In love

I have to admit I was scared to death when they told me we were having a girl. After having two boys I wondered if I would know what to do with a girl. Then I started thinking about the teenage years and what a pill I was for my parents to deal with and that frightened me ... if payback is worse ... I'm in REAL trouble when she becomes a teen :)

I couldn't be more in love with this girl though. All my fears began to slowly fade as soon as I held her for the first time. I know that we will hold any boys off from dating her until she is 30 and already married with 1.2 kids herself :) I've already talked with Rachel, a great friend and roommate who introduced me to Jeremy, about an arranged marriage between her son Sam and Kennedy.

Her brothers are already great big brothers and love to shower her with kisses and hugs! Pace will kiss her when she is crying to quiet her down and Ryan will sing to her to try to quiet her down.

Our family is complete with this little life added to it. I cannot imagine what life would be like without her.

Meet the teacher

Today we took the boys to meet their teachers for this next pre-school year. Pace already knew his teachers since Ryan had them both last year - LOVE them! They were awesome last year with Ryan and since Pace would walk with me to drop Ryan off he got to know them so today was a breeze. Pace walked in like he owned the place. Should be interesting to see how his first day goes on Tuesday!

Ryan also has two awesome teachers. He walked in and was ready to play as well. Some of the kids who were in his class last year made it into his class this year.

It will be fun to see how both boys blossom this year! It is crazy how quickly they have "grown up" ... it seems like just yesterday Ryan was as small as Kennedy ... well maybe not as small as Kennedy since he came out over a pound more than her but the same age as her :) Why can't they just stay little?

Take the time ...

... to watch this video! It is so worth the time. I heard this song yesterday on the radio and I had to go find it on the net ... the line that was the most powerful to me is "Be careful little feet where you go, because it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow."

What line do you find the most powerful??

Life with a newborn

How quickly we forget what life is like with a newborn! She is wonderful! Here are a few things you forget about:

• Explosive diapers - and little miss priss waits on us to put a clean diaper on her before she explodes. Never fails that each diaper change requires two changes ... even if you wait until you think she should have gone ... nope she waits on a clean diaper before she goes. High maintenance already!
• The newborn cry - it really isn't as loud as it seems. This may sound weird but I love her cry.
• How small they are ... she seems even smaller after holding Pace and Ryan after holding her.
• How small a load of laundry is for just one
• How small newborn clothes are
• The size of a newborn diaper, especially when you change Pace right after changing Kennedy!

Blocked tear duct

Kennedy has a blocked tear duct. We found this out in the hospital but were told it wasn't a big deal and to massage it a few times a day. However, yesterday it started to look really bad. We called the DR and she called us in an ointment for her eye. Then today it was worse and her eye was swollen. Our DR had us come in and she did a swab to send out for a culture. If her eye doesn't get better they may have to admit her to the hospital for IV antibiotics.

Pray for our little girl and that her eye is not infected and that the swelling/redness we are seeing is just topical and due to irritation not infection.

On a positive note she is gaining weight like crazy. She is almost up to her birth weight and gained 7 ounces in just 4 days! Needless to say she is getting plenty to eat :)

Thankful ..

I read a couple blogs by parents with children who have cancer. One of the kids is Ryan's age and one is just 6 months old. The little boy who is Ryan's age has been given days, days, to live. (edited to add: I just read that Joseph died today. Would you pray for this family?) This saddens my heart beyond what I can fathom. I do not understand what it is like to watch my child suffer and to know that in a few days I'll have to say goodbye to him is something more than my brain can wrap around.

I'm thankful today for healthy children! I'm thankful for one of the best birthday presents ever ... my healthy little girl Kennedy Nicole. I'm thankful for the wonderful Mothers day present I got in 2006 William Pace and I'm thankful for the best Christmas present ever in 2004, Ryan Grant. These children are precious gifts from God. I treasure each moment spent with them knowing that there are those out there not as fortunate as we are to have healthy children.

Our prayers are going out to these families who are dealing with such an ugly disease in their young children.

What are you thankful for today?

Pace & Kennedy

Until today Pace has been content to just kiss her feet. He didn't want to hold her or even really touch her. Today I asked him if he wanted to hold her and he said yes and jumped on the couch next to me ... really excited to hold his sister. This has been a huge first as it has really taken him some time to warm up to Kennedy. He was really sweet to her until he was tired of holding her and then he just pushed her to the side as he would a toy he was done playing with. Good thing I was there or she might have ended up on the floor :)

Wordless Wednesday

This kid love his sister ...

Be still my heart!

Here is a video of Ryan and Pace singing to Kennedy ... oh be still my heart ... I have to admit I got a little teary eyed when they did this the first time ... and the second!

Sweet moments

Right now we are having a lazy Sunday morning all of us still in our PJ's. A few minutes ago the boys were singing "You are my Sunshine" to Kennedy. She cries and they sing to her ... so sweet! Ryan is also "reading" her books and telling her that he loves her. It is so fun to see how much they love their sister!

Long nights

Kennedy officially has her days and nights mixed up. My parents are leaving this morning so we are officially on our own as well! Thanks for all the prayers!

Enjoy the picture of her with the boys ... they are in love!

Home again

We are home again! Worn out but home! I am trying to e-mail out some pics to all of you now that we are on a reliable connection. Kennedy is still nursing like a champ and oh so often ... I'm hoping that will change when my milk comes in.

Until I can find where I put my head ... Here is a new picture of our family :)

Boys reaction

Well, the boys were here last night and this morning. Ryan was so excited to meet Kennedy ... Pace was not so sure about mommy OR Kennedy last night. He warmed up today and gave her quick kisses. Mommy even got a few today since I was not hooked up to IV's or machines :) It is so fun to see them interact with her. Ryan wants her to laugh at his "funny faces". He tells her he loves her and that he is her brother. Neither boy wants her to cry. Pace will point and say Kennedy then kiss her swaddle then run off. It's fun!

I have some good pics but I cannot get them to upload and well she is crying so I must go nurse the princess ... she is wanting to nurse almost hourly! Mommy is tired but life is grand!

Night 1 Down ...

I'm checking in this morning. The wi-fi here at the hospital is pretty slow so I'm not sure how pictures will upload .... she is BEAUTIFUL! I'll write more about the labor and everything later. For now pray for sleep as last night was a hard one. I think we both may have gotten about 3 hours sleep total. However, it is all for a wonderful cause. She is now snuggling with her daddy and all is well with the world....

She reminds us all a little of both boys. She looks a lot more like Ryan but has some similarities to Pace as well. Fun times friends, Fun times!

She's Here!

Well, Kennedy has arrived! Praise the Lord she is beautiful and healthy! She came in at 8 lbs, 2 oz and 21 inches long. We are thrilled...but tired! We didn't sleep well in anticipation last night and it was a long day. Thanks for your prayers, God is good. We'll be talking to you all over the next few days and looking forward to all of you getting to meet our precious baby girl.

Love to All,
Jeremy and Heather

Jeremy again...so, here's the deal; Heather's water was broken at about 1:30 this afternoon and she was "checked" (anyone with kids will know what this means - no need for too much detail) again at 3:30 and made some great progress in those two hours. The nurse is guessing another 2-4 hours, so it looks like our baby girl will be in our arms no later than 7:30 tonight.

Of course, we'll let you know if/when that changes. Heather is feeling much better than she was first thing this morning when she first got the epidural so we are in a real good place right now. Keep up your prayers and we'll let you know what's going on a little later.

Love to all!

Jeremy and Heather

Hey, Jeremy here...so, we're on our way! The Anesthesiologist has been in and administered the eipdural and the pitosin drip has been started. The nurse just said that the pitosin would take about 20 minutes to start working and we're excited about the process! We will continue to update you via this blog, but please just keep us in your prayers.

We love you all!

The Day has come!!!

It is 6:30 AM and we are off to the hospital. Actually, due to being able to schedule our posts ... we are at the hospital right now! We appreciate all your prayers and thoughts as we get ready to welcome our little girl into the world!

Jeremy will be updating the blog throughout the day, as he can, and hopefully sometime tonight we can post some pictures of our precious daughter!

Please pray that she is healthy and that the delivery is smooth! Talk to you all soon!!!

2 more days ...

We have 2 more days before we will meet Kennedy! I cannot believe the time is here! We had one last appointment this morning and all is well. We will show up at the hospital at 6:30 on Wednesday morning and will be holding our daughter sometime that afternoon. OH I can't wait!

Thanks for all the prayers and recipes! I can't wait to try them out!

I need your help!

I am sending out an SOS of sorts ... I need help! I need some quick, easy and cheap recipes that I can add to our menu. With a third child coming within the week and knowing that my time in the kitchen will be cut down due to nursing and managing 3 kids, a husband, and our house I need some recipes that will not keep me in the kitchen for hours nor will they eat up our budget in the grocery shopping process.

If you have any quick, easy, cheap ... great recipes ... send them my way!

Embrace each moment

This morning as I was watching GMA and the Chapmans ... I teared up again for the family. I just can't imagine losing something so precious. I teared up for some good friends of ours who also lost a precious daughter in December last year the same way the Champans lost Maria. I was reminded at how precious life is and how each moment we have is special. I think I tend to take moments for granted with my husband and children, thinking that we have all the time in the world ... and we may but we may not. I'm sure neither my friends who lost Lili Grace nor the Chapmans who lost Maria thought that day would be the last that they held their daughters so close.

I pray that I will not take any moment for granted with my loved ones and that we would live each day to the fullest, taking advantage of each second we have with the ones we love.

Give those you love a hug today ... just because you can. And don't worry so much about the messes in your life caused by those you love because when they are gone those messes just wont matter. What will matter is the time you spent with them and the memories you have to hold on to.

Steven Curtis Chapman

Wednesday morning Good Morning America will be airing an interview with Steven Curtis Chapman. Tune in and pray that lives are touched through the story they share.

Thursday the family will be on with Larry King Live ... watch and pray!

Yonder?

Yesterday, my mom told Ryan to "go in yonder while I fix lunch." Ryan was a bit puzzled by the word yonder. He came over to me and said ... "mom did they build a yonder in our house?" Through my laughing I told him no. He promptly went over to my mom and declared ... "Gram only you and Jojo have a yonder in your house. We didn't have one built in ours."

Kids say the craziest things!

Amnio Done! (with update)

The Amnio is over thankfully! They guess that Kennedy is about 7 pounds 13 ounces already! So she is on the bigger side :) They will have the results of my amnio this afternoon and I'm scheduled to be at the hospital at 7 am on Wednesday morning. Kennedy will most likely be born late Wednesday afternoon early evening as long as the results are positive today.

Thanks for all the prayers ... I'll update as we know more.

PS ... waiting on the phone to ring is HARD!

update: her lungs are not quite ready so we will not be going to the hospital this Wednesday. We are OK with this as we do not want to do ANYTHING to put her in jeopardy. They moved my date to next Wednesday the 13th so if she doesn't decide to come on her own before then she will be in our arms next Wednesday the 13th. Thanks for all the prayers ...

Tomorrow is the day!

We had a great anniversary. Thanks to my mom for watching the boys. We went out to breakfast, did some shopping, watched a movie (for the first time in I don't know how long in a movie theatre) and had a late lunch. Fun times.

Tomorrow is the big day ... My amnio is at 8:30 AM ... if you think of it say a prayer for us.

5 years!

5 years ago I married my best friend. It is so hard to believe that we have been married for 5 years. A lot has happened in our lives over the past 5 years. We have 2 beautiful kids and one on the way soon. We have weathered some storms and enjoyed some sunny sky's. I believe we are better because of the storms we have weathered.

Jeremy, I love you and am proud to be your wife. I so enjoy running the race of this life next to you, hand in hand. I can't imagine going through life without you by my side. You are a wonderful husband, father to our kids, and friend to our friends. You act selflessly as you walk through your life.

I know this past year and a half of our life has been hard. We have wondered where we were headed in life due to the events of last March but I couldn't be more proud of how you walked our family through this season. You kept your eyes on Jesus and let him chart our course even though some days were really hard you never let it affect the way you led our family through that time.

I look forward to the next 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 plus years that we have ahead of us. I look forward to all that God will do in our lives and how he will grow us closer together as husband and wife and as a family unit. I look forward to walking through life with you by my side! I know as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus and each other ... allowing him to be the third part of our marriage that we can't go wrong!

I love you and thank you for the past 5 years of my life! Thank you for being the man, husband, friend, and father that you are! Happy Anniversary honey!

A quick update

We made a trip last night around 7:15 to L&D. My contractions had been 5 minutes apart for about 3 hours. By the time we got to the hospital they were coming every 3 then every 2. However, I'm just not dilating so they gave me a shot ... a cocktail mix of morphine/fennigran to relax my uterus. It didn't help much as I contracted all night and feel like I'm hungover this morning. We will see if they get any stronger this weekend. Since I'm only 36 weeks they wouldn't do anything to help me dilate. So if the contractions do not get strong enough to dilate me then I'll keep my scheduled appointment for the amniocentesis on Monday at 8:30