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 :)

9 Months!

Considering that I did Murdoch's 10 months video this past weekend I thought it would be a good idea to get this one on the blog first. Obviously we are far behind on videos and pictures. I downloaded all of the videos to my laptop last night so this week should be filled with video updates.

Please ignore me in this video - I keep saying 8 month video - it is actually 9 months.

I know this is not the end...

...but I am happy to report that I just put Murdoch down for bed without his pacifier - this is the first time! He cried for about 2 minutes which could occur with the pacifier. Now he is face down talking in his crib so he doesn't appear to be too upset. I know he is going to need it again but this gives me hope that we can get rid of it by his first birthday. For some reason I am really stressing about getting rid of it - in the end if the worst thing that happens in the first couple of years is that he still uses a pacifier life is good. I need to learn to keep thing in perspective. I get a little obsessed about one thing and then it becomes the center of my life.

This is way more important than Murdoch using a pacifier. Those are the things that keep me up at night.

Rough Week

I got a call from daycare on Tuesday that Murdoch had a fever. I picked him up around 1 PM and tried to make him feel more comfortable. His fever went over 103 that day so I knew one of us wouldn't be at work the next day. Andy's Mom randomly wrote about wanting to see Murdoch so I wrote back and said he would definitely be at home the next day. So she drove down from Maine the next morning to help us out. Andy was home in the AM and then went to work. Talli had a lot of rocking and soothing - the man was clingy and cranky. Not a good combo! I stayed home from work on Thursday. The fever was definitely better but Mr. Crankypants was still with us. Talli was with me for most of the day so I was able to get some work done which was so nice - thank you so much! Now Andy may be at home with him. The fever isn't an issue but he still isn't himself and I don't think we should send him in when he needs to be held and rocked - too many other things going on at daycare. So Andy is going to make a game-time decision. Hopefully this is it! We have been so lucky health wise so far - Murdoch has been sick very often especially considering he goes to daycare so I am thankful but still worn out and tired. Maybe he will sleep past 5 this weekend - I could sure use that extra sleep!

Can someone say hair product?

We thought these were pretty funny pictures. Murdoch's sunscreen has a lot of zinc in it so it doesn't rub in that well and it gives him funky hair when we put it on his scalp.

I've got everything I need....

It looks like Andy and Murdoch have everything they need - a Blackberry, a bottle, and the remote control - it doesn't get much better that this!

Working 9-5

I have a huge backlog of pictures and videos so some of these are a little old but at the same time cute so I am going to post them.

Murdoch absolutely loves playing with our laptops. A toy laptop just doesn't do it - those are okay but the real ones are the best. Here are a few pictures of him working away.

Hopefully lots of posts to come. Probably not too much commentary - I am exhausted so just getting the pictures online will be my goal.

We're Baaaack!

We returned Tuesday from an awesome weekend in Macon visiting Ellen, Craig, Grace, and Julie. I haven't downloaded any of the pictures from the weekend to my laptop but Ellen did so you can take a look at those pictures.

We had a 6 AM flight on Saturday morning - Murdoch was awesome. A little fussy but not too bad. I was so thankful for that! I was really nervous about traveling alone with him and would I be able to handle the luggage, the stroller, him, etc. but it went really well. Plus we didn't have to bring as much because Ellen provided us with food, diapers, wipes, etc. That was a huge help!

Murdoch had such a good time - he loves Grace! He would just sit and stare and smile at her - she would talk to him, get him toys when he cried, etc. She was great! I think Craig was Murdoch's favorite. By day three he was crawling everywhere Craig went and he would cry if Craig left. It was so cute.

We took a tour of Macon - which is a gorgeous city if you have never been there. We took walks and we went to the pool - We used their floaty and Murdoch was in the pool for over and hour.

We returned Tuesday evening and it was depressing - one because we left the Byrons and I had such a great time and because we returned to construction - half of our second floor is gutted and there is that layer of construction dust everywhere.

Thank you so much Byrons! I can't say that enough. It was so much fun. I can't tell you how much I appreciate everything you did for us. It was so nice knowing that it was okay not to talking when I was tired, if I wanted to stay in my PJs until noon that was fine, if Murdoch cried that was just something else that happened. I could go on and on but thank you for the general sense of welcome and calm in your house - I can't wait to come back.

Hopefully this weekend I will catch up on videos and pictures because I have a lot of them!

Very Busy!

We have been very busy over the past couple of weeks so the blog has been neglected. All of the trim in Murdoch's room was finished so we are working on getting all of this painted. We completed the baseboard over the weekend so we put his new rug out and it is starting to look like a real nursery. There is still a long way to go but at least that is something.

This Saturday I am leaving for Georgia to visit the Byrons but we are also having out family room, hallway, and one bathroom gutted while I am gone so we are working hard to get everything out of those rooms and get it covered up so there isn't too much dust.

By the time I leave work, pick up Murdoch, maybe go for a walk, get him off to bed, do something on the house, and eat there isn't any time for blogging. I have a lot of pictures and videos waiting to be posted but no energy to do it. I am sure we will have a lot of pictures and storied from our trip to Georgia. Until then enjoy your weekend and I will talk to you when we get back - maybe I will sneak in a post or two while I am down there.

Memorial Day Weekend

As you can tell from this pictures and our other ones we were on the move over Memorial Day weekend. The weather was gorgeous so we tried to get outside as much as we could but at the same time working on the house. I think we did a pretty good job of balancing the work and relaxation that weekend. We tried to do the fun stuff in the morning like going to the dog park and taking a hike, then some work, and we finished off the day with a BBQ at someone's house so it was a good weekend. And we got a day off of work.

If only we could all sleep that soundly while in a backpack walking through the trees!

My fellow bloggers

My co-worker gave me this article on blogging this morning and I wanted to pass it along to all of you. I thought it was pretty interesting and thought you guys would enjoy it as well.

I am not the best at writing down all of my feelings in the blog, mine is mostly about Murdoch, but I know a lot of you out there really put your heart and soul into your posts so it is nice to hear that you are improving your health! So take that 30 minutes or so every day or a couple of times a week - it is like free therapy!

The nursery...

...almost 9 months later. Andy has been working really hard to get Murdoch's nursery ready. The crib was taken out of the guest bedroom last night and put into his room for the first time! The room consists of a crib and trash bags taped to the windows but it is something! Now I just have to paint all of the trim, get the rug down, order something for the windows, get his changing table in there, put some stuff on the wall, etc. So not complete but it was a big step. Now he doesn't have to go back in the pack & play when people visit which ends up being a horrible sleep for him and us!