our first four weeks as FOUR!

link's first trip to the dentist - great success! so proud of our big boy!

snuggles with papa 

my precious reese...i mean, c'mon, this pic is ridiculous with it's cute-ness

link and his cousin, jack, OU v tx weekend. BOOMER SOONER!

precious girl

cowboy day at school

workin it in skinny jeans

the prewetts and the pritchards

owen and reese

strollin' in the bob

not the best, but the first pic of my kiddos and me. that mom could not be more proud of those kiddos. :)

rocky for halloween

our little ghoul :)

hugs for hunny

pickin' on papa

the kids

kathleen's boy, my girl, meg's boy

the BU gang

the arboretum

my little ones - can you tell i'm happy?!?

my babies

parent's night out. love these folks.

new park in big d!

klyde warren park

sweet kids

my little girl

she's here!

i could kiss these cheeks all day long

SHE'S HERE!!!! our sweet girl, kathryn "reese" entered the world on tuesday, october 2nd at 9:01am. she weighed 9 lbs, 2 oz and was 20 inches long. we checked into baylor at 5:30am for my scheduled c-section only to find out i was in active labor with contractions only two minutes apart! my doc wasn't there yet but made the call to go ahead and give me the epidural in case. i didn't even realize i was in labor - haha. i had been having contractions all week, so i didn't know the difference. 

anyway, as usual everything went off without a hitch and dr hays delivered us another perfect baby. the c-section went on as scheduled and we are thankful i re-elected for a c-section since she was large and had the cord wrapped around her neck twice! thank you God, for a safe delivery and beautiful, sweet baby girl. we are so thankful to baylor hospital staff and especially dr h for all their hard work. she is seriously the best!

dr hays and reese

just a few moments after she was born

zetta, finley, reese, and link - these girlfriends of link made his transition so much easier to big brotherhood - we are so thankful they were there!!! we had a lot of help from link's godparents, garrett and cameron (and their girls) with link last week. so thankful for their love and support. they came all the way from san antonio to be here for this! we love you all!!

getting ready to go home. all dolled up for daddy. :)

link is in love with his sister. the first morning home i woke up to the pitter patter of his feet and him crying out, "reese!? where are you reese??" he is beside himself with excitement and loves to introduce her to all he meets. we are feeling very blessed with how he is making this transition so far. thank you for your prayers!! please keep 'em coming!

ready for her first trip to the doc! the jean jacket was a hit with the nurses. :)

link serenading her in a tutu i put back that is a little big for her now. hilarious moment. i didn't even know he had it on until i walked in to find this. :)

the kids are alright!

cool front!

big bro and lil sis

crib nap - i love how soft her crib looks - and is. :)

nursery pic. complete with sleeping baby.

nursery pic 2

nursery pic 3

sweet reese, we already cannot get enough of you. you are such a wonderful baby, and for that, we are oh-so-thankful. thank you God for this wonderful gift! we are blessed!!! and thank you to the many friends and family that have reached out to help, send notes, gifts, food, calls, texts, messages, visits...they are all so very appreciated. a special thanks to my parents for their sweet care of link while we were in the hospital. it was so great knowing he was being perfectly cared for! 

welcome to the world, kathryn reese! we LOVE you with our whole hearts!

happy fall ya'll

i LOVE fall. i love the state fair. i love being in fair park. and every september, we get it all at once. this time of year still makes me feel like a little kid. seriously, i get excited for the pumpkins, the pumpkin patch at the arboretum, football and very specifically the OU/tx game, halloween, thanksgiving, (which all leads up to christmas...ahhh fun!) there are just so many fun events, parties, family gatherings, and i love it all.

we kicked it into high gear this week with the fall festivities since it is link's birthday week AND i know we will be out for a week or two when baby sister arrives. 

we went downtown to farmer's market last weekend to pick out pumpkins for the house, and link got his very own tiny pumpkin for his room, which he proudly introduces to to all who enter our home. :) jay has been working on PR for the chinese lantern festival that is going to be a special exhibit out at the state fair this year, so we went to the opening this week and it is SPECTACULAR. seriously, don't miss it. and be sure you go at night. it is beautiful all the time, but at night it is even more amazing. and today we went to the state fair parade downtown. i love watching link in settings like that - all the activity and goings-on, and all his smiles, ooooh, it does my heart good. he grabbed a flag as soon as we got home so he could "play parade" all through the house. i mean hey, who doesn't love a a good parade??

"that's nice" - what he said when he first saw the clown. when he is a little scared he convinces himself it's okay by saying "that's nice" over and over :)

his very own lantern to take home!

if you haven't seen "cars 2" as many times as i have you might not get this - but link's first reaction when he saw the above was, "mama, look! lightining mqueen's house!" :)

these lanterns were all done by hand. isn't this AMAZING?!

so we are staying busy, these last few days in our male-dominated house. in four days, we will be a three girl, three boy family (mckenzie dog is a girl, owen is a boy, in case anyone was confused, haha). october 2nd is almost here! we can't wait to meet you, little sister!!!! you are going to get here just in time for all this fun fall stuff, and your big brother and parents CANNOT WAIT!!!

so funny. i wanted to take one last in-the-belly shot this morning and right as i took it, link snuck in for a "kiss baby sister" moment. perfect! hoping for a much cuter one in a few days after she makes her debut! :)

THREE!

happy happy happy third birthday, link! we have celebrated this day off and on this entire month, but the official day is finally here. sweet boy, i know this year is going to be a big one for you and we are about to start it off with a BANG with your baby sister coming exactly a week from today (that's the plan, at least!). and i know as much as we are trying to prepare you for it, this will be a big change for you. regardless, you guys will be best pals in no time and you will be a great big brother.

we are so proud of the little man you are becoming. it seems almost like a switch going off, right before our eyes, that in the last few weeks you have really matured. three looks good on you, little buddy. i never knew i could hear the words, "mama, what's that?" seven thousand times in one day and still answer the question every single time with a smile on my face. you are our little curious george and i love seeing you take it all in.

so here we are, ready to tackle another great year with you. i am so thankful for your sweet heart and contagious smile. you are the apple of your mama's eye!