Skipped a year...

So, my last post was last June- so it's probably time for a little update :) Oops. What a year it's been. Kennedy continues to amaze us and crack us up each day. Her personality is bigger and bigger and we continuously thank God for the opportunity to raise this precious peanut.

Kennedy started preschool at our church in the fall of 2009 for three days a week. It was a pretty good routine with Brian dropping her off and me picking her up after work, and she learned so much. We had a busy year with Brian buying, working on and selling houses, me working in the school system, and Kennedy in school. We also went through a tough experience with a much desired pregnancy this past March. When I was five months along, we discovered that the baby girl I was carrying had significant medical problems including brian malformation and a spinal cord defect. We were not given a lot of hope for her survival after delivery, and if she did survive- her (most likely short) life would have been full of surgeries along with paralysis and severe brain damage. So, the heart breaking decision was made to give that baby girl back to God and not continue the pregnancy. There will always be the "what-if"s in my mind, but Brian and I prayed through the decision and felt it was best for our family. We are moving through that time thanks to the much felt prayers and support of our family and friends. Needless to say, that brought us much closer as a family and makes us hug Kennedy a little tighter.

After that experience, I was dreading going back to work in the school system. Not only because the work I was doing had morphed into more paperwork and meetings than face time with kids and families, but also because I didn't want to miss out on anything to do with Kennedy. At this exact time, our church was looking for someone to fill the position of an elementarty coordinator for our children's ministry. I felt a giant pull to interview, and I eventually was hired! I happily resigned from the school system, and now work for my church part time. If you asked me a year ago if I ever thought about working for the church and I would have laughed. It's interesting how directions change when life throws you things unexpectedly. It's already been a wonderful experience!

Brian goes between having a very flexible schedule when he's not working on a house, to working around the clock when he's fixing one up to sell again. It's been so cool to watch him do what he loves for a living- he's so skilled!

Kennedy is my little artist. She loves to sing, dance, paint and create. She had her first ballet recital a few weeks ago- what a riot! I know I'm partial- but she did an amazing job!! Somehow, Brian and I sat on the front row and I kept thinking she was going to come on stage, see us, and have a melt down or want to come sit with us. I was COMPLETELY wrong. That booger pranced on stage and picked up her hula hoop and yelled, "Mommy, WATCH THIS!" She had a huge grin on her house the whole time and was our little dancing queen.

So, Brian is finishing up a house, Kennedy and I just made it through VBS (Kennedy sometimes calls it "CVS") week at church, and we are ready for the summer ahead of us! Kennedy turns three in July, we start swimming lessons next week, and we are hoping to make it up to Atlanta to spend sometime with Lisa, Pablo, Jackson and the newest family member, Ava Judith. That's about it...