Wedding Pics

If you remember, way back in May we went to Hilton Head for our friends Kristin and Tom's wedding.  Well the professional pictures are in and I downloaded a few that I really liked.

The photog captured our photo shoot

All about jazz hands when making an entrance

Parents night out!

Choo Choo!

Gabe is really into his new train set that was recently sent up to us from my parents in San Antonio. Big thanks to Zio Andrew for sharing his train set with Gabe. Although, I'm really not sure who is more excited about it, Gabe or Scott. 

The other night Scott built a track and Gabe stood by waiting to play.  I tired to take some action shots of them working together, but every time my flash went off Gabe would stop and smile.  Gotta love that kid!

Keep it in the closet

Gabe's baseball big boy(say that 3 times fast) room is coming along.  We installed a custom closet a couple weeks ago and really like the results.  We still need to take the doors off and have curtains added (I really need to get the measurements to my M-I-L for said curtains).  But overall it is completed.

From what I hear and heard the installation process was fairly painless.  My in-laws came over on a Saturday afternoon to help Scott install the drawers and shelving.  Gabe and I played with Legos and occasionally checked in on the progress. 

From what I saw Scott did a great job hanging the shelving and getting all the detail information from his mom. 

Since the room is fairly small, we opted to have the dresser in the closet to maximize the room's space.  I really like how my idea was easily put together.  Below is the left side of the closet that includes the dresser and some extra storage above.

Below is the right side of the closet.  There are 2 hanging racks with a shelf dividing them and just enough room at the bottom for a laundry basket.  Once we get the closet doors off, we'll be able to start loading the closet with some of Gabe's clothes and keepsakes (i.e. a baby book that is half worked on).

Happy Birthday to you!

Scott doesn't like to make a big deal about his birthday.  I try to go along with that and not get to crazy, especially since our birthday's are 9 days apart and our anniversary is 4 days before my birthday.  It's a lot in August. 

 

So this year we decided to buy our birthday anniversary gifts and give the gifts at our anniversary.  It worked well with tax free weekend and the gifts that were given.  However, I couldn't just let Scott's birthday go by without doing anything.  So on Sunday, while Scott was at Cross Fit and then working, Gabe and I went up to Target to get some goodies. 

 

Since Scott has been doing Cross Fit a lot of this t-shirts don't fit or have magically shrunk.  I picked up a couple new shirts for him and a couple birthday cards.  Nothing crazy or fancy, trying for low key.  Then on Scott's birthday (8/19) I stopped at the store and got him a tuxedo cake.  You can't have a birthday without a cake, even though we just finished my cake. 

 

Once Scott got home from work, he quickly cut the grass and Gabe and I watched from the cool air conditioned house.  Then we had a wonderful dinner of ham and potato casserole (a favorite meal).  Then opened presents and play time with Gabe.  I even managed to get a Cardinal win for his birthday (big thanks to Jon Jay for getting hit by a pitch, again). 

Happy Birthday Scott!  Gabe, Baby A and I love you more than you know!  I hope your day was extra special!

 

 

1.5

Gabe had his 18 month check up on Friday and here are the all important stats!
Weight - 26lbs (78%)
Height - 32 inches (56%)

He even had a shot and didn't even flinch or cry when he got it.  We are so proud of this soon-to-be Big Brother!

Hotshot Driving Daddy's Car

Gabe's words:

• No
• Apple
• Bubbles
• Zebra
• Baboon
• Car
• Truck
• Careful
• Owen(baby at daycare)
• Mom
• Daddy
• Banana
• Hot
• More
• Quack
• Moo
• Baseball
• Nana

Gabe Fun Facts:

• Makes lion, elephants, dog, bird, fire engine, police car, car noises
• Knows where his body parts are(head, ears, nose, mouth, chin, belly, legs, arms, hands)
• Understands commands from Scott and I (put the cup on the table, put whatever in the trash)
• Works hard at building with Legos
• Plays with his cars and tractors
• Loves to read books and turn the pages
• Busy building train tracks with Daddy
• Loves to snuggle with Reily
• Listens and will watch Winnie the Pooh and other Disney movies

Gabe and Me Day

Our sitter took a week vacation to Gulf Shores and so Scott, my M-I-L, and I adjusted our work schedules to watch Gabe this week.  I ended up taking Monday off, it was the day after my birthday and why not.  I had a plan, play outside as much as we could.  Thankfully, the weather agreed with me. 

 

We were at the playground by 9am!  We had the whole playground to ourselves and hung out for 30 minutes then walked home.  Gabe really loves the slides and we had some good races down them.

 

We had to play at home while I did a little work.  He really loves his firehouse and fire truck that he got for Christmas.  He is great at playing by himself, too.

He may have been a little tired from the morning walk and playground fun.  But that didn't stop me from a quick stop at McDonald's and then off to Mama Zipf's for private swimming.

What's better than a little pre-swim chicken nugget time?  He wasn't too sure what the pool was or the leaves floating in it.  He thought the leaves were bubbles. 

We had to take a swim break for more nuggets.  He was having so much fun jumping off the side and stairs.  He loved kicking and splashing.

After swimming we played with the beach ball for a while and dried off.  We had a very successful morning of swimming.  Just wish I had someone to take pictures.  

 Somehow Gabe stayed awake the whole drive home (about 20 minutes) and then once we got home he crashed for 3 hours!  I wore that kid out!  But it was a really fun day for me.

It's My Birthday

Yesterday (8/10) was my birthday and what a wonderful day it was...minus waking up at 3am with a migraine and needing to take a hot shower (at 3am) to relax my neck.  Thankfully, Scott let me sleep till 8 and fully get over the welcome-to-mid30s pain.  After we got cleaned up it was a quick trip to Starbucks for breakfast and then Grant's Farm.

I've been wanting to take Gabe there for a while and it just never seemed to fit in our schedules.  Amazingly enough, the typical St. Louis sweltering heat has been absent most of August.  We arrived by 10:30, along with everyone else, but that didn't stop us from having a great time.

First we went to check out the Clydesdales.  I always forget how huge they are, and then you stand next to one and pet their noses.  They are HUGE!  Gabe really got a kick out of seeing them up close.  He did so good with walking around and pointing at the horses.

Checking out the Clydesdale

Look a horse over there!

Then we walked over to catch the tram ride into the park.  We waited a bit but there was so much people watching that Gabe could care less.  Once on the tram Gabe enjoyed looking for the animals.  He saw Longhorns, ducks, geese, deer, and buffalo.  Lots for his to Ohh and Ahh at.

Once we arrived we decided to head for the elephants first.  We got to watch a couple elephants interact and do some scratching on a telephone pole.  Then we went to watch the elephant show.

 We headed back to feed the very aggressive goats.  Thankfully, the goats didn't bother Gabe at all.  He stood there and helped Scott and I feed them.  Thanks to our previous farm trip this summer, Gabe loved every minute of it.

Big brother training

We road the merry-go-round before we grabbed a snow cone and water and then headed home.

Had to get the lion and roar 

Happy Birthday St. Louis and me

Once we got home it was nap time for Gabe.  He was exhausted.  Scott took a nap while I watched the Cards game and played on my new birthday/anniversary gift, a Mac Mini.  I'm still trying to get used to the Mac from the PC that I use daily.  But the goal is for me to not sound like my father when I have to use the Windows 8 laptop.  That had been my primary computer at the house.

After the Cardinal WIN and naps we had an easy dinner along with cake and cards from the boys!  It was a great birthday and I couldn't thank Scott and Gabe enough for a wonderful day!

Friends Night Out

On Friday night we were able to finally introduce our friends to Bella Vino (the restaurant that my S-I-L is one of the executive chefs and I name drop a lot).  Of course that meant we needed a babysitter.  This was the first time we've used a non-family member to watch Gabe...and I really use the term non-family member lightly.  Elizabeth made the trek out to our house to watch Gabe for the night.

Dinner was at 7:15 and since Gabe had his 18 check up earlier that afternoon, he was ready for bed minutes after we left.  I was very happy to hear that he was incredibly easy for her.

Once Scott and I arrived for dinner, we were the last to get there.  Everyone started placing orders and trying everything on the table.  The great thing about it being a tapas restaurant is that it's so easy to share.

I only heard compliments from everyone on how awesome the food was!  It was a fun evening getting together with everyone.  All 8 of us hadn't been together since Kristin and Tom's wedding back in May.  It was wonderful to catch up and see everyone.

Hopefully it won't be another 3 months till the next time!

3 down

Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband.  These past 3 years have flown by and they keep getting better as the days go by.  I can't wait for our "surprise" to arrive in November.  I couldn't think of a better thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. 

 

I love every day that I get to hear you make Gabe laugh with delight.  Gabe and I truly look forward to seeing you drive into the driveway every day.

 

Can't wait for forever more years to come.  Happy 3rd Anniversary!