Family Reunion

This weekend, despite more stinkin' storms, we trekked down to Btown to visit with family. Cary's uncle was visiting from Cali and his cousin was in from Tx too, so it was a great time for a get together. It was so nice for us to catch up with everyone.

McKinley got to meet some family he's never met before, as well as spend some time with his G&G, Aunt & Uncle and big-boy cousins. The weather held out and was BEAUTIFUL, thankfully. All in all, it was a great day.

We ended the day at Grandma & Grandpa's house, where McKinley got to go on a walk with his Grandpa. He went all the way out to the big fence where he gripped on and wiggled his little toes in the grass. So fun!

Below, Grandpa shows McKinley how to hang on to the fence.

What a fun day!

Lynn

Strawberry Festival

Yum! It's that time of year again! They painted the GIANT strawberry in the middle of Ohio Boulevard, so it was time to get ourselves to downtown and dive into some yummy-good strawberry shortcake.
Guess who went with us this year? Yup...McKinley had his first taste of authentic strawberries! He's had strawberries in his baby food and puffs many times (and loves the taste, thank you), so it was only fitting that he would enjoy this little adventure. Oh yeah...there may have been a HINT of whipped cream on them too. And he just might have really enjoyed that part as well. hahaha...bad mommy moment? Don't think so.

Um, I should explain the horse with all the strawberries...last summer after the Colts WON THE 2007 SUPERBOWL, BEATING THE BEARS...uh hum...our local art museum sponsored this really cool competition for our city with these fiberglass horses. Many local businesses puchased colts and painted them, some to match a theme of their business, or just in an artsy way. Most of them are downtown and a lot of them are back on display this summer, they are all so beautiful too. This one belongs to the church who puts on the Strawberry Festival every year. We just could not help ourselves...I did look for a sign that said, 'DO NOT TOUCH' and found nothing, so picture time!

Above, Daddy gives McKinley his first taste of the sweet fruit. And...he

looks at me as if to say, 'Mmmm, WHAT was THAT and HOW can I get some MORE?!!'

Loads of fun, can't wait until next year when McKinley can have his own little shortcake!
Lynn

Crazy times and a little vacation too

I've been so bad about updating lately...
Life has been at warp speed and there just isn't enough time for everything we want and need to do! Aren't we all this way? It seems that the last 3 months have seriously pushed us to live at even faster paces.
Well, The Vernon's have been busy, busy, busy and here are just a few things that have been going on:
*Bathroom reno - we did it again. We picked a weekend project and just went with it. I'm so loving our new bathroom color (GREEN!!!! BRIGHT GREEN!) and the new sink and cabinet. It is so different from anything else we've ever done. I love it!

*Vacation - We hit the road and went to Myrtle Beach, S.C. last month. It was much needed break and so beautiful there. McKinley was an A-N-G-E-L on the road, we were pleasantly surprised. We stopped off in Asheville, N.C. for the first two nights and were able to visit Biltmore Estate, which was one of my favorite trips as a child. The three of us truly enjoyed the beautiful day together as we toured the huge estate (LOTS more was open than I ever recall), the gardens (my favorite) and the winery. It was such a lovely day and the weather could not have treated us better.

At Myrtle Beach, we did just what the name says...we hit the beach. McKinley was obsessed with the sand and the ocean water as it rushed up to him. It was quite a sight! During our trip we visited some really cool outdoor shopping and adventure places, Cary bought a Harley (just kidding! Gotcha!) and we just chilled, enjoying the ocean view from the condo . It was so much fun. The worst part was running out of time...we forgot to do a few things we'd intended, like I really wanted to parasail again and we wanted to hit a museum. It's okay! Next time! The highlight of the trip was certainly spending some family time out on the beach and in the pool. We had a great week and cannot wait for our next vacay.

*Road trips - Lately we've been making many a trip to Indy, and let's just say that we will be until September of '09m if ya know what I mean. Oh well, we get to enjoy each other's company and get away from the norm for a couple of nights.

*GNO aka Girls Night Out - Jodi and I (and two other friends) made a night of it on the eve of my 30th birthday. We went to dinner at Outback, ordered cocktails (I had the most amazing Strawberry martini) and then headed over to see Sex and the City, the Movie. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see it again...and again...and again. Love those girls.

*BNO aka Boys Night Out - while the four of us were sobbing and laughing away at the movie, Cary and Jodi's boyfriend Dave hit the town as well. They smacked around a few golf balls, played a little pool and had a beer or two. Jodi and I met up with them after the movie...good times, kids!

*Mother's Day - Hard to believe I haven't updated about that. It was quite a day for me. It has always, always been an important day for me to celebrate all the women in my life, but this day I got to be in on that celebration as well. It was nice. The best part of the day was relaxing together, just the three of us before bedtime. McKinley was playing with us and so happy! It was wonderful. That sweet little boy and his Daddy gave me the most beautiful and touching cards and a new Coach purse for my first Mother's Day. Good goin', boys.

*Father's Day - This past Sunday was Cary's First Father's Day. McKinley is such a good boy...he got John Mayer tickets for his Daddy and Mommy to go next month. What a thoughtful little boy!

*Party planning - seems someone we know is turning a whole year old very soon, so we're hard at work planning a great day for everyone. Can it be possible that McKinley will be a year old? Whew! Look out, we're gonna have a very active little man on our hands!

Can't wait until McKinley's birthday!
Lynn

My Big 3-0

Well, my birthday came and went all too quickly. I had such a wonderful day! Mom and Cary...and McKinley, of course threw an awesome surprise party for me. I had no idea. No kidding. I got suspicious a few times, but was very quickly thrown. Trust me, when I heard the many voices singing, "Happy Birthday to You" in unison on the rooftop terrace of the restaurant...well, I was just very surprised.
The funniest thing was, we pulled up to meet my Mom for lunch at this great new place that I really like. As I'm getting all of the McKinley stuff out of the car I heard the singing and thought...what the? I looked up and saw Mom's and Jodi's faces and then all of these other heads started popping up from the terrace and the crowd grew and grew. It was HILARIOUS.
It was so nice to have some of my friends and some family to share the day with. I got to see some faces I had not seen in a long time, and the best part was everyone knows everyone now! I love that.
Mom and Cary put all this together...sneaky little things...they sent out invitations and emails without me being any the wiser. I didn't think I'd be that easy to fool.
I loved all the decorations they put together, the personalized M&M favors...in purple, of course and even the crazy-giant b-day hat, sunglasses and #30 lei they made me wear. It was pretty funny.
What a fun day!
I put together a slide show to make it easier to share all my pictures. With my lack of updating, I figured it would be easiest to share them that way.
To being THIRTY AND THRILLING!
Lynn

Thoughts on turning Thirty

Well, first of all...can it be that it has truly been over a month since I've updated this thing?! OMG. It's been busy, let's just leave it at that. I have so many pictures to post...vacation in Myrtle Beach, my first Mother's Day, McKinley's 9 mo. shots (even though he'll be 11 months!) and general updates, and the crazy amount of things going on in our lives!

Before I do that...I feel like taking a little time and reflecting on what's about to happen to me tomorrow. I'll officially be entering a new decade. A decade I've often heard referred to as the 'grown up' decade. No more twenty-something...now I'm gonna be THIRTY-something! Crazy how my life is flying by.

I'm excited about this new 'page', if you will. A while back, someone very wise told me that I have to look at each new happening in my life as a page in my book. At the time she told me this I was doing all I could to cope and just get up every day and figure out how to be, during my grief of losing Dad. Now, I can look at that statement as a very positive thing.

You see, there have been some really great 'pages', and there have been some really crappy 'pages' too. I do believe the great ones far out number the crappy ones. lol God willing, may it always be that way.

At the top of this blog, just above our family picture is my favorite quote. I found this quote during that dark time of grief and I again pulled from it in my daily life. Now, I look at it also in a very different way and feel it best describes how I try to look at life every day.

So, here are some of my 'pages' that took my breath away:

Turning 20...whoa, that was big time. I totally tried to wish a year of my life away just to be 'legal'. Hmmm, now that I look back on that I'm sure glad I couldn't fulfill that wish. If I'd lost #20, I would never have met Cary. So, that's my first really great page of my 20's.

CARY.

Nuff said! ;-)

Well, he gets many, many pages.

Whew, TWENTY ONE, well, Lordy...that was a pretty GREEN day. I don't mean environmentally 'green', either. Oh well, live and learn...and puke in front of a car-load of police officers as they laugh, right? Chrissy, I know you're laughing, and thanks for capturing those special moments on film. No, I will NOT be posting those on here. Huh.

Another really great page was finding my independance. At around 20, I was really going for it! I was paying my own way through life and working (HARD! FOUR jobs at one point), going to school and just beginning to appreciate the meaning of 'earning'. I felt so proud when I paid for my spring break trips all by myself, or when I would go out with girlfriends and have MY OWN money! It was great.

There for a while, all the pages were good. I was so happy in my relationship with Cary, had good friends, great parents,lots of fun, etc.

...but then it got REALLY good.

Cary proposed.

That's the page in my book that is lit up like freaking Christmas. Matter of fact, that whole year of planning our wedding was PURE joy! The wedding, the big WHITE page, was the highlight of my mid-twenties. Was I really TWENTY SIX then? Whew. Ahh, spring chicken, huh?

Our first year of wedded bliss went a little awry for me on a personal level. I became unhappy in my job (that's an understatement) and my Dad's health grew worse. Cary and I made the decision to do it on one income (SINK's are what we were! Single income, no kids! lol), it was great. I could take some time for myself and focus on my degree. But the darkest pages came in October of that year. My Dad became so ill, things were bad. We buckled down and did everything we could. I even 'moved' with him to Indy during his stay in a hospital there. On December 1st, I lost him and also lost a part of myself. For a long time my pages were dull and dark as I tried to find my way as whomever I was becoming then.

In the midst of all of that, Cary and I decided it was time to think about becoming parents. It just felt right, we needed something positive!

In just less than a year after Dad died, we learned that I was pregnant! It was then that things began to change and the pages got brighter and more purposeful everyday.

On July 13, 2007 I became a mother. That's the page in my book of life that, when you turn to it, the page just glows like the heavens. That's just all I can say. He makes me glow.

I finally got to where I needed to be in this journey through my 20's. I got things figured out that I hadn't been able to for a long time, through the dark stuff, anyway...there's always SOMETHING to figure out. I think I can thank McKinley, Mom, Dad and Cary for helping me figure out what I needed to know!

Now, today is the last page of my twenties...and I'm cool with that, really...I promise. I can hardly wait to see what those thirties will bring in my 'book'.

McKinley's First...QUAKE

No, I don't mean the tasty little rice cake chips that I am so addicted to. It was a real, live Earthquake.

The saying goes...if the house is a rockin', don't come a knockin'. Guess it rings true in the midwest today.

At around 5:30 this morning we ALL had a rude awakening from Mother Nature. Not only did we feel it, we could hear it too. Everything that could rattle, rattled. Of course, I was still half asleep when this occured as I hear Cary exclaim, "Are we having an EARTHQUAKE?", like a smart person (sense the sarcasm) I lept out of bed and wobbled around the house. WHY? I don't know. Guess I needed confirmation that the ground beneath me was shaking.

First thing I did was check on McKinley, who lay wide awake in his crib. I have to laugh because he really looked perplexed. Then I ran in the living room. Gunther, who had been SOUND asleep above my head, followed me, along with Valentine, who's belly was touching the floor as she crawled VERY, VERY slowly, afraid of what she might find. CUTE! I immediately turned on the TV to find a 'wired' weatherman interrupting his forcast to confirm the quake. Oh, good. WE AREN'T CRAZY! Finally, I went back to bed. Cary asked what I'd heard. I explained, then I remembered waking up about an hour earlier to check on McKinley. The first thing I found in his room then was Valentine, wide awake sitting at the doorway of the nursery. At the time, I thought, 'Hmmm...how strange".

I got goosebumps when I realized that you're supposed to go to a doorway for safety during a quake.

Our sweet kitty-girl must have known what was coming, so she went in to be with McKinley.

I don't care what you think of animals, you HAVE to respect their senses. How crazy is that?

She stayed in the nursery until she crawled down the hallway with me, post-quake.

I've ALWAYS thought Valentine was very intuitive. She has been by our sides during illnesses, consoled me many times during my grief over Dad, and would not leave the nursery before McKinley was born. Even when we were all sick earlier this year, she stayed every night in the nursery. She's our little mother!

Hope everyone is safe and had no damage from today's little wild ride and it's late-morning aftershock.

In honor of Val, here's a pic. Here's Cary feeding a VERY young McKinley while Valentine looks on and admires her two favorite men.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lynn

McKinley's First ride on the swing

The weather FINALLY turned 'spring-like' for us. We took full advantage and decided to introduce McKinley to a place I loved as a child. One of our City Parks, Deming is very near and dear to my heart. The playground has certainly changed over the last 30 years (uh, did I just say that?), but one thing remains the same. The kids of this city LOVE it there!

The new playground is equipped with two 'age-appropriate' stations and even has some kind of super-cushy, shock absorbent 'flooring', if you will. Um...Cary and I had the distinct privilege of landing on asphalt and gravel when we romped around on the playground as kiddies. I have scars to prove it and I'm SURE that Cary does too. Now, McKinley will be fortunate enough to make a soft, pillow-like landing!

Anyway, we walked over, found the little swings, placed McKinley in and, 'whoosh'! He loved it!

Cary and I took turns pushing him for a while then headed over to the Deming Park version of Disney's Tea Cups for babies. Whew...that was funny. I think I'd puke. McKinley remained calm and chill (see picture), he just smiled and got comfy, enjoying Daddy pushing his little 'cup' while Mommy took pictures.

We ended the nap-inducing trip with McKinley's very first slide experience...with Daddy, of course. It was pretty cute to see Cary climb up that slide with McKinley. I don't think McKinley was too amused yet, but he'll LOVE it soon enough.

McKinley was no sooner in his car seat and was peacefully napping, dreaming of his first swing in the park.

Today McKinley is 9 months old. We are only THREE months away from having a toddler. Can this be possible?
He is continuing with new syllables and loving the fact that he is becoming more and more mobile by the day.

It was so nice every day this week until Saturday, other than a little rain. So,we dusted off the jogging stroller (which had a very long hiatus during the winter) and have walked every day this week...except for Saturday when it suddenly turned bitter cold and actually spat a snow-like mixture...uh, hello? It's April. Anyway, McKinley LOVES being outside. He sings and waves his hands in the air as if to catch the wind. I pack a toy each time we go, but he barely bats an eyelash at it. Too much to see and do! Passers-by think he is waving at them and they get very excited over that. Do you know he even lets us put sunglasses and a hat on him every time? Can't start eye and skin protection too soon!

We have a 9 month pedi appointment this week...I'm sure we'll update McKinley's new stats as soon as we find out! Check back when you can...

Have a great week!

Lynn

GNO + DMB + PiP = GREAT weekend!

Translation:

Girls Night Out plus Dave Matthews plus McKinley and his mommy's picture in print equals a really great weekend!

Friday, April 11th I left 'the boys' alone (they had a great evening together, by the way...boys' night!) and went to dinner with my Mom, Jodi, her sister Jill and their Mom, Brenda. After that, we headed over for this city-wide Girls Night Out thing at the arena. The feature of the evening was this absolutely HILARIOUS comedienne, Anita Renfroe. She does this 'estrogen flavored' comedy, as she calls it, that will seriously leave you in stitches, if you can laugh about yourself or the woman in your life. I laughed until I cried. I laughed so much that I bought her DVD, of which she signed for me and took pics with all of us girls! NO WAY! The pics are on Mom's camera...will upload ASAP. In the meantime, here we all are at dinner. Good times, good times.

This comedienne is WAY famous for her insane version of the William Tell Overture, you've probably seen it, but just incase...click and watch. It's on youtube and has had millions and millions of hits.

Now, before our GNO...Thursday night Cary checks his weekly DMB (Dave Matthews Band) email. He starts yelling, very excited. I came running. He informs me that in some crazy twist of fate, Dave Matthews has chosen BLOOMINGTON'S Assembly Hall at I.U. to give a 'small' concert with his friend and awesome guitarist, Tim Reynolds to show support for his candidate of choice...Obama. Okay, whatever about the Obama stuff...really. Oh, did I mention that the concert was FREE?

RIIIGGGHHHTTT. Another April Fools joke? No. Cary's dream come true? Yep. Dave & Tim...IU...on a Sunday afternoon. Awesome.

I called the T.H. Obama office to double check, sure enough...they said they would have tickets the following morning. We began to plan our strategy of ticket-getting. So, the next day, McKinley, Mom and I headed to the TH Obama headquarters to line up for some tickets. Mom would get Cary's ticket for us, since it was only one ticket per Indiana resident/registered voter. After waiting for almost 2 hours (McKinley was warm and cozy in the car), we got to the front door of the headquarters, where a Trib photographer suddenly went papparazzi crazy. He picked up to snap, snap, snap. Once we were out of the door and glowingly holding our tickets, the photog stopped us and took McKinley's and my name. He said we would be in the paper the following day. OMG. GREAT! Now everyone will think I'm crazy for Obama. I tried to make it VERY clear to Mr. Photographer that we were only there for DAVE tickets. LOL, he got the gist. You have to look hard for our well-bundled McKinley...and I look like I am completely lost, but whatever. I love the caption. Well put.

So, we'd already been planning on spending the night with Cary's parents over the weekend. That worked out really well. They offered to watch McKinley (we REALLY had to twist their arms...hahahahah, right.) while we had some good quality time together. Just the two of us and 17,000 other Dave fans. It was fabulous. One of the top three concerts for sure (we go to Dave every year...it's our thing). We even got to see Dave's twin girls! And he talked about his baby boy, born just before McKinley. I'm sure August and McKinley would be great friends...
We got home SO late Sunday night, but nobody minded. McKinley was fast asleep, dreaming of his walk with Grandma & Grandpa. He never even woke up when we put him in bed!

Not our best pic...but for a self-portrait on a super-sunny day as we searched for the end of the line...not bad, I guess.

Oh, and he said the concert was being recorded for a CD...yahoooooo!

Here are clips from the concert...click and check it out!

The Wave-we're in there some where!

Crush

It sure was a busy couple of days, but so fun!

Lynn

Adventures in Indy

WOW, did we have fun in Indy this week! McKinley, Mom and I headed up to meet Diane (McKinley's 'Honey'), Shelby and Mary for lunch at Circle Centre. It was so great catching up with them during Shelby's Spring Break. We even got to do a little shopping while we were there.

Many pictures to share of our super-fun day...we can't wait to do it again!

Lynn









Here, McKinley cozies up to 'Honey'











McKinley, Nonna and Honey (I was SO excited when I snapped this pic! "Stayin' Alive" was playing at Johnny Rocket's and these two were dancing away with McKinley. It was hilarious!)

McKinley opens his new present from Honey...a telephone!
Look closely, you might remember this very toy! Mary and I decided they have not updated it too much. We remember having it as children, it looks the same after all these years! Not that Mary and I are old, but whatever.

Here's McKinley, at home Tuesday evening playing with his new phone. I SWEAR we didn't show him how to use a phone like this. He seriously just picked up the 'receiver' with his left hand and started 'dialing' with his right! Hahahahaha!

The Easter Bunny & another week of milestones!

The Easter Bunny made his very first visit to our home this year. He left McKinley a pack of big, fun beads, a sweet little snowglobe with an Easter Chick inside and a fuzzy little tiny, wind-up, hopping chick in this precious little baby-boy basket!

He's a good bunny.

McKinley LOVES the big beads, but he really liked chewing on his Baby's 1st Easter card the most. Hahahaha.
This year we packed up the suv and headed down to visit with Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle Mike & Aunt Lorie and those big-boy cousins.

I truly can't remember a better holiday for me. There for a while the holidays were a real bummer for me, personally, after losing Dad and stuff. This year, WHOA BOY! I loved seeing our nephews with McKinley, being with all of my inlaws and having my Mom there with us too.
At one point, I looked outside and saw Cary and his brother, Michael playing with Logan and Mason in the front yard of my Mother & Father-in-law's home. I was holding McKinley and could barely contain myself when I thought...ya know, little boy, you'll be right out there with them next year! That'll be a sight!

Later, Grandpa took McKinley out (bundled in his EASTER BUNNY outfit!) to be Logan and Mason's mascot for their impromptu basketball game. I think Logan said they were the Blue Bunnies! TOO CUTE!

I had fun taking pictures while my sister-in-law, Lori proved that she is definitely the 'baller' of the fam. LOVE IT. I guess I'm gonna have to tuff it up a little...not be so afraid to mess up my hair or something with all these boys in my life. Hahahaha. I KNOW everyone of you who really knows me is currently laughing your butts off at the sheer image of ME out there playing BASKETBALL. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what if I'd rather go shopping. I'm learning to be versatile! Cary keeps up with the gentle, encouraging reminders that we do, in fact have a B-O-Y. Tuff en' up a little, girl! ;-)

So...Easter was great!

I think Cary's and my highlight was when Grandpa escorted our little bunny on his very first egg hunt. He ended up scoring some cash in the two eggs he picked up. Nice!

I love this picture. He was so excited.

Okay, down to some serious baby business...

Da da da daaaaaahhhh!!!

We've got a crawler!

I can't believe it. Time to put the crystal up...omg, I NEVER thought I'd have to do that. Oh well, it'll be just as pretty in the dining room, where I can 'rope it off', so to speak.

On Wednesday, McKinley decided he'd had enough of the army crawling and enough of the up-on-all-fours rocking trick. He did a 'real' crawl. He's not doing it all the time, in fact he has really honed his army crawl skills and is even faster now. Gotta keep our eyes on him at all times, so do the cats. He's quick!

I hope to upload a video of our crawlin' boy very soon. Check back with us!

Also on the milestone list...as I've mentioned in previous posts McKinley has really got Mama, Dada and Oh! down quite well - and the Baby Idol singing, of course. Last night he added a new consonant to his repetoire: Baba. It is so cute to see him say it because he can't stop smiling as he's talking! When he woke up this morning, he looked right at me and said, 'Baba!' Like, "Look, Ma! I remember!" What a sweetie.

So, another fun one we've started is a little wave. He usually does this when he wants something, so he's not like, arm in the air, hey, there, how ya doin' kind of wave, but he's getting there.

But my very favorite new thing of McKinley's is his kiss. OH. MY. GOSH. Words cannot even begin to express how it feels to get a big ol' slobbery kiss from our child. We'll say, 'Give me a kiss' and he'll grab our faces, or hair (an OUCH that is so totally worth it) and pull our face into his and SMACK! We get kissed! It's precious.

I think we are really seeing more of his personality come out, I love it.

Here, McKinley makes his first official basket. Future Indiana Hoosier, baby!

And McKinley admires his big-boy cousins with Grandpa and Aunt Lori during the 'game'.

Can't wait to share his next big tricks.

Have a great weekend!

Lynn

Spring has sprung...well, maybe.

I am so glad it is almost officially spring! We had such a lovely taste of that weather for a few days, and now it is cold and yucky and rainy. BLAH! Oh well, Easter is this weekend so Spring is almost here and we can't wait to get outside.

Last week McKinley turned 8 months old. We always take a picture of him on his 'month' birthdays, this month though we were all pretty exhausted from a busy night. So, this was a pretty relaxed picture...post bath, as we were rocking and listening to the lullaby cd getting ready for bed...hence the paci in the pic.

I can't believe we are so close to the one year mark now. He has made so many awesome changes again. He will give five on command, which nearly put an older gentleman at Subway on his knees last weekend. Evidently he was missing his grandchildren at the time so he came over to our table with his wife to chat and visit McKinley, who immediately took to him. He asked if he could hold his hand...normally this isn't cool, the whole stranger-danger-touchy thing, but he seemed so heartfelt that I said okay (knowing I had plenty of wipes and antibacterial lotion to mop us down with afterward...OCD, I know, can't help it). I told McKinley to give him five, which he did with panache and that giant gummy grin. The man had to step away because he was so overcome with emotion. His wife just oohed and ahhed and thanked us. For what? Anyway, the man said his birthday was this Tuesday and that this truly made his day. I was touched.

McKinley also recognizes his pictures as 'baby' and when we ask, "Where's the baby?" he looks right at his pictures and laughs. He knows Gunther's nickname 'goo', when we ask, 'Where is Goo?' The word association thing is pretty cool.

He's a real army-crawler now, and he can spin on his belly like no body's business. He's pretty fast at it too. He's pulling up on all four's and ready to go...and he WILL go, when he's ready! lol In the meantime, rolling and spinning and crawling like there's something 'INCOMING!!!!' is just fine with him.

Oh, and if you call us on the phone...I apologize in advance for the loud button-pushing and 'Ohhh's! you will no doubt be subjected to. NEVER have I seen a child get so flipping excited over someone or something as McKinley does when he sees our cats, Mom's dog or any of our phones. He cannot control himself and will scratch, claw, climb and gnaw his way up to those buttons and lights! And the amazing sound of voices through the little holes is MESMERIZING! If only Mommy and Daddy would let him chew on that cushy antenna, he just KNOWS its a teether.

I'm sure the next month will be full of exciting changes for us, check back for updates!

We had a very busy week last week, but loads of fun. Diane came over for a visit, so we all had a nice lunch at Mom's. It was great!
My sorority chapter hosted a fund-raiser night at our local Beef O'Brady's. We did pretty well, for the four of us who actually showed up to work! I'm proud!

Oh, and with being so busy I haven't even posted the pictures from the weekend before! McKinley's social calendar has been so full of birthdays for some of his favorite girls this month...Lila, Sara, Sarah and now Reagan! She turned two already! CRAZY. We had so much fun at the party. Here's Reagan digging into her cake and some fun 'kiddie time' that quickly went awry.

Check back soon for some Easter Bunny pics that are sure to be a sight!

Have a great day!

Lynn

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Here's our little leprechan wishing everyone a happy wearin' o the green!
We had so much fun with these pictures with Daddy as the 'prop guy', Mommy as photographer and McKinley as our model. He particularly loved the leprechan pipe and glittery shamrock.
Hope everyone has a great St. Paddy's Day!

Lila's Luau, Queen's Ball & so much more!

So many things have happened since I last blogged! I can't believe it has been this long, but with the busy schedules we've been leading lately...gosh...I just wonder how any of us are awake.

I looked and saw that my last post was on McKinley's 7 month birthday...guess what? He'll be 8 months next week, really. I also saw that I'd shared my beautiful Valentine roses, I have something wonderful to add to that.
To further my gift, Cary took all three of us away for the weekend to Keystone. We had a lovely suite, which made for such a relaxing trip. We did some great Target, Trader Joe's & Keystone/Castleton shopping, hit the FABULOUS Babies R Us (HUGE) and ate at two of our favorite restaurants; Claddaugh (YUM!!!) and Cheesecake Factory (DOUBLE YUM!!!). Heck, we even had the luxury of plopping on the couch to watch 'Superbad' after McKinley was tucked in bed. Oh, and yes...we did get Cheesecake...to go.
I think we all had a great opportunity to totally rejuvenate that weekend. It was so nice.

That rejuvenation, however was short lived. During that week, Cary played Mr. Mom while I was completely incognito. I had so much to do for Queen's Ball it was crazy. I hated being away or tuned out from 'my boys', but it was for a good cause. Have I mentioned that Queen's Ball was a fundraiser for St. Ann's Clinic for those in our area who cannot afford proper health care? It was worth it. Besides that, I realized that I do indeed want to pursue a career in event planning. I swear, its just in my blood. I'm assuming that God will guide me where I need to be and when I need to be there. But I'm very certain that I AM where I need to be right now. I'm a lucky girl to get to spend so much time at home watching McKinley grow into a little boy, and to get to concentrate on being Cary's wife too. I treasure these times and know that I will miss them someday.

Back to Queen's Ball, everything we planned turned out so beautifully, I hope to have some better pictures soon, which I will post FOR SURE! The photographer we hired was excellent...he did our engagement pictures way back when and totally came through for us again. I didn't even have an opportunity to take the first picture that evening, which was a disappointment but understandable. I'm relying on my sisters to give me some fun candid shots. In the meantime, I've decided with all the pictures I have to add and share, it will be so much easier (and more FUN!) to add a slide show...

I'm pretty proud of how everything went down. Our chapter played host this year and are the only chapter that I am aware of who had the honor of welcoming every Indiana State Beta Sigma Phi officer for this event. They came from all over the state in that LOVELY weather to be with us. We were also honored to have the head nun who runs our charity with us as well.
I gave a speech, well...two, I guess. I think I did pretty well. I thought I'd be a little rusty since I hadn't spoken publicly since last April. I'm satisfied with what I did. A friend of ours said she liked my speaking voice so much that she could listen to me and easily fall asleep. Hahaha...hmmmm...NOT so good for a SPEAKING voice, good for McKinley lullabies though.
I'm also beyond thrilled with the backdrop for the 'Queen's Crowning'. My Mom made it! Its gorgeous and everyone oohed and ahhh'd. We really pulled it out.
Cary was a huge help as well. He really did so much for McKinley that week and that day and even came up with some great last minute ideas during the evening. He's a good one to have by my side.

As you can see, we had even more fun the following weekend while visiting friends and a very special birthday girl.

In honor of Lila's birthday, we've put together a slide show of the day.
We had SOSOSOSO much fun at Lila's 1st birthday party. It was so exciting for us to see how McKinley reacted and interacted with everyone. It was his very first kiddie birthday party too! He was so good and I really think he had fun! We sure did. It was good to see Vanessa and fam again, it had been so long. It was also very sweet to see all the changes in our children since we last saw each other.
It is hard to believe that Lila is a year old...McKinley will be turning the BIG ONE so soon!
In traveling up north for the party, we again decided to make a weekend of it. It was another nice getaway, we enjoy doing little 'weekenders' like that.

I'm proud to report that Cary has a new route...and it is so much better for him! I know he misses his favorite old patrons, but I think he is enjoying this change of pace. He needed a refresher!
I'm also really proud of him for deciding to play baseball this year. I CANNOT WAIT to see this lefty pitcher in action. I've heard about his abilities and the fun he has on the field for so long, now it will be so nice to SEE it! Pictures to come, I'm sure! How fun it will be to take McKinley out to watch his Daddy this spring (with plenty of Baby sunscreen and hats, no doubt)!

Finally, I'll update on McKinley's amazing new tricks...last Saturday, amid the celebration, McKinley started teething! He's getting his bottom two teeth in, poor guy. He's had a few bad days, is not sleeping as soundly as normal through the night, and sometimes is a little less giddy but I think he's doing okay with it. We can't wait to see what he looks like with some chompers! Hahaha!
He has definitely mastered the famed sippy cup through all of this. We chose a sippy with a teething spout, so its nice and soft on his gums. Throw some ice cold water in there and he's a happier boy.

McKinley has added some vowels and syllables to his repertoire, it is hilarious to listen to his squeals of new sounds. Pretty funny. Also, we're happy to announce that McKinley will most likely win the new Baby Idol contest...as soon as Simon, Paula and Randy discover him that is. As we watch American Idol, on the floor with McKinley while he plays, he occasionally looks up to see who's making all those lovely sounds. He always thinks he should join in. We need to record it and send it in to America's Funniest Videos. It's something to see!

I think that is all for now in the crazy land of Vernon.
I PROMISE the next entry will not be so long.
I'm very hopeful that things slow down for us for a minute or two.

Have a great weekend and don't forget to turn back those clocks!
Lynn