Check out last January.

And, this was yesterday afternoon:

A perfect day for a little soccer (and baseball, and football, and golf, and bocce ball).

Vitamin D makes me happy .

I’m sure we’ll get our share of winter, but for now we’re soaking up the sun.

So, when Mom asked if I wanted to take the boys to Winston-Salem to for N. to meet my sweet Great Aunt Jan, I said sure.  The trip up was somewhat eventful – the NC State Troopers had no pity for a young Mom with two babies asleep in the back seat and Nana on the passenger side, so my lead foot cost me another $220.  Then, we got the call from the ATL that ‘it was time’ for Lauren’s ‘best pup ever’ (a.k.a. Jackson) to take his final breaths after a bout with doggie lymphoma.  So it was a trip of tears and trials, but we made some people in NC very happy and squeezed in some basketball and football viewing, even though our teams didn’t fare well.

A.'s version of 'The Tebow'

N. must be at least the 8th baby to be bathed in Aunt Jan's sink, but I'm sure there were more babies in there I don't know about.

Since we weren’t quite ready for the fun and traveling to end, the boys and I drove South past our home and hung out with Nana and Papa for another couple days.  Aunt Lauren and Aunt Erin were both off for MLK Day (one of the perks for all of us working in public education), so we spent some time puzzling, playing Wheel of Fortune on Wii, and remembering the Jackson pup.  We also got to spend some time playing with friends Madden and Cameron at one of those germ-infested blow-up big toy indoor playgrounds.

Kid-sized treadmill...if only I had his enthusiasm! A. and M. were too quick for me to capture a pic of them together. We'll try again next time.

C. and N. having 'infant playtime' at ages 4 months and 10 weeks.

Traveling in both directions was well worth it, and I’m glad I could enjoy the time with family and spontaneity before I go back to work in a few weeks.

Digestive issues aside, N. is a happy, growing, and active two-month old.  He weighed in at 11 lbs., 9 oz. (29th %ile), only 4 oz. less than his big brother, and he is 23 1/2 inches long (68th %ile), a half inch longer than A.  He made it through his first shots with 10 minutes of excessive screaming and extra cuddling from Mommy and then slept most of the rest of the day.  I am enjoying getting to know our precious baby boy #2 and am trying not to count down the time we have until I go back to work (4 1/2 more weeks).  He is now smiling, cooing, tracking well and making good eye contact with us, and he kicks his little, skinny legs constantly.  And, drum roll please, he sleeps 8 hours at night and has been doing so since 5 weeks!  That leaves us more energy to chase around Little A. who is now almost three – yikes!

I was pleased to see that I have at least one picture of every week of his life, so far .

His favorite activities these days include building with Lego Duplo blocks (he made an impressive ‘blue elephant that squirts water out of his trunk’ and a ‘black and white striped zebra with a swinging tail’ the other night – unfortunately this delayed bath time by 10 minutes), playing with his wooden trains on his table his Papa Kevin built for him (he recently had all of his trains become derailed in a storm with thunder and lightning requiring him to stage a massive rescue effort), and anything related to helicopters.  Unless you want to hear the word ‘No’ or a high-pitched squeal, or go on a wild goose chase around the house, do not dare ask him to stop what he is doing to eat a nutritious meal, go to the potty, get his bath, change his clothes, or go to bed.  Yes, each of these structured, daily routines is met with some opposition.  We have recently implemented a ‘Listening and Following’ sticker chart when he is caught being good by listening and following directions.  The goal is to reward him frequently at first and then more intermittently as he improves.  His first goal is to earn a new remote-control helicopter when he reaches the 50 sticker mark.  Although he can be a challenge, A. really is a great kid, so it shouldn’t take him too long to figure all this out!

On one of our last days of Winter break together, when it was 20 degrees outside, A. and I built garages for Lightning, Sarge, and Mater. They needed some shelter to warm them up, and we needed an activity to channel some energy.

This is the face of a precious boy who was just caught sneaking shortbread cookie dough under the pillows in his 'boat' on the couch. I knew something was up when he yelled, 'Mom, don't come in here. I'm busy.' I had just told him he could not have anymore veggie sticks before dinner, so apparently he pulled a chair from the kitchen table to the refrigerator, opened the door, and helped himself.

While everyday is new and exciting, and we can’t possibly anticipate what mind-blowing thoughts might pop into his head, everyday with him also presents challenges in parenthood.  I know, I know – this is only the beginning, and we are not alone.  I am currently taking recommendations for any Christian motivational parenting books.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012.  Since it is now January (again), I realized my blog has received little attention since approximately this time last year.  I’m not big on new year’s resolutions, so I rarely make them and even more rarely share them.  However, I thought that since I have this blog, it might prove interesting to put some things in writing and see how my actions actually measured up again by this time in 2013.  So, here are my goals for 2012, in no particularly prioritized order:

1) Blog…Happily and Often – We started this blog when we found out our family was growing by 1.  We are now a blessed family of 4, and other than a bunch of pictures in some iPhoto folders and the occasional treasured keepsake tucked into a box, I have no stored memories or stories other than what is written on this blog.  It’s about time I updated so there isn’t a year-long gap in the Wilson Journey.  2011 was certainly a year worth remembering with many joyful changes and events, so I would like to go back and create a monthly post for February to December 2011, and then I hope to either match or exceed that number of postings during 2012. And, I want to be passionate about it.

2) Balance …Husband, Children, and Work – I tend to be a bit, O.K. let’s be honest, a lot neurotic and perfectionistic.  But, when I go into a frenzy trying to solve a problem or complete a mission in one aspect of life, I tend to hyperfocus and feel as if I’m neglecting the other responsibilities.  I want to be able to please those around me and make them happy rather than just meeting their needs.  This may mean adding more to my schedule, as in reading time with my boys or extra date nights with my hubby, or reducing my schedule, as in reducing time obligations and outside of actual working hours to allow more spontaneity and spice to our family life.  I also want to balance my time between our two sons – they are both so unique and deserving of undivided attention, and I want to find a way to spend time with each of them individually. So, really what I need to balance is time, emotion, and responsibility.

3) Better…my Health – Yes, better my physical and emotional health.  Ron and I have a goal to spend more time together acting constructively.  He hit the big 3-0 this year, and I am not far behind.  While we feel like we are fairly healthy adults, we could both benefit from healthier eating habits and more exercise (original, right?).  In all reality, I have a small body type and have always been able to eat what I want to with little attention to calorie or fat intake and minimal exercise.  Something tells me this trend will not continue all the way through the next decade, so I want to develop healthier habits to serve me through the next several decades.  More importantly, I want our children to see us strive to better ourselves and learn healthy choices and habits from us at home.  I firmly believe that better physical health and improved emotional well-being are closely linked, so it only makes sense to attempt to better both.

The next step is to set up methods and specific mini-goals to help me get there – we’ll see what has been accomplished by this time next year.

35 inches (76th percentile)
26.1 pounds (26th percentile)

I have always thought A. was small compared to his same-aged peers, but I was pleasantly surprised to see he is right where he needs to be. He was an angel who braved the finger prick and cried just for a second when he had to get a shot I didn’t know about. Nothing a lollipop couldn’t fix! He also impressed the nurses and doctor by singing the entire chorus of Super-Cali-fragi-Listic-expi-Ali-docious in tune with near perfect articulation (his /l/ sound is a W).

Although I can’t say we have had any ‘terrible’ experiences, his desire for independence and testing of limits has led to his fair share of temper tantrums and mischief.

Here is an example:

This is A.’s artwork created with a Sharpie marker he found in Ron’s toolbag (don’t ask me why this was still sitting within a toddler’s reach – I didn’t know it was there).  The most impressive thing I learned from this shenanigan is that Magic Erasers really do work.  A little rubbing took all the dark marks off the hardwood floor and light-colored carpet without removing any of the finish!  And, I’m glad he chose the sharpie to play with as hammers, screwdrivers, and pliers could have been potentially more dangerous.

But, who could fault this precious face?

"What could I have possibly done this time?"

This expected addition fits right in line with our plan to move – but, at this point, we just don’t know where.  We have a new contract on our own house, and the family wants to close by March 31st…Woo Hoo!  The question now is where will we head.  I think we have looked at every four bedroom house less than 15 years old in the Easley/Pickens/Anderson/Powdersville area that is in our price range.  I’m excited about the option of moving closer to work so I can limit my driving time and participate in the daycare drop-off and pick-up, but we are praying for guidance in finding the right home for our growing family.

Hopefully we’ll have an update soon!

Weekend 1 was spent celebrating my sister’s upcoming wedding with a fabulous shower in Alpharetta.

Weekend 2 (our only weekend at home this month) commenced with our first trip to the Children’s Museum of the Upstate in Greenville.

Weekend 3 was spent in Raleigh celebrating the expected arrival of friends Kaete and Joe’s Lil’ P.

Weekend 4 was spent relaxing with Lauren and her bridesmaids on beautiful Lake Oconee for her bachelorette weekend. Pictures have been mostly censored .

February. Went.  Fast.

No longer 'dreaming' of a White Christmas!

And, a Michael gathering would not be complete without some creative  dysfunction fun.  So the evening consisted of a delicious prime rib dinner with Shiraz and Brixx chocolate for dessert, adaptive sledding and snowboarding down the front hill, and atrocious caroling in the living room.

Oh, and the creation of this hideous snowman (or woman?)...

January brought more snow and ice to the upstate, and we were out of school/work for an entire week!  The week was dubbed ‘Snowmageddon’ by the media, but we were all safe and enjoyed some bonding time as a family at home and with our neighbors in the ‘hood.

Friendly, chilly neighbors.

Riggs and Gunner had the most fun of all.

We got to experience snow again when we traveled to Banner Elk with good friends from our Sunday school class. We spontaneously took a quick weekend trip to enjoy a cozy condo in NC along with some sight-seeing, skiing, and sledding! We enjoyed some quality adult and family fellowship and definitely had a chance to relive those childhood snow days!

The expressions say it all!

Half of this crew mastered 'The Hill' and hope to do it again next year!

Yes, this month of ‘snow ventures’ is one for the books (or blog).

Our First House

It’s not a big secret that moving for any reason evokes feelings of stress and frustration at some point (or many points) during the start to finish process.  We bought our house at the top of the market in June 2006 right before we got married, have lived in it for four and a half years, brought our first son into it, and have developed many wonderful friendships and happy memories because of it.

Earlier this year, in the midst of the worst market real estate has seen in a long time, we decided it might be a good time to upgrade a little and see what kind of deals we could find.  We found a great foreclosure in a nice neighborhood in Anderson, 7 minutes from where I work, so we decided to put our house on the market to see what would happen.  The house we had our eyes on sold in two weeks.  So, we found another house we fell in love with in a neighborhood right around the corner, which was apparently another great deal that sold within that month.  We opted to take our house off the market and decided we would be content to stay where we were and just wait it out.

Until September, when we found this house:

Almost Home

…which we fell in love with.  It’s only three years old, needs very little work, is a perfect next-size-up for us, and happens to be in the neighborhood where Ron grew up and where his parents, uncle, and sister currently live.  It also sits on a 2-acre partially wooded lot with a great amount of privacy.  So,  our house went back on the market and we made an offer on this ‘almost house.’  We negotiated a contract on our current house in December, removed the contingency from the contract on the new house, and we were all set to close on both houses on January 27th.

Just this week, we found out both appraisals went through and were satisfactory for the respective loans, and both home inspections were completed with no issues.  We even picked out tile and hardwood stain colors for the ‘almost house’  and then got quotes on paint for all the high ceiling areas.  And then today, on our way to the office so we could pick up materials for packing, our agent called to tell us the couple buying our current home is being transferred to Columbia…

So, we sit now with that ‘just got kicked in the gut’ feeling wondering and waiting to find out if we have any other options or potential buyers and hoping we can somehow not lose this ‘almost house.’  However, we have both been praying the whole time asking God to show us what is right for our family and where to go or whether to stay, so I suppose we’ll continue to wait.

I just thought I’d share since we now have no evening plans (we were supposed to be packing up a couple of rooms/closets).  In the meantime, if you know of anyone looking for a 3 bedroom ,2 1/2 bath, great first home in the Easley area, let us know .

And, we’re hoping the 100% chance of snow as predicted for Monday will leave our ‘first home’ looking like it does in Exhibit A above!