girls night at the lake!

this weekend was so fun. great to see so many of my college girlfriends. loooooove you all - what a great group. here we are, almost ten years out (yikes!) and still all so close. i love that. :)

thanks for organizing, mollie!!!

SIX MONTHS!

where has the time gone? gosh, i used to look at the mother of a six-month old baby as such a "real" mom. those girls knew what they were doing. they seemed to have it all figured out. ha!

seriously, little linkers, i cannot believe you have been with us now for a full half-a-year. and even more, i cannot even fathom how much you have changed since you made your big arrival last september. i feel like i can't even keep up week-to-week with all the changes that are taking place in your little life. i cannot tell you how blessed i feel to spend each and every day with you, watching you grow and develop. your dad and i sometimes sit down together just after you have gone to sleep and just look at each other in disbelief. you will never, ever understand until you have children of your own just how much we love you. as loving and wonderful as my parents (your hunny and papa!) are, i know that i never fully grasped that love until i held you in my arms. you are a gift from God and we are fully aware of just how blessed we are that he has shared you with us. we treasure each day with you and are so excited for the next six months and all that they hold in store. you lucky duck, your first birthday falls on a saturday. i'm already coming up with ideas for your party. you just happen to have a mom that celebrates her own birthday for a full week, so yours may go on for a whole month! :)

i have a feeling we will be celebrating half-birthdays (as i remember it, i always proudly announced that i was 10 AND A HALF) for quite sometime. so, happy half-birthday, sweet link!

below pics were taken by my sweet nephew, carter, while he and his sister audrey were visiting over their spring break. he is quite the photographer, huh!?

so many tears.

and i still miss my sweet norman. today i spent a lot of time with our sweet dogs and norm's best bud, mary, and it made me think about normie a lot. i just can't help but miss my sweet guy. i had to share some pics. :)

And can it be that in a world so full and busy, the loss of one weak creature makes a void in any heart, so wide and deep that nothing but the width and depth of eternity can fill it up.

- charles dickens

st pat's!!!!

we had over 100 friends join us for the festivities yesterday. and oh-what-fun it was! st patty's day in dallas is one of the best days of the year. the race, the parade, and all the fun house parties make for a really, really good time. we live three blocks from the heart of it all, so our house was packed with friends all day yesterday. it was fun to see a lot of people that we hadn't seen in such a long time. high school friends, college friends, childhood friends and new friends that we just met yesterday, too! thanks to each of you that came by to visit. and for those of you that didn't make it, we hope you can next year! good times...

first picnic, first highchair...this is a year of firsts!

wow! this weather makes me feel so ALIVE! 75 degrees and sunny today in dallas, people, and it is the most energizing and wonderful feeling to be here today. thank you, God for this day. leaving the gym this morning i vowed to only be inside for link's naps for the rest of the day (which is what he is doing now). so we decided to have a picnic in the backyard...glorious! i think he likes to be outside as much as his mom, because he giggled and grinned the whole time.

first time in a rinky-dink unsupportive restaurant high chair = great success! he LOVES it. :)

sleepy-time in the bob...whoops, i was enjoying the day a little too much and missed getting him back for nap-time. ;)

he is FASCINATED by the mirror...

happy boy in the morning.

FJ

so you don't have to know me all that well to know that i heart the late '70's model toyota land cruiser and have wanted one for the last, oh, almost 20 years. through a series of events that i won't bore you with here (except to say thank you doug!), this precious gem has made her way into my tender care...

give me a shout if you are in east dallas and want to go for a ride!

RIP, BK

i lost an old friend this weekend. it was very sudden - and hard to take in when i realized it. one of my favorite guy friends from high school was lost suddenly this weekend after what we thought would be a short stay in the hospital. i think we are all still in shock.

BK was a friend to all. he had a killer smile, contagious laugh, and was always the life of the party. just an all-around good guy. we will meet again, buddy.

this is one of those times that makes me want to say to all my friends out there - i love you guys. life is precious and we need to value each day. thank God for our health and each day we are given. rest in peace, dear friend, you will be missed.

RIP, BK

weekend pics

link had fun on our outing to snider plaza this weekend. he was helping us pick out some baby shower gifts for his soon-to-be buds and trying on hats. :)

we attended the "limbs for life" gala with jay's brother, judd and jacque, and the gavras family. good times. good friends. roaring 20's theme! looking sharp, peeps!

horrible pic, but it's been a while since the whole dallas/BU girls crew got together with the husbands and friday night, we did just that. it was a good time and i loved spending the evening with good friends. thanks for putting up with us, villa o!

five!

already with a mustache. they grow up so fast. haha!

i seriously can't fathom that five months ago today i was a brand spanking new mom, meeting my boy for the first time. unreal. they say it goes by fast, but i don't think i was prepared for just how fast. now i understand how i will be sitting at his high school graduation thinking, where has the time gone?? gosh, i have a big lump in my throat just thinking about it.

whew! slow down, katy. he is only five months old. :) but seriously, we are savoring every moment of this precious baby. he is a joy. i thank God several times a day, everyday, and am sure to step back and take the time to soak in all the wonderful-ness of this time. and what a fun age this is - i just can't imagine how it could get any better than this. we love you, link. with all our hearts.

and with that, some pics of today and the last few days (sorry, i went nuts - lots of pics)...

eating his football. loves.

i love it when he smiles at me. :)

he can "sit" like this for moments at a time...not exactly "sitting up," but it's a start!

very serious stuff. he's so mature. haha...

as rebecca would say, presh-pot!

cra-zy face. LOL

it looks like he is taking a pic of himself. ha

he sleeps.

sophie taking a beating. he chews the crap out of that poor giraffe!

just checking his facebook and catching up on email...

in addition to life in baby-land...

we have been able to secure some babysitters (actual paid ones and parents, too!) to get out and about occasionally. :) we also have some GREAT friends that are willing to come chill with us at the house after link goes to sleep (he is quite the sleeper, even slept through dance party with several of our friends last friday night around midnight - ha, i'm serious!).

we even hosted a valentine's day dinner at our house with our friends (mary, whit, sarah and steve!) on the big day. jay did a great job on the steaks, and the chocolate-dipped strawberries were DELISH! the boys even posed for pictures with mckenzie and my mom's pups (who we were keeping while they were out of town) - i picked the LEAST incriminating picture i could, they were acting REALLY dorky. haha...

it's rare for me to really "fix up" the table, so i had to post. :)

seriously. that is my sweet baby's door behind them. he is so innocently sleeping in there and look at these dorks! haha...

this week we even made the mavs vs lakers game and watched the mighty mavericks stomp down the dreaded lakers! way to go, guys!!!

as far as working out and losing baby weight, things are progressing - slowly but surely. each week i lose 1-3 more pounds, inching ever-so-close to my pre-preg weight. basically i am just eating healthy and working out (a lot! every single day, 1-2 hours. whew!! thankfully link likes the daycare area). it really took a while to get this party started. for some reason, during the first month (i started really trying in january, when i could return to the gym) i ate healthy and worked out, but didn't lose any weight. not sure if it was the fact that i was gaining back muscle or what, but whatever the case, it's finally starting to work! woo-hoo! it feels SO GOOD to be able to wear some of my old clothes again. (pats self on back) man, it's TOUGH to lose baby weight. i always heard that, but it really is difficult - they are well worth it, of course, but it is so hard.

WOW, this is a scattered post. i just never want to turn my blog into a kids-only deal, so i guess this is what you get. haha!!

SNOW DAY!

it's 4:53pm and it's been snowing at our house since 2 o'clock this morning. so far we are measuring at almost 6 inches on our back porch. never, ever (in texas, at least), have i seen this much snow. fun!

**update as of 8am on the 12th, 10 inches!!