Patience and pitter-patter

Not long ago, a friend and mentor shared a wonderfully witty modification of a common adage. She said, "Patience is a virtue. It's just not one of mine." I can relate.

I don't know where I fall on the spectrum, but I have to be improving. At least, I hope I'm improving and not just retrodding over the same well-worn ruts of worry and anxiousness. Some days are better than others, I suppose.

The last couple of months I have had a lot of "learning opportunities" as I wait on word from prospective employers. Kendall and I both continue to learn how to embrace uncertainty as I make my way through the job hunt. There's been some progress and some prospects, but still we wait.

Taken 10/28/10

Meanwhile, the thought of waiting seems to be the last thing on Eden's mind. She is walking all over the place and can't seem to get where she wants to go fast enough. Her technique is simple but effective - lead with her head and pitter-patter her feet as fast as possible to stay upright. Sometimes she flops forward and falls on her hands, other times she gets a little too much weight in the back end and plops on her bottom. But for the most part, she's staying on her feet and on the go, go, go!

This weekend we'll be heading back down to Tampa to visit family, and Eden will be dressing up as a bunny for her first Halloween. We will post pictures, I promise. Kendall and I did a little dress rehearsal the other day and couldn't stop smiling and chuckling at how cute she was!

Eden has also been doing a few other things that have been keeping us in stitches. One of them is when she makes flubberdub noises (is there a technical term here?) with her mouth while she's crying. Check out the video below to see what I mean. She did this after dinner the other night. Maybe this is the new signal for, "I'm full. Please get me the heck out of this chair."



Kendall continues to plug away at work. She gets to an all-expense-paid daytrip to Alabama next week, so I'll get to take care of the baby on my own that evening. I'm just hoping I can keep her distracted from the fact that Mommy isn't there because if she figures out what's going on, she will not be happy. She is a BIG fan of Mommy.

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

Little Travels

So, I just celebrated my 33rd birthday. Spring has long passed for this chicken. But life has definitely been good to me so far. I have a beautiful wife and daughter, loving parents and family to enjoy, I'm nearing that point when I can slap that bumper sticker on the car that says "Ph.inally D.one," and I know God has great plans in store for us. What those plans are, I have no idea. But I'm looking forward to see what He does.

In the midst of life's busyness, Kendall and I managed to be able to get out of town for a few days to Key West to celebrate our fourth anniversary. It was our first time down there and we had a great time. We did the Hemingway House, Truman's Little White House, sunset at Mallory Square, a trolley tour around the island, breakfast at Blue Heaven, a nice steak dinner at Michael's, key lime pie, saw mile marker zero for U.S. 1, and got our token photo at the southernmost point of the continental U.S.

It was also the first time that we left Eden with the grandparents for the weekend. It was a little odd being without her for those few days, but when we got back both Kendall's parents and mine said everything went fine. I think they enjoyed having her and it was nice for us to have a little time for just the two of us.

This past weekend we went down to Tampa for Eden's baby dedication at church. For anyone unfamiliar with this tradition, it is basically where parents stand in front of the church with their children and commit to raising them according to Christian principles, pray for them, and try to point them toward Christ. In turn, the congregation commits to support the parents and partner with them to help the children find God's plan for their own lives.

We dedicated Eden at The Crossing church in Tampa where Kendall and I met and where her parents still attend. So, it was a little unusual for us because we don't feel as connected there as we did when we lived down there. However, we also haven't been able to really get connected to a church here in Gainesville. We go regularly to First Assembly of Gainesville when we're in town, but I can't really say that it's our church home.

However, because we wanted to make a public declaration of our commitment to raise Eden according to God's will, we decided The Crossing was the best place to do it. They were very kind and accommodating to let us participate in the dedication service even though we're not regular attenders anymore. It was a nice service and I definitely felt like we were doing what we needed to do as we stood there before the members of the church.

We were also very blessed in that our family members were able to be there and support us in the event. My mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and niece, as well as Kendall's mom, dad, and grandpa all made it to the service. After the dedication, Kendall's parents hosted a nice brunch at their home, which everyone was able to attend. My parents also had everyone over the day before, so we were able to spend a lot of good time with family this weekend.

Eden continues to grow like a weed. She is crawling around faster than greased lightning. She's laughing a lot, playing peek-a-boo, giving high fives, waving, and clapping. And-- drumroll--this Sunday she took her first steps! Eden is still a ways from walking, but she's well on her way. Now, if we can just get some of this stuff on video.

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

Seasons

Have you ever had that feeling when you walked outside one morning, or perhaps on your way to the office, that it was the first day you could smell the new season? Am I the only one? It's that slight change in the air that hits your olfactory receptors and says, "Fall is just around the corner."

I think I caught a whiff of it the other day. I know, I know, all my fellow Floridians are at this moment insisting that I have certifiably lost my mind. Let me clarify. It's not that we aren't still consumed in a stagnant, oppressive, tangible sauna of heat, but I think maybe, just maybe, I smelled that smell that tells you things are changing. A new season is on its way.

Then again, maybe it was all just in my mind because school started back this week for the fall semester and with that comes the whole back-to-school buzz about campus.

Whatever the case, in the more metaphorical sense, I think I've been able to sense that same pending change in the life of the Neely family most recently. There's a lot on the horizon that remains uncertain, and we've been managing that uncertainty for a while now, but something seems different.

Changes are happening fast for our family. Kendall and I talk daily about life plans, job prospects, relocation preferences, etc. Through it all, we know that God has a plan and He is control. And while it is a daily challenge to put that head knowledge into heart knowledge, there is something very exciting about knowing that a new season is around the corner.

Still, the place I can see beauty of a new season the most is in the life of our daughter. She has really started expressing her personality. It's as if she opened a door and found a new piece of who she is.

Even in the last few days, I have seen how much she is starting to enjoy life. A couple of days ago she started to clap her hands, she has discovered the glorious fun of rolling about on the floor, she's babbling and laughing a lot (especially when she gets excited to go after a toy, the dog, or the laptop), and she continues to let us know in no uncertain terms when she disapproves of the dinner menu.

When I drop Eden off at daycare, sometimes I linger as I leave to watch her through the window in the door. There is something very rewarding about seeing her crawling around, playing with her little baby friends and finding her toys of preference.

Jesus said to come to Him we must be as little children. I believe when we look at kids we see the reflection of Him, and as we love and care for our children we express love toward Him. There is something pure, something essential about a child.

And so, as I look at our daughter and the changes she is going through, I am reminded that just as we delight in her growing into each new stage, God delights in bringing us through each season in our life and the growth that comes with it.

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

Sugar, Spice, and Spunk!

Today Eden turned 7 months old. Seven months... I can't believe it. I know this feeling will only get more pronounced as she gets older, but I just feel like it was just yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital.

Now, she's pulling up on everything in sight, crawling anywhere she wants to go, eating all sorts of foods, making it clear which ones she likes and which ones she doesn't, and working on four teeth coming in!

She's also really started to express her personality-- and she is spunky. I believe she's going to be a climber. She seems to be a pretty tough little girl too. She doesn't seem too fazed by the bumps, bangs, and bonks that accompany a crawler exploring her world. And speaking of banging, she beats on everything she gets her hands on-- and hard! I mean, she really gives her toys and our table tops the what for!

But when she's sleepy, she wants her Mommy, or sometimes she'll agree to snuggle with Daddy while she sucks her fingers. Actually, last night at the dinner table all it took was a good filling of cereal and fruit mix and she fell asleep right in her high chair.

Things are otherwise plugging along in the Neely household. That's the news for now. We'll keep you posted.

Pretty as a Picture

Here are some pictures from Eden's first professional photo shoot at six months old. She did pretty well considering three wardrobe changes!

Leaps & Bounds

It has been a week of milestones and setbacks. This past weekend we traveled to Tampa to visit family for the Fourth of July. While we were there, Eden decided she would show off and pull herself up to standing for the very first time. And this after just last week when she decided to sit up and start crawling. I'm telling you, this little girl is ready to go, go, go!

When we got home, we noticed that her first tooth is also starting to come in. T-bone steaks, here we come! For the time being, I've posted a short video clip below of Eden getting her first taste of bananas. Kendall fed them to her while we were down this weekend.

Ok, so that's the good news. The bad news is that the amoxicillin that Eden was taking to fight off the ear infections in both ears gave her a delayed allergic reaction. When I went to pick her up from daycare yesterday, our fair-skinned little girl had turned into a red bumpy baby covered head to toe with a rash.

I took her to the pediatrician this morning and they said it is not a terribly uncommon reaction to the amoxicillin. Since her ear infections haven't cleared up yet, they put her on Cefprozil, another antibiotic that is another variation of a penicillin derivative. They also gave her some probiotics to clear up some of the other less mentionable digestive side effects of the antibiotics.

All in all, things are good in the Neely household. I've been trying to beef up my Web presence in preparation for the job search this year. I updated some stuff on LinkedIn and Twitter (ufjeff) and am trying to generally get a little more e-socially connected.

In that vein, I thought I'd also shamelessly self-promote my Web page in case any of you want to check it out. It's www.jeffreyneely.com. It's still in progress. I need to update and change a few things, but it's off to a decent start.

Kendall is doing well. She also continues to fight off the lingering crud of back-to-back colds. She seems to be on the mend now, so that's good.

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

Busy summer

Things have been happening very fast here recently. Yesterday was a big day for Eden. It was the first time that we saw her "officially" crawl (i.e. arms and legs moving together in synchronized motion), and she sat herself up all on her own. I guess she just decided that there is a bunch of stuff out there that she needs to check out, so she might as well be on her way. Ah, how it pains a father's heart to think soon she'll have her knapsack packed and be hoppin' some northbound freight train to see what adventure lies before her. Ok, ok... so I'm a sucker for hyperbole.

And you know, judging by her chipper smile and sparkly-eyed coos, you'd never know that she had an ear infection in both ears. Yes, we took her to the doctor on Tuesday because she's had a lingering cough ever since her bout with a virus about a month ago. Like I say, she's been acting so cheery and eating well and playing happily, so I was surprised when Dr. Benton said her ears were infected. She's been on Amoxicillin for the last couple of days, and it seems to be working already, as her congestion seems to be clearing.

Things are extremely busy for Kendall at work right now. They're working with a skeleton crew, as about a third of her staff is out for one reason or another. Hopefully things will get back to normal when they're fully staffed again in August.

I am working on transcribing interviews for my dissertation. Data collection is done, so now it's a matter of analyzing it and getting it written up. I'll also be heading to Denver in August for the AEJMC conference, where I'll be presenting a paper and participating in the job placement "speed dating" meet-and-greet.

I'm also going to start trying to be a little more frequent with posting on this blog. Have I said that before? Well, I'm not making any promises, but I'm going to try.

Anyway, that's the news for now. We'll keep you posted. Here's a few recent pics.