Valerie's diaper shower

On July 16th, Carol Anne, Amanda, and I gave Valerie a diaper shower. She is due any day now with her 3rd child. We are so excited for Val and Glen and can't wait to find out what the sex of the baby is...yes, they are those kind of people. We had so much fun at the shower. We had it at a local mexican restaurant and the food is fabulous! This was also Carol Anne's birthday, so it was a double celebration.

St. Louis

We did not expect to make a trip to St. Louis this summer. It wasn't in our plans, but it was in God's. Rob's grandfather passed away somewhat unexpectedly in May. He lived with Rob's parents in San Antonio so the funeral was held there, but he was buried in Hannibal, Missouri...which is about an hour from St. Louis. Several of Rob's family members had planned to travel to see his grandparents in SA during father's day weekend, but after he passed the family decided to all meet in Hannibal for a memorial service at his grave. So....that's where we discovered what it's like to travel with a one year old for 6,7,8 hours...we made several stops. We left on a Wednesday so we could make a vacation of it and enjoy St. Louis.

 Thursday morning we decided to take Olivia to "The Magic House" aka Children's museum. I was afraid she was too little, but they had a section devoted to 2 and under. We had fun. Olivia loved planning in the ball pit since we have one at home too. She was too cute.

 waving at herself and us:)

 she loved this train and would make the funniest facial expression when its horn would blow.

 silly girl

 after playing at the Magic House, we met Rob's parents who had flown in that afternoon. That night we had a fabulous dinner at Rob's Uncle Jack's house.

Friday was a FUN day too. We went to the St. Louis zoo. It was amazing and we didn't even see it all. The weather was beautiful that day and not too hot.

 Saturday was the day of the memorial service. We packed up and heading north to Mark Twain country. It was a beautiful service with beautiful words from Rob's dad and three uncles. There was a good crowd there and friends of Rob's family hosted a lunch for everyone at their church after the service. It was so nice and thoughtful of them. After lunch we went on a driving tour (given by Rob's mom) of Hannibal. Rob spent 10 years in Hannibal. These were his elementary days. I've been to Hannibal before with Rob so we didn't do all the Mark Twain stuff this time. These pictures are fuzzy because they came off of instagram and for some reason my computer is not letting me save them the way I normally do.

 the mighty Mississippi in Hannibal

The house Rob grew up in for 10 years

 a birds eye view of Hannibal

 the scariest road I've ever been on...what do they do when it snows??

 This street was named after Rob's grandfather. The church he preached at is on this street.

Sunday we were back in St. Louis and went to Rob's Uncle Jack's church. His cousin Jeremiah was a guest preacher and he gave a wonderful sermon. Afterwards the whole family went to a restaurant for lunch.

Olivia with her cousin Robbie

 Olivia with her cousin Scotty

 this picture was inside our elevator at the hotel...I just thought it was funny! the picture is fuzzy, but it says, "OMG, TBISC" meaning "oh my gosh, this bed is so clean"

 

This trip was Olivia's first time in a "real" pool. I was so excited to get Olivia's swimsuit on and was eager for this new experience. What I didn't know was that St. Louis had not been having hot days like Mississippi and the pool water was freezing. Olivia's little lip would tremble so her first pool experience ended up being about 10 minutes tops. 

girl's trip to OXFORD!

Last weekend was a BLAST! My best friends from college and I went to Oxford for a girls weekend. We stayed at my friend Amanda's condo and had so much fun remembering all the good times we had those four years while at Ole Miss. God blessed me so much when He directed these girls into my life. I couldn't have asked for more loving, smart, fun, forgiving, and truly selfless group of girls. We all (with the exception of Hood) ended up in Jackson and I'm so glad our children will get to grow up together.

Carol Anne was appointed driver of the trip since her car was the only one where car seats didn't have to be removed:) Friday night we went to eat at Boure'. It was delicious and we enjoyed our awesome view of the square while we waited for a table.  

 Saturday was spent SHOPPING, WALKING, and EATING...that's pretty much what we did the WHOLE DAY! It was fun and we all managed to find something:) We knew all our lifestyles were different when we spent more time at Square Books Junior than Neilsons. Hood and I were tired from all that shopping, so we decided we needed to take a break and chat with Mr. Faulkner.

For lunch, we stopped at my favorite restaurant, Ajax's. I had to get some sweet tea!

 I was beyond amazed that this phone actually worked...I mean, who uses a pay phone these days?

 That night we went to Taylor Grocery!! It was great.

 Sunday morning we ate at BIG BAD BREAKFAST. This wasn't there when we were in college, but it was awesome. Especially these chocolate chip and strawberry pancakes.

  Of course, we couldn't leave Oxford without stopping for lunch at South Depot Taco Shop.

 Carol Anne managed to pack up all our stuff beautifully.

THE END

Olivia turns 1

 Olivia turned 1 on June 2. I can't believe it has been a year! Her birthday fell on a Saturday, so we were able to have her party on her actual birthday. Rob's parents and grandma came in from San Antonio as well as my parents and grammer. Olivia had a great day despite the fact that she was suffering ear infections and going in for tubes the next week.

At her 12 month appointment with Dr. Chevalier, she was NOT happy. I hate it for her. She hates going to the doctor because of all the shots she has had to get because of ear infections. She is so smart. As soon as we walk in the door she holds me tighter and when they call "Hembree", she cries:( Olivia is my petite little girl. She weighed in at 18 pounds, 8 ounces and was 28.5 inches long.

 everyone talks with their hands, right?