The Days of Autumn

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of flying out to Phoenix to see my friend Kara marry the love of her life, Evan. It was a joyous weekend filled with love and friendship, and the record-breaking heat couldn't even slow down the party! Below are some pics from the ceremony (I apologize for the picture quality; they were all taken with my iPhone):

The happy couple:

The beautiful golf course where the ceremony took place:

Pretty in pink bridesmaids Gina, Jess, and Susan!

Proud dad (he wore a FOB (Father of the Bride) hat all weekend) walking his daughter down the aisle:

Getting married under the bougainvillea:

Husband and wife!

This blog would be sorely lacking without some gorgeous photos of the cutest nephew on the planet. A & Mike had some great photos taken of Tyler while he was still in the hospital:

I think he's dreaming of all the mischief he's going to make with his cousin Tate!

Happy family!

It's been such a beautiful fall season here in Madison. We've been enjoying the last bits of sunshine and trying to store a little for the winter that is just around the corner ;(

Tate is 8 months old and such a big boy! He's now crawling and trying to pull himself up on every piece of furniture, and he has 4 teeth! Today marked Tate's first trip to the local playground! He LOVED the swing and the slide. Mom and Dad had just as much fun watching him!

Tate is such a helper; he now insists on holding his own bottle (except when he's really sleepy...).

Crazy bed-head Mommy, big boy in his blue jeans, and Zoey, who's just happy to be in the picture ;)

Mom had to snap Tate in his monkey outfit:

And yes, this is his 3rd animal hat, the porcupine hat! P.S. The binky is on its last leg... slowly but surely Mom is phasing it out... more slowly than Mom would like...

Lately Tate's favorite sleeping position is face down, butt up in the air:

Tate and Tyler meeting for the first time!!!

Tate's first attempts at crawling; he's much speedier now:

And lastly, more fun from the playground; a quick video of Tate's swing joy:

Hope you all have had a wonderful fall season! Can't wait to see many of you over the holidays; until then, be well!

Love,

Meredith

Fun Times in Lakeside (& Madison)...

What a wonderful month it's been! We had a great Labor Day weekend with family in Lakeside, as evidenced by the photos below. The Whites and Winkelhakes had a great dinner together one night in Plumb Cottage, with Steve at the grill!

It was rather chilly over Labor Day weekend, especially by the lake, so we had to bundle the Tater-bug up quite a bit:

A good vacation means lots of good naps... Shh, don't tell Grandie that Zoey was on the sofa...

The girls had fun being buried in the sand, Tate had fun overlooking the project:

Tate says, "Those whitecaps don't scare me!"

Mom put Zoey in a leg lock, just to keep her from misbehaving ;)

The hottest bonfire ever!!! But it made some good s'mores:

Back at home, Tate enjoying his first taste of a wheat cracker:

The beaver hat appears again!! Although it's already a wee snug :(

Tate loves books! Right now he really just likes how they taste, but one day he'll enjoy the story, too!

Hope the arrival of autumn finds you all happy and healthy!

XOXO,

Meredith

The Last Days of Summer

How is it already September? The summer has just flown by, and the last month, especially, has been a blur. Tate has really grown and is quite a chunk now ;) He's sitting up on his own now and thinking about crawling. He's rolling and scooting himself all over the place. It's been fun watching him try all the new fruits and veggies over the last couple months, too. At first most of the food went on him, and not in his mouth, but we've gotten much better! Below he's enjoying his squash and sweet potatoes, which continue to be his favorites:

Go Cubs, Go!

Tate loves to hang out with Daddy:

He also loves his feet so much that sometimes he falls asleep holding on to them:

We headed down to Woodstock August 21st to celebrate our niece Autumn's 7th birthday, and while we were there Papa got in some good snuggle time:

Autumn got some pretty great loot!

And the following week we were so excited to meet our new nephew Tyler Michael!!!! He was so anxious to meet his family that he came 5 weeks early, on August 27th, at 8:40 a.m.! He weighed 5 lbs, 12 oz, and was 19 1/4 inches long. He's still in the NICU so he can be closely monitored, but it sounds like he's eating and growing like a champ. Adriane and Mike are home now, but logging in many hours a day in the NICU visiting their newest addition. Auntie Mere and Uncle Kenny were so glad to meet him and hold him, and cannot wait for his cousin Tate to meet him too! Please keep your fingers crossed that he can go home soon!

Look at all that blond hair!!!

Oh, don't cry at your Auntie, she's going to spoil you soon!

The new family:

The next day we trekked back to Woodstock to celebrate Kenny's brother Aaron and sister-in-law Tanya's baby boy that's slated to arrive in October! Tate is gonna have so much fun getting into trouble with his cousins!

We had fun trying to discern what type of candy bars made up the "baby poop" and naming various types of unlabeled baby food.

The parents-to-be received some wonderful gifts; baby boy is already so loved!

Tater-bug loves to sit up like a big boy and smile for the camera!

This first video is sideways, sorry, but it's so cute I couldn't resist posting it. Tate has a blast in his Jumperoo:

Tate loves his girl Zoey and cannot help but squeal with delight when she gets hyper and runs around the house like a nut:

Hope you all have a wonderfully relaxing Labor Day weekend!

XOXO~

Meredith