Daddy and Dr. Kennedy

Emmy seemed to have kicked the bug I wrote about in my last post...but as sickness often does in a family, it unfortunately moved along to Boomer. He had similar symptoms to Emmy: a fever, congestion, and a runny nose. Luckily without even requiring an office visit, the doctor called in a prescription of Tamiful. We still aren't exactly sure what he had, but it was enough to keep him out of work for two days! He recovered just in time to give his dissertation defense on Friday. What a big week for Boomer! 

A little background on becoming "Dr. Kennedy"...

I joke that Boomer has been in school our entire marriage, because joking aside, it's true! As soon as we returned from our honeymoon at the end of December 2010, he submitted his application for the Master in School Administration at UNCG. After being admitted, he began classes that fall of 2011. During his Masters, some of the classes were online; some were seated. Some required going to Greensboro a couple of nights a week; some had Saturday classes. The program continued through the summer, and he even took classes during the winter/December term. At the time, he was teaching US History at Glenn High School. Halfway through the MSA program, he got the job as an Assistant Principal at South Stokes High School, and we all celebrated as it seemed he was on his way to a career in administration. He finished up the Masters that following year in Spring of 2013. I don't know if we even had a conversation about it, but we both just knew that that was not the end. 

Without a break, he applied to continue at UNCG for the Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degree, a post-Masters degree which grants a superintendent's license. In addition to the standard application and letters of recommendation, he had to interview with the UNCG faculty. We held our breath hoping he would get in, knowing that the spots were limited. He began the Ed.S., and subsequently the journey to the Doctorate, that fall of 2013. The Ed.S. program was a combined curriculum of coursework and prepping for the dissertation. The classes were again flexible with online and seated options, but they still required a rigorous weekly commitment year-round. During that time, he became the principal at Nancy Reynolds Elementary School, and he continued to juggle schoolwork with the demands of a new job. The elementary world was very new to him, but he gave it his all as he learned new policies and foreign acronyms. Boomer completed the Ed.S. program in the summer of 2016, and he had a decision to make: to continue with the doctorate or to put things on pause. We contemplated a pause for two main reasons: 1) Boomer was just named the principal of Forbush High School, and 2) we were pregnant! Two major life changes that would require even more of his time and focus. We only briefly entertained the idea of a pause, hoping that the momentum of being a student would help push him through. So after a short break in the summer of 2016 (the first one in five years!) he put his head down to start writing. We have learned so much about the process of proposing, writing, and defending a dissertation. I am so proud of how Boomer tackled this enormous feat! I think it was key that he picked a topic early on. Quite decisive as usual, at the beginning of his Ed.S. degree, he settled on the concept of school choice and school vouchers, and he would often research or write about this topic when assignments were open-ended. Once he was finished with the Ed.S. coursework and was 'just' writing, we would communicate a weekly plan for writing sessions either on Saturdays or Sundays. Boomer has frequented almost every library and coffee shop with WiFi within a 30-minute radius of our home! After writing for a few hours, he would return home, and I would ask "How did it go?" The responses would be: "good", "very good," "just a lot of reading today." It was a while before he was knocking out actual pages, and those days were so exciting! "Four pages today", "Two pages today." Then we entered the editing phase, which required multiple submissions back-and-forth to his advisor and a mysterious miracle-worker "Richard Allen" who formatted the final dissertation at the price of $2/page. It all led to this final semester, when he set a date to defend his dissertation and applied for graduation. On the day of his defense, he was cool as a cucumber. He decided not to do an (optional) open-to-the-public presentation, much to my mom's disappointment. The (required) closed-to-committee defense was the last step in the process, in which they approved him for graduation. Even though it seems like a long haul, now here we are: a 241 page document that changes his title from "Mr." to "Dr." 

I can't quite put into words how proud I am of Boomer. To keep this post from getting too long, I'll just say that there will probably be another sappy post in May when he walks across the stage. We will surely celebrate a lot then! For now, we celebrated with an early dinner out at Small Batch in Winston-Salem before Boomer had to be back at school for the basketball games that evening. When I got home, I found the sweetest surprise: the dedication of his dissertation to me. 

After becoming "Dr. Kennedy" on Friday, Boomer was "Daddy" again on Saturday for a Daddy Daughter Date Night. Boomer and Emmy went last year to the same event at our local Chick Fil A. While it was met with mixed reviews (i.e. Emmy spit up her chocolate milk and was afraid of Princess Ariel), I was optimistic that year 2 would be better. I am now optimistic that YEAR 3 will be better. According to Boomer, Emmy was quite wiggly and was most interested in playing in the CFA playplace. Hopefully we will try again next year!

A few last photos: we have had almost two straight weeks of rain, which has meant a lot of playtime indoors. One of Emmy's fun games is empty-the-toybox. She also loves toting around her babies. I caught her with Big Teddy Bear on her hip, while her other babies were taking naps. 

We were so thankful to see some sunshine on Sunday. We took a trip up to the neighborhood park, and then Emmy and I walked her babies around the cul-de-sac. She loves imitating Mommy! :)

 

 

Sharing Valentines

Emmy was under the weather last weekend, so our Valentine's week started off with some middle-of-the-night cuddles and several doses of Tylenol. Last Saturday, we went out to dinner at a local diner in Greensboro, and I snapped a few photos of a happy Emmy with her Daddy. I was quite surprised when I took her temperature at home shortly after, and she had a fever of 102!

Trying out another new restaurant from Our State Magazine

Her body was definitely fighting something, because on Sunday morning, she slept until 10:30AM! We had a quiet day at home, and I secretly loved every minute of it, aside from Emmy being sick, of course. No errands, no agenda; just a day spent in our pajamas. I think we all three needed the time to relax and recharge. On Monday, we made arrangements for Emmy to stay with Grammy and Grandpa for some extra TLC before it was back to daycare on Tuesday. There is still a lingering cough that I don't like, but luckily the fever hasn't come back. We are so thankful for Grammy and Grandpa! 

With Emmy on the mend, I then conquered my next task and a mommy first: making Valentines. Emmy's teacher sent home a class list, so I assumed my "mom duty" of putting together Valentines for each of her classmates. Luckily Megan had extra Valentines from her boys, so I was able to share with her! Thanks, Meg! 

Before...

After!

Miss Jewell sent a photo from the class Valentine's party where they had strawberry shortcake and other sweet treats. Emmy got a big haul of goodies!

Emmy wasn't the only one getting Valentines -- I had a special delivery to my school on Wednesday; yes February THIRTEENTH! Boomer always sends flowers a day early, and yet I am always surprised. He knows me too well -- I enjoy the flowers more knowing that he didn't spend a ridiculous fortune on the special delivery fee! Aren't they beautiful?!

On Thursday evening, Boomer wanted to cheer on one of his students that was wrestling in the first round of the state championship, so Emmy and I made plans for a Valentine's date with Aunt Caro. Emmy loved seeing Caroline and singing some of her favorite songs for her, like Old McDonald and the ABCs. She even showed off by going #2 while we were at the restaurant! (I spared Caro from going to the bathroom with us!) We are back on track with potty training after the rocky week last week. Emmy is such a big girl! We finished off dinner with a Valentine's cookie from Grammy.

I am so thankful for all the Valentine's in my life: parents that step in to help with a sick child, a sister that makes "mommying" easier, and friends that are good company on a Thursday evening after a busy work day. 

Valentine's Day wouldn't be complete without our newest tradition: Emmy's photos for Daddy. During Emmy's sick day on Monday, Grammy snapped our annual photos of asking Daddy to be her Valentine. She is definitely a Daddy's girl, and I am quite okay sharing with her! Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, especially our main man, a.k.a. Daddy! :)

2017 -- 2018 -- 2019

"Daddy working?"

We are so glad to have Daddy back home! Even though it was a relatively short work trip, everything just seems to run more smoothly when Daddy is here. Emmy was very quick to notice that Boomer wasn't there in the mornings. She knows that Daddy can't always be home in the evenings, and she will say matter-of-factly "Daddy working." His absence in the mornings was a bit confusing to her; she would say "Daddy working?" Luckily Grammy and Grandpa had us over for dinner one night, and Emmy was overall very good, so it wasn't too rough on Mommy. I tried to keep Boomer updated with pictures of our mornings and evenings. Here are a few snapshots from bathtime on Wednesday night, an afternoon walk on Thursday, and the car ride to school this morning. 

Surprisingly the hardest thing this week hasn't been the fact that Boomer was gone! ...We seem to have hit a potty training speed bump. After two solid weeks of dry days at daycare, I thought perhaps we had this thing down pat. Gosh, parenting sure has a way of humbling you! I found that I wasn't even worrying about getting that dreaded bag of dirty clothes, as I often worried all during the month of January. Her teachers and I have tried to figure out what might have caused the back-sliding this week, and the only thing we could come up with is the different schedule with outside time. The weather has been so nice, and they have been going outside in the mornings and afternoons. The bathroom just isn't as close as it is when they are in the classroom. I was most disheartened when I picked her up on Thursday and she was in a diaper :(  I hadn't done laundry Wednesday evening, and after a day of accidents, her cubby only had one extra pair of pants and underwear. After she had an accident, they had to put her in a diaper. I am trying not to get discouraged. Emmy has done well this week in the evenings, even going #1 on the potty at restaurants and #2 at home before bed. I am trying to keep my chin up while I give Emmy a good pep talk before sending her off to school each morning. I got a few pictures from Miss Jewell earlier this week, and Emmy sure does have fun outside. I can't blame her for wanting to play!

In addition to playing outside, Emmy's class has done a lot of arts and crafts. I love this one of Emmy's handprint. 

We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate the end of another work week and Daddy being back home. We are looking forward to the weekend ahead! Happy Friday, everyone! 

Finally February

Quite opposite of my last post, February has brought some unexpected warmer weather, and the days have been flying by. I am solo for the next few days while Boomer is at his annual conference at Pinehurst. I am used to the evenings alone throughout the school year, but not having him in the mornings is quite an adjustment. Boomer and Emmy have their own bonding time in the car on the way to daycare, and I know we will both miss Daddy! Hopefully the Kennedy girls will survive until Friday. In the meantime, we are enjoying the mild temperatures and have even fit in a few walks in the evening before dinner. It is nice to get outdoors.

We are getting into the Valentine's spirit thanks to Grammy and Grandpa (or "HePaw" as Emmy calls him). From time to time, they will go by the house during the day, either to meet a maintenance man, pick up the lawn mower, or fix something that has broken unexpectedly overnight. This time during one of their daytime visits, they surprised us with some sweet messages. Emmy loved pointing out the hearts and saying the different colors of "pink", "red", and "purple." 

Last weekend, we had dinner and games with the Houstons and Williamses. Aunt Megan and Uncle Zack supervised a few games of Candy Land and Guess Who, and then the adults attempted a game of Catch Phrase. There was the added challenge of darting children and flying toys, so that made for quite an exciting round!

 On Sunday, we went over to my parents' house for Super Bowl LIII. It wasn't a very thrilling game this year; the Rams and Patriots were virtually scoreless for the first two quarters, and then the Patriots pulled off [yet another] win. But we all know the best part of the Super Bowl is the commercials food! Grammy made a delicious spread: wings, mozzarella cheese sticks, pigs in a blanket, chips and dip, cocktail shrimp, and pizza rolls. Emmy and her cousins especially loved the chocolate chip cookies for dessert. About halfway through the 2nd Quarter, the Kennedys headed home for bedtime. Emmy sure had fun hanging with her cousins and playing pony with Grammy.

While my little girl is a bundle of energy most of the time, I really love the moments before bedtime when she slows down and lets me cuddle her in the rocking chair. Sometimes I will hold her long after she has fallen asleep. It is my favorite time of the day, and I certainly don't mind the extra drool on my shirt afterwards!