Roll over - caught on tape

I've been meaning to catch Neil rolling over on camera for awhile. While we were having floor time tonight I finally remembered to get the camera out!

We went to Hartsville this weekend for Caroline's engagement party and had a great time! Harriet and Debbie kept Neil for us on Saturday night and he was okay, not great, but okay - didn't want to go to sleep. He's like his daddy; likes to sleep in his own bed!

First trip to Savannah, GA

Short, but great trip to Savannah yesterday! Rodney and I ultimately went for a Widespread Panic concert last night, but had a fantastic mini-vacation in Savannah. This was Neil's first time in a hotel - so of course we had to take some pictures to mark the occasion!

Notice Rodney and Neil in their matching Panic shirts - I got them those for Christmas!!

We had a great time. Note - if you want to eat at Lady & Sons (Paula Deen's restaurant) you have to go to the restaurant IN PERSON at 9:30 the day you want to eat there in order to place you name on the list for a reservation. That is NUTS! Needless to say, we didn't get to eat at Lady & Sons today.

BIG weekend

Rodney and Neil both were baptized yesterday morning on Folly Beach. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Many family and friends were there (we definitely missed a few of you!) with lots of love and support. Seriously, just the best morning you could ask for.

We had a really casual lunch at the Retreat clubhouse after the baptism. Hamburgers and hotdogs - a real all american lunch!

Neil was so talkative in his bouncer thingy today - I just had to take a quick video.

Bath time

Two quick videos from tonight - Neil loves the bath! As we were getting him undressed for bath time, Daisy Mae kissed Neil in the face and left a long brown nose streak across his forehead. The videos just doesn't do it justice!

I need Neil time

Honestly, I feel like I haven't seen Neil since Sunday. I've been preparing for a board meeting for one of my clients and it's taken up SO much of my time. Literally I dropped Neil off at Nancy's Monday morning at 8:45 am and picked him up at 7:45 pm. Then I dropped him off this morning at 7:45 am and Rodney picked him up after the kickball game at 8:30 tonight. When I got home from the board meeting tonight he was already in the bed - I'm SO SAD right now. At least I get to wake him up in a few minutes for his "dream feeding." I am taking a half day tomorrow from work - need Neil time - BAD!!

Too much work

Long days lately - trying to get this regime managment business off the ground is tough. It's going really well and we are winning business, but I miss spending my time with Neil! Today I dropped Neil off at Nanny's at 8:45 this morning and picked him up at 7:45 tonight. Rodney was able to run by and spend about an hour with him from 5 to 6 PM between his appointments, but I didn't get home to see him at all today. SO SAD! Rodney keeps reminding me that the reason we are doing this is to have more time to spend with Neil as he grows up - it's true, but so hard to adjust. Working these long hours is very temporary though - once I have all the systems in place, the business should run like clockwork!

Neil found his feet (not that they were lost!)

Neil is so active these days. Shannon watch Neil for me on Friday for a little bit and he was rolling back to front and front to back! I still haven't seen him roll from his back to his stomach, but he did it for his Aunt Shannon - hopefully I'll catch him soon on camera.

We had some people over to watch the Masters today and Neil loves being passed around from one person to the next. I took a video tonight and I'm going to try and get it posted here - we'll see how easy this really is! The first video I tried didn't work - not looking good for me. This one is of Neil starting to play with his feet. I've been waiting for him to find his feet and the time has finally come!

Well, it looks like this is going to work - MUCH easier than the old website by the way. And my new computer lets me simply stick my memory card straight from my camera into the front of my computer. This couldn't be any easier!

Neil has been so funny lately getting himself on a schedule without me even realizing it. Nancy (Rodney's mom) usually keeps Neil all day Monday and Thursday as well as Friday mornings, but she was out of town last week for jury duty. It has been SO long since I've spent a full week with Neil all day every day. He has a pretty good schedule going now:

7:30 - rise and shine. Neil talks to himself in his crib for a good 10 minutes before I go in his room to get him. He is so content in his bed just talking to himself. He doesn't really cry - just let's me know he's awake and it's time to come and get him. I go into his room and it's the sweetest thing in the whole world - he's SO excited to see me every morning. It just never gets old! I pick him up and change him then we read a few books to start the day. He doesn't eat a lot when he first wakes up - he's a funny kid. Then we go into my bedroom and he sits in his Bumbo while I get ready for work.

8-10:30 - Neil watches me get ready, then we do some tummy time (floor time), walk outside a little bit and play in the bouncer. He really likes to sit outside.

10:30 - 11:00 - The last few days Neil has fallen asleep for about 30 minutes after I give him his mid-morning bottle. He must wear himself out with all that playtime!

11 - 2:00 - Once Neil wakes up, he's ready to eat a full bottle and play all over again.

2 -4:00 - This is the time Neil usually takes his long nap of the day. This was my time to actually do a little bit of work this week. When he wakes up he eats again - usually about 6 oz. or so.

4 - 6:00 - Playtime again.

6 - 6:30 - Neil usually falls asleep again for a few minutes after he has his late afternoon bottle. He gets up and plays some more until he gets a bottle around 8:00 and goes to bed for the night. I do wake him up at 10:30 for his "dream feeding" and that is still working well, so I'm going to stick with that for now.

A day in the life of Neil - wouldn't that be nice!!

Oh - BTW, a year ago today I found out I was pregnant with Neil! I can't believe that was one year ago. Time really does fly by so quickly.

Neil rolled over!

What a great day. We decided this morning to head to the Cajun Festival at the James Island County Park around noon - so glad we went early, it got crazy busy after 2:00. It was a great group that went; Lindsay and Regina, Matt and Chris Ellis with Griffin (Matt's son) and me, Rodney and Neil. I got burnt - really bad farmers tan! Of course I lotioned Neil up before we left the house, but forgot about myself.

After the Cajun Festival, us girls, Neil and Rodney headed over to the pool at the Retreat where Rodney's mom lives. It was a beautiful day, but there were lots of gnats out! Lindsay tried to put Neil's toes in the water, but he was NOT having it. Didn't like the cold water at all. I'll have to work to get him used to it!

Well, Neil has been working so hard to roll over and he FINALLY rolled over tonight around 7:30 PM. Rodney and I put him on his belly like we do almost every night and this time he just rolled right over. There wasn't any hesitation at all - just rolled over! It was amazing. We kept flipping him back to his stomach and he kept rolling over onto his back. He's really close to rolling from back to front as well - we'll work on that this week.

Neil has started to go to sleep around 8:00 PM now and sleeping till about 7:30 AM. I still wake him up at 10:30 PM and feed him his "dream feeding" and that is working really well. He hasn't been getting up in the middle of the night anymore - it's WONDERFUL. I guess it's been about 6 weeks that he's been consistently doing that. We had our 4 month check-up this past week and he's 16.7 pounds and 26" long. Big boy!

Our issue this month is dry patches of skin. We thought Neil had ringworm on his head - he had 3 or 4 dry patches in the shape of a circle that looked just like ringworm. The doctor suggested an over the counter anti-fungal cream. We tried that for 2 weeks, but the patches didn't go away. We went back to the doctor and she gave him an antibiotic and prescription topical cream. That worked so well - cleared the patches right up, but now he has one on his shoulder and another on his back. They are also popping up on his face. Now the doctor thinks it could be eczema. I hope this cream will help him out and clear everything up! It's so sad to see his little face with the dry patches!

Otherwise, things are great. I am now working full time with Southern Shores Real Estate Group - Rodney's company - as the Director of Regime Management. It's been fun, but hectic trying to work with Neil at home twice a week. I think we've finally found part-time day care for him. I'm going to touch base with the church tomorrow, so we'll see!