Cutest "Puntin" in the Patch!

Becca looooooooves pumpkins this year. Only she calls them "puntins." Which is pretty adorable. Here she is in the racecar shopping cart with the pumpkin she picked out at Kroger the other day. I still have plans to take her to a pumpkin patch to revel in the multitude of puntins, but when she walked right over to this pumpkin, hugged it, and tried to pick it up, I decided that it needed to go home with us. A pumpkin in a car....best grocery shopping trip ever. It was a pleasure, even though it was still no Publix!

Over the River and Through the Woods!

This year we literally traveled over the river (Tellico) and through the woods to spend Thanksgiving with my family at my parents' home in Tellico Village, outside of Knoxville. They moved there a few years ago, after they retired, figuring that since we were in Kentucky and my brothers were settled in Ohio and Knoxville, they didn't need to stick around Middle Tennessee for their kids' sake. Oops. Here we are! Seriously, though, it is the perfect place for them, and they are having a grand time. It's a retirement-oriented community, and just about everybody there is new to the area, so they have all kinds of clubs and activities -- we say that it's like college without the classes. Nice. They go to "Walk and Talk," and bike about a million miles a day. My parents are on a planning committee for the Muddy Boots Club (the hiking group), and they even hosted a wine-tasting a couple of weeks ago. Those of you who knew my parents when I was growing up can pick your jaws up off the floor now. (FYI for the rest of you - they weren't very social back then.) So it's really cute, and we make fun of them all the time for living in an old people's community, albeit a very active old people's community. Like I said, it's perfect for them, busy old farts that they are. And they have a nice big-ish house and a community playground (not to mention the boat in the summer!), so it was perfect for our crazy family gathering.

It was blessed chaos. Here's a glimpse:

If you didn't figure, that video was taken just after we had opened presents. Becca was given the Speas family traditional gift: the big red Radio Flyer wagon. Each family gets one when the oldest child is deemed big enough to use it. It's a big hit. It's seriously the best wagon ever, complete with seatbelts and not one, but two cupholders per passenger. Sweet. Becca and Lucy Kate (the Knoxville cousin in Becca's cohort - who turns 1 this week!) had to try it out immediately, with a little help from Shelby and Riley. Take a look:

And because there is no sitting around the house in Tellico Village, we took a Speas family adventure to Bald River Falls in Cherokee National Forest. I have to admit, it was pretty cool, and everyone seemed to have a good time. We even lugged the babies up to the top of the falls, scurrying after the big kids -- and Grandma and Granddaddy, who left us all in the dust, of course.

And, yes, I hear you sister preemie moms gasping...it was a total germfest. But totally worth it. This is the only time my whole family gets together all year long (and we still weren't quite whole without Uncle Doug!), and we skipped last year but decided that it was worth the risk this year. Of the 6 cousins, only 2 were visibly symptomatic, which isn't too bad, considering the time of year and the age of the kids. Apparently it was enough for Becca and I to get sick, though. We're both hacking and drippy, but so far there have been no fevers, so we're icky but not scary sick. Let's hope it stays that way! Even if we stay icky for a while, there is no replacing the memories we made...getting put "under arrested" by Taylor, cuddling with sweet Shelby, cracking up at witty Emma, helping Lego phenom Donald build and build and build, getting beat (legitimately!) at Disney Scene It by the brilliant Riley, and watching Lucy Kate bowl over Becca time and again (love the helmet!). So, so, so fun. Definitely worth a few days of sniffles.

Prematurity Awareness Month

Technically speaking, November is Prematurity Awareness Month in the U.S. I don't need to tell my loyal readers, though, that every month in our house is Prematurity Awareness Month. Every month, we deal with the after effects of having a very premature and very, extremely, off-the-charts low-birth-weight child. And I am pleased as punch to have the privilege of experiencing these after effects. We came too close to much worse. So every month we grieve a little - whether it's as simple as acknowledging that we can't take Becca to the mall to pose on Santa's germy lap or as complicated as weighing the risks of having another preemie when planning our family. But, thank God, every month -- every day, really -- we celebrate the fact that Becca's early and tumultuous debut did not cost her life.

If you are reading this post, chances are you know Becca's story. If you need a refresher, glance over at the picture on the right, and remember that what you are looking at was Becca's best case scenario. I'm not going to try to make you cry or break your heart tonight, because I know that by walking this journey with us, you have glimpsed just how heart-breaking it is to go through the trauma of a (wrong!) terminal diagnosis and extremely early delivery. You know that for 11 weeks, I carried our child knowing full well that she wasn't supposed to make it. You know that she spent the first 123 days of her life in the hospital. You know that she still has special needs that we work hard to accommodate. You know all of this.

But here's what I know coming out of this experience: I don't want anybody to go through what we experienced. Yes, it was worth it, and yes, if it meant having our Itty Bitty, I would do it again in a heartbeat. And personally, I know that I have learned valuable lessons from our experiences. But if I sit right here at my desk and think of the people that I like the least in this world -- and yes, even as a preacher, there are people that I don't like very much at all (but not you, of course, and I assure you that I am working on the others as well) -- I know that I would do all that I can to make sure that they don't have to live through this nightmare. No parent ought to have to collect ultrasound pictures to frame because they are likely to be the only live photos of their child. No mother should have to beg and plead with an anesthesiologist to be able to stay awake during her c-section because she didn't want to miss out on the only 2-3 minutes of her child's life. Nobody deserves such pain. Nobody.

Unfortunately, though, over 45,000 U.S. babies will be born preterm just this November. You can bet that their families will be aware of prematurity this month.

And so I'm asking your help. Like I said, November is national Prematurity Awareness Month, so of course the fabulous March of Dimes has a campaign for it, called "Banding Together." I've created a virtual band in honor of Becca, and I invite you to band together with us by making a donation in her honor. All you have to do is click here to donate. And as an added bonus, if you donate with a MasterCard, they will double your donation! It's that easy to give twice as much, so even if you can only give $5, go for it - because, as my friend Dr. Hinman taught me, 5x2=10, but 0x0=0. (And if you don't have a MasterCard but would still like to double your gift -- and you trust us! -- you can send us a check for the amount of your donation, and we'll be happy to charge it to our MasterCard.)

You've made a difference in the life of our precious preemie. Here's a chance to make a difference in the life of another. And since preterm birth can happen to anyone, who knows - the baby (or grandbaby or niece or cousin) you save could be your own! (My apologies to Flannery O'Connor on that one...though I have to think that even she would smile at the image below. The Paper Bag Princess is definitely a stellar piece of short fiction.)

Disclaimer: When the March for Babies rolls around again in April, I'm sure I'll be soliciting for funds again. We even have big plans to sell special t-shirts. Many of you gave in April, so if you are once a year type people, know that I'll come cyber-knocking again. But there's nothing wrong with giving twice a year, especially when MasterCard is going to double your gift!

Giving Thanksgiving a Chance

Dedicated to two of the biggest fans of Thanksgiving I know: Jessica and Jana.

Butterfly in the Sky...

Did you hear that the last new episode of Reading Rainbow aired this month? How sad! In honor of my favorite kids' show, Becca was a butterfly for Halloween. Okay, it might have just been in honor of my loving butterflies, but whatever. It was super-cute. We had our own little mini Halloween party at Aunt Lauren's - lots of fun. Here's my little butterfly!

And even though I didn't torture the dogs with their costumes this year, Sasha joined in the fun. (And I'm not ruling out the idea of dressing them all up for a photo shoot - my little butterfly, ladybug, and bumble bee!) She's wearing Becca's back-up antennae, which we ended up not using since her headpiece actually fit over her helmet. Yay for stretchable fleece!

Hunter and Becca's First Kiss

Our friends Katy, Sarah, and Hunter came to visit this week! It was SOOOO fun to see them -- definitely a major bright spot in a grey, dreary week. Katy stayed with us for a few days, and Sarah and Hunter trekked out from the city on Monday afternoon. Hunter and Becca hadn't seen each other since May, so it was very exciting for our two little lovebirds. Hunter recently learned to kiss, but at first he had trouble with her helmet. (But he was nice enough to sanitize first.)

Once the helmet was off, he was ready to cuddle. (And we re-sanitized after right after this.)

It was a pretty day, so we stayed outside and snapped a few more shots. I've got to say, it was a lot harder to get a still shot of Hunter than Becca. She's happy examining a piece of grass for 15 minutes; in the meantime, Hunter is crawling/walking laps around us - literally. He's so adorably everywhere. So while Becca does this:

Hunter does this:

It was especially fun to try to change his diaper in the wide open. Good thing Sarah's got quick

hands.

Check out the height difference on these kids! Hunter is really tall, so Becca's not quite as far behind the average kid their age, but this is pretty hilarious. I love our itty bitty girl! Katy's such a good "aunt" -- she let the kids "beep" her nose all afternoon long. Too cute.

And one more shot, just because he is so handsome, even though he does look like Jason...Clark and Colin, you've got some competition!