We are so Thankful!

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Hershey,PA with Bryn's family. Mariana did great on the 9 1/2 hour drive up and back! She had so much fun playing with her big cousins and she met her Nana (great grandmother) for the first time!
This Thanksgiving we realize we have so much to be thankful for. We are so grateful for family and friendships. We are so blessed to have each other in our lives and our beautiful new addition, Mariana! We are thankful for health and God's goodness to us!
Here is our attempt to get a family photo...as you can tell, it is hard to get three little ones looking at the same time!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Mari and Mom made Daddy a big chocolate cake for his Birthday on November 25, 2008. Daddy was very surprised and we enjoyed every bit of it! Daddy may feel a bit older with the new baby on board, but he certainly doesn't look it! Happy Birthday Daddy!

Visit from Mommy's friend, Jen!

Mom and Dad enjoyed a fun visit from Mom's friend, Jen Spencer! Mariana loved spending time with Jen as you can see from her big smiles!

Happy 3 month Birthday!

Mariana and her friend, Lawson, both celebrated their 3 month birthday on November 12th. They were born 12 hours apart and as you can tell they really enjoy hanging out together! We believe that perhaps they are now competing to see who will weigh more by month number four!

Hiking in Asheville

Mariana's first trip out hiking with Mom and Dad!

My First Halloween!

Mariana loved the "My First Halloween" onesie that the Reese's gave her. She also found this hat quite entertaining! Halloween was a pretty cold night in Asheville, so Mariana put on her Jack- o-lantern and helped Mommy and Daddy hand out candy! She was definitely the cutest trick or treater on our block!

Looking Cute in Stripes!

My First Family Vacation!

On October 8, 2008 Mom and Dad took me on my first family vacation! We went to Kiawah Island, SC and stayed in Gran and Pop's Condo. It was amazing!! Even though it rained the entire week, we had so much fun! I loved putting my toes in the ocean and taking long walks on the beach. While we were away, we got to see Mom and Dad's good friend's Matt and Stacey! I loved hanging out with them. They were really nice! Check out our pictures. - Sprout

All dressed up- No place to Go!

This was taken on the first cool day of fall! Mariana is sporting the finest of newborn fashion thanks to Aunt Christy Dove! We love the maryjane stockings and scully cap to complement her fashion apparel. Despite taking about 80 pictures we could not get the child to smile! Thank goodness for digital film. She is too cute!

Fun with Brian, GeGe and Cousin Ava!

This was taken in Downtown Asheville at Live After Five! Alan and I had fun with our cousins Brian and Ge Ge and Mariana slept through the entire concert - amazing! Cousin Ava was very intrigued by Mariana and was wide awake - ready to dance and play!

Rub a Dub Dub - Fun in the tub!

As you can see Mariana has come a long way from that first bath! Bath time is now one of her favorite parts of the day. Gotta love those big smiles for Daddy!

A Long Day at the Park!

We took a picnic to Fletcher Park and went for a nice walk! As you can see Mariana really enjoyed the day and was crashed out in her stroller by the end. Precious!

Mom's Birthday!

This picture was taken on September 14, 2008. Here is Sweet Mariana helping Mommy blow out her birthday candles! Daddy and Mariana made a chocolate, chocolate chip pound cake from scratch, while they sent Mommy out to treat her self to a pedicure! What a wonderful gift! Mommy had a great time and was so surprised when she came home. What a fun moment to celebrate my birthday, not only with Alan, but also with our precious little girl! These are HAPPY times!

First Smile!

Here is a glimpse of Mariana's first smile when she was about 5 weeks old. Mommy came in to get her from her nap and she was all smiles. What a fun surprise!!

Milk drunk

Bryn had just finished nursing Mariana and passed her to me when this photo was taken - as you can see, she is absolutely milk drunk!

She has gained almost two pounds in the last four weeks and grown out of some of her newborn clothes.

I love the bath

Mariana turned one month old yesterday, and in that time, Bryn and I have aged ten years!! It's amazing how much she changes every single day. She looks about ready to talk - wonder who she takes that after!!

Check out her great little duck towel.

Where's Mariana?

I'm sure some of you have been wondering if Mariana has disappeared in the last couple of weeks, as we have posted no updates. She is growing so quickly that we cannot keep up!!

Every day brings new challenges and new joys - Mariana has such a strong personality and we can see changes from day to day.

As you can see in the photo, she rules the house already. I think we will have our work cut out keeping up with our little angel.

Mariana's first bath

On Thursday evening, we gave Mariana her first bath at home. As you can see, I don't think she was too keen on it!!

We're still trying to find our groove with feedings and naps - both for Mariana and ourselves.

At this point, time has no meaning and days and nights are running into each other, although we are all glad to be home from the hospital - somehow it's all a bit easier to deal with when no-one is taking vitals every couple of hours!

Sprout's New Home

On Wednesday evening, at about 8.30pm, we arrived home from the hospital. Everyone was a little tired, but glad to be back home. Sprout seems to be adjusting well to her new surroundings. Bryn's parents came into town which has been a great help to us - extra hands and feet to cook and run errands is a true blessing!

36 hours later

So here we are, 36 hours after birth and everyone is doing great. Both mom and baby enjoyed some good sleep last night and feel better for it this morning.

Little Mariana had some tests last night checking for everything from her hearing to jaundice, but everything is fine. If all continues to go well, we may get to go home by early evening, so Mariana can get to see her new room.

Gran and Pop are coming up today to spend a little while with us. It will be helpful to have two extra pairs of hands to help with meals and errands.

The photos were taken 20 hours after birth, and as you can see, sprout is looking fantastic.

Our little Tar Heel

For all you Carolina fans, you will be pleased to know that our little sprout is already a die hard Tar Heel fan. You can see the proof in the photo!

We are delighted to announce the arrival of Mariana Grace Kennedy on August 12, at 12.16am

She is such a blessing and came out kicking and screaming.

Her weight is 7lbs 12 oz, and she is 20 1/4 inches.

Check out the pictures and try to see who she resembles more, mom or dad.

We'll post more blog after we sleep for a while.

Does this induce labor?

Alan was convinced that perhaps this may induce labor, but instead he just ended up with a very sore back!

Visiting with Old Friends!

My best friend from childhood, Sara (Schoolwerth) Donahue, came to visit from Vermont two weeks ago and we had a wonderful time catching up! We had not seen each other in ten years! It was fun to meet each other's spouses and hangout amidst the mountains!

Mom and Dad Testing out Sprout's New Toys

Just to make sure they were safe, Mom and Dad spent one evening last weekend testing out Sprout's jungle gym in the back yard. Doesn't this make you want to come out and meet your crazy parents Sprout?

Baby Sprout's New Home

Hi there! So many of you have asked to see pictures of the house and the nursery, so I am finally getting around to put them on the blog. Baby Sprout is due in six days and we are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Here is her new home and above we have posted a picture of the nursery!

Happy Memorial Day!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! We decided to take Sprout on her first trip to the beach. It was a wonderful weekend of relaxation away from the never-ending stack of boxes back home in Asheville. We went to Kiawah Island, SC, to enjoy some sunshine, beautiful weather and the beach. We had a great time. Here is a picture of Momma Bryn sporting some pregnancy swimwear to show off the ever-growing bump? Hard to believe in only 2 1/2 months we will get to meet the little one. How exciting!! Now if we could just get the baby's room finished!!

Our Move to Asheville!!

On Friday May 16th, we finally completed our move to Asheville. All arrived safely including 3 million boxes!! It was such a blessing to have Bryn's parents come in town from Sunday until Thursday to help with the unpacking. They got so much done in those four days and it was a great help to Momma Sprout to have extra hands around for lifting. So far we have really enjoyed some great views of the mountains. Aside from needing a bit of paint, we have a wonderful guest room, so you are welcome to come and stay with us anytime!!

Baby sprout visiting her cousins

Mom and baby sprout took a trip to Wash. DC, to visit Matt, Kristin, Skylar and their new addition, Sienna Ashlynn. We celebrated Skylar's birthday and sprout was so excited that she first began kicking here, letting mom know that she wanted to join in the fun as well.

Dave, Kathy, Olivia & Grace came down from Hershey to help celebrate the occasion and joined us all on a trip to the zoo. Olivia is turning thirteen and Grace is ten.

Baby sprout cannot wait to meet them also.

Mom and baby at Easter

Wow!

A full month has passed since I posted my last entry to the blog, but I am happy to report that mom and baby (and dad!) are doing well. It has been raining a lot here recently, but we managed to get one really nice sunny day, where we took some pictures.

Our little sprout is growing and has started to kick which is fun. Each new day and week that passes brings something new. We have started talking to her, as we heard that babies can recognize and respond to voices, so we have been giving her some advice like she cannot date until she is 25...... you know, important stuff!!

Baby pics!!

This has been an exciting morning. We had our first ultrasound scan and found out we are going to have a little girl. According to the scan, everything appears normal and we are so thankful for that. We are now just under nineteen weeks into this journey and all the measurements taken today match up with that, so we are very happy. Check out the pictures and try to decide who she looks more like, mom or dad.

These next two pictures are the 3-d images. However, our little bundle of joy didn't want to be disturbed and hid under the placenta, so we didn't get pictures as clear as we would like. In the first one, you can see her putting her hand to her face as if to hide from the camera - our kid is going to be shy!