Happy New Year!

Before ringing in the New Year, I'll hit on a few highlights over the last week of the old;

I caught Taylor in a moment with her new friend. Her new friend doesn't have a name yet, at least one I'm able to pronounce, I'll update that information as more becomes available. As it is with friends they shared some secrets, shared some laughs. There were some rough patches but in the end friendship won out.

"Inside info from your Tour Guide" (An explanation of things you may notice if you stare at these pictures too long.)

Yes, I was in clear violation of official Bumbo seat protocol by having Taylor on my desk, but I was right with her at all times and she can't move on her own yet. You'll also notice a common theme in many of our photographic backdrops. An unfinished project. In this case we are seeing an unpainted door and trim from the walk-in closet I added to the office when we went from a 2 PC, to a 1 PC and 1 Laptop home. Also another unfortunate theme would be the unkempt desk. For that I have no defense. As for the door, there will come a day... I can see it clearly in my head. In that vision all my tools are organized, the unkempt has become kempt. I often spend an afternoon putting the finishing touches on a project that has accumulated on my to-do list over the past couple of years...

Back to reality and a current project. I was out in the front yard getting in touch with my roots. Paying homage to the local lore of my childhood, I was playing the part of Paul Bunyan. Nearing completion of Stage 2, Operation Hickory Tree, Linda came outside and told me she was heading for a short walk with Taylor. I just had to stop what I was doing to snap a few pictures. They looked quite the stylish pair. Following this post's trend of unfinished projects, you'll notice branches and debris containers littering the front yard. Perhaps when the job is complete it will warrant a brief discussion in this locale. For now I will just give two personal messages on Operation Hickory Tree.

To Nate and Carol: "Thank you for the use of your chainsaw."

To the Hickory Tree: "I win."

On the last day of 2008 we were set to go out with style. We held three coveted invitations to ring in the new year at Club Dungan and festivities were set to kick off at 6:30. After assembling enough supplies to survive a short camping trip, we arrived fashionably late at 7:00. The atmosphere was great and the KU bowl game was showing on the big screen.

After some conversation over good food, we cheered on as the Jayhawks emerged victorious in their bowl conquest. Nate and Carol were very generous in their support for KU when you take into consideration they are Nebraska and K-State fans. Following the game we were treated to some floor entertainment. While no lampshades were worn as fashion accessories, things did get a little risque. I think I saw a little flirting going on, although I remained on top of the situation.

"Inside info from your Tour Guide"

You'll notice that since these pictures were not taken at the Batten homestead there are no unfinished projects in the background to point out. I will say some will notice something different in my appearance. Yes, currently I have something on my chin. I'm still uncertain how long I will keep it, although I have received a few positive remarks. Linda and Taylor both like it at the moment. Taylor seems to enjoy reaching out and trying to pull it, Linda enjoys showing Taylor the proper technique.

We didn't make it to 2009 at Club Dungan. With 1/3 the guest list already crashed, and the other 2/3 hitting the rumble strips, we headed toward home at 11:30. The new year starting with Linda and I watching the ball drop our back TV. Taylor, half awake only because she had just recently been removed from her car seat, resting her head on Mommy's shoulder while rubbing her eyes, trying to muster the energy to cry about it. Some overly hyped celebrity (I can never keep up with them) announced it was 2009. I got a kiss from my Bride and gave a kiss to my Daughter...

Then we had to go change Taylor's diaper and put her in some dry clothes for bed, before getting ready and dragging ourselves to the same destination. We arrived early in the first hour of 2009.

Now that it's Jan 1st 2009 it's time to make those resolutions. I never really made any before, or never attempted to keep any at the very least. This year I've decided to change that. Creating this blog has caused me to talk to more people about more things than I have in at least my last 20 years, if not my entire life. I'll resolve to keep building on the events of the past few weeks and to keep updating this blog as long as someone is interested in reading it.

Following the link below will take you to see more pictures of Taylor visiting with her friend, Linda and Taylor heading out for a walk, and the New Years Eve party at Club Dungan. Hope you enjoy!

Picture Gallery

Here's hoping everyone had a safe and worry free Holiday Season.

"How was Christmas?" "Not too bad, actually, pretty good..."

Credit to Linda's wonderful decorating



Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the flat,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a cat.
Taylor was gone, with Mom visiting friends,
Hershey and Cocoa were both down napping... again.

Dad settled down, on to the computer chair,
Then pondered how many years, he'd spent sitting there.
It was time to make a post, on his shiny new blog,
The only thing missing, was a good faithful dog.

Christmas had passed, and things had gone well,
It gave him many thoughts, on which to dwell.
He thinks to himself, how much do I show
Then says "What the hell, let's see where it goes."



Wow, what a Christmas... It's nice to be able to sit in a nice quiet room and think after such an eventful day. First of all, I trust everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Hopefully it was a day free of worry. Ours was great, one of the best I can remember.

We got a fairly late start; we moved the Snooze Button into our bed. After a small treat of sleeping in past 0' dark 30, I started by making some Blueberry Pancakes while Linda got Taylor up, dressed and fed. After a relaxing breakfast out by the tree, Taylor got to open her first Christmas present. At first she was thrilled with the tissue paper and quite satisfied to let Mom rummage through the remainder of the bag on her own. Oh sure, she kept her eye on the rest of the paper coming out, but she was quite content with her piece. Her reaction was priceless when Linda showed her the real present. It was a doll from Grandma and Grandpa and her eyes lit up, all smiles and reaching out for the doll. She ended with a big hug for her new best friend. Very cute. By the time Taylor had made it through the bag, inspecting each item as it emerged, she was just exhausted and needed at little time to recharge the battery.

We had made it through one present and we just called our first time out. If I coached in the SEC, some guy would be creating firetombatten.com in his basement right now.

This is when it really hit me that this Christmas was going to be very different. In every way. By all accords it should have been a very short Christmas morning. For obvious reasons we had kept things small. Actually was the longest Christmas day I can recall, and yet I enjoyed every moment. The last presents were opened as darkness settled in. We took many breaks. Taylor napped while Linda and I exchanged gifts. She napped when Hershey and Cocoa opened their gift from Grandma and Grandpa, and again while I assembled the Saucer Command Center her Aunt and Uncle had given her. (This actually spanned a couple of naps) When she was awake, between diaper changes and feedings, we found time to have her open a present or two. It was a very relaxed and trouble free day.

I started thinking about Christmas in general. It always carried a small feeling of dread from me. Yes, I enjoyed Christmas but it was not an overall joyous occasion. I always struggle mightily with selective memory of growing up. A lot of times I have a hard time placing events within 5-10 year span of accuracy. I don't remember all that many details about Christmas growing up. I remember a few distinct presents.

I do remember one Christmas vividly although I have a hard time placing it on my mental time line. It was the year my Dad's mom, or Mimi as I knew her, had a stroke at the dinner table on Christmas Eve. As if it were yesterday, I remember it happening while we were saying grace. Of course I was peaking to look at people around the table. I thought she was bending down to pick up a napkin. Then I just heard the sound of her hitting the floor. I remember it seeming to take forever for the ambulance to arrive. I remember Uncle Howard in our kitchen with Dad, both being upset. Mimi died in the middle of grace at the dinner table Christmas Eve only in my world. She actually was taken to Duluth, but she never regained consciousness. No one wanted us to see her the way she was in the hospital, but rather to remember her as she was during her visit. So I never saw her again. I'm thankful that it's difficult to wrap my mind around the details of how she looked on the kitchen floor. Sometimes the selective memory is a great ally. I remember we didn't open presents for about a week or so when Dad could get back to the house. We opened Mimi's presents to us after she officially passed away a month or two later, and Dad was back home for good. Dad always had the knack for guessing the contents of a present. I remember it used to frustrated Mimi to no end. Her final present to Dad was perfect. It was a cushioned toilet seat with a duck embroidered on it. He would not have guessed that in a hundred years, nor would he have bought it in a thousand. But, I'm sure he enjoyed it every day. It went on his Master Bedroom Toilet and I know how cold that house got in the Winter. In a way, the fact that something tragic happened at Christmas just gives me a tie with Mimi that will never be severed. I think about her every Christmas and that is not too bad.

Meanwhile, back to our current time frame. I think I just experienced another Christmas that I will never forget. With this one I don't even have to search for the silver lining. With that said, I have some good news and some bad news.

The bad news is, I hardly took any pictures of Christmas Day. For that I apologize. In the future I will make greater attempts at capturing some moments in pictures.

The good news is, I did shoot a lot of footage of Christmas. I hope to find time to edit it into presentable form for friends and family to view. After two shorter attempts I did make a short movie with some of the footage of Christmas Day. Taylor receives her present from Mom and Dad, then her present from Santa.

Listen closely at the 2:00 mark. In the spirit of the Caroling Season
"Do you hear what I hear?"

A Present from Mom & Dad, A Present from Santa

As for the Pictures, we did manage to get a couple of Taylor late Christmas Day, asleep in Mom's lap. I've also included a few from today of her using her new stuff.

A Very Taylor Christmas

As it turned out, we made it through the day just fine. And while yes, we did use all of our time outs, they were all used in a sound strategic manner. After all, we get them for a reason.

Please remember to Vote! Just off there to your right. Right over there, only takes a second to make your voice heard.

Christmas Eve

Just a few quick thoughts and a wish of Merry Christmas to all.

We spent some time a few days ago trying to take some pictures of Taylor. That is always hit or miss. Well, more towards the miss side of the bell curve. But, we do usually get a couple of suitable shots littered among the many "Calvin" impersonations.

The Christmas setting was a lot more difficult then the nice outdoor Halloween setting sitting on Mommy's lap. Between lighting issues more complex then my already Season of Joy seared brain capacity could comprehend, and the desire to photograph Taylor sitting in front of a festive backdrop before she had actually learned the skill of sitting, the deck was stacked against us. I really feel for all the parents who came before me, the ones who had to take baby pictures with *gulp* film. I would give up after the 3rd trip back from the drug store. I've come to appreciate why I only have a handful of photographs of myself as a baby. Dad must have done me the favor of removing my "Calvin" shots.

Taylor has had it pretty easy so far. I've been pretty good, deleting most of the damaging evidence I may one day feel compelled to show a suitor. I could not remove them all from the Christmas photo shoot or I would be left without evidence of it's occurrence. I did take a couple that caught my eye and played into the imperfections, kind of an artsy approach such as the one leading this article.

With that, I release the rest of the naked truth of:

Taylor's Christmas Photo Shoot.

You may notice one submission has a peculiar caption. This is the first prose of Taylor. She was sitting on my lap while I was editing the photo, she started playing with the keyboard and titled the photo without my knowledge. I saw the work a bit later and decided I just could not erase it. How will my refrigerator survive her trek through school? I have a phobia of my refrigerator being overrun... I am starting to wonder if I will mind. I'd like to think we can find some medium ground on the issue.

All this and we still haven't gone through Christmas Morning and Christmas Day. It ought to be interesting. Maybe that will be another topic. I hope your day goes (or went as the case may be) well.

*I trust that these pictures are being released to friends and will not be used in any way against Taylor. That's strictly Dad's domain, and only if she really deserves it!*

"How was halloween?" "Not too bad, Taylor went Trick-or-Treating."

Taylor isn't able to speak. This definitely does not mean she is unable to get her point across. Her first Halloween saw her as a Bumble Bee. Truth be told it was she was going to be a Sheep, a Pumpkin, or a Bumble Bee... cause that's what they had. She already had acquired enough lamb stuff that I grew concerned she may develop Species Confusion, and you just knew everyone was going to put their little one in a 0-3 mos. sized pumpkin outfit. I think we made the right choice.

Linda of course was anxious to show her off to our next door and across the street neighbors. Our neighbor across the street talked Linda into heading out to the surrounding neighborhood to do some trick-or-treating. They had fun, met some people out in the Subdivision, and got a Decent sized bag of treats. All 3 seemed to really enjoy themselves and Taylor was a big hit with all the houses. Everyone was excited to meet her.

For those that don't know, we live in a little area that was built 20 years before the surrounding area. So to we go through a Subdivision to get to our house, but we don't actually live in it. We actually live down what looks to be a Limestone service road. There are 6 houses total back here situated between the Subdivision and a Public Library that sets on other side of a creek and large stand of woods from our houses . 3 of those houses were all built at the same time, they all sit along a 100 yd. dead end lane, we are the 1st house on the right. So really it's like we are in a neighborhood of 3 houses and both our neighbors are great. Sometime, I will get a post up about our house and neighborhood. I think it may add some more character to subsequent posts if you know where I am living. Let's put it this way; We live in the middle of a large Residential / Business area of Gainesville, yet we have above ground wires and private wells. Our location is by far the best part of our house and nothing can really encroach on our little oasis.

Anyway... Here's a link to some pictures of Taylor in her outfit. She had a nice little photo shoot, told us she was done, and then got a little rest.

Taylor's Halloween Photo Shoot

*Disclaimer: These pictures did not occur exactly on Halloween. Credit shout be given to Grandmom for keeping on us enough to get these taken before she out grew the outfit.

The only one taken on Halloween is of Taylor sleeping. We did get some indoor ones, but the outfit just doesn't translate to indoor flash photography. At least not with our lighting.*