A Room Prepared

Huff, huff, huff, puff, puff, puff... Okay, okay, I can slow down a minute now to finally get this blog post up. Everything on the Neely homefront is going well - busy, but well. We have taken all of our classes and have been cleared to be parents. I was expecting a license, certificate, membership card, ceremony with the queen, or something, but we got nada.



What we do have is a very cute little nursery that is all prepared and ready for Eden's arrival, and a mommy that is feeling the full joy of pregnancy at this point. While we don't have a lot of room to work with in our apartment, and Eden's nursery has to share space with scrapbooking supplies and computer equipment, we were very pleased with how well the nursery space turned out.

Kendall's mom and dad came up on Halloween weekend to help put the crib and changer together and to get the nursery set up. We could not have done it without their help. We've included pictures here to give you an idea of what it looks like. If you're wondering where that border on the wall came from, it's actually the bumper that came in the crib set. Since we weren't going to use it in the crib, we thought we'd try it on the wall and it worked out perfect! The theme is Tropical Punch by CoCaLo. Kendall did a great job picking it out.

We also continue to be blessed by friends and family members who have sent us adorable security blankets, clothes, and toys. The people at Kendall's job recently threw her a baby shower at the lab and were very generous in their giving to us and our soon-to-come little girl. Thank you all so very much!



We are looking forward to enjoying Thanksgiving in Tampa with our family. Kendall went to an appointment with the midwife today who gave her the clearance to travel. It doesn't appear that she will go into labor anytime real soon, but, of course, you never know and we are making sure to take the car seat and medical records with us when we go out of town just in case.

Kendall continues to do fine for the most part. We are considering buying stock in Tums as she has nearly incessant heartburn, and getting off the couch and painting her toenails is more of a challenge for her than it was before she was hosting a full-term baby in her tummy, but on the whole she is doing well.



Jeff recently returned from his job interview at the University of Texas at Arlington. He felt pretty good about it, but we shall see what happens. As always, we just want to be where God wants us to go. In the meantime, Jeff has plenty of work with his dissertation, teaching, grading, and other research to keep him occupied.

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and life treats you well as we enter the rest of the holiday season.

That's the news for now. We'll keep you posted.

Showers of Blessing

You know the old saying, "When it rains, it pours"? People usually toss this adage around when they're talking about the tough times in life, and sometimes that's how it goes. But sometimes God turns this idea on its head and gives it a whole different meaning. Namely, there are times that he will shower you with blessing so greatly that you walk away saying, "Wow, when He rains, He really pours."

That's how it's been for the Neelys recently. And do you ever notice, when God blesses you, He usually does it through other people? We went down to Tampa on the weekend of Oct. 24 where our family members gathered to give us a baby shower. Just having everyone there was a blessing in itself - to know that all these people were sharing in our excitement and anticipation of our baby girl. Some of our family members weren't able to be there in person, but expressed their joy for us by sending us cards and gifts. The outpouring of generosity from everyone was both overwhelming and humbling. We drove away that Sunday with our car packed full of gifts, and Kendall's parents still had to bring the crib and changer up to Gainesville a week later. We are so grateful to everyone who has been so kind to us both in words and in their giving. We are truly blessed to have you as our friends and family.

Kendall continues to do very well. She hasn't had any problems and all of her appointments with the midwives have indicated that she is right on track and looking good. Kendall was able to get an H1N1 vaccine at her last appointment, which we were very happy about. The hospital where she works had run out and they only had three shots left at the midwives' office, so it was a good thing she asked! The baby is growing and Kendall says she can feel little fists and feet poking in her ribs pretty regularly.

We have been going to the Preparing for Childbirth classes every Tuesday now for the last three weeks. Last week we got a tour of the hospital's Women's Center where we will go when it's time for the baby to be born. The tour was very helpful to orient us about where we will be going and how the hospital handles labor processing. The nurse-instructor for the class explained which rooms we will be in at what times, discussed all the equipment in the delivery room, explained protocol regarding who is allowed in the delivery room, and generally walked us through the process. We have an appointment to interview a pediatrician next week, and we are still trying to arrange childcare for once Kendall goes back to work. We also have Newborn Care and Carseat Training classes to take in the next couple of weeks.

In other news, Jeff recently had a phone interview with the University of Texas at Arlington. He walked away a bit unsure about how he did, but he must have done okay because they have invited him out for a campus visit. He will be flying to the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth area during the week of November 17 to meet the search committee and other faculty members, provide a teaching presentation and research presentation, and move on in the next step of the job hunt process. We are very excited about the position and the possibility of moving to Texas, but most of all we are just praying that God will make it clear where He wants us to be.

We've included a slideshow from the baby shower below. In case you're curious, the audio track is a lullaby version of Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" by Rockabye Baby. Kendall got Jeff the CD for his birthday. We hope you enjoy the pictures. Again, thank you all so much for your care and support. We appreciate each one of you.

That's the news for now. We'll keep you posted.