Friday, December 31, 2010

Papa Snowman

Before we got off for winter break, Bryce and his first grade class had a winter play. Bryce played "Papa Snowman". Mom wanted to dress him up, and he was the cutest snowman there!


IMG_9743

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Odd Ball

Every Kemmey Kid has a version of dirty blond hair. Some are darker than others, and Rachel has a hint of strawberry blond to her hair. The weekend before Christmas, Suzanne decided to dye her hair reddish blond. She is now the odd one of the family.

Gray took her to CVS to pick out some hair dye. She came home and I dyed her hair. The chemicals stink, but it was fun. She wanted it redder, so she is going to dye it again in a few weeks.

Before






Look at how Crazy Orange/Red her head was. She was freaked her hair would look like that too!




Ta-Da. It looks a lot more red in person!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Crack Up

This kid is too funny. He cracks me up. Daily.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I Really Hate School Computers

I have been trying to download a simple thirty minute video for my Biology class for 45 minutes. At home, it downloaded in about a minute and a half. This is the only thing I have to do for online classes today, and it won't let me. I could have already been done if I were at home. School is a waste.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Sicko

Almost two weeks ago on Tuesday night, my mom's mom went into the ER in Virginia Beach. She could barely walk, she couldn't lift her arms up, and she was overall having trouble doing anything. She was immediately admitted, and went to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). I got the chance to go down on Thursday morning to see her.

The hospital entrance. I was actually born at this hospital!


When I got there, she looked horrible and she was so delirious. She was saying so many crazy things, and she was imagining things. She was insisting that Gray had been arrested three times, that I was not in the room, that sausages were hanging from the ceiling, that her ice in her cup were bubbles floating in the room, and so many other things. We hung around for a couple of hours just listening to her and cracking up, because she was not making any sense at all. She was hooked up to IVs, blood pressure monitor that checked her every 20 minutes, oxygen, a PulseOx, a heart rate monitor, a catheter, and tons of other things. She couldn't move without a nurse, so she basically laid in bed for a week and a half.

**In the ICU you are not supposed to be taking pictures, so I had to secretly take this with no flash and then make it lighter on the computer.

We didn't want to leave Grandma alone in the ICU at night, so I stayed with her both Thursday night and Friday night because mom and Gray had to go back to Fredericksburg for their college classes, my Grandpa had to give college exams the next morning, and my aunt is a teacher who had to work the next morning. That left me. It's a good thing I stayed, because both nights were rough for her.

Grandma on Thursday

Thursday night I just had the laptop and some schoolwork out, and Grandma woke up at about 12:30 am. She woke up, looked around, and started saying stuff like, "Oh, this looks amazing. Who did all of this work. This is so nicely decorated. Oh! Look at those cats and that clown! Wow, this looks like a nightclub in here! Who's party is this?" It was crazy. She thought we were really having a party in there all night and kept saying she felt so bad she was ruining the party every time the nurse came in to give her medicine or when she had to use the bathroom or anything. Friday morning around 6am, she starting acting more like herself again. Most of the confusion was gone, and she was talking like herself again, which was good.

Grandma started telling me how she thought she was going to die. It was definitely the worst and sickest I had ever seen her, but I knew she wasn't dying, so I just listened to her tell me about her life, and all of her kids and grandkids, and about when she was little, etc. The doctors figured out that some steroids she was on were shutting down her entire system, and she most likely took to much or forgot to take one of her medicines. All the confusion and random things she was saying were caused by being rapidly taken off of her medicines while the doctors were trying to get her back to normal. She had so many great doctors and nurses!

Her screen with all of her vitals and monitors

Friday day was good. Her legs were in a lot of pain--a lot. I rubbed them for hours. I switched out with my aunt and grandpa so that I could go back to their house and take a shower and go to Target and get some clothes. I wasn't planning on staying in Virginia Beach, so I had nothing with me except for the clothes I was wearing and a pair of sweatpants. My aunt took me, I got some clothes, and then I went to some work holiday party with my Grandpa. I was running on like 2 hours of sleep, and I fell asleep at my Grandpa's work party :) After that, I went back to the hospital to stay another night with Grandma. By Friday night, she was out of the ICU and was on the 3rd floor, which meant a lot less monitoring. They were still monitoring her heart, her oxygen, and her blood pressure but less frequently. She fell asleep pretty quickly, and I was sitting on one of those little hospital pull out chairs falling asleep.


The nurses were in and out of her room throughout the night, checking her blood sugars and checking all of her vitals, so I was awake off and on when they would come in. About four in the morning, Grandma woke up and couldn't breathe, so she pushed the nurse alarm button. Of course, I shot right out of bed and was up for the day. They started doing breathing treatments, chest x-rays, EKGs, etc... trying to figure out why she couldn't breathe. It was a crazy morning. Eventually she ate some of her breakfast, but just a few bites. The nurses and doctors were taking care of her, and she was doing better later in the morning, so my aunt came and took me to get some breakfast and to go take a shower. My mom came back down Saturday to pick me up and take me back to Fredericksburg.

They have these boards in all of the rooms. This was on Saturday. They expected her out of the hospital in 1-3 days, but she ended up staying five more days.


Here is Grandma on Saturday night about 5:30, right before we left. She was looking and feeling so much better.

Grandma came out of the hospital just this past Thursday, the ninth. We went back down to Virginia Beach this weekend, and she went back into the hospital this morning. This is crazy. The doctors expect to see her more often than not from here on out.

15 Weeks!

It has been so crazy around here lately, which is why this blog is lacking some updates--I plan to work on that tonight. But for now, update #1.

Mom is done with her first trimester, and she is 15 weeks pregnant today! The baby is growing, and now is only 4 inches long and 2.5 ounces. The air sacs are forming as the baby inhales and exhales amniotic fluid. The legs are now growing longer than the arms, and the bones are hardening. The skin is still paper thin, and all the blood vessels are completely visible underneath. He or she cannot open the eyelids, but can sense light. The baby is moving around, and maybe sucking its thumb.


You can tell mom is pregnant. She has to wear maternity clothes now, which is exciting. She was trying to hold out, but she broke out those elastic waistbands this week :) So far she hasn't really had any funky cravings or been sick or anything, but she usually doesn't. We will find out what the baby is in January sometime around 20 weeks. So excited! Here is mom and all of her pregnant glory!

Isn't she hot!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

5 Down

Tonight I submitted applications to UVA, BYU, BYU Idaho, VCU, and George Mason. This picture pretty much sums up how I felt. I was so ready to be done.





Wednesday, November 24, 2010

12 Week Ultrasound

For this baby, mom and dad are really letting us three girls be a part of the pregnancy and learn a lot. Today mom had a doctor's appointment in Richmond to do her first trimester triple screening. She just tested her blood and got the probabilities for Down Syndrome and Trisomy 13 and 18. We took all of the information with a grain of salt, however, because no matter what this baby will be so loved and adored. However, thankfully the results were all good and the baby and mom are both doing well! Here are some pictures from the day:

The 6.4 cm baby!

The clinical stats. The baby is 12 wks 4 days and is due on June 4!

Modern day technology is AMAZING!

Profile of the baby's head.

Rachel is happy as a clam!

Suzanne!

All the girls at the Doctor's office! So exciting to be a part of this awesome journey!

We ended with lunch at Schlotzsky's Deli! Delicious!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Duplos are the Greatest

This picture is from August 2, 2004. Rachel was 6 and Harrison was still 4. One summer night they decided to build a Duplos tower with Dad all the way up to the ceiling. It entertained them for a long time.


Now, six years later, Ryan and Dad brought out the Duplos tonight and found themselves doing the exact same thing. Pretty cute. It's funny how the towers were built the exact same way too, with a wider and sturdier base, and narrowing into single blocks. Now that I'm looking at it, check out Dad's outfits in the picture above and the one below. The EXACT same. Scary.


Thursday, November 18, 2010

Look up "Hypocrite"

And you will find, in BIG BOLD letters the name Whitney Kemmey. Or at least you should find his name when you look it up!

Usually, when I get in trouble around here it is because I am up too late doing homework, or snuck staying up late doing homework, or I set my alarm for 3 am to get up early and finish homework. I have a procrastination problem, and it is very well recognized. I try and do work on the weekends, but I am seriously the most productive between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am. I am a night owl--I can stay up super late without a problem, and usually I can always get up the next day for school. Granted, I'll be dozing in English class, but I'll technically be there. As for punishment for my rebellious late night homework activities, I've gotten kitchen forever (which is a horrible sentence in this household), my dad's taken away my homework before, and he's banned me from babysitting.

But, my dad is the BIGGEST hypocrite. I swear I inherited my procrastination and late night productivity from my dad. I blame genetics. Should I really be getting in trouble for this? This morning I woke up for seminary at 5:15 am, and all the lights were on in the basement still. I walked over to dad's office, and lo and behold, there dad sits at 5:15 am still doing homework (he's in his master's program). Now, he juggles a full time job, his family, church callings, and school, so he does have a little leverage over me. However, he spent his weekend playing Magic (some nerdy card game), Black Ops, Mass Effect, and some other random XBox games. He could have planned out his weekend a lot better and began the assignments he knew he had due this week. He seriously waited until the last minute.

Unacceptable, dad. You need to manage your time more effectively and use the weekends to your advantage. Your sleep is important and you need a good nights rest each night to be more productive.

Hey dad, does all that sound familiar? Yeah. You're busted. :)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Orienteering!

Today we had our orienteering field trip. It was awesome, and our group did really well. Ann, Amanda, and I won first from our site :). For orienteering, you strategically go around the woods with a compass and a contour map looking for posts, and racking up points. We found twelve posts, and got 44 points in three hours.


Our group--Amanda, Ann, and me. We all wore red scarves and gloves.

We went a while without finding a post, so when we finally found another one it was exciting.

There was a little grave in the woods from 1937. It was really neat. Right near it was another broken headstone that was empty, but there were flowers by it.

Our group!

Amanda and an arched tree


Post!

It was really fun :) And JROTC won nothing, again. Riverbend got the stone of shame, again.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

One More

Twenty years ago , my mom and dad got married.

They knew they wanted children. My dad wanted 12 kids and my mom thought she would have about three. But I guess kids are just such a joy :)

Gray was born on February 8, 1992. Mom always said he was such a good baby. He was 7 pounds and a half ounce. He came on his own, and was born at 4:23 am in Rhode Island.


Next came me. I was 7 lbs, 11 oz. I was born on August 16, 1993 at 11:59 am in Virginia Beach. I wasn't the worst baby, but I did give my mom some trouble when it came to eating and naptime. I would always want food, and never want to sleep.


Suzanne was third. She was born on October 7, 1995, and weighed 8 lbs, 3 oz. She was born in Fredericksburg and was born at 11:23 pm.


Rachel, another girl (which Gray didn't really like), came on July 20, 1998. She weighed 8 lbs, oz and was born at 1:18 pm. She SCREAMED as a baby--constantly. It annoyed us all, but she sure is cute.


Finally a boy!! Harrison popped into the world on September 28, 1999. He weighed over 8 lbs, 7 oz, and was born around 3ish in the afternoon. He was an excellent baby, my mom says--so easy.


Tanner was number 6, and came on February 1, 2001. He was born at 1:15ish pm, weighing 8 lbs, 6 oz. He was another easy baby boy!


The boys wouldn't stop coming! Bryce was our Christmas baby, and he was born on December 19, 2003. He weighed 8 lbs, 15 oz--the biggest baby so far! He was born at 2:53am. He was a good baby, but he had a HUGE head!


Ryan was number eight. He was born on May 25, 2006, on Grandpa Gray's birthday. He weighed 8 lbs, 6 oz and was born at 3:23 pm. He was a HORRIBLE baby, because he would NEVER sleep. But he made up for it, because he was/is so cute and so smart as he got older!


Finally, mom and dad are having NUMBER NINE! We are all hoping that it comes healthy and happy, but I would be really ecstatic if it was a girl! All of us kids are SO excited. There will be a FIVE year gap between Ryan and the new baby! Mom is about 11 weeks right now, and the due date is June 4th--my graduation! Mom will get induced around 38 weeks, though. We cannot wait!!


New Baby!! :) What a cute little blob.