Mom and Dad Kennington

Since Paul and I moved into our townhome at the end of January, we've been itchin to have people come visit. Paul's parents have been wanting to, but they have had so much going on that they haven't had a chance...until now. Last Friday the 23rd, they got on the road way early (well, to me it's early) and were here by 10:00. We had breakfast cooking, but when they got here, we were so excited and distracted we burnt the French Toast, so we tried again and after their VIP tour of our place we sat down to eat.

After that we took them up to see Cedar Breaks.



When we got back to town we went to a matinee showing of Toy Story 3. Way cute show if you haven't seen it. Then we went to eat at the Pizza Factory. YUM!

Paul wanted to take advantage of Kirk's help installing some smoke detectors in our house while he was here. So we went to work doing that. We also got a carbon monoxide detector that you are supposed to be able to just plug in, but apparently this one is a tad more complicated because it went off and those things are loud! So we unplugged it, took the battery out, put in back in, took it out did the hokey poky...well after the process we went through to try to get it to work we were desperate. After reading the instructions, we finally realized it was picking up levels of carbon monoxide. Duh!! We had the swamp cooler on and our neighbors were grilling, so it was pulling in the fumes from that. Who knew? It was actually working!

Once we got that figured out, we played some games, then they were off to their motel for the night. The next morning they took us to IHOP for breakfast (Kirk's favorite) Then they were "on the road again"....headed back home.

It was so much fun having them here and for the chance to play host and hostess for a day. We are so grateful for them and for all they do to support us. We love you!!!

The Baby's Room!!!

Ok so I've been wanting to share this for awhile. I am not much of a crafty person, as most of you know, but when there are projects that involve real tools and a big change, I really get into those. So here are the results of the baby room transformation:)

These were the colors the room used to be. Green and ....pink...ew! Haha they actually weren't too bad of colors by themselves, but together it looked really weird. This isn't the best 'before' picture, but you get the idea. Just green and pink walls in the room.

We got to work making the room our own and one that will hopefully be a happy room that our little girl will enjoy being in.

We started painting with a nice basic yellow...

And I do mean 'WE'. I didn't just take pictures the whole time:)

After we got the walls painted, we put up a white bead board....

And finally the finished room!!...

stay tuned....

So I know this shouldn't count as a post, but I just wanted your ears (or eyes) to perk up for there will be an official post coming soon. We have been hard at work getting the house, more specifically the baby's room, ready. We have a day off tomorrow so Paul and I will be sharing with you our experience with plenty of pictures for proof:)

Spoke Too Soon

So in our last post, we mentioned how great the pregnancy is going. Well I guess we might have spoke a little too soon.

Friday night I (Kaylene) got home from work around 7:00, a 9 hour shift that included bagging for 3 hours, and visited with Paul and ate some lazagna that he brought home from his job (the kitchen at the hospital). We visited and ate dinner, and watched some TV, our nightly routine. Then about 11:00 I decided I wasn't feeling too good. So I went downstairs to our bedroom, got in my pajamas and laid down on the bed for a little while. Finally Paul came downstairs to see what was up and helped comfort me. After laying there for awhile I started feeling like I might throw up. So I went to set up camp in the bathroom. There I sat for maybe a half hour or so when I decided I would take a bath. After laying in the warm water for a bit, I started to get relaxed and actually started to fall asleep. I figured maybe the feeling had passed and that maybe I could sleep. I got up, got back in my p.j.s and went to bed. After about an hour of nodding off and waking back up the feeling to upchuck returned. I grabbed the bucket that has found its home on my side of the bed for the night, and commenced to loose my lasagna. Well I soon realized this was no ordinary sour stomach upchucking when I started coming out both ends (sorry if that's TMI, but I have to tell the story right?). This continued for the next 4 hours and after Paul made a trip to Walmart for the sick essentials (Gatorade, crackers, and Sprite) and when those weren't staying down, he made a call to both June AND Karren (both our moms) and a call to the labor and delivery desk at the hospital for advice. By then we decided all of the women we talked to were right-go to the ER.

So we packed up some things (a change of clothes-incase I didn't make it in time- and some of the sick essentials) and headed to the hospital about 4am. I've always been one to put off going to the hospital for as long as possible, worrying that it might not be worth it ar anything serious. But I guess this time was different when my growing baby was involved and could be affected. So off we went and got checked in and right away they took some blood, urine, and 'other' samples, then hooked me up to the IV. By the end of the night, I had 3 bags of IV put in me to replace what fluids I had lost. From the ER doctor we learned that I had some sort of virus, most likely the stomach flu, but they had also found blood in my 'other' sample...ok my poop. I didn't want to say that, but I think it's pretty scary. But that indicates some kind of internal bleeding-maybe an ulcer or something. So that is to be watched.

After the ER doctor had done all he could (including hooking me up with some zofran to help with the throwing up) I was wheeled over to labor and delivery at about 6. There I was hooked up to the monitor to watch for contractions and monitor the baby's heartbeat and I was given more Zofran and a painkiller. We found out that I was having contractions every minute, due to all the throwing up, and that could lead to preterm labor. So they started with a series of shots that would last 15 minutes each that was to calm down the contractions. Well the side effect of the shot was that I would get really shaky and my heartrate would soar. Well that caused me to throw up again (after the second shot of Zofran I mentioned before). So they hesitated giving me the second shot, but after I expressed my trust in the nurse who we worked with and that I would be ok, she gave me the second. That one lasted a lot longer, but did the trick. My contractions had stopped so they didn't have to give me anymore of those. From that point I was to get some sleep and then I would walk around after a couple hours, then get hooked back up to see if that set off any contractions again. Sure enough, it didn't so I was good to go home...finally around 10:30am.

So there ya have it. Our most recent adventure. We came home and slept and I was to wake up every 15 minutes to take a drink because I was so dehydrated still. But now, a full day later, I'm feeling so much better. I'm so grateful I went to the ER (after some coaxing from Paul) and that the doctors and nurses were able to help so much. I love my little baby and am excited to meet her, but NOT YET! She needs to finish getting ready and come to us as healthy as possible:)

Preparing for Baby

Well I am now 29 weeks and getting bigger everyday..and more uncomfortable! (I know all you mothers reading are thinking to yourself...'oh you just wait!' I've heard that a lot) But nonetheless, I am loving every minute especially as she is moving more and more. It looks like she is going to follow in her dads footsteps and be a soccer player with as much as she's kicking! Everything is growing normally and healthy. Mom, baby, and even dad are doing great. I am experiencing some braxton hicks contractions and averaging about 2-3 trips to the potty a night.

As our nesting instincts are kicking in, Paul and I are getting anxious to prepare for her to come. We started on her room with just a pint of sample paint which actually went pretty far. The walls in her room were a weird pink and green which reflected oddly off each other. So we have in mind a nice yellow with a white panelling.

This is the pink and green combo. For some reason every time I went in the room, I got the biggest craving for some pink lemonade and sherbet. I'm not sure why... ;).

So I can't take that much longer, so here are the beginning stages of the transformation:

Had to throw one in of us:)

So there ya have it. Soon we will have it finished and hopefully will improve on how it looks now. With the yellow walls and white paneling, we want to accent the room with daisies somehow, so any ideas would be appreciated:)

We are SOOO stinkin excited for our baby to come and join our family and hope we get everything done in time!

Paul's Birthday

Now that Paul is 25, I don't feel quite so old now that it looks like I'm only 2 years older, instead of the three it looked like when he was 24. (we don't need to share exactly how much older I am;) ) But I'm so grateful that we are together and I will be able to share every birthday with him.

I hope he had a good birthday as I put a little more planning into this one. I felt that with school and the baby on the way, he wasn't getting much attention or praise. So I did a little something for him to boost his morale. I've been wanting to do this for him for awhile now so I finally did! What is it I did?? Well...you just wait...it was good! I'm talking good! No really it was awesome! Ha Ha ok so it wasn't that amazing, but good nonetheless. Ok, Ok, Here's what I did. I asked every member of our family (the Kelly's and Kennington's) to jot down a story or attribute they like in Paul. So over the course of a few weeks, I collected these stories and laughed and cried (but mostly laughed) and was in awe at how amazing he is and has always been.

After I got all these letters via email, I printed them up and printed off some of my favorite pictures of him such as:

Well, I didn't print this one, but I should have!

So I put all these together in a binder and gave him for his birthday. I planned a little hot dog roast up the canyon (one of his favorite things to do) and we had a picnic and read through all the letters. See! I told you it was awesome! :)

It really was a neat thing for him. Half of the stories that were told, he didn't even remember or know about. I was glad I could help him know how much he is loved and admired.

I love you babe and I hope you had a great birthday!!

A Quiet House, Me, and My Thoughts

I sit at home alone on a Friday afternoon thinking. Thinking about things I should be doing. Thinking about things I want to do. Thinking about who I am, what I've done, and what I will do. Thinking about people in my life now and people that have been in my life who are no longer. You know those people who seem to have it all together and are so sure of who they are and what they want in life. Well, I am not one of those people. I've been thinking a lot lately, and for me that's never good. I've been accused of thinking too much and I know that is true. But as I sit here, I want to actually get those thoughts out and just maybe I will stop thinking.....maybe.

What does the future hold for someone like me? What will I accomplish? Who will I help? Who will help me? Will I ever stop living life paycheck to paycheck? Will I reach those goals I have set for myself? Will I ever do those things with my family I have always wanted to do? Will I ever be again the person I used to be? What happened to that person? Where did she go?

As you can see, sitting at home alone on a Friday afternoon is very dangerous for me. Do you ever have afternoons like this? This is me. This is what goes through my head periodically throughout the day, the week, my life. This might be me asking for help. This might just be me being me. I'm not really sure. Why do we face things like this in life? I'm very blessed and I know that. I honestly have not gone through anything traumatic in my life. But still, how does one put on a smile when they don't feel like smiling? How does one laugh when they don't feel like laughing?

These are just some thoughts I've been having and don't know what I really want to accomplish by posting them out there for you to see. Maybe someday I will get a little break from thinking.