Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend we headed to the lake with our cousins Russ, Gini, Alexandra and Blythe. Gwennie was completely enamored with baby Blythe and Alex was such a great big sister/cousin. She was such a help and loved to play ball with Gwennie. As you can see both Gini and I were busy with the kids so we didn't get a chance to get anywhere but behind the camera. Overall it was a wonderful weekend and we are looking forward to seeing them again in 2 weeks at Rachel's (Russ' sister) wedding.

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Another nice weekend....and more birthday cake!

We have been enjoying all of this warm weather (with a few thunder storms here and there) outside in the backyard. On Saturday our neighbors hosted a pre-birthday barbeque for their daughter Stella's 2nd birthday. As you can see from the pictures, Gwennie loves vanilla cake with chocolate icing...just like her mommy! Here are a couple of funny videos from this weekend.

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Mother's Day

We had a nice Mother's Day weekend at home with just the girls. Corbin went to a concert on Saturday and came back Sunday to make dinner for us all! Gwennie also just got a new slide that she loves to play on. Before I could even get the whole thing put together she was jumping on the slide and trying to climb up the back! Here's some video of Gwennie playing on the slide.



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Ready for the Beach!

This weekend we got Gwennie a new bikini (they will smock anything these days!) and set up the sprinkler and you can see from the picture that Gwennie absolutely loves the water. She's got swimming lessons starting in June so I can't wait to see her swimming around in the water! I also have a cute video of her cracking up with the dogs as they tried to get a drink.

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The Beebee and the Baouulll

Gwennie started talking a few weeks ago but we weren't sure if they were actual words. She's been saying "dog" sort of and "no no no no no" (I wonder where she got that from!) for a while now but she never actually put a word to objects until last week. Here's a video of her saying "baby" and "ball"

Two Peas in a Pod, a Goose Egg and What We Think About Duke!

This weekend Gwennie and I headed up to Rocky Mount to visit with Allison and Harold Pine who is about to deliver twin boys (the peapods or the boys as I like to call them) in a few weeks. Allie's shower was beautiful and those boys will be very well loved not to mention well set up with clothing, toys and gear! Gwennie played all weekend with Allie's nephew Brian. Brian's parents (Bobby and Wendy who all flew in from Florida) unfortunately had a bad case of a stomach bug so they were out of commission all day. Great for Gwennie though because Brian was a wonderful playmate! He loved to follow Gwennie around and they were both very happy to have someone around the same size to hang out with.

Unfortunately Gwennie bumped her head on the patio table so she has a nice goose egg in all of the pictures. She was such a trooper and only cried for a few minutes. I was so proud of her (and felt awful that I could not prevent it).

Corbin stayed back at the ranch and had a full house with our friend Matt and Michele's dogs Tarleeh and McCauley. Ginger and Ruby were a little out of sorts that their house was taken over with new playmates. McCauley is a 115 pound chocolate lab and Tarleeh is a chow/black lab mix. Both love to roam around the house and bark at thunder. Needless to say the storms from this weekend kept everyone (including Corbin and I) awake. We also thought McCauley wasn't took keen on Gwennie - lots of barking and growling so we had to watch him....until he figured out that Gwennie was a constant source of snacks! He now thinks she's the greatest thing ever!!! McCauley enjoyed crackers, cheese, pears and whatever else Gwennie happened to feed him. Overall a great weekend....here's a video of one of our favorite tricks McCauley does.

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Sunday Mountain Afternoon

Sunday we spent the day up at the mountains with the Fisher family. As you can see from the pictures, they dogs were very sad to leave. Ginger and Ruby enjoyed running around and swimming in the river. Unfortunately the fish don't particularly like the pooches so Andrew and Corbin really didn't catch anything.

Here are some pictures from yesterday

Motherhood...

Monday I headed up to Boston for work and had dinner with Addie, Alexis and Parrish. Alexis is such a good baby! She just checked out the mall and all the people cooing at her (yes...this child is really cute!). During dinner she played in her stroller and after Addie and I headed home where Alexis took a bath (kid loves the tubby) and she went right to bed. The next morning Gladys (Addie's mother), Alexis, Addie and I enjoyed coffee and some "playtime" until I had to go to work.

Overall, I can't wait to see Alexis (or Pookey as Grammy calls her) again. She changes/grows so much every month!

Here are some pictures from the weekend with Gwennie being pretty inventive with some blocks and my time with Alexis, Addie, Parrish and Gladys
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Warm Weather

As you can see from the pictures, it is finally starting to get warmer so Gwennie is sporting her new summer attire. We are all ready for summer (but not the bugs!).

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What we learned at the zoo....

We headed over to two different types of zoos while we were in AZ. The Phoenix Zoo and the Wildlife World Zoo were both pretty interesting. The Phoenix Zoo is much more of a natural habitat zoo where the animals are pretty far away and you stroll through a large area. They had a great carousel with all sorts of cool animals and a big pond that people scooted around in paddle boats. Gwennie really got a kick out of the baboons and also seemed to enjoy checking out the the animals on the carousel more than anything else.

Then the next day we went to the Wildlife World Zoo near my parents house which was much more of a close encounter experience. As you can see from the pictures, some of the areas had birds right in frontof you and they weren't scared of anything! This pictures was taken in one of the bird exhibits and after this bird almost landed on the stroller, we decided we were all set with wildlife! My dad and I strolled over to the lion thinking they would be a few yards away....more like a few feet! The animals areas are RIGHT next to people and most of them like to hang out right in front of everyone. A lioness literally was giving us the stare down checking out Gwennie (probably for lunch!). Gwennie really enjoyed this zoo more because the animals were so close and she could almost reach out and touch them. We figure since we got there right when it opened and they were feeding the animals, they were more interested in people. She also loved the small mammals area where all the little monkeys were hanging out. I tried to take a few pictures but the reflection with the flash didn't really work out too well. One of our favorites was the Giraffe feeding area. I have a video of my dad and Gwennie feeding them but as you will see, my dad wasn't too keen on a large blue tongue darting out at him! Gwennie on the other hand thought it was hilarious!

Gwennie also liked the children's petting area...which was basically a bunch of goats, lamas, deer, chickens and turkeys (the turkeys were in a cage...they liked to bite!!!). The goats were like garbage disposals...they tried to eat everything which included cameras, my shorts, Gwennie's fingers, shoes, socks and whatever else they could find. They had some coin operated feeding stations but you couldn't actually get any of the food out because the goats would rush over and stick their heads right in before you could actually get any of the food into your hands (smart animals).

My dad and I thought the best part of the zoo was when a girl decided she wanted to get a close up of a monkey with her cell phone and guess what happened???? The monkey turned the tables on her and grabbed the cell phone right out of her hands! So then she starts to scream at the monkey telling it to give her back her phone (at this point my dad and I can barely stand up we are laughing so hard at her). Finally someone from the zoo came down and basically told her that by the time they get the cell phone from the monkey it will probably be in two pieces but she could wait around and they would get to it sooner or later. Here's a video of the monkey beating the cell phone against a tree branch.

So.....what did we learn at the zoo? The goats and giraffes are very well fed, don't upset the monkeys and watch out for the birds!

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Gymboree & Pumpkin Pie in AZ

This week we were in AZ visiting Grandma V, Grandpa M, Great Aunt Pat and Great Uncle Frank. As you can see from the pictures, it was pretty sunny! Gwennie hung out in the jacuzzi with me and Aunt Pat and then we headed over to a Gymboree class for kids her age. Gwennie thought the tunnel was a riot and would crawl half way through to hang out for a while. Grandma V made a big turkey dinner and I am pretty sure Gwennie's favorite part was the yummy pumpkin pie (it was like Thanksgiving with really warm weather...sort of weird but great food!). Here are some short videos of this week

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Spring has Sprung

It is finally getting warm out and as you can see from the pictures Gwennie is itching to go outside and enjoy the nice weather. She also seems to be more and more interested in the flowers/plants around the house.

PB&J, The zoo and Easter

Big weekend over here at the Meek household. Friday night we introduced Gwennie to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches which is now a staple (in less than 3 days if you can believe it!). As you can see Gwennie actually preferred wearing the sandwich to eating it.

Saturday we went to the Asheboro Zoo. Apparently so did most of North Carolina because it was very crowded! We all had a great time and it's a nice way to spend a weekend day. I can't imagine going there in the dead heat of summer but maybe in a few weeks we will head back during the week before it gets too hot. Gwennie seemed to enjoy checking out the water more than the polar bear but overall the zoo is really kid friendly and has a ton of play areas, underwater views and a tram to get from one side of the zoo to the other. It's about 5 miles in length so Corbin and I were happy to push the stroller around and get some excercise.

Sunday our church had their annual easter egg hunt. Gwennie took a few minutes to figure out what the deal with the hunt was but after a while she was a pro at putting the eggs in the basket. We then headed over to our friend's Mark, Kristin and Ben Bordeaux's house to have Easter dinner and to watch Carolina play some hoops. Gwennie was all over the ham and rolls. Cucumbers on the other hand weren't really much of an interest to her. I'll post a video of her feeding Tucker their dog. She's getting him ready for when Ben is old enough to eat in a high chair!

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Got this walking thing down...

Well, as you can see...walking, check! We are going to tackle moving forward on the riding toys now (She's mastered backwards but just can't get the forward motion just yet).

Easter Parade

This afternoon Gwennie and all the other kids in school had their Easter Bonnet Parade. Some of the moms really went all out. As you can see, I was one of those moms. Here's some pictures from today with my friend Jennifer who also came along.

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Melissa's Birthday Weekend & Easter Egg Hunt

This weekend was a busy 2 days! On Friday we had an early dinner at Edie's place down the street which is a great kid friendly restaurant. Gwennie now loves to walk around and has her opinions on what she is going to eat so by the end of the meal Corbin and I were ready for bed (mind you it was only 7:30).

Saturday I was tasked with making Gwennie's Easter bonnet for the parade tomorrow at school. As you can see Corbin was a wonderful and willing model! I am pretty sure there is no way anyone will have a hat like this (nor do I think that Gwennie will actually wear it) but it will give everyone something to talk about for a few days.

That night I headed to a popular sushi restaurant in town - Niko. My friend Melissa was celebrating her 30th birthday. We had a ton of sushi (and pomegranite martinis!!!) and realized we were really getting old since it was all of 10 PM and then 6 of us were ready to go home! Overall it was a great night and we all had a blast.

Sunday I grabbed a few shots of Gwennie before church and then we quickly headed home for the Carolina/Clemson game (Go Heels!). Then we headed over to Myers Park Country Club for their Easter egg hunt with Janet, Andrew and Crawford. As you will see from the pictures, Crawford was trying very hard to make Gwennie look at the camera. Janet kept saying..."Crawford, strop strangling baby Gwennie!" which I found hilarious. Here is probably my favorite picture of the two of them yet! They both have the prettiest expressions.

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I am happy to announce that our dear friends Mark and Kristin Bordeaux have a new addition to their family. Benjamin John Bordeaux, was born March 12 at 8:32pm. I met Ben this afternoon and he's is a teeny tiny beautiful baby boy, weighing in at 6 pounds, 5 ounces. I also spent some time with the new grandmothers who just can't stop smiling! Mom, Dad &Tucker (Ben's four legged brother) all look great and are unbelievably happy to meet him.

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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.

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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.

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