Close ups

A few sweet moments of the four of us recently...I particularly love the "daddy pushup" above. Sullivan thinks that Daddy's exercising is simply a perfect vehicle for her! And Sawyer napping on his chest is so priceless!

All is going fairly smoothly at our house. Sullivan does have challenging moments, but for the most part is embracing "turn taking" with Mommy and is now very eager to care for Sawyer and bring her a paci, let her eat when she eats, make sure we take her everywhere we go, etc. She is really taking to big sisterhood!

So soft, Mommy! So soft!

So our dear Sullivan has taken to motherhood! She is loving dressing and caring for her Elmo or others dolls, giving them a "paci" and feeding them drinks and snacks. She even has a set of baby items from my mom that includes a bouncy seat, a baby carrier, car seat and stroller, all doll-size and adorable. It is really so fun to watch her "mother" and organize her things, strap her babies in, tell me when they are hungry or thirsty...

But perhaps the cutest and most hilarious moment was the other night as I had Sawyer in my arms feeding. Sullivan came to stand in front of me and took her hand and started rubbing Sawyer's full head of hair...strangely, she was really gentle and was moving her hand in a circular motion as if applying wax to a car or something. She kept doing it and doing it and started repeating over and over again, "So soft, Mommy! So soft!" Somehow, this made me laugh so hard and poor Sawyer nearly suffered from shaken baby syndrome as my chest rose and fell and the tiny child was nearly lost forever in my immense cleavage as she bounced up and down! Ha! Then Sullivan watched me, Lee and my mom in tears laughing and announced, "So funny! So funny!". I only wish I had the whole thing on video...

Black and Whites of Sawyer's Birth

My dad, Lee and I took black and whites with my old school manual camera when Sawyer arrived. Here are a few of my favorites.

Sawyer Carlisle Murphy

We joyfully announce that Sawyer was born this past Wednesday, September 8, at 9:56pm at Greenville Memorial Hospital. She weighed 7lbs 5oz and is 20.25in. She and Mom are doing well and are both healthy and happy at home.

Here are some pictures that Catie's Mom, Jeanie, took. More photos to come.

You are invited to view Jeanie McRae's photo album: 2010_09_09
2010_09_09
Sep 9, 2010
by Jeanie McRae
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Induction Date and new school!

This has been a big week and next week should be equally as exciting! Two new big pieces of news from our end:

1. Sullivan started her new preschool this week! She really is a little girl these days...no longer a baby! It is a place that I feel so good about and has a great balance of play, academics, music and arts, great playgrounds and classrooms and they are flexible and organized. I am so happy that she is there! Her first day went fairly well, no nap due to all of the excitement of new friends and a new place, but I hope that naps will resume next week!

2. We now have an induction date for Baby Girl! This Wednesday, September 8th, at 6am Lee and I will report to the Maternity Floor and hopefully have our angel girl within the day!We have loads of family birthdays this week (My mother-in-law is the 3rd, one brother-in-law is the 4th, I am the 6th, another brother-in-law is the 7th...) and now we get to add yet another family member to the mix! As you can imagine, I am more than ready to deliver this child!

Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts these days! Hope all is well on your end!

Above are a few recent pictures of Sullivan in her favorite tutu with my parents and us at the zoo.

What Not To Wear

During a summer pregnancy, that is...

Please be warned and don't let this happen to you.

I should have known better. But no...
I've been wearing my wedding rings all during this second pregnancy, as I did with my first one, (and I am one of those that never, ever removes the bands so as not to lose them) and foolishly, so foolishly, I did not take into account that during the summer I may swell. And swell I did...

On Sunday it ocurred to me that I maybe should go ahead and take my 3 wedding bands off...I quickly found that I could not. I began trying all previously helpful methods that I knew: soap and water, lotion, twisting like crazy, icing my hand for a while. When futility set in, I turned to the internet for new ideas. Chlorox, Windex, hand above head for 10min, then icing for 5min, then using the aforementioned products. Still no results. I turned to Lee...

Having a husband who has spent much time in the ER dealing with fantastical injuries can prove to be quite fairytale-esque, as he can calmly and effectively handle almost any medical situation with a striking coolness and come in and be my real-life "knight in shining armor". With his typical calm-as-a-cucumber way, he quickly assured me that he has seen this many times and he can remove the bands. However, after all my attempts to remove the rings, at this point my finger was even more inflamed and the pain was excruciating.

To conclude, it took a 2 inch syringe of numbing medicine, 3 injections of said medicine and 20 minutes of a very tired Lee patiently wrapping, twisting, prying and pulling to remove my 3 lovely wedding bands and free my finger from peril.

Sigh.....

Now the diamonds dangle gently from a chain around my neck and will remain that way for an undecided amount of time. And I am even more in love with my knight in shining armor.

More summer fun

Katie Agnew ( a college friend) and her husband Lewis stopped by for lunch last Saturday as they were driving home from vacation. So nice to see them...

Me and Shane pose with our baby bumps...err...baby mountains???

Jen McAdory, Laurie Koch and me after our Mom's Night at Nantucket.

Below, Lee and Sullivan hanging out at the new courtyard downtown.

Shane and me again...

Kristen Hawley (a dear college friend who visited last week) and me at a delicious dinner at Nantucket.

Sullivan gets her hair trimmed by the sketchy tatooed girl...yikes!

Sullivan at the zoo with her favorite "ellies".

It has been a busy last few weeks up here! We've had even more summer visitors, a great birthday party and a Mom's Night Out, just to name a few events. Add in some great family time and priceless toddler moments with Sullivan, and you have an excellent late summer set of memories. How thankful I am for this as I am hugely pregnant and very ready to have this baby!!!