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!

where has the time gone??

"where has the time gone?"

i keep seeing those words on Facebook posts today. for so many, today is the first day of school. some friend's or family member's little baby is now a kindergartner, fourth grader, middle-schooler, high school student, senior, or (GULP) college student.

deep down i look forward to those days in so many ways (for my kids sake, not really mine - let's be honest, it will be so HARD!). i loved school, especially the first day - seeing friends, new outfits, school supplies, the start of sports, student council, and a year full of possibility. and i know how much fun my kids will (i hope!) have with their school days as well.

thankfully for me (link, haha), kindergarten is still three years away (being a sept b-day, he won't start until he is about to turn six). in my mind i think how far off that sounds, that we have all the time in the world for play dates, lunch dates, just fun days filled with being together. but in my heart i know how fast these days will fly, and all too soon school will be upon us and baby sister on-the-way will be link's current age. so hard to believe.

i truly look forward to every stage of life and do my best to take it all in as it comes. but i'm not gonna lie, this one is a pretty spectacular one and the thought of it passing so fast scares the heck out of me. then in the same breath i think of all we have to look forward to...all the wonderful memories of my own childhood, and that i can't wait for my kids to experience all these years hold in store. what a true blessing, a true gift from God, to have the ability to be a part of our little people growing into big people right before our eyes, loving, learning, discovering, and just becoming on their own.

link and baby sister, i promise to be right here for you through it all, pray for you without ceasing and love you oh-so-very much every single step along the way. it's going to be a REALLY fun ride!!!!!

pimpics and potty

the pimpics or pimpalympics (we hear both, pimpalympics are my fave.  you might know them as the olympics) are big at our house right now.  link is a fan and so are we. we've been watching more than usual since he enjoys it and it is about 112 degrees outside. our own olympic efforts have all been in making some strides toward potty training, which really just means there is a lot of naked soccer (just link, don't worry) and puddles on the floor. he loves the idea of big boy underwear, goes EVERY TIME you put him on the potty, but just can't seem to stay dry or tell us he needs to go in between. ah, such is life. he will get it down someday.  :)

august in dallas means movies, watching pimpics, swimming, spray park-ing, and lots of visits to the children's museum, sonic, the library, playing in water hose in the front yard, and every open gym that dallas has to offer. we love A/C, cold drinks and water!!!

he finished up "summer session" at school last week, these are the pics of "graduation" a year apart.  baby turning into boy. i REALLY hope his teachers do this every year.  so cute.  mama in tears.  :(

with hunny and papa on papa's 70th birthday, killing time reading books and doing puzzles at bookmarks before ice age 3.

headed out for some chick fil a in half a set of spiderman pj's and my red heels.  haha, don't worry, future spouse, i'll hang on to this one for the wedding.  and the next one, too...

naked-soccer-potty-training-pimpics. you aren't familiar? well come on over, link can teach you.

ice age 3, in 3-D - woohoo!

31 weeks!!!

as of my last appointment, dr h was sending in the paperwork to get a "set" due date for the c-section (aka baby girl's arrival!). of course there is the chance of something happening before that date, but it will be nice to have a date set that we know she will be here! looks like we are looking at september 28th or oct 1st, right around 39 weeks. link's b-day is september 25th, so when i tell folks my kids are three years apart, i won't be stretching it a bit.  :)  how hilarious would it be to have kids with the exact same birthday? at this point i almost wish we could, if it's this close we might as well make it exact, right?  haha.

babymooning

we spent the last few days in savannah and hilton head for our last "real" trip before baby girl arrives.  what fun we had...our days consisted of decisions like, should we hit the beach, or go to the pool?  the temps while we were gone soared to 108 in dallas - and in hilton head, 89 was the high.  cool, ocean breezes, a nice short rain, and lots of sunshine made for a very nice break from the texas heat.  we sat on porches looking out at the ocean, eating wonderful seafood, and reveling in our beautiful two year old boy.  it's hard to believe that soon he will be three and a big brother.  so much to look forward to for all of us.  what a blessing it was to have time away to just enjoy each other and relax.

 link still asks on a daily basis for more "fiyracrackas"and lucky for him, folks in hilton head set them off all the time.  he was lovin' it.  we also saw the most beautiful, complete rainbow i have ever seen over the ocean one evening after a quick rain.  you could literally "see" it's beginning and end going into the water - and to top it all off, it was a double rainbow!  link was frightened at first because it was so ominous and distinct in the sky - but then every time we went to the beach after, it's all he talked about. so funny.  i think my favorite part of the whole vacation was just watching how social a creature he has quickly become - he greets all he meets with a  quick, "hi!  how's it goin?"  kills me.  he was our little southern charmer and made friends everywhere he went.  :)

savannah ferry ride

up, up, and away!  i was AMAZED at how easy he was on the plane - he has grown up a lot since our last flight, safe to say.  :)

harbor town with the hubs

double rainbow!  amazing!!!

love my little man

"cheeeeese for hunny and papa!"  (my parents were really missing him, this was a text pic we sent :)

he is currently OBSESSED with golf.  talks about playing, watching, just golf in general, all the time.  we took him to harbour town to see the course and we could not bribe him off the 18th green.  even with ice cream.  ha.

like father, like son!

"link's tree house" at sea pines

big brother to-be :)

hill country

the king of the pool at lost pines.  that place was made for family fun.  LOVE.

jay had some business in austin this week, so we left town last friday and headed for san antonio to visit friends.  we had a lot of fun and got to catch up with good friends, visit the alamo, and let link catch up with some of his buddies as well.

sunday we headed for austin and spent some time with mollie's family, then in town and then out at lost pines.  over the course of the trip i got to see three of my best friends, their kids, and their new homes!  what a treat and what a great little getaway.  i love the hill country, san antonio, and austin so much.  there is a lot of beautiful landscape and some of my very best friends happen to live down that way, so that doesn't hurt, either.  :)

link and mama - night swim at lost pines = happy boy

link and finley (his bf, our goddaughter), reunited at her new house in san antone.  they had so much fun.  this was a tea party that link crashed - she kept offering him tea and he would say no, CAWFEEE (coffee) and then proceed to chug it down.  he also brought his golf club.   such a typical man.  she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  :)

link and two of jill's boys, keller and caleb.  sweet friends.  :)

link was completely disappointed in the alamo, since he totally thought we were going to see elmo.  whoops.  better luck next time, texas history.  maybe he can warn his sister when she gets her first trip.

speaking of sisters, time is ticking away and we keep drawing closer to baby girl's due date.  we have finally narrowed our list of names down to two, bought her bedding (thanks mom!), a dresser, some adorable clothes, and are getting her little room put together.  this has flown by thus far and i can't believe in a little over two months she will be here!  unreal!!!!  i am feeling as good as can be expected for a very pregnant woman, in texas, in july.  at least this go round i fully understand that all these aches, pains, and fatigue are TOTALLY worth it in the end...we will get to meet our newest family member so soon!

we love fireworks

it was as if no one on earth had ever witnessed a fireworks display wednesday night when the first fireworks went off at tulsa country club.  link was in AWE.  he has talked about not much else since, asking constantly when we are going to see more fireworks.  little man asks for a lot of things that are pretty easy requests (going swimming, to the park, to see hunny and papa, chick fil a, etc) but this one is tough to fill.  of course this will make it that much more fun next year when the anticipation has built over the course of a whole year...it's like christmas in july!  :)

we enjoyed some good family time with my brother josh and his family.  lots of golf for the guys, shopping for the gals, time at the pool, and chats and laughter well into the wee hours of the morning.

midnight chats and snacks in the kitchen

hugs with caroline

fireworks with mom

the fam

i hope you all had a very happy fourth.  thank you to all the troops and their families for the sacrifices you have made and make every day for each of us.  we are thankful for our freedom and for our country!

double-digit baby countdown just in time for triple digit heat

last week was cousins' camp and we had five of the eight cousins in town for the week.  asher, caroline,  carson, nathan, and link.  we had a blast.  water park, swimming, kayaking, top golf, a special girl lunch with caroline at the american girl store (that place is pretty overwhelming, she loved it!), went to see the movie "brave," and on and on.  lots of great memories were made.  it's so fun watching link bond with these precious cousins of his that i love so very much.  they are all a very big part of the reason i couldn't wait to have kids, because they are pretty special kids themselves!  sunday we topped it all off when the older cousins and their parents came to pick up their campers with brunch at breadwinner's.  good times!

playing in the pool with link

nap time :)

american girl store - i don't know who was more excited, my mom or caroline.

lunch with my sweet care bear.  she and her sister, audrey are two of the BIGGEST reasons i can't wait to have a little girl.  love, love, love my sweet nieces.

trouble.

campers in the arts district

use the force, link!  (playing at the children's museum)

morning playground time.  because i told link parks without water are closed after lunch in the summer.  and they probably should be in texas.  it's HOT!!!!!!!!!!

i had a sonogram and 25 week appointment tuesday to check in on baby girl.  good news all around.  baby girl is doing great, and placenta has moved up and in place.  she is all limbs in there!  she looked like a baby deer on the sonogram, dancing all her limbs around like she wasn't quite sure what to do with them!  ha. as it went with link, we are starting to measure a couple of weeks ahead.  they are estimating her weight at about 2.5 lbs and she is already 15 inches long.  looks like we may have another long and lean baby on our hands.  and as of today, glucose test is complete.  now we are on the heels of the third trimester, and the REAL countdown begins!

26 weeks today!  down to a double digit countdown.

updates

updates:  we are closing in on 25 weeks pregnant and it feels good!  i think last time around i felt pretty good until about week 36, so i am hoping to stay the same this go round.  it has helped that dallas isn't TOO insanely hot quite yet (knock on wood!).

we are getting pretty excited to meet baby girl p.  and really focusing in on names, but just not to the announcement point yet, since we just can't seem to make up our minds!  jay is a lot better at coming up with girl names than i am.  this is TOUGH!  i like a lot, but it's just such a big deal, you know?!  i want to LOVE her name.

we have also decided to postpone our house addition.  long story short, this process took a lot longer than we thought, and now that we are down to it, we have figured out that we cannot get it completed before the baby gets here.  since i REALLY don't want to bring a newborn home to a dusty construction site, we are just going to wait a few months and re-group early next year.  although i am a little disappointed the timing didn't work out, i'm also secretly kind of relieved?!

link is busy with swim lessons, summer session of school starting this week, and four of his cousins coming in town for cousins camp on wednesday.  we are all so excited!!  i'll be sure and update with pics soon.

swimming lessons are going swimmingly!

link rode the big boy slide at the pool!  he "finally" reached the 42" mark so he is big enough!  he was so excited!!!!  he rode it at least 10 times.

our sweet little goddaughter and link's bf, finley moved to san antonio last week - i got this good bye hug captured and pretty much cried.  so cute.  we are going to see them in a few weeks in SA, can't wait!

mo-se-cy-cycle

24 weeks, 4 days - she and i are both growing a little more every day!  :)

22 weeks

i can't believe we are already more than halfway to meeting our little girl!  i had a doctor's appointment and sonogram again this morning and she looks great.  she is measuring just ahead of schedule a couple of days, which is how this (being a 9 pounder!) all started with link, and then it just slowly kept inching up and up until he was the big baby he was!  we will see how baby girl does.

pic of her little face from the front, and up top is her arm, reaching behind her head...she is just chillin'!

at 23 weeks with link his estimated weight was 1.3 lbs, and today, at 22 weeks, baby girl's was estimated at 1 pound exactly, so they are similar in size thus far.  but all is well and it was great to see her sweet face, feet, heart, hands, just all of her cuteness, and get a good report on her health.  this was our true "anatomy" scan, even though we found out last month she was a girl at that sono.  early on i had a "low placenta" so i will get more sonos to keep an eye on that - although it is moving up as they would like, so no problems to report.  and, we are pumped to get to check in on baby girl more often!  all is well, we feel very blessed that she is looking good and thriving.  keep it up, little mama! :)

summer is here, which means link is out of school and we are keeping busy with play dates, friends in town, swim lessons, and finding other ways to beat the heat (which isn't too bad today, right now it's 70 degrees.  it's almost june.  in dallas.  amazing!!!!!).

my sweet friend mollie was in town this week with her girls, so the baylor gals had a play date with our kids and got to catch up.  we had lots of fun.  it's extra fun that mollie's in-laws just moved in a BLOCK away from us...we get lots more play time when she is up from austin!  YAY.

cuties on my couch!  love these kids!!

we also got to meet another sweet friend, mary's baby girl, maren, for the first time this week.  link was so sweet with her.  these sweet kiddos have many a play date in their future!!  i am so blessed to have college friends that are still such an important part of my life.  i treasure their friendships so much!

link and baby maren, exchanging their first glance...adorable

if you have read this blog anytime in the last year, you have definitely seen pictures of link with his little bud, finley.  these two have such a sweet and real friendship...and so do we, with her parents, garrett and cameron.  sadly, they are moving to san antonio (well, happy for them, because garrett has landed a great head pastor position in SA...sad for us because they are moving!!!) so we are squeezing in as many play dates, lunches, and nights out as we can in the next few weeks before they head south bound 35.  we love you guys!

link and finley at coffee park

and last issue of note, our house.  we have finally decided what we want and moved to the final stages of the process to add on to our house.  we had an appraisal today, and as long as our builders, appraiser, and bank can all agree, we should start construction in the next couple of weeks!  we are pumped.  well, not for construction, but for the finished product - an upstairs with two additional bedrooms, another laundry area (b/c what mom doesn't need two washer dryers?!), a play room/open area, and another full bath.  if this all works out, we will be sooooo happy to have all the space we will need (or want, i should say) for our growing family and for our family and friends to visit us!

so there's a lot going on over here - and in the coming weeks, my parents newly renovated dallas home will be ready, nephews and nieces are coming for cousin's camp (YAY!), and i will hopefully have pics to post of a progressing construction project on top of my house!  say a prayer that this all goes well, if you will.  it's been a long road to decide which way to go on this, and i hope we are almost to the decision point.  :)

hope you are all having a great summer!!!