Well, it’s been a while since I updated everyone on the family.  So, since no one reading this is interested in what I’m writing, I’ll go ahead and post the pics:

My Beautiful Family

Everyone is doing great at the Kennedy household.  I’m still working at Acxiom and am enjoying the teams that I’m working with.  The commute still sucks, but it beats having to drive to West Little Rock ever day.  (Although, I do miss my carpool partner.  Mark is a great guy.)

Amy is doing a great job at being a stay-at-home mom.  Simona tends to want to eat ALL…THE….TIME.  Amy has been a trooper at handling that.  Hopefully, Simona will start sleeping through the night longer (we found out today that she has started teething….yeah, just now…at 9 months).

Iliana (Sweet Pea)

Iliana just finished pre-school and is about to enter Kindergarten in the fall.  She also just finished up her 3rd year of dance (the pic above is from her dance recital) and her first semester of gymnastics.  She loves everything to do with being a girl (princesses, makeup, and dresses), but she also loves to run barefoot, play in the mud, and catch frogs, grasshoppers, and anything else that she is faster than.  She enjoys playing games on the computer (gee, I wonder where she got that), coloring, painting, scrapbooking, and watching movies.  She is also a great big sister.  She is always trying to help out with Simona and is very protective of little sister.  (Evidently, Iliana is the only one that can poke and prod Simona.)  It took a little getting used to, but Iliana is settling in just fine as big sister.

Simona (Squeaker [but her sister calls her 'Mo 'Mo])

Simona is a very happy baby.  She is happy to see everyone and loves to move around.  Not that she moves herself around, but she loves to be carried around.  So, she fits in nicely with the rest of the princesses at our house.  At 9 months old, she’s not crawling yet, but looks like she will skip that and start with walking.  Some days she’s perfectly content to sit and play by herself and some days she wants to be in the middle of everything and not miss anything that’s going on.  One of the things that encourages me is that Simona adores her big sister.  It doesn’t matter what’s going on, when she sees Iliana, her face lights up and she gets so excited.  She could’ve been woken up from a “all too short” nap…by Iliana…and still be super excited to see her.  I hope to encourage that love and relationship throughout their life.  I hope they will always be close and lift each other up when “mom and dad just don’t understand.”

The girls and Gramma

I cannot express how much happiness my family brings me.  I simply look at these pics and I am flooded with joy.  As I sit here writing this, I can’t wipe the giddy grin off of my face.  I am fortunate beyond anything I can imagine.  My wife and my children are as important to me as the air I breathe.  Anyone reading this that is either single or does not have children may not understand this feeling.  It’s not really something you can describe.  It’s something you have to experience.

My family got me this magnet for Father’s Day:

I look at it and smile because that is how it feels to be a dad.

I know it’s been a while since my last post.  A lot has happened since December.  And, I know, most people that read this don’t care about anything I have to say.  They just want to see pictures of my girls.  So, for those people, here are a couple of pictures:

Big Sister

Little Sister

So there you go.

Even though both of those pictures are a great pick me up, I did have something else to say that caught me completely off guard today.  No…we’re not pregnant again.  That would be wild.  New job and new pregnancy in a month.

Oh, yeah.  I forgot to mention that I got a new job last month.  I’m now working at Acxiom in Conway.  Shorter commute and it seems to be more in line with what I want to do.  So far, so good.  I’m working with some really great people.

Man, I get distracted easy.  Anyway, for the pick me up.  Have you ever reached into your pocket and found 5 bucks that you forgot you had?  That’s awesome, isn’t it?  To know that you have money that you didn’t know you had.  Not much else is as satisfying as that.  I mean, you just made 5 bucks for reaching into your pocket.  I wish all jobs were that easy and rewarding.  That happened to me today.  Except it wasn’t my pocket and it wasn’t 5 bucks.  I reached into my email and found 240 bucks that I didn’t know I had.  Yeah, that’s right.  Two hundred and forty dollars.  WTF?!?!?!

Let me explain:  About 2 1/2 years ago, I ran the 2007 Chicago Marathon.  The exploits of that weekend can be found in great detail in this post.  You’ll notice in that post that Amy made up some shirts for the family.  Iliana’s said, “My Dad just ran 26.2 miles…What did your do?”  I thought they were really cute and fun. So, when I got back to AR, I made up a couple of designs for CafePress.com and SpreadShirt.com.  And promptly forgot about it.

Well, I was checking my email this morning, like usual, and came across another CafePress.com email and I automatically deleted it.  Well, as soon as I hit the delete button I noticed the subject line said something about a CafeCash balance.  So, I went to my trash folder and looked at the email again.  It said that I had a balance of $241.00 and that I need to log on and update my payee information so that they could send me payment.  My first thought was, “Phishing scam!”  Here’s a little web tip for you:  If you get an email requesting you to click a link to update financial or account information, hover over the link and look in the bottom left hand corner of your browser.  The actual address of the link will be shown.  If the link goes to an address that looks like a bunch of gibberish, then it’s a scam.  If it points to the actual website, you should be safe.  But you should actually just open another window and manually type the website address so that you know you are going straight there.

Okay, little bit of ADD going on there.  Anyway, so I go to my CafePress.com account and sure enough, I had a balance of $241.00.  There was also a message asking me to update my account information so that they could send me my commission check.  I thought, “No way!”  So, I started looking at all of the sales.  That was nuts.  The sales reports only go back 3 months.  But in the last 3 months, my stores have sold 28 items.  The commission averages about $1 to $1.50 per item or 10% of the cost of the item.  So, that means in the past 2 1/2 years, I’ve sold about 200 items and didn’t even know it.  How’s that for reaching into your pocket and pulling out some change?

So, what’s your best “I just found some money” story?

I know I haven’t been blogging a lot lately, I’ve just got a lot going on.  But, I could not ignore the cries from Mrs. Allison any longer.  I don’t have a ton of pics on the computer that I’m currently on, but these will have to do.  Thanks everyone.

The Family on our traditional pumpkin patch trip.

My Little Girls

Simona and her Dolly

Sisters

Take care everyone and have a Merry Christmas!

Have you ever worked at an office where there was one person that insisted on showing you pictures of their kids?  You know the person I’m talking about.  This is the person that no matter how times you say, “Yeah…cute kids.  Now, can you please send me that requirements document?” he or she keeps showing you pictures of their kids.  It’s really frustrating.  We have such a person in my office.  Guy gets on my last nerve.  If he’s not bragging about the artwork that his wife and daughter made for him, he’s proudly flashing the wallpaper on his computer.  What is it, you ask?  What else.  It’s a picture of his kids.

Oh, and God forbid you actually ask him about his children.  If you do that, you just better get comfortable because he is going to ramble on about how great it is to be a dad.  He’ll tell you the most minute detail about what his kids are doing or saying.  I mean, just today, he was regaling us all with a story about how his oldest daughter really likes the song “Single Ladies” by Beyonce.  Evidently, she goes around singing, “If you liked it, you shoulda put a RAIN on it.”  What the heck does it mean to put a “RAIN” on it?  I swear.  This guy is driving me nuts.

If you’re reading this and you work in my office, then you probably know who I’m talking about.  You’re probably sitting there saying, “I can’t believe Dusty is going off on that guy.”  Well don’t worry.  You know why?  Because I’m about to tell the whole world (or at least the 3 people who read my blog) who this is.  This insanity has got to stop.  I’m on a mission to expose the “Proudest Papa” in the world.  You ready?  Here it is.

It’s me.

Two on the couch

Miss Priss

Simona up close and personal

Daddy’s Sweet Pea

Yep…she get’s it from my side of the family

I cannot put into words how much I love my girls.  Hopefully, one day, when they’re older, they can look back on this post and see that I was once awarded “Proudest Papa” in the whole world….even if I awarded it to myself.  These are MY girls.  Well, they’re my girls because God trusted me enough to take care of them.  So, with that in mind, I hereby declare that no man in this world, short of Jesus Christ himself, will ever be good enough for MY girls.

I love you Gooby and Squeakers!

We got a baby!  We got a baby!  This morning at 8:22 am, the newest addition to our family arrived.  Meet Simona Juliette Kennedy.

Weight:  6 lbs. 13 oz.

Height:  20 3/4 inches

We are super excited to welcome her into our family.

We were finally able to talk Iliana into sitting still long enough to take a picture with “Little Sister.”

Can you tell that I’m a Proud Papa?

Please continue to pray for us.  Please pray that Amy’s recovery is relatively painless and quick and that Simona stays healthy.

I know it’s been a while since I posted anything, but I’ve been incredibly busy. May was probably our busiest month in a long time.  Here are a couple of things that have happened since the last time I posted.

• Iliana turned 4
• We went to a couple of different family reunions
• We found out that the upcoming addition to our family is going to be a girl
• We named said addition to our family; Simona Juliette Kennedy
• Amy and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary

That’s just all I could think of off the top of my head.

And in continuing the trend of “things my daughter said,” here’s a gem from earlier today:

During the summer, Wednesdays are swim days.  A friend of ours invites all of the moms and kids over to swim in their pool.  Today would have been the first of the season for Amy and Iliana.  Well, I got a text this morning around 9:30 that said this:

Well, no swimming…stupid rain.  Ili said, ‘maybe jesus didn’t know we were going swimming.’

Almost made me laugh and cry at the same time.

Also, I’ve added a new commenting section since, you know, I get tons of comments .  It’s called Intense Debate that allows you to incorporate a lot of features.  To post a comment, you need to have an OpenID or an Intense Debate ID.  It looks pretty fun.  (I think I just put the nail in the coffin to any commenting on my blog).

Last night, Iliana and I were on our way back from dinner and a trip to Wal-Mart.  While we were at Wal-Mart, Iliana spotted a toy that she wanted.  It was a mermaid Dora.  She said that she really wanted it.  I told her that if she was good, then she might be able to get it for her birthday.  Well, she thought about it for most of the way home.

Well, we were almost to the house and something got her thinking about Christmas.  Then she said, “Maybe I can get the Dora mermaid for Christmas.”

So I said, “Well, your birthday comes before Christmas.  Maybe you can get it then.”

Then I decided to take this opportunity to include “baby sister.”

me:  Iliana, when the your baby sister is born, are you going to teach her about Christmas?

her:  Yeah.

me:  You are?  What is Christmas about?

her:  It’s about Jesus and love.

me:  That’s right, sweetie!  It’s about love and Jesus.  What is it about Jesus that Christmas is about?

her:  It’s Jesus’s birthday.

me:  That’s right, sweetie!  It’s Jesus’s birthday!  We celebrate the gift that God gave us in Jesus.

her:  Like Easter.

me:  Yeah, sweetie.  What does Easter mean?

her:  It means love.

me:  (Okay, I’m almost crying at this point.)  That’s right!  Easter is about love.  The love that Jesus had for us.

her:  That’s when Jesus died on the cross.

(Okay, I am crying at this point)

It’s amazing what they pick up on.

setting:  Iliana’s bedroom.  Putting lotion on after bath.

Iliana:  Daddy.

Me:  Yeah, sweetie.

Iliana:  (points to scratch on her knee)  My boo-boo is really red, but it’s getting better.

Me:  Really?  Well, good.

Iliana:  It’s because Jesus is healing it.  He’s God.  He can stand on the clouds but we can’t.  Only Mary Poppins and He can walk in the clouds.  But only her can when she has her umbrella.  Only when her umbrella is open.  We can’t walk on the clouds.

Me:  (scratching head and thinking) er…that’s right sweetie.  (okay.  I’m a little conflicted.  I’m super excited that my daughter knows that Jesus is God.  But I think I need to put in a little more time helping her distinguish between God and Disney.)

Kids…they say the funniest things.

Each day, I am amazed.  I am amazed that such a wonderful being can share the same genetic make up as me.  Seriously, my daughter is awesome!  I’m blown away by some of the stuff that she says and some of the things she does.

Just the other day, she woke up pretty early and went to ask her mother if she could watch Dora.  (That’s Dora the Explorer to all of you uninformed.)  Well, Amy’s pregancy this go around has been anything but pleasant.  So, Amy (while in bed trying to ease the nausea) says, “You know how to use the Xbox, you can watch whatever.  But, you’ll have to hook it up.”  She said this thinking that my 3 year old daughter would not be able to hook up the Xbox and resort to going to the play room and playing with puzzles and toys until mommy could kick the pukiness.  (Oh yeah, it’s a word.  Google it.)

Let me also explain a little about the Xbox in question.  You may be thinking, how can you watch Dora on the Xbox.  Well, I’m a tinker-er.  I like to experiment.  When my Xbox got so old that I didn’t really play it that much anymore, and it was way past warranty consideration, I modded it and put Xbox Media Center on it.  So, basically, anything I download can be streamed to my Xbox, making it awesome for storing and playing hours and hours of Dora, Deigo, Little Einsteins, (seriously, I could go on, but I won’t).  My wife has a hard time operating it sometimes.  Not that it’s complex, just that you have to know where to go once running it to pull the files you want.

Back to the other day.  So, Iliana leaves the bedroom and Amy thinks, “Okay, that should give me some time.”  Next thing Amy knows, she hears the TV on.  She goes in there and sees that my daughter, my pride and joy, has unhooked the Wii from the TV and plugged in the AV cables for the Xbox, turned on the TV and Xbox, and properly navigated to the Family Video section and was watching one of her favorite types of videos:  Iliana.  That’s right, my 3 year old daughter can do what a lot of adults can’t do; properly hook up a piece of Audio/Video equipment.  Am I proud?  Dang Skippy, I’m proud.  Am I over-reacting?  Probably, but let me see your kid figure out how to do that on his/her own.  My kid is a genius!  (Dear God, please don’t let this be the pinnacle of her success.)

And just last night, we were laying in bed during story time and she asked a pretty thought provoking question.  Iliana likes “Princess Joscelyn” stories for bedtime.  “Princess Joscelyn” stories are made up stories about a princess named Joscelyn (Iliana’s middle name) and all of her friends.  Her friends include some talking animals like a horse named “Trotter,” a frog named “Ribber,” and many more.  The stories must also  include the Disney Princesses and many other Disney characters.  Well, during last nights story, Princess Joscelyn and Mary Poppins went to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (all her idea) to have a snack.  She asked who was there with Mickey and I said, “Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto.”  Which are the usual list of suspects hanging out at Mickey’s crib.  And then she said, “Goofy and Pluto are both dogs, but Goofy can talk and Pluto can’t talk.  What’s up with that?”  Profound.  Seriously, what IS up with that?  Out of the mouth of babes.  Does Goofy symbolize the part of us that wants to be the life of the party?  The fun-loving, out-spoken person that doesn’t care what everyone else thinks but is free to be himself?  And does Pluto represent that inner struggle to be a “dog” like Goofy but lacks the confidence to “speak” on his behalf?  Always worried about what people think and so self conscious that he doesn’t “speak” for fear of being judged or rejected?  Granted, she didn’t actually verbalize the last part, but I know she was thinking it.  Three years old people…3…years…old.  Genius.

I know, I’m just an over-excited father that is completely in awe of his child and amazed at some of the things she does.  I know it sounds cliche, but it really does seem like yesterday that she was this little baby that had to depend on us for everything.  And I mean everything.  Now, she’s scaling the jungle gym, performing perfect cartwheels (yeah, that’s right.  Perfect.), and hooking up video game systems.  Time passes so fast.  Iliana, if you’re reading this years from now, know that I love you and I am inspired by you.  Thank you for being a wonderful daughter.

Well, I must be a glutton for punishment. I went with Jon on another trail run today. Not only did we do the same route as last week (grueling), we did more. We finished the trail in about 41 minutes. Instead of heading down the road and back like last time, Jon says, “Hey, we have 35 minutes left to run. Wanna run the trail again and then take a shortcut back when we get to the lake?” Every ounce of my being (and body) was screaming, “No!!!! DON’T DO IT!! IT’S NOT WORTH IT!” But, instead of saying that, I say, “Hey, I’m following you.” PRIDE IS GOING TO KILL ME SOMEDAY!!! So, off we go again. We ended up doing around 7.7 miles. Oh yeah, did I mention that the temperature was 32 with a windchill of 22. The wind was brutal!!! Anyway, here’s the route.

Once again. I hurt. The consolation is that Amy, Iliana, and I went to Jon’s house to have homemade pizza with his wife, Miriam, and son, Jeremiah. The pizza was awesome! His wife is Italian and they have a really good recipe for the dough and the sauce was great. I’ll run 8 miles to be able to eat that pizza again! Iliana and Jeremiah ran around pushing each other around and playing. It was great! Great food + Great friends = one of the best Saturdays I can remember.