Super Spiderman Lucas and other Thanksgiving garble

This year for Thanksgiving, our family kept things pretty quiet. Shaun had to go back to work on the Wednesday before the big day. I was soooooo sad about that and I think I kept a hold of my sadness throughout the long weekend.  In spite of my mood, though, Rylan and I loaded up the vehicle Wednesday night and once Dad was ready we headed to Sheridan.

Thursday was really very nice. Mom and I spent the morning getting food ready, and Daunee' helped as well. Dad had the very hard task of holding Lucas. So far, he's keeping his Mommy's work schedule of being up at night and sleeping during the day. We had a nice afternoon meal and then all took long naps.

That evening Echo, Paul and the kids came over. We kept things pretty quiet again in the evening, eating  leftovers and lots of yummy pies.

Friday we all hung out at the house again. Echo and Paul did Black Friday shopping and then all of the guys went out to check out the guy stores (Home Depot, Shiptons, etc). This is the first year in many that I did not go out. We're so focused on the cruise in January that we're scaling back our Christmas shopping. It's so sad. I love to be out in the crowds and watch how crazy people will act. Oh well, there's always next year!

Friday afternoon, Rylan and I left the Kennedy's house for the first time since arriving to go to the Downtown Stroll. I LOVE downtown Sheridan. Most of the shops were open and there were several vendors offering free treats. We had chili, hot dogs and hot chocolate. It was a fun evening but tainted with Aiden having several small seizures. He fell in the street, then couldn't even eat his hot dog because he was having so many. It made for a sad close to our night out.

Paul and Echo left very early on Saturday morning to get Aiden back to the hospital for blood work. They will be looking to see if the medicine is damaging his liver then decide whether or not to add more medicine. I plead with you to continue praying for him and for the doctors to get his meds figured out. He gets so frustrated when a small seizure causes him to lose his train of thought or drop things.

In his good moments, though, he is as funny as ever. He calls Lucas "Super Spiderman Baby Lucas" and tells us that he is going to baby-sit him and play hide-and-seek. Too hilarious. Rylan wasn't too interested in the new baby, but she did tell him to "Shhhh" every time he started to cry!

Rylan and I headed home Saturday morning and have messed a bit with Christmas decorations ever since. She is totally into helping with everything and unpacking the tubs of decor. "Here, Mommy," she declares over and over as she brings me something to set out. Her work is too fast for me to keep up with! My family said several times that she's like a little adult. I never think about that, but I guess that will happen when you have an only child being raised by two firstborns. We probably expect too much out of her already.

I was moved to tears when I was unpacking the Nativity Set and telling her about why we celebrate Christmas. The weight of our task in rearing a child and teaching her why we celebrate Christmas seems pretty heavy. I showed her Baby Jesus ("Baby Geez" in Ry-speak), showed her His manger and told her it was His bed. Now anytime she walks by the Nativity Set she says, "Shhhh!" The girl makes me laugh. Anyway, here are some pics of our weekend. Hope your Holiday Prep is off to a fabulous start...and may you remember the Reason for the Season...the birth of our Savior!

Rylan wasn't sure what to think of her chair being packed to go!

Sweet Baby Lucas-he is a very quiet baby. See the new Kennedy Blog for more adorable pics!

Rylan trying to get her pic done like her new cousin

Papa, Ry and Lucas

Can you spy Rylan? She was playing hide-and-seek!

Maybe a little risque-but I couldn't resist sharing. Buck naked except for the adorable boots!

Auntie Z and her favorite nephews

Aiden, Ry and Ella all trying to squish in for a pic

Auntie Nee' and Ry

Daunee' and precious Lucas

Ella drinking her hot chocolate at the Downtown Stroll

Mema, Aiden and Echo

Mema helping Ry with her first taste of hot chocolate

Thank You Lord, for families to spend a Holiday with when my honey is hard at work!

Lucas Jeffrey

Last Friday morning, Echo and I got to drive together to Sheridan to await the arrival of our new nephew. We knew we were having a nephew and that he was going to be big, but we didn't know how long we would have to wait for him!

Daunee' started the induction process at 5 p.m. on Thursday and was pretty heartbroken about having to do it. She so wanted to go naturally, but the due date came and went and her midwife was pretty nervous about the size of the baby. By the time we got to town Friday morning, nothing much was happening; and that was the case for the entire day!

I wish I had taken a picture of our family in the middle of the night Friday. Mom was stretched out on a loveseat and Echo and Dad were curled up in small chairs. Daunee' was only supposed to have 3 passes for guests, but in light of the fact that she is a nurse at the hospital and it was so late, no one cared that we were around. We took turns going to check in on her. She had an epidural so she was in pretty good spirits. At 3:40 a.m. Mom came to wake us up and told us Daunee' had been pushing for about 30 minutes. So we ventured off to finally meet our precious new package!

Mom, still smiling despite having little sleep!

Echo, on the other hand, could have killed me for taking a pic!

After three hours of pushing, we finally had a baby! Lucas Jeffrey was born at 6:14 a.m. He weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. and was 21 3/4" long! Everyone was right about him being big, but all the nurses who bet Daunee' would have a c-section were wrong! Great work, Daunee'!

Lucas Jeffrey getting his first loves from Mema Wilson.

The nurses were so great-they held up Lucas for all of the flashing camera lights.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but Damion is thrilled to be a Father for the first time.

Damion's kind of a poop, though. He never wants to cuddle and kiss his nieces and nephews, but he announced how much fun it was to have a son to smooch!

I love this pic...Dad didn't leave Daunee's side until he knew she was all clear and the doctor had finished with her. But he is clearly staring intently at what is going on with Lucas across the room.

'Nae Rabbit was totally exhausted, but thrilled to meet her baby boy. She's going to be a fantastic mom!

Dad getting a peek at Lucas up close.

Once all the excitement died down, we left Daunee' and Damion alone and went for breakfast, then back to their place to take naps. I was thrilled that I got to sneak back in before I left town that afternoon to see and hold Baby Lucas for the first time. He is so heavy already! I'm pretty positive he'll be twice Rylan's size by the time he's a month old.

Already sporting a Harley hat and totally content!

It was a blessing to be together as a family for the arrival of our new miracle. Lucas' arrival came at a time when we have all been on edge with Aiden and his seizures. It was a diversion we all needed. Would you please keep praying for my favorite oldest nephew, though?? He continues to have small seizures (sometimes as many as 15 in 25 minutes), and so far the doctors just want to keep increasing his meds. Along with that, Echo and Paul got a letter from the insurance company stating that Aiden's stay at St. Luke's in Denver was not necessary and thus they wouldn't be paying. That is a battle they really don't need to fight right now. We know and understand that God is sovereign and that He will work all together for His glory. It's hard in the midst of the pain, though, to know how or when it will be all worked out.

Family is precious to me right now. I pray that in this season of giving thanks it is meaningful for you, too. Shaun goes back on days tomorrow so we won't get to spend Thanksgiving with him. That breaks my heart. We had a small dinner last night to make up for it but we'll still miss him! I hope that yours is full of fabulous food and great company!

Oh, and congratulations to my best friend Elizabeth, who welcomed her own Baby Lucas today! Now to figure out how Rylan will keep the new babies straight...

Finally Some Answers!

Aiden's EEG shows he's susceptible to seizures. It's common for them to come on suddenly and close together. He'll most likely grow out of them. He's been having myoclonic & tonic-clonic seizures. Neurologist didn't want to diagnose him but everything says epilepsy. If she picked a type it would be benign myoclonic epilepsy. He's going to take Depakote 3x a day & if there are no more in 2 years he'll be done. He'll have to do blood tests to check for side effects but that will be better than the mood he was in from Keppra. He'll be limited in climbing without someone to catch him & riding bike only with a helmet but only for a couple months. Otherwise no limitations! He is out of the PICU also and won't be headed back. They're going to discharge him tomorrow but they will stay in Denver another night just to make sure all is well.

That's the latest report from Echo. Daunee's Facebook status said that 9 out of 10 children outgrow this type of epilepsy. We're praising God that we have some answers. However, can you imagine keeping up with that kid for the next couple of months?? It might be the best weight loss program ever-because there will be times we'll be running to keep up with him and his daredevil moves!

I think we have all been overwhelmed by the support of people through prayers and kind words. Mom was trying to count states of people that we had praying and I think she came up with 10+. That's amazing. The people I work with have all been awesome, too, which is good since I think I've been a bit out of it since this started happening. It was easy to just go through the motions at school while having Aiden constantly in the back of my mind. Everyone was compassionate and wanting me to keep them updated constantly.

One side effect to all of this that Shaun might appreciate is that I have grown to loathe my phone alerting me of a text. So many were from Echo and of a scary nature that my stomach turns every time it happens now! I might be done with my obsessive T9ing for a while...

Anyway, thanks for keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers! You are all awesome!

Aiden Torq Update

I really should have said something earlier this week but I suppose I got wrapped up in life at school and home.

Aiden made it through last weekend pretty well. My sis and bro-in-law saw a local Peditrician on Monday who went over the EEG with them. There was nothing to be found, so he said that they needed to make an appointment with a Pediatric Neurologist.

Echo went throuh a time of phone calls not being returned and finding out that there isn't a neurologist in Billings; Denver does have one though. And Aiden, who was put on anti-seisure medicine, seemed a shell of himself but at least wasn't having the seizures.

That all changed Wednesday afternoon, when he had two seizures in a row. The ER increased his dose of Keppra and told Echo and Paul that they shouldn't bring Aiden back unless he had two more in a row. He had one that evening and another one early yesterday morning. Echo finally got a referral from the doctor to get Aiden to the Pediatric Neuraologist in Denver. The appointment is for 2 p.m. today. He had more seizures yesterday and they talked about increasing his medicine again and decided the best thing was to get him to Denver.

Echo and Paul left yesterday afternoon to drive to Fort Collins and stay with Paul's Uncle for the night. About fifteen minutes after arriving, Aiden had a fifteen-minute seizure and they took him by ambulance to the hospital where he was admitted for observation. I woke to text messages from Echo and Mom that he had another small one this morning. They are thinking about giving him valium to stop them until they can get to the appointment this afternoon. Mom said that Aiden didn't want to go to sleep at the hospital. He wanted them to fix him so he could go to Mema's house. He told her yesterday that he is freaking out.

Anyway, this is all really a plea that you keep that little boy, his parents, his extended family and the doctors in your prayers. Mom said something about thinking earlier this week that maybe our family is overreacting and making a big deal about something other people deal with daily. But the fact of the matter is that we don't know why Aiden is having the seizures. I've tried to stay strong this week and shut myself off to tears and been very peaceful that God is in control. I did break down last night, however, after coming home from Mom and Dad's. Shaun had sent me a text that said I needed to get sleep and leave Aiden in the doctor's and God's hands. He meant no harm, but it started me on a rant of what I "need." Why should I get sleep when Aiden can't get rest without his body "freaking out?" That only led to more why, how and what questions. After getting a few hours sleep the peace is back, but the questions remain in the back of my head. Please pray. I will try to update more this weekend when we know seomthing.

UPDATE: As of 9:30 this morning he is getting ready to be transported by chopper to Presbyterian/St. Luke's in Denver and they'll be putting him in the Pediatric ICU. He's getting Dilantin by iv right now. Echo and Paul have to drive to meet him at the hospital. He has had four seizures since 4:30 this morning.

Halloween Week

This past Tuesday, Rylan, Aiden and Ella were able to do some Trick or Treating at the Conestoga Staff Trick or Treat. We did it last year and Rylan cried through a great deal of it. This year, all decked out as an elephant, she led the pack most of the way and when I asked her what an elephant said she was happy to oblige and demonstrate her noise!

I was thrilled that she kept the costume on so well-especially the head piece since she won't wear a hat much.


Rylan needed a bologna snack before she could do her treating.


Apparently lions and elephants aren't friends, at least not according to the elephant.


Heading down the halls of Conestoga. It was a lot darker and spookier this year, but the kids didn't seem to mind.



Daddy "volunteered" to hand out candy (as in Mommy said, "They need help handing out candy, so I told Charity you'd be there"). Rylan got to see him for just a moment before we were in the way of other kiddos and moved on.


The big joke when I took the job as Librarian was that I would have to change my wardrobe and hairstyle. I finally played along and dressed the part. This was my trial run on Thursday night. Friday I wore a huge pair of white earrings from Mom's 80's jewelry stash. I only had a few questions about what "type" of librarian I was from adults (not the "naughty" variety thank you very much) and the kids all seemed to understand the costume.


Yesterday Rylan wore her Halloween outfit to pass out candy. This mission was a bit hard for her. She thought she should also get a piece every time the doorbell rang. Despite what her Uncle Tucker said about indulging her a bit, we made it through without too much of a sugar rush. Most of our trick or treaters were former students now in Junior High, who often were calling out my name before I could get the door opened! We give out the good stuff so they aren't tempted to trick us with toilet papering or egging the house!


I can't believe how old she looks in the pic above. And it seems like in the last few weeks she has turned into a totally independent toddler. She knows what she wants to eat, helps get herself dressed and is asking to go potty. Sometimes she's dead-on when she asks and we celebrate with a Skittle or M&M. Rylan also wants to help with all kinds of chores, like sweeping, putting away dishes and folding laundry. I'm learning to let her have some of the tasks and let go of things being just the way I like them (kind of like I had to do when I married a first-born who had his way of doing things like I had mine)!

She finally had her 18-month check-up on Tuesday. She is a whopping 24 lbs., 4 oz. and is 32 in. tall. She was 50th percentile for both so I've let go of my eating worries for now. I'm a little sad to see her growing up. I feel like I'm going to miss everything if I blink and she'll be a teenager asking for the car keys. It seems to be going way too fast!

The weeks ahead look to be busy ones. We should hear more about Aiden's EEG tomorrow when he sees his doctor. Please keep praying! Shaun and I are trying to plan a date night for sometime this week. It's been a while since we had dinner without trying to feed another mouth. Wednesday I'll be going to Ropes Course Training so I can join our 6th grade classes as a Facilitator. My Aunt Betty Jo and crew are coming Friday and we haven't seen them for a while so it should be a fun family weekend. Hopefully we will get to join in on the some of the things the church has planned with Brenda, a visiting missionary from Mexico. She did our cooking when Dad and I went down seven years ago and we're excited to see her again. Tuesday the 10th we are heading to Casper to see Skillet, Decypher Down and Hawk Nelson in concert. Woohoo! It's exciting because we LOVE Skillet and because Tucker will be joining us. This will be his 5th straight week working in Colorado; we've missed him around here. Of course, all of those plans could change if Baby Kennedy decides to make his grand entrance into the world! Daunee' has been measuring two weeks ahead, so she thinks it will happen sooner rather than later. She also thinks he'll come on Mom's birthday, which is Tuesday. We'll see if she's right! And now, in light of all the upcoming events, a girl ought to do some housework! Hope you had a safe and fun Halloween!