Posts filed under 'Kennedy'
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
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
….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
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
I don’t check the weather reports much. I don’t really have to. I can tell it’s going to rain if Kennedy has lousy sleep patterns. (She did this while in the womb too.) Pretty cool, huh? Except that for the past 2 weeks or so, something has either been coming or going. Guess we’ve had a lot more weather than usual.
Since I’m on a Kennedy update, she has done quite the developing in the past month. She can sign “all done”, nod her head “yes” and “no”, and she says, “mama”, “dada”, “bubba”, “yes”, “dah” (down). She also can mimic pretty well. Kevin says, “Sss” and she does it right back to him.
She is also quite drawn to water - including Cooper’s dish and the toilet. We have changed many clothes and closed many lids since finding out this fact. Colby has taken to saying, “Kennedy, no ma’am.” when he sees her going towards Cooper’s water. He knows to put it on top of the cabinet. What a helper.
Kennedy loves to pull herself up on the coffee table. It’s just perfect for her to swipe at whatever is on top. Of course, the coffee table was taken over by Colby a long time ago as his racetrack for his Hot Wheels cars. So now Kennedy wants to try and play racetrack with Colby’s Hot Wheels cars. This turns into a lesson in sharing and being nice to baby sister.
We are so blessed to have children. I read this Verse the other day that I’m praying for them.
“My [children], do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him and to serve him…” - 2 Chronicles 29:11
January 24th, 2008
What? Yeah, that’s what everyone else thought when they heard too. By the way, this is really long. The moral is: DON’T EVER GO TO THE ER.
So, you might remember that a few weeks ago, I thought I had a kidney stone. I endured the pain, thinking it would pass, but I also contracted a fever and chills on Christmas day. So I made a doctor’s appointment for the Friday after Christmas, the 28th, hoping he could tell me why I had had such extreme pain in my abdomen for 2 weeks straight. (And actually, when I called on Thursday the 27th, the receptionist told me my doctor could see me the following Monday, but I pleaded with her that I was in a lot of pain, and she worked me in. My doctor must have wanted to leave early that day because there was pretty much no one there in the office.)
Kevin dropped me off at the doctor’s office because the kids had to go take their naps. After the standard weight and height check (I haven’t grown taller since the 8th grade; I don’t know why they keep checking.), they asked me why I was there. I told a nurse I had been having severe abdominal pain for 2 weeks straight. So the doctor came in and asked me why I was there. I told him I had been having severe abdominal pain for 2 weeks straight. (Just wait, it gets better.) He told me to “hop up on the table” (yeah, right) so he could check me out. He pressed on my abdomen for awhile, I screamed and cried, and he told me we needed to have a CT scan run on me. He called over to radiology to have them set it up. I called Kevin to keep him updated on my progress.
So I wait for just a few minutes more when the doctor’s head nurse (??) comes in and asked me why I needed a CT scan. I said, “I have had severe abdominal pain for 2 weeks straight.” Come on, I’m not a doctor, and I don’t play one on tv. She said, “Well, the CT machine is not operating right now. They’re doing routine maintenance on it because it’s the holidays and they didn’t figure too many people would need it. So, we’re going to send you to the ER so you can have a CT scan.”
Exit head nurse, enter doctor. (By the way, I really do like this doctor.) The doctor tells me he wants to run the scan to check for either a kidney stone, appendicitis, or an ovarian cyst. He said if it doesn’t show any of those things, he would bet it was a bladder infection. (It wasn’t a bladder infection. I’ve had one of those and it hurts when you pee. I only had severe abdominal… you get the picture.)
So, Katrina came over while the kids finished napping, and I told Kevin to grab a book - we were going to the ER. We got there, signed in, another weight and height check, and they asked what my level of pain was and why I was there. I told them I wasn’t having too much pain at that moment but that I had been having severe abdominal pain for 2 weeks straight. The check-in nurse asked, “And you’re just now coming in?” Look, people, I gave birth to 2 babies WITHOUT DRUGS. I know what pain is, and I thought it was a kidney stone that would pass. Give me a break. We exit to the waiting room with 18 people in front of me. Oh, joy.
As we waited (and read our books), the pain started getting increasingly worse. I tell this to the nurse who checked me in, and she puts me in the “front of the line”. Sort of. Also in “the front” was a guy who had a cough so bad it sounded like a piece of his lung might just come barreling out of his throat at any time. We sat across from him. There were no other chairs. This guy told us he worked in this same ER before and that the doctors are not in any hurry to see many patients. Wonderful.
We wait, and my mind is eased for a bit, but the pain gets so bad that the room starts to spin. I don’t remember much, but I remember the Lung Hacking Guy got up and told the nurse that they better come get me quick. The check-in nurse told me to not eat or drink anything if I feel dizzy. (What?) So they finally call my name, and I get up to go follow them. But my brain must not have told all the rest of me to go, because the next thing I remember is holding on to the wall, trying not to fall on the ground. They grabbed a wheelchair and rushed me to a “room”/curtain area in the ER.
The nice ER nurses poke and prod me with needles to take a blood sample and to insert an IV. They asked me why I was here. “Ahem….” (I told them. Again, the response of “Why didn’t you come in before?” And after the fact, my response is, “I’m never coming here again.”) My doctor was Dr. Jerk. No, that’s not his real name, just his attitude. He told me the problem I was having was with my gallbladder. I doubted his opinion and he asked me a lot of unrelated questions but decided to do an ultrasound on my abdominal area to make sure it was the gallbladder. He said, “I could be wrong, but let’s go that route.”
Great. So, we wait. (Oh, and I know you’re asking, “Why didn’t they just run the CT scan like your other nice doctor wanted you to?” We called his office and he had already left for the day, and for some reason they couldn’t call in orders to the ER, that the ER doc would just have to order it. Again, great. We told Dr. Jerk that Dr. Nice wanted to have a CT scan run, but he doesn’t listen. More greatness.)
They end up making me wait a good bit and during this, my pain gets really bad, so they give me a pain killer in my arm. I kept making sure to anyone I talked to that whatever they did had to be safe for Kennedy because I’m still nursing. (Also, this is why I didn’t want to go to the doctor in the first place, in case the only option was something I wasn’t willing to do.) But, the medicine they gave me saved the night.
The radiology lady comes in and escorts me, via wheelchair, to the ultrasound room. (By this time, they have confirmed through my blood test that I’m NOT pregnant, nor do I have cancer.) She rubs on my abdomen for awhile but says nothing. They roll me back into my ER room and Dr. Jerk comes in and says, “Well, it’s not your gallbladder.” Big surprise. Gallbladder trouble runs in your family. I have no family history of it, nor do I have kidney stone history, ovarian cyst history, nor liver trouble history… Dr. Jerk then tells me, “I’m going to have a CT scan run on you.” Great. We could have done that 4 hours ago.
We wait some more. Somewhere in there, I have to take a urine test. Kevin watches and tells me I have great aim, especially while holding my own hospital gown. Thanks, babe. Also, Kevin is my go-between, asking things that I forget about while Dr. Jerk is in the room for 2.5 seconds each time. One of the things I ask for is FOOD; I’m still nursing and I’m always hungry. Dr. Jerk tells him he doesn’t want me to eat or drink in case they have to do surgery on me. Great. But Kevin was a prince; he didn’t have anything to eat or drink the entire time we were there. He said if I couldn’t eat, he wouldn’t eat.
Oh, and also somewhere in there, my parents bring my breastpump. Kevin goes to get it and finds Lung Hacking guy STILL WAITING. This is after we’ve been in the room for almost 3 hours. Good grief. While I’m pumping, Dr. Jerk comes in and tells me he could fall asleep to that sound. A little creepy, but his wife also is nursing and she pumps every night before bed.
SO! The CT scan lady (finally) comes in, and she is a bit of a comedic relief. I’ve never had a CT scan, and I was a little afraid of it, but she put my mind at ease. Kevin got to view my insides. He said they were cool. I asked the lady if I had appendicitis, which was what I thought I had, and she said she wasn’t told to check for it, only for kidney stones. (WHAT?) Anyway, Dr. Jerk reviews my scan, my pain is much more bearable by now, and he comes in to say, “Basically, we don’t know what is wrong. In addition to what you didn’t have already, we know you don’t have appendicitis, a kidney stone, an ovarian cyst, or a bladder infection.”
I think he expected me to throw a punch at him, but actually, I was pretty at ease about the “diagnosis”. I didn’t have any of the things the doctors thought I had. A wave of peace came over me and I told him, “Thank you for telling me what I don’t have.” I sincerely meant it, too, because I then realized, after 7 hours in the ER, that there is only ONE Great Physician that really knows my ailments. The medical profession is not about faith or about trust, it is about science and actual data. When the actual data shows up void, they have no answers. But I do.
The ER doc sent me home with a handshake and a couple of prescriptions, which I’ve been taking as the pain has hit. Usually I’ll have 2 really good days and then 1 day of pain. This is INCREDIBLE, because before I had been having pain non-stop for 2 weeks, if you’ll remember. I’m slowly recovering, but I know that in God’s time, He will make me well.
Dr. J told me that a lot of people come into the ER wanting answers and if they don’t get them, they’re pretty mad. I’m not mad, in fact, I’m quite the opposite. I am joyful that I get to share this long (and hopefully humorous) story with you. I hope you all remember Who is in charge of this world and Who cares about each one of our needs, big or small. I don’t need answers; I need faith and perseverance.
If you have read to the end of this story, thank you. If you want to know how to help me, please pray that God would make me a better Wife and Mom through my pain. If He doesn’t want to reveal to me the source of my pain, then I am okay with that, but I do need to know how to live with it and how to manage it better. The hard part is at night when I need to do dinner and bath and bedtime with the kids. Please pray for Kevin, too, as the whole experience, I’m sure, has been hard on him. It’s always hard to watch someone you love be in so much pain and not be able to help them. Kevin was a rock especially when we delivered our babies because we both knew what the end result would be. This time we don’t have such clear answers. Again, I am grateful that He is allowing me some pain-free days, and I am praying that eventually this would be gone so that I don’t have any recollection of it. What a day of rejoicing that will be!
So, if you’re wondering why we didn’t send out Christmas cards, there’s your answer. We are hoping to send out Valentine’s cards or somesuch. Thanks again for reading.
January 14th, 2008
I know it’s been awhile since we updated everyone on how we’re doing. Yes, we’ve fallen off the face of the earth.
Colby - is definitely using sentences more and more. Most of them begin with “I want…” or “I did it!” He is gaining independence each day. I am so proud of him and the things he is learning. Right now he has a stuffy nose so he says cute things like “Bobby, hep be, beez.” (which of course, means, “Mommy, help me pleez.”)
Kennedy - is CRAWLING. AND pulling up to stand. Pictures and videos will come soon. Yesterday morning she woke up with a fever so it’s been rough on the girl, and she dips in and out of a feverish state. I think it hurts her head when she sleeps, so last night she woke up every hour and couldn’t get comfortable on my shoulder.
I - am woefully behind on everything. Christmas pictures have not been taken, much less sent out in the mail. I just finished my shopping on Friday and Kevin wrapped just about every present tonight. Oh, and I have a kidney stone, so I’ve been in a lot of pain for the past 9 days. Make it 10 now.
Kevin - just finished the production of our church’s Christmas musical. He did a fabulous job coordinating the sound and lights during the practices and performances, and he just finished editing the DVD recording. (I sang in the musical, which meant I had to schlep the kids up to church every night one week, but we’re glad that’s over with… bedtimes were completely ridiculous that week and it took us awhile to recover.) Kevin also just got his Christmas bonus, and I’m extremely proud of him. We are so blessed that he works for such wonderful bosses that give credit where credit is due. As a result of the bonus, Kevin says we’re going to Hawaii this summer to celebrate. Seriously.
Kevin wins the update.
December 23rd, 2007
Not as many pictures for this round; Colby was running fever so we were more occupied with taking care of him.
However, this is a pretty grand picture of the table & food. Before we ate, as is our tradition, we each shared one thing we are thankful for. I found it wonderful that so many of us are thankful for family and for being together. We are, indeed, very blessed.
20 people ate at this table!
Colby eating carrots & ranch dressing.
Katrina, Grandfather, & my Dad
Grandmother & Kevin’s mom
Kennedy sees something…
Oh, it’s a lamp! Can I keep it? (And yes, she really did pull the strings to turn the lamp on & off…)
Kennedy is pictured with Kevin’s dad. Kevin’s parents have made the trip to Bryan for the past few years, so it has become a tradition! Usually they stay over a night, but with the Texas game the next day, they opted to come here and back in the same day. It’s not too bad of a trip (about 3 hours each way) when you don’t have kids.
Today, while teaching my exercise class, I had everyone call out the name of a food we ate this weekend while we did crunches. “1-sweet potatoes!” “2-dressing!” “3-pie!” “4-cranberry sauce!”
November 26th, 2007
This is the first Thanksgiving of 2007, which happened last weekend. Notice the warm weather clothes.
Our Christmas pictures will be so much fun… kids not looking at the camera.
Kevin’s parents got a new dog, Berkley, who loves Kennedy.
The boys watch tv (and jump on the couch) while we put things on the table.
The bird.
Kevin’s dad carving the bird, a great pic of Kris & Mark’s new kitchen!
The other half of the kitchen (it’s too big to fit in one shot), I’m putting pickles on a plate.
And a nice bath to end the day. Rub-a-dub, dub. Three dudes in the tub.
We took out all the naked photos so as to not embarrass The Three Amigos when they’re older.
Colby’s shampoo mohawk. McKay makes a funny face while looking at Ryan’s mohawk.
November 25th, 2007
So you are in for a double blog today, folks! It is my turn to tell you all what I am thankful for not only this day, but every day. I probably won’t say it very eloquently as Jenna did, but nonetheless it is true from my heart.
As I told them both today, I am thankful for both sets of our parents. I am not ashamed to say that they provided for Jenna and me as we went through college. I am thankful that they gave us just enough, but not too much. Many of our friends will have student loans to pay off for years because either their parents didn’t or couldn’t afford to put them through school. I do not say this in a proud or conceited way; I am truly thankful because without this debt hanging over us we are able to begin saving for the kids’ college and our retirement. We are able to own our house and buy things without creating more debt. I hope to be able to pass on this blessing to my children and hopefully someday payback our parents in some way.
Recently in our small group we were asked, “What one thing/activity/place stirs your affections for Jesus/God?” It is the thought of my children. Never in my life have I understood more clearly the depth of the sacrifice that God made when he gave Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. The thought of giving Colby or Kennedy to die for someone else is completely beyond comprehension. If ever I need a reality check of the depth of God’s love for me (and you), this is all I need to think about. So with all that being said, I am thankful that God is not selfish. God is not proud. God is faithful to me even when I am not faithful to Him. God can forgive. God can forget. God loves me, and He loves you, too.
9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
– 1 John 4:9-11
What are some of the things you are thankful for?
November 22nd, 2007
No, I’m not talking about the TV station. This is the name of my current Bible study - Community Bible Study.
Shala told me about CBS last year. Her biggest joy was the children’s program, which Colby I have come to know and love. My wish is that if I am going to learn about the Bible, I want my kids to learn the Bible too. (Kennedy goes to the children’s program too, but the curriculum starts at age 1.) Colby learns wonderful songs and can tell me the Bible story each week. They put Bible verses to music, and he loves it.
This year the name of the study is Servants of God. We have already been through the book of Joshua and are currently finishing up Judges. Next is Ruth. After that comes…. (can you tell me?) We’ll finish in May with 2nd Samuel.
So why am I mentioning CBS right now? We did just meet today, but Thursday, November 29th is “Bring a Friend to CBS” day. If you are in the BCS area, please let me know if you want to be my friend and come to Bible study with me! I have thoroughly enjoyed the study and the core group I’m in, and I think any of you would love it. (Email me if you’re coming, especially if you have kiddos and need “childcare”.)
November 15th, 2007
We started feeding Kennedy solid foods. I bought a few different things so I could steam them, squeeze them, and freeze them in ice cube trays. On the list - sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, and avocados. We started with avocados first, because we were having Mexican food and it seemed like a good idea. (Plus, Tim said Elissah liked avocados and she and Kennedy are only a few weeks apart!)
I’ll stop the commentary here and let you see for yourself how things went… The first picture is funny to me - like, “What are you going to do to me?”
In case you were wondering, that list of foods has become very short… she only likes bananas AND only when her Daddy feeds her. I guess it’s a good thing I’m still nursing her, because she won’t take a bottle either. Sounds like Mama’s Girl!
November 11th, 2007
If it hasn’t been mentioned in one of our other posts about Kennedy, she LOVES to bounce. She will bounce in your arms, bounce laying down, sitting up, you name it… So tonight Jenna asked me to hang up the doorway bounce thingy. I think that is the official name… yeah. The doorway bounce thingy is sitting in the doorway to our front foyer, which echoes quite a bit. Kennedy loves this because she also likes to hear her own voice. This woke up Colby so he came out and we had a little bounce time.
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November 8th, 2007
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