Keeping up with the Phillips'

Monday, July 27, 2009

Urgent Prayer Request for a friend ...

I had intended to post about Jeffery's 10 month birthday today, but that will have to wait:

I just wanted to post a quick request for as many prayers as possible. Stellan is an 8 month-old little man who was born with a damaged heart. For more info on him, you can check out his mom's blog here.

I found her blog through a mutual friend when I was still pregnant last year, and have followed their family ever since. Stellan is an amazing baby, and is just that much more special to me because he and Jeffery are only weeks apart in age. It breaks my heart to see a family going through this, and I hold my own little boy closer today knowing that it could be anyone's child.

Please take a moment today to pray for this most precious little guy. It seems he could really use it. Also, please pray for his parents' comfort, and the doctors' wisdom and leading.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Nine months old!

Man, I can't believe that Jeffery's already nine months old! It seems like he's been a part of our family forever, but then again, it seems like yesterday that we were in the Stork's Nest, waiting for labor to start!

He really is an awesome baby, and getting more and more fun (and exhausting) by the day! He's hitting milestone after milestone. As soon I write something down that he did, he does something else! Last Friday (the 19th), I went to check on him after his nap because he woke up crying (he usually wakes up happy). I walked into the room to find him with both hands on the rails of his crib, and just in time to see him pull up to his feet and grin at me! I'm in trouble!

He's pulling himself up on everything he can now, especially on us when he's tired and wants to be held. He's eating big boy food and snacks, and has even mastered the sippy cup! He says "Mama" and "Dada," and will sometimes say "bye-bye" while waving. He learned peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake while we were home in May, and he loves Blue's Clues! He's really becoming a little boy.

Today we went for his 9 month checkup, and he is doing great! He weighs 24 pounds, and is 29 inches tall now! We knew he had grown (we recently had to move his exersaucer up a level), but were shocked at just how much! Anyway, luckily there were no shots again until his 1 year appointment, and today was nothing but good news! He even showed Dr. Moore his "petunia" side, as Mom likes to call it.

I'm posting some pictures of him here, but as usual, all of our pictures are on the photobucket site (I'll try to put the link in a sidebar). I'll try to post a video or two in the days to come as well. We love and miss you all!

Playing "got your nose" with Mom

Uh oh! Time to put the bouncy seat away!

"Hey, what's in here?"

Empty boxes make great toys!

He loves his new exersaucer!

He also loves destroying his new foam floor ABC pad

In his baby pool with Dad on the back patio

"Please, no photos!"

Working the sippy cup on a hot day

"Um, Mom? It's empty!"

Giggling at the mess he made on the bottom of his exersaucer

Watching Pooh

He caught me

He just couldn't take it any more

Monday, April 13, 2009

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from The Phillips family!

By the way, the link below is where we add pictures as we take them. We're in the process of adding our Easter pictures now, but they should all be up by the end of the day.

Also, if you want to be automatically notified of new blog updates, go to the very bottom of the page here. There is a line that says, "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)" that you can click on. It will open a new page that will ask you for your email, or to add our blog to Google Reader, if you use it.

There is also a link on the left-hand column of the blog with a link that says, "Follow." Then you can follow the blog through AOL, Google, or Yahoo. I believe it will send you emails of our blog posts. Let me know if anyone has any trouble!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Pictures are up!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I finally got all of the birth pictures up. They are at http://photobucket.com/nealandjanie. Let us know if you have problems viewing/finding them!

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Jeffery O'Neal Phillips is here!!!

Jeffery O'Neal Phillips was born on Saturday, September 27, at 5:47pm local time (11:47am Eastern). He weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces, and measured 21 1/4 inches long.

Labor started at 2am local time, and around 9am we had to have some Pitocin to make my contractions more regular. Things were progressing smoothly until around 3pm, when Jeffery's heart rate started dropping with the contractions, due to the Pitocin. It was turned off and he went back to normal, but unfortunately that meant my contractions were sporadic again. Given that, and the fact that the doctor thought he was going to be a bit big for me to deliver normally, the decision was made to perform a C-section.

The C-section went picture-perfect, and within minutes of starting, we got the news, "It's a boy," and we got to hear his first cries. Neal was able to be with me in the operating room, and got to cut the cord. He also got to be the first to see our little man, who did end up being a big boy. But he let me be the first to kiss him, and held him for me to see. They then followed the nurse to go get him cleaned up. It took what seemed like forever for the doctor to stitch me up and for the anesthesia to wear off so that I could go see my boys, but it was worth it.

We were able to go home Tuesday, and have really enjoyed having some family time. Neal took time off to be with us, and it's been great to have him home. Unfortunately, my recovery is a bit slower given the C-section, but I'm healing nicely, and already up and getting around on my own. Jeffery is a great baby, eats and sleeps well, and is super sweet and cuddly. He has been great at night, usually sleeping at least 3-4 hours at a time, which makes life much easier for us. He had his first check-up on Thursday, and is already gaining weight from when we left the hospital, so he's doing really well. We're taking tons and tons of pictures, and will hopefully get them all posted online within the next few days or so.

Warning: There are tons of pictures posted here, and even more I'll be posting on Shutterfly as soon as possible. I'll put the link here once they're up.

Daddy, after cutting the cord:

8 pounds, 10 ounces:

Daddy's first few moments with his son:

Mommy's first chance to hold her little man:

Sleeping like a champ!

Go vols!

Daddy's quote for this one: "What, UT lost?!?"

"You mean they're keeping Fulmer?!?"

Mama's little Vol:

Jeffery's model look:

Pure sweetness:

All decked out:

Aunt Mikel Lauren's first visit:

Proud Papa:

Just precious:

Checking things out:

Mommy's in love:

The new family:

Daddy holding his little man back at home:

Mommy holding Jeffery at home:

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hello from Naples!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to give an update that we are all settled in (as much as is possible) in our hotel room in "The Stork's Nest" in Naples. We are literally right across the street from the hospital, and have access to the gym, exchange and commissary, and everything we could possibly need here. Though a bit tight, the room has a little kitchenette, so we are able to eat in most meals, which is nice. We also have a theater, bowling alley, and plenty of walking trails here, so we have plenty to keep us busy. Neal is still commuting back to Gaeta this week, but he will be able to be down here with me full time until the baby comes starting Saturday.

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday, which went well. We have a new female OB, so we got to meet her, and we both loved her! My blood pressure is still very low, so they are very happy with me (thank Mom for good genetics!). I am doing well on all my vitals, and the baby's heart rate was 144 - right on target. The baby is still very active these days, though it has settled into a favorite spot with legs/feet usually poking out of my left side. It's a funny sight to see the little bulges when it squirms. They verified at an earlier appointment that the head is down, so we are good there. And Monday, we got the good news that my body is already starting to prepare itself for delivery, so it could literally be any day now!

We have our list of phone numbers to call, and will get word out as soon as we can when the big day arrives. And if possible, Neal will try to find a computer to post a blog update once the baby makes its appearance. I will try to post every few days just so everyone is kept in the loop. We love you all, and can't wait to show off our little one!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Garden pictures!

As I haven't updated info about the garden, I thought maybe I should.

As of now, we've pulled all the tomatoes except the cherries (they're still producing like crazy), and I managed to get about a dozen cans of diced tomatoes out of them, as well as some really good salsa. The zucchini had slowed down, so we pulled them as well. The cucumber plant only gave us three cucumbers and then died, so we'll have to figure out what happened there. Unfortunately, even though we had friends checking in on our garden in July while we were home for a quick visit, it seemed to have a hard time while we were gone. But we knew it was a possibility.

We left the bell peppers to grow for now, as we think they were getting crowded by the zucchini. We may have been right, as they have started blooming again now. We've definitely learned for next year to give the plants about 2-3 times as much space as we think they will need, as overcrowding seemed to be the story to this year.

We have six basil plants left, and they are doing fairly well. I have to keep an eye on them, pick leaves regularly, and snip the blooms off. But they are still growing strong, and they smell great!

Lastly, Neal's butter beans are just about ready to start picking. We're still waiting on them to get just a little bit bigger. And this past weekend, we were finally able to pull the first dozen or so pods of purple-hulled peas! They look great, and we are just waiting to get enough to cook up and have a real southern dinner! We've found we have to check them every 2-3 days, as they are all starting to pop like crazy!

And here are some pictures of Neal's babies! I'll try and get more soon, as they're even bigger now!

The butter beans:

The purple-hulled peas:

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

A baby update!

Sorry it's been a while. After a July trip to the US for a wedding and last-chance visit with family before the baby arrives, things started to kick into high gear for us. Anyway, several people have been asking for pictures, and though I've been horrible about taking them regularly, I wanted to post a few.

As for life right now, we're steadily working on making way for this baby! We've begun clearing out our second bedroom (currently Trajan's bedroom and extra storage space), and should be getting a call on our baby furniture any day now. I've started washing baby clothes, and can't wait to have a dresser to put them all in! In doing so, I realized that this child has a ton of clothes! We may not even make it to wear everything by the time it grows out of them all! But there are some adorable ones, and some stuff I can't wait to use. Now I just have to decide what to pack in our hospital bags.

We'll be heading down to stay at a temporary lodging facility on base in Naples around mid-month. The OB likes the women who live far away (we're at least an hour from the hospital) to stay there starting at least two weeks before the due date, just in case. Neal will be commuting up to Gaeta for a week, but the last week he'll be given some time off. We will have access to a phone while there, and hopefully it will be on a military line so we can call out via a U.S. number. But either way, definitely know that we will get word out when the time comes! As for updating the blog, I'm not exactly sure when that will happen, but we'll get an email out with pictures to everyone asap!

One of the Navy spouses here is throwing us a shower Sunday, so I'll probably have more pictures to post from that. But for now, here are some of the latest:

Me, back on the 4th of July, at a local BBQ (27 weeks) ...