Dear Rebecca,
                  Well, we have now officially moved into our new house. Last night was the very first night that we stayed here as a family unit. Our beds are here and the television has been set up in the living room so we are good to go. Yesterday Papaw and Uncle Donny helped me move all of the big stuff over here. I worked my derriere off if I do say so myself. We got all of the big stuff over and a whole lot of the smaller stuff. Last night and this afternoon we unpacked many more boxes and staged others out of our way until we can get to them. Your Mom had it looking relatively orderly this afternoon but then I came home from spending the afternoon at the apartment loading up smaller odds & ends into the Explorer. When we unloaded the truck it looked just as cluttered as it had before. We love being here but we can't wait to get everything in it's place even if we are not sure where those places are going to be just yet. We have more room here in the house than we did at the apartment but over there we had over a year to organize and stow stuff. Over here we have all this stuff that we have to find room for. All the furniture is where it's going to go so now all we have to do is unload boxes and hang pictures. There's maybe a half a truck load of stuff remaining in the apartment. Your mom is going to get that stuff because it's closet and kitchen stuff primarily. We have to work on getting the apartment looking nice by next Saturday because that's when we have to be out of it all together. We will not get any of our deposit back because the lease agreement was heavily weighted in the landlord's favor. We really don't care though. We are just glad to be out of there. We do want to leave it in a relatively nice condition when we leave though because we are responsible people.
      You spent the day with Mamaw & Papaw today because we had a little more work to do and we wanted to just set and relax some. We have been going at it like we were killing snakes for the past month. Your Mom is getting extremely exhausted with all of this moving stuff. I'm still in pretty good shape though but I suppose that's because I am so excited to be getting into our own house again.
      Well, I'm going to let you go for now because I promised your Mom I would get in bed relatively early tonight and anyway, I am kinda pooped. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
               Greetings from your new home. This is the first ever blog originating from our new house on Colony Drive. Last night I set the rudimentary components of the computer up here at the new house and today we got our cable hooked up so we are ready to go. We plan on moving in earnest tomorrow evening and Saturday morning. We also have the TiVo hooked up to our big screen nine inch bedroom television while I wait for help getting our living room TV over here.
      Well, I here your Mom getting out of the shower so I will let you go for now. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                     Here it is, Monday morning. I sit here feeling incredibly guilty because I have decided to take a bit of a rest this morning. I will get to some of the things I have to do this afternoon but I won't get to everything I planned on doing today. You are stirring in your room right now about ready to wake up from your first nap. I tried to lay down as well but couldn't manage to get to sleep. So I had in mind that I would come down here and do some work while you slept but instead I wound up on my fat tail in Daddy's chair watching a Maury Episode. My butt dropped I reckon because I haven't done anything except eat a sandwich and watch TV and of course fiddle around on here a bit. When you wake up it will be almost time for your lunch so I will get you dressed and get that together and put on a Sesame Street or Dora for you and try to get a little bit of work done while you watch your show and play in the floor. I don't know how much I will get done though because sometimes I just feel the need to stop and play with you and I can't help myself, you are so darned cute. I reckon later we are going over to the house so I can clean the toilets there and mop the floors. I got everything done over there yesterday except those two tasks. Hopefully this weekend we will be ready to move our furniture in to our brand new home. I am so excited I can't hardly stand it. If it weren't for a little bit I'd call Papaw up and ask him to move us today. But there are still things that have to be done there and here. Daddy and I are so happy to have a house for you to grow up in. A nice house with a big fenced in backyard. We are the luckiest people in the world. We have you and we have a good family that cares a lot about all of us.
Well little girl, I am going to let you go for now. You are stirring again and bound to wake up any second. I love you, baby bird!

Dear Rebecca,
                  Good Morning to you, Rebecca. It's Saturday morning, kinda late and I have only been up a little while and your Mom is still sleeping. You spent the night at Mamaw & Papaw's last night. Well, I am glad to say that early this morning we finished painting the inside of the house. We came home so exhausted that we decided to have a late morning. In a moment I am going to go get a shower and run down to Mamaw & Papaw's to get an extra step latter so your Mom & I can put the border up in your very pink room.
      This afternoon your Mom is going to clean up around the new house while I go back over the house and touch up painting boo-boos. We are very excited about getting finished with the paint. We can now start moving in for real now. I might grab a few small loads in the explorer later today and maybe tomorrow Papaw might come over with his trailer and help us move some larger stuff. I want to be moved in by next Friday evening so we can begin getting everything in shape next weekend.
      Well, I suppose I had better get moving because we still have a lot to do today. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
         Hello my sweet little baby bird. How are you this evening? I will tell you how you are. You are sleeping. You and I have had a very big day today. When you got up this morning, we got dressed and went to the cable company and got our service switched over to the house from the apartment. After that we went to the park and played for about an hour and you were kind of nervous because there were a bunch of preschool kids there from the head start across the way and they were very loud and boisterous. You didn't mind that so much as you did the fighting a couple of the boys were engaged in so we left before things got much more hectic. There was a woman at the park who said she was the Director of Mary Kay and wanted to give me a free facial tonight at her house. I thanked her nicely but as you know right now I barely have time to wash my face. Heck of a world, can't even go to the park without getting sales pitch. After the park you were tired and a little hungry so we went to McDonald's for lunch. I think you were more tired than hungry though so you didn't eat too much. After that we went to the Dollar Store to get some Kitty Litter to take to the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina at the Woodford Humane Society. The people there were very appreciative and they let us look around at all the cats and dogs. You had a big time playing with the cats with a hanging toy from the cages and walking through the Dog Kennel and seeing all the puppies and hearing them bark. You laughed and giggled and kicked up a storm. There was a woman and a man who had adopted a cute little brown ozzie puppy (that is what they were calling it) that you absolutely loved and that puppy loved you too. The two of you were very excited to see and play with each other. That puppy had a funny ear that flopped over to one side and I thought that was very cute. One day you will have a doggie of your very own. Speaking of Dogs, when I was little I had a really cute, however really mean dog named Fluffy Toe. Yes, Fluffy Toe. He used to bite at my Sister's and my Dad's ankles. My Dad would kick him clear across the room and he would come flying right back. Not only was he cute and mean, he was stupid. Fluffy Toe was a minature snowser mix. Your Papaw Lawrence wanted so badly to get rid of him but your Mamaw Evelyn wouldn't let anyone touch him because he was mine. Your Mamaw Evelyn was a very good Mommy to me. I know she would be so proud of you. Who couldn't be? Who wouldn't be? No one I know of.
      After we went to the animal shelter we drove to our new house and I put you down for a nap in your playpen. You went to sleep pretty easily and I commenced unpacking boxes in the kitchen. I got them all unpacked and I called Rumpke and got our service switched and I decided that I would lie down in the hallway and go to sleep for a few minutes while you were still napping. You promptly woke up so I played with you a while and commenced unpacking the boxes in the closet. You *helped* by playing with hangers, empty boxes, and various clothing items that dropped to the floor. You are such a good baby. I am so proud of you. After that I gave you your snack and you watched your Barney tape while you ate it and I ran the vacuum over the floor. You got done just in time to see Daddy come in from work and get started on putting together the twin bed for the spare room he is calling the office. I stepped away for a second to put our dinner in the oven and before I knew it you had pulled the footboard down on yourself and you were screaming in agony. I was taken aback, heartbroken, flabbergasted, scared to death that you had really really hurt yourself. I love you so much and I only want the very very best for you. Always. I may not be the best mother in the world but I do try to make sure that you are healthy and happy and taken care of. I guess I let the ball drop on that aspect today and for that I apologize. It took a while for you to get calmed down and I was very upset and I still am. I know that babies get hurt and kids get hurt on a regular basis, but I should do better. And I promise I will. I think it scared you more than it hurt you but I never want you to be scared either.
      After all I was finished yelling at Daddy because I wanted to call the pediatrician because I was afraid that your appendix was crushed or that you had ruptured your spleen, we put that drama to bed and you commenced trying to climb up other various dangerous objects you shouldn't be fooling with. After dinner of Fish Sticks and French Fries you had your very first bath in your Duckie bathroom. You had a grand time throwing the duckies with little suction cups I bought for your decorations up against the wall and watching them stick. You were quite tickled with yourself. After that we went outside and you played on the deck for a little while your hair dried. You had big fun with that. You were getting sleepy so you and I came on home while Daddy finished his work for the day. When we got home you had a snack and your milk and I gave you a dose of your ibuprofen in case your belly still hurt you where the bed frame fell and I changed your diaper and sent you off to night night land. You knew where you were going and you tried to run off into the kitchen. I scooped you up and you yelled *No No Night Night* and I said oh Yes Ma'am. You went down to sleep pretty easily and that is where you are right now. I am going to let you go for now because I am exhausted. I need some sleep and so does Daddy. I love you, baby bird.

Dear Rebecca,
                  It's early Monday morning. I am so sore from all the painting we did this weekend that I have decided to burn my last vacation day of the year. My left knee is also giving me all kinds of troubles. I am going to take care of you when you get up so your Mom can sleep. She probably worked harder than I did this weekend. We got the kitchen, living room and hallway totally painted and we got one coat on the extra room that we have begun calling the office because that's where I'm going to keep my computer. We have taken a few loads of boxes over to the new house as well. We worked like dogs this weekend. I'm sure since I'm staying home today that we will do a little more over there but we will not be working nearly as hard as we have the past three days. We might take all the plastic up off of the floor and clean up our paint mess. We also might finish the second coat in the office and put up the border in the main bathroom. I'm really much too sore to get into any crazy hard work today. If I felt like knocking myself out today I would have went on to work this morning.
      You spent nearly the entire weekend with Mamaw & Papaw. I'm sure you had a grand time down there with them. You love spending time with your grandparents. Sometimes when they visit you want to leave with them and are not happy unless they carry you away and of course they love having you. We missed you this weekend of course. You crawled up the stairs last night when we all got home and while your Mom got your sippy cup ready you and I played on the bed and you laughed and laughed. We had a super fun time romping on our big bed. Our big bed has become a playground for you.
      I hear you starting to stir so I will close out this blog post. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                  We closed yesterday plus we got to get into the house yesterday as well. Mamaw told me that I had misunderstood the three days after closing thing. She meant the loan closing and not the house closing. So we got into the house yesterday. We took a small load of kitchen stuff, stuff to keep you busy and most of our painting equipment. We are so happy to be into the new house now. We had planned on painting the main bathroom and setting around admiring our work. We didn't get started at 5:30 or 6:00 like I wanted to. We didn't get underway until after 8:00 and we just finished up a half hour or so ago. It's been awhile since we painted and we are out of practice so I am sure that our speed will increase; plus the bathroom has so many crooks and crannies that we had to paint around. That slowed us down considerable.
      Well, I have to get to bed so I can get up early and get painting on the kitchen so I had better let you go for now. I am back at the apartment and you and your Mom are spending your first night in our new home. I think you will like it there. It's so much quieter there than it is here. Gotta get a shower and get into bed. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                     Hello, my sweet little baby bird. Right now you are upstairs snoozing so softly. I have barely heard a peep from you since I put you down. Aunt Linda called and invited us all to a cookout today for Labor Day at Woodland Park. Daddy accepted her gracious invitation while you and I were napping. We got up and got dressed and got everything together to head out and pick up your great granny, Annetta. We got granny and her wheelchair, stopped at Family Dollar where I bought some paper plates and you a hollering gorilla that wraps around your neck which you think is the cat's meow (Lila Pearl needs one of those!) and we were off to Lexington for food, family, and fun. Your cousin Lucas cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill at the park and they were very, very good. We also had baked beans, potato salad, potato chips and peanut butter cookies. We fed a very friendly squirrel who came very close to us for potato chips and bites of said peanut butter cookies. You were enthralled with that. You also got to play a lot on the swings, the slide, in the playhouse and on the ground in the dirt. You met up with two little twin black girls and you all were smitten with each other until one of you started crying and you all three took off. You kept walking through their family reunion and every one thought you were so very very cute. You got to pet a very friendly chow-shepard mix black puppy dog named Woof Woof. The woman told you his name and you began barking like a dog. That was so funny. Daddy played with you a lot in the play house where you climbed back and forth and in and out of all the little cubby holes there. I was very happy to see you having such a good time. Granny had a good time watching you all play as well. Lucas's girlfriend Jessica, and her kids were there and you played with their little girl some. Jessica lost her father in the New Orleans tragedy and I am very, very sad for her. He had a weak heart and was loading their truck to evacuate when he had a heat stroke. I hope that God pulls her and her family through this tragedy. I know that is sad but it's what happened. Back to our happy day at the park...Ok. So your cousin Leah was also there fending off all the little boys who thought she was pretty (and she is SO pretty & sweet and cute she's always gonna have that problem) and she played with you some on the slide and the teeter totter. I think Lucas had a good time grilling and his friend Luke had a good time talking to all of us again and Aunt Linda had a good time socializing and talking to everyone and watching all the kids play. We all of course had a very good time eating. Daddy dropped you and I off here to take Granny on to her apartment so that I could get you all ready to go to night night land while he was helping Granny get her wheelchair and her other odds and ends inside the apartment.
      When Daddy dropped us off, while I was fixing your juice, you got a hold of a dip bottle that Daddy had left topless on his recliner table. You thought it was a drink so you took a great big swig. It made you so sick that you vomited in the living room and upstairs in your bath water. Mommy was very upset so she yelled at Daddy over it. I know that I should not have yelled but that is a mother's first instinct. I had a sick baby on my hands and it was because of his dip bottle. Daddy was very angry at Mommy for yelling at him so he came home and went straight to bed and that is where he is now. I think Daddy was more mad at himself than anything, though. Daddy is a very good Daddy and he would never do anything ever, ever to hurt you intentionally. I make mistakes too. Once, when you were very little, I tried to give you a bottle of water and I spilled it all on your face because I hand't twisted the lid on tight. I thought you were drowning you made such an awful racket. And just the other day, you got into a container of confectioner's sugar that I left on the bottom rung of the microwave stand. I am not perfect, but I did feel like Daddy could do better next time. Sometimes Mommy's and Daddy's argue. That doesn't mean they don't love each other. Daddy and I love each other very, very much. We always make up in the end. That's what families do. Someday you and I or you and Daddy will have an argument too. Of course we will still be family and love each other very much and make up in the end. I do feel very sorry for yelling at Daddy.
      I am going to have Alicia's son, Brady tomorrow. He will be here at seven a.m. so I am grabbing the monitor and heading to bed very, very shortly. Of course I will have to shed the dirty clothes that I am wearing before I crawl into my nice soft bed onto my nice clean sheets that I changed today. I got dirty at the park too, playing with you. It was a lot of fun. Alicia is having her second baby, Bryson, tomorrow. Also a boy. She and the baby's Daddy are very, very excited about the birth. I know they will all be so happy. You like having Brady here to play with so I know that you will do just fine. We will all have a grand time tomorrow. Maybe we will all go to the park here in Versailles, if it is nice. Well baby bird, it's time for me to close. Remember, now and for always, Mommy LOVES Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                     Hello my sweet little baby bird. Right now you are upstairs sleeping in your very bare but functional room. I am so glad that you are my baby; I love you so much and my love only grows more for you every day. You spent the night with your Mamaw and Papaw last night. You love it so much down there. You love Mamaw and Papaw and of course Aunt Lynn, Uncle Rodney, and the kids. You especially love Sadie and Ruffy. And oh my, do Sadie and Ruffy love you. Especially Ruffy. He is mighty fond of you and you of him. You always have a grand time down there but I always miss you so much. I can say, however, that I did appreciate and enjoy the extra sleep I got this morning. Also the uninterrupted sleep I got last night. You always sleep better at Mamaw and Papaw's house because it is so quiet down there. Mommy and Daddy are so happy to have a house in a quieter neighborhood where you can get some more sleep at night, ergo, so can we. And one day you can have a doggie of your very own. One day.
   Before Daddy and I picked you up from Mamaw and Papaw's today,we went to the new Mexican restaurant here in town called "Mi Publleto". It was very, very good. It was very nice for Daddy and I to get to eat out together. It's not that we don't like having you around, it's that we like to spend just some Mommy-Daddy time with each other sometimes. Mommy and Daddy really love each other and that is something that needs to happen when two people are married. They always need some "together alone" time. Some day you will understand all that nonsense though. We are very lucky to have such a good Mamaw and Papaw for you so that we can do that every now and then.
   You were really tired when we picked you up from Mamaw and Papaw''s house. We put you in the car and drove to Lexington to take the movies we rented back and get Daddy a pair of needle nose pliers so he can take all of our nails down from here. You were asleep before we got off of McCowan's Ferry and you slept the whole way there and the whole way back. I don't think you got to sleep enough though, because you were very fussy when you woke up when we brought you inside the apartment. I laid you back down but you kept crying and couldn't go back to sleep. Daddy got you up and I held you while we watched an episode of "Dora The Explorer". You are really smart sweetie. Dora asked today what she needed to find where she needed to go and you immediately said "MAP!" I was so very proud of you. You really pay attention and listen well to Dora and Sesame Street. They are educational so I do not mind you watching them - for a limited time each day. I try to keep it one and a half to two hours but you've had a little more this week because Daddy likes to watch Dora and Sesame Street like a big youngin' too and he is off work. Also we have been working on getting things all packed up for the move and you really do well when we are very busy and you are watching your shows. Of course today we had a lot of big fun, you and I. I always make time to read to you and take you outside and say the ABC's with you. I know these things are important to your development.
   You and I went out front and played in the yard this afternoon while Daddy moved some furniture into the garage and some boxes as well. Our next door neighbors were out there and you played with their little grandson, Brendan. You are really fond of him. You have even whined and pointed to the window wanting to go and play with him before whenever you heard him outside. I am going to have to make sure that you still get to play with him. You played a while with him and followed him right into his house and up the stairs and into his room. I guess maybe you wanted to play with his toys. I brought you back downstairs and went outside with his Nana and you played some with her flower pots and the grass and of course the nasty sticky balls in the yard while I had a drink with her and we talked. She is a very nice lady. I am going to miss having such nice neighbors. Of course I will drop by and say "Hi" so you can play with Brendan from time to time. After Brendan's Daddy came to get him, we had to go back into the house and play for a while, for it was almost your bath time. We went into the kitchen and got ourselves a snack, a gogurt, which you call a "yum yum" and ate it. Well, we made a big mess with it. But we ate most of it. We played for a while on the kitchen floor, having big fun sliding across it because it is smooth and slick. Of course we played tickle and Mommy acted silly enough to bark like a dog. You always think that is so funny. We played "chase" back and forth from the kitchen to the living room then back again. I asked if you were ready to take a bath and you "ran" crawling to the stairs and I "chased" after you and chased you up them. Daddy brought your milk in a dysfunctional sippy cup so I had to send him to get a better one which I thought would be just as bad but it seemed to work after I fixed it. Of course so much had spilled by now that I had to get you some more. I came downstairs and picked up some, got your milk, got your diapers and got all of your jammies together upstairs, laid your towel out and Daddy brought you to me. I turned on Elmo for you and while you watched I got you dressed. A much less fussy dressing than usual. I might try that again. I turned it off after you were dressed and read you a story called "Mirror Me" twice. Daddy watched all of this from the rocker in your room. Then it was time for night night, and of course you put up your usual fuss and tried to coax me into getting you out of your crib with your reach and your pitiful face. No way Jose'. You had to sleep! And that is where you are now, my angel. Sleeping Sweetly. I am going to let you go for now and watch a show with Daddy after I switch out the laundry. I love you, baby bird!

Dear Rebecca,
                  Thankfully Aunt Mary finally agreed to let me drive them to Louisville for her doctor's appointment. Your Mom convinced her that she would have more time to spend with you if I drove. I would have been extremely nervous if Aunt Mary had have driven. We all had a real nice trip up to Louisville. I didn't have too much trouble finding Jewish Hospital where Aunt Mary's appointment was. We made one wrong turn but I really didn't have much trouble finding my way back to where I needed to be. I'd never driven in downtown Louisville before so I was kind of nervous I would get turned around. People in Louisville have great taste too because everybody at Jewish Hospital thought you were as cute as a button. That hospital was the most crowded hospital I have ever been in. We had to stop at a gas station so Aunt Mary could pick up some cancer sticks and we had a late lunch at Steak & Shake in Frankfort. The rest of the day was filled with Aunt Mary trying to get hold of a boy who's ten years younger than her on the telephone. He is her ex-boyfriend and he is finished with her and doesn't want to have anything to with her anymore unless it's convenient for him. Do not ever act like Aunt Mary is acting right now. The only reason I mentioned the drama Aunt Mary is going through right now is to tell you that that is absolutely positively the wrong thing to do. Aunt Mary acts as if she needs a man to make her whole but she doesn't and I never want you to think that way either. You are going to be a strong successful woman who will be able to care for herself and I never want you acting like Aunt Mary.
      You got your second haircut this morning. We went to a place called Cookie Cutters. We all liked it a whole lot better than J.C. Penny's, where you got your first haircut. The barber chair you sat in was a Barbie jeep and you got to watch Dora while you got your bangs trimmed. There was a big sliding board that you got to slide down while we were waiting for your turn. Mom & Dad liked it because the price was a whole lot more reasonable than J.C. Penny's.
      We had lunch at Chick Filet because you had that coupon that you got from the dentist office earlier this week. We did all of this over at Hamburg so I decided to drive home via I-75 & I-64. We stopped by Lanes View subdivision on Midway Rd. to see the new house of some old neighbors of ours when we lived at 115 Powhatan Trail. They lived across the road from us and they saw that the neighborhood was going downhill just as we did and they also decided to move. They had a huge swing set in the backyard and we considered buying it from them but Papaw said that it would be more trouble than it's worth to move it so we decided to purchase or build one of our own.
      We finally got home and cleaned up because we had to go to your Great Aunt Louise & Uncle Tommy's 50th wedding anniversary party. Aunt Louise is Mamaw's sister. The party turned out very nice. You walked around all over the place and almost upstaged Aunt Louise & Uncle Tommy. There were other babies there as well but you were the one everybody was drawn to. Your Great Great Aunt Lila, Granny's sister dressed up like a chicken with a mask with a beak and feathers and the whole nine yards. You just couldn't seem to get over that. You kept calling her a duck and clucking like a chicken when she did. Yep, you were the star of the show even though Aunt Lynn and Mamaw really didn't care much for your new haircut. I really didn't want you to get the haircut either but your Mom was adamant about it and she is the one who has to wrestle with your hair every day so I didn't put a up a fight.
      After the party you went home with Mamaw & Papaw so your Mom & Dad could set around and relax a little bit this evening and sleep in tomorrow. You really didn't want to go home with us anyway. You love spending time with your Mamaw & Papaw.
      Only six more days until we close on the house and only nine more days until we can take possession of it. It still doesn't seem real to us yet. I know you will love your new home. Well, I'm gonna get up from here and let your Mom play her Sims 2 game while I read the 2005 Fall TV preview edition of Entertainment Weekly. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
               I knew we wouldn't get to everything we had to do yesterday but that's the way it goes. We got a whole lot accomplished yesterday though. You did excellent with your very first dentist appointment. You didn't cry until he started poking around in your mouth with his sharp metal tools. You just let them poke around in your mouth all they wanted and you just watched the television they had over your head. You have sixteen teeth and two more erupting so soon you will have eighteen teeth. You also have a small chip in one of your teeth. We have no idea how you did that. We seem to think you did it when you used to chew on your crib. You don't do that anymore; at least I don't think you do that anymore. While we were there you helped yourself to a sippy cup that belonged to another little girl that was there. Of course later another little girl helped herself to your sippy cup as I was reading the paper. I know she did because I caught her putting the cap back on it and putting it back in the diaper bag pouch where we carry it. No wonder when one child is sick all the others get sick as well. Y'all share everything.
      We got my check and deposited it, we looked around Meijers and then we took you to your dentist appointment. After that we ate a late lunch at Ted's Montana Grill. I had a bison steak, your Mom had a bison burger and you had chicken strips. We liked the place pretty well. I loved the salad. It reminded me of my childhood when we would dip bib lettuce into hot bacon grease. It tasted just like that.
      After that we went to Wal-Mart and purchased some painting equipment, groceries and your Mother got a new watch and I got a new watch band. Your Mom's watch looks exactly like mine only it's a smaller ladies version of it. When we left we thought our car had been stolen because we couldn't find it. It turned out that I had forgotten which end of the store we had entered and we were looking in the wrong place. We then went to Home Depot and bought two gallons of our sage color for the living room, kitchen and hall walls. We may need another one but if we do we will buy it then. It's better to not have enough and purchase more than it is to buy too much and not be able to return it. After that we stopped at McDonald's and you and I got a small vanilla milkshake while your Mom got a small strawberry shake. Your Mom and I finished ours but you decided you would much rather wear your shake so you took the top off and started playing in it. You were one sticky mess when we finally got home.
      Your Mom is supposed to ride to Louisville with her sister later today because Aunt Mary has to see a doctor up there. I wish Aunt Mary would let me drive them up there but she just wants some time with her sister. I can understand that but I worry about your Mom so far from home without us near her. I'm not totally confident in Aunt Mary's driving ability. They'll all be fine but we will still worry about her, won't we?
      The Hurricane I mentioned a few days ago was just as devastating as the media had predicted. The entire city of New Orleans is nearly underwater. There's supposed to be over a thousand dead and hundreds of thousand homeless. Gasoline has gone up to over three dollars a gallon, but I was real proud that we found a place where we got it for $2.97 a gallon. Hurricane Katrina is supposed to be the most devastating natural disaster since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Lucas's girlfriend, Jessica, who is from the New Orleans area, lost her father to a heat stroke brought on by his attempt at evacuating so he will be included in the death toll. That's sad. I really like Jessica. She seems like a really nice woman. I hate to bring up bad stuff like this in your blog but this is major U.S. history happening right now and I feel obliged to inform you of it as it happens. I think it might be interesting for you later to know what happened on a national and international scale in the early years of your life.
      Seven more days until we close on the house and ten more until we can call it our own. The loan probably will be closing later today. We are so very excited about our new house. Well, it's time to close out the latest entry into your blog. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                  Here we are at the start of a brand new month. In three days you will be fourteen months old. You are getting separation anxiety pretty bad now. You have to have someone around you at all times; you prefer Mama but in a pinch I will do. Yesterday afternoon your Mom was preparing supper for us in the kitchen and I was in there with her chatting when you turned away from your beloved Dora the Explorer television show in the living room and noticed that you were all alone in there. You started to holler like one of us was beating you with a stick. Mom rushed into the living room to see if you had mortally wounded yourself as I followed behind her. When we were reassured that you would indeed survive I sat in there a moment longer until your attention was once more diverted to your program.
      We all had a real nice evening last night. I fixed grilled pork chops marinated in Hawaiian marinade outside on the grill while your Mom fixed us some stuffing, mac & cheese, peas and rolls. She also had some apples frying on the stove but because we were both busy, I with the pork chops on the grill and Mom with making sure you didn't kill yourself, they ended up getting burned so we didn't have any fried apples. That's okay though because I wouldn't have had any room on my plate for fried apples anyway. Supper was delicioso, as Backpack from Dora the Explorer would say. After that we halfway watched one of your Mom's favorite programs, Dr. Phil, but primarily we played with you and watched you put on a big show for us. You are much more entertaining than any old television program.
      I gave you your bath and put you down for the evening. You are getting pretty bad about not wanting to go to sleep. I dried you off from your bath, applied baby oil to you, powdered you up, put on a fresh diaper, brushed your hair and put your night clothes on you and you were as happy as a clam throughout this nightly procedure but when I picked you up and took you into your bedroom you started screaming like one of us had picked that proverbial stick up again. I laid you down and tried to hand you your sippy cup, which you insist on calling a baba, and tried to hand it to you but you jumped up from the crib and reached up for me and started trying to pull yourself out of the crib using my chest hair as hand holds. You tried throwing your leg over the side of the crib. You were crying like mad throughout all of this. I am a weak Daddy so I picked you up and decided to rock you a little and feed you your sippy cup like a bottle. You took a few sips of it and then emphatically pushed it away and continued to cry. I laid you over my shoulder like I did when you got rocked to sleep every night. You would have none of that. You continued with the crying. You knew you were going to have to go to bed and you didn't like that idea at all. Finally I put you down on your feet and you took a few steps and quit crying for a few seconds. You plopped down on your fanny and once more resumed your crying jig. Finally I laid you in your crib and you once again reached up for me but this time I was stronger and told you that I loved you and turned around and walked out of the room as you held out your arms to me. That is the hardest part of being a Dad so far. They tell me it will get much harder but that's about all I can stand for now. See, you even have separation anxiety when you go to bed. Eventually you figured you weren't getting out of sleeping for the evening so you gave in to the sandman and drifted off to sleep.
      When I came downstairs your Mom & I had planned on watching a little more television but instead we ended up just talking to one another for an hour and a half. We both enjoyed that. It's nice just to set down and chat with the ones you love sometimes. Mainly we talked about the new house and about how sweet and smart and pretty you are. The sweet and smart and pretty part was not a case of bad grammar; it's what your Mother has been saying to you since you were born and I have to agree with her on that. I don't know if you're more smart than you are pretty or more pretty than you are smart, let alone trying to figure just how incredibly sweet you are. You are enough to boggle your poor Father's feeble mind.
      You have been walking up a storm recently. You can now get to a standing position from the floor without having to use something to pull yourself up. You can also squat to pick things up which is a big deal. You have tried running a little bit but you haven't had much success with that as of yet. You mainly walk around the house. You haven't really decided that you want to showcase your new skills in public just yet. I hope the move to the new house doesn't throw you off very much in your development. You have lived here your entire life and you are most comfortable here in this apartment; though you do sleep better down at Mamaw & Papaw's, but that's because they live for out in the country where there's not a whole lot of automobile traffic. We can't say that here in this apartment. We live right next to Tyrone Pike and there's cars and trucks zooming by at all hours of the day and night. It will be much quieter when we get on Colony Drive. That street is not a major thoroughfare. It used to be but since the new bypass, Falling Springs Rd. opened up the major thoroughfare has become South Hill Drive. I know that has to make more than a few people angry because all of the really expensive houses are on South Hill Drive. Our new house is close enough to South Hill so that our place will retain its value but not so close that we will have to put up with a whole lot of traffic. Anyway, big trucks are not allowed on South Hill Drive because it's a residential street. To make the long story short, it will be quieter there than it is here.
      We have a big day planned tomorrow. We are going to go clean up your Mom's Taurus, go get my paycheck from General Electric, deposit the check, go to Meijer to price princess and duck stuff for your bedroom and bathroom, take you to your very first dentist appointment, eat out, check out Target for the Princess and duck stuff, go to Home Depot for a couple of gallons of paint and to price 4 to 6 mil polyethylene vapor barrier for the crawl space in the new house, go to Lowes to price the polyethylene vapor barrier, and then hit Wal-Mart for some painting equipment. I hope we will be able to get this stuff done all in one day. I'm not too sure we will get to everything.
      Only eight more days until we close on the house and eleven more days until we can call it our own. I'm going to let you go for now, Sweety. I am probably going to have to go upstairs in a moment because I hear you upstairs talking to yourself. It'll be nice when I won't have to say, "Go upstairs" anymore because the new house is only one story. I hope you go back to sleep on your own. I think maybe you already have.....Nope, I hear you again. Well, I'm gonna close for now. September is going to be a great month for our little family, I just know it and of course never forget that Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                     Hello my love. You are having an extremely rough night tonight. You just now stopped crying in your crib. Scratch that, you are crying again. I went upstairs at about eleven forty five to answer your cry. I brought you a cup of warm milk, wrapped you in your blanket, gave you your cup and rocked you back to sleep. You were snoozing soundly when I laid you in your crib and covered you with your comforter. You woke up, leapt up and reached out for me again with your tiny little arms. You were so sweet looking. I picked you up and rocked you for a little while longer. You were asleep once again. When I laid you in your crib, however, you began to cry very loudly again. I rocked you some more. I tried to lay you back down but you were in dire refusal. I have no idea what may be wrong with you; perhaps you had a bad dream. Perhaps it's your teeth. maybe you are cold. Maybe you're getting a cold. Perhaps you are over tired because you did not get your last nap in today. I am going to go with the latter, in my humble opinion. You always have a restless night when you don't get your naps out. I am sorry for that, my sweet. I tried to give you a nap and you didn't want to take it. I am weak when it comes to those big blue eyes and that cute little voice calling "Mama". I will have to learn to be stronger. I was strong just a minute ago. I put you down in your crib and let you cry it right out just now. You weren't overly wet, I had just given you milk so you aren't hungry, you don't feel feverish and you were going back to sleep in my arms. I do believe the only illness you have is spoileditis. It's a common and serious disease that doting parents, grandparents, and extended family members inflict on cute little babies like yourself. Or cute little toddlers, should I say. I don't care if they say you are a toddler, a pre-teen, a tween, a teen, a twenty-fifty something, an elder, or what. You will always be MY baby. I love you so much.
      I made a few pictures for your new princess room at the new house tonight. A couple with butterflies, too. I think they are real cute. I hope your Daddy likes them, too. I am going to buy a clear place mat with the Disney princesses on them at the Family Dollar and hang it on your wall too. It will be cute, almost like stencils it's so clear. We're going to try to stick with mostly "princess" decor with only the remainder of the Disney things you have now. Your TV will now be in the spare room/office/playroom/viewing area ... Man that's a lot of functions for a little bitty room. You are crying again.. I hope that it subsides soon. I so hate to hear my little baby cry. I love you and I want you to always be happy.
   As Daddy mentioned earlier, I had to go to the ER this weekend and have my leg/foot/ankle looked at. It has really been giving me a lot of problems. The pain doesn't go away in it anymore and it is making Mommy very grouchy. I can't be grouchy to you and Daddy and I have to be able to help us move so I have to get that taken care of. I am going to see the doctor tomorrow over my hand and that leg. I hope he can give me a referral to a neurosurgeon and to my orthopaedist Dr. Selby so that we can get the ball rolling on making Mommy feel better. I am so glad to be getting away from these stairs. I think perhaps they were detrimental to Mommy's bones and joints as well. Now it's something I don't have to worry about, for me or you. I know we all like the new place very much. Daddy did a lot of work today packing up the garage and putting boxes outside so when we move we will be all ready to go. I don't know what we are going to do for two weeks though when there isn't anything to do but sit and wait. It will be nice to relax and move without having to worry about getting all that stuff done though. Your crying has subsided now and I think perhaps you are falling asleep. At least I hope so. I was going to go and shave my legs tonight because the doctor will be poking around on them and looking at my ankle and such but I don't want the water to wake you back up and I don't want to really shave my legs but I am going to do it tomorrow instead. Right now I am going to go and look at a few websites online and then I am heading to bed. I want you to know that I love you so very very much and I thank God every day that you are my sweet little baby daughter. I love you!

Dear Rebecca,
               We had planned on having a lazy day yesterday. Your Mother's leg hurt her enough that we did not go to church so we decided to play with you and watch television all day. Towards the middle of the afternoon her leg became extremely painful so we decided to go to the Emergency Room at Central Baptist in Lexington. We ended up getting out of there around six that evening and they couldn't tell us anything. All they said was she should go see her orthopedist. Well, we kinda knew that but she was in pain now. They gave her some mild pain killers and that was all. They said they think she might be developing arthritis in that leg; they had no kind of idea at all. You got to stay here at the apartment because Mamaw came over to watch you so you would not have to set up there in the waiting area of the ER where a bunch of sick people are and not a toy in sight. That was nice of Mamaw.
      While we waited at the hospital we watched coverage of the Hurricane Katrina. It's supposed to be a category 5 and the most destructive hurricane to hit the U.S. since records were took. It's supposed to hit New Orleans later this morning. Nearly the entire Gulf Coast has been evacuated. I'm certainly glad we do not live in New Orleans. I hope the news media have blown everything out of proportion but it does look bad for folks on further down south.
      I'm gonna let ya go for now. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
               It's now 3:21 on Sunday morning as I type this. I really didn't intend on staying up this late because we all have to go to church later this morning. I really don't know if your Mother will feel up to it though because her leg has been bothering her quite a lot the last few days but it got real bad last night. She still suffers from pain because of the accident she was involved in a year before you were born. She needs to get all of her pains looked into and maybe even go to a pain management clinic. I hate it when your Mom is in pain because there is absolutely nothing that I can do for her. She's probably been working too hard getting us packed up so we can move into our new house next month.
      We've changed our minds about the color for the master bedroom and my office/guest room again. We are now planning on going with "Stone Brown". Your Mom said that was her final choice and we will not change our minds again. I like all the colors we have chosen for the new house; well, it's actually not a new house it's about fourteen years old or so but it's new to us. We're getting more excited about it every day. I can not wait to get in there and start painting my walls. As you know, I owned a house before you were born so I know the difference in living in something that belongs to someone else and living in something that you can call your own. There just is no comparison. You are going to love the new house. There's a nice big fenced in backyard for you to play in and lots more room inside for you to toddle about.
      Yep, you are toddling all over the apartment now. You still would rather crawl or walk on your knees 80% of the time but you now will pull yourself up and take off walking on your own. Before we had to stand you up and get you to go back and forth from me to your Mommy and back again. You're doing so well. You can turn around on your own without falling down now and a few times you've even attempted a run. You still end up falling down on your butt most of the time but it doesn't seem to bother you so it doesn't either your Mom or I.
      Friday you & your Mom met me at work when I got off. When I came through the door to the lobby where you two were waiting you got the most excited look on your face and yelled "Dada" and reached out for me to take you. I was so very proud of you. There were a bunch of the folks that I work with standing around admiring you and it made me very proud that you feel the way about me that you do. You can be assured that the feeling is very mutual. After we left my work we went to Taco Bell on Nicholasville Rd. for a quick supper. You had a cheese quesadilla, Mom had a meat quesadilla and a taco, I had three tacos and an order of Nachos Bell Grande and we all had a caramel empanada for desert. You picked the apples out of your and left the caramel and crust behind; your Mom & I would be much better off if we did the same thing from time to time. After Taco Bell we went and had your Mother's glasses readjusted again. You keep bending them up on her. We then went to Lexington Green where we all fed the ducks and fish. You had a pretty good time with that. You didn't squeal in delight like I had hoped you would but you did enjoy yourself. After that we stopped by Home Depot for a swatch of the new color that we had chosen and we browsed a little at the crown molding. We then stopped by the video store and rented two films on DVD; one was a horror film called "The Ring 2" and the other one was a comedy called "King's Ransom" then we came home. We actually got home pretty early for a change. I guess it's because we didn't actually purchase anything except supper and feed for the ducks & fish and also because we didn't go to Wal-mart for a change.
      I got up with you Saturday morning and we had a fun time together as we always do. Your Mom got up at 10:00 that morning and I laid back down for a few more hours of snooze time. Your Mom came and woke me up around noon and we all had a lunch of pancakes and bacon. Sometimes it's fun to have breakfast in the middle of the day. We had been planning on going down to see Mamaw and Papaw but Mamaw wasn't feeling very good so instead we went to the park for an hour or so. After that we went for ice cream at the Dairy Queen and to Kroger for some bread, milk, water, juice, soda pop and beer. We saw Aunt Lynn and her whole clan in Krogers and she made fun of all of the beverages we had in our cart. I told her that we were a very thirsty bunch. We then came home and vegged for the rest of the evening.
      After you went to bed we decided to watch one of the films we had rented but the DVD player we paid twenty-seven dollars for quit working so we went upstairs and stole your Disney Princess DVD player out of your room and brought it down into the living room and watched the horror movie on it. It was real late by the time we had finished watching the film and I went upstairs and talked to your mom some before she ran me off because she wanted to sleep. I've been down here playing on the computer ever since.
      I guess I'll let ya go for now because like I said when I began this blog over an hour ago, I have to get up and go to church in the morning. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                  Well, it's now 99.9999% for sure that the house is ours. Mamaw & Papaw have already purchased the house so if by some strange twist of weirdness they can not get the cash they are going to be in a pickle. We are so excited about it. Your Mom already has almost forty boxes of stuff packed. I'm going to take the Explorer down to Mamaw & Papaw's house this weekend so we will have room to store the boxes. Since I'm riding to and from work with my Dad, your Papaw, I don't drive the Explorer nearly as much as used to; plus gasoline is really too expensive to drive the truck too much these days. I still love my truck and wish I could drive it more often but we have to consider the financial aspect of driving it everywhere we go. We take it when we go to Wal-mart or somewhere that we need more cargo area. Anyway we are excited to be shaking the dust of this apartment off of our feet and moving into our own house.
      We have altered our color choices for the house a little bit. Most of the house, the living room, kitchen and hall are still going to be the sage color the manufacturer calls "restful" and your bathroom is still going to be "pale sunlight" just like your present nursery. However, we have decided to go with a light purple color called "one enchanted evening" instead of "fairest of them all" for your bedroom. We really can't call it a nursery anymore since you are now such a big girl. We've also decided to go with a darker tan in the master bed & bath and my office/guest room. The new color is called "Autumn Malt". We're excited even about painting it and that will be hard work.
      We may not post as much as we have in the past for the next month to month or two because we will be busy setting up our new house. We'll still try to drop by occasionally and let you know what's been going on in our world. Who am I kidding? I will probably post just as much if not more. I want to share all of the excitement with you. I am kind of addicted to blogging so I don't think there will be much of a decrease in the amount of posts.
      Well, our supper of Fear Factor Fish Portions, mac & cheese, green beans and yeast rolls is about ready so I will let ya go for now. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
               As your Mother mentioned in the previous post, lots of papers were signed last night here in the apartment regarding the loan. There will be no trouble getting the loan because Mamaw & Papaw are the ones taking out the loan. Our credit is so incredibly bad right now that I'm afraid a bank wouldn't loan me a pen. Actually, we recently saw our credit report and it wasn't as bad as I had feared. It will take us a few years of hard work and sound financial decision making to build our credit back up but we have done a fabulous job of it in the past year. Eventually I would like for us to take out a loan of our own but that really all depends on the interest rates. We got a really great interest rate of 5.5% on this loan. I am just so excited to be moving into our very own house I don't think my soft heart can stand it.
      The banker lady is a woman that we knew when we all went to Kingsway Assembly of God years ago. She has been real nice and helpful through all of this. If it wasn't for her we wouldn't have attempted to get the $18,000 that we are going to use for the down payment on this house. We are lucky to know a mortgage broker personally who can get us the best deal possible. The attorney we plan on using for the closing and the one who dealt with the court to get us the $18,000 is also a personal friend of Mamaw & Papaw's. He purchased the house that I grew up in and still lives there with his family.
      God has so richly blessed us in the past year. Even when I was angry at God when your Mom & I had to leave the home that I had owned for ten years already, he was working on blessing us but I was just too stubborn to let him move in his own way. The house was not nearly as nice as the new house we are moving into. I don't think the old house was as nice as the apartment we have lived in for the past 13 and a half months. The old house didn't have a garage and this apartment has a two car garage and the new house has a one car garage. The old house didn't have a dishwasher and both the apartment and the new house have one; the one in the new house is much nicer though. We had crappy carpet in both the old house and this apartment but we have beautiful carpet in the new house. The Village subdivision, where both the old house and our current apartment is in, has really kind of went down hill since I purchased my first house in the mid-nineties. It's really become sort of a seedy section of town and the new house is in the Colony subdivision and the Colony is a very nice area. Your Mom hates the stairs here in the apartment because she still has pain from her accident from two years ago. There's really nothing we don't like about the new house. We love our new house. And to top it all off, the owners had been asking $138,900 for the place which is more than we could afford so we decided to make an extremely low offer of $128,000. We had decided we would go as high as $135,000. He countered at $135,000 so we were going to take the house but the bargaining wasn't finished yet. We offered $130,000 thinking he would either stick to his guns at $135,000 or come down to $132,000 or so but he surprised everyone including the realtor and our mortgage broker and agreed on $130,000. How's that for being blessed by God.
      I think we may paint the walls before we move into the new place because we have until the end of September to get out of the apartment. We've chosen a sage color called "Restful" for the living room, hall and kitchen. For your bedroom we've chosen a very pale pink called "The Fairest of them All", for the main bathroom we have chosen to use the same yellow that we have used for your nursery; we have a gallon left over and for our bedroom and the office/playroom we are going with a tan color called "Castle Path". Who thinks up these color names anyway? Your Mother wants to get a new door for your closet because she isn't really convinced that it's the safest door in our future neighborhood. I want to put crown molding in the majority of the rooms, especially the kitchen, living room and hallway. I think that would look really nice. Well, we'll see how that works out.
      I have enjoyed my long night on the computer this past evening and into this early early morning. I worked on some pictures for your baby journal and downloaded some music and freeware that I probably will never use and now I am posting this blog. I am very tired though so I think I will maybe set down for a few minutes and try to watch just a few minutes of television and then get a drink of water and then hit the proverbial hay. I'll let you go for now, Sweetie. I don't know how much either your Mom or I will be able to post in the next five or six weeks though because we are all going to be busy packing stuff up and getting them unpacked again at the new house, plus I don't know how long we are going to be without the internet during the transition from this old nasty apartment into our beautiful pristine house. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                     Well kiddo, we just got done having supper with Mamaw & Papaw. I fixed us a supper of BBQ Pork, corn on the cob, cucumber and onion salad, Macaroni Salad, Hamburger rolls and iced tea. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. They just signed a bunch of papers regarding the house they now have to purchase because the seller accepted the bid. They want to purchase it though and we will be paying them for it. They are such good parents to your Daddy and they have been good parents to me as well. I don't think I could have married into a more caring family and given birth to a better baby to go into said family. Right now you want a drink of the adult beverage I am consuming. I had to tell you no way, Jose.' Anyway, the ball is rolling. I guess now it's time to get packing and get this place all together. Boy oh boy, what a chore. What a joyful and wonderful chore. I know we will all be so happy in the new house. Well little one, I am going to go and lie on the couch and relax for a minute or two. I love you so much, baby bird!

Dear Rebecca,
               Well, it seems that we are going to have a new house. This new house will be the one that you now know. You will never remember the time we all spent here in this apartment. We all had a very great time here but we had always known that this was just a temporary residence or at least we had hoped it would be a temporary residence.
      Your mom & I are so excited. We have so many great plans for the new place. We are going to do your room with a princess theme now that you are a little toddler instead of the moon & stars that you had as a baby. We still have a whole lot of moon & star stuff that I have no idea what we are going to do with. The main bathroom we are going to do in a ducky theme because that bathroom will be yours; our bathroom we are going to keep the sea shell theme that we already have in the full bath upstairs here in the apartment. We are going to paint the living room and kitchen a sage green color. I guess we will wait before we paint the master bedroom and the room destined to be the office/playroom.
      We had great fun doing the interior design of this apartment so you can imagine how much of a ball I expect in doing a house of our very own. We have a fenced in backyard where eventually you will be able have your very own dog. You are such a lucky girl to have a Mamaw & Papaw like the ones you have. Without them we would not be taking this next step and I am ever so grateful. I really don't know how to express what this means to me and my little family. Wow! I am in such a great mood this evening. Everything is right with the world.
      I'm gonna let you go for now. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
               Good morning, Rebecca. I, your Daddy, went to lie down yesterday at five in the afternoon for a little nap, maybe and hour or two and didn't wake up until two in the morning. I must have been extremely worn out. I don't think I will be able to lie back down again this morning; especially since it's my job to take care of you when you get up to face the day today. At least I'll be ready to hit the proverbial hay tonight.
      We have a the Bowman family reunion this afternoon. Your great great grandparents were Lonzo & Stella Bowman, who lived long enough that I was able to get to know, and the reunion is of their descendants. Lonzo & Stella were Granny's parents. They were who I called Mamaw & Papaw. I have been meaning to design a family tree for you for some time now. The Bowman line will be the branch I will be able to go farthest back on I am sure. I think maybe the shortest might be your Mom's side especially your Mom's mother's family. She passed away when your Mother was just a little girl; her name was Evelyn Jean Napier and her maiden name was Williams. Even though I never knew her and have only seen one single picture of her, I know she would have been so very proud of you. How do I know this? Simple, everyone who has anything to do with you is proud of you. Anyway, I have to get your Mom up at nine this morning so she can get her fruit pizza ready for the reunion down at Big Spring park.
      We recently came into some money that we hope to use on a down payment for a new house. Your Mamaw & Papaw are going to have to purchase the house in their names because of financial mismanagement & mistakes I, your father has made in the course of his life and Kristie & I are going to pay them for it. They are going to look into different types of loans that they can get that will decrease their risks and tax burdens and also look into possible ways that we can benefit from the tax deduction of paying for the house.
      We looked at some houses in earnest this past weekend. We had been looking for awhile now and found one we liked on Sheffield Drive in the Colony that I'm absolutely sure we mentioned earlier in the blog. It had a great backyard and a huge kitchen and we all really wanted it but we just didn't have the cash for any sort of down payment at all. It sold a few weeks ago so that house is out of the question now. I thought the living room was much too narrow anyway and the bedrooms were very small for my taste. It did have a lovely backyard though. In our search this past weekend we looked at one house that was simply lovely from the outside with a two car garage but once we looked inside it was terrible. The previous occupants really didn't take very good care of the place, the kitchen was smaller than the one we have here in this apartment, the layout was kinda funky, the color scheme was very funky and there was a huge crack in the wall as you come through the front door. We thought about another house over in the same area but the one car garage with a workshop was just flat ugly and it had no backyard at all. We decided that even though it was the cheapest house on our list that it would just not do for us.
      Finally we looked inside a house at 334 Colony Drive in, you guessed it, the Colony. It was a grey brick home with a one car garage attached to the house. It had some lovely trees in the front yard and a fenced in backyard with a nice deck and an evergreen tree. We went inside with Mamaw, Papaw & the realtor and your Mom just fell in love with the place. She was bouncing up & down in excitement so much so that Mamaw had to tell her to calm down because she was looking much too anxious to do any bargaining on the house should we decide to make an offer. The carpet was very nice; as a matter of fact, I loved the carpet. The living room was nice & roomy, it had a fabulous kitchen with some top quality cabinets, the bedrooms were a good size, especially the master bedroom and lots of storage space. We liked it very much. If Mamaw & Papaw can secure a loan that they are comfortable with I think that we may make an offer on the place. I know it's only the second place we have looked into since we got the cash for our down payment but it really is a nice place. If we get it then we get it and if we don't get it we still have roof over our heads and one day we will get us another house so that you may have yourself a puppy and I can once again feel really proud of where we live. Not that I'm not proud of the way that your Mom has made this apartment a very comfortable place to live but this apartment is not ours and it will never be ours so how can a couple feel the same ay about it that they would if they owned their own residence. I am happy here and have been since we got here, of course that may be due to the fact that you were born on day two of our residence here at 500B Tecumseh Trail. I hope we get that house or one just as nice.
      You are still toddling around quite a bit. You still prefer to crawl when you have to go somewhere in a hurry and when you have to carry something it still suits you to walk on your knees. Mom thinks you took a hard spill in your walking adventures and have become just a little wary of taking long treks across the floor. I am so proud of the fact that you can even take a few steps that I don't care when you decide that walking is the way to go. I just know that one day you will. I was a crazy Dad and was afraid that you would never ever learn to walk. I thought you'd be fourteen and still crawling around on the floor. I am probably the silliest father that's ever been. You are also picking up words left & right. You are talking more & more. Everyday you say something new and, to us, exciting. You said Mamaw Friday night and I thought Mamaw was going to have a cow she was so excited. Your Mom hates the fact that your new favorite word is now No. She absolutely loathes it when you tell her No. She wants to quick saying that to you and start going to Tisk-tisk. I don't think that's going to work out very well. You already are extremely familiar with the word No and I don't see you adjusting to another at this point.
      I'm going to let you go for now. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
              Hello there my precious little baby bird. How are you? I will tell you how you are. You are sleeping. You are all tuckered out. I hope you are having sweet and salty dreams, like chocolate and pretzels. We've had a big day today. We've both been very busy.
   You got up this morning around six a.m., and we had a breakfast of Toast and Oatmeal with Apples and Cinnamon. Also, of course, we had our milk. Then, after that you watched a little bit of your favorite episode of Sesame Street but you were so tired still that you were not very interested. So, we read a book and played for a while in the floor. I got you a juice cup and put you down for a nap around eight a.m. You slept until almost nine thirty. Which is when we left to go get Mommy's tire fixed. Actually, we bought a used tire as a replacement. Daddy didn't like that very much. He wanted me to go to S&S tire but I had figured I'd save us about twenty five dollars and just get a used one put on. I guess I messed up. Anyway, as they put the tire on we walked a little bit in the parking lot. You're doing really good, even in your shoes. They are heavy on your feet so it makes walking a bit more of a challenge. We got done with that at around ten thirty.
   After that, Daddy called and said that Joe Hoffman, our lawyer, had called him. He called Joe back and he told me that we had the leftover money from the sale of our house. I was so happy. Now maybe Mamaw and Papaw can help Daddy buy a house that you can have a doggie in. You so love doggies. Especially Sadie and Ruffy. I can only hope we get a dog half as good as one of those two silly mutts. The money is around eighteen thousand dollars, so that is a hefty chunk of change. After Daddy called, we went to Thornton's and bought gas for the grill and then gas for Mommy's car. Then we headed off to KMart to get Daddy's medicine filled. Everywhere we went, you smiled and waved at everyone you saw, and everyone smiled and waved and made a huge fuss over you. You are the sweetest baby. I wish that everyone could be as innocent and loving as you; the world would be a much better place. After KMart, Daddy called and said he was getting off work early yet again. That is two days he has gotten off early this week. That is really going to hurt us money wise. We'll just have to buckle down. We got all of our groceries so we just have to pay the rent and a few bills. We'll be fine, We always are. We have discovered that our prayers work wonders. No matter where you go or what you do little girl, PRAY. Talk to God every day. People might tell you they are your friends, and though Daddy and I love you more than life itself, no one will ever be closer to you or love you more than Jesus. So tell Him thank you every day.
   After we picked Daddy up, we all went to Stonehorse Car Wash to clean out my car and then on to McDonald's on Versailles Road. They have a play place but it's really for much bigger kids. You sat on the first square pad though and was extremely happy bouncing up and down right there and watching all the other kids play and run about. People there with other kids were very friendly to us and you had a nice time. We loaded up and dropped Daddy at the house while you and I went to Family Dollar for paper plates and a shelf for the kitchen. I have a big idea of what I am going to do in my mind so I hope it works. I need to go through all of these closets anyway. I really do. I also need about one hundred per cent more energy than I have right now. When we got home I tidied up a bit and Daddy tried to watch a movie. I was going to take you outside to swim but it was so very hot that I didn't want to expose you to the heat. He got to where he wasn't in such a mood to watch a movie but he wanted to read. You acted tired down here but when I tried to put you down for a nap you had apparently changed your mind. So I got you up and we brought the pool and the hose around front to the shade and I sunblocked you up and Daddy hosed you down and we plopped you in for some fun. You had a big time, too. You kept standing up in your pool and stepping out of it, then back in it again. I was a little worried at first but you were doing great. Then your diaper busted and the jelly stuff went EVERYWHERE. It was nasty. So I came in and asked Daddy for a little swimmer and we put one on you and went outside and back at it. Daddy was reading during this time where you and I were having big fun outside. After I put the swimmer on you, though, you decided you were done and would rather climb the stairs and play ball on the porch with me. You chased after an ant for a minute but alas, he got away. Then after you fell down and got a knee boo boo, you decided to bang on the door until I opened it and you crawled up the stairs as I follwed for a nice long play in the tub to get you all scrubbed up. We got you all clean and in a onesie and some socks and I put on The Street We Live On Elmo's World movie for you to look at and sat you in your playpen full of toys. I got all cleaned up myself in the shower and then I came downstairs to get your dinner ready. You had dinner in your princess chair Mamaw bought you for Christmas in your room while you watched the rest of your movie. You did really good with it, too. You are getting to be such a big girl, sitting in chairs and all.
   After the movie, we got in the floor and played a while. I spread all of your toys out and the horse Aunt Lynn bought you for Christmas in the floor. You had a big time bouncing up and down on him. I decided to watch a piece of the news while you played. You kept getting up and walking everywhere, on your own. I am so proud of you. Then you pulled all your socks and bibs out of your tray. You are so silly. Daddy came in to say good night and we played a little more, walked a little more, and read a few books. Then it was time for you to take your milk and go night night. That is where you are now. Something in your room just fell and scared the whoopsy out of me. (Whoospy is what I have decided to call number two and Winkle is number one. It just sounds nicer than Poo Poo or Pee Pee) I thought you had flipped out of your crib. You can climb out of it, you know. You little monkey! We are going to have to lower it again. I don't know what it was that fell but it wasn't you. That's all I care about. You are still having dreams of chocolate and pretzels. Good night, baby bird! Mommy loves you so much.

Dear Rebecca,
                     SPECIAL ALERT!!! YOU ARE WALKING!!! We are so very PROUD of you! You are getting bigger and stronger every day. Tonight Daddy got in the floor with you and gave you one his notorious 'walking lessons'. A couple of times you fell down flat but then you got up and you DID it!!!! Mommy and Daddy love you so much! Well I am going to let you go because I want to watch you toddle about some more. You are such a good girl, Baby Bird!

Dear Rebecca,
                  It certainly is hot today. It wasn't too bad at work today but this afternoon has been a scorcher. Our unit at work went down after the first hour and they had us run in lamps from eight that morning until twelve thirty that afternoon and then they sent us home. I was happy to be able to go home but I would have been just as satisfied if we had stayed there. Mom came to pick me up because I rode with Papaw this morning. Your Mom isn't feeling well right now so Mamaw was looking after you. We went down there and picked you up after I got off from work. Mom still wasn't feeling up to snuff so I figured we would both get out of her hair for the rest of the afternoon. You & I went down to Big Spring Park for a little daddy/daughter time. We had lots of fun. It was hot, as I said but you laughed and smiled and that made me laugh and smile so I am real glad we got to go together.
      Pappy & Aunt Mary came up to see you yesterday afternoon. They really don't get to see you as much as they would like but it's a pretty good little trip to Hazard and back. We all went to McDonalds and to the rather crappy antique & flea mall in the old Kmart building here in town. All I saw was, for the most part, just a whole bunch of overpriced junk. Pappy bought a an old turntable to play his old vinyl records. We came back here and sat on the front porch until it was time for Pappy & Aunt Mary to return to the mountains whence they came.
      Your Mom still has a little mountain accent left over from her childhood and people are beginning to say that you also have a little mountain accent. A little mountain accent is cute if you also sound like you are an educated person but too many of the folks from down around Hazard sound like your stereotypical hillbilly and that isn't cute or funny; just sad.
      Well, I'm gonna go and watch you watch your favorite Sesame Street episode. American Fruit Stand and maybe take a shower. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                        Hi my little baby bird. Right now you are upstairs sleeping in your playpen in Mamaw's guest bedroom for a nap. At first you didn't want to go. You were in there babbling up a storm. I wonder how many of Mamaw's purties you pulled down off the bed. This morning you were making a big fuss over that white bear.
      Daddy is right, it bites not being able to indent. It doesn't look nearly as nice. There is probably a way to do it but I am way too impatient to figure it out. You are impatient too. You got that from Mommy. No bones about it.
      We've had a pretty good morning together so far; you got up around seven am and you had a breakfast of milk, oatmeal with applesauce and bananas, and a piece or two of the canteloupe in Mamaw's refrigerator. You eat good when you want to; when you are interested in playing and in Sesame street you can take or leave it. Mostly you leave it. In the floor no less. You can throw a piece of banana farther than I can throw a baseball. I can throw a baseball pretty far but I don't have much other skill concerning that particular sport. I can dodge one pretty good if I see it coming at me. Anyway, as I was saying. After that you watched some crazy puppet show on CBS upstairs and played with all the toys that Mamaw has for you here. You really are a good baby but I don't want you messing up any of Mamaw's things and you disappear so quickly here that I decided to get out your play pen and put you in it. I put on a cartoon but you weren't interested; the blocks that Mamaw has for you here seem to fascinate you. You played and played and played with them. I could tell you were getting tired so I changed your stinky diaper, put away your toys, got your cup, took your playpen back in the guest room and sent you off to night night land. Of course you had a talk with your bear before hand. And who knows what else. I threw some laundry in and came down here to grab a shower and post this blog. That is where I am now.
      Today I was going to go to Lexington by myself and get my paycheck and fill Daddy's medication and look for a watch. I also need to clean my car out. I don't think I want to go by myself though so I am thinking I might try to bribe your father with a trip to Cracker barrel or the new Mexican place for lunch today and get him to take me. I used to want my license so bad and to drive so bad but to be honest with you the simple act of driving to Lexington back absolutely wears me out. Not to mention everything that I have to wind up doing while I am there. I want to get Mamaw & Papaw and Aunt Lynn a special Welcome Home present. If I get paid today and I can find something I will. Of course I know seeing you will be enough.
      Well little girl, I am going to go and check said laundry and check on you. Then I am going to wake up your father so we can get everything together and packed up and head to Lexington. Ick, Ick, Blah, I hope he takes me.

Dear Rebecca,
                        I hate not using w.bloggar to post my blogs. When I post on Blogger.com I can indent my posts like I like to do and it just doesn't look as nice in my humble opinion. Why am I not using w.bloggar? Because we are all spending the night down here at Mamaw and Papaw's house. Everyone is still in Colorado so we have the house to ourselves. We came down here after you got home from Lexington with your Mom yesterday and watered the flowers. Mom then took you into the basement for a shower, cartoons and play time while I rode Jacobs dirt bike and nearly broke my ankle in the process. I had lots and lots of fun though. I absolutely positively have to get a motorcycle of my very own; a street bike, mind you. I would have to have one I could tool about town in and maybe drive to work every now and then.
      Mom then told me I had to put the bike up and as a good obedient husband, I complied with her demand. We all then ate some pizza and played a bit with you. We decided at that point to put you upstairs to sleep so we could watch a movie here in the basement. We watched a movie called Constantine with Keanu Reeves. After the film we decided that we really didn't want to haul you out of your sound sleep and pack up everything for the return trip home because we were all a bit tuckered out. We thought we might spend the night here. Your Mom is upstairs in the guest bedroom with you while I am typing this out on Papaw's basement computer. His garage computer has stopped working for him. I'm gonna watch another film here in a minute and lay down on the sofa to sleep.
      Last night, after supper we sat down and figured up all the words you can now say. Here's the list we came up with, Daddy, Mama, Papaw, please, thanks, dog, duck, cat, bear, baby, block, ball, water, plane, drink, bite, bye-bye, hi, hello, no, nose, ear, toe-toes, bottle, cup, mine, gone, Elmo, fish, cookie, bubble, ow, night-night, tickle-tickle, uh-huh and uh-oh. That's thirtysix words. We are so proud of you. You have also used three short little sentences and they are, "Please Mama", "Thanks Daddy" and "Tickle-tickle Mama". Aren't you just so smart?
      Well, I had better get started on that movie because I have a feeling that your Mom may wake me up sooner than I would wish to be woken up but doesn't she always? No, not really. Mommy is good about letting Daddy sleep. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                  It's now early Friday afternoon and you are out with your Mother while she goes out to Lexington to purchase for you another fish to put into poor Spike's bowl also she is going to pick up her check and buy Daddy a roll of Copenhagen Snuff. I am here at the house enjoying my day off; as you know we have today off because they are doing inventory at the plant today.
      After I got off from work yesterday we went to Nicholasville were we ate at Golden Corral and went shopping at Wal-Mart. We purchased over $250 dollars worth of groceries and we bought $30 dollars worth of gasoline for the Explorer and still didn't fill the thing up. Your Mom also got out our lay away for a lot less money than she thought she would have to pay. It seems that everything she bought went on sale. She was incredibly excited about that. Then we came home. We had taken both vehicles because I met y'all over at Golden Corral after work so when we returned home we had to drive in separate automobiles. Your Mom went home by going back to Lexington and you & I went home going through the country. It's faster going through the country but your Mom isn't as familiar with the country route as I am and she is not a very experienced driver yet so she took what we thought was the safest route for her. She witnessed an four car accident on Man O' War on her way home and if she hadn't been paying real close attention she would have made it five. Your Mom is not real experienced but she is naturally a pretty good driver. I am very proud of her.
      Mom just called and said that she had your new fish. You picked out a black female and we are going to call her Baby Fish Dorothy after Elmo's pet fish Dorothy. She said you had a real big time at the pet supply store seeing all the animals that people bring in there with them. I'm glad we have another fish for you. I hated it when spike went to the big fish bowl in the sky. You used to love watching him swim around in his bowl. Spike was your very first pet. The very first pet of mine that I can remember was a little Jack Russel Terrier named Little Bit. You know about all the tales you hear about a boy and his dog? Well, that was Little Bit & I. I loved that little dog for all I was worth. We were pals and here it is nearly thirty years later and I still miss him. I'm getting a little sad just typing this all out. He was such a great dog; the best.
      Your Eye looks 100% better than it did a few days ago. Your mom says there's still a little swelling but I can't detect any swelling at all. Your rash is clearing up very nicely and we haven't checked your thrush yet. We'll do that when you get home from Lexington. You're still got a touch of teething going on but there's nothing any of us can do about that so I'm afraid that you are just going to have to suffer through that.
      You are starting to get a little obstinate. Alicia brought us an old computer that I plan on taking apart and fiddling with the inner workings until I destroy it. Anyway you grabbed one of the computer wires and when I told you no you, you looked at me like I had lost me ever loving mind. I told you no again only a bit more sternly and you dropped but immediately picked it up again and smacked the top of the computer with it. I said no for the third time much more sternly and I grabbed your little hand and made you put it down. We have decided not to use any type of corporal punishment with you until you are a bit older. We don't want you to learn hitting. We want to wait until you understand the difference between a spanking as punishment without anger and lashing out violently in a fit of anger which is an absolute no no. You started bawling when I grabbed your hand and took the wire away. This morning your Mom told you not to flip over your potty but you kept right on flipping it over. Eventually your Mom decided all you wanted to do was inspect the bottom of the potty. I think she should have stuck to her guns. We can't change courses in midstream when we are trying to get you to listen to us because you might get the idea that it's okay to ignore us when we say something. It's getting a little harder being your parents now that you have developed a mind of your own.
      Mamaw & Papaw, Aunt Lynn & Uncle Rodney, Allison and the boys are returning tomorrow morning from Denver. Everyone has had a great time. Everyone really enjoyed flying in the jet plane except Papaw. He didn't care much for it because it hurt his ear. I have problems flying as well. The height in conjunction with the cabin pressure is very hard on the sinuses and your ears. At least they all had a great time in Denver and the surrounding area.
      I'm supposed to be off the last week of August. Maybe we will all go swimming a lot during the day because all the older children will be back in school by then. I think that will be pretty fun. I'm sure the temperatures will still be warm enough for the pool, especially since it's been such a hot summer.
      Well, I'm going to let you go for now and start uploading some movies from the TiVo to the computer so I can burn them onto DVD. We had a problem with our CD/DVD-RW drive yesterday. It would read CD-ROM and music compact discs but it wouldn't recognize any DVD at all. Your mom tried to play her Sims 2 game which is on a DVD and it wouldn't play so she uninstalled it and accidentally deleted all of her old neighborhoods. I came home after the grocery and fiddled with the computer and I couldn't figure out what the problem was. The troubleshooter wasn't any help and I couldn't find anything to help me on the internet so after I cussed at the computer for a while I decided to check with the Dell website for updated drivers and firmware for the drive and when I installed the updates it worked. That's what I love about computers. They don't always do the things you want them to do so when they become stubborn you have to do a lot of research and study your problem and if you do happen to fix your problem it makes you feel like the king of the world.
      I'm going now for real this time. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
                  We are crazy parents. Today, your left eye got very red and swollen and then the entire left side of your face became puffy and swollen and we got very excited about all of this. You didn't seem very upset over this fact; your eye seemed to itch you just a wee bit but since Alicia was here with Brady your attention was on them and not your itchy eye. We got a pediatrician's appointment for you and rushed you up there. We still don't know what may be causing your eye problem but we have some medicine for it anyway. I hope it clears up in the next few days. We also discovered that your recent terrible diaper rash is actually a yeast infection and we got some medicine for a touch of thrush that you have. The doctor who saw you for your one year appointment also mentioned the thrush but she didn't give us any medicine so I didn't think it was such a big deal.
      Mamaw & Papaw and the whole gang are probably up on the top of Pike's Peak as we speak. She called today and said they were planning on doing that this evening. I sure wish the three of us were with them. I think we would all enjoy that. I went down to water Mamaw & Aunt Lynn's flowers this afternoon and it started raining after I was finished. I gave the dogs some fresh water and some more food. I bet they can't wait for Papaw to get back from Colorado.
      Well, Your Mom is home from getting your yeast infection medicine so I will let you go for now. Daddy loves Rebecca!

Dear Rebecca,
Hello my pretty little baby bird. Do you know something? Mamaw hasn't called Mommy yet. I am getting kind of worried. If she doesn't call me by two o'clock, I am going to call her. Trouble is, I have no idea what their room number is. I guess I'll have to call her cell phone. Mommy's used to talking to Mamaw every day at least once by now. I kinda miss her. Don't tell her I said that though, she'll think I like her or something. Ha, Ha, I am only kidding. I love your Mamaw. She's a wonderful Mamaw to you.
   You are having trouble with your teeth. You woke up last night at three o'clock, and was awake for about an half an hour. I put you back down and you woke up again in less that fifteen minutes. Mommy finally got you soothed back to sleep, but by then Mommy was wide awake. I stayed up to do some housework while you and Daddy were still snoring. I got a lot done but by the time Daddy woke up at five thirty, Mommy was exhausted. You woke up at six o'clock, so you got to see Daddy go off to work. He likes to see you in the mornings. I don't blame him; you're the prettiest thing anyone could ever see in the morning. Daddy loves you so much.
   We got you dressed and got you a cup of milk and you were very fussy because you were still tired. I put your favorite episode of Sesame Street on and you laid in the floor and watched that minute while Mommy kissed Daddy goodbye and had her last cup of coffee. Then we played together in the floor a little while and then I fixed your breakfast of oatmeal and cinnamon toast. You enjoyed it, and I enjoyed the leftovers. We played a little while more in the floor after that. I ran the vacuum and it seems you love it again. First you loved it, then you were scared of it, now you love it again. Go figure. You got tired so I gave you your milk and vitamin and put you down for your morning nap. I thought, lucky me, I finally get to get some sleep. Boy was, I ever wrong. You fought it off, and I mean hard. You finally fell asleep for about fourty five minutes, and just as I had dozed off is when you woke up. Oh, well, that's part of being a Mommy. I wouldn't trade the sleeplessness for the world, no I would not.
   You woke up and had some juice and played in the floor a while, while I got our lunch ready. We had Ham sandwiches, a few cheese puffs, mixed fruit, and pudding for dessert. I tried to find the camera to take a picture of you after you "ate" your pudding, but apparently it's in Daddy's truck, so I couldn't. Oh well, you looked so cute. And so very, very messy. I had to put you in the tub, so while you played in the tub I decided to go ahead and clean the sink and the toilet. I did that and you got to play and we listened to the radio in there while we did that, and it took us a good long while, about an hour. Then we played "chase" in your room, and you went and got a book, "Johnny Appleseed", and we read it. We got a couple more books to read then you sat in your playpen and "read" them yourself while we listened to the radio and I dusted your room and mine upstairs. I came downstairs to clean up a bit and got you a cup of milk, then I brought it to you and layed you in your crib for your afternoon nap. That is where you are now. Daddy called and we talked a bit and I just tried to call Mamaw and Aunt Lynn's cell phone. No answer on either, and so I called the hotel. They said Marlin Lanham had cancelled, which got me kind of worried, but they said that Aunt Lynn was there. I left messages on both cell phones and on Aunt Lynn's room message center. Still, I am worried. I hope they call back soon. Well, little girl, I am going to get off here and fix myself a soda and get a brownie before Daddy gets home. Daddy likes brownies and Mommy has to eat them in his absence if she wants any. Ha, Ha. I love you, baby bird!

Dear Rebecca,
                  Papaw & Mamaw, Uncle Rodney & Aunt Lynn, the boys and Allison left today for Denver on a jet plane. None of them had ever flown before and they were all a little nervous but they all seemed to enjoy it. They called from Dallas where they had a layover before heading on to Colorado. We drove out to the airport and watched their plane take off. I'm sure they will have a great time out there. Mamaw practically begged your Mother to let her take you out there with them. Mama would not have any of that. Mamaw was just kidding your Mom anyway.
      After we returned from the airport we had supper here with Aunt Linda and Granny. We had grilled pork chops, squash casserole, french style green beans, macaroni & cheese and corn bread with fruit salad and brownies. We all had a fine meal. I'm talking to Mamaw on the phone right now. She's in Dallas.
      You took a few more steps yesterday. You just might be walking by the time everybody gets back. Your Mom & I are going to watch some television and I am going to take you a juice cup upstairs because you act like you don't want to go to sleep. Daddy loves Rebecca!