Gavin's 12 Birthday

This year for Gavin's birthday he chose not to have a party but instead hang out with his Dad. Gavin wanted to go to the new water park that opened up out here so last Saturday off they went. The had so much fun. Gavin tanned really well and Derron learned a very valuable lesson about sunscreen. He only sprayed his back and shoulders and not his front side, so he looked like lobster. I tried not to rub it in his face too much. Of course they were too busy to take any pictures of this outing so I have nothing to show you.
However, Gavin also wanted to go shopping for his present and hang out with me and Callie for his birthday too. He would have loved for Madison to be here, but she is still living it up in GA. So, yesterday on his 12th birthday Gavin, Callie, and myself set off on a very busy and fun filled day.
First, we went to Babies R Us for some last minute shopping for Miss Olivia. We had lunch at Ruby Tuesday's and then made a quick stop by Target. Our next stop took a little longer. Gavin wanted to do something that Callie would enjoy so they rode the carousel at the mall. Callie was very upset that she wasn't quite tall enough to ride on the spinning cup without an adult and I am way to pregnant to even attempt to get on the carousel. Gavin rode in the spinning cup and Callie rode on the horse right behind him. We then made a quick stop by Baby Gap and then it was off to HOLLISTER to shop for GAVIN!! If you have never been in this store it is the epitome of everything teenager! It is LOUD and they walk around spraying the clothes with perfume for the girls side and cologne for the boy's side. Well, I said a silent prayer that we would NOT be in there too long, because lets face it, the music was TOO LOUD and the smell was TOO STRONG! I must be getting old. Thirty minutes and 4 shirts size XS later we were finally checking out. See, Gavin can only wear the shirts because everything else is too big. Whatever, this is all he wanted I told myself as the cologne boy walked by to spray the clothes and the air yet again. We finally left the mall and set off on our next adventure.
The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. Admission is FREE. They have donation boxes and we made a donation, but hey, we are all about FREE activities. Gavin had been here on a field trip, but they only got to see certain exhibits. We were there for 2 and 1/2 hours and we only covered an 1/8 of the museum. It looks like we will have to go back at some point. We would have loved to walk the grounds and see the sculpture park, but I had started having contractions so we decided to find something that involved sitting for a while.
We made our way to the Country Club Plaza. It's beautiful. Fountains everywhere and shopping, lots of shopping, great restaurants, and did I mention the shopping. Our first stop was the video game store, because in our family what's a birthday without a new video game. Then it was time for ice cream and some grown up shopping. We met Derron for dinner at UNO'S. The kids got to make their own pizzas. Callie thought this was the coolest thing ever. And Gavin, who had made it a point at lunch to tell me he was now too old for the kids menu, pleaded to order off the kids menu so he could make his own pizza too. Finally, at 8pm we headed home. Gavin didn't want a birthday cake which made me very sad, but he did let us sing to him. And today I convinced him to let me bake cupcakes for him since technically his birthday was over they would just be cupcakes.
I know this was a very long post, but we had a very long day. It was long, but lots of fun.

12 Years Ago...

Twelve years ago at exactly 6:12 am the most beautiful baby boy was born. We named him Gavin. I can not believe he's 12! Where does the time go? He is growing up so fast and turning out to be such a handsome young man. Which is scary too, because that means girls are going to be trying to come around. Derron and I are so proud of Gavin and the good example he tries to set. He's not perfect. No one is. But he is an amazing son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend. He loves everyone and wants to make everyone proud. Gavin has a lot of pressure on him to be the best young man he can be, because he is the ONLY young man in a family full of girls!! This is something he will NOT let anyone forget. But, don't let him fool you, he absolutely loves his sisters more than anything in the world. And they love him so much in return. Derron and I are truly blessed to have Gavin in our family for all of eternity and we hope he has a wonderful 12th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!! We love you so much!

Pictures from Olivia's Shower

Olivia's Baby Shower

First off a HUGE THANK YOU to my wonderful friends that gave me a baby shower in honor of Olivia. Katie, Kobi, Heather, Kari and Angie, you girls are awesome and I so appreciate each and every one of you. I love you all so much and can't imagine not having you all in my life. Moving to GA is definitely going to be bittersweet.

Anyway...Olivia got so many cute and beautiful things. Lots of clothes!! I mean LOTS of clothes! Blankets, beautiful blankets! Handmade blankets and quilts. Shoes. Really cute shoes. And the cutest pair of white slippers you have ever seen. A whale of a bath tub. Diapers and wipes. Lots of diapers and wipes. A chic black diaper bag. A fabulous night light with Olivia's name on it.Gift cards for even more baby stuff. I'm sure I forgot something, but I plan on posting pictures.

We had a lot of fun with a lot of friends. Really good food. And an amazing cake. Katie bakes cakes and always does such a good job. She does all the cakes for my kids and she did the one for the shower too. They are so yummy!

I will post a few pics now and a slide show later.

The one where I remembered there were pictures on the other camera...

We have 2 cameras in our house. The really nice good one that Derron takes to work and the really old crappy one that no one wants to use. Well, the other day I had to use the old crappy one and when I put the card in the computer I realized that there were really important pictures on the card. Like Gavin's 5th Grade recognition!!! How in the world did I miss that? Oh yeah, I'm pregnant and my brain does not function properly anymore. So here are a few pics from his 5th grade recognition. I will try to get a slide show up tomorrow.

The cutest baby shower invitations ever

I have been truly blessed with some really amazing friends out here in Missouri. They are some of the most wonderful women I have ever met. A group of them are very graciously throwing a baby shower for me this Saturday and I am so excited. My friend Heather is extremely talented when it comes to cards and invitations and I thought I would take a moment to post a few pictures of the invites. I promise to post pictures from the shower Saturday.

Happy 11th Birthday Karmen

Happy Birthday to my niece Karmen. She turns 11 on July 22. We love her so much.

Callie's "Big Adventure" Mini Golf

Derron took Gavin to play golf a few weeks ago and Callie wanted so bad to go with them. She didn't understand that they were going to play real golf. She was not very happy that they were going to do something and that she could not go with them. So, Derron promised he would take her to play Putt Putt. Callie proceeded to tell Gavin that he could not go ply putt putt with us because this was her "Big Adventure" and she wanted it to be just her, Derron and myself. So, Gavin being the good big brother he is took his clubs and stayed on the driving range. Callie had so much fun and even asked for her own set of clubs when we were finished. She loves spending time with all of us, but especially Derron. Luckily this month the rotation he is on has allowed him to be home more and Callie LOVES it! Pay close attention to one of the pictures. Derron and Callie are standing next to this sign that reads "No Spikes Please" we thought this was funny. There was one on the bathroom door that read "NO SPIKES ALLOWED". I found this one to be even funnier, but didn't have the camera with me. Callie really enjoyed her "Big Adventure" and so did Derron.

Gavin's Last Baseball Game of the Season

Gavin had his last baseball game on July 7th. They won 12-5 and finished the season with 7 wins and 7 losses. Next year they will go competitive. He has played with the same team for 3 years and has a really great coach.

July 4th in Missouri

For those of you unaware of this fireworks are LEGAL in Jackson County Missouri. To some this may not be a big deal, but to my wonderful husband and very impressionable son this is a HUGE deal. Since we moved out here 5 years ago I have despised, detested, and even cursed July 4th. Not because of the holiday itself. I am very proud of the men and women that serve our country and those that fought to make us a free country. I loathed the fireworks that start so early and end so late. Our neighborhood is AWFUL on the 4th. However, this year Derron and Gavin decided to add to the mayhem. We had a cookout across the street at the Waite's house and visited with great friends who we love and are going to miss so much when we move. Ryan, like Derron and Gavin LOVES fireworks! So, between Derron and Ryan there were A LOT of fireworks purchased and shot off. We had a great July 4th and thankfully the noise stopped just after midnight. The fireworks you see in the picture are just the ones Derron purchased. Ryan had just as many. I swear they were firing stuff off for hours.

Madison's Trip to Savannah

Madison is in Georgia for a few more weeks and she recently went to Savannah for the 4th of July. Phyllis and Gerald took her to visit Mitch, LeAnna, and Lauren. She had such a great time and LeAnna sent me lots of cute pictures. They went to the Jacksonville Zoo and to watch fire works. Mitch also got Madison to get into a hurricane wind simulator with him with the promise that he would take her to Claire's (her FAVORITE store) and buy her something if she did. She loves her Aunt Phyllis, Uncle Gerald, Mitch(Cookie Monster), LeAnna, and Lauren so much and was so excited to spend this time with them.

It's been a while

Just a quick update. I promise to post pictures soon! I have lots of pics to post of July 4th, Gavin's last baseball game of the season, and Callie's first time playing mini golf. I promise to do this soon. I also have pictures of Madison's trip to Savannah with her Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Gerald to visit Mitch, LeAnna, and Lauren. So, I need to get those on here too. I am trying to get as much done before the arrival of Miss Olivia. And right now that means shopping for school clothes and school supplies on any day that Derron is available to go with me. I promise to post pictures this week.