Derby Day Winners! - May 09

Abigail and friends picked up quite a few trophies at the car races this year, due in no small part to Daddy staying up late at night drilling in weights and balancing wheels...  He managed to be the force behind 4 derby day trophies!   Here Abigail and Jessica show off their cars, the Unicorn-Mobile and Under-The-Sea:

MomEm and Pappaw were in town and joined in the fun:

A close-up of the Unicorn-Mobile next to the most creative (though not most aerodynamic!) car we've seen:

April Is Crazy

Did April happen? We spent the month trying to reconfigure a new normal for our family. So far 4 kids really isn't that crazy, except for bedtime. Oh boy - all previous rules and routines have flown out the window, and everyone seems to be needing snuggles at once! Here are some random shots of life this month...

Elijah's first real bath

Some sleepy smiles from the little man

The many faces of Ezra: sweet brother...

...ruthless pirate...

...cool dude...

And the one face of Sarah: troublemaker!

Happy Easter!

Welcome Baby Eli!

Elijah Edward Kennedy

Born March 22, 2009

8:48 PM

At our home in Jacksonville, Florida

10 lb 2 oz

21 inches long

We're calling him Eli for now, to see how that suits him.  Some pictures below!

A few hours old (this picture looks EXACTLY like baby Abigail!)

One day old

Proof that he is a Kennedy 

(our babys' footprints never fit in the cute little boxes!)

A few minutes after baby is born - big sister Sarah is VERY curious!

Really-big-sister Abigail holding Eli

Ok, this was a few day's ago, but it was too funny not to blog somewhere!  

Ezra and his St Patrick's Day outfit .... !

Countdown

Everyone asks if I'm counting down to baby, but I'm not.  Really.  It's 5.5 weeks (March 30).  Except that Sarah (#3) was a week late, but I'm measuring a week early.  As much as I am looking forward to not bending over the bowling ball (ok, we've passed bowling ball stage - it's more like a lead-filled beach ball!), I also know that they are easier in than out!  I remember thinking, with each baby, near the end, wow, I cannot WAIT to not be carrying this weight around any longer.  And then, a few weeks after baby is born, when I am carrying baby around all day I think, hmm, what changed, exactly?  This has been a really easy pregnancy, which is a blessing, because it was a really hard move for us this fall and winter.  At this point I am usually struggling with lifting things, yet I can still hoof it through the self-check at Costco.  All credit due to my wonderful chiropractor (here, if anyone lives in Jacksonville and needs one!).  Something about baby #4 has made my body feel like an old jalopy that only needs one good jolt to fall to pieces!  

Merry Christmas!

Here is the picture that was going to be on our Christmas card ... and a few more of the kids.  We might still send something out, who knows! It's only Christmas Eve ... Hope everyone is celebrating and enjoying the evening. Daddy and the kids are still out "shopping" and I actually have dinner all cooked and ready (even the turkey carved) so I'm sitting here with my feet up and enjoying the quiet before the storm. Merry Christmas to all!

Fall in Review

Here are some pictures from the last month or two, as we've been unpacking, traveling to Texas and Mississippi for Thanksgiving, and unpacking some more! The kids have settled in wonderfully here, catching up with old friends and making new ones.  

Ezra: Mom, I really want a skateboard for my 3rd birthday.  If you don't get me one, I'll use anything I can find... (he got a razor scooter instead, and is tearing up the town on it!).

I am tiger, hear me roar!

All of us at the September 11 Memorial at the Pentagon.

Sarah the Halloween Pumpkin..

Go Navy!  We are decked out for the game.

A last picture of us in front of the Old House on the day we drove from Virginia to Florida.

Abigail and Ezra in their favorite tree in the front yard (well, ok, the neighbor's front yard!).

Off to Texas ... Sarah playing in the mulch at the playground.

Another good tree to climb ... this one a willow at a park in Texas.

Daddy is growing out his "whiskers" during his 30 days of leave.

Back home in Florida ... we will defend our box fort with every available weapon!

Daddy's last day with whiskers ... and one of those beautiful Florida sunsets.

Getting the Christmas tree ready.

We're a Traveling Circus Now

On the road again ... the truck is loaded and en route, and we're living in hotel rooms! Halloween morning the loading crew showed up, and the house was cleared out, leaving the giant piles of dog hair mixed with missing toys and socks that we hadn't seen in 2 years. We cleaned furiously trying to get out of the house in time for our new tenants to move in that evening (quick turnaround! We were trying to help them with a tight schedule). At sunset I had to bail and leave Donnie to finish the work while I took the kids trick or treating. Ezra was terrified by a very scary house and a man who thought it was funny to scare 2 yr olds (I'm tempted to do a drive-by and egg his house!). Then we piled them all into the car and drove to Annapolis.

And just in case that wasn't exhausting enough, we woke up Saturday morning and hauled the family off to a Navy football game! It was actually a beautiful day, and I comforted my poor tired body with the thought of all that vitamin D we were getting. Then out to dinner with friends (after Navy won the game in overtime) and for the second night in a row, the kids weren't tucked into bed until 11pm. Sunday morning the kids were happily playing in the hotel room, and I thought, ok, we're doing pretty good... then Sarah found a chocolate cookie and snarfed it down before we got to her (envision a chocolate covered 1 yr old). Next, Ezra and Sarah got the tv remote and were trying their best to switch to the "adults only" station, while Donnie was trying to figure out where they were hiding the remote and stop them. And Sarah in her excitement turned around and lifted up the coffee table and turned it over (she's a bruiser). I was laughing so hard I started crying, almost threw up, and ended up having to lie down and recover! I think we are officially exhausted. :)

We leave here Tuesday morning to drive to Jacksonville, hopefully meeting the truck on Wednesday and re-finding a new, normal life sometime soon! In the meantime, nerf basketball is a great entertainment for the hotel room (kids and daddies alike)...