Happy 1st Birthday (party) Neil

Long weekend! We had a fantastic time with Neil at his 1st birthday party on Saturday. Thank you so much to everyone that came and made his day extra special. For those of you that weren't there, we missed you! And, I promise I'll post some pictures as soon as I can.

He did pretty well opening presents - those that weren't opened by the other children that were there - so cute! After he opened his presents he literally PASSED OUT. I was holding him, he laid his head on my chest and was OUT. I've never seen the kid pass out like that -he was completely exhausted. I let him sleep about 30 minutes, then we woke him up to do cake and ice cream. It wasn't a good situation with the cake - he HATED it. Definitely didn't like everyone staring at him and shouting happy birthday. My friend Carissa said it best when she said something to the effect that it must be completely frightening to be a 1 year old and have a flaming cake placed in front of you and everyone shouting at you for no apparent reason.

Rodney and I went for our 1st baby appointment for little hancock #2 - everything was great. We saw a heartbeat - yes, only 1! I don't know why, but I had more than one person ask if we are having twins. NO - there is only 1 baby in my belly. The doc set the due date for July 3rd - it's going to be a HOT summer.

Halloween surprise

What a special 1st Halloween for Neil. He went to school in his BOO shirt his Aunt Caroline gave him and even though he was sick, we took him to our immediate neighbors to show off his costume. Some thought he was a dinosaur, others a lizard and some a dragon - whatever he was, he was VERY CUTE!

And doesn't he look all grown up in his hat? Since it's been chilly, Nanny bought Neil a hat to keep his ears warm. I think there are many more of those in his near future - he LOVED to look at himself in the mirror with the hat on. Check out his hair when he pulled the hat off - ha ha. He's going to kill me when he gets older! I took the video this morning - Neil has gotten really good at walking with his walker. I know it won't be long until he's walking on his own!

And we definitely had a Halloween surprise. Rodney and I found out that we are expecting another child!! We are completely thrilled. Both of us were born in July and it looks like we may have a July baby - we'll see. It's VERY early in pregnancy, so please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. Here we go for round two!

Hancock family update

The last month has been nonstop action! Jamaica was a BLAST. Caroline and Jason had the most perfect wedding. Everything about it was beautiful - couldn't ask for more. Rodney and I completely enjoyed our week in Jamaica. If you haven't done an all inclusive resort before, DO IT! It was the best experience - service was fantastic, drinks were great (duh) and the food wasn't too bad either. There were so many restaurants at the resort to choose from - we never got bored. Here are a few shots of our vacation.

We got back from Jamaica on Thursday and I left for Hartsville Friday for my 10 year High School reunion. It was a BLAST. Had a great time with many friends I hadn't seen in a long time. Jessica, Dani and I ROCKED it out! We missed all of you that weren't there (Lindsay and others, slackers!) Neil got to hang out in the big city of Hartsville too - spent some quality time with his DG!

So, I returned from the HS reunion on Sunday and left for my friend Rachel's wedding in Michigan on Thursday. (Told you I'd been busy!) Her wedding was absolutely perfect too - she is going to have the most beautiful pictures. Her photographer was amazing! We did a little Bachelorette party on Thursday night - too much fun. I could not get over the colors of the trees - just gorgeous.

Believe it or not, I actually worked a full week the next week and got to spend some quality time with my son! This past Friday night we went to Widespread Panic in Charleston and Saturday I headed back to Hartsville for Caroline and Jason's wedding reception. It was at Lawton Park - so much fun! Caroline and I took Neil to the pumpkin patch on Sunday afternoon and tried to play like we were photographers. After many many many shots, we came out with these. Not SO bad, but oh how I wish Lindsay was there!

And finally, REST with two of my three boys. But not for long...this weekend is Citadel Homecoming, next is a shower in Hartsville, then Neil's birthday, Thanksgiving, Clemson vs. Carolina, then it's basically Christmas! Oh how the time flies. I can't believe Neil is almost 1!

My child is a GENIUS

I honestly don't know where the last month went - didn't even realize it has been almost a month since I posted last. Neil has been moving faster than ever and really beginning to come to life! And now I know that he is brilliant. I'm a proud mom!

Well, it's about time to start putting up some of Neil's things he is too big to play with. Thank goodness these are mostly large items - like the exerciser or whatever they call those things. We had one upstairs and one downstairs, so I'm very excited about getting them in the attic! It's funny, but all he wants to play with now are boxes, balls, pots and pans, electronics - basically anything that you have that he's not supposed to play with. How do they know that?

Neil is really testing his balance lately. He'll be standing up holding onto something and just let go to see what happens. Usually he falls, but he's actually standing up more and more. I think walking is in our near future.

Rodney and I leave for Jamaica on Thursday. Caroline and Jason are getting married on Monday, October 6th, so Rodney and I are making this our second honeymoon and going for an entire week! We are staying at Sandals Negril for a few days and then traveling to Sandals Montego Bay for a few days before we fly home. Nancy is generously keeping Neil while we are gone, so I've also lined up a few friends to help her out. Lindsay has signed up for one night, Brittany is keeping him one night, Robbie is keeping him an afternoon or two and Mary is keeping him during the day a day or two. I have WONDERFUL friends! Thank you all for helping us out while we're gone. We definitely couldn't do it without you.

Neil had school pictures on Thursday - I tried to snap a couple of shots while trying to entertain him and not get in the way. Here is what I came out of the shoot with.

Neil is on a pretty good schedule now - sleeps through the night (thank goodness) and takes a morning and afternoon nap. I love that he's eating all real food now - it's so much easier to feed him. Takes MUCH LONGER than before, but it is more fun. I absolutely love to watch him feed himself. When he misses his mouth and struggles to get the food in - so funny. Not that I sit and watch him struggle - I promise I don't!

Well, off to pack for the week in Jamaica!

Top Teeth - 9 months old

Neil is so talkative - it's hard to catch it all on these short video's, but I will continue to try!

Neil had his 9 month check-up today. He weighs 20.9 pounds and is 29 1/4 inches long. That's 75% in height and 65% in weight - Doc said he's thinning out a little because he's now moving around so much more. He's a quick crawler and he's "cruising" around the furniture - don't know if I'm quite ready for him to be walking, but doesn't look like it's too far away. Honestly, I can't believe he's already nine months old!

I couldn't get over Neil using the microphone on his new little toy - so cute!

We went to the Clemson game in Atlanta this past weekend. We spent Friday night in Anderson with Mick Mick and left Neil with Mick Mick for a big Anderson Saturday night! They had a great time and he actually slept from 8:30 PM to 7:30 AM - won't EVER do that for me. This is a pic from Saturday morning after Neil had a bath in the sink - wild hair man!

Davy on the way to the game - ran out of room in the van - sorry Davy!

And later at the game - GREAT TIME! Bad game, but great time anyway.

First Day of "School"

Monday was Neil's first day of "school." He's going to Fort Johnson Baptist Church on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 to noon. So far, he's LOVING it! They send a report home everyday with him and it's so nice to see when he ate, drank, had wet diapers, napped, etc. It's almost like I was there with him the whole time. Brian Lynch's little boy, Tucker, is in Neil's class - he's 5 months old - so cute!

This picture is so bad that it makes me laugh every time I see it - I had to put it on here. He is going to KILL me when he gets old enough to read this blog!!!! Happy First Day of School Neil. HA HA.

Cute little Tucker Lynch!

Real food - FINALLY!

So I finally stopped pumping and feeding Neil breast milk exclusively almost 1 month ago. It was a change for all of us, but with him eating more and more real food, I felt that I could save myself the two hours per day I spent pumping because I wasn't able to produce enough to feed him just breast milk anyway. Sorry if that was TMI for some of you! With all that being said, Neil ate "finger food" for the first time today in addition to the pureed food I make for him.

I've been making his food forever, but now it's time for him to learn to eat independently. Today I threw small pieces of cheese and small pieces of turkey on his plate for lunch. He did really well - much better than I expected. We went to Jody and Shannon's tonight for dinner and I fed him green beans and baked beans and he ate them right up! It's like he's been doing it forever. That is the thing about kids that blows me away - they pick something up one day and it's like they have been doing it forever! I know that one day soon I'm going to turn around and he's going to be walking towards me - like it's no big deal.

Neil starts "school" on Monday. Rodney and I went to visit the school on Wednesday night for the orientation, then visited the classroom with Neil on Thursday morning. Neil seriously acted like Rodney and I weren't even in the room - he loved it! It seems like most of the kids in his class are around his same age, so it's going to be good for him to learn to share!

We learned in the classroom that they take a nap from 10 am till 11 am. Since Neil definitely isn't on that schedule, Rodney and I thought we should get Neil adapted to more of a routine. He is actually doing SO WELL! We are putting him to bed at 8, no matter what, and waking him up at 7 (even on the weekends!). And we tried today to put him down for a nap at 10:00 and he went straight to sleep, didn't even fuss. I was SHOCKED! We came home in time for him to go down at 8:15 tonight and he seriously cried for 4 minutes - last night it was 17 minutes, tonight it was 4!!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am about this schedule. We were so good on the schedule until he cut those 2 teeth, since then it's been survival mode.

I think I'm going to try Cheerios tomorrow for a snack for Neil - I love the new food experience!

First party, first accident

Neil and I attended his first birthday party this weekend. His friend Colton (my friend Piper's son) turned one last week and they had his 1st birthday party on Saturday. We had the best time playing with all the little boys and girls that were there. Neil was WORN OUT on Saturday night! Colton wasn't participating in the cake smashing - he would stick one finger in the cake and then pull it back and look at it - SO CUTE! And Piper made that cake - impressive huh?

Went to Hartsville on the 7th for a wine and cheese for Caroline. I have to share these two pictures because they are absolutely hilarious! Emily went to sit down with me and Caroline and my mom snapped the picture below. We laughed about this picture for an hour!

Neil is definitely pulling up and climbing on EVERYTHING. It's crazy how one day your child is laying peaceful in a crib for 14 hours a day and the next he's into absolutely everything and wants to touch anything that is within an arms length. We had to take the toy in this picture away from him for a week or so - we had a very traumatic event occur last week. Neil was playing, just as he is in this picture, when he fell down - catching the toy with his chin on the way down. I calmly picked him up and gave him a little hug and Rodney came over to see what had happened. I had Neil close to my chest loving on him and Rodney said, "Ashley, he's bleeding - really bleeding." Well, come to find out, Neil had used his two teeth to practically bite through his little tongue. It was TERRIBLE! He was a great sport about it and didn't cry too too much, but it was VERY bloody. I freaked, not as bad as you may imagine, but definitely freaked. We got the bleeding under control after two calls to the doctor. Only the first of many accidents, I'm sure.

One big happy family. I had to take this picture - couldn't resist the family photo (minus me taking the pic)! Neil has been ending up in the bed with us lately - not good, I know. He wakes up around 3 in the morning and instead of fighting it and letting him cry it out, I've been giving in and putting him in the bed with us. Last night was terrible - he was up from midnight till 3:30! I really think he's cutting a top tooth. Let's all collectively pray it's a top tooth!!

New toys

I've recently discovered that Neil LOVES blocks. When I went to Wal-Mart late last week, I wanted to get Neil something fun that he could play with on the ground now that he's crawling and pulling up. I found wooden blocks, but they said 3 yrs. and up. Well, I bought them anyway and Neil absolutely loves them. Check him out! We have the best time with them.

Hilton and Chris Yates came to visit over the weekend. He and Neil are going to be 2 peas in a pod when they get older. Hilton is in the climbing stage (15 months) and we literally turned around to find him climbing into the bouncer with Neil. Neil loved it!

I think Neil looks so innocent in these pictures. What a little love bug! And check out his fast crawling. Can't help but be a proud mom!

We spent most of the weekend cleaning out our house - we couldn't even clean up until we cleaned out - we had a mess on our hands. But, we fought through it and really got rid of a lot of junk. Much more to do, but we did rearrange the den to fit Neil's needs better. Wide open space now! We still have to move some pictures and things, but you can get the idea.