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