallied and the winning answer has been discovered. All voters will receive an email tonight with details of how to view the secret post. Thanks for playing!
June 25th, 2008
Ok yes, I know it’s not Father’s Day anymore, but I’m just getting around to posting. So I had a wonderful Father’s Day. Jenna, the Kids, and I went down to Galveston to stay at the beach house at Crystal Beach. Jenna and the kids went down with her parents on Thursday night and Cooper and I went down after work on Friday.
The weekend was full of fun. We went to the beach a few times in the mornings…
We also went to the beach at night…
Just hanging out after fishing…
And my most favorite part actually on Father’s Day, I had two kids both wearing shirts that said “My Dad Rocks”. I loved it. They wore them to lunch, on the ferry ride, and all the way home!
June 23rd, 2008
Ok, so Jenna and I go for the big ultrasound appointment next Wednesday and we want your thoughts on whether baby #3 is a boy or a girl. So, we’re having a contest. There’s not really a prize since everyone has a 50% chance of getting it right and there is the potential for “multiple winners”. So, we’ll just say we will put your name here if you get it right. The glory of your name being on this wonderfully famous blog *cough cough* will be your prize. We WILL do another contest later once the sex is determined to guess the name. We will probably have a prize for that contest.
So here’s a picture from tonight for all you folks that think you can guess by looking (click for a larger view):
So, here are the rules:
1) You must submit your guess before the actual appointment. We’ll say the deadline is next Wednesday 6/25 at noon UPDATE: 2pm UPDATE: Voting ended.
2) Enter your vote by using the Contact Us form on the blog. Jenna and I will both receive the email and log your vote.
3) Add a comment to this post, letting us (and everyone else) know that you posted a vote. It is up to you whether or not you wish to reveal your guess.
Everyone that submits a vote will find out 24 hours before a blog is posted. You will be notified by email, so be sure to enter it correctly when you use the contact us form to enter. Everyone else will find out via the blog.
Alright, let the voting begin! UPDATE: Voting ended.
June 18th, 2008
I’ve never been pregnant throughout the months of May, June, and July. I’d like to say I planned it that way, because the Texas pollen blooms during April, May, and June. And, these not-so-wonderful allergens have found their way to my already swollen membrane of a nasal passage. That should have been my first hint of being pregnant… but I chalked it up to the heightened pollen counts.
Many people have asked me, “What made you take a pregnancy test?” or “How did you know you were pregnant?” Some might call it Mother’s Intuition, but really I just had to look at all the signs.
You’ve already read the first one. Here’s another one. I started craving hospital food. Who does that? Apparently this pregnant woman does. The thought of the milk in a little carton, with the “iced” tea in a plastic juice container you have to poke with a straw to drink out of… topped off with a slice of bread and some margarine… yum, yum. (Okay, so maybe it doesn’t sound so good now but about 8 weeks ago it was like heaven.)
I heard a story just today about a couple who had been trying for over 2 years to get pregnant. She had had enough, so she called the fertility specialist to make an appointment. Later that same day, her husband came home to find her eating an entire jar of pickles. He said to her, “You don’t even like pickles!… Are you pregnant?” She went to take the test, and sure enough, it came out positive. So, weirder things have happened.
Here’s another. I started having dreams that I was pregnant again. I just thought it might be wishful thinking. Don’t get me wrong; I was still enjoying Kennedy being a baby and thought I might hold on to that for a little bit longer. But there was something inside of me trying to prepare me for another child. I love my kids and I don’t think I could even have planned how much I love them. (which is unusual for me… Usually I have these things in triplicate.) I can’t even explain how I love this baby just as much as I love them. I haven’t even (really) seen him or her yet and I can’t wait to meet this little life.
Okay, I almost got stuck in sappy-ville on that one. The last “sign” was the obvious one, the positive pregnancy test. But how did I know to take it? Let me back up a bit… In January, I had been having some spotting due to my birth control pill (remember the mix-up?) so I had what I thought was a period. So, a month later, when I did not have another period, I went to the Dollar Store and bought 2 pregnancy tests. And yes, you heard me right. They are $1 each. You have to ask for them, but they’re much cheaper than the drugstore kind and work just as well. So, I went home, took one test, and it was negative.
I figured then I could just chart my “periods” or the absence of them and all would be well, right? Wrong. Turns out I got the timing all wrong and I zigged when I should have zagged. Or something. So, the week before I took the test, I had been feeling SO TIRED. I really, seriously thought I had mono or something. I was so tired and couldn’t get out of bed or take care of the kids… I really did not know what was happening with me. Then, a friend of mine started having nausea and cramping. I called her and said, “So you’re pregnant, right?” She said she had taken 3 pregnancy tests and they all came out negative.
One night I was talking to Alicia on the phone and telling her about how tired I was. Then I mentioned how I was feeling a little sick too and not wanting to smell certain foods. (I’ll blog about that another day.) She and I both didn’t really think anything of it, but when I got off the phone with her, I thought, “This is pregnancy nausea…” That same night I had another dream I was pregnant. It was such a peaceful dream and yet I woke up feeling so anxious too.
The next morning I woke up, walked straight into the bathroom, grabbed the test, and started reading. Kevin said, “Do you think you’re pregnant?” I held my hand up to him, saying, “Just wait a sec. Or 2 minutes.” I never would have had a test on hand because one they’re expensive and two they expire. And, had I not had the experience a few months prior, I would have had to wait to give Kevin the news.
If you’ve ever taken a pregnancy test, the kind where you pee on the stick, you’ll know that as soon as you pee, the little windows fill up and the lines show up (or not). With all 3 of my positive pregnancy tests, I have seen the two lines fill up right away. The test instructions tell you to wait a few minutes for the test to be valid, but as soon as I have taken the test, I knew for sure! I tried not to let Kevin see my excited face, since he is so “by the book” about everything - he wanted to wait 2 minutes, no more no less.
So what does all this mean? And why am I typing it all out? All of these signs individually probably meant nothing. But together, they meant baby. So many times we say, “God, if you’re real, just show yourself to me.” Or, “God, I just need You to give me a sign.” I’m not above asking God to make sure I’m in His will, but when we need signs to get us to believe in Him, that’s a false faith.
Allergies. Hospital food. Dreams. Weariness and nausea. And an extra pregnancy test. How do you see God in your everyday life?
June 6th, 2008
….movement, that is! I have been feeling Baby move around for a few weeks now but he/she was finally able to share the love with Kevin last night. Kevin felt a pretty big kick or elbow or some kind of jerky movement from the baby as I was lying down to go to sleep.
Next doctor’s appointment is this Friday. The Grubbs Household has had our share of the summer cold and we’re ready to pass it on, thank you. So, I haven’t gained much weight because I haven’t felt like eating much and I’ve been taking care of sick kiddos. This pregnancy is definitely much different from Kennedy’s, when I gained so much weight right at the beginning (and then I ended up gaining the same amount of weight as I did with Colby…). Who knows? 3 more weeks til the big reveal!
June 4th, 2008
Since Ashley won’t call me or give me her phone number, I can’t let her know this “in person”, so she and the rest of you will just have to read about it here.
We’re expecting #3.
I know, insert big gasp here. Or, how about a picture?
We always knew we wanted our kids to be close in age; we just didn’t know we wanted them this close! I have told many people that Kevin and I had lots of plans to do “other” things - take the trip to Hawaii this summer, train for the Houston Marathon in January (me, not Kevin), MOVE houses, etc. etc. etc… and God gently reminded us Who was in charge.
So, once again we found that our plans are not His. We are truly excited; we always wanted 3 kids (maybe 4), and we’re thrilled that there’s only one baby, at least so far as we can tell! Kennedy and this baby will be 19 months apart. We have told Colby and Kennedy the news. Kennedy is still a baby herself, and Colby thinks he has a baby in HIS tummy too. Once the pregnancy test showed positive, my tummy started pooching out, so it was a struggle to hide the baby until I got to the doctor to make sure everything was okay.
When we went to see the doctor, I had no clue when my due date would be. We got pregnant while I was still breastfeeding Kennedy, mainly due to a mix-up over my birth control pill and my doctor’s office. (Well, you know, it was all God, but if you want a scientific “reason” why we got pregnant, there you go.) While in the doctor’s office, they did an ultrasound to see how big the baby was… it’s amazing how something starts out so little and is yet still a person. The baby was only 3 cm long from his/her head to his rear end, and based on that calculation (only!), they gave me my due date and told me I was 10 weeks along… I took a pregnancy test when I was already 7-8 weeks pregnant because I was just SO darn TIRED all the time and couldn’t figure out why. Well, this was my answer!
My due date is November 19th, which puts me about 15 weeks along. I’m out of my first trimester (hooray!) and I’m nesting, which should explain the lack of posting for awhile now. Since we’re not moving, we’re making full use of the space we do have until we can move, which means lots and lots of cleaning. Good thing our church’s youth garage sale is next week!
I told our Sunday School class about the Scripture that kept flooding my mind when I found out I was pregnant. Here are a few of them.
“…My grace is sufficient for you (Jenna) because my power is made perfect in weakness…” - 2 Cor. 12:9
“The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?” - Ps. 27:1
“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways’, declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” - Isaiah 55:8-9
We find out what the baby is on June 25th, so wager your guesses now… I’ll hold off on what I think for now. For sure though, this pregnancy has been different from the other ones! I just thought Kennedy’s pregnancy was different because she was a girl, but I already have a boy and a girl and this really doesn’t feel like either one right now! I do have a little hunch, but I really couldn’t tell you for sure.
Like I said, we are really excited and we know the kids will do great with another sibling in the house. Colby and Kennedy really are playing well together and I’ll post an update on them sometime next week. Let the celebrations begin!!
May 27th, 2008
This year we tried a combined birthday party for Colby and Kennedy. Since their birthdays are only a month apart on the calendar, we figured it would be easier (and less traveling for those involved) to just have the parties at the same time. Kevin put these pictures up a little while ago, but I have been trying in vain to add captions. So, use your imagination to see what kind of party we had and if the kids had fun or not. And be sure to add the comments.
May 7th, 2008
I added links - Our Life Now and Colby and Kennedy’s birth stories. They are under the row of buttons beginning with Home; you have to mouse over them to see them. Enjoy!
April 22nd, 2008
….was my answer when my friend Shala asked me “What are y’all up to?”. Kevin made sure to clarify that it’s Kennedy we’re weaning and Colby we’re potty training. Ha. ha.
Weaning: As soon as Kennedy turned 1, I breathed a huge sigh of relief that I had made it to the “magical year mark”, and I think my body stopped producing as much. We’re slowly cutting down on the number of feedings she has, but she still wants to nurse, so I let her. (I think we’re at 2 per day now.) She won’t take a bottle and also doesn’t want to drink whole milk, so we mix it with some Yo Baby Yogurt in a straw cup. That yogurt is yummy.
Potty Training: I recently read the book Potty Training for Dummies to help me with this task. And basically, the book says to let the kid wait til he’s ready. Apparently Thursday was the day. He woke up from his nap with a completely dry diaper (first time ever, I think), so I told him to sit on his potty, and he went! First time he’s done that for me, so we made a big big deal of it and called his daddy on the phone and then told him he could start wearing big boy underwear. He chose his Lightning McQueen underwear and has been doing great ever since! (I won’t say he hasn’t had accidents, but Rome wasn’t built in a day! He’s doing great.)
We bought Colby a Baby Bjorn potty. Best invention ever. Colby got to pick out the color himself (red) and he’s totally comfortable sitting on it and reading some of his books while he… goes. 
He also wears a pull-up or a diaper at night. We’ve been reading the book My Big Boy Potty by Joanna Cole for awhile now (we checked it out at the library a couple of times). In that book, Michael still wears a diaper at night, until he learns to stay dry at night. Colby has memorized this book, so we make sure to quote lines from it so he can be “just like Michael”. Of course, all of this means we have to stay close to the potty and/or take it with us everywhere we go, which means we haven’t been on time for anything since Thursday. It’ll get better.
***Update: Now Colby is not wearing a diaper at night; he wants to wear his Lightening pull-ups and won’t wear diapers anymore. He’s averaging about 2-3 pull-ups per day. I’ll keep you posted.
Kevin and I have great kids. Thanks for reading this far on 2 yucky subjects.
April 14th, 2008
(No, this post is not late. For some reason it got lost in cyber-space and I just now realized it was never published.)
Dear Kennedy,
I cannot believe you are ONE year old today. At this time last year, I held you and held you in my arms. I was so glad you had decided to get here! I kept telling your daddy you knew what you were doing - your April 5th due date just wasn’t going to hold up, but you had to be an April baby so your birthstone would be a diamond. That, and you wouldn’t have to share your month with anyone else in our family’s March-full birthday month!
Your big brother loves you so much. He takes such good care of you and is so protective of you. You love him back, too, and want to play with all of his toys. It’s okay because I never played with dolls much growing up. Who knows what you’ll do, though, when you figure it all out?
Your favorite things to play with are your stuffed bunny, your stuffed pink bear, and your Elmo book. You love “EL- BOW!”, as you call him, and you look so intently at the tv when Sesame Street comes on.
Your other favorite toy isn’t a toy but an issue of “Bark” magazine we found one day at Half Price Books. You saw it and started making kissing noises at the cover. We ended up buying the magazine because you drooled all over it, but it’s been the best $1 investment of a toy! You love to look through the pictures of dogs and say “Pup-py!” You love your puppy Cooper too. Anytime we say his name, you look down to see him, and you like to try and pet Cooper whenever he’ll give you the chance.
Recently you’ve liked to say “Ay-MEN!” at the table. You’ve always held our hands when it was prayer time, but lately you’ve taken to be more vocal. You are a great eater and will eat any vegetable or fruit that comes your way.
I love you, Baby Girl, and I’m so proud of all that you have done this year. You are such a beautiful blessing in our lives and I look forward to many more birthdays to come.
Love, Mom.
April 13th, 2008
We went to Old Baylor this year to take the annual pictures in the bluebonnets. (very close to the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, TX) I highly recommend this spot; it was wonderfully colorful!
I wish I knew how to make this easier… Pictures are in our gallery - click on Photos at the top OR Our Photo Gallery at the right, then click Combined Pictures of Our Kids, then 2008, then March. Enjoy!
April 7th, 2008
People keep asking us the question, “So, what have you been doing lately?” as if we sit around doing nothing all day. Well, mainly we’re trying to keep our sanity because the kids keep catching fevers every time we leave the house. And when we are well, we’re trying to keep the kids from tackling each other, as in Exhibit A.
Ah, Kennedy is going to be one tough cookie. I pity the fool that tries to date her - Big Brother is gonna get chu!
More updates when I can get videos of Colby reading his books and Kennedy saying “uh-oh!”
March 10th, 2008
Check the gallery. Enough said.
P.S. I will finish it tomorrow, but theres a good 150 new pictures there.
February 17th, 2008
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