Growing girl

Here are some pictures of our Emma. She's growing and changing each day! Lots of new words, funny phrases (a few faves are "I stuck" - when she's in time out - "Mommy, where are you" - extra cute when you hear her say it - "I see baby" - as she climbs in my lap to lift up my shirt and rub the belly), and greater skills & abilites each day. It is amazing to watch her development!

How did this happen??

Wasn't she just born?? Apparently not, because our little girl turned 2 over the weekend! She had a fabulous birthday weekend, complete with grandparents, Chi O aunties in town, an Aggie victory over the Gopher's (seriously, how did that one happen?!), an ice cream cupcake, an Elmo party, lots of fun with friends and family, and more presents than one girl needs. . . It was an awesome weekend, perfect for celebrating an amazing two years. Happy birthday sweet girl, we love you!!

Some summer fun - in pictures

A Murray Family vacation to Jellystone Park, the zoo, the Children's Museum, splash pads, and more! We're loving all the sun we can get! *Oh, and some proof of the escape and her new temporary bed while we get the big girl room ready!*

Escape artist

I keep forgetting this happened because I wasn't the one to witness it... Part of the amazement was the Emma slept until after 6 Saturday morning. The other part was that she met Steve at the door of her room when he went to get her.

Puddles!

These shoes will never be the same, but it's summer (ish) and she's a kid, so why not!

World Record holder

Ok, so participant may be more accurate. Just a technicality because today we were part of setting a world recor in, drum roll please, the most cloth diapers changed at one time! We went with some friends to our favorite local baby store Peapods, played for a hour, ate some yummy treats, won some FABULOUS prizes (like $80 in prizes! 4 new cloth diapers and a pair of baby legs!), and then made history! At 11:20 all of the parents and cloth diapered babes gathered in a room to wait for the signal at 11:30 to change away. It was hilarious to be packed in a room with all of these diapered kiddos hanging out as we waited. You & your buddy were super patient and such good sports. We had so much fun! There were 300 sites around the world participating today, pretty cool, don't you think?

Then we topped off our fun morning with lunch and a book store with our friends. You're asleep, I'm thinking I should be, and now we can decompress for the rest of the day.

Happy almost Easter from the World Record holding Murrays!

Flying in to spring!

It's hard to believe that the days of snow in the forecast are (mostly) behind us. It's been so great to feel spring in the air and see buds on the trees. Emma is loving the opportunities to get outside, her mama is far more willing to be out in the world when it's 40+ than when it's colder! We hunker down for the winter in the Murray household.

Em is working on yet another tooth. Ugh. This process is not fun for anyone, although probably least of all for her. She's working on more and more words, communicating so well, and she can walk backwards - something apparently children should do at 18 months that her mama hadn't noticed when we were at her 18 month appointment.

Baby #2 is growing and changing and should be the size of a lemon right now! We've hit the 2nd trimester-wow! The pregnancy continues to go well and other than being a little more tired, the impact has been minimal. With more friends having more babies, the reality of our changing family is more real and exciting! This Friday we hear the heartbeat for the first time, sooo excited for that!

Emma's getting excited for an upcoming visit from Grammy & Oscar and then a summer with more time with daddy. My how she loves her daddy time! It's been fun to hear him talking about scheduling play dates and activites for their days together as he usually has less opporunity to do so.

So there you have it folks! A brief check-in from the Murrays. Pictures will hopefully come soon. :o)

Go to St. Croix

Seriously, it's beautiful. Go! We did, with Grammy & Oscar, in mid-January in an effort to keep our brains from completely freezing during this long, cold winter. Putting hats, coats, mittens, long-johns, *etc. aside for a week was Heaven.

We lounged on the beach, had fabulous meals, went snorkeling WITH A SEA TURTLE! An actual sea turtle thought it'd be fun to snorkel with me! That was the.coolest.experience.ever!! I'm excited just recalling it! And enjoyed some wonderful, warm, family time for a week!








































(*Although I did get teased for having a very cute scarf on the day we arrived - a lady at a roadside restaurant said she was afraid I'd lost my luggage and told me I could get away with walking around in my bra. Something to consider)