Candy Obsession

"I want canee!" This is what we have heard since Halloween ended-morning, noon, and night. The Green's came over to trick or treat with us and we had to train the boys on what to do. It took a few houses and then Noah got it down perfectly. The evening was followed by a four day sugar high! This week I finally had to show Noah that the bowl was empty. Chad has been under the weather since he had his wisdom teeth taken out on the 30th. He was only able to partially participate.

Since then his mouth has not gotten better. He finally went back to the dentist because of the pain. Turns out his bone on his jaw line was poking through. They had to cut it open again, shave down the bone, and stitch him back. Then he promptly popped a stitch and had to go back again. This morning, he is still complaining and is on his way to this dentist again. When he opens his mouth, I can see the bone along with white spots and ulcers all in throat. He has been using spray for his throat to numb it. Hopefully they can fix him up this morning. Oh and did I mention his appt. is at 9:30 to be followed by a speaking engagement at 11 with the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. Hopefully, his tongue will not be too thick. The moral of the story is: get your wisdom teeth out when your in your teens and early twenties and not when your thirty five.

Also, asking for prayers for my friend Kristen's mother. She was diagnosed with breast cancer last week in both breasts. She is undergoing a double mastectomy next week. Her name is Sherry Earney.

Love to all!

Aunt Hawee the Pirate

We are going to shop for Noah's Halloween costume today. I've been lobbying for a pirate because a) he says 'Argh' really cute, b)he's always holding stuff to his eye and pretending he's a pirate so I think he'll actually keep the costume on, and c) the costume store has an entire wall of pirate stuff so he won't be a generic pirate from the big-box stores.

Well, Jenna in her psychologist brain has been explaining Halloween to him. We are about to start getting ready for the day and she suddenly asked Noah, "What do you want to be for Halloween?" Noah didn't reply. I offered "Do you want to be a pirate?" and he yelled "Yeah!" I got the 'look' from Jenna for supplying the answer (she should have been a lawyer) and then she asked him more openly "Noah, you can be anybody you want for Halloween. Who do you want to be?" He got real solemn, walked over to her, and said "Aunt Hawee!!!" She asked, "You want to be Aunt Holly for Halloween?" He yelled "Yeah!!!!" and started dancing. I want him to be happy but I can only imagine the hundreds of dollars of therapy I'll be paying for if I let him dress in drag at the age of 2.

(sidebar: during Holly's stay last weekend she graduated from Aunt Hoeee to Aunt Hawee)

First Razorback Game!!!

Yesterday Noah and Jana had their first Razorback game. Melissa, Jay, and Jana came up from ElDorado and Holly and Mark came in from AZ. Initially we had a babysitter for Noah but Jana cried when she found out Noah wasn't going to the game. When the game was set for 11:30 we figured it was doable so we found the boy a ticket. He sat almost the entire game with Jana (and crew) but we sat above him and could see him the entire game. He had so much fun its not even funny. When the game was over he said "No bye-bye Daddy, no bye-bye!" The highlight of the day was right before kickoff when Jenna yelled "Noah's on the Jumbotron!" I looked up and luckily had my camera in hand and caught the second half of it. The best part is you can read his lips perfectly saying "Go Hogs" while pumping his arm. He and Jana were on again in the 2nd half but I didn't capture it on film.

After the game Nick said "I've been to every game here since they installed that scoreboard and I've never been on it. Your kid sits down and within 3 minutes is plastered all over it." Of course, Nick knows he's nowhere near as cute as my kid :) The 2nd time they were on it they had lapfuls of food. Noah was wolfin down a corn dog and Jana was munchin on chicken strips. Anther friend of mine, Janice ran into us on our way out of the stadium and said, "Do cameras just follow your kid everywhere?" It was great.

Here'e a streaming link to watch in your webbrowser.
Here is a download link to the full size video-25MB.

Noah on billboard in Texarkana

Today a friend called Jenna and said she saw Noah on a billboard advertising next month's Race for the Cure. Later, Pops sent me a pic to my inbox and of course I have to share :)

Pink Trash Ball aftermath

I thought you guys would enjoy this pic from the pink trash ball.

"Let's-Go-Yank-ees!"

Well as most of you know I'm a Yankees fan. It seems since Noah came along, I've been less of a fan but not really. I think he has just helped put things in perspective for me. I love baseball. It is my favorite sport measured on a bar that nothing else even registers upon. I like football. I keep up with basketball but they don't even get notches on the yardstick to measure against baseball. Tonight Melissa called me and asked what I was doing. I said 'You're kidding right.' I guess the whole world didn't know Yankee Stadium hosted its last game ever tonight. When I told her the first thing she said was "I'm so sorry for calling. Call me tomorrow." She didn't know it was closing tonight but she knows what a big deal it was for me because she meant it and there was nothing but sincerity in her apology. I talked to her anyways and I told her about the pre-game ceremonies and how nice they were. It made me want to write a post about it. She also asked me if I cried any and I of course would never admit to the answer. I know the majority of you guys really don't care to hear me talk about the Yankees and that's okay but this is the only voice I have at times and I'm going to write it anyways. If you don't want to read the post then skip the rest of this. I really don't mind. However, I know Jeff and Nick will read this so I'm going to write it for at least them. In fact, I'm kind of addressing it to them for reasons I'll flush out later.

The YES (Yankees Entertainment and Sports) channel have had so many documentaries on Yankee Stadium this year I can't even count them-and yes the Yankees have their own 24-hr channel, it's on 622 on DirecTV. They haven't been very good though, because they were produced by a channel owned by the Yankees. Not exactly unbiased reporting. That's what made the entire day on ESPN so good. Those documentaries are unbiased and it really demonstrated how much Yankee Stadium is a part of American history. It's not as important as most things, but it is part of the fabric of this country. The Babe, Joe D, Yogi, and the Mick are American icons not just baseball icons.

The pre-game coverage on YES showed all of the ceremonies before the game and I know most-if not all- of you guys didn't see them. The 2 highlights were Bobby Murcer's family and Bernie Baseball. They introduced all of the living Yankees that aren't currently playing somewhere else or otherwise committed. Before you ask, Mattingly was not there. I guess he thought his coaching position with the Dodgers was more important. The man lacks priorities :) Bobby Murcer died a few months ago and he is one of the most beloved figures around the organization. He was a fine player but he covered the Yankees for many years as a broadcaster and you could just tell he was a good guy listening to him. Kind of the anti-thesis of Michael Kay who I like but I don't know if I'd buy a used car from him. Anyways, they had dozens of players on the field at their positions and they introduced Bobby's wife, son, and daughter. The Stadium chanted "Bobb-y" for about 3 minutes while his widow and teenage kids waved to the fans. The wife was sobbing and it was a great moment. Not quite as good as Bernie coming home. In case you guys didn't know, Bernie hasn't been back to the stadium since the Yank's didn't renew his contract. I give him credit for retiring like Mattingly did instead of putting on another uniform. I just couldn't imagine him in anything other than pinstripes. When he was introduced the place almost came down. You know those playoff images where a player hits a home run and the place is so loud the camera shakes (Think the Jeter walk-off HR the night after Bush threw out the first pitch after 9/11 ). It was like that. The cameras were literally shaking the place was so loud. He was the last one introduced and noboby-not Yogi, Paul O'Neil, David Wells, Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, etc-came close to the ovation he got. It was awesome.

I enjoyed the telecast. Joe Morgan and Jon Miller had a lot of guests in the booth throughout the game and the Yankees won so it was good. It's hilarious that with all the storied moments and tradition, Jose Molina hit the final HR in Yankee stadium. I was really pulling for Jeter in the 7th when he batted with the bases loaded. I know Jeter doesn't need anything more to cement his legacy in Yankee lore but it would have been amazing if he'd connected. Instead he took strike 3, but I don't feel bad for him. I'm sure he'll have plenty of supermodels willing to cheer him up.

I hope you guys didn't miss Jeter speak after the game. He addressed the fans over the PA and he spoke really well. He had a great line, "...we'd still have the moments but without the fans it wouldn't mean anything at all."

I got a little sad tonight too. Not because the stadium closed down, but because I could hear Randy Lyons' voice griping about closing the stadium. We had a yearly talk about a week before the season would start and talk about the Yankees. I know the Razorbacks were his first love but he loved the Yankees too. The past few opening days just haven't been the same since he's been gone. I know he would liked the game tonight but I also know (don't ask me how) he would have been against the whole new stadium thing and I swear I know what he would have said and I could literally hear our 'conversation' in my head. In the end we would have agreed to disagree-well I would have agreed to that-he would have just conceded I was wrong :) I miss that man.

I guess the night was perfect. After the game players from Baltimore were scooping dirt into jars from the field. The Yankee players walked around the stadium waving. Flashbulbs were going off everywhere. Strangely I'm glad the Yankees aren't going to the playoffs this year. With so many players-Mattingly, Bernie, Paulie to name a few-we didn't know which game was going to be the 'last' so there was no '...for the last time.' If the Yankee's had gone to the playoffs, unless they went to a Game 7 in the World Series, we would have never known which night would have been the last game until afterwards. So we get closure and a lot of smiles and even a few admitted tears.

Pink Trash Ball

Just a reminder for everyone-tomorrow night is the Pink Trash Ball at George's. It starts at 9 but doors open at 8. It costs $25 with proceeds going to Komen for the Cure and a good time will be had. So come out and lets party. Dress in pink trashy duds if you want to but come either way. I'll personally let anyone who comes up to me and tells me they read this here, buy me a beer. That's the kind of selfless guy I am :)

What about me?

Jenna asked me if I was going to post about last Friday and I didn't know what to tell her. I guess I want to tell friends and family but I know other people read this and I don't want to toot my own horn. In fact its just hard to right about yourself at all. I just want everyone to share in our joy that is Noah and keep you guys up on Jenna. But me? Me? It feels weird but here goes.

Last Friday was the kickoff for the Cure. Basically a luncheon for last years sponsors of the Ozark Race for the Cure and an event to announce the chair, vice-chair, and honorary chairs. Since Jenna's broken the news here, you know I'm the vice-chair for the 09 race. I was asked to say something at the event. Well I haven't had to speak in public...I'VE NEVER SPOKEN IN PUBLIC. I didn't even take speech in college I'm not a nervous person but I had a little anxiety leading up to the day.

I think it went well. They laughed at my joke and I think I conveyed the message I was asked to convey. I was sandwiched right between the chair and the mayor of Rogers. When I saw the schedule and saw I spoke before a mayor, I thought I was out of my league, but I did okay. I was asked to tell 'our story' to give a personal touch to the day instead of it just being a press conference. So I started thinking about what to say and I made an outline. Closer to the day I was asked what I'd say and then was told to just be 'brief.' How do you tell your story and be brief? As you know brevity has never been a strength of mine. So I went back and started marking out parts of the outline. Then the day before my speech I got an itinerary by email and I saw I was given 10 minutes so I had to go back and put everything I took out back in.

I was a little nervous the morning of the speech but I was interviewed for TV about 30 minutes before the thing started and that calmed me down. Jenna showed up and after 3 days of terrible weather we had a gorgeous afternoon. The day was truly a success as we added 2 new sponsors to the fold and I got my first public speaking behind me.

MY NAME IS DAD!!!

Noah's Mamaw and Papaw have been here all week and it's been really nice. They are great grandparents. They really just adapt to Noah's world and agenda and he has a blast. However...that was a big however...he has picked up a terrible habit from them. You see Noah is at that wonderful age where he repeats everything. He actually does a decent "Whoa Nelly" in a good Keith Jackson voice. Somewhere in the past few days he realized they call me "Chad." I'm sure you can guess where this is going. Suddenly, I've become 'Chad' to him instead of 'Dad.' "I want juice Chad" "I want outside Chad" "I hide from Mamma Chad" Each time we correct him and he'll say 'Dad' back but then its right back to 'Chad.' I guess Jenna and I just don't call each other by name hardly ever. I won't be alone in this though. I vow he will know "Jenna" before the end of the weekend only because she finds this sooooo funny :)

PooPoo in the Pott-y

We sing that around the house these days while in a Conga line. Noah has officially began potty training. He has started peeing in the potty quite regularly. And yes we also sing "PeePee in the Potty". On Saturday, he began "Doin his serious business" in the potty. He's super proud when he goes in the potty. He runs in there and tells Jenna. For some reason he won't let Momma put him on the potty. So lucky Daddy gets to be on potty duty. I guess we all have to be good at something.

Final procedure

I'm sitting here in Dr. Atwood's (Jenna's plastic surgeon) back room writing this while Jenna gets her last procedure. This is the coloring of her nipples by tattooing. All I can think is this has got to be cleanest and brightest tattoo parlor in America. There isn't a stitch of neon anywhere.

Seriously I'm proud of Jenna throughout all of our ordeal and this is her absolute last step on the journey. At least where Dr.'s are concerned:)

NO...MORE...PACIFIER!!!!!

Noah's pacifier was scheduled to meet his demise last weekend. Jenna was going to Kansas City for the weekend and I had been researching various pacifier 'accidents.' I was seriously leaning towards tying it to a couple balloons and letting them go. He loves balloons and then I could shrug and say 'Pacy went bye-bye,' point to the sky, and then he'd happily roll over and go to sleep. Ha! I was never that deluded but it was the plan nonetheless.

Then everything got messed up with Papaw's passing last week. Noah ended up staying in ElDorado for a few days after we left and then was going to Texarkana for a couple of days. The first full day we were gone was Friday and I talked to Mom that afternoon. Noah had lost his 'pass' that morning but wasn't too upset. Later, Holly found it but he was no longer asking for it so she put it away so he wouldn't find it. Then Holly went to Mamaw's to help out and then it was time for nap and Magga didn't know where the pacifier was. I told her this was the weekend 'pass' was going bye-bye. She paused and said, "Well we can try to break him of it, if that's alright." Alright? Alright? Alright! Of course it was alright. I told her if she sent Noah home broken of the 'pass' then she'd officially get "Grandmother of the Year!"

Well she related the plan to Holly and "Operation GMOTY" was born. I knew the hardest moment would be that first nap and Magga had a plan. She took the nap with him :) . That night he cried a little bit but they just told him, "Pass is gone Noah. You're a big boy." He replied "Pass gone, Big boy" through his tears. They claim the next day he never asked for it until that night when "Pass gone, Big boy" was repeated. Then the next day he never asked for it at all. Magga said a few times during the day he'd come up and say "Pass gone" and then "Big boy" but he never cried again for it and he never asked for it.

We were nervous when he went to Texarkana but he did just as good there. He got home Wednesday and he never uttered a word about 'pass.' That is until last night. It was the first night we were pretty close to our regular routine of play, eat dinner, walk the dogs, play, bath, reading, singing, prayer, and then bed. Except when I went to put him over the rail into bed he started to cry and said "Pass Daddy pass" Jenna and I looked at each other with eyes the size of saucers. We said "Pass is gone Noah. You're a big boy." Well either Noah doesn't have the same appreciation for this phrase from Mom and Dad or Magga and Holly are lying because there wasn't a calm repeating of the phrase. He started to cry. I mean cry. But then something weird happened. As soon as my brain wrapped itself around the idea of this being a long night, Noah said "Bed" through his tears. Jenna put him into bed and he curled himself up into a ball, still crying mind you. We covered him and left. The tears were soft sobs at this point but I think he was mourning for 'pass.' The funniest is that he wanted to be left alone while he did it.

I'm home with him today. Kind of a boy's day out before school starts full time. He hasn't said anything about it and I don't think he will. I think last night was his final goodbye to his beloved 'pass.'

Chad's new project...It's a biggee!

I kept waiting for Chad to post this news, but his mind has been on other things besides bragging on himself. After we returned from the beach, we had a message from Allison Levin, director of the Ozark affiliate of Susan G. Komen. She asked us to take part in a photo shoot for the Race for the Cure pamphlet. At the photo shoot in Rogers, while I was chasing Noah, Chad was making friends with some of the Komen people. While making what he thought was small talk with the 2009 Ozark Race for the Cure Chair person, Elaine Thompson, she had more pressing questions. She asked Chad if he would be interested in serving as her co-chair/vice-chair for next years Race for the Cure and although she kept talking, he stopped listening floored at her previous question. Long story short...The two of them met for lunch so that she could explain the details to Chad. He learned that by serving as 2009 vice chair he would then be the 2010 chair. Of course he accepted!!!

Chad is very anxious about this, but after his first official meeting, he is beginning to feel a little more comfortable. I have been cheering him on since he was first asked. I know it will be a huge undertaking and Noah and I will have to share him some; however, I am willing. I feel there is no better way for him to honor me and work for the bigger cause not to mention, the great example he will be setting for his precious son.

I have 100% confidence that Chad has the heart, personality, tenacity, and intellect to help make the Ozark Komen Race for the Cure a wonderful event. I am already so PROUD!!

Cloise Rotton 1924-2008

I have started this thread about 5 times now and I've deleted it each time. I even tried to skip it and tell some good news about Noah but couldn't bring myself to move on until I said my piece/peace here.

My Papaw died last week. There I've said it. It wasn't as poetic as I would have liked but I really am having a hard time expressing this. You see this isn't just the end of the road for an amazing man but its the end of the most stable thing I've ever known in my life. Through everything I've ever seen, done, or experienced and everywhere I've lived, visited, or flown over I could always find Mamaw and Papaw at their house on the highway. After life's mistakes, hiccups, and heartaches, I could always find solace in their home and know the meaning of love and therefore life.

In my line of work I've seen more than my share of young life buried and burdened. When it became too much for me I would always call Mamaw and tell her what was going on. She'd always just ask the kid's name and then she'd say "We'll pray." When she spoke of prayer she always referred to the plural 'we' because they always prayed together. I think that is the most startling difference between them and every other couple I've ever known. They never hid their prayer. They always prayed aloud. They always prayed together. I know I share this memory with all the other grandchildren. You would spend the night with Mamaw and Papaw and as you lay there in the bed across from their room you would hear them start to pray. I do not know if they were sitting beside each other or if they were kneeling, but I do know everyone they loved was mentioned by name. It may seem strange but they had a symbiotic language where they both prayed at the same time either repeating the other's request for God or adding details of the person's specific need. They are the only people I've ever known who prayed like this and they are also the only people I've known who were married as long as they were. I do not believe that is a coincidence.

My Papaw was a quiet man. He spoke plenty but he never filled a room with the sound of his voice just to hear his voice. Maybe it was because he had 4 daughters that I'm sure as they grew up spoke plenty. Years later it could have been because all his grandchildren developed the ability to 'gab' from their mother's. Jenna refers to this as my ability to 'talk to a wall.' I also blame my bad habit of interrupting people on eating dinner at Mamaw and Papaw's with the whole family there. You see there were no breaks in the conversation so you had to interrupt or never be heard. Papaw would always just sit there at the table and pretend he wasn't listening. You knew he was pretending because once in a blue moon somebody would say something to spark his interest and then he'd speak up. Of course, it was when his voice spoke up that everyone else was quiet and listened and they never interrupted. This was repeated if the conversation were in the den where the TV was located. He'd sit in his recliner and watch TV while everyone around him 'gabbed.' The volume of the TV was like a barometer of his interest in your conversation. If he was interested in what you were saying then he'd turn the TV down, if he wasn't then the volume would go up to drown you out. The whole time his eyes never left the TV. I strayed from my point a little, because I was trying to tell you that I never heard my Papaw yell. I saw him annoyed and even angry a few times, but I never heard him actually yell at anyone. That's remarkable.

I also remember his wallet growing up. That's a weird thing to remember but let me explain. I grew up thinking my Papaw was a wealthy man because when he pulled out his wallet to pay for something it was literally filled with money. It honestly wouldn't close at times. There had to be several hundred dollars in cash in his wallet at any time. When I was pretty grown (college or so) I made a comment about this to my sister. She looked at me like I had two heads. You see my Papaw sold insurance and he sold a lot of insurance in the African-American community. He began doing this back when my mom and her sisters were little. This was a time in America where African-Americans couldn't get bank accounts so he would go 'collectin' and take cash payments from them and then when their premiums were due he would pay their premium for them. Of course, it all made sense to me after my sister explained this to me. I remember growing up we'd drive through African-American neighborhoods looking for catalpa worms or dropping off extra tomatoes from his garden and everyone we saw would come out of their homes to speak with "Mr. Rotton." I never thought it was odd that so many black people both knew and genuinely loved my Papaw. I guess looking back that would have been odd in 1970's America. Not two weeks ago, Papaw's hospice nurse was talking to my Mamaw and they were talking about Papaw's life. When the combination of Reliable Life and an old picture sparked her memory and she figured out who he was and couldn't believe it. She remembered Papaw (she called him 'Mr. Ro') coming to see her grandfather when she was little and how he always had candy and pencils for the children while they talked. In hindsight it sounds just like him to do something for people when plenty of his peers (not to mention society) wouldn't and it seems even more like him that I never heard the story from his own mouth.

He wasn't much for giving advice or telling you what you should do. No one else in the family ever picked up that skill since we all have an opinion and are just waiting for an opportunity to share :) The only thing in my life I ever did that he spoke up about was breaking up with my high school girlfriend. Of course, he even did this in his own way. For several years after the event, he would still pull me aside after dinner and say "I saw -----'s mother the other day at the drugstore. She said ----- is comin' home this weekend. Maybe you should give her a call." I'd remind him that I had a girlfriend and she had a boyfriend and it had been 5 years since our breakup and he'd say "I'm just sayin." I knew after I had met Jenna and he never mentioned ----- again that he approved of Jenna. It's a quirky way of knowing but I knew nonetheless.

I feel like I'm just rambling and honestly I could tell little stories about him and his personality all day because he's just on my mind all the time now. Thinking on his life makes me wonder what my legacy I leave to this world will be. I hope it is half the legacy Papaw leaves behind. I'll never go fishing, pass a catalpa tree, or even go to church without thinking about him and getting a chuckle. He lived a full, wonderful life that we should all strive to attain. There is much to celebrate about his life and his passing, but I still find some selfish tragedy in his death. I think its tragic that Noah will grow up in a world where he doesn't have vivid memories and stories of his Papaw Rotton. We'll all just have to pitch in and make sure he knows them just the same.

Big Event on Kensington

Since we moved into the new digs on Kensington we've been wishy-washy about it being 'home.' We've discussed with each other the way the house is 'too big' at times and 'not cozy' at others. I think it's just been different. Jenna thinks it's because the 20 ft. ceilings don't fit our stuff we bought for the 9 ft. ceilings at Cambray.

Tonight we threw our first big event. It wasn't exactly a 'house warming' party or a 'meet the neighbors' type party. We threw a shower for our friend Caroline whose getting married next month. We're so happy for her. She has met a really good guy and they honestly seem to be perfect for one another. But enough about them... :) We busted our butt all week to get the house ready for the party tonight. Projects we put on the back burner we suddenly needed to get done. I refinished Jenna's grandmother's buffet and finally got it in the house.

The short of the story (like I can tell a short version of anything) is the house really felt like home tonight. We got several compliments on the house and the yard. I'm really proud of all the hard work we put into the yard. If any of you saw the yard when we moved in, you know what I mean. Anyways the night was wonderful. We had almost 30 people here and I was proud to welcome each one of them.

Answered prayer?

I think Noah prayed for the first time last night. What's crazier is the prayer was answered...I think. It's hard to figure out what a 2 year old means when he talks sometimes but I'll explain what happened.

Almost 2 months ago, Noah lost his 'blue pass' (blue pacifier) so he's been making do with his 'why pass' (white pacifier). We haven't bought any new pacifiers because we are trying to ween him off of them. The problem is the more we try to ween the more possessive he becomes. He had pretty much forgotten about the 'blue pass' until a few days ago when all of a sudden he started talking about it. 'Blue pass gone' has been uttered a few times. Well last night he mentioned it to Him.

Each night after we put Noah in bed we say a prayer. Jenna and I each say the same prayer with him. It's short and simple and when it concludes Noah repeats 'Amen' and then adds a 'Night-night Ga' (Goodnight God). However, lately I've said a real prayer after the other rote prayer. At the end we still say 'Amen' and goodnight to the Almighty. Last night it was different though. I prayed to God with Noah and then before I could say 'Amen,' Noah blurted out 'Blue pass gone Ga, blue pass gone.' Then I said Amen to be repeated by Noah.

I walked down the stairs chuckling to myself. I don't know if Noah was praying to Ga (God) for the return of his pacifier or just letting God know since Noah likes to keep everyone in his life informed. Just the other day he told the cashier at Sam's her shirt was blue, so maybe he was just letting God know in case He missed it with all the other things He has to keep up with.

Flash forward to this morning. Jenna calls me at work and says 'You'll never guess what Noah found underneath our dresser!'

Of course, I knew exactly what he found and I bet you know too.

Tellin on Mama

Noah had his first moment where he ratted out one of his parents when they did wrong. Almost every night when Noah gets ready for bed I brush his teeth. For whatever reason, Jenna almost always forgets to brush his teeth. The other night, Jenna was getting him ready for bed and I was downstairs cleaning. When it was time for night-night he called downstairs to me "Nigh Da!" I called up "Goodnight" and he went off to his room. Then he came back out and said "Teeth Da, teeth!" I said "Didn't your Momma brush your teeth?" He replied, "Noooo Da. Teeth Da!" Jenna started laughing in the other room. She came out and admitted she hadn't brushed his teeth. So I went upstairs and we got those chompers clean. I don't think Mama will forget anytime soon.

The Beach Part Deaux

We went to Fort Morgan, Alabama a couple of weeks ago for Noah's second trip to the beach. The first time he was barely crawling so this was kind of like the first time for us to experience it. It took him a couple of days to warm up to the idea but after he got used to it he really had fun. He loved low-tide where he had a 20 yard expanse of ankle deep water rolling in as the waves broke further out. While we were there, starfish had come to the shallows in droves to mate so he and Jana had a blast finding starfish and putting them in their buckets. All the poor critters survived but it's definitely hard to get over a curious two year old. Of course, he called them 'Spongebob' because he calls every character on the show 'Spongebob.' He also learned he still likes to be wrapped in towels. Our house was right off the beach so we'd walk home and then have to 'shower' off before going inside. So we'd dry him off and wrap him in a towel. He then would just fall asleep wherever you put him. Now at home he wants a towel instead of a blanket when he goes to bed. It's pretty cute.

Little Griffey Jr.

Noah has taken an interest (some would say obsession) with his little tee-ball set. I'm a firm believer in letting kids hold bats (or clubs) however they want to let them figure it out. I don't know if its from seeing his Yankee action figures in his room or TV, but the kid has a good stance and swing. In fact, he hits left handed and holds his hands high in a way that reminds me of Ken Griffey Jr. If I can get him to release the bat with his left hand after impact, I think he has a future in the sport :)

Congratulations to the Rotton's on 60 years

My Mamaw and Papaw had their 60th wedding anniversary the first week in July. We had a big party for them with almost all of their clan there. Unfortunately Papaw was in the hospital for the big day but the rehab department at the hospital was kind enough to let us use their break room for the get together.

As a gift everyone pitched in for a huge 19" digital picture frame that's nicer than my TV. Each family contributed 100-150 pictures so in the end they had 700 pics of their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. You don't realize who large your family is until you add up the 4 children, 9 grandchildren, and 7 greatgrandchildren. After spouses, the room was quite full I promise you. It was a wonderful moment that was over far too quickly