while dad is away...

we play!!  link and i were SO SAD to miss out on dad's work trip to santa monica this week.  we had decided to go, but at the last minute, decided with both of our work schedules it just wouldn't work.  :(

so link and i decided we had to make the most of it and have a fun week anyway.  we spent a night at hunny and papa's house and they spent a night with us, which was so much fun for both (scratch that, ALL) of us.  really.  i just adore my parents and the fact that link does just as much makes my heart so happy it almost hurts.  seeing his joy when he talks about, sees, plays, hugs, kisses them just is almost too much!

we also had friend lunches, a couple of days at 'cool (school), a couple of fun dinners with friends, a lot of trips to the park, the gym, and the car wash (one of link's favorite things, haha).  and now we are excited to have dad back tomorrow!  

football in diapers

fun with rosie

rosie is a very special friend, like a third grandmother.  i had one of these special grandmothers growing up too, and i'm so happy that link does as well.  very special to have "non-family" members that really are just like family.  :)

this is link's newest face - he gets so focused and serious sometimes.  in this case it was on the car wash and his chocolate chip cookie, two of his favorites.  i love the furrowed brow.  kills me every time!!

link and his buddy wade, experiencing a-teenage-like-beatles-euphoria over the chick fil a cow.  jay's company does the chick fil a commercials and he said they have these costumes in the office...we may have to borrow one after seeing the kids reaction.  third birthday party?  haha... 

cool kid, cruising'

happy new year!!!!!

it's always funny to look back at last year's new year post and think about your frame of mind at that point all the way to this point.  and to think that next year i will look back at this time in my life and think about all that has changed.  in some ways a lot, in some, not so much.  

our biggest change to kick off this new year is that jay has started a new job!  he accepted a position with the richard's group here in dallas and is so excited to start his new gig.  we are excited for him and for the promise of new beginnings.

link is two, still growing like a weed and becoming his own little man every day.  what an adventure life is with him in it!  he is going to "school" two days a week and spending the others with me, where we create lots of adventures and i stay in awe of how wonderful it is to have the privilege to be his mom.

reflecting on the ups and downs of the last year, i've thought a lot about link's (and all of george mason's other infant dedications) baby dedication, and my favorite phrase that he uses that goes something like this..."god give him a good life, not an easy life."  i happily tear up every time i think about that phrase and the small baby he holds in his arms.  such promise, such hope, such comfort, and so much truth.  and it holds true through life, even to today, as adults.  and with His grace and strength, we keep moving forward, through the hard times and the good.    

i'm not gonna lie, i have high hopes for 2012.  we have some lofty (but attainable) goals we have set in place for ourselves and are already striving to achieve.  i'm excited to see all that God will do in the next twelve months.  i pray that we will live up to the challenges we have set for ourselves, be ready and willing to bend when necessary, and strive each day to be more like Christ. 

happy new year to you, my friends!  a few pics from the beginning of 2012...

at the park, link's favorite past time

with papa, watching some hoops (link's cousin, tra-tra, kyle)

breakfast tacos at rusty's, link's favorite spot

his first movie, with my parents and me, "muppets"

he cuddled with me during previews - so sweet.  :)

kissing the "cash cow" :)

mom, look at the "mamooooooth!"

hi five, bob!  your exhibit is awesome!!!

HAPPY 2012!

merry merry merry christmas

 

we had a WONDERFUL week.  for memory book purposes, here's a recap.

we started christmas with dinner at babe's in arlington on wednesday night with most of my family, then christmas with the link family on thursday morning, our family football game that afternoon, and more good homemade food that evening.  friday evening we had dinner with the pritchards and link's great grandmother, meme, at colonial and christmas at their home.

saturday was christmas eve and jay's parents (nana and poppy) and grandmother (meme) along with my parents (hunny and papa) celebrated together with us at the christmas eve service at our church, wilshire.  our little family even lit the christ candle, and link did great.  he loves light and candles and proclaims it all "HOT" which was hilarious. we had tamales and chili here that night and enjoyed a beautiful night.  christmas day we all joined together again along with my brother, jarrod's family here at our house for brunch and a few more gifts.  lots of fun, lots of family, and lots of worship - of that miracle baby, jesus.  talk about amazing.  thank you, God, for the gift of your Son.  thank you, Jesus for your gift of love.

fall on your knees
oh hear the angel voices
oh night divine
oh night when christ was born...

some pics from our christmas week-

reindeer games

link fam

football boy

finley "walking the aisle" to link.  adorable!

post xmas eve service romp!

stocking stuffers

little drummer boy

wow!  cool!  reaction to the farm...haha

tired little boy

he loves, loves airplanes.  future pilot?!

with daddy celebrating a much needed night out, just us, christmas night at snuffer's.  what a great way to cap it all off!  yum!

much love to you and yours - merry christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!!!!

a lover of christmas already...

a trophy, a broken tent, screaming santa, and a choo-choo

i haven't blogged since thanksgiving, so i'll do a "quick" recap before christmas is suddenly upon us.  :)

jay and i went to waco with some friends to cheer on the bears against our hated longhorns, and they did not disappoint!!  and of course this week i made sure link saw the heisman trophy presentation and he chanted, RGthreeee!  so cute.  amazing to watch the baylor nation accept their first heisman.  love it!

courtney was thirsty ;)

we've also visited santa with jay, papa, and hunny (my parents) and gone to see the trains at north park with one of link's very best friends, finley.  let's just say the trains were the hit, as was time with finley.  as to santa, i LITERALLY do not have a picture (with santa) that doesn't have me in it, trying to keep link calm.  so at this point, we have no pic with santa.  happy family pre-santa pics will have to suffice.  :)

isn't finley precious?  no wonder link has a crush.  he RUNS to hug her every time they see each other.

 HOLDING HANDS.  adorable. :)

he clearly had not seen santa yet in this photo

my dad has white facial hair, so this may have to be our santa photo this year!

and on sunday, link busted out of his crib tent.  he has already pretty much completely broken his pack and play crib tent (yes, we had both.  don't judge. :)), so we decided it was time.  wow.  i had no idea what i was in store for...these last few days we have been operating on very little sleep in this household.  what is up with waking up early once you aren't confined?  this morning he was up at 3:45am.  and the last few, 5:30...what gives??  and of course he just climbs out of his crib and comes in and jumps on our bed, shrieking with laughter.  suggestions??

anyway, today we decided it was time for a big boy bed. we already have a set of twin beds, so it was just a matter of mattresses and bedding.  we pulled it together this morning and had him in his new digs by nap time.  funny that it took me three months to decide on crib bedding and one morning to pull together this ensemble.  pregnancy must make me lack in decision making abilities.  :)

oh, he felt like such a big shot.  first he got to sit at the counter for the first time at HP pharmacy for lunch, then he got a big boy bed, and all this just in time for his afternoon nap.  quite the afternoon for the little man!

you see that finger he has up in the last photo?  probably not a coincidence that he spent the following hour NOT listening to me and getting out of bed at every opportunity.  haha.  but, now, he sleeps.  amazing to think someday he might actually choose to go get in bed on his own.  ah, this too shall pass.  it's so hard to keep a straight face with some of the antics he tries to pull getting in and out of the bed.  and even through the exhaustion, i know i will someday miss the fact that right now he wants nothing more than for me to come in and lay next to him, play with those precious blonde curls, and tell him, "mommy is here."  and i do. and i love it.  sigh.  :)

thanksgiving

the older i get, the more i love thanksgiving.  what a special holiday, just a time to be together with those you are thankful for, wow, what a concept!  haha.  we got to have several thanksgiving meals with special people in our lives.  the first was at our church on sunday, the whole crew of us have a thanksgiving service and meal.  we sat with our sunday school class and shared a fun evening.

next was our friends-giving, which we hosted here at our house with our newly formed supper club.  OH-SO-FUN.  who knew i had so many friends that are such great cooks?!?!  it was amazing and all of our kids had a blast, too.  

the next morning we headed northbound for tulsa to spend the next few days with my family.  i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE getting the whole crew of us together.  even when we do nothing, i just love getting to really spend time with each and every one of them.  we had our traditional link family turkey bowl, my favorite tradition, thursday morning.  you see there is a reason i am a football fanatic.  i was raised by football fanatics!  we had so much fun and quite the workout to prepare us for our big meal.  if you have never experienced a lavon link turkey dinner, you are missing out, because OH MY GOSH, can that woman cook!  my sisters-in-law and i help a lot, but if we are honest, we know my mom does it all!  amazing.  

okay, i'll let my pics do the rest of the "talking"...

the two youngest links - best pals :)

our little rock climber.  i'm amazed at the physical skills of my two year old!

my two favorite monkeys

link playing with our jackets during the turkey bowl

my brothers transporting hot food in the bob stroller.  this is seriously hilarious to me.

can anyone guess when this was taken?  approximately three hours after turkey bowl and approximately ten minutes after turkey consumption.  cowboy game relax time!

at the tree lighting at utica square, one of my favorite tulsa spots!

fine-tuning josh's xmas lights

tulsa v houston game

saturday, dancing to the OU fight song on the way to norman!