Keeping up with the Kenly's

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Butt Load

I've got a butt load of catching up to do!

Well since I last blogged, we got out of the lease of our condo, and left for Canada. This all happened very quickly... we pretty much just made the decision, packed up and left within a week. It was hard not having a house for almost 3 months, but we loved spending lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa Hall and our other family and friends up in Canada for the summer. Jeff worked back on the dairy farm while the kids and I went between a few places trying to not overstay our welcomes anywhere. I am sure my mom was relieved when we left her home for a bit, not that she would ever admit it. Nixon absolutely loves her and just follows her everywhere while asking her a million questions. I was a hard decision deciding to stay in the Las Vegas area. There is a lot of crime that happens here, and that was a big con to staying. There is also no family close, and that is something I really wanted near by, but it is also fun to make our own lives here and see where life takes us. I am all for the adventure and this looks like it will be a fun one! Plus when I get super home sick, its not too expensive of a flight home!

Well this summer, we had lots of ups and downs. We had a close member of the family lose their mother, my sister bought her own house, and we just recently had a new addition (little baby boy Sanders) to the Hall side! Plus my cousin had her first little girl, and other friends had their kids too which we were super excited to meet!

Here are a few highlights of our summer time!

I got to see my long lost friend Paige!!!

Got to hang out with my sister LOTS! Here is an awkward pic at Costa Vida! haha

Got to go to West Edmonton Mall, we went with some friends, it was a blast!

Grandma Hall got to spend LOTS of time with the kids.

Found out Oakley LOVES these mini doughnuts!

Fathers Day at the Cabin

Oakley learned how to climb stairs like a pro

Sarah and I went out to Moxies for nachos and a while chocolate brownie, then head off to the Michael Buble concert. It was SO much fun!

Auntie Kristin looking like a Mom! Love it! She bought a house, so we went a few times to pick up some things she needed.

Went to BWW with Auntie Kristin. I love that place.. and my kids love to stick out their tongue apparently?

Again with grandma

At Great Grandma Halls house playing in a bowl!

Raymond 1st of July Parade! We got soooo much Candy!

Headed out to the Waterton Damn with some friends!

At the Cabin!

I hiked Bears Hump in Waterton with Jeff's Aunt Deb and Uncle Sid.

Then we stopped to get some ice cream with the rest of the family.

At Grandma Hall's playing in the sprinkler. Don't mind the background, we were taking down the dogs house.

Zane and Sarah came over to play too!

These are some baby quilt presents I made for friends and family this summer.

Went to Calaway park with Sam her kids, Sarah and Zane. It was lots of fun!

This is at Channing's wedding! I loved the decorations!

We went out to visit Uncle Sid one night, Jeff caught a fish, but we let him go.

Last night in Calgary! - Oakley started to walk last few days in Calgary, just before she hit 11 months!

I went out with some great friends, we had a blast catching up! It had been too long!

Tessa's wedding with great friends!

2 Weeks at the Cabin with the family!!!!

On the drive home, we hit up Texas Roadhouse, because we miss it!

This is MOVING DAY!

Happy to have out own place again!

Brad and Megan were here, so we went and played with them a bit.

Nixon and Oakley love playing together. I thought this was too cute!

We went to set up Daddy's classroom. Oakley loved his Canadian Flag...

...while Nixon loves the peg board.

Ready to hit up the pool!

HAHA Oakley Just chillin, she is such a cutie!

We love our backyard and their sweet Del Sol shirts that change color in the sun!

So there is the update of the past few months for us! Will try to keep back on the weekly updated!

- K

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Nixon and the weird EKG

Last week I went into the Doctor because we finally got insurance, and the kids really needed a check up. Oakley was in perfect shape! Needs to catch up on her immunizations, but other than that, perfectly healthy.

Nixon mainly went in for some bumps on his knee that he has, but we walked out of the office with a very different topic in mind. The doctor had listened to Nixon's heart, and told us he had a murmur. "Has anyone every told you that?" She asked. Nope. We never knew. However, when someone says heart murmur to me, it is also not a big deal. Lots of people have or murmurs and go through life without any issues. She was telling us a little more about murmurs and how it was best to be safe than sorry. Nixon was off the table, but after she explained she said, she didn't feel right about it, and put him back up on the table lying down to give it another listen. After a few seconds she said, "nope, I don't like the sounds of that" and gave us a referral for a heart specialist. Well, we quickly got into the Children's Heart Clinic, and today was the day.

Nixon went in and had to get weighed and measured, they took his EKG, and sent us off for an ultra sound.

An EKG for those of you who do not know, is a test they do on the heart. This stick on a bunch of stickers that look like magnets on the chest and tummy, attach a bunch of cords onto them which are hooked up to a machine, and then check for any irregularities within the heart. It comes out with a bunch of lines showing the different parts/ventricles and how they are functioning.

The specialist was the one doing the ultra sound, he said that the ultra sound looked good, but the EKG looked bad. He thought that it must have been a new person that did not know what she was doing. The technician came back into the room, and did 3 more tests, and the results where the same. Nixon was then taken to another ultra sound machine so that they could see more clear everything that was going on and make sure the heart was all connected correctly. (I am sure an educated heard person is just laughing at me right now, but I was glad that the DR dumbed things down for me.)

This is Nixon after having the first EKG, all the little red spots from the stickers being taken off, he did not like that part. But he thought the Jelly for the Ultra sounds was cool.

The conclusion: Nixon has an irregular heart muscle. It is very rare that he would have such an odd EKG, but such a normal Ultrasound. His heart is a lot like someone who has down syndrome the doctor told me. I am not sure what to think about that, does it mean it is not as strong? I know they have a lot of different things going on in a body of someone who has the syndrome, but I did not really think their heart was much different. Anyways, it is something that will need to be monitored, but nothing can really be done at this point. So it is not good news, but it is also not bad news.... the doc said he wasn't going to put any restrictions on him because I had not noticed Nixon being any different or having any shortness of breath or being lethargic very much. He said it was my discretion as his Mom, and if I saw anything different to get him in right away. I think I have been quite level headed about this. I told my parents about it, asked them a few questions, but I tell them and ask them about everything and just a few friends. The doctor told me I did not seem too concerned which is good for my child as he will pick up on that. Honestly, I am just not too concerned. Like I said earlier, its common for people to have murmur or other heart things and never have any issues. I guess I just look for the best and hope there are no issues.

Here are a few pictures to sum of the past little bit. We had an interesting Easter weekend with the vehicle vandalism happening and all....... oh brother....

Oakley got a doll from the Easter Bunny.

Nixon's loot, plus an Easter egg hunt.

The Lil' fishy in action.

I found a sweet deal on a wagon, and it has been a huge hit with the kids, I have used it every day since I got it.

Then this is our car....... The tires also were slashed, but it was night time, and not like you can see that they are flat... and we had nail polish on our car too, but it was just bad words...

You can see a few drips of nail polish on the hood, and part of the letter F on the window....

Yup. Bad things come in 3's right?... what's next?

-K.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

We love visitors!

Since we have moved here to Las Vegas, we have had the most visitors ever! But we love it!

My Mom came to stay for a week. We indulged in Cafe Rio almost daily, Jeff was getting disgusted at how much we loved it, but it was great! Nixon now says its one of his favorite places, and his face lights up when we say Cafe Rio, probably because he knows Grandma will share her pop with him.

My Mother had a girls weekend with her sisters, they had a blast. To start out their fun I refereed a massage place where I got my massage from Jeff from Valentines day. I absolutely loved it, and came away from their feeling quite relaxed and pampered, but boy oh boy was this a different experience! I felt like I was being beaten, while my Aunts were having quite the experience as one of the massage therapists climbed on top of one of my aunts and started digging her elbows into her back! I felt horrible that I had said we should go there, wow, I will never refer a massage place ever again! I was completely embarrassed and felt horrible that they all just endured this experience, and that it was all my fault. ohhhh boy. It was bad. Really bad. They chalked it up to being quite the experience, but I am still not glad I helped them get there..... :(

Anyways, Nixon loved having his Grandma here. Nixon and my Mom have a very special bond. Nixon just absolutely loves her, and is attached at the hip with her every moment when she is around. It could be the long summers we have spent with her every year... no matter it was, I just hope it never changes. I love that he just loves my Mom, I know that she is so special, and I am glad that he sees it too.

We have been going to the pool more and more as the water has been warming up and the hot tub is now working! It is a big thing keeping me loving it here, because I really miss family, and would love to live close to at least a sibling. Maybe someday, the great thing about Jeff being a teacher is that there are schools everywhere, so hopefully we are not in one place forever.

Here are a few pictures from our past few weeks!

Nixon's eyebrows are just hilarious! He wanted to do emotions with me and take pictures. We have been talking a lot about verbal and non verbal communication.