Little Artist

Keeping Wilson busy while I prepare dinner is harder then any full 8 hour day in the office. Tonight when Michael walked in the door at 5:35 PM, he asked me if I was ok. I exasperatedly told him I was fine, just tired. Then he asked me how long Wilson and I had been home. I looked at my watch and realized it had only been 25 minutes! 

I had been chasing W from the kitchen to the living room while he asked for snacks and turned the TV on and off. Just before Michael walked through the door, I had found a great way to occupy the little guy. We were planning and art project. I have a bunch of blank canvas around the house, just in case I get the bug to do a painting (something I wish I made more time to do). So I taped the letters L,O,V and E onto 4 of them and gave Wilson the crayons. 

After dinner-where Wils chose to only eat sweet potato-we headed outside to start the real artwork.

The finished product isn't too bad. It will be a cute addition to the basement play area!

Hot Dog!

Wilson clearly has a favorite food.

Road Trip!

W and I took a little road trip to Ohio last weekend to celebrate my cousin Jennifer's upcoming wedding. We also had  little sleep over with my grandparents.

On Friday night we stayed with Aunt Cyndi and Uncle Randy (Jennifer, too) in there new house in Akron. We were their first official out of town guests! They were so sweet and gave Wilson a new book.

 Wilson was up bright an early on Saturday morning. Guess he was ready to get the party started. He woke everyone with his piano playing at 7AM.

 We heading to Cleveland for the shower where we met up with Papa (Also named Will). While the ladies enjoyed the bridal shower. The boys took a trip to the mall.

After the shower Wilson and I heading to Mimi and Papa's house for the night. Wilson kept us busy with playing and running and bubble blowing.

Lucky for me, he was a pretty good traveler. And I feel like I really accomplished something with my first solo road trip with a toddler.

Melt Down

Lindsay and I have been friends since  my senior year of high school. We lived together for a bit in college and have shared in many of life's milestones. We were both engaged within the same week. We were bridesmaids in the other's wedding, just 6 weeks apart. We found out we were pregnant about 8 weeks apart. And in 2011 we gave birth to our first born children just 3 weeks apart.

Last weekend Lindsay, her husband Jamie (who is also Michael's fraternity brother) and their sweet baby girl, Zella drove from KY for a long weekend in VA.We were so excited to get to spend some time with the kiddos together!

On Saturday, after a nice long nap, we put the kids in their swimwear and let them play in the yard with the baby pool and water table. The grown ups were so pleased that the backyard was shaded and with the nice warm breeze blowing, we were quite comfortable. We gave each of our soaking wet kiddos a yummy popcsicle to enjoy. Everyone seemed to be happy to have a treat.

Until they got cold! Zella and Wil looked at one another and began to cry. We kept saying "what's wrong? You both have a popsicle." and tried to help them. They kept looking at each other as if to say "We're still mad, right?"  THEN we noticed they were shivering. Between the wet bathing suits and frozen goodies, they were FREEZING!

Man, we're good parents! ha.

 We had a wonderful time with our friends and can't wait to spend more time with them again when we visit KY in December!

Daddy Turns 30!

Yesterday was Michael's 30th Birthday. I joked with him that he has finally grown into his age. Since I met him 11 years ago, I've often heard how he has always been 30 years old.
We took the day off together to relax and enjoy a kid free lunch out. Then picked up the little man from school a little early to buy daddy a balloon (Elmo, of course) and enjoy pizza, presents and cake!

Mini Vacation.

We just returned from a mini family vacation to South Carolina and then Savannah. While the weather wasn't sunny and warm for an ideal day at the beach, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take Wilson to see the sand and the ocean. Our littlest buddy wasn't even a bit scared of the waves. He would have run right into the water if we didn't hold him back. This made me very nervous. 

He has been working hard to learn how to use a spoon like a big boy. But the difference between a spoon and a shovel was a little lost on him. Yuck!

After a nice little afternoon nap, we took Wilson to an adorable playground on the river in Beaufort. 

 Saturday morning we spent a little time with Grandpa Buz and had lunch at a great restaurant in Beaufort called Q on the Bay. It was fantastic!

Saturday after lunch we headed off to Savannah to spend time with Grandpa Joe or "Joe-pa" and his family to celebrate Uncle Nelson's Graduation from High School. 

 Wilson did very well considering it was a 2.5 hour graduation ceremony! Then we all took a carriage ride though beautiful Savannah on our way to the private graduation celebration at SubDog's. Wilson was the life of the party and loved being able to run around the restaurant. 

Busy Busy.

The month of April has passed by so quickly! Last week Michael and Wil were on there own while I flew off to Colorado for a conference and got to have a little visit with our buddies Blair, Erik and little Miss Reid. This was the first time I've been away for more then one night since W was born. Man was that tough! I couldn't wait to get home to my boys last Thursday night.

While I was away, the Campbell family welcomed Miss Grier to the group. I was so excited to meet her on Friday and spend a little quality time with Ashley in the hospital just staring at her beautiful baby girl. 

On Saturday, the kiddos had a blast celebrating Colin's 2nd Birthday. Colin had a fun Elmo themed party and since "Elmo" is one of W's few words, he said it over and over again! They had a great time in the back yard with the water table and the giant water spout beach ball. Our little guys is not afraid of the water. I can't wait for the pool to open in just a few weeks!

Easter.

Easter 2012 was an all around success. Our family woke early on Sunday morning to make sure we could all be dressed and out the door with plenty of time to spare. Our little church fills up quickly on holidays and we knew it would be standing room only. The idea of standing for an hour with a squirmy toddler did not appeal to me so I made sure we got a seat! Wilson certainly squirmed but he did make it all the way through the sermon and was sure to smile and laugh and even clap when the children's choir sang. 

After church we headed over to the Campbell's. Ashley and Chad and Jackson were so kind to include us in their family holiday celebration. We love spending time with the McCarron/Campbell crew. Jackson even shared his Easter egg hunt with Wilson. I was shocked that Wilson actually seemed to get into it. He will be sure to love it even more next year. After a delicious lunch we headed home for nap time. 

Champs and Such.

I haven't been very dedicated to taking photos which has resulted in my lack of posting. Last weekend we visited my best friend/Wilson's Godmother in Richmond so that I could run my favorite race, the Monument Ave 10k.  This particular 10k was my first ever real race in 2009. I ran it again in 2010 and then missed it last year since Wilson was only a week old at the time of the race.  This year I didn't feel very prepared but ran it anyway. The Monument Ave 10k is so much fun! There were more then 40,000 registered for this race and the streets are lined with spectators. I had a great run. Not my best, but not my worst either. I can't wait to do it again next year.Our friend Hugh ran the race too. He finished 18th over all! Amazing!

After the race we had time for a quick brunch with our friends.Then we rushed home so that I could get ready to attend the wedding of our friend Becca. Michael was on Daddy duty as UK was playing UofL in the final four. We were exhausted on Sunday!

Thankfully Monday night Kentucky pulled out another victory over Kansas to become the NCAA Men's Basketball National Champs. This is our school's 8th title. And since we bleed blue, we couldn't be more thrilled. Even Wilson knows the CATS are #1!

First Haircut.

Wilson had his first official haircut last night. It was one year, to the day, from when we brought the little man home from the hospital.  I had my regularly scheduled appointment with Michelle at Trendbenders and we packed up lots of snacks and brought Wilson along.

 Michelle has been cutting my hair for 5 years now. I went to her in January of 2007 to whip my head into shape before our wedding and I've trusted her ever since. At my last appointment we discussed Wilson's first haircut and she offered to do it for us free of charge. Such a sweet lady! (This was great, because Michael had been saying I was going to have to attempt to cut Wilson's hair on my own. No Thank You!)

Michelle even gave Wilson his first lollipop as a distraction.

Our Very Hungry Caterpillar PARTY!

Yesterday many friends and family joined us to celebrate Wilson's first birthday. My sister flew in from TN last week to spend some of her spring break with us and help us with our party prep. Boy, are we ever lucky to have Aunt Katie! She is busy going to grad school to earn her Masters in Elementary education and she can decorate like it's no one's business! 

Here are a few shots from the day.

Welcome, Friends!

The party is right through here.

Aunt Katie posted the entire story on the wall for everyone to enjoy.

 

Yummy snacks.

Cake, courtesy of Wegman's. Fabulous personalized cake flags, courtesy of our pal, Ashley.

Special small cake for the birthday boy!

"Guest book" copy of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Birthday Cake Martinis for the grown ups. Water, Lemonade, and fresh squeezed "Caterpillar Juice" for the not so grown ups.

Seat of honor. Complete with Kentucky bib for game day!

Adorable wrapping paper, colored by Colin.

The shopping cart was a hit with all of the kids. The animals from Noah's Ark got several rides...and bites of cake.

oops. We almost forgot about the balloon caterpillar.