Christmas Play-by-play

Whew! What a month! It certainly has been a whirlwind couple of weeks, but OH SO MUCH FUN!
McKinley and his Mommy & Daddy had a really wonderful Christmas, and boy did our boy score with Santa. Clearly, he was a very good boy. hee hee hee He got cool puzzles, his very first computer, a train set, a dump truck, a rocking horse, some great games for his LEAPad learning system, a Little People barn and nativity, a Lil' Kawasaki Power Wheels ATV and a bunch of other cool stuff. McKinley truly had a ball opening all of the gifts, he got the hang of it very quickly and liked handing the torn papers to us so he could keep on ripping!

As we all know, the season is about much more than toys and presents and Santa and stockings. Mom, McKinley, Cousin Judie and I had a great time baking together on what will hopefully become a new family tradition. Cary and I had a blast shopping for some special things for McKinley and the rest of our family too. Our family had a wonderful time attending Christmas Eve mass and taking in the sights of the season, like Christmas in the Park (many local organizations compete each year with bigger and better lights and themes through our largest park in the city, it's always been so beautiful!). In the evening on Christmas Eve, we had our second annual reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. This year Valentine joined in (she loves to listen to us read to McKinley) and McKinley was much more enthralled with the story and all the little things to do in the book. It was very sweet. And on Christmas Day, Mom came along with the three of us to join the entire Vernon crowd for the annual Italian-style Christmas Dinner. It was a really BIG event with so many people, we all had a ball. Grandma V's homemade lasagna was just as delicious as always. Mmmmm! McKinley's favorite thing to do that day was climbing up and down the stairs with lots of his big cousins.
My only complaint is with myself...I am so disappointed in the LACK of pictures I took. Me...who takes THOUSANDS of pictures every year - literally. I think I was such an emotional ball of stress due to McKinley injury and my neck pain coming back yet again that it just didn't get done. I don't know. There are NO pictures from Christmas with my Mom or my inlaws, very few of us opening gifts Christmas morning, none of all the baking we did - nothing. Whhhaaaaa????? Ugh. Next year I promise myself to take TOO many!

The whole month was very hectic, but it was so wonderful. It is so comforting and heart warming to see our son enjoying himself and loving being with many of his family members.

Pee Boo!

Oh my goodness, last night brought us a very sweet surprise as we finished putting up the NEW new Christmas Tree --- LONG story...let's just say we got a NEW tree because the 'old' new one was seriously busted. Anyway, as I went off chasing McKinley (as I do a bazillion times a day now) I met him in his room where he promptly covered his eyes, uncovered them and said, 'PEE BOO!!!'

OH seriously, cutest thing ever. He says it with a pause in between for the 'A', so you really have to wait for it. Instead of Peek-a-boo, it's PEE.....BOO! Love it!

McKinley is quickly learning at least one or two words a day now, sometimes more. We've had some great ones this week: earlier last week I asked him what a doggie says and he replied, 'ruuh, ruuh' for ruff, ruff. And a 'Goo' (cat) says 'mao'. He's even got a monkey down - 'ooh oooh oooh ahh ahh ahh'.

Another early morning surprise was the appearance of teeth #'s 11 and 12. They finally showed up this morning, proving to McKinley, Mommy & Daddy that it has in deed been a rough night or two. Ooof.

Lynn

Thanksgiving 2008!

For Thanksgiving we hit the road once again! This year we spent the holiday with my Godparents and many of their friends and family. The food was delish, the company so nice and the weather was perfect!

McKinley had a blast trying to keep up with all the children ranging in ages from 10 to 2! Our 16 month old kept up pretty darn well. Having recently mastered stairclimbing - up AND down, it was a breeze for him to whip up the stairs after the kids (supervised, of course). The funniest part was his newest trick, learned from my Godparents' youngest granddaughter, Janie. She slides down the (carpeted) stairs on her belly, feet first. McKinley only needed to watch her once or twice before he decided this would be his method of transportation down stairs. He laughed about it the whole, quick way down!

We all left with full bellies and the triclosan definitely worked it's magic on McKinley, for on the way home he was dreaming of stairclimbing with all his new friends! We love TURKEY DAY!

Lynn

McKinley's First Haircut!

On the eve of Thanksgiving, the three of us were lookin' pretty shabby. hahaha We all needed haircuts, and we got them! (You can see the end result in the Thanksgiving post) But by far, the most exciting of the haircutting events of the day was that of McKinley's.

Our boy was just starting to sport a slight mullet - not cute for anyone. So, into Amy's (my hairstylist) chair he went. Thankfully, Amy's daughter, Preslee was there to help with the all-important job of entertaining McKinley. She did super and so did he!

In the beginning McKinley wondered what was going on with the cape and his wet hair being molded into a very high faux-hawk. He loved the end result, he stared in the mirror like, 'Oh! Nice!' and squealed with delight.

Our only hope is that every haircut with him is as easy...ha! We'll see!

Lynn

It's been three years...

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day I lost my Dad.

I can't believe it.

I miss him so.

I'd give anything for just one opportunity for McKinley and my Dad to spend some time together here on Earth, anything! Mom tells me he knew McKinley before we knew McKinley, so that's sort of comforting...I said sorta.

Anyway, I felt like posting a picture of him. Everyone else we know and love ends up on here, so why not.

This is the last picture I have with my Dad. It was Father's Day 2005. We took a trip in his convertible to Avon, Indiana where we ate at Bonefish Grill. He loved going there.

We had so much fun that day, I'm glad we had the opportunity to go.

I also felt like posting this picture from my wedding day. It's dark because the photograher was having a major argument with his stupid camera. But at least I have it.

It was a wonderful day. I got to share much of my day with him. He picked me up from my hair appointment, took me to the church in the convertible (FUN!) - we almost ran into Cary! We even shared some special words before walking me down the aisle.

I miss him a lot, but I was a very lucky girl to have had such a special father.

Lynn

Fun Fall Vacay

Two weeks ago Cary and I decided it was time for a brief, close-to-home vacation. So, we packed up and headed to St. Louis. We had such a great time ! Here are some highlights:

Our first night in the city we decided to just lay low and relax. So, we ordered a pizza and chilled in the hotel room. It was really nice to not have to rush around like crazy people. Seems the last half of this year has been nothing but running, running and more running.

The next day we made our way to the zoo. It was cooler than we had expected, so not all of the animals were out. We stayed nice and toasty with hot chocolate and by visiting the zoo's many animal houses where we got to see penguins and puffins, monkeys of all kinds, hundreds of exotic birds and some beautiful butterflies! One of the sea lions was the most entertaining creature of the day. He happily posed for pictures in an ever-so-dramatic way while his friends frolicked in the water.

By far the strangest and funniest part of the day was the giant "Goo" and the sneaky lynx in the big cat area. The Goo had a treat for us when we walked up...he had a hairball. Cary was filming the cat at the time and we caught the strange event on camera - which THANKFULLY resulted in no hairball, just the nausea leading up to it I guess.

The lynx was another story. We went to see their 'cage' (which is very open...hmmm) and as I am reading about these beautiful cats I noticed one was truly eyeing McKinley like an appetizer. It completely creeped me out, so Cary took him away. As I finished reading about the animals, Cary advised me to remove myself immediately as well. Seems the lynx was also eyeing me as the potential main-course. Whaaaaaat?! FREAKY! He stared me down until he could no longer see us. That was enough big cat for me. I'll stick to my little goos.

We finished up the day at Union Station with dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (which was WAY too loud for all of us...) and headed back to the hotel for the evening.

Day Two - we had a LOT to do! We started out at the City Museum - which was a blast. Everything there had a previous life, if you will, and has been turned into something else entirely that provides fun for kids and adults alike. There were giant 3, 4 and 10 story slides (and little tiny ones too - perfect for McKinley) made from what we think were shocks from vehicles, and gorgeous displays of mosaic work everywhere you looked. I loved the printing press templates used as wall paper, and the architexture museum was a sight - complete with an antique elevator made by Otis!

The three of us made beautiful paper snowflakes with the snowflake lady and McKinley even decorated a Christmas ornament for his tree! We had a great time and it was an interesting place. I love how everything has been repurposed. Pretty cool!

Our next destination was breath taking. We visited the Basillica of St. Louis (as in the actual saint, not the city). This place is amazing. It took over 65 years to complete the mosaic work throughout the enormous building (and trust me, the mosaic work is tiny and EVERYWHERE). The pope has visited there and was just as astounded as all the common-folk who visit the church. While we were there the organist was practicing for the weekend's masses, which included performances by the Vienna Boys Choir. I cannot even describe how beautiful the sound of that organ was. The whole visit truly left us speechless.

We headed home the next day, but we had one more stay up our sleeves. Back in February, Cary won this guest package for one night's stay at McKinley House Bed & Breakfast. Yes, you read that right. CARY won a free stay at MCKINLEY house. Ironic, huh? Anway, it's about 30 minutes away in a little area outside of Brazil, Indiana. The house was GORGEOUS and our stay was so pleasant, complete with a garden tub and a lovely breakfast for all of us.

Finally, Friday we headed home ... to stay.

This little vacation was the perfect pre-holiday getaway, it really rejuvinated us and even put us in the holiday spirit!

Yay for vacay!

Lynn

Thankfulness and a shopping adventure

Normally, I'm pretty...diligent, shall we say about keeping my posts in chronological order (a trait picked up from my Mom). This time, well - there is something on my mind that I have to share lest I forget. So, before I share our super-fun vacay to St. Louis, McKinley's very first haircut or a stair-climbing, cabinet/door/drawer opening fun-filled Thanksgiving, I simply must share something that really touched my heart today.

I would like to think that over the last 2 years of my life, and most of the rest of my life (except for that dark time of grief nearly 3 years ago when I lost Dad) I have remained a fairly positive person. I definitely try very hard to find the silver lining in things that happen in my daily life. So, it's not hard for me to express how very, very thankful I am for all the loving, caring, kind people I have in my life. I mean that. I'm also so very thankful for the gifts God has given me: Cary - my best friend, McKinley, two wonderful parents, fabulous friends, a roof over my head - the list goes on.

Today, however on a post-Thanksgiving Day 'Black Friday' shopping trip I discovered just how very thankful I am for my son's health and for this little boy and his brother, mom and dad. I have NO idea what the parents' names are, but I do know that these two little boys were named from angels and men in the bible - Gabriel and Ezekiel. Gabriel is almost 3 and when we were waiting for a table at Friday's with his Daddy today, all I could think about was asking God to help him.

Gabriel has an extremely rare form of cancer, somewhere around the eye. Only 300 cases have ever been reported, and thus far he is the only 'case' who has been reported to have a recurrence THREE times within his short little life. He has endured many surgeries, chemo, radiation and now a new form of radiation therapy that is still in development stages. All of this before he turns THREE.

I think I'm a strong Mom. No, no...I THOUGHT I was a strong Mom. No. Gabriel's Mom wakes up everyday knowing that she is going to have to wake her precious son and begin his day with a trip for his daily treatment. She also has to take his younger brother. Everyday she has to endure what can only be some unreal form of torture to have to put a smile on your face for BOTH children, while inside you are scared for every breath, every move, every test.

In talking to Gabriel's Daddy we could just see the fight they had in them. It was inspirational! 'Daddy' shared with us that on December 17th they will find out if Gabriel's rare cancer has been sent into remission by this new radiation treatment. Mom and I both promised to keep him and the entire family in our prayers. I think I'll light a candle for him at church. But, if you are reading this add this little boy and his family to your prayers - they could all use the extra communication up there. And if you don't pray, well...do it anyway.

My heart goes out to this family.
I hope that this Christmas they get everything they want on their list! A big, beautiful, HAPPY smile on their little boy's face when he finds out he is cancer free!

Lynn

P.S. Ironically, today I got my brand new Cookie magazine in the mail (thank you, secret sister!) and found a touching article about another little boy, 4 years old with cancer. His parents created this foundation to raise money for ALL childhood cancers since a mere 12 percent of cancer research funding goes to help children. Here is the website: Cookies for Kids' Cancer

October Spillover

I'm calling this post October Spillover because there were so many things happening that I didn't have the time to keep things updated! I think we are all relieved to see October bid us farewell, though it was an amazing month with beautiful foliage and super-fun events happening all the time. Now it's time to hunker down, almost all the leaves have fallen and it's notably colder so we've turned on the heat, plus we're hearing the sounds of the holiday season already at a store near you. Is it too much to ask that we wait until Halloween is over before we hear, "White Christmas"? Really? We are NOT ready.

I figured after the madness of the month of October I should update the many changes McKinley is making now. There were so many things going on it was hard to keep up with our lives much less the daily changes our boy was making.

The latest McKinley stats:

-27 pounds at his 15 mo check up
-30 inches long (tall boy!)

-10 teeth (yep, TEN!)

-MANY words, such as Mommy, Daddy, light, socks, pants, Goo, Val (for the cats), and many more everyday

-2 songs that he sings with us (Ba Ba Ba, Ba Barbara Ann & Oooh Eeee, Ooooh Eeee Baby - won't you let me take you on a sea cruise)

-He has developed an intense obsession with all things that open...cabinet doors, closet doors, room doors, drawers of any kind, etc.

-He has mastered the use of his utensils

-He LOVES brushing his own teeth, and does a great job too
-And.....after a long stint insisting on holding a hand, McKinley is absolutely walking on his own! The little man has been walking for a LONG time, he just would not let go of a hand, guess he wanted to be really, really sure of himself. Well, he did it. He finally took off on his own and was THRILLED at what he had accomplished.

We are proud Mommy & Daddy!

Here are some pictures of other happenings through the month:

-A fall photo shoot --- leaves are tasty!

-We visit Honey & Papa's for a double b-day party for my Mom and Brent. Pictured are Shelby, McKinley & Cary - all three were putting in their two cents as to how to hook up Brent's new XBox 360. Sounds like the beginnings of an old joke...How many people does it take...hahaha

-12 month pictures from the professional photographer, who put his picture in the paper again last Sunday! Yay!

-Honey & Papa (my Godparents) come for a visit

***Also of interest, though not yet pictured...there's going to be a new little V running around, folks. And it's a G.I.R.L.!!! Congrats to my Brother-in-law & Sister-in-law on Baby V 3.0! What? You thought it was us? Hee hee hee!!!

Virtual Trick or Treat

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

We had such a good time with McKinley with ALL the fall festivities, but trick or treating was a hoot.

This year we all dressed up as the family cats. McKinley was Gunther Goo, paying homage to the first proper name he learned after Mama & Dada (Goo!), while Cary dressed as Venus (our very big black male cat) and I went as Valentine (our prissy and pristine white girl). We found this adorable costume for McKinley online and the cat masks locally. I even happened upon a pink heart-shaped nose and whiskers that perfectly resemble Valentine's own pink heart-shaped nose. If Cary and I look exceptionally weird, it's because those dang masks were ridiculously uncomfortable. Oh well, all for the sake of family togetherness!

This time around McKinley was up for a few more places than last year, so we trick or treated Mom, Brenda, Jodi & Dave, Sara & her Mom Gayle, our cousin Judie, Chrissy, Kay & Reagan and attempted to go to Jill's (my fault...I was on the wrong street. Geez). We even got to see McKinley's running mate, Lincoln (get it? McKinley...Lincoln...hahaha. The funniest part is that Lincoln and McKinley were visiting Reagan! Very presidential, huh? Not a one of us actually named our children after the late presidents, at least not directly). McKinley scored some super cute stuffed animals, a great sword, a bean-bag game that has been in the family for many years and he even managed some candy for Mommy & Daddy! Yahoo!

Among the week's festive ventures we all helped carve McKinley's very own jack-o-lantern. Since he was barely 3 months old at the time, we opted out of pumpkin carving last year, I mean at that time he would probably have struggled to stay awake! This year it was another story, he literally dug into that pumpkin! Suffice to say he was not so sure of the strange and stringy texture of the pumpkin guts, but he love, love, loved scooping them out and flinging the seeds about. We were thrilled with how cute his jack-o-lantern turned out - so was he!

Cary and I reminisced about the good ole days when we took our adolescent lives into our hands by carving out our pumpkins every year with dangerously sharp kitchen knives. Ugh, I think my Mom and Dad squirmed every time I insisted on taking over and giving it a shot. Now I understand. However, some genius came up with some really nifty 'pumpkin carving tools' that not only made for MUCH safer carving, but we whirled right through. NEVER was pumpkin carving so quick. Holy moly, it used to take HOURS to cut out an eye or a nose! hahaha My gosh, there are even PATTERNS to put on your pumpkin so that you get a really fancy, artistic carve instead of the old school triangular eyes and squared off mouth. Those were fun, but I'd hate to lose a child's own individual creativity by using pre-made stuff. Oh well, find a happy medium, right? Had a great time carving!!

We wish we could make it to see everyone we know and love, but instead you get our virtual trick or treat!

Happy Halloween!

Love,
Lynn, Cary & McKinley

Celebrating Milestones & Matriarchs

Okay, so I'm a little behind in posting all of our family activities for the month of October...it's no surprise though, this month was crazy! hahaha Good crazy.

Back on October 18th and 19th Cary, McKinley and I were privileged to be invited to FOUR parties that weekend! WOW! We had to decline one, but made it to everything else.

The first was an engagement party for my dear friend Jodi and her fiance Dave. We are thrilled for the two of them and wish them all the happiness in the world as they plan the biggest day of their lives. We had a nice time at their engagement party and got to meet Dave's parents for the first time. Lots of fun!

From there, we headed near Btown where we celebrated Grandma V's 80th! I can't believe she's 80 now. All of her children (SEVEN!) hosted a surprise sock hop in her honor, and what a turn out! Almost every child, grandchild and great grandchild of hers was there, not to mention some other family and friends. It was quite the to-do.

And how cute are my in-laws? They were cutting a rug, man! Love it.

McKinley had such a wonderful time mixing it up with many of his cousins. It does my heart good to see such a bond for my son. He really loved everyone but had the best time squealing and screaming (for fun!) with cousins Julie and Melissa, and being passed around from John to Austin, whom he seriously cuddled with the whole time.

When the party was over we crashed at Grandma & Grandpa's house where McKinley continued the party. He said Mommy AND Daddy for the first time that evening! Oh my gosh, how exciting! And so cute!

The next day we got ready to celebrate Mamaw's 91st bday. My Mother-in-law hosted a small gathering to honor her big day with lunch, cake and ice cream. Mamaw really enjoys being around her great-grandsons, she gets a real kick out of them. McKinley has always been so drawn to her when she speaks. There's just something about her that he actually stops and listens and watches her every move. It's so touching.

Cousin Shelly flew in from Texas for the big occasion, it was nice to spend some time with her!!!

Sunday evening, as we headed home, we were all so tired but we had a GREAT time with everyone!

Lynn