Summer fun days

Resli and Lela are having a blast at their respective summer camps. At the YMCA, Resli's in Yellow group, and on Fridays they're supposed to wear their group color. Lucky for her, Reeny and Kenn sent this perfect dress, and she was, in her own words, "rockin' the yellow."

Lela, for her part, was excited for her water play day. They get to go to school in their bathing suits (note the yellow solidarity, too).

And then change into normal clothes after the water fun is done. These new gym shorts are her favorites these days, and I love how athletic they make her look. :)

Back in the sling of things

I apologize upfront for that horrible pun, it just couldn't be helped. I'm sleep deprived, cut me some slack.

With Lela, I was a master of the sling. She rode in that thing all the time. So I'm trying to get Kennedy used to it too. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost my magic touch.

This doesn't quite look right...

Kennedy didn't seem to mind at all, but seriously, how can this be comfortable for her?!?

Sigh. We'll keep trying...

Settling in at home

Life around the Ward household is slowly returning to some semblance of normal. Or at least our new normal. 

This morning Resli and Lela celebrated their new sundresses with some dancing and goofiness.

Meanwhile, Kennedy took a nap and practiced her sleep smiles.

Sounds about right for a lazy summer morning, doesn't it?

First doctor visit

Kennedy went to visit Dr. Grooms this morning to make sure she's doing well in her fourth day of life.

She lost 8 oz in the hospital (that's normal), but when she was weighed today

we discovered that she's already gained back 3 of those lost ounces. 

For the most part, it was a happy experience and we enjoyed waiting to see the doc.

Until Kennedy sneezed!

So Daddy got close and had a long discussion about healthy living with her.

There's so much to learn!

Dr. Grooms says Kennedy is perfect and everything looks great. We go back in another week-and-a-half for her two week check-up.

Happy family

"I'm purrrfect"

We went out to lunch today to help Daddy and Granddaddy celebrate their special day. Kennedy wore some new clothes for the outing - this was a gift from Tania, in my office. Her daughter (4 yrs old) loves kitty cats and decided this was the perfect outfit for their gift.

The shirt says "Mommy thinks I'm purr-fect."

Which, of course, I do.

The pants are cute too - Resli and Lela thought it was hysterical that the "baby had a kitty on her booty"...

Thank you, Tania and family!

Bath time

It's too early to do a real bath, but Kennedy got some sponging off in honor of Father's Day today. 

I can't say she really enjoyed the experience all that much.

She did, however, LOVE the part where we rinsed her hair with warm water from the sprayer faucet. It bodes well for future bath times.

Goodbye hospital, Hello home!

Finally, we were allowed to leave the hospital today. All we needed was a quick hearing test (she passed), 

and the carseat

and we were on our way!

Resli and Lela and prepared signs to welcome us home and to wish me a happy birthday.

  

You can't see Kennedy here but I swear she's in there.

Everyone is tired but we're all happy to be home together.

Sisterly bonding

Resli and Lela came to visit Kennedy in the hospital again yesterday, and got to hold her this time.

It was a good bonding experience, and nobody was hurt.

Hopefully, all of our bonding will end this happily!

Welcome, Kennedy!

Although it was about a week early, Kennedy let us know Thursday morning that she was ready to enter the world. So off we went to the hospital, and by that afternoon she had made her appearance. 

Shortly after she was born, she was lucky (?) enough to meet her big sister Resli

and Lela too. Lela was a little more hesitant at first, but warmed up to her eventually.

She also got to meet Grandma

and Granddaddy too!

All the love kind of wore her out, but she'll have to get used to it.

During that brief visit at the hospital she got her first bath, which she did not enjoy as much as all the introductions.

Resli and Lela were intrigued by the process, and Ms. Frances - our wonderful labor and delivery nurse - was very patient explaining everything that was going on.

And then she was clean and rested and, except for a wee bit of infant acne, just about perfect.

2nd annual pirate dinner

Given that we're not sure where we'll be for the REAL fathers' day next week, we decided to give Harvey an early celebration today. And, just like we did last year, we celebrated with PIRATE DINNER.

The girls got all gussied up in their swashbucklin' finest. Aaaargh, matey!

Captain Harvey-Hook joined in too, and although it was too hot to eat outside, we enjoyed a lovely living room picnic, just like we'd have on board our ship. (Right?)

If you want a little laugh, check out Lela's use of the eye patch:

Oops.

Me and my girls :)

It's hard to believe that in the very near future there will be three little girls occupying our household. Resli and Lela are thrilled at the thought of being big sisters and can't get enough of cuddling with my belly.

And just to give you a good side-view of Kennedy's progress, here it is:

10 days and counting (more or less)...

Fun in the fountain

We had a few errands to run on campus this weekend so the girls and I stopped at our favorite fountain for some splashing, running, jumping and fun. 

Resli dared herself (?!?) to lie down in the middle of the fountain - and succeeded!

And then she and Lela just camped out there for a while, which was ok. It was pretty hot.

Lela couldn't get enough,  

although Resli suddenly decided she was cold and too wet.

All in all, a lovely hour of fun, while Harvey built a couch for my office. Win-win, as far as I'm concerned!

Preschool Pirate and Princess Day

Today at Lela's school (well, now it's called "camp" since it's the summer, but it's the same place, same time, same teachers... etc.) was PIRATE AND PRINCESS DAY, when the kids could decide to dress up as one of the other. Guess which Lela chose?

But at least she had her pirate sword!

Resli, who headed off to big girl camp at the YMCA, dressed more appropriately for fun and games.

Regardless both had a great day!

Last day of kindergarten

Remember when Resli started kindergarten just last August? 

It's hard to believe that the academic year has come and gone, but it's true - this week she went to her last day of kindergarten.

There were definitely some ups and downs but overall it was a great year, and she was excited to celebrate her accomplishments.

 

She's made so much progress, and she won the school's second place award for accelerated kindergarten reader, as well as being officially promoted to first grade. We're definitely looking forward to next year . . . but first, some summertime fun!