A Very Happy Family...

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting Miss Alexis Mae Weiss. She's an absolutely beautiful baby and her parents (and grandparents for that matter) are overjoyed as well.

Click here for pictures of Alexis

More Birthday madness

Gwennie's Godfather Clark and his wife Nancy came over this morning to bring us these pics.

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Whole Lotta Birthday Going On....

This week was Gwennie's birthday bash. On Thursday was her actual birthday (that she shares with Miss Allison Martin Pine - one of Natalie's closest friends from college - and now Miss Alexis Mae Weiss - Ryan and Addie Mae's daughter who was just born on Thursday!!!).

Grandma Verna flew into town on Wednesday night and went with me to a check up at the Doctor's office on Thursday. Here's a video of Gwennie walking around the office. She's getting more stable when she walks - or will do just about anything to get to the pacifier :-)



Thursday night Gwennie's godmother Heather and Ari Eisgrau flew in from Baltimore and hung out with Grandma Verna, Gwennie and I. Ari is such a smart kid! He loves to color with crayons and prefers cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes to grilled cheese or french fries (unlike Gwennie who only seems to love carbs...Cheerios are a staple around here). We then dropped Grandma Verna off at the airport and headed home to pick up Nanna Susan. We then headed to the Toy store where Ari checked out the play vacuums, riding toys and Elmo while Gwennie checked out the rocking horses and blocks.

Friday night Gwennie's godfather Clark and Nancy Spencer also joined in the fun and came over for dinner. We had such a nice time with all of them and ended up staying waaayy too late!

Saturday was the big day! Before the party Heather, Ari, Gwennie and Natalie had breakfast at the Original Pancake House and then did some shopping before the bash. We then into party planning mode...Susan and Corbin cleaned up the picnic table that we used as a cupcake and sugar cookie decorating area. Heather arranged the food on the platters and I went into last minute cleaning mode to get the place ready for the madness. Luckily Gwennie and Ari were wiped out so we caught a break and they napped right up until the party started.

The party itself was a huge success!! We had flavored food coloring markers, sprinkles, colored sugar, 5 types of colored icing and cookies with pictures on them that the kids spent most of their time decorating. We figured it would keep the kids busy for a couple of minutes but it was such a hit that we ran out of space on the picnic table! As you can see from the pictures, most if not all of Gwennie's family and friends came over and we are so thankful to have such amazing people in our lives.

Gwennie wasn't really into the cake as you can see from the video below


We also snapped a funny video of Gwennie in her Carolina blue Tutu courtesy of Clark and Nancy. Nancy's friend makes these - they are so cute. Here's a link to her website - Girl Party Tutus

This morning, I took a few pictures of Gwennie having breakfast and recorded this video of her latest trick...fish lips. She does this all the time now and it's pretty funny when she's trying to laugh/make the face at the same time.

Click here for pictures from the week

Stylish as always....

At the request of Auntie Jessica, I am posting this video of Gwennie walking down the hallway. Just so everyone doesn't think I parade my kid around in babylegs and a turtleneck, she did actually have a cute jean skirt on that day but since we just changed her diaper and it was dinner time (AKA food splatter time), I figured I'd try to reduce the amount of clothing I'd have to scrub food out of.

I also want to apologize that I had the camera filming vertically, if anyone knows how to rotate in blogger, let me know.

Enjoy!

Secret Steps

So as some of you have seen, Gwennie can walk with help like a pro. She also apparently has taken a few steps at school but we had yet to see her do anything other than plop down and crawl at home. Corbin and I realized it's all a hoax, the kid can walk, she just likes to be carried. Check out the video of her taking a few steps when she thought that Corbin and I were in the other room.


Here are some pics from the weekend before church. I figured I should take some pictures of her looking like a girlie girl since most of the time she's in "play clothes".

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President's Day and Hamming it up

Monday I didn't have to work so Gwennie and I had a girls day together. We hung out in the morning, played in the playroom, went out side and had some nice swing time together, met Janet, Andrew, Crawford, Cannon and Cole for lunch and then headed over to meet Kristin for some shopping at a local store down here.



Last night Gwennie was being a ham and kept doing this hilarious fake laugh every time I pretended to sneeze. Here's some video of her last night.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Here's some quick shots I took this morning of Gwennie before school!

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The Flu Blues....

We were struck again with another illness in the family. Corbin and I both got the flu and poor Gwennie has double ear infections so my apologies for the late posting. Last weekend we were up in Boston for Addie's Shower. I took a few pictures from the event. That kid is going to be set for the next year with clothing, gear and toys! This weekend we were home sick with the flu so no new stuff to report.

Here are some pictures of the weekend.

We are in trouble!

Well....the day has come. Gwennie is so close to walking! Last night we finally got a video of her standing up on her own and here's another one with her walking with her new walking toy from Auntie Jennifer.

Back in Action!

I figured since that last post was such a downer, I better send an update. Gwennie is back in full playing force and is very happy to see her friends at daycare again. Here's a picture I took from this morning.

For Good Reason....

Some of you have probably been wondering where we have been. Well....here goes. Two weeks ago Gwennie started her first week at daycare. She was such a pro and had so much fun playing with all the other kids! Mom and Dad had to get used to the change in our schedule but so far we have been adapting pretty well. On Friday night we encountered exactly what everyone was telling us...daycare=more germs.

Gwennie brought home a stomach virus which was exhausting to both her and the family. Her nanny Jennifer came over to check on her and ended up staying with us to see it through. This included 5 loads of laundry on the "sanitize" cycle, 3 AM Pedialite feedings, and many wardrobe changes for everyone! By the next morning she was pretty exhausted but the baby volcano was quiet.

Sunday morning, Corbin took Gwennie to the doctor for her cough but at the time it was just a mild cold...I noticed my stomach was starting to hurt and figured it was just anxiety over Gwennie who now was coughing pretty badly and had a runny nose. About an hour later....round 2...mommy had the virus!?!?!?!? Corbin was great! He took care of the baby while I was indisposed for about 12 hours. Later that evening Corbin and I were both saying how lucky he was that he didn't get it....famous last words, right? Yep...at 3 AM...round 3...Corbin had it!

Monday Corbin and I recovered while nanny Jennifer took care of Gwennie and the rest of the house. It took a good 36 hours before we both had fully recovered. During that time, we noticed that Gwennie's cough was getting worse and she was still not keeping food down.

On Wednesday we'd recovered and decided it was time for Gwennie to head back to the doctor. Turns out she now had an ear infection in both ears and bronchitis. The poor thing had to get 2 shots of an antibiotic, a prescription and was going to have to use a nebulizer every four hours for a while.

I then received a phone call from the daycare (which she hasn't been to since the previous Friday) and 2 of the kids in the room with Gwennie had reported cases of RSV and both of the ladies that take care of the infants had been out with the stomach virus. Turns out that is where Gwennie got both of her ailments.

This morning Jennifer called and she now has the stomach virus as well :-(

On a brighter note, Thursday and Saturday we had some snow which the girls and Gwennie found very interesting and as of today Gwennie is doing much better and is on the road to recovery. She's getting used to the nebulizer and is in much brighter spirits. She's now got this funny pageant wave that I will try to film this week and she is also pretty close to standing/walking on her own.

Here's a few pictures from this week.

10 Months Old - Little Miss 'Tude

Gwennie is 10 months old now and has developed a new trick...she's learned to shake her head to say no and she furrows her brow. Talk about attitude! Here's some pics from last week

Why we don't live in Boston anymore

It has been noticeably cold this week so we have had to layer Gwennie in her "winter gear" that we were saving for our trip up to Boston in February. As you can see from the video below...crawling in mittens and a coat is not as easy as one would think.


As you can probably see...she resembles Randy in his snowsuit from "A Christmas Story"

Forgot the camera....

Over the last week and a half I keep saying that everywhere we go!

On the 29th we went to Columbia, SC for the Webb family Christmas. As a nice surprise, our cousins from Atlanta (The Heatly's) showed up with kids (Faryn & Kamryn) in tow. We are so happy they drove up! We also got to finally meet Molly Gilbert (she's the baby in the front on the right side). This picture is from the Gilbert Family blog. Check there for more pics of Molly...she's a cutie!

Molly and Blyth - the other baby pictured - are about 6 weeks apart and it's amazing to see how different they are. Blyth has beautiful red hair and is so content curling up and sleeping. Molly is long and lean and checks out everything with her beautiful blue eyes when she's awake. If you can believe it they are about the same weight!

Nanna Susan followed us home and was nice enough to babysit while Corbin and I went up to Chapel Hill on Sunday to watch Carolina play Valpo in Basketball. We stayed at the Carolina Inn and once again...I forgot the camera! The decorated the entire inn with a twelve days of Christmas scene. That is Bill and Coo their two turtle doves. Sorry..best I could do was a camera with Corbin's picture phone.

Monday we drove home and celebrated the new year at home with the kid watching the Chic-fil-a bowl. Unfortunately Clemson lost so the Webb side of the family is going to be in mourning until football season next year.

New Year's Day we hung out in the back yard and then headed over to the Brown's house for brunch. Linny, Pops, Janet, Andrew and Crawford joined us and the food was delicious! I think Maggie and Eddie their dogs also enjoyed the meal since Gwennie decided feeding them Cheerios was more fun than eating. Speaking of eating...I have two more videos that I will upload tomorrow with Gwennie eating and making her latest favorite sound. You can decide what you think she's doing. Here's a few other pictures from today...

Dishwasher Jungle Gym

Well, as you can see Gwennie will crawl on anything. Last night while I was washing dishes, Gwennie decided that the dishwasher was a new toy. My mom said that I used to do the same thing when I was a baby so I guess it must be genetic :-)

Some Video from the week

Here's some videos we took this week.

Here is Evie and Gwennie hanging in the wagon.


This is Gwennie checking out Elmo



This is Christmas Dinner

Birthday and Christmas Weekend

This weekend Grandma Verna, Grandpa Mel and Nanna Susan joined us for the holiday. My father and I celebrated our birthdays (I'm 32 and he's 70 years young). Saturday we hung out in the old hood for a Block Party. These first set of pictures are of Gwennie and Evie enjoying the wagon ride.

Grandpa Bob, Nancy, Uncle Rob and Uncle David also stopped by as well for a visit.

Christmas morning we all had a nice meal, opened presents and enjoyed relaxing around the house with the dogs. We should have some video soon. It's loading right now.

Click here for pictures

Blyth Allan Webb

Our new cousin arrived on 12/17/07


Blyth Allan Webb

7 lb. 10 oz.
20 3/4"

Corbin and I went down to meet her on Tuesday and she's just beautiful and is such a good baby!

Much love to Mom Gini, Dad Russ and Big Sister Alexandra

Happy Birthday Grandma D

On Dec 4th my Grandmother Jane Dycus ("Grandma D") turned 90 years young. She is my father's (Mel) mother and lives in Orange County, CA. My Dad's side of the family all lives near one another and are very close. At the last minute my mom and I found some cheap tickets so Gwennie and I flew down to Phoenix for a long weekend and drove over to the party at PJ's Abbey which is named for my Aunt Peggy Jane (married to my father's brother Uncle Gary) and run by their son Gary. This is a little confusing but here goes...I have 5 cousins all of which I remember well growing up but to see them again was worth the 4 1/2 hour flight and 5 hour drive to California.

My oldest cousin Stephanie is married to Charlie and has 3 children...Mindy, Mandy and Trevor. Mindy and Mandy are both married with girls of their own. Mindy is mommy to Ava and Mandy to Emma. Stacey is next and she is married to Jack with their son Tanner who is going to be a famous major league catcher some day. Jody is married to Kent and they have Conner and Lucas (Luc) who are both hilarous and witty kids. Gary (or Gary Jr.) is married to Lisa and they have 2 boys Nicholas and Matthew. I met Matthew at the party and he was hanging out in the kitchen where I think he knows like the back of his hand. Last but certainly not least their is Carrie (who I grew up with as she is only 2 years younger than me) and she is married to Scott and they have 3 boys Carter, Austin and Logan...all three of which were tearing it up with mom on the dance floor. Here is a picture of my Mom, Dad, Jane, Gary and Peggy.

As some of you may or may not know, I have a half brother and sister (Jennifer and Jeff). Jeff and are both pretty busy but finally caught up again. I also got to meet his awesome wife Stacey and my nephew Max and niece Isabella (Bella)! Bella and Max owned the dance floor and were so much fun. Gwennie just loved playing with them and Max was enamored with her. We also got to catch up with Jeff's mom Sharon and her mother Grandma Edie who is also 96! The women in my family are unbelievably healthy (as you can see from the pictures!

We also visited with my Great Aunt Virginia who is 97 years young! Here is a picture with her and Gwennie. We all have a special place in our heart for Aunt Virginia and her husband (who passed away a few years ago) Uncle Charlie. She's just as sharp as ever and really enjoyed Gwennie climbing all around her.

When we got home we had a nice dinner with my Aunt Pat and Uncle Frank. They also kept Gwennie entertained and my Uncle Frank swears that Gwennie said "Dog" last night at dinner. We spent the rest of the night trying to make her repeat herself. Interestingly enough now when we say "Gwennie, where's the dog?" She immediately looks for Ginger and Ruby. Here's a picture of Pat, Frank and Gwennie.

We are happy to be home now with Dad and the Girls who had a nice relaxing weekend of TV, sleep and some much needed peace and quiet.

Click here for pictures

Who's this guy?

As you can see Gwennie was pretty interested in Santa. She really wasn't into looking at us at all. Here's some pictures from last night with the Fishers. Crawford decided Gwennie needed a sticker on her head!

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Calabash, Hot Dogs and Fries...oh my!

Well, this weekend we introduced Gwennie to one of our favorite treats (Calabash Chicken and french fries from Fatz Cafe). As you can see she was all over it. Later that day Corbin took her to our weekly Costco run and let her try hot dogs which she also was a big fan of. I think it's so funny that she pats the table everytime she wants more. Wish she would do that for Broccoli and Peas!

9 Months old today!

Yes, we can't believe it either!!!

Rocking Horses

Monday we needed to occupy Gwennie so we put her on the rocking horse we got her for Christmas. As you can see she is concentrating so hard to stay on that she couldn't smile.

The Pressure!

OK...I know it's been over a week since I posted and I am already getting threats for more pictures. Here's a few from yesterday and today. The sunglass pictures were from yesterday and today she had her 9 month appointment with Dr. Neale (pictured with her below). He's so nice! Gwennie seems to like him although I think she's figured out that Dr Neale = shots so she sort of looks at him funny.

More Entertainment

This weekend Gwennie was a little grumpy so we found this interesting way to keep her occupied. Everytime she'd start to whimper we would play this game. I think in the end Corbin and I got more of a kick out of it than Gwennie did but none the less, it was another source of comedy!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving we headed down to Neeses, South Carolina to meet up with the Corbin side of the family (Corbin was named for his Great Uncle Edward Corbin - Corbin Edward Meek). There are 5 siblings and their families that all meet up together every year. Here is a picture of them from left to right. Iris (Gwennie's grandmother where her middle name Iris came from), Dot, Ed, Harold, and Irine. One thing that I found so amusing was that apparently they always line up in order of age. We all had such a good time and Gwennie was so happy to have new faces to look at and people to carry around and play with her.

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Bathroom updates and Monday Morning Stroll

I keep meaning to put pictures up from when we repainted the bathrooms. Here are some before and after shots. Disregard the fact that I completely forgot to fold the hand towels! Also, the before of the guest bathroom was right after we moved in so the first picture is a little cluttered with all of our moving stuff.

This morning we went for a walk down the street and played in the swing out back. It was pretty sunny so Gwennie wore her sunglasses. Sometimes it shocks me that we can put just about anything (hats, sunglasses...big snail costume) on this kid and she just goes along with it! I think she liked stolling around like a movie star...diva in training that she is!

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Here's a video of her after the walk. The girls (Ginger and Ruby) are so funny...as you can see they turn their heads to the side every time we say the word "walk".

Jam-Packed Weekend

This weekend was pretty busy. Nanna Susan came into town on Friday afternoon and stayed with us all weekend to help Corbin and I prepare for Gini Webb's baby shower on Sunday. Saturday morning we headed over to get some professional family portraits done...well, more like took a few pictures as a family and the rest of the time was devoted to Gwennie's antics. As you will see, she's a much happier kid outside. Sunday we had a nice shower with a small group. I can't believe it but the only picture I took was of the cupcake tower before the shower started!











Click here for the professional shots

I'm 8 months old and I have a new cousin - Molly Gilbert!

Yesterday was a big day in our family. Gwennie is now officially 8 months old and at 6:50 AM, her new cousin Margaret Salisbury Gilbert (Molly) was born! Clay and Brandt are also doing well and you can check out Molly on their blog which is listed in our links under "The Gilbert Family". We are very excited to meet her!

Painting the Bathrooms

This week we are painting the bathrooms so Miss Gwennie took a bath in the kitchen sink instead of the bathtub. We also took a few pictures from this week.

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Banana Gerber Stuff

This weekend Gwennie tried out some of those Gerber Graduate banana puffed rice snacks. Here's a video of the action.

Halloween Party

Happy Halloween! Tonight we gathered in the old 'hood and went to a party. Everyone was there! Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures. But here are a few.

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Source of Continuous Amusement...

This evening Corbin came home to this....as you can see Gwennie's practicing her comedy routine. That toy is the alligator from the Loonie Spelling Squirties

Standing Up

Well, as you can see from this video, Gwennie has now figured out how to stand up on her own....and eat the stain off of the crib. She also has her mother's graceful balance and managed to bump her mouth on the edge (that's why we had to stop filming). Don't worry...no trips to the emergency room. Just a few tears and she was good to go again in a few minutes.

Halloween Parade

This weekend was the neighborhood Halloween parade! The local firetruck comes down and leads the kids around the block. Between maneuvering Gwennie and trying to keep her outfit together, I didn't get many pics. I took some pictures this morning of her in the full getup and she's also learned how to pull herself up in the crib so I grabbed some cute photos of that last night. I have a video as well so I will post that part later this afternoon.

Click here for pictures

Sooner than we thought!

If you read the blog two days ago you would see that Gwennie was pretty close to crawling. I had said she would be motoring around by next week. I spoke too soon...as of today she's got crawling down!
Here's a video of her crawling across the room. As you will see, she was more interested in the phone (typical, right?) rather than her toys!

Zoom Zoom....

Yesterday we headed to Costco for some formula and came back with a car! Well...sort of. This little contraption keeps Ms. Gwennie entertained for hours. This morning Corbin was pushing her around and left her behind me. I kept hearing the horn going "honk, honk" and when I turned around she looked at me as though she was saying..."hello....Mom? I'm honking here....push me around the house!"

Pretty close to crawling...

As you can see, Gwennie is getting pretty close to crawling. Hopefully in the next week or two she will have it down (on the other hand we really haven't baby proofed anything so this should be interesting!!)

Invasion of the Yip Yips

Invasion of the Yip Yips Part 2

You tube is being kind of odd...ready the previous post before checking out the above video

Last night Gwennie had the sniffles and ended up waking up around 11. We brought her into our bedroom and she was making the funniest noises. Corbin thinks she sounds like the Yip Yip martians (google and youtube are the best!). I have to agree!

Weekend with the Girls

This weekend was just the girls while Corbin was at a concert with Gwennie's Godfather Clark. We went to the Fall Festival at a church down the street with Crawford, Janet and Andrew Fisher.

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Also - here is a video of Gwennie on her new swing

Pumpkins and Cold Weather

Well it is finally cold in the mornings now so Gwennie put on her hat (thanks Kiki) and sweater and was ready for a morning walk. We also headed over to the church down the street to take some pictures with the pumpkins. Gwennie wasn't too keen on sitting on the haystack (might have been the fact that she was wearing a dress!) but she was a good sport for the rest of the pictures.

Click here for pictures from today

I'm 7 months old!

This weekend was Gwennie's 7 month birthday. Saturday Corbin dressed Gwennie in her lucky Carolina onesie (thank you Matt/Michele) in the hopes that the Tar Heels would win their football game. Luckily it worked and they won 33 27, so Daddy was especially happy all weekend.

Here are some pictures from Ari's birthday and Gwennie

Happy Birthday Ari!

On Wednesday, September 26, Ari turned 1 year old so this weekend Corbin, Gwennie and I headed up to Owings Mills, MD to celebrate. The Eisgrau family throws a great party! As you can see Ari really enjoyed the cake!! Just wanted to get this pic up right away, I will have more pictures up later, check back soon.

Week in Boston

Last week Gwennie and I headed up to Boston to visit some friends and to do some work at my Boston GH office.

Wednesday night Parrish, Kiki, Rich and Jess came over to meet Gwennie. Somehow I forgot to get the camera out so no pictures...sorry about that! Gwennie really enjoyed meeting everyone and was pretty good given the late night she had!

Thursday night Gladys and Don came into town and took over baby duty. They are going to be such great grandparents! Gwennie loved playing with Gladys and Don and on Friday night when our flight was delayed to the next morning, Grandma Glad gave Gwennie a bath while Grandma Don handled taking care of Addie, Ryan and I (with some yummy dinner!).

Thanks to Addie, Ryan, Tyler, Gladys and Don for everything. We had so much fun!!!!!

Addie took some great pictures so check her blog soon for updated pictures.

Click here for pictures

Kanuga Weekend

This weekend we headed up to Kanuga for a church retreat. Don't worry...there was no weird chanting or holding hands...more like a weekend of meeting all the people in the church and lots of time to hang out with family. We were a little late in getting moving so Friday was more of a bust but the rest of the weekend was really fun.

Click here for pictures from the weekend.

There are also some cute pictures from when Ari and Gwennie took a bath last week.

Here's a video we also took a while back.

Yahoo!

Just wanted to share the great news! Our good friends in Charlotte, Mark and Kristin Bordeaux are expecting a baby in March. We are so excited for them! Gwennie is going to have another friend to hang with during the TarHeel games!

Yippee!!!!

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend our friends and family came into town to celebrate the christening of our daughter, Gwendolyn Iris into St. Martin's Episcopal church. Everyone had a great time together and we are all recovering from the food, food and more food.
Heather, Alan and Ari Eisgrau drove down from Owings Mills, Maryland. Clark and Nancy Spencer flew in from Bel Air, Maryland. Clark is Gwenie's godfather and Heather is her godmother.
Gwennie's Nana Susan drove up from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Her Grandma Verna and Grandpa Mel flew in from Arizona. Her Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy drove down from Hickory, North Carolina. Gwennie's great grandmother Iris, Great Aunt Nina, and cousins Caroline and Meghan drove up from Spartanburg, South Carolina.
From the area, both Nanny Jennifer and Nanny Brandi came over. Gwennie's "Charlotte Grandparents" Linny & Pops Brown, Mamma & Mamps Fisher and Crawford (who calls Gwennie BabyWynnie) as well as Linda and Stacey from All Wags (where Ginger and Ruby go to "school")

Click here for pictures from the weekend