Meredith's 2nd Birthday

On May 25th we celebrated Meredith's 2nd birthday (one day early!) I am amazed at how fast time flies by. We were fortunate to spend the day with both sets of grandparents. Meredith had a great day, got lots of presents, and ate tons of ice cream.

We had party favors. Meredith shows off her fabulous side.

So did daddy!

Meredith opened presents very patiently, spreading out the fun all day. She played with each new toy for an hour or so before going to the next present.

The birthday girl got a great new Mickey Mouse hat from her cousins Connor, Mary, and Owen.

She also got a brand new Cabbage Patch doll.

This is how you feed it, Pop!

Hey everybody! Its time for ice cream cake!

A Carvel ice cream cake, decorated by Nancy!

Happy Birthday! Make a wish!

Boy this cake sure tastes good!

I think I'll get that last bite!

Yep! I was right. It was good.

Corolla, NC (Outer Banks)

Meredith recently spent a week in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, celebrating her great-grandparents 60th anniversary.

Susie finds that it is hard to catch Meredith while wearing a boot in the sand when she takes off .

Meredith loved the sand....

And the shells....

And the footprints.

I had a lot of fun with her on the beach.

Zac and Jane's Wedding

In May 2008, my cousin Zac Coburn was married to Jane Ly in northern Virginia. We had a great time. Since I was an usher, I didn't get too many pics of the ceremony. I was able to grab some photo ops in my spare time....

Meredith always likes staying in a hotel room. She loves the big bed! Here she is pretending to be asleep:

A quick peek to see if I am still watching her:

Fooled you daddy!

I got a couple of shots of the ring bearer (Caden) and flower girl (Emma) after the wedding. Caden was in a silly mood.

Like I said, Caden was acting silly.

Emma always knows how to cheese it up for the camera.

All the kids wanted to do was DANCE!

Emma got some great daddy time:

They had so much fun, even my photo editing program couldn't get the red-eye out!

Emma and Meredith hit it off:

Emma learned that Meredith runs really fast!

Pop and Meredith at the wedding party table with Sarah.

Herndon Park

We recently tried out a new playground in Durham called Herndon Park. Meredith seemed to like it.

Are you serious??? Its a new playground!



It has a cool short tube slide....


And big girl swings!

The renovation process....

By popular demand, here are a few pics of the bathroom during the renovation.

What a lovely floor...and the seat in the shower takes up 33% of floor space forcing you to the front of the shower.

The vanity comes out. It was nasty, old, and I swear it had pee stains on the side.

Nancy used a reciprocating saw to cut out the old shower.

She then put in a water barrier and a new shower pan.

Next up was a new ceiling.

That's all the old pics I could find...see for yourself in the next blog down how it all turned out.

The bathroom is finished

In January 2008, Nancy decided to renovate the bathroom. We tore down the walls and ceilings. She ripped out the vanity, lifted the linoleum, and power sawed the shower. It was scary at first looking up into the attic from the master bedroom. Months of hard work...blood, sweat, and tears have finally paid off. Nancy finished the master bathroom renovation this afternoon, and I must say it looks phenomenal.

The view through the door. Nancy picked out stylish rice paper shower curtains.

Pull back the curtain and see the amazing tile work done. Everything here is new including the shower hardware and the tub floor.

Here's a closer look at the accent tile.

On the left, Nancy made a built-in shelf for shampoo.

The window was covered with a privacy screen.

Turn around and you'll see the new vanity.

Nancy also tiled the floor and added very soft chocolate covered floor mats.

So, that's it! I must say that I am very proud of Nancy's work and will think of her every time that I see this awesome bathroom.

April 2008

Meredith is now 1 year, 11 months old. Only one more month until she turns the big 2! She has matured so much these past couple of months. Her personality is really shining and she is turning out to be a truly wonderful girl, full of love.

She has been working on different funny faces....

She has a sweet tooth, just like her daddy!

Recently, Nancy and I took her to the Durham Museum of Life Sciences. It was a wonderful experience. There was a kid's room, a butterfly exhibit, and plenty of farm animals. Here is Meredith in the kids room, playing in the kitchen....

Later she climbed (all by herself) into the crow's nest.

Outside, there is a percussion section.

And inside, there are some interactive learning stations. She liked mashing the buttons and moving the joystick.

Afterwards...she was very tired and didn't last more than a couple of minutes once we got settled in the car...