Jack's School Pictures II

Well - it's not as bad as I thought.

I got Jack's school pictures back - you know from this day - and they actually came out okay! Truth be told ... the one sans shirt is better than the one with his shirt! I'll see if I can scan the little thumbnails in ...

Now deciding which package to order.

Gah.

AND ... Bryan should be shipping home for R&R on the 10th!! Not sure of his arrival date yet - but it's s.o.o.n!!!

Everybody Clap Your Hands....!!

Look at this little man. I started singing the ABC's and whad'ya know - he started clapping along (as in, not slapping the floor ... but put his hands together in a rhythm). Love him! So, of course I had to do it again so everyone could see.




(and if you didn't know, he can even High 5!)

* Please note, that is not a poor attempt at a skirt around the daybed ... that's baby-proofing at it's finest.

Bye, Bye Beefcake.

Bryan's pride and joy (& no, not Jack or myself) has been sold to the highest bidder. 9:30am Saturday morning, Beefcake, or as some call Kollosus, drove away to be a new ride for a 16 year old, whose birthday is today. He's a Florida Gator fan, which makes me laugh.

Beefcake, once a shabby Chevy, was reborn after Bryan rebuilt it - for lack of a better term. Beefcake escorted Bryan and I home on our wedding night, he pulled Bula, our boat, moved us to Statesboro, got Bryan to drill and always hauled stuff for our various adventures.

Bryan will miss Beefcake - me, not so much. But he was a sharp looking truck.

Scoot-a-root toot!

Back from a couple weeks ago. He's crawling now.

Here Comes Jack!

Table Talk

Why Baby-Proofing is a Necessity

All the gates, outlet covers and cabinet latches in the world can't hide sharp corners on your furniture. The more Jack moves, the more he bumps into things. I've learned really fast what needs to go in our house:

The couch.

Once a week the poor kid knocks his left eye on the couch.

Why it's always his left eye? I don't know. But he loves to pull up on the couch - therefore, he's bound to tip over from the couch, too.

Last week playing under the coffee table
(which has now been moved)

And ... 2o minutes later.

And again today.
Ugh - it breaks my heart.

Now - off to browse the internet for couches ... soft ones.

Go Lindsay! Go Jeb! Goooooo Eagles!

So! Cori threw a very awesome engagement party for Lindsay and Jeb before the football game on Saturday. She rented out part of Buffalo's and had food and drinks for all! Very generous! We hung out, played bar games, caught up with one another, saw the infamous alligator, ate drank, and were merry. Jack met many new friends, stole some more hearts and hung out like a champ at the 'bar' - we had a great bartender, too. He asked if I'd like another beer - I said, "yes please and could you rinse out this bottle?"

From there, we headed out to the Stadium where it was pretty gloomy - but we tailgated anyhow ... and then it rained . .. we all got wet. But - it cleared up for a perfect game.

Cori, Aimie, Carly, Josh & I went into the game - stayed until half time - found long sleeve t-shirts for $10, free Subway Sandwiches, some loose college girls, kids sliding down the wet hill in cardboard boxes, reminisced on some of our own college memories ... oh, and watched some of the game.

All in all - made for an interesting day. Can't wait for the next one when Bryan will hopefully be home!!

Josh, Aimie's fiance showing Jack a new point of view (I think J likes it!)
Check out the shoes Lindsay got Jack - yes, those are Vans!

The alligator in the pond below the deck ...

Some of the girls Lindsay went to college with!

LeAnn, Lindsay's mom with Jack, who clearly doesn't mind the noise.

GSU girls @ the game (and what an interesting game it was!!)

My 7 Month Old ... Baby

He pulls up. He Stands. He scoots and now crawls. I am so proud of all of his advances - yet a hole in my heart grows bigger each step he takes. I know - tomorrow he'll be 16 and then he'll be going off to college. Let's just slow down . . . or at least try to. Jack no longer sits still for pictures. He's not interested in his Hippo friend anymore and can't keep his hands off of the paper. I was somewhat frustrated by his lack of cooperation. But then, hey - it's Jack. He's always on the go. So the pictures fit him well.

I love you Jack!!

sharing his paper with me . . . sweet boy.

eating his paper.

attempting to sit still.

trying to get the camera -
he crawled right off the chair and I caught him in my lap.

Jumpin' Jack!

As always, full of energy and smiles. Easy to entertain. :)

Did I mention Jack is SEVEN months old? I'll have to use the weekend mourn.

So Long, Tilt.

So, everyone's favorite fish, Tilt, has finally given up today. (I think it was today - I swear he was alive yesterday - but by the looks of it, he's been gone for a bit)

I wouldn't normally write a blog post about a goldfish - but people took a liking to Tilt because Tilt did just that, tilt. Without an equilibrium, poor little Tilt couldn't keep upright. He'd swim, slowly nose-dive into the valley of rocks below, bounce, and return to the top. He never complained, never seemed to mind. But he grew tired. Tilt spent his last couple of months upside down at the top of the tank - swimming, breathing, eating . .

Many times I had to argue with people that my Tilt was in fact alive.

But, I guess Tilt gave up this week. Although his other finned friends would come and visit him at the top - I am sure it just wasn't the same for him. I think Tilt died of broken dreams. It's very sad, really.

So today, I was playing with Jack & talking with Melissa on the phone, watching the fish (a favorite pastime of youngsters who visit the Neal home). And to the horror! Tilt was floating - like usual - but something was different... his long, beautiful fins weren't moving. I leaned in for a closer look. *Gasp* His eyes were lifeless, sunken in. Tilt was DEAD.

I immediately got off the phone with Melissa. Had a moment of silence and called Tom. Told him there was an E-MER-GEN-CY! That Tilt had died and he needed to get out of the tank. If it was a minnow - I wouldn't have minded so much - but it was Tilt - a fat, long finned, 6 inch goldfish. Uncle Tom the hero came to our rescue and put Tilt in the trees.

No way I could let Tilt decompose in a septic tank.

So, Rest in Peace our Beloved Tilt - the tank will definitely not be the same without you.

Quite boring, actually.

(I am nervous Jack&Bobby will pass now, too, of loneliness without his Tilt)

Jack Pulls Up!

Amazingly, I actually got this 'first' little moment in Jack's life on tape. Hooray! With some enticing, from his cheering section (Miriam & myself) Jack took himself from sitting in his crib to standing alllllllllllll by himself.

Quite frankly, Jack doesn't need a cheering section as he's really doing all of the talking. Man, is he adamant to make his point.

Video is a little long (3-minutes-ish) but it makes me smile.

School Pictures

Well, Jack had his school pictures today. He had to be at school by 8 o'clock sharp in order to get his picture taken. They take portraits and a class shot.

Well, being comatose in a NyQuil trance, I overslept. Oversleeping is NOT good with baby-in-toe and deadlines. Off to a great start. Fantastic foreshadowing for the rest of my day.

Since I was running short on time, Jack showered with me. He loves sitting at the bottom and playing in the water, chewing on his rubber ducky. But, today he decided to go poo while I was rinsing.

Sweet. So much for a shortcut. So recap: clean Jack, clean me, clean Jack AGAIN and then clean shower. Next:
Feed Jack, skip my breakfast, find clothes for Jack, find clothes for me, prep bottles & food for school, step on a fresh hairball, barefooted, compliments of Mac, hold back vomit, clean carpet, run after Jack, spill OJ down my shirt, find new shirt, give Peanut shot . . .

Oddly enough, ironing Jack's super small khakis took me longer than ironing my own clothes.

After running back in the house 15 times with the truck running before finally feeling confident enough that I had everything - we head to school. (picture me skipping out the door while trying to put a shoe on and Jack in hand - pull out the driveway, stop, pull in, run into the house . . .)

Anywho - after getting Jack to school with seconds to spare (hooray for me and following through for being THAT token mom!!) I get him settled, he's still smiling from when I pleaded for him to wake this morning.

I go to work and it progressed as it started - like hell. 9 hours pass.

Pick Jack up - he's in different clothes. (please, please say they changed his nicely pressed pants that [took me 15 minutes to iron] AFTER their pictures) Yea. No. Jack decided to give a big burp during pictures which followed up with a sampling of his breakfast. Yes. I probably disrupted his tummy by all of my running around this am.

I was the token mom. Jack was the token kid.
(with a scratch, bruise, and bump on his eye paired with a bug bite on his cheek)

Can't wait to see the outcome.

Jaxx & Jack Can Play All Day!

Back to last weekend - Jack had SUCH a great time with his BFF, Jaxx. Be sure to check out Melissa's blog and her great pictures from their visit! Here are some pictures I have from J&J's quality time.

Jaxx sharing his bottle with Jack . . . what a sweet, sweet boy.

Jack getting the hang of standing with help of his older bud.

Jaxx & Jack share a bath

Jaxx was very generous with his kisses

WWE Wrestlemania!

( I can't say it enough - it was liberating having them visit - and it was so great to see how much Jack enjoyed the company of another pint-sized friend. And it was great to end the day sipping on a Crazy Larry with someone tangible )

Jack's a Big Boy Now!

[ To the tune of the Huggies commercial . . . ]

So - we've made it this far - Jack is pulling up, he's climbing, he's scooting all over the place. Nothing can contain him. Jack's mattress went from position to sweet little newborn precious baby boy to you can't hold me back I have places to go (but I'm still sweet) position.


Jack hasn't taken to his lower digs yet; who knew it would really make an impact on his sleeping behavior? Since lowering his mattress, Jack has completely dismissed his perfect record of sleeping 9 hours a night, straight. He now wakes up around midnight and is restless through the morning.

Today I put him down for a nap - he managed to sit up (which he does by lying on his stomach, planting his feet and walking his hands backwards until he's in sitting position), disregard the fact he was exhausted and play. I finally noticed him when he started slapping the side of his bookcase and giggling.

Goooooo Georgia Southern!

Jack's first tailgates was this weekend! Football opener this weekend! Yes! Tailgating is on this fall! Rachel, Lindsay and I all got permanent spots next to each other this season. We played Albany State (NY, not GA) and won! It was the 25th Anniversary of Paulson Stadium and the 150th win in the stadium- pretty perfect numbers.

Jack, of course, loved being outside and loved all of the attention. He was told numerous times . . . "what a good baby." Jack is also currently fighting his first cold. Thanks daycare! At least it's not the swine!

My Little Minnesota

Starring Jack! For real! Well, not for real - but close to real.
Jaxx & Meliss brought Jack the most perfect gift for Jack! The A - Z's of Minnesota! Love it!

Botanical Gardens

After a long morning of snacks and naps all around, Melissa and I packed up Jaxx & Jack and headed out to take a tour of Statesboro. We drove the main routes and then headed to the Botanical Gardens for some afternoon fun. Meliss and I have been messing around with our cameras - it's been fun to play with her.

Happy Anniversary, My Love!

wish you were here. . .

Tooshie Revealed!!!

How many of you got it right? Yep!! Jaxx and Melissa came to visit little old Jack and I down here in 'Statesbura!' They had hellacious travels getting here but it was definitely worth the wait. Jack and I had so much fun with them. Watching the two J's playing together was the best, ever!

We think they love each other, too!
Jaxx giving Jack smooches!