the party

before i get to link's big birthday bash, i just have to say, it's fall, ya'll! how awesome is this weather!!?!? loving it. we started fall with link's party, then this week we had our first trip to the pumpkin patch at the arboretum, and this weekend is OU/tx. yay! i love this time of year!

bubbles, balls, and birthday cake was the theme...we should have added balloons, b/c the kiddos loved all the balloons, too. gosh we had a great time. so many of our friends and family members came to celebrate with us, and link soaked up every moment. we had a kid's wonderland set up with a zillion balloons, ball pits, bubble machines going everywhere and tons of toys to play with. then to top it off, lots of cake! we could not have had a better set up and are so appreciative of all the friends who came to share this special day with link.

he tried to eat the whole smash cake. loved it. :)

playing in the party favor/ball pit with lily and eve :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINK!!!!!

i'm not having a lot of the sadness i hear a lot of moms talk about when their babies turn one. of course it has brought a lot of reflection, like that a year ago this was about the most miserable i have ever been. couldn't wait for baby boy to get here, 9 months pregnant in the heat, a herniated disc in my neck...and the list goes on. :) but it was all worth it. and now, here we are a year later and mom and dad to the most precious boy i know.

dear link,

happy birthday!! this year has been nothing short of spectacular. the light that you bring to our lives is indescribable. the love we feel for you is deep and unconditional. seeing you learn and grow at such an amazing rate is so much fun. you are a ball of energy and i am just trying to keep up. i don't want to miss a moment!

your dad and i want so much for you. i pray that you will always have the energy and zest for life that you do now. i pray that you will allow the Lord to work in your life, that you will grow to love him intimately and always seek His will first. i pray that you will find yourself surrounded by great friends, that build you up and laugh with you. i pray that you will have confidence, knowing that your parents love each other and love you, no strings attached. i pray that you will thrive as you grow to be more independent and that you will embrace the gifts God has given you. i pray that your dad and i will make good decisions as we raise you. that we will listen to you with an open heart and mind, and you will know that you always have a voice. i pray that as your parents, we will earn your respect the way our parents have earned ours. i pray that you will love God with all your heart, and that you will find yourself constantly seeking His face. i pray that i will leave a legacy for you that you can be proud of, and that someday, when you have a family of your own, you will want to emulate. just as my parents did for me.

so much. we want so much for you. please know that we will always give you your space, so you can grow on your own. but know that we are here for you always. may your life be filled with love and laughter. you are our joy, and we love you with all our hearts.

happy birthday, son.

love,
mom

"and jesus grew in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man." luke 2:52

two things...

first, i'm re-reading a book right now, one of my favorites, intimacy with the almighty. just read one of my favorite quotes in the book:

...what you long for, unless i miss my guess, is intimacy with the almighty. you want to be profoundly aware of His presence, in touch with Him at the deepest possible level, thinking His thoughts, gleaning His wisdom, and living as close to His heart as humanly possible, operating your life at the nucleus of His will. i desire the same, i freely admit.

i'm jumping up and down with my hand in the air, screaming, "that's me! that's me!" such a good book. i highly recommend it.

second, i love the below picture. it was taken last night at a dallas contemporary arts event. and i love it not because i think it is particularly spectacular of either of us, but because it shows us being us. happy, laughing, and together. i love, love my family and spending time with all of us together, but it is nice for jay and i to get our own time now and then. and we did last night. and we had a lot of fun. :)

winner, winner, chicken dinner

this is the title of an email i received this a.m. from the hubs. apparently he entered my sweet son and golden retriever, owen, in a contest given by the austin american statesman. and forgot to tell me. or else i would have personally voted for, along with begging you all to vote for, our kiddo and pup...but oh well, they won anyway!

jay got an email this morning and realized he forgotten about it altogether. too funny. anyway, we are going to take a little road trip to austin for a free family photo session, courtesy of the austin newspaper! how hilarious is that?

holiday weekend

we had a great weekend. opening weekend for college football, birthday parties galore, the fort worth zoo, meeting baby caleb (peavy), and mom and dad's night out in fort worth last night with friends! a good time was had by all.

baby caleb peavy, my friend jill's third little boy, in from san antonio!

walking around at our favorite park this afternoon

he loved all the animals on his first trip to the fort worth zoo

he already knows it. the first day of college game day is GLORIOUS!

p.s. now that he is really walking, link is wearing shoes a lot more. we have lots of shoes for him, but only one pair for "new" walkers, a pair of 12-18 month "pedipeds." they are already squishing his toes, so we need to buy some new ones. how long did your kids wear the thin soled shoes like this? any other brands you love?

stonewall babies

hey kids. do you know anyone that lives in the m-streets area (specifically for stonewall jackson elementary school) of dallas? if so, please tell them to look us up on facebook, stonewall babies.

i, along with two other girls, am helping to re-start the early childhood PTA for stonewall jackson, formerly known as GWRA (there is still an active yahoo board for the group, but no activities). sooooo, we had our first event today, a play group, and had a great turnout! but we want to grow more, so please tell your friends in our area about us. and if you live in the area, come to one of our upcoming events!

find us on facebook here.

spread the word! and if you don't live in the area but would still like to be involved, feel free! the more the merrier.

eleven. exactly one louder.

or in this case, one older AND one louder (if you haven't seen spinal tap, you don't get it, but trust me, it's funny). link, you have found your voice this month!!! and you know how to "talk" much LOUDER!! ;)

goodness gracious! my baby is so near one and i can't take it!! each month that goes by, he gains more and more independence. now that he is fully mobile and able to walk, this has taken on a whole new meaning. he is captain crazy pants busy - everywhere we take him we get comments and folks are wide-eyed with his energy level. it's EXHAUSTING and so much fun.

so here are some things i want to remember about this time in your life, link.

- you are starting to walk. it's precious, the confidence this has given you and the fun this has brought to all our lives.

- you eat. and eat and eat and eat. when we sit down for a meal, you start slapping the table for food, and you DO. NOT. STOP. until we take you away from the table. at most restaurants, i bring you some sandwich meat, fruit, cheese, crackers/bread, a full container of puffs, beans, some sort of veggie...and you eat it all. THEN, you eat an entire kid's meal. it's unbelievable. several people at restaurants have made comments in amazement (like, "does he need a shovel?"). i'm wondering how much you will eat as a teenager?!? my goodness, boy.

- your precious sounds and words. you've got dada and mama down. you say ball all the time, but not necessarily always directed at an actual ball. :) you're starting to say hi, which is hilarious because you LOVE the "h" sound and drag it out a loooong time. you love to make snake noises, ("ssssssssssssssss") and are absolutely in awe when someone sounds it back to you. you will mimic pretty much anything we say to you to the best of your ability, and you seem to love this sense of the beginnings of true communication. i bet! it's nice, isn't it?

- you absolutely love, love other kids and people. you smile and wave, giggle and grin and just get so excited to see people paying attention to you. you LOVE to flirt with girls. i'm in trouble. :)

- you adore music of any kind, dancing, and bobbing your head to the beat. awesome. baby einstein has you wrapped around it's warped and weird little finger. but it's okay - you also love the rolling stones, beatles, U2, justin timberlake, beyonce, and the black eyed peas (you should see him shake it to "single ladies"). ;) you light up like a christmas tree when you hear one of those videos start. you love elmo (especially elmo's potty - son, if you want to be potty trained now i'm okay with that. haha) and nothing is as cute as seeing you dance to the sesame street theme song.

we are starting to plan your birthday party and although you don't know it's coming, i know you will have so much fun. :)

we are blessed and thank God for every day with you. happy eleven, sweet boy!

2010 College Football Season for Housewives: What you need to know…

It's the first post by me, Jay!

With the 2010 College Football Season looming upon us I felt like this is a perfect opportunity to help guide our readers through the basics of what to expect from your husbands’ and your teams this year. Hopefully this will give you some tidbits that might help out when your husband starts ranting or raving about his team or their opponents.

Teams – In Alpha Order

Baylor

Preseason Ranking – Not Ranked

Outlook

This is shaping up to be an interesting year for the Bears. Everything hinges on QB Robert Griffin’s health. He is practically the entire team. True this team is much better than it was 10 years ago, it will only go so far as Griffin can take them.

Best Player

QB – Robert Griffin – Athletic kid with world class sprinter speed and a decent arm.

Offense Rating – B (with Griffin) Defense Rating – C-

Schedule

Predicted Wins: Sept. 4 Sam Houston St, Sept. 11 Buffalo, Sept. 25 at Rice

Predicted Toss-ups: Oct. 2 Kansas, Oct. 16 at Colorado, Oct. 23 Kansas State, Oct. 9 Texas Tech (in Dallas)

Predicted Losses: Sept. 18 at TCU, Oct. 30 at Texas, Nov. 6 at Oklahoma State, Nov. 13 Texas A&M, Nov. 20 Oklahoma

Best Case Scenario Record – 7-5 Worst Case Scenario Record – 4 - 8

Oklahoma

Preseason Ranking – 8

Outlook

Coming off the disaster of 2009, losing Sam Bradford for the year finally turns into a positive with Landry Jones gaining a full year of experience. While the Offense will be good, the Defense will decide the outcome of the Season. Oklahoma’s defense should be among the top 3 in the Country. Oklahoma holds the longest home winning streak in the Nation with 30 consecutive wins in Norman.

Best Player

WR – Ryan Broyles – Fast kid with nifty moves.

LB – Travis Lewis – 3-Year Starter that will spearhead the unit.

Offense Rating – A- Defense Rating – A

Schedule

Predicted Wins: Sept. 4 Utah State, Sept. 11 Florida State, Sept. 18 Air Force, Sept. 25 at Cincinnati, Oct. 16 Iowa State, Oct. 23 at Missouri, Oct. 30 Colorado, Nov. 13 Texas Tech, Nov. 20 at Baylor

Predicted Toss-ups: Oct. 2 Texas (in Dallas), Nov. 6 at Texas A&M, Nov. 27 at Oklahoma St

Predicted Losses: none

Best Case Scenario Record – 12-0 Worst Case Scenario Record – 8 - 4

Southern Methodist

Preseason Ranking – NR

Outlook

Did SMU win a bowl game in 2009? You bet they did! After years of struggling and churning through coaches year after year SMU seems to have found the right guy to return the program to glory after the death penalty 25 years ago. June Jones has the Ponies headed in the right direction and look for a repeat bowl birth in 2010.

Best Player

QB – Kyle Padron – Former Southlake product that lit it up in the Hawaii Bowl.

RB – Shawnbrey McNeal – Dual Threat out of the Backfield.

Offense Rating – B Defense Rating – B

Schedule

Predicted Wins: Sept. 11 vs UAB, Oct. 2 @ Rice, Oct. 9. vs Tulsa, Oct. 30 @ Tulane, Nov. 6 @ UTEP, Nov. 20 vs Marshall

Predicted Toss-ups: Sept. 18 vs Washington State, Oct. 16 @ Navy, Sat, Oct. 23 vs Houston, Nov. 26 @ East Carolina

Predicted Losses: Sept. 5 at Texas Tech, Sept. 24 vs TCU

Best Case Scenario Record – 9-3 Worst Case Scenario Record – 6 - 6

Texas

Preseason Ranking – 4

Outlook

Losing in the National Championship to Alabama without Colt McCoy was very tough for the Longhorns because they rarely lose bowl games. Although it will be tough to replace the Seniors McCoy, Shipley, Cosby, and Kindle, this is Texas though and they truly don’t rebuild they reload. Garrett Gilbert will have some ups and downs at QB but will benefit from a relatively weak schedule to start and a very good Offensive Line. The Running Backs are going to have to step it up. On Defense, this looks to be a top 3 unit again this year.

Best Player

QB –Garrett Gilbert– Helped by a very good O-Line he has a great Arm

LB – Sam Acho – Great speed with a nose for the ball.

Offense Rating – B+ Defense Rating – A

Schedule

Predicted Wins: Sept. 4 at Rice, Sept. 11 Wyoming, Sept. 25 UCLA, Oct. 23 Iowa State, Oct. 30 Baylor, Nov. 6 at Kansas St, Nov. 13 Oklahoma St, Nov. 20 Florida Atlantic

Predicted Toss-ups: Sept. 18 at Texas Tech, Oct. 2 Oklahoma (in Dallas), Nov. 25 Texas A&M

Predicted Losses: Oct. 16 at Nebraska

Best Case Scenario Record – 12-0 Worst Case Scenario Record – 8 – 4

Texas A&M

Preseason Ranking – Not Ranked

Outlook

Coming off a disappointing 2009, the Aggies are very hopeful that their offense can keep progressing like it did last year with QB Jerrod Johnson. The Aggies were absolutely horrible on Defense last year and hope to get much better. Look for a ton of points to be scored at every Aggie game.

Best Player

QB –Jerrod Johnson– The most experienced returning QB in the Big 12

Offense Rating – A Defense Rating – C-

Schedule

Predicted Wins: Sept. 4 Stephen F. Austin, Sept. 11 Louisiana Tech, Sept. 18 FIU, Oct. 16 Missouri

Predicted Toss-ups: Sept. 30 at Oklahoma State, Oct. 9 Arkansas (in Dallas), Oct. 23 at Kansas, Oct. 30 Texas Tech, Nov. 13 at Baylor

Predicted Losses: Nov. 6 Oklahoma, Nov. 20 Nebraska, Nov. 25 at Texas

Best Case Scenario Record – 9 - 3 Worst Case Scenario Record – 8 - 4

Texas Christian

Preseason Ranking – 7

Outlook

The Frogs finally pushed their way into the BCS in 2009 and looking for a repeat performance in 2010. Although they lost a few key players, QB Andy Dalton returns and the boy just doesn’t lose. TCU will play anybody, anywhere and have a chance to make a splash the opening game of the season with Oregon State a favorite to win the PAC-10 this year.

Best Player

QB –Andy Dalton– He wins football games. Period

Offense Rating – A Defense Rating – A

Schedule

Predicted Wins: Sept. 11 Tennessee Tech, Sept. 18 Baylor, Sept. 24 at SMU, Oct. 2 at Colorado State, Oct. 9 Wyoming, Oct. 23 Air Force, Oct. 30 at UNLV, Nov. 13 San Diego State, Nov. 27 at New Mexico

Predicted Toss-ups: Sept. 4 Oregon State (Arlington, Texas), Oct. 16 BYU

Predicted Losses: Nov. 6 at Utah

Best Case Scenario Record – 12-0 Worst Case Scenario Record – 8 - 4

Texas Tech

Preseason Ranking – Not Ranked

Outlook

Who cares what happened in the 2009 Season. The Red Raiders fired the most successful coach in school history for locking a rich kid with a high profile daddy in a closet. What a mess. It looks to be a rebuilding year for the Raiders in 2010 with new coach Tommy Tuberville. He’s a good coach but it’s going to take some time getting his house in order in Lubbock.

Best Player

QB –Tyler Potts– Had an up and down year last year but should be improved.

Offense Rating – A Defense Rating – B

Schedule

Predicted Wins: Sept. 11 at New Mexico, Oct. 2 at Iowa State, Nov. 6 Missouri, Nov. 20 Weber State, Nov. 27 Houston

Predicted Toss-ups: Sept. 4 SMU, Sept. 18 Texas, Oct. 9 Baylor (in Dallas), Oct. 16 Oklahoma St, Oct. 23 at Colorado, Oct. 30 at Texas A&M

Predicted Losses: Nov. 13 at Oklahoma

Best Case Scenario Record – 9-3 Worst Case Scenario Record – 6 - 6

mover and a shaker

link is starting to walk. he's been at it just over a week, and he could not be more proud of himself. we think it's pretty darn cute, too. his favorite way of walking is holding my hand. he walked halfway down the street with me this afternoon. precious.

this is one of his new favorite games, "link's room." he will crawl into his room, close the door, and then wait for me to knock. then he answers the door and comes to me. adorable.

"come and knock on our door, we've been waiting for you..." ;)

just funny. a kid walking with a sippy cup in only a diaper is just funny. and then i'll stop with the videos. promise.

apparently...

that last post came out differently than i had intended (based on the emails i got back!) - i was really just trying to say i might be taking a little break and bringing jay's thoughts to add a little sumthin' to the blog. no biggie. and jay, where the heck is the post you promised?? ;)

i'm tired. i'm bored.

of the blog. i'm the first to admit i need feedback to go on, and since comments don't exactly abound around here, the hubs has offered to help with the blog posts, too. we need to change it up around here! i have wanted to go private, but he somehow thinks we have more than 15 readers and should keep our lives public. :) so, in the spirit of love for my jay and his wishes, we shall remain public for now. after all, this is a family blog, or so it has transitioned into one...

anyway, look forward to some posts from the big guy.

want to feel old? here are the kids i hung out with all week (before their younger siblings were born) when i graduated from college, in 2000...


and here they are now, with my CHILD!

if you say it doesn't go too fast, ask my sisters in law. :( i miss those babies, but they are oh-so-fun now, too!! gosh, it's seriously unreal.

oh-happy-day with the hubs

three years ago!

happy anniversary to my sweet husband. i cannot fathom that it's been three years.

and i couldn't agree more with his statement in the card he gave me this morning. "looking back now, i feel like the two people that got married on this beautiful day three years ago in breck were just kids."

so much has happened!! it's funny, when you look at kids over the course of three years you can actually see, with your eyes, the physical changes in them. you can even "see" the maturity in their little personalities. but once we grow into adulthood, sometimes it's harder to "see" those changes. it is nice for us to reflect on all the ways we have grown and grown together. jay, i hope this doesn't alarm you, but i think we became grownups!!!???! ahhh!!!!! our worst nightmare! haha...even if we did, i'm not worried. i think everyone that knows us knows we will both always be kids at heart. :)

happy anniversary to my wonderful husband. each day that goes by i realize more and more how lucky i am. and now, to see you as a father only adds MULTITUDES to how much i'm in awe of you. i love you, jay pritchard!!

10 months of fun

with link all recovered from a nasty 24 hour stomach bug and his parents recovered from a fun night out, we decided to go out on an adventure. it was a day early celebration of his ten months. we loaded up in the b.o.b. stroller* and headed to mockingbird station to ride the dart rail downtown.

he LOVED the train, the station, the whole experience. we got off downtown and headed to one arts plaza.

link took advantage of all the water features, soft grass, and many, many sights and new friends to take in.

after about an hour, he was soaking wet and oh-so-happy. we decided to take the uptown trolley, head out toward the AAC, grab some cold drinks, and then hit the katy trail to head home. anyone who says dallas is not pedestrian friendly is either a liar or lazy! we went to mockingbird station, AAC, one arts plaza, and everywhere in between withOUT a car. so much fun, and we will be doing this again...after all, if it is fun in 100 degree heat, it will be that much more fun in the fall and spring. link was enjoying himself so much he did something he has NEVER done. he totally skipped his afternoon nap and just relaxed a bit when we got home before we headed out for burgers. yes, tonight he had his first cheeseburger. he split one with me and ate every bite.

our sweet little boy is growing up so fast. i can't believe tomorrow morning he will be 10 months old. we will be sure to get some additional pics, especially since we are joining our new church tomorrow! after over a year long search from our former church, we have found a home and are so excited to make it official.

* i swear i could be a spokesperson for B.O.B., that stroller is the friggin' bomb! how did our parents do it w/o stroller SUV's?!? that is definitely the best baby purchase we made. perfect for our lifestyle and gets used every single day, no exceptions.

things you love at ten months, little link:

- sesame street and baby einstein. we only allow you one time a day, but you will sit, so sweet, quiet and still and absorb every moment. it's nice for your dad and me, too. ;)

- pedialite. while you were sick, you took in gallons of that stuff and went through a diaper an hour. crazy! but happy it got the sickness out of your system.

- crawling and cruising. you are a MACHINE of moment. still taking a few steps, but no walking yet.

we love you sweet buddy. can't even fathom how quickly this is going, but we take every day for what it is, a beautiful gift from God. time spent with you is our treasure and we love you with all our hearts!

thank god for two-a-days

and weight watchers. they say it takes 9 months to put it on, and 9 to take it off. this was true for me. i want to preface this by saying yes, i am patting myself on the back, but more hoping to encourage someone that is in the middle of the postpartum weight loss battle by saying with work, it will come off.

as of today, i am officially BELOW my pre-pregnancy weight and wearing jeans i wore on my honeymoon! i took the cheese fry route to the 9th month of pregnancy and the day i went in to have link, i was 44 pounds heavier than i am now. lesson learned, don't use pregnancy as an excuse to slack off on normally good eating habits. ;)

it is an OVERWHELMINGLY WONDERFUL feeling. after months of weight watcher points and working out twice a day, i am there! in truth i didn't start WW until june, i just needed something regimented for that last 10 pounds. but i am there and so excited. i said early on here on my blog how much harder this was than i had expected...and i never dreamed it would take this long, but the battle is done. whew!

i am so excited about how well WW works and how easy it is, that i think i'm going to stick with it and see if i can't keep shedding a few more pounds.

all this and then i will probably have another baby and have to do it all over again. oh well, i'll just be happy for today! haha...

two weeks away from home...

ahhh, we took a much, much needed vacay the last two weeks. first, to tulsa for the fourth (post below). then we were off to florida and enjoyed one of our favorite places on earth, seaside. my goodness, that place really is a little glimpse of heaven. jay and i had decided years ago on a trip there that once we had kids, we would do everything in our power to take them to seaside each summer.

so, family vacation number one, there we were...and we LOVED every second of it (sidenote - didn't see one tarball or glimpse of anything oil related, and didn't have one moment of rain, just beautiful sunshine every day we were there!!) we also spent time with my brother's family and some of their friends that came in the second week. so much fun!!!

get ready for picture overload!!

the fam on the beach

at barefoot bbq

riding his jet ski

the view from our porch, link loved the hammock

breakfast at the airport

with mom on the bike

with dad at movie night

my brother and sis-in-law renewed their vows on the beach

concert on the lawn, link loves the bubble guns

link and his cousins (jarrod's kids), kyle, nathan and carson

kissy time

all smiles!

beach bum

laughing baby loves the beach