My Family

Well, it’s been a while since I updated everyone on the family.  So, since no one reading this is interested in what I’m writing, I’ll go ahead and post the pics:

My Beautiful Family

Everyone is doing great at the Kennedy household.  I’m still working at Acxiom and am enjoying the teams that I’m working with.  The commute still sucks, but it beats having to drive to West Little Rock ever day.  (Although, I do miss my carpool partner.  Mark is a great guy.)

Amy is doing a great job at being a stay-at-home mom.  Simona tends to want to eat ALL…THE….TIME.  Amy has been a trooper at handling that.  Hopefully, Simona will start sleeping through the night longer (we found out today that she has started teething….yeah, just now…at 9 months).

Iliana (Sweet Pea)

Iliana just finished pre-school and is about to enter Kindergarten in the fall.  She also just finished up her 3rd year of dance (the pic above is from her dance recital) and her first semester of gymnastics.  She loves everything to do with being a girl (princesses, makeup, and dresses), but she also loves to run barefoot, play in the mud, and catch frogs, grasshoppers, and anything else that she is faster than.  She enjoys playing games on the computer (gee, I wonder where she got that), coloring, painting, scrapbooking, and watching movies.  She is also a great big sister.  She is always trying to help out with Simona and is very protective of little sister.  (Evidently, Iliana is the only one that can poke and prod Simona.)  It took a little getting used to, but Iliana is settling in just fine as big sister.

Simona (Squeaker [but her sister calls her ‘Mo ‘Mo])

Simona is a very happy baby.  She is happy to see everyone and loves to move around.  Not that she moves herself around, but she loves to be carried around.  So, she fits in nicely with the rest of the princesses at our house.  At 9 months old, she’s not crawling yet, but looks like she will skip that and start with walking.  Some days she’s perfectly content to sit and play by herself and some days she wants to be in the middle of everything and not miss anything that’s going on.  One of the things that encourages me is that Simona adores her big sister.  It doesn’t matter what’s going on, when she sees Iliana, her face lights up and she gets so excited.  She could’ve been woken up from a “all too short” nap…by Iliana…and still be super excited to see her.  I hope to encourage that love and relationship throughout their life.  I hope they will always be close and lift each other up when “mom and dad just don’t understand.”

The girls and Gramma

I cannot express how much happiness my family brings me.  I simply look at these pics and I am flooded with joy.  As I sit here writing this, I can’t wipe the giddy grin off of my face.  I am fortunate beyond anything I can imagine.  My wife and my children are as important to me as the air I breathe.  Anyone reading this that is either single or does not have children may not understand this feeling.  It’s not really something you can describe.  It’s something you have to experience.

My family got me this magnet for Father’s Day:

I look at it and smile because that is how it feels to be a dad.