Ft. Worth Stockyards

For our Thanksgiving break this year we visited Ben's brother, Daniel in Texas. We spent the day in Fort Worth Stockyards, where their family had visited on a past vacation. We enjoyed a good Barbeque lunch and afterwards we explored the downtown area besides the stockyards.

It's always a treat to enjoy Dublin Dr. Pepper when in Texas.

a daddy's love

We are now back from the beach, and settling into life here at home. We had a great 2.5 weeks in at the beach in Florida.We really enjoyed taking our class with Cru and learning more about our Christian theology, and the God we serve. Working for a company that values our personal spiritual growth is so great!

One of my favorite parts of our vacation was taking a step back to watch how Ben loves our girls. The past few months have been hectic with travelling for work and the holidays, so our time in Daytona was a good time to slow down and enjoy time together as a family. After all, we are still adjusting to being a family of four. Ben took Ruby Kay down to the beach every day that it was warm enough, and would play with her for hours. She absolutely loved spending time with her Daddy. Ben also got a lot of "Kennedy time" since we both took the class and each needed time to study. I am so grateful for Ben and his love for our girls. They are lucky to have such a great Daddy!

baby girl's due date!

family of three, soon to be four!

today we celebrated my due date, November 15th, 2015. we drove over to Tulsa for the day, to meet my sisters since my parents are in town for this girl's arrival. i had asked my mom to take a few pictures of us, since I haven't taken that many since being pregnant. 

reaching my due date this time around was expected, and wasn't as climatic as my pregnancy with ruby kay. although i wouldn't have minded going into labor early, i knew my chances were slim because of family history, and since i was induced after going a week late with ruby kay. i think my babies like to cook longer than most! :)

this pregnancy hasn't been easy, but i am so thankful to have carried this sweet girl for the last forty weeks. it is still surreal that very soon we will have another girl in our arms, and that we will be a family of four. i can hardly wait to see ben become a father of two girls, and ruby kay become a big sister. God is so gracious to us, and we don't take for granted how sweet the gift of children. 

ruby kay, big sister to be.

 

This morning, Ruby Kay and I ventured out to our favorite park here in Stillwater. As I am nearing the end of this pregnancy, I am trying to soak up time with Ruby Kay before she is promoted to Big Sister. Walking around the park, admiring "baby acorns", playing in the crisp fall leaves, and exploring the playground was just the recipe for quality time with my girl.

We are often asked how Ruby Kay feels about the new baby coming. All signs point to her being a great big sister, since she loves playing with her baby doll and is intrigued by other babies. Ben and I think that the hardest transition will involve her sharing me with little sister. Ruby Kay as an only child, has my full attention throughout the day, but that soon will change. The biggest way we have been preparing her for this new season has been encouraging her to be a good helper.

Ben and I sure love being her Daddy and Mama, and often talk about how fun it is to be her parents, and how lucky we are. We can't wait for this new season to begin as a family of four!

visiting kennesaw mountain's battlefield

we are currently in the atlanta, georgia area, and visited kennesaw mountain's national battlefield. ben loves history, and especially loved visiting this battlefield because his great, great grandpa wiley ellison fought there in the 3rd tennessee Infantry during the civil war.

we took a short tour through the museum, and enjoyed catching up on our civil war history. 

 downtown atl in the distance, but mostly hidden by the fog.

ben and ruby kay next to one of the four confederate cannons on top of kennesaw mountain. kennesaw mountain was one of the last holds of the confederate union, before the north could reach atlanta. 

south facing view on kennesaw mountain. downtown atlanta is on the horizon here also. This shows how the federal army took atlanta. wiley was apart of the blue troop movement.

according to the park ranger, at the far west side of the confederate line to protect the mountain, and atlanta, was kolb's farm. this is the area that wiley's unit would have fought.