So many events, so little time!

We certainly have had an eventful month thus far. And many more exciting holiday celebrations to come!

On Sunday, December 2nd, Cary and I went with my sorority chapter to serve dinner to the homeless at the Lighthouse Mission. I have done this many times from a very early age and through high school with the Interact organization. Now, our sorority has made a commitment to serve food there once a month. I'm pretty proud of my sisters considering there are only FIVE of us who are active. I hope to continue sharing this rewarding and humbling service with my husband, my mother and anyone else who would care to join us.

Also this month, I have been lucky enough to have been taught further about the Jewish religion and Chanukah. Sarah, from our sorority chapter was kind enough to show us some insight into this beautiful celebration of her religion. She even gave us a dreidle. I think we were all able to learn so much that evening.

This past Sunday, Karen and Marianne hosted their annual cookie exchange. Everyone made 4 dozen cookies to trade and yummy they were! I made pecan clusters, hidden mint cookies (thank you to Miss Paula Deen for those DELISH recipes) and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. As is normal for me, I had such a hard time deciding what recipes to use! This is an event that my Mom and I really enjoy participating in during the holiday season. We always have so much fun together.

This evening was the annual Beta Sigma Phi City Council Christmas Party. We had a lovely evening at the newly opened Sycamore Farm B&B event barn, despite being in an area that is not yet heated. Our toes got frosty, but it was a beautiful location.

The Vernon's have been hard at work Christmas shopping for our precious boy. He will have some really fun things to 'open' on Christmas day. He has already received his very first Christmas present! Our 'July Mommy' online group did an outfit exchange. I am so proud of all of us because we are spread out across the country and we pulled this off! My Secret July Mommy Santa lives in St. Paul, Mn! She and her son, Sebastian picked out an adorable red velour sleeper with the cutest hat for McKinley. I'll post pics of that as soon as I can. Its too cute of an outfit not to show off!

McKinley has been a busy boy with his latest growth spurt. His hair is getting longer and slightly thicker too! And don't even get me started on how active he is becoming. He has learned how to crawl, military style and can't wait to get somewhere! I am amazed at his agility. He loves to climb 'up' his Mommy and Daddy's chests and snort and bury his head in our necks. I swear, it is the funniest thing! I am happy to report that this child absolutely loves his jumperoo! A jumperoo is the updated, less 'hazardous' version of a johnny-jump-up type thing with a million bells and whistles. McKinley's even has a toucan and gecko hanging from the rainforest trees! Its hilarious! So far, he really loves all of his toys and activity equipment. I don't think there is anything we've run across yet that he doesn't completely enjoy, we are so pleased.

On to food! McKinley turns FIVE MONTHS OLD this Thursday (which totally blows my mind), this means he will be going to TWO 'meals' a day, as advised by our pedi. We are going to serve cereal in the mornings, which he loves and food in the evenings, even better! He has tried peas, carrots, sweet potatoes and now pears. He loved everything but the pears. Now we are going to try squash, green beans and bananas, yum! It is so much fun to see his reactions to these new foods and textures. His facial expressions are priceless.

Speaking of McKinley's facial expressions...I am proud to announce that our son has made his debut in print! On Sunday, December 2nd, McKinley appeared in our Valley Viewer as one of the featured babies from our photographer. We were so excited to show him off. I looked on the trib website, but had no luck finding a link to post on here of McKinley's pic. So instead, I've put the full-color pic on here, which is better than the newsprint!

Something else really wonderful happened for McKinley since my last post. He has had his very first snow! Yay! A beautiful snow it was too. We took pictures very, very quickly outside with him last Friday. We also put his foot in the snow. There is a reason, so nobody freak out! Um, I don't really know why, but there is an old wives tale that says something about putting baby's foot in his/her first snow???? If you know anything about this, please post a comment! I'd love to know WHY we did this exactly... hahaha.

Our family is still going forward with the 'green' thing. I have been contacting companies that we receive mailings from (that we did not sign up for, I might add), asking them to please remove us from their lists. Its a small thing, again, but every little bit adds up.

We will have much more to post for the remainder of the month. Monday, Cary and I will be hosting our annual Sorority Christmas party in our home. I look forward to this every year, especially because I serve the Oliver Mulled Wine that my Dad introduced us to. Oh, it is so good and warm!

Finally, unfortunately it seems Ladybug is not the only beloved pet to make her journey to pet heaven as of late. Special thoughts of sympathy go out from our family to the families of Lady (Vanessa's family dog), Lucy (Jodi's hamster), and Ralph (Chrissy's chinchilla). I'm sure they're all sniffing one another in the traditional greeting! May they rest in peace!

Hope you are all having a blessed holiday and a wonderful week!

Lynn