Neeley Family Blog

What could be the best thing to go see when you are 3 and 5 years old!?! Why, the Great Train Expo of course!  It came to town February 19th and 20th.  Brad and I saw a commercial late one night and thought the boys would absolutely love it.  Trains, trains and more trains. Brock of course wore is conductor overalls, or as he calls them his "tiny town pants."  Tiny town being the Tiny Town Railroad we visited while in Colorado visiting Uncle Eric and Aunt Jenn last summer. It was held at the Portland Expo Center.  As we pulled up and parked, there was a train in the parking lot giving out rides to people.  Brayden and Brock did not seem too impressed with it, though they did watch it circle around.  We headed inside.  As you walked through the doors, there were tables and tables of trains.  So many older gentleman who have a hobby they have enjoyed since their childhood.  There were trains of all sizes and generations set up on track...

We have reached another milestone in the Neeley Family.  3 kids walking (or should I say running) around.  Brylee has joined the walking group!!! She has been up and moving holding onto something for about a month now.  Just in the last week she is walking on her own.  She takes anywhere from 3-19 steps at a time now.  Brylee tries so hard to walk everywhere she can.  If she is in a real hurry to get away from you she just drops to her hands and knees and crawls as fast as she can! Brylee is not yet running, but I know it will only be a matter of time.  I think I am really going to be in trouble then!! It is easier when you can still contain them and they need you to get around, once they are mobile, it is all over folks! Here is a video clip of Brylee on the move: (it is from my cell phone so I will warn you to turn your head sideways and just focus on Brylee ;) ) Wish me luck in trying to keep up with all 3 walking/running young children n...

I was up in Brylee's room just 3 mornings ago, opening her blinds and making her bed as something caught my eye.  I had to do a double take.  Most mornings things are either grey or green.  This morning something pink caught my eye! YES!!!! Spring is upon us.  There is a change in the air and being that our family has undergone some significant changes recently I find it only fitting to post this bright light of change that is coming our way.  I cannot wait to get outside with the kids again! They have been itching to go outside and play.  We have let them out on a few rare sunny days, but it is just not enough to burn all their energy!  We NEED those consistently sunny days so I can throw them all outside and let them play for hours on end and burn up all their craziness :).  The boys want to ride bikes, play with any and every kind of ball we own, and I know Brylee will be out there walking around following them as soon as I let her too....

Most of my posts are usually showing the kids and telling of our outings and special events.  I consistently show the happy times and not always the difficult days when there is a tantrum or the days that Brad or I (or both of us) are mentally exhausted from timeouts, yelling, crying and the regular days of parenting.  I am going to be a little more expressive with my blog.  I feel that there are many other aspects of our lives that I am not documenting on here, yet some days they overwhelm my thoughts. With that said I would like to explore one topic in particular that has been on my mind recently.  Most of you know that my father passed away in November.  This has been an interesting experience to work through to say the least. There have been many emotions that have flooded my mind on any given day.  Anger, sadness, frustration, the "now what" feeling and many more.  I was not close to my father the last 15-16 years of my life (which really is hal...

HOLY SMOKES!!!!!!!!!!! Where did the year go!?! Brylee is one today.  I cannot believe it.  It seems as though with each child we add to our family, the years go by faster and faster.  Thank goodness we are done with having children then, huh!?!  Miss Brylee has followed in Brockster's footsteps of being consistently at or above the 90th percentile in height and weight.  She is currently 30 inches tall and almost 24 pounds.  Brylee is walking while holding onto something and I know she will be running soon.  She watches the boys every move.  She laughs at them and enjoys grabbing their toys when she thinks they are not looking.  Brylee is a very sweet girl.  She does have some attitude we have discovered.  It really comes out when she cannot have something she wants or if her brothers try to take something away from her.  She lets you know with a loud scream that she is just not having it!  On her actual birthday we to...

Well, there are two reasons for the above title.  The first being that all 5 of us were sick through Christmas!!! I told Brad I think is the first time I can remember being sick on Christmas.  Brylee and Brock had fevers just before Christmas.  All of us had runny noses, coughs and congestion.  No fun! The second reason for the title is with our Pre-Christmas Christmas being over just days prior, we had yet another set of Neeley's come to visit.  The North Carolina Neeley's (Brad's parents Brian and Carol) came to see us for Christmas.  So many Christmas parties, so many things to do! Brian and Carol joined us just a couple days before Christmas.  First thing on the agenda- FINISH Christmas Shopping!  We gave them a list of the kids toys they would like and off we all went to the stores.  I distracted the kiddos with other things, while Brad helped his parents make the present decisions.  There were multiple trips to differ...

Two people very near and dear to our hearts came to visit just before Christmas.  Brad's brother Eric and his wife Jenn were the first to come for a visit in the new house.  We busily got things ready in the house (as you can see from the previous post) and were ready for a much needed break upon their arrival.  No crazy plans this trip, just a little Christmas shopping and seeing some Christmas lights.  The rest of the time was planned to relax and spend time with one another.  Brad and Eric got a little "man" time in by going to see Tron together while Jenn and I recovered my dining room chairs.  Eric also helped Brad with some updating of our computer.  And the kids got tons of playtime with both Uncle Eric and Aunt Jenn! There are so many pictures to show I decided to do a slide show instead.  Enjoy! Thank you Uncle Eric and Aunt Jenn for visiting, our gag gifts, the kids gifts and for our new Camcorder! We LOVE you bunches and...