vote for norman!!

jay sent in a pic from a while back of sweet norm, all stretched out on the couch.  (you may have seen it here on the blog).  anyway, he was chosen as a nominee for "pet of the week" on the dallas morning news website.  so, please go cast your vote for our sweet boy!!  (you do need to sign in or register with www.dallasnews.com in order to vote, but it's free and they don't spam you, i promise!)

in case you missed the link to go click and vote, CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR NORM!

scene: pritchard living room

(setting:  late evening, monday night)

(the bachelorette on the television in the background, tanner p is giving the weirder-by-the-episode, jillian, a foot massage)

katy:  why is tanner p. so obsessed with feet?  it totally weirds me out.

jay:  i don't know, but i hope he gets kicked off and comes back to dallas...

(katy peers over at at jay, clearly puzzled)

jay:  what?  he looks pretty good at it.  i wish he would come rub my feet. 

part of me thinks he was totally serious.  jay wants weird foot-fettish tanner p. to come rub his feet.  the father of my unborn son.  very, very frightening.  at first i thought he was kidding, but then i wasn't so sure.  after all, i got a call from jay this morning, "yay!!  i'm on my way to tanner p.'s condo for a foot massage!"

this is what i deal with, people.  this is my husband's sick and twisted sense of humor. somehow, someway, i may be just as sad, because it is hilarious to me.  gotta love jay, he is always there to keep us on our toes.  :)

i swear every week that we won't watch it again.  after all, i am the person that makes fun of people for watching "american idol" and such.  this is clearly a character flaw on my part, a slip up of sorts, but "the bachelor/ette" and "the hills" are a weakness.  it's the editors.  every week i swear at the shows end i won't watch it again, then they come back, "next week, the most dramatic episode ever..."  

ugh.  i am clearly slipping in my old age.

baby check -in and cousin's camp 2009

i can't believe it already snuck up on us again, but it's summer, and that means cousin's camp with all my nephews and nieces here in big d!  as most of you friends know, my parents get both of my brothers' kids together for a "camp" of sorts every summer.  so yesterday they brought all seven kiddos over and jay and i threw them the annual b-day party courtesy of us.  we started with a museum trip in the morning to the nasher, pizza at campisi's, birthday cake at our house, and then a trip to play laser tag, miniature golf, bumper boats, and anything else we could find to play and/or ride.  we had a great time...and i think the kids did, too!!  

sweet little caroline and my cute dad

yes, that would be me with caroline on the TINY pink plane...

at the nasher on the sculpture scavenger hunt

too cute...with their statue friends...

23 week old link!

and last week we had our 23 week check-in on link!  he is so active (trust me, i feel it - and this little man is always moving!), it was just amazing to actually see him being playing around in there.  this was by far the most change we have seen thus far - he is really starting to grow fast and look like a little baby boy, kicking his legs, holding his feet, and staying very, very busy in there.  anyway, everything is looking great and we are totally on schedule for september 30, weighing in at 1.3 pounds as of last wednesday.  i am feeling great, lots of energy and just happy, happy to have a healthy baby growing and getting ready for good times with all of us!!  

as soon as she stuck the wand on my belly, he plunked his foot up in camera view, hahaha...so here is a shot of the bottom of his foot.  he was just letting us know he is fully aware of what is going on out here.  how cute is that little tiny foot??  

road trip!

this weekend we made a quick trek to austin.  

friday night jay and i enjoyed a relaxing evening downtown and a nice dinner at ranch 616.  saturday morning we went for a hike in the greenbelt with the pups.  we had a great hike on a newly discovered trail, ran across a very scary snake ("red and yeller kill a feller" - remember that this time of year in texas, those coral snakes scare me, along with all of their slimy friends) and after some sweat and quick get-away tactics from the snake, we survived the trail unscathed and with a good workout behind us.  anyway, good times.

at lunch jay dropped me off at the beautiful barton creek resort for an overnight getaway for my good friend, mary's bachelorette party.  what a great time we had!!   a lot of pool time, hula hut, and a whole truckload of funny moments and mary giggles made for a great trip.  i can't believe we are a mere month away from the big wedding day!!  woo-hoo!

jay, jill and i topped of the trip with breakfast tacos at maria's on our way out of town with the burpo clan...complete with our first meeting with sweet baby eve!  she is so incredibly precious.

sooooo it was another great weekend in austin, a town that has, over the years, become our home-away-from-home!  gotta love that place.

i have posted some pictures below, courtesy of  the organizer of the weekend, sweet cali-girl, brooke and below that, pics from our good friend, mollie.  

some of the ladies from the weekend with the guest of honor, mary!!

mollie and me at hula hut

a pic of baby link, the baby bump goes public!  thanks, mols!

mommy things

well jay and i got our first dose of parenthood this weekend.  we stayed home for memorial day to shop for and register for our little man, and do/get some house stuff.  yes, normally these weekends are filled with time on the boat, getting a suntan and having hot dogs and brews...we were a little freaked out that we were doing the "responsible" thing, but i must say, we had a pretty good time and got a lot accomplished.  plus, i'm sure next year we will just take him with us, lather up the sunscreen, and go back to the lake.  ;)

so anyway, we have been quite the parental units lately.  i got a mom car (see below).  a total mom car.  i will say unless it is beyond my control, i plan to never have a mini-van.  so don't have a total meltdown on me...it's a very, very cute mom car, but alas, it's a mom car.  the volvo XC90.  i love it so far, it's my favorite car-color, black, and the leather is oh-so-plush.  volvo does the job there.  and of course, it's safe, the main concern of my over-protective husband (the man who asks me to leave any event to drive home early in the case of rain.  yes, i said rain.  he worries.  it's sweet).  so anyway, step one, mom car.  CHECK.

me, driving on the autobahn, or a stock photo, whichever...

step two, register, get a crib and a dresser, then name the kid. CHECK, CHECK, CHECK.

well, we at least started the registry. i am sure some of my mom-friends will help me with all the stuff we missed, but we had fun. so far, we have baby bliss and babys r us started. baby bliss is fun, babys r us is kind of a whip, but i guess it's a necessary whip. :)

crib is in tact, and without any tears! jay put it together in about an hour. dresser is still in boxes, but purchased.  it's all perfect. my mom was sweet enough to purchase our dwell bedding a few weeks ago, so we now have a crib, ready to go, just need little man to come and SLEEP, LOTS OF SLEEP. i'm thinking he will be a sleeper like his parents, maybe come home ready for nine hours straight? sleep until 9am on saturdays? what do you guys think?? ; )  hey, i can dream, right?

and speaking of little man, although we have yet to settle on his full name, we have one thing for certain, and that is what he will go by...it's always been in the back of my mind as a perfect name if i had a little boy, it honors my AMAZING family, plus it's a really cool name. and jay INSISTS on us using said name because he thinks it's pretty darn cool, too. so anyway, we bought letters this weekend for his room, so i guess we can make it official...

this weekend was f-u-n. it was filled with wedding showers, parties, events, and great weather.

we did the showers and parties friday night, saturday morning, and saturday night. they were all fun, and the weather was mild, but a bit rainy. i woke up this morning to brilliant sunshine, green grass, and blue skies. we were off to church, brunch, and then an afternoon outside.

first we hit the cotton bowl for the "dog bowl" with the pups and their friend, lucy (who you will see in some pics). i guess they do this every year before they re-sod the field. whatever the case, it's a great time and the pups could not love it more. next we hit the east dallas garden tour (i know, who would guess that we would like this, but we do!) in little forest hills. if you aren't familiar with this neighborhood in dallas, you should be. their slogan is "keep little forest hills funky," need i say more? it's cool, with hills, unusual lots, beautiful gardens, and best of all, unique homes. the area is just about five minutes from us, on the other side of white rock lake near the arboretum. i highly recommend the garden tour if you like that sort of thing. lots of fun. we made a brief stop by lakewoodstock, the festival in lakewood, and i have a feeling that once our little man gets here, we will be there a lot longer...they had a bounce house the size of our actual house, looked like a lot of fun. anyway, great weekend, great weather, and i am so thankful for it!

more pics from the dog bowl...

norm enjoyed the many pools, just got right in!

mckenzie wasn't too sure how she felt about all this...

norm exiting the tunnel to the field, just like the OU players will in a few months...ready to thrash the nashhhhhhty horns

jay would not let norm take off his sooner jersey - but i will say, it helped me keep track of him!

what do historic homes on swiss avenue, a pregnant woman, yard signs in the middle of the night, and a very hectic work weekend all have in common? this weekend, they were my life! having a hubby who runs campaigns and a mother who deserves a great mother's day all meant that this weekend was going to be a crazy one. we started it off friday with a car full of yard signs for the vote no! campaign here in dallas. jay's and my duty was to go to all the polling places and get signs out before saturday's election. this means you have to go at odd hours so that the opposition doesn't try to take them down before morning. crazy! so here i was in all my glory, running around schools, churches, and various public buildings putting up yard signs in the dark. ha! but on saturday, it was all worth it. that night jay and i attended the election party and they pulled out a victory! this was huge because jay's firm was hired two weeks prior to the election to bring this campaign out of the gutter - and that they did! i'm so proud of him and happy that our city will finally have a hotel for the convention center...so host your company conventions here!

we got home late saturday/early sunday morning and i started putting the touches on sunday's mother's day lunch. we had jay's mom and family and my parents over for lunch at our house. after a great lunch, we headed out to the historic swiss avenue home tour. anyone that knows my mom or has ever even heard of my mom knows how much she loved this...it was quite a day for her. ; ) she also brought us the bassinet that I SLEPT IN, (yes, that makes it ancient, i know) for our little guy. pretty neat!

speaking of our little guy - we are now to the halfway point and could not be more excited! i can't believe that i am finally getting a little baby bump and our little man is getting closer to joining us! oh my goodness, i can't tell you how excited jay and i both are for him to get here! oh, and i've also started to feel him move, which is the most amazing thing i've ever felt. ; )

hope you are all doing great and had a happy mother's day.

it's a...

BOY!

we just found out this afternoon.  everything is measuring great, now we just (anxiously) wait for september 30th!  

(sorry the scan is a little lopsided, whoops! - and yes, the top one is the "money shot" - the doctor added the "wow" to be funny...haha!  and below is a sort-of profile shot of our little man.  awwwww....he's already cute!)

we are thrilled - and both knew deep down this was a boy.  looks like the voters on the blog were correct, too!

easter

we spent most of the weekend with family celebrating easter, and it was wonderful!  we kicked it off friday night with the morrissey concert at the palladium.  jay has a "list," and this was one musician that was important to him to check off seeing live.  i personally prefer morrissey along with the rest of the crew - and am still going for a smiths reunion, but, i still had fun and got to see a lot of friends.

"baby" caroline, hunting eggs

saturday morning we were up and at 'em, easter-egg dying, hunting, and smashing (confetti-filled eggs) were a big player with all the link cousins and norman.  yes, it was norm's 3rd birthday saturday, so we allowed him to play with the kids, who wore him out!  so much fun. we brought carter and audrey, the two oldest tulsa kids, back to big D with us to spend the night, shop, and have some mi cocina...fun for them and for us!

dying easter eggs

carter and audrey - so tall!!

sunday was spent again with family, at church with the links and then off to brunch at colonial with the pritchards.  all good times and a fun-filled, family weekend.  what a reason to celebrate - He has risen indeed!

the gang

happy 3rd birthday, norm! (enjoying the confetti and kids)

this weekend was great - friday jay and i relaxed and had a nice date night - walked to terilli's, one of our neighborhood faves, and had a nice dinner on their porch. saturday i helped host a wedding shower for my dear friend, mary, with a group of WONDERFUL girls. it was a "LBD" shower, or "little black dress" shower. it was all oh-so-very-mary - all pink, all girls dressed to the nines - and lots, and LOTS of fun. then on sunday jay and i enjoyed the palm sunday service (i can't believe it's almost Easter!) and then a day out at the arboretum for dallas blooms with jay's parents. the arboretum is a little piece of heaven located about three miles from our house, on the other side of white rock lake.

the spread

the tasty beverages!

tiny V and me with the guest of honor, little mary...

some of the ladies...

dallas blooms

and to top off the weekend, one of my favorite days of the year, OPENING DAY! ahh, the ballpark, the fan-fare, i just love it all, from the opening with the soldier salutes and fly-over (tears!), the first pitch, the hot dogs, the brews (well, not for me this year, but cokes are good, too!) and a lot of sunshine and good baseball - it's just so fun! and to top it all off, the rangers started things off right, with a big win and showing some real promise...filling this fan's mind with anticipation for a great season?!? a girl can dream, yes? we had a great time, and were very thankful for jay's company box, it was kinda windy out there in the beginning...but nice to be able to finish the game sitting in the outside seats and sunshine. ; ) i can enjoy some spoils while i'm pregnant, yes? go rangers!!

fly-by = awesome

oh so patriotic...

i like the texas-rangers-"w" a lot, it looks good on the guy...he was so at ease throwing out the first pitch and seemed to have fun all day, even in the broadcast booth!

operation hope

yesterday i had the distinct honor of teaching middle school all day. you see, inwood (the bank i work for - for those of you that might not know!) participates with an organization called operation hope. through their "banking on our future" group, i was able to go spend time with ten different groups of DISD middle-schoolers and talk about budgeting, finances, and life in the 'real world.' what a fun day! i knew being a teacher could be rewarding, but i guess i never thought that being a teacher could be so much fun. what a nice change of pace from my usual job - and a reminder of how hilarious middle school kids are...what a true treat for me!

what started out as a one-day deal is quickly turning into something i really want to pour some time into - i'm going back next week to be a judge in their "business expo" - the kids came up with their own business ideas and are doing a full-day expo to highlight their work! how cool! anyway, if you are looking for a worthwhile organization to support and/or put some of your own volunteer hours into, i highly recommend it. not only is the material great for the students, it gives the teachers a well-deserved break and you a day to reach out to kids you might have otherwise never met. what a blessing!

we had a great week and weekend.  thursday we got to see our little one on the sonogram while at the doctor's office - our baby is growing like a weed and we could not be more excited! we are measuring right on schedule and have a very busy bean working in there - lots of dancing around, kicking, and waving - it was so fun to watch - TEARS!  just so amazing...seeing those little tiny fingers and toes wiggle is just the most incredible thing.  this whole experience makes me even more in awe at God's creation and how beautiful this all truly is.  amazing.

jay had some work in austin this weekend, so after the doctor on thursday, we both headed southbound 35.  we took the pups and stayed at the hotel san jose on south congress...good times and such a fun part of town.  we ate breakfast tacos, went hiking, enjoyed the trails on town lake (and norm enjoyed the dog park!), had time with a lot of great friends, shopped, went to the gristmill in gruene, and just enjoyed some time away.  so jay had some productive meetings and i had some time to relax...a perfect getaway.  

fun on the lawn at the four seasons

norm rolling in the grass - so happy...

cool tree on our hike

the fur babies and me ; )

things are going great - we are all feeling good and happy that spring is here - along with the second trimester.  six more months to baby!!  ; )

mornin' norm...

jay sent me this photo this morning with the caption, "poor guy, he has no idea what's coming his way in about six months."  

bless his heart...gotta love the "little" guy.  he and mckenz' have been very aware that something is up with me, it's pretty cute to watch.  we like to think they are being protective of their first human sibling.   ; )  i love my puppy dogs so much, and love how sweet they are with my nephews and nieces.  i cannot wait to see our sweet baby coo-ing with the pups.

baby poll

everyone keeps asking me, so i felt i should report on the blog...yes, i am feeling good. still fitting fine in all my normal clothes and not quite as tired - a little dizzy now-and-then, but that's about it. the first trimester is almost complete and we are ready for the second, well, really ready for the baby, but trying to have patience! ; )

so i put up a poll for everyone to take a vote (see right-hand column)...what do you think our little one will be, a girl or a boy? this has been up for much debate on the link side of the family. i'm telling ya, they are all over the map on their predictions and they are holding to them! so go with your gut, vote, and let's see if we can collectively come up with the correct answer.

jay and i, well, we have no clue. we are new to all this baby stuff and making predictions - so we are praying for a healthy, bouncing baby - and maybe one that comes out wanting to sleep through the night? and sleep in on saturdays? too much to ask? hahaha - but seriously, take your pick - the only thing we have so far is the "chinese gender calendar" telling us our baby is a boy. apparently it's 90% accurate? i don't believe in all that kind of stuff, but i guess it has a 50/50 shot! so anyway, tell us your prediction - vote and/or comment here! we will report back just as soon as we know...so excited!

one tough grandma

i love the advocate, a magazine given out to our neighborhood, i believe it's for all of east dallas/lakewood/m-streets. anyway, in the most recent publication, i found an article about lillian, a 90+ woman that has a LOT of 'spunk' in her step. she has a couple of great lines in the article, but my favorite:

In her presence, one begins to sense that Rudd, whom many might peg as a 60- rather than a 90-something, might hold some secret about life and its answers. And then you get it:

Peering out her living room window at rusty ring above her driveway, she says, simply, “Basketball. When I am feeling blue, I can just go out and shoot some hoops.”

when i grow up, i wanna be like lillian!

i work at a bank, so i can dream, right?

if you went into work tomorrow morning and found a bonus check for $100,000 on your desk, would it change your life? well, maybe you were born wealthy, make a boat-load, or have a lot of money coming your way at some point in life, but me, well - i don't. $100,000 all at once and not-planned for would definitely change my life (can you tell it's been a while since i got a bonus?? haha).

well, there is a very generous bank executive in miami, florida that thought that money could change some lives, too. and so upon receipt of monies owed in the sale of his bank, he decided to shell out $60 million dollars in bonuses to his employees and former employees - from the execs to the tellers. the total spread amongst the 400+ people adding up to an average of $127,000 a piece.

wow. just wow. you don't hear of stories like that anymore ever. and in this economy, in my opinion, this kind of generosity is exactly what could save us. even president obama recognized this generous act in a speech he made this week - touting the bank owner as a "national inspiration." mr. abess, the banker that so generously shared the wealth, openly said that he has plenty of money and thought he would rather share it with these hard-working people than have more for himself. truly a selfless act from a man with a very generous heart. well done, sir. well done.

we got the beat

so i took a little car ride to see my doctor this morning...with a lot of anticipation in my mind. you see, i took a pregnancy test recently and saw two lines. yes, two. kids, WE'RE HAVING A BABY!

so anyway, on the way to my first ultrasound this morning, i was having normal mom-like neurotic dreams, hoping that i would get to see the little ones legs, arms, heartbeat, etc!! and of all songs, the go-go's, "we got the beat" came on. i cranked it up and began having visions of the nurse dancing around the room singing that song as jay and i watched the little baby dance around. it was definitely a funny moment...

well, the nurse didn't dance, but the baby sure did! yes, our healthy little growing baby is already dancing up a storm in there - and in jay and me. we could not be more excited. watching that little one's heart beating brought tears to both our eyes. that was definitely one of "those" moments that i will remember forever. please pray for us as we prepare for this amazing journey. we are already completely in love and cannot wait to be parents to this beautiful gift from God!  september 30th, here we come!!

view from our campsite, cedar hill state park (texas)

the last couple of weekends jay and i have been taking advantage of this gorgeous texas and oklahoma weather and doing a little camping. i know, i know, so many of you think we are crazy, but we both just love being outside, and don't mind a little grubby-ness to be able to enjoy it. the dogs have a blast hiking, playing in the water (norman always finds the river, lake, whatever it is - he just loves it!) and snuggling up with us in the tent. we are a cozy bunch in there, it's really pretty fun.

two weekends ago, we hit the closest spot to town that we enjoy, cedar hill state park. only about 20 minutes from our house (aka 20 minutes from downtown dallas!). unreal it can get this pretty this fast...austin, eat your heart out (kidding, i know we are stretching here...)

doggies love the water!!

norm had a hard time "letting go," mckenz, looking on,safe with dad:)

tents for the crew!

last weekend we traveled about 3 hours north with two of our good couple-friends, mary and whitney and doug and kelly, to beaver's bend state park in oklahoma. jay and i both spent a lot of time in this park as kids, so it was really great to go back after all these years and see that it is still just as beautiful, as if it was absolutely untouched by the years that had passed!

the pristine beauty of the great state of oklahoma!

norman, enjoying the water - oh so cold!

j-aty take on the river, together... :)

the crew prepping for the hike