A terrible loss

Yesterday we found out that Andy's grandmother/Talli's Mom passed away. I think it was very shocking news for all of us. We went down to see Midge in March while visiting Andy's parents and it was a great visit. We got to see 4 generations of the family together and Murdoch loved all of the attention she gave him.

She was a very independent and with it. She would email me often with updates of what she was doing, she checked the blog, she was very involved with the community and she was a very accomplished painter. She was planning on coming up to the area in August for a visit so we are really going to miss her next month and the many months to come.

I didn't know here that well so if you would like to post a comment with some memories that you have they will be kept for a later date for others to read and hopefully it will bring a smile to their face.

We will miss you Midge!

Long time no blog....

It has been a little while since my last post. We have been very busy - I had a wedding shower/bachelorette party on Saturday that I was organizing and then we went to the George Michael concert on Sunday night so it was a packed weekend for us. Plus videos aren't downloading onto my laptop - I need to fix that and I just haven't been motivated to do so. But my Dad called saying that he had some pictures from our trip to STL back in May ready so I thought why not post those. Murdoch already looks so different so I thought it was good to see these. I hope you enjoy them and I will try to post more pictures soon - I just need to get those on my laptop!

I have been nominated!

My friend, family by marriage, fellow blogger, and fellow Mother, Ellen, has nominated me for an award! This is so exciting! I don't feel like my blog is all that groundbreaking it is more to chronicle Murdoch's life and then other things that happen to our family. And also it is for the grandparents and other family members to see the progress of Murdoch - we don't have local family, except for Uncle Hugh, so this way people can see what we are up to and I don't need to write a ton of emails and send pictures every other day - because that just isn't happening!

So now that I have been nominated I must pass on the love to other bloggers.

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

Here is my list (okay so I don't have 7 blogs so this is the best I can do):

1. Byron Ladybugs: Okay so this may seem a little silly because Ellen nomiated me but I go to her blog every single day, at least working days, to read about what is going on down in Georgia. Ellen is married to Craig who is my husband's cousin so we know each other via the guys and the fact that we married them. I think the first time I met Ellen was at the rehearsal dinner for her wedding - though I could be wrong but I think that is correct. Obviously being her wedding weekend and all I didn't get to talk to her much but over the years we say each other more and more at family events. I think the first time it really clicked for me that we would really get along was in Maine when we discussed having children and the struggle that we were both having about do I want them, if I don't have them and then I change my mind, what is life going to be like if we have them, etc. And now years later Ellen has two gorgeous, intelligent and strong little girls and I have one little guy with some crazy hair. So obviously we both made the decision to have kids but we still struggle with issues around kids, life, husbands, etc., and I feel like we see a lot of these issues the same way which makes Ellen a good sounding board - she always takes the time to listen/read about my issues, has good advice that isn't judgemental, and at the end of the day she is a lot of fun to laugh with over a glass of wine. The only thing I would change is that she lived closer - being about 1000 miles or so apart makes it tough but it is an important bond to me so I will make sure that I see all of them at least once a year!

2: Mary/Mean Mommy: I met Mary through my husband - he grew up with Tony, Mary's wife and they have been good friends for probably almost 30 years. I met Mary about 10 years ago - they came up for a visit and I instantly loved her! She is funny, I love that she uses a lot of bad language, she can drink, and she is so easy to talk to! Again this is another person who is not close which makes it hard but I feel like I know what she has going on in her life because of her blog. She writes exactly what I am thinking but I can't get it down on paper - thanks for making me laugh outloud so many times and for being such a great Mother and wife!

3: Kristina Young: I met Kristina through my husband who works with her husband. Kristina is a mother of two and looking to start her own business doing photography - which is what she really loves and is her passion. Kristina was kind enough to take pictures of me when I was pregnant and I thought they were awesome! I really admore her because she has found something that she loves, she is going after it, and to top it off she is really good at it. Visit her site and check out the photos!

I know that isn't 7 but those are really the only blogs that I visit on a regular basis so I didn't think it would be a good idea to just find a blog to nominate that I don't know that well. Enjoy!

A Glimpse into the Future

Andy has been saying for awhile that Murdoch is looking less and less like a baby and more like a little kid. I agree but at the same time he still appears to be a baby - my baby. Well when we arrived home today from work and daycare I got him out of the car in his car seat and set him down on the driveway while I got all of the bags together, I glance over at him while he played with his maraca and he was a toddler sitting in Murdoch's infant seat.

I thought to myself 'Where has my baby gone?! I have started to understand more and more over the past couple of months why people have more kids - a baby is an addiction, an addiction that is then taken away from you and that you can't get back. But you can get it back - just get pregnant again. At times it is like a drug - it clouds your mind - of course just have another kid, you forget about the lack of sleep, the crying, etc. It is a completely irrational thought at times but it is such a strong feeling in your gut! Andy is going to be my rational side when my gut wants more babies.

I think my baby turning into a toddler is the start of some lasts. Ellen had a good post about first vs lasts - as parents we are always looking for firsts in our child, but we tend to not notice the lasts. We need to get a toddler seat for Murdoch - so we will no longer bring him in asleep in his infant car seat - I loved the way he loved in there especially when he was zipped up in his little 'sleeping bag'. I know there are a lot of exciting things ahead but seeing a toddler in my son made me realize how quickly he is growing up and that I will never have that time back.

On a separate note we have a charger for the battery again so we will have pictures again soon. We are off to Maine this weekend to visit Bob and Talli - we will definitely have some pictures after that so we will start posting those again soon. Enjoy the weekend.

Camera Down!

I have the camera, I have the battery, but I don't have the little thing that the battery fits into in order to pull it into the wall to charge it. So we are running on empty right now. I want to save the little bit of battery life just in case something big happens and I don't have enough battery life to get the photos from the camera to the computer. So right now I have a few videos but that is about it. Hopefully I can find one of these chargers soon! I have a lot of photos on that camera and I would like to get them uploaded.

On a positive note it looks like we might get insulation today which means that walls aren't far behind! I can't wait for this house project to be over!

Congrats Hugh & Karen!

We just found out last night that Hugh and Karen got engaged on Sunday! We couldn't be more thrilled! I don't have any details or pictures or anything like that but I wanted to throw this post out there so people would know - not like it isn't traveling like wildfire on the Sutherland side of the family!

Anniverary & Holiday Weekend

Thursday was our 4 year anniversary. Hugh came over to babysit Murdoch so we were able to go out to dinner. We went to Sibling Rivalry in the South End. Hugh and Karen gave us a gift card so we used that for our meal (thank you Hugh and Karen!). The traffic was horrible getting there - you think I would have thought about the fact that it was the day before 4th of July before I started driving! We left early to have a drink before dinner and ended up getting there right on time. No matter. The dinner was awesome - I had soft shelled crabs and Andy had lamb and tenderloin. I had two drinks which were awesome! And we had a nice molten lava cake. Once you had a kid it is so nice to get out and enjoy yourself without looking at your watch thinking, when did he last eat, how much time do we have until he needs to eat again or nap or is he close to a nap so he is going to have a melt down!? It was rough the next morning because the Man woke up a little before 5 but it was worth it to get out of the house and have a conversation that didn't involve Murdoch.

The rest of the weekend was nice - I loved that it was a 3-day weekend! Work has been very busy, and is only going to get worse so any little reward like a 3-day weekend is great right now! Most of the weekend was spent working on the house - Andy installed more trim, ran most of the speaker wire in the TV room which means that we should gett insulation and then walls relatively soon, and we started using the master bath! We went to Hugh & Karen's for a BBQ on Saturday which was nice - it forced us to get out of the house and be social.

I have a feeling this week is going to be a long one - work wise so I will try to keep the posts up while sucking down caffeine to get through the day. Enjoy the week!

Fun with Craig!

As you can see I am catching up - now I am only about 2 weeks behind on videos! :) This one is from Georgia. Murdoch was in love with Craig when we went down there for a visit! He would follow him all around the house and wanted to be in his lap all of the time. Maybe there was just too much estrogen in the house so it forced these guys to bond, I don't know. Either way it was so cute!

Giggles

I think this video is so funny! At times it is hard to tell if Murdoch is laughing or crying unless you are really looking at him. In this video he is laughing. At times he find Deucey really really funny and this is one of them. He was squealing even more before we turned the camera on but I think we got some of it.

Enjoy the week!

PS - Murdoch slept without his pacifier again last night! But Andy had a rough morning with him - he was up early, a little cranky, and the diaper didn't hold - enough said :)