swimsuits, summer, pregnancy and cellulite!!!

ahhhhhh...what a wonderful thing 95+ weather is...well, it probably wouldn't be so wonderful if we weren't able to spend most of those days at a pool. the only draw back to the pool is having to get into a swimsuit. there was a time when i didn't care about putting on a suit and walking around without a care in the world. those times are gone. i can no longer sit peacefully by the pool reading or listining to music...now i have to bend and dip and swim on my knees all over the 6in to 2ft side of the pool. as if having to wear a bathing suit was not insult enough. on top of that i am now pregnant...and not quite the pregnant where people know that i am pregnant...just where i look like have gained quite a bit of weight and i am still trying to squash flesh into a bathing suit that used to fit but now reseambles sausage wrap. sigh. i keep trying to tell myself that all is not lost. i will be healthy and fit once more. being a mom does not mean that i have to neglect my health...in fact...i can send a healthy message to my children by making sure that i make good choices and exercise...i keep telling myself this...

baby update:

so far i've gained 6 pounds.
13 weeks along ( yay for almost done with the first trimester!)
i heard the little one's heartbeat and saw the little squiggly body on the ultrasound...
a strong heartbeat of 160+ beats per minute
little fact: tiny fingerprints have already formed on this little one's fingertips! how awesome!

harper and calvary are extremely excited. harper a little more so. calvary just keeps trying to look up my dress or down my shirt and see the baby. he has no interest in holding, feeding, or diapering a baby. the idea of a baby inside of mommy is neat, but outside of that, nothing. harper tries to take care of me and she reminds me that i shouldn't drink soda because the baby drinks what i drink and tells me that if i have a headache then the baby has a headache because that baby has what i have. she keeps trying to practice feeding calvary, diapering calvary, and holding calvary...but he fights her every step of the way.

all is madness and i love madness!

thanks!

i just wanted to spend a minute or two thanking everyone for their sweet comments, both on this blog and elsewhere, about the recent addition to our family! we wanted everyone to rejoice with us as we were celebrating what we see as a true blessing...but so often times people are blinded by age, financial situations, and other situations to celebrate and instead criticize. we thought that people may see us as irresponsible when we really are just two people that have so much love for harper and calvary that we couldn't imagine not sharing that love with more children. our lives are so much richer with their laughter and silliness (and even tears and grumpiness). i am far from the perfect mom; i question if i was too strict, too lenient, not spending enough quality attention, spending too much, feeding them the wrong food, letting them watch too many movies, the list could go on and on...but every night i pray that God will make me a better mother the next day and that my children will grow up strong in this world and steadfast in the ways of the Lord and being men and women of integrity...
i thought sleeping through the night and teething would be the hardest struggle with this early, formative years...
anyway, thanks for the continued support and sweet love for our family! we are learning and growing in love every day!

our family secret....

well for 8 weeks now kyle and i have been hiding something...

we are expecting our third precious little baby!!!

we are so excited (and yes, it is planned!)

this little one is due december 18th, so true to the murray form, we are already contemplating christmas names for this one...perhaps myrh murray or yule...we haven't settled on anything yet, but the possibilities are really endless...

please keep this precious little one in your prayers as our family continues to grow and change.

harper's joke...

"there were two muffins in an oven and the first muffin said,'whew! it is hot in here!' and the second muffin said, 'AHHHHHHH! A TALKING MUFFIN!'"

i know it is coming everytime but i laugh genuine hysterics each time i hear it.... so funny.

Calvary's "big boy room"

bubbles...

this is my absolute favorite progression of pictures we have ever taken. there are several more but i couldn't upload anymore. these were taken at cousin emmi's birthday party at kyle's granny's house. calvary thought it was the funniest thing ever to blow bubbles towards granny. in some places the pictures may make it appear as if calvary is not amused, but trust me, this only illustrates how completely consumed with glee he was!

got milk?

today harper, calvary, kyle's mom, and i went for a walk and found a couple of caterpillars. on the way home i teased harper for not letting the caterpillar crawl on her and she replied, "if calvary was a caterpillar i would let him crawl on me." sweet? i'm not sure. i then told her that caterpillars turned into butterflies and she asked how such a thing could be possible. i tried to explain that when a caterpillar knew it was time to change they would wrap up in a really tight blanket called a cacoon and inside they would change into a butterfly. we continued our drive and as we passed a pasture full of cows harper asked, "do you know where milk comes from?" she then continued to explain that when a cow pees it wraps itself up in a tight blanket called a "catcoon" and changes itself into milk and "then we drink it." oddly enough...even believing that milk is actually created from the process of urine metamorphosis she shows no signs of disgust for the product...


got milk?