Dear Rebecca,
                     Hello my beautiful baby girl. Mommy here. It's really late here on Memorial Day and I am not feeling very well. I don't know if it is a cold or the flu or what it is but I have a sore throat and I am coughing, sneezing, and throwing up, while freezing to death and burning up at the same time. You seem to know that I do not feel well because you are quite active. Maybe I am keeping you awake for a change.
   Mamaw and Aunt Lynn threw us a very nice baby shower this past Saturday. We played lots of games and there was a beautiful cake with baby booties on it that I forgot to take a picture of (boo hoo) and tons of yummy finger foods and things. Lots of people were there, like Mamaw (of course) who bought you several nice things like onesies and bath wash and a nice big beautiful basket and Lynn (of course) who also bought you tons of nice things like bottle brushes and baby wipes and a cute little pillow.. plus onesies and blankets... not to mention they have bought you several outfits already and Mamaw and Papaw are buying your baby furniture. Your great Aunt Belle Gill was there and she gave Daddy and I a $30.00 check which we are going to put toward a rocker for your room. Your great Aunt Laura was also there and she and her husband Jr. gave us $25.00, which we are also going to put toward the rocker. Your great Uncle Mike and great Aunt Chris could not be there because they were on a trip but they sent a nice card with a $20.00 gift card in it which will also go toward the rocker. The Pastor Tom Taylor and his wife Carrie bought you diapers, onesies, hair bows, and some baby shampoo. Their daughter Tammy Smith bought you some plates, bottles, wipes, and bibs. Your great Uncle Donnie and your great Aunt Martha bought you two cute little dresses. Ollie Mae, a lady that sometimes goes to our church, bought you a beautiful little dress. Her daughter, Wilma and her husband Dudley Newbie who also go to our church, bought you some adorable little outfits. Your cousin Janice bought you some very cute little overalls and a little jean outfit. Your great Grandmother Annetta bought you a beautiful little picture frame and some little onesies. My friends Alicia and Cassie and Alicia's mom Kathy bought you some clothes, onesies, blankets, and some baby orajel. Your great Aunt Lila Goins and your great Uncle Charlie Goins bought you a cute little dress and sleeper. I wrote it all down in your baby book so that you can always have it. This really shows just how much people already care about you and want you to come into the world. We are so happy that God has blessed us with you. We can't wait to hold you! I also would like to mention that your Aunt Lila is a card, she wore big panties over top her clothes all throughout the baby shower, and afterward she and your great Granny Annetta were putting them on their heads!
   I forgot to mention that Lynn and Mamaw bought you an adorable car seat and baby swing and some other odds and ends at a yard sale. The baby swing is really a neat trick because when you start crying, it automatically comes on. I have got them both cleaned up and I already have the car seat in the car. I am becoming a little impatient, it seems. The bigger you get the more pain I am in but that is not really the reason I am impatient. I am impatient cause I want to see you!!! I love you so much already and I can't wait to show you just how much! I know that Daddy and everyone cannot wait either. I really really hope I will make a good mother to you. I will do everything that I can to make sure that you always have everything you want or need. I know that Daddy will too. And you can already tell that Aunt Lynn and Mamaw and Papaw are on top of that. We are so blessed but you can bet your cute little baby buns that you will be one blessed and loved little girl.
   Well sweetheart, I am really not feeling very well at all and I am tired. The dish network people are coming to install Daddy's satellite dish tomorrow and I have to be up to let them in. I just want to let you know that I love you and that we had a fantastic baby shower.

Dear Rebecca,
                     Hello, daughter of mine. Well, just 51 days until you are due. The baby shower is this evening. I'm sure your mom will let you know what all she got for you. Everyone is very excited about you. Your mamaw, Aunt Lynn & Allison brought us some more baby stuff Thursday. Some clothes, shoes, cereal, a car seat and a really cool swing that starts swinging when you start crying. Very nice stuff. I think your mamaw is going to take your mom to Lexington Sunday and buy us your crib, dresser and changing table.
   I'm up to early for a Saturday that I don't have to work. I've been up since about 4:00 this morning. I'm going to have to lay down again if I plan on mowing the lawn. Lately we have had a whole lot of rain so you just have to mow when you get a chance. You can't put it off or it will get out of hand. Wow, this is boring talk, isn't it?
   Well, I just wanted to check in with you. It's Memorial Day weekend so I don't have to go to work Monday so I suppose I will be able to post another note for you before the weekend if over. I'll let ya go for now. See ya soon.

Dear Rebecca,
               We had a big thunderstorm earlier this evening. As a matter of a fact I can still hear thunder in the distance. I had written you a nice long post when "Blammo", I lost every bit of it. I was so bummed out that I decided to go into the living room and watch an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent that we had on the Tivo.
   Well, let's try to remember what the previous lost blog post was about. I haven't posted in a some time I know. I am sorry. I am not usually on the computer during the week, especially since I am on first shift now. Time seems to fly by so quickly while I am on the computer that I don't feel as if I have had any time at home before I have to go to bed. I used to be on all the time during the week but that was when i was on second shift. I was on second shift for fifteen years.
   Friday night I did log on to Fandango.com to purchase a ticket for the 10:00 a.m. Saturday showing of Shrek 2 at the Hamburg Regal. Your mom & I liked it, but not as much as the original Shrek. I felt that if I'd already paid for it we would get out of bed and go. Before we saw the film we went and had breakfast at the Golden Corral on New Circle Road and bought your coming home dress at Babies "R" Us. After the movie we went to Meijer and Barnes & Nobles for some books I wanted on babies. Your Baby's First Year, What to Expect in the First Year and The Scientist in the Crib. The first two are self explanatory and the last one is about how a baby learns. By then it was lunch so we ate at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Then we went to Sam's Club where we saw your Aunt Lynn, Mamaw, Granny and Allison. We made one last stop but I am not even going to mention that here. We got home after 6:00 p.m. after leaving the house at 8:00 a.m. so you know we were both beat.
   Sunday after church we went back to Lexington and had lunch at Captain D's. We went to Best Buy to look for you a little pink CD player. We didn't find one. We went looking at Toys "R" Us. No luck there either but we did buy you some diaper wipes. Jacob mentioned that he had seen a pink CD player at Target just before Christmas so we decided to give it a shot. We found one there. It wasn't exactly what I wanted but it'll do. It was a pink Disney Princess CD player/Jewelry box. It's trimmed in a kind of purple. I don't care much for that but beggars can't be choosers. We then went to Walmart and got some stenciling stuff, cleaning supplies and some meat. I was a big jerk Sunday. I am kind of short tempered lately and I snap at poor Kristie to much. I made her cry in both Captain D's and Walmart over really stupid petty things. I know it's not healthy for her or you to be stressed like that and I feel terrible when I do act like such a jerk. The stress is really weighing on me right now, not only from your eminent arrival but from other sources as well. Enough of this depressing talk now. Kristie's baby shower is coming up this weekend and I think you and her both are gonna make out like bandits. I can't wait to get your room ready for habitation. I think you'll like it, even though nursery themes are never really for the baby but it's what the parents think is cute and let me tell you right now that your room is just simply darling in the eyes of your mom & dad.
   I had to work over a half an hour this afternoon. I then made a house payment, took a DVD of the Last Samurai back to the video store and then I picked us up some grilled chicken salads from McDonalds because your mom cleaned on the house all day long and was in no mood to cook. I had planned of mowing the lawn after I had supper but just as I was finishing it started raining like cats & dogs. Then I decided to write a blog post and of course as I mentioned in the beginning of this post the electric got knocked out and so did the post.
   That's it for today. 56 more days until your due date. I'm going to apply for family leave in another two weeks. I want to set in the living room some with my wife and your mother. So I'll say good-night to you my sweet daughter.

Dear Rebecca,
                   Hello sweetheart. It's been a while since I have done a post and I wanted to talk to you. I had a doctor's visit today. Your great aunt Linda, and your great grandmother Annetta, and your cousin Lucas came to pick me up for it. I thought we were having an ultrasound done but instead it was an NST (non-stress-test). That is where they hook me up to a monitor and listen to your heartbeat and have me push a button every time you move. You sure did move a lot today, and I was VERY happy. Dr. Youkilis said it looked wonderful. I like it when you kick and move a lot. It lets me know that you are healthy & happy. I cracked a joke when the belt got stuck around my belly and said it was sticking in my fat roll. Daddy doesn't like when I crack jokes about myself like that but he does not realize that it really doesn't bother me. Dr. Youkilis and I both had a good laugh from it. But, if it bothers Daddy, I won't do it when he is around. I don't want to make him uncomfortable.
   Daddy and I went to eat at Burger King after the doctor. I got very low carb items. Daddy did pretty well too. He never does as well as I do but he does well all things considered. The way he used to eat he would have had two of everything. Then again, I would have too. Then I wonder why the belt gets stuck in my fat roll. (Ha, Ha) We are both doing so amazing. You really make us both want to do better, for you, for us, for our new family. We want you to be so healthy and happy and we want that for ourselves too so that we can see all of your dreams come true. After we went to Burger King we went to Micheal's (that's an arts and crafts store) to look at stencils for your room. Daddy picked out some really pretty ones. We thought they were only fourteen dollars a package but when we got to the register it turned out that they were almost fourty dollars each. And to boot we only needed the one package for a capital R. So that would have been fourty dollars spent on your R. We bought them but on the way to the mall where we went to Baby Gap (which had nothing pretty and frilly, like we wanted, it only had *hip* stuff) we thought better of that and decided to take them back. We could use that money to pay bills with or get you something EXTRA nice. I think Aunt Lynn has some stencils left over and if she has enough for your name we will use those instead. If not we will go somewhere MUCH cheaper. That was ridiculous. Daddy said it almost made him sick to pay so much for something like that. I do not blame him, it did me too. We love you and want you to have nice things but those were cut outs of letters. Something cheaper will be just as nice.
   After we looked in Baby Gap we looked around in the baby department at Sears. They had nicer stuff there but we didn't buy anything because they really didn't have anything special enough for you to wear home. I think we are going to go and try to exchange the dress that we bought at Babies R' Us for a smaller size. Daddy picked that out and he really, really loves it. I don't know if he still has the receipt in his wallet, but if he does not we will just buy it again. Your father won't be pleased with anything else. And you can wear the bigger size at a later date. I am sure you will grow like a weed. Danny's Mother (your Mamaw), is having a baby shower for us on May 29. She says lots of people are coming. That is really cool. I am sure you will get some really nice things there. Daddy says whenever it comes to buying for you he has no objections. Nor do I, after all! You deserve it. In my eyes you deserve the world. And if Daddy and I could give it to you, we would. We are going to try really hard for you. I can have five people in the delivery room if it is a vaginal delivery. If it is a C-section there can only be one. But I am going to ask Dr. Youkilis if he will make an exception and let my sister in law in the room as well because after all we are naming the baby after her. I already have a feeling that it is going to be a C-section. I don't want it to be but I am worried about my hip. I know that Dr. Youkilis worries about infection but 1. Deal with an infection that can be treated and cleared up relatively quickly or 2. Deal with a pelvis that splits open even further and not be able to walk for another three months after you are born. Gee, I pick what's behind door number ONE. There are lots of people that want to be in on your delivery but I think only a few are going to get tickets. I know that your Aunt Mary wants to be in on it but that just is NOT practical since she lives three hours away. By the time you she gets here you may BE here. Your Aunt Lynn deserves to be in there because after all, you are her namesake. I would love for everyone who wanted to come in to be able to do it but that just won't work. My friends want to come in and I know that Alicia can if it is vaginal but the others may not be able to. But family comes before friends and if anyone gives me any problems they can just turn tail and leave me and my baby alone. It just means I will more time to spend with her if I don't have to deal with them. Anyways, I am rambling. I am good at that, you will discover.
   After we came out of Sears, I bought some perfume in Victoria Secret's in the mall. It was on sale so I got a good deal. I don't like spending money when I do not have to but this was a really good sale so I could not pass it up. I got three bottles of lotion and two bottles of body spray for $30.00. And the stuff smells really good. One set of lotions and spray smells like blueberries. Daddy likes it because it smells fruity. I think he is fruity. The other stuff is called Amber Romance and it just smells good. All Amber Romance really is, actually, is the expensive perfume I like from there called *Rapture* without the vanilla. I am willing to sacrifice the vanilla for the sake of my wallet. One bottle of that stuff costs $50.00 on sale. While I was shopping for perfume, Daddy sat in the massage chair and got himself a nice long massage. Six minutes for two dollars. He loved it, said it was great. After he got it he called your Aunt Lynn to tell her how wonderful it was. She said she had already been in one at Sam's Club. That is a store that sells stuff in bulk. Which is handy for things like TP and Shampoo. He told Lynn I was in Victoria Secret's and she thought I was buying sexy panties. Their panties would not fit over my toe. Nor would they have ever. I think I was born too big for their panties.
   After we left the mall we went back to Micheal's to return the stencils. We both felt much better after that. It was time then to check my sugar so I did it in the car and it was 61, which was low, so we decided to go and get a snack. We went to Baskin Robins and got some no sugar added fat free yogurt. I got chocolate. It was good. But not as good as the fudge pops from Kroger and I could have got a whole box for what I paid for that yogurt. But I am not complaining, I needed to eat it. For the carb content. Sugar was too low!!! And that is worse than too high. Again, here I go rambling.
   After Baskin Robins we stopped and got a movie at the movie store because our Tivo remote has given out on us and we can't seem to muster the strength to watch TV without it. I had to get a new remote online and I am waiting for it in the mail. Which was even more money we had to spend. But it wasn't really too expensive. We rented a funny movie and an *epic* drama. I always hate to watch things that are deemed *epic* on the box.. it usually means it is artsy and boring. Daddy says I don't have to watch it but I am interested in the story line. Besides, with no Tivo remote, what else would I do? But sit here and chatter on to you like a drunken monkey? Then Daddy stopped and got himself a can of the nasty stuff he chews and we came home and watched the funny movie. Daddy took a shower and went to bed and I came in here to talk to you. Now he is sleeping and here I sit still rambling. So I will stop for now. I love you so much and can't wait to see you. Goodnight Rebecca.

Dear Rebecca,
                   Hello beautiful! Today we went to church at Mortonsville AG. I showed your ultrasound (the one of you sucking your thumb) around and all of the ladies there were very impressed with it. They all think you are so cute.

   After church we went down to your mamaw & papaw's house. While we were down there your dad painted a shelf that is going to hang in your room. He painted it white. I think it is going to turn out very nice. I sat and take to your Aunt Lynn and your Mamaw while he painted and your two cousins Jon and Jacob *helped* him. More like they painted him and each other.

   I have another appointment with the doctor on Wednesday. They are going to do another ultrasound on us. Your great aunt Linda is coming to get me and take me. She will probably bring your cousins Lucas and Leah and we are going to get your great grandmother Annetta to go with us I think. Well that's all I have for today my little girl. I can't wait to hold you!!! Goodnight my baby.

Dear Rebecca,
                     Well, here it is on an early Saturday morning and you are due in 65 days. I haven't gone to bed yet. Your mother fell asleep on the sofa in the living room. Her sugar was real low before she fell asleep. She had some graham crackers with peanut butter, a banana and a glass of milk so her sugar wouldn't get even lower over night. I'm going to wake her in an hour or two so we can check it again. Your mother mentioned that I have a kidney stone. I had to miss yet another day of work. It seems like I'm falling apart here.

I don't have to work tomorrow. I'm glad of that. I'm getting kind of tired of working every Saturday. It's real good money but I like my down time as well. We had a pretty full day today. We had planned on going and doing a little grocery shopping after I got home from work. Before we left Versailles we went to the bank and I filled up the car at Thortons. I called your grandmother and she told us that she, Granny, your Aunt Linda, Aunt Lynn and Allison were going to Cici's for dinner. We had never been before but everybody raves at how affordable that place is so we decided to try it out. It's a buffet style pizza place. Your mom & I ate for just under eleven dollars. That is a pretty good deal. I enjoyed having dinner with my family. Then we went to Home Depot to see if we could find some stencils for your room. We didn't find any. We did purchase two boxes of wall anchors to hang stuff up in your room. We ran into your grandmother and the above mentioned gaggle of gals at Home Depot. Then we went across town to Lowes to check on those stencils. None there either. We'll probably have to go to a craft store for those. Then it was to Walmart. Your mother had become worried about you after Home Depot because you hadn't been kicking her as much as you usually do, so she called the doctor. He called us back on our cell phone while we were shopping at Walmart. We had planned on doing a little grocery shopping for meats at Walmart but the doctor wanted Kristie to go to the hospital so she could be hooked up to a fetal monitor just to make sure you were okay. We bought some cat food for Samson while at Walmart, also Kristie bought a few binders for a home work project she was helping Allison with, a package of clothes hangars and probably something else but I can't remember what it was. As we were checking out we once again ran into the afore mentioned gaggle of gals. After Walmart it was on to the hospital. We were there about an hour in all. You were fine. You started kicking like mad as soon as they hooked your mother up to the monitor. Of course that made both of us very happy. Your mom had gotten me worried. After the hospital we went to Kroger for meat. We left the list in the car and got considerably more than just meat. We didn't waste any money though. We'll eat everything that we bought so that's okay. We made one more quick stop before we went home. I had to stop at Shell for a can of Copenhagen. Finally we went home. We finished a movie we had started the night before. It was Gothika with Halle Berry. Your mom really liked it, but of course she loves horror flicks. After that I came in here and she fell asleep so that is where we are now.

See, I told you. A full day. I'm gonna close out for now. I'm really looking forward to seeing you soon. I had a dream about you the other night. It was a very enjoyable dream right up until I dropped you twice. Then it turned bad. Oh, by the way, the last ultrasound told us you are gonna pop out of your mom with hair so that is some fun news. I love you, Rebecca. Good Night.

Dear Rebecca,
                   Hello pretty baby!! Sorry that I have not written for a while. We have been busy and Daddy was sick with a kidney stone. Those are very ouchy things. Especially for men. Women have babies and I think that trumps kidney stones.

   Well I had to go to the doctor again Wednesday. He hooked me up to a monitor and listened to your heart rate for a long time. Then he sent me over for another ultra sound. They wanted to see if you would do the fetal breathing for them again. You finally did it for them. I did not think you were going to. You are stubborn. Do you know that? I thought they were going to send me to the hospital again. Thankfully they did not.

   I could see you sucking your thumb again on the ultra sound. I think that is so cute. Well its about time for Daddy to get off work so I am going to get off the net and see if he is going to call me. I love you baby girl!!

Dear Rebecca,
                     Today I had an appointment with the doctor for another one of your ultrasounds. I got to see your cute little face again and also your chubby little arm. The tech said you also have some hair on your head. I do not know if it is a lot or not but you have some. Thank God for that, because Mommy was bald until she was three. Seriously, I was. They tried to measure your fetal breathing movements (you do not really breathe, you just practice breathing) and they could not measure them this time. So Dr. Youkilis sent me over to the hospital to hook me up to a monitor to make sure that your heartbeat was regular for at least an hour. But, as you often do, you refused to hold still for that long. They got a good trace for maybe fifteen to twenty minutes out of that entire hour. I have to go back to him on Wednesday. I am not really sure what for, but I have to go back and see him. It may be an ultrasound, and it may not. We will see. Maybe he just wants to make sure you are doing ok.

   Yesterday was Mother's day and at the church they had a special thing where the kids passed out awards and I got an award for "Mother-To-Be". And the church had pooled some money together for gifts and they gave us (me, and you, and Dad) a day trip diaper bag kit that had a bottle, a bottle insulator, a wipes case, a changing pad, a comb and brush set, and a fork and spoon set in it. It is very nice, and it coordinates nicely with our big diaper bag that your Aunt Mary bought me. The kids from the church also made ink pen flowers to give out to the ladies in the church and they also had roses for the men and the women of the church. It was really nice. After church we went down to Mamaw and Papaw's house. They had a Mother's day picnic. A lot of the family was there, your great Aunt Louise, your great Uncle Donnie, your great uncle Mike, all of their spouses, your great aunt Linda and two of her kids, Leah and Nicholas, which I suppose would be your second cousins, and last but not least, your great-grandmother Annetta, Danny's grandmother, whom I also call Granny. Now that I call her Granny, so do all of my friends. I don't even think they know her name. I think they might just think it is Granny. Oh well, she does not mind. She is a wonderful lady. I hope you get to know all of these people very well. I know they want to get to know you. Well Kiddo, Mommy is beat. I love you so much and I can't wait to meet you face to face, instead of ultrasound monitor to belly. As much as I enjoy the ultra sounds, I want to hold you in my arms! And I know Dad does too. I love you!!!! Goodnight Rebecca.

Dear Rebecca,

                     Well hello there once again. Gosh it seems that your father uses this thing more than I do. I know I need to write more in it but since I have been home I have been as busy as a bee trying to get the house cleaned up for you. It still isn't nearly finished.. but it is getting better. I want everything to be perfect the day you arrive. Which it is supposed to be 74 days until you get here, but I think it will be a little sooner. Daddy is asleep right now and he left this up so I am supposing he is tired of Dear Old Mom not posting like she should. I promise to try and do better.

                   Well I enjoy staring at that beautiful Ultra Sound of you sucking your tiny little thumb. I can tell you are going to be a beautiful baby. And I can also tell already that you are going to have your father's nose. It's as plain as.. well.. the nose on your face.

                     Boy you sure do move a lot, do you know that kiddo? The ultra sound tech was getting a bit aggravated with you at the ultra sound because she was trying to measure your breathing and you would not even hold still long enough. I don't mind it though. I love to feel you move. It means you are one healthy baby! Daddy got to feel you move tonight too as he was talking to you. That always excites him so much. He loves you very much. You are a lucky little girl to have a Daddy like him.

                    Well I am quite tired and it is nearly my bedtime. I have to be up to fix breakfast for Dad at 5:00 am. He threatens to wake you up to get me up when you get here. I don't THINK so. Well I love you little girl!! Nite Rebecca!!

Dear Rebecca,
                  74 days until you are due. Well, I was wrong about the overtime. I didn't have to go in an hour early. We have to stay an hour late. I wished I had known that Tuesday. I went in early and had to sit around and wait for an hour to start work. They cancelled Wednesday & Thursday overtime though. I still have to work late Friday and Saturday though. Your mother and I have a dance lesson Friday night at 7:00. I thought I was going to be off work when we scheduled that. I reckon we'll go ahead and do it.

   Your mom is watching the final episode of Friends now. That's a T.V. show that was on for years & years. I'm sure you've seen it in syndication. Probably on Nick at Nite. She is watching it using and antenna while we record CSI off of cable with the Tivo. I love my Tivo. I have made some stupid purchases in my life but Tivo was definately not one of them. I ended up paying $500 for it after hardware and the service.

   That's all for tonight. I'm gonna play around here on the computer for another 20 minutes or so and then hit the proverbial hay. I love you, Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                     77 days and counting. We had another doctor's appointment today and we got an ultrasound. This ultrasound is the best one yet. We were able to see your pretty little face as plain as day. You were sucking your thumb. I was so excited to see you like that. The picture was fantastic. Your mothers amniotic fluid has decreased a little bit as well. When you have diabetes you urinate more and when mommy urinates so does baby and amniotic fluid is primarily made up of baby pee. So right at this minute you're happily sucking your thumb while floating in your own urine. Sounds nasty doesn't it? I reckon babies have been doing it the same way since babies began though.

   I found out today that I am going to be working a whole lot of overtime at General Electric. We are going to start working nine hour days six days a week. Well, 8 hours on Saturday. I have to go in an hour early, that means I'll have to get out of bed at 4:30 in the morning. I'm certainly not looking forward to that and I absolutely loathe going in on Saturday but we need the money. Also it's certainly a good sign business wise that we are working so much overtime. This time last year they were laying people off like crazy. So I'm not to terribly upset about all the overtime. At least I have a good job.

   Your Aunt Lynn & Uncle Rodney bought your cousin, Jacob a brand new dirt bike this past weekend. They paid a whole lot of cash for it. My mom & dad would never have spent that much on a big toy for either my sister or me. I'm happy for Jacob though, he's been doing so well in school that he needed a great reward. Your mom says that you'll never see a $2,000 toy.

   Well, your mom just called. She's baby sitting Alicia's baby Brady. I reckon I'll close out this post now. I love you!!!

Dear Rebecca,
    Well we had the baby shower yesterday. It went pretty well, all things considered. Only my family members showed up. I take that back, a friend of mine named Angie Easton also showed up. I met her once before when I was visiting your Aunt Mary. Frankly I was rather glad that no one else showed up. I really did not want a bunch of people I did not know coming.

    My Aunt Evon, your great aunt, showed up before the baby shower, since she wasn't going to be able to make it. She bought you a cute little dress, some cute little socks to match it, and a package of pampers. Your cousin Melissa bought you some pacifiers and a giraffe comb and brush set. Your cousin Marietta, whom is much older than you (well so is Melissa) and wants you to call her "Auntie M" bought you a cute little short set. Your aunt Carolyn bought you a burp cloth and bib set and some cute little shoes and an angel that rings like a bell so I can annoy your father with it. Your aunt Mary bought you some travel snack cups and a feeding set and some gerber roll on baby powder. Of course she also paid for all of the food and the cake that was at the baby shower. Of course she had bought us a diaper bag and a few other things before this. It was nice of her to do it.

     I highly doubt that you will ever see Hazard very much. Mommy is not very fond of that place. And some things happened on this trip that reminded me exactly why I left in the first place. Some day I will explain it all to you, but for now I just want to talk to you about happy things.

     I get to come home today. Right now I am sitting at your Aunt Mary's work. I really didn't feel like sitting at her trailer all by myself today. At least there are more than mosquitos moving about here. I had to cheat a little on breakfast today, but only a little. I needed to pull my sugar up as it was quite low and I very well could not take eighty units of insulin without pulling it up some. So I had a bite of the cake that was at the baby shower. But only a bite. So that makes two bites of that cake I had. And after I took my insulin I had a biscuit, a little bit of gravy, and two pieces of sausage. In other words, I ate normally. It really wasn't very good because I got it from the deli at your Aunt Mary's work. But it was enough to fill me up and keep me sugar at a good level.

     I am so excited to see your pretty little face. I know that you will be beautiful. I can hardly wait to meet you!! I love you so much already and only want the best for you always. I suppose I will end this post for now. I love you, my pretty little baby!!

Dear Rebecca,

   Here I sit at your Aunt Mary's house. I feel so guilty for not doing a post for so long in this blog. There has been a lot going on, and I know that is NO excuse, so I really do apologize, my pretty baby. I can't believe Daddy and I are having you. We have waited for you for so long. Well, he has waited longer than I have. After all he is 36, and I am only 26. I guess what I am trying to say is that you are so wanted. We already love you SO much.

   I miss your Dad whenever I am away from him. I don't sleep well when I know he is not around. I don't know why, I just don't. Your Aunt Mary wanted me to stay until Monday but I have a Drs. appt. Monday I need to rest up for and I also don't want to miss my entire weekend with Daddy. I am quite fond of your father, to say the least, and I enjoy spending time with him.

   Aunt Mary is supposed to be throwing us a little baby shower tonight. I am not sure how many people will show up, but she has invited a lot of people. All of my family, your Aunt Carolyn, your cousins Melissa and Marietta (her daughters) , my cousin Linda Gayle and my aunt, your great aunt, Evon. She also invited a bunch of people from her work that I do not know. She even invited everyone from the trailer park she lives in. Oh well, the more the merrier, I suppose.

   Well I have been doing great on this diet the doctor put me on. It's a low carb diet, so I have been eating a lot of rabbit food (i.e. cucumbers, lettuce, celery, broccoli) and also a lot of lean meats and real cheeses. It's the way I should have been eating anyway, but as most women do I used pregnant as being an excuse to just eat whatever I wanted. This is much healthier for the both of us.

   Daddy has been trying very hard to stay on this diet with me too. Although I know he has cheated since I have been gone. He can't help it. Men are weak. So whenever someone refers to women as the "weaker" sex around you, just remember that your father cannot resist the urge to sneak and have a cheeseburger when I am not looking. Then think about who the weaker sex really is.

   Well I suppose that I will end this post for now. I get to see you on screen again Monday. I am quite excited about that. I love you, my darling daughter. You do and always will mean the world to me.

Dear Rebecca,
                     Hello, Baby. 79 days until you are due but I think you'll be a little early. It's Saturday afternoon now. I had to work today. I am so very tired. Your mother is still in Hazard, or rather at this time she should be on her way back from Hazard. I am a wreck when she isn't here. I've become so accustomed to her being here that I'm just no good to anyone when she isn't. I felt very poorly Friday so I played hooky from work. So working today was not to much trouble. Actually it wasn't bad at all for some reason. I haven't slept well since your mother has been in Hazard. Your Aunt Mary had her phone shut off on her right before your mom went down there so we haven't been able to talk near as much as I would have liked. I'm just ready for her return.

   I went to see Jacob's ball game Thursday night. It started at 7:30. I didn't leave until almost 9:30 and that's what time I like to start thinking about going to bed. Jacob's team, the Pirates beat the Mariners by a score of 12 to 2. I finished a film I was watching before I left. Big Fish was the name of it. I'd been looking forward to seeing it but I was really kinda disappointed by it. It was sort of like Second Hand Lions, only Second Hand Lions was a great film, whereas Big Fish was crap. I rented a few more, but they are mainly chick flicks for your mom. They were Mona Lisa Smile with Julia Roberts and Love actually with a lot of big British stars in it.

   Well, I think I might work a little on my website and print out last months blog entries for your hard copy of this journal. Then I don't know what I might do. I hope your mother is home by then. Love you!