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