Didn't You Know?

WE HAD A BABY??

Jack Michael Neal

Born February 10, 2009 at 1:32pm
7 Pounds, 2 Ounces
19 Inches Long

Yea, yea, yea ... our birth announcements have finally gone out. Say what you want, make fun of me, check the calendar ... yes, it's been 4 months. But hey - I have to keep you on your toes, right?

No, not really - it boils down to ... we have A LOT going on [if you haven't noticed]. So cut me a break.

At the end of the day, I wanted to make sure Jack got an appropriate, formal announcement of his arrival. You can't cheat him on a birth announcement for his baby book, can you?? Not to mention we wanted to remind you that we are here and we're still blogging away.

Many of our entries are for Bryan ... who is far, far away keeping his family and friends (+ many, many more) safe. It's a great way for him to keep up with his little man - and of course, for me to update you all about Bryan. (The other day, Joe, actually got Jack to stop crying. Abruptly. Jack heard his daddy's voice and calmed down. It, of course, brought tears to my eyes.)

Lazy 'Hot' Summer Days

This is how Jack spent Father's Day :)

Uncle Tom came over and ate a grand dinner with Granny June, Jack and I. All in all, a great relaxing day. We just wish Bryan was home to celebrate it with us!

The Sun Never Goes Down in Cool Town

It's All About Poo, Man

When Jack was born ... we couldn't get Jack to poop. What about now, you ask? 4 months and we can't get him to stop. I'll refrain from the gut-wrenching details ... but let's just say what goes in comes right back out. So, today, I got to squeeze the stench-filled diaper into a bio-hazard bag and take it to the hospital to get 'tested'. So - tomorrow, we get answers. Keep your fingers crossed we can stop him up soon!!

Yes, I am including a photograph of Jacks Bio-Hazard sack.


Jack's infamous poo-faces.

Back to School ...

Happy Back to School Day!

[insert photograph of me on my front steps with my backpack]

The 1st day of class my Senior year of college, my parents sent me a care package of goodies with a card that said ... "Happy Last First Day of School." I loved it. But - little did we all know, it wasn't true! Here I am six years later going at it again. (I'm scared shitless) It's been a long time since I've written a paper, taken a test or sat through a class. Hope my ADD is good to me!!

The first class I am putting towards my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) is Modern Art History. I glanced at the syllabus - in a short 5 week summer class I will be writing a 10 page paper, giving a lecture, taking a handful of exams and reading a 848 page book (small print, big pages). Oh yea, and go to work full time and come home and play mom.

And I thought to take an Art History first to 'ease' myself back into the student mindset. Ha.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Jack's far-from-home-Dad. We hope that you have a great day. We're missing you at home. But we're cooking a nice steak dinner in your honor (special guests inlcude Uncle Tom and Granny)

We love you!

jack loves his daddy.

attempting to give daddy kisses

jack misses his daddy

Jack's Room

Well, Jack can officially call his room, his room. The past week, he's gone to bed at 9 and woken up at 6.

Yes, I AM that lucky.

So - here's a picture of where Jack lays his beautiful head for his long nights of dreaming. If you click on it, it'll get bigger, if you really care. :)

Stripes painted by Daddy and Uncle Tom (after Auntie Lindsay and I drew them out on the wall) :)

Jack's Gonna Be a Designer, Too!

Well, maybe.

I set Jack down tonight to grab him a bottle. I was gone for seconds. When I came back - he had rolled himself conveniently onto my laptop (which was in sleep mode and feet away from him to begin with). Jack woke it up, opened a bunch of windows, set my status on skype, opened the calculator and searched for some made up word on my hard drive. And I watched has he turned caps lock on and off and on and off. I guess he noticed the little green light that came on.

Quite impressive, little one, considering I was gone for only moments.

And please notice he is looking at the Firefox menu out of my dock.

So, I snatched a quick picture with my cell phone - the drool was coming and I'll be damned he drooled into my keyboard.

So Long Staff Sergeant ...

Helllllo Sergeant First Class! That's right! Bryan's promotion finally came through and he's a newly pinned Sergeant First Class (SFC), which is an E-7. Jack & I are very proud of him - he's worked very hard for this.

On another note - Bryan got word that he will be leaving his luxurious digs at Camp Clark and moving on elsewhere - possibly Gardez. He's pretty annoyed; I don't blame him. So - hold those letters and care packages ... and keep your fingers crossed that he'll end up at a place just as nice as his current location (you know ... private internet in his private room and the chefs who volunteered their time from their cruise-line jobs).

With Love, from Kyrgyzstan

We also got a surprise package from Bryan. Bryan and I love collecting keepsakes from our travels - and Bryan is number one at finding mementos to send home. From Kyrgyzstan, he sent a gorgeous chess set home. The board folds closed and holds the chess pieces inside. Made of wood with 'Kyrgyzstan' carved into the ends, the chess set also has very ornate chess pieces made of wood that are hand painted. The set is beautiful and I am happy to add it to our collection.