Working out has become a family affair in the Kennedy household.  The kids have been doing Soft-Hands workouts, which involves stickwork daily and workouts 3 x a week.  Noah and Maggie wanted to get into the act, and so did Luke.  “My turn,” he kept saying and would lay down on the mat for situps or pushups.  It was very cute when his siblings were helping him perform a situp – he did 4 of them.  Marcia and I are working out as well and it feels good.  I’m still ahead of the girls, but not by a whole lot!

The Baltimore Ravens won the AFC Championship last night.  All of the kids were home.  They  all watched the first half but then went back and forth between the play room and the TV room for the 2nd half.  They would come in every time there was a big play to give me and Mom high fives or knuckles (Poundcake … French Fries).  The game itself was awesome; we beat Tom Brady and the Patriots, 28-13.

After the game, we drove into Baltimore City to partake in the celebration.  We all piled in the mini van.  As we drove through the city streets, everyone was honking their horns and hanging out their windows.  People with sun roofs were hanging out of their sunroofs.  Some people were just riding on top of their cars.  People walking the streets were slapping hands with every car.  Eden and I were hanging out of our windows slapping hands with the passers-by.

A joyous celebration.  I can’t wait until two weeks from now.

This is the first time in any of the children’s lives that Baltimore went to a Super Bowl.  Only the 2nd time so far in my lifetime.  So we are going to celebrate and we are going to cherish the moments.

Our littlest girl is turning 5 next week.  I can’t believe how much sass there is in one little package.  And what a smile.  So much emotion she can pack into that little dimple.

In honor of our youngest princess turning five, I am going to tell the story of Maggie’s birth.

Marcia and I put a contract in on a house and it was accepted.  Between the time that we put the contract in and the time we moved into the house, Marcia became pregnant with Maggie.  She would be the first of our children born in the new house.  And the first of our children that did not get to meet her great grandmothers.

With Maggie, we found out that we were having a little girl.  Once we decided on the name, I heard a lot of Rod Stewart on the radio, “Wake up, Maggie, I think I’ve got something to say to you!”

In the late stages of the pregnancy, all the doctors told us that Maggie had a huge head and was going to be a huge baby.  Up until that point, Noah was our biggest baby at 7 pounds 11 ounces.  But this baby was supposed to be bigger than that.  Uh oh.  Luckily, turns out the docs were wrong.

When we went to the hospital to deliver Maggie, we figured smooth sailing.  We’d been there before.  Done that.  But, when the anesthesiologist gave Marcia some dose of medication, she started to fade away while he was out of the room.  Her blood pressure dropped and she drifted away.  He came in, adjusted something and came back.  But pretty scary.

Everything else went smooth and Maggie was born late in the morning.  And her grandmothers were ready to greet her.

At home, her sisters and brother could not wait to meet her.  When we brought her home, she reminded us of Elizabeth.  We didn’t get a lick of sleep that first night.  I paced around the room, holding Maggie and trying to soothe her.  She liked the sound of my voice, but kept us up all night.

5 years later, and Maggie still has daddy wrapped around her finger.  Nowadays, she loves to sing and dance, and her favorite thing to call her brothers and sisters is Jerkface!  It is so cute when she says it.

She has been talking about her birthday party for months, no years.  So we better plan something fun!

Miracle is a misnomer, and I probably shouldn’t use it.  But that is what this game last night will probably eventually be called.  The Ravens were given no chance by anyone.  Not one sportswriter in America picked the Baltimore Ravens last night to defeat Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, who were on an 11 game winning streak and were given a 9-10 point favor by oddsmakers.

But that is why you play the game.  The game was epic.  At the end of the 1st quarter, 14-14, 21-21 at half, and 28-28 through 3 quarters.  In a game of fantastic plays, which saw the Ravens take a pick 6, the Broncos return a punt for a touchdown, and the Broncos starting the 2nd half with a kickoff return for TD, the game’s biggest play was yet to come.

With 44 seconds on the clock, the Ravens were down 35-28, on their own 30 yd line, and counted out.  Flacco steps up in the pocket and unloads a deep ball, travels 55 yards in the air, before Jacoby Jones catches it and runs into the end zone to tie the game.  (Check out the video)  Amazing.  In the 2nd OT, Corey Graham intercepts Peyton Manning, the greatest quarterback of all time, to set up the winning field goal by a rookie kicker, Justin Tucker.

Was this game a miracle?  I am not sure.  But, I have never been more in awe of a man than I am in Ray Lewis.  He is the spiritual leader of this team.  He has gotten these men to focus, to believe in themselves, and to become a team of destiny.  He is touted as the best defensive player to ever play the game.  I have never seen a man though have such a profound effect on a team or on a city is he has.  He announced his retirement a week and a half ago, and has called this his last ride.  We all hope it doesn’t end.  (Ray’s postgame press conference)

If there is one thing i will miss about my career, it will be to listen to what people say you can’t do, and then go do it.

Marcia and I watched the game with 4 of the kids (Liz and Edie were at friends’ houses).   The elation we all shared was real.  Poundcake – French Fries!  Noah wants to play football.  I am glad we’re able to see Ray’s last ride.  I hope we never forget it.

January 1st.  I think we did more rolling with the punches than ringing in the new year this go around.  Our plan was to be at the beach and celebrate with the family, then polar bear plunge in the morning. 

However, Jack developed a nasty case of bronchitis.  He was having major trouble breathing and couldn’t kick a fever.  We decided it was beyond what we could handle at home, and decided to take him to the emergency room, in Baltimore.  So, on New Year’s Eve, we packed up from the beach and came home, dropping Marcia and Jack off at the Johns Hopkins’ ER on the way.

At 11, Marcia called to let me know that she was being discharged.  Woohoo!  We all piled in the car and went to pick her up.  We hurried so that we could get them all home and watch the ball drop together.  Bad news I’m afraid.  They changed plans and decided not to discharge him at the last minute.  Marcia was going to fight it, but it was going to take a few more hours.  So we pulled away to go home.

On the way, we decided to drive by the inner harbor to see the fireworks.  Major traffic issues.  So we saw some of the fireworks as we drove out of town.  At midnight, the 3 girls were awake, Luke and Noah were snoozing. 

When we got home at 12:20, I let the kids have some sparkling cider and ice cream that we bought while Jack went into the hospital.

At around 1:30, Marcia called to have me pick them up.  This time for real.  I left the kids at home this time, and went to get them.  We were all home within an hour, car unpacked from the beach, and everybody put to bed.

Jack is still pretty sick, but we are now able to care for him at home, and we think he is on the mend.

Happy New Year!  Despite the changed plans and everyone not being together for new year’s, I am thankful this morning for all that we have.