Well, it's been a while since I've made a real blog entry, but I've been busy. I was traveling quite a bit for a negotiation that took months to get finished, spending nights in school and mixing in a little family time. I'm sorry to say that the blog took a back seat. But I got done with my last final of the semester so I thought I'd better make the blog a priority.

I've made some changes since the last one. I went with a new format. (And for those of you who are wondering, and I know that some of you are, yes, that is a Bob Ross painting in the heading of the blog.) I also have to thank the Springers for turning me on to http://www.projectplaylist.com/. I was pretty excited to add music to the blog experience. I hope that you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed putting the list together. Of course, I realize that not all of you are going to want to listen to what I've selected. You can pause it or just turn the sound down if you like. Either way is fine with me.

Things have been going well for us. Lily and Griffin learn more and more every day. They're awesome at barnyard animal sounds. They love to give five and they both know to hold up one finger when we ask them how old they are. They love to eat pizza and graham crackers, or anything that they think is especially for grown-ups. Lily eats like Bob Wiley on What About Bob? After every bite she says "num, num" over and over. She's quite emphatic about it, too. Lily loves attention and Griff is a bit bashful at times. They love to play together. Lily never laughs as hard at anyone as she does at Griff. They fight over toys and books sometimes, but for the most part they are pretty good buddies. They're learning to say words (though Griff is a bit slower than Lily) and they both ask "what's that?" about everything. (Though it sounds more like "w'sat?"). Griff also has learned the beginning vocal from Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song". Melissa sings it to them all the time and Griff started doing it back. It is one of the greatest things that I've ever seen a one year old do. I don't think I would be prouder if he could spell his name at this point. They are enjoying the Christmas season. They like the tree, and are even pretty good about leaving it alone when we ask them to. They are getting big and doing great.

Thanksgiving was good. The kids ate a ton of food. I've never seen either of them eat so much in their whole lives. My compliments to the chef.

Griff's birthday was fun. We had a lot of family over and he got some pretty nice gifts. He wanted a baseball party, if you can believe that. The theme of the party worked out well because Grandpa B gave him a little mitt. It was a fun party.

Melissa and I are also doing well. The kids keep us pretty busy, but they are also a lot of fun these days. Work and school are going pretty well for me so I don't have much to complain about. Melissa is just glad that she has been able to avoid the hospital so far in 2007. (Don't worry, I just knocked on wood.) Anyway, that's it for now. We'll probably have something again after Christmas. Happy holidays to everyone.

This must make Santa's day. "Oh good. Another screaming 1 year old. Swell." He was a really good sport about it. I really like the look on Griff's face. It's like he's not surprised by this outburst at all, but he's still a little bit embarrassed. "Oh jeez, here she goes again."

"I'm okay, I'm okay. As long as Mommy is between me and that beard. Can we just go please? Please?"

"Santa, huh. Yeah, I saw him last year, too. Let me know when my milk is ready."

I've read this book to them a bunch of times, but apparently I've never been able to convey it quite like Griff does. Judging by the the look on Lily's face, they've come to a very harrowing point in the story.

You know those discovery channel shows where some maniac gets in the ocean in a cage and starts baiting great white sharks so that he can get a picture of it? That's the kind of danger you have to face in order to get this kind of picture from Lily. She is a biter. She bites everything from her doll, to the couch, to Griff. He gets a new imprint of Lily's teeth somewhere on his body about every day. She may seem innocent most of the time, but she bites without remorse. If we can't figure out how to stop her soon we're going to have to put her in one of those Hannibal Lecter masks.

Awwwwhhh crap! The Utes lost again. Griff is taking it rough. I tried to tell him next year is definitely the year. This one is going to stay with him for a while.

Lily is getting some good practice in with her little 'vacuum' for when she turns 2 and has to start busting her hump and earning her keep.

Griff got this little 'vacuum' for his birthday. He has a pretty good time with it. It won't be long now until he is able to fulfill the measure of his creation and start doing actual chores.

I love this picture. Every once in a while she gets so tired that she'll actually just flop down and lay there for a second until she recharges enough to go terrorize some more. She looks like a little bump on a log, but these moments are actually few and far between.

Our little guy is one year old. He's a happy, funny and loving little kid. It's hard to imagine that it's been a year. We're lucky to have him around.

The moment that Griff has been waiting for. This is the before...

...and after.

How did Griff get so dirty? We've got all the gruesome footage right here. (If you're listening to the media player above it would be good to pause it before playing this video.)

The boy is just as happy as can be. He had to put up with a lot of crap from Lily about being so much younger than her for 25 days. As of this day, however, he won't have to hear it again for at least another 340 days or so.

Here are a few extra pictures of Griff's birthday bash. Melissa did a great job on everything and Griff seemed to have a good time. It was a great first birthday.

Lily and Griff enjoyed dressing up for the first time for Halloween. Griff was a lil' devil and Lily was a lil' ladybug. They were pretty cute. They loved helping answer the door and staring at all the trick-or-treaters. Griff had his first dum-dum and was instantly hooked. They were a hit at all of the parties that they went to.

Here are a few cute pictures of Lily and Griff on Halloween night.

Melissa took the kids to see the witches at Gardner Village. They had a pretty good time. They weren't really afraid of the witches. They went on a carriage ride with a witch and had some fun.

Halloween is always the time of year when Griff likes to reflect on where he is at in life. It is a solemn time of year for him.

Doesn't she look like she thinks she is just about the coolest one year old ever? Trust me, that is exactly what she is thinking.

Happy Halloween!

Lily showing off the cheese.

I AM SO HAPPY!!!

Lily is a brilliant peek-a-boo player. She likes to peek through her fingers when she plays.

They sleep in the weirdest positions. Griff is sleeping in the 'outstretched prayer' position and Lily is sleeping in the 'chalk outline' position.

It seems I have interrupted Griff doing something very important. He looks like he's thinking, "What is it now? Can't you see that I'm busy?" My apologies.

Doesn't Lily look so grown up? Trust me, this look of maturity is rare. More often than not, there is a devious look on her face as she devises plan after plan to get all of Mommy's attention.

Here are a few pictures from other people of Lily and Griff. Some of them are little old, but they are pretty cute.

It's been a pretty exciting few weeks. Lily had her first birthday. It's hard to imagine that she is a year old. She is quite a sweet little kid. Griff's birthday is next week. He'll get a baseball birthday party. Melissa and I also had our 6th anniversary, so we've got that going for us, which is nice.

Happy birthday Lily! Lily had a successful birthday party. She was pretty wound up for it. Too much attention, I guess. She got all kinds of good stuff and was pretty spoiled. It was a lot of fun.

Lily's ladybug extravaganza. Melissa did a really good job planning everything and pulling it all together. Everyone except for Lily seemed to have a good time.

Just a couple of cute kids at a ladybug party.