24 Weeks US, a week Late!

A week ago Mom, Rachel, and I went to her 24 week doctor's appointment. The stubborn boy was facing Mom's back, so we couldn't even see his profile! Stinker! He weighed 1 pound, 10 ounces. There was still the little tiny bit of excess fluid in his right kidney, and they found some extra fluid in one of his ventricles (called ventriculomegaly). Mom's doctor and our family doesn't think it is anything at all, but the doctors still have to tell you just in case. Grandpa and Dad gave mom a Priesthood blessing this weekend, and we are all hoping for smooth sailing! Still no updates on any kind of name, though mom seems to like Levi and Porter (I do NOT like Levi). Can't wait to meet this little brother of mine. Mom says he is moving around a lot!

Valentine's Day Dinner!

Valentine's Day is usually one of my mom's favorite holidays. She tries to make a hot breakfast, decorates the dining room for dinner, and makes a lot of the dinner pink! This year we had mom's awesome friend over and her little boy who was already hanging out with us for the day! Valentine's was way fun this year! Thanks mom! :)

Mom had the idea to make a cute little craft for his mom...

It is HARD to get 5 month olds to flatten out their hands!

Harrison has started learning how to grill. I think he thinks it is manly and cool, and since Gray grills, it must be. Mom still supervises, of course :)

Balloons and the table all set! Mom bought 8 balloons, and she had a white tablecloth with red and pink hearts all over it. She had a center piece cupcake stand and some other heart decoration. Cute!

Ta-Da! The CUTE craft! It turned out great!

Cupcakes :)

Pink Cool-Whip Jell-O

Pork Chops

Grilled Zucchini with Montreal Steak Seasoning. YUM.

And, of course, mom's traditional PINK rice!

Valentine's Day (Kind of)

Valentine's Day started on Saturday night. Mom and Dad went to Chima's with some of mom's friends from work and their spouses. Gray, Suzanne, Rachel, and I surprised them with a card from us and money for their dinner to enjoy for Valentine's Day! They had a good time and came home stuffed!

Mom before dinner--24 weeks

The wives that all went to dinner

On Valentine's Day morning, Mom got up early and made us heart shaped waffles and bacon. She's the best.

Valentine's Dinner is too big of a post to add to this one. It will come later.

Super Bowl

My family does NOT watch football at all. Well, everyone except for my grandpa. I didn't even know who was playing in the Super Bowl until the day of. Mom and I spent the afternoon cooking tons of snack foods--7 layer dip, buffalo chicken dip, cream cheese pudding desert, and dad and gray made wings. Suzanne and the little kids had a party at home, and Me, Gray, Mom, and Dad went over to someone's house for a Super Bowl party. I was there to babysit their kiddos, and Gray, Mom, and Dad were there for the party :). Dad teared up during the National Anthem--clearly we cannot take him out often. It was a successful, fun evening!

These guys planned the party!

These guys played with me all night :)

We've Been Busy!

February has proved to be a pretty busy month so far! Lots of family and events, and the month is only half way over!

Tanner had a birthday--10 years old now! Fit with a delicious Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake, of course. We had our good friends the Shield's over for dinner and cake to have a little celebration.

We've been firing up the grill a lot. The temperatures are coming out of freezing, so mom has not hesitated cooking our favorite summer dinners--hamburgers, hot dogs, pork chops, and kabobs.

I gave another talk in church on Sunday... on love. I just gave one a month ago, in mid January! Don't know how that happened. Like the procrastinator I am, I was up until 5am to finish. Please notice all those talks and references, scriptures, pens, and of course ice cream.

Gray had a birthday too! He turned 19. We had cake and he got a few gifts. And to really celebrate, he went to class that night as well!

Rachel entered a poster contest at school for Black History Month. She won a $25 Wal Mart gift certificate!

Rachel is the crafty one in the family!

Little Man

This little man is growing bigger and bigger everyday! Crazy to think we started watching him when he was only 2 1/2 months! He will be five months on Friday, and he has changed a bunch. He loves jumping in our Johnny Jump-Up from when I was a baby. He likes to have LOTS of attention. One day he had a little cough, and he realized it got him some attention and made noise, so now he fake coughs all the time--funny little nut. He likes to spit with his lips and make lots of noises. When he does homework with me, he likes to eat my textbooks. He has also become a fan of Bones, naturally. He will sit in the kitchen in his little Bumbo seat most of the time and watch me cook. He likes to play on the floor, but only for short intervals of time. He is so cute, and so much fun to have in our house!

Weakling

I need to go to the gym more often. I am weak. WEAK. Gray and I went last night and did all the weight machines that he usually does. He started going with his friend Andrew last year or so, and he has seriously worked up some muscle. Clearly I need some work. My arms hurt.

The big muscles are Gray's. Mine are the little toothpick looking things :)

22 Weeks

Mom is a little over 22 Weeks now! These were taken a few days ago.

I Don't Have a Kid

Mom babysits a four month old three times a week. Naturally, I hold him and play with him a lot, because I love babies and little kids. On numerous occasions when we are out, people have asked if he was mine, and have even just assumed.

Back in December, I went with mom to her work Christmas Party at the hospital. Everyone she works with was there, and I was holding the baby. On our way out, one of the doctors asked me if the baby was mine. Um, no. Definitely not. If he was, I would be dead.

Then I went to my Jefferson Scholarship Interview in Charlottesville, and he came along. We went to Subway, and the manager/worker kept talking about how cute "my" baby was and how he loved his mommy (he was weird, very creepy). Not my baby.

Then Friday I went to Bryce's first grade award ceremony. I was holding the baby and playing with him. Some random lady came up to my mom and asked her if he was my kid. No, no it is not.

I will not be having kids for a while. Thanks, though.

Snow Day

Last night we got some snow, somewhere around three inches. In Virginia, a centimeter will cancel school, so we all knew we would not be going to school today. I am glad, because I will be working on scholarship applications the rest of the day. Hopefully I will be slightly productive. This little guy right here has decided to help me :)

He sure is one cute little Partner-in-Crime.

Mutual Theme 2011

We Believe.

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent,

virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say

that we follow the admonition of Paul--We believe all things,

we hope all things, we have endured many things,

and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything

virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy,

we seek after these things.

Oh (Another) Brother!

God thinks we need one more boy in this house, so come June 4th, we will welcome another little boy into this house :) Brother number 6 (did you read that...SIX).

Everyone except for Gray and Rachel went to Richmond for mom's doctors appointment. Everyone was really excited. What mom and dad really wanted was to know the baby was healthy, and it was. But, we all were hoping for a little girl if we had the choice. It just would have been fun to have pink, bows, tights, little dresses, dolls, nail polish, etc... back in the house rather than soccer balls, Hot Wheels cars, and video games :)

As the ultrasound tech was looking at everything, she was stopping and pointing out the kidneys, the feet, the legs, the arms, the spine, the stomach... everything but the gender. Suzanne and I were waiting and it was really, really quiet. We were SO wanting it to be a girl. The tech asked mom and dad if they wanted to know the gender. They said yes, and the tech said it's going to be a little boy. Quiet. Then the boys quietly shared their excitement, and us girls held back our tears.

In reality, another little boy will be fun, and we are all still very VERY excited for another little baby in the house! Our little friend we watch will have a little playmate! Little boy clothes are very, very cute and babies are fun no matter what! The brain and heart are perfectly fine, and the health of the baby was really the main concern. There is a little excess fluid in his right kidney, but no big deal. Ryan's ultrasound showed the same thing!

For anyone who knows my parents, name picking is extremely difficult. It took three weeks to name my sister Rachel and a week and a half just to name our DOG. With a boy, however, we know the middle name will definitely be GRAY and the last name, of course, KEMMEY. Now to choose a first name...

Still very VERY excited! I cannot wait until June 4th to hold this little brother! It will be hard to go off to college when he is only three months old!

Bendaroos

My aunt Sheri bought the little boys some Bendaroos over Christmas break. They are strings covered with wax, so they stick together, bend, mold into things, etc... Ryan still has his and he loves them. You can definitely tell they are used, however, because they have dog hair and dust stuck to them. Time for some new bendaroos.

We made some creations after dinner, just for your entertainment!

A wonderful flower, made by me

Ryan's Self Portrait/Sculpture :)

In The Past Week

This week has been weird.

It was exam week. Monday through Thursday, two exams a day, followed by early release at 11:15. No school on Friday. I did pretty well on exams, and I am happy with all of my semester grades.

Tuesday I had my Jefferson Scholarship Interview, which went ok. You can never really tell what interviewers are thinking. Especially when there are seven of them drilling questions at you with only a head nod in between. Eh, we'll see how that went.

I had college applications to finish. I finally submitted my last two to Mary Washington and Virginia Tech! :) Now it is just scholarship applications.

I was asked to give a talk tomorrow morning at church. Topic: service for others. Can I tell you how not motivated I am to write it?

I got really mad at my dad, halfway unjustly, but because I am so stubborn I still think I am halfway right. And he was still willing to help with my college essays, while he was sick, after I waited until THE last minute, and after getting mad at him. Man do I have a nice dad.

My camera lens broke AND my mom's camera is broken too. No cameras = no pictures = not very good in this house. I need a new lens, but they are expensive and I am about to be a poor college student in a few short months and I need to save my babysitting money. Lens will have to wait.

I realized how excited I am that my senior year is halfway over and I cannot wait to go to college (or stay for college). Whatever works out best. I am excited nonetheless :)

Mom finds out whether baby 09 is a boy or a girl. I'm voting girl. Mom's voting boy, but only because she doesn't want to be too bummed if it actually is a boy :). Almost everyone is thinking girl. Gray and dad vote for a girl. Ryan, of course he wants a boy.

Ryan took his own picture with our webcam and uploaded it to facebook by himself (he's four. please tell me what other four year olds you know do that).

My aunt got accepted into a year long master's program in Texas, so once again my dad's family are far away from us starting June.

Suzanne dyed her hair again. It is more red now. RED.

I have a new goal: scriptures every day. I was thinking... Over Christmas, I finished four seasons of the show Psych. Since going back to school, I have finished 2 seasons of Bones. I can certainly read scriptures for twenty minutes or so each day.

I have me a talk to write.

West Point vs. Naval Academy

Gray's best friend Andrew went to West Point this past year for school. I'm still amazed one of them hasn't died from a broken heart from being away from each other so often. Andrew came home for Christmas break, and Gray stayed at his house all but I think three nights. In December, Gray went to Philadelphia for the Army vs. Navy game. Andrew's dad was in the navy. My dad and my grandpa (pictured) went to the Naval Academy. My uncle is in the navy. Lots of family in the navy, and yet Gray went up to support Army. Gray got a t-shirt from the game. When Andrew got back to Fredericksburg, he brought Suzanne and I a shirt.

On Christmas Day, we drove down to Virginia Beach. Coincidentally, Grandpa was wearing his Naval Academy shirt. Gray and I had both brought our shirts, and decided to go switch them out in the car for this opportune photo! Suzanne would have joined us, but she was barfing her guts out at the time.

Andrew just got back into school not even two full weeks ago. He is already using one of his passes to come home this three day weekend. Goodbye, Gray. We'll see you again on Tuesday.