2 years, oh my!!

our wedding (above) and engagement night (below)

three years ago today, i was blissfully living life, a single working girl. not much to plan but nights out with friends, weekend trips with jay, enjoying having mary back in town, and when to meet mollie on the elliptical machine at the gym (so we could dish out our “complicated” lives. haha!!!!!!!!). little did i know that less than a month later, I would be engaged. that sparked about two months of staring at my beautiful ring and happy hours to celebrate with jay, then a year of planning our beautiful wedding in breckenridge, colorado, a move to fort worth, a move back to dallas, a job change, and…

two years ago today, a wedding on top of one of God’s most beautiful places on earth in colorado, surrounded by over 100 of our sweet friends and family. unreal. that was one of the most fantastic times i have ever had, enjoying time with jay, surrounded with so much love, and making our commitment to one another. our first year was phenomenal, and we traveled more, had fun, started new jobs, got settled back in dallas, and just all-around had a blast enjoying each other and our married life.

a year ago today, we were moving out of uptown into our almost-finished home in the m-streets. we were so excited and could not wait for our renovations to be complete. the house, renovations, and it’s contents were our anniversary present to each other – quite the first year gift, huh?? we were ramping up for college football season (as we always are this time of year, BOOMER SOONER!) with zero knowledge of what would come just at the end of that season.*

today we are happier than ever. settled into our home, with many, many, MANY housewarming parties behind us, we have completely fallen in love with our neighborhood and home. and now, here we are, two months (or less!) from becoming parents to our first child, sweet link!* i can promise you that this time last year, having a child was the LAST thing on our minds. nothing could have prepared us for all that comes with preparing for a child and how sweet this process would be for the two of us as a couple. this has already been an unreal experience and we are thrilled beyond belief. our little family is starting to grow (speaking of growing – we had a checkup yesterday – link is just over two weeks “ahead” and already weighs almost 5 POUNDS!!!! holy moly!).  the pups are excited, we are excited, so much to look forward to!

i can’t imagine, cannot even FATHOM how different things will be a year from now. jay – every year, we grow, change, evolve and become closer. i am so sweetly, amazingly blessed and cannot wait to watch you be a dad to our sweet boy…brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it! thank you, God for our many blessings!

happy anniversary to my partner in life, best friend and sweet love!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my #1 preggo treat

everyone has asked me my entire pregnancy what my "cravings" have been, and honestly, i don't think i have had too many. normally if i am going to let myself have something "bad" i am a tex-mex/queso or french fry type of gal (think salt or cheese less than sweets). but i must say, during pregnancy, this is definitely my favorite treat!!

1 scoop, blue bell vanilla "light" ice cream
2 crushed oreo cookies
4 strawberries, sliced

mix all together, and BAM - YUMMO! the best treat ever!!

coldplay

ah, thank you for perfect weather tonight and a great, great show. look at this view!! (and thanks to adam for saving us seats on the lawn. wow, that was sweet of ya!)

the days and weeks are flying by and we are heading into the final weeks of this whole pregnancy shin-dig.  we went for a very eventful (as everything jay is included in seems to be) tour at the maternity wing of the hospital recently. let's just say that jay isn't exactly a fan of things involving hospitals, blood, pain, etc...he's more nervous about labor and delivery than i am! but anyway, we suddenly realized that it is time to get on board with putting together the nursery and really getting ready for our baby boy.  

so to assist us, my sweet parents came over this week and helped us take down/put up furniture, then we received and placed the rug we had ordered, and started to get things put together for link.  it's been hard to squeeze all this baby organization and planning into our already hectic schedules, but somehow we manage.  :)  kidding, we are so excited, it's not hard at all.  we even went this weekend for jay to get a lesson on the two things he is most excited about...the bob revolution and the baby bjorn.  hilarious.  i swear, that bob pops up from the fold-down position like some sort of spaceship from the jetsons...crazy (go to about the 3:15 marker and watch for a couple seconds, you will see what i mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuoMAjO8p2c)!

so we are not totally together, but things are starting to look good.  we should get the glider and ottoman in the next couple of weeks, and then i feel like the room will have started to look complete.  now, to prepare the two of us for childbirth and all that comes after...whew!

i added some pics of us getting the furry friends acquainted with the nursery.  we try to use link's name a lot and make sure the pups know that this is a room where we remain calm and sweet.  hopefully a little prep work will pay off later! i didn't take too many pics since we still haven't completed the room, but i will add more once it starts to come together a bit more in the coming weeks, i promise!

4th

we had a "staycation" fourth (i love that term) here in big D.  i had to work friday, which totally sucked, but oh well.  this is what i get for working somewhere that doesn't offer maternity leave.  but that's another story that i'll spare the readers of the blog.  ;)

i got away friday afternoon and we headed out to the four seasons.  this was our first try at an in-town getaway, so we were curious to see how this whole thing works.   i am happy to report, it "works" just beautifully!  we totally felt like we were out of town and really enjoyed our time in flip flops, lounging by the pool and being waited on hand-and-foot (a pregnant girl, heck, any girl, could get used to this!).   and what a bonus to have a 15-minute trip home at the end of our "trip."  

so we got in two good, solid poolside sessions, a great cookout, a fireworks display on the golf course, and a very, very relaxing time.  it was nice, and i highly recommend it.  we definitely felt like the whole staycation thing worked on us (meaning we felt relaxed and like we were away from it all) and will be partaking in the whole scene out at the four seasons again.  that pool is A-MAZING.  large, winding, lots of trees and green grass, bridges over the water...just nice!  there were lots of families out there, and seeing all the little ones made us both so excited to think that this time next year, little link will be there, splashing away with us!  

we didn't get many pics, but i thought i'd post what we got between my camera and jay's iphone.

the pool at night, so pretty!!

jay and i after the picnic at the cabanas, waiting for fireworks, giggling and humming neil diamond..."they're comin' to america...TODAY!"  don't think we weren't...

poolside.  one of my favorite places to be.  

BOOM!  i inherited my love of fireworks from my mom.  she LOVES fireworks.

a little catch up...

this last weekend some of our dearest friends, mary and whit, got hitched!  i neglected to take pics with all the fuss of the wedding, but borrowed from our friend who sent me pics today, brooke (thanks!).  it was a beautiful wedding, and now the happy couple is enjoying a wonderful honeymoon on the beach.  thanks for allowing the pregnant chick to be a special part of your day, mare!  it was such an honor and so fun to enjoy the weekend celebrating with you two...congrats!

we also had a check-up this week on little man, link.  he is growing fast and measuring a week ahead.  he's already as big as our pup, mckenzie.  haha.  they said everything is looking great and once again, we got a comment on the fact that he would not stop moving.  the nurse was cracking up while he wiggled and grabbed his feet, flip flopping around like a little baby boy should!  ahhhh...we are so excited to meet this little bugger.  everyone keeps asking me if his activity bothers me, but no.  i absolutely love every little stretch, kick and punch.  it's good to know he is growing and already living it up in there...i'm in love.  :)

and speaking of living it up...we "took" link to the kid rock concert last night. :)  sometimes when i think about it, it's really appropriate that i am having a little boy.  i must be honest with you, friends.  give me a good rock-and-roll show on a lawn or a football game any day over a ballet or symphony. i'm just that kind of girl.  remember, i am the girl that my parents took to a musical for the first time when i was in kindergarten.  at intermission, i stood up and asked, "is it halftime?"  i'm not kidding.  ;)  it's just me.

anyway, what kind of parents take their kid to a kid rock concert??  i guess we do!  hahaha...if you remember, we got an invite last year to see KIIIIIIIIIDDDDD at the granada here in big d.  i was so skeptical going in, but let me tell you, i was impressed.  and let's just say this show was just as wonderful, if not even better - he had more stage space to show off all his mad skills.  this man is truly talented.  he plays every instrument on the stage, can sing the loudest, craziest songs and then turn around and sing a love ballad.  he really is a rock-and-roll cowboy.  if you don't just smile and think of happy times on the lake when you hear all summer long, then i'm sad for you, because it is FUN.  :) and little link got to "hear" it all.  we couldn't stop laughing thinking about the fact that we "had" our baby (yes, in the womb, but still...) at a kid rock concert.  i think next year, once he has made his grand entrance to the world, we will probably need a babysitter...hahaha.  

anyway, things are going great with us, link is growing and the pregnancy is going well.  i'm now a real pregnant chick, no one is second guessing on the bump anymore (did i mention that it's HOT IN TEXAS?!?!!?).  we are in the 3rd trimester, starting the countdown, for REAL.  90 days to go!

NORMAN WON!!!!

thanks for voting!!!!