Kennedy Connection

2.20.2011

ooops... forgot some!

Amelleah is really looking like a Kennedy kid!

I got out the Bumbo and Lincoln thought it was for him!

But was still excited to share... Amelleah wasn't too sure about it

Still not sure about this...

"OK, NO! I don't like this"

I did try it again later but couldn't get a pic fast enough of her bending over trying to suck on the middle part!

More Misc Stuff & Pics

Okay... I got this to work finally!

Yes, we have entered the age of portable electronic devices for the kids. I kind of hated to REALLY give in, kind of! This scenario, at the table, is NOT allowed :)

And notice the headphones!

Amelleah all snuggled in her carseat with her WubbaNub pacifier.

Sydni is still enjoying being the big sister and is usually pretty good about helping Mom.

I was busy feeding Amelleah and Lincoln couldn't wait for my help...
he got quiet...
this is what I found :)

Superbowl!
Wait a minute... I think Davis was confused!
At least it was a football team I guess.

We had a superbowl party...
from this pic it looks more like romper room!
At least we enjoyed the last 5 minutes of the game!

More birthdays. On Feb 16th my brother would have been 43 years old.
It's still hard to believe he is gone... and for 7 years!
Here are some of my favorite pics with him.

The last time we were together. The week of my wedding which also included Thanksgiving!

Our weather has been a little schitzophrenic lately.

Last week it was REALLY nice and actually a little too warm for me.

So Amelleah made her first trip to the zoo. She did great!

This gorilla kind of had an attitude. He sat and stared at the crowd for awhile then smacked the glass, walked off, and proceeded to sit with his back to us.

Lincoln was amused :)

My birthday was the 18th and 2 friends also have

February birthdays so we had the perfect excuse for a girl's night out!

4+ hours at PF Changs, fabulous!!

2.19.2011

Yes, the littlest man is now 2 years old!! I heard someone say that when you are a mom the days drag on and the years fly by... isn't THAT the truth!!
For a recap of Feb. 11, 2009 http://kennedyfive.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html

****I'm having an issue with blogger and uploading pics so... I had intended for this post to be much longer with a lot of pics, but until I figure it out... this is it!

2.10.2011

It's the Flu!

Yes, the flu bug has found a home with the Kennedys!

First, Amelleah has been sick since the 4th.

Then, Salyna since the 7th.

Now, Davis since yesterday.

Who will be next????

Here is 2 minutes & 35 seconds of what life is like with a sick 3 month old...

and probably why we are SO tired!

And there was yet ANOTHER snow day yesterday!! I believe Wichita's final count was 8 inches. Because I've been sick I haven't taken any pics/videos but forgot I had this one on my camera from last weeks storm. Lincoln is really cute in it!!!

I am so thankful that Lincoln isn't old enough to realize that tomorrow is his birthday and more importantly, that we will be doing NOTHING to celebrate it this weekend. It is offically postponed! So look for that post a little late!

And the never boring life of the Kennedys rolls on!

2.01.2011

a REAL snow day!

We got another snow day!!

It's been bitterly cold (windchill -21), snowing, and REALLY windy (gusts to 45mph).

So we are having a minor blizzard I suppose. Lots of drifting!!

The ice and snow is covering our living room windows, I opened the blinds to look out and this is what I saw!!

Just a cute pic of Amelleah napping in her swing!

So what is a mom to do on such a day, other than the obvious... numerous loads of laundry, cleaning, and playing games with the kids???

Why cut Lincoln's hair of course!!!

Here is a before pic...

During...thanks to Daddy for helping!!

And after!!

He looks more like Andrew now!

Here is most of his hair... looks like a lady got a new style... hahaha!!!

Another video of Amelleah being cute!!

She sounds raspy again but we are pretty sure it's because she has reflux.

She has an appointment in a couple days.

Here is a video of Lincoln playing with Amelleah's prayer bear and saying "Amen"

1.26.2011

Finally we are getting somewhere!

Yesterday Miles and I met with a wonderful psychologist that a friend recommended for Andrew. She was very encouraging! And she thinks he has enough traits of autism to warrant formal evaluations! So the process has begun... it starts with us (me) filling out A LOT of history and questionaires about behavior, development, and tendencies. A lot of which is from his first year and his first three years!! I have to get his baby book out to remember certain things... mommy brain is in full swing these days!!!

We have 3 wks worth of appointments set up, including observation/evaluation time with Andrew... She is even going to his preschool to observe him!!! I am so relieved to finally be on a path that looks like it will lead to some help and resources for us/him to make his life as successful as possible!

Wheww.... I feel like I am finally able to take a deep breath about the whole thing :)

1.20.2011

Andrew mini-update

Andrew and Lincoln were really excited the first time it snowed, it didn't hang around but it was fun to watch for awhile.

Seeing this picture reminded me of the saying "watching the grass grow". Well, I've felt

like we've been watching it snow when it comes to Andrew's issues.

We saw a child psychologist in December and I was less than impressed. The office never sent us our pre-appointment paperwork and the doctor told me within the first 5 or 10 minutes that he didn't think we were dealing with ASD (autism spectrum disorder), that all his issues were likely ADHD. Then later he did a very unscientific "test" with a toy that Andrew responded to totally different than he expected and threw off his ADHD diagnosis. So... I decided to NOT go back. Instead we have taken some time to visit with other people about their experiences and we now have an appointment scheduled for next week for an initial consultation for Miles and I, without Andrew. Which already sounds WAY more appropriate for what we need.

School has been okay. He actually does really well academically (he is very intelligent), it's still the social/behavioral/adjusting to transitions that are the biggest struggle, with some improvement though. I still fear that he is falling between the cracks because of being in the mixed class with about half "normal" students and half that are developmentally delayed, and a lot worse than him.

Home has been a real struggle lately and I'm sure having Amelleah and having my own emotional issues doesn't help. We hope to learn what we are doing wrong, what we can do better, and what we should start doing. He has changed a lot since school started which is encouraging. At least I don't feel stuck but it is VERY slow changes... like watching the snow fall!

***If you are wondering what all this about Andrew is you can read it here

http://kennedyfive.blogspot.com/2010/08/meet-andrew.html

1.16.2011

For your weekend watching pleasure

Amelleah rolled over a week ago or so and I thought it was a fluke... later the same day when I was gone she did it for Daddy.. TWICE! No fluke, she's continued to do it! And she is pretty fast at it if she is mad. I have tried several times to get it, this was my only success!

Here is a little video from Davis' 8th Birthday... Lincoln is really cute at the end of us singing!

Lincoln LOVES it when Amelleah is on the floor and is always trying to help with her pacifier or laying with her or talking to her... he is just too cute with her!

This is kind of a long video of Amelleah and really it's for my Grandma!

1.06.2011

Misc Pics & Birthday Boys

The kid's gingerbread house... each older kid did their own part of the house. I'm not quite sure what the red frosting was all about but it looked rather morbid!

And if you look closely, the snowman and gingerbread man only have 1 eye????? aliens??

Sydni before the Christmas program at church

Lincoln has become obsessed with the "potty"...

we now have a 2-in-1 toilet seat!

Although I am not completely thrilled with this obsession I have been trying to give it some

attention as life allows!

Is she cute or what???

More videos coming soon... she is smiling a lot and nearly laughing!

LOVE this pic! She was out cold and daddy wasn't far behind!

Lincoln is always helping with vacuuming!

Headed to church

This has got to be my favorite outfit so far... it's all sweater material.

Check out the adorable socks from some friends!

Checking out one of her Christmas presents... she loves it!!

We now have an 8yr old, 5yr old, and... well... 30something year old!!

Unfortunatley there was not a lot of formal celebration this year. Sickness seemed to trump any plans we would have liked to have.

We did go shopping to spend birthday money... 6 days after Christmas!!

We gave in... nerf guns AND extra darts!

I think next year we will go back to having seperate birthday cakes and hopefully a wiser choice with the birthday money... instead of shopping!! FYI- Miles had an apple crisp the night of his birthday, with a candle and all... after the kids went to bed, so I have no pics!

12.27.2010

Check us out on YouTube!

I love being able to post videos... I hate that it takes SO long to upload them to this blog.

So we now have a YouTube channel where you can see all our posted videos.

You can even subscribe to it, like the blog and be notified when new videos are posted.

Go check out a video of Lincoln opening his 1st bike on Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/user/kennedysalyna?feature=mhum

12.25.2010

Christmas (part 2)

Enjoy these videos! We missed being with family but are thankful for technology and being able to share with each other!

Amelleah from Christmas Eve

Davis with his remote control car

Lincoln vacuuming

More Lincoln

Freezing while riding scooters and it was even snowing a little

Another one of Amelleah, she is just so cute!!!

I have more videos but that's it for tonight... this Mommy is T.I.R.E.D.

Maybe more tomorrow... and we have 2 birthdays in a few days also.... whewww.....

Merry Christmas! (part 1)

Merry Christmas from the Kennedys!

We hope you had a wonderful day!

We stayed in Kansas again this year, in fact we stayed home the entire day!

We enjoyed family time, some movies, playing with new toys, & cooking!

We have also enjoyed the company of different friends over the past couple of days.

Our friend Caleb and Lincoln got to open a present on the 23rd!

Caleb LOVES cars and trucks! There were lessons in sharing and a little 22mo. old fighting. Amelleah's "My First Christmas" outfit that she wore on Christmas EveYes, this is our Charlie Brown tree. Our other tree had issues, I'll spare you the details, but we had to replace it... so this was it! Santa's workshop... the Kennedy living room!
Lincoln checking out his stocking
Amelleah showing off her "My First Christmas" hat.... thanks Uncle Steve!! This is as formal as it got today. We stayed home all day...

Lincoln & Mommy managed to stay in PJs ALL day!
Amelleah got other "toys" (crib soother, playmat) but this was her stocking!
Lincoln kept going back and sitting with the presents.