A Few Days

Matt leaves for Zambia this Wednesday.  For those of you that read this blog, we would appreciate your prayers for:

• Safe travel - they are taking 5 students with 4 adults.  Its a good ratio, but there is always risk of someone getting lost when traveling that long.
• Safety in country - they will be doing manual labor after Katrina-like disasters have struck Zambia.  Dehydration, illness and fatigue will all be factors during this trip.
• Spiritual renewal - for both the team and the people they minister to.  Many of the villagers they will visit are stricken with HIV/AIDS and haven't had visitors in months. Our team will be a fresh breath to them during their struggle.  Pray also that the students will be encouraged spiritually - and challenged to grow in their faith and relationship with Christ.
• Pray for Annelise and I.  We will be home for 10 days without Matt.  My sister Leah will be staying with us to help out.  Pray that God would keep us safe and that the baby would do well for me.  

Thanks in advance for your faithful prayer support!  We'll keep you posted as we hear from the Zambia team in the coming days.

Blondie?

No, I'm not talking about the dessert (for those of you wired like me)!

Do you think my kid is going to be blond?  I was looking at the comparison of these two pictures and it seems like her hair is getting lighter.  Who would have thought that I would have a blond haired, blue-eyed girl!

My Ornery Little Girl

Annelise hasn't been feeling like herself lately.  She is very congested, which has turned my once happy baby into a rather ornery one.  One minute she's laughing - and two seconds later she bursts into tears.  Being the kind mommy that I am, I took some pictures of her in action.

HAPPY...

NOT SO HAPPY...

REALLY NOT HAPPY.

Shots

Yesterday was a sad day for us.  Annelise went for her 2-month doctor's visit and had to get 5 shots!  I knew it was going to be sad, but I didn't realize how hard it would be for me.  Two nurses held her down to give her the shots simultaneously and Matt stood by her head, calming her.  Mommy hovered in the corner, fighting tears and praying her "silent screaming" would stop and she would begin breathing again.  As soon as they were done, they said "Ok, someone hold her."  That's all I needed to hear.  I scooped her up and cuddled her for most of the night.  One good outcome was that she slept 10 hours last night!  So, we all got some rest after the big ordeal.

By the way...she's now 10 pounds exactly and 23 inches long.  Tall and skinny like her aunts!

My Coworker

A New Cousin

Congrats to James & Pam Wickman (my cousin) on the birth of their first child.

Evan Philip Wickman was born this morning weighing 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 1/2 inches long.  Welcome to this wonderful world!

9 pm - 6 am

Annelise slept through the night!  I think that's all I need to say...

Lots Going On

Another Sunday has gone by and I can't believe we're starting another week. Not much is new around the Neal household. Annelise has been sleeping really well lately. She finally dropped her late night feeding and is only getting up once in the night. Mom is certainly happy about that - although dad doesn't seem to notice it much! She's also been a much happier baby - content to lay on her play mat. She's beginning to notice her toys now and is starting to laugh. We're really beginning to enjoy her smiles and interaction.

Today, we said goodbye to our pastor of 13 years. Pastor Mark took the lead pastor position at College Park Church in Indianapolis. It's a wonderful opportunity for their family and will allow Mark to spend more time teaching and writing. We have truly enjoyed being under Mark's teaching and shepherding for so many years. We know that God has something wonderful planned for our church very soon!

In other exciting news...our school is celebrating the ground breaking of their new high school facility tomorrow evening. I graduated from Calvary 8 years ago and have anticipated this day for many years. It's so exciting to be a part of this expansion. A new school building will allow us to minister in more unique ways to both our students and the community around us. God has finally blessed us with that opportunity! Matt will start the 08-09 school year in a brand new building. He might even have his own classroom!

Lastly, as many of you know, Matt leads the high school spring break trip to Zambia, Africa each year. This year he will be traveling with 5 students and 3 other leaders April 2-11. Annelise and I aren't looking forward to daddy being gone for that long (and I'm sure he's not looking forward to leaving us either). But, we're excited at the opportunity he has to minister in this unique way. Please pray that God would keep him and his team safe during their travels, that they would have an effective ministry, and that they would be able to raise the remaining funds needed to go. If you would like more info about this trip - or would like to know how you can be a part of making it happen - please feel free to email Matt. Here's a picture of their team.



Well, I'll post more pictures/video of Annelise tomorrow. She is growing so quickly!

My Twin?

My friend Kate posted a blog yesterday about my "secret double life."  I guess the cat's out of the bag.  Don't tell Matt.

Sunday Blues

What an oxymoron!  I know, I know...Sunday is supposed to be a day of rejoicing and rest.  It's the Sabbath, right?  Why is it then that we find it ok - and even praiseworthy - to fill our Sundays with church meetings galore? I used to feel bad about sleeping in on Sunday mornings or skipping out on small group.  If the doors were open, I should be there.  Now that I have a young child, I have seen the light.  The light of Scripture that is.  We're to keep the Sabbath holy.  Resting in the Lord.  This day is supposed to be different from all of the other days of the week.  But, too often we get up early, rush to church, subject our children to a rigorous schedule of Sunday school and worship, rush home for a quick bite to eat, run out the door to a Missions meeting, change our clothes and head out to small group, then get home and frantically prepare what we need for the next day at work.  If I'm lucky, I can find 30 minutes on a Sunday relaxing.  But, all too often, the only rest I find is 15 minutes in the rocking chair, nursing my child.  How did we let it get this way?  Sometimes I feel like we're guilted into this busy lifestyle by the church.  Like the more we participate in, the holier we are?  Of course, no one would EVER say this out loud.  But don't we think it in our hearts?  "We missed you at church last Sunday" or better interpreted as "Where were you?  Sleeping in?!"  At which time I find myself making up some excuse like, "the baby didn't feel well" or "we had a rough week." Why can't I just say "We felt like getting some rest and spending time as a family." Fortunately, this Sunday, I am home for a few hours in between church and small group.  My daughter is actually napping in her crib (rather than the car seat) and I'm sipping a cup of tea as I write this. BUT, my husband is at a Missions meeting and when he gets home, we'll turn around and head out to small group.  Do any of you ever feel this way?

This is How We Roll...

Annelise is a great office companion.  We spent most of the day at a fundraising event for the Mission.  She was held by just about every woman in the room.  Trust me, she loved it!  Now, we're home and mommy is finishing up a few projects before we call it a day.  Here's a few pictures of "how we roll" in the office together.

Update: First Day Back to Work

The work day is finally coming to a close for me  at 8pm.  My first day back was...interesting.  Oh how the tables have turned.  It used to be a day in the office was filled with accomplishments and coming home was full of distractions.  I must say that today was quite the opposite.  My babysitter happens to be in the Florida this week, so my normal Tuesday morning in the office was filled with baby's cries, wet diapers, and much more!  Anne had to come to work with me today.  It was crazy - I felt like I got nothing done.  BUT...we came home around 2pm and I got more accomplished in the next two hours than I did all morning at the office.  She slept soundly in her crib while I hurriedly typed emails, designed brochures and created "to do" lists, never knowing when her whimper would turn into a full fledged screech.  She slept the entire time - THANK YOU LORD!  So, overall, how did my day go?  Very well!  Thank you for your advice and for praying!  I made detailed lists for the day and it seemed to help immensely.  Now, we'll see how tomorrow and Thursday go...

Back to Work Jitters

This post is probably a little premature, but I wanted to get some advice from you ladies, so I thought I'd post it today.  I'm headed back to work on Tuesday and I'm feeling a little nervous about the transition.  In the last few days, I've felt extremely overwhelmed with the thought of balancing work responsibilities, my child's needs, my husband's needs, my own needs, cleaning the house, doing the laundry - the list goes on.  I think part of my concern is that I'm going to be doing what was a 40 hour a week job, in 25 hours mostly from home.  I know several of you that read this blog have gone back to work since having your baby.  How do you do it?  Any tips on how I can maintain my sanity (if there is any left) and do a good job at all of this?  My fear is that I will be stretched so thin, I won't be good at anything.  If you know me, I hate to let people down and I'm afraid my quality of work will suffer, having to tend to a child each day - although she does have to be my first priority.  I welcome any and all advice!  

Don't Laugh - Daddy Dressed Me

It appears our friends and family know Matthew all too well.  We received not one, not two - but THREE of these onesies saying "Don't Laugh Daddy Dressed Me!"  

Diggs Visit

Matt's cousin Dawn and her family came to visit Annelise yesterday.  It was so nice to see them all.  Here are some pictures for the family to see!

Annelise Smiles

Here is a clip of Annelise smiling for the camera.  I am really annoying in this video, but it was the only way I could get her to smile.  So, if you need to mute your computer, I don't blame you. Matt and I decided that once Anne gets old enough to understand what the word "beautiful" means, we should probably stop calling her it so often.  We don't want our daughter to think more highly of herself than she is!

HELP!

Please tell me what I'm doing wrong.  Annelise is 5 weeks old today and she seems to have regressed in her sleeping habits.  For a while, she was sleeping 4-5 hours at a time during the night.  Last night (the worst yet), she slept a total of 3 hours - and they weren't consecutive.  I ended up sleeping in the guest room with the monitor, so Matt didn't have to wake continually to her crying.  Am I doing something wrong?

One solution I've thought of is to put her to bed after her 8pm feeding.  We typically let her stay up until her 11pm feeding, because she's wide awake.  Do any of you have any insight?  I go back to work in one week (and counting) and I'd like to get some sort of schedule in order.

On a positive note, she's eating like a champ and has established a great feeding schedule. Here's a picture of her first smile (captured on camera).  Yes, she looks a little cross-eyed because of a toy I was holding above her head.  

Uploading Videos

I finally got around to uploading videos of Annelise.  I haven't done it lately, because it takes so long to upload on blogger.  Does anyone else have this problem?  Or is it just me?We have high speed wireless internet at home, so I'm not sure what the problem is.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong?  If you have any ideas, let me know.  

Candace, Cydney, Janelle...I know you all post videos.  Does it take you forever to do?

The Nursery is Finally Finished!

Wow!  What a crazy busy week.  With all the snow up here, we enjoyed the first two days of the week home with daddy.  I haven't wished for a snow day so much since I was in high school. But, now that my husband's a teacher, I secretly pray for them all the time!

We finally bought a used crib for Anne and put it up yesterday.  With all the craziness of life, we just haven't had time.  So, her nursery is finally complete!   

We love all the bright colors.  And yes, this is my little girl, kicking and screaming in her new crib.  Grateful little brat, isn't she?

Oh and here's Annelise with her new little friend, Acacia Joy.  Acacia's mom, Lisa, and I were best friends all through high school.  This is her second little one - born just a week and a half after Anne.  We were hoping to spend some time in the hospital together, but Anne came too early.  Here they are sleeping in their car seats next to each other.  I have a feeling this is the calmest picture we'll get of the two of them...ever!

Nanny & Papa Visit

Matt's parents were here over the weekend for their first visit with Annelise.  Boy did they spoil her!  She not only got to sleep on the couch with them, but she also enjoyed being rocked to sleep and picked up at every whimper.  She was cuddled more than any child should be and was definitely sad to see them go.  Matt was a proud papa showing off his little girl to his parents.  Now, we're all recovering.  Anne is getting used to sleeping in her crib again - and mom and dad are getting used to less sleep.