The Day Before the day before Christmas...

Peaches and I spend the day shopping. And before anyone out there even starts, we went to REAL stores, not just pawn and gun shops!

But first we started out with two hours of "Walker, Texas Ranger". She even watched most of the two episodes, enough to realize that no one beats up Walker...although she was confused when I stated that Chuck Norris was the baddest man whoever lived. "But Daddy, is he really bad?" "No honey, he's just so awesome that he's bad." "I don't even know what that means." That's beginning to become her favorite phrase...."I don't even know what that means!" What I can't understand is how she can laugh at John Boy and Billy, but not follow what's happening on a TV show like Walker, Texas Ranger. I mean, the line between good and bad is clearly drawn, the dialogue is simple and direct, and the story is also pretty simple.

So after our Chuck Norris fix, we headed out into the mean streets of the Mall area....Harbison. We got to the mall at 0950 and were out by 1025. She didn't even look at the carousel, didn't want to go to Build-a-bear or anything. She even found what I was looking for in the store we went in....sort of. It helped that the item was down near my knees, which is about chest high to her. After the mall we made one more stop in a non-El Rakeman-traditional store, then headed for the bike shop. We had to stop somewhere to wait for the good restaurants to open! On the way to the bike shop, we discussed where to have lunch. Moe's was out because we ate there on Tuesday, and, "I don't want to eat there so much I won't like it". She mentioned Chic-fil-A, but I didn't really want to eat there. Then she said, "What's the other place with the chips and salsa and tacos?" "La Fogata?" "Yeah, let's go there!". Man, is this my kid, or what?

After a nice walk through in the bike shop, during which I had to explain motorcycle lifts, motocross armor, chain locks, ride bells and various other motorcycle related paraphernalia, we headed out to the La Fogata in Red Neck...I mean Red Bank. Sure there's one over by my work, but the one in Red Bank is next to the mecca of all Christmas related shopping....Wal-Mart. We had lunch, during which she ate all her lunch plus chips and salsa (awesome!), and went into Wally World. I think we bummed around Wal-Mart for at least an hour and a half...she wanted some temporary tattoos, I wanted a medium-heavy jacket that didn't have POLICE written all over it, so we bought that stuff and headed home.

After attempting to wrap some presents, then just giving up and doing it the way I always do it...badly, we went outside and enjoyed our 54 degree weather. She ran around the backyard talking to everything (golf balls, whiffle balls, soccer balls, bats, golf clubs, etc), and I read a motorcycle mag I picked up at Wal-Mart. Laura got home, Peaches went next door to play, and I rode the motorcycle on a couple of errands...with my new jacket!

Peaches sings the classics....

Well, just one classic anyway.

Tis The Season.................

To be neighborly....................

Peaches and I spent 2 days baking pumpkin bread and delivered it to 7 of our neighbors and some for our mail lady. As we were walking up the street Peaches said, "It feels good to do nice things for others". That comment was so worth the messy kitchen, dirty dishes, backache and sore feet. After we finished baking for the evening, we delivered a gift to some friends then we went out to dinner. When we returned a nice neighbor had put a gift on the porch for Peaches. It was a book titled "If You Give a Pig A Party" and it came with a matching stuffed pig. I almost cried. She was soo excited!
Tis The Season to love others, be kind, generous, think of others before yourself, smile and say "Merry Christmas".

Pregnancy Cravings

With Peaches it was either Subway Tuna Subs or Hardees Hamburgers.....................

With this baby it has been the following:

Moe's Chicken Enchilada Soup
Moe's Cheese Quesadillas
McDonald's Hamburger Happy Meals with a Coke
Candy Bars
Today.........Taco Bell Bean Burritos

No wonder I have gained 13 pounds. If you ask anyone that knows me I would have never eaten McD's, Taco Bell (except for the low fat menu) or candybars (unless I shared half with someone). What is my body doing to me?

Drum Roll Please........................................................

We are having a GIRL!!!!
She weighs 11 ounces and is healthy and apparently likes to bury her face in my placenta. The 4D pictures were a little too invasive for me at this point but it was nice to see that all the important parts are there and are functioning.
Peaches is ecstatic of course. John and I were a little surprised but happy with the results. She will make her appearance sometime in April.

Now we just need to agree on a name!