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.

Sring Break Adventures 2009!

We are approaching the end of Spring Break and it is back to work for me on Monday. I am so sad, but definitely enjoyed my week's vacation. We had a ton of things happening. Jason and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and Jason's 30th birthday on April 2nd. We celebrated with our good friends, Aaron and Andrea on Wednesday, April 8th by watching STOMP at the Saengar Theatre. I had never seen the show before, but if you haven't seen it, it was FABULOUS! The entertainers capture your attention from the moment they walk onstage until the moment the encore is over, all without saying a word! I started Spring Break early by taking off Friday, April 3rd. Audrey and I got dressed and took Kennedy to see the Easter Bunny at Cordova Mall. We then had the Gardner birthday celebration at Horizen that night since Jason and his dad like to combine their birthday dinners. I had told Jason that the Easter Bunny wasn't available and that we didn't get to have Kennedy's picture taken. BOY, was I convincing. So when Jason opened his present from Kennedy (a picture of her with the Easter Bunny) he was so excited and even had a tear in his eye! What a sap! He said it was the best surprise ever! Martin, Maria, Maddie, Mia and baby Teague (my cousins from England) arrived in Milton for a visit on Monday, April 6th. They were exhausted as they didn't arrive until late, so Tuesday was a restful day for all of us and a fabulous day for them to meet Kennedy. They met Kennedy once before, but I was only 4 months pregnant when I saw them in England last summer. So, they actually got to see her in person this time! Needless to say, the day was special. On Wednesday, we all decided to go to the ZOO! The zoo was extremely special as it had been SEVERAL years since Jason or I had been, and no one else (including Audrey) had ever been to the zoo when they visited us before. We had a fabulous time and were able to take a ton of pictures (thanks Audrey, as we forgot our camera at the house)! On Thursday, we enjoyed a full day of shopping over in SanDestin and bought Kennedy a ton of things from Carter. Friday, we planned on going to the beach, but the weather wasn't that great. Instead, we had a small Easter Egg hunt at my mom's house and then we went off to the park. We had such a blast! Friday night, we all met at La Hacienda for a going away party/birthday party for Maddie & Mia. The sad news is that they left on Saturday morning. We always say no tears, but I was sad and shed a few anyway. On Saturday we traveled out to the Strawberry farm in Baker for some shortcake. We made sure Kennedy put on her strawberry dress and sun-hat. We then made sure on Sunday morning, we were up for early mass and then Jason took a few pictures of Kennedy in her Easter dress, right before she was sick all down it.

So here are a few pictures to document what a busy week we had.  

Enjoying her first trip to the park!

Nana and Kennedy watching the bubbles that daddy was blowing.

Woah, this is fun!

Kennedy's first time at the park!

Easter Egg Hunt at Nana's

Kennedy picking up her first Easter Egg.

Kennedy with her 1st cousin, Kelan (on the end) and her 2nd cousins (Maddie-on the left and Mia-on the right).

Kennedy before getting her egg hunt on.

Here is Audrey and Kennedy getting out of the car at the Strawberry Farm (on Saturday) in Baker.  Boy, was she excited!

The Gardner Family on the Strawberry Farm in Baker!

Kennedy after having a little bit of Strawberry Yogurt and Whipped Cream.

Kennedy on Easter Sunday after Church. 

Kennedy on Friday, April 3rd, before going to see the Easter Bunny.  We were playing dress-up with her hair-bands, and this one looked more like a workout headband.

Kennedy is definitely growing and full of smiles! I hope you all enjoy and thanks so much who shared this fabulous week with us!

Have a happy Easter!

Jason, Jen and Kennedy.

Updated pictures.....

Here are a few pictures I feel like I have been mentioning forever.  We hope you enjoy these candid shots of Kennedy at home.

Kennedy's Christening gown (@ 3 months old).  She was not pleased because we put the bonnet on her.  

This next picture was after we took off the christening gown and changed her into a casual outfit.  Notice the smile because she wasn't wearing a hat!

Kennedy is in her jumparoo that Auntie Ann (Irish Ann) bought for her before she was born.  She is chewing on her tongue as she is starting the teething process.  She is 4 months old in the picture above and below this caption.  

Jason is feeding Kennedy and trying to take her picture at the same time.  How talented is Daddy!

We are planning on taking her Easter pictures this weekend, so stay tuned!

With Love,

Jason, Jennifer and Kennedy:)

We are back again.....

Alright, so this time I am serious when I say I am going to blog us at least once every 2 weeks. So much has happened in Kennedy's short life. We had an issue with Kennedy and her soy formula. She had a spit up issue and we took her to the pediatrician. We then switched her formula to Enfamil AR. After we switched the formula, she seemed to be doing much better. She is drinking 6 ounces at a time now. We took Kennedy for her 4 month shots (4 months was on March 6th) and we found out that her weight was still in the 90th percentile for her age and she is 24 inches long. We are still fighting the teething process, but no teeth have actually broken through yet. She is actually on a schedule, which is NICE. We have to be home by 7:00 p.m. or there is hell to pay in the Gardner household. We have a bath (every other night) at 7ish and then we head to her room, where we watch the cow jump over the moon (on her projector on the ceiling) and we listen to Delilah (radio host) on 99.9 on the radio. For some reason that is what Kennedy enjoys falling asleep to. I guess whatever works, right? She then sleeps through until 5:45 - 6:30ish, depending on when she feels like getting up. She is sleeping in her crib, some nights all night, but other nights, she is a sleeping partner with her mama! After going for her 4 month shots, the doctor told us we could introduce cereal to Kennedy, so she will become familiar with her spoon. We tried that for about a week, and the cereal was a no go. So we tried Gerber baby foods #1, which the doctor stated we could introduce soon, and she eats it like it is going out of style. We can't spoon it in her mouth fast enough. She only eats about 1.25 ounces at lunchwith a 4 ounce bottle and then another 1.25 ounces for dinner with a 4 ounce bottle. She is definitely trying to get into our eating schedule.

We love that Kennedy is such a jet-setter around town. She is no stranger to the shopping scene, the church scene and going out to eat (for any meal) scene. However, let me remind you that we are to be home at 7 NO matter what we are doing. We do have her passport application filled out and we are just waiting until I have a day off to go drop it off to be processed. Jason just painted Kennedy's bathroom (BRIGHT blue, like a teal blue) so it matches her fish shower curtain. We will be sure to take pictures and post them once the bathroom is all put together. We do have some pictures of Kennedy in her christening gown that we are trying to put together for posting, and then we are going to take her easter pictures, once I pick out her Easter dress. So keep looking for those online.

We hope all is going well with all of you. Hope you and your family have a fabulous Easter.

Jason, Jennifer and Kennedy