December 2013, Latest & Greatest News

Holiday Magic

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 πŸ™‚

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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.

Latest & Greatest News, October 2013

Halloween 2013

October was such a fun month for this little Murphy family. By far, we had the most fun yet with a holiday with little man, Liam. Definitely can’t wait for Turkey Day & Christmas!

Liam loved all the Halloween decorations, especially the ‘punkins’, as he called them, and the jack-o-lanterns.

This pic below was all posed & arranged by him. It was too funny! I use the purple witch hat as a decoration but he wanted to wear it and then grabbed scarecrow Minnie & said he was gonna stand next to “mr punkin’ πŸ™‚

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So, I said in a previous post that I was super excited about Liam’s costume this year & it’s true, I was. I knew he wasn’t gonna 100% get it this year so we could still pick his costume this go round, but I wanted it to be meaningful to him. He has a Dalmatian puppy that he sleeps with every night, and when I found this costume from Pottery Barn, I knew it was THE one. However, it was priced way higher than what I was willingly to pay so I kept looking. But, you know how it goes….after you find, THE one, nothing else is as good. Then, one Sunday morning, I couldn’t believe my peepers when I came across the SAME costume listed on Craigslist. Long story short…a few days later that Craigslist costume was in our hands for a mere $20!! SCORE!! ….if you don’t take advantage of Craigslist, you’re missing out….I love it!!

We had a super fun Halloween Party to attend at the Bengel’s a few weeks ago. It gave us a good practice run of the costume and a chance to take this awesome costume pic. I was loving that Liam loved being his puppy!!

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That night, after the party, I submitted this pic via #disneybabyhalloween to the BabyCenter’s Instagram Halloween Photo Contest & I was siked that they picked it up & posted it! The contest ends today, 11/03, and we have a chance to win a $100 gift card. As of this update, his pic has 134 likes on Instagram and 783 likes on Facebook….All in good fun, but I’d say his our little celebrity!! You can check his entry out by navigating to the photocontest link on the BabyCenter’s FB page.

Quick family pick before Liam ripped his costume off at the Bengel Halloween Party πŸ˜‰

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Treat-or-Treat week brought some challenges to Casa de Murphy. Liam ended up spiking a fever on Wednesday afternoon & had to be picked up from school. Obviously, that put a damper on the Halloween plans for the next day, but the most important thing was making sure he was rested & feeling better. We spent the next few days resting & make a trip to the dr ….but doing better this weekend.

We were feeling ok on Thursday evening and no fever so we did take him out for a bit. He had a great time but he was a little scared to walk up to the doors by himself. Either Stephen or me had to usually carry him. And, he had his wagon charriot to get him from house to house. He was quiet at each door until the door closed and then he would unleash with everything you could tell he had been thinking….”I got more candy….I saw a pirate puppy….I go trick or treat” Love him!!

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Out & about in the neighborhood….

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Celebrating his haul with his bff, Timber!

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I’m sure next year, he’s going to tell us what he wants to dress up as, and then he’ll be running from house to house. That will be fun.

Up next….a recap of our fun trip to Green Meadows Farm! Here’s a few pics from Liam in the pumpkin patch that was there….he carefully picked in his own pumpkins!!

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August 2013, Latest & Greatest News

Latest & Greatest News — August Checking In

Can you believe we are more than half way through August already??? Β Crazy, right?!?! Didn’t the summer just start? That’s what it feels like, in a way, but Liam had his ‘End of the Summer’ party at school on Friday & all of the local area schools started back this week for the fall….so I guess it is THAT time again.

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The weekend before last, Liam & I helped to celebrate a little friend’s 2nd birthday. This little lady had quite the Minnie celebration. Of course, we enjoyed the party & decor, as well!!

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Party side note… Liam fell in LOVE with the birthday girl’s special chair (Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair). I just want to note that I did NOT put him in this chair. He found it and climbed in it all by himself. He was content to watch cartoons for a bit even during the party. I suspect we’ll be asking Santa for one of these babies this year… πŸ™‚

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One of Liam’s fav things to do lately is put on my or Stephen’s things….e.g., shoes, shirt, sunglasses. He basically wants to be just like us. Here’s my little rock-star with my sunglasses on. He kept these on for quite a while. Hysterical!! He looked too cool for words just hanging out in the backseat like that! LOVED IT!

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This past weekend we went over to Mimi & Papa-D’s house for a visit & a dip in the pool. It was so much fun! Liam has really been loving swimming this summer. He was even starting to kick his little legs and move his arms all by himself. At one point while standing on the steps in the shallow end, he said, “mommy move” because he wanted to jump in the water and NOT have me catch him. Mr. Independent!

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Call us crazy….but at Casa de Murphy, we feed our squirrel friends. Liam looks forward to it. I’d say Timber does too but he’s quite comical with it…the squirrels aren’t even the least bit afraid of him. That dog will make a bee line run at them and literally keep going right past ’em…dumb AND funny! Back to the feeding …we just sprinkle raw peanuts in the ivy at the base of our oak tree out front & in the feeder up in the tree.

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And, finally….Since it’s the beginning of the Fall semester at UCF & the 1st week of school everywhere else in our little world this week…here’s a pic of little man Murphy as cute as cute can be with his backpack on after school the other day. Can’t get enough of that!! πŸ™‚

Hope you all have a fantastic week! Until next time…