Eden's first day at the beach

Greetings from North Carolina

I hardly know where to start. An apology? Some sweeping statement about the nature of life's big transitions? A knock-knock joke? OK.

Knock-knock.

Who's there?

The Neelys.

The Neelys who?

Oh my, it has been a long time since our last blog post.

Wah, wah, wah ...

4th of July at the Dethier's House

Eden- 17 months

Enjoying a swim at MeMe & Grandpa's

When we last left you, we were counting down the weeks and months until our move to North Carolina. Well, those months have come and gone and we are finally settled in, mostly, to our new home, no thanks to Hurricane Irene.

We made it through the storm just fine. We were without power for a whole 45 minutes one night and had a lot of wind and rain, but otherwise the storm was fairly uneventful for us.

Kendall finished up her job at Shands last month. All of her friends and coworkers there gave her a very warm sendoff. The month of August was a VERY busy and tiring month for us.

Some photos of our little cheerleader at UF

After flying home from my orientation here at UNCW the first few days of last month, Kendall and I got straight to work packing up our apartment. Actually, she somehow managed to get quite a bit done while I was gone.

That following weekend we went down to Tampa for one last get-together with our family. We had a great time, even though it was tough knowing that we'd be moving farther than we'd ever been from family before. We were really grateful everyone was able to make it out.

That next week, we rented a moving truck, packed up our storage unit, made our way back to Gainesville with Kendall's parents, put the apartment in the truck, struck out for Wilmington, arrived in NC and unloaded the truck, and started putting the house together.

Everything is pretty much done at this point, still just a few things that need to be hung on walls and what not.

Discovering a new playground by our house in NC

So far my job is going very well. My colleagues are great, and I like the students, too. I'm very busy with teaching new classes, trying to get research out the door and just getting a feel for the university. But I'm managing to keep my head above water.

Kendall also is very busy. She's been staying at home with Eden, who continues to grow every day in her levels of adorableness and stinkerness. She's giving a lot more hugs and kisses, especially to Henry, and she may hold the record for how many times one person can say "no" in a single day. Her vocabulary is also growing, and we are learning all her new words right along with her.

Eden's new "sand & water table"

Kendall also manages to get more done in Eden's nap times than most people do all day. This week she has managed to repaint our bedroom, polish the floors, manage correspondence with the rental company and repair man (our iced used to smell like old sweaty gym socks), do multiple loads of laundry, shop for new dishes, and reconceptualize fractals and string theory. All this while also meeting some moms in the neighborhood, taking Eden to the pool, and otherwise keeping our toddler entertained.

Eden & Henry enjoying the new backyard

We've started going to a church up here called Port City Community Church. It's very similar to the one in Tampa where Kendall and I met. We like it pretty well so far, so maybe we won't have to spend months on end "shopping" for a home church. We'll see. God's got a place and a plan for all of us. We'll walk it out one day at a time.

At the park down the street

Anyway, that's the news for now. We'll keep you posted.

Slide Time

Here's a short video clip from a couple of weeks ago.

A Parent's Love

EDITORS' NOTE: For the most part Jeff does the writing, and Kendall does the design work. Jeff just wanted to make sure you all knew that he is still a red-blooded American male.

When I look at my daughter, I realize why God loves me. Because He just does. That's it. That's the way it works, just like there's nothing that Eden does to make me love her. I just do. She's my daughter, and I can't help but love her.

While it melts my heart when she gives me a hug or a kiss, or when she dances with unreserved, uninhibited joy, that's not why I love her. I'm not checking boxes or keeping count of how many times she's doing sweet things. I'm her dad, and I'd do anything for her because I love her.

And these days it's a good thing Kendall and I aren't keeping a balance sheet of sweet and ornery. Eden has definitely discovered that natural-born ability to make everything more difficult than it has to be. I know those of you out there with a toddler, or who have had a toddler, or who have ever spent any time with a toddler are nodding your head right now.

Seriously, the neighbors must think we are torturing the child. If we try to put Eden's shoes on - SCRRRREEEEAAAMMM!!! Try to take her shoes off - SCCRRRREEEEAAAMMM!!! ! Put her in her stroller - SCRRRREEEEAAAMMM!!! Take her out of her stroller - SCCRRRREEEAAAMMM!!! Try to give her milk - SCCRRRREEEAAAMMM!!! Try to give her juice - SCC ... "Ju!"

But it's not just the bone-rattling scream that goes into her tantrums; she gets her whole back arched into it with her head thrown over to one side. If we put her down, that's when the rolling on the floor comes in. Sometimes she'll mix it up a little and just sit motionless except for her powerful lungs pumping out those prolonged cries of protest that must be violating our noise ordinances.

Of course, there are also plenty of those precious moments when she is sweet and loving. Sometimes those moments oscillate with the tantrums in intervals of about every five seconds.

Still, those times when she brings me a book and crawls up in my lap with her blankie, or spontaneously grabs Kendall's face with both hands and plants a big kiss right on her mouth, that's the good stuff. And it gives me a glimpse into how much it must delight God when we just want to spend some time with Him.

The last few weeks have been a wonderful chance to remember the beauty of a parent's love as we celebrated Easter and Mother's Day. And as we all know, there's no better way to celebrate the love our heavenly Father showed through the death and resurrection of his Son than by dipping unfertilized female reproductive poultry cells into dye.

I'm joking, of course. It was a lot of fun helping Eden color Easter eggs for the first time at my parents' house. She got the hang of it, sort of. She was really good at getting the eggs into the dye. She was also really good at getting the dye into her mouth, all down her chest, and all over the counter. But the eggs turned out nice, and Grandma was able to wash all the dye off the baby. A good time was had by all.

And what do you do with Easter eggs? You hide them from your trusting toddler, delight in watching her comb the yard for them, and then once she's finally found them, you hide them again. Muahahaha!!! Again, only kidding.

In truth, Eden LOVED hunting Easter eggs. She was on a mission out there! She had such a look of serious determination. She got double the fun, too, as she hunted eggs at both grandparents' Easter weekend.

For Mother's Day we went back down to Tampa. We stayed Friday and Saturday night with Kendall's parents. Saturday afternoon, we went to my friend Brenda's daughter's first birthday party. It was nice to see friends I hadn't seen in a while. It's crazy to see folks you knew when you were single and carefree and how everybody is settled with kids now.

Sunday we went to my sister's house and had a fun time with my side of the family. Kendall and I were dominating at corn hole (also known as corn toss) until my sister's father-in-law, Jim, got out there. I think he must play in a league or something. He was sinking three-pointers left and right!

Kendall got a few charms for her Pandora bracelet for Mother's Day. It is starting to fill in nicely it seems. I don't know what I'm going to do when it's full. She's kind of made gift buying easy on me for the last couple of years with that bracelet. If I'm stumped for ideas, I know I can always get her a new charm!

All is well on other fronts. I recently walked in graduation for my Ph.D. I was blessed that my parents, sister, niece and Kendall's parents came up to join Kendall, Eden and me for the ceremony. I technically still have a few loose ends to tie up before UF awards my degree, but I successfully defended my dissertation last month, so the rest is pretty much formalities. I couldn't have done it without the support of Kendall and all my family.

We continue to prepare for our move to North Carolina. I'm teaching the first part of the summer here in Florida, then I'll stay home with Eden in July. Kendall will be working through the first few days in August. We'll be taking a trip up to Wilmington soon to look for a house. God has ordered our steps to bring us to this point. I know he'll keep it doing it. He loves His kids.

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

Along Came Potty

It is with great enthusiasm that I sit down to write this blog post. We recently experienced a very monumental milestone in the Neely household.

It has been a long time coming, and I never really thought I'd see the day when it happened, but it's finally arrived. I know this is only the beginning and there's a lot of hard work still to come, but words fail to describe the sense of accomplishment and success one experiences at times like these.

That's right ... (drrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuummmmmmm rooooooooooolllllllll)

Eden went pee-pee in the potty!!!

Not once but over five times already!

Oh yeah, and I passed my dissertation defense.

Anyway, we learned a few weeks ago that they started introducing Eden to the potty at daycare, so Kendall and I decided it was time to purchase a little person's pot for the house, too.

We went to Target to pick one out, and I must say that for such a significant life decision as selecting the first throne of your first-born child, it was not nearly as nerve-racking as I expected.

They had a reasonable selection of three or four comparable waste receptacles, some with a few more bells and whistles than the others. So we opted for a midline model and, beaming with pride and trepidation from the checkout counter to the doorstep, brought it home.

When we got our caca-catcher inside, we thought the best thing to do initially was to just let her explore the new fixture. There will be plenty of time for formal lessons later, we thought, but for now let's just let her get used to it.

Well, get used to it she did. It only took one time of asking, "Eden, do you want to sit on the potty?" and she was right on it. Now with this only being our orientation evening, we just let her sit on it fully clothed. This, of course, was followed by a great deal of clapping, smiling and shouts of exuberant approval.

However, the next day when Kendall was changing Eden's diaper, she put the bare-butt baby on the floor and asked her again if she wanted to sit on the potty. Our little girl plopped herself right down on that tiny toilet and clapped and clapped (ahem ... that's clapped with a "cl"). When she stood up, Kendall looked inside the mini-thunder-mug and, sure enough, liquid gold.

The next two days in a row, Eden repeated her remarkable feat, but on the third day something changed. Our sweet little girl with what seemed like a natural potty propensity started to protest and go into fits when asked to sit on her new seat.

We've since let up a little on trying to persuade her to go. Kendall recently started reading Eden a book during potty time, and she seems to be making some progress. Like I say, we know there's still a long ways to go yet, but we are very excited by such encouraging signs.

In non-potty-related news, Eden is really starting to develop in both speaking and comprehending language. It's remarkable how many things she knows. She's got Mommy, Daddy, and Henry down pat. Her favorite word seems to be "baby." Every time she sees a baby on TV, in a book, at daycare, or anywhere, she quickly points and says "baby," clear as day. Her second favorite word may be "doggy," which is basically the same as "daddy," simply pronounced "da-da."

She's also fond of "uh-oh" and says it every time she drops anything, such as food from her high-chair. Kendall has tried telling her that it's not really an "uh-oh" when you do it on purpose, but we're working on that. She's also fond of waving and saying "bye-bye."

When it comes to understanding what you're saying to her, her mental catalog seems to grow exponentially by the day. Eden can correctly point to a number of body parts - head, hair, mouth, teeth, ears, nose, eyes, hand, elbow, toes, belly. Many times, particularly if you ask her where her nose is, she not only wants to point to hers, but she'll also run over to Mommy and Daddy to give them both a good schnoz squeeze.

Perhaps one of the funniest things she started doing is the chicken dance. I need to get some video up, but it's absolutely hilarious.

OK, so I could go on and on, but this post is getting quite long already. I hope to have pictures and the report from Easter up by next week.

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

It's a long haul; enjoy the journey

Chugga chugga, chugga chugga, chugga chugga ... It can't be much further now. Wait, what's that? A light at the end of the tunnel. No, it can't be. Yes, I think just maybe it is!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, the Neelys' time in Gainesville is in the home stretch. There's still a lot to be done before we move to North Carolina in August, but the reality of our departure is definitely starting to sink in more.

Of course, the biggest hurdle still to jump is my dissertation defense, which is scheduled for April 4. That's when I will lay my scholarly soul bare before my committee and humbly ask for their blessing on my work of the last three and a half years.

Then this summer, Kendall and I will travel to Wilmington, NC, for our house-hunting trip. Our plan is to make the final move sometime in early August before my start date on the 15th.

While any major life change like this comes with some adjustment, we are looking forward to this next chapter in our lives. I'm excited to see what God has in store for us and what life has in store for our family.

With the time we have left here in town, we've been trying to get out and enjoy some of the local Gainesville attractions. This past weekend we went out to Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. The weather was lovely, and since dogs on a leash are allowed at the gardens, Henry got to go too! Even though many of the flowers there aren't in full bloom yet, we had a great time walking around and enjoying the day.

A few weeks ago we went to Devil's Millhopper, a huge sinkhole on the north side of town that they have turned into a park and nature preserve. Kendall and I got our exercise walking down and then back up the many stairs that descend into the sinkhole. Eden got her exercise running away from us on the woodland path that goes around the top.

We've also enjoyed taking Eden to the park a few times since the weather has been so nice. She is a big fan of the slide, and she's starting to warm up to the swing.

Back home, Eden seems to discover something new every day. Most recently, she has found out how funny it is to bend over with her head between her legs and look at you upside down. After she's done that for a while, she'll proceed to use you as her personal jungle gym. There's nothing that says "I love you" like throwing all your weight onto the stomach of an unsuspecting family member.

Let's see, what else is she doing these days? She climbs on everything! One of her favorites is the toy box. She has taken to climbing up there and dancing as close as she can to the edge. I'm telling you, that girl is fearless. Even her teachers at daycare have said she is one of the toughest and bravest little kids they've seen.

Eden has also become extremely independent (or at least that's the way she sees it). She has made it plainly known that we are not to help feed her at mealtimes anymore. She is perfectly capable of spreading her food all over her face, throwing it around the room, dropping it on the dog's head, and occasionally even getting some in her mouth all by herself.

In fact, Eden has decided that she is so good at this eating thing that she can even do it with pretend food. Her favorite imaginary meal seems to be dipping an imaginary french fry (i.e., a plastic toy block) into the imaginary ketchup (i.e., an empty plastic toy cup). Not only is she a natural pro now at feeding herself this imaginary food, but she'll also share this slobbery block delight with you when she's in a hospitable mood.

But Eden is not only interested in eating the food; she seems to have a penchant for the culinary arts as well. She loves to pull the Tupperware out of the cabinet and run around with spices she's swiped from the pantry. Many evenings Eden serves in the kitchen as Mommy's commis, hanging on her pant legs and sitting underfoot - Tupperware strewn about the floor - as Kendall fixes dinner. Look out Paula Deen!

Kendall continues to serve as a stellar histology supervisor for Shands. I know a few people there have commented how much they will miss her when she leaves. I think they probably recognize that they're going to have a very tough time trying to fill her shoes. She goes above and beyond what's expected of her every day. I know because I hear the phone calls she answers when she has to handle the frequent after-hours emergencies that arise.

I tell her, probably not as often as I should, but I should tell you all too: I am very grateful to have such a supportive wife and teammate in this journey of life. God truly blessed me when He brought us together.

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

News for the New Year

I'm sitting down and I'm doing it. I'm writing this blog post.

I know it's been too long since our last post, and I apologize for that. With the fast pace of the holidays and then getting back into a new semester, I just haven't been able to carve out the time. But so much for my tiny violin and my very sad song. I'm carving out the time now, so here's the news.

Things have been fine as frog hair in the Neely home. Granted, there remain a number of logistics to figure out with our upcoming move, and Kendall and I are both staying busy.

I'm trying to tidy up this dissertation and get out of Dodge. I have a defense date set for early April, so at least I can start to see the finish line.

Kendall's work keeps her hopping with both managerial and technical responsibilities. Her latest project has been a complete inventory of all the chemicals in her department, which is no small task. (Imagine counting all the money in the U.S. Mint one dime at a time.) She was finally able to work on it after she finished revising all the constantly-changing policies and procedures.

But enough about the adults, right? I know why you guys really visit this blog. Our beautiful girl is doing just splendidly.

However, I received some rather alarming news a couple of weeks ago when I dropped her off at daycare. Apparently, Eden has a boyfriend. At first, the teacher said they were good friends and liked to hang out and eat their snacks together. Okay, no problem there. But then the teacher told me that on Eden's first day, she wouldn't stop kissing this little boy!

What's a dad to do?! I mean, only a year old and she's already chasing the boys and kissing them! I thought about having a little sit-down talk with her, but Eden can't even sit down long enough to finish her ABC book most of the time, so I thought it would really just be an exercise in futility.

The holidays went very well for us all. We went to Tampa to see family. Eden thoroughly enjoyed her first Christmas and her first birthday. She got the hang of the paper-tearing after a few tries. She also discovered that she loves boxes; that is, she loves getting in them.

She would tear the paper off a present, we would help her open the box, she would promptly pull the gift out of the box, throw it on the floor, and get inside the box. Next year, we're just going to wrap some empty boxes and save some money!

On Christmas Eve we went to church with Kendall's parents and then enjoyed the annual tradition of watching "Christmas Vacation." We stayed there and did Christmas morning at their house, then we traveled over to my parents' for the annual Christmas dinner. There were 20 people at my parents' house this year - the most they've ever had.

The next day, we woke up and went back over to Kendall's parents' for Eden's first birthday party. Almost everyone who was at Christmas dinner came over for the birthday party too. It's really nice to have an extended family that all gets along.

Eden had the ceremonial "smash cake" in her high-chair. However, much to everyone's surprise, it was the cleanest cake smash in baby history, we think. We actually had to encourage her to make a mess. All I can think is that she was trying to convince everyone that she's not really a messy eater. Yeah, right!

Nonetheless, everyone was very impressed with her decorum and how ladylike she was. Thank you to everyone who came to the party. We are so grateful that you all helped us make that time so special.

Eden continues to bless and impress us everyday. Some of her favorite activities include: taking spices from the pantry and arranging them on the floor, taking her hard plastic toys and banging them on the doors, hugging Henry, patting Henry, smacking Henry, bringing you a book to read to her, pulling Tupperware from the cabinet, pulling all the toys out of her toybox, and dancing to the animal train song.

I suppose I could write all day, but I guess that covers the highlights. That's the news for now. We'll keep you posted (sooner or later, I promise).