Dear Becca & Grant,
                  I never did tell y'all what you got for Christmas this past year. I really haven't gotten to post on this blog at all much this year. I have been feeling under the weather. I had a real bad cold that took me two and a half weeks to get rid of, I had a sinus infection that developed because of the cold, I had a terrible toothache on my top left rear molar and when they went to pull it he loosened up one of my wisdom teeth so he took that one too, and now I have a kidney stone. I have missed tons and tons of work this year. I bet I've used up half my time off already and we're not even out of January yet. Your Mom's been feeling kinda yucky as well, as she mentioned in her last post.
      This past Friday Mom & I decided to take a trip out to Nicholasville so we could eat and go to Wal-Mart. Becca and Grant were with Mamaw for some reason or another and she agreed to keep them until we got back from our married people date. We went to Golden Corral, which I am liking less and less every time I go. We paid $25 for the two of us and probably didn't eat enough to justify half that price. We went to Wal-Mart next. We split up in Wal-Mart. I went and bought a DVD case for the Christmas DVD project I am planning. I downloaded from the internet and from TiVo tons of Christmas shows and I intend on burning them all to DVD before next Christmas. It's gonna be a big job but I know it will be fun. It'll probably take all year because with the kids I just don't have time for projects like I used to. I also got a Valentines shirt for you that matches a pair of Valentine pants you have. I didn't even know you had the pants when I picked out the shirt. I also got some de-icer for the car, some windshield washer fluid, a copy of my favorite magazine, Smart Computing, some rechargeable lithium AA batteries and maybe one or two other odds and ends. Your Mom went grocery shopping. Then we headed for Versailles.
      We decided to drop Mom off and unload our stuff so she could be putting it away while I went down to get the kids. When I got there Becca was ready to go and Grant really didn't care. Grant did get awful excited to see me when I came through the door though. I thought that was real sweet. I talked Becca into staying the night with Mamaw & Papaw. I brought Grant home and he was sound asleep so we just let him sleep. Mom & I finally got a chance to watch a movie; something we haven't done since we watched Night at the Museum when Mom was in the hospital recovering from her C-section with Grant. We watched Blades of Glory with Will Ferrel. It was about two figure skater guys who hate each other but end up teaming together in pair figure skating. It was real funny. It was nice to relax and watch a movie with Mom.
      The next day Mom had to go into work at 2:30 Saturday afternoon and work until 6:00 Sunday morning. Grant woke me up and I fed him and since I didn't have Becca to get in the way I finally got around to taking down the Christmas tree. It's been up way too long but for the same reason we haven't been posting is the reason the tree was still up. Mom woke up in time to go to work and she was so excited to see that the tree was down. I was glad to get it down myself. Even Becca was getting tired of it. I love Christmas trees at Christmas but not towards the end of January. I took down the outside lights long ago because people can see the outside of your house and it would have been embarrassing to still have that stuff up much past the new year. I cleaned up the living room and vacuumed up the artificial needles and then I sat down to watch some television before Becca got home. I started out with my new favorite show, Dr. Who from Great Britain. It's a sci-fi show that's been on the air since 1963. There was a ten year gap in there somewhere but they brought the show back and I love it. I had about fourteen of the shows TiVoed. I watched and watched and waited for Becca but Becca decided she wanted to stay one more night which was fine by me. I got to have a weekend in which I didn't have to watch Blue's Clues, Pinky Dinky Doo, or any other of Becca's favorite kid's shows. Those shows are driving me crazy. I probably could have posted to the blog then but I didn't even have the computer open. I did open it a time or two to get some background on the episode of Dr. Who I was watching. Anyway, I put Grant down who had been as good as gold all day long. He just sat in my lap while we played together as I watched Dr. Who.
      The next day was pretty much exactly like the day before. I got all of the Dr. Who episodes watched. Becca eventually came home around 5:00 Sunday afternoon. She got a shower/bath and we watched a few of her shows. While I didn't miss her shows I did miss her. I tried to put her to bed but she has been saying she's afraid of the dark but what I really believe it is is that she just doesn't want to go to bed. I laid down in her bed with her for five or ten minutes and when I thought she was asleep I got up to leave but she sat up and started whining again. I asked her if she wanted to sleep in Mom & Dad's big bed and she said she did. I laid down with her in my bed and we both went right to sleep. I had to wake up and feed Grant at around 10:30 that night. I knew I would though because I couldn't get him to take any of his nightly bottle. I fed him, put him back to bed and sat up awhile longer and then I went back to bed myself. I woke up for work and Mamaw came over to watch Becca & Grant until Mom got home from work.
      Monday night your Mom was still beat down by her two double shifts so I took Becca & Grant and we let Mom sleep while we went to get some fish at Long John Silvers. We ate it all up and Mom & I watched an episode of Criminal Minds, a show about FBI profilers. I couldn't believe we got all the way through it. It took us about two hours to watch the one hour show but still we got it watched which is saying something. We finished up at around 8:00 that night. I was tired so I took a shower and went to bed and straight to sleep. Then I woke up at around 3:00 Tuesday morning with the unmistakable pain of a kidney stone. I was making so much racket crying and moaning that I woke up Grant. Mamaw came and Mom took me to the emergency room at Saint Joseph's on Harrodsburg Road. I was given some morphine and something for nausea and sent home. I must have been in some absolutely serious pain because the morphine only took the edge off of the pain. It didn't do away with it like I wanted. I am still in bad pain as I sit here typing out this post. They gave me a prescription for some percocets and some nausea medication. I took a pain pill earlier today but didn't take a nausea pill because I wasn't nauseous. The pain subsided but all of a sudden I had to make a quick run for the toilet because the pain pill made me throw up. Mom made me an appointment to see a doctor later. I went and everybody wanted to put me in the hospital. I told them I wanted to wait another day to see if I can pass the stone on my own. Sounds like a nice weekend and a pretty crappy week so far.
      I was going to tell what the kids got for Christmas from everybody. Christmas Eve down at Mamaw & Papaw's Becca got a Baby Alive from Mamaw & Papaw. That was what she wanted most in the world. Even when she sat on Santa's knee all she told him was a Baby Alive. She absolutely loved it and I loved watching her reaction to it; pure Christmas joy. She also got a big towel with a pig's head, she got a T-shirt that said "Friends are forever. Boys are Whatever", a pair of jeans, a pretty long sleeved shirt, a pair of khaki slacks, I got her a Barbi Laptop computer learning toy, Mom got her a light up bear with a magic wand to make the light change colors, and extra food for her Baby Alive. Grant got clothes.
      Then it was time to go home so we could get in bed and wait for Santa. Becca woke up first and sneaked into the living room. She came running into our bedroom hollering about how Santa has been to our house and left her candy bracelets. I was in Christmas heaven when she did that. She was so excited. This is the first year that she's really been aware enough to kind of know what's going on. We got up and we all went into the living room. We woke Grant up because we wanted him to share in this Christmas magic even though he probably would have rather kept on sleeping. The milk and cookies were gone and the carrot sticks had been eaten. Becca got a big art desk with crayons, glue, water color paints, finger paints, Play-dough, markers, and a new pair of scissors. All of that was sitting out already set up and everything with Disney Princess band aids and the candy bracelets she mentioned sitting on the art desk. I just don't know how Santa has time to do it all. She also got more diapers for her Baby Alive, a Diego View Master that she at first thought was a Diego helicopter, a huge stuffed giraffe that stood up on his own, a zebra talking flashlight, a Disney Princess Enchanted Tales DVD, a set of play tools so she could, as she said, fix anything that's broken, a plastic flute, a Barbi car with two Barbi dolls, a bag of little plastic dinosaurs, a pink and white pull along puppy, toddler roller blades, a Play-dough toy, a Fisher-Price digital Camera with case, a Chutes and Ladders board game, a barrel of monkeys, a Candy Land board game, a Hungry Hungry Hippo game, some new anticavity mouth swish, a new tea set, a shopping basket full of plastic food, big girl underwear ("Santa's giving me underwear?"), a big sister and big sister furniture for her My First doll house that she got for Christmas last year, a huge tub of sidewalk chalk, a boy baby doll with a bunch of accessories, a baby doll car seat, a baby doll tub with bathing accessories, play make-up set, a Strawberry Shortcake doll, a pink doctor kit, a new Barbi electric tooth brush with Barbi tooth paste, Life Saver book, tons of candy, an apple, an orange and extra ViewMaster cards. Later when I was taking down the outdoor Christmas lights I found a brand new hulahoop on the roof that Santa must have dropped and the other day as I was taking down the tree I found a brand new twirling baton that Santa must have hidden in the Christmas Tree. All in all I think Becca made out pretty good this Christmas.
      Grant didn't do as well but of course Grant's too young to care just yet. From Santa he got different sized rings on a post,a key ring, shaped Blocks with a bucket, an animal train, a hippo walker like Becca had when she was a baby and a dinosaur shaped toy where you drop balls into different holes and they come out on bottom. He made out pretty good too to be only five months old.
      Everything Becca opened was what she had always wanted and Grant just enjoyed watching Becca having a ball opening her gifts. Christmas is getting more fun by the year. I can't wait until next year. Only 330 Days, 2 Hours and 10 Minutes left until Christmas comes again. I'm also excited about 2009 because as I was doing research into all of the different versions of Dicken's Christmas Carol I could download and burn I run up on a new version slated for 2009. It's going to star Jim Carrey as old Ebenezor Scrooge and the three Christmas ghosts. It's going to be animated in the same way that The Polar Express was done. I am all a twitter over this new version.
      Becca's still having trouble with her potty training. I don't know what it could be. I know she knows how to use the potty she just doesn't. When she poops in her pull-up she'll just say that's okay, it was just an accident. That's what we told her at first because we didn't want to make her feel bad about pooping in her pull-up but it's getting to be where it's not okay. She's three and a half and she needs to start getting trained.
      Well, I'm sure there's tons of stuff I would like to talk about but it's really been a month since I have published a decent post and I tend to forget things so all of the great little pieces of trivia dealing with Becca and Grant's childhood are now gone forever. I'm gonna close out this post. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca and Grant,
   Hello kiddos. Mommy here. Mommy really hasn't been feeling so grand for the last few days. I want to say I am sorry because I really don't think I have been the Mother to you all that I need to be. I just haven't felt well and I went to the ER Thursday night because I was having some bad chest pains and they told me they thought it was Chostochronditis and that is inflammation of the chest wall. They gave me a bunch of medicine, kept an eye on me for a while, and sent me home. Daddy had to drag you kids out of bed to come and get me because I couldn't drive home.
I have been really tired lately and I don't know what's causing it. I do a lot I know but it has just been a constant thing and I am sorry to say that I haven't spent as much time as I should with either of you. Especially you, Becca. I promise we are going to have a Mommy/Daughter day out very, very soon. I love you so very much and you deserve it. You are my best friend; I want you to know that.
Not much else going on, I have to work all weekend and then I have orientation on Monday so I probably won't see you very much, Becca, since you will be spending the night with Mamaw tonight and I will be asleep or gone when you get home tomorrow. I am glad you finally got to stay all night with Mamaw because you haven't been wanting to and I think it was giving her a complex.
Grant you are such a happy baby. You are the light of our lives; me, Daddy, and Becca. We all three love you beyond the sun, moon, and stars. We are very happy to have you in our family. Things went badly for us between you and Becca but I am so glad to have you that it just seems like that doesn't matter that much anymore. I love you beyond words and your smile and laughter brings so much joy into my life that it melts the day's troubles away when I hold you.
Becca, you are the sweetest, meanest, most darling, most hateful girl I know. Ha, Ha. I know you are just being three and I am fine with that. You are getting your own opinions and ideas and I am proud of you. Just sometimes you need to know that Mommy's opinions and ideas are the right ones, and not yours. You are as stubborn and bull headed as I am sometimes. You got that honest. You are, however, one of the funniest kids I know. The other day we were at the chicken place buying chicken for supper and I asked the woman how she was doing and you said "Mooooooooooom, she can't under stand you, MOM, she speaks Spanish! That's why she's deaf!:
I thought I was going to have to pull over on the way home from laughing so hard. You are hilarious and you have a great sense of humor. You've also got that honest. I love you dearly, I hope you know.
Well, it's been a while since I posted and I wanted to tell you things from my angle. You put lipstick on Grantman today, Becca. Pretty purple lipstick. At first you told me you didn't, but when I told you you weren't in trouble, you admitted to doing so - just a little bit, you said. That boy has got it in for him. Well, that's all I have to say for now. Mommy loves Rebecca and Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  I would love to say Happy New Year but it feels kind of ridiculous to be saying that so late in the month. It's been a pretty hectic month for all of us. I'm just now getting to where I feel okay. I got a cold around New Years Eve and it turned into a sinus infection. I missed three days of work because of that. Then I got better and then I got worse again and missed another day. Through this whole time I had a tooth that was bothering me. Once I got over my cold/sinus infection the tooth really started hurting. I made an appointment after work last week to have it looked at by a dentist who had an office across the hall from Becca's dentist in Nicholasville. I have had teeth pulled before and while it wasn't ever any fun at least it wasn't extremely painful so I didn't anticipate any great uncomfort. I had the bad tooth pulled; it was a back molar and the dentist said that the wisdom tooth right next to it was going to give me problems shortly and he wanted to know if he could take it out now. I was numbed up pretty good so I said sure go ahead. So he pulled a back molar and a wisdom tooth. I walked out of there feeling okay. My mouth was incredibly numb. I had a prescription for some pain killers so I thought it would all be good. The numbness began to wear off and the pain like no other pain I have ever experienced in my mouth began to set it. It was so bad that I took four lortabs and two ambians and still I was in extreme pain and couldn't sleep. I couldn't be around Becca, Grant or Mom because I didn't want anyone talking tome because it seemed that that made the pain worse. I went into the bedroom but just setting in the bedroom all alone I was concentrating to heavily on how much pain I was in so I decided to trim my own hair. You have to understand that I had taken a huge dose of narcotics. I started clipping and trimming away and then Mom came in and a look of horror came over her face. Apparently I had butchered my hair worse than Becca had done some months back. So as it came about I had to sit on the toilet while Mom tried to fix my mess while Becca hovered all about. I was miserable. This all happened Thursday night. I missed work Friday and here we are Monday morning. I don't have to go to work today because of Martin Luther King Day. My teeth still are not feeling great but I can live with the pain and it's nice to be able to have a cold drink without cringing from the pain.
      Grant has started rolling over. He's getting a lot more interactive. He gets so excited to see us. He will kick and wiggle and smile like he is the happiest baby alive.
      Sorry this is so short but Mom has to work tomorrow and i have to get up with Becca and Grant. I will try to post another one real soon. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca and Grant,
   Well, Christmas is over and things are still a bit of a mess but a joyous mess nonetheless. I had a grand time with Becca and Grant this holiday season. I think my favorite thing to do with Becca this year was take her to Southern Lights with her friends Brady and Bryson. Of course, I loved hearing Becca spout that Santa Claus had been to our house and that he had brought her a candy bracelet. She wasn't at all worried about the one thousand presents that were in here under the tree. My favorite, favorite thing with Grant was just watching his eyes light up at all the lights and paper and the many, many activities that were going on.
     After all the presents were opened on Christmas morning, Daddy and Grant took a nap and Becca and I opened up all of her new toys. Becca got a doctor's kit that she is particularly fond of; she opened it up began to play with it. I told her that I had a sore throat, and she told me that was why she was there, to help. She opened up the case and checked me out. She took a paper out of the case and told me she had to check her schedule. She really is a funny little girl.
Last night Becca did not want to go to sleep so I decided that we'd have a slumber party. We popped popcorn and had sodas and watched Bambi on her small DVD player. When the hunters were about to shoot Bambi's mother, Becca slapped her little hands over here eyes and fell back in the bed and said "Oh, NO! I don't want this to happen!" Becca is so silly. She told me that it was OK because Bambi's Mama was an angel in heaven with Granny. She told me Granny was a baby angel in heaven but she used to be a big human at her house. Becca makes me laugh on a constant basis.
      Grantman had a doctors appointment on the 21st and he wound up with a double ear infection. He never fussed a moment with it. The doctor said he was the kind of baby that the coyote would literally have to be eating him for him to cry. Grantman is a good baby; he really is. He is just as good as Becca was, except he is a little more spoiled. We got really lucky.
      We had a small hazard trip where Aunt Mary got yall both a bunch of junk that is mostly still in the back of the truck. I'll get it out eventually. Right now the house is still loaded down with five thousand other things from Christmas. We'll find a place for it all eventually.
   Speaking of finding a place for it all, Daddy made a new rule. From now on you, Becca, will get ten warnings to pick up your stuff or it will get thrown away (or if it is very expensive put up for a very long time) - but as far as you know it will be thrown away.
   Well Daddy has woken up and I am going to go see what he is trying to hunt for a snack. Mommy loves Rebecca and Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Happy Boxing Day! Boxing Day is just not as much fun as Christmas Day; not by a long shot. I stayed up all night last night working on video from yesterday. I woke up really late and ate some pizza that Mom ordered from Pizza Hut. I uploaded some videos to YouTube this afternoon. Becca has been playing with all of her toys she got for Christmas and having a fun time. There was one time though when she came up to me with a sad little look on her face and told me that she wished it was still Christmas. I told her that I feel the same way every year. I'm already looking forward to Christmas 2008.
      Well, I took an Ambien just awhile ago and I need to get into bed. We all had a real nice Christmas. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                     Merry Christmas to one & all. It's very late in the day and all of the celebrations have concluded. Mom went to bed a long time ago, Grant followed her after a bottle and Becca got in bed after watching the Spongebob Squarepants Christmas Special for the very last time of 2007. She actually watched in twice and Elmo's Christmas Countdown Special once before bed. She was such a tired little girl. She had such a huge day today.
      The festivities began Christmas Eve when we all went to where Mom works, the Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Unit at Samaritan Hospital so Becca could hand out candy canes. After she handed out candy canes and everyone made a huge fuss over our kids we decided to get us a peppermint blizzard from Dairy Queen and then we went home.
      Mom napped for awhile and then it was time to head on down to Mamaw & Papaw's house. We got there and had a delicious Christmas Eve dinner. We had ham, green beans, carrots, salad, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, hashbrown casserole, cucumbers, a cinnamon Jell-O dish, bread, tea and probably some other things. It was very delicious. We then went downstairs to open gifts. We went cheap this year and I'm afraid the boys Jacob & Jon were disappointed and I feel like crap over that. I got jeans, slacks, and shirts while Mom got pots and pans. Grant got clothes and a can of Nestle Good Start. He isn't old enough to care so it wasn't important to impress him this Christmas. Becca got some nice clothes from the Hoard family individually and as a whole; she got a Barbie laptop from me, her Dad, a light up wishing bear with a magic wand to change the light up colors on the bear from her Mom, she got the book The Kissing Hand from Auntie Lynn and Uncle Rodney, and from Mamaw & Papaw she got the most beloved toy of this 2007 holiday season, Baby Alive. She's wanted tons and tons of stuff throughout the holiday season but the one constant has been Baby Alive. I think that the Christmas she had Christmas Eve would have probably been enough for just about any child. She made out like a very cute and tiny bandit. The kids were tired so it wasn't any problem getting them off to bed.

On Christmas Morning, Mama with her pillow and I in my briefs,
Were attempting to get some quick winters sleep
When what to our wondering eyes should appear
But a little blonde girl with eyes full of cheer.

She bounced round the bed from the head to the foot
Proclaiming the discovery of fresh chimney soot
Mama & Daddy! She called us by name
Look at my candy bracelet!
Santa Claus came!

Come on Mom and Come on Dad!
There's presents to opened
And breakfast to be had

She shredded the paper
Like a high tech machine
Not worried about tape
Not worried about seams

With each new discovery
We'd hear her say
It's just what I wanted
On this Christmas Day!
Except for the dinosaurs
Which weren't a big hit
And maybe the underwear
She thought they were *beep*!

But she tossed them aside
And she went back again
Shredding and tearing
And wearing a grin

And when it was over
We asked if she would
Tell us or not
If Christmas was good

Best EVER! She said
Even though she
Is little and tiny and
Has had only three.

And I heard her exclaim
As she fell asleep tonight
That Santa Claus
Really did Christmas up right.

By Kristie and Danny Lanham with inspiration provided by Becca Lanham
December 25, 2007

      Mom helped me with that little poem. Actually I started it and Mom scrapped what I had and started over more or less from scratch. Everything about that poem is the gospel truth. Becca woke us up this morning so excited. She snuck down the hall and grabbed her candy bracelets and headed back down the hall to her Mom & Dad's room and she was so excited. Her little voice hollering about Santa was a dream come true for the both of us.
      Becca got so much from Santa that I can't remember it all. I'm gonna try to list them all. Mom is sitting in here feeding Grant so maybe she can help me. From Santa Becca got a Diego View Master, additional cartridges for the View Master, Strawberry Shortcake Baby, her boy baby doll, art desk, Barbi car with two Barbies, many baby doll accessories, play make-up, hair stuff, art supplies, zebra flashlight, doctor kit, tool set, Candy Land game, Chutes and Ladders game, Hungry Hungry Hippo game, a Barrel of Monkeys, Play-do, dinosaurs, underwear, a big stuffed giraffe, a flute, Enchanted Tales Disney Princesses DVD, a real working kid's digital camera, camera case, play food, a tea set, a little pull along pink dog, lots of candy and stuff I have seen around here today but right now I can't remember what all it was. She had a huge Christmas.
      Grant didn't do quite as well. He's just a baby and doesn't want anything in particular and wanting stuff is just about all Becca did this holiday season. He got some shaped blocks with a bucket, rings on a pedestal, a toy key ring, a teething ring, a hippo riding/push toy, a big dinosaur ball thing and an animal train. Maybe he got more too but as with Becca I don't remember.
      After opening up all the presents I took a nap. I was awoken to have a brunch of french toast. Mom took a nap then. When she woke up it was time to head on over to Granny's old house where Auntie Linda is living and have a small family gathering. This is our first Christmas without Granny and it's been hard on all of us. On Christmas Eve while we were all down at Mamaw & Papaw's house Becca was asked what she's going to name her Baby Alive. She told us that her Baby Alive was named Annetta. Granny's name was Annetta. This came out of the blue with no prompting from anyone at all. Becca misses Granny just as much as any of us do. It almost brought a tear to Mamaw's eye. Anyway, all of the brothers and sisters were there with the exception of Donny. He said he just couldn't handle it. It was just snacking type foods there. It was really good though. There was ham, delicious meatballs, cheese balls, yummy spinach dip, crackers, a veggie plate, crackers and assorted desserts. I more than got my fill of good eats Christmas night.
      We came home and I got everyone to bed and here I sit. Mom woke up and she's on the phone with a friend. I enjoy tapping away on the computer while I am by myself for some reason. Mom isn't bothering me but that's the way I have always been. Now I know. I have been up and down ever since she got up. It takes me so long to write a blog that when I start I really like to keep going until I am finished. I become engrossed in activities that I enjoy. It enhances the pleasure for me. I think that that is a good trait. Total concentration is a good thing. Mom hates it because I don't hear her every time she mentions my name. It's hard to concentrate when I have to get up a dozen times an hour.
      This Christmas was so much better than last Christmas. While the holiday magic was there we had been told a few days before that we had just lost our baby. We had lost one earlier in the summer and it was crazy against the odds that we would ever be able to get pregnant again. We were blown away when we found out that we had become pregnant so soon after we had lost the other one. We were both mourning the loss of our second pregnancy of the year. Of course that pregnancy that we thought we had lost resulted in Grantman who is crying himself to sleep in his room as we speak. Mom doesn't like him to cry himself to sleep but I feel that he needs to do that every now and then or he will never be able to his self to sleep on his own.
      This has been a very joyous holiday season. Becca just this year has really clasped onto the whole Santa thing and she loves it as much as I do. Mom said that she has never been much of a Christmas fan and I can see where she's coming from with the childhood she had to endure. She said that she's enjoying Christmas more and more every year as her kids get old enough to appreciate the holiday as much as I did as a child.
      Christmas is nearly over. I always hate this time most of all. The minute after Christmas I put away all things Christmasy. The tree will be down in the next two or three days as will all of the outside lights and the other Christmas decorations dotting our abode. The music will come out of the stereo and the television shows will be deleted from the TiVo. The only thing about the days after Christmas that I enjoy will be editing our Christmas videos and this year I have been working on a project that I am kind of excited about. I have a series 2 TiVo which means that I can burn television shows I record on my TiVo onto a DVD. I have been TiVoing tons of traditional holiday shows that I would like to be able to look at every year as well as downloading rare and seldom broadcast specials from the internet. I will be editing and burning a ton of Christmas DVDs this coming week. I'm going to make three or four copies of all of the DVDs I make so if one dies on me I will still have another one that will work.
      What shows will I be burning. The 1951 Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim, the 1935 Christmas Carol with Seymour Hicks, The 1938 Christmas Carol with Reginald Owen, the 1984 Christmas Carol with George C. Scott, the 1999 Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart, Mickey's Christmas Carol, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, Mickey's Orphans from 1931, Mickey's Good Deed from 1932, Disney's Santa's Workshop from 1932, Disney's Night Before Christmas from 1933, Mickey Mouse on Ice from 1935, Disney's Cookie Carnival from 1935, Donald's Snow Fight from 1942, Pluto's Christmas Tree from 1952, two new show from this year called Shrek the Halls and Elmo's Christmas Countdown; a Charlie Brown Christmas, Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stold Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, The Little Drummer Boy Books 1 & 2, Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The Year Without Santa Claus, Elf with Will Ferrell, The Polar Express, How the Grinch Stold Christmas with Jim Carrey, Spongebob Squarepants Christmas Special, Jimmy Neutron Christmas Special, a Christmas episode of the Twilight Zone, Night of the Meek; two Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes, the 1959 stinker called Santa Claus where it's the Devil vs. Santa Claus and the 1964 disaster, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and the classic film about a boy and his desire for a BB gun, a Christmas Story. I know editing and burning all of these shows to DVD will be a herculean task but I am looking forward to it and it will pay off in years to come when I have all of these shows at our fingertips. Some of the more obvious choices are absent from this list such as It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street but I already have those on DVD and I know you will be able to get another copy at any time in perpetuity. I wish I had have gotten The Muppet's Christmas Carol, the Rankin/Bass version of a Christmas Carol called The Stingiest Man in Town and Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. I probably missed them when they come on and for one reason or another wasn't able to download them off of the internet. The Tim Allen Santa Claus films aren't on this list because I just don't like them as much as I do others on this list. I also didn't put the Dudley Moore Santa film on this list because while I liked it as a kid I really can't stand it as an adult.
      Doing my research I did run up on a Christmas movie that I am stoked about seeing. As you may have noticed from this list I absolutely love Dicken's a Christmas Carol. Well, during the holiday season of 2009, that's two years from now, a brand new high budget animated Christmas Carol will be coming out starring Jim Carrey as the ghosts of past, present and yet to come. It will be shot using the technique used for Polar Express. That will be one movie that I will be heading to the Theater to watch. Becca will be five and old enough to enjoy something like that. Grant will be two and maybe we will need a babysitter for him. Mom will be 32 and probably in just as foul a mood as she is today and I will be 42 and loving Christmas even more than I do today. I am excited about seeing that movie. I think I'll call Mamaw tomorrow and see what she's doing during the holiday season of 2009 and go ahead and line up Grant's babysitter. Oh, I am a silly Christmas goose.
      Well, I am going to maybe edit some video clips of this morning for youtube.com. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant and wishes each of you for the very last time in 2007 a very Merry Christmas! Only 365 days until Christmas!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Only two days, three hours and twenty-two minutes until Christmas and Mom went off to work this morning. She left super early because she had to go to the grocery store to by Grant some Nestle Good Start formula. She dropped her cell phone in the parking lot of Kroger on her way either into or out of the store. Someone found it and called Mamaw & Papaw this morning at 5:30. I'm glad we didn't lose it for good. Mom also took both sets of keys with her when she left for work. I needed some Copenhagen and Becca wanted some more carrot chips so I got both Becca and Grant ready for a trip and then I couldn't find keys. I called Auntie Lynn, Mamaw & Papaw and I even entertained the idea of catching a ride to the store with Allison's new but incredibly serious beau, Brad. Papaw & Mamaw had some shopping to do so they came up and took us all. They took the Corolla instead of the Pathfinder and it was packed in that little car. Instead of Kroger in Versailles we went to Wal-Mart in Nicholasville. I got some baby carrots, grape tomatoes, celery, and a bag of tiny broccoli heads for Becca. She loves veggies. We then went to a bread store for some dinner rolls for Christmas Eve. Then we stopped at McDonald's over there in Nicholasville and we each had had us a burger and we split two egg nog shakes.
      We then went back to Versailles and stopped at Kroger. Allison or as she's better known to Becca, Sissy got Mom's cell phone from the service desk at Kroger for me. As y'all well know, Allison works at Kroger. Allison was on lunch when we got there. I talked to her for a minute and then she took Becca to the candy aisle. I stopped at the Starbucks there in Kroger and got myself a tall peppermint hot chocolate. It was expensive as all things are at Starbucks but it certainly was yummy. I found Becca's carrot chips there and I picked up a box of Homestyle Pop Secret Popcorn for myself. Homestyle is my favorite variety of microwave popcorn. When I got back to the Starbucks tables Allison and Becca where sharing a Reese Christmas tree. Becca saw the carrot chips and asked me to open up the bag. I opened it up and she didn't touch her candy again. She was too busy eating carrots. Mamaw & Papaw went to the Rite Aid pharmacy in a dead shopping center there in Versailles and got something; I don't know what.
      When I was a teenager in high school that shopping center was the busiest place in town. It had the K-Mart, a Hallmark store, a restaurant owned by the family of my best friend, Mathew Padgett named Stony's, a Foodtown grocery store, a Radio Shack, a nice video rental store, a hardware store, a jewelry store, a Domino's Pizza, a sporting goods store and the Rite Aid. Now all that's left is the Rite Aid and the K-Mart building is now a flea mall. It's a blighted area of our fair city. The old shopping center that housed the old Kroger store where I worked as a teenager has developed into a pretty busy little area. The building that houses the Kroger is now a hardware/furniture/home appliance store. There's a Family Dollar, an insurance company, a vacuum sales and repair shop and a five and dime type store known as Terry's.
      While we were at Wal-Mart today I got Mom a Christmas present. It's not much but at least it's something. I think she will use what I got her every day. It's always nice when a gift is used. I really wanted to get something special for Mom. I love Mom dearly but if it's possible to fall in love with someone you are already in love with I did it yesterday when we had our date. I really wanted to get Mom something that lets her know exactly what she means to me. We really need to find a way to go out on more dates because that one was one I will never forget. I can't even tell you what was so special about it. It was just the two of us hanging out and being together. Laughing and joking and flirting with each other and I absolutely loved every minute of it. Becca and Grant, know this; I am madly and deeply in love with your mother. Apart from the two of you she is my very soul and I think she's pretty daggum sexy as well.
      That's all the blogging I have in me today. I'm gonna post this and wait up for Mom because I miss her and I want to see her. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Only Three days, One hour and fifty-three minutes until Christmas. Mom and I went shopping today. We had planned on taking the kids to spend the day with Brady, Brycen, and the twins, Joey and Jimmy at Alicia Cowing's house. She said one of the twins was sick so we didn't want them to get sick so we decided to do daycare. Becca threw an absolute fit when she found out about going to daycare. I think that she was traumatized somehow by Glenda's Day Care. I couldn't stand to see her in that state. I knew that neither her mother or myself would have any fun at all knowing we put her somewhere she didn't want to be. I think they tried to force her to take a nap and Becca will not take naps even though she needs one on occasion. I hate it that we put her in Glenda's. I'm sure her new daycare, Loving Arms or maybe it's called Kid's Kingdom will be much better. I called Mamaw and asked her if she could look after the kids today and she agreed to. I asked Becca if she would rather go to Mamaw and Papaw's instead. She went from screaming and crying to smiling and happy right away. She thanked me for not making her go to daycare. Lord have mercy, I wish we had never heard of Glenda's Day Care. We got kind of a late start because Mamaw wasn't ready for our kids just yet so we had to give her an hour or so. We took them down there confident in the fact that they would be well taken care of and would have lots of fun.
      We started out the day by going to the social security administration office to get Grant's social security card. That took us about a half an hour but it was nice to have that done. We should be getting his card by the beginning of next year which is only about a week and a half away. We then went to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I wanted to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel at breakfast time but it was nearly 11:30 by the time we ordered our food. Both Mom and I had the holiday sampler platter breakfast. It came with a piece of country or city ham, we both had the country ham, a piece of bacon, a piece of sausage, hashbrown casserole, biscuits, gravy, grits, a cinnamon biscuit, an orange slice and two eggs. I always have my eggs over medium and Mom always orders her eggs scrambled. We also both had coffee and a large orange juice. I always end up eating Mom's grits because she doesn't care much for them and I love grits smothered in butter and sugar with a little salt. I also had Mom's hashbrown casserole because she doesn't care much for potatoes. I ate everything and was absolutely stuffed when we left. We then went over to Victoria's Secret so Mom could do some Christmas shopping. Mom says that the only thing that will fit her from Victoria's Secret is the perfume. Mom is a funny lady.
      We then went to see a movie. We saw I am Legend with Will Smith. We both enjoyed the film immensely. It was nice just sitting there with my arm around my best grown girl enjoying a movie in peace. After the movie we went to another store and looked around at some of the stuff they had in this store. Much to my chagrin we didn't make any purchases in this store but I came out with a wish list. I'm not telling you what store this was. You don't need to know.
      We then went to Wal-Mart to finish up Christmas shopping and we are as of this point 99.999% finished. We may have some candy items to get and maybe some groceries for Christmas dinners but all in all we are done. I haven't had an opportunity to shop for Mom so she got herself a new slow cooker. It's a much bigger one than the one we had. We got some stuff for Fluffy the cat and then we went and picked up the kids.
      Mom went right to sleep when we got home because she has to work tomorrow. I fed Grant and watched a show both Becca and I like called Chowder. It's a freaky cartoon about a chef's assistant. I told her it was then time to go to bed. She always asks for another show and I always give in because I want to remind her how I let her stay up past her bedtime and that she needed to repay my kindness by going straight to sleep and it works out pretty well. She's a good girl. I put Grantman down and we watched Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas and she had a snack of a banana, carrot chips and cheese. Then I put her to bed. I've been reading her a Christmas book every night for about the past month and her lullaby has been Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. She now knows that song by heart. I will hate to see Christmas 2007 fade into the past because it's a long time to wait until Christmas 2008. I love the holiday season. My icicle lights have quit working again but it's so late in the season that I'm not going to fool with trying to fix them. My lights were all kind of weak this year. Next year I'm going to start my outside decorating the beginning of November and everything should be in pretty good shape by Thanksgiving.
      We've all taken to calling Grant by the nickname Grantman. Mom started it and it seems to have caught on. Mom usually accompanies the name with the batman theme. Grant had his four month checkup the other day even though today is his official four month birthday. He weighs seventeen pounds and even though he is a big boy he is perfectly proportioned. He had his latest round of shots and got diagnosed with a double ear infection. That blew us away because he hasn't been fussy at all. He's been his jolly if spoiled self. The doctor said that Grant seemed to be one of those kids who wouldn't fuss at all unless he was being eaten by a coyote. He certainly didn't get that from his Mom. She has absolutely no pain tolerance at all.
      Well, that's all I have to say for now. I'll close this post out now. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Only Four days and nineteen hours until Christmas. We went shopping like I said in my last post. We got stuff for everyone except Jon, Jacob and Allison. We took Becca over to the family dollar Saturday so she could do her Christmas shopping. She got to pick out a present for everyone that she is close to. Papaw and Papaw Lawrence each got a stick of deodorant, Auntie Lynn and Aunt Mary got some hair ties, Rodney got a noise making toy, her teacher, Ms. Dykes and the teaching assistant, Mrs. Bush each got a little ceramic bell, Sadie got a chew toy and everyone else got a nice gift from Becca as well. I think we all had fun Saturday. Mom and I plan on finishing up Friday.
      Becca and Grant are not going with us Friday because we want to spend some time together, just the two of us. We both feel that in order to maintain a healthy loving relationship we need to make time to be alone with one another from time to time. We need to date like we did before we got married or before we had children. I don't know where they will be yet but they won't be with us. We want to go out to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then see an early showing of a movie called "I am Legend" with Will Smith. We wanted to go see it last weekend but it didn't work out that way. That film made 77 million dollars last weekend and in 2007 that's a lot of money for an opening weekend. It set a record for a December release. It has one of my favorite themes, a post apocalyptic setting and one Mom's favorite themes, zombies so we are both looking forward to seeing this movie. Then we are going to finish up our Christmas shopping. We should be done early but we don't want to be rushed so we have to decide where the best place will be keep Becca & Grant. Maybe they'll go to daycare, maybe they will stay with Mamaw or maybe we will have Alicia watch them. Becca loves visiting Alicia's many kids. Mom and I will decide later today I suppose.
      We went down to Hazard Monday after Becca got out of preschool. We really didn't leave until 1:30 or so. We stopped at Little Caesars and got us one of those cheap to-go pizzas. They used to be five dollars but they went up to five dollars and fifty-five cents. Still it's a great bargain. The pizza is not the best in the world but what do you expect for five dollars. We also bought a two liter of soda and we ate pizza and drank soda in the Explorer as we started our trip to Hazard. We got down there and Auntie Mary wanted us to exchange gifts right away. Becca really got into opening presents. That bodes well for Christmas morning. She got into it so much that when it was my turn to open up my own presents she insisted that she "help" me open mine. I absolutely love opening Christmas presents and if I didn't love Becca as much as I did she would have lost a hand when she started ripping into my packages. Auntie Mary got Becca a purse, a toy make-up kit, some toy jewelry and maybe one or two items that I don't recall. Mom got Auntie Mary a nice make-up kit, hair care products, perfume stuff and a shirt. Auntie Mary doesn't get a big Christmas from anyone except Mom. Papaw Lawrence got a heavy plaid shirt, old spice cologne, and cream drops. We usually get him a carton of cheap cigarettes but your Mom decided that she wasn't going to help Papaw Lawrence kill himself this year.
      The big gift Becca got while we were down there was a new kitty. The cat loved up on her so much and she loved up on the cat so much that Mom & I just couldn't say no. We had to go to Wal-Mart and buy a crate to haul her kitty back and food, litter and other kitty stuff. We believe the cat is male but we haven't taken the time to flip it over and check. He's certainly a friendly and lovable cat and the only cat I've ever known to be like that was my own kitty cat, Samson. I had Samson before the kids were born. We had to move into an apartment the day before Becca was born so we had to get rid of my cat. Anyway, Samson was a friendly cat and Samson was a male cat so that is what leads me to believe that Becca's cat is a male. Becca named her cat Fluffy. I would have chosen a name like Scruffy or maybe even Hazard. Hazard would have been a cool name for that cat. I hope Fluffy works out better than that foul tempered puppy named Wal-Mart. Fluffy has done okay so far. He's not supposed to be on the furniture but he's sleeping on the couch right now. Becca wants him to sleep with her. We are going to get the cat's shots done and have it checked out with a vet and then we might try to coax the cat to sleep with her. Becca gets so excited around that cat though that I am afraid that that will not work out.
      Becca had a singing thing yesterday at preschool. She wore her brand new Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer light up shirt we got at Wal-Mart. She loves her light up shirt. When she moves around Rudloph's nose lights up. Mom stayed at school today to hear the singing and she said that Becca was assaulted by the other children poking her in the chest trying to get the shirt to light up. Mom said that she told them to quit poking her that she would get it to light up on her own. It's a really cute shirt. It also has Clarissa on it as well and Becca loves Clarissa just as much if not more than Rudolph; of course she is blown away that they also have girl elves at the North Pole. I think she's going to be a girl power kind of girl and I am all for it. My daughter can and will do anything she sets her mind to.
      Yesterday after both Mom & I had a little nap we headed out to Southern Lights at the Kentucky Horse Park. We asked Mamaw if she could keep Grant because he wouldn't have had the least bit of interest in anything that went on at Southern Lights. We took him down there and then we went and picked up Alicia Cowing's two oldest boys, Brady and Brycen. Becca loves playing with those boys. Brady is five and Brycen is two. We then headed toward the Horse Park. I finally figured out the best way to mount Becca's portable DVD player in the explorer. I put bungee cords around the front seat head rest and slid the player in between the cord and the head rest. It worked like a charm. Anyway, the kids watched Rudolph on the DVD player as we drove to the park.
      We got there and Becca and Brady were absolutely blown away by the lights. They both had a fabulous time. Brycen falls asleep when riding in a vehicle and we couldn't wake him up so he slept through the drive through the lights. I wish I could have seen the look on my daughter's face as we drove through Southern Lights. After the driving tour it was time for everything else. They have a great Christmas festival type thing at Southern Lights. We first stopped by the petting zoo. We saw kangaroos, donkeys, pygmy goats, regular goats, miniature antelope, a camel, a highland cattle bull, some llamas, a porcupine and some other animals that I can't remember. Becca liked the pygmy goats and the llamas the best. She said the goats were sweet and the llamas reminded her of Linda the llama from Go Diego Go. I like that highland cattle bull. I learned last year that he loves to be scratched under his chin. He'll stretch out when you do that and act like a five hundred pound dog. None of the kids wanted anything to do with the camel because Mom was talking about how they would spit if they got upset and they didn't want to get spit on.
      Then we waited outside in the cold for the little train ride they have there. Becca loves trains. Eventually our turn came and Becca had a pretty fun ride. We then went inside. I found a giant Christmas themed coloring book. Auntie Lynn and I had a giant Christmas Carol coloring book as we were growing up. Every year we would color one page in it on Christmas Eve. I wanted the exact same book for my kids but they quit making that book in the late seventies. The book I found was Twas the Night Before Christmas and not nearly as high quality as the one from my childhood but it was the only one I have been able to locate. We bought it and now Becca and Grant can color a picture in it every year on Christmas Eve just like I did as a wee lad. Maybe I will even help them out.
      We then grabbed us a hot dog and a soda apiece and took a bathroom break. I wish we had time to do the explorium exhibit in the basement of the horse museum building. I think Becca would have had fun with that. We next went to see Santa. We waited in line forever. The Santa at Southern Lights was not anywhere near as good as the one in the Fayette Mall. Brady & Brycen got their pictures made with him and then Becca told him that she wanted a Baby Alive and a monster truck. I keep telling her that Santa has marked the monster truck off of her list because she touched the Christmas tree when she wasn't supposed to but she still says she wants it. She's not going to get it. I took a few digital shots of Becca and the Southern Lights Santa.
      It was then time to leave. On the way out we bought Becca, Brady and Brycen a light up sword thing. We decided to get us a funnel cake and split it five ways. After we had the funnel cake we headed toward the car but as we do every year we stopped and got a bag of real kettle corn for the road. We turned back on Rudolph and headed home. We dropped Brady and Brycen off and then went to Kroger so Mom could pick up a few items. Then I dropped Becca and Mom off at home and I went down to Mamaw & Papaw's to pick up Grant. I got back around 1:30 in the morning. I surfed a bit on the web and then I started this blog post and now I am finishing this blog post.
      I just finished sneezing my head off. We all have colds. I think mine is the worst cold of all but I'm sure if I asked Becca or Mom they would claim to have the worst cold. I'm sure even Grant would claim his cold to be the worst if he could talk. I'm gonna go take some medicine and lay down. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                     Only Ten days and 23 hours until Christmas. We're going cheap on everyone this year except the kids. Money seems to be super tight right now and I have no idea why. Mom has a great job making pretty decent money and we haven't had a house payment in quite a few months; we paid ahead so we wouldn't have to worry about it for awhile. I have no idea how we managed to get together that kind of cash. I'm kind of bummed out about the money thing. So as I said before and if you are reading this on the internet and expect to get a gift from us this year you can lower your expectations because while you will get a gift from us it will be cheap and shoddy. Well, maybe not shoddy but it will certainly be cheap.
      There's a huge lay off scheduled for the beginning of the year at work. I'm worried that I might not have much longer at General Electric. I've been out there over twenty years; all my adult life. Looking for a new job is not something I am looking forward to. I have no marketable skills and I am actually kind of frightened right now. Thank God, Mom has her job. Mom says I need to go to CNA school so if I do get laid off I will have something I can do to make some money until I can get a job with pay comparable to what I make now. Mom wants to go to school to become a registered nurse and they get paid great money but it's hard getting into nursing school and that takes three to four years. I would like to go get some kind of training in computers. Maybe become an IT guy or something. Right now I just don't know. There won't be any factory out there that will even come close to paying me what I earn at General Electric. Mom has access to health insurance where she works so that will be a worry off of my back at least. Maybe I can get a job where I can work in a nice office atmosphere instead of in a hot loud smelly dirty factory. I would like that but I still worry about the money.
      As a result of the lay off I am having to change jobs. I thought I was going to get one similar to the one I have now, only easier. I didn't get it. Instead I got stuck doing a job I have never done before. That bummed me out as well. I'm just in a regular bummed out mood right now. I am thankful for my two wonderful children but I want to be able to provide for those two wonderful children like they deserve. I'm sorry if this all sounds like so much of a downer during the holiday season but that's the way I feel right now.
      There are the occasional day when I will be talking to Becca and I will just marvel at how fast she is growing up. Today for instance; we were at KFC enjoying the buffet and we were talking and she seemed to be able to carry on a conversation even better than she did yesterday. I fear she's going to grow up overnight on me. And Grant, he just gets bigger and bigger every day. It won't be long until I can say the same thing about him.
      I know it's been awhile since I last posted but I have been busy on the weekends with Becca and Grant. It's like trying to do two full time jobs at once. I will be feeding Grant and Becca will tell me she wants a drink and of course she wants it right this very second. Just one of then by their self is okay but if you put both of them together it's a real chore. Even more so because I am supposed to be keeping the house in order while Mom is at work and I have failed in that regard. Mom got kind of angry at me the other day regarding this matter. I knew I wasn't doing the best job in the world but I did think that I was making steady, if slow improvement. Oh well, what are you going to do?
      We plan on going to Lexington tomorrow to do a small bit of Christmas shopping. We are going to get stuff for Auntie Mary and Deseray. Becca will be going to the Dollar Tree to do all of her Christmas shopping. Then we have a parent-teacher conference with Becca's teacher. We will be doing everyone else next Friday. That will be quite the challenge.
      I need to get in bed now. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant;
                                 It's been a long week. I worked all weekend like I usually do so the two of you were here with Daddy. I got worried Saturday morning when I called and no one answered after eight a.m. and I called Mamaw and Papaw and had them come up here and check on y'all. Everyone was just fine but we decided that we're not going to Grant sleep in his swing any more at night. We'll save that for his naps.
   Becca, you were up screaming all night last night with your ears. I took you to the doctor today and they are both severely infected. You have really been such a good little girl to have so much going on inside. I am such a wimp that one little ear pain would have had me whining at first sign. You're so very sweet.
   I am enjoying my job at Cardinal Hill but I hate being away from the two of you, Becca and Grant. I look at this blog every time I get a spare minute at work because I can't stand to go two days without seeing your all's faces. I really wish I didn't have to work, that we were independently wealthy and the four of us could go back and forth to Disney World three times a week. Hehe, that's a good thought. There'd be nothing like being in the happiest place on earth with the three people on earth that make me the happiest.
   I forgot to mention in this blog, on an earlier occasion, Grant fell out of a shopping cart in his car seat and banged his head on the door of the Family Dollar. I won't be using the top part of the shopping carts any more. I found out they tell you not to do that for a reason. Grant is just fine though, so thank God for that.
   Becca, you are really getting into the Christmas spirit. I like to threaten you with calls to Santa Claus if you misbehave. Every time I do you beg me not to and tell you will be good. You are a sweetie pie. I could never tattle on you to Santa Claus. But, I won't let you in on that little secret just yet.
   Well, I know this has been a very short blog but I am very tired from running around all day and doing various things with the two of you. Remember, Mommy loves Rebecca and Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                     I'm back to work now. I had a pretty good time being off with all of you. Nothing was really accomplished but we had some fun.
      Mom had to work this weekend just like she has to work every weekend. I don't know how Mom can manage two kids all the time and still be sane. One is an infant and one is a preschooler and that amounts to two totally different jobs all together. I'll be feeding one and the other tells me that she wants something to eat or drink and of course she wants it right now. Plus Mom can keep the house looking nice. I am getting better at keeping the house in decent shape. I'm sure Mom would disagree with that statement but I am improving and I will eventually get to a point where Mom is proud of me.
      Mom worked the second and third shifts Saturday and Sunday so she was super tired this morning. After Becca's preschool she dropped the kids off at daycare and went to sleep. I went and picked up the kids right after I got home from work. They checked my identification and the approved list of people who could pick the kids up. I've picked them up two or three times before and this is the first time I've been checked. I didn't mind being checked because I want my kids to be safe and that was a safety routine.
      After I picked them up we went to Lawrenceburg to pick up some icicle lights at Wal-Mart. I found my lights and Becca wanted a sucker so I got one for her. We then went to a playland over in Lawrenceburg. It was a food court type of place with a Long John Silvers, A&W, Arby's, Taco John's and a Hershey Ice Cream place. Becca had a hot dog and fries and I had some stuff from Taco John's. I really didn't like Taco John's all that much. It was much too expensive and it wasn't nearly as nice as Taco Bell. Becca played in the playland forever. She met a little four year old girl named Elizabeth and they played together very well. Becca had a ball.
      Becca told me she had to go pooh-pooh while we were there. She's pooh-poohed in the potty ten out of the past eleven days. We are so proud of her. She went into the bathroom with me and it was nasty. Somebody had spit dip spit on the floor next to the toilet and everything was just kind of nasty. She decided that she really didn't have to use pooh-pooh after all. She went back to playing. Eventually she came back to me and told me she really really had to pooh-pooh. I rushed her to the potty and as I unfastened her bib overalls she told me that it was too late. I told her that it wasn't her fault because the bathroom was so nasty. She would have went in the potty earlier if the bathroom had have been clean.
      Mom eventually called us on the phone as we were leaving at seven this evening. She had woke up and we All were gone and she got nervous. I took the kids out so she could have a restful sleep. Mom has to go back into work in the morning for training. She will have to go to training once a month the whole time she is employed by Cardinal Hill. We got home and Becca got a quick shower and she watched an episode of Wow Wow Wubbzy and an episode of Max & Ruby. Then Becca went to bed. She went pretty easily tonight. She just now called me in there to tell me that her teddy bear she got from Build a Bear, Maggie was stomping around under her blanket.
      Mamaw was here this morning to watch the kids from the time I left until Mom got home. While Mamaw was here Becca asked her if she had heard about Rudolph the Reindeer. She informed Mamaw that the other Reindeer made fun of Rudolph and called him names and he didn't like it. She told Mamaw all of this like it was a breaking news story. I suppose it is a breaking news story to her because this is the first Christmas that she has been able to understand and appreciate the whole Santa mythos. This is so much fun for both her and me. I love Christmas and the whole Santa mythos and I love it that you love it too.
      Well, it's time to put the whites in the drier and go to bed. I am tired. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Thanksgiving really didn't turn out how we originally planned it. Mamaw caught the bug we have all been suffering from the past few weeks from Becca. She really didn't feel like going with us to a restaurant. Auntie Lynn and her small brood went in their direction and me and my even smaller brood went in our own direction. We planned on doing some shopping after we had eaten so we headed on out. The nicer restaurants were absolutely packed so we decided to have our Thanksgiving Meal 2007 at The Waffle House over in Hamburg. Mom had a fiesta cheesesteak omelet and coffee; I had two eggs over medium, grits, hash browns with all of the toppings, grits, toast, sausage and raspberry cola; Becca had a ham and cheese omelet and a soda and Grant had a bottle of Nestle Good Start or as Becca calls it "ewwy milk". We then went to Garden Ridge for Christmas lights and assorted decorations. We had planned on going to Wal-Mart but none of us were really up to it so we went on home.
      The next day I started putting up the outdoor decorations.I hung the icicle lights and came up one string short and laid the light nets over my bushes. One of the nets wouldn't light so I had to get so I had to make a trip to the store for more lights. We had to go to Uncle Mike's for a day after Thanksgiving meal so we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart in Lawrenceburg for lights. We stopped back at the house on our way from Lawrenceburg to Mike's to pick up a pie.
      The meal was actually quite good. It wasn't the same tradition wise because it wasn't on the day it should have been on and Granny wasn't there. I will be glad when people quit trying to hang onto dead traditions. I love tradition but when those traditions have become void of feeling I am ready to move on and make new traditions. I won't go into my views on tradition and the holidays because I've done that time and time again here in this blog so I will let it go.
      We all got home and the kids went on to bed. I stayed up and put the lights on the tree. We had two strings that wouldn't light up so I had to use two strings that I had planned on using for outside. I was cursing all Christmas lights by this point but my lighting problems weren't over yet. I got the tree put up and I think it looked rather nice. We had decided to wait on decorating the tree so Mom could be with us. Luckily Mom got to come home early Saturday and we decorated the tree Saturday night when Becca got home from going with Mamaw & Papaw to pick out their live tree. It took us forever to decorate the tree because Becca was helping us. She had lots of fun but it was still frustrating for her Mom and me. She kept losing the hooks and bunching up the ornaments in one place. Eventually we had the tree looking great and it was time for Becca to place the star on top. I plugged in the star and the cursed thing didn't work. I changed the fuses and all of the bulbs but still no lights. We have to get a new star. Once we get a new star though the tree will look magical. Later that night I looked outside and our icicle lights had quit working so now I have to figure out what the problem is there. I hate Christmas lights. The icicle lights are all new because I decided I didn't want to have to fight none working lights every year. Oh, how I hate Christmas lights.
      Sunday Auntie Lynn and Uncle Rodney went Christmas shopping so Jacob stayed with us for awhile. Becca was excited for him to be visiting. I could tell he was getting bored after awhile and Becca was crawling all over him as he was trying to surf on my laptop. I figured I would go watch a movie with Becca in her room so we went back there and poor sweet Jacob followed us back there and Becca climbed right on top of his head. I made Becca and Jacob a frozen pizza and fed the baby. Eventually Jacob started wrestling with Becca in the floor and I know Becca had an absolute ball and I think Jacob enjoyed it as well.
      Monday Becca went back to school after being out for two weeks due to sickness and Mom adjusting to her new job. After school we went to the Fayette Mall. We ate at the food court there. Mom and Becca had pizza and I had five way chili from Gold Star Chili. We then went to see Santa Claus. Becca had gotten a little nervous but she did great. The over priced picture was nice and Becca told Santa she wanted a Baby Alive. Santa told Mom that he's had an awful lot of requests for Baby Alive this year. I happen to know that Becca will be getting Baby Alive for Christmas this year but not from Santa. Mamaw & Papaw have already gotten it for her.
      This is big news. Becca has pooped in the potty for six straight days. If she can stop peeing in her pull-up she will be completely potty trained. I am so proud of her.
      Well, It's crazy late and I should go to sleep so I will close out this post. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Happy Thanksgiving! This Thanksgiving is gonna be a little different than any I have known we have ever known before. For one thing the beloved matriarch, Granny is no longer with us. As a result people are playing a little fast and loose with my beloved Thanksgiving traditions. We still plan on having a big dinner but instead of doing it on Thanksgiving as it should be done we are going to be having it on Friday. We are going to be going out with Mamaw, Papaw, Auntie Lynn, Uncle Rodney and their brood Thursday to Golden Corral. I was ready to let the big Thanksgiving go and have it replaced with a smaller gathering of Mamaw, Papaw and their progeny. I suppose this is a transition year. I've never known a transition year and I don't like it. New Traditions will replace the old ones and for Becca and Grant the new traditions will be the way things were always done. I'm just sad to see the Thanksgiving gatherings I have known since childhood fade away into the past. I'm a very sentimental guy in that regard. After Thanksgiving at Golden Corral our immediate family will be doing a little bit of shopping.
      I think Becca and Grant are finally getting over the bug they've both had for the past week. Things got real bad this past weekend. Mom had to work all weekend and I had come down with the bug as well so none of us felt very good. I was grumpy and tired and the kids just had to suffer through my foul mood. Mom was working second and third shifts this weekend so Becca slept with me Saturday night because I didn't feel like fighting the bedtime battle with her. Becca woke up and told me that she had pooped. She had a bad case of the diarrhea. I cleaned her up and sat her on her potty and I sat down on my potty because I was having the same problem. Becca thought it was funny that we both were having "poo-poo water" as she called it. I really didn't find it all that amusing. The next morning Becca and I both woke up before we were ready to. Mom arrived home about that time and went to bed. I asked Becca if she was hungry and she said she was. She wanted waffles or as she calls them, awfuls with Sausage links and chocolate milk. I fixed her her breakfast as she sprawls out on the kitchen floor. I ask her if she wants to go back to bed after breakfast and she says that she does. Now when Becca tells you she wants to go to bed she has to be feeling terrible. She eats about half of an awful, half of a sausage links and big cup of chocolate milk. I take her to her room and get her snuggled into her bed and as I was giving her a kiss she proceeded to vomit on my face. I have never been able to handle the sight, sound or smell of vomit before but I have realized that when it's your own child in distress I don't give it a second thought. I just held her as she had two more big upchucks and I cleaned her up the best I could with what I had at hand, primarily the parts of her bed sheets that she didn't vomit on. Sheets that have now been trashed. I took her into the bathroom and washed the vomit from her hair and her body, dried her off, put her in a comfy gown and put her in bed with her Mommy with a trash can by her side.
      I felt a little better Sunday but Becca still felt puny. We made it through the day though. Mom got home at around midnight and she and I went to bed. In the night Becca who never leaves her bed once we put her in it stirred us from our sleep by trying to climb in bed with us. She was covered in vomit once again. I took her and washed her off. She was much too jovial to have just vomited all over herself. She gets like that when she gets nervous and scared. The three of us tried to sleep together but Mom couldn't sleep with Becca tossing and turning and chatting us up so she went and slept on the couch while Becca and I slept in the bed. We very seldom allow Becca to sleep in our bed because we both feel that that is a terrible habit to get started but in the case of illness we do make exceptions.
      I felt like crap the next morning so I called in from work. We still all felt terrible but we still had a pretty nice day. Mom had to go to work for some classes for a few hours so it was just the three of us, Becca,Grant and me. Becca's had a few more bouts of diarrhea and so has poor Grant. I on the other hand am still battling the "poo-poo water" bug. But all in all we seem to be on the road to recovery.
      Well, I had better close out this post because we have our Thanksgiving dinner at Golden Corral at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon and then we'll probably be out shopping the rest of the day. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Rebecca and Grant,
                           Today Auntie Mary and Papaw Lawrence came up to see the two of you. Auntie Mary and Papaw Lawrence have never seen Grant in person. They really thought you were the cat's meow, little boy. Becca, they have always thought you were one of the most beautiful kids on earth. Of course, they have always been right.
   We all went to the Flea Mall and walked around a while, after we had hung out here for a bit. We went to KFC and had the buffet for a late lunch/early supper and Becca, you didn't eat half as much as Desaray did. I guess that's why she weighs 30 pounds.
   Daddy told you tonight that he heard Desaray ate more than you did. You informed him that was why Desaray was big. Daddy about laughed his head off, Becca. You really are a funny girl sometimes.
   It had been a long time since we saw Papaw Lawrence. He was doing much better than when we last heard from him. I bought their lunch because I wasn't gonna take Papaw Lawrence's money away from him, he only gets so much a month. He's going to be 54 in four days so I guess we can count that as his Thanksgiving/Birthday present.
   Auntie Mary was glad to see you Becca, and as always you were glad to see her. Auntie Mary sure loves you a whole lot. When she left you threw a fit wanting to go with her, and when I said we couldn't go with her you said we should go sometime soon. I think we are going next Tuesday. You saw that Desaray had left her blanket and it upset you greatly. You informed me that she would be cold without it. We're going to take it to her Tuesday when we go. I'm even going to let you carry it down there.
      Grant you were your usual happy jovial self. Papaw Lawrence got to hold you. He sure thought a lot of you. So did Auntie Mary. Whenever she held you, you could really see just how much you looked like her. You are a dead ringer for Auntie Mary. That's not necessarily a bad thing. She's a pretty girl. Well, she can be when she cleans up. I don't know if you know this, but Daddy and I are very proud of the two of you. You are really beautiful children. Of course we would think so, but we hear that from complete strangers all the time. You kids are really something to behold.
   Everyone is still a little sick, but getting better. Now it's the diarrhea end of the illness. I hate that stuff, because it makes your all's little butts burn like fire because of all the stomach acid in it. Poor Daddy has had it for days. He has issues with it anyway and this has made it no better.
  Daddy is going to be off work for a while and I am really looking forward to spending some time with him and our little family. It's going to be great to have him home with us. I am so excited about the upcoming holiday season, which is unusual for me. I usually contain my excitement quite well but as we speak my left knee is jumping up and down with anticipation. We are so blessed to have each other and I know we'll have a wonderful First Christmas together as a whole family. Mommy loves Rebecca and Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  The kids got sicker as the day went on. Mom woke me up and told me that I was going to call in to work so I could help her with our two vomit machines. We took the both of them to the pediatrician. We stopped at Dairy Queen on the way and got Becca a blue raspberry Mr. Misty which she proceeded to throw up in the truck. Poor Grant vomited right in the examination room in front of the doctor. The doctor told us that they were both mildly dehydrated but to limit their intake of fluids. We were to only give them spoons of pedialyte and gradually increase the amount. Mom also said that she thinks she is coming down with the bug. Mom went into Kroger to get medicine and stuff while the kids and I waited in the Explorer. Becca kept telling me she was thirsty and I have a hard time telling her no. I gave her a tiny sip of soda and made her promise not to tell Mom. She assured me that the soda would be our little secret. When Mom got back out to the truck Becca asked her Mom for a drink. Mom told her she couldn't drink anything just yet and Becca, the little rat, said that I had given her a drink.
      I went on in to work when I got my little family back to the house. I got in a half a day's work. I called the house later that night and Mom informed me that everyone was doing much better. When I got home at one in the morning Becca was up and camped out on the floor of her bedroom because she had vomited all over her bed again. She eventually went to sleep in her room with the big light on. Grant woke up and was able to take five ounces at around 3:30 and it's now 5:30 and he has managed to keep it down so far. He's asleep in his bouncer here in the living room. He's kind of restless but he's not waking up.
      I hope they feel better in the morning. If they don't we are to take them back in to the pediatrician. I do think Grant is doing better. It's kind of hard to tell because neither child has really acted as if they are sick. Becca has been her normal energetic self and Grant has been grinning and hollering up a storm. They both act as if they felt fine except both of them have been puking their heads off.
      Well, that's it for the Lanham health update. Everybody in the house is sick except for me and it may be a matter of hours before I start puking my ample guts out. I don't wanna get sick. I'm gonna close this out and carry Grant into our room so we can keep an eye on him as we all snooze. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Both Grant and Becca are sick this morning. Becca has vomited twice already tonight and Grant has as well. Mom called the pediatrician and they told her there was a stomach virus going around. They told her the kids should shake this in 12 to 24 hours. I hate it when the kids are sick. Neither one of them act as if they were sick but when you are vomiting you are sick. Becca was running all about the house talking a mile a minute about her big girl spit-up and about Grant's boy spit-up. Grant has been his grinning smiley self.
      Becca has been giving us fits ever since the time change. I know I mentioned this last week but it hasn't even gotten a bit better. Every night has become a battle. I don't know if she's really afraid of the dark or if she has just decided to be obstinate. This morning she told me her tummy was hurting but I chalked that up to another excuse not to sleep. I felt like quite the sheep when she came out of her room covered in vomit. Becca will not go to sleep easily at all anymore. She's said she is afraid. We've given her a flashlight, a fiber optic angel that she has named Cheerio Granny because Granny is now an angel and her angel has a halo that looks like a big cheerio, left her door open, and even given her a pacifier. Nothing seems to work. See what fun it is to have a head strong toddler.
      We had our Christmas pictures done last Friday. They turned out very nice. Becca had the most adorable Christmas dress on and Grant had on a snow flake sweater. Before we got our pictures taken Becca had her nails painted at the nail salon next to Portrait Innovations. After pictures we went and had Chinese food. Mom & I wanted Cracker Barrel but Becca absolutely insisted that we have Chinese and since she has become the boss we had Chinese. She just likes eating Chinese dumplings with chop sticks.
      I'm working second shift this week. That's why I am up so early on a Thursday morning. I suppose I would be up anyway what with the kids being sick and all. Something funny has struck me about dear old Mom. When she was younger she lived alone in some of the roughest parts of Lexington and never thought twice about it and now when I'm not at home late at night she becomes frightened here in our little suburban house in our quiet little neighborhood. She had a bad dream the other night and waited up until I got home to go to bed. I fell in love with Mom when she was a head strong teenager with an attitude and now that she has become an over protective mother who gets easily offended by the least little off color remark I love her even more.
      Mom started her new job this past weekend. It was hard on all of us. She left out of here Saturday morning early and didn't get back until almost midnight and she had to be back in again Sunday morning. She didn't see Becca or Grant at all during the weekend and she hated that. She seems to enjoy what she is doing though. We have heard that Cardinal Hill is a difficult place to get hired on at. They seem to be a really great employer. I hope this works out for her. I has Becca and Grant all weekend and they survived. I forgot to give Grant a bath Saturday night and Becca managed to nearly destroy the house but all in all we had a pretty good weekend. I'll get better at managing my two rug rats without their dear old Mother around. Mom has always had a big job staying home and managing the house. I have always respected what she does for our family. I wish it was summer so I could take them down to Mamaw & Papaw's and toss them both in the pool. Grant will be old enough to go in the water when it gets warm again.
      Mom started on her career in medicine for real this past week and it looks like Papaw is calling his career to and end. He signed his retirement papers yesterday. His last day will be in late February. I know I will miss him being out there. I don't think it will be the same at General Electric without my Dad. He's worked hard all of his life though and he deserves to do his own thing now. I am so happy for both Papaw and for Mamaw. I better think about getting a more fuel efficient car though. I'm gonna lose my ride.
      Monday was my fortieth birthday. I'm the big Four-O. I may be getting older but my wife is still ten years younger than I am and that will always be coll. I have to admit it was much cooler when I was 29 and she was still a teenager but still I have myself a young cute woman. She just turned 30 this past July. She's hardly out of her twenties and I am heading into the outskirts of middle age. I may be forty but I don't feel a day over fortyseven. Only nineteen or twenty more years until I can retire myself.
      I'm gonna be off the week after Thanksgiving. Your Mom seemed really pleased when she heard that. She said I could take Becca to preschool and go get her and she could sleep in that week. Mom works hard and I have no trouble doing that. I suppose we will go down to Hazard while I am off as well. Auntie Mary hasn't seen Grant yet.
      I reckon that's all for this morning. I need to go to bed. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  A post in the middle of the week; what do y'all think about that? I'm off for Veteran's Day Monday and we have a one day layoff Friday so I have a long weekend coming up. Next week I have to work second shift for the remaining four days of that week. I get 10% on the hour for working second shift. I guess that's pretty good but I am going to have to drive myself instead of riding with Dad so that just might eat up the extra money. I hope it doesn't. I volunteered for four hours overtime tomorrow night to make up for the Friday I'm getting off without pay. Overtime pays time and a half so that will be a rather nice chunk of change. I don't look forward to twelve hours inside of General Electric but I will appreciate it when pay day rolls around.
      Big news on the Momma job hunt front. Mom got a job working for the Cardinal Hill Unit at Samaritan Hospital as a CNA. She had another job offered to her last week but it was only going to be eight dollars an hour so she decided not to take it. Good for her. Your Mom interviewed at maybe half a dozen places and put in applications at another dozen places and she ended up getting the very first job she interviewed for. I think that this is the one she really wanted. The hours are going to be rough on all of us and especially on dear ole' Mom. She works 16 hours on Saturday and 16 hours on Sunday. The first month she is going to have to do a bunch of extra training sessions during the week but after the first month she will only have to go in to train one day a month. She's going to be making nearly $13 an hour so that's really going to help us out a lot. My new responsibility is laundry. I am to wash, dry, fold and put it away. Of course I am also supposed to step up in helping to keep the house nice and tidy. I am more than willing to do my share. I am so proud of Mom and I think she's proud of herself.
      Becca has been acting afraid of the dark the past few nights. It probably has something to do with the time change we had recently. Becca isn't used to going to bed when it is so dark outside. I'm sure she will get over it in no time.
      This morning around six as I was putting on my jacket to go to work I heard Becca calling out. I went into her room and her blankets were in the floor. I covered her back up and she asked why I had my jacket on and I told her I was going to work and she looked at me with a puzzled look on her face and she asked me why I was going to work when it was still dark. I thought it was kind of cute.
      Well, I'm gonna look at the boob tube for a bit before I lay down. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Greetings children o'mine and other interested parties. It's a little after midnight on Sunday morning. We set the clocks back this morning so everyone gets an extra hour of weekend. I have my wireless television headphones on right now as I have Total Nonstop Action Wrestling playing on the accurately named boob tube.
      This past week was Halloween. Becca went as a pretty purple and pink fairy and little Grant was a tiny giraffe. We got Becca's costume at Cracker Barrel a month or so ago. We paid more for it than we really wanted to but it was such a pretty costume and you did say you wanted to be either a fairy or a butterfly. After we got Becca's we went to Baby's "R" Us and bought a pumpkin suit for Grant. He ended up getting too big for the pumpkin suit. Someone gave a a second hand pea pod suit but that suit was just a little too big so we ended up getting him a giraffe costume. Becca's been very insistent that Grant get a giraffe for Christmas from either Mom & Dad or Santa Claus.
      Becca was awful excited about Halloween. She remembered how much fun she had last year trick or treating. She had a Halloween party at preschool; they actually called it a Fall party because of the controversial nature of the day. Well, at least I assume that is the reason it was a Fall Party and not a Halloween party. Mom loves Halloween but it's never been a big deal for me until I had kids old enough to appreciate the concept of begging for candy from our neighbors. Mom & I got a Halloween outfit for her party at Wal-Mart. It was an orange t-shirt with a black cat and the words purrfectly pretty. Purrfectly; get it? Like a cat. We also got her a pair of black and orange pants with cats on them. It was a really cute outfit. Mom said that it was a good thing we did get you that outfit because all of her other little classmates had Halloween themed outfits on as well. Becca told us she had fun at the party.
      Later that night it was time to go begging for candy. Becca and Grant got all dressed up in their costumes. Mamaw & Papaw came over with Chili and blackberry pie. Mom, Becca and I headed out on our trick or treating adventure. Grant stayed at the house to hand out candy with Mamaw & Papaw. Aunt Louise and Uncle Tommy joined them so they could see all of the kids and their Halloween costumes. Becca got off to a great start. We made our way down South Hill toward Falling Spring Drive. We eventually made it to a house that has a haunted house set up in their garage every year. Becca didn't even make it up the driveway last year. This year she actually made it inside. She was only in their for a split second until she decided she really didn't want to do the haunted house. Becca said that she would go through the haunted house when she gets bigger.
      We made our way back down South Hill going the opposite way. We headed up a side street and then got back on Colony Drive and worked our way all the way back home. We saw Auntie Lynn and the boys twice on our adventure. They were trick or treating with Cathy or Kathy Sanders, Auntie Lynn's friend and her kids. We also saw a classmate of Becca's, Bowen and his Mom & Dad. Becca told us at first that Bowen was mean to her and that's why she didn't wave at him from across the street but later when we ran into them again she informed us that Bowen was her best friend.
      Last year we only made it up and down South Hill but this year we made it up and down South Hill and an equal distance on Colony Drive. Even though we doubled our coverage it seems that she got less candy. Maybe I'm wrong but it just seems that way. She may have gotten less candy but she certainly didn't get any fewer compliments. Every house we stopped at told her that she was the cutest kid they'd seen all night. I assumed that they said that to all the kids but Mom who accompanied Becca to each house said that the various kids in front of them didn't get the same kind of compliments. She was awfully pretty in her fairy costume.
      Becca had a problem with her costume itching her back so we had to make frequent back scratching breaks and the occasional candy break as we progressed through our adventure. The last hundred yards or so Becca got tired and I had to carry her the rest of the way. She had a big day and we all had a whole lot of fun.
      Trick or Treating was great and all but it wasn't a perfect day. Last Sunday it got a little cold outside so we decided to turn on our furnace. When we went to switch it on it wouldn't work. We thought about calling Fayette Heating and Air again but since they charged us $700 to fix our central air this past summer we were afraid they'd try to rip us off again. Papaw said that he could probably fix it himself but he isn't an expert with furnaces so he also could probably blow up our house. Your Mom called an outfit called Budget Heating and Air and they quickly sent out a lady who crawled under the house with Papaw and myself. She tried one thing after the other but eventually said that she didn't have any idea what the problem was, charged us $50 and left. Mom called out Climate Control the next day which was Wednesday. They came right out and told us that Fayette Heating and Air had wired our system wrong. They rewired the heat and it was fixed or so we thought. I was so pleased to have the furnace fixed. Not having heat was really bothering me. It was warm on Halloween so we decided to turn on the air conditioning. We switched on the air but nothing happened. The fan wouldn't even come on. I was incredibly bummed out by that little twist. Mom called out Climate Control again and said that Fayette Heating and Air had so thoroughly screwed up our system that when we went to go from heat to air the transformer blew and wiped out our whole system. It was fixed once again and they told us they would send us a bill. I have no idea what we will have to pay and I am not looking forward to finding out but at least we have both heat and air.
      The other night as Mom and I were putting Becca to bed I tooted while I read a book to her. Becca crinkled up her nose and put her little hand on my arm and asked me if I had to go potty. Mom just about busted a gut laughing. She'd heard her Mom ask her that so many times that the question was just the natural thing to ask. After the story had been read it was time for her lullaby. She's taken a liking to the song You are my Sunshine because Mom will rub her back as she sings it. Well, I decided that I would sing along on this particular night but as soon as I began Becca told me that she only wanted Momma to sing it because I wasn't very good. That time both Mom and I cracked up laughing.
      Thursday night Becca went home with Papaw to spend the night down there. Mom went to bed as soon as I got home. Grant slept awhile and then he woke up so it was just me and him. I was feeding him and when I went to burp him he just turned his little head towards me and grinned from ear to ear. He has grinned at me before but that was always when I was acting a fool for his benefit. This time he turned to me on his own and gave me a big smile. My love for that little boy tripled in that moment. He is such a good baby as well even if he is flat out spoiled for his Mommy. We thought that we would get us a fussy baby because our first child, Becca was such a good baby but Grant is just as good as she was. He eats a whole lot more than she ever did but Mom and the pediatricians say that is perfectly normal.
      Yesterday Becca went to the 5th birthday party for a classmate of hers from preschool, Joshua. The party was at Kid's Zone in the Lexington Athletic Club building. We'd been there once before and Becca really enjoyed it. Becca brought aquadots as a birthday present. We had to buy her a tiny set of aquadots as well. I think she had a nice time at the party. She was following Joshua around for the first part of the party and I didn't care much for that. He just wasn't paying Becca the attention that she deserves. Then I thought that as she gets older I will still be upset when boys don't pay her the attention she deserves but I will be even more upset when they do pay her attention. I have a feeling I am going to be a rather stressed out Dad. Becca was the very last person to leave the party. She stayed at Kid's Zone even after the birthday boy left.
      After the party we went to Rally's for supper from the drive-thru. We then headed home. Mom went straight to bed and slept forever. I put both Becca and Grant to be by myself. No one got baths last night because Grant was demanding so much of my attention and Becca wanted a snack or a drink every time she turned around. It was a pretty good week all in all with the huge exception of the furnace going out and us having such a hard time getting it repaired.
      Well, Halloween is over. My 40th birthday is right around the corner and I consider that the official start of the Danny Lanham Christmas season. Then we have Thanksgiving. Without Granny Thanksgiving is going to be really weird. I think Mamaw, Papaw, Auntie Lynn and her brood and our little family are going to go out to a restaurant Thanksgiving day. Uncle Mike is going to host a larger family Thanksgiving feast the day after Thanksgiving. This is a transition year. Old traditions will finally be laid to rest this year and I'm sure new ones will develop in years to come. It's funny because whatever we decide to do for Thanksgiving will be the way that Becca and Grant will always remember Thanksgiving and I'm sure they will feel the same way about that tradition as I have about the traditions of the first half of my life. That is only if they are as sentimental about the Holidays as I am. Poor Mom doesn't have the deep seeded love for the Holidays as I do because while I always had a warm loving family and joyous consistent traditions she was shuttled in and out of foster homes since she was just a little girl. I think only now that since she has children of her very own does she see that their truly is magic and wonder in the air during the Holidays.
      Time to close out this particular blog post. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!