Mommy and Kennedy at the park...

Today was not a great day for Kennedy. She had her 6 month visit to the doctor which resulted in her getting a few shots. She was not happy about it at all, but it is nothing that a little baby Tylenol can't handle to ease the pain. She now weighs 17 lbs./4 oz., and she is 26 inches long. She is a growing girl. This past Saturday, we went to the park while Daddy watched the Razorback game against Texas. We watched the first quarter with him and realized that the game was a waste of our time. The park sounded much more fun. We have been making several trips to the park recently because we realize that the weather will be changing soon, and we want to get in as many visits as possible before it gets too cold. Our cousins Whitney (the mommy) and Leighton (the baby) also enjoy going to the park. After viewing their blog and seeing their fun pictures, we wanted to add a few pictures of our own to share with everyone. We hope that you enjoy!

My little stinker...

Well, Kennedy is officially 6 months old today. I can't believe it! In one week, she will be moving up from the Little Lambs class to the Snuggle Bunny class at daycare. Her current teachers keep telling me that they are going to miss her.

It was an amusing morning today. We always try to give her a bath at night before she goes to bed. However, last night we had a dinner meeting that threw us off schedule. Trent convinced me that instead of giving her bath last night that he would give her a bath this morning. With his help, it would prevent me from being extremely late for work. The bath was going smoothly, and she was having a great time splashing the water around in her tub. She was getting Trent a little wet, but he did not seem to mind. He was concentrating on getting her clean. I was down the hall while all this was going on. At one point, I heard Trent yelling my name with a cry for help. I rushed to the bathroom to find a helpless look on Trent's face. He had just about finished with the bath when Kennedy pooped all in her tub. She had never done this before, and so, this was a surprise to me. He immediately handed her to me with poop all over her bottom. He didn't escape that quickly from the mess. I helped him get her cleaned up, but I left him with the poopy tub. Plus, the bathroom smelled awful. Maybe next time, he will listen to me when I tell him that we should give her baths in the evening instead of waiting until the morning. I thought this early morning event was pretty funny. She is definitely my little stinker, or at least she was this morning in the bath tub.

I think they have something in common. I wonder what Kennedy could be for Halloween!

Home from New York trip #2

I am back at home after being in New York once again. Hopefully, I will not have to travel for a while and be away from Trent and Kennedy. Speaking of Trent, he truly impressed me this past week in my absence with taking care of Kennedy. He is definitely a "Super Dad." I am starting to think that I should go out of town more often if this is the result that I get. He insured that she maintained her daily schedule, prepared her diaper bag nightly before daycare, washed bottles, washed laundry, gave her baths, dressed her in adorable matching clothes, etc. I have heard that not all husbands know how to dress their daughters. He did a great job! Plus, they got to experience some father/daughter bonding time. However, I am sure that he is happy that I am back home to step in for some relief. After my past two trips, he now can admit that she is a full time job.

While in New York, I did get to have some fun when I was not working which included great food and attending a couple broadway shows. Once I arrived on Sunday, I attempted to stand in line at TKTS on Times Square for a discount ticket. My wait paid off, and I got a ticket on the 4th row in the orchestra of Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theatre It was a cute musical geared towards the family, and the theatre was absolutely beautiful. At the end, Mary Poppins flies out over the audience in her exit. The souvenier of choice among kids at this show was the parrot head umbrella that Mary carries around everywhere. On Tuesday, I had no set plans. So, I headed back down to TKTS which I managed to get an orchestra ticket to Phantom of the Opera. It was not as good a seat like at Mary Poppins or Wicked, but it was still a great seat. I was excited to see the show because it is the longest running broadway musical in New York. The music was awesome along with the set changes and costumes. Even though it is not geared towards children, this is a must see broadway production! Of all three shows that I have seen this past two weeks, Wicked would still be my #1 pick. However, I may be partial because I love the movie, and I have wanted to see it for two years. The tickets can be expensive, but it was worth it to me.

There were quite a few other things going on in New York, but I managed to miss these events. Below is a list:

• David Blaine was hanging upside down in Central Park for his lastest dare devil and magical stunt, but I was too lazy to walk from 40th Street to 58th Street. My feet can't handle 18 blocks.
• Spike Lee was having a big after party after the premier of some movie release, but I still can't figure out what movie.
• The United Nations parade was on Sunday which resulted in traffic at a stand still which included my car not moving for over 30 minutes. I was trying to get from the airport to my hotel.
• Sarah Palin was uninvited to some political event in the city because Hillary Clinton did not want to attend the same event as her. This is the version of the story that I was told.

There was one big thing thing I forgot to mention in my last blog post about my New York trip #1. I got to meet Genevieve Gorder. For those who don't know her, she is on Trading Spaces, and she has a new show coming out next Spring called Designing with Genevieve. She has partnered with my company, Springs Global, with our Springmaid brand in the bed and bath categories. We are relaunching the brand in 2009 with retailers cross channel. Keep your eyes open for some exciting new things for your home that will surprise and delight you.

Arkansas vs Alabama game

Well, we had a new first for Kennedy this past weekend. It was her first trip to Dickson Street, and she went twice. We went for dinner on Friday night at Doe's and Saturday morning brunch at Emelia's. She got all dressed up for the big football game against Alabama in her Razorback attire. She had a much better time at the game than the rest of us. She was all smiles and laughter. However, the rest of us were filled with disappointment with the trampling that we received from the Alabama team. She looked precious in her new white "Sooie" bucket hat that Amanda Reed monogrammed for us. I added a flower for some extra pizazz for my little hog fan. We have decided that hats work better on her head than headbands. At the last game, the flower headband left some impression marks on her head for about 30 minutes until they faded away. Obviously, it must not have been very comfortable. Plus, the bucket hat protects her head from the sun. Even though we lost, she appeared to have a great time, and she is getting ready for the next game against Florida. She already has her ticket. Go hogs go!!!

Back from New York trip #1

Well, I made it back home today after being in New York (for trip 1) for the past four days. Trent was traveling for work all last week. I hopped on a flight on Friday at noon, and Trent arrived back home that night around 11:00 p.m. Luckily, my mom was able to stay with Kennedy until Trent got home. I knew that I was going to miss Kennedy, but I actually caught up on my rest in New York. Remember that there is no sleeping in once a baby arrives in your household. Plus, she demands 100% of your time unless she is asleep. This was my first big trip away from her, and I didn't see Trent for over a week.

When I tell people that I am traveling to New York on business, many feel envious that I am going and tell me how much fun I am going to have. However, they obviously have never been to New York for work. I spend most of my time cooped up in the office, and I rarely get to enjoy the sights of New York unless you consider my morning two block walk to Starbucks and back. Evenings are a little different though because I do get to enjoy some nice meals. Once I arrived on Friday night, Ashley and I walked to eat at an Italian restaurant called Cara Mia after stopping into Aerosoles to shop for shoes. It was one of her favorite neighborhood restaurants that she use to frequent back when she lived in New York. She has taken me there before so I was looking forward to the meal. On Saturday, I did not have to be at the office very early. So, I set off on my search for H&M. I knew that it was located somewhere by Macy's, but of course, I got lost along the way. Instead of being on 37th Street, I ended up somewhere on 5th Avenue. Luckily, my new iPhone has a GPS system on it which came in handy and got me back on the right path. After visiting these two stores, I walked back to my hotel and went on to the office anxiously awaiting for Saturday evening. My big evening out consisted of dinner at a Greek restaurant and watching the Broadway production of Wicked. I have been wanting to see the show for about two years, and it was just as fabulous as I thought it would be. The setting is based on the story of the Wizard of Oz before Dorothy dropped in. It takes a step back into the lives of the three witches and how they came about. I would definitely recommend this show to all. Plus, I would even go and see it again. This trip to New York has been much more eventful than my past trips, but I would have more fun if it was vacation and not work. Now, I am back in Northwest Arkansas for one week until I leave again this Sunday to head back. If I arrive in New York early enough, I may try to catch another Broadway show for Sunday evening. I am still deciding on what I might like to see.

No more spare tire!!

My spare tire is now back where it belongs which is under the car. I am no longer embarrassed to drive around town except that I spent $347 at Firestone. In addition to buying a new tire, they seemed to think that my brake fluid needed to be flushed out because it was contaminated and that my tires needed to be rotated and realigned. I would like to think they are all honest people working there, or they just saw a sucker coming. Trent really needs to get home because I don't like dealing with this kind of stuff.

When it rains, it pours!!!

Well, Trent left on Sunday for a week on business. It is just the girls at the house all week until I leave for New York on Friday. Kennedy is getting much better, but on Sunday, every diaper that I changed was a poopy diaper. I didn't know that she had so much in her. I am used to once or twice a day but not every time. The poor baby has major diaper rash now because of this. I was told that both of these could be a side affect from the antibiotic. Also on Sunday, I discovered around 7:45 at night that my tire was going flat. I drove to Wal-Mart, and they put my spare tire on for me. Of course this would only happen once Trent goes out of town. On Monday morning, I woke up, got Kennedy to daycare, and went off to work. However, I started not feeling well. I knew that I was going to get sick in only a matter of time. Kennedy had her follow up doctor's appointment at 10:30 with Dr. Graber. It took every once of energy for me to not get sick during her appointment. I was even looking around in the patient room for a trash can just in case, but there was only a small one built into the wall with the paper towels. Luckily, Dr. Graber wrote everything down for me on paper for Kennedy so that I could remember later. After the appointment, I rushed her back to daycare and got home just in time. Needless to say, I decided not to go back to work for the day. Also Uncle Tony (Trent's brother) and Ashley Bloch (who lives two doors down from us) had to help me that evening after I got Kennedy home from daycare. Ashley took care of Kennedy until Tony could get to the house and stay with us that night. I could hardly move from my bed except for to the bathroom. Tony took her to daycare the next morning since I could not. I am so grateful that I had their help! By late afternoon on Tuesday, I was feeling so much better, and I was able to take care of Kennedy that night. By the way, it is now Wednesday, and I am still driving around with my spare tire. My car looks like a ghetto mobile. I am planning on getting it fixed today. I guess that I need to mention again that when it rains, it pours! I am ready for Trent to get home for some help around here!!!

Frustrating weekend!!

Well, this past weekend was not very pleasant. On Friday, we woke up to find Kennedy with a horrible cough, but she did not have a fever. So, we sent her on to daycare. About 1:00 p.m., we got a call that she did have a small fever of 99.7 degrees, but it was not enough to send her home. I decided to go ahead a schedule a doctor's appointment for that afternoon because I knew that she wasn't the usual happy baby that I know. Once we got to her appointment at 4:00 p.m., her fever was 102.7 degrees. I was so upset, and I knew that Kennedy was miserable. Dr. Graber was awesome with her though. They had to draw some blood, and she got a shot of antibiotics. We also had to go to Northwest Hospital to get some chest and lung x-rays to make sure nothing else was wrong with her. Around 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Dr. Anderson called to say that her chest and lungs looked find, but her blood cell count was a little off. I can't remember if they said red blood cells or white blood cells, but it is a sign that she was sick. Dr. Anderson called in a prescription for us. She is doing much better now, and her fever is gone. I will be ready once she is 100% better.

Ready to be done with the infant seat...

If there is one thing that is frustrating about getting Kennedy ready in the car is to put her in the infant seat. Luckily, she does not mind sitting in it, but it is so heavy to carry. This week was especially frustrating with the Gustav rain. At daycare, they do not want you to pull under the covered drive so they put up orange cones to keep people from parking under it. Well, they should change this rule when it rains for parents with children under the age of 1. Kennedy and I both got wet this week for three days in a row. I learned that it is difficult to carry her in the infant seat along with an umbrella and diaper bag, and it is impossible to load her into the car with it all. I gave up trying, and we both got wet. Going forward when it rains, the infant seat will remain in the car, and I will just start carrying her into daycare. Of course, this only works if I am taking and picking her up that day. Otherwise, Trent will need the seat. I may get a little wet when getting her out of the car, but, hopefully, we will not be drenched by the time we get into the building.

Trip to Wal-Mart

On Tuesday night, Trent and I felt that we needed to buy some groceries at Wal-Mart. We got Kennedy all ready to go. We decided to try out her shopping cart cover instead of lugging the heavy infant seat along. With Kennedy now weighing approximately 15 1/2 pounds, you can only imagine how heavy it is to carry her in the seat. Once at Wal-Mart, she loved sitting in the cart because she was able to watch all of the other customers. However, she must have gotten tired of touring the store with mommy and daddy, and she found another use for the cart cover. It is amazing how comfortable she actually got!

Arkansas Razorback football game

Well, it seems that the new thing now is to have a family blog website. So, I guess that I will jump on the bandwagon and sign up too. We now have a family of three. Kennedy is 5 months old, and she becomes more active in her development every day. Last weekend, we took her to the Razorback football game dressed complete in her all red attire. However, this was not her first game. Back in the spring, we took her to the red/white football game, and she was a frequent visitor at the Razorback baseball games. We took her to her first baseball game when she was 2 weeks old. She is a true fan since birth! At the game last weekend, she did really well. We even took her tailgating. She fell in love with a big blow up chair that our tailgate neighbor, Chris Rushton, happen to have at his tailgate. She hung out in the chair for about two hours playing. People seemed to love coming up to visit her, or maybe it was because the chair was next to the beer keg. Who knows? Anyways, the final outcome for the evening was that she seemed to enjoy the game and Arkansas beat Western Illinois.