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.