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What Jimmy means to me

I have found myself completely reassessing every decision I've ever made in life. With the title of "Father" now permanently stamped of every action I do, it really puts a whole lot of things in perspective, and I'd like to share with all of you, exactly how I feel about some things in life.

1. My role as the head of the household.

OK, so my son isn't asking to borrow the keys to the car just yet, and I don't exactly have to "lay down the law." But being responsible for a newborn child really helps me feel some of the gravity of what lies ahead. It is my duty to make sure that the home needs are met. That my wife and children have food on the table, and a roof over their heads. Before today I would have looked at my current living situation as "My wife and I living in an apartment on the 3rd floor." Now I really understand why "A man's home is his castle" and that it really is the family that makes it a home.

2. My role as a husband

I can't exactly take away the pain that my wife is enduring and help her to feel better. I can't protect her from the one thing that I truly never will be able to comprehend, or understand. The only thing I can really do, is everything she asks, and more. If she is strong enough to endure pregnancy and childbirth, I can definitely pick my socks up off the floor (or better yet make sure they make it to the hamper in the first place!) She is the vessel which carried my child into the world, which in my eyes makes her divine.

3. My role as a Child of God

Every thing I have ever learned about the nature and character of God, now has a completely different application. My son's spirit has dwelt in his little body for 16 hours now, and I have already pledged every moment of the rest of my life to making sure that his life is the best one anyone can experience on this planet.

My love for my Son is completely unconditional. I thought I knew what that word meant before today, I would have made some statement about the existence of the eternities, and not being able to fathom quite how much our Father in Heaven has invested in us as his Chosen Children. But now I can understand, that there is nothing my Son can do, that could make me love him any less. EVER. His choices will be his own, and his spirit will follow the path he wants, and I hope that I can teach the principles of Gospel of Jesus Christ such that he will desire to follow in his Saviors footsteps; but despite whatever imperfections my Son has, I would gladly step in front of a train to save my Son.

This helps me to understand so much more about our Heavenly Father's plan for us! The entire plan of salvations was laid out so that we could spend eternity with our families and with our Father in Heaven! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the key to that plan, showing us how we may follow in Christs steps to obtain the blessings of Heaven. Missionary work exists completely because of Our Fathers love for all of his children, and because of this love he boldly declares: "No unhallowedd hand can stop the work from progressing, persectutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may dafame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every climb, swept every country and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehova shall say the work is done."

4. My Role as a Priesthood Holder

I am imperfect. Very Imperfect. And now that I know this child will look to me for an example, I have infinitely more of a reason to maintain a higher standard. I cannot falter. I will not Falter. In the words of my boss Kempe Nicoll, "It's not good enough to try. You need to just do it. Trying will never be good enough."

I have been endowed with gifts from on High. I have received commandments from the other side of the Veil that I need to be better about being Obedient too. Sin is the ultimate deterrent, the drop of motor oil in my gallon of milk. I must do everything in my power to bring my own family closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I will also recommit myself as a missionary to do the same for everyone of my fellow Men.

I love you James. I promise I will do my best for you.

James Daniel Kenney

Whew! What a day!

Last night around 12:30 Cindy's water broke, which happened to be just about the time we were getting ready to fall asleep. After a quick test of "was it really the water breaking? or did I just have a massive accident?" it was determined that the water sac had ruptured and that it was only a matter of time before our baby arrived. According to "What to expect..." after the water breaks, that means that the time for delivery would happen within the next 24 to 48 hours.

We called our Doctor to ask what to do, since Cindy hadn't actually started having contractions. He told us to just try to keep Cindy comfortable, hopefully let her sleep for a few hours, then maybe around 5 or 6 in the morning bring her in for delivery. He also mentioned to bring her in early if she started having really bad contractions sooner, or if she went for a good amount of time without feeling the baby very much.

She tried to relax, at least as much as one can when you feel like you have a consistent water faucet turning on and off in between your legs. She tried laying down to sleep, but just couldn't get comfortable because the water would just keep rushing out. The other thing in the back of our minds was that she hadn't felt the baby move enough since the water broke, which was finally the deciding factor of us to go in early.

Approximately 3 a.m., we scraped off our car and drove to Madison Memorial Hospital (in Rexburg) where she was admitted to the Labor and Delivery. She changed and was inspected by the nurses. After being double checked, it was determined that sometime in the last week, our baby had flipped and decided to go heads up through this endeavor. At 4 a.m. our doctor arrived and confirmed that the baby was breach, and that the best option would be to perform a cesarean section as soon as possible. It wasn't an "emergency C-Section" but they still didn't want to take any chances, and wanted to get the baby out sooner than later. By 5 a.m. Cindy was doped up and preped for surgery, and the latest addition to the Kenney family was born into the world at 5:11 a.m. MT.

As Cindy was sewn up and given her after birth treatment, Alex followed the new baby in to watch him get his first bath and get measured. He weighed in at exactly 7 lbs even, and 19.75 inches long. 10 fingers, 10 toes. A completely healthy baby! What more could 2 brand new parents ask for?

Kenney family update

Alex is currently in his 2nd to final semester as well as working full time so he is busy with that for the next few months. We are still figuring out where we are going to move in April after Alex graduates. Alex's job counted as an internship and since his current job is at home, we have a few options and will prayerfully consider where we choose to go.

My pregnancy has been going well. I'm getting out of the nausea stage which has been great! I have also felt the baby kick as well! We are now officially just past half way to baby time in March! We found out about 10 days ago that we are going to be having a boy! We are so excited!

Look what I found!

I sat down for an interview with US weekly recently and it hits the shelves tomorrow morning. It was even made into the feature story! So cool huh? Well, run down to your local grocery store and pick up a copy... or 5. I thought I'd give all my family and friends a little preview of what's to come!

By the way, no one can say we didn't warn you. If you look at our last 8 posts before this one then you can see a little hint we were trying to send you all. Notice the first letter of each blog heading.

Post semester wrap-up and Yellowstone!

Whew! What a semester! I'm pooped, but it was a good experience. Without boring everyone with too many details, let me just say that our company was (somewhat) successful in that I can at least say we ended the fiscal year in the black.

In other news, a couple weeks ago we had Alex's parents and his 3 oldest nieces come up to visit us. It was a short trip, but still quite fun. We took them all to Craigo's and showed them around campus, and spent a nice Sunday afternoon and evening playing games all together. Sorry no pictures, we were kinda slackers.

This weekend, Cindy's parents came up to help her sister Sharon move out of her apartment on Campus. As Friday night drew to a close we all gathered together to talk about what we could do the next day, and the lot fell upon the idea of going up to Yellowstone!

So to Yellowstone we went. It was a lot of fun. It's crazy that we're only 2 hours away from an Internationaly recognized park. We drove up and saw the Norris basin, Grand Canyon Lower Falls, and Old Faithful. Driving around was scenic enough as it was! We got some great pictures and videos of Buffalo and other sights around the park.

This is the "Green Dragon" geysur.

The whole lot of us

Here is us from the top of the lower falls

And some distance shots for perspective!

We also caught some buffalo on camera. Watch this video and you can hear him snorting at the passersby! This one is one taking up the whole road, but it sure made for some fun pictures!

We ended the day at Old Faithful. It made me feel so patriotic watching it! I know that america had nothing to do with the creation of this phenomenon. But still... we just rock! Anyway, here is a video my wife making a fool of herself waiting for the old girl to go off. If anyone can recommend a way that would let me rotate this video 90 degrees to the right gets a special thank you from me!

It was a great day! One that we hope to repeat someday in the future before we leave Rexburg for good!

Reese's S'mores

A couple notes about how to do REALLY good s'mores at home. Use Honey Maid Grahm crackers, it actually makes a difference in how enjoyable it is. Also, using Reese's P.B. cups in replacement of Chocolate squares will take your S'mores experience to a whole new level (credit of this idea goes to the Gates family cornroasts.) But don't make the same mistake I made last night. Make sure you take the black wrapper off the cup before you microwave it, it makes quite the mess when trying to do it after the fact!