Hey everyone. Glad to be back updating our site. We’ve neglected to expoit it’s benefits for too long. We hope to try to post monthly to keep you all informed on everything that’s going on in our lives. Please come back often & look for our next update soon.
It’s been a while. We’ve been on an unintended six month break. Okay, we’ve been lazy. But we have many things to share and some recent big news. Where should I start.
First, we had a great summer. Sydney turned one way back in August (I also turned 28, but no one seemed to notice). She had a great time. We were able to celebrate with all the grandparents over a two week span. G’ma, G’pa & Aunt Wyeth were up from Mississippi the week before Syd’s B-day and they were able to get some great shots of Syd in a beautiful flower garden setting (thanks to our neighbors - we don’t know them & they don’t know were were in their backyard). We made homemade ice cream and Sydney loaded up on the toys. Pretty soon she’ll be old enough that she can start asking for Legos for me 
. We had a second 1st B-day the next weekend with the Iowa City grand & greatparents.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot our favorite annual ritual; The State Fair. We took Syd 2 times. She LOVED it. We weren’t surprised. We also took a trip to the Omaha Zoo & Syd took her first Carousel ride.
Fall was also very fun. We went to Iowa City almost every other weekend for home football games. The weather stayed very nice until mid-November which allowed us a lot of time outside. Rachel turned 27 and got a new bike. She was so excited. We took Sydney on bike rides all summer on Sunday mornings and were able to continue going through October. Syd loved Halloween this year. She dressed up & we took her around the neighborhood. She kept the door-to-door’s short & sweet with “Hi” & “Mmmmm” (snatch the candy) & then “Bye-bye”. She was a well oiled machine & cleaned up on the goodeis. There was plenty of candy for all of us. Check out the Gallery to see her costume.
Sydney took her next big development step (literally) in mid-November. She began walking and now prefers that method of transit over crawling. She’s even past the Frankenstein phase (holding her arms out in front of her as she walks). We’re quite proud.
The biggest news of the year came last month when we found out Rachel was pregnant… again. I’m quite the sharpshooter, I must say. We’re expecting on August 3, but if Sydney’s early arrival is any indication, we’ll have an early July birthday. Mine will be sandwiched right between the kids’. Rachel thinks it’s a girl & possibly twins, which means it will be one boy (she was 100% sure Sydney was a boy). Anyway, we’re exited for X-Mas & will be swift on the other side of the Holidays to get early winter pics posted. For now, we’ve selected our favorite summer & falls pics. You may notice that cameras are attracted to Sydney (she’s in most of the pics).
Oh yes, Watty is also doing well & no longer runs away when we let him out the front door. We’re sooooo glad that 3-year phase is over (he turned 4 today). Happy B-Day Watty.
Enjoy the pics.
Love,
Taylor, Rachel-Embry(o), Sydney & Watty
Hope everyone has had a great spring & is ready for the heat. We’ve been very busy the last month and a half with a myriad of events. We had Sydney’s dedication at church on Mother’s Day, I started a new job May 14th at Aviva USA, Rachel has been working diligently for her first few clients as she takes Rachel White Design into full swing, Father’s Day was spent at the park and we all have been excited to see Sydney go on her first few crawls.
You’ll notice we went to the Omaha Zoo again. It was fun having Syd with us in person this time (ie. not in the fetal state). She had a great time & just loved the Carousel. Theme Parks, look out, this one’s going to be a thrill-seeker.
Anyway, we’ve been enjoying the weather & can’t believe the 4th is just around the corner. However, being our favorite holiday, we can’t wait. Check out the new picture gallery to catch up on the last couple months, and have a great 4th Of July!
We’ve created a new forum to better stay in touch w/ family & friends. Check it out @ iowawhites.freeforums.org (see the link to your right). I also promise that we will be updating this site soon. Hope everyone is having a good spring.
Sorry for the long hiatus. It’s been a busy spring so far! Well, where do I start? I’ve had two birthdays since our last post, and I’m about to have another. Can anyone believe I’m almost 8 months old already? Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was being carried into my new home, and now I run the place.
In February I took my first plane trip (and vacation!) to Jackson, MS to visit my grandparents whom I affectionately refer to as Mimi and Papapoolie. I have six grandparents and four great-grandparents, so I have to give them nicknames so I know who we’re talking about! I did so well on the plane if I do say so myself. It’s a good thing I was born into a world of laptop computers and ipod headphones, because they were a wonderful source of entertainment for me. I got to watch my Baby Einstein DVD when Mommy and Aunt Kate started to get a little boring. While we were in Jackson we had lots of fun in the warm weather. I got to wear shortsleeves, which Mommy says she loves so she can see my cute rolls. I didn’t have to wear socks, which makes sucking your toes a lot easier! Mimi and Papapoolie took some adorable new pictures of me (soon to come) and they took me shopping for summer clothes. That grandpa of mine, all I have to do is smile and he throws something into the cart!
March was a big month too. I turned 7 months old, learned to sit-up all by myself and got my first two teeth!! I sit in my highchair for meals now and I get to try all kinds of new yummy foods. I love fruits and vegetables, and have you tried cheerios? They’re delicious! Watson used to ignore me most of the time, but now he seems to camp out under my highchair. I knew he’d come around. Mommy says we’ll be best friends one day.
Aunt Kate had her 23rd birthday on St. Patty’s Day, so we all wore green and I helped mommy make green cupcakes. I also got a new cousin that day. Aunt Kate got a puppy named O’Malley. He’s so cute! They come over and take walks with us.
Mommy and I have been going to music class once a week. It is soooo much fun! We just started taking it on Saturdays so Daddy could come too. He loves to sing Raffi songs and dance with me. Sometimes I hear him singing Raffi tunes after I’ve gone to bed. Maybe he’s practicing for the next day. We also go to the library for baby storytime and to check out new books. At the end of April, we’re taking Waterbabies at the YMCA so I can get used to the water in time for summer. Hot fun in the summer sun; I can’t wait!
I’ve got to hop now, Mommy and Daddy are taking me to see the Easter Bunny today. Mommy wanted me to tell you that her website is not finished yet, but it’s up and running if anyone wants to take a peek. She is trying very hard to work from home so she can stay with me everyday!
Happy Easter to everyone, enjoy my new pictures!
Love, Sydney
It’s been a busy month & a half w/ Christmas, graduations, anniversaries, & the little one. We’re very excited about what lies ahead as many milestones await Sydney. But as we reflect on the past year, we know it was one for the books. Our holiday tour brought us back from Thanksgiving in Chicago, to Cedar Falls for the graduation of Rachel’s sister Kate, from UNI. She’s in the midst of a flurry of job interviews, primarily for the position of Child Life Specialist. Congratulations, Kathy!
Christmas was extra special this year as Sydney experienced her first visit from the Big Guy. It was the first of many that will, no doubt, take us back to memories from our own childhoods, for which we can whole heartedly thank all of our parents. They set the bar & we intend to carry on as many holliday traditions as possible (X-Mas morning was my personal favorite). We spent X-Mas Eve with Grandpa & Grandma White making my Grandma Harms’ famous egg noodles to have with chicken & mashed potatoes for dinner. They were fantastic.
We had brunch on X-Mas Day morning with the Harms’s and then were off to Iowa City where we had a second round of gifts with Grandma and Grandpa Reese before a grand dinner at Great Grandpa and Grandma Nothnagle’s. That was delicious as well. I don’t have to tell you who was at the center of everything throughout the weekend.
We also took time to open gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Silber. It was the first time we did not visit Mississippi for the holiday season & we missed them, but Rachel & Syndey will be flying down to see them in February. And, I might add that Sydney’s favorite X-Mas present appears to be her colorful caterpillar they & Aunt Wyeth were so clever to find.
It was a wonderful time for us all, and we thank everyone who helped make it possible. We also hope the rest of you had a great holiday season and hope the new year finds you refreshed. We’ve added two new picture galleries of X-Mas and Syd. As always, feel free to leave us a message, and we hope you’re having a Happy New Year.
Our annual Thankgiving rendezvous, this year, lead us to Chicago, Illinois to visit the Silber clan. We packed a lot of “catching up” (and eating) into our three day trip. It was the first time that most of the Silber’s were able to meet Sydney, most notably, Great Grandma Harriet & Great Grandpa Earl. Sydney also had her three month portrait sitting thanks to Grandpa & Grandma Silber. As always, it was very generous of them to mobilize their Mississippi studio in order to provide us with fantastic baby photos. See them & many others we took in the gallery via the link below.
As you can see in some of the pictures, Sydney is rapidly developing her own unique (and very well-natured) personality. She joyfully returns the slightest smile with one of her own, accompanied by a warm coo. Her sense of humor is also one of a kind (she displays a big smile after each time she spits up). More holiday season photos will soon follow.
Sydney’s first halloween was spooktacular. In her inaugural year, she appropriatley donned her Daddy’s favorite color and took on the competition at “Mommy & Me’s” halloween costume party as a pumpkin. She couldn’t have been more adorable. She’s finally growing into some of her other clothes too, that have been lying in wait in the closet. Most noteably, she’s starting to fit into two piece outfits in which looks just fabulous. She recently had her 3 month birthday. Click on the link below (right click & open in new window) for some pics from the past month & some pics from our trip to the Iowa-Wisconsin game at Kinnick.
On a side note, I took some pictures of the backyard but probably won’t include those because they aren’t that intersting.
Keeps the munchies at bay. At least until you get sick of ‘em, like when you eat six or seven on a trip to the apple orchard. That’s what we did Friday Sep. 29, the day before the big game.
A trip to Wilson’s Apple Orchard in Iowa City is one of our favorite autumn past times. We made the outing with the Silber/Reese clan this year and had a great time. We found some great new apple varieties for both cooking & dipping (in my scruptious apple dip, for example). Wilson’s lets you try all the apples you want while roaming the orchard looking for that perfect blend of sweet & tart and we took full advantage of that policy! Rachel & I made our way back home with over 20 pounds of apples. Needless to say, there are plenty yet to be eaten.
Wilson’s also has a quaint pumpkin patch in the middle of the orchard in which we found some pumpkins to take home as well. The orchard itself is rather large and when you’re out among the trees, there are apples as far as the eye can see. Click on the link below to revisit our trip, see new pics of Sydney (she’s doing very well and packing on the pounds) and check back soon to see pictures of our upcoming trip to the Des Moines Fall Pumpkin Festival. (Also notice we’ve archived older picture albums so that only the newer ones show on the main page of the photo gallery)
Come all ye woodsmen, wenches, pirates & fairies. The Renaissance Fair hath come to Des Moines!
Recently Madam White peddeled her wares at the revived Des Moines Renaissance Fair. She was able to drag her mate out for the festivities and what a magnificent pair they made. We hastened to join them for events which included jousting, swordfighting, and bow & arrow contests, music, dancing, feasting, drinking, and even some pillaging. Click on the link to go to the gallery & witness the festivities first hand.
In unrelated news, one of our cousins in Colorado (”Colorado Whites” as they will affectionately be known), Jenny & her husband Josh, got a new puppy named Sage. See pictures of her and our other cousin Doug White’s children in a new album in the gallery (and also uncle “Big” Doug playing his guitar). We’re glad to see they are all doing very well.
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