Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from the Carolina Wiers.

This year we will be enjoying a rather quiet holiday at home full of yummy homemade food at mom and dad McParland's.

We are having a house full of Wiers at Christmas, so the next couple weeks will be spend preparing for Nathan's 7th birthday and then Christmas.

Nathan is doing wonderfully in 1st grade. He is in boy scouts and has started tap-dancing lessons. He spends the weekends playing in the woods and getting muddy with his neighborhood friends, and the evening reading or playing video games.

Morgan has all sorts of new tricks -- mostly involving moving chairs and climbing. He also loves art--he decorated my dishwasher yesterday with an escape crayon. He has a particular talent for mayhem.

Jason and I are doing well -- and enjoying our children. This is a wonderful time of year and we are grateful to be able to spend it together!

I have a new computer and as soon as I have a few minutes - I will post a bunch of new pictures. :)

Meghan

Shocking News Story:Meg updates Blog

It has literally been months (8ish) since I updated the blog and so much has happened. Morgan is now climbing, running and occassionally singing. Nathan starts 1st grade in less than a week. Jason and I renewed our vows in Aruba a couple weeks ago. Jason is working a contract job at Bank of America and I am writing furiously to be able to pay for Nathan's school and Morgan's sitter so that I can work to pay for Nathan's school. Life is good. I will upload some more pictures later so that you can see what the kids look like :) - Love - Meg

Nathan and Santa

Nathan went to see the big guy today. I believe a Nintendo DS was ordered up (check!). I have never seen him more excited! He was practically walking on air.

I am happy to report that Nathan used all his manners and was a perfect gentleman. No coal for my 6 year old today :)

Holiday Letter: The year in review

Happy Holidays!

Since it is looking more and more unlikely that I will around to an actual Christmas letter -- I thought it was at least best to update the blog.

Let us see if I can remember the whole year...

The year started with a trip to Aruba...(gosh... I think that was in January!) a beautiful vacation with a very pregnant me - it was Amazing!

In February, my book, Confessions of an Introvert was published (again) and I did a bit of a virtual book tour, doing radio shows for stations across the country and Canada.

Four months later Morgan Jacob joined our family. He and his big brother Nathan are like 2 peas in a pod, and Nathan cannot wait until Morgan is a "talking and walking baby".

Soon after Morgan was born, Jason's company had a "reduction in force" which is a nice way of saying he was laid off. And so... Jason has been the primary caregiver to the kids since then--he is an awesome dad full of patience he must have acquired secretly along the way.

About that same time Nathan graduated from pre-school in a fabulous ceremony full of song and dance and construction-paper crafts. It was a proud moment.

....oh! To back up a little, on April 2 my sister Erin delivered a beautiful bouncing boy herself -- Xander. Who is the most delightfully happy baby I have ever met--and then to fast forward only a couple weeks, my sister Kate delivered her second daughter, Ella.--- Yes, a busy spring! Ella joins big sister McKenzie in the Kaufman clan. BEAUTIFUL girls!......and somewhere in there both Jess and my dad got degrees! Jess from Virginia Tech and Dad a graduate degree from University of Virginia. I am sketchy on the dates as I was having a baby... but I know it was in there!!

And so with babies birthed, and degress bestowed, we spent the summer getting ready for a wonderful wedding for my sister Jess to Shane Orr. It was quite the event in the mountains of Tennessee with family and food and festivities... and then bam! We turned around and went to Hilton Head for our annual/semi-annual Family vacation. Our beach house was alive with babies, diapers, big-kids (bigger kids) a newly-wedded couple with only a couple weeks of wedded bliss to speak of... and my very overwhelmed but cheerful parents. We played in the pool, ate marvelous meals, passed the babies around and took MANY naps... all of us!


And then sometime in there I ran a triathlon....


The Fall went very quickly with the boys growing up fast. Nathan started Kindergarten and is just amazing. I cannot say enough about how fabulous he is... smart, adorable, creative. I know I am biased, but the kid is awesome. And then there is mini-nate aka Morgan. Who while definitely his own person, is enamored with his big brother and can't get enough of him. The resemblance is there for sure, although our Morgan is a beefy kid and unlike his brother, has not ever had a problem cleaning his plate. To look at the pictures, Morgan at the same age as Nathan is much bigger kid.

Morgan is now 8 months old this coming week and doing his best impression of a "walking baby." He pulls himself up and cruises the furniture and just this weekend I realized I no longer can just put him down and expect he will sit still. The table tops, furniture and floor all need to be carefully monitored and it will not be long before my little angel is officially taking his first steps.

Morgan has sprouted his first two teeth -- the top front ones. He loves food and I can tell he is looking forward to putting those chompers to work. Of course, Nathan, not to be out-done has decided to start eating us out of house and home himself--I believe a growth spurt is imminent!

Jason and I are well -- happy and blissful in our mid-age parent-hood. We have a beautiful family and are blessed with wonderful friends. Our hope for 2010 is that Jason is able to find work, but in the mean-time he is doing an awesome job holding down the fort and I am grateful for his hard work.

We will be spending Christmas morning here in SC and then heading down to Florida to visit Jason's parents and brother. This year has gone super fast and as much as it has been a tough one, it has also, most definitely been our greatest as a family.

Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, Happy New Year.

Meg
(& Jason, Nathan and Morgan)

Morgan is 6 months old!

Morgan is officially 6 months old tomorrow. He is celebrating this grand occasion with a bit of a cold, but he is generally a happy and healthy baby.

Morgan has also learned to sit and roll over - although he prefers to stand whenever possible. His daddy swears there is a tooth coming in... I am unconvinced it will sprout any time soon, myself, but he sure is drooling a lot--and he loves to nibble things, so maybe Jas is right! As for food, he likes squash, bananas, and peaches, but he is definitely not a fan of peas...at all.

Morgan loves baths. Any opportunity to splash and kick is a good one. Yesterday, I put the kids in together, and they both had a great time, although I was a little worried that they were having too much fun. I think they both forgot that Morgan is still little and unable to swim! I scrambled to take a few good pics while holding the slippery infant and trying to protect the young man's dignity. --I think I did ok.

Anyway...I don't think our Morgan will be little for long - he is growing like a weed and if Nathan weren't eating like a 14-year-old himself right now, I would be worried. I don't expect that Morgan will let the little 5 year age difference stop him from trying everything his big brother does. You can tell that he finds Nate the most fascinating person in the room, and the feeling is mutual. Nathan is already asking when they can have bunk beds...

Our Nathan is doing great in school, and we are very proud of him. He likes math especially and his story-telling and writing skills are improving dramatically.

We are blessed with two great boys! Every day is wonderful - and wonder-filled.

Morgan is 5 months old!

Today baby Morgan turns 5 months! He is sitting on his own and eating such delicacies as squash and bananas. He is delightful, a good sleeper, easy going and fun. I am not sure whose child we took home from the hospital, but we are not giving him back! (Good thing he looks like us, or we really would wonder).

Nathan is going to school 5 days a week and for the most part loves it. It is a lot of work and I think it is hard for him NOT to be the center of the universe all the time--he plays games like "who wants a Nathan sandwich?" and "Nathan says" and "Nathan kickidy kick ball" -- a little self-absorbed that one... and clearly that indicates he is my child :) Some of the "only child" is wearing off slowly and he is wonderfully fun. He tells jokes and sings are colors fabulous pictures. He is well-behaved and is starting to read -- no complaints there either. He did get a concussion the other day when he did something less than graceful while "flying" over the furniture and had to get a CT scan.... (he gets his athletic ability from his father) - but he was fine... just banged up a bit.

Jas is still "in between" jobs, but has kept busy with the kids and the house and his online-monster-killing-quest-questing and whatever else he does all day :) He is really wonderful with the kids and I am so lucky to have such a great adaptable & patient husband.

As for me, I am gearing up to do a bunch of book signings before the holiday and I have a triathlon in 2 days. With any luck I will survive that. I am also fighting a week-long headache for no good reason. I immediately had the old thyroid checked.... (well not immediately... who does anything immediately any more....) and it is normal -- which means the headache is caused by something more nebulous and I have my first of what will probably be several doctors appts to find out why. And that is why we have COBRA insurance coverage...(that and the fact we have 2 little boys and Jason still insists on playing weekly soccer games...)

That is about all for now - I am off to the doc to be told I do not have a sinus infection and they aren't sure why I still have a headache... fun fun!

Morgan's Check-up

Baby Morgan had his check up the other day... at 4 months he is 15lbs 1 oz, 25 3/4 " long and has a head circumference of 16 1/4" -- making him a solid 50%, 75%, 25% in the percentiles -- also meaning his is the tallest member of the male side of the family --at least when taking into account the age to height ratio. Go Big Mo!

Morgan also got shots at his check-up and then promptly slept the whole rest of the day and into the next, waking before lunch REALLY hungry, and probably several ounces lighter than the day before. A bit of baby Tylenol for a fever, some projectile yuckies and light snack and the kid was out again. We have not gotten our happy baby back yet, even tonight, the child is still quite sleepy and a bit grumpy, but the fever has broken and Jason has only changed shirts a few times today, so we are considering it a good day.

On other topics: I had my early morning BNI today, but then came back to the house to work with my friend Rob on some home improvement projects. I will post a couple pics of my "lighted nook" when it is finished -- but it is my new favorite feature of the house. Admittedly, I should have been working, but spackling and painting and cutting holes into walls was way more therapeutic, and I needed it.

Unfortunately, Rob will have to finish the big project on his own since I have an ALL day 8-5 seminar tomorrow and Saturday on Phonics....yippeee. (Which I am sure I will learn is spelled incorrectly tomorrow). Nate's school requires it of all parents since we are teaching to a "University Model" and ... well, I have gobs of work to do to learn phonics since it wasn't how I learned to spell, but hopefully the blocks will fall into place for me and perhaps increase my ability to convey my message without getting slowed up by pesky spelling questions. But even better, if I can give Nathan something that I did not have and make him a stronger student, better learner and more capable human being in the end, I will endure a couple long days and time away from my family.

Nathan loves school but has come home each day this week exhausted. Tomorrow is a day off since all parents and teachers are doing the phonics workshop. Nate needs it. School is going to be quite an adventure for all of us!