The things you find at Costco....

Well, as most of you know, Costco seems to be the place to find ANYTHING. Today I found the first season of the Muppet Show. Hoping Gwennie would think it was cool, I picked it up and as you can see...she got her munamuna groove on.

Another Great Family Weekend...

This weekend was super busy! We had lots of family in town staying with us for both the Duncan/Webb Family Lake weekend and the Widespread Panic Concert. Russ, Corbin, Rachel, Parks and "Wheels" (poor kid's name is Hunter but Russ refuses to call him anything other than his "wheels") headed to the concert while Gini and I got a mommy's night out and saw Avenue Q at the theatre. Alex was an amazing help to Jennifer while she was watching Blythe and Gwennie. As you can see from the pics they all enjoyed bath time! Gini and I decided to get all dolled up but forgot the makeup part so please excuse our "au natural" look.

I don't know why but this is one of my favorite pictures from this weekend. I am sure most of you have no idea who this is in the picture but for those of you at the lake weekend, you know this is Uncle Robert in his "natural habitat". To the untrained eye one would think he's catching a few Zs. He's really just taking in all the conversations around him and resting at the same time. My theory on the Webb/Duncan family weekend is if you need to know something...ask Uncle Robert. He probably was "playing possum" as Lynne calls it and can tell you the scoop. He also tells some of the funniest stories out there so every conversation with him is a good one.

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Best Scam Out There...

So chalk this post up to me being cheap (and Gwennie not feeling great that day) but as much as I wish I could say it....Baby Loves Disco is not worth $12 per "walking person". Especially if they don't throw in a beer for mommy and daddy! Anyhow...we headed up to a bar in uptown with our neighbors (that's Stella in the pictures...Stella loved giving Gwennie kisses most of our pictures were an attempt to capture the moment) to check out this Baby Loves Disco event. Basically they clean up the bar, throw some hula hoops, noise makers and scarves onto the dance floor and this nice DJ plays 70's music. Downstairs they have goldfish, pretzels, fruit and juice boxes along with an area that they put some pillows down that they call the "yoga zone". As you can see from the pictures they will also paint your kid's hair a different color which takes about 3 washes to get out.

Gwennie wasn't really into the whole thing and was pretty tired so we only lasted about 2 hours. On a good note we did get a cool goody bag when we left so that was a nice surprise. Might be more fun when she's a little older. The kids that were 3 and older seemed to be having the most fun out there.

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Lots of Family and Sun!

Last week Grandma V (Gee gee now...Grandma was just too hard to pronounce) flew in to play with Gwennie. They had so much fun going for walks, shopping, going to the pool and playing dress up. Gee gee seems to think Gwennie needs a new outfit every time we leave the house so I am pretty sure she had at least 3 wardrobe changes a day. The good news is that Gee gee loves to to laundry so I didn't feel like I was constantly having a date with the washer and dryer. Gee gee also seems to think Gwennie is still 2 months old and loves to nap so whenever I noticed the house was quiet I'd check the bedroom and there they were...rocking in the glider. I think Gwennie appeased her because she liked having Gee gee around but was sick of nap time by Saturday!

Saturday morning we headed down to Sparkle City for the July birthday lunch with the Gary/Meek/Crawford side of the family. Great Grandma Gary, Great Aunt Nina, Great Uncle Bob, Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Bob, Megan, Corbin, Gwennie and I all had a nice lunch and then headed back to Great Grandma Gary's house where Miss Gwennie decided it was her job to check out EVERYTHING in the house. She was all over the place in drawers, rooms, hallways, grabbing magazines, books, and checking her reflection out in the television. The good news is that after all the running around she passed out as soon as we left the driveway and slept all the way home.

Sunday as usual we had breakfast with Miss Jen at the Pancake House (ergo the new bathing suit...70% off sale at Shower Me With Love...can any kid have too many???) and then headed over to the pool with our neighbors. Gwennie is obsessed with running through the water and has so much fun playing with the other kids when we are there. We think she's so popular because of her funny nature but really it's because she's armed with 20 buckets and plenty of beach toys. By the end of the summer we will probably be down to 1 bucket and a rake with the way kids run off with them. Corbin and I spend a good 15 minutes searching the pool to find any toy with "MEEK" written on the bottom :-) Needless to say by the time we are all home everyone is ready for bed!

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Miss Madeline Grace has arrived!

We are very happy to let everyone know that our friends Michelle and Michael Leichtner have a new daughter Madeline Grace. She's a wee little thing at 5 pounds 14 ounces but as you can see from the pictures she is a beautiful baby.

Driving Vacation up the East Coast!

Well we are back at home now and I can honestly say that I don't think Corbin and I will do another driving trip for a while. Gwennie was actually great! She loved to check out the rest stops and entertained herself or slept most of the way there and back. We started on Tuesday night and headed up to visit Gwennie's godfather Clark. Clark and Nancy are going to have a baby in December so Gwennie is great practice for Clark, Nancy and Morgan (who is very excited to be a big sister). Gwennie was all over the place checking out the house. Her favorite places were anywhere near Bristol (the cat), Trout & Brooke (the dogs) or climbing up the stairs; which scared both Corbin and I...especially when we would find her at the top of the stairs laughing at us because she was up there before we noticed (or blinked an eye). Thursday Nancy and I went shopping while Clark, Morgan, Corbin and Gwennie headed to the park to play. Clark and Corbin got their cooking grove on Thursday night and the rest of us got to enjoy all of the food!

Friday we headed over to Gwennie's godmother Heather's house. Heather, Alan and Ari all welcomed us by putting the pool out for Gwennie to play in. As you can see we barely made it out of the car before Gwennie was running into the water. Luckily we quickly changed her into her swimsuit before she was soaked. We then headed to their friend's house for a barbecue which was lots of fun. All the kids were testing out their new swing set and Corbin and I have decided the recycled tire rout is the way to go for playground mulch! Gwennie and Ari were so excited to go down the slide and by the end of the night were pretty exhausted so we headed home to give them a bath and put them to bed. As you will see from the pictures they got their second wind in the tubby. Saturday we took the kids to get some pictures taken and then Heather and I had a girls night and went to the movies. Sunday we all headed over to the Baltimore Farmer's Market to check out the produce and local fare. Then around noon we headed home and are happy to be back in Charlotte.

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Long Week....

It has been a long week over at the Meek household. Monday Gwennie and I flew up to Boston for work and we had planned on spending the week with the Weiss Family. Unfortunately on the plane ride up I noticed a couple of bumps on Gwennie's hands and feet and quickly realized she had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Typically this isn't that big of a deal but everyone has that story where someones kid was so sick they couldn't eat and Alexis is still only three months old so we checked into the Sheraton and shortened our trip to Tuesday night. Thankfully Addie and Gladys did some babysitting for me so I could still work at our office. Addie took some cute pictures and video of Gwennie at the pool in her green swimsuit. When we got home the rash had spread to her back and tummy so just to be safe we headed to the ER where you will see that the cure to Hand, Foot and Mouth is Popsicles :-)

Saturday we all headed over to swim lessons with the rest of the kids from the "Parent and Tot" class. This was Gwennie's second time at lessons and she's already swimming like a pro. Corbin was a great cameraman and took lots of good pictures and videos of Gwennie in action. Saturday and Sunday we were back at the pool at the "J". Unfortunately we didn't take any video but Gwennie now goes completely underwater and loves to play around in the pool. The best thing about the pool....Gwennie sleeps in until 9 AM on Sunday mornings!!!

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Jeremy and Page

Yep...another great family weekend. Page and Jeremy were married on Saturday. Friday we all headed to the rehearsal dinner where we noticed a bunch of equipment in the front of the room. That is when I was told it was a Karaoke party as well. See the video below (sorry...it was pretty dark in the room) of Jeremy and his groomsman performing their own rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart". Between that and Mike (who will be marrying our cousin Sara - Page's younger sister ) doing Elvis' version of Dixie, overall it was pretty hilarious!

Saturday morning the Aunt's hosted a nice bridal brunch with all of the women in the family as well as all of the bridesmaids. Between the beautiful flowers and great food, we all could not wait for the main event. Saturday afternoon, we all headed to the wedding and at 6 PM Page and Jeremy were husband and wife! We all had so much fun!! As you will see in the pictures there are a whole bunch of people in the family. Between all the aunts and uncles and cousins and kids....it was an enormous picture....and a GREAT time! Then on Sunday Emily and Bill hosted a relaxing brunch with close family and friends.

I had a couple of pictures from Friday morning with Gwennie included in there, sorry about that!

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Happy Father's Day

This weekend was a busy Father's Day. Saturday Corbin golfed all day with his buddy Matt and then came home around 2 PM and decided he was going to work on his short game in the back yard. Of course with the dog poop and high grass, he had to make some adjustments so he dusted off the lawn mower (we got a service around the third month of living here and since then Corbin has forgotten how big our yard is) and attacked the backyard. By 3:30 he was almost in cardiac arrest so after he finished the yard, Corbin decided it might be smarter to watch golf instead of playing!

Sunday we headed to brunch at Pike's Soda Shop and then headed over to the JCC Aquatic Center where Gwennie was in her element! She had so much fun playing in the water and swimming that we can't wait for her to start swim lessons next week.

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Here are a couple videos from the weekend

Rachel and Parks Are Married!

This was a big weekend in the Webb/Duncan/Blythe family. Our cousin Rachel married Parks on Saturday evening. Everyone was so happy to see each other and overall it was a wonderful family weekend. We kicked off the festivities at the rehearsal dinner at the groom's family friend's house (of course I forgot the camera!!!!). It was so nice of them to host such a fun barbecue. Then Saturday morning the men braved the heat - it was 100 degrees on Saturday - to golf with the groom. The women all headed to Rachel's bridal brunch hosted by her aunts on the Webb/Duncan side. Saturday afternoon we all rested up for the wedding and at 6 PM Rachel and Parks were married by our Uncle Robert. The ceremony was very touching..I am pretty sure I started crying around when the bridesmaid's walked down and was teary well through to the end.

We then all headed to the reception for great food and lots of dancing. We munched on some World Famous Calabash Chicken (if you haven't tried it...find a Fatz Cafe now!), shrimp, grits, crab cakes and hands down the best wedding cake I have EVER had). I am actually going to get some in a few minutes (thanks Eileen!). I think one of my favorite stories of the night was when Rachel leaned over to our cousin Clay and said "You didn't tell me it was going to be THIS MUCH FUN!!!" I'd have to agree...as wedding's go, this was one of the best. Unfortunately my camera was acting up so I only have this blurry picture of the bride and groom. This picture of Rachel and her mother Eileen is one of my favorites.

Sunday Aunt Lynne and Uncle Bill were so nice to host a family brunch. We all headed over to their house, tired, bleary eyed and very hungry! Lynne and Bill did not disappoint...the food was marvelous and we all stayed around to recap on the wedding and how much fun we all had.

I'd like to also thank Aunt Nina for watching Gwennie on Friday, our good friend Jennifer for driving down and watching Blythe, Gwennie and Jackson on Saturday, the Aunt's (Anne, Louise, Susan, Emily, & Lynne) for having a wonderful brunch, Eileen for hosting a fun wedding and Lynne/Bill for letting us all hang around the house well into Sunday afternoon.


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For those of you that aren't from the South...this was my first real southern wedding...let me rephrase that..this was my first Clemson wedding!! As you can see from the video below, school spirit runs pretty deep in the family!

Big Reunion Weekend & Biting?!?!?!?!

This weekend was a big big weekend. It was our first time both leaving Gwennie. Nanna Susan took very good care of her, Gwennie was so happy to play with her and loved having a new face to show around the yard.

Corbin and I headed up to Vermont for my college reunion. As you can see from the picture on the left, my closest friends all drove and flew up to hang out. Overall we all had so much fun and can't wait to see everyone again.

Monday Gwennie went back to daycare and one of the kids decided to give her a love bite (twice). At first I was pretty upset and was scheming on ways to get dental records of these kids so I could figure out who the "biter" is. I had a nice heart to heart with Addie's mother Gladys (thanks Glad!) and she reassured me that as much as I want to hunt down the biter's parents and give them a piece of my mind, these things happen and I need to think about how I would feel if Gwennie is the biter. I know they will take good care of her at school and they are watching for repeats so this will not happen again.

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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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