The Mecks

Breakfast with Santa

2011-02-04T03:08:00.000-06:00

Each year since I have know Scott we go to his Dad's and Step-Mom's house in Carthage, Texas to have Breakfast with Santa! And the last 2 years we have taken Murphy Jo:) Haleigh is such a trooper! She goes and has smile on the whole time! I remember when she used to get so excited about going to see Santa! She is now passing that excitement on to Murphy Jo! Thank you Haleigh for always be so willing to let Murphy Jo enjoy the things you did as a little girl! You are an amazing big sister!

Haleigh doing what she does best! Smiling and being an awesome big sister!

Logan guarding Murphy Jo

Love these two!

Daddy loving very second of it!

Logan called in help from this brother Landon!

YES time to eat!

Not so sure about this!

Nope not liking this at all!

We had a great time and built fun memories this year, but Murphy Jo was not a big fan of Santa up close! She loved him from afar! She really just wanted to run around, play and have fun! So needless to say we didn't stay to long!

2011-02-04T02:47:00.000-06:00

Taking family pictures is something I love to do! These are the picture we took in the Fall 2010! We got the taken by a sweet friend of mines photographer, her name is Dee Jones. I hope you enjoy looking at some of my favorite ones! I look forward to spring pictures!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-31T22:47:00.003-06:00

This year for Thanksgiving we just hung out at the house! We didn't go anywhere, we just had family time! Now don't get your hopes up, I DID NOT cook a nice Thanksgiving dinner, I ordered a nice dinner from Tom Thumb:) I know what your thinking, lazy mans way of cooking, but really it turned out great and we didn't even have to get up early to get everything ready! It was great! Below you will see a few pictures I took of my little helpers!

We had a great time and I am so thankful for my family!

Halloween 2010

2010-12-22T21:49:00.002-06:00

We had a great time this year at Halloween! We went with our sweet friends the Kaspars! I teach with their sweet mom and we are really good friends! We went over to their neighborhood for the night and walked the streets asking for candy:) Murphy Jo was not sure at first about how this all worked, but after the first house or so when she realized she got some candy she had it down! Scott pulled the kids in a wagon and when we would stop at a house Murphy Jo would make sure she had her bucket in hand and would take off to the door! By the 4th house she had it down! We walked up to this house, Murphy Jo, Morgan and Keaton all got their candy and when the man moved to pass candy out to the people behind us, Murphy Jo went right in the house and was headed to the playroom! It was so cute!

Our Money
Keaton

Morgan

The 3 at the beginning of the night!

The First house!

We tried to get them all to look, but the girls were NOT having it!!!

Murphy Jo walked up to this house and when this man walked out, she slowly walked back to me, then she went right up to him to get some candy! It was so funny!

YUM!!!!

The End:)

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-12-22T21:37:00.002-06:00

This year we decided to take Murphy Jo to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch! It was so fun! She loved it for the most part! She was unsure about the hay and would not sit still to get a "cute" picture with the pumpkins! But we had so much fun! I love watching her excitement when she discovers something new! She played hard and was pooped at the end of the day!

Our Special Date

2010-12-22T21:25:00.003-06:00

So I have been trying to blog for a long time and every time I get on to blog, my pictures will not upload. I am so sorry it has been so long, but I have been trying!!! PROMISE!!!!

Back in Sept. I surprised Scott with a night at the Gaylord Texan! We have both never been away from Murphy Jo and I decided it was time to take some time for ourselves! So I totally surprised him with an overnight date! I had arranged for my friend Libby to come and stay with Murphy Jo and off we went! We walked around the Gaylord and then went to a really nice place to eat and then back to the Gaylord for some drinks! We had a great time and it was great to have that alone time! Below you will find just a few pictures. We didn't take very many, but here is what we took!

Fun on Kilby's Farm

2010-09-06T13:07:00.006-05:00

There is a super cool place close to where Scott's mom lives called Kilby's Inc. they make their ice cream there! I LOVE going there! It is soooo yummy! They also have a little petting farm there and Murphy Jo loved it! Haleigh was right in her prime around all the animals and Sophia was having a great time as well! Below you will see a few pictures of this super cool place!

The front of the building

Sophia would love for Murphy Jo to come and sit down with her, but Murphy Jo was way to busy!

Sophia was loving her ice cream, Murphy Jo on the other hand.... NEVER ate any of hers!

Isn't this cool:)

We had a great time! Playing outside and eating ice cream is always a great way to end a great trip!!!!

Family Picture time!

2010-08-29T20:53:00.004-05:00

Every year we are in Maryland we like to take family pictures! We usually do it at the ocean, but for some reason we didn't do it this year. BUT we found a beautiful place to take them at Scott's mom's house. Maryland is so beautiful:) Some of these pictures are out of order, sorry!

The whole gang! We love our Maryland family and wish we could be with them more often! We really look forward to our yearly trips!

Vacation is so much fun!

2010-08-28T21:15:00.007-05:00

When we visit Elkton, Maryland we hit the ground running the second we get there! Scott is from Elkton and all of his family expect his dad, step-mom, step-sister and her family live there. So we make sure we visit with everyone! Now I will have to say that Murphy Jo was not her "normal" happy self while we were there. She had a few things going on 1) being in a new place was a hard adjustment for her and 2) she was also teething! So at times she was pretty cranky.... BUT overall she did really good! Even though she had 2 strikes against her she never let them get her down! She rolled with the punches and had a great time every place we went. She is such a trooper!!!!

The day after we got back from the beach we went to Scott's sisters house for a yummy cookout and to see her new place! She and her husband Jake had just moved into their new home a few weeks before we got there! I will have to say it is a super cute home! This was the first time Murphy Jo had been to a cookout where we ate outside and she seemed to really love it! The next few pictures are of the cookout!

Not really sure what to think, but is having a great time!
Murphy Jo with cousin Sophia eating! YUMMY!

PopPop T, MomMom J and Haleigh having a wonderful time with the family!!!!

Sister and brother-in-law Jake and Katie

Isn't she super cute!!!

Almost done!!!

Play time!!!! Yes with a stick!

And a little swim time!

MomMom J loves to have the girls help her make "buns"! And they love it too! BUT I think they like eating them more than making them!!!

We also try to visit Scott's granddad everyday while we are there! This year was a little harder because of Murphy Jo:( It is hard to keep her busy at PopPop Donald's house so we only went a few days, but Scott went everyday to visit him!

We love to visit with PopPop Donald! He is such a happy man with and amazing heart and a beautiful spirit! He is so kind hearted! We sure wish we could see him more often!

I tried to get PopPop to look at the camera but as you can see in the pictures he was really into Murphy Jo so he didn't look at me. Oh well, I think it is super cute and will be great memories one day! This was the first time for him to meet Murphy Jo and he loved her! She made him smile the whole time we were there!

Murphy Jo LOVES reading and would rather read a book sometimes than play! One thing that she did every night was crawl up in PopPop T's lap and read with him. It was sooo cute! BUT if you got a camera out she was SURE to look at you! It was so funny.

Yummy yummy CRABS!!!! One thing we make sure we always do while we are in Maryland is eat crabs! They are soooo super yummy but a lot of hard work! Man if I only ate crabs I would be super skinny cause you don't get much meat out of em and it takes FOREVER for this Southern girl to "open" em! You have to pull this way, break that way, clean out this part, don't eat that part..... man super confusing but super good! My brother-in-law can "open" up a crab in like 3 mins..... he is a pro!

Scott telling Haleigh what to do! I love this picture it pretty much explains Haleigh's whole life! Scott has always been so good at explaining things to her and letting her explore new things! He is such a good daddy!

The family Crab meeting!

Still lookin good! By this time I am running around chasing Murphy Jo! She loved the crab meat but was not a big fan of sitting and waiting for it!

Almost done!

Sophia with her corn on the cob! Murphy Jo had one too, but can you believe I didn't take a picture of her with it. Oh silly me!

I tell ya this sweet girl gets prettier and prettier every time we see her! She is getting so big and growing up so fast! We sure do love you Haleigh Bear!!!!

The last night we were in Maryland Murphy Jo made sure she got one last read in!!! And as you can tell she found the camera!!!!!

We LOVE the beach!!!

2010-08-11T16:52:00.004-05:00

We had so much fun at the beach! It is always good to get together with the family and just relax for a week! Watching the kids play, relaxing in the sounds of the beautiful waves and people watching! This was Murphy Jo's first time at the beach and she LOVED it! The first 3 pictures are out of order but I will put captions under them to explain! I have added a ton of pictures and could have added so many more, but thought I should get this post posted:)

First wave
Ready to get in the water!Loves the sand!

Always has a smile on her face!

Beach baby!

Cousins havin' fun!

Haleigh and her friend Alex! Aren't they beautiful?

Sophia getting used to the water

Not to sure about the waves

After a few days of hangin at the beach, she LOVED the water and waves!!!!

1,2,3 JUMP!!

Ready or NOT here it comes!!!

Daddy and his sweet baby girl! (the condo's on the right is where we stayed!)

Scott and his mom and Murphy Jo trying to figure out why her hand was on Scott's shoulder!

Ocean City Maryland 2010

2010-07-29T21:31:00.004-05:00

We had a great time at the beach! Here are a few "non" beach pictures! We stayed at a Condo called The Rainbow! It is right on the beach and has a beautiful view! And can you believe that I didn't even take a picture of it:( The kids had so much fun playing with each other and just having family time! Kate and Jake (sister and brother in law) were not able to stay the whole week so they came down Saturday night and left on Sunday. BUT we got to keep our sweet niece till Wednesday!

We usually go out to eat just about every night but this year we decided to do it differently! We ate in most nights and went out only once as a family while we were there! Scott and I always get one date night so we went out one night just the two of us!

We had a fantastic time and can't wait to go back next year!

This is our sweet niece and Murphy Jo!

Ring around the Rosy........

.... ashes ashes, we all......
FALL DOWN........
then I say
Fishes in the ocean, fishes in the sea
I better get up before ONE gets me.....
and they would both JUMP up and do it all over again! So CUTE!

Murphy Jo helping MomMom Jo make some biscuits!

Murphy Jo thought this would be a great place to wait on MomMom!

Sweet girl!

PopPop Tom and his girls! Haleigh and her friend Alex

Alex is a girl that Haleigh met last year! She is a super funny little girl! She kept us rolling with her stories! She LOVES to talk and I think pretty much talked the WHOLE time we were there!

Not sure what to think!

Bath time!!!!

The girls LOVED each other and had so much fun together!

Way Up in the Sky

2010-07-20T15:27:00.002-05:00

On Friday, July 9 Murphy Jo got to experience her first airplane ride!!!

We were going back and forth on buying her a seat or not and we decided it would be best to go ahead and buy her one. My mother in law already had a car seat so we didn't need to bring ours. So we bought this cool harness that straps around the seat of the plane! It is so cool! Not only does it keep her from kicking the seat in front of her, but it also gives her lots of room to move around! (And little did we know it would be her source of entertainment!- read down and you will understand what I am talking about)

Scott and I did lots of research weeks before we left on how to entertain a 15 month old! Scott had read something having "surprises" every so often! So I went and bought 3 new books, some white paper and crayons, and a new makers......

So there we were all loaded on the plane and it started to go down the runway........... then all of the sudden it stops and the pilot came on and said that they thought they were going to have 10 min delay but looks like now it is going to be an HOUR AND TEN MINS due to a storm up in Maryland! And there were no gates for us to go back to. Yep you read it right! I couldn't believe it, what in the world was I going to do with Murphy Jo for that long.....? So I unbuckled her and let her play around in her seat! And about 30 mins later the pilot came back on and said that everything was good and we were ready for take-off!!!! Murphy Jo cried for about 45 sec. when we were taking off and that was it the whole time!!!!!

Murphy Jo all buckled in ready for take-off
How cool!

This book was the best! It is actually one she got for her birthday from my sweet friend Meghan Ross and Murphy Jo LOVES this book! It is called "Ten Friendly Fireflies" and the book actually lights up! We read it over and over again! So at the last min I decided to throw it into the bag of goodies and I am so glad I did!!!

Scott and Haleigh

This was the entertainment for the ride! Murphy Jo played with her harness about 2/3 of the flight! The rest was spent reading books! She figured out how to buckle the harness!

Murphy Jo did awesome on the plane! We didn't give her any meds at all but did have them on stand by just in case she got really fussy! Everyone around us was so surprised how well she did! Scott and I were very proud of her!

Fourth of July!!!!

2010-07-06T22:04:00.002-05:00

This year for the Fourth we didn't do much! Scott, Murphy Jo and I got up early and went shopping at the Allen Outlet Mall and then came home and just relaxed! It was a great day! I love days that you don't have to worry about going anywhere! So when we got home Murphy Jo took her nap and then I thought I would try another photo session with my sweet baby girl and here is how it went......................

Mom, I love this camera.... can I see it?
See if you can catch me....

Look mom.......

I love it outside!!!

I'm ready to go.......

So needless to say, I didn't get any "great" pictures, but I think I got some super cute ones. Murphy Jo LOVES the camera on HER time!

I just found these pictures:)

2010-07-06T21:54:00.002-05:00

As I was looking through some of our pictures on the computer I found these! Let me give you the background on what they were for!

I thought I would try and save some money and take Murphy Jo's first birthday pictures..... well, it didn't turn out so good. But looking back, I think they are so cute so I wanted to share them with you! (BTW, we STILL have NOT got her ONE year old pictures taken!!!!) I really need to get back into taking pictures! This is a love of mine and once I learn how to use photoshop, I will never need to go to a professional studio!!!!

Haleigh's 6th grade Graduation:)

2010-07-01T21:52:00.003-05:00

Haleigh is grown up:( She is now a 7th grader........... I can't believe it! She is such a great girl and a wonderful example to her sisters and brother! She is such a bright smart young lady! She is the sparkle in her daddy's eye! He lights up each time she comes to stay with us and each time he gets to talk to her on the phone! I love to watch their relationship! I am so thankful to have such a wonder step-daughter in my life! And I am so grateful to have a husband that is such an amazing daddy!

Congrats to you Haleigh on your graduation from 6th grade!!!

She amazes us!

2010-07-01T21:42:00.002-05:00

Scott got Murphy Jo this new tube and she loves it! She has learned how to spin herself around and has learned to kick to make herself go forward! It makes her so happy. She is such and independent little lady that this is perfect for her! NOW it does make mommy kinda nervous, but I know she is okay so I have to let her have fun!!! She loves the water!!!

I just don't have words for this one......

2010-07-01T21:38:00.003-05:00

I am truly speechless for this post, but enjoy the pictures! Murphy Jo was really "talking" on the phone. She would talk and then stop and "listen" and then start talking again! It was so funny!

Little Gym

2010-07-01T21:18:00.002-05:00

I truly believe that Little Gym is amazing and is great for Murphy Jo! She enjoys it so much! She will not even hold my hand to talk into the building anymore! She goes right in like she owns the place! She is learning so much! She has learned, with help, how to do a flip, she walks on the balance beam, loves the bars, and LOVES to climb on everything at Little Gym.... and that has carried over to home!!!! We found her the other day trying to hang on the bar in our closet! She is such a cutie!

This is Miss. Stephanie, she was Murphy Jo's first teacher!
Do you feel the love? PRECIOUS!

Such a big girl!!!! Waiting to class to start!

Haleigh and Scott even got up to go to the 8:30 AM Saturday class!

Miss Stephanie is using Murphy Jo as an example for the class! Look at those straight arms!!!

She LOVES to hang on the bar! Look her feet are OFF the ground!!! Yep she is a strong one!

This one is for Poppy John! Murphy Jo LOVES to play basketball!

At the end of each class the blow bubbles this may be one of Murphy Jo's favorite things! She follows the teacher as they are blowing the bubbles! It's so cute!

An awesome woman!!!!

2010-07-01T20:53:00.003-05:00

Have you ever know those people that come in your life and you KNOW that they will be a FOREVER FRIEND? Well, let me introduce you to one of those people! Her name is Allie Arnett. I met Allie in August of 2007 when I was looking at my class list and she was the first name I came to.... NO she was not in my class, LOL but her precious little daughter Kylie was! As I was looking at my class list the parents names were also listed! And when I looked at it I saw the name Scott and Allison (Allie) I thought that was the coolest thing ever and I knew I was going to LOVE this family! And I DO! They are an amazing example of what a married couple should be like! Now let me tell you about Allie!

Allie is a TRUE lady of God! She shows His love and grace to everyone! She has this smile that will totally draw you to her! Allie is always has sweet words, her way of talking to you is one that makes you feel like a million bucks! She is an amazing wife that totally supports her husband in everything he does! She is also an amazing MOMMY! She has 4 of the most beautiful BLONDE kids! They are so blessed to have her as their mommy!!!

I have loved Allie for the moment I met her! She has always encouraged in everything I do! I am so thankful she is in my life!

So you are asking why I am making this post........ Well, I am telling you about an amazing woman who is battling Stage 4 cancer. I am not sure what kind and I don't want to get it wrong... but I can PROMISE you with all my heart that she is NOT letting this cancer get her down. She is still the Mommy, Wife and Friend that I knew 3 years ago and she STILL has that same smile and those SAME encouraging words for everyone!

I ask that you keep this precious family in your prayers! Please go to her caringbridge and read her story and her courage!

www.caringbridge.org/visit/allisonarnett

I LOVE YOU ALLIE ARNETT!

Allie and I at her benefit walk that a few of her friends put on! Such a blessing!
Natalie, Murphy Jo and Bailey (Allie's oldest)

Fun at Aunt Heathers house!

2010-07-01T20:44:00.003-05:00

Ridin' in my car...... well, really JEEP!!! This was the cutest thing ever! Sweet Andi took Murphy Jo for a ride in her Jeep and Murphy Jo loved it! Avery tried to but was not going fast enough and Murphy Jo was trying to take the wheel:) She sat there so well and totally enjoyed her ride! We love hanging out in the country with the Wood's!!!

Murphy Jo and Andi
What a good driver!

To cute for words!

Murphy Jo helping Avery open her birthday gifts!

First time in the pool 2010

2010-07-01T20:34:00.002-05:00

Murphy Jo LOVES the water! These pictures were taken right around the first of May! She was all smile the WHOLE time! She has NO fear of the water! She is for sure our little fish!

Look at that sweet face!
Dad guiding Murphy Jo (she didn't need it, but it made me feel better!)

So happy!

LOL, I love this picture! Look at that FULL diaper!

My new bed....kinda!!!

2010-06-16T21:26:00.003-05:00

Murphy Jo is really thinking about something............

hmm......... could it be where she is going to be sleeping tonight?

One of Murphy Jo's favorite things to do is get in the dog beds! And believe it or not, Molly Ann and Shady don't mind! The "girls" have been really good to Murphy Jo and have adjusted to her running around the house!!!!

Forward Facing!!!!

2010-06-16T21:15:00.003-05:00

One of the major milestones in Murphy Jo's life was when we turned her car seat around to face forward! We did this on March 26, 2010 after we got back from her Dr. apt! WOW it is a whole new world for her! Here are a few photos of that special event!!!

Daddy making sure everything is perfect! Sorry about his arm in the way!
Oh my goodness! Super cool! Facing forward AND a cell phone!!!

MomMom J and Big Sis we excited for me too!!!

She was totally watching Scott getting ready to drive off! She is thinking this is pretty cool!

One year old stats:)

2010-06-16T20:59:00.002-05:00

I know, I know I am almost 3 months late on this..... but thought I would get it up before her 15 month apt in a few weeks! (June 28!)

At this one year apt on March 26, 2010, our sweet Murphy Jo was:

22 pounds 66%

30.5 inches 88%

and her head

18 1/4 inches 83%

She is growing like a weed! She fills our heart with so much joy and laughter! We love you sweet girl!

She loves the Dr. office! And sitting in that chair was a BIG deal to her!
Nothing like chillin before she sees the Dr!

Murphy Jo and Big Sis! She adores her so much! I am so thankful that we are blessed with two amazing girls! Thank you Haleigh for always being so good to Murphy Jo!

Life is great!

2010-05-04T20:28:00.002-05:00

Well, for some reason I am not able to upload pictures right now:( I will try and upload in a few days! I just wanted to get you up-to-date on how things are going! Our life is amazing! Haleigh is doing wonderful in school! She is getting 7th and 8th grade Math work and is doing awesome with her other subjects! She has joined the new sport of texting! She cracks me up on how fast she is! Scott is working hard! His job is pretty demanding, but he does a great job balancing work and family! Spring time has sprung and he is outside working in the yard every weekend. He is also working on the pool and getting it ready for the summer! Murphy Jo is doing great! She is growing like a weed! She is walking all over the place. She is eating big people food and has started drinking 2% milk!!! She is starting to "talk" Murphy Jo style! She has started throwing "fits" but they are not to bad, YET!!! Me, well things have been crazy! Being a mommy, wife and a teacher. The end of the school year is always stressful, but I know I will get through it! I look forward to spending the summer with Murphy Jo and Haleigh!

I promise to post some pictures soon. I don't know what is going on but I hope to get it fixed soon!

She's a BIG girl Now! SHE'S ONE!

2010-03-31T21:29:00.004-05:00

I can't believe my sweet baby is already ONE! I will be honest, I was having a very hard time with this! It made me sad just to think about it! I will spare you with all the mushy details and get on with this happy blog! ( Well, actually I may get all mushy in another blog!)

Murphy Jo was a trooper at her party! She slept till 8:00 the morning of her party! She didn't go down for her morning nap so she was really tired by the time everyone started showing up at 11:00! But you would have never known it unless you looked at her eyes! She was so happy the whole time! She LOVED all the attention!

It has been a great year! And we are very blessed to have an amazing ONE year old!

Down memory lane! Pictures of our 4D sonogram all the way to 12 months!

She's ONE and super cute!

Playing babies with Delaney

And the friends came to celebrate!

2010-03-31T21:07:00.006-05:00

Below you will see some of the friends that came to celebrate with us! ( This is not everyone!)

The Mecks
My LOVE

Me and sweet Haleigh

Heather and Murphy Jo

Krista and D (Delaney)

I just love this picture! Aunt Andi watching Murphy Jo eat cake!

Aunt Kerri and Murphy Jo

Our Good Friends Jeff and Karen Dunning!

Good Friends- The Mitchells

Good Friends- The Bobo's

Haleigh and Natalie

"Aunt" Andi and "Uncle" Kevin

Ms. Kathy and Sam

Nat and Murphy Jo

Aunt Andi and Murphy Jo

The Gifts

2010-03-31T20:51:00.002-05:00

Murphy Jo is so blessed to have so many people around her that love her so much! She got so many fun and cool gifts! One of my friends, Kathy T. said to me moments before we started opening gifts, "you know that she is only going to open one gift and then be done with it, right?" Well, I thought maybe, but then I had hope she would stick around to open all her gifts! Well, I was wrong and my sweet friend was right! Murphy Jo really only opened one gift and then she was off playing. I would bring her back but she would not stay long! So I guess I could say I had fun opening her gifts! Thank you everyone for all the fun things you got Murphy Jo!

Mommy and Murphy Jo

Her sing/dance performance before she opened her gifts!

My happy girl!

Taking a quick look and then she was off to play again!

Lovin' her book!

She was amazed at all the tissue paper, gift bags and wrapping paper!

The Cake

2010-03-31T20:23:00.005-05:00

This is always one of my favorite part of ONE year old parties! I love to watch the mess! And my sweet daughter was no different! So let me give you the background of this cake!

I stressed for many many weeks over what our "theme" was going to be. I am not one to really do "themes" so this was a hard decision for me. Then one day it just came to me.... Zebra and Fushia! Now that I got that all settled, I had to start working on a cake! I had NO idea where to start or what to even do! I was looking at my friend Shannon's blog and saw the cutest cake for her daughters ONE year old party. So I emailed her right away and got "her girls" information! And I tell you her sweet friend Christy is a huge blessing! I told her my vision and she ran with it! This is the end product! Isn't it super cute!!!! She did amazing!!!!

She even came and set it all up! (Well the cake anyway, I did the rest!)
Look at the detail!

Isn't it beautiful?

Her first taste!

Oops I forgot to put the hat one when I first gave her the cake:) She didn't like it, so it didn't last long!

I love love love this mess!

Getting cleaned up and she did NOT like it at all!

LOL, still not liking the clean up!

Oh MY Goodness.....

2010-03-21T21:01:00.003-05:00

Murphy Jo has learned how to type, thanks to her sweet daddy! She thinks it is really funny to get able to type on our laptop! I on the other hand think we have created a monster:) But who knows maybe these early skills will make her a ton of money some day!

Typing with daddy
Aren't you so proud of me mommy?

Here we go!

Exploring

2010-03-21T20:51:00.003-05:00

Murphy Jo is so into opening cabinets and exploring! We caught her one day in one of the cabinets! Of course it doesn't have anything in it! I thought it was super cute and wanted to share it with y'all!

Hi Mom:)
" This must be how the door opens and closes!"
(once again trying to figure it out!)
Look at me!

Okay here I go!

Little Gym Pictures FINALLY:)

2010-03-21T20:36:00.002-05:00

Little Gym is going great! I think this is one of the best things we have done for our sweet little Cupcake! She has always been a social bug, but now we get to see her with kids her own age! It is so fun to watch her interact and "play" with her new friends! She was cracking me up last week, she was over at the uneven bars trying to figure out how it is put together (think she has a little of her daddy in her?)! YELP she is the the ONLY kid that is over there trying to "figure" it out! So funny! Anyway, here are a few pictures from Little Gym.

If you look real close you will see bubbles. They do bubbles the last 10 mins of every class and she LOVES them!
Here ya go, now you can see the bubbles!

Murphy Jo and one of her new friends:)

Daddy and Murphy Jo on the balance beam!

Walking:)

She loves loves loves the bar! She actually pulls herself up, with my spot!

Walking on the high balance beam! I love her face here!

She was 6 and now.......

2010-02-25T21:16:00.006-06:00

She is 12! Really our sweet Haleigh has grown up that fast and I feel like the time has passed that fast! When I first met Scott and Haleigh, she was just about to finish her Kindergarten year! Now she is about to finish her 6th grade year! WOW where did the time go?

On Feb. 20 we had Haleigh family birthday party! It was lots of fun! PopPop G and MomMom P came, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Kerri, Landon and Logan all came too! We started the day of waiting for Murphy Jo to wake up from her morning nap! Then we all got ready and went to Babes Homecookin' in Frisco! That place is so yummy! When we came back we played for awhile then Haleigh got to open her gifts and we had a cookie cake and ice cream!
Haleigh is so special and is so loved by so many! I hope this year brings her much joy and tons of happiness! We love sweet Hay-Seed! Thank you for making our life better!

Isn't she beautiful?

Valentines Day!

2010-02-25T21:05:00.002-06:00

My parents came down to visit us on V-Day! We had a ton of fun! We didn't do anything "out on the town" we just stayed at home and relaxed! I thought I took more pictures but I didn't.... oops, sorry mom and dad:( They just love hanging out with Murphy Jo! As you can tell in the pictures she keeps them laughing! They kept saying "she is the happiest baby we have ever seen"!

Thanks Granny Smith and Poppy John for coming to visit! Next time I will take more pictures! I PROMISE!

What a perfect day!

2010-02-25T20:47:00.002-06:00

Murphy Jo and I got an unexpected snow day together! It was super fun! We didn't go out in the snow, because Murphy Jo does not have any "snow clothes"! So we just stayed inside and enjoyed our day together! We played, ate, played some more, took LOOOONNNNGGG naps but the best part of the whole day was watching Murphy Jo read! It was so cute! She picked up the book "Love you Forever" and she laid on her beanbag and read for a good 15 mins! And I am not kidding! It was amazing! She would read and then look at me, read some more and turn the pages.... I loved watching her in action! As a teacher, one of my biggest hope for Murphy Jo is that she has a love for reading! We are starting out pretty good!

Watching daddy out on his photo session!
Reading! Do you notice her mouth? She was REALLY reading:)

My Beautiful baby girl!

This one cracks me up! She is totally relaxing! If you notice she has the book closed, feet up and is STILL READING! Man she is good!

I can NOT believe how big she is! My sweet baby girl is growing up:(

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.... again!

2010-02-25T20:36:00.002-06:00

On Feb. 12, we got some of the most beautiful snow ever! The news said the at DFW it was reported we got 12.5 inches of snow. I don't think we actually got that much at our house, but it was so stinkin beautiful! I had to share some pictures! My sweet husband was so cute, he went outside and just started taking a ton of pictures! Here are a few from his photo session!

The best part of this beautiful snow is..... we got a snow day! YAY, I got to send the best day ever with Murphy Jo! We didn't go out in the snow, but we had so much fun! Thanks Mother Nature for allowing me that surprise day with my sweet baby!

Big Sister, I watch you and I learn!

2010-02-25T20:22:00.003-06:00

Haleigh is so amazing with Murphy Jo! And I tell you, Murphy Jo is so in love with her! It is so cool to see how Murphy Jo lights up when her BIG sister walks in the room. Haleigh can get Murphy Jo to laugh really hard. It is so cute! She takes such good care of her! It melts my heart to see them together! I guess as a mom you never know how sisters are going to react to each other, but from the looks of things...... I think they are going to be buds!

Thanks Haleigh for being so amazing to Murphy Jo! She totally adores you! Thank you for the example you are! I know that Murphy Jo will have great footsteps to follow! We love you very much!

Look how much she loves her big sister!
Beautiful girls!

So Sweet!

Scott loves this picture! He loves how Murphy Jo is really watching what Haleigh does! It is so cute and just a reminder of how she really looks up to her sister!

Our First real BooBoo

2010-02-12T15:11:00.002-06:00

We knew it would happen soon and we know there are many more to come!

Murphy Jo fell at Aunt Andie's house the first week of Feb. She was being over confident in her standing and moving skills and in mid move she got scared and fell forward. She actually scratched herself with her own fingernail! And this is the end product! Needless to say, when we got home that night, I cut her nails!

I know it is not to bad, but wanted to blog about it anyway!
Love that face!

Precious!

Little Gym-- Take 2!

2010-02-12T14:59:00.002-06:00

Well, as you read in my last blog, my sweet baby girl was not a huge fan of Little Gym. I am here to report that the 2nd time around was a HUGE success! She LOVED it! Now at first she was not real sure of everything, but she soon got comfortable and off she went. (That took like, 5 mins!) She was crawling ALL over the place and of course my first thought is it follow her around. I was very quickly correct by Mr. Zack (Mr. Travis was not there this time)! Anyway, Mr. Zack told us how important it is for our little one to "explore" on their own and build that confidence! He said they would come back to you when they need to and not to worry! So that is what I did! I let her "explore"! She was up on different mats and as she would come off the mats she would go head first, but we never in danger! She loved it a lot this time! She made a few friends! It was fun to watch her interact with other kids! She was back to her happy self! And I was one happy momma! Towards the end the funniest thing happened! There is this sweet little girl that is about 14 months old.. she is a walker but for some reason towards the end of class she was crawling, Murphy Jo took to her and was "chase crawling" all over the BIG RED MAT with her! It was so funny! This little girl was in our class last week to, I don't think Murphy Jo remembered her, but she had fun playing with her this time!

So, we are very happy she likes Little Gym now! I was not able to take any pictures because I was there alone:( Scott was at home working on Murphy Jo's bedroom!!!! Maybe one day I will get some pictures up!

YAY for the Little Gym!

2010-02-02T20:35:00.004-06:00

On Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 Murphy Jo went to her first Little Gym class! Let me re-cap on what kind of girl I have! She is super happy, always smiles, hardly ever cries, very social and loves to climb all over us! Okay with all that said.... here is how her first class went. We walked in and Mr. Zack welcomed us! He was so nice and just talked and talked to Murphy Jo! Murphy Jo was totally flirting with him! He told us what our class would be like and kinda what to expect! With everything he said I had NO doubt that this was the place for my sweet girl!

So we took our shoes off and we were off to our FIRST CLASS.... oh boy was I in for a big surprise! And so was Murphy Jo! She was NOT a fan of the Little Gym class! She cried and cried. She would NOT leave my sight, she would NOT stand up! She wanted me to hold her the whole time! The instructor, Mr. Travis was so cool! He let Murphy Jo be and let her try and get used to everything on her own time!

Let me set the scene for you! When you walk into the class, there are other little people with their mommies and daddies, there are bright colors and there is a ton of equipment! Then you have Mr. Travis, a tall dark headed young man who is FULL of energy and is pretty loud. He plays the guitar and sings loud songs. There is clapping and slapping on the floor and there is all kinds of movement. As you can tell this is a lot for a little girl who's parent are pretty quiet, who is at a babysitter who is pretty quiet and in our homes we have natural colors... nothing to bright and colorful!

Murphy Jo was having the hardest time ever! But when her daddy showed up, she became a show-off! She was all smiles..... didn't want to get out of my sight and was not willing to explore things but she was not crying. I was so relieved! Scott came in to the class and helped me out with her! Then the best thing ever happened! Mr. Travis got out the bubbles and after that Murphy Jo loved the class! (that was the last 10 mins of class) She crawling all over the place! She was even crawling all over Mr. Travis!

All in all she had a good time! The other parents in the class were so encouraging to me! They all told me that it took their little ones 3 or 4 weeks to get used it everything! We will keep going and I am sure in a few weeks she will go in like a PRO and love doing all the fun dances and songs!

So needless to say, I was NOT able to take any pictures. That broke my heart, but I will try and take some next week!

It's family TIME!!!

2010-02-02T19:57:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we went to Red Oak, Texas to visit Scott's sister's family, his dad and his step-mom! We had so much fun! (We were supposed to go to Oklahoma to visit my parents, but Mother Nature brought them a HUGE ice storm, so we had to reschedule)

We had the best family time ever! It is always so much for to get together with family and just play and have a good time! We love watching our twin nephews grow and play! They say some of the funniest things ever! I can't believe they are 4 1/2 years old. Where did the time go! With them around it is double the fun and double the entertainment! It is so funny watching Murphy Jo "play" with them! She is not really playing, she is watching what they do!

Haleigh was with us this past weekend, so she got to enjoy all the fun! She is so much older than all the kids, but she is soooooo good with them! I know it must be hard for her being around little ones all the time, but she and her Aunt Kerri played LOTS of Wii! I think she had a great time!

Below you will find some pictures of our day! They are not in order, but I hope you enjoy them anyway!

The 3 most important people in my life!

Sweet Haleigh! Isn't she so BEAUTIFUL!!!

MomMom P with all her grandkids! Boy is it hard to get everyone to look at smile at the same time!

These are the coolest things ever! They are so fast! It is so fun to watch the boys ride around the yard!

Murphy Jo was worn out! She finally fell asleep on her daddy!

Pop Pop G tried to take a nap, but the boys were not having it!

The grandkids! Like I said, hard to get everyone to look and smile at the same time:)

Haleigh and Logan

Miss Beautiful

I love this picture! They both look so beautiful!

Pop Pop G and his Happy Grandgirls!

Playdate with Ebby Lee

2010-01-28T20:59:00.003-06:00

We love getting to hang out with Ebby Lee. We have had several playdates with Ebby Lee and they are always so much fun! But this one was different! They girls are so much bigger and they are so much more active that they would play together!

Erika and I taught together at Kerr and she is staying home with her sweet baby girl + she is expecting another one in April! She is an amazing mom! I love talking with her because I always learn something from her! She is so down to earth and so real! Thank you Erika for being so real and teaching me how not to worry about things all the time!

Ebby Lee is such a cute and happy little girl! She always has a smile on her face just like Murphy Jo! She is so sweet! I loved getting to see her again!

Is she not one of the cutest little girls you have ever seen?

This is the best picture I got of the two of them! Ebby Lee was looking at me and Murphy Jo was looking at Erika taking pictures!

(look at Murphy Jo's shoes! They are HUGE!)

Such a happy girl!

Mr. Tab, Erika's husband gave the girls some bread! It was so cute! Murphy Jo was not sure if it was okay to eat it since she was not in her highchair! But she did and she loved it! I love Ebby Lee's sweet happy face in this picture!

Out with the old and in with the new.......

2010-01-28T20:43:00.004-06:00

Oh my goodness, really..... my sweet baby girl is in BIG girl shoe:( I can't believe it.

Well, on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010 I bought her first pair of Beginner Walkers. They look HUGE but she fills them out very well!

She is really on the edge of walking. She has been pulling up on everything for months now. She is a pro in her walker and can get that thing out of pretty much any tight spot and her old shoes were too tight. So I thought it would be wise to go ahead and get her some new shoes. So Murphy Jo and I headed to Stride Rite at the Outlet Mall in Allen and we got her foot measured and we were off to pick out our first pair of shoes! I had NO idea that I would be getting beginner walkers. But she loves them. She is all over the place in them.

( you are prob. thinking this is a silly crazy post, but it is another one of those milestones I had to document!)

The super old nasty shoes
Look how big her new shoes are!

The beginner walkers

Yep you read it right! Size 4.5 at 10 months!!!

Big girl shoes!

Playdate with Emma Kate

2010-01-28T20:25:00.002-06:00

Murphy Jo and I love to get to hang out with friends. I love to watch Murphy Jo around "little people" and I think it is really important for her to have playdates!

Sweet Emma Kate is 3 months old. She is the daughter of my super sweet friend, Meghan Ross. Meghan was my student teacher a few years ago and taught with me at Kerr! She is another one of my lucky friends that gets to stay home with their sweet baby!

When we first got to Meghan's house Emma Kate was sleeping, so it was all about Murphy Jo and believe me she didn't mind at all! BUT we were so excited when Emma Kate woke up! She is such a DOLL! It is so hard to believe Murphy Jo was that small! Anyway, Emma Kate and Murphy Jo were so funny at their first official meeting! Murphy Jo was "acting" like she was crying and then she would stop. Well, that would get Emma Kate going and she would kinda cry and my sweet loving Murphy Jo would laugh and when Emma Kate would stop "crying", Murphy Jo would "cry" again to make Emma Kate "cry" again and you guessed it Murphy Jo would laugh...... OH BOY I THINK WE HAVE OUR HANDS FULL!!!!

Thank you Emma Kate and Meghan for letting us come over! We had so much fun!

Look at that beautiful girl!

Murphy Jo loves looking at herself in the mirror. It was so cute watching her "talk" to herself in the mirror!

And she even loved kissing herself! I just love this little girl!

Playdate with G-Man (Garrett Icenhower)

2010-01-28T20:12:00.003-06:00

Murphy Jo and I had a fun playdate with my sweet friend Carla and her sweet and super cute son Garrett! (G-Man) We just love getting to hang out with them! Carla and I taught together at Kerr. She is super sweet and is really missed at Kerr. She gets to stay home with that sweet little guy!

Our playdate was fun! It was so funny to watch Garret and Murphy Jo interact! It was also funny to watch them get jealous when their own moms were playing/holding the other one!

Garrett is a miracle and a blessing! We are lucky to have such a wonderful group of people to play with! Thanks for letting us come over!

My sweet friend Carla with Garrett and Murphy Jo
I just love this boy! Isn't he so cute?

Love, Love, LOVE this picture!

I thought is picture was so funny and so cute! Carla had a small bag of cookies and Murphy Jo went right up to her, pulled herself up and acted like she was asking for a cookie. It was so cute!

Buddies! Murphy Jo almost 10 months and G-Man almost a year old!

She's a BIG girl now!

2010-01-24T19:28:00.005-06:00

This is yet another HUGE milestone for me! Look at that sweet girl, does she not look huge in her new ride? WOW, I can't believe she is already ready for this car seat!
This was a huge decision for me! I did a lot of research and a lot of talking with friends before I would purchase a new car seat. Scott and I found that the Britax had the best reviews and seemed to be the safest! We ended up going with the Britax Blvd! She loves it! She looks out the window and laughs and talks everywhere we go! She loves the car!

My sweet big girl!
So happy!

9 Months old..... REALLY:)

2010-01-24T19:11:00.003-06:00

(I know the title say 9 months! I am doing some back tracking! Really she will be 10 months on Tuesday!!! But we will get to that later)

Murphy Jo had her 9 month apt on Dec. 30, 2009! She is so good at her apts and Mrs. Amber is always a joy to see. We just love her bunches and bunches! If you need a good Dr. she is one you should try!!!

Anyway, once again we got a really good report! Murphy Jo is doing AMAZING! She weighed 20 pounds and 11 oz. (78%), 29.5 inches (95%) and her head cir. is 17 3/4 (78%) Once again it is proven she is LONG and LEAN!!!!

We are free to eat any table foods! Well, I say any.... we can't have eggs, peanuts, honey or shellfish! And we are to go slow on oranges and strawberries! Everything else is great! We have done some, but I am just going slow with all that! It is so hard for me to believe she is growing up so fast.
We truly have a amazing girl that God has trusted us with! I promise to show her the world and love her! Thank you Jesus for this amazing blessing! We promise to do our best with your help!

Our first Christmas as a family of 4

2010-01-23T21:49:00.002-06:00

WOW what a fun night we had! Christmas time has always been one of my favorite times of year, but being able to start our own traditions and being together as a family was the best ever! Murphy Jo had so much fun opening up gifts! HAHA, just kidding Murphy Jo had so much fun playing in the wrapping paper! So was so cute! She loved everything she got but that evening it just didn't interest her! Haleigh had a great time as well opening all her gifts! She always makes out like a bandit! And this year was no different. I would say our girls are very blessed with many people that love them!

Murphy Jo hanging with the paper:)
Hmmm, lets see what else can I get into?

Haleigh got a Stars shirt and Stars Hockey tickets from Scott and I. They went to the Stars game on New Years Eve together!

Mommy and Murphy Jo opening one of the gifts from MomMom J and PopPop T! She has finally mastered this gift! She now knows how to put the balls in the holes! It is so funny to watch her do this! Her fine motor skills are improving everyday!

Christmas Day at the McClouds

2010-01-10T15:57:00.003-06:00

One of our Christmas day traditions is going to Scott's sisters house for Christmas lunch! We meet up with Pop Pop G (his dad), Mom Mom P (his step-mom), Nathan and Kerri (his step-sister and her husband) and the twins (our nephews)! We gather for gift exchange, good food and great company! We enjoy our time with them and everyone always has so much fun! This year was a little different for Scott and I, as we got to watch Murphy Jo open up her gifts! I love Christmas time even more since I have become a mom!

Scott playing with the Hot Wheels track we got the twins
Sweet Landon:)

Pop Pop G and a very tired Murphy Jo

Sweet Logan:)

Murphy Jo playing hard!

Scott's sister Kerri and her husband Nathan
A gift for Murphy Jo and Mommy!! YAY for baby wipes! Thanks Mom Mom P!

Super sweet picture of Aunt Kerri and Murphy Jo!

I just LOVE this picture! Scott was such a happy daddy when Murphy Jo wanted to go to the Hot Wheels track rather than playing with her super cute purse Mom Mom P and Pop Pop G gave her!

Yes and she would rather play with the Tonka truck to......

Christmas lunch was fun! We always love going but hate that our sweet Haleigh is not with us.

Christmas Morning

2010-01-05T20:14:00.002-06:00

Christmas morning was much different for us this year! It was so much fun having Murphy Jo here and seeing her sweet face when she opened her Santa gifts! Santa was really good to her this year! He brought her a really cute baby doll and a super cool light up toy!

Being a first time mom I was so exacted to get up and get the Christmas morning started. Murphy Jo got up about 7:30 and she and I tried to get daddy up, but he was super tired so, I went and changed her diaper and gave her her morning bottle. So we waited and waited, but daddy was still sleeping so we watched a little Franklin (which happens to be her favorite now) and then we went and played. At about 9:30 daddy came in and I got so excited and right for the Santa gifts! I loved watching Murphy Jo's face as she opened her gifts from Santa! I loved watching her play with her baby doll and exam her light up toy! Here are a few pictures of our morning!

Doing what she does before playing with most toys..... EXAM IT..... to make see how it works!
Her baby! Don't you just love that face!

Mommy, this baby has my bottle:)

We let Murphy Jo open one gift Christmas morning. We wanted to wait for Haleigh to get here so we could open our gifts as a family! I think this is going to be our tradition. We love Haleigh so much and we don't want her to miss out on the family fun!

Murphy Jo had so much fun BANGING on her music maker! It was so funny!

All in all our Christmas was great! I am so blessed with a great family and so thankful for them! My goal as a mom is to make sure that Murphy Jo understands the true meaning for Christmas. I don't ever want her to think that Christmas is about getting gifts! I want her to know that it is about the birth of our Lord and Savior. I want her to understand it is about giving our time and ourselves and not getting. I hope that I can show her this!

'Twas the night before Christmas

2010-01-05T20:03:00.003-06:00

Christmas Eve was so much fun!!! We went to our friends house (The Dunning's) for a yummy dinner, then we came back home and got little Miss ready for night-night! I had bought her the perfect pair of PJ's and could NOT wait till Christmas Eve for her to wear them:)

Anyway, Murphy Jo's Christmas Eve was pretty eventful! It started to snow early afternoon and by the time we went to the Jeff and Karen's house the roads were pretty covered with LOTS of snow! It was sooo super pretty!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve!

A sweet picture of Murphy Jo and daddy on Christmas Eve! She LOVES her daddy so much! She lights up when he walks in the room! I think she is already a daddy's girl:)

We're dreaming of a WHITE Winter......

2010-01-01T21:27:00.002-06:00

WOW what a Winter we have had so far! It snowed 3 times in December!! How super cool is that. It even snowed on Christmas!!! Murphy Jo had a white Christmas for her very FIRST Christmas! I love to look at the snow, but I hate to drive in it! Scott, Haleigh, Murphy Jo and I drove to my sisters house in Tulsa, OK and boy was I nervous, which made Scott frustrated.

Here is a picture of our home after the first snow. Isn't it beautiful! Scott was so excited that he took a few mins before leaving for work to be Mr. Photographer! How cute is he!
Here is sweet Murphy Jo playing in the snow! She thought it was pretty cool! This was our 3rd snow of the Winter!

She was not sure of it all!

Right after this picture she started to moving her legs and "playing" in the snow. If I would have let her, I bet she would have been rolling and crawling all over the place!

The Apple of my eye!

2009-11-23T16:31:00.002-06:00

I can't believe I forgot to put these two precious pictures on my last entry! How silly of me! Our children are the most important part of our lives! They say you never really know true love till you have your own children! Haleigh and Murphy Jo are great! They bring both Scott and I so much happiness! Now, I am not saying that our life is always a bed of roses but I am saying our life is wonderful and our children are great!

My Sweet husband and his girls! Just look at them! They love their daddy so much! And just look how beautiful they are......... the boys better watch out, because they first have to get through Daddy Bear!

I love my girls too! I promise to protect them and guide them in the right direction! I promise to love them through thick and thin! I know there are many blessings ahead and many trials to come! But I promise to show them the love of God through my actions! My only hope is they can watch me and see a great example of what a Lady of God should stand for!

My Sweet Family

2009-11-22T10:05:00.003-06:00

In life you always know that when you look around the world you see so many things that you are blessed with and so many things to be thankful for, but when you actually live with those blessings you have a whole new outlook on life! I will have to tell you that my family is my world! I have been blessed way beyond what I deserve! I have an amazing and supporting husband! Scott is such a caring husband/dad! You can see the love that he has for me and his daughters all over his face! Now are we always perfect for him? NO, but he takes us in our good time and bad!Thank you Scott for always being there for us!

I have an amazing Step-daughter, Haleigh! Her heart is so pure and so sweet! She has a huge passion in her heart to always do what is right and to be the best daughter/sister she can be! Haleigh is the big sister of 3 precious little ones! And she has so much love for each of them! And I promise, they are so in love with their big sister! Murphy Jo's face lights up when Haleigh comes in the room! And I know that her siblings at her mom's house do the same thing! Thank you Haleigh for being you!

I also have the SWEETEST baby girl! She is the light of my eye! I love to watch her grow and discover new things! She has the best personality! She is such a "on the go" girl! She is learning all about life and it is amazing to watch her! She is such a good girl! I am so thankful to be blessed with such an sweet little girl!

I am thankful for all the things in my life, but above anything else my family is the best in the world!

Here are some pictures from our Photo Session!

The Meck's
My sweet husband and I

The girls!

Murphy Jo (8 months)

Haleigh (11 years old)

Volleyball, Volleyball, Volleyball:)

2009-11-08T19:45:00.002-06:00

Haleigh is LOVING Volleyball! She is sooo good at the game! Each Match she does sooo good! We are really proud of what she has accomplished on the court this season! She also loves it when people come to watch her! Scott's dad and step-mom have been to two games! (His sweet step-sister and her family have also come to one, but silly ole me forgot to bring my camera, boo on me!)

MomMom and PopPop Meck came to the game on Halloween! It was so much fun to have them there! And of course Haleigh rocked the house! Her are a few pictures at the game!

Mom Mom Patsy and Murphy Jo

Pop Pop Gary and Murphy Jo

Haleigh and Mom Mom and Pop Pop! Mom Mom is so happy Haleigh is playing Volleyball! Patsy was a Volleyball player herself! She has some good tips for Haleigh!

The Meck Family!

After the game we spent the day with Gary and Patsy! It was so much fun! We went to Scotty P's and then went over to Hobby Lobby! It was so much fun catching up with them!

These are a few of my favorite things.....

2009-11-08T08:02:00.005-06:00

I LOVE Fall and I LOVE taking photos!

Our neighbor across the street had a TON of Fall leaves in his yard so we went over and had a "photo session"! Murphy Jo was so cute, she just didn't know what to think about all the leaves! But I think she had a good time eating them!

I love her face! It is like she is saying "what the heck is this?"

Hey guys this is really cool! You should come and play with me!

Yum, YUM!!!!!

What a sweet girl!

Such a happy girl!!!

Bath Time

2009-10-26T20:56:00.003-05:00

Murphy Jo LOVES bath time! She has always loved the water! Scott has started letting her play with the water and with some toys and she LOVES it! (I know a few of these pictures are out of order, but I could not figure out how to change them around.... sorry!) Anyway, she tries to reach for the water and grab a hold of it! It is so funny! Then he will turn the water off and she will still try to grab at the water! It is so fun to watch her try and figure out why there isn't any water coming out!

She loves watching us get the bath water ready....

Trying to pull herself in.........

Such a big girl!

She really wishes I would stop taking pictures and let her in the tub!

Trying to grab the water! Look at her determination!

Peek-a-boo........

2009-10-26T20:48:00.004-05:00

One of Murphy Jo's favorite things to do it to wake up and just start talking. It is so cute! She will lay in her crib for a long time just talking! When she is ready to get out she does this! It is sooo cute!

7 Months Old.....

2009-10-26T20:29:00.003-05:00

Really is she already 7 months old????? I can't believe it. It seems like the time has just flown by so fast! Murphy Jo is doing great! She is really growing into her own person! She is getting a great personality and is such a blessing to be around. Scott and I have decided she is going to be an ornery one! She is very dramatic and full of life! I have had to tell her NO a few times because she was headed for the outlet in the wall, and that sweet little girl of ours just turned around and gave me this huge smile and laughed....... boy am I going to have my hands full! Her daddy had to spank her on the diaper the other day because she was trying to pull the cord on a fan that would have fallen on her. He spanked her one time and she "cried" for a few seconds and went right back over there, so he spanked her again and she started to "cry" she put her face in her hands and was done crying in about 1 minute.... yep she is already trying to pull one over on us! It is so funny to watch her! She crawling all over the place and is trying to pull up on things. We had to lower her crib the last Thursday because we were scared she may try and pull up!

Here she is with her "papa" smile again!
Just look at that sweet face!

Murphy Jo is all about her big sister! She loves to watch Haleigh practice Volleyball around the house! Haleigh can make her belly laugh! It is super cute!

I don 't know where she came up with this silly smile..... she really has a cute smile when she isn't being silly!

She's got skills..............

2009-10-24T10:23:00.005-05:00

...... she knows how to use them!

Haleigh is an amazing Volleyball player! We LOVE to go and watch her play and EXCEL! You should watch her! She loves the game and is always practicing! Her team is doing well. Right now they are in 4th place and still have about 3 games to play! It is fun to watch each Match! I didn't know much about Volleyball before she started, but now I am loving it! I have learned that they are MATCHES not GAMES and they are SETS not PERIODS! (Can you tell I am all about Basketball??)

Here is "Canon" with one of her amazing servers!

And yet another serve!Murphy Jo, MomMom Jo and Haleigh

Samantha and Haleigh....

"Aunt Kathy", Murphy Jo, MomMom Jo and Samantha! We were really excited to see Kathy and "Sam" come to cheer Haleigh on! Kathy and Sam live behind our babysitter and Haleigh has become very good friends with them! She and Sam get along so well and love playing together!

Up and rockin!!!

2009-10-06T19:50:00.002-05:00

Murphy Jo is just a few weeks from crawling! She is up on all 4's and just starts to rock! She acts like she is wanting to go somewhere, but doesn't know how to get there! It is so funny! She starts to rock and then falls flat on her face, it is so darn cute! And then she starts her army crawl! I just wanted to share these cute pictures with everyone!

Look at me!!!!!

Mom, how do I move????

Look at me! Yes, I still have my grandpa smile!

I just love this cute little face!

O-S-U COWPOKES!!!

2009-10-04T19:50:00.004-05:00

I am a huge OSU Cowboy's fan! I thought is little outfit was super cute and just had to get it for Murphy Jo! I hope she is a big fan like me! My obsession start when Big Country (Bryant Reeves) played basketball for them! I guess I could relate to him because I am so tall! And my love for OSU just stuck!

Murphy Jo is so cute, we will do this cute little cheer where I will hold her hands up over her head and make a O, then I take one down and make an S and then I put both back up and make a U. I will say O-S-U Cowpokes and then shake her little arms and she will just laugh! It is so funny!

Haleigh-Bear (Canon!!!)

2009-10-04T19:39:00.003-05:00

Haleigh is doing GREAT! She is busy with school and is playing Volleyball! She is such a blessing to have with us! She always has the biggest smile on that sweet face of hers! She is always so encouraging and so helpful! I love to watch her and her daddy play together! I love to watch/listen to them do homework and just sit and talk! You have never seen a father/daughter bond till you see Scott and Haleigh! She loves her daddy soooo much and it is written all over her face!

Haleigh is playing Volleyball for ASA! I will post some pictures when I get/take some! They have practice every Tuesday and games every Saturday! Last Tuesday at practice the coach was calling her Canon, because her serve was so amazing! When Haleigh serves not many people can return them! She is doing a great job and loves the sport! She is a natural! She loves to try and figure out the best plays and the best placement for the ball (the weak side of the other team!) It is so fun to go and watch her play! Murphy Jo loves to watch her sister play! She sits the WHOLE game and watches what is going on!

She is also doing great in school! Making awesome grades and making lots of friends! She is playing in the band and is part of our schools safety patrol! We love having her at our school!

Haleigh and Shady on a lazy Saturday morning!

6 months old!

2009-10-04T19:23:00.002-05:00

I am having such a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact Murphy Jo is already 6 months old! It seems like just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital. She has been such a joy to Scott and I! She has the best personality and is just happy all the time. When I first thought of being a mom I had NO idea what to expect! Would she be a good baby, would she sleep through the night, would she be a good eater, would she share, and the list goes on and on. We have been blessed beyond what we could have ever expected! Murphy Jo is truly the Happiest Baby On the Block! She sleeps like a champ! She eats like a HOSS and she is as happy as a..... well, just think of all the happy things in our life and she is all of them!

We went for her 6 month check up and Murphy Jo is 27.5 inches long (94%) and she is 17 pounds 12.7 oz. (80%) She is growing fast! We are going have us one long lean baby girl! It is so exciting! I am thinking about putting a Volleyball and Basketball in her hands! The Dr. said she is ahead of schedule with her "army crawl"! She expects that Murphy Jo will be crawling really soon and will be pulling up not long after that!

She is now eating Stage One foods! She loves them all, well everything but Bananas! You should watch her when she first tastes something, it is the funniest thing ever! She will get this "sour" face on and will wiggle her whole body! Scott and I just laugh! She has tried Squash, Peas, Sweet Peas, Green Beans, Bananas and Pears.

We are so thankful for such an amazing little girl!

My Little Sweet Pea

What a sweetheart!
The "grandpa" smile!

Mommy and sweet Murphy Jo

Hay-Seed (Haleigh)

2009-08-31T20:37:00.003-05:00

This is sweet Haleigh Bear on the first day of 6th grade! She is so grown up! When I first met Scott and Haleigh, she was just about to finish Kindergarten year. I have loved watching her grow up! I have loved going to watch her play soccer and grow into an amazing young lady! She has the sweetest spirit and the best personality ever! This year she is living with us and going to school at Kerr! She seems to really like our school and is meeting some really neat friends!

It is just so hard for me to believe that she is already in 6th grade. This year we are looking forward to going to band concerts and watching her play volleyball!

If your happy and you know it, smile at Murphy Jo!!!

2009-08-31T20:29:00.002-05:00

This is how Murphy Jo is 99% of the time. The other 1% is because she is either sleepy or tired!

Murphy Jo is so happy! I love to listen to her talk to herself (well, not at 3:00 in the morning like she has been doing a few nights a week for about 2 weeks now!) and play! She is really starting to grasp at things! It is so cool to see how she is developing!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture!

I think she is going to be a tall one!

What a big girl!

5 Months old!

2009-08-31T20:21:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I am saying my sweet baby girl is already 5 months old. She is the best baby ever! She is so easy to take places and have around! She goes everywhere with us! Out to eat, to the store, shopping..... just anywhere we go we take her with us! We are also very excited that big sister Haleigh has come to live with us! Murphy Jo loves her being around!

Playing it cool!
MOM, it is 6:45 a.m. and I just woke up, please put the camera down!

Okay maybe a small smile!

Murphy Jo and Big Sis!

Meghan's Shower

2009-08-31T20:04:00.003-05:00

My sweet friend Meghan Ross is due in October. Murphy Jo and I were invited to a beautiful shower for Meghan and Emma Kate! We can't wait to meet Emma Kate! I just know that she and Murphy Jo are going to be great friends!

I had Meghan for her Student Teaching 1 and 2. She is an amazing teacher. She is like a sponge wanting to know everything she can about how to better her students. I am so glad I got to help mold her, she didn't need much molding but it sounds good anyway:) She is just a natural teacher! We are going to really miss her at Kerr!

Sweet kisses
My love, but there was no getting her to look at the camera!

Meghan and Baby Emma Kate

My sweet and dear friend Carla! I love her so much and miss her a bunch at Kerr. She is also an amazing teacher! She is getting to stay home with her sweet baby boy!

Sweet Kim and Murphy Jo! They always have such a great time together!

She is always smiling!

I just love this girl!

Meghan, Ms. Bell and Mrs. Laabs looking at Meghan's hurt toe!

I love this picture! Look how cute Emma Kate is!

This is another dear friend Darci Laabs. Meghan did her second half of Student teaching with her!

Sleeping Baby!

2009-08-10T09:15:00.000-05:00

When Murphy Jo was first born, one of my favorite things was to swaddle her up and rock her to sleep! To watch her sweet face and her eyes slowly close was such a blessing to me! It was so amazing to see her change each day! Really I think she really did change right before my eyes! She was always so easy to put to sleep! She would look us in the eyes, smile and the next thing we knew she was sleeping! We NEVER put her down till we heard that last DEEP breath! It was so cute, it was like she was saying "I am out you can put me down now!"

Well, that soon all changed when she was about 3 1/2 months old. She would totally fight us. She would let us swaddle her and rock her for about 5 mins! I would look her in the eyes and see her sweet face glow..... then all the sudden she would look at me and give me this grin that said "nope you are not going to put me to sleep!" Then after that would come this awful scream for about 5 mins. It was awful and I would get upset b/c I didn't know what was going on! So after our 4 month Dr. apt and she told me just to let her "cry it out", things have been wonderful!

Murphy Jo has herself on a really good routine! She starts getting really sleepy at about 7:15ish! We eat our last bottle, have our bath, do our nightly lotion massage and she is ready to go to sleep! She will not let us swaddle her anymore! She is such a wiggle worm:) So I put her in her pack'n'play and she is pretty much out! She usually sleeps till about 7:00 in the morning. We are truly blessed to have a good sleeper!

As much as I loved rocking her to sleep, I am very thankful that she sleeps so well! She is such a blessing to us!

Annual Trip to Rainforest Cafe with Friends

2009-08-10T09:05:00.000-05:00

We just love the Rainforest Cafe in Grapevine! For the past few years we have gone with several friends. (The Wood's-pictured and the Dorsey's- for some reason I didn't take any of them) Haleigh was such a trooper! She is 11 years old and she had a smile on her face the whole time, even if she was hanging out with a 4.5 month old, 2 and 3 year olds. Way to go girl! Murphy Jo loved it there! There was so much for her to look at and all the sounds kept her in awe the whole time!

Haleigh (did I mention she was going to be heading to Maryland to see her MomMom Jo and PopPop Tom?)
Sisters, Murphy Jo was looking at something and there was no way to get her attention!

Still NOT looking at the camera!

Andi Grace! So cute and such a big girl!

Andi and Avery! They are such good girls!

Playdate with Ebby Lee

2009-08-06T21:54:00.001-05:00

Isn't she a cutie? My good friend Erika Slaughter and I taught at Kerr together. She taught 3rd grade! (she is going to be staying home with Ebby Lee this year!) Murphy Jo is 2 weeks older than Ebby Lee! It is going to be fun watching our girls grow up.....

Here are some pictures of our First Play date. I can't remember the exact dates, but do you notice how much bigger Murphy Jo is?????

Murphy Jo all upset and Ebby Lee not really caring!!
We thougth this was cute, they were both sleeping with their arms up!

How sweet!

Today we went back over for another play date! Look at how they have grown!!!!

Ebby Lee smiles all the time! It is so cute! It is like she is saying, I am so glad you came over!

Do you notice how they are now the SAME size! Isn't that so funny!

Murphy Jo was ALL over the place!

This picture amazes me!

I just love this pictures! You can already see Ebby Lee's sweet personality! I love how she is wanting to hold Murphy Jo's hand! How cute!

The sweet hands! Not sure what happened, I think they are upside down! Oh well, it is still really cute!

My friend Erika and Ebby Lee

19 weeks old

2009-08-06T21:42:00.000-05:00

Yep you read it right.... 19 weeks old! It just does not seem possible. I am sorry that this is not our "normal" photo session picture. I have been going up to school this week and taking Murphy Jo to the sitter. I am not used to our new schedule and it was hard to get our photo session in. I am going to have to work on that! Murphy Jo had a very busy day! She went to Auntie Andi's at 9:00, they had a great day! She went to the Libray with Auntie Andi, Natalie (her daughter) and Gram (her son)! When I picked her up at 2:00 we went to a playdate with Ebby Lee! Murphy Jo was worn completely out! She took an hour and a half nap at Ebby Lee's and when we got home we played for a little while and then she ate her dinner had her bath and after I put her in bed, I thought I have not taken her weekly picture! So I got her out of her pack'n'play and took a few pictures. She was sooo tired! She have sleepy eyes!

Fun times with the kids!

2009-08-06T21:25:00.000-05:00

My sweet niece Niko comes to visit each summer and we always have a good time! (well, most of the time!!!) She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma and loves to come and visit her Aunt Alli! We try to schedule lots of fun activities while she is here. This year was no different. On Wednesday when she got here, we just relaxed and did not much of anything. On Thursday she and Haleigh swam all day. On Friday we went to Color Me Mine in Frisco with Heather and her girls (will post pictures later) on Saturday Niko and I went to Trades Days in McKinney, while Scott and Haleigh went to the lake! We then went out to Heather's for a cookout! On Sunday all went shopping, bowling, to OTB, the girls got manis and pedis and then we went to watch Scott play hockey. (yes Murphy Jo got drug around to all those places and she did great!) Here are a few pictures to show you how much fun we had!

Mommy and Murphy Jo
Mommy, Daddy and Murphy Jo

Murphy Jo doing what she does best SLEEPING!

Niko and Haleigh

Niko being silly and Haleigh being sweet, as always!

Sweet Haleigh

Niko and I

Scott and Niko

Murphy Jo and Avery!

Country Girl!!! RIGHT!!!!!!!!!

My Hillbilly Friends

2009-07-31T10:16:00.000-05:00

HAHA!!! When I first started teaching, I taught at a small school in South Eastern Oklahoma called Moyers. While I was there I met some forever Friends! And you guessed they are Hillbillys! Now they may look fancy in these pictures, but just trust me they are COUNTRY through and through! I love this family 100%. They are an amazing Christian family! When I first meet Kenda, she and I hit it right off and have been friends ever since! That was 11 years ago!

Kenda ( Momma Hillbilly) and Murphy Jo

Murphy Jo, Kenda and Kacey

Kacey, Me and Murphy Jo

The Groom, Jared, Murphy Jo and I

Kenda entered their kitchen in The Country Woman magazine and she won!!! There kitchen in amazing! Take a look at it!

http://www.countrywomanmagazine.com/2009/JJ09/kitchen.asp?RefURL=&KeyCode=&tdate=&PMCode=&OrgURL=

18 Weeks old!

2009-07-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

YUM YUM!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S CEREAL TIME!!!!

2009-07-31T09:44:00.000-05:00

It is so hard to me to put my mind around the fact that our sweet little girl is already ready for rice cereal. I can't say it enough.... SHE IS GETTING SO BIG! We started out our day really early. Murphy Jo has been sleeping through the night for about 2 months now and all the sudden she thought it would be cool to wake up at 3:50! We have not had an early morning feeding in a LLLOOOONNNNGGGG time! She downed a 6 oz. bottle in no time and went right back to bed! We went to lunch with my good friend Sandy Simmons and then went to Target to buy Murphy Jo's first bowl and spoon! So we are all set and ready to have our cereal. When we got home I got everything ready and we were ready for our FIRST messy feeding!

Notice the matching bowl and spoon!

Everything is all ready!

Murphy Jo playing it cool!

Her sweet CLEAN face!

I just love this smile! It is like she smiles with her whole body!

So our first spoon full worked pretty well! She had that confused look on her face, but she did pretty good.

Still doing okay!!!

She LOST it! She is not liking this whole eating from a spoon thing. I don't know if it is because of the spoon or she is just not getting enough food fast enough! So I had the bright idea to fix another bottle and feed that to her...... and she loved it! HAHA

So after the bottle we went back to the cereal and she a few more spoonfuls!

Last night I was talking to my mother-in-law and she told me that my sister-in-law used to put the cereal in Sophie's bottle. So that is what we did last night and Murphy Jo did great! So that is what we are going to start doing till she gets used to the taste of the cereal! I am so proud of my baby!

We love Mrs. Amber

2009-07-29T15:37:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Amber is Murphy Jo's pediatrician! She goes to RainTree Pediatrics here in Allen! We love Mrs. Amber! She always comes in with a huge smile on her face and Murphy Jo just seems to light up when she sees her! Amber has totally put my mind at ease on a number of different issues! One of the major ones is letting Murphy Jo CRY IT OUT! The last few weeks Murphy Jo thought it would be cute to throw HUGE fits right before she is about to fall asleep! So I asked Amber about it, she said "you are not going to like what I have to say", I totally knew what she was going to say, but needed to hear it from her anyway. She said "just put her in her crib and let her cry it out!" I asked her if it was okay to give her the paci back and how long I should let her cry and she said "right now it is okay to give the paci back, because she can't really reach for it yet..... now at 6 months if she is still doing that, I will have to tell you something totally different. Let her cry as long as you can stand it!" So, that afternoon we started our new routine, and Murphy Jo did GREAT! I think she has slept better since I started doing that!!!! Thanks Mrs. Amber for your great advice! Here a few pictures of Murphy Jo. These were taken after Murphy Jo's 4 month shots.....

4 months old

2009-07-28T22:06:00.000-05:00

WOW where has the time gone? Our lives have gone non-stop the last 4 months. We have changed the way we do everything, but we would not change the reason why for the world! Murphy Jo is so amazing. She has changed so much over the months. Not only has she grown a wonderful personality she has also grown in her abilities! On July 10 she started rolling over and now we can't keep her on her back! She loves to be on her tummy!!! She is now all about her hands! She LOVES putting those things in her mouth! It is so funny, she sucks so hard sometime that you can hear it! She loves to play on her tummy time mat, swing in her swing! She is a ton of fun! I love when I go in and get her out of the pack and play and she just smiles with her whole body! We went to the Dr. on Monday, July 27. Murphy Jo is now 15.10 pounds (85%) and is 25.5 inches long (87%). She is growing at a normal rate! We are so proud of her!

Thrilling Thursdays

2009-07-28T21:37:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how our sweet baby girl has grown! She is so amazing! Murphy Jo was born on a Thursday evening! So each Thursday I take a new picture to see how our little Pumpkin has grown! The cutest thing happens each Thursday morning...... I get an email from my mom saying "It's Thursday, need a new picture"! Since our parents live so far way, Scotts mom and step-dad live in Elkton, Maryland, my parents live in Ada, Oklahoma and Scott's dad and step-mom live in Carthage, Texas..... we send them an update every Thursday. I thought I would share them with you too!

One day
One Week

2 weeks

3 months old ( I have no idea why it is here)

3 weeks

4 weeks

5 weeks

6 weeks

7 weeks

8 weeks

9 weeks

10 weeks

11 weeks

12 weeks

13 weeks 14 weeks

16 weeks

17 weeks

Hope you enjoy seeing her grow as much as we do!

There were 5 in the bed and the little one said ROLL OVER!!!

2009-07-13T17:33:00.000-05:00

Yep you guessed it! Murphy Jo has rolled over! She is going from her back to her tummy! She did it for the first time on Friday, July 10, 2009!!!! I am so proud if her! She did it again for her daddy and sister on Saturday! EVERY time I get the camera out to take a video, she will not roll... go figure! The first time she did it, I thought she would be a little scared, but she was not at all! She rolled to her belly and just smiled! She is all smiles all the time..... well, unless she is hungry, sleepy or dirty! She is on amazing little girl! I just wanted to shared the exciting news! If I can ever get it on camera I will post pictures!

First 4th of July!!!

2009-07-07T21:08:00.000-05:00

Our Fourth of July was so much fun! We started our weekend at Jeff and Karen Dunnings house on Friday, July 3. We had yummy hamburgers and lots of fun with friends from Scott's hockey team. Then on Saturday, July 3 we went out to my long time friends house, Heather Wood. We had so much fun playing with her sweet girls, Andi and Avery. They are full of all kinds of energy! They had some much fun jumping on and playing with Scott on the floor. We had yummy hotdogs and the best chocolate delight ever! Murphy Jo did so good! She was such a good girl! She smiled and laughed at everyone! She is such an easy baby to take places! She jsut loves looking at all the new sights!

Andi, Avery, Murphy Jo and myself.

Andi, Murphy Jo and Avery! This is one of MANY pictures these girls will be taking together!

Aunt Heather and Murphy Jo

Sweet Murphy Jo

Aunt Karen

Uncle Matt

Daddy and Murphy Jo swimming at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Karens house!

First Trip to Oklahoma.....

2009-07-07T10:51:00.000-05:00

On May 16, 2009 we tackled our frist big trip!!!! Yep all the way to Ada, Oklahoma! Scott and I were so nervous on how Murphy Jo would do and she proved to us that she is a great traveler! We left at about 8:30, right after her feeding and made it all the way to Denton without a peep... but we had to stop at a few stoplights so that woke Murphy Jo up! She can really tell when you slow down..... she likes the speed to be at least 45mph! Anyway, she finally clamed down and we were on our way again! Murphy did awesome! We made it all the way to Davis, OK and had to stop for a diaper change and a feeding! We made it to Ada by about 11:00..... she had a great day visiting with family! Here are a few pictures of her on that special day! I wanted to make sure she looked extra cute so I went to Kids 2 Kids and got her a super cute outfit!

Daddy is not in love with the bows, but I think they are so cute!

\

Poppy and Murphy Jo.... his eyes sparkle when he sees Murphy Jo!

Granny, cousin Niko and Murphy Jo! They are so in love with her. Granny can't keep that smile off her face when she see Murphy Jo, she also LOVES to squeeze her sweet little face!

Our ride home was really uneventful! Murphy Jo did great for her first big trip!!

We love Mrs. Aliza

2009-06-24T22:12:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Aliza is my mid-wife! I love her so much! She is such an amazing person! She was the one that told Scott and I we were pregnant! She was the one that held my hand and answered any questions I had. She ALWAYS had a smile on her face every time we went in to see her! She was amazing when we were at the hospital. She was basically with us all day long! I am not sure she even left the hospital! She was an amazing coach and when I thought I could not push anymore, she with her sweet kind voice encouraged me to push through the pain! She was amazing and I am so glad I found her! Thank you Mrs. Aliza for being so wonderful! Murphy Jo loves her. I know you can't really tell in the pictures. She had just had her bottle and was ready for her nap. So getting what we got in these pictures was really good!

Our little fish!

2009-06-24T22:04:00.001-05:00

Murphy Jo LOVES the water! She love to swim and kick in the water. We were really unsure of how she would react to the water and she LOVES it! She hardly ever fusses! She loves to kick her legs and try to swim!

One month old pictures......

2009-06-24T21:54:00.000-05:00

WOW how time flies! I think about updating my blog all the time and for some reason just can't find the time to do it:) We are starting to get on a better routine so I think I will be better at it! I have loved being a mom. The last 3 months have been the most amazing months of my life. You think meeting the man of your dreams would be the best, and it is.... but when you hold that precious little baby in your arms you can't help but fall in love all over again! I love rocking Murphy Jo to sleep for each nap and for bedtime! I love that I am the last person she sees before she closes her eyes! She is such a good baby. We had a rough start but once we got on a good routine she has been amazing. I just had to follow her lead!

Here are some pictures we took at TinStar Photography. We took them on May 2, 2009 so she was just a month and a few days......

2009-04-21T13:14:00.000-05:00

Murphy Jo is HERE!!!

2009-03-31T21:42:00.000-05:00

Okay so my last post was on Wednesday, March 25 and I was talking about how I am so happy to become a mommy! And how scared I was to "pass" the shoulders... little did I know that the very next day I would get to see my precious daughters face! So here is our story:
On Thursday morning, I went to school as usual. I was tired, but what do you expect when you are 8.5 months pregnant? I was talking to a friend on the way in to the building and told her, I am sooo ready to have this baby. Murphy and I were scheduled for our 38 week check up that morning at 9:50 a.m. So at about 9:30 my sub came in to watch my class till about 10:30 and we were off to see the Dr. and to hear my sweet little girls heart beat. When I got there I did the usual.... gave a sample of pee and got my blood pressure taken. It was a little high 142/96, but it has been kinda high the whole time. It is always in the 130's and sometimes in the 140's and the bottom number is anywhere from the 70's to the 80's..... anyway, when the Midwife Aliza came in she was said your BP is a little high, how do you feel about having the baby today? HOLY COW, I told her if she feels like I should than lets do it! She got everything set up and I was off to the hospital! I called Scott and asked him if he was ready to be a daddy again and he finished up a few things at work and was off to the house to get Murphy's bag and mine. I called my school and told them I will not be coming back, because Murphy will be here by dinner!
Once I got to the hospital they got me all prepared to induce and we were on our way to meeting Murphy. Aliza came in about 1:00 and broke my water and I got the epi. at about 2:15ish. I did not feel any pain at all.
My parents drove in from Ada, Oklahoma and arrived about 3:00. I had several visitors from school come up! By about 10:00 p.m. I started having some pretty major contractions so we started pushing. By 10:40 I was pushing really hard and Murphy Jo was brought into this world at 10:57! She was 8 pounds 4 oz. and 20 inches long!
Having Murphy Jo was the most wonderful experience ever! I know I was in a ton of pain and I wanted to give up because it hurt so bad, but when they laid her on my chest I could not remember the pain. It is so amazing how you can be in so much pain and not remember it 5 mins. later. That is truly the act of God!
Murphy Jo is the most amazing perfect baby ever! She is so sweet and beautiful! She is starting to get herself on a schedule and I am adjusting to being a new mom. To be honest it has not been really hard. But I do have one of the most amazing husbands ever! He has been a huge help. He is so in love with Murphy. It is so sweet to see him hold her, love on her and just be her dad!
I promise to be much better at updating my blog

Becoming a Mom

2009-03-25T19:26:00.000-05:00

My life is getting ready to change and to me that is the happiest feeling in the whole wide world. But at the same time it is very scary. I will now have someone in this world that is actually part of me. Someone who will depend on me from the time she is born. Well, actually she has been depending on me for 8 1/2 months. I know she will be an amazing daughter and I hope that I am an amazing mother to her.

On April 6 our sweet daughter Murphy Jo is due. If she does not come before April 6 she will for sure be here on April 7...... that is when we scheduled her to be induced.... Going into labor is really scary to me. I worry about getting to the hospital on time, will everything go smooth..... I know everything will be fine, it is just my own personal worries.

I can't wait to post some pictures of our sweet baby girl, Murphy Jo:)

Closing Day!

2009-02-11T17:09:00.000-06:00

Well, today was the day we closed on our house. Everything went so well! We did our last "walk though" this morning. Our new house was a mess as the OLD owners were packing and getting ready to move. It was so fun to walk though our house again! Scott and I would say "such and such will go here" thoughout the whole house, and the cool thing was, WE WERE THINKING THE SAME THING!

The only problem we came across was the sprinkler system. We could not get all the zones to work when we were trying to turn them on. Finally after about 20 or 30 mins of working on it.... IT FINALLY worked! So everything is ready for us to move in now (not that the sprinkler system would have stopped us, it is just good to know everything works correctly now)!

After our walk through we went to eat at Red, Hot and Blue...... Scott's favorite place to eat! Then we were off to CLOSING! WOW I never knew how many papers were involved in this process. We got everything signed and then we were on our way....... to the NEW house you think..... well, not yet! The old owners will not be out till Friday and we will not get our keys till Saturday:( We will be moving in on Feb. 21!!!! It was really strange to think we now own a beautiful home and we can't get into it till Saturday......

After we went to Closing, Scott and I went to Wal-Mart and Lowes to look for Patio furniture. I think we are getting close to pick something out. It is going to be so much fun to decorate our new home!

I have some pictures to post, but will take more on Saturday when we get the keys!!!!!

The Past Year........

2009-02-02T17:47:00.000-06:00

I thought it would be good to tell you about my life this past year. I am very new to the whole Blog thing so you will have to excuse me if I don't update or add things like I should. My life is amazing. I have loved and learned through EVERYTHING I have been through. This past year has been even more amazing than any other year in my whole life. I hope you enjoy reading about it!

On May 3, 2008 I married the man of my dreams. Scott and I got married at one of the most amazing, most beautiful place in the world. We were married in Cancun, Mexico on the beach. It was the most beautiful day ever!
This is a picture of the place where we got married. It was amazing.

This is where we were married

This is Scott and I on our big day!

Scott and I were all smiles! Here is a picture of the group that came and enjoyed our wedding with us!

So not only was that a big day for us, but in July we found out we were expecting! We will be having a sweet little girl in April. Our due date is set for April 6, 2009. We are so excited to meet Murphy Jo. She is growing and starting to develop her own personality! Here is one of our latest Sonogram pictures!

She is so precious and we love her so much!

And last (for right now) but not least is......Scott and I just bought our First HOUSE!!!! I can't believe it! In one year, I have become a wife/stepmom, a MOM and a house owner..... WOW my life if great. Here is a picture of our new home!

Well, that has been my life so far this past year:)