Summer Days!

I know, I know.  It's not summer.  In fact, it's not even spring yet.  But I'm so excited now that the days are getting longer and the weather is warming up!  For us Floridians, that means temperatures in the 80s, pool season is officially back under way, and evening walks as a family.  Last year we missed out on a lot of swim season, since Kennedy's surgery fell in July and she couldn't swim for at least 6 weeks.  I truly love summer time, even if it also means hurricanes and humidity.  This summer will also bring the birth of our son! 

Today we spent a few hours at Busch Gardens, though Kennedy was less than thrilled with the amount of big kids in the splash park.  Apparently during spring break, is NOT the time to go to Busch Gardens.  We made up for it by coming home and filling Kennedy's pool in the drive way.  She was more than pleased with it.  200 photos later, here's just a few of my smiling girl.  Seriously, this girl melts my heart more and more every day.  Her giggles and smiles only get sweeter.

 

L.O.V.E.

Have I mentioned just how much Kennedy has changed my life?  Or how completely obsessed and in love I am?  This is a different kind of love that I can't begin to explain.  I cannot believe that in two days, my little diva is going to be 6 months old!  Yesterday marked our 6 week anniversary from open heart surgery.  It still amazes me how far we've come.  I expected that we would find ourselves "behind" as a result of surgery, but she has bounced back like I can't believe.  She actually ENJOYS tummy time!  Dr. Nardell warned us that most babies hate tummy time after surgery, and only last for a minute or two at a time.  Not Kennedy.  Yesterday she spent a full hour laying on her belly before she rolled over.  She's also incredibly close to sitting on her own.  Technically, she has sat on her own for up to about 15-20 seconds.  I suspect that by the time we get home from vacation, she'll probably be sitting on her own.  And today...she sat in the shopping cart, with out her infant seat.  She loved it!  And I loved it too, because honestly, it's getting really hard to lift that seat in and out of the car and carry it around with us! 

Words just don't explain how much I love this little girl. 

Look at me mom!  I love tummy time! 

Are we REALLY going swimming mom?  It's been forever!

Swimming with mommy!  This is so relaxing!

Does this hat make me look silly? Don't take my picture if it does!

I love this thing mom!  Can we do this every day?

This water really is relaxing. I'm getting sleepy.

Swimming is hard work.  Maybe I'll just rest my eyes.

 

This puts a whole new perspective on grocery shopping!

Kennedy's Vacation!

Marlon and I had a lot of vacations planned for this summer.  Unfortunately, with Kennedy's upcoming heart surgery, they were all put on hold.  We REALLY wanted a weekend getaway, to spend time as a family with out the distractions of every day life.  We decided on a quick trip to Clearwater Beach.  How lucky are we that we can just toss our stuff in the car and hit the beach for a weekend?

Well - first of all.  There is no such thing as a quick trip to the beach when you have a baby.  I didn't have a clue just how much stuff we actually had to bring.  Once I started thinking about it, I almost thought about staying home!  As we were packing things up, I kept thinking how much we need a bigger truck.  Like maybe an 18 wheeler?  I left the house Friday thinking we needed a bigger SUV.  I came home thinking we need a minivan. 

We had a great time, and even got to meet one of my "online friends" that I feel like I've known forever.  Kennedy loved the beach and the pool.  She spent some time napping under an umbrella and was the hit around the hotel.  She did fabulous at dinner Friday night when we took to the steakhouse.  I made 8pm reservations thinking she would be asleep or close to it.  She was wide awake - but a happy baby and a hit!

Most importantly here are some pictures from the weekend!

Kennedy knows the right way to hang out poolside!!

She loved playing with her friends on the bed while we got ready!

Sleeping BEFORE dinner.

Wide awake DURING dinner

Dancing with Daddy

Sound asleep AFTER dinner

Daddy Snuggles

Ready to go to the pool.  Apparently her bathing suit tasted rather yummy! 

"C'mon Mom, let's go swimming already!"

As always - she loved the pool!

Mommy and Daddy didn't really think through bath time.  So Miss Kennedy ended up getting her baths on the bathroom counter...on top of a pile of towels.  I feel bad for the cleaning staff that was responsible for our nightly cleanup and turn down service.  Towels and water everywhere!  But Kennedy loved it!

Wide awake - hanging with mommy and daddy at the hotel bar!

Milk on the beach - this is the life!

 

Our Family!

Kennedy absolutely loves this elephant still. Note to self, take it with us to the hospital.

I'm pretty sure Kennedy was eying my cheeseburger!

Adventures in Tummy Time

Since Kennedy's Early Intervention therapist can't work us in for another 2 weeks I've been working overtime to get Kennedy to strengthen her neck and upper body before her surgery.  She absolutely HATES tummy time.  I've tried everything.  Sometimes she rolls over.  And other times, like today, she tries to make an escape.  I guess at least we know she has really good lower body strength?  At this rate she'll be crawling before anything else. 

Notice - the foot and the arm up.  I swear she was trying to crawl away.

Once again - trying to escape?  Face buried in the floor, and on her knees.

 

Then she gave up and decided to suck her hand.

 

In addition to all the fun (sense the sarcasm?) we had with tummy time, we also went swimming.  Grandma came over to play today, so we were able to get some pool time pictures!  As usual, Kennedy had a great time!  She is most definitely a water baby.

And to finish things off (because I've been slacking on photos lately) - here are some more play time photos.

I'm not entirely sure what this face was all about.  I'm pretty sure it was part of a "conversation" with one of her friends!

Kennedy has recently been very into her rattles.  Today, she finally figured out how to call daddy at work.  Then she hit herself in the head with the rattle, and wasn't so happy.

However, she did not learn the importance of leaving a voice mail, so if you get some random calls from us, you know who it is.

Kennedy's First Easter!

The Easter Bunny came to Tampa!  It's amazing how much holidays change when you have a child.  I don't remember the last time Easter was so much fun.  When I was a kid I used to make my mom hide the eggs over and over and over again.  In just a few years I'm sure I'll be doing the same thing for Kennedy.  We ran out of time to color eggs, and I don't think Kennedy really missed it.  We filled our day with lots of excitement, and both of her Grandmas came over to share in all of the Easter fun!

I also decided that I really need to learn how to use my camera!  I did a few photo shoots with Kennedy today, and we had so much fun.  I'll try not to bore you with the 500 pictures, and just give you the highlights and her best expressions!

Daddy even dressed up as the Easter Bunny!  We were kind of sad that we couldn't get the "first Easter" picture with the Easter Bunny.  Mommy put bunny ears on daddy, and drew whiskers on his cheeks!  Kennedy wasn't very happy, and I'm pretty sure the whole thing went down about as well as it would have had I taken her to the mall.

We also took Kennedy swimming for the first time today!  She absolutely loves the water, so I was hoping that the pool would go over just as well.  She loved it.  We ran into two small problems.  Her hat kept falling over her face, and there were a TON of love bugs.  Hopefully they go away soon so we can make another trip to the pool.

We had a wonderful day!  I'm so excited for all of Kennedy's "first" holidays!  If Easter was this much fun, I can only imagine what Halloween and Christmas will be like!