The Murray Family

I guess it's 2011!

2011-02-04T13:36:00.005-05:00

So I guess it has been quite awhile since I found a few minutes to sit down and give an update. If you lived in this house though you'd understand why! The holidays have come and gone and Reagan had a wonderful time! We hosted Thanksgiving and made trips to Chicago and Indy around Christmas to celebrate with our families. We have battled illness all winter long and can't wait for Spring to be here! It seems we have all had our fair share of colds and bugs and now just hope we are on the mend. I can't take much more sickness! And well, as any of you with kids know, life with an 18 month old is crazy!!! The girl is into anything and everything. We are still amazed at how fast the family room can go from clean and orderly to mass chaos! :-) Her vocabulary continues to grow which is so much fun! Our tally I believe is well over 70! And boy do you need to watch what you say around this kid because she will repeat it instantly! One favorite was when Jim told Peanut he was a goofball and she promptly repeated, "GOOFBALL!"

She loves playing with her kitchen and babies. She has a great fondness for Elmo and her ladybug pillowpet. But I think her greatest love in the toy world right now is books. She can't get enough of all her books! It is so cute to find her sitting in the family room "reading" one of her books!

With all of the excitement has also come our share of frustration as she is definitely into pushing her boundaries and even finds mommy and daddy's scolding funny. UGH! But at the end of the day we wouldn't change her for anything! She enjoys walking Peanut around the house on his leash... which he is not very found of so we have been trying to get her to walk her stuffed animal dog around instead... it seems to do the trick!

We are gearing up for our first plane trip with the little lady. We are excited and nervous! We know she is a great traveler but that take off thing might be a bit much! Hopefully we don't annoy EVERYONE on the plane! :-)

Here are some picks of our last few months!

We kicked off the first snowfall of the season with sled rides around the yard. She LOVED it!

Sporting Mr. Potato Head's glasses!

Are you going to drink all of that or do you need some help?

Helping clear the drive after yet another round of snow this winter

So excited about Produce Delivery Day! She pulled her apple out of the bin when I wasn't looking and started eating it! She loves her fruit!

Sporting little pigtails! The hair is growing slowly!! :-)

Our 18 month old Cutie!!!

Phew... that was a fast October!

2010-10-29T15:48:00.005-04:00

Time flies when you are having fun and the Murray house is having tons! R is now a walker! Two days before my big 3-0 (how am I that old??) the little lady just took off! Most people talk about their kids taking a few steps at first before they start really going. Not our girl. Jim stood her up in her room and before he new what was happening she walked across the room! Of course when I got upstairs for a repeat performance she declined. :-) But later that day she showed off her skills and walked over six feet before sitting down. And how quickly the days of crawling seem to be behind us. Very rarely anymore is she crawling. This week she ran to the garage door when she heard Jim come home and greeted him with her usual squeals and a great big hug. She has also discovered her voice and how she can make a high pitched squeal.... cute the first time, not so much after that! :-)

We ventured into uncharted territory as parents two weeks ago and went to NY for a couple of days while R stayed with Grandpa & Grandma H. While it was nice to get away, we missed her like crazy and quickly decided that extended trips without her were not going to be a part of our normal routine. But she had a fantastic time and we're pretty sure she barely noticed we were gone. :-) She even got to finish her visit in Indy by meeting her new second cousin Jenna, who is ADORABLE!

We have the costume all set for our little lady and just hope that she cooperates to keep it on! :-)

Here are some pics from the past month!

Surely a suitcase is a good place to sit.

The buddies checking things out in the front of the house

Pigtails!!!

The Things They Do

2010-09-10T15:54:00.005-04:00

There has been some demand for a new post... I wish I was better about this but somehow time always gets away! I had full intentions of doing this post a week ago and here I am finally sitting down to do it. I thought I'd take the few moments that snack time allows me and give a little update.

Our world is constantly changing as Reagan continues to explore the world around her. While she is still not yet an independent walker she is cruising with anything that will move or not move. An example would be today when she spent what seemed like forever going back and forth between the two windows in our room walking along the wall back and forth, back and forth. :-) She has also discovered the stairs... one day she just went over and started climbing! We followed her up and she took them like she had been doing it for years!

We bought cabinet locks probably over a month ago in anticipation of her discovering cabinets and well,k the locks are still in their original packaging but as we knew would happen Reagan loves to open and close the cabinet doors... we really do need to get those locks on the doors! There is nothing as sweet as the sound of slamming doors while I make dinner. haha!!

Reagan has started standing without holding on to anything but only for a few moments until she realizes what she is doing and sits down! There is no pushing this girl along, she is going to do it all in her own time.

Her new word this week is outside. She is always wanting to go "outide" so that she can use her swing.

Enjoying the nice weather of Labor Day Weekend

Party Pics

2010-08-15T14:38:00.006-04:00

The first birthday has come and gone! We had so much fun with family and friends for Reagan's first birthday party. Here are a few pics:

The party outfit

Cousin time!

Check out the new rocking horse!

"Cake Time! Did you know I'm one?"

Playing in the new tunnel with my little people!

Look out world!! I'm coming to get you!

"Now that was a good party!"

Do we really have a ONE year old??

2010-08-02T19:56:00.007-04:00

AHHHH!!! Reagan turned ONE on Saturday!! It is so hard to believe a year has passed since she officially came into our lives. We had a great day of just the three of us. It was just what Jim and I needed as through out the day we remembered our long day of a year ago.. the midnight water breaking... Jim initially not being able to be in the room with me since I wasn't initially admitted to labor & delivery and it was 4 in the morning... the LONG day of labor... the eventual decision to have a c-section... to finally seeing our beautiful little girl at 9:18 PM. We remember being so thrilled and excited and EXHAUSTED! By the time we were in our room after it was all said and done it was nearly midnight and I at least had been up for 24 hours! But it was all worth it because Reagan is the best thing to happen to us. She makes us smile EVERY day. People always talk about how much kids change you. The biggest change is the amount of love our hearts are capable of. We have been blessed with a lot love in our lives but there isn't a love comparable to that which we feel for Reagan. While we continue to be excited for what our lives hold for us, we can't help but be excited for her and all that the world has to show her. We are truly blessed to be able to part of her journey.

Reagan's day started with presents! Is there a better way to start a birthday? We got her a chair, a few books, a phone (not to worry, it's a toy phone!) and a cradle for her baby doll. While she was a little unsure of the chair at first an afternoon viewing of Baby Einstein while sitting in the chair made it a real winner! It was then time for birthday pancakes.. yum!! We were lucky enough to have a beautiful day of weather on Saturday so we took the birthday girl to the zoo. I'm not sure if I posted about our first trip and the mania that ensued during the elephant visit but decided to avoid the elephants this time around just to be safe. Reagan had a blast. She loved seeing all the animals and was particularly fond of the rhinoceros and the gorilla. :-) We ate lunch while there and Reagan enjoyed one of her recent favorite foods... a cheeseburger. I don't know what it is about the burger but she giggles at some point every time she has one. Since her official party is coming up, we kept the cake low key on her actual birthday and celebrated with a cupcake. And just like her mom, Reagan LOVES sweets!!

Gorilla in the background.. she really did love him it was hard to get her to turn around for photo!

mmmm...cupcakes!

Our past month has been full of changes in the Murray house. Reagan is finally crawling. We thought she might never figure it out and then out of nowhere she just took off. It is awesome and so exciting for her! She has already found Peanut's food bowl and even sampled a piece(yuck!). She is also pulling up to a standing position using anything and everything. Gone are the days of needing Mom and Dad's fingers to leverage her self up... if Peanut would stand still long enough she'd probably use him! We keep waiting for those steps to start. She is a speed walker with the assistance of fingers and we know it is just a matter of time before she doesn't need us for that either. Oh how they grow up so fast!!

On the feeding front, baby food is a thing of the past. Reagan loves real table food!! The only thing she so far appears to not really care for is rice. I have no idea why but she has refused it several times at daycare. We are working on getting off the bottle and completely over to the sippy cup.. I think this one is going to be a challenge but we will get there.

The one year check up is Friday. My personal goal for her is 19 lbs 3 oz. Jim is shooting for 20 lbs. We'll see who is closer! Here are a few more pics from the past month...

Don't I look cool in the carseat box??

Family photo

Pool time is so much fun!!!

There is nothing better than a ride in the swing!

11 months....seriously?

2010-07-08T20:34:00.004-04:00

I know I haven't been very good about updating... the days go so fast and by the time night rolls around.. .well, I'd rather be lazy!

Reagan continues to be an incredible kid! She has taken to table foods like crazy despite only having two teeth! She likes them so much that baby food is really not an option at all anymore. :-) You name it and she will eat it (for the most part.. she did refuse her rice pilaf at daycare last week).

Believe it or not but our little lady is 11 months old and quickly approaching her FIRST birthday! Where in the world did all the time go? She has become very interested in walking while holding our fingers. It is so cute because she takes off with a destination in mind and when she gets there she just lets go and sits. Crawling is still not her thing. She scoots a lot but usually backwards. After the past weekend and her new found love for walking with assistance I really think she is just going to take off one day.

Here are a few pics since the last post!

Happy Fourth of July!! (She insisted on the necklace)

Enjoying some pool time. She loves swimming so much and going under water in swim class that at one point she kept bending over to get her face wet... too cute!

So after finishing a bottle I had set it on the floor while I put her down on the floor. Despite the fact that it was empty the girl had to have it and scooted over to it and proceeded to do this.

Ahhh summer time fun in the sun!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-21T13:48:00.005-04:00

Happy Father's Day (a day late) to all the dads out there! Our day was rather uneventful, the kind of day Jim loves! We went to church, got some lunch, and Jim enjoyed the rest of the day playing with Reagan and watching World Cup games and the U.S. Open. Can life get much better than that? I know that Jim probably won't read this since I think he forgets that I still update this but I am going to take minute to tell everyone how great he is! :-) Reagan is so lucky to have a dad like Jim. He works so hard to make sure she is well taken care of. Every day when he gets home from work she lights up! She kicks her legs and waves her arms and grins from ear to ear. It is just about the cutest thing ever! While she can't say it yet, I know she is thinking how lucky she is! And while we are on the subject of Jim I just have to say how blessed I am to have him. He is my best friend, a wonderful husband, and a fantastic father. Our little family is so special!

In honor of Father's Day, here are a few of Jim and Reagan:

Dad with his two kids! :-)

Whoa! Where is the time going?

2010-06-06T20:12:00.006-04:00

So much for being better about posting!! I can't believe it's almost been a month since the last post!! We have been quite busy but I don't know if that's an excuse. We sent Ann off to LA three weeks ago which was quite hard on all of us. We miss her like crazy but are certainly jealous of the ample tanning time she now has!! I don't know if I'll ever stand by her in a picture again with my pale complexion! In the midst of the sadness of the weekend as we said goodbye to Ann we had some very EXCITING news! Little Miss Mer and Jeff are getting married!!! Woohoo!! While we all knew it was just a matter of time it is still hard to believe that we've finally reached this point! I am heading to Indy next weekend to assist the Bride-To-Be on a little dress shopping adventure! We are so excited for Jeff and Meredith! Reagan is excited to start calling Jeff, "Uncle Jeff" instead of "Buddy Jeff!"

In the Reagan front we are in the midst of quite a virus. She was home all last week with a mild fever, snotty nose, and sometimes wicked cough. Today I took her to the doctor for the second time in a week and discovered she now has a double ear infection. Poor kid!!! Hopefully the meds will work fast!

While the little lady still isn't mobile she is continuing to learn new things. This week she has started to clap a little and wave. It is too cute!! She loves to give slobbery kisses to her Mom and I love it!

Here are a few recent shots of our little lady:

Reading about Puppies and Kittens!

Do you want to come and play?

She loves to look out the window!

I'm a lucky lady

2010-05-10T15:56:00.002-04:00

My first Mother's Day was perfect!!! I got to sleep in and Reagan made me breakfast!! (with the help of dad of course!) And they treated me to a perfect gift.. a new purse!!! It's been so long since I had a new one and I definitely wasn't expecting one. I tell you, they know me so well! We finished our morning by going to church which was so nice because it has been awhile since we went! The rest of the day involved hanging out with my favorite little girl and having a great dinner of steak and asparagus grilled by Jim! Any meal where I don't have to cook is great but Jim went all out and it was fantastic. I told him that maybe everyday should be Mother's Day!!! :-) I feel so blessed to have an amazing husband and the cutest little kid in the world!! I LOVE being a mom!!!

9 months?!?!?

2010-05-10T14:01:00.003-04:00

It is hard to believe that our little girl is NINE months old!!!! Ahhh!!! I had the joy of taking her in for her nine month check up and shots. Luckily she only got two this time so it was a piece of cake compared to others!! Our little lady weighed in at 16 lbs 3 oz and 26 3/4". She's a little one and we couldn't love her more! :-) But were excited that she moved up to 10% for weight and 25 for height so that's great!!! Reagan and I followed her appointment with a little road trip to see Aunt Ann's apartment one last time before the big move. Lucky little Reagan got to sleep the whole way there while I had to struggle to stay awake! But we had lots of fun when we got there!!

Baby's First Vacation!!

2010-04-29T19:55:00.004-04:00

What a great time we had last week on vacation!! Jim and I were more than ready for a little time away from work and Reagan was eager to find out what this vacation thing was all about. We headed to Asheville, NC to see the Biltmore and had a great time. Reagan was a fantastic passenger on our trip. She really doesn't mind the car and was taking in what scenery she could see while facing backward. :-) She was awesome at the Biltmore too. If you have never been, it is a sight to see. For those of you who have been there, remember how it's super quiet and you feel like you shouldn't talk like you are in a library or something? Well Reagan thought it was great that people were quiet because then she could hear her voice bouncing off the walls!! She didn't fuss at all, just enjoyed sharing her delight in all that she was seeing and making people smile. I think we were all a little bummed when it was time to head back home. Oh well, more vacations will be in our future (hello California!!!)

I guess I should take a minute to mention my dear sister Ann has accepted a new job in Hollywood, CA!!! Sadly, she is not pursing an acting or singing career but she is doing what she does best, being a nurse!! We will miss having her here in the Midwest but we are so excited for her and can't wait to visit the west coast!!!

Here are some pics from our vacation:

Reagan showing Dad how to drive

Taking in the sites of the Smokies

Smokies with Dad

Our future home! :-)

Enjoying some play time in the condo before heading out for the day.

Making the climb to the top of Chimney Rock

At the top of Chimney Rock

Family Photo before Dinner.

Making the trip back home!

Happy Very Belated Easter!

2010-04-29T19:38:00.004-04:00

Somehow time has really gotten away from us!!! We were able to spend the Easter holiday in Indy. It was nice to be with family and take a little trip! Reagan as always was a rock star. We had a rough night that Saturday with her sleeping only to discover on Sunday morning that she was indeed cutting her first tooth!!! I was starting to wonder if the girl was destined to a life with only gums!! :-)

Dressed in her Sunday Best for Easter

Family Photo

With our love of college basketball, it was only appropriate that while in town we made a quick trip downtown to see some practices for the Final Four. If only we could have gone to the games!!!

Just a few pics

2010-03-17T21:15:00.003-04:00

Here are a few more goodies from March so far!!

Nap Time!

2010-03-17T21:05:00.005-04:00

R has gotten so good at taking a nap!! She doesn't even really use her pacifier anymore. However, purple bear is a must for nap time! She's all smiles when you give her the bear. The best part is that her naps have gone from only being 20 minutes to being more in the 45 minute to an hour (and sometimes longer!) range.

Here are a few pics of her when she woke from a nap recently...

I can't make this up... I walked in the room with the camera and she greeted me with smiles!!

The Rest of February

2010-03-17T20:42:00.004-04:00

Wow.... so much for being better about updating!!! Our February flew by! We enjoyed a quick trip to Indy over Valentines' Day weekend. As always, R was a great traveler. February also brought about a ton of new foods for R. You name the fruit or vegetable and chances are R is fan. Sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans, peas, zucchini, broccoli... yum!! Pears, peaches, bananas, apples, strawberries, prunes, and even mangoes! The love of food is helping her continue to grow! Her 7 month weight check put her at 14.1 lbs and 25 1/4" long. Yes, she is just a little thing but a little thing that is growing just like she should!

Here are some pics from February:

The first viewing of Baby Einstein's "My First Signs"

She loves to play with her blocks!

Yum!!! Food!!!

It's time to hit the hay!

UNSuper Bowl

2010-02-08T16:11:00.004-05:00

Well, my Colts couldn't pull it off last night. So sad! But the Saints did play a good game and even though I would have LOVED a Colts victory, I'm happy for the Saints.

We ventured out to friends to enjoy the game. R was a trooper even going right to sleep when we put her down part way through the game. She transitioned home just fine... until 130 rolled around. Last night marked two nights in a row of being up for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night with nothing really wrong. Ugh.. that makes for one tired mom (and dad too!). I'm hoping this is a bad fluke and that she will get back on track tonight.

R is a HUGE fan of sweet potatoes.. her first non-cereal food. I can't believe what joy she has found in them! Her first adventure with the food was about the funniest thing not only to us but apparently her too! Every time the spoon came out of the bowl with food on it R would squeal in delight. So cute! The sippy cup isn't going as smoothly as the food. She gets that the cup goes in the mouth but as far as actually drinking from it, not so much. In fact, when she does get water out 9 times out of 10 she just lets it run out her mouth and down her front. Oh well! It is still so cute!

Six months already?!

2010-02-05T15:56:00.006-05:00

It is hard to believe that R is already six months old!! Time is flying at a rate I never imagined! We had the big check up today and it is confirmed.. R is just a little peanut! (not to be confused with our wonderful dog!) She weighed in at 13 lbs and is 24.5 inches. She has mastered her cereal and we are now going to start adding fruits and veggies. The doctor also suggested to start introducing a sippy cup now. How exciting for R but sad for me because it means she's getting bigger!

She continues to get better and better at sitting up. I think she really enjoys being eye level with Peanut.

We are gearing up for the big game this weekend. You can all rest assured that R will be sporting her Colts gear. I even made her a blanket for the big game! Pictures to come from
Super Bowl Sunday!

In the meantime, here are some pics since our last post!

Trying to be better

2010-01-24T20:23:00.004-05:00

A lady I work with made a book of her blog posts from last year. She had made a goal to do a picture a day and then put it all in a book for her kids. It has left me inspired. I don't think I will commit to doing an entry everyday but I will work to do better than I have been.

It's hard to believe how fast January is flying by! Reagan and I were very excited this afternoon when our Colts pulled out the big victory and will be heading to the Super Bowl again! Reagan sported her Colts Onesie which I have decided is good luck and will definitely be worn again in two weeks. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of her in it today!

The world of Reagan has been so fun this month. She is quite possibly the happiest baby I've ever known. She loves to smile and laugh which in turn makes Mom & Dad smile and laugh! We continue to work on rolling over... we can't figure her out but she really seems fine not doing it. She thinks it's great when we help her to show her how to do it but past that she's content to just chill out on either stomach or her back. We joke that she may just skip rolling and go right to crawling because her arms and legs are moving like crazy during tummy time. She has started to really push up during tummy time and is now frequently propped up on her hands with her arms stretched out.

We have also been working on sitting up. She enjoys seeing everything around her and has on occasion held her own for a few seconds before tumbling over!

We have started to introduce a little rice cereal into her world at dinner time. She is doing a great job and seems to love it once she gets past that first bite!

We did experience our first real illness this past week. Reagan had been coughing and sneezing but then last Saturday started wheezing. It wasn't awful but we could tell it wasn't getting better so we monitored her for the weekend and took her to the doctor on Monday. We were told that she had RSV/bronchiolitis and all we could do was watch her make sure her breathing didn't get worse. Lucky for us it didn't. She was over the wheezing by the end of the day Wednesday. We were fortunate that she didn't run any fever and didn't have any problems eating despite her congestion. Reagan was also one of the happiest sick babies ever. Her only problems were at night but I figured she was sick and was entitled to a little fussy time!

I know that people always say children are such a blessing but I never fully grasped the magnitude of that blessing until we had Reagan. She is such a joy. She has an amazing attitude and can roll with the punches. Every day is an adventure that we can't wait to share.

Here are a few pics from the last few weeks.

I think Reagan and Daddy are equally in love with each other!

Doing her work on the laptop while mom gets a little work done too!

First Cereal.. Yum!!

First BIG Snow!

She is getting so big!!! How can you resist that smile??

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T15:51:00.006-05:00

Time flies when you are having fun has never seemed so true as now! It's hard to believe the holidays have come and gone and 2010 is here! Our past year has more than exceeded our expectations! We had a great Christmas with Reagan and enjoyed for the first time, spending Christmas at home. We were fortunate that everyone was willing to come to us this year! We had the Murrays here the weekend before Christmas and the Hurfords came the weekend after. And while Reagan may be a little too young to really get this whole Christmas thing I think she still had a great time! Her visit to see Santa was a success with no crying! She was completely distracted by everything going on in the mall that we couldn't get a smile out of her but at least it wasn't screaming!

We went to church on Christmas eve.. it was a gamble as the service started at 8 which is when Reagan is usually in bed but we figured she'd fall asleep in the car and just sleep through the service.... ha! She did fall asleep on the way there but then promptly woke up once we were inside. She did great at first even joining in the prayers... there was nothing quiet about her babbling while the rest of the congregation was silent! :-) However, she went from happy camper to cranky pants in 2 seconds flat and I spent the rest of the service in the "quiet" room as she drifted off to sleep. Oh well! Once we got home, even though she was tired, she insisted upon leaving mile and cookies for Santa so that he would bring her something good! Poor kid could barely keep her eyes open!

Christmas morning Reagan gave us a great gift... she slept until 5 and then went back to bed until 8. Merry Christmas!! It may be our last late morning Christmas for years to come! Reagan liked all of her presents and even tried to help open a few.

Our New Year's Eve was a quiet one at home but it was just what we needed! While Reagan didn't make it to midnight.. Jim and I did and then promptly went to bed! I know, not very exciting but we had a good time.

2010 is going to full of a lot of firsts for us and Reagan and we can't wait to experience them all. Reagan is such a great kid and we are truly blessed to have her in our lives. Everyday she puts a smile on our face. We are loving every second of being parents! Below are some other photos from December....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-30T15:44:00.004-05:00

It is hard to believe that November is over after today! We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Indianapolis. It was great to be with family. Everyone was so excited to see us but we know it was all about Reagan. :-) On Friday we headed up to Fort Wayne for the day so that Reagan could meet Great Grandpa Schoenherr. What a treat! I think they both got a kick out of eachother. We were so thankful to have four generations together in one place.

Reagan was great the whole weekend and we are grateful she is such an easy kid in the car. She slept well again away from her bed.. yes!!!

We are now getting ready for Christmas and having family in town. Our first Christmas at home!

Below are a few pics since our Thanksgivng Weekend.

Family Photo

All the "Kids"

Meeting Great Grandpa Schoenherr!

Four Generations

Ladybug Ladybug

2009-11-09T12:42:00.006-05:00

October was quite a month for the Murray house. We had our first road trip to Chicago with an overnight pitstop in Indy. Reagan was a fantastic traveler and had no problem sleeping in beds that weren't her own. We had a lot of fun getting to see family and friends and introducing Reagan to everyone. We also made a day trip up to Columbus so Reagan could hang out with her Aunt Ann and see her new apartment.

October also brought a change to our daily routine. I went back to work the last week of October. Ugh. The first week was really tough but the second week got a little easier. I am only in the office three days a week which makes it a little more tolerable. Reagan seems to be adjusting just fine to daycare. The staff love her because she is so little compared to everyone else. Staff from the whole building come in the room to see her and hold her so we know she getting love while we are apart. It also helps that they have a camera in the room that I can log into while I'm at work and see what she is up to. It's hard to leave her in the mornings and that is why I delegated the role of dropping Reagan off at daycare in the mornings to Jim. Then I pick her up on my way home. It seems to be working out.

Then came Halloween and as you can see, Reagan was a ladybug. We didn't actually do any trick-or-treating with her and by the time kids started coming to the door she was over being in the costume and took a little nap before heading to bed. But while she had it on, she was so cute!

Below are a couple pics of Reagan from October. How is she already over three months old??

Enjoying some tummy time at Aunt Ann's apartment!

Reagan's fingers got in a scuffle with her face during nap time and the fingers won... her nails were trimmed promptly afterward.

Football!!

2009-10-06T12:40:00.004-04:00

Now that football season is full swing, I thought it was time to let the cat out of the bag. Reagan is just like her mom and is a huge Colts fan!!! Dad is trying hard to have her be a Bears fan but with a man like Peyton Manning at Quarterback how can you not be a Colts fan? Here are a couple of pics from last weekend of Reagan showing her support for her boys.

Oh, and her two month check-up was today and she is doing great!!!

This one cracked me up with her arms crossed. She is so fun striking a pose!!

Two months and going strong

2009-09-29T21:03:00.006-04:00

We may be a little partial, but can you say cutie??? Reagan has been showing off her smile a lot lately and we love it! It's great to go in and get her in the morning and see her flash a big grin.

Night sleeping is really starting to go well. It took a couple of rough nights at first when we took away the car seat but things are so much better now! For the last week she's been sleeping 7 - 9 hours and then going back to sleep for another 3-4. It's been great!

She continues to grow and while the hair is hard to see it really is coming in. I put her in the car seat the other today to run errands and was amazed at how much bigger she is in it than we she came home.

We are excited for the fall season and the cool weather. It's our favorite time of year and are excited to share it with Reagan. I've been trying to decide what she will be for Halloween. All the costumes are so cute!!

Below are pics from the last few weeks:

Five Weeks Old already!

2009-09-04T13:15:00.002-04:00

Our little lady is five weeks old today. Where in the world has the time gone? Reagan is constantly on the look out for what is going on around her. She is so curious it sometimes makes napping a hard thing for her, but we're working on it. She also became a huge fan of sleeping in her car seat. While we know this isn't good we couldn't resist the sleep it was providing us during the night. But rest assured we are committed to getting her back in the crib.

We have been quite busy introducing Reagan to the family with visits from the Hurfords and the Murrays. We can't lie, we enjoy showing off our little girl.

Yesterday we finally had pictures taken. A lady I work with does photography on the side and was so nice to come out to the house after work yesterday and take pics of Reagan. Reagan cooperated for the most part but definitely had her moments! It was so fun though and I'm super excited to see the pics when they are done.

Today Reagan and I headed to the doctor for her big one month check up. I am happy to report that the little lady is doing great! She weighed in at 9 lbs even and measured 22 inches. She is a little weed!

Introducing Reagan Lily!!

2009-08-08T17:09:00.005-04:00

She's here!! Reagan Lily arrived Friday, July 31, at 9:18 p.m. She weighed in at 6 lbs 13.7 oz and measured 20 inches. We are so excited to finally have here with us. After a few days in the hospital we arrived home late Monday afternoon. The first week has been quite an experience. I ended up having a c-section so have had to try and recover from that while trying to take care of Miss Reagan. Jim was home all week which was such a blessing. He is a great dad already and I can tell the two of them have something special going on.

We are working on the night time routine. She can sleep great during the day but doesn't really care for sleep as much at night! Oh well... such is life and we'll get it figured out. Due to the limited sleep we haven't really left the house. We've been lucky that Jeff is still living with us as he made sure we had dinner every night this week.

Since Reagan is currently napping I should try and catch a few minutes myself. Below are a few photos for your viewing pleasure:

It's getting so close!

2009-07-18T14:33:00.006-04:00

We finally are feeling like we are in the final stretch! Three more weeks and hopefully baby Murray will be here! We are still amazed at how fast this all has gone. For those that don't know we had an opportunity to see our little one's face last week as I had an ultrasound to check just how big this little girl is. The result was that she is a big one!! Supposedly a week and a half ago she was already 6lbs 10 oz!! Oh my goodness!! No wonder my belly sticks out so far!! haha!! But we are happy to know that everything looks great as far as she is concerned.

We have the nursery all set and ready for her to arrive! A big thanks to my mom for helping me get everything organized a couple of weeks ago! We now just play the waiting game.

We still can't believe we have finally made it to this point. While we have been waiting patiently it is still hard to believe that from here on out at any point we could be saying hi to our daughter!

We have been trying different ways to prepare Peanut for a little one. This week I used my sisters old baby doll as a test. We placed her in the bouncy seat and then put her in the carseat on the floor for awhile. I thought Peanut did a great job. Of course Jim pointed out it will be different when there's a crying baby in those things!! A good point, but I still felt good that when things are calm he will be fine.

Below are pics of the nursery. Enjoy!!

Five more weeks, not that we're counting!

2009-07-01T18:55:00.003-04:00

So we feel like were in the final stretch. We have all major things that baby will need and are finishing putting the room together. It's all in there it just hasn't all found a final resting place. But we have five weeks right?? Of course if you ask most other people they don't think we have that long. A lady today told me, "I give you three more weeks." I just laugh it off... all these people couldn't possibly be right.. could they??

We went to the doctor last week and everything seems to be progressing well. We will get a second ultrasound next week because I have been measuring a little ahead of schedule. I say it's just because she has nowhere to go but out. But seriously.. five more weeks and you may have to roll me to work. I really don't think about how big I've gotten until I get on here to update the blog. I about had a heart attack last night when I looked at prior post photos compared to this one. No wonder Peanut doesn't like to cuddle up with me on the couch anymore... where could he possibly lay?

We took an all day parenting class a week and a half ago. We opted for the all day instead of the five week sessions. I think we made the right choice. We got enough info to feel more confident in the process and never got bored. I feared with the five week class that we would have ended up dreading class nights. I didn't learn much that I hadn't already read in my books but it helped fill Jim in on some things. :-)

It is hard to believe that it is July already! Get excited, baby Murray will make her appearance soon!!

A bit overdue

2009-06-12T19:18:00.009-04:00

Somehow four weeks have passed since our last posting. We apologize for the lag in updating. Time has gotten away from us!! As you can imagine, not only have we been busy but our little lady has been busy growing!! The theme this week has been that there is no way I am making it to my due date. There had to be at least five total strangers say this to me. One even asked if I was having twins!! I replied that unless the second one was really good at hiding there was no possibility of there being twins in there. :-) I know that with this heat and humidity I wouldn't mind a slightly early arrival but it's really not up to me.... she's holding all the cards!

Baby continues to be doing great! She is giving me lots of kicks and rolling around. She likes it when I wake up at night... she seems to think this would be a great time to play. I'll have to let her know that this will not be a trend to continue when she makes her appearance!

Aside from getting ready for baby's arrival, Jim and I have been busy traveling the last couple of weeks. Two weeks ago we headed up to Ft. Wayne for a cousin's wedding. It was a family packed visit as we saw most of my dad's side of the family at the wedding, stopped in to see my Grandpa's new place after the wedding and then headed to my aunt and uncle's lake cottage for a Mexican fiesta dinner with the Indy cousins before heading home. It was great to get to see so many people!

Last weekend we headed to Detroit for a college friend's wedding. It was great to catch up with friends we haven't seen in ages. The wedding was the day after our five year anniversary so it was kind of fun to attend a wedding and remember our special day too! Out of pure luck we were able to dance to our first dance song at the reception. Another highlight of our trip was the sign in the picture. I was super excited to see a street named Schoenherr in D-town and couldn't resist taking a picture of the awesome shout out to the family! Who knew such a cool street existed?

This weekend is our final crazy weekend (we think) until baby arrives! We have two weddings in Cincy tomorrow. You read right... two!! Then Sunday I will head to Indy with my sis for another shower and Jim will head to Washington DC for his final conference where at the end he will be an FSA! I just want to say that I am so proud of him and all that he has done in the last six years working towards this goal. Sadly, I won't be joining him but will be thinking of him!

We hope everyone is doing well! 8 weeks until Baby Murray arrives!!!

The word is out...

2009-05-16T17:44:00.009-04:00

So while Jim and I thought that we could keep our mouths shut about what our little bundle of joy is... we decided it was too much and we were too excited to remain silent any longer. So for those that have not yet heard the word, we are having a little girl!! We are more than excited to welcome our girl in just 12 weeks!!! 12 weeks... we can't believe how fast it will be here!

We have been quite busy lately it seems.. doing what we aren't all that sure but time is flying!! The baby's furniture has arrived and we couldn't be happier with it! We are still working on figuring out what mattress to get but once we have it all put together we promise to post a picture.

Baby is growing more everyday. Our last doctor appointment went well and we seem to be right on target for our August 6th due date. After the few days of upper 80 degree weather we had at the end of April, I'm pretty sure I will be more than ready for her to arrive on time!

We had our first baby shower last weekend in Chicago. It's so much fun going through all the stuff for baby. We have been slowly trying to figure out the best place for everything. Who would have thought a baby could use so many things!!! I couldn't resist and made Jim test out the baby carrier. I think he looks like a pro!!

Today we took the tour of the hospital. Aside from the fact that I am not a huge fan of hospitals...(ironic since I work for one) it went really well. The labor and delivery rooms were very nice. It was comforting to know exactly where we will be and the flow of events. Now we just have to tackle that childbirth class.

We are enjoying every moment of this experience and can't wait to introduce you to our little girl!!!

Spring is finally in the air!

2009-04-20T20:20:00.006-04:00

One word summarizes our last few weeks: BUSY! We have finally completed all major work in the house that we had planned for this year. The last of the flooring was installed on Good Friday and our new bathroom vanity was put in last week. After a month of our upstairs being a bit of a disaster area we finally spent yesterday putting it all back together. The new challenge will be getting rid of all the dust. Every time we think we have it all cleaned, we discover more!! I am starting to think a visit by a professional would be nice. :-)

We have also fit in a trip to Chicago the weekend before Easter. We had so much fun in the car we decided to travel again the next weekend to Indy for Easter. It was great to see everyone we saw during those trips.

After all that time in the car we really started thinking about a new car. We loved our Escape but with the impending arrival of our little one and the fact that we can easily fill the back end with just Peanut and our stuff, we started to think something a little bigger would be better for us. Now, I know that many of you out there are advocates for a Minivan but Jim and are not there. There is just something about it that neither of us was willing to go for. Maybe it's our attempt at maintaining a little feeling of youth. So after much research and planning we ventured out to Performance Toyota and bought a Highlander. While we've only had it since Saturday, I love it! It gives us a lot of space but doesn't feel like we're driving anything much bigger than the Escape.

With the weather finally taking a turn in the right direction we are excited to spend more time outside. As we were watching the news yesterday morning, my man Lester Holt said to tune in to the NBC broadcasts this week as they went Green in honor of Earth Week. So that got Jim and I thinking about how, if you were really going to be green, wouldn't you not even watch TV? This led to Jim pondering if we could go without TV. We both thought surely we could. So, we have decided to take this week off from TV. We will let you know how it goes but we are pretty sure it will be great!

Now on to Baby News! As you can tell, baby continues to grow! Always a good thing!! The movements have become quite obvious and Jim has finally gotten to experience the joy of our little one's kicks and punches. We have also found entertainment in watching Baby Murray move. It always leaves us with a feeling of awe and amazement at what is happening.

When we were buying our car, the finance guy commented on how we are an Actuary and an Accountant and that hopefully our child will like math. I think Jim might be thinking of starting flashcards to ensure baby has a heads up on the math thing. :-)

I continue to feel great with no complaints. It is so hard to put into words how excited we are for August to be here. We can't wait to meet this little one!

22 weeks already?

2009-04-02T19:53:00.005-04:00

Where in the world does time go? We have been quite busy getting things ready for Baby Murray.

Baby continues to grow as evidenced by my growing mid-section! :-) Peanut is finding less space on my lap to lay down which at times has driven him to sit with Jim for more comfort. Poor dog doesn't get that his whole world will soon be turned upside down.

I have really been able to feel baby move and can't wait for it to get stronger so Jim can feel it too! It's always a pleasant reminder that someone special is growing stronger!

Jim spent most evenings last week upstairs painting the nursery before we had the new flooring installed this week. I am happy to say that both the paint and floor are awesome and I totally love the room! We went with a neutral green so that we can reuse the room if we have more kids after this one. We have ordered the furniture and it should arrive mid to end May.

Our next project is new carpet for part of our upstairs which will be installed next week. It will be so nice to have something new.. some of the carpet has seen better days for sure!

We had a great time at the games in Dayton for the tournament. We couldn't have asked for better games.. but perhaps better seats. We were stuck up in the last row. ugh.. I think it was around 70 steps up to our seats. So tried to be strategic in my bathroom breaks and only go when absolutely necessary!

We are heading up to Chicago this weekend to see Jim's family and Indy for Easter weekend to see my fam. Here begins our somewhat hectic spring/summer. On a side note the weather was gorgeous here today: sunny and warm. The forecast for Opening Day for the Reds on Monday though? High 40 with off and on rain/snow flurries.... SNOW FLURRIES?? In April?? I really thought we were out of the woods for this cold weather. I guess I shouldn't complain though, it kind of beats 90+ and humid.

We're having a.......

2009-03-17T20:20:00.004-04:00

Baby!!! As much as many of you would like to know if it's a boy or a girl... our lips are sealed. However, we are excited to say that we saw baby for the first time today and it was the most amazing thing in the entire world. I think we both could have sat there all day watching. Our little one was full of energy during the ultrasound making things a little tricky at times for the tech. We can tell you that we saw two arms, two hands, two legs, two feet, the face, the heart, and apparently the kidneys but we just took the lady's word on that one. Everything went well and the doctor was happy with how things are progressing. The heartbeat is nice and strong and always a wonderful thing to hear even though we had seen it working during the ultrasound.

We are well on way to getting the house in order for baby's arrival. We are installing hardwood in the nursery in two weeks and hope to get the painting done before then. Our furniture selection is starting to narrow down and we will hopefully have something ordered by the end of the month.

We will be heading to the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament Friday/Sunday in Dayton. We love college basketball and while we were really pulling for Purdue, Illinois, Butler or Michigan St. to be there, we are excited to at least have Ohio St. there as a Big Ten team. Hopefully they will do better for us then IU did last year in Raleigh.. (that was painful to be a part of).

We can't believe how fast the time is flying and are even more amazed at how quickly our Spring and Summer have filled up with things to do. Our free weekends are soon going to be non-existent for awhile. Of course, you could say our free time in general is going to be limited soon as this little one will take up all of our time. But we are so excited to have this baby in our house and a part of our family.

17 weeks already

2009-03-01T16:19:00.008-05:00

A couple of lady's at work pointed out to me the other day that I am almost half way through the pregnancy. That is so hard to believe because the time seems to be flying by! Baby and I continue to feel great but still have nights when we get tired early.

We have started to get serious about getting the nursery in shape. We had the floor measured this weekend and will hopefully figure out what flooring we will put in soon. We have also started researching items that we want to have for when our little bundle arrives. It is so fun looking at all the things. I think I want it all! haha.

We wonder every now and then how Peanut will adjust to being a big brother. While we are optimistic about the transition, we both realize that at first it might be a little rough. For those that do not know Peanut, he is quite possibly the neediest dog you could ever meet. If we were to pet him from the time we got home at night until we went to bed, we are convinced that still wouldn't be enough. He loves to snuggle up with us and certainly loves being #1. So needless to say it will be a bit of a transition for him to become #2.

Speaking of Peanut, he got his hair cut today and I love it when he goes because they put a bow in his hair. I know, cruel since he is a boy but so adorable all the same. He only wears it for the day as he really is not a fan of it, but for those few hours I pretend that Peanut is a Yorkie that I can dress up. :-)

We are anxious for our next appointment and the ultrasound so we can finally see this little one!!

15 weeks and growing

2009-02-16T20:24:00.008-05:00

We are 15 1/2 weeks into this amazing experience and we are happy to report everything is going great! I am still feeling good which I am so thankful for. Today we went in for our checkup and baby appears to be doing well too! The heartbeat was strong and right where it should be. Of course he or she is trying to keep whether its a boy or girl a secret. They say if the heart rate is over 140 it's a girl and under 140 its a boy... Baby's heart rate today? 140. :-) So, it appears we have a 50/50 chance of having one or the other. haha! And as for the question of if we will find out or not... we are still undecided. I do think that either way it is safe to say you will not see a post on here next month about whether it's a boy or girl. It will be our secret until August. Sorry!

So far this pregnancy has been smooth (knock on wood it stays that way!) I am still amazed that this is really happening since I haven't had very many of the "typical" symptoms. Of course my growing belly is a reminder everyday. :-)

Jim and I had a great Valentine's day. We ventured out to a restaurant we'd never been to before and loved it! The atmosphere was great and the food was fantastic. We spent our time earlier in the day running around trying to get a grasp on all the projects we'd like to get done around the house before the little one makes his/her grand appearance in August. There is so much to be done!

13 weeks and the Super Bowl

2009-02-02T17:14:00.004-05:00

Well, with the big game yesterday, I decided it was time to post the big picture and show off my awesome Cardinals gear... even though my team lost. A big thanks goes out to our friends Rob & Amy in Phoenix for sending shirts, napkins, plates, and cups. If there is one thing we have learned living in Cincinnati, it's that you really can't cheer for the Steelers.

I have still been feeling great and think I'm officially out of the woods of the "morning sickness" period. Woohoo! I did take the opportunity of our Super Bowl get together to test out my first pair of maternity jeans. Can I just say that all pants should be so comfortable! Maybe it's the fact that I've been denying the fact that I am actually starting to get bigger and still trying to wear my old pants. :-)

For those wondering about the little one, according to the things we've been reading, he/she is about the length of a medium shrimp. It's amazing to think about all that is going on inside.

The journey has begun!

2009-01-27T10:21:00.009-05:00

It has been the request of more than a few that we start a blog to let others follow along in this crazy journey we are on. I figure if everyone else can do it, surely I can figure out how to do one of these things. So to kick off the first entry:

Well, it's official, Jim and I are expecting our first baby this August. It is hard to believe that I am already approaching 13 weeks. What really is even more amazing is that we were both able to keep our mouths shut until last week when we were given the amazing opportunity to hear our little one's heart beat. Words cannot even begin to describe our joy and amazement at the sound. I think for Jim it was the first real sign that I actually am pregnant. I have been more than blessed with an easy beginning. Aside from some extreme fatigue (I'm not going to lie, 8:30 was not an uncommon bedtime for me for awhile) I have felt pretty good.

We are excited for the road ahead and can't wait to meet our little one! Whether we will find out if it's a boy or girl is still up for debate. For those that know Jim, you can guess that he of course wants to find out. Jim likes a plan!

We will be sure to keep you posted on all the fun things going on.