Now that there are two...

...I find myself with a lot less time than I had before.

I started a picture blog for BOTH kids, and will try to keep it updated regularly. Check it out:

parkerandwes.blogspot.com

Last Day of School

Warning to the grandparents: This picture might make you cry!

Today was Wes' last day of preschool in the 2's class. He's officially a 3 (come September when school starts again).

I pulled a very non-Kristina move and actually was organized enough to take a picture on both the first and last day of school. I hope I can continue to be this organized for the rest of his school years (although I'm sure I'll get some resistance sooner rather than later).

Just uploaded these this evening and oh my gosh. How much he has grown. Not just physically, although you can see that. He looks so confident in the second pictures. A little boy more sure of his surroundings than he was back in September. I know that his school played a big part in this. I'm so proud of him.

Berry Picking

Wes refuses to eat berries.  Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries...won't even try them.  I asked him what he had for snack the other day at school, and he said, "Chex and Blueberries."  I said, "Oh!  Did you eat blueberries?"  Wes:  "No, I had raisins.  I roll my blueberries on the table to Elliott."  Heh.  And sorry, Ms. Julie.

So, I didn't know how berry picking would go over.  Fortunately it was a big hit.  It seems that while eating strawberries is out of the question, traipsing around in mud and digging through wet and dirty plants to pick them was right up his alley.

We met a few friends out at the berry patch as well, and I'm excited to be able to do some of these outings during the week and make some new friends!

Rain, Rain Go Away

My first day at the "new job" started early - 5:50 a.m.  Someone thought we should go ahead and get up (hint:  it wasn't me).

The day was great.  We visited the library and the indoor playground at the mall, mainly because outside it looked like this:

A torrential downpour all day long.  Driving rain.  The kind of rain that makes you want to put your feet up and put on a Lifetime movie.

Thankfully, Wes had a long afternoon nap that allowed me to recharge as well.  (Rain makes kids cranky.  Getting up before 6 makes kids and adults cranky, too).

Luckily after his nap, the rain slowed down enough for us to put on rain boots and a rain coat and go stomp in some puddles:

We ran into our friends Sara and Megan (2 yrs) and they came over for some inside play.

The best part of the day was when daddy got home and we got to play on the porch, with the driving rain all around us:

Aaaahhhh...heaven.  But now, I'm going to bed.

~Kristina

My New Job...

Today was my last day at Kenan-Flagler...I have a new job. Stay-at-home mom and chief playmate of this little guy:



I definitely had mixed emotions while leaving the building this afternoon. A while ago when I set the date of May 14th it seemed as good as any. And it came pretty fast...too fast for me to process it and get nostalgic, really. I've been at Kenan-Flagler since July of 2006, when Neil hadn't even started law school yet. So much has changed since then, and my co-workers have been through it all with me.

But, it's time. I'm ready to spend my days playing outside in the sandbox, fingerpainting, and taking care of Wes. And in September, his sister will join us and a whole new chapter will start!

Let's Play Outside!

Wes loves to be outside.  This time of year, it's perfect.  We are loving our new yard and screened in porch...they make it so easy to enjoy being outside.

Day (Grandaddy) built him this sandbox in our backyard.  I love it because it's under a huge shade tree.  I can sit underneath the tree and watch him play.  Occasionally I get to show him a Grandaddy Long Legs or ant crawling by, and he loves to say hello to them. He'll even introduce himself: "Hi Ant, I'm Wes."

I snapped these pictures of Wes playing in his sandbox this week:

The new sandbox (built by Day):

He loves to lay down in the sand...you can imagine how dirty he gets!

Getting up close and personal with an ant.

Showing me where he is.  "Ant, go see your mommy and daddy!"

Ultimate concentration.

Allie watches from the porch.

~Kristina

Easter Love.

We just got back from the perfect Easter weekend in Salisbury.

Family, sunshine and perfect weather (temps in the 80s!) and plenty of Easter bunny fun.

Although I'm still kicking myself that we didn't do an Easter Egg Hunt (but who has time when there are piles of dirt to dig in outside?) it was a great weekend.

We headed to Salisbury on Thursday night and spent all of Friday and Saturday playing outside and shopping with Nanny, Day and Aunt Kelly.  We lunched at Sidewalk Deli, had ice cream, and played in the sand with all kinds of trucks and shovels.

Sunday he was very excited to see the Easter Bunny had come and brought toys!  This was the first time he has been super excited and aware of some imaginary person bringing him presents - Christmas should be fun this year!

Looking like such a big boy before dinner one night...

The Easter Bunny brought Bob the Builder toys...

Family pic on Easter Sunday

We had to kidnap him to get him in the car for church

Circus Peanuts.

We took this video of Wes this week. The highlights include Neil throwing popcorn to him one kernel at a time (like circus peanuts) and him attacking them face first (we tried to give him the bowl, but it was messy, to say the least), his "cape" and especially his expression at the end of the video. This is typical Wes all the way.

Our Big Boy.

Everyone that sees Wes lately remarks, "He's not a little boy anymore!"
He is growing up fast these days. The baby fat is gone from his face. His monthly trips to the barber shop for haircuts mean that his hair is now wavy, not curly.  He's tall and thin and talks in full sentences.
We took these pictures this weekend of our big boy:

Sweetie Pie.

I just love this picture Wes' teacher sent in her weekly round up...
My sweet little boy, all dirt and worms and trucks, feeding his babies.
I love seeing him showing his sweet side...deep down he's a loving little boy (who just happens to like to get dirty, too).

Glad he's getting some practice!

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day(s)

We've had a rough week at the Magnuson house.
We enjoyed a fun dinner last Sunday night with the Mihalovich family, in town from Kansas City.

Monday night I woke up at midnight and got sick...and proceeded to get up and get sick every hour during the entire night. Neil came home from work early Tuesday feeling rotten. Our savior, Day (my dad), came to help with Wes (I couldn't raise my head off the pillow without getting sick). He returned from the playground Tuesday afternoon with bad news: Wes had throw up everywhere.

We got better one by one; it took Wes the longest to recover. As of 8:30 pm tonight, he hadn't throw up all day, the first time in a week that he made it through the day without vomiting at least once. We took him to the doctor yesterday, who took a good look and told us that the bug was just taking a while to get out of his system, which at least made us feel better.

And everyone at that fun dinner on Sunday night? Every single one got sick. This is one nasty bug and I hope it's gone for good!

I have lots of blogging to catch up on; Wes is making us laugh every day, even when he's feeling awful.

More to come soon, promise!

~Tina

Catching up...

Wes' blog has really been neglected lately!  Big things are happening in our world:
During the holidays we decided to rent a bigger house while we're saving up to buy a place.  We checked out a new place on Christmas eve, and by the Monday after Christmas we had been approved with a move-in date of Jan 16th.  So we've been busy.  Packing, moving, setting up everything.  We moved Saturday and we are absolutely loving the place so far.  We have four bedrooms, a playroom, screened in porch, and a Den and living room.  Wes can run circles around the house (and he has been!). Also of note - Neil started his new job today.  Hooray!  He is in Richmond at orientation until Thursday.
I still need to catch up on Christmas posts, but until then, here's a picture of Wes this morning.  I was taking pictures of the place to send to Neil's parents, and he wanted to get in one.  Notice the Crocs and fireman hat - his favorite attire...so glad he's getting opinions about what he wants to wear! :)

~Tina