Better Than I Deserve

New Year, New Goal

2010-01-30T10:33:00.001-05:00

My goal for 2010 is to be more organized. This means my house, of course, but it extends beyond that, too. I definitely want my home organized to cut down on time lost spent looking for things, money lost by wasting food/resources, and energy lost thinking about all of the above.

At the end of 2009, we were audited for our FSA and I had to come up with documentation for about 20 transactions (that were all payments made to doctors' offices so it wouldn't it seem that it's for medical reasons anyway? That's a whole 'nother post...). When I was searching through random piles of papers, I grew increasingly frustrated that I hadn't thought ahead to organize that stuff before. So I lost many hours calling various doctors' offices and insurance companies as well as hunting through bills, EOBs, and receipts. This whole process made me frustrated and short-tempered which is never good. So I vowed that this year would be different.

Too many times, I stand in the kitchen at 4:15pm and wonder, "What am I going to make for dinner?" One would imagine that part of being a stay-at-home mom is having a dinner plan for every night of the week (although it's my dream to do a whole month at a time--I'm working on that). Sometimes, I have a week planned ahead of time but I'm normally planning a night's dinner about an hour before serving time. And sometimes that lack of planning means that Domino's Pizza gets our money. That's always fun and tastes good but it's not always in the budget. So I vowed this year would be different.

Sometimes I find it hard to fall asleep. During the times I lie awake at night, I think about all sorts of things. Among these is how I need to be more organized and what has kept me from reaching that goal. That will lead to thoughts of how I could get more organized and before I know it, the clock shows 2:30am and I haven't even finished a single plan. So I vowed this year would be different.

I say that organization is my "goal" for 2010 because I always associate the word "resolution" with failure and by year's end, my home and life WILL be more organized. I've started with the office. So far, I've gone through tons of papers and receipts, organized medical papers and shredded tons of stuff. My coupons are now organized in a portable hanging file folder box and I've created an area in this box for 2010 medical papers to avoid the audit disaster we had this past year. I reorganized the pantry in the kitchen, too, because when Sarah was sick, we had a lot of wonderful people her helping and they graciously stocked our pantry--but it was a disheveled mess. So that makes the day-to-day kitchen activities slightly more fun and definitely easier.

I need to clean the basement. It's a total wreck and there's a chance my sister will be coming to live with us soon and we intend to make her living space down there. So that certainly needs to be done. The laundry room looks like a clothing store exploded in there--I need to purge a lot of things.

I've budgeted to stock the freezer with meals so that I won't be tempted to dial-a-pizza on busy nights.

Obviously, I won't reach my goal in the next couple of weeks but I think if I can keep making small amounts of progress, I'll be satisfied by the end of the year that I reached my goal.

Thankful

2009-11-26T08:22:00.003-05:00

This year, Thanksgiving has arrived with a renewed joy and gratefulness. In 2006 and 2007, Thanksgiving brought losses, sadness, and grief. In 2008, we were nervously expecting Alex but Thanksgiving brought new fear about his chances for survival and threats to my health. But this year is totally different.

Alex is a growing (and I mean really GROWING) boy with bright blue eyes and a smile that melts my heart. Charlotte is nearing 5 years old and has recently learned to read. I love her dark brown eyes and skinny, little legs. She's so silly and keeps our family laughing. And after a very close call and an extended stay at Dayton Children's, Sarah is returning to her normal self. While she is still down in weight and fatigues very easily, she is getting more energetic every day and her appetite is returning. Her giant brown eyes are bright once again and her infectious laugh is back to its full gusto. She has been drawing lots of turkey pictures and fretting about tornadoes again so we know she's back. Andy has been keeping busy with work and house projects. Today he is running the Turkey Trot and I'm so proud of his commitment to running. He turned to running last fall when it was too dark in the mornings to play basketball and somehow, the running has stuck. I admire his dedication.

This year, I'm thankful for so many things:

A wonderfully supportive husband who leads our family with careful thought and sets an amazing example for our children
A nervous 6-year-old who worries about the seemingly strangest of things but is creative, energetic, and full of curiosity
A silly 4-year-old who talks incessantly and enjoys playing alone, even if she does still suck her thumb
A bright-eyed, bouncing baby boy who loves to pound on his bee toy and giggles when I tickle his roly-poly thighs
Long-time friends with whom I don't need to be in constant contact but when we do see each other, it's like we've been talking all along
New friends who make me feel like a fun person again and who remind me of the things I cherish most in friendships
Supportive family who showers us with love and generous encouragement
An encouraging church family who provided so much more than just meals during our time of need
A warm home that shelters our family
A pantry full of food to nourish our bodies
Knowledgeable doctors who help us keep ourselves and our children healthy and strong
A strong, proud, BRAVE military devoted to keeping our nation safe.
And most importantly, I'm thankful for a loving God who guides my life and to whom I turn in good times and times of struggle for guidance and wisdom. Without Him in my life, I cannot imagine living.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Shingles -- Not just for roofs

2009-09-29T23:31:00.003-04:00

Last week, I noticed a couple of "bug bites" on my side. I showed DH and he was stumped--how could I get mosquito bites in that area? As the week wore on, I started to get pain in that area and the affected area started growing. For the next few days, I noticed that I couldn't sleep on that side of my body, lean on that side of my body, and I had a couple more "bites" more toward my back. So I sucked it up and went to the doctor on Monday. She immediately said, "You're not going to like what I have to say. It's shingles." BUMMER!!

So I'm taking an antiviral medication and she gave me some lidocaine patches to wear at night to help with the pain. She said I'm not contagious so I'm glad for that because Alex hasn't had his chicken pox vaccine yet. She told me to keep an eye on it and if anything got worse or didn't improve in 7 days, I should come back. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's a mild case because I've heard shingles can get pretty bad.

Shingles...they're not just for the elderly. Anyone can join in the fun.

Ta-da!!

2009-09-26T18:16:00.003-04:00

Alex got his first tooth last night! I checked his mouth in the morning and there was a little bump but no tooth so I figured it would be another day or two before anything concrete made an appearance. We went out to dinner last night and when we got home, I checked again and VOILA!! There was a teeny tooth sticking out!

We have tried getting a good look at his newest gem but he guards it pretty well with his tongue. I can tell that he recognizes that something is new because he keeps running his tongue over that part of his mouth and making funny faces.

Once it gets big enough to see, I'll post a pic of his new pearl.

Congrats on your first tooth little man!

Locks of Love

2009-08-19T20:40:00.011-04:00

When Sarah turned five last year, she donated 13" of her hair to Locks of Love. She was excited to do it and we were proud of her for giving a gift on her birthday.

Now as we're getting ready to start school again, it was time for hair cuts. Charlotte has been waiting for her hair to be long enough to donate but her hair just doesn't grow as quickly as Sarah's. However, we measured her hair and she had just enough to donate but it would leave her hair pretty short. For a while she's been telling us that she wants short hair so we figured that if she was confident in that decision, who were we to stand in her way?

So we did it. We allowed her to cut 10" of her hair to donate to Locks of Love. She was very excited and when Grandma asked her tonight what she was going to do with her ponytail, she responded, "Sell it to the sick children!" (We're still working on explaining the difference between sell and give.)

Here are some photos of Char's new 'do!!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Dough Baby is 6 months old

2009-08-12T21:41:00.002-04:00

Alex turned 6 months old last week and had his well baby check on Monday. He weighed 18 pounds, 11 ounces and was 27.5" long. At their 6-month checks, Sarah was 16 pounds and Charlotte was 13 pounds; Charlotte didn't hit 18 pounds until her 12-month check! So he's definitely the biggest of our babies. He's getting so big and learning new things each day.

Recently, he's started rolling onto his belly in his sleep and I think this is what has helped him to FINALLY sleep 5-6 hours at a time. This is a major improvement over the 3-4 hours he'd previously been sleeping. And just this week, he has started sucking his thumb. While I think it's adorably cute and it does help him soothe himself, I am not looking forward to breaking that habit, as we haven't been able to get Charlotte to stop sucking her thumb--and she's 4 years old. He's blowing raspberries now, too, and putting everything in his mouth. He's growing up fast!

We are scheduled with two specialists to help us determine if some issues he's having are in need of further examination. Those appointments aren't until the fall so we have some time before those.

All in all, these last 6 months have flown by. It's hard to believe he's halfway to his first birthday already!

On two wheels

2009-07-19T22:40:00.003-04:00

Sarah is a very cautious girl and when it comes to taking risks, she's typically very apprehensive. So that explains why, at age 6, she's just now learning to ride a bike without training wheels. We live in a former parsonage and the church (and its parking lot) is in our backyard. Just this past week, we've been taking Sarah to the parking lot in the evenings to give her some practice riding her bike. She was doing well without training wheels in the driveway but we could tell she needed a longer path to find success.

Over the course of only a few days, she has become quite proficient at balancing and riding. She's even learning how to start and stop without a great deal of unsteadiness. She still has moments of nervousness and anxiety but overall, we're proud of how far she's come in such a short time. This is a task that would usually take her months to accomplish so to nearly master it in just a few days is a record breaker!

We're so proud of you, Sarah! Keep working hard and you'll be great in no time!!

End of the innocence

2009-07-14T13:06:00.005-04:00

Sarah has never been a big fruit eater and I can't blame her because I'm not a fan of most fruits either. I try to choose fruits that I know she'll eat...bananas, half-cut grapes, apple slices, canned peaches, etc. to serve with lunch. Today I split a banana between the two girls and of course, Charlotte ate hers straight away. That girl would subsist on fruits alone if permitted!! Sarah ate her sandwich and yogurt and as usual, left her fruit for last.

Tonight is the annual pig roast event at our church. This means, in addition to waiting in long lines for food, eating more than an average dessert serving. After Charlotte was finished with her entire lunch and had cleared her plate, Sarah was still sitting at the table whining about having so many banana slices to eat. By this time, she'd been sitting there long enough for them to start oxidizing so they were turning brown, making them even less appealing to her sensitive palate.

I gave her a final 10-minute warning and if she hadn't finished her bananas (a whopping 8 tiny slices), she would get no dessert at church tonight. If there's one thing that can motivate her, it's the opportunity for dessert!! At the end of the 10 minutes, she had chosen the acceptable bananas and consumed those few, leaving 4 on the plate. I told her that for her effort, she could choose one thing off of the dessert table tonight but no more. (We usually allow them to choose a few things from the overwhelming sampling of desserts.) She was not pleased with that and told me that she was going to finish the other bananas.

I had my back turned toward the kitchen when I heard the cabinet under the sink close. Inside that cabinet resides the, you guessed, garbage can. She was proudly clearing her plate to the counter and I said, "Where are your bananas?" and she replied with a near-grin, "I ate them." But I could tell by the immediate change in countenance that she knew she was about to get busted. I walked over to the cabinet and opened it. Sure enough, there on top of the banana peel lay 4 little slices of banana. She had lied. Blatantly lied. Intentionally lied. My heart just broke because she seemed so remorseful and I sent her to her room. I thought that she must be really feeling bad for lying to me as she walked away sobbing so sadly.

But then she turned around and asked through her tears, "But how many desserts will I get?"

Remorse? Maybe not.

I'm sad that she resorted to lying. I don't like punishing her for something that could have been so easily avoided. I don't like that we're going to have a rough time at the pig roast tonight because she's going to throw a huge fit about the desserts. And I don't like that her innocence is waning. Ugh.

Murphy's Got Talent

2009-07-01T18:01:00.003-04:00

The girls recently started liking America's Got Talent so tonight we were talking about what talents they'd do on stage.

Sarah: Mom, maybe since I'm so good at hula hooping, we can go to Miami (the show we watched was taped in Miami) and I can hula hoop. Or I can read since I do both of those things really well.

Me: That's a good idea, Sarah! Maybe we can find a "Finding Contest" for Charlotte since she's good at finding lost things (we always call on Char to find something we can't find--she has a knack for locating lost items).

Char: Yeah, I could do that. But I couldn't find hard things because what if I took too long and I couldn't get off of the stage in time? That would be bad and I wouldn't make it to Vegas.

Me: Good point, Charlotte. You're good at finding things, though, so I'm sure you'd do well.

Char: Well, if we take me there and I don't know what talent to do, I wouldn't be able to get on stage. That would be bad, wouldn't it?

Me: I suppose it would.

I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of "talents" around here. I hope they settle on something safe.

Dinner Discussion

2009-06-25T13:59:00.003-04:00

Last night while we were eating dinner, Charlotte said, "My teacher told me that God is in our bodies." I asked what she meant and she said it again. I replied that Jesus is alive in our hearts. The conversation went as follows:

Sarah: How does Jesus lives in everyone's hearts? Does God make other Gods so everyone can have one? (This is a reference to the "helper Santas" at Christmastime.)

Char: Yeah, we each have God in our heart and when you drink milk, it goes through your heart to God.

Me: It's the spirit of God in your heart. You know how when you're in bed, afraid of a storm, and you pray for calm--then the calm comes? That's Jesus' peace in your heart.

Sarah: So that's The Holy Spirit? It's Holy and it's God's Spirit, right?

Charlotte (before I could respond): Yeah, and God lives in Alex's heart so we can't punch Alex in the heart or we'll be punching God and that will hurt God.

Me: You can't punch Alex in the heart because that will hurt Alex.

And with that, the conversation ended. How a conversation about the Trinity ended up about punching Alex is still a little confusing. Maybe next time we'll make better, less violent, spiritual headway

He's on a roll!

2009-06-23T16:05:00.003-04:00

Alex rolled over last night. Andy put him on the floor in the office and came out to get a drink of water. When he returned to the office, he called me in to see that Alex was almost all the way over. We watched from afar as he worked and worked and after some serious diligence, made it all the way over onto his belly.

I was thrilled for Andy because he missed it when the girls rolled over because they did it while he was at work. So it was exciting that Andy got to see it happen. :)

Way to roll, little man! Mommy's so proud of you!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T20:15:00.004-04:00

I always knew you'd make a great father. That's one thing that I admired most about you, long before we were married and had children. But what I thought I knew is only the tip of the iceberg. You're a wonderful father. Our children are so blessed to call you Dad. You're so funny and they love laughing with you. Hearing all of you laugh together makes my heart smile. You're gentle with them when they need you to be and stern when the situation demands it. You encourage our children to dream big, set high expectations for themselves, be creative, and love each other purely. You are setting a good example of what it means to treat others with kindness, be a good friend, and reach out to those in need. You are modeling for our daughters what they should look for in a faithful and loving husband and for our son, you are setting an example of the kind of husband I hope he'll someday become. You've made our family your priority and your willingness accordingly is inspiring. Our children's hearts are being groomed for selflessness because they see this example in you.

I always knew you'd make a great father. What I didn't expect was for you to make me want to be a better mother. Thank you for loving all of our children and for loving me the way you do. We stand in awe of your leadership, generosity, and love.

I love you, And. Happy Father's Day.

Nickname

2009-06-04T13:55:00.002-04:00

Charlotte has a nickname for Alex that I finally asked about today.

We were driving home from picking up Sarah from kindergarten when both girls started with their singy chant, "Doe BA-by, Doe BA-by, Doe BA-by." I've heard them sing this before but I couldn't figure out what they were saying so I asked.

Me: What are you saying, ladies?

Char: Doe BA-by

Me: I can hear what you're saying but what does it mean?

Char: I call him Doe Baby because his skin is pushy, like dough. And he's a baby so I call him baby. He's a Dough Baby.

Both girls: Dough BA-by, Dough BA-by, Dough BA-by.

I guess we all come up with nicknames for people and things. Her term of endearment makes total sense now that I know that she's saying "Dough Baby". She's a tactile learner/person so she defines things by how they feel. And I have to admit that his "pushy" skin IS kind of like dough so I get it.

Alex is 4 months old

2009-06-01T16:25:00.006-04:00

Today was Alex's 4-month well check. I stress about whether I have enough milk to satisfy his needs and to maintain adequate growth. He weighed in at 14 lbs, 8 oz. today so he's right at the 50th percentile for weight so I can calm down now. :) He outweighs what his sisters weighed at this age and I am reassured. And at 25.75", he's in the 75 percentile for height so that's in line with typical Murphy kiddos. :)

He's really growing and starting to pay attention to the world around him. He's cooing and making lots of singing noises. His laugh is hysterical and warms my heart every time I hear it. I'm still waiting for him to start reaching for things but he has mastered the art of shoving his entire hand in his mouth so I'm sure he's not far from grabbing other things.

He loves to watch his sisters play and he's still in love with the ceiling fan (ANY ceiling fan, really) and the big clock above our mantel. He's a very good baby and we have been very blessed.

Keep growing, my sweet son.

Charlotte's big fall

2009-05-24T15:46:00.004-04:00

Today during mass, after we returned from Communion, Sarah and I were singing and I heard this LOUD thump sound. I turned to my left to see Charlotte on the floor and realized instantly that she'd fallen backward off of the pew and hit the back of her head on the VERY HARD wooden pew seat in front of us. On instinct, I scooped her up (Andy was holding Alex) and ran out the door into a small vestibule area. I didn't think about it--it was pure Mama Instinct. I had put my hand on the back of her head and it turns out it was a good thing I did...she was gushing blood all over my hand and down her back. I got one of Alex's diapers out of the diaper bag and put it on her head to absorb the blood--there was so much!

Andy came out expecting it to be no big deal so he was very surprised to see me panicked. I knew we weren't going to be able to drive her to the Urgent Care or ER ourselves because I could tell that her head needed some constant pressure to control the bleeding. Someone alerted our associate pastor who called 9-1-1 and we waited for the ambulance. Charlotte was kind of out of it, not unconscious but not really responding so I started to worry. She was aloof and quiet on the way to the hospital but kept repeating that she wanted to go home in the van. (Fortunately our friends offered to take Sarah home with them until we could pick her up. Andy and Alex met us at the hospital.)

Once we got to the hospital, she slowly started returning to her normal self. We read books, played Chutes & Ladders, and tried to keep her spirits up. The doctors applied some kind of numbing paste to her head for 30 minutes and then strapped her to a backboard-type thing to get the stitches in. She did need a few injections of lidocaine to make sure it was good and numb. But once she was numb, she didn't feel the 5 stitches it took to close her wound.

So we have had our first run in with stitches and I'm glad it was Charlotte. She's our more daring daughter and handles this type of thing easier than Sarah. So now if Sarah ever needs stitches, at least we know what to expect and Charlotte can help calm her fears.

The stitches will be in until next weekend when we can see our regular pediatrician to have them removed.

I'm so proud of my little Charlotte. She was a real trooper. Here she is showing off her hospital bracelet. She kept pretending it was a watch. I love that little lass.

Tired

2009-05-21T17:33:00.002-04:00

I'm tired. That's why I haven't posted in a while. I just can't seem to catch up on sleep. I know this is the period of my life when sleep is a luxury and someday I'll look back and wish that I was sleepless again. But I'm having trouble cherishing these moments of pure exhaustion.

Alex is still nuring very frequently--during the day he's still nursing about every 2-3 hours and for some reason, that seems to be really frequent at almost 4 months old. I feel like I remember the girls nursing less frequently by this age. Maybe I'm wrong and it's that ability of a mom to forget things like labor, delivery, episiotomies, etc. kicking into gear. But it seems like he should be able to go a bit longer.

We've started all of our kiddos on solid foods at 4 months so maybe if we get him started next week, he'll start to space out his feedings...maybe.

The weather has been beautiful so that helps but it makes me feel like even more of a dud when I'm too exhausted to go out and enjoy it. Today, Charlotte said when I woke her from her nap, "Mama, you can lie down with me." I told her it was time for her to get up and I had to make dinner anyway. Her reply was, "Well, after you make us dinner, maybe you can just go to bed." Ah, wouldn't that be dreamy? But alas, I have other jobs to do after dinner and after the girls are in bed.

Someday I'll sleep, right? And I'm sure I WILL look back on these times and long for them. I'm sure. I think.

Cake and spa

2009-04-15T19:11:00.002-04:00

Andy came home yesterday with a cake for my birthday. He ordered it and everything!! That's pretty impressive that he remembered far enough in advance to order a cake!! And after dinner, he gave me a beautiful card with another little card inside. It was a spa gift certificate!!! I've wanted a pedicure for forever and I need a massage in the worst way! So now I get to make a choice and enjoy something just for me!

Anyone wanna come along????

First road trip

2009-04-10T09:04:00.003-04:00

Today we're in Cleveland visiting Andy's family for Easter weekend. That means that yesterday was Alex's first road trip. When Sarah was a baby, she'd cry the entire 4 hours to Cleveland. She did NOT like riding in the car. Char always did better than Sarah but Charlotte never, never, never slept in the car. So we were nervous about how Alex would fare.

God smiled down on us again with this little guy. I fed him before we left and he slept until more than halfway. He woke up and yelled for food so we stopped at a rest stop and let the girls play in the grass while I nursed him in the van. He ate quickly and we were back on the road again sooner than we expected. He slept the rest of way to Grandma's and it was a smooth ride.

Now that we're here (with 7 adults and 6 other children in the house), there's no shortage of available arms to hold him. He's been charming everyone with his smile and we're going to see a lot more family later this morning. It's official----he's a hit! :)

We're keeping our fingers crossed for a repeat performance in the car on the way home on Sunday.

12 years

2009-04-07T22:30:00.003-04:00

I was going to post about this yesterday but I didn't have time with Alex being cranky from his shots, so it gets here today.

Twelve years ago yesterday, Andy and I officially became a couple. We had had an undefined relationship up to that point, though we both felt a strong connection from the time we met 17 months prior. My friend, Rebecca, and I had ridden to Cleveland with Andy to visit with his friends for the weekend. It was a Sunday and shortly before leaving to come back to Dayton, I approached Andy about his earlier suggestions that we declare ourselves a couple. We had talked about it many times and I was always the one to hesitate. But something about spending time with him that weekend reassured me that what I was feeling was real and I was excited to make this commitment. The ride back to college was thrilling and awkward but I was hopeful for the future.

Just two months later, it was decided that Andy would not return to WSU the following year. Despite the 230 miles between us, we maintained a strong connection and grew closer with time. For more than 3 years, we had a long-distance relationship, seeing each other only about every 8-10 weeks for a weekend. It was very difficult to watch him drive away after only 48 hours of time together and on the weekends I visited Cleveland, the 3 1/2 hour home was not pretty. But we were determined to stay together and look toward the future.

The "future" finally arrived when, in May 2000, Andy moved to Dayton so we could continue our relationship in the same city. It didn't take long after his relocation for us to become engaged in November and married the following August.

On April 6, 1997, I could not have predicted all of the things we'd experience together, both beautiful and tragic. I could not have predicted what a supportive and amazing husband he'd become. I could not have predicted how wonderful he'd be with our children. I could not have imagined how happy and loved he'd make me feel. At the time, what seemed like a somewhat insignificant decision became one of the most significant choices in my life.

And I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

2-month well check

2009-04-06T13:00:00.002-04:00

I took Alex for his 2-month well check today. Doc thinks he looks good and is growing well. He weighed 10lbs, 11oz. (25th %ile) and measured 23.5 inches (75th %ile). He has been doing a good job eating and sleeping. He's always been a great nighttime sleeper, getting up only once/night. He could use some help in the napping department--but who COULD nap with two rowdy sisters galavanting around the house? :)

I can't believe he's already two months old! Where has the time gone? Before I know it, I'll be planning his first birthday party.

A few photos

2009-04-02T20:03:00.007-04:00

I keep promising to post a few pics of Alex and keep finding excuses not to do it. Andy is bathing the girls and watching Alex upstairs so I'm all alone and can't find an excuse to avoid it any further.

Alex smiling at Sarah, his favorite smiling target

Sleepy baby

I guess he didn't want me taking is picture!
**Note his BLUE eyes--they'll likely turn brown so I like early blue-eyed photos.

His "What choo talkin' about, Willis?" face

Remembering the day

2009-04-01T12:26:00.005-04:00

To those of you for whom today holds significant meaning: know that Andy and I remember that day and how it changed so many lives, ours included.

Good food

2009-03-28T22:30:00.002-04:00

Tonight during dinner, Sarah called out, "These peas are soooo good!"

While I'm sure she'd prefer to be eating a cookie or chips, I was pleased that she was excited to be eating peas. She asked for seconds and then finished Charlotte's leftover peas, too.

Yay for good food!!

Hot baby?

2009-03-27T20:36:00.003-04:00

I'm beginning to wonder if 100 degrees is Alex's normal temperature. Now that the cough is gone, he's left with this low-grade fever that is hovering right around the "danger zone" of 100.4. But he hasn't crested that point yet so we're still all good. He had some blood drawn yesterday and his CBC was normal. The blood culture won't be back for a while but so far it's clear.

I took him back to the pediatrician today because was still 100.2 today and having a little bit of diarrhea so she wanted to see him again. She still didn't find anything else wrong with him (except one of his blood test results showed a potential early allergy, possibly to milk--DRAT!) so I wonder if maybe Alex is just one of those kids who is always a little warm.

The good news: Alex weighed in at 9lbs 15.5 ounces today!! That's a 7.5oz gain in 4 days!! Grow, little man, grow!!

Pics are coming soon...I promise!!

Week-long fever

2009-03-25T22:43:00.003-04:00

Our little Alex has been running a fever for a week. He's been to the pediatrician twice but she think it's just a virus. He started with a nasty cough last week ("kindergarten cough" brought home by Sarah--big sisters like to share everything) but that's pretty much gone now. He's still running a temperature at about 100 which isn't outrageously high but a 7-week-old baby shouldn't be running a temperature at all.

I don't know how long his fever will last but I guess there's nothing to do in the meantime. We'll just keep waiting it out.

The good thing about going to the ped's office is that he gets to weigh in. He was up to 9 1/2 pounds on Monday so he's continuing to grow which is GREAT! We just need to keep our little buddy growing! I'll post a new pic soon.

Chocolate Ritz

2009-03-17T14:23:00.002-04:00

Andy gave the girls each one Girl Scouts Thin Mint cookie for dessert last night. When I got home from running an errand, I asked if they'd had dessert (Charlotte forfeited her dessert earlier in the day when she snuck some candy into the office so I was fishing for information), they responded, "Yes! We had one chocolate Rit!" I think it's hilarious that they think that a singular Ritz cracker is called a "Rit" anyway and to explain the taste of Thin Mints as chocolate Ritz just makes it even funnier.

The girls are about to nap so I think I might treat myself to a couple of chocloate Ritz while they're sleeping.

Long time, no post

2009-03-17T14:04:00.002-04:00

Wow, it's been a whirlwind around here for the last 6 weeks. Alex's birth was amazing and beautiful. We are truly blessed to have a wonderful son and the girls are thrilled with their little brother.

Every time a mama brings home a baby, there are always learning curves. Each baby is special and unique and comes with his/her own challenges. For whatever reason, my milk supply has been questionable this time around and without cause. With Charlotte, because of a placental abruption during delivery that led to a large amount of blood loss and pituitary damage, I had some supply issues that were only complicated by her nipple confusion from being bottlefed in the nursery at the hospital. So we had a steep hill to climb with her but after some intense work, by about 7 weeks all was well. I never had any problems with nursing Sarah except for an occasional bout of thrush. So I was expecting everything to go smoothly with Alex since his delivery was DREAMY!

But alas, that was not in the cards. He lost a little weight in the hospital and continued losing weight after we brought him home, despite my nursing him every 2 hours around the clock. He also had to be hospitalized for jaundice and that definitely DIDN'T help. He was very sleepy and keeping him awake long enough to nurse effectively was a real feat. So it was no wonder he wasn't gaining weight.

By 9 days old, he was down to 6lbs, 15oz after weighing in at 8lbs 1.6oz at birth. That's a pretty significant drop, I know. So I rented a hospital grade pump and got a prescription for Reglan to increase my supply in the short-term. All of a sudden, he started gaining weight.

The ideal weight gain for a breastfed baby is 4-7 ounces/week. For the last couple of weeks, Alex has been gaining about an ounce/day. I weighed him yesterday while we were at the pediatrican for Charlotte's 4-year well check and he weighed 8lbs, 15oz which is 11 ounces in 12 days. So I'm okay with that. He's scheduled for his 2-month check in about 3 weeks so I'm hoping he'll be over 10 pounds then.

I also saw a new doctor to look into the possibility of a thyroid issue that could be causing this weird supply problem. Maybe something got messed up after Charlotte's birth that never really corrected itself? Maybe I lost more blood during Alex's birth than I thought? Maybe there's something I'm missing? I'm all set for blood work this upcoming Thursday to investigate these matters. In the meantime, today is my last day of my second Reglan prescription. According to the lactation consultant, Reglan can be used three times so I think I have only one more go-round with it before I won't be able to take it anymore. Apparently the side effects can be really bad but I've had none of those. I also go on Thursday for my 6-week postpartum followup. I plan to talk extensively about this supply issue and figure out what's going on. The problem is, most doctors think it's no big deal to get over it and bottle feed. But after I nursed Sarah for 13 months and Charlotte for 18 months, it's not easy (or really an option in my opinion) to give up on Alex. So I'm keeping at it in hopes of straightening everything out and enjoying a long breastfeeding relationship with my new boy.

Alex is a wonderful baby. He doesn't cry very much, he's been a great sleeper since his first night home, and he's very snuggly. He started smiling this past weekend but he's still pretty selective about to whom he flashes that toothless grin. I'm sure he'll be more generous with those as he gets older. He's spending much more time awake these days and is very observant. I am so looking forward to watching him grow and develop as the years pass.

I promise to update more often now that we have computer issues resolved. My computer bit the dust and Andy had to work some "computer guy" magic to retrieve my information for loading onto his machine.

It's a ...

2009-02-04T17:53:00.000-05:00

...link to our family website! :)

www.mymurphyfamily.com/baby.aspx

Getting closer

2009-02-04T16:04:00.002-05:00

Deanna is now 8cm now - it is 4:05pm. The girls just got here. Sarah was in the room about 2 minutes and then promptly said "I want to go back now [to the waiting room]". They were excited to see everyone waiting, including their friends Elliot and Emma. We are excited to meet the new little guy or girl. The Dr. is still here, been waiting all day. I guess she wasn't kidding when she said she wouldn't leave! We will update you soon!

Moving along

2009-02-04T14:30:00.002-05:00

Okay, now we're 6cm and baby is coming down nicely. The nurse has heated up the baby warmer deal and we're in a holding pattern. Contractions are closer (3 min.) and we're hoping that Baby will be here before my prediction of 5:15.

A little bit later...

2009-02-04T10:42:00.002-05:00

We're moving along. Because of the abruption last time, Dr. E wanted to make sure I had an epidural before my water broke in case we needed to do a c-section. So I got an epidural earlier than I'd planned and she broke my water.

Now we're passing the time chatting with my dad and grandma and awaiting the arrival of Andy's parents.

I'm super tired, probably because I didn't get much rest last night. I might have to nap a smidge...

Checked in!

2009-02-04T07:24:00.002-05:00

We arrived this morning at about 6:30am. Yes--late but here. I'm already 3cm and 60% so we're on a roll. I am also contracting on my own and pretty regularly. But they're not strong enough to do a whole lot so they're going to start the pitocin soon. Per the doc's orders, I'm supposed to get my epidural before my water breaks in case something "happens" like it did with Charlotte.

Nurse is here for my IV--more later!

It's a go!

2009-02-02T14:17:00.003-05:00

We had our last BPP today and an amniocentesis. My two previous experiences with amnios were mixed--the first one was simple and actually comical while the second one was awful and painfully uncomfortable. So I didn't know what to expect this time around. Baby had one pocket of fluid up near my ribs so that's where the doctor went. Fortunately, this time was quite easy and my body decided to wait until the needle was removed to have a contraction. Whew!!

Baby was measuring over 8 pounds today and we heard an interesting anecdotal while the doc was prepping my belly for the procedure. He said to the ultrasound tech, "Remember that one from Friday that measured 7lbs, 7oz.? She gave birth this weekend and the baby was 9lbs, 11oz." WHAT??!! I said, "Oh, that's a great story to tell me right now!"

We got a call from my OB at 1:45 saying that Baby's lungs showed maturity so we're a GO for Wednesday morning at 6am. We are as ready as we'll ever be. We got most things ready this weekend and all set up for Baby's arrival. I got the girls' clothes all set out for the week, some meals in the freezer, all the baby "equipment" in place, the car seat straps cleaned and starched, and my bag packed (almost). So now we just wait for another 36 or so hours and we'll get things started to meet our new guy or gal. :D

Next time I update, hopefully it'll include Baby Murphy pictures!

Disgruntled Baby

2009-01-30T14:38:00.003-05:00

Our most recent ultrasound showed Baby continuing to grow well, but looking slightly disgruntled. Every couple of minutes, Baby would make the "crying face" and look really sad. If we could hear it, it would have been whimpering and starting to cry. :(

We're back to the doc on Monday for an amniocentesis and we're still on schedule to induce on Wednesday. :)

Take a peek at Disgruntled Baby (and his or her cheeks!!):

Gigantaur strikes again

2009-01-21T15:34:00.004-05:00

I had another ultrasound today to check baby's muscle tone, breathing movements, estimated size, placental function, and fluid level. Everything checked out well except the fluid level (it was about half of what it was last week) and the baby's size. As has been the case all along, Baby measured about 4 weeks too big again. Baby measured 6lbs, 4oz last week. Today, Baby measured 7lbs, 2oz. That's just about a pound since last Wednesday and about 2lbs bigger than an average 34w5d baby. YIKES!! We've jokingly been calling the baby Gigantaur and today when the tech covered the screen so I couldn't see the size, I knew that our not-so-little one was up to something.

The tech said she'd run the fluid level by the doctor because of the rapid decrease but that it should still be in the "safe level" zone.

Next ultrasound is Monday morning and I'll see my regular OB in the afternoon that day. We should know more then. But so far, the plan is still to do the amnio on February 2nd and induce on February 4th. The early induction is scheduled because of our significantly elevated risk of placental abruption because we had that complication during Charlotte's labor. I asked my OB about it yesterday and she said that we will be prepared in the event that it reoccurs because she is meeting us at the hospital and remaining there all day until Gigantaur is born. So that makes me feel better about that aspect. I'll be happy to report a safe, healthy delivery in two weeks!!

Here's the photo. Baby was sticking out its tongue...or its face is just so fat it had no other choice!! LOL!! Tilt your head to the right--Baby is lying sideways with its eyes in shadow.

Spin cycle politics

2009-01-20T22:48:00.005-05:00

Tonight at dinner, we were talking about the new president and past presidents. We told the girls that the first president was George Washington and he's on the dollar bill. Andy showed them a $1 bill and his picture. We discussed what presidents are on other bills.

The girls knew George Bush's name and now we're working on learning the new president's name.

Charlotte asked, "Who was the firs president? Was it George Washing Machine?" We all enjoyed a good laugh.

Bed Rest rears her ugly head

2009-01-19T17:45:00.004-05:00

Last week, I started to swell. It's always my first symptom of preeclampsia and when I checked my blood pressures, they were higher. "Cankles" was given a whole new meaning on Thursday when I had rolls, yes rolls, of inflated skin on my ankles. My feet were flowing over the tops of my slippers (which aren't normally tight enough to leave indentations) and my legs looked like tree trunks. YUCK! I couldn't stop laughing at the sight of my own legs so Andy took a picture.

Friday morning, I called my OB, Dr. E, and her office suggested I page the on-call doc (my high-risk OB, Dr. B). because she had left for a delivery. I told him what what happening and he sent me to the hospital for overnight observation and tests. I had some elevated protein level in my urine but according to him, they weren't high enough to deem immediately delivery necessary. So now I'm on bed rest. Bed-to-bathroom, bathroom-to-couch, couch-to-bed. Bummer.

We only have two weeks until the amniocentesis and 16 days until the scheduled induction. I can definitely survive two weeks of bed rest. Andy has been great about making me lie down and helping with the girls, the meals, the laundry, etc. He's always been very astute in his role as Bed Rest Nazi.

I have an appointment with Dr. E tomorrow and another BPP on Wednesday so we'll get another look at our baby. At our last BPP, Baby measured almost 4 weeks too big. Since about 12 weeks, Baby has been consistently meauring large by about 3 weeks so it wasn't surprising to see Baby so large last week. Dr. E has said that if we weren't already planning an early induction, the size of the baby might have necessitated one anyway. HA!!

Additionally, I think we've decided on a girl name finally (the boy name has been decided for a long time). We've gone back and forth on the girl name and had narrowed the first name contenders to two possibilities. (We had decided on a middle name.) Andy came home from work last week and said he thought that he'd decided he liked on more than the other and since I was pretty neutral on both names (though I was leaning slightly more toward the other name), I thought we should go with his choice. He kind of caved on Charlotte's name when she was born; I think he preferred one of the others we had lined up. So it seemed pretty fair that we should go with the one he liked this time. He said that it doesn't matter anyway because he thinks it's a boy. I'm banking on girl since we seem to have a track record of XX babies.

I guess we'll find out in 16 days. In the meantime, here's a photo of Baby's face last week.

Christmas traditions and other plans

2008-12-24T12:18:00.003-05:00

Tonight we're going to 5pm mass. We usually go to mass on Christmas morning after opening gifts and having a big breakfast. But we thought we might want to stay in tomorrow so we've decided to brave 5pm mass with the girls. That is usually a crazy time of day for them (what time of day isn't, really?) so it'll definitely be interesting.

After mass, we're celebrating with my family at my aunt's home. We do this every year--it's been a tradition for a long time. We'll have dinner and open all of our gifts. Every year, a mysterious Santa shows up at the door while we're celebrating and brings candy canes for the kiddos. We don't know who he is, but he's been there every year around the same time. We think he's just a neighborhood guy (and the first year we didn't let him in because it was kind of creepy).

Tomorrow morning, the girls will wake up--hopefully past 8am--and we'll open our gifts. We always have a big breakfast and play with the girls' new stuff. My dad and grandma always come over to help the girls put together their new things and for a Christmas lunch. But this year, Dad and Grandma both have some kind of intestinal virus and we DON'T want them to share that gift! So that plan remains unconfirmed.

Next week, we'll head to Cleveland to celebrate with Andy's family. Andy's brother comes in with his wife and 4 kiddos and with Andy's parents and other brother, we make thirteen people in one house. That's a lot of personalities to gel for several days. Every year we stay for 5 days and every year when we leave, we remark about 5 days being too long for a visit. So this year, we're going to make it only 4 days and see if we leave a happier families with fewer homicidal tendencies. :)

In addition to all the Christmas plans, I saw both of my doctors yesterday. We made a plan for delivery. Because I take Heparin, we needed to make a plan for when I'd stop doing those injections. I have a "propensity to bleed" after deliveries--with both deliveries, I've needed additional medical intervention to help control bleeding. Heparin is a blood thinner so the likelihood that I'll bleed with this one is even greater because of thinner blood. So I'm stopping the Heparin next Friday--at 32 weeks. We have scheduled an amniocentesis for February 2nd and providing that those results are favorable, we have scheduled Baby's birthday for February 4th (36w5d). This is two days' gestation prior to Charlotte's delivery and the doc is hoping to avoid another abruption. My next ultrasound (we had a quick one yesterday to check the placenta) is January 6th and that will be with an NST, too. I'll do those weekly after that until we deliver. I'm still ordered to "modified bed rest" but I find that hard to do. So I'm trying my best...

Merry Christmas.

Baby update

2008-12-03T15:32:00.007-05:00

We had an ultrasound today to check baby's growth and to check the placenta. Baby looked great and is definitely getting bigger--2 lbs, 10 oz according to the scan. The tech told us when to look away so we didn't accidently see something (or nothing) in a specific gender-determining area. We asked about how many people don't find out the gender and she said sometimes it's as high as about 25% of their patients but it's usually less than that.

I'm about an inch away from bed rest but so far I've only been instruction to "take it very easy" until I see the cardiologist on Friday. My heart has been doing weird things that landed me in the ER last week after fainting several times in public. But hopefully we'll figure out a plan on Friday that doesn't include bed rest. My OB thinks that it's probably BECAUSE of the meds that I'm feeling this way (beyond exhausted, heart palpitations, extreme dry mouth, dizziness, ears ringing, etc) but because of my poor response to beta blockers, we really have no other medication options to control the gestational hypertension. So if I go off the meds, I will have to be on strict bed rest.

He did instruct me to stop taking the one med--and it's the one that I think is causing most of my symptoms--so hopefully that will help. But I think it's also the one doing the most work to control my blood pressure so I might be shooting myself in the foot. The last complication with that is my low iron levels. I can't take the iron supplements because they interfere with the absorption of the blood pressure med I'm now taking 3 times/day. So my iron levels are dropping, which doesn't help my exhaustion level, which is a side effect of the blood pressure med.

So I'm a complete wreck, but Baby is healthy (presumably--we'll know for sure after our visit with the pediatric cardiologist on Monday morning) and that's ALL that matters!

Here are the two latest photos:

Baby's profile

3/4D Image of Baby's face (No, there's not really a big hole in Baby's head)

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T08:38:00.005-05:00

Today I'm thankful for so many things:

My wonderful husband
Two beautiful daughters
Five precious Angels watching over our family
A growing, thriving baby kicking my belly
Our warm home
The gift of friendship
A loving extended family
The blessing of a large, nourshing meal
Intelligent doctors
A sunny morning for Andy's race
And the comfort of God's grace, without which, none of these blessings would exist.

Happy Thanksgiving.

It's starting already

2008-11-24T22:35:00.003-05:00

Today, while the girls were eating lunch and I was making my own, Charlotte said, "Mommy, thanks for not playing with us today because we're having SO much fun!" I have been banished from playing with them lately, unless it is a game of Trouble or some other specific game. But general playroom activities are apparently not Mommy-appropriate. :(

The Mommy-Phase-Out is happening already...and they're only 3 & 5.

My knight in shining Escort

2008-11-24T10:44:00.002-05:00

Last week, my high-risk OB changed up my medication after I told him of the weird side effects I was having (shortness of breath, heart palpitations, BAD dry mouth causing my throat to close up, etc.). So I started a new med on Monday night.

Fast forward to Thursday: I had just dropped each girl off at her respective school and thought I'd hit the Michael's Craft Store $1 bins for stocking stuffers. I was walking around and finding some fun things, when I started to feel "weird". My belly was hurting and I immediately felt like I was beyond exhaustion. I told the baby that we would head home and rest in just a moment. Almost instantly, I started to fall over into my cart (Michael's carts are made for someone 4'11" or shorter). I tried to find somewhere to sit and finally made my way to a bench at the front of the store. The following is my conversation with the cashier who was standing right next to me:

Me: "Excuse me...do you have water? I'd be happy to buy a bottle of water or something. I think I'm fainting."
She: "Ummm, we have a water fountain at the back of the store."
Me: "Honey, I'm not making to the back of the store!"
She: "Oh, I'm sorry."

And she proceeded to turn around and continue stuffing bags with fliers.

WHAT??!!?!!???!!!!

So I called Andy who dropped everything and came to my rescue. He instinctively brought a beverage and drove me home. He drove around and picked up the girls from their schools, brought them home, made lunch for everyone, and offered to take the rest of the day off to care for me. He did go back to work (at my urging) and I spent the rest of the day feeling funky and "off".

The doc said he thought it was hypoglycemia but I'm not convinced. I think it was the meds.

Fast forward AGAIN to yesterday. We were in church (sitting in the front row, center) and I felt that feeling again. Knowing I did NOT want to faint in the front row (or at all, really), I sat down. I eventually got to my feet and made my way to the drinking fountain. I returned to my seat and spent the rest of my time praying that I wouldn't fall over. Fortunately, managed to avoid it so that was good.

I see my doc again on Wednesday so hopefully we can figure something out. My blood pressures are getting higher and higher at home, which doesn't bode well for the whole "avoiding bed rest for as long as possible" plan. Shucks.

Trusting His plan

2008-11-11T21:45:00.005-05:00

In the last two years, we have endured the losses of five babies. Each time, I wondered what God's plan was in all of the heartache.

Several days after the loss of our first baby (a son we named Samuel Richard), I was driving home from an appointment and heard a woman on the radio talking about the death of her brother. He was the youngest of 8 children and at age 20, was involved in a terrible car accident. She spoke of how her whole family came together and praised God for his 20 years, singing praise songs and praying around his bed as they turned off the machines that were keeping him alive.

She said that as she looked around the room, experiencing the deepest sadness of her life, she felt as if God was asking her, "Are you willing to give me thanks for that which I may never give you the privilege of understanding?" I have remembered that line because in my deepest sadness the first night we found out Sam had died, every time I woke up (which was countless times--I didn't sleep much), I had some random praise song in my head and I kept wishing it away so I could live, more like wallow, in my sadness. I didn't understand why these songs were playing, uninvited, over and over in my brain. But when I heard this woman speaking, she was speaking directly to my broken heart and answering the elusive WHY?.

It was after Sam's death that I started the Support After Miscarriage (SAM) ministry at our church because in my desperation for help and answers, I called my church--they could direct me to no one for help. Well, I talked to our associate pastor but I wanted to talk to someone who had walked this path before me. Since there was no one for me, I decided to make sure that another woman wouldn't have to feel as alone and scared as I did during those times.

This brings me to the reason for tonight's post. A close friend lost her precious baby today. She found out last week, during an ultrasound, that her baby had no heartbeat. Her husband called me on the way home from the doctor's office to ask how he could best comfort her. After our conversation, I immediately called my friend (they were in separate cars) and tried to comfort and mourn with her. This couple lives about 90 miles away so the phone is my only channel to support her. I wish I could do more but realistically, what I needed during those times was someone to listen and offer advice; I didn't necessarily want folks hanging around my house when I was feeling that low. I am saddened to receive her calls, knowing that her heart is shattered and she's feeling at her physical and emotional worst right now. And on the flip side, I am anxious to answer to calls because I know what it would have meant to me to have someone to call. It's such a double-edged sword--but it is mine to wield and I must be diligent in doing so.

So while I may never have the full "privilege of understanding" why God's plan for me included such sorrowful losses, I believe with all of my soul's strength that helping this friend, at this time, endure her suffering was part of His plan all along. I wish I could be supporting her through something completely joyous, but alas, we were not promised a life without affliction. But we are mandated to love, support, and encourage our sisters and brothers, especially during the darkest of times.

We don't have to like God's plan; we just have to trust it.

Tonight I go to bed praying for the baby who joined our five angels today, the mother whose heart is filled with anguish and mourning, the husband who sincerely wants to support his wife, and that God will give me the appropriate words to encourage my friend as I strive to be the kind of friend I am called to be for her.

Getting bigger

2008-11-09T11:37:00.003-05:00

Baby is growing, that's for sure. I was concerned about its fluid level after being so dehydrated with that stomach bug last week. But since I had an ultrasound scheduled for that Monday, I did my best to get fluids and rest in the meantime.

Again, we didn't get our favorite tech, even though I scheduled the appointment with her. I need to make sure the next one IS with her or I'm going to start getting upset. I'll call tomorrow to double check.

Anyway, Baby was moving all around so the tech had a hard time getting some of the shots she needed. Fortunately, we were able to get a couple of good head shots, though. The first one makes me smile because it looks like Baby is laughing. The second one is just a general profile but still amazing to see how much Baby has grown. Measuring a hint big, Baby weighed about 1 1/2 pounds (according to ultrasound which we all know isn't the most reliable in determining fetal weight) so I was pleased. That's some actual weight--we're past the point of measuring strictly in ounces. YAY!!

So here are Baby's latest portraits!!

Grand Slam

2008-11-04T11:42:00.003-05:00

After Sarah missed trick-or-treating, I kept her home from school on Friday. She lazed around all day and continued being sick. I kept Charlotte as far away from Sarah as I could and tried to keep everything as clean as possible.

Andy came home from work and we ate dinner. I didn't finish my dinner, which isn't like me when I'm pregnant. Andy commented that I must not be feeling well to leave half of my dinner. Ten minutes later, Sarah's virus took hold of me and I was heaving like first trimester morning sickness.

Less than an hour later, Andy followed suit. We sat dumbfounded and scratching our heads, wondering how we'd managed to find ourselves in this position.

We took turns in the bathroom for the rest of the evening. At one point, Andy went upstairs and I thought he might be giving up and trying to sleep. A few minutes later, he returned and said, "Guess what!? We hit a Grand Slam!" He was holding a VERY sick-looking Charlotte and dropped her off with me while he retreated to her room to change her bed sheets. She was nude, covered in smelly yuck, and shivering. I spent the next while cleaning her up and holding her hair back from falling into the garbage can each time she was bent over it.

Eventually, all three of us went upstairs and tried to sleep. Um, that didn't work out so well. Andy spent from about 1am-6am in the spare room or on the floors of each girls' bedrooms, taking turns with the garbage cans. In the morning, Sarah proclaimed, "Daddy slept on my floor and he puked in my garbage can. It woke me up but I went back to sleep." I'd hear, "Daddy!!!! Daddy!!!" every 20-30 minutes, then I'd hear Andy get up, comfort the screamer, head to the bathroom himself, and return to the sick kiddo.

I had called my OB and she had instructed that if I was still vomiting through the night, that in the morning I'd need to be treated for dehydration by IV fluids. So I did my very best to lie still between 2am-5am to allow my body to absorb some of the minute amounts of water I was sipping. At 5am, my body had had enough and revolted against my efforts. By that point, I started to think I was feeling sick because I hadn't had anything solid in my belly for so long. My wonderful husband brought me a cracker and a tiny bit of tea. I had that small amount, lay my head down, and slept for a couple of hours without vomiting.

We all lazed around, slept, vomited, and moaned ALL DAY on Saturday and by evening, I was starting to feel just a hair better. Charlotte was still vomiting, Sarah was definitely not herself, and Andy was questionable.

Sunday found me feeling much improved, Andy on the mend, Charlotte still having some issues every 12 hours or so, but Sarah was not much improved. She was STILL vomiting (remember that her last solid food was a waffle and milk on Thursday morning) and complaining that she couldn't walk because her legs "felt old" (shaky). She said that when she stood up to do something, her eyes would "get dark". I think she was starting to black out.

I took her to Children's ER around 10:30am and after waiting for an hour in admissions, we got a room, waited 40 more minutes to see the doctor, then met the IV nurses. Lovely. After some serious screaming, a failed attempt to stick her vein in her right hand, the nurses finally found and landed a vein in Sarah's left inner elbow. They administered two bags of fluid, some "sugar shots" and other stuff to help increase her sodium and sugar levels. We visited the fish tank, played "I Spy" in the lobby, watched shows, read books, Sarah napped for a few minutes (until the aide came in to take her vitals--grrrrrrr!!!!!!). Finally, at 7:15pm or so, we returned home. We weren't home more than 10 minutes before Charlotte, wo had reportedly been feeling better all day, vomited all over the dinner table. UGH!!!

Monday morning, Sarah woke up feeling much better but Char was still under the weather. I thought it might be a bit of my bronchitis so we went to the peditrician who sent us for a chest x-ray. No bronchitis or pneumonia showed up but she's still coughing and hacking today. They're goign to call tomorrow to check in on us so I'll update them tomorrow.

If you're still reading this, here's the wrap up: We ALL had a stomach virus and spent the entire weekend puking or at the hospital. This was certainly a weekend for the recordbooks--and not in a good way. :(

Happy Halloween...kinda

2008-10-30T21:45:00.010-04:00

Today was Charlotte's Halloween party at preschool. She was so psyched to go to school in her cow costume. Here she is with her fellow classmates including a bee, a poodle, a doctor, a firefighter, and Indiana Jones.

After school, we headed to my doctor because I've been coughing like a fiend. I had 4 months' worth of pneumonia when I was pregnant with Charlotte and I do NOT want to repeat that; it was definitely not fun to have broken ribs while growing a baby!! And it turns out I headed to the doc just in time. I have a good case of bronchitis that would have likely been headed toward pneumonia if I'd not gotten treatment. I'm on antibiotics and feeling generally miserable.

Just as I was settling in for a nice afternoon nap to help get rid of my headache and give me a better chance of feeling well, Sarah came downstairs and proclaimed, "Mom, I puked all over my bed and the floor." Surely enough, there was clear evidence that she was not mistaken. I cleaned it up and put her back to bed. Less than 30 minutes later, she came down and said she couldn't sleep. She proceed to vomit again, and again, and again until 8:30pm. Add in a few bouts of diarrhea and a few changes of clothes and it made for a great trick-or-treat night.

Andy took Charlotte out trick-or-treating for about 30 minutes. Our precious Charlotte took her bag and a bag for Sarah. She told all of our neighbors that Sarah was home sick and they all thought she was very kind for caring about her sister.

Sarah was so happy and thankful that her sister thought of her and brought candy for her. And Charlotte was happy to do it.

There's nothing like a good sister.

Happy Halloween!!

For all of our Halloween pictures, including our 4th annual Halloween party, visit http://www.mymurphyfamily.com/.

Warmed my heart

2008-10-28T17:15:00.005-04:00

Today, Oprah featured miracle children. I was looking forward to seeing it but fell asleep after the first two guests (conjoined twins separated at age 4). I have a cold and with the additional blood pressure medication I'm taking, I spend a good deal of my day very drowsy so I missed the next 30 minutes to a nap.

When I awoke, Oprah and Celine Dion (where'd she come from??) were crying and went to commercial. Thanks to the beauty of DVR, I rewound the segment and watched. She featured this YouTube video posted by parents of a boy named Eliot.

As the parents of at least two Trisomy babies (our Sam had Trisomy 9 and our Laura had Trisomy 1--Joy had normal chromosomes; Gabriel and Erin's chromosomes were not tested), this was especially touching. While we never had the joy of holding those five babies in our arms, our hearts feel the same way these parents do. Our lives were BLESSED to have had all of you for the short time you were on Earth and we know that you are full and healthy in Heaven.

Rest well, sweet babies. Your friend, Eliot, can tell you what it feels like to be kissed by Mommy and Daddy.

Busy and sleepy

2008-10-21T21:51:00.003-04:00

I've been so busy lately. Fortunately, some of that busyness should start to settle down. I've been working on a committee at our church to organize a stewardship initiative. This past weekend we had a big ministry fair and it took a lot of my time. It was a great success so I'm glad I did it. But I was EXHAUSTED afteward.

To add to my exhaustion, my high-risk OB put me on blood pressure medication a couple of weeks ago. This medication makes me feel like a zombie from about 11:30am-5:30pm. I HAVE to nap while the girls are napping or I am virtually unable to function. At this point, it's better than bed rest but how much better?? I'm not so sure sometimes.

My regular OB called me her "biggest nightmare" last week. She said she's confused about why my blood pressure is normal when I'm not pregnant but it starts to skyrocket so early in pregnancy. I suppose it's a mystery.

On a better note, Baby has been moving around and really becoming active. The girls are excited about the baby; Charlotte is really enjoying singing and talking to the baby. She comes up to me sevearl times a day and says to my belly, "Hi Baby!" She sings to the baby and constantly asks if Baby is done growing yet. :)

So good news and less-than-thrilling news this time.

GROSS!!

2008-09-30T14:11:00.004-04:00

Yeseterday, DH came home from work to find a dead bird in the grass under the basketball hoop. The girls were intrigued but Charlotte was bordering on obsessed. She said, "Call me when dinner is ready. I'm going to look at the birdy."

So while the girls were playing outside today, I didn't think about it when they were talking about the bird. They know not to touch it or anything, right?

Char rang the doorbell and Sarah tried to let her in. She came to me and said, "Mom, Char wants to bring the baby bird in the house."

I bolted to the front door to find Charlotte on the front porch carrying the dead bird by the neck, albeit very lovingly. I immediately told her to drop the bird and come in the house. We washed hands several times and sanitized twice. I changed her clothes and called the pediatrician. Because Char is snuggly and a thumbsucker, my main concern was that she sucked her thumb after touching the bird or tried to smooch it. YUCK!!!

The pediatrician said to wash her hands (check!), change her clothes (check!), and wash her face/neck (check!). So I think we're good, but the thought of her sucking her thumb or kissing that thing--barf!!!!!!

It's never a dull day around the Murphy home.

Girly weekend

2008-09-26T19:02:00.002-04:00

Andy is currently on his way to Cleveland for his annual Guys' Weekend with his dad and brothers. His car, the trusty 1995 Ford Escort, isn't quite as trusty as it used to be so I insisted that he find another form of transportation--so he rented a car. He stopped by at lunch to see the girls and say goodbye.

This means that the girls and I are on our own this weekend. So far, our only plans are church and soccer on Sunday. My plan is to have a lazy, relaxing weekend because next week is pretty busy. I cleaned the house today so I don't have to do it for the rest of the weekend and instead of cooking tonight, we drove through Taco Bell and brought dinner home! NO DISHES!! Maybe we'll have a movie night tomorrow or play nail salon or something girly. Who knows what kind of trouble we'll find? :)

We're definitely missing him but we know he's going to have a fun time and come home refreshed and no douht, with lots of funny stories.

Another eerie memory

2008-09-11T16:20:00.006-04:00

As I was making Sarah's bed today, I had this odd memory. When we honeymooned in Hawaii, one of the most memorable things we did was visit the site of the Pearl Harbor attack and the Might Missouri (the battleship where the war surrender was signed).

While we were there, we talked about how we couldn't imagine an attack on our country and how blessed we felt to live in an America where nothing like that could happen again. We were silenced with awe and wonder at what those men endured on that awful day in the water off of the coast of Oahu. The sunken ships are still visible and the memorial is built over the USS Arizona. The rusty turrets and stacks are frightening, humbling, and devastating.

Little did we know that just over a week later, we'd experience something on a similar scale and watch it unfold. Heartbreaking.

I looked up some of our photos from that day and thought I'd share them.

From the museum on the island, looking out over the water

On the boat ride out to the Arizona. They played an audio piece with commentary from survivors and family members during the 5-minute ride.

The names of those killed on that fateful day. Many of them found their final resting place directly under our feet as we stood there reading.

Part of the ship sticking out of the water is a reminder of how many men met a watery grave

That fateful morning

2008-09-11T10:01:00.005-04:00

At 8:48am, the phone rang and startled me from my sleep. We had returned from our honeymoon less than a week before that morning and since I wasn't teaching full-time, I had the privilege of sleeping in some days during the week.

Andy, from his desk, said, "Turn on the TV. You're going to want to see this. Tell me what you see. John said a plane crashed into the World Trade Center."

I'm a news hound so I like to be on top of the latest news developments. I walked out from our apartment bedroom and over to the television. I hadn't grabbed my glasses or contacts so I couldn't see very well. But standing just a few inches from the television, I couldn't have missed that sight and I'll never forget it. Andy's coworker, John, is a small aircraft pilot and it was initially thought that the plane that crashed was a small plane not unlike those that John flies. So we were concerned that a pilot may have made a catastrophic mistake. But as I stared at the amount of thick, black smoke, it quickly became obvious that it was a much larger craft that had smashed into that building.

As I explained it to Andy, he was relating what I was saying to his gathered co-workers, as they couldn't get access to any news websites because of the sheer volume of people trying to get information. I told Andy I'd call him back and we hung up.

I ran to our bedroom and grabbed my glasses because I was having a hard time believing my eyes. Just as I sat back down, the second plane approached and devastated the other tower. I immediately called Andy back and told him that another plane hit the other building--and I knew immediately that this was no accident. I screamed, "What's going on!!???!!" as if someone would hear me and answer.

Mesmerized, I couldn't move all morning. I called Andy to tell him that the first building had fallen and he said that everyone was heading down to the lobby to watch the two televisions tuned to CNN. He said that the lobby area was crammed full of people trying to get a glimpse of what was happening.

Shortly after the second building fell and the crash into the Pentagon, along with other reports of more hijacked planes and car bombs in Washington, the CEO of LexisNexis announced that they were closing for the day and everyone should go home to be with their families. What we didn't know at the time was that some employees of LexisNexis' parent company, Reed-Elsevier, had been killed during these horrific attacks.

Andy called to tell me that he was heading home (after stopping at Best Buy to purchase a new CD that had come out that morning----ugh). When he got there, I hugged him and was so thankful to have him home.

Together, we watched the day's developments and out the window of our third-story apartment, we watched the skies fall silent. We had always enjoyed our great view of downtown and of all of the planes flying in and out of Dayton airport as well as a smaller Moraine airport. For several days, we saw nothing flying and it made for an eerie feeling.

As 3pm approached, I waited for a call from Sylvan Learning Center where I was scheduled to teach that night but the call never came. So I showered, dressed, and left for work. As I drove the 5 miles to work, I encountered only 3 cars, as everyone was elsewhere, captivated by the terror of that day. When I arrived at work, we had only a few students show up and those who did come were picked up early. So it was a wasted few hours and I was happy to come home.

I watched the rescue and recovery efforts over the next weeks and learned about the heroism and valor of seemingly "regular" folks. I was amazed by the hard work and dedication of citizens from all over the country. As I heard the stories of those who were missing and those who had miraculously survived, to say I was moved, touched, or inspired is complete inadequate.

We were so young in our marriage, so young in our lives, and so infantile in our understanding of true valor. Now, as the mother of two beautiful daughters and new baby on the way, as I watch the dedication of the Pentagon Memorial today, I am struck by a new magnitude of understanding. I'm so grateful that my children will simply read about that day in history books and through stories we will tell them. My heart breaks for the parents who, on that day, were sitting with and reassuring their children on those planes, watching the tragedy unfold on television, or received phone calls from children saying goodbye as they readied themselves to sacrifice their lives to prevent further destruction.

Our lives will never be the same. Our children's lives will never be the same. And our country will never be the same. I imagine that that's how the passengers of Flight 93 who fought against the evil of the hijackers would want it to be.

May God's grace comfort those families who suffered losses, those responders who sacrificed so much to save the lives of so many, and those who work tirelessly to prevent further destruction.

Another portrait session

2008-08-26T11:46:00.004-04:00

Last week, Andy and I went to my high-risk OB's office (Dr. B) for our nuchal transluscency scan and blood work. Our RE has released me to my regular OB (Dr. E) and Dr. E uses Dr. B's office for all of her ultrasounds. Dr. B has all of the very latest technology since he works with high-risk, complicated, and multiple gestation pregnancies. Dr. B manages my blood pressure during my pregnancies and he has performed all three of my D&Cs.

So everything went well with the scan and after some prodding from the tech, Baby moved into position and out from behind the placenta to get all of the right measurements for the test. And then she said, "Okay, let's see if we can get a good picture of this baby." She whipped out the 4D wand thing and there was Baby--in 4D. Moving and stretching all over the place. It was so very cool to see our baby in that image. I do still have a complete placenta previa, which isn't the greatest of news but we still have PLENTY of time for it to resolve and the likelihood of that happening is very good.

My first appointment with Dr. E's office (I'll see the NP first and then Dr. E after that) is Thursday so we'll find out more about where we go from here. Because of the previa, I'll likely have regular ultrasounds to check out the position of that thing and make sure it's migrating appropriately. If it doesn't move completely out of the way before delivery, I'll need a c-section. So if you're of the praying persuasion, a few prayers that the placenta moves out of the way would be appreciated. Thanks.

Here are our latest photos of Baby. The first one is the regular one with Baby's hands above his/her head. The second one is the 3D image of that same pose. Hands above head, little legs stretching down, and weird bump on the belly (just a glitch in the image--not a crazy belly bump)

Happy 7th Anniversary

2008-08-25T10:57:00.005-04:00

Seven years ago today, I married an amazing man. We had a beautiful day surrounded by so many friends and family who helped us celebrate our nuptuals. As I walked down the aisle, I remember thinking, "I can't believe this guy wants to marry ME!" He's so kind, generous, loyal, selfless, supportive, encouraging, creative, thoughtful, hardworking, committed, and handsome that I still found it hard to comprehend that he was pledging his love to measley, old me. I knew I was truly blessed.

We had a great time planning our wedding to be a very personal event that included everyone and we hoped everyone who attended would feel how much we loved them and appreciated their support. When the day came, it was nice to just sit back and watch it all come together.

It's funny--when we got married, we'd spent months planning how we'd spend that day together and when it arrived, we didn't spend much time together at all! When we danced at the reception, I said, "Hi! I haven't seen you all day!" Sure, we'd exchanged vows, posed next to each other in photos, ridden in the same car to the reception, but we hadn't had time together all day. But it was okay because I knew we had the rest of our lives to be together.

It's been an amazing 7 years. We've bought two homes, sold one, brought home two children, sent five to Heaven, made another one that we hope will come home in February, laughed so much my face hurt, played innumerable games of Scrabble, weathered family firestorms, been to paradise on our honeymoon, worked ourselves out of debt, endured tragic losses, and celebrated amazing blessings. And compared to so many couples, our marriage is still in its infancy. I am excited to see what the future will bring and I know that there is NO ONE I'd rather experience those things with than my husband.

Happy Anniversary, And.
I love you.

Our first family vacation

2008-08-25T10:38:00.003-04:00

Our Total Money Makeover prevented us from taking a vacation for the last few years. We haven't had a real vacation since 2002, when I was barely pregnant with Sarah (I actually didn't realize I was pregnant until we returned from Gatlinburg--no wonder I was so exhausted when we hiked up the mountain!). Andy hasn't taken a week off of work since our honeymoon. So when we became debt-free in May, we decided that we'd take a vacation this summer and no excuse would stop us.

Andy took all of last week off and we had a "stay-cation" for the first few days. We went bowling, to lunch at a favorite restaurant, to the pool, and did fun stuff around the house. Andy fixed some plumbing issues in the girls' bathroom and in the basement, and it was a good time.

Thursday we left for Holiday Inn at Caribbean Cove in Indianapolis for two nights. We got a deal with a room, entrance to the water park for the three days we were there, and four tickets to the Children's Museum. We were worried that the girls would have difficulty sleeping because they have their own rooms at home and they had to share a bed in the same room as Mom & Dad at the hotel. But they did GREAT!! They went right to sleep both nights!! (I'm sure it helped that we ran them like crazy all day both days and they had NO naps while we were away!)

Unforutnately, when we returned home, we realized that a breaker had tripped in the electric panel and our refrigerator was off for most of the time we were gone. So we lost just about everything in the fridge/freezer. But, since I had to clean the entire thing from top to bottom, our fridge is sparkling clean today!! HA!!

Now--back to real life again....

Photos from our vacation will be posted soon!

Photo Shoot and Complications

2008-08-05T20:32:00.007-04:00

It probably seems like all we do is hang out at the doctor's office and have ultrasounds. I promise we do more than that. But it's about the most interesting thing we're doing these days. I WILL post about other things going on in our days--soon--I promise.

But in the meantime, I have more baby photos to show. We had our scheduled ultrasound today and Baby was measuring a few days bigger than its gestation (and had a good heart rate of 170), so that's good. Baby was moving around in there and Char said, "Mom, the baby is waving at me!" She's so in love with the baby already. Our RE (Dr. Burwinkel) is ready to get us off of his books and send me back to my regular OB.

And, it wouldn't be a Murphy pregnancy without our share of complications, right? It seems that this pregnancy is going to be no different. While Baby looks great and and is growing at just the right pace, the cause for my bleeding is a complete placenta previa. The baby's placenta is totally covering my cervix so when I do too much activity (lifting, coughing, dancing, etc.), a little bit of the placenta tears and I bleed. So that's a big thumbs down. :( We had that with Charlotte and whether or not it had anything to do with the placental abruption that happened during labor, we'll never know. But I am at a higher risk for bleeding and stuff because of the previa. So I'm under orders to "take it easy" until further notice. The placenta will likely move out of the way by the time we're ready to deliver, but it'll definitely be something to watch.

Okay, so here are the photos. Our little bean has turned into a moving, wiggling, waving alien. :)

Dr. Burwinkel labeled the hands, legs, and head for the girls. They, at ages 3 & 5, had a hard time deciphering which parts were what. They could tell the heart because we could see it beating and they could tell where the hands and legs were when Baby moved around, but they had difficulty with a still photo. So he did this one for them.

This is a profile photo of Baby's body. I'm supposed to be 10w4d today and baby was measuring a few days bigger at 11w1d, so we're NOT complaining that Baby is growing so well!! :)

Crisis averted

2008-07-27T21:40:00.004-04:00

Last week was the "crucial" week for this pregnancy. If we made it through last week, we would have made it past Sam's last day in my belly--and he was our longest gestation since Charlotte. So when I started spotting on Wednesday, I was terrified. I convinced myself it was nothing; afterall, bleeding in pregnancy isn't wildly uncommon. So Thursday morning brought more spotting and again, I tried to discount it as nothing. But when I woke up on Friday morning with brighter, redder spotting, I'd had enough. I left a message for the nurses at my RE's office and they called me back before they even opened with an appointment time for an ultrasound. I really like that office.

So we headed to the office at 2pm (thank goodness we had an extra long playgroup--10am-1:30pm!!). I was very nervous and really prepared for bad news.

But I was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful 184 bpm heartbeat and a wiggly "gummy bear" in there. Baby was measuring perfectly and dancing around. It has little arms and legs, two little eyes, and a strong, beautiful heartbeat.

Here's the latest photo of Baby Murphy:

Grow, Bean, Grow!!

2008-07-18T13:51:00.006-04:00

We had another ultrasound this morning and I was a little tense because we had the girls with us. I was worried that if something was wrong, they'd be there to see me distraught.

Fortunately, all is well and Baby is growing well. Again Baby is right on target for growth and the heart rate has increased to 175 beats/minute!! YAY!! The girls LOVED hearing the heartbeat and I loved seeing their faces when they heard it.

Our next ultrasound is August 5.

Here's our latest photo. Baby is almost upside down with the head toward the lower right and bottom toward the top left. If you look closely, you can see a little arm hanging down, too. YAY!!

Open wide!

2008-07-12T09:10:00.002-04:00

In January, I took the girls to the dentist. Sarah had been several times already so she was an "old pro" but it was Charlotte's first visit. After all was said and done, I was concerned that it would be her last. She was TERRIFIED and screamed the entire time.

So I wasn't super optimistic about this week's visit. I scheduled Charlotte and me together, and Sarah separately next week. When we arrived at the office, the hygenist had it all set up for me to go first, but I asked if Char could go first. As soon as Charlotte realized it was her turn, she started to panic. To get her into the chair, I offered to allow her to sit on my lap. She was okay with that and as the cleaning got started, I could feel her body tensing. But she eventually started to lighten up and seemed to be enjoying it. I was whispering into her ear that I was proud of her and she tried to smile. (If you've ever tried to smile with an instrument in your mouth, you know how hard it is!)

After she was finished and she hesitantly allow the dentist to look at her teeth, she received a toy from the prize box (a rubber frog like Sarah picked in January), a new Princess Jasmine toothbrush, and a pair of yellow star sunglasses.

I think each visit will get easier now that she's overcome the first full exam. That is, until we start working on fixing her "thumbsucker overbite". :)

The sweetest sound

2008-07-09T20:49:00.007-04:00

Because we've had 5 miscarriages since November 2006, we never count on a positive pregnancy test to mean much of anything until we see or hear a heartbeat. We haven't had that pleasure since Charlotte was in utero, so considering I've been pregnant 5 times since then, it's definitely not a given that we'll carry to term.

But today changed all of that. After finding out a couple of weeks ago that we were again expecting, I've been on pins and needles (twice daily heparin shots, that is) waiting to see if this one is going to "stick".

We had an ultrasound appointment this afternoon and I was nervous, excited, and scared to death. But it didn't take long for me to see that beautiful image---a beating heart. And it was really pumping--not just a flicker--it was a REALLY, TRULY, LIVING HEARTBEAT!! I immediately covered my face and sobbed. I was crying so hard that that doctor couldn't focus the probe on the heartbeat to hear it. When I realized what he was doing, I gathered myself (as best I could) and waited. Low and behold, there was the sweet, beautiful sound. Thumpa, thumpa, thumpa, thumpa-----I could have listened for hours.

So while we're only 6w5d, it may as well be delivery day for me. We are thrilled and elated that God has blessed us with a living baby and we pray that he/she continues to grow and develop and stay in there as long as possible. Hopefully in February, we'll be posting pics of a brand new Murphy.

In the meantime, here's a shot from today's ultrasound. Not the greatest photo in the world but it's Baby Murphy's first photo. :)

Why do they call it a "disease"?

2008-07-08T13:35:00.003-04:00

Charlotte was diagnosed yesterday with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. She had a high-ish fever all weekend, was extra cranky, and had started complaining that her tongue was hurting. Worried that maybe her ear tubes had come out and she had an ear infection, I took her to the pediatrician. The doc said that she didn't have strep throat (Char was a CHAMP with the throat culture!) but she did have bumps on the back of her throat. After close examination, we saw a bump on her right palm and a couple of little ones on the soles of her feet, too.

After the diagnosis, I asked all of the regular questions: Is she contagious? Should I be worried about other children? What can I do to help her feel better? But I didn't ask why it's called a disease when it's really just a virus. There's nothing I can do to make it go faster or feel better. We just have to let it run it's course.

So why is it called a "disease" when it's really just a virus? They don't call the flu a disease because it's a virus. So why isn't this called Hand, Foot, & Mouth Virus?

I'm sure that the folks at the CDC that name these things aren't parents because they'd certainly give appropriate names to these things.

Broken legs and a meal plan

2008-06-26T21:50:00.002-04:00

Why does it seem that everything really does happen in threes? My friend's son, E, broke his tibia recently and sported a big, blue cast from thigh to toes for 3 weeks. Then, a friend of a friend broke her femur--and as the mother of children, you can imagine how much difficulty they are having.

So this morning I wake up to an email that my friend, Vicki, who is due to deliver her second child in the next week or two, was in the hospital last night. I was THRILLED to read the good news and hoping it was PINK news. As I read the email, I discover that she was at Children's Hospital with her two-year-old son who----broke his femur!! He's in a body cast and has to lie down for the next four weeks (minimum) and she's going to deliver this new baby any day now.

Feeling awful for her, our playgroup sprung into action and have set up 3 meals/week for the family for the month of July and we're heading into August now. It's fun to put all of this together but I wish it was just for the new baby and now for poor N's broken leg.

We'll be praying he heals quickly so he can enjoy his new brother or sister. That new kiddo is going to have one big story to tell about how Big Brother stole the the thunder from his/her birth!! :)

Ballerina Kaka

2008-06-23T14:44:00.003-04:00

In our house, bowel movements are known as "kaka" (a Polish word for that action). This weekend, Charlotte got a bit of a cold and began her first duel with diarrhea. She's totally frightened of going because it's different than what she's used to experiencing. Recently, she's battled her first real case of vomiting and she's decided she doesn't like puking. Yesterday she told me that her "kaka puked" and it was too stinky (followed by gagging noises).

Today, I couldn't make out what she was saying but I figured it out: She overheard me tell Andy that she has diarrhea but she can't pronounce that word. She used the closest word she could pronounce so all day today she's been telling me, "I don't like ballerina kaka! I don't like ballerina kaka!"

So diarrhea may always been known as ballerina kaka in the Murphy household. At least for now.

Bunco!

2008-06-21T08:59:00.003-04:00

Last night was Moms' Night Out for our church playgroup. We met at the Parish Activity Center and played Bunco! I had never played before and neither had most of the others. We ended up with enough people to play two tables and once we got the hang of it, we had a really good time. We didn't play for prizes last night, as we were all learning. But if we had played for prizes, I'd have won the esteemed 50/50 prize. HA!! I won 12 games and lost 12 games. I guess it could have been worse...right?

We're hoping to play again soon. One of our ladies is going back to school and another is due with her second child any day now, so we're hoping to get another rowdy night on the schedule.

I just joined our church playgroup this past winter, though I've known about it since Sarah was born. I felt that for some reason they wouldn't want me to join, so I let my insecurity keep me away for years. I really like these ladies and I am so glad I finally got my act in gear. My life is richer for knowing them.

To be totally cliche, I'm glad I rolled the dice and joined the playgroup.

VBS and Mama Time

2008-06-20T15:58:00.005-04:00

Today was the girls' last day of VBS. Last night they did a little performance for the parents. Sarah actually participated! She's really coming into her own. During her first year of preschool, she didn't really join in when her class was singing or doing hand motions. So it was exciting to see her doing the motions and singing with her friends last night. During the preschool part (Squeaky Beekers), Char just stood there sucking her thumb. That's pretty opposite of her personality so we were surprised. I'm sure as she's exposed to this kind of thing more often, she'll perk up.

One of the most exciting things about VBS wa the amount of Mommy Time I got this week. I shopped alone, got my hair cut, ran errands, and relaxed in my "spare" time. :)

I wish they had VBS every week.

Why not?

2008-06-19T22:49:00.002-04:00

So many of my friends are"blogging" now and I have resisted for reasons even I don't understand. Maybe I thought I wouldn't have time. Maybe I figured I was too old and "out of the loop" to do it properly. Maybe I was just too lazy.

In spite of all of those excuses, I find myself here--blogging. I don't know that I'll have much of anything to say that's worth reading but here I am anyway.

Okay--here's a quick catch up:

1995--Graduated high school and entered Wright State University
1997--Started dating Andy; he left Wright State to finish school in Cleveland
2000--Andy moved back to Dayton and started working at LexisNexis after graduating from Cleveland State; got engaged
2001--Got married
2002--Bought our first home and became pregnant with our first child
2003--Sarah was born in April
2004--Became pregnant with Charlotte
2005--Charlotte was born in March
2006--Became pregnant with Sam; lost him to Trisomy 9 in November
2007--Became pregnant with Gabriel, Laura, & Joy; lost all three--Joy to Trisomy 1; no explanation for the other two; Bought our second home and finally sold our first home.
2008--Became pregnant with Erin and lost her in February to an unknown cause; Sarah graduated preschool and is headed to kindergarten in the fall; Char will start preschool in September

That's a BRIEF history. I'm sure that throughout my blogging "life" I'll expand on some of those but for now, it'll suffice.

Well, I'm a part of the blogging community now. It's official. Hello Blogosphere!