Emily is 3 months old

WOW...I cannot believe how fast these last few months have gone. I am terrible at blogging (wish I were better!). I missed the 2 month milestone :( I guess better late than never right? This is where we are:

• You started sleeping through the night at 2 1/2 months in your own bed


• You take a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day along with a few short naps throughout


• You still LOVE your Moby and so does mommy


• Two weeks ago you started rolling from your stomach to your back


• Last week you conquered rolling from your back to your stomach
• You can sit up with some support and you really like your floor time


• A few days ago you began to truly giggle...you know that hearty belly laugh that is SO contagious


• So far you have been to a movie (Chipmunks the Squeakquel) and to your first Globetrotters game. You were amazing at both events


• You are the apple of your Daddy's eye, your mommy's heart and you have both sisters and your big brother wrapped very tightly around your little finger


• You are full of smiles and joy and have tons to say


• You rarely cry and are very content


• You weigh 15 pounds (90th percentile) and are 25 inches long (89th percentile)

The last few months have been absolutely glorious! You are the best baby and the sunshine in our days. We love you Emily Olivia Grace Kennedy! Thank you Jesus for giving us such a perfect little blessing.

Skyler's 11!!

The day is almost over, but I at least I made it! Happy birthday baby girl! 11 years ago my labor started at 10:30 last night. Your dad and I headed to the hospital around midnight. We were there for a couple of hours while the nurses and I argued about how much time I had left. The RN that was on duty decided to release me against my better judgement. So around 2:30 we headed back home. From the hospital to our apartment it was about a 20 minute drive and by the time we got home and got settled it was after 3:00 in the morning. I continued to have labor pains and after being home for only 30 minutes I woke your dad up and told him we needed to head back to the hospital. He went into the front room to get his shoes and by the time he came back...it was too late. I told him we weren't going to make it to the hospital and he needed to call 911. He thought that I was joking...but it was NO joke. It was about 4:00 now and he was on the phone with the 911 operator and you were well on your way. You made your grand entrance at 4:15. You weren't breathing right away so your dad had to use his finger to clean out your mouth, he was also instructed to find a shoe lace or a string and tie off the umbilical cord. I have never seen a shoe unlaced so quickly in my life. You were crying and breathing and everything was good. At about 4:25 the fire dept. and the paramedics arrived. They were very shocked to see that you had already arrived. It was an experience that I will never forget. You have always had your own way of doing things and you definately made a memorable entrance. You made the front page of the local section in our newspaper, your story was talked about on most of the radio stations and the t.v. show Extra came up from LA to do a story on us and unite us with the 911 operator who coached your dad through everything on the phone. Your birth was special and unique and so are you Skyler Michelle. Mommy loves you!!

1 Month Old Today

Today Emily is 1 month old. This month has flown by so quickly. We have truly been blessed by your presence! You are such a mellow baby and a snuggle bug!! :)

Your first month has been pretty easy going:

• You LOVE to be held, especially by mommy!


• You are just now getting into 0-3 month clothes


• You wake up at 3:00 am to eat...that's it!


• You look SO cute in big bows...although sometimes you try to pull them off your head


• You are holding your head up so much now


• You love your Moby

You are a very big blessing in our lives and we LOVE you so much!! Happy 1 month bday Emily!

Ryan's first day of 1st grade and Skyler's first day of 5th grade...

Today was the day. They all went off to school. Ryan was so excited, he woke up early and couldn't wait to get ready and head off to school. Skyler was a little hesitant, but had a positive attitude. When we picked them up they were both ready and excited to tell us about their day. Ryan had a lot of fun, made some new friends and really likes his teacher. He said that today was kinda hard because at the end of the day he was really hungry. I am so thankful that was the hardest part of his day! Skyler had a great day too...now she is looking forward to going back tomorrow! Praise the Lord!!! We have been blessed.

My baby is in the 8th grade...

My little girl isn't a little girl anymore...she actually hasn't been for a while, but sometimes I like to live in denial! She looked so cute when she went of to school this morning. She was confident and ready. When we were driving to school I asked her where she wanted me to drop her off and she said "In the back of the school please"...FINE, LOL! So I drove to the back of the school and there was a line of cars dropping kids off...you could definately tell which ones were the parents of 7th graders because they wouldn't leave. They sat there and watched their child walk all the way across campus...some were crying. It's a big day I remember from last year. So my daughter asks me why they aren't moving and I explain it to her. She looks at me and she says "You aren't going to do that right mom?" with a look of worry on her face. I laughed and said "Aahh come on don't you want me to sit here and watch you walk across campus?" She quickly said "NO" So out of the truck she went and I rolled the window down and yelled out the window "Bye honey, mommy loves you!!" and she just laughed at me and rolled her eyes then went off to school. I love my Ziggy she is the best!! I love her personality and her confidence (at times when she shows it) and I mostly love the way she doesn't really mind when I try to embarass her, but rather takes it in stride and knows I love her!!

Family Fun

Yesterday my in-laws came over. We don't get together often enough, but when we do we always have fun. The kids played on the slip n slide and ran around making a mess with all of our toys ( which is what they are for...right?).

My son and my nephew put on their chef hats and made us all desert. They both LOVE to be in the kitchen!

Pete's grandmother came over along with his sister and her husband and their two kids and my mother-in-law and father-in-law. My mother-in-law did most of the cooking, Pete helped with cooking and did a LOT of the clean up which was really nice because I have been SO uncomfortable lately and yesterday was really bad. All and all it was a nice day and I am so happy to have a good relationship with them. It took some time to develope, but it sure is good now!! :)

EXHAUSTED

Today was one of the longest and most emotionally painful days I have experienced as a mother. My poor Zayna has a staph infection in her leg. Lord only knows how she got it. The doctors all say it is so common and they see over 500 cases of it a week, but it was a first and hopefully a last for me. They kept telling me that her case is an extremely small one, but there wasn't anything small about it for Zayna. We first went inot urgent care on Sunday and the doctors at the Pedi Center were horrible. No specific instructions and no eye contact...just "Yup it's staph, put hot compresses on it and give her antibiotics." Thank the Lord I have a friend who is a nurse and has experience with staph infections. I called her up and she gave me the laundry list of how to care for it and keep it from spreading. We were on top of it, but when we woke up today it looked worse. The hole was 3 times the size it was on Sunday and it looked NASTY! I swore I could see tissue. So I took her to Memorial Urgent Care this time and the doctors there were WONDERFUL! We walked in and they took one look at it and said "Well you have cared for it very nicely, but unfortunately we are going to have to drain it and pack it." Now my girlfriend (the nurse) had tried to prepare Zayna and I for this possibility, but you can only prepare someone for so much. The doctor thankfully chose not to lance it because if she had it would have left a larger wound which would have increased the healing time. Instead she squeezed on it like a pimple and it hurt Zayna so badly, but it was necessary. The doctor talked her through the entire thing and was so calm and patient. I have to say that I have NEVER in my life seen anything like it before and had that stuff come out of my daughter at home I would have freaked out and called 911. It wasn't tissue that I was seeing it was the staph and there was a lot of it. She pushed on that thing for a good 5 minutes. When she was done she had to pack it with gauze...which was painful, but not nearly as what had just happened. The doctor crammed almost 6 inches of gauze into Zayna's leg. Thankfully we are done with the worst part and now onto the healing. We go back in tomorrow to have the packing removed and the doctor thinks that it should be almost healed by Friday. I am so proud of Zayna...she was such a trooper today. I couldn't imagine having to go through that...it was bad enough having to watch it. She stayed so still and allowed the doctor to do her job even though she was in extreme pain. She is my new hero and I love her so much!!