Been a while.

It has definitely been a while since we have blogged last, but here is a small update. Kennedy has 2 teeth, has had a sinus infection, a double ear infection, and has not been having the best of fun. However, Halloween is getting closer and when we get a costume, we will be sure to take her picture and especially a little video clip of Kennedy trick or treating. I will be sure to post all of those as soon as it happens.

We are on the countdown to Kennedy's 1st Birthday. I have already begun planning her color coordinated themed birthday party and trying to accomodate for the Older kids (adults) things to do. I did want to help Kennedy feel better, so Jason put her swing that she got for Christmas 2008 (from Uncle Thomas and Aunt Audrey) up today and also got the wagon that Kennedy received (before she was even born from a fabulous friend of mine, Sonya) out today and put it together. So we have a few video clips of her 1st time in the wagon and her 1st time on the swing. The swing will be a daily adventure, weather permitting of course and the Wagon will be used for everything now, especially Trick or treating.... We can't wait....

We hope you enjoy the clips and we will be sure to post later.

With Love, Jen.

On the move........

Kennedy has made fabulous progress within the last week. She has a TOOTH on her bottom gum that is coming through and has become speedy gonzalez as she is now crawling all over the place. If Kennedy is crawling, she will stop to hysterically laugh as the dogs come around to see what she is doing. She even tries to sit in-between them while they are eating their dinner. Here is a video of her crawling. I hope you enjoy. By the way, she listens so well when we tell her no! Ha ha ha!

With Love,

Jen......

BIG NEWS.....

A ton of things have happened since we blogged last. Kennedy took her first trip to Mcguire's and had a good time. We were there for Grandma Gail's birthday. She danced when she heard the Scotland bagpiper play "Scotland the Brave", however, when he came over to our table, it was a wee bit loud for her sensitive ears. Uncle Thomas (her godfather) came into town on August 3rd and is planning to return to Scotland on August 17th. So needless to say we have been extremely busy and he of course had to have non-stop princess love from Kennedy. We have been everywhere it seems over the last 2 weeks. I am posting a few pictures of our adventures while Uncle Thomas has been here on vacation.

Not much else has been happening. I have been unsuccessful in getting another teaching job this year due to budget cuts. It isn't the best situation, but here is always believing that everything happens for a reason and hoping that someone (GOD) could hand me an outline or slip me a note or something that tells me what that reason is... ha ha ha.

Kennedy is crawling now, but only when she sees something that she really wants. She is standing on her feet, but her hands are also on the ground as well. She hasn't figured it out yet how to let go.

NOW FOR THE BIG NEWS: Kennedy had her first sleepover on Saturday night, August 15th, 2009. Nana and Grandaddy Jurey had a sleepover and Kennedy was the guest of honor. I know what some of you are thinking, how did Jason and I do? Well, we did really well. We went out with Audrey and Thomas to Hemmingway's and had a fabulous time. We even got to come home and have a GOOD night's sleep. Don't get me wrong, Kennedy does really well sleeping through the night, but she does have wimpers which break our sleep. So a FULL unbroken night of sleep was fabulous on Saturday for me. I don't know who was more excited, Nana or Grandaddy. When we went over on Sunday morning to pick her up, my mom said at one point, Kennedy was in the guest room (smaller bed) with her and my dad and they were all just hanging out. watching some tv. Boy does she have them wrapped around her finger already. They are already planning her next sleepover. It might sound crazy, but I think that is all they talked about today, was how much fun they had and how excited they were at just hanging out with Kennedy. For me, It doesn't get much better than that!

I have rambled enough. Here are those fabulous pictures of Kennedy and we hope you enjoy. Be sure to read the captions, they explain so much!

With love, Jen.

Jason and I at Hemmingway's for Thomas' last weekend in Pensacola!

Kennedy and I at McGuire's.

Kennedy and Jason at McGuire's.

Kennedy and Auntie Audrey trying on her party hat. Don't you just love it!

I've been caught RED HANDED!

Funny Story.

Audrey and I decide to go out for a little while today and ended up eating lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. As usual, Kennedy starts off really well in her high chair, but just as we are eating our meal, she gets fussy. So the procedure is to take her out of her high chair, and whoever is almost done first (usually Audrey) takes Kennedy and entertains her to keep her quite. So today, Audrey took Kennedy when it got about that time. However, Kennedy is such a big girl (or so she thinks) she sits by herself in the booth (with Audrey holding her at all times). So she wanted to be entertained and had already thrown all of her toys on the floor (several times) that she decided she would look through Audrey's purse and see what she could get her hands on. I did have my camera with me and decided to snap a few photos. I hope you enjoy.

Jen.

Bath-time & Play-time

Another week has passed us by with so many great times and a few pictures to document. Kennedy is too big for a baby bath now and she is in the big bath during bathtime with toys to play with. She does have a mat that has fishes on it so she doesn't slide around. She enjoys bath-time as we let her play for a little while and then we bathe her, all before bed-time. Check out the pictures of Kennedy druing bath-time this past week.

Also, Kennedy can not be in the Bumbo seat any longer. While we were in Scotland, Kennedy would sit in the bumbo, but leaning to one side. She would push with all of her weight off of the floor, arching her back and trying to get out of the bumbo seat. So now, when we have play-time on the floor, it is with a blanket and she sits there playing. Sometimes, she even tries to catch the dogs and give them a quick grab as they stroll by. At least they are getting smarter, when the dogs see Kennedy on the blanket, they run by instead of a casual stroll as they are afraid of getting grabbed. So here are a few pictures of Kennedy playing on the blanket on the floor.

Again, not too much to report this week. We have done the usual, shopping, the beach, and just hanging out. Nothing new for our ordinary but fabulous lives. We are excited because Uncle Thomas will be here on August 3rd and that will be a fun 2 weeks. We can't wait.

We hope that you enjoy the updated look to the blog and also the pictures that we were able to post. Enjoy your week and be safe!

With Love,

Jen.

Sneak Peek of Kennedy's 8 month pictures.....

I can't believe it has been 8 months (on July 6th) since Kennedy came smiling into our lives.

We have been extremely busy this year that we didn't even take the time to document Kennedy's life like we had hoped or wanted to. With everything that has been going on (read previous blog) and Kennedy growing up so quickly, you really need to have a camera strapped to you at all times and constantly taking pictures. So I had made a vow to myself that after these pictures, I would take a picture of her every day and write what she is doing (new or old) for that day. So I think I will be swamped, as if we weren't already.

So at 8 months, what is she doing? Well, she is trying to cut teeth (still) and wants to chew on everything. She is not crawling just yet, but she can start in the upright sitting position, throw her legs back, and be on her tummy in no time. She can also push up on her arms from there and get 1 leg up, as if to crawl, but as I said earlier, we aren't quite there yet. She can spin herself around and is pulling the blankets (that are on the ground) towards her so she doesn't have to move much. We like to say she is a lazy lump.

She of course is saying the usual babble, DA DA DA and started to MMMMMMMM, but to my sadness (clearly not disappointed) there is no MAMAMAMAMA. So Jason likes to say she is calling for him, but we all know she is DEFINITELY a mama's girl. We will just let Jason think what he wants to. She is laughing so loud and so much now it is great. She loves the dogs whiskers, and cracks up when Delilah wants to sniff/lick her feet.

She is a genius though . (Don't all parents say that!) She has definitely gotten a few things figured out. Those things being, if she puts her hand in her baby food, then hangs it over the side of the high chair, Tess will come and lick it off her fingers for her. Again, hysterically laughing. She also knows that if she is in the car (whether 5 minutes or an hour) that is the best time to catch a snooze. She knows that when we go to a restaurant, asshe is normally fed first, then she is quiet while we eat, and then she gets a little dessert on her pacifier afterwards. And the last thing is when she doesn't want me typing anymore on the laptop, she tries to type for me and then that is over. If only she knew I was typing for her! Oh well. She is great and I wouldn't change anything for the world.

Kennedy loves playing peek-a-boo and often hold the blanket up over her face for several minutes at a time until she is ready to pull it down. Sometimes, it is so bad that Auntie Audrey has to pretend to fake cry for Kennedy to pull the blanket down. Again, hysterically laughing the whole time. She has grown out of her carseat carrier, so she is now in a big girl car seat. No worries though, we bought 2 carseats that adjust from 5 pounds to 100 pounds, so we just convert them (break them down) accordingly. Also, since we are no longer in the carrier, we ride like a big girl in the shopping cart (with our cover of course) and sit in a big girl high chair when we are out to eat. Did I mention our favorite game is the DROP game?

I have posted a few pictures of her throughout this blog. We had them done at Sears and these are just a few highlights. I hope you all enjoy and speak to you soon.

With Love,

Jen

My sincere apologies

Let me begin by sending out my (our) sincere apologies for not keeping up with our blog lately. As many of you know, Life happens when you are least expecting it. Not to mention, we do have a baby, so our time for doing things that we want to do is limited to when Kennedy is sleeping. So let me catch you up to speed.

April 2009 - My cousin, Martin, his wife Maria, and their 2 girls (Maddie and Mia) all came for a visit. I believe I posted some pictures of them in my last blog, but we had a fabulous time. We went to the zoo, shopped til we dropped in Destin, and had dinner at La Hacienda (my favorite). We had to say our goodbye's (which were rather sad for me) and wish Maria well as she is expecting baby #3 (a healthy baby is all we ask for, but secretly wishing for a healthy baby boy) and realizing that the next time I see them, their family will have expanded, yet again. My mom left somewhere around the 20th to go back to Scotland as my Nannie was ill. Once my mom left, we put Kennedy in daycare. It was definitely not something we planned on doing when we had her, but when you are left with no choice, you quickly see the light on the other side. Kennedy adapted to daycare after a few days. It helped that she already had a few friends in the same room as her. It took me a little bit longer to get over the fact that I put Kennedy in daycare, but I definitely survived.

May 2009 - Audrey left us for about 10 days, so she could also go back to Scotland for a quick vacation. Jason, Kennedy and I took great care of my dad while everyone was away, and we just did our usual thing, piddling around the house and enjoying life. We were checking in with my mom once a week, as she was incredibly busy. Jason was working NONSTOP, but it was at least keeping him busy. We were leading very busy lives and it seemed as if we hadn't really stopped to smell the roses. Kennedy was still enjoying daycare. She adapted to her surroundings quite nicely and was picking up things the other kids were doing. She was already a smart baby when she started, but she definitely became a genius while she was in there. As the end of May approached, we did have to tell daycare that she was going to come out for the summer, so we could definitely enjoy our beach weather.

June 2009 - I will be glad when this month is over and hopefully a little bit more cheer will be in our lives soon. On June 1st, my nannie in Scotland died. She was 82 years old. We received a phone call at 5:30 a.m. with the news that she had just passed. Audrey and I quickly made arrangements to get Kennedy's passport, book our flights, leave the country, and be sure to be back in Soctland for the funeral, asap. I missed my Granda's funeral almost 10 years ago, I was not going to miss my Nannie's funeral. So on June 4th, Kennedy made her first trip to the big easy, NEW ORLEANS. We had to get her passport the same day at their passport office. We left Milton at 330 that morning and arrived to New Orleans for our appointment at 7ish. We had to wait on the passport, so Audrey and I took Kennedy to eat at the Court of Two Sisters. Kennedy was so pleased at the choice of food (Fruits only for her) that was on their buffet, as were Audrey and I. We had some great stories about the waiters there, thinking Audrey and I were twins and then the crazy 350Z driver on the interstate on our way back in. We arrived back in Milton about 6 that night, called Jason and met at La Hacienda for dinner. Audrey, Kennedy and I were leaving for Scotland at 9 the next morning, so we had to get our mexican fix before leaving for the next 2 weeks. On Thursday, June 5th, we left Pensacola and were Scotland bound.

Audrey and Kennedy at the Court of Two Sisters in New Orleans, LA.

The 3 stooges at the Court of Two Sister, NEW ORLEANS BABY!

Scotland - Kennedy did really well on the flights on the way over. She slept from the time each plane took off, until the time the plane landed. Luckily for us, we booked flights during her nap times. We arrived in on Friday morning, and the funeral was Saturday morning at 9. I didn't have anything to wear to the funeral that fit my post baby body, so we had to go shopping. We also had to greet family, have a small mass on the Friday night, when they brought my nannie into the church, and do a million other things. It was a crazy few days, but we seemed to manage by just fine. After we said our goodbye's to my Nannie, we had a little bit of time to catch up with the family and relax before we were headed back to Pensacola. Kennedy is quite the jet-setter. She adapted to Scotland's time change with little problem. She enjoyed her time there. As you will see in the pictures, she did all of the tourist things. She even did the tour bus, but fell asleep. We were definitely missing Jason, the beach and ready to get back into our routine, especially the summer vacation. The weather was good while we were there. The highest temperature we reached was around 65 degrees. I know what you are thinking, must be nice, but it did beat the 100 degree weather Florida was having at the time. However, our tans were quickly fading.

Kennedy in the middle seat on the airplane. What a big girl!

Kennedy deciding if she should wear a hat to the funeral or not. Hmmmm...

Kennedy asleep after the funeral. What a tiring day for everybody!

Audrey and Kennedy (asleep) on the Glasgow City Tour Bus.

Uncle Thomas and Kennedy on the Tour Bus. Yes, it was cold!

Kennedy's first stay at the Crown Plaza (in Glasgow) but hanging out on the KING size bed!

Kennedy and her GodParents at Sanino's in Scotland.

Kennedy, Audrey's arm, and her new BFF, SULLY. Again, yes you see her in a winter coat in June because it was that cold!

We arrived back in Pensacola on June 17th. Jason missed us and my dad did as well. Jason was probably loving the piece and quiet in the house without Kennedy and I there to harass him. However, he did mention that the house was too quiet, something I wouldn't know anything about anymore. So we are back into our routine. Kennedy is trying to finally cut teeth and it seems to be painful. She is eating everything, including the furniture.

So that is a little bit of information to catch you up on where we are and what we have been doing. It is a work in progress to keep up with Kennedy and this blog, but I am definitely going to juggle things better. So keep checking back with us and HOPEFULLY we will be a weekly blogger again.

Bye for now!

~Jen.