This weekend we decided to check out the pool again to work off some of Gwennie's 2 year old energy. Saturday it was pretty cloudy out so the pool was empty which was great! Gwennie had fun running around the kiddie area and checking out the waterfalls.

Sunday we had a barbecue and unfortunately the weather decided to make any outdoor plans a little difficult. Fortunately everyone was a good sport so we hung out in the carport, kitchen, playroom and the covered back porch. Corbin smoked a Pork Butt which was a big hit and the highlight of the party was when a friend of ours who happens to be a police office came over to say hello. Jeff literally is better than hiring a a clown! All of the kids (and a few of the adults) were in awe of his police car, the lights and the sirens! Gwennie kept asking "where the lights go??" and Crawford could not get enough of Jeff and all the things that went along with him (radio, car, walkie talkie, etc...). We all explained to the kids that the BACK of the police car was a place we never wanted them to visit :-) Thanks again Jeff!!!

Monday we had a wonderful visit with Great Granny Gary, Aunt Nina (who Gwennie now calls Geegee Nina), Caroline, Megan and Great Uncle Bob. We all had such a nice time catching up and Gwennie wore herself out running around giving everyone "high fives or bumps" and exploring the back yard. Overall it was a great day and Gwennie can't wait to go back. In the car ride home Gwennie said..."I had fun today" which she's never said before so we thought that was a great ending to a fun weekend!

Unfortunately I forgot the camera but here's a few pictures from the pool on Saturday.

Stella's 3rd Birthday and a Visit from Nana

This week was pretty chaotic but overall a fun time for everyone. Wednesday Nana came into town because Corbin was heading to CT so she offered to help out with Gwennie and just in case Meek 2.0 appeared, we needed a backup plan. Nana was very helpful and Gwennie enjoyed her visit.
Wednesday night we invited some friends over to watch the season finale of Lost. Our friend Lillian made this great Darma cake to celebrate and as would be a typical Lost ending...we are all left waiting for next season!

Saturday we headed up to Patterson Farm for Stella's big 3rd Birthday bash! They had a great play area, a corn box (sort of like a sand box with dried corn....Gwennie was not having any of the corn box!), a petting zoo, strawberry picking and a fun tractor ride. Then after all that....cake! Overall the kids had a great time and were exhausted (so were all the parents) which resulted in a 2+ hour nap. Many thanks to Bragg and Michelle for hosting a wonderful time!

Mother's Day and Daycare...Long Post!

This weekend was a busy one overall with BBQs, movies, church events and lots of nice weather. Saturday we finished up the rest of the cleaning after the renovations and enjoyed some warm weather. Corbin cleaned out the storage room and you wouldn't believe what we found from the previous owners! Gwennie and I did a run to babies r us for some last minute Meek 2.0 purchases. Then while Gwennie took a nap I enjoyed my Mother's Day gift of a pedicure. When Gwennie woke up and we had a neighborhood party where she wore herself out in the bounce house playing with the rest of the kids in the 'hood. Sunday my youth members ran the service at our church (I am so proud of them!). We then had the Penguin for lunch and the entire family took a long nap. Sunday night we tried out a new sitter (one of my youth members - Katherine who Gwennie loved and asked where she was on Monday morning!) while Corbin and I headed to see Star Trek - great movie...worth the price of admission.




Today we had our 35 week ultrasound for Meek 2.0 who is about 6lbs 8oz by our Dr's estimate. Looks like this one is going to be another 8 pounder! Right now we are still on track for a June delivery...unfortunately I am not dilated at all, don't have high blood pressure and am not showing any signs that this kid will appear anytime soon. Lately my biggest problem has been heartburn which decides to start around 10 or 11 PM, just in time for bed. Here's a picture of the baby from today.





On a separate note, I try not to put my opinions in these posts and I figure most of you don't really care but today we had our teacher conferences for Gwennie's daycare. The report was great and we are still amazed we get daily update sheets, weekly newsletter and Parent-Teacher conferences for a toddler. A brief summary: Gwennie has music class every Monday, art class EVERY DAY, takes nature walks around the grounds during the week. She has a weekly lesson plan - last week they talked about Mothers including reading stories about Mommies and making Mother's Day gifts. She loves to interact with her classmates. For example today when we walked into the room Gwennie made it a point to say Hello to all of her classmates and then they all play together. When one of the kids is sad, Gwennie and the other kids come over and bring them toys to make the child feel better and in general loves going to "school" every morning. They sing songs, know how to count, know their colors and can can relate to things that I find just fascinating...when we were putting together some furniture last weekend Gwennie asked if she could help with our "puzzle" (it was from IKEA....the kid must be a genius). Corbin and I agonized over the decision to use daycare and in the first couple of months we thought we might have made a mistake (if you do decide to go with daycare....the first few months your kid will get every runny nose, cold, flu, and stomach bug there is...then after about 3 moths your kid is like Teflon to illnesses!). What a difference today. The benefits we have seen for our child has been enormous. Granted like all schools/facilities, you hope you are at the best place in town and for us, Gwennie's daycare is by far better than we could ever imagine.

A Big Girl Bed!

This weekend we decided it was time to put together Gwennie's new bed for the inevitable move in June. She seemed to love the bed and now all we have to do is actually get her to stop jumping on the bed and to sleep in it.

In other news we are on the home stretch with the renovations. Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Warm Weather...

This weekend was sunny and warm so we took advantage of the nice weather and spent most of our time outside. Saturday morning Gwennie helped Corbin wash his car while I did a Target run. Then we pulled out the pool for the dogs and Gwennie and tried out the sprinkler (Gwennie was not down with the whale ) to cool off.

We also have some new friends above the hammock which look to be running out of space in their nest. We will check again next weekend to see who's actually tried out their wings and who is still hanging out with Momma bird for a bit longer.

Weekend in Colombia

This weekend we were on notice to "vacate" the house as they were finishing up the floors and it was going to be pretty stinky so we headed down to Columbia to visit with our Aunt E and our cousins Russ, Gini, Alex and Blyth. It also happened to be the weekend of the home tour in their neighborhood so with the wonderful weather we spent Saturday touring around the area and enjoying the sun.

Sunday we decided to help Russ and Gini with some cleanup and furniture moving. I am pretty sure by the end of the weekend they were ready for us to leave as we literally had them moving couches, desks, bicycles and anything else we could find into other areas. As you can also see the dogs and kids also had a blast. Gwennie now wakes up every morning wondering were Blyth and Alex are. I think she'd prefer if we all lived in a commune together!



And here's another link to the renovations. As you can see the floors and counter tops are also in.

Easter 2009

This weekend was the 90th annual Webb family Easter hunt and reunion weekend. Corbin's family on the Webb side has been meeting on Easter weekend with family for some great food and fun times (including everyones favorite...the Easter egg hunt!!) and this is our 3rd year attending. This year it was nice and warm unlike two years ago when we went it was during a frost and everyone wore their ski wear!!! Almost all of the cousins were in attendance and Rachel won one of four of the money eggs! That is the adults favorite part (besides the food) of the day. We all dig around a field for hidden bags of money. The field includes some poison ivy and fire ant hazards which makes for interesting digging.

Sunday night Corbin and Russ headed to Greensboro for the opening concert of the reunited (again) Grateful Dead tour. I think they are now called the Dead because of Mr. Garcia's untimely departure. Gini, Alexandra, Blyth, Gwennie and I headed back to Charlotte for a girls pizza night sleepover and in the morning the first thing Gwennie said when she woke up was "Where's Blyth?"

Here's some pictures from the weekend and Aunt Lynne's pictures as well.



Lynne's Pictures

Cabinets and GeeGee at the Easter Bonnet Parade

While we were at the Masters on Tuesday, GeeGee came into town to take care of Gwennie. Sometimes I wondered what was going on (wait until you see the pictures of how GeeGee decided to give Gwennie a bath) but overall Gwennie was so sad to see GeeGee leave and had a great time with her, especially at the Easter Bonnet Parade that her school does every year. Here's some pictures from the week.

I also updated the renovations link with pictures of our new cabinets!

Visit from Auntie Fancy, the Pacey Bunny and the Smocking Army

Sorry I didn't post last weekend. We ended up going down to Columbia, SC to hang out at the Riverbanks Zoo since it was a nice day out. As would be typical we forgot the camera so no pictures, sorry!

Then on Tuesday our friend Nell (commonly referred to as Auntie Fancy) came for a visit and I am pretty sure Gwennie has found her new idol. Between the Koi Pond on the IPhone and all the fun playtime, Gwennie literally asked where Nell was the minute her airplane took off. Nell will be back this summer and I swear Gwennie is counting the hours.

In other very exciting news...our good friends Parrish and Ken decided to pull a fast one and sent a text that they were going into the hospital to deliver their baby boy. Since it was April Fool's day and they are big jokers, we didn't believe them...until we called the hospital! Brady George was born on April 1 weighing 6lbs, 14 oz and is pretty darn cute!

This weekend the weather was sunny and beautiful (75 degrees!) and Gwennie had a visit from the Pacey Bunny (don't laugh too hard. There weren't any pacey fairies at the toy store so a bunny purse where Gwennie could put the pacifiers seemed like a logical choice). The Pacey Bunny brought her new sunglasses on Sunday which Gwennie modeled all day....until she realized she wasn't getting her pacey back...then the Pacey Bunny and the sunglasses weren't as much of a hit. We are on day 3 of no pacey and last night before she went to bed she said good night to the Pacey Bunny and this morning the Pacey Bunny brought her a new ball so she seems to be digging the bunny again.

We also tried out the new bike trailer on Sunday afternoon. That was a big hit with Gwennie....daddy on the other hand might need a prescription for his sore legs! Sunday afternoon we were invited to an Easter Egg hunt with Crawford and as you can see from the pictures...the army of smocked children (Gwennie too) was in full effect. I was pretty sure if she didn't have a smocked outfit or a Lily Pulitzer dress we might not have been admitted at the club! Crawford was the big rebel and I must say was the cutest 4 year old there!

Birthday Party Do Over and Renovations Update

This weekend we had Gwennie's make up party at Monkey Joe's with all of her buddies Stella, Gwennie, Charlie, Matty, Alex, Blythe, Ben and Crawford!
As you can see from the pictures everyone had a blast and was pretty tired once all the pizza and cake was served. Gwennie actually asked us to go home so she could take a nap. That evening we headed up to Paw Paw and Neh Neh Meek's house to celebrate his birthday. Uncle Rob was there as well and Gwennie had a great time tiring their dog Lily out. I think in the end Lily met her match!

We also are a week into renovations. I have added a slideshow off those pictures as well.

Shower in Boston and Day 1 of Demo

This weekend Gwennie and Corbin held down the fort in Charlotte while I headed up to Boston for a visit with friends to celebrate the pending birth of Parrish's little boy. As would be typical I left my camera upstairs all weekend but check The Weiss Family blog as they will have an update with pictures soon. This is a picture of Alexis chillin with Addie's toothbrush.

We also started our kitchen demo today and as of 3 PM we are knee deep in drywall!

Great Weather with a Birthday Postponed...

Well, this weekend was supposed to be lots of fun, family and friends with great weather but as it turned out most of the weekend was spent either at the Doctor's office, sleeping or watching movies.  Gwennie unfortunately woke up Friday a little cranky and then proceeded to throw up her breakfast (at Costco in the checkout line).  She later spiked a fever and we ended up moving her birthday party out a few weeks since we thought it was a stomach bug.    

We took her to the doctor's office and Saturday and it looks as though her antibiotic was not working on her ear infection so that is why she was so sick.  We are now on round 2 of a higher dose and Gwennie is in good spirits given the change but we are hoping this next round will knock out the infection.  We decided to open a few of her gifts including her new kitchen which she loves.   Many thanks to Auntie Addie, Gladys and Don for the dolly potty chair (here's hoping Gwennie will soon follow!) as well as the cute matching outfits and thanks to Clark and Nancy for the Gwennie travel gear.  

Confined to the house for 3 days now!

 I have found that around the 6 month time frame of being pregnant I seem to have an urge to move furniture and redo the bedroom.  I guess it's nesting but I have been thinking about it for months and since Gwennie woke us up early on Sunday and it was raining out, I decided this was the day to actually move the bed.  Last time I waited until about a week before I delivered Gwennie so this time around I think I was trying to plan ahead.  Here's the link to the first time I redid the headboard.  

This time around I again decided to move furniture but it really only took about an hour to create the new headboard and another hour (during Gwennie's nap so she couldn't "help Mommy and Daddy".  Here's some pictures of the finished product.  

We also had a snow day so there are a few pictures of this morning with Gwennie checking out the snow. 

Weekend in bed with Thomas

This weekend the whole family was down for the count with a cold that kept us pretty much confined to indoors. We watched lots of Thomas, Horton Hears a Who, WALL-E and Ratatouille when Gwennie was awake but she pretty much slept most of the weekend away. Here are the only 3 pictures from the weekend when we were trying out pigtails.

Big Friends and Family President's Day Weekend

This weekend we headed up to Baltimore to meet Clare and Matthew as well as to see a bunch of friends. Saturday morning we headed to Owings Mills to meet up with Alan, Heather, Ari and Matthew (this is him on the right). Ari and Gwennie had a great time playing together and Ari loves his new baby brother. Matthew is a great baby and loves to just chill in his bouncy seat.

That afternoon we headed up to Bel Air to meet up with Clark, Nancy and Clare (she's on the left). Gwennie was so excited to see them and spent most of the day "rocking" Clare in the swing....with all of us close by because she wasn't really grasping the whole concept of "gentle'. Sunday we drove down to Vienna to meet up with Dave, Missy and Henry which I am pretty sure was the highlight of the weekend for Gwennie. Henry has a huge playroom outfitted with Thomas and lots of other toys as well as a drum set!!!!!! Henry loved to show Gwennie all of his toys and was great about sharing and teaching her all the ways of cars/trains and drums. We all had a great lunch, took a nice long nap and then watched Horton during dinner (yummy pizza) and then headed back up to Clark and Nancy's for bed. Gwennie was so pooped she passed out right when we got back and slept straight through from 7 PM until 7:30 AM.

Monday I headed back to Owings Mills with Gwennie for more Ari time. Gwennie and Ari had a fun time at lunch together and Heather/Alan/I had our first experience with 2 toddlers at the same time in a public . We are in for a rude awakening!!!!! Overall a great weekend!

Matthew Shayne!

On Wednesday Gwennie's best buddy Ari became an older brother. Alan and Heather welcomed Matthew Shayne around 2 PM on Feb 4th. Matthew weighed in at a healthy 8 pounds, 8 ounces and is doing great. Ari is pretty excited about having a new buddy to play with.

Here's a few other pictures from this weekend. We had wonderful weather in the 70's so we spent most of the weekend outside in the backyard or at the park.

We finally had a nice weekend where everyone did not have to bundle into multiple layers just to go outside. Sunday was beautiful and as you can see from the pictures Gwennie and Corbin spent the afternoon on the tire swing. Gwennie also finally can reach the pedals on her Tricycle. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

GeeGee's Visit

This week GeeGee came for a visit and we decided to head to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC. We met up with our cousins Gini, Blyth and Alex and everyone had so much fun!

I think the highlight of the day was when "Diver Dan" fed the fish. There's video of Blyth and Gwennie checking him out. For some reason they thought he was a fish and would not wave to him. Overall it was a great day and a great visit!

Snow Day!!!

As you can see from the pictures, the snow finally fell last night so there is no school or work today! Gwennie had her first real experience playing in the snow and was so sad to go inside (Nemo bribery was the only way we could get her to leave the yard). Ruby also had a blast, Ginger on the other hand had no interest and could not wait to come back inside. Here's some pictures from this morning including Gwennie in her PJ's right after she woke up checking out snow for the first time. Pardon the crazy outfit. It was the first thing we could find in the closet!

A Trip to the ER for Nursemaid Elbow

Wish I could say I have pictures from this weekend but thus far we haven't taken any pictures. Gwennie is home with us tomorrow because daycare is closed so tune in because I will likely take some. Today we were at Staples and in a rush I grabbed Gwennie's hand to go meet Corbin and ended up injuring her with something the nurses (yes...the ER and all) called Nursemaid's Elbow. At first we thought she was just mad that we were leaving but when she didn't stop crying and wouldn't use her left arm, we headed to the Children's Emergency Room.

So....yes, I could not feel any worse about it and believe me I am still upset about not being so careful but the good news is that as soon as the nurse gave her arm a little twist, within a minute she was up playing again and running around. The nurses assured me that this is one of the most common injuries out there. They said most of the time it happens from parents swinging their kids while walking or even when trying to pull arms out of a coat. That being said, I decided to blog about this because I figured if it happened to anyone else, the facts really are helpful and hopefully it will prevent an injury.