Four Years Old

Easton and Catherine are officially four years old as of last Thursday. We had a week full of birthday surprises.

Before I go on with the details of the big day, we got an update on baby Addis today. “He is a man after my own heart! He loves his feet rubbed! When I would rub his feet he would hold them up in the air to make it easier for me! He would lay back and enjoy the moment! It was so cute! He is eating well and has an incredibly strong grip! I have a criticism though. He smiles way too much. So every time I go past him, I have to stop working and pick him up!” We are so glad that he gets so much love while he waits for us to go get him!

Last Sunday afternoon, we went with Lovey and Poppa to Branson. I bought Poppa a grande caramel macchiatto and he took care of everything else. I think it was a fair trade. The guy at the Starbucks drive-thru thought I was the nicest person ever, wanting to pay for the guy behind me in the line and all.

This is Sophia going through the hotel lobby. She insisted on dragging the suitcase ALL THE WAY to the room.


This is the train from the parking lot. Poppa has the rest of the pictures from the day, so we will post those at a later date.


On Friday, Aunt Marci, Cousin Mark, and Baby Seth came to visit. Mark put the princess dress on Sophie and asked her to dance with him. He is so smooth, just like his daddy. Right Josh?


Catherine LOVED baby Seth, which was encouraging as we are about to add another baby to our crew. She took care of him all weekend.


Check out Mark's sunburn after a day in the sun. He won't let you pick him up without saying "owie!"


The kids got new bikes for their birthdays which were a big hit. The helmets and knee pads came in handy on the first trip down the side walk.



The Poppas helped with the bike riding.
Happy Birthday Easton and Catherine!


And, for good measure, here is a funny picture of Sophia that will make your day.

Piles of Reflection

We have been overwhelmed by the response of friends, family, and blog-friends over our referral. It is a very special time in our lives and we are grateful for everyone's love and support. I am convinced that our kids are the most loved in the whole world, and I can't wait for baby Addis to get to join in.

In the mix of the blessings and congratulations have come innocent comments like, "We could never do that," or "You guys are so special to do something like that," and my all time favorite, "Four kids, are you crazy!"

While we might be crazy, and we certainly feel special, it isn't because of anything we have done. Looking into our little boys eyes, we feel special and privileged to call him our son.

We have bad days, petty arguments, and various other shortcomings just like everyone else. We just looked at our lives and decided that we had room in our family for one more. We looked at our family and found love and support to go forward with adoption. We looked at our circle of friends and found generosity and encouragement beyond what we could have ever imagined. We looked to God for direction and He said, "I wrote instructions for that a long time ago."

I found a quote this evening that sums up things up quite nicely.

I'm only one. But still, I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.



I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. 1 Samuel 1:27

The Details...

I told her so. Erin left town yesterday to go to Hot Springs to see her parents and grandmother for a few days. Before she left, I told her that we would get the referral this week and we wouldn't be together for it.

At 4 pm today, Jessica from Gladney called and told me that she had our referral, but that she hadn't been able to get a hold of Erin. My heart was about to pound out of my chest as I tried over and over again to get her to answer. I called her cell, her parents house, her parents cell phones, her grandmother, her brothers (they don't even live there, so I am still not sure why I called them.) 15 minutes later, Erin called me back. That was THE LONGEST 15 minutes ever. I later told Erin that it was almost like getting to tell her we were pregnant, something a man never gets the opportunity to do.

I went to my office, and all of the people that work in the worship ministry office came in to be a part of the moment with me. Erin went to her parent's computer with the kids.

He is absolutely adorable. He is pretty pudgy, with big eyes and a cute smile. His name means "The work of God the Father." He is 5 months old, 30 inches long, and 15.5 pounds.

He couldn't be any more perfect.

Introducing...

Introducing Kennedy #6!

He is 5 months old.

I will post details later on... Crazy times!

The Kennedy Zoo

First off, the adoption news. We have now been waiting for 13 weeks, which officially puts us in the 3-5 month window that the agency said we could expect a referral. We are looking forward to getting pictures of our little boy any day now. We are being cautiously optimistic that we will make our court date before the rainy season starts, though one of us is much more optimistic than the other. We will let you guess which one that is.

We never updated after the surprise trip to the zoo. It was more like, surprise you have the stomach bug and you get to puke all morning. I (Erin) woke up in the night with it first, then Easton, then Catherine. I was still convinced, even while throwing up my insides all morning, that we could make it the two hour drive to the Tulsa zoo. When you have a plan, you stick to it.

While getting the kids ready to go in between trips to the bathroom, Sophie decided to complicate the morning by emptying the diaper rash cream all over the living room. Here is what our coffee table looked like. It ruined the carpet.

As we walked out the door, Easton threw up one last time in the sink. Zach covered the back of the van with trash bags and we headed to Tulsa. The kids slept on the way over there, but Catherine woke up feeling sick again. Here we are in the zoo parking lot.

When we finally made it into the zoo, the kids perked up and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Catherine only threatened to throw up once, but it was a non-event. I am sure the other mothers at the zoo loved seeing us whip out the Wal-mart sacks in the line for the train.




We ate dinner at the cheesecake factory to end the day of all days. Well, at least some ate. I had to leave dinner and head to the car. I slept the whole way home.

All in all, a successful trip to the zoo. Surprise!!!

The Lord's Prayer

Surprise Trip

We are taking the kids on a surprise trip to the Zoo tomorrow. They are really excited about their surprise, and they have no clue where we are going. We will post some pictures when we get back. Until then, here are some of the recent pictures from the ever growing Kennedy family album.

Easton found the old swimming pool and drug it out to play in. It was pretty exciting, as you can tell.

Catherine wanted to carry her baby like they carry them in Africa. Her daddy showed her how after his trip to Malawi last summer. Of course Sophie wanted to be exactly like her sister.


I think Easton has his daddy's creative side. Above is a model of his mommy, and the red and yellow blocks on the bottom are he and his sister in mommy's tummy. He was pretty proud.

And this is what I did all day today. Literally, all day.

I hate laundry.

Minivan

It is official. Erin has officially joined the ranks of the soccer moms of the world. It has all of the fun stuff in it for the kids, and it is much more convenient and fuel efficient than the suburban.

If only it was a convertible...

Some day Erin, some day.

Week Eleven!

We have now officially been waiting 11 weeks for a referral. I (Erin) get on the blog sites everyday to see who is getting referrals and working out the math in my head as to when ours might come. It is getting harder to be patient, especially with the rainy season drawing near. The kids think they are getting Baby Addis for their birthday, which is May 15th. That is what they tell everyone they want. I am praying we can wrap up his picture to give to them that day.

In other news, my husband is trying to talk me into getting a minivan. Yes, you read right... A minivan. My apologies to those who already own a minivan. It has just been something I have been trying to avoid until I turn thirty. Since I just had my 25th last Saturday, I am a few years off from my goal. We found a used one and are talking to the dealership tomorrow. We will let you know what the final decision is. I know, you can't wait...

We haven't been great with the photos lately, but here are a few of the kids. After all, it wouldn't be a Kennedy family blog post without kid pictures. I actually told Zach yesterday that most people have no idea what we look like, because we never post pictures of ourselves. Maybe I will take a picture in my new minivan.

The twins started soccer.

Easton learned how to cross his eyes. I keep telling him they are going to get stuck, but his daddy thinks it is hilarious and encourages it. It is pretty funny looking.

Guilty - Short Film

Easter

Easter was crazy around here as usual. The kids were cuter than ever and loved the Easter Egg hunt this year. I think we hid easter eggs 30 times for them to go find.

Erin had minor surgery today to "revise" her c-section scar. It was very messed up on one side and it was causing her quite a bit of pain. They made her a new one that should both look and feel much better. In the meantime, she is zapped on Percocet. Pray for a speedy recovery so she can get back to what she loves.

Here are some pictures from the weekend...

A gentleman and two little ladies...

They really do like each other most of the time.

Now.... If you would like to know what our kids would have preferred to wear to church this Easter, take a look at the picture below. Probably one of the funniest pictures ever taken at our house... Be sure and click on it to enlarge it because you will want to see their expressions. Truly priceless...










Don't miss the Micheal Jackson glove on Sophie. Again, maybe the funniest picture ever taken of the Kennedy kids.

Short Film

Here is the trailer for the project I am working on at work right now.

Random Pictures... Random Weather...

More people want to see our kids than hear our opinions on world peace and consumerism, so here comes some more pictures! It has been crazy weather here, and no, the following pictures are not out of order.

Our friends, Matt and Angela Slaughter, had a baby a few weeks ago and Catherine is IN LOVE with him. She can't get enough of Baby Jeb.

Sunday afternoon the weather was awesome, so we thought we would try out the kites that Lovey got for the kids. They were a little too fancy for their own good. What happened to the $3 kite she used to get for me? It worked just fine!

Catherine was doing a lot of running, but the kite wasn't doing a lot of flying.

Then, two days later, it snowed! We bundled the kids up and took them out before it all melted away. The boys had a snowball fight while Catherine made "hot chocolate with extra whip cream" out of the snow. Think she's heard that phrase a few times at the Starbucks drive-thru anyone? I don't know how you make something hot out of snow, but that is her imaginative little mind at work.



In adoption news, tomorrow marks 5 weeks on the wait list. One more week down, and it FLEW BY!

Pictures and More...

We have now been on the waiting list for 3 weeks. The time has flown by. Looking ahead at how many more weeks we might have to wait isn't fun either though. I just realized today that Easter is only 4 weeks away. For a family that is in the ministry, that means life is fixing to be CRAZY! We will do 6 services between the two campuses over Easter weekend, so it always leaves us completely worn out.

Here are some recent pictures of the kids. They are getting so big!

This is typical Sophie, not wanting to cooperate. She can be a bit emotional.

She calmed down long enough to get a good picture.

This is on Valentines day at Grammy's house.

That smile will brighten anyone's day!

America's Ugly Export

I ran across this article in Christianity Today that infuriated me. The prosperity gospel has made it's way to the poorest of the poor, who are being told to give all they have to "God" and he will give them 10 fold in money, possessions, and good fortune.

It is nothing more than idolatry, worshiping the gifts instead of the giver. Here in America, many christians (myself included) just laugh at the pleas for money on the BPN (Bad Preacher Network) without every considering it's global impact. It is one thing if Betty from Alma sends in her $200 she was going to use for a new sewing machine, but it is all together different when people who make $2 a day are asked to give $200.

Americans should be taking the lead to get this message off the air and expose their lies. It is a lie that is spreading to the poorest of the poor. Those who Jesus called us to protect. In fact, if you believe Matthew 25, then it IS Jesus who is being manipulated with this message.

Someone sent me this video from John Piper that communicates these thoughts more eloquently and with more conviction than I. Watch and be changed.