The Great Debate

Let me just say that I know this is a subject of a lot of debate, even among Christians, and this is not me telling anyone what is or isn’t right. This is just me telling how we came to the decision that is right for OUR family.

I found out on Saturday night that Nathan’s mom wanted us to take Shane to trick or treat on Sunday with his cousin Alie. I didn’t grow up trick or treating, and neither did Nathan, so I’d never even thought about taking Shane. We talked about it for a while but didn’t really come to a conclusion. Something about the idea of celebrating Halloween really stuck in my conscience though, and I was really uncomfortable with it, so while Nathan went for a motorcycle ride I called my parents to ask why they had never let us trick or treat, and to ask mom to look up some information about Halloween on the internet. I decided to go for a little walk to clear my head and try to decide how I really felt about trick or treating. As I left the house I prayed that I would have clarity in knowing my own beliefs, and that Nathan and I would both come to the same conclusion. Fast forward about two hours to when Nathan arrived home.

“Can we talk a little about this trick or treating thing?” I asked him.

“We’re not going.” He responded.

After talking for a few more minutes we realized that we’d both come to the same conclusion, and then I told him about my prayer. What a God thing! I was so excited. We decided that we won’t be doing Halloween—no trick or treating or carving pumpkins or dressing up. The exception was this Halloween since he’d already gotten costumes—a monkey costume from his Grammy Vines for pictures with his cousin Alie, and a pumpkin suit from his Aunt Nancy.

We had a nice weekend together. Saturday afternoon we watched the Blue Angels from a blanket in the shade of our car. We’ll probably pay to get in next year when Shane will enjoy it more, but this year we just drove off the highway a little way to watch for free. Free is good!

On Sunday afternoon Melissa came over and we had a yummy lunch, then went over to her friend’s house to watch the trick or treaters and eat venison chili. They approximated they had 700 trick or treaters!!! And man alive, some people’s idea of a costume is just…um…skin. Yeah. We had fun, though, and everyone thought Shane was SOOOO cute. Because he is, of course!

P.S. In that very first picture, you can see the teeth!

4 Months

Here we are at almost 5 months old and I just realized I never did Shane’s 4 months post. My excuse is that we were in Ohio and working like crazy to get everything done for my sister’s wedding! The problem is that I can’t remember everything now, so this is my best shot.

-Rolls both ways

-Size 3 diapers

-17lbs 3 oz, 26 ½ inches (95th percentile) This was actually 4 ½ months, at his Dr. appointment. He got shots and, again, took it like a trooper!

-Smiles and laughs

-Got his bottom two teeth at 3 months, 3 weeks

-3-6 month clothes, 6-9 months jammies

-Still exclusively breastfed

-Still super laid back and happy

-Loves to eat his toes

-Reaches for his favorite people, especially Mumma
-Loves to talk, talk, talk!
-Enjoyed the excersaucer we borrowed while we were in Ohio.
-Loves to read—Clifford the big red dog was his favorite this month
-Thinks it’s hilarious when dogs bark.
-Thinks it’s funny when you growl and pretend chew his sides

-Has flown thrice and been in Texas, Ohio, and New York

-Sucks his bottom lip and finds it amusing

-Looks at you sort of sideways and under his eyelashes and smirks. We call it the “Ladykiller”.

-Seems to be developing quite a sense of humor. Sometimes it seems like he is trying to play jokes on you.

-Was the ringbearer in his Aunt Erika’s wedding. He wore a kilt!