emma claire ~ an update!!

miss emma claire murphy. age 17 months....



loves to laugh & has a great sense of humor.  finds the word "NO" particularly amusing {great.}.  spends a great part of every day giggling.  a total goofball.

is very opinionated....and not afraid to share it.  enjoys music and dancing, so much so that it has become a part of our pre-bedtime routine as it does wonders for getting that last bit of energy out.  favorite song is a toss up between the "bumblebee song" and "head, shoulders, knees, and toes". sleeps like a champ {thank you} and loves saying "nigh nigh" {night night}.

an explorer, a climber, a daredevil.  likes to give hugs to her stuffed animals {particularly violet} and kisses to her mommy and daddy.  favorite foods are applesauce, rice cakes, green beans, and chicken tenders.....although she does not often discriminate ;) not a fan of diaper changes or long car rides.  might be a mermaid for how much she loves water.  would rather be "side" {outside} than in & loves to throw and roll in dirt {lovely!}. social butterfly. loves animals. always trying to figure out how things work.

unbelievably verbal &  constantly talking or singing.  likes to sneak her "deda" snacks under the table.  lover of shoes, clothes, beads {jewelry in general}, purses, and copycatting.  likes to help mommy clean and reorganize the fridge. energizer bunny. longest lashes and gorgeous baby blue eyes. loves princess anything. sleeps with her tushy in the air. not a fan of people leaving. adjusting to her new big girl classroom.  covering the fridge with priceless artwork.





loves wee sing sing alongs. has what we like to call, crazy hair. bow and hairclip intolerant. going to be a great big sister. will always be our baby. wakes every morning with a smile. an absolute joy.

the best thing that ever happened to us. beautiful inside and out. loved beyond measure. 

halfway there!!

time flies when you're having fun! being pregnant. in what already feels like the middle of summer..... ;)

....but seriously, we are halfway there! ALREADY!!!!!  20 weeks!  here is the photographic evidence to prove that my belly officially enters a room before i do.

How Far Along: 20 weeks! halfway there!!!!!

Size of baby:  baby ben is the size of a small cantelope {10.5 oz and 6.5 inches!}

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 10 pounds! holy moly!

Maternity Clothes: bring on the maternity pants and sundresses!! still wearing my old tops but those elastic waistbands and flowy dresses are my best friend these days :)

Gender: it's a boy!!!! Benjamin Ryan Murphy, we can't wait to meet you!!!!

What I miss: sleeping on my belly!

Cravings: grapefruit and cereal! and i'm not gonna lie, if you offered me a chocolate chip cookie, i'd be hard pressed to say no ;) hint hint.

Symptoms: sciatica! thanks to the laxity of my muscles from the first time around and ben's position....i get treated to funny tingly feelings in my leg. lovely.  thank goodness for body pillows and the most wonderful husband ever {who has totally perfected the way i have to be "tucked in" with all my pillows at night!}

Best Moment this week: feeling ben's continued acrobatics ~ his kicks and jabs have turned into full on twists and rolls and the little dude loves to move!!!  the way emma hugs and kisses my belly. making it to the gym regularly....really helps the sciatica.  we are looking forward to seeing our little man on the big screen again next week!!!

all in all, i feel great. some minor aches and pains here and there.....but despite having done this just once before, i'm totally amazed at the process and the way our bodies are made for this!! it is truly magical. 

here's hoping the next 20 weeks will be as easy as the first.....hey, a girl can dream right?? ;)

Happy Monday!!!

emma was so happy for the week to start she spent a solid 20 minutes engaged in some form of baby break dancing last night before bed. we could not stop laughing. 

she was literally running back and forth and in circles in the living room and would then plop down and start laughing hysterically. the picture quality isn't great on these but i just had to get some documentation of the crazy dance party going on at our place last night ;)

after she was done breakdancing, it was time for some baby yoga.  the downward facing dog is her favorite move and i tried to get an upside down between the legs shot....unfortunately i don't bend as well these days (for good reason!) so the picture is a little wierd ;)

next it was time to play with lotion. emma gets a baby massage every morning and night....what a life!  she's been noticing me putting lotion on my belly recently and wanted to use some of her lotion on me. SO cute.  for some reason this made her VERY happy and she kept putting on more and more and more lotion.....20 minutes later my belly was very moisturized and emma felt like a very big girl ;)

TGIM.  seriously (say it enough and maybe it will stick). go out and make this week a great one!!

he has a name. {and other random musings}

drumroll please. and we shall call him.....

~ Benjamin Ryan Murphy ~

....or "ben" for short.  "benny" if you are his mommy or auntie and feel the need to speak all cutesy about him {benny & beanie, it's perfect c'mon! even more perfect that both bestie and i simultaneously thought of this!}.  but NOT Benji, ok? thanks.

pinterest.com

it is tradition in the murphy family that the firstborn son take his father's name as his middle name, hence the ryan.  we decided early on we wanted a name that was both classic and masculine.  the name "benjamin" means "my right hand son" and we liked the simplicity of ben and how well it fit together with emma.  as with his sister's name, it seemed timeless to us and after much deliberation, our little man has something great to go by :)

i celebrated my 29th birthday yesterday. it began with a knock knock at the bathroom door followed by a  soft "mama?".  in prances little emma carrying a gift package on her shoulder like a purse. typical! ;)  she and ryan bought me a kindle!!!! birthdays are not about gifts....but i have been wanting one SO bad....those two are so sneaky!  i have a book list that is growing like a weed and in an effort to take a little time for myself now and again, i'm trying to actually honor the list.  now i can! {this also means i am taking book suggestions so bring it on!}

i married the most amazing man. he cooked me dinner, invited friends over, and picked up my favorite flavor of ice cream.  he spoiled me rotten and made me feel so loved.  he is just plain wonderful :)

we EVEN got ryan to look at pinterest with us.  don't let him tell you otherwise. elisa and i got wrapped up looking at baby stuff and home decorating themes and we roped ryan into looking. i think he might become equally as obsessed as us.

well....maybe not ;)  if you haven't checked it out....you really REALLY should.

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our little birthday suit babe....running wild in the late afternoon shade :) she continues to be a truly magical soul.  the separation anxiety is lessening these days....although i remind myself daily that someday i will wish she wanted everything to do with me and her daddy!! she is talking so much these days.....a new word every day.  i promise to do a full update on her soon because she is just growing growing growing!

i had to work till around noon today...the hospital recently transitioned to an entirely computerized medical record and while this will eventually be a wonderful thing....the learning curve is steep. i'm moving at a snail's pace but i'm learning slowly but surely. i was still able to escape at a reasonable hour and am soaking up a gorgeous saturday with my lovies.

stay cool out there, friends!! :)

a MEGA memorial day post :)

we're home from an UH-mazing memorial day weekend!! in honor of the holiday, my parents 30th wedding anniversary, and my upcoming birthday.....we packed up and headed to palm coast for some good old fashioned fun in the sun!

i realized as we were packing up that this would be emma's first "real" vacation. we started a new july 4th beach tradition with friends last year but emma was just shy of 6 months old at that point and wasn't able to quite appreciate her surroundings as much.  nor was she mobile yet....a MAJOR difference ;)

she was very interested and a tad confused as we packed up the house. and by "the house"...i mean THE HOUSE!  my goodness. who knew the smallest member of our family would require the most gear for this trip!!!



we timed the start of our adventure to coincide with naptime.  SOMEone isn't the biggest fan of long car rides....not mentioning any names....just sayin'.  she opened her eyes as we were pulling into palm coast. the resort we stayed at is one i've been hearing about for a while and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to check it out.  hammock beach is absolutely beautiful and i don't think i'll ever stay anywhere else again! there was so much to do and i can imagine it only being MORE fun as the kids get older.

our condo was fabulous. we had a view of the entire resort and the ocean and a huge wrap around porch.    emma spent the first hour running around and checking out every last nook and cranny....and trying her voice against the echo in our huge space! so cute.

we were so excited at emma's reaction to the ocean. i'm trying to think of the best word to describe it.....enthralled??? obsessed??? it was like a giant sandbox + water....two of her favorite things.  she literally went running head first into the waves....it was awesome! she was throwing wet sand around and rubbing it into her skin, digging with her sand toys, and squealing with sheer delight as the small waves crashed up against her thighs.  she is a generally joyful child....but THIS was over the top :)

one thing i've come to realize is that, as a parent to a toddler....especially a toddler with as much energy and interest in novelty as emma....vacation is actually more just like a change of scenery.  with all this new stuff to check out and a pretty fearless lady on our hands....there wasn't much sitting still to be done.  those magazines i brought? that book i thought i might start? sleeping in? yea right, mommy!!!!

despite coming home probably more exhausted than when we left.....we couldn't have had a better time if we tried.

the girls at daycare always comment on emma's uncanny ability to get as dirty as possible. see above...case & point.

this later devolved into emma shoving a ketchup saturated hotdog piece {ew} into mommy's mouth. what can i say, we're a classy bunch! and you think THAT's messy? you should have seen the white tablecloth when emma was all done with it ;)

....not really having it with my family photo idea....oh well, i guess the other 2 billion photos we took will have to do! ;)

something about this weekend was just magical.  i keep saying it because it's true. experiencing our young family grow, raising our little firecracker, and getting to do it with my best friend is just an everyday blessing.....making memories like the ones this weekend are what my life is all about.

and the icing on the cake....how wonderful it feels to be home. isn't that the best feeling? of all the places i've been in my life.....the coast of italy, the greek isles, and now hammock beach.....nothing EVER feels as good as coming home and that feels really good to me.  emma is unpacked and starting to catch up on sleep lost this weekend, laundry is going, the house is clean, and i've got a hot dinner date on the couch. talk about the perfect weekend ;)

this week i am SO grateful for un-interrupted time with my family. they are my everything.