The Neal Family

Can't decide if it's cute or dorky, but either way it's an impressive do for a 3 month old!

Otherwise titled "How Obvious Is It That Daddy Dressed The Kids?" So cute, though! Sean's Dad and stepmom sent the kids both new Cougar t-shirts and since Kennedy is getting big enough for her's they got to match today. And then I managed to get a (sort of) video of Kennedy rolling over. You'll see what I mean. She started to fuss, I clicked the stand by button and then she rolled over and I caught the end result. Still fun to see, I think. Oh, well!

Note: Patrick was going to be included in this post. However, he declined (read: screamed and threw a fit) to be photographed today. Apparently it will steal his soul or something. Let the record show that we still love both of our children equally. Kennedy is just a more willing subject right now.

New Note: Patrick decided he wanted in the picture and makes a cameo during the second half of this video. Oh, to be two and so fickle.

Dear Kennedy,
I'll say this every month but where, oh where, does the time go? It seems I just wrote last month's letter! Already a quarter of your first year is behind you, and you've grown and changed again. You are such a sweet baby. I can't get enough of you; of your chubby little legs, your huge smile, your soft curls, and your newfound little voice. Daddy and I have to take time to really appreciate you every evening after big brother is in bed and the chaos of the day is over, just watching your face and listening to your coos and giggles.

As far as your new accomplishments go, you are rolling over from front to back quite a lot. Tummy time is far more to your liking now that your head and neck are so strong and you can roll over when you have had enough . You discovered your hands recentlyand they are your new favorite playthings, now that you can bring them together. You also spend a lot of time trying to fit your whole fist into your mouth. And you're finally sleeping in your own bed, although some nights you sleep straight through and other nights you seem to be up to eat all night long. We're still working the kinks out of your sleeping schedule.
You really do bring so much joy and happiness into our family. We talked a lot when you were on your way about how you would change our family and I am happy to report that it's definately been a change for the better. You are sweet and gentle as always and bring a new personality to the scene in our home. In some ways you make us all more gentle and calm. For instance, we've learned that you don't much care for raised voices or any kind of conflict and have had to learn to be different for you.
We love you, pretty little girl. We are grateful every single day that you are finally here in our family. As always, we're so excited to see what the next month holds for you as you grow and change and delight us every day.

Love, Mommy

(p.s. I know that last photo is super fuzzy but it was the only one with a big smile and I still love it!)

Just got back from Kennedy's belated 2 month check up (she's 3 months tomorrow). In most respects she is healthy and growing well. She weighs exactly 12 lbs and is 23 inches long. She was all smiles and coos for the doctor and even rolled over, right there on the exam table. She was quite offended by her shots, but got over it relatively quickly and is currently sleeping off her hard day. She was being quite the charmer right up until those shots went in and ended all the fun for the morning.
As far as following up on her few little medical concerns, her belly button hernia has gone away and closed on it's own. In the not so great news, her heart murmur is still there, and sounds about the same as it did before so who knows what will happen there. She's also developed a flatish side to her head, which is hopefully just the positional cephaloplegia, but could possibly be the more serious problem of having the skull fuse together too early. So that's fun. Oh, this girl. She's trying to scare her mommy left and right. Let's pray that it's just about sleeping on one side and being diligent about switching sides and tummy time will fix it in the next six weeks!

I've been on a reorganizing spree this week, since we decided to postpone moving to a bigger place, again. (Long story, but mostly just to make it possible to save more money.) Mainly I needed to make Patrick's room belong to both Patrick and Kennedy, since I'm getting ready for her to move in with him shortly. I also needed to move Patrick's "preschool stuff to the living room so we would actually use it. Anyhow, none of it is perfect or finished, but I needed to show off my work, so here's some pictures of the end results.

The Closet Patrick's Preschool/Learning Stuff
Kennedy's Corner of the Living Room :)

And the season of travel will continue, about once a month, apparently. So far we've got:

August: The lovely Stephanie/Nemesis' wedding. Wouldn't miss it. Mallory and I are going to squish our three babies in the backseat and roadtrip it to Utah. BTW, am considering trying to get together with some of you Provo area people on the 12th of August if possible. Maybe at a park for a picnic and let the kids run around? Let me know!

September: Probably flying to Utah with the kids for my sister Marissa's wedding. It seems that it is a major fundraising event at work for Sean that weekend and be probably won't be able to get the time off work. It'll be a fast trip, for sure, but wouldn't be missing that one either.

October: Flying to Utah to head to my parents house for two weeks. They are going to Hawaii for their 30th anniversary and we made plans long ago for the kids and I to go hang out with Kearis and Tanner so they wouldn't be neglected children. They don't really need babysitting, but we'll have fun being there with them!

November: Northern California for Thanksgiving with Sean's dad's extended family. Just a short drive for this one, but it will be nice to see everyone and have them spend some time with Patrick and meet baby Kennedy for the first time.

December: Driving to Southern California for Christmas. My whole family will be heading there, to spend time with my Grandma for Christmas this year. Possibly Disneyland with the whole crew--all 18 of us...outta make quite a sight!

Whew. Like I said...tired already. Wouldn't be a big deal if it was just me, but travel with the kids, while it is really fun, is also quite exhausting. Oh, well--I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to recover and get bored during those long winter months after all this!

As we've had no internet for a week (our modem died apparently) I'm finally catching up on my online world. Here's a little of what the kids have been up to.
Is she not just the cutest! Ooh, I love her! She's getting chubby and developing such a personality! And in honor of her upcoming 3 month mark, I am pleased to say that she is finally sleeping in her own bed! She sprawls out like a real baby now, instead of acting scared to be uncurled at all. She's also going to bed earlier (last night by 8:15 with Patrick!) and I'm remembering what it's like to have evening to get something done. What a doll baby!
As for this little man...doesn't he look grown up suddenly? Must be cause he's (drum roll please...) POTTY TRAINED! A week ago Thursday, he declared that he was never wearing diapers again. And he hasn't, except to bed. He's only had one public accident (at church) and two at home since then. He's quite reliable about getting himself to the potty and even stays dry for naps in his Mickey/Handy Manny/Thomas underroos. I do hope I'm not jinxing myself, but it's gone amazingly well.

We're home! It's been a crazy month, but really fun. Nonetheless, we are all happy to be home and in our own beds. (Even Miss Kennedy has consented to sleeping in a bassinet all day and tonight, so far...cross fingers!)

I know my last month of blog posting has been a bit random, since I kept slapping pictures up for Sean to see what the kids were up to but never managed to offer much written explanation. Basically the trip went like this:

1. Drove to Idaho with Kearis, and Patrick and Kennedy. The whole trip took about 13 hours, with 5 stops to nurse the baby and get gas and food, etc. Kennedy slept about 12 of those hours, Patrick slept about 12 minutes of those hours. He was really good though...just not sleeping.

2. Spent about a week in Idaho with Nana and Grandpa Jensen. My brother Chad was there as well with his wife and my cutie neice Emily. Patrick and Emily had so much fun playing together and just being cute cousins. It's so important to me that my kids be close to their extended family.

3. Attended the Jensen family reunion in Lava Hot Springs. It was just grandpa Jensen on down, so a small, close reunion. I've always loved knowing my aunts and uncles and cousins so well and this trip was no exception. We had a great time--Patrick's still talking about the zip line they had at the cabin.

4. Attended my brother Micah's wedding to the lovely Shannon. It was all very nice and we were so happy to be there to support them. Micah's my third brother and we love both him and Shannon. Patrick especially loves Shannon--my favorite moment was when they came out of the temple and he made a beeline for Shannon to give her hugs. Cannot wait for those pictures to come back from the photographer.

5. Found out about my sister Marissa's engagement. We will be attending another wedding in September. Yay for Rissa! My parents should get a break now...the last two kids are 15 and 11. In the last four years we will have had five weddings and four grandkids!

6. Drove to California with my mom, my two youngest siblings, and my own kids. Kennedy made this trip last a lot longer than it needed to by thinking she needed to eat A LOT that day. I think she just figured out that needed to nurse meant getting sprung from her carseat for a bit. Patrick watched at least six hours straight of DVR'd Little Einsteins episodes and was great in the car.

7. Spent a lot of fun time at Mimi's house in CA, went to Disneyland a whole bunch (found out that it's really hard with two kids in tow), Sean joined us for the 4th of July which was spent at San Clemente beach, and then we made the trek home on Sunday.

Now we're living those post vacation days of laundry to catch up on, a fridge that needs to be restocked, trying to remember what the schedule looked like around here, and weaning Patrick off of his full time playmates he had all month long. The unpacking is finally done this afternoon, and I've started some of the cleaning up and meal planning to get back to reality land. It was so good to get away and really nice to back home as well.

Sunday: "Um, Mom? Would it be possible I get to go to Disneyland today?"
Monday: "Dad, I sayed to Mom, 'would it be possible I get to go to Disneyland today?' and it was really funny. It got big laughing!"
Tuesday: "Um, Mom? Would it be possible that Kearis and Tanner and Patrick go to Disneyland and ride the tram with NO mommies and NO babies there? Just us big kids on the tram? Please, Mom, please?

Good to know he thinks so highly of himself, eh?