Wednesday, June 8, 2011

ANNOYED AND TICKED!!

I am completely clueless as to why on Kendal's post there is a HUGE gap from the title to the first paragraph. I have gone in several times and put it back to the top as well as fixing the other spacing issues. It has it triple spaced where I put double spaces and it double spaced where I wanted it single spaced. I have spent hours trying to fix it because each time I have had to also move the pics back to the right spot and twice I have accidentaly deleted one so I AM DONE!!! It looks stupid, but I am too mad and irritated to mess with it any longer! Anyone know why it is doing that or how to fix it, I am open to advice and suggestions! Let's see how this one publishes....

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

All About Kendal...10 years

10 years ago, I became more than just a daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, and wife. After 6 1/2 years of marriage, I finally earned the best name/title there is. MOMMY!! Before Mommy-hood, I would hear different women talk about the love you feel for your children, but until you enter that coveted, special world yourself, you don't really truly get it. You love that baby that is in your womb and you do everything you can to protect it to make sure they enter this world, but when they finally get here.....WOW!!! The over-powering, instantaneous, take-your-breath away, willing to die for this new little being you hold in your arms kind of love is AMAZING!!! And even that is an understatement!!

I knew from the time I was very little that I wanted to get married and be a Mommy, that was the "career" path I wanted. I don't really recall ever saying I am going to be a ______ (fill in the blank) when I grow up. That 'blank' space for me was always a wife and mommy. And I always said I was going to have four kids. Happy with 3! :)


Jeff and I got married when I was 3 months shy of 21, he was 3 months shy of 22. We share the same birthday. :) I had it all planned out! We would have our first child when I was 23, second at 25, third at 27 and fourth and 29. I wanted to be done before I turned 30!! No problem!! But actually there were two problems. Jeff wasn't as eager to become a Daddy as I was about becoming a Mommy. Men!! :) No problem, we'll just push my time frame back a little. Problem two...God's time frame was not on track with mine either! GRRRRR!!


Needless to say, after a miscarriage and two (very long) years, I finally became pregnant with our first child (who's due date was one day off from the first pregnancy, just two years later, freaky)! I had a great pregnancy (I LOVED being pregnant!), although, morning sickness is a joke! I had all day sickness!! Thankfully, I could still function, but I was nauseous and icky all day through the first tri-mester, but as soon as the second one hit, the icky-ness was gone. Heart burn in the third tri-mester was another matter! :) Wowzers!!!


I worked at my job at a bank up until the day I had her...literally. Her due date was on a Monday, June 11, 2001. On Wednesday, June 6th, I went to work just like any other day. I didn't feel real great, but I was huge and about to pop so, of course, I felt blah. Turned out to be a little more than just feeling blah, but what did I know...she was after all, our first child. :) I thought there was plenty of time to pack a bag and get things ready. My mom was planning on coming from TX to NM on Friday to be there for her birth and help after. (We were also moving that weekend, but that's a whole other story...) She was not due for 5 more days! Kendal, however, had different plans!! I went into labor at work, but didn't realize that's what was happening. The later it got, the worse I felt! My supervisor kept telling me to go home, but I kept telling her I would be fine and that I didn't want to leave. About 4:45, she took matters into her own hands :) and called Jeff and told him that they couldn't get me to leave and that he needed to come get me. I would have never been able to drive home...


8 hours and 45 minutes after walking through the hospital doors, we were the proud parents of our first beautiful, precious, baby girl!!


finally here...4 days early


Kendal Madison


Thursday, 6-7-01, 2:20 am


7 lb. 6.8 oz. 21 in. long


My mom left TX before sunrise a few hours after her birth, so while she didn't end up being there for her birth as planned, she got there as quick as she could. She walked into my hospital room, I started crying, she started crying...a crazy, beautiful moment!

2 weeks


3 months



6 months



10 months



ONE year





18 months




TWO years




THREE years




FOUR years




FIVE years




SIX years




SEVEN years




EIGHT years




NINE years






today...TEN years old!!


(I had to reset the date on my camera and I entered the wrong year....irritating!!)


The years have gone by way too fast! She quickly went from infant to baby to toddler to little girl to big girl and fast approaching the young lady stage. When she could sit up on her own she would sit on the floor playing with her toys and from the back she looked like a little mad scientist hard at work. She would also stop what she was doing to look at the TV while the theme song for the Golden Girls played. I love GG reruns! :) She waited until she was almost 16 months old to officially start walking. She sure could crawl fast!! Her first word was 'hot' which she pronounced 'ot'. She used to say 'gotfor' instead of 'forgot'. She FREAKED out the first time she ever had a band aid put on her. Because we lived with my parents from ages 1-4 and she heard us be called Jeff and Shannon, she went through a stage when she would call us Jeff and Shannon. That was broken when we would ignore her until she used Mommy or Daddy! :) Also, because of living with Grandma and Papa she was pretty spoiled because she pretty much always had someone at her beck and call. If Mommy couldn't do it right away, Grandma could or Daddy or Papa. She has such a sweet spirit, thinks the best of everyone she meets, she loves God, her family, friends, and her dogs. She has such a caring heart for animals that she would take in every stray she came across if we would let her. I love that she still has the same little blanket that she used as a baby and that she still has to have it to sleep every night. She informed me the other night that she will sleep with it forever, even when she is an adult! I love that she will still grab my hand to hold it or wrap her arm around my waist when we are walking somewhere. I love that she is a Daddy's girl and gets upset if he's not home if it's stormy out because she's afraid he'll be hurt. I love that up until just a short time ago she would still climb up next to him in his chair and watch TV with him. Now she's just too big and not in terms of age, but size. She is tall and can now wear the same size shoe as me!! I love that she feels comfortable asking me questions (some that I am not ready for :) ) and talking to me about things she overheard other kids saying or talking about that she knows are wrong. I pray that that is always the case!!! She adores her sisters and is very protective of them, only occasionally do we experience some sister un-love! :)



I ended up having her at the age that I planned on having our third child, but my plan wasn't according to God's plan and His plan is always the best plan. GOD IS GOOD...ALL THE TIME!! I wouldn't change a thing even if I could. We are blessed to call her daughter and love her more than words can say. We are so proud of the person she is growing up to be and pray that she seeks God first in all that she does!!