Casa de Murphy

Our Week in Review

February 12, 2014 casademurphy

Last week sure was busy, right?!?! I feel like I start off each week with the greatest of plans to get ahead with cleaning & organizing throughout the week and then, the week gets by me before I know it…Oh well!

Friday was the National Wear Red Day 2014 to raise awareness against the No.1 killer for us, ladies — heart disease. So, in honor of the cause, I sported my red for the day. However, I will also share that I’ve been making many lifestyle changes over these last few months to improve my health for not only myself, but also, for my family. One of these changes included a trip to the cardiologist and getting a stress test. VERY THANKFUL that my results came back clear but I will admit, that it was scary waiting for them to come back because you never know what could be found. If you can get checked, I would recommend it. It can’t hurt. I did it for a few reasons, but mainly because I want to better myself and FEEL BETTER — be more healthy. I want to see my child grow up …he’s my main motivation to be a better me!! 🙂

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In other news, potty training has been a huge focus in Casa de Murphy, as of late. You will most likely hear me talk about quite a bit coming up, as we are gearing up to do a FULL ON switch over from diapers to underwear with little man. Whew…pray for me! LOL …I think Liam is totally ready….just not sure about me.

Up until last week, while Liam has done wonderfully with going potty at home very often, he has flat out refused to even set foot in the bathroom at school. Then, last week, he had a break through! He used the potty at school a few times!!! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! Never thought I would be so proud to hear him say, “mommy, I used the potty”, but I was when he came running up to me at pick up & said that.

2014-02-07_used potty at school_rm300

Another milestone is coming up…we got word last week that Liam will be moving on up to the 2 1/2 to 3 year old room on Monday, the 17th. He’s already been spending a little bit of time, here & there, in that room, and it’s right next door, so it won’t be a shocker. Another plus, is that he LOVES his new teacher, Ms. Candice. She’s the one who got him to use the potty at school for the 1st time AND in her room..well, the boy’s potty room in there….haha!! I think he will do great in his new room, so we are all excited for this new change.

2014-02_transition to room 300

The weather over the weekend was not the most fun. I guess compared to snow in most other parts of the country, we can’t complain….but the rain get a big thumbs down from me. Aunt Heather & baby cousin, Sierra came to visit for awhile on Saturday afternoon. Getting any pictures with Liam & Sierra was a big fail on my part.

After they left, we took Liam to Barnes & Noble to play with the Thomas & Friends train table. Since we got the train table at home, oh my goodness, this little dude is obsessed with Thomas the Train and his choo-choo’s!!! WOW…totally didn’t see that coming, but it is super cute to see him getting into them.

Since we only had a few Thomas trains with what we got with the table, we had taken him there to buy James the train, as he saw him on one of the movies we watched {yes, we are also watching Thomas on Netflix….lol}. HOLY COW, no one told us that Thomas & Friends as so pricey!!! Granted, they are very good quality trains {we are sticking with just the wooden choo-choo’s} but, oh man!! Definitely an investment.

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On Sunday, the sun finally made an appearance, so we took advantage of that & played outside! Liam enjoyed using the bubbles in his bubble mower for the 1st time. He kept wanting to stop to look at the bubbles & not realizing that if he did that, the bubbles would stop coming out….funny!

2014-02-09_bubble mowing

We’re looking forward to Valentine’s Day at the end of the week!!

Until next time!! 🙂

February 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Latest & Greatest

February 5, 2014 casademurphy

Last weekend, our Friday night started out with a trip to Publix to grab some dinner & a few groceries. From the back seat, we hear a little voice, say: “I want a big sister” ….say what?!?! THAT was an interesting conversation to have with a 2 year old and not one we expected at that moment. We proceeded to talk about how Liam could not have a BIG sister but he could say Timber was his big brother {he thought that was amusing}, and that maybe one day he would be a big brother. We also talked about our own siblings to him and how we were big brothers/sisters to them. Not entirely sure he got all of that, but we wanted to be honest with him. I think his curiosity & questions stem from him seeing siblings coming to pick up his friends at school with their parents. Very observant little dude!

The weekend’s festivities included a super fun 1st birthday party to go for our friend’s Matt & Michelle’s little guy, Brandon.

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Excuse me, I MUSTACHE you a question! LOL…LOVE this!! He was so cute!

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There were several wee one’s there so Liam had a good time playing. Although, for some reason, this ball pit was called, ‘the crib’ by him…ha! The birthday boy is in grey 🙂

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He found one of their dog’s balls in the backyard & practiced his future soccer skills a bit. Daddy was quick to point out that he was only kicking with his left foot.

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On Sunday, it was time for the Superbowl! And, of course, cleaning & grocery shopping {fun, fun}. After nap time, I took Liam to Jo-Ann’s to pick up some new drawer storage units to do a little re-do to his play kitchen. I am very excited for how it came out. I got two three-drawer units using my coupons. One side holds all his play food, and the other side holds all his utensils, bowls, and cookware.

2014-02-02_play kitchen update

We had our friends, James & Steph, over for to watch the Superbowl later that afternoon. Amazingly, Liam was totally cool with having football on ALL DAY {daddy.was.in.heaven}. We even let him stay up a little late to catch the half time show since he loves music so much. I am a big fan of Bruno Mars and I knew he would like his music, too. He did not disappoint! As for the game…well, I may not be a huge fan of football, overall, but wow….not what I expected.

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Liam really got into the music toward the end of the show. Stephen filmed this clip, and Liam was hamming it up!! Check it out:

As always, the weekend went by too fast, but we enjoyed ourselves & had a great time spending time with our friends. Hope you had a great one, too!

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Until next time!!

January 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Hello Two and A Half!

January 31, 2014 casademurphy

It’s been quite a while since I posted an update on Liam’s age or a monthly update, but since we’ve hit another milestone today, I thought it would be fun to do so. On this last day of January, our little man is a whopping TWO & A HALF…how is that possible, really?!?! Weren’t we just celebrating his birthday, and now we are half way to the next one? Good grief, time is going by at lightening speed!

Ever since this last birthday, I have pretty much abandoned referring to his age by months, but in honor of the occasion, AND to continue our teddy bear pic tradition, here we go:

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It’s definitely hard to get an active little man to sit still for a pic these days….

2014-01-31_30 months collage

Below is a recent cute Sunday morning pic of Liam coloring. I think he looks so grown-up here just soaking up the rays with his little feet in the air and crayons in hand. Care-free! 🙂

2013-01-20_coloring collage

AGE:30 months / 2 1/2 years old

WEIGHT: last check, 33 lbs…my back definitely feels every bit of that!

HEIGHT: he’s definitely grown in the last few months. We need to measure him again. It’s terrible but I don’t remember his exact measurement…next post 🙂

CLOTHES: He’s in a solid 3T now. I’ve even started to buy 4T for some brand shirts {like Carter’s} that run small on him in order to get more life out of any news clothes {most of his wardrobe is hand-me-downs…huge $$ saver!!}.

FAV FOODS: Lucky for us, Liam is not a picky eater. Although, I would say he is a very decisive eater. Meaning, when he knows what he wants to eat, there is pretty much no changing his mind. Sometimes, that’s a big pain in the a$$. I am sure that is a big part of his age, too. He likes a lot of fruit, especially bananas. I would like to see him eat more veggies but we are working on that. He is a huge fan of the Entemann’s popper doughnut holes {terrible, I know…but tasty, for a little guy}. He also likes to eat COLD mini Eggo pancakes. I cannot even begin to explain why our child likes to eat cold {e.g., frozen} pancakes, but he does. To each, their own! Ha! He also is a big fan of chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese.

FAV WORDS: Our little chatter box….what doesn’t he say? He has become very good with using his words and pretty darn clear with speaking. Definitely very thankful for that. We went through a brief period a few months ago where he was stuttering a bit but that seems to have gotten better. We still hear it at times, but everything I have read says it is normal development so we have never called it out to him & that definitely seemed to help him. “I want a snack” is heard frequently throughout the day”. “Uppey” …but we then look at him until he will actually then say, “Pick me up please”…lol.

He is getting very independent these days, and quite frequently you will hear him say, “I do it myself”. When we went to the Bengel’s birthday party a few weeks back & he had a ball with the bouncy house/slide, we were amazed that he was going up the slide by himself toward the end of the afternoon.

2013-01-11_bouncy house collage

FAV ACTIVITIES: Liam is very good at entertaining himself. I think that comes with him being an only child. Even from what I have observed of him at school, he currently likes to do his own thing a majority of the time, and that’s okay. He really loves to play with his toys, or if we are at home, watch cartoons {Disney Junior…all the way}. He also is been having a great time driving his Power-wheels Jeep and riding his new tricycle that Santa brought. Last drive time, he was even catching on to finally navigating the steering of the jeep…that was cool. No more just driving in circles. haha!

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FAV THINGS: Recently, we acquired a train table from a friend and that has opened a WHOLE NEW WORLD to Liam. He is loving his “choo choo’s”. Below is a pic of him with his new loves:

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Some of the trains that we got with the table set are the Thomas the Train brand. Super cute! We are slowly learning about them. They have the names on the bottom of them, and unbelievably, he remembers who each one is. He was walking around the house last night going, “Now where did you go, Gordon??” hahaha…so freakin’ cute!

MILESTONES: We have been practicing potty training! In my book, that is a HUGE milestone, and let me tell you, this kid has been training himself. He is awesome at it. He goes on the big potty and we have had success with both #1 AND #2! He is usually the one to ask us to go, which is unbelievable to me. I know that he is probably ready, at this point, to give up the diapers. For those familiar with the 3-4 day method of full-on potty training, that’s what our plan is…we just have to take a few days off work and commit. My plan is to take a Friday & Monday off and do it over a long weekend. It’s been a big topic of conversation with Liam for a while now and he knows it’s coming. I wish I could capture the big smile he gets when he actually goes potty….he is SO PROUD of himself!! It seriously is the cutest thing ever. And, he always tells me, “I did it!” and then we high five. LOL.

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In many ways, I wish I could freeze time and bottle it up…these moments are precious!! But, we definitely look forward to all the new memories yet to be made and special times together.

Happy Half Birthday, Little Man!! ~~ Mommy & Daddy Love You SOOO MUCH!!!!

January 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Bye Bye Paci

January 9, 2014 casademurphy

I was hesitant to post this for awhile. Mainly for fear that I would cave & give it back or buy another one more than anything else, but I can now confidently proclaim that we in Casa de Murphy have been PACI FREE since December 11th 2013. For those of us counting, that’s a whopping 4 weeks, today!!!

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

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Liam has slowing been destroying (biting through) paci’s and/or losing ’em over these last few months, so we had been trying to talk to him, as they disappeared, to let him know that once the last one was gone…that was it. We told him that he would be a big boy & not need one anymore. I had been stressing so bad that he would freak out once that day came. And, of course, it came on a morning that Stephen left for work early and I had little man solo. I went to wake him up for school. When I knelt down by his bed, he sat up and handed me paci and said, “paci broken”. I looked down at it and sure enough…almost the entire top of it was bitten off. Thankfully, he didn’t eat it or swallow it or whatever. Clearly, he wasn’t impressed by it.

In that moment, as dramatic as this sounds, a million thoughts ran through my mind. Mainly, “this is it” …”paci’s gone”…”let’s do this”. Oh, and “don’t freak out on him!” ….LOL. So, I told him, “Ok, dude, if paci is broken, then let’s go into the kitchen & throw it away. No more paci. You’re a big boy now.” Crazy enough, he said ok! We changed his diaper, and then he walked into the kitchen, opened the garbage can & and threw it away. As he dropped it in, he said, “bye, paci!” LOL

That was the end of it for the morning. Nothing special. No tears. No questions. Regular routine.

Now, after school, was a different story. He wanted paci immediately at pickup. So, we had to talk about what we did that morning and I simply discussed the events step-by-step. He remembered, but wasn’t happy. He fussed but was okay. Bedtime was not cool. I admit that I couldn’t do it. It’s funny that he’s been able to do naptime at school this whole last year and never ask for paci but forget about trying to go to bed at home without it. Stephen had to be the strong one for bedtime the first few nights. There was crying people. Funny, though, because even then, there wasn’t and hasn’t been a whole lotta asking for paci…he just fights to go to bed.

Even now, a month later, he will ask me for paci and laugh…he knows it’s gone. So I laugh back. At this point, he’s making it a game. Silly boy!

However, since Paci has been such a staple in our household these last 2 1/2 years, and literally little dude’s BFF….I thought it only fitting to share some of my fave pics of them together over the years. Corny, I know…but ya gotta admit…pretty darn cute!

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One month old {August 2011} — paci was the size of his little face ..HA!

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February 2012 {not the best quality pic} …chunky baby snoozing away with bestie

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April 2012 {9 months old} — too cute!

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April 2012 {literally passed out in the pack in play while playing}

November 2012 {Christmas family pics} — already trying to drive

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May 2013 {road trip} — one cool dude

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December 2013 {last picture taken with paci}

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Thanks for the good times paci!! 🙂

January 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Happy New Year!!

December 31, 2013 casademurphy

We were blessed with another year in 2013, and what a year it was!

Some highlights from 2013…

Greatest Lesson Learned: Parenting is hard AND fun …some days one and some days the other ….aaannnd most days both 🙂

Hardest Thing of the Year: Balancing mommy/daddy time with family time

Favorite Memory: Liam turning 2!! Taking him for his very 1st trip to see his favorite bud, Mickey Mouse at the Magic Kingdom!

What We Loved Most About 2013: Watching our little guy grow & change right before our very eyes. It’s amazing how much he’s changed in this last year! Such a little {talking!!} man with his own unique personality now! We moved him out of his crib this year and into a big boy bed. That was a challenge, but he loves it. More to come about this in a later post, but in recent weeks, we also gave up paci (gasp!…I know!).

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Looking Ahead to 2014…

What to Learn: Hmmm, well, there are so many things Liam will learn this coming year & so, we will have many adventures sharing those experiences. I hope to share some of those with you! I’m sure we will laugh together!

What to Get Better At: Tagging onto our hardest thing from 2013, we will try in 2014 to find more balance for couple time & family time.

Biggest Goal: POTTY TRAINING!!!

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Here’s a quick look back as we Say Goodbye to 2013 🙂

Wishing you all a happy & safe New Year!! All the best in 2014!!

December 2013, Latest & Greatest News

Our Merry Christmas

December 29, 2013 casademurphy

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope yours was a good one! We had a nice, quiet holiday, this year.

Mr. Elf made his last appearance on Christmas Eve by bringing Liam a bucket of reindeer food. While we tried to move him about once a day throughout this last month, we definitely didn’t go crazy with this little guy, as Liam was just starting to “get it” with him. Most mornings as we got closer to Christmas, he would ask where Mr Elf was, so I would say he enjoyed him. We also kept the whole experience with the elf fun & light-hearted, so I think that helped. For us, it was more about finding the elf everyday and not that he was “watching” Liam. I’ve actually felt a little bad these last few days, as he’s asked where he was a few times & I don’t think he understands that he doesn’t come back ’till next year. However, we did have a good time sprinkling the reindeer food out in the front yard before bedtime on Christmas Eve. My flash on my camera was being testy so unfortunately I didn’t get a good pic to share. I got the idea here from a pin off of Pinterest. I ended up finding the cute reindeer buckets at the dollar spot at Target the week before Christmas so it worked out perfect!

Christmas Eve, we just hung out at home & did a few fun things like putting up Christmas window clings & baking cookies for Santa.

That evening, we headed over to Stephen’s family for dinner. Liam got to visit with his aunt Heather & new baby cousin, Sierra — it’s her 1st Christmas 🙂

When we got home, it was PJ time, feeding the reindeer, and putting out milk & cookies for Santa. As soon as the plate of snacks were set out, we didn’t even blink before little man was helping himself to the treats! LOL …it was so cute that we just let him go…he enjoyed a cookie AND some milk!! I guess you could say that he wanted to make sure that tasted okay for Santa 😉

Once he was fast asleep…..SANTA.FINALLY.CAME!!

Liam’s big gift this year was a tricycle. I spent a long time scouring over Craigslist trying to find one that we thought he would like. We knew we didn’t want to buy it brand new because (a) if you look hard enough, you can find great deals on Craigslist and (b) we weren’t entirely sure he would like the tricycle so we didn’t want to splurge on it, just in case. One day, literally a few months ago, I found this Schwinn blue trike & knew it was THE one. Best of all, the family we bought it from said their son never really liked it, so he didn’t use it. It honestly looks brand new still AND it still had one of the tags on it! Definitely a steal! It was so hard to keep this hidden for months!

When we heard Liam wake up and stumble into the living room, I peaked out of our room to see his expression. He walked up to his trike & looked all around it. Then, he walked to the side of the tree and checked out the presents.

So cute!!

When he walked into our room next, the 1st thing he said was, “I got my bike! …and my presents!” ….melt your heart!

Going for a test ride right away!

Little People Wheelies track — another fave from Santa

Papa Murphy & family sent him a Rudolph jack-in-the box. This has been a huge hit. He calls it his reindeer music box. It plays the Rudolph theme song when you wind the crank to make Rudolph pop out.

Great Mimi was so thoughtful to send him this teddy bear. As you can see, he gave it lots of love right away!

One of his presents was the Fisher Price Medical Kit. Here he is giving Christmas Mickey (a present from Mimi & Papa D) a check up!

There was so much excitement from the morning, we were all tuckered out. Especially Timber….as you can see 🙂

I’ve been trying to get some good shots of Liam riding his tricycle, as we’ve taken it out for a few spins over the last few days. Here is one pick above from Christmas day. Below is a quick snippet of him riding yesterday. If you push him around, or, as in this video below, let him go down a driveway, he gets the concept of pedaling. However, we are still working on learning how to do it solo on a flat surface. That will take some time still & that’s ok!

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We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, as well!!

Much love….the Murphy’s

December 2013, Latest & Greatest News

Countdown to Christmas

December 23, 2013December 29, 2013 casademurphy

The countdown is on! Just a few days to go 🙂 …are you excited?!?! Having a child definitely brings that magical feeling from your own childhood back & we are finding ourselves wanting to start re-creating memories that we once did, as well as think of new & fun traditions to start.

During the week, we were pleasantly surprised with this awesome wine gift set from Stephen’s dad & family. It comes from out their way in New Mexico, so we’re excited to try this very soon!

On Thursday night, I put together a little gift for each of Liam’s teachers. He went shopping with me earlier in the week & helped pick out the soaps. He was cute. He clearly did NOT want to be shopping {I didn’t either, really…but I’m a terrible procrastinator}, and after we picked the 1st soap, he says, “Ok, are we done now?” LOL.

I found the tags off Pinterest from a free download here, and Liam & I had fun tracing his hand print to also put with the tag!

Friday, we brought the gifts to school, and he enjoyed a holiday party with his class. Later that day, when I asked him what special snacks he had from the party, he remembered, bananas & cheese 🙂

This was the special Christmas handprint project he made for us that he brought home on Friday. LOVE IT!!!

Saturday evening, we headed out to a Christmas party out at the horse stables where Mimi keeps her horses. Liam LOVES animals and really loves to see the horses, so this was great fun for him. I failed epically at taking a pic this time of him petting a horse, but we also had fun walking about the property checking out all the cool decorations.

After we left the stables, we stopped by Light Up UCF to check out the Christmas lights. Liam is still too small for the rides & ice skating they have there, but it was fun to walk around for a few minutes.

It’s almost Merry Christmas Eve, friends!! I am really looking forward to seeing little man’s excitement over these next few days!

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Until next time…..

December 2013, Latest & Greatest News

Holiday Magic

December 21, 2013 casademurphy

Where is this month going, people!?!? Good grief…I can hardly believe Christmas is in less than a week. So much happening in such a short time.

Last week, Liam had “Santa’s Workshop” at daycare {school}. This is the 1st time they have done this and to be honest, I questioned why it was even being done at his age group. I mean, I remember doing this in like, elementary school…taking a few dollars to school to buy presents for mom & dad. Realistically, there is no way a 2 year old is going to understand this concept of shopping for us on his own.

Buuut, me being me ….I didn’t want him to miss out on anything OR feel left out if others in his class went, so we sent him to school on the designated morning with a couple bucks. The report we got back was that one of the teachers helped him to shop & he enjoyed himself. When I asked him that evening how it went, all he remembered was that he ‘touched the tree’ …he LOVES Christmas trees this year, so he was thrilled to see the school’s tree set up in the workshop & apparently he got to touch it. That topped the shopping experience. Ha! Here’s a few pics the school took of it, though, so that was cool.

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The 3 presents he bought us were wrapped & sent home with him. So cute! Now, the story gets more fun. In the spirit of the season, I placed them under the tree when we got home that night, and we began to go about our nightly routine. Let me pause to mention that there were no other presents under the tree. The way we’ve decided to work things in Casa de Murphy is similar to how it was for us growing up. Santa brought all the presents. {Honestly, as a kid, I thought that’s how everyone did it, but as an adult, I’m finding out everyone’s traditions are vastly different…I could write a post just on THIS topic down the road.} Anyhow, Liam was in the living room watching Mickey & we were in the kitchen chatting. Next thing I know, we hear…..riiiiip….’umm, what was that?’ ….RIIIIP …..Yeap, we look into the living room to find our little man sitting next to the tree TEARING OPEN those three little presents ….our three little presents that he bought us. LOL!!!

I said, “Liam, what are you doing?”

“I, open” — with a big grin

“But, those are what you got mommy & daddy for Christmas”

“No, for Liam”

So, we just laughed, and let him go. Stephen got a cute Christmas coffee mug. I got a gingerbread picture frame and a pretty fashion necklace that I will proudly wear to work.

The best part is when he opened the necklace, he goes, “OH, I LOVE IT!!” and put it on! That was the cutest ever. I managed to snap a quick pic of that moment.

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Last weekend, we went down to see Grammy & Papa Rock. It was a really fun day for Liam. Grammy had surgery recently so we haven’t been able to see her in a while while she’s been resting, so we let the two of them spend some quality time together and he loved it….they both did 🙂

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Santa also came a little early this week for Liam from Grammy & Papa Rock. Since he has been quite the little chair stealer of Daddy’s lazy boy, we thought it would be fun to get him a little chair of his own. A few friends have this one from Pottery Barn Kids & I fell in love with it, so Liam is one lucky little dude to be able to have his very own, too.

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We have some fun things planned over these next few days. I hope to have some more posts up between now & Christmas for you!!

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I know I need to take my own advice on this, too …but we should take time out from all the hustle & bustle of this crazy time and enjoy the MAGIC of the season …..enjoy your family & friends…those you hold dear & love.

December 2013, Latest & Greatest News

Visions of Sugar Plums

December 11, 2013 casademurphy

Here comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus….yes, friends, last week we tackled a visit with the big man, himself. I have to admit that we were skeptical going into it as to whether or not we would find success, as last year was NOT a winner {there is no pic …MANY tears were shed}. Also, thinking back to his 1st Christmas in 2011, I wasn’t sure we could top that Santa pic ~ it was epic by my mommy standards & totes adorbs!! Here’s a look back on that one before I get to this year’s:

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Back to this year’s adventure, we decided to go after work on Wednesday. My original plan was to see Santa at Millenia, but time is precious & since we’ve had luck with Oviedo in the past, we decided to give it another whirl there. Amazingly, no one else was in line when we arrived. Liam was in great spirits UNTIL we got up to Santa. Then, it was not fun & games. We didn’t want to be “those parents” who force a crying kid pic. HA! The photographer was super nice and since no other family happened to be waiting, she was able to work with us for a short time to get Liam comfortable to sit next to Santa. I want to note {in the most hilarious way} that Santa was NOT allowed to touch Liam. Snoopy even had to act as a safety barrier. Notice in these pics below that no part of Santa is touching Mr. Liam. LOL! We tried a few different poses but Liam caught on every time. Overall, I would say we had pretty good success and these came out really cute. Such the little man!

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ok, Santa, you can read me a quick story….

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impromptu family shot….

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Next up, we had the super fun, 4th Annual — Bengel Gingerbread House Decorating Party!!

The 1st year I was just newly pregnant and I honestly don’t even think I realized it at that point. 2nd year, Liam was just a few months old and we were just there to have a good time 🙂 …3rd year / last year, we decorated a house together but he had no idea what was happening. So, this year I was a little more excited to do it. I knew he still wouldn’t fully grasp the concept but could still have fun with it.

I have to say I was surprised that as Stephen & I began showing Liam how to decorate the house, and choose the candy that he wanted to put on it, he began TO.EAT.THE.CANDY — our child does not really like candy OR chocolate, so you can imagine our surprise when he began shoveling the M&M’s in his little mouth. HaHa! What a kid!

Let me also mention that little man had spied the Bengel’s super cool Polar Express Electric Choo-Choo Train that circles their Christmas tree when we walked into their house. Sooo, the whole time we did the gingerbread house, we kept hearing, “i wanna play choo-choo” …hahaha. Niiiice!!

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train-tastic!! Now THIS is where Liam spent a LOT of time after we finished his house. While the adults chatted in the kitchen, we just kept hearing the whirling of the train going around the track 🙂

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Both sides of the Murphy’s finished house!!

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Buuut….let us not forget…

After all the kiddos where done with their houses and playing in the house, I went back out on the patio and this is what we found:

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Stephen & Lisa were decorating the leftover {pink} house and let me just tell you…it was INTENSE. Here’s what they came up with:

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These two are already planning next year’s masterpiece….sad or exciting? not sure yet …LOL

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Always fun times with these crazy friends!! Love ’em

December 2013

Love You Always, Grammy

December 7, 2013 casademurphy

It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since my Grammy left us. To be honest, I don’t even like to call attention to this day because it was honestly one of the saddest & hardest days of my life, so far …and it’s not one I like to remember. But, like any other person who has lost a loved one, you can’t help but remember that time. So, I am choosing to celebrate her today, as I do every day. There’s not a day that has gone by since her passing that I haven’t thought about her. And I know she would be pissed off at me if I spent today being sad….so I will do my best to not be.

Last night, I spent some time looking through photos. I can’t write a lot today or else I will cry, but I wanted to share some memories here with you….

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I totes remember these pink snow boots 🙂 …me & Bobby having fun way back in the day with Grammy. She loved us like we were her own babies, and for that, I will forever be grateful….

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These are from our wedding in April 2002. She & Grampy LOVED to dance….and they were great at it. Like Fred & Ginger!

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I don’t have a lot of pics from when I was pregnant but I am so glad I have this one. This was taken just a few weeks before Liam made his grand entrance.

Here is Grammy holding & feeding Liam when he was just a few days old. Words cannot express just how thankful I am that she was able to meet him & spend the 1st few months of his life with him. It breaks my heart that he will never remember it, but I will have these pictures to one day tell him about her when he’s old enough. I take comfort in knowing that she is still with us in spirit & watching over us. I hope that she can “see” what an amazing child he is turning out to be. I know she would love him!

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This is the last picture I have of all of us together.

Grammy and Grampy Wedding Pic

This is my Grammy & Grampy’s wedding picture from May 3, 1952. And, this is the laminated copy that my Grampy carry’s around in his wallet. It’s the sweetest thing ever, PLUS it’s an awesome picture. Sorry this isn’t the best quality pic & my thumb is showing, but I literally took a picture of his picture…ha! Ever since I was a little girl, I admired their marriage & relationship. I’m sure it wasn’t perfect….no one’s is. They made it work, though…for over 50 years. I can only hope Stephen & I can have as many years together, as they had.

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Love you, Grammy & miss you so much!!