Author Archives: neal

I’ve Got time, Don’t I???

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In the beginning of the movie The Incredibles, Mr. Incredible sees a police chase, he checks his watch and says “Yeah, I’ve got time.” That is what I’ve been saying in preparation for Baby Breeding #2, aka Baby Y (Caden was Baby X).

Jennifer’s has had a great pregnancy with no major issues, no high blood pressure like last time and we are well on our way to the March 2, 2011 C-section date… so I thought until today!  Because of the inability for the hospital to give a time to our doctor to preform the C-section on March 2, we’ve been moved up a day until March 1.  One day, not a big deal right? Really it isn’t, we’ve just been making plans with March 1 in mind.

I’ve not done as well as I did last time in documenting Jen’s pregnancy, but a 3+ year old does keep me busy, as well as some side web work I do.  I hope to be better the rest of this year, ha!

We are WAY ahead of where we were this time last time (especially with Caden coming 3 weeks early).

  1. We’ve already installed the car seat (didn’t do this last time until the day we went to pick him up, and after the day we had (skip down to June 13), I couldn’t remember how to operate the thing!  We are old pros this time, right?
  2. We have a name!  Caden was born on June 6, 2007, he was Baby Breeding until the morning of June 8, 2007.  What is the name you ask? Well I have to have some secrets! lol Yea, mom and sister aren’t happy about this, but I told them, “Hey we know it is a boy!”
  3. His room is 99% complete, of course it is Caden’s old room and we are moving Caden to the former guest bedroom (which will still double as a guest bedroom, when it is done) is not done!I’m currently building a Murphy Bed, make that a Disappearing wall bed, Murphy is a trade marked name, ha!  I’m making progress, and hopefully I’ll have things wrapped up on it this weekend.  Of course we’ve painted Caden’s room and we’ll have a space theme going on in it eventually.  Photos are coming soon!  Check back on the blog next week for updates on Baby Y and photos!

CES Cool Products

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If you know me very well, and I’m assuming you do if you are reading this post, you know I’m a bit of a geek.  I love technology, and love seeing “new” technology.  The Consumer Electronics Show was held earlier this month and I’ve been watching coverage of it ever since then.

I’ve heard more than enough about all of the 3D televisions, and I could care less about any tablets other than Apple’s iPad.  What I find interesting is the products that aren’t saturated by the media.  Here are four that I’ve found interesting (so far):

1) Light and Music: A winner at from CES 2010 was back this year, with LED lights, that have speakers built into them.  Really they are light sockets, that install into existing fixtures. The speakers use a wireless transmitter to receive sound.   http://www.klipsch.com/lightspeaker/

2) MakerBot (http://www.makerbot.com) had their latest 3D Printer, Thing-O-Matic, printing items out one right after another.  The printer comes in a kit that has to be assembled.  It is only $1225.00 and can print objects 96 x 108 mm and up to 115 mm high.

3) Gaming R.A.T. or mouse (http://www.cyborggaming.com/prod/rat9.htm). I’m not a  gamer, but gamer’s hardware is designed to take a beating and be comfortable. I found this mouse very interesting in the ways it can be adjusted and programmed. Madcatz is the parent company for Cyborg (that makes the R.A.T.) and they also make surround sound headphones as well as flight simulator components.

4) Really Small Computers were at CES from a company called Xi3 (http://xi3.org). Most of their computers have the processing power of a full-size desktop PC but uses up to 95% less power to operate.  They have no moving parts, and can easily be adapted or modified for any application or industry. No moving parts and less than 30 Watts of heat means they should last longer and be less likely to fail. While a little pricey, if they outlast the traditional 2 to 4 years, then it may be worth the investment.

One Booth I thought was dumb: I also saw that the US Postal Service had a booth with a Fast and Furious video game contest.  I don’t understand why the USPS can (and why?) they pay for a booth at CES, yet the cost of stamps continue to go up?

I hope one day to go to CES.  Jennifer is a bit of a geek also and says she thinks it would be fun to go.  Go figure? I married the right girl! ha!  (Not that there was ever any questions, ha!)

Merry Christmas!

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It has been a non-stop year!  With lots of fun, a little sadness, and a lot of joy!

We are having another BOY!  Some time in late February or early March. Jennifer’s sister Angie (and John) are due with their second child a couple weeks before Jennifer is due!  Caden seems pretty excited about the baby and predicted that the baby was going to be a “boy” — a “BIG baby Boy.” So we’ll see if the rest of his prediction is correct.  Jennifer hopes not!

In February, we used our Disney Vacation Club points and took a 4 day cruise on the Disney Wonder. Caden enjoyed the plane ride to Orlando, exploring the cruise ship, the aquariums in Nassau, bike riding and the beach on Castaway Cay, the nightly musicals on board the ship, and of course all of the desserts (just like his Momma)!  His parents had a lot of fun as well.  There is a two part “trip” report with all of the details, photos and a link to more photos in this blog,  or just use these links: part 1; part 2

When we landed  in Jackson, MS, it was snowing. It snowed the entire trip back to Ruston and we woke up to a few inches of the snow the next morning.  Photos are mixed in with Trip Report #2.

On August 13, Gretrude Stroud, otherwise known to us as Memie, went “home” to be with Jesus.  She was 95 and ½ and had lived a wonderful life.  It was amazing how God worked out our schedule this week, so we would like to share a few details of the week:

  • Neal’s dad had deep brain stimulation surgery (in Baton Rouge) to help with his Parkinson’s disease on August 9 and 10 (Monday and Tuesday).  Tuesday, during the surgery, Jennifer called Neal to confirm that the doctor agreed with us that she was indeed pregnant.
  • Neal dropped his Dad off in Pineville on Wednesday, leaving him with Clint, his brother, who drove down to stay with their dad for a couple of weeks.
  • After talking with Neal’s mother, they decided, with God’s prompting, it was time to head toward KY.  With a 12 hour drive, they decided to break up the trip and plan to arrive on Friday afternoon, expecting Memie to have already passed.
  • We left on Thursday afternoon and stayed in Jackson, TN.  On Friday, after a quick lunch in Nashville with our friend/musician, Andrew Greer, we started on the last 2 hours of our journey.
  • As mentioned, we did not think Memie would still be with us when we arrived on Friday afternoon, but she was and Neal got to spend the last hour and a half of her life here on Earth with her. Although she was not “alert,” after talking to her, she moved her leg and closed her mouth.  We believe she indeed heard Neal talking to her (as well as the rest of the family). The grandfather clock struck 6 pm and before it was finished counting, Neal’s Aunt Betty saw a tear roll down Memie’s cheek and she stopped breathing.
  • We had been praying all week that we would be able to just make it to the funeral. We never thought we would see her alive one more time.  It was more than what we could have asked for, God is so good!  We can’t thank Neal’s family enough for the care and love they gave Memie over this last year and especially the last few weeks that were so tough.
  • Karen and Neal spoke at her funeral, reading Proverbs 31:10-30, The Virtuous Woman, and then sharing stories that related to some of the passage.  She lived up to this passage of scripture in so many ways.

The Fall was busy, as always, with Tech Football, a few more trips to Baton Rouge for Neal and his dad, and life in general.  Thanksgiving was spent with all of Jennifer’s family, there were 18 of us!  We got to spend some time with her precious grandmother who is 92.  Lots of good food followed by the Saints winning, ha!

We are excited about Christmas this year. We are celebrating it in Ruston and Neal’s family will be coming for Christmas!  Jennifer’s mom and dad will be stopping by for a visit after Christmas as well.

Neal just started his 15th year working at Lousiana Tech in the Division of Advancement (Alumni Center). Jennifer is in her 4th year of owning her own business, providing services through Early Steps as a Special Instructor to children that have developmental delays.

We hope your 2010 was as good as ours, and we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

God Bless!

Neal, Jennifer, Caden, Baby Boy,  & Emma (the dog)

Too Many Irons…

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So too many irons in the fire, so it has been too long since the last post and this one is a short one, but just incase you have been living under a rock, we are having a BABY in March 2011!

We found out last week that it is a BOY and are really excited.  If I’ve been too busy to post in the last few months, I can’t imagine how busy I’ll be after March!  We’ll see!

The FEET!

A not so great, but still cool 4D photo.

Gertrude Tichenor Stroud aka Memie

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Born in Centertown, KY on Jan. 20, 1915
Departed on Aug. 13, 2010 and resided in Owensboro, KY.

Gertrude Tichenor Stroud, 95, of Owensboro died Friday, August 13, 2010 at her home. Gertrude was born on January 20, 1915 in Centertown, Kentucky to the late Clarence and Ollie Ashby Tichenor. She and Eugene Stroud , Jr. married on November 23, 1935. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Eugene, on December 19, 1992; two sisters, Dova Martin and Agnes Bishop; and two brothers, Carl and Ed Tichenor.

Gertrude is survived by her daughters, Betty Ellis of Stuart, FL and Patricia Breeding of Nashville, TN; sons, Joe (Mackie) Stroud, Donnie (Martha) Stroud and Jerry (Brenda) Stroud all of Owensboro; thirteen grandchildren, John Ford, Brad Ford, Bridget Mattingly, James Ellis IV, Tammy Lewis, Aprilea Stroud, Glenn Stroud, Neal Breeding, Karen Keller, Clint Breeding, Christy Dickerson, Ronnie Stroud and Allison Brant; sixteen great-grandchildren; several loving nieces and nephews; as well as her Third Baptist Church Family of which she was a member for over 60 years.

Services were held at 11:00a.m. on Monday, August 16, 2010 at the Chapel of James H. Davis Funeral Home and Crematory. Burial followed at Rosehill Cemetery.

Expressions of sympathy may be made to Hospice of Western Kentucky, 3419 Wathens Crossing, Owensboro, KY 42301 or Third Baptist Church Building Fund, PO Box 808, Owensboro, KY 42302-0808.