NICU Reunion ... 3rd edition

This afternoon we went to Grapevine's historic Nash Farm for Baylor Grapevine's 3rd annual NICU Reunion! It was really great to see all of Kendall's nurses & her neonatal specialist again.  (We didn't get to make a little visit to the NICU on her birthday this year, so it has been a year since we'd seen anyone.)  It was a hot May afternoon with plenty of fun things to do & special people to catch up with.  The NICU is getting a brand new building & will be moving in in July, so they had all the NICU-graduates make handprints on a big banner that will be hanging in their new wing, so we plan on going to see it later this summer.

Kendall was {mostly} all smiles for everyone & all the pictures ...

Kendall with her neonatal specialist Dr. Kappler ... who took great care of her {and us} while she was there for 8 weeks.

nurse Cyndy and Kendall's main nurse Kimbo ... this was our 1st time to see Kimbo since we left the NICU 3 years ago.  (She travels a lot and has been gone during each reunion & during the times that we'd visited the hospital, so we keep missing her.)


Kendall loved the train rides, bounce house, bubbles, balloons and pony rides!  She stayed busy running from one fun thing to the next!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Miss Cowgirl!

us with nurse Gina, one of Kendall's sweet daytime nurses

 

 

just before we left, after we were completely hot & sweaty, we tried to take a better picture with our nurse Kimbo

We are so thankful for our NICU & the care that they provided Kendall {and us} for those 8 weeks.  God blessed us so much by providing us with my OB-GYN, that hospital, that Level 3 NICU and those doctors and nurses ... to take care of Kendall when we couldn't.  There will never be words enough to express our joy & thankfulness in giving Kendall the best start possible, given the circumstance ... and to witness each day all that God has done & continues to do to heal Kendall's tiny 2 lb 6 oz body and grow & develop her these 3 years!



We have now been to 3 NICU Reunions ... it's amazing to see how much Kendall has grown over these 3 years!   Here's a snapshot of her last 3 years ...

At our 1st reunion ... with nurse Kim & our charge nurse Susan ... it was our 1st time to see everyone in 3.5 months, after being with them every day for 8 straight weeks ... Kendall was 2.5 months adjusted/corrected old (5 months) ... October 2009 

At the 2nd NICU reunion ... with our favorite awesome neonatal specialist, Dr. Sherri Kappler ... Kendall was 2 years old ... May 2011

This year's reunion ... with Dr. Kappler ... Kendall at 3 years old

 

Aloha, Auntie E

Today we said Aloha and Mahalo to our favorite Auntie E! My sister had to spoil Kendall one last time with breakfast on our front porch ... Chicken minis all around!

 

Kendall opened up her birthday gift from Auntie E & Uncle T when E first arrived, but we finally took pictures this morning ... our Little Hula Girl!

 

 

Then we were off to the airport ... we helped Auntie E inside to get checked-in and to say a proper good-bye.  It will be a loooong time until we get to see her again ... we all cried as we watched her leave.

 

Thanks for coming to visit us!  We had a great time ... we miss you already!

Legacy's VBS

This year Kendall attended VBS at Legacy. (Our church didn't have Summer Spectacular due to the building construction. We missed not participating in it this summer and look forward to next summer!) This was a 3 night event at Legacy ... she had a great time learning Bible stories, singing songs & making crafts, while Mommy & Daddy had a little free time together. She was in class with a couple of friends from her preschool class, so that made it even better.

 

 

 

Summer Movie Fun

This summer, Kendall & I are trying something new ... Summer Movie Fun! Harkins Theater offers a fantastic movie deal for kids over the summer ... for $6 you can buy a pass for 10 kid-movies (a movie each week, on a specific week day). So most Mondays at 9:45am, that's where we will be!  We had several friends who also got summer passes ... it's always more fun with friends!  That's a whole lotta summer fun for $12 ... this Mommy does love a great deal!

 

 

 

 

our Little Dancer

Today was the long awaited 1st day of Tap & Ballet dance class for Little Miss Kendall!

We rushed out of swimming lessons a few minutes early to get dressed for Dance ... black leotard, pink dance tights, pink ballet shoes and black tap shoes, with hair up ... and this little Dancer could not have been more excited to get there & start dancing!  (I felt terrible about her hair do, but we did the best we could coming straight out of the pool!)

We decided to enroll her at the new NRH Centre for the summer ... it's an hour class once a week for 8 weeks of Tap & Ballet.  It will give her a little taste of what dance class is all about without having to commit to performing in a recital.  (If she likes it, then she can continue in August and the recital will be in May.)  Her cousins Ashleigh, Kaelynn & Rylie also take dance there ... and have been with Mrs. Carolyn since Ashleigh started at age 3, so for 6 years now.  Rylie & Kendall will be in class together, so they are excited about that too!

 

 

She intently watched & listened to her dance instructor Mrs. Carolyn giving us moms & the girls instructions about this summer class.   She could not wait to get started!

 

There are only 8 girls in her class this summer ... including her cousin Rylie and a preschool classmate Maddie, so I think she is quite happy to have friends in class with her.

She had a great class and told me all that she did ... and can't hardly wait to get back in the dance studio! 

Ryllie's Dance Recital

Tonight Kendall & I attended her bestie's first dance recital ...

Kendall LOOOOOVED it ALL ... the tap shoes, the ballet shoes, the dance costumes, the lights, the stage, the music & all the sparkles!  She loved watching all the girls dance their routines and asked "when is my turn to dance on stage?" and she was perfectly serious!  (And even more disappointed when I told her she wasn't going to get a turn on stage tonight.)  She cheered right up when she found out she was about to see Ryllie and give her the pink rose she brought her ... 

 

 

 

sweet best of friends

We had a really fun time watching all the performances, especially Ryllie's tap number ... Thanks for inviting us!  Kendall can't wait for her turn to be up on the stage to dance ... next year!