More of Day 2

Evelyn came up to visit this evening and was a little more interested in Maeve. She actually wanted to hold her. She was the little more excited about the baby doll we gave her today.

Special thanks to Bobbi for watching Evelyn these past two days while I've been in the hospital. There is not much that entertains her up here except for pushing all the buttons on the beds.

Deciding if she likes Maeve or not

Giving her kisses

I think she likes her.

Maeve, Day 2

Things are going well for Stacy and Maeve and we plan on going home tomorrow morning. I've posted 4 more photos from today. Enjoy, we look forward to introducing you all to Maeve in person.

Love,
Stacy and Gabe

Just for fun at the end of this post I'm putting pic of Evelyn after birth so you can see how they compare.

Evelyn

Maeve Elizabeth Neal

A funny thing happened today on the way to lunch. Stacy had a doctor visit and then we had a baby. What!? Yeah, Totally. Stacy had a hair cut planned and a pedicure and all kinds of last minute prep "to dos" this week before the baby came...

Stacy's family physician, Anna, found her to be 5 cm dilated during her visit and so Stacy was sent over the hospital, got her epidural (which she missed last time) and delivered a few hours later. No probs. From my perspective easy as pie. All the women out there can began hurling objects at me now.

A few pics from our day, more to come. We love you all. Thanks be to God for a wonderful delivery, amazing wife and beautiful new daughter who is safe and well.

Stacy laboring with an epidural. Notice the smile.

Stacy with newborn Maeve

Happy Momma

Happy Parents

Us with Anna Damian, Stacy's Family Doc.

Maeve suggesting that she might be hungry

Maeve strongly suggesting that she might be hungry. And by "might" she means definitely.

Maeve content

Maeve alert, taking it in.

Evelyn giving Maeve a kiss. The first of a lifetime of sisterhood.

The New Neals

Proud Pappa

Proud Pappa x 2

Gabe thinks this video is ridiculously funny. The music is catchy too.  

By the way, he posted this, not me.

Easter Weekend

This weekend my family came to visit for Easter. We were very happy they were able to come especially since my dad has been in and out of the hospital recently. They brought their dog, which Evie loves, as well as her very own bounce house to play in. (They rent them out along with other party supplies as part of their business.) She had a blast in it.

On Saturday, I decided we would take her pictures while sitting the the bluebonnets.  We found a nice spot not too far from our house.  Then we took a trip to the mall where I just couldn't pass up a cute spring dress.  After that, it was fun in the bounce house.  She hasn't figured out how to "jump" just yet but she had fun trying to walk and falling down.  While she was napping I hid a few eggs in the yard. She enjoying collecting them but might have been a bit disappointed when she stopped to open them and find there was nothing in them.  (I was not about to fill a bunch of eggs with candy that she didn't need.)  Her favorite thing to do with the eggs is to open them and have us put them back together so she can open them again.  I think she would do this all day as long as you were willing to put them back together for her.  We ended the day with more playing in the bounce house and chasing the dog around the yard.  

I really am thankful that we have family (both mine and Gabe's) that share the same hope with us that Easter brings.  I was reminded again at church on Sunday that this IS the greatest celebration we have.  We really would live in a hopeless world if Christ had not overcome death.  

Enjoying the bounce house

Trying to pick up an egg without spilling her basket

"Now, I thought I saw another egg over here."

Easter morning

March and Some of April

Evelyn and I recently took a trip to visit my family while Gabe went to Chicago for course work on his masters. We had a very productive weekend helping my mom repaint her kitchen and working on some other projects around the house. Evelyn enjoyed playing with my parents dog and watching way too much TV. I don't often resort to entertaining her with hours of television watching, but it was either that or have her help paint. Below are a few pictures of Evie from our trip.

On Friday night our church had an Easter Egg hunt. I wasn't sure how Evelyn would respond but she quickly figured out that you should collect as many eggs as you could in your basket. She also enjoyed opening the eggs and dumping the contents onto the ground. I forgot my camera but Gabe took a few pictures with his phone and we may have some more to post later from a friend of ours.

Looking for more eggs

Sharing the loot with friends

Enjoying some of the candy for herself.

We were talking with friends and looked over to find her enjoying a nice piece of chocolate.

Only 2 1/2 more months until our little girl arrives. Lately I have been busy redecorating Evelyn's current room so that it will be ready for the both of them to share. I realize that having them share a room could be a big mistake. I'm hoping it works out, but we'll see. The biggest change to the room is the addition of Evelyn's new toddler bed. We've spent the past weekend having her sleep in it. The first night I think Gabe got up three times with her and after the third time I put her back in her crib. The second night Gabe only got up twice. (He's such a nice husband to get up and let me sleep.) She can't open the door yet so she stands at her door knocking and trying to turn the handle while crying of course. I'm hopeful that tonight will be better.

Lately I've had the urge to clean drawers and closets out and then reorganize them. With everything I've collected maybe I'll have a garage sell in June before the baby arrives. We'll see what my energy level is like then.

So right now my evenings are spent with me organizing the house and Gabe working on a paper for his class. We are an exciting couple. Who knows what we'll be doing the next time I find the time to post.

A Busy Weekend

I think most people already know but we are having a girl. I'm 24 weeks so not too much longer to go. We are all doing well besides me staying tired most of the time.

This past weekend was very busy. Friday morning I had a cooking class with several friends. I've got some great new quick and easy recipes now. That evening Gabe and I joined our neighbors for a performance by Andrea Marcovicci. None of us knew who she was but Gabe was sure she was some famous opera singer. Turns out she is the Queen of Cabaret and her performance this night was love songs from WWII. We were not familiar with any of the songs and were by far the youngest people in the audience. She had a nice voice and thankfully gave the history of the songs as she went along which made it enjoyable.

Saturday morning we had some college kids from our church come over and help us plant some flowers and dig up some things that we were tired of looking at.

After that we were off to an Aggie basketball game thanks to my friend Sharon who had extra tickets. I was so excited to take Evelyn. I was convinced she would have a blast. Well she wasn't excited as I was but at least she didn't cry. Most of time time she sat on our laps chewing on a straw from Gabe's drink. She seemed ambivalent about being there. We got a few claps and smiles out of her.

Next on our list after a short nap was a birthday party for one of Evelyn's friends. I think there was a little more excitement for her at the party. After playing for a while in the backyard she was getting restless, so I suggested to Gabe that he take her over to look at a near by pond. Several kids and parents were previously checking it out so I thought it would be a nice distraction for Evelyn. I got distracted talking to some of the other parents when the next thing I hear is Evelyn crying and someone saying, "I think she fell in!" I look over and here comes Gabe carrying a crying, wet, and muddy Evelyn. She's in shock after slipping into the water up to her neck. Thankfully she was fine, just shocked and dirty, so I had to strip her down right there in the middle of the party. This was her first birthday party that she got to take a bath at, and thankfully our friends had some clothes she could borrow.

Not much else has been going on and that can be a good thing at times.

I promise I will get some more pics out in the next few days. I haven't taken any recent ones and she is not in a picture taking mood this morning.

Relaxing in front of the TV. She likes it way too much now.