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!

ohmygoodness!

we have lots to report on both kiddos this week for the "baby book" of a blog this has become. link had his 3 year appointment on monday. he is healthy and right on target for a 3 year old little boy. just like we like him! he did great and talked a lot with dr m. it was fun to see him interacting with his doctor. we had only been in once since his two year check-up (when he busted his chin open at the playground at school), so he has come a long way in a year and dr m had fun chatting with his little patient. link was excited. :)

stats:
height: 40 in (95%)
weight: 39 lbs (95%)

i had my 37 week (almost 38!) appointment today. they decided to do a sonogram to check in on baby girl. and wow, she is BIG! all of her measurements are over 40 weeks and they are already estimating her at 9.4 lbs. SERIOUSLY. geez, i know these measurements can be a little off in one direction or another, but holy heck, there is still a week and six days until the c-section! but the good news in all this is that she is perfectly healthy, heart rate is good, movement is good, and she looked beautiful (pretty squished in there, but beautiful!). i could see her opening and closing her eyes and then she actually winked at us!

at least now i know why i am SO EXTREMELY uncomfortable. but having a big baby is a good thing, at least from my previous experience, so i am happy to see that she is thriving (obviously!) and growing like a weed in there. see you so soon, baby girl p!!!!!

link's birthday is actually on september 25th, but we decided this year to celebrate FULLY and celebrate EARLY since his little sister will be coming no later than one week after his 3rd birthday. this way we were able to ensure he got a full-scale celebration, and boy, am i glad we did!

he LOVED being sung to and blowing out his candle. LOVED EVERY SECOND!

happy slide!

link entertaining some lady friends :)

pregnant attendees in order of birth appearance - starting at nov 6th on the left, all the way to tomorrow for steph in the stripes! love it!

happy (almost) 3 year old

the kids all loved the slide - link is STILL talking about it!

link and his bestie, finley, who came all the way from san antonio for the party!

he talked for at least a month EVERY.SINGLE.DAY about his party and "birthday bicycle" that he so desperately wanted. friday was the much anticipated day. jay brought chick fil a (one of his favorites) home for lunch and we took him outside after for the big garage-door-opening-reveal of the shiny, new, red bike. he shrieked with delight and danced around, said, "this is awesome!" and then got on and rode around the driveway, screaming, "IT'S HAPPENING!!!!" SERIOUSLY. we could not have asked for a better reaction.

FIRST RIDE OUTTA THE DRIVE WAY AND THROUGH THE HOOD!

after lots of riding and a quick nap, my parents helped me get him up and we took him to his party at the lake highlands rec center. we had a HUGE bouncy slide, about 25 of his best buds, and a giant cookie cake. he was in heaven. he loved being sung to, loved blowing out the candle, loved playing, loved opening gifts - this was definitely a big day for him and he soaked up every minute. after we came home with family and he got his other two "big" gifts he wanted, real golf clubs from nana and poppy (jay's parents) and a giant fire truck from hunny and papa (my parents). we all had so much fun celebrating our little guy.

first day of school, 2012-2013

we have also had the first day of school for the 2012-13 school year last week, and his first haircut! yes, i had given him every trim he had received thus far, kinda scary. :) but he LOVED snip it's and has asked to go back several times. ha. too funny. and this is his last year of the 2's class at school, so he is in the oldest 2's and will start PreK-3 next fall. another advantage being a mom to kids born in the fall - you get to keep them home longer! we still have three years to kindergarten! yay! :) haha.

AND, we have a scheduled c-section for october 2nd! if not before, baby sister will be here in 20 days...unreal. i am 37 weeks tomorrow (measuring 39!) and she has dropped and my belly is BIG! i heard a little boy this weekend at top golf say to his mom, "MOM, THAT LADY IS REALLLLLLY ABOUT TO HAVE A BABY!!" LOL. i was cracking up. let's hope he's correct. :) i've had LOTS of comments from kids about the size of my gigantic belly. which is fine by me, it's uncomfortable, but a small price to pay for what is to come!

anyway, we had a fun weekend celebrating with a small shower with close friends, what a blessing to have a time to celebrate baby girl (thanks to cameron, camille, audrey, mary and haley!). i seriously cannot believe she will be here so soon. we CANNOT WAIT! i still have so, so much to do - a list of things i still need to get, a nursery that is just in the very early stages of coming together, and no hospital bag, infant car seat installation, none of it! this week and next will be our last-minute scramble to get everything done. it will be good to have lots of nesting to do to make the time pass until she gets here, right?!

the fire truck he wanted, from his hunny and papa

his tombstone impression - cracks me up. this little gun was my big brothers and i used to play with it, too. it makes the BEST popping sound and he feels so cool playing w/ it at hunny and papa's house. :)

link loves giving baby sister kisses and asks all the time - i just hope he still loves it and is this sweet once she gets here!

on his way to top golf with his REAL golf clubs from his nana and poppy, he's so proud!