Fourth Years!

This July 1st marks the beginning of our fourth year here in Greenville, as well as Lee's onset as a fourth year chief in his orthopedic residency. I can hardly believe so much time has past! We honestly began mourning the thought of leaving this great town and amazing family-oriented residency experience from the very beginning...and now the end is truly in sight! Here you see the 8 of us within our fourth year class. From L to R, we have Kristin and Austin Hill, Gillian and Wes Lackey, Shane and Jonathan Foret and me and Lee. (Shane and I are both pregnant at present and due the 14th and 15th of September, respectively.) We feel so grateful to have this "family away from family" and the friends that we have made here! So, here's to making our last two years here in Greenville the most that they can be!

Adventures in...

Potty training...home ownership...you name it and we might have a story to tell these days! We have had quite a week here at the Murphy homefront! Complete with highs and lows, I'll stick to a list form to keep concise and to the point. We hope that this finds you doing well!

In one week the following occurs:

1. AC goes out. Home is a balmy 78 for a few long days.
2. Sullivan teetees on the floor daily, too busy to sit on her potty.
3. Water under the sink. Lee replaces disposal and all plumbing.
4. While working under the sink, Lee drops a full beer bottle on the floor.
5. More teetee on the floor.
6. Catie and a screaming Sullivan abandon home for an hour or so...picking up bbq for dinner.
7. Lee fixes all that he can. A plumber is needed.
8. While Catie showers at 9pm, Smokey the dog eats 13 of the 24 chocolate cupcakes Catie has made for a friend.
8. Plumber comes. Problem fixed. Smokey still alive.
9. Dishwasher is backed up. Lee fumes...
10. Sullivan shows vampire-like tendencies and is biting any child who comes near her toys.
11. Lee fixes dishwasher.
12. 1000 unexpected dollars later, kitchen and home function.
13. Catie's 28wk OB appointment goes flawlessly.
14. Catie enjoys a Mom's Night Out.
15. Family goes to park and zoo. Smiles abound.
16. Family goes to ortho picnic. Food and company are comforting.

My Montage 6/19/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

We have had quite a good time outside recently and lots of great "Daddy-daughter" playtime just in time for Father's Day! Thankfully, Lee has tons of energy to run around with Sullivan as I often need to sit and rest these days! We are big into prepping her "big girl" bed and potty training these days...very much an adventure! I hope that this finds you well!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Montage 6/2/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

St. George Island

We have returned from an amazingly lazy, slow and restful week at the beach of St. George Island on the Forgotten Coast of Florida. Have you heard of it? It is a more remote area of the coastline, almost 2.5hrs down highway 98 from the more-visited Destin and Panama City areas. My family discovered it and took us on a vacation in July of 2004, where Lee completely surprised me and proposed at sunset on a dock on the bay! So, nearly 6 years later...we returned to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary coming on June 18.

Our parents magnanimously agreed to keeping Sullivan during our 6 days away and we are more than appreciative for such a gift! We spent our tranquil days at A Place in Sun #1 with lots of time of the beach, lounging at the pool or on our shaded deck, reading lots of magazines and books (Lee read WWII books and I kept my head burried in Allure, Redbook and MarieClaire...ha!), cooking meals of freshly caught Pompano and Trout from fisherman Lee, perusing nearby Apalachicola and her restaurants...in general, soaking up some much-needed downtime together. My favorite moments were watching Lee's blissful capture of a large Trout, eating an amazing lunch fare at Tamara's South American cafe, drinking yummy coffees at Cafe con Leche and meeting PerryAnn at her quaint giftshop named The Pearl...there I even scored Sullivan a hand-made Muslin doll and shell jewelry for me and my sister. Ahhh...

Here are a few photos from a friend that we met while down there...I'll post my own pics soon.

Arriba, abajo

Dairy Queen is dee-licious!

Happy Mother's Day to me! :)

A great picture of Lee and Sullivan at Furman.

Fun at Furman.

Visiting our best buddies, Blake and Dane Hollenbeck, at the Saturday Market.

!Arriba, abajo! Up, down! Sullivan's new words (she's been repeating them in both languages in a sequence today...thanks to a song from Dora...) articulate where she is these days and all that has been going on in our lives. Ups and downs! Thankfully, we are truly more on the "up and up" these days, but I thought it quite ironic that she was singing this continually today as she seems to go from happy to sad, giddy to frustrated or grumpy to delighted in about 5 seconds flat. Is she a teenager already??? Sometimes I feel like I am tending to a small crazy person! Ha! Patience and more patience is my prayer these days.

Graciously, we had a really memorable weekend with very few fits of her many personalities :), and we were able to enjoy some fantastic family time and celebrate Mother's Day in true form. We stayed in Friday night with pizza, then on Saturday we strolled through our beloved Farmer's Market downtown, hit Artisphere (our local art festival) and listened to great music and savored tasty treats, then after naps (yes, I need one too these days! :) ) we walked Furman as they were finishing graduation! and even ate out at the Dairy Queen. Can anything beat a blizzard!? Wow. On Sunday, mass was wonderful and then we tried a new Meat-n-Three place, recommended by my friend Danielle (Thanks, girl!), called Fried Green Tomatoes. Yum! Having Lee home all weekend is such a gift and we really drank it all in...

I hope that you are well!

This week in a list

Here is our run down of our update in list form:

1. Giving and grading exams this week. My last face-to-face classes for a long while...

2. Sullivan's new vocabulary is growing. Favorites recently are:
a. "Here go!" (Handing us something...)
b. Baby Oruga....(a mix of English-Spanish, "baby caterpillar" to ask for rocking and lullabyes.)
c. Baseball
d. No mas, Mommy. No Mommy, No Daddy. (Telling us to "get away" and let her do it by
herself!)
e. mas Ee-Oh, Ee-Oh (asking for us to sing "Old McDonald")

3. Contents found while cleaning out my car:
a. three pair of Sullivan's socks
b. two pair of Sullivan's shoes
c. four stuffed animals
d. remains of cheerios, goldfish, raisins.
e. 3 cups
f. 3 of Sullivan sweaters
g. two (new!) diapers
h. five wrappers to snacks
i. seven pens and pencils

4. Our baby girl in utero is now the size of a cantalope!

5. My parents are trekking the Moselle River in Germany by bike and say it is a chilly 40F, but they are loving the beer, white esparragus and pork. They are amazing riding 25-35 miles a day!

I hope that you are well! Have a great weekend!