c'mon get happy!

{image courtesy of ashlemieux.blogspot.com}

whadya say? let's be happy :)

my daily scroll through by blog feeder will have me stopping someplace new after i stumbled across The Shine Project.  created by ashley lemieux, the idea behind Shine is to find the light within yourself and then spread that light to others by way of random acts of kindness.  LOVE!  in a world filled with negativity, this positive project just makes my heart warm.  ashley comes up with weekly challenges for you to facilitate this kind of positive mentality....up this week "Give a Compliment a Day!".  check it out, it will make you smile i promise!

yet another blog i follow {The Pleated Poppy} has a regular post called "What I Wore" {WIW}.  the point is to inspire you to get out of your PJs and actually put on something pretty....and to get creative about it.  alot of my wardrobe consists of scrubs {yawn!} but i thought this particular post would be a funny thing to try ESPECIALLY being pregnant.  it's insanely easy to get perpetually stuck in yoga pants when you're baking a little bun....just ask ryan....i basically refused to change out of mine when I was pregnant with emma.  i have no ambitions of being the most stylish girl on the block OR the most put together pregnant chick....but i thought it would serve as a little inspiration to put some more effort into my daily look {if for no other reason, for my dear husband!} AND would be somewhat comical to see my attempts to dress my pregnant body! stay tuned.....it's a rainy day off today so i'm sorry, but PJs reign supreme today ;)

emma's latest obsession is all girly.  she is infatuated with putting on shoes, necklaces, bracelets, and ESPECIALLY sunglasses.  she'll bring a pair to you and when we put them on her we say "who's the coolest baby???" and she goes wild. it's the cutest thing! i cannot get enough of this child.

she is a baby on. the. MOVE. folks. all she wants to do is GOOOOOOO! there is no sitting still these days. it's explore explore explore. who needs the gym when you have a curious toddler ;)

and finally....a pregnancy update :)

How Far Along: 10 weeks!

Size of baby:  Baby is the size of a prune! {1.5 inches long}

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 0 lbs....this will change, oooooh how this will change ;)

Maternity Clothes: still wearing all my old clothes although things are starting to feel a little more snug in the belly....

Gender: not sure yet! i have my sneaking suspicions....but we'll have to wait until May. we have an ongoing poll on our fridge, come on by and leave your vote!

What I miss: nothing yet.

Cravings: FRUIT, shredded wheat, chocolate chip cookies....just like last time ;)

Symptoms: soooooo sleepy but otherwise i'm feeling great!

Best Moment this week: hearing the heartbeat on the handheld doppler machine :) :) :)

hope everyone has a great start to their weekend. the only thing standing between me and vacation is one more overnight call in the ICU. saturday can't come fast enough!!!!

let the love grow

it's been a hectic couple of weeks. i say that a lot don't i?  i'm rotating through the ICU right now taking care of some of the sickest patients in the hospital.  i've been spending every fourth night in the hospital....no fun!  thankfully i only have one more week to go and then it's time for vacation!!!!! 2 whole WEEKS of vacation!!! :)

ryan is working hard and making major strides at work.  he's loving his job and it has been such a blessing to see him thrive in his new role as what i like to call "renaissance man!".  he's also working hard to complete our master bed/bath renovation and i'm getting more and more excited by the day. i can't wait to share pictures!!!  we are trying to finish up the major projects we have at the house in the next couple months so we can just take a breather from home projects and enjoy life in general....

....and by that i mean, another development in the life of our murphy family.  Emma is very pleased to announce that she will become a big sister in October!!!!

we broke the big news to the grandparents at a "happy hour" the week of st. patrick's day.  we had everyone over to celebrate the popular irish holiday.  i kept telling everyone that emma had a special "leprechaun outfit" she couldn't wait to share. once everyone was there i got her changed into her "big sister" shirt and she made a grand entrance. it was so funny watching everyone's reaction. at first, no one could figure out what her outfit had to do with leprechauns....it was hot pink and not really green at all.  slowly, they read her shirt and it sunk in. the living room exploded with cheers. emma was VERY proud of herself :) :) :)

we are SO excited that our baby girl is going to be a big sister. i'm also filled with this strange sense of guilt...and my protectiveness of her is on overdrive. i know we'll find the space in our hearts to love another child without taking away from our love for emma....but i don't ever want her to feel replaced. i know how silly this sounds....but it's the truth. i'm still wrapping my brain around it all!!!

it's virtually impossible to imagine being parents to 2. 2 under 2!! i keep joking with friends that there's "never a dull moment in the murphy house!".  it's so amazing to me that 2 years ago weekends were filled with sleeping in, laying by the pool, and spontaneous get togethers.  my life has magically and beautifully transformed into weekends filled with cartoons, dr suess, a house strewn with toys, giggles, and SO. MUCH. LOVE.  i've never been happier. we've never been happier.

...and we look forward to sharing our ride here with you. stay tuned ;)

what a life...

On Saturday morning....I woke up to this....

and this...

and this...

heaven!

my parents blessed us with a weekend away while they spoiled their first born grandchild rotten.  it was the treat of all treats.  we missed our munchkin dearly, of course.  but, we got some very special time for just US...something that is as valuable as gold these days.  the resort where we stayed was gorgeous and had all sorts of fun activities to partake in.  we opted for extreme laziness.  we took a long....LONG....walk on the beach and talked life. we explored the scrub oak populated resort and took afternoon naps. we slept in. we ate yummy ben & jerry's and soaked up a few precious hours of ryan and martina time.

i love him. without him, nothing in my life would mean nearly as much. and i love reminders that before 3 there were 2....and that WE are where it all began.  i'm pretty much the luckiest girl alive.

and then we came home to this......

i can't stop pinching myself. what a life :) even when things are hectic and stressful and all crazy like....what. a. wonderful. life.

the perfect saturday

our wonderful saturday looked a little something like this....

xoxo.

happy {late} birthday honey!!

while it might not look like it from this picture....THIS is the face of a man who is excited to be 29! i promise, he really is ;) i'm getting to it late {bad blogger!} but on 2.26 we celebrated the last of ryan's twenties. mine is close behind so i don't feel bad exposing him as the elderly man he is....i'm right behind him.

in all seriousness {maybe i'll feel differently this time next year} but what is so darn scary about 30? we're ready. we embrace it. bring 30 on! for now, 29 will do and i know that it's going to be a good year for my honey! we hung out with family lazy style and fired up the grill. pretty much the perfect way to spend the afternoon especially with the weather getting more gorgeous by the day. have i mentioned how much i LOVE gainesville in the springtime?

emma kept us on her toes as she toddled around the pool deck. thankfully we have a safety fence all installed so there is no danger there....but a 13 month old, walking around on concrete, while trying to carry 10 toys at once....yea, a little nervewracking. such is our life these days ;)

how can a walking toddler be exhausting, you ask?? oooh well how about, for example, there is no such thing as "private time" in the bathroom anymore.  for some reason, this child LOVES the bathroom. so much so we have to keep the door closed when we're not in there because she'll find her way in.  bathroom trips are like family affairs these days.....emma tags along and usually has the entire roll of toilet paper unraveled in about 10 seconds.  or, her ability to ravage hours worth of cleaning in about 20 minutes.  on days off, i'll spend a few hours tidying up our house and getting things in order before picking emma. i don't know why i even try because within minutes of getting home, it's back to square one.  she's our little supercute tazmanian devil ;)

as is typical anytime the grandparents stop by, emma received her own gift on ryan's birthday. grandpa murphy scooped up a mini camping chair at a garage sale that was perfect emma size. she was in love....sitting in her "big girl chair" all day. every morning when she wakes up and comes into the playroom, her chair is the first place she stops.

she climbs in, smiles big, and kicks her legs with joy. it's pretty much the cutest thing ever.

of course, she likes to keep it classy with poses like this :)

ryan and i are excited to be heading away next weekend for an adults only weekend in amelia island.  my parents, in quite possibly the greatest christmas gift of all time, purchased a weekend away at amelia island plantation. we're staying in a luxurious oceanfront suite and emma gets to spend the weekend with her grandparents.  see....the PERFECT gift :)