Dear Rebecca,
                  It's super early her on a Saturday morning. I have been downloading songs off of the internet all night. Your Mom has to work later this morning so I had better make this another quick one.
      Well, we finally got your Mom's Taurus into the shop. It broke down in late October or early November; I can't remember which, and has been sitting in the driveway ever since. We had so many Christmas expenses that the car kind of got put on the back burner. I know your Mom is anxious to get her car back. She only started driving a little over a year ago and she discovered that she kind of likes it. You were with her when she took her driver's test. Actually you stayed with Mamaw at the starting point of the course while she took the test. It'll be nice to have some mode of transport while your Mom is at work. Now I know how she felt all these years without a license. Even if you don't go anywhere it's still nice to know that you have the ability.
      You're into "Oobi" These days. What is Oobi? Come on, you remember Oobi and his little sis Uma. They are hand puppets and when I say they are hand puppets I mean that they are actual hands with eyes attached to the middle fingers. It's actually a pretty cute show. You started calling Papaw Papoo because Oobi calls his grandfather Grandpoo.
      You are picking up new words everyday now. You are such a smart little gal. Your Mom took you by the Gymboree Music & Play place this past week. If the car doesn't put us out too much money we are going to sign you up for a class and see how you like it. Your mom said that you really loved the preview class and I'll wager that you were the belle of the ball, as well.
      Well, I have to get in bed for a few hours. I'll try to post another blog post this weekend if I can get a few seconds alone to do it. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                           Hello my little sweetie. Right now you are taking a nap. I know it is early but you have been sleeping since nine thirty. You woke up at around six thirty this morning so I knew you would be tired early. I wanted to let you get your nap out before we leave, anyway. We are going out to lunch so that you can play in the play area at McDonald's today. I don't like having you holed up in the house when its cold; all we do is watch TV. We are also going to go to Gymboree and see about getting you signed up for some classes. What do you think about that? I imagine you might enjoy that very much. And the beauty of that is, Anyone who wants to go can take you. So I don't always have to be the one to go. That will be handy with Mommy working. And Mommy has to work to pay for things like that.
         I sure hope you wake up soon because we had an early breakfast and I am hungry and I know you are too. You had some cereal and a pear that had a bad spot on it that I had to cut off. You kept calling it an apple. You are so silly. You didn't eat all your pear so I wrapped it up and put it up for Daddy. He loves Pears. After breakfast I got dressed and while I was putting my make-up on you sat on my knee and put yours on, too. You were "powdering" your nose with an old powder puff I have. You were also stroking my blush brush across your cheeks. You are so cute! Then I changed your diaper and got you dressed and we put on Jack's Big Music Show. You danced and laughed and then you came to get me to dance with you. We danced all around the living room. We had a great big grand ol' time. Then we played tickle in the floor and I spun you around while you held on to the balloon Mamaw brought you yesterday. You thought it was funny to watch it go around and around. I could tell you were getting tired so I changed your diaper and got you some milk around nine o'clock and put you down for your nap. Which is where you are now. You should be waking up any second, though. I hope.
      I think Daddy and I are going to take you to the Children's museum one day when we are both off. It's got a Woodland area for kids your age and there are lots of neat hands on things to do for kids in it. Its called the Explorium. Its like a science museum. I considered taking you there myself today but we don't have a whole lot of time to spend there today because we have to go pick Daddy up from work. Also I don't like driving downtown. I don't know it well enough to do so. That's why we have Daddy to do things like that for us. Also, I want him there for that experience. He needs to be there. I think you will have lots of fun. Well little girl, I am hoping ya wake up soon so we can go eat! I love ya! You are so cute and sweet and smart and pretty!

Dear Rebecca,
                  It's been a little while since I last posted; sorry about that. I don't have much time to post this time. Mom is on her way home from work.
      We have had a nice couple of days this week. We have played and had all kinds of fun. You have started using rudimentary sentences like "Here Daddy, remote" and "help you". We love watching grow bigger & bigger and smarter & smarter every day.
      We went to the Texas Roadhouse this past weekend and to Sam's Club. We all had fun. Well, I will post a longer blog when I get the chance. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
     I am writing this blog from work. How am I doing that, you ask? I am writing it down on paper & then I will transfer it to the computer later when I get home.
   You went outside and played in the snow for the very first time today. You really loved it. I thought I would have some really good pictures to show for it, but the really CRAPPY camera I bought at the Hazard Wal-Mart for five bucks ate the dang film. Bummer. We did have us a grand ole' time, though. You looked at me like I was crazy when I plopped down in the snow to make a snow angel. Then you tried to do it, too. We went all around our block making footprints in the snow. Your favorite thing to do was to crawl through it. You kept wanting to go in the street. I guess you figured since everything was white you could play everywhere. You had a big time. We were very lucky you had a nice snowsuit to wear. Martin's kids gave it to you in the summer. It fit you really nicely, too.
   When we came in I fixed us "hot" chocolate (yours was more like lukewarm). I would say it was the real stuff, except I used Splenda instead of sugar to make it. It was good. You seemed to enjoy it. Then I cleaned you up & put you in a fresh diaper and we both laid down for a nap. We slept from about ten thirty 'til noon. Then you had a lunch of Alfredo noodles & meatballs along with carrot sticks. You seemed to love it, you gobbled it all up. We spent the rest of the day watching TV & playing together, you and I. Your had your baby you got for Christmas and you kept trying to give her a drink from her bottle and I would turn her head away really quickly and you would laugh hysterically. Daddy said he tried it later but the hysterics had passed.
   Daddy came home at four o'clock to take care of you & I went to work, which is where I am now. I better get back to it too, before I get in trouble! I love you!

Dear Rebecca,
                        Hello my pretty little baby girl. It's very early on Wednesday morning here right now. I had to work tonight so Daddy took care of you this evening. I am up so late because I wanted to get a head start on cleaning up the house while everyone was asleep. I knocked it out pretty quick with no distractions. I only have our bedrooms and Mommy & Daddy's bathroom to go tomorrow. Of course if I actually get my day off on Friday I will catch up on the laundry. Jenny at work called in because she is sick again so I have to work tomorrow on what would have been my day off. Bleh, I hate that. Anyway, you don't care about any of this mundane stuff.
         You have started saying "Hewe" (Here) when you hand us something or when you want something handed to you. That is so very, very cute. It melts my poor old tender heart. You are getting bigger & smarter & prettier everyday. I never thought I could love you anymore than the day that you were born but I was wrong. I only love you more with each passing day. It's positively indescribable. I know that Daddy feels the same way. We are so very lucky to have our little family. Maybe someday we can make our little family bigger. I wonder how much you would like that, a little baby brother or sister to play with. I bet you would love it.
         You opened a Christmas present Aunt Mary got for your half brother Dylan that you weren't supposed to open today. You were very upset when I took away the wrapping paper and threw it in the trash and told you that you couldn't have the car. You were just remembering Christmas but Christmas is over. You will get to open more presents on your 2nd birthday. Cheer up little girl! It's not that far away. Only six more months. You will be a whole two years old! How fun will that be.
           Well little girl, I have to work tomorrow like I said earlier. I am going to finish my drink and wait for the hot water to heat back up then take a shower and go to bed. I love you, little girl!

Dear Rebecca,
                  I told you it would be a little while before I posted on this blog again. It has been seven days. I probably could have posted earlier in the week because I have already taken two of my four sick days and I was here at the house Tuesday and Wednesday but I really didn't feel all that well and didn't want to use up my sparse energy on the computer. Both you and your Mom had been ill all through the Holidays; I had thought that I had dodged whatever bug it was that the two of you had but it was just waiting for me to get back to work so it could force me to burn up some sick time. I was hoping I would have all of my time when your Mom & I attend the Gretchen Wilson concert in late February. The concert is on a Thursday night and I plan on taking Friday off. I still have two sick days and five vacation days that I can take whenever I want. I suppose I will take a vacation day in February. Your Mom & I are going to use the concert as our Valentine date. I'm sure we'll have a good time and I'm also sure that you'll have a grand time a well. We don't know where you will be yet but I'm sure that whoever watches you will make sure you have a ball.
      Well, nothing really exciting has happened since the last time I posted. You pulled a "Samson" on us. What is a Samson, you ask? Well, when we had our cat that we both dearly loved, Samson or Sampson as your Mom spells it, he loved nothing more than a leisurely afternoon destroying our window shades. I know I had to buy at least one new set of shades every month when we had him. Well, after repeated warnings to quit playing with the large middle shades in the living room you eventually tore them up. This happened early in the week and I didn't get around to Wal-Mart until Friday so we had almost an entire week of having tacky broken shades.
      It took me so long to get the shades because Papaw had to work over everyday this past week and I had to drive myself to work and your Mom needed the truck directly after work so neither one of us could go get the shades on our own. Your Mom's Taurus is still not fixed yet. We're going to at least get it hooked up to the diagnostic computers later this month if we don't have anymore financial surprises coming in the mail. We may not have the cash to get it fixed but we will at least know how much cash we sill need to get the thing back on the road. Your Mom misses her car very badly. I know she will be so thrilled to have the freedom that her car affords her back.
      Well, your Mom has to work in the morning and she wants me to get up kind of early so I suppose I should get off of here and hit the proverbial hay. Oh, by the way, I know that you'll hate to here this but maybe you won't care one way or the other but Kentucky lost yet again yesterday. That makes three losses in a row for the first time in maybe over a decade. The Cats look like they are in trouble this year. I've always been a big Tubby Smith supporter but maybe the coach is the problem, He has to right this sinking ship and do it now. I hate this basketball season. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                              Hello my sweet little darlin. You are getting to be such a big girl! We took a 'walk' today together. You got to walk, too, where there was not a lot of traffic. You thought that was big fun. You are a good little walker. I am glad. I forgot just how much I enjoy walking. Mostly I pulled you along in your wagon where you sat and drank your drank and played with your toys, though. We tried to play outside a bit but your swingset was still all wet, even though it had warmed up quite a bit. We came in and had lunch of ham sandwiches and baked cheetos. You really liked the baked cheetos. You ate too many and it made you throw up today. I didn't even think about you eating them all up and having too much; you didn't have that many. Of course it could be because you have taken to sticking your finger down your throat, too. Not a good habit to get into.
      After your lunch and your nap you got up and we were talking about our day. I was changing your diaper and said "We went outside today and had a walk and played" You had been watching Oobi where Oobi and Kako had a play date. You shook your head and said "Yeah! Date!" I was amazed at you. You also grabbed my hair and said "Hai" which is your word for hair, and I said that's right, you are so smart, and you replied with "PRETTY!" That melted my poor old Mama heart.
      Well little girl - I just wanted to tell you a little about our day. I will post a longer blog when I am not so very tired. Headed to bed here soon so we can have a good day tomorrow! I love you!

Dear Rebecca,
Hey there my baby bird. Well, it's official, Daddy went back to work today. It was just you & me today, kiddo. I missed Daddy a lot and you did, too. This morning when I brought you to bed with me you rolled over and felt around for Daddy and said his name in a questioning tone, Daddy? Daddy?.. But he was nowhere to be found. Every now and then today you would sprout up and say that same questioning quote. You really missed him, and I know he really missed you. Still, we will be able to get back into our routine a little better with Daddy back at work. Maybe you will potty train a little better, too. You don't seem to be too interested in it. You did better before with it. We decided to stop then because it was too early, or so we thought. Maybe we should have kept it up. Well, we are new parents. Eventually we will get it right. I know that you are ready because you have words for the actions; you run and hide to do your business, and you are interested in what we are doing, especially what I am doing, whenever we are in the bathroom. You'll get the hang of it pretty soon, I know. You are so very smart and such a good baby that I don't foresee any problem. When you were weaned from the bottle I was shocked and amazed at how well you took to it. You were in mid suck and I just took away the bottle and handed you a cup and you went right back at it. You are so amazing to me.
      We had a pretty good day today, I think. We got up this morning and had a bowl of oatmeal and a piece of toast. You then had your strawberry milk and I had some coffee. You went into the living room and played with your toys and half watched an episode of Oobi while I tried to get some of the laundry caught up and cleaned the bathrooms. You of course periodically 'checked on me' while I was doing all this good stuff. After that, Aunt Mary called and said her and Papoo Lawrence were coming. I thought she meant right then since they were in Lexington and that is only a hop skip and a jump away. I decided to keep you up and not put you down for your nap just yet. That was around eleven. I gave you your lunch of four pieces of Pizzy as you like to call it, got you cleaned up and decided it was time for your nap being as how they hadn't even so much as pulled in the drive way yet. You laid down around noon and only slept about fourty five minutes before Daddy then Mamaw called on the phone and it (and probably the poo-poo you had in your diaper, too) woke you. I went and got you and changed your diaper and then got you dressed and took you outside for a walk in your wagon. I decided we weren't going to put our day on hold any more waiting for Mary and Papoo Lawrence to get here. We walked all around the bock and Mary and Papoo pulled up just as we were coming to the front door. We were going to go again but we just hung out with Mary and Papoo a while. We even went to the Antique Store with them so that Papoo could look for another record player. I think the one he bought previously from there is broken. We got back and Mary and Papoo stayed about another fourty five minutes after Daddy arrived home. Then they headed back for the hills of Eastern Kentucky.
      I cooked dinner while Daddy took a shower and you watched Dora. We all had a yummy dinner of Turkey Polish Sausage, cooked and simmered in apples and onions, Steamed Broccoli, Macaroni & Cheese, and diet soda. It was delish. Then We got all cleaned up from that and half watched a show or two while we played with you for the rest of the evening. Daddy played with you some right before the two of you finally went off to sleep. He had gone to bed but you hollered for him so he got back up. He is a good Daddy. All in all, we had a grand day together.
      Well, little girl, I am awfully tired. So I think I will call it a night so we can have another grand day together tomorrow. I love you, Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
               It's early Sunday morning right now. My few weeks off are almost at an end. Boy, we sure have had a swell time together. You have gotten used to me being home in the morning and afternoons and I have gotten used to being home in the mornings and afternoons. I think that when I go back to work tomorrow that we will miss each other terribly bad. I have enjoyed being woke up by you in the late mornings. You would come to the bedroom door and holler out, "Dada Dada Dada" and Kristie would let you into the bedroom and you would crawl up into bed with me and wake me up. By the way, you have almost quit calling me Dada. You have started to primarily call me Daddy which is just as good but still it's kinda sad that you are leaving your baby stage and learning to pronounce my title. I still call my mother by Mama and I suppose you will too but lately you have also started calling her Mommy. She is sad over that too. I know that when you will eventually revert back to Mama for her but my days of being Dada are just about gone and that is a little sad. Back to the subject at hand, being woke up by my perfect little daughter is the perfect way to wake up in the morning. I hope you are not too upset that I won't be behind the bedroom door when you call for me. It would please me to know that you miss me but I don't want you to feel sad that I am not there. After the last sentence I checked our Powerball Lotto numbers and it appears that I will indeed have to go to work tomorrow.
      I forgot what we did Wednesday. I know that Thursday we all went to Lexington where I picked up my check from work; we then went to The Olive Garden and spent way too much money on lunch; then we went to Wal-mart where we bought lots of groceries, some stuff for you, Turbo Tax Deluxe and a Yahtzee game. We then came home and watched you dance to some Veggie Tales CDs I put in the stereo as a replacement for the Christmas music we had been listening to for the previous month and a half. You love to dance in the living room floor. You prefer to dance naked in the living room floor but your Mom is scared that you are gonna pee-pee on the carpet so you don't get to do much of your bare bottomed boogie. In between songs you yell out "Song! Song!".
      You just know that you want your music to play and you want it now. We love to watch you dance in the evenings. Yesterday afternoon you went up to your Mama and had her get up and dance with you. That just about melted her heart. After you finally went to bed your Mom and I stayed up to play Yahtzee and your Mom creamed me. Maybe we should have just saved the $6.50 and then I wouldn't be getting beaten at Yahtzee by your Mom. It was great fun though. Your Mom and I need to play games like that more often. It seems like it's a great way to communicate with each other. You can't very well chat while you are looking at the boob tube.
      Friday we all went to lunch at the Mexican restaurant on Crossfield Dr. that used to be Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken years and years ago. It's a pretty good place for Mexican in my opinion. We then took you over to Granny's where we all met up with Mamaw. Your Mom and I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia at the movie theatre. We don't get to go to the movies as much as we used to because we want to hang out with you too much, but we did want to see at least one film while I was off. The movie was really very good. Your Mom wants to purchase it when it comes out on DVD so you can watch it when you get older. I told her that DVDs might be an obsolete technology by the time you are old enough to appreciate it. On our way home we stopped off at Dairy Queen and got a shake and a dilly bar for you. Mamaw was watching you at our house so you were already there when we arrived. Mamaw said you had had an accident and had hurt yourself while we were gone. She asked us if we could spot the damage. I asked Mamaw if you had lost one of your legs because you had it folded up underneath of you and your knee looked just like a stump. Mamaw thought that was very funny indeed. It turns out that you had fallen and busted you lip at Granny's place. You had a little fat lip but you were fine. Mamaw said that you only cried for a minute or so and then it was all but forgotten and you were back playing with Mamaw and Granny.
      Saturday night you got to go out on the town. Uncle Rodney was having his birthday dinner and everybody was going. Your Mom is not feeling very well at all so I decided to stay here with her while you went with Mamaw & Papaw to Uncle Rodney's birthday dinner at the Lonestar Roadhouse in Lexington. While you were there you saw Uncle Rodney's brother's little girl Bailey. She is about two years old and I was told that when you saw her you went up to her and hugged and kissed her and you both were real sweet to each other. I wish I could have seen that. We really do need to find you some little friends of your own. Mamaw decided that she wanted to keep you over night and we thought that was a fine idea so right now you are asleep at Mamaw & Papaw's. At least I hope you are asleep. You almost totally over your little sick bug but you still have a stuffy nose and some congestion and it makes it hard for you to sleep so you have been getting up in the middle of the night the past few nights.
      You may be wondering why I haven't mentioned the Kentucky Wildcats basketball season much this year. It's because they really are terrible this year. I do believe that they will drop out of the top 25 next week. That's the first time they will be out of the top 25 in a super long time. I am just so disgusted with the way they are playing this year. I don't even want to write anymore about it so I will drop that morbid subject.
      I'm gonna let you go for now. I probably won't write again until after I have gone back to work and when I've been off for any length of time I get so tired when I am there that I just don't feel like playing on the computer much so I don't know when I'll be able to set down with you again; I hope real soon. I do love keeping this blog and letting you know what's going on with us all in the time before you can remember. Well, Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
               Happy eighteen month birthday, little girl. For some reason I have always thought that a child was never truly a toddler until they had reached eighteen months. I have always felt that way, even before you were even a consideration to either your Mom or myself. So today, even though you have been toddling around for quite some time, you are officially, in my mind at least, a toddler. Congratulations.
      You are still a little under the weather. You were kind of fussy this afternoon but much less so than either your Mother or I would be under similar circumstances. You are such a sweet little girl, even when you are sick. Your Mom & I are both big whiners when we get a little under the weather. Tonight you were trying to play with your Little Touch Leap Pad and as you played you had your lip poked out like you were getting ready to cry but you kept right on playing. We hate it when you are sick because there's really nothing we can do to help you except give you medicine and lots of loves. I do think you are feeling a little better though. You are not nearly as snotty and you are no longer Rebecca the Red-nosed Toddler, so all that is a comforting sign. Papaw came by today and helped me put the Christmas stuff up in the attic. You cried after him when he left. You have started calling him Papoo as well.
      Well, not much has happened in the last few days. It was real warm outside early yesterday so your Mom & I took down the outside Christmas lights while you napped and then it started storming terribly bad. There were tornadoes in Lincoln County and Adair County where your Mother graduated high school from. I expect you will graduate from Woodford County the same as your dear ole' Dad. Go Yellow Jackets.
      I'm going to let you go for now. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
               Happy New Year, little girl! I know it's a day short but the year is still new so I can still wish you a Happy New Year. I tried to post yesterday but you are so sick with your cold that I had no idea just how long you would be napping for yesterday afternoon. You actually slept a good long while but I really didn't expect you to.
      I made a photo album and posted it on the webpage where the online version of this journal is kept. It has 204 images in it. I didn't think that I was going to have enough space on the server to put all of the album online but I did. I bet you I don't have much more though.
      Well, it's storming right now and I would hate for my computer to be hit by lightening so I will close out the first blog of 2006. Daddy loves Rebecca!