All Smiles

I really thought Kaylene was the "smiles" champ, I was wrong. Look at this kid. She does all the time and I love it!

Water

I must confess, I had forgotten how much fun water was. This kid played with her water activity station for a good long time this morning. Right through one of Madilene's feeding's, Score! She really is amazing.

Mother's Day 2012

Oh boy! I am surrounded by some pretty lovely women. I am one lucky dog! Happy Mother's day!

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

After 3 months and 55+ hours of listening time I have completed the above book. For anybody that wants a an awesome grasp on 20th century history this is the book to read and devour. For anybody who wants a better grasp on current events, they should read this book. For anybody who wants to better understand the evil of human nature, they should most definitely read this book. Great book and an amazing personal achievement. Thank you Mr Shirer.

I live in the house of awesome

It's been a great spring so far, full of cherry trees blossoming, people finding their fingers and spending time outside with grandparents. Everything is right with the world.

Easter @ 2 1/2

I'll let the video speak for itself.

500

I would have never thought I would make the 500th post, I mean really 500 hundred posts. Starting in 2006 and consistently (and non-consistently) posting about my marriage, work-life, dogs, family, extended family, friends, really almost anything - clear into 2012. Over time this has become our family photo album and I have totally enjoyed sharing all of the ups and downs of life. I want to thank you all for watching, reading and commenting. Its really wild to think, 6 years ago we had no Kaylene or Madilene, we had two dogs and crazy busy careers. And I must say, I like what I have now better than then. Well, I miss the puppies. Anyway, here's looking at 2018 and 500 more posts and beyond!

Massive Victory!

Both girls took a nap at the same time in their own beds. Mom and Dad actually got two hours of free time. Now we need to conquer nighttime.

Holding the Baby

If you are wondering what Kaylene is saying at the end of the video, she is saying, "Big Daddy and Big Mama". Not sure why, she just is.

Part 1: 13 Days

Madilene Marie Kidney was born on February 4^th and was home for just one week before she became sick. This started the longest journey I have every taken as parent with a very sick child. Two days into the heavy breathing and hard coughing, we realized that Madi was experiencing much more than a cold. Her every breath was an effort, with haste we decided to take her to the hospital. In the ER she was quickly diagnosed with RSV, a very mild disease that we all get from time to time. Adults can shrug it off because we can make strong use or mouths for air when our noses otherwise get stuffed.

However, for a one-week-year-old this can be deadly. Babies do not use their mouths to breath and are solely dependant on their noses for air, and Madi’s nose was horrible clogged and inflamed. Long story short we ended up in the PICU with every tube and wire imaginable to help sustain Madi’s life. What a nightmare.

It was at this point I called a very close friend of mine who had a very similar experience; I immediately asked for pray and support. Dan (and his wife Jessy) knew just what to do, he told me he loved me and they both began to pray for us immediately. More friends and folks began to join in and rally behind our cause. From that point on I never lost hope and actually felt as “good” as a parent could be in the situation. God is amazing!

Part 2: Unified

After 8 days in the PICU the disease let up and Madi began to breathe in a normal fashion. Now what amazed me the most during this time was the way Jolene and I dealt with the pain and fear. We never cracked under pressure, we never fought, and we never doubted each other. Given our history this is a miracle.

Also, during this time our family rallied around us and took care of our two year old; we never worried for Kaylene’s well being. We had someone visit us on an almost daily basis and people brought us food and friendship. We had a constant stream of texts and phone calls and the well wishing was, at times, quite overwhelming.  Our friends and family circled up the wagons and protected the Kidney family from any harm or ill will. God is Amazing!

Part 3: Sisters

It’s over, I am so glad it is over. On Wednesday the hospital assigned us a bill of good health and we were released to go home. Yesterday, we decided to walk the mall and have lunch. Things went well, but I could tell I was very suspicions of people that coughed or sneezed. Regardless, for the first time since Madi has been born I felt like a family of four. God is Amazing!

I don’t think thank you is strong enough for all the help, love, friendship, support, prayer, food, hugs, talk, understanding, concern, wisdom and hope we received. But I will give it a shot. Slow build up…........... THANK YOU! 

Welcome Madilene

She came out and needed to be held and everybody was willing to do just that. Madilene we are so happy you are here!

Before all the Snow...we had a little snow

Incoming!

The final stages have begun, we are getting ready for the new arrival!

Yawn

 The new blog-hog is giving everybody a big yawn, Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve 2011

Sitting in her new favorite chair somebody is ready for Santa to show up. I personally am really looking forward to today as we celebrate this awesome season. Hanging out with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Dalene going to church and finishing with pizza dinner. Everything is right in the world!

This Year's Dress

Yes Christmas like everything else in Kaylene's life demmands performance and subtly!

Hot Dog It's Christmas!

Here we are trimming the tree and getting ready for the big jolly guy. Yes we will give into the whole Santa myth, why, cause its fun. The bottom pic is Kaylene getting ready for Thanksgiving, she looks more and more like a little girl everyday. Well, let's face it...she is a little girl.

Great Wolf Lodge

It was cold and rainy and Jolene had an extra vacation day. We figured it was time to go to the Great Wolf Lodge water theme park. And it was a perfect choice for a bad weather weekend. Its hard to describe the amount of things you can do, BUT I will say its the closest the northwest comes to Disneyland. An awesome choice for any two year old and her family.

Trunk or Treat

Happy Halloween! and so far its been a great one. Our Church this year did a version of Halloween that I just loved called trunk or treat. Basically, you deck out the back of your vehicle and circle it around the other parked trunks in the church parking lot. Then kids and families walk around gazing at the spectacles and ask for candy. We loved it! Above is our very fast ladybug, if you aren't fast enough you will miss her.

Pig Tails

Well its about time, right? For today's play date I asked Kim if she could help Kaylene with her hair. The request was for pig tails and don't they look awesome. More importantly, Kaylene loves them! What a funny little girl.

Goodbye Chava

Yesterday, Chava passed away. Bad day. Can you believe we had Chava for 13 1/2 years, what an amazing dog! Chava taught us a lot of things, but I think most importantly she taught us to be less selfish. She was the ground work for a future family and she set a tone for both Kaylene and baby number two. She did not struggle much in the end and passed away with very little pain. Thank you Chava for letting us be your owners, there will never be another dog like you.

Let's start this Party!

For the best cousin ever, Happy Birthday!

Highlights

The following post has nothing to do with the above video with the exception of all the general goofiness that comes out of Kaylene. Anyway, I need to write the following down so I don't forget what it was like to be a small family.

Last night while cruising around the neighborhood and a quick trip to Trader Joe's, Kaylene was getting antsy in her car seat (nothing new). Jolene found a discarded Sandra Boyton book in the back seat "Barnyard Dance" and proceeded to give it to Kaykes. She refused. At which point Jolene opened up the book and began to sing the words. We all know Jolene has some minor (or major) musical talent and began to rhythmically rap the song like a square dance caller.

Yes I was driving, but I had to jump in, I began to beat the dashboard with my hand. It was a very hollow steady thump thump thump. And ya know, it sounded pretty good. Well, good enough for a small jam session in the car. And our target audience LOVED it. She began to clap her hands and bounce her head back and forth. She kept on repeating again, again and AGAIN. We did it so many times that Jolene became winded and my hand began to hurt.

It was awesome.

Jolene commented that this time will not last forever and very shortly Kaylene will be rolling her eyes at her very corny parents, but for now, we have her right where we want her. Here is to future jam sessions!

We need a name!

So we know its a girl and we think we might have a name, BUT we are open to any suggestions. No name is off the table! Some before and after reactions up above (enjoy).

Happy Birthday...Aunt Dalene

Kim just sent these...

This past weekend we went to the "new to me" Remlinger Farms, its not as boring as it once was. Pony rides, Canoe Adventures and Crazy cars (more on that come). Also, a bonus picture from Renton River Days, try to guess what that "burger" is made of, oh it was so tasty!

Dalene and Kaylene

It's time we had a picture of these two. Aunt Dalane and Kaylene had a blast at Luther Burbank park this past week. Fun picture!

The City and my Nephew

My sister is in town and she shares my fathers photographic eye. Pretty awesome picture wouldn't you say! there are some many things I love about this picture.