Home Sweet Home

It's 3:30am and I am creating a post for the blog -- that must mean that Kenedi is home! And hungry. She came home on Thursday to her sisters' delight. She is doing very well -- she had meconium aspiration with a nice side of pneumonia, but she amazed us and the doctors with her super-duper recovery skills! We feel very blessed to have her with us -- and are grateful for the love and prayers from friends and family -- thank you all very much!

Kenedi Bea Allen!!

Our beautiful Kenedi Bea Allen was born on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 10 a.m.! A bit early, but definitely a welcome surprise. She weighed in at 7lbs. 6oz. and was 19.5 inches long. Labor was a tad quick for our tastes (Whitney can describe the details for those interested, of course).

Sadly, Kenedi wasn't able to hang out with us for very long before she was whisked away to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit because she wasn't breathing very well (she had swallowed quite a bit of meconium before birth).

Whitney is doing great and will be out on Monday. Kenedi is doing much better and hopefully will be ready to come home by the end of this week. Her Doctors and Nurses have been outstanding and prayers from many have definitely been heard. We were finally able to hold her late on Saturday night -- it was wonderful! She is such a precious girl!

Because of H1N1 concerns at the NICU, Kenedi's sisters were not able to visit her, but they sure loved seeing Mom! We are very grateful that Grandma Lyn and Grandpa Allen were already here for Thanksgiving -- they have been a huge help with the girls!

I meant to post these in September. Here's the girl's first days of preschool, kindergarten, and 2nd grade. The last two pics are of Libby's field trip to the pumpkin patch and Shy's field trip to the nature preserve. I got to go on both trips. They were so much fun.

Shocker! We're back after a whole year!

Here we have Halloween pics. The girls were inspired by the new Barbie and the Three Musketeers movie, so we altered their cowgirl Halloween outfits at the last minute. Here's Everly and Libby helping me rake. The two girls in blankets are Liberty and Cheyenne after a warm bath to cure the chills. We've had the serious flu stuff for like two or more weeks now. It's been passed to all of us. I finally got it today. The lovely picture of me features my pregnant self at 33 weeks poking out like a bowling ball.

Phases of Chris

I am a phase guy. It's who I am. A few years ago it was bowling. I took a class, bought the shoes, went bowling whenever I could (including a couple "by myself" morning bowling outings -- only guy in the place -- "But it is so much cheaper to go at 9am on a Tuesday!"). Then, all of a sudden, new phase. Bocce. Raquetball. Video games. Juggling. Harry Potter. Newberry Award winning novels. The search for the longest lasting gum. Vacuum cleaners. Russian Classics (a particularly short phase, if I remember correctly). Trying to get on "Who wants to be a millionaire" by memorizing trivial pursuit cards. That one was at least cheap, since I worked at Deseret Industries at the time (thrift store), and came home with 3 complete games for a total of $5 (including the vintage 1982 version).

Some of these phases are very short lived (i.e. Russian Classics and Scuba Diving -- don't think I got much further than the internet on that one). And some last for quite a while (bowling); or never quite go away completely and overlap with newer phases (running, crochet). Running is a funny one. I talk about it quite a bit, but as far as actually doing it, that comes and goes, depending on if I have the right gear. "If I had an iPod, I'd be running like crazy." or "I need a fanny pack for my water bottles. How am I supposed to stay hydrated if I don't have at-hand water? I can't run without a fanny pack. and a back-up bottle. And another attachment for those hyper energy gel pack things."

And some of the phases are repeat visitors. Every 3 or 4 phases, along comes a familiar face -- "Well hello, Video Games, it's been such a long time! Let's sit down and chat for 4 hours." Or "Classic Games from childhood! What's going on? What have you heard from Buck Rogers? Out of print? We'll see what Ebay has to say about that."

My newest phase is Disc Golf. Our neighbor invited me to go play 2 weeks ago, but I was slightly hesitant, since I viewed this sport as slightly geeky. Since I believe in building relationships, I went. 2 weeks later, I have 5 different discs (including a putter and a couple different drivers) and an official PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) disc bag - which is cooler than a fanny pack because it holds discs and a water bottle. Not geeky at all -- I'm just in a phase.

However, my skills have not quite caught up to my gear accumulation. The other night, I was practicing my throwing skills in the back yard, aiming for the North end of the lawn. The disc landed inside our fire pit, which was housing a quite beautiful fire at the time. The fire pit is on the South end of the yard. Kanza witnessed this spectacle, put her hands on her hips, and said "Dad, I just knew that was going to happen." She is a very smart girl. And now I have 4 discs, one official PDGA disc bag, and one very warped and melted blob with some unique flight characteristics.

If you'll excuse me, I think Leo and Fyodor are calling.

Pink Flamingo Pool Party

Kanza just had such a fun 6th Birthday. We did a family party on the actual day, July 26th, and today was her friend party. We decided when she started spreading old baby blankets on the floor of her room for rugs and used two stacked up diaper boxes for a bedside table, that it was time to dress up her room a bit. We went with a bright hot pink. We did curtains, bedspread and pillows, lamp, bedside table, rug, and garbage can. There is a picture here of her reaction when she first saw her newly decorated room.

These other pics are of the party today. The cake is my atempt at a themed cake, poor flamingo. We had flamingo straws, napkins, plates, played a flamingo game, and played in the pool. It was a fun day for her. I'm pooped.

Weekend Trip to Lake Superior

These first two pics are of Painted Rock National Park, Miner's Castle and Miner's Falls. This is Miner's Beach too. Lake Superior is so beautiful. Kanza and Elizabeth are sitting here resting after one of the hikes.