rock on, girlfriend!

o.m.goodness. i am one sleepy girl.  it's been a busy couple of weeks at the hospital and i am super duper excited to switch rotations.  i'll have every weekend off in may. translation YIPPEEEEE!  the upside to this rotation is the midday lull that allows for emma visits!!!  and, in addition to some work related stuff i've been able to get done, i was able to read a book. for pleasure. for the first time in 2 years!!! seriously cool.

may is going to be an awesome month, i can feel it!!  we have a long weekend at the beach booked for memorial day {to celebrate the holiday, birthdays, AND my parents 30th wedding anniversary!}, will likely finish our renovation as well as several other home projects that are in final stages and just lingering, and will find out if our 2nd little nugget is a boy or a girl!!  i see the farmer's market and sunday brunches in our very near future. i see weekends by the pool with friends with icy drinks and emma's hot pink floatie.  i see sleeping in, fun in the sun, and backyard barbeques. i see my big pregnant belly in a bathing suit {blinding!}, popsicles, and summer on the horizon!!

i have to take a few minutes to ooh and ahh over the accomplishments of my best friend, elisa.  in her professional life, she is a physical therapist turned Ph.D. student who just recently took her LAST exam in her LAST class ever.  this is a crazy major accomplishment especially when you take into account the amount of time, schooling, and effort has been put in to see her to this point {we're talking 25+ years, people!}.  she works her butt off like you wouldn't believe and deserves every ounce of the awesome that is coming her way.  in her everyday life, she is the sister i never had, a machine on the dance floor {along with her studly hubby nick}, my personal stylist and therapist alike, a pajama expert, emma's auntie and the one responsible for the start of her shoe collection, and just about the kindest most beautiful person i know....inside and out.  she's the phonecall i make when i need someone to talk me IN to buying that pretty dress, my partner in dessert crime, and can be counted on through thick and thin.  she can go from silly to serious in the most perfect of ways and she and her husband nick are a true blessing in our life.  we could not ask for better friends. the short story is that i am SO VERY PROUD of her and love every minute of watching her accomplish her goals and conquer her dreams. it's awesome. ;)

my two favorite gator girls!

ellie, aunt elisa, your murphys LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! rock on, girlfriend....rock on ;)

a family affair

when i was a little girl, trips to visit my grandparents in north florida were some of my favorite times. after patiently waiting through a 3 hour car ride {not an easy task by the way}, the excitement began as we saw the "Marianna" exit sign approaching. i still remember the quirky details of the drive to their house...the bait shack, the piggly wiggly, and the red clay so well known to the florida panhandle and southern georgia. driving the small neighborhood roads to their home, passing the junior college where my grandfather announced sporting events, passing the golf course and florida caverns where grandma would surely take us for a visit, until finally....the large pecan tree in the front yard appeared in the horizon. grandpa would pay us in quarters to fetch all the fallen pecans from the front yard at some point! we'd feel the crunch of their gravel driveway under the tires, here the car horn honk loudly, and almost immediately, the screen door would open as my grandparents made their way out to the red concrete steps up to their back door. we would tumble out of the car, running excitedly towards them as they shouted, "Give me some sugar!".

i still remember the smell of their house, my grandmothers perfume bottles gorgeously displayed on her vanity, the way my grandfather would play the ukelele while we watched him in the den in awe, and the black tile bathtub that always seemed like it was bottomless. I remember buttered toast and grits with bacon for breakfast, cold cut sandwiches for lunch, and ham and field peas for supper....followed of course by grandmas pound cake and vanilla ice cream. I remember listening to my grandfathers radio show and on birthday in particular where he reconized me on air and later took me to the grocery to pick out my very own cake. I felt like a princess that day. And, I'll never forget his mealtime grace....spoken so fast we couldn't fully understood but it started with "Thank you heavenly father for these and our many blessings..." and ended with "Amen"...to this day I don't know exactly what he said and we'll take turns doing our own renditions of his prayer ;)

my other set of grandparents moved to florida from new jersey when we were little which was also such a treat. my grandpa, a sort of gentle giant, would pick me up from school some days and would always bring with him two softbatch chocolate chip cookies and a diet coke with a straw with a huge smile on his face. at their house, we would pick blackberries in the backyard and my grandmother taught me how to make greeting cards with pressed flowers. i'll never forget her laugh.

grandparents are the greatest. i miss mine all so much. but i'm so grateful to have such poignant and vivid memories of them all. and the memories i have of them make the experiences Emma has with HER grandparents so much more meaningful in my eyes. we are so lucky to have family all around us, all around her. it truly does take a village and we wouldn't have it any other way.

we spent easter morning together as a family of 3.  the easter bunny paid a visit to our house and emma enjoyed the treats left behind.  then we packed up for a day at glammy and peepaws where we enjoyed pool time, emma's first easter egg hunt, and a visit from mimi, pop, and uncle graham.  a wonderful spring/summer easter day. i'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

she has a newfound obsession with bunnies. her daycare has a live one in one of the big kid classrooms and she loves paying daily bonnie the bunny visits and squealing "bunny!".  this pink stuffed animal got lots of love this morning :)

 an outfit change was in order in the early evening as emma prepped for her first easter egg hunt. as peepaw hid eggs, we got emma gussied up in a poofy princess style dress courtesy of glammy. it was so cute....long enough to hide her feet from view so it just looked like she was floating.  she was very impressed with herself and kept patting the skirt and looking at herself in the mirror with big smiles :)

 after her egg hunting it was time for a little dip in the wading pool...

 off she goes!!!

this is the face of a child that did not nap once today. she is getting very good at sleeping in on the weekends....till 9 today!!! nevertheless she powered through the day without her usual nap and was just a gem.  we attempted to get her to snooze but she was just not having it....too much fun to be had :)

as the day drew to a close...we enjoyed a delicious easter supper on my parents back deck. emma stuffed her face with all sorts of deliciousness. by the time it was done, watermelon juice was dripping from her face and she was giddy with delight. this picture of her just reminds me of summer :)

i hope everyone had a beautiful day and managed to spend it making memories with the ones you love.  we sure did.

cookie monster

i wish i loved ANYthing as much as emma loves graham crackers. {oh wait, i do.....HER and HER DADDY!}

she will sniff out a box of graham crackers from anywhere and bring it to you to open....necessitating a photo session of course.

hmm...what have we got here??

jackpot!! here we go...

mmm mmm mmm...

nom nom nom.

evidence.

phew. i need a nap after all that hard work.

so full.

and HAPPY!!!!!!!

i'm telling you, graham crackers are crunchy gold in the murphy house. its a good thing they are so clean to eat and never make a mess.  and its a really good thing that emma knows that she's supposed to eat all of one before she moves on to another. and its a super wonderful thing that she doesn't know where i hide the graham crackers and thus can't get into them all the time.  or maybe it's actually the opposite of all those things i just said ;)

i hope everyone has a great weekend. someone is looking forward to some egg hunting and meeting the easter bunny for the very first time!!  TGIF!

kiddos

i'm one proud mama. 

first, there's this little lady...

...just as spunky as she can be. yet despite her sass, she's still sweet and snuggly with a smile that can light up the darkest of rooms. she is a girly girl who can hold her own and knows what she wants {and isn't afraid to tell you!} ~ a magical combination. i just love her personality.

and then there's this little cupcake, baking away...

...who, as we learned at our ultrasound today, is a mover and a shaker. a dancer and an acrobat.  who already likes to take the world head on as s/he says "HI mom & dad".

i can't wait to get them together and see what conversations will ensue :)

scenes from a weekend {the last of vacation}

...a mix of "real" and iPhone photos...

just one of the perks of being pregnant. aaron's "706 pregnancy cocktail", an amazing blend of fruit juices. best enjoyed with my honey on the deck of our favorite gainesville restaurant.

uncle andy turns 24 and, just like every birthday since 5th grade, we celebrate sawamura style!!

breakfast with a friend.

20 unsupervised seconds in the bathroom later...

subsequently found this on pinterest and found it completely appropriate!

the best 12.99 i've spent in a while....

 love those chub cheeks. kiss kiss kiss.

i knew i'd say it. vacation went by way too fast. tomorrow i will set my alarm clock for the first time in two weeks. it has been the most luxuriously simple of vacations and i have loved every single minute. i am refreshed, rejuvenated, and reminded of how much i love every part of my imperfectly wonderful life. bear with me for the next 14 days as i re-learn the balance of working mommy.

the beanie is snuggling sweetly in her bed {in her new princess nighty courtesy of Glammy!} and honey and i plan to spend the evening parked on the couch with some homemade meatballs and sinful TV.  here's hoping i can bring a little bit of vacation into my every day life ;) hope it's a great week, everyone!

TGIF!

no words necessary today...

15 months & 12 weeks!

hi friends!

ryan and i did the unbearable tonight....we finally hunkered down and did our taxes. it will feel good to get that check in the mail but MAN is it annoying to fill in all those crazy turbo tax blanks.

emma is now officially 15 months old! her stats are pretty impressive if you ask her short stubby mama. she weighs in at 27 lb and 1 oz and is 32 inches long {which puts her in the 80-90th %ile, wow!}.  compare that to 7 lb 12 oz and 19.5 inches at birth.  boy have we come a long way! her checkup went great....she is right on track and even ahead of the game with her developmental milestones.  and, according to the doctor, she is actually quite a bit more verbal than expected for her age {read on to see why this is particularly meaningful}.  this comes as no surprise given the amount of chatter in our house.  she knows quite a few words {about 15!}and as of late all she wants to do is read. she is a little sponge and will copy anything you do {both a blessing and a curse!}.

the only not so great part of our appointment was the final decision on the part of us and our pediatrician for a referral to the ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doctor.  it's a conversation that has been ongoing over the past few months.  emma has had issues with recurrent ear infections which are common in kids her age because of the way the ear tubes are shaped which doesn't allow for proper drainage of collected fluid.  she also has allergies which, while much improved on medication, leads to a chronic state of at least mild congestion - increasing the risk for ear infections.

kids all eventually grow out of this but the ultimate concern, aside from her feeling poorly when she has an ear infection and needing antibiotics, is for that of hearing loss and the potential for that to effect her language development.  thankfully, in her case, this is clearly not a problem and our doctor is not concerned....that's why i say that her talkative nature is so reassuring.  but, we wouldn't want it to become one down the line so we'll be going to see the specialist in a few weeks to see if it would be worthwhile to pursue "myringotomy tubes" {or just "ear tubes" for short"}. they are teeny tiny tubes that open the eardrums and provide easy drainage and prevent recurrent ear infections.

ryan and i were  very hesitant at first, a completely normal parental reaction in my book.  plus my experience with surgeons in general {please don't be offended if you are a surgeon or have ties to one as this is a gross generalization} is that they are hot to hit the OR. i want someone a little more conservative and who will give us all the pros and cons and will listen to and address our concerns. the procedure itself is short but does require general anesthesia.  insert a terrified mother here!!  that said, we'll go and we'll listen and we'll make a decision with all the information at hand.  as our pediatrician said...."it's not a commitment, it's an appointment".

because emma is so interested in copying what the "big kids" are doing and she is particularly interested in the bathroom, we recently bought her a potty chair to keep in the bathroom and begin to learn what exactly the fuss is about.  she was very intrigued when we first brought it out.  SO much so that she promptly took it into the living room to lounge in. she takes it everywhere. this morning she even took out the removeable bowl and used it as a dish to keep her breakfast bar in.  EXACTLY what we intended it for.... ;)

then, it was time to watch cartoons on the potty.

after cartoons and breakfast, she was satisfied with potty time and took the chair back into the bathroom.  she was taking a little longer than i'd like and i started to hear rustling in the bathroom closet. when i checked on her, what did i find {i apologize in advance to any squeamish men out there...}??

mom, what in the WORLD are these for?? sorry baby girl...THAT lesson you're gonna have to wait for.  she makes me laugh day in and day out. never EVER a dull moment around here ;)

finally, we're nearing the end of the 1st trimester as we hit the 12 week landmark today.  Here's an update!

How Far Along: 12 weeks!

Size of baby:  Baby is the size of a large plum! {2.5 inches long, 0.5oz}

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 3lbs....here we go...

Maternity Clothes: still wearing all my old clothes {although not fully zipped!} with the help of hairbands looped through the button hole. maternity pants are SO much more comfy though. just as an aside, i definitely feel like i'm getting bigger way faster than last time!

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: comfortable sleep as i've been having wierd hip aches and pains.

Cravings: still into the fruit like crazy. i treat myself to a delicious full fat dessert once a week too :)

Symptoms: honestly feel like i turned a corner last week. sleepy but feeling great.

Best Moment this week: listening to the heartbeat on the handheld doppler machine some more :) :) :)

i'll leave you with a few more of emma reading with her daddy just because i find it so dang cute!