It's beginning to look alot like....cold season!

I love this time of year for so many reasons. Holidays, decorations, family gatherings, Christmas music. But there is one thing that I absolutely despise about this time of year. Yes, this even beats out snow on my list. It's cold and flu season. This has become a dreaded topic for me. These feelings mostly revolve around my experience last year with our youngest. Jordan had a cold every 3 to 4 weeks until March when he was hospitalized with pneumonia and RSV. It was such a trying time. Watching my little one suffer and feeling helpless to do anything about it. It seemed that whatever precaution I took held no baring on whether or not he'd get sick. I must say since that hospitalization he has been relatively healthy. But as his first cold of the winter season hit, it is bringing back all of those bad feelings. Not only worry that it will turn into something bigger, but a reminder of what he is like when he is sick. His sleep is very disrupted, which in turn means my sleep is very disrupted. He stops eating as much. This combination of tired, hungry, and miserable creates the crankiest whiniest little person ever. A few days in and I stop feeling sorry for him and start wanting to ring his neck. That is so horrible to say, but true. At this point I am just trying to do my best to weather this current storm. And praying that we will have a long break before the next sickness makes its round in our household. Ah, the smell of Lysol is filling the air!

Our Dream Date

This time a week ago was the beginning of an amazing date with Jeremy that I had been looking forward to for what seems like forever. After sending the kids off to grandma and papa's house, we headed downtown and checked into the beautiful Montvale Hotel. We ate an early dinner at Catacombs, which is in the basement of the hotel. It is a really interesting restaurant that makes you feel like you are in the lower levels of a castle or something. No windows, stone walls, tapestries, the works. We had a delicious dinner that included crab dip and bread for an appetizer, Caprice Salads, and I had a wonderful Wild Mushroom Ravioli. By the end we were way too stuffed for dessert but I'm sure that would have been great too. My only disappointment was not getting to try out one of the martini's that my best friend had raved about forever since I'm pregnant. But that just gives me an excuse to come back after the baby is born:)

After that we drove around a little and then found some parking and headed into the INB Performing Arts Center to see The Lion King. We had seats really close to the orchestra, it was a really good view. What a difference from when we were there not even a month before for a Skillet Concert! The opening act blew me away and even had me tearing up just because it was so powerful and moving. The costumes in that show are like nothing I have ever seen before and I was constantly amazed at the ability of the actors to move in with such elaborate garments on. The show was everything everyone had said it would be and I not only recommend it but would love to go back. Jeremy bought me two masks as keepsakes of this amazing night.

All in all, it truly was a dream night. Even the next morning when we weren't able to sleep in (old habits die hard!), we took a two hour walk downtown starting with Starbucks and spending time in numerous little shops getting some Christmas shopping done. While I was sad to leave and end our great experience, I was excited to go pick up the boys. As much as I always anticipate getting some time away from them, I quickly find myself missing them and looking forward to having them home again.

Moments Like These

I just love moments like the one I shared with boys tonight. When everything comes together just right to make the everyday, mundane, routine things seem extra special. My husband is working night shift this weekend, which I always dread. It has become easier to do dinner and bedtime with the boys by myself but I am not especially fond of it. Then you throw in bath nights and I can really go into it with a bad attitude. But something about tonight was different. Bath time went so smoothly and they did a great job getting into pjs and brushing teeth. Then we moved onto story time and as I was sitting on the couch snuggled between my two little guys I just realized how lucky I was. That this was a moment to cherish. It won't be long before they won't want to sit in my lap anymore. Me telling stories will no longer seem exciting. They will put themselves to bed, no more prayers and songs. This time we are in together is only temporary and one day I will look back and miss it. And so tonight, I chose to live in the moment. Cherish it. Truly take part in enjoying the small things that make life so great. We read extra stories using funny voices and made our way to their bedrooms pretending to be airplanes. They loved it and so did I.

I realize that it isn't a likelihood, or even possible, to live every moment like this. In full realization of what awesome blessings we have been given or in recognition of how fleeting time can be. So when that moment comes where I am able to truly appreciate what I am doing, I chose to live in it and be grateful. I pray for more moments like these.

Halloween

He loves his beak!















Jordan is not so thrilled with the process:)


















My cute little animals:)














Yes, I continue to be ridiculously behind in blogging. I swear my life is not that much busier, I guess I have just been lazy:) So here we go with Halloween stuff.

On Halloween we let the kids dress up when we went to lunch with Grandma and Papa Murphy so that they could see their costumes. The kids were excited and they got lots of attention for being so cute. We made that night special by adding the face paint to complete their costumes. Nathan absolutely LOVED getting his face painted. Jordan, not so much. But they looked adorable non the less and we set out for our church's Harvest Festival. It is such a cool set up. One building is dedicated to preschoolers and one to elementary aged children. They got to do 20 different booths that had games ranging from fishing, to ring toss, to Plinko. At each booth they earned candy and sometimes a prize. They also had 3 bouncy houses. That was the kids' favorite part! Best of all, it was all free. By the end of it, they were exhausted. They only made it through about 12 booths but all that bouncing must have worn them out.

It was a lot of fun spending that day as a family making it about fun things. I know that since then we have had to dig out the face paint just for fun because Nathan liked that part of it so much. I'll try to get around to posting those pictures sometime soon too:)

Jeremy's Baptism

Okay, I am SO behind on my blogging! Life finally gets interesting enough to write about and then I don't take the time...go figure:)

A week ago my husband was baptized. What an amazing thing to be able to witness. I have seen this man transform from the stubborn teenager who thought he had everything figured out and didn't need anything from anyone into a man who serves his family in many ways and has humbled himself to accept that his life was not complete without Jesus as an integral part of it. Watching him dive into his new faith has really strengthened mine. Being on this journey together is so much better than it ever could be alone. I am proud of the decision he made to be baptized and am thankful for all the support he had from so many around us. Looking forward to continuing on this amazing journey with him for many years to come.

Announcement...

Just a little announcement:

smilebox.com/playBlog/4d5445344e6a5...

Jordan's 2nd Birthday

This took me a few days to get around to writing since I have actually found myself busy lately but I wanted to take the time to write about Jordan's birthday before it slips too far away. My baby turned 2 on Sunday, I can't even believe it. Time just continues to go by faster and faster. We had a great day, started by singing to him when he woke up which he was not so thrilled about. I made pancakes for breakfast because that is his favorite and then we went to church. After his nap it was time for his party which went really well. He was great at opening his presents and was so gracious in sharing with all the other kids, especially his brother who was convinced it was his birthday again and that all the gifts were for him. His big gift was a remote control dinosaur that provided many laughs as he traded off between squealing while running away or roaring back at the dinosaur. I was amazed at how great he did with his cupcake. He blew the candles out on the first shot! All in all it was a good day and we had so much fun celebrating 2 years with our little man. Our family just wouldn't be the same with out him, he brings his own unique personality into the mix and keeps things interesting to say the least. We love you Jordan!