Halloween Parade!

This weekend was the annual Halloween parade in the neighborhood. As always there were hundreds of kids, parents and a few pets ready to strut around the street. Usually the firetruck accompanies us but they got a call right before we were ready to march so we were led by an old Ford F100 instead. Regardless all of the kids were having a great time checking out everyone else in full costume. Gwennie decided she wanted to wear her mini mouse costume and Hudson was sporting his Moose (not mouse) ensemble. After we had a bunch of friends over for a barbecue and I wish I would have taken pictures because the kids were all running around having a blast! Today we are all pretty pooped as you can see from the final pictures of Hudson camped out in our bed.

Zoo With the Twins and on the Potty Training Home Stretch!

We had another great weekend of fun and fall weather. Saturday I gave Corbin the day off and headed up to the Asheboro Zoo to see Allie and her twins Nathan and James (Nathan has the blue vest and James has the tan vest on). The boys are adorable and great kids. I don't know how Allie does it. Talk about busy! The boys love to crawl around and get into everything! We lasted about 4 hours and then everyone was ready for a nap so we headed home in the early afternoon.

Sunday was a nice brisk fall day so we bundled the kids up and headed out to the backyard. Gwennie trudged around the yard looking for sticks and anything else she could find. Hudson loves to check things out in the Bjorn and as you can see from the pictures Daddy was sporting a "scruffy" look that day.

Today was a BIG day in potty training! During the day Gwennie is a rock star with doing her "business" in the potty but typically that all goes out the window so she's in a pull up. This morning Gwennie woke up, told us she wanted to go potty and behold...dry diaper, full potty and happy parents!!!!

4 Months old, Toy Story in 3D and Zoo with the Cousins

Big week here at the Meek household! Hudson is now a 4 month old baby and healthy as can be. He's growing like a weed and is starting to teethe which has made for lots of drool and chewing on anything he can find.

Gwennie and I headed to the movies for the first time to see Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D. For a first time move goer she did great! We made it through 3/4 of Toy Story 2 and then Gwennie was ready to head home for a long nap!

Sunday we decided we needed to get out so we all piled into the car and headed down to Columbia for a day at the zoo with Uncle Russ, Aunt Gini and Blyth (Alex was at Grandma's for the weekend).

Overall it was a fun weekend!!

Visit with Nina and Megan!

This weekend Nina and Megan came up to do a little shopping and stopped by for a visit. Gwennie literally could not stop moving and for 3 days now she keeps asking where they are! We also went solo without Corbin for 2 nights while he, Russ and Wheels headed to the Widespread Panic concert. As you can see from the pictures, Gwennie enjoyed her nightly ice cream and made a huge mess but thoroughly enjoyed herself! Hudson also is moving and a shaking! He's figured out how to turn over on to his stomach but once he gets there he doesn't know what to do! Here's a few pictures of the weekend and a video of Hudson showing off.

My Monster Truck Can Crush Your Dollhouse

Yes, that's right....Gwennie's wearing her Monster Truck T-Shirt straight from The Grave Digger's house where her friends Henry and Addie (and his parents Dave/Missy) got it for her. The shirt actually is pretty appropriate since Gwennie runs over just about anything she sees.

This weekend we just hung out at the house since the kids are getting over a cold and they also had pajama day at school so Gwennie and Hudson sported some of their nicer PJs for class. As would be typical, Hudson had a blow out on the way to school so his ducky outfit was switched out right away for play clothes. Gwennie surprisingly made it through the entire day with only a few spills on the shirt.

Last night before bed I snapped some pictures of Hudson playing in the tub and Gwennie/Daddy doing their nightly acrobatics.

Rally Day

Sorry for the late post. It's been busy over here to say the least. Gwennie sported her TarHeel gear in support of the game on Saturday and this weekend was Rally Day at our church so we snapped some pictures of all the kids playing around. I also took some video of Gwennie reacting to Corbin trying to catch a fly in the house and Hudson who is starting to giggle which we both find to be one of the best parts of our day.

Outer Banks 2009

Well, as you can see from the picture, we had a large crew come to the Outer Banks this year. Lots of friends, family, babies, toddlers, dogs and fun!! Between the beach and the hot tub/pool (and the amazing food) we all literally fell into bed every night exhausted from all the daily activities. All of the kids had so much fun together. Gwennie, Henry and Alexis motored around the house/beach/pool/hot tub while the babies - Clare, Addie and Hudson enjoyed the sun and warm weather.

Sunday we enjoyed the beach and the pool and Corbin/Dave took a shot at surfing for the first time in about a year. Baby Addie and Hudson chilled in the pack n play sport while the big kids ran around and Clark did some fishing.

Missy, Dave, Henry, Addie, GeeGee, PopPop, Gwennie, Hudson, Corbin and I all headed to the NC Aquarium (along with just about everyone else in NC!!!) for some indoor entertainment on Monday.

Tuesday Nancy, Jennifer and I did some retail therapy while my parents and Gwennie checked out the Currituck Lighthouse and Clark/Dave/Missy and Corbin were on kid patrol. Addie and Gladys arrived Tuesday night just in time for yummy Frogmore Stew Clark Style with steamers, shrimp, corn, sausage, potatoes and plenty of good food and great conversation!

Wednesday we were back at the beach in the morning where Alexis and Gwennie went sliding on the dunes and pretty much had sand everywhere! Gwennie has no fear in the ocean so we have to watch how far she goes. She loves to try to balance when the waves crash into her (which makes Corbin and I VERY nervous). Wednesday night Missy, Dave, Baby Addie and Henry checked out the Whalehead Club Wine Festival where Henry got his own kite! GeeGee, PopPop and Mimi (Gladys) stayed home with Gwennie, Clare and Hudson while the rest of us headed over to BluePoint for an amazing dinner!

Thursday was pretty rainy so we all laid low and played inside or ran out to the hot tub to check out the crazy surf.

Friday was another great beach and pool day and as you can see from most of the pictures, Tyler, Ginger and Ruby had as much fun as everyone else. Tyler would take leisurely swims in the pool while Ginger and Ruby would join him if a tennis ball was involved. On the beach the three of the dogs would run after the ball and each other until they were exhausted. Gwennie and Alexis also had fun playing in the sand/surf all morning. By the afternoon the dogs were pooped and so were the kids so they went down for a three hour nap! Friday night we got ready for the big packing session on Saturday morning when everyone said their good-byes and geared up for the drives home.

Overall it was one of the best vacations EVER and we can't wait until next year! Here are over 300 pictures from the week.

The Going to Bed Book

Gwennie decided to read me a story as a change of pace tonight.

Crawford Turns 5

This weekend we celebrated Crawford's 5th birthday bowling at Strike City! All of the girls had so much fun and were sporting their custom made "Crawford's 5th Birthday Bowlarama Ball!" shirts. The girls were so cute in their outfits and had a great time using different bowling strategies (that they all wanted to tell us about). Overall it was a great party and we all went home for a long 3 hour nap!

Also - here are some of Heather's pictures from the visit in Owings Mills

Yellow Ducks....Here I Come!

Today was Gwennie's first day in the "Yellow Ducks" at school and as you can see all of the kids seem to be having a wonderful time there. Luckily most if not all of the kids in the class were from her previous class (the Butterflies") so it was an easy transition. Her new teachers are wonderful and I know them very well. Speaking of which, if any of you have an in with the Panthers, please let me know as one of them is a HUGE HUGE of fan of Muhsin Muhammad and just celebrated 30...yes that's right 30 years of service at our daycare so we are trying to get him to come see her.

In other news, we spent most of the weekend in the backyard playing with the snake (thank you Auntie Hey Hey) and enjoying the nice weather. Corbin is really enjoying his paternity leave, Hudson is getting bigger every day and Gwennie needs a haircut so we are planning for that this week so she can actually see again!

A Visit to Owings Mills and Daddy Leave

It has been a LOOOONG week and as you can see from the lack of pictures, very busy. Thursday Gwennie, Hudson and I decided to give Daddy a break before he started his paternity leave so we headed up to Baltimore to visit Heather (Auntie Hey Hey as Gwennie calls her), Alan, Ari and baby Matthew. As you can see from the picture below, we were loaded up! The last time we were up there Matthew was all of 2 weeks old so it's crazy to see how much he has changed in 6 months. Gwennie and Ari were inseparable. They literally would wake up and want to see each other. Whoever was the first to wake up would walk into the other kids room and say "Good Morning Ari" or "Good Morning Gwennie" and then they were off and running until about 9 PM every night. Luckily Matthew and Hudson were good babies so we were able to keep up with the toddlers. Alan usually took afternoon duty and was amazing. He took them on walks to the park, played out front with them and was so patient with the crazy 2 year olds!

Yesterday Corbin started Daddy leave and had both kids in the house. Gwennie was worn out from her visit so she napped from about 1:30 to 4 and Hudson was equally exhausted so he chilled in the car seat and swing for most of the day. So far he's doing great and enjoying some much needed father/son bonding.

2 Months Old!

This weekend Hudson turned 2 months old and as you can see he's pretty happy about it. We had a nice weekend hanging out with friends and going to the pool. For those of you not in the South, it was HOT. Saturday was about 93 degrees and Sunday was about 96 so we spent most of our time at the pool or in the house with a couple of walks or stints outside in the backyard.

Friday night we had some chicken for dinner and I thought I would grab a few of the funny shots of Gwennie/Dad devouring dinner. Saturday afternoon our friends Mark, Kristin and Ben met us at the pool. As you can see from the pictures Gwennie and Ben really enjoyed themselves.

Big Meeting and Look Who Is Smiling!

This weekend we headed down to Sparkle City to meet some very important family members. Hudson met his Great Grandmother Gary, Great Uncle Bob, Great Aunt Nina, and his cousins Megan (Happy Birthday!) and Caroline. If you follow the blog, you know that Hudson's middle name Ross is shared by Nina and Caroline. We all had a nice visit (Gwennie loves to explore around the back yard) and enjoyed our time together.

Hudson also just started to smile this week (might be gas but we think it's when he's happy to see us) so here are a few pictures from tonight when he was in a great mood before bed.

We also had a nice visit with the cousins Gini, Alex and Blyth. Gini and I must have been having a moment of temporary insanity because we decided around 5 PM on Wednesday night we were going to take all the kids (that's 4 kids - although Alex is 7 and an amazing help!) up to IKEA to get a few things and grab dinner. We must have been crazy! Still...we managed to make it through the night but one funny story I will share - for those of you that did not read about it via facebook - was when we were getting a potty seat for Blyth (who already at 19 months is interested in the potty!), Gwennie saw the potty, grabbed one out of the pile, pulled her pants down and was in the proccess of "going potty" when Gini and I had to stop her and usher her to the little girls room. We both were pretty sure she would have done her business right there had we not stopped her!

Webb-Duncan Family Reunion

This weekend was the annual Webb/Duncan Family reunion weekend! This year we changed venues and went to the Pine Island Club outside of Columbia, SC. It was a perfect area for big gatherings - beautiful lake, pool, playground, shelter with LOTS of space and running water (not to mention the wonderful vent that pulled all the grill smoke out). We all had so much fun!! Gwennie and Hudson were pooped! This morning Hudson slept for 6 hours straight and Gwennie slept in until 7:30 AM! Overall it was great fun and we can't wait until next year.

On our way down we stopped for gas and you will see what we found in the parking lot...created by Bob Ford from Blythewood, SC!

Here are our pictures from the weekend

The Zoo, the Potty and GeeGee is back!

This weekend Corbin headed to his 20 year high school reunion (yes...we are that old!). I decided to stay home with the kiddies and luckily GeeGee was kind enough to come back to help out. She also decided that I couldn't make any more excuses as to why I wasn't potty training Gwennie so Friday to today we are on the potty track. For any of you that say your kid isn't ready...let me introduce you to my mother! It really is just a battle of wills. Gwennie is really starting to get it but it just takes diligence and patience. We literally spent 2 hours on the potty on Saturday because Gwennie refused to go and we refused to let her get up. After she went, all was good!! And I will say after that she now goes within 5 minutes of being put on the potty.

Monday we decided to get out of the house and called Gini to see if she wanted to meet us at the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. We love that zoo because there are so many indoor attractions if it gets too hot and the aquarium is amazing. As you can see we also spent lots of time in the Gorilla exhibit (air conditioned!) and the gorillas both just sat there and chilled with us infront of the window. Blyth and Alex loved to hold Hudson and we are looking forward to seeing them again this weekend!

Here are some pictures from the week. As you can see Hudson is wide awake now and Gwennie is in the fake "cheeeese" smile phase.

Hudson's Heart

During one of our visits to Hudson's pediatrician, he noticed a "noise" while checking his heart. We checked again last week and it looked as though Hudson had a heart murmur. His doctor reassured us that is was probably nothing but just to be safe he had us make an appointment at Presbyterian Pediatric Cardiology. We arrived today and the doctors were amazing (there is a reason they were voted Best of Charlotte for their practice/doctors). Dr. Hammill explained that Hudson does have a murmur but it is simply just that the chambers are so thin (because he's a baby still...they are about the thickness of a sheet) so the "noise is just the blood flowing in and out of the heart. Hudson is perfectly healthy and not to worry, the noise will go away in a few months when the inside of his heart chambers thicken.

This weekend was pretty low key. As you can see from the pictures it was as Corbin put it - "white trash weekend!" Gwennie was running around in a Thomas the Tank t-shirt and a saggy diaper on Sunday. She still loves Thomas and not much matches that outfit so we figured, go with the theme. I try not to say that my kids are amazing too often (well...actually I do all the time but sorry, they are my kids so I am biased) but Gwennie really is such a good big sister. Today she came in to tell me that "Baby Brother" was hungry and I needed to speed up the bottle so she could feed him. Then she held the bottle for him the whole time he was eating and after quietly told me she wanted her milk and headed into the kitchen to tell "MR CORBIN!!!!" that she needed her own milk. Our neighbor's daughter Stella calls us Mr. Corbin and Miss Natalie so Gwennie has taken to doing that....although I am Mr. Natalie which Corbin says is pretty appropriate sometimes!

A Big Thank You to Nana!

I meant to do this yesterday but as you can see the first day without help was a little crazy. Nana came up for a week to help out while Gwennie's school was closed for the week (coincidentally also at the same time that I had to go back early for a week at work due to some vacation conflicts). I am pretty sure if Nana wasn't there I would probably be committed by now. She took Gwennie to all sorts of fun places like the park, Monkey Joe's, the Library, the backyard (yes...I haven't ventured out there in a while...I don't do bugs).
Anyhow, again - thank you Nana for all your help. We miss you already!

4 Years!

This weekend Corbin and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by going out to dinner. We realized the last time we went to dinner by ourselves was around the time Gwennie was born!!!!! Anyhow, it was nice to get out and we had a great time. Unfortunately on Saturday Hudson had some serious gas and was pretty upset all day so we missed our BBQ plans. Since we didn't have any pictures, I figured I would post some of Hudson from today and a couple of old ones from the morning of the delivery.

Nana has arrived and a visit to Lulu and Big Bill's

Nana arrived on Friday and was a big help this weekend. Saturday Corbin and I had our first night out so we decided to see a movie but were a little worried about leaving a crazy 2 year old and a 3 week old with Nana but she was great! All the kids were sleeping soundly when we got home and the next morning Gwennie actually slept until 7:30!

Sunday we packed up the kids, Nana, and all the stuff that goes along with kids and headed to Big Bill and Lulu's place for a swim (and so Lulu/Big Bill could meet Hudson). We had so much fun at the pool! Gwennie loved to sit in Richard's old rocking chair and Will (Bill's son) was also there and was a HUGE help in keeping track of Gwennie. Belle also provided wonderful entertainment with her "cleaning" of the chicken Gwennie kept dropping/feeding to her.

Overall a great weekend!

A Big Thank You to GeeGee

Well.....the week is done and GeeGee is back in Arizona. I don't think she realizes what a help she was but Corbin, Gwennie, Hudson and I and I do! GeeGee moved Gwennie into her big girl room, organized, washed and cleaned both rooms and pretty much kept the house running for the last three weeks. We already miss her but know she has to go home some time. So this is our public thank you to GeeGee for all the help she gave us before, during and after Hudson's arrival!