Belated Treat

No TRICKS here, just a sweet PUMPKIN treat!

Since we could not make it to see everyone we know and love we are doing a little virtual trick-or-treating!

What a fun two nights of Halloween fun we had! McKinley adjusted fairly well to his pumpkin costume and we are very thankful for that. We are all also glad it wasn't cold. I remember the days when Halloween was always FREEZING! Ahhh, global warming heated things up for us. More on that later.

Cary and I decided it would be fun to do a little dressing up ourselves. We joined McKinley as Daddy Zombie (not a far cry from new-parenthood!) and Mommy Witch (again, not a far cry from new-parenthood!). It was fun to see everyone's reactions when they expected to see an infant dressed up but were surprised by ADULTS getting in on the action. For all our treating we scored a whole bunch of diapers, courtesy of Nonna (my Mom), some candy and a teddy bear that was dressed exactly like McKinley (thank you, Jodi!). We had lots of fun.

McKinley dressed up for daytime fun in his 'Daddy's Little Monster' outfit and 'Baby's First Boo' socks. Very festive! Very cute!

SO glad October is over. Whew...it was a busier month than I thought it would be, but so many fun activities too! I'm happy to report that I am finished with those insane online classes. I felt very out of touch during that 5 week period. I'm over it...ready to get on with it and enjoy the holidays! Can you BELIEVE they are here?

McKinley has many new tricks (not the Halloween kind)...he has discovered the many tones of his voice and has even developed an eventful screech resembling what Cary describes as a Terodactyl and gives my mom goosebumps. He is still saying, "HEY!" and "HI!" and is working very hard on "Ahhhh". Okay, so he has no idea what he's saying and its a total fluke, but its cute.

Papa and Honey Robertson got McKinley a set of brightly-colored rubber duckies a few weeks ago. He is now OBSESSED with kicking them in his bath tub. We're sure he'll be the new kicker for the Colts very soon. Look out Vinatieri!!!!!!

He's enjoying peek-a-boo and he LOVES his LINKS! He is sitting happily in the Bebe Pod (think tiny baby seat). And the BIGGEST NEWS....shhh, don't tell our Pedi, we were supposed to wait until he was 4 months, close enough...he's officially on rice cereal! MMMMmmmm! We only do a small amount in the evenings, just so he adjusts, and we mix it with formula. McKinley is doing pretty well with a spoon and is getting the hang of it relatively quickly.

On the subject of global warming...the Vernon's are trying to go as 'GREEN' as we can. We figure if we are filling a landfill with McKinley's non-biodegradable diapers, we might as well make up for it some other way (why hasn't someone made them bio-degradable yet?). We've been using energy-efficient light bulbs since they came out and have energy-star appliances, and even use a water-efficient shower head. But we are taking it a step further now. Small things like water bottles are adding up in landfills at alarming rates, these are not biodegradable. So, we got big sports bottles to fill with water and take with us (mine is even a breast cancer foundation bottle-I did good TWICE!), plus its a healthy alternative to picking up a diet coke or dr. pepper. I'm even trying to carpool every time to sorority meetings. Also, trying to get away from those pesky plastic shopping bags, we are moving to reuseable shopping bags. My secret sister in sorority even got me one! They're cute too! Mine came from Pier 1 and was $1.99!!!! Can't beat that! So, there are a few less pieces of plastic going into the landfills from the Vernon's. Even my Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine has gone to recycled paper, so I feel less guilty about my magazine addiction. I will continue to post more changes we are making in effort to keep the Earth around for McKinley and his family. We can all do something, right?

Have a great week!

Lynn