Murphy Family Christmas

As most of you reading this blog probably know, my sweet little niece, Allistaire, was diagnosed with Leukemia in early December. There is much that could be said on that subject, but I just wanted to provide some framework for why our Murphy Family Christmas happened to be at Children's Hospital this year. It was certainly not our normal all day event with a big Southern, heart attack on a plate breakfast or our extravagant dinner, but we were all together and that's what mattered. It was so uplifting to see all of the kiddos together, looking as lovely as ever, and enjoying interacting with each other. I absolutely love seeing our family grow. Having and raising kids can be draining but it is days like our Christmas celebration where you sit back and remember how blessed you are and how unfathomable it is that God could have blessed us so much. Our lives our overflowing with blessing and joy and it is because of the people that God has put in our lives- the family that we get to share this life with.

So, we packed into a little hospital room to share a take out dinner, open presents, and have some boxed wine and Christmas goodies. It was a sweet time. The best part, by far, was watching the kids. I know that we will look back on these days and smile. What a wonderful time...life as a young family.

My sweet Lucy girl...oh how I love that smiling face!
The tiny man's first Christmas!
A wonderful group of little people faces
The three girlies!
Papa being sweet with Allistaire

One of my most favorite people on the planet! I could not have asked for a better sister-in-law! I am so grateful to have her in my life!
We have a hard time having any fun...
Ultimate cuteness!
Oh dear, I could smoosh that face! The lady is obsessed with those pockets! I had to tell her to take her hands out of her pockets all day because she kept nearly tripping without the use of her arms.

Playing Catch Up...Again

I haven't posted anything to the blog in almost 2 months. There have been plenty of cutie kid experiences to post, but I haven't quite pulled it together long enough to write out the stories. I will try to post a number of things in quick order in an effort to capture some of the loveliness over the last 2 months and then keep up with the current happenings.

Here are a few family pictures going back to the first half of December. This would have been when Elijah was between 6 and 8 weeks old. He seems so small in these pictures! He had just started to smile around 5-6 weeks and was hamming it up for the camera big time.

We had a good laugh at Eli in this hat though he was not pleased with it one bit
Gotta have a sleeping baby picture in the mix
Early smiles
It amazes me how easily new babies sleep!
Me with my lovely hatted lady


Moving on to current day. I have a quick story from today. First of all, in just the last week, Lucy has taken to bringing an imaginary friend with her about everywhere we go and often has an imaginary friend that she plays with at home. It just happened all of the sudden. A few days ago, we went to the mall with Dora and all of the pirate pigs. I was kept completely up to date on their whereabouts and exactly what they were up to. Today, however, has been my favorite thus far. Lucy informed me that Uncle Sten was in the closet. I told her that was cool. She stuck her head in the closet and told Uncle Sten that "he should come out and join the party". Apparently he did because then she said that she needed to read Uncle Sten a book...which she did. Next Uncle Sten was invited to join us in the car though Lucy said he wanted to sit in the very back. She then talked to him as we drove asking him the name of the song that was playing. She also let me know that he was wearing a yellow straw hat and that he was singing along to the songs. That definitely made me crack up. The picture that she was painting in my mind of Uncle Sten sitting in the very back of our car, wearing a yellow straw hat, and singing along to the radio was pretty awesome. I'm sad to say that I don't have a real picture. :)

I leave you with two current pictures of my lovely kiddos!

This little man gives out the best smiles ever! He smiles constantly and is even starting to chuckle. It is great!
Fashionista Lu wearing mama's boots. I think they look great on her!