Almost Perfect...

***Updated picture...

Today was an almost perfect day...until Maia had a bit of an accident. So she was riding passenger in Noah's power wheels Jeep this afternoon and apparently Noah decided to go off roading. He hit a curb and turned too quickly and Miss Maia Belle fell out of the car face first onto the pavement. I missed the incident. I was outside playing with the kids and had to step inside just for 2 minutes to use the restroom. By the time minute number 2 rolled around, I hear Ricky entering the house holding an hysterical Maia. The blood drains out of my face as I see the blood coming from Maia's nose. I grab her and do a quick inspection for broken bones. I hear Noah say "Maia fell out" and  I demand an explanation from my husband. He informs me of the accident and I ask him how he could let this happen... and as I am in the middle of my reprimand, he grabs the camera and takes a picture. My two choices in that moment were to choke him or laugh. I laughed and then got back to worrying about Maia. I calmed her down, cleaned her off, and rocked her for awhile. When everyone was settled and I looked a the final damage, I realized that we would all be confined to the house for the next week until the injuries go away, lest we want someone to call the police on us for child abuse. She looks like she was in a boxing match with Mike Tyson.

 

Our Trip to the Aquarium

Mondays are our family day. We are blessed enough to all have the day off together and I love Mondays. This last Monday, I decided that my son needed a chance to redeem himself after last week's beach trip where I almost sold him to the highest bidder. So, we all headed off to The Aquarium of the Pacific, one of my most favorite places in the world. I absolutely love that place because I have a fascination with sea life. 

  The kids had a great time but didn't seem to like the exhibits that I thought they would like the best. 

The sea lions- the first animal we looked at. Noah could have stayed there watching them all day. He threw a loud tantrum when we walked out to go see the next exhibit...

The Birds- I was sure that my kids would love this one. They got to see them up close while mommy and daddy fed them. Maia liked it until she tried to steal the bird's food and got bit. Noah was terrified the entire time. 

The Touch Pool- My favorite...Maia loved splashing the water all over the place...Noah...well I was going to make him like it if it was the last thing I did. So I made him stick his hand in the pool and held it there until a shark swam by so he could feel it. He screamed for me to take his hand out of the water and all the people stared at me thinking what a horrible mother I was. I thought for sure he would think it was the coolest thing once he felt one...he didn't...I just looked like the worst mother in the world once again...nothing new.

The "Nemo" Exhibit- This was the favorite exhibit of the day. Noah wanted to see "Nemo and his mommy and his daddy." Maia loved it too. Both children made a scene as we peeled them away from the little orange fish. I am sure all the Nemos are glad that we finally left them alone. They had to be sick of Noah's knocking after 10 minutes of straight pounding.  

Thankful

As a mother there are very few times where I get to sit in silence and just have a few moments to myself to think. I just woke up from a lovely Sunday afternoon nap and am sitting in a quiet house (the rest of my family is still asleep) and I wonder what to occupy my mind with while it has a few minutes to itself. My thoughts are not being forced to ponder on what I am going to make for dinner, or who needs a diaper change, or what I need to accomplish at work this week, or that I should get going on Maia's birthday party... 

  I ask my Heavenly Father what it is that He wants to occupy my mind and He takes me to place of complete thankfulness. I am so thankful for my wonderful family: My husband who loves me and treats me like a queen, I know that he has eyes for me alone and he lets me know that daily. He is the most tremendous father. He adores his kids and does all the mundane everyday tasks just like I do without complaining or ever making me feel that those things are my job because I am the mom. He disciplines in love and takes the lead as God would have him do. He is a man of God and we all respect him and love him. 

  I am thankful for my two babies who daily cause me to feel like I am going insane but who also bring a smile and laughter to my life daily. They have brought joy to so many and I am just thankful for the relationships I have built because of them. 

  I am thankful for my parents, my in-laws, my adopted parents (Chuck and Pam), and all my brothers and sisters (in-laws included). I have an amazing family support system who step in to help me out whenever I need it and I am forever indebted to them. Thank you for loving us and my kids so much. 

 I am thankful for my wonderful friends who I know I can always count on for a good, laugh, conversation, hug, or game of cards.

 I am thankful that I have a job that I absolutely love. A job where I feel used by God and challenged. 

 I am thankful for the inspiring church family that I have been blessed to be a part of. I love going and I find myself wanting to be there all the time lest I miss out on something! 

  The list goes on and on. God has truly blessed me and I thank Him for allowing my few moments of available mind time to be used to thank Him for all His blessings in my life. 

What are you thankful for? 

My Little Tomboy

I've realized that it doesn't matter how many bows and cute dresses I put on my daughter, she is destined to be a tomboy. She loves to play with Noah's cars and motorcycles and grunts "mmmmmm" to imitate the sounds that they make. I got her a doll for Easter and the only time she touches the doll is to throw it out of her crib. Oh well, at least she's a super cute tomboy! 

My Hungry Girl

This is how Maia opens her mouth to eat now. She open her mouth so wide that she has to close her eyes! We laugh every time...it never gets old! 

The Day I Almost Gave My Kid Away

Monday was going to be a beautiful sunny day and I decided to play hooky from my mom group and take a family beach day here is a break down of my day

6:11 A.M. Ricky and I have our pillows over our heads and are getting angrier by the second listening to Noah start the morning off whining like a dying cat from his crib for no reason at all.

6:20 A.M. We've had enough. Ricky goes in and threatens to throw away all his toys if he keeps up the whining. Noah goes back to sleep.

7:55 A.M. I am attempting to get myself ready with an 11 month old tugging at my shorts and whining for me to pick her up. Meanwhile Noah has gotten a hold of the sunblock...

8:00 A.M. Noah got sunblock in his eyes and now has a reason to whine. He is making matters worse by rubbing his eyes and is screaming uncontrollably.

8:15 A.M. His eyes are red and swollen and I have already rid his entire face, hands, and arms of the sunblock but he is still rubbing them and crying. I pull out the Visine, he screams some more...

8:45 A.M We finally leave the house with what feels like the entire house in tow along with 1 kid who is still whining, and one who is annoyed at her brother's whining and threatening to bite anyone in sight. I am thinking about jumping out of the moving vehicle.

9:30 A.M Finally on our way to the beach after a quick expensive Target stop for beach toys, sunblock, sunglasses, a hat, swim diapers, and eye drops (weird how you go shopping for one thing and end up getting something from every aisle).

10:00 A.M. The kids are asleep. We are revelling in the peace and quiet and pray that they stay asleep until we get to the beach.

10:15 A.M. We are on the side of the freeway with a flat tire. Ricky is on the floor under the truck fixing it. Maia is crying and irritated that I won't take her out of the carseat. Noah is whining because I won't let him turn the heater on and asking "where is babe?" (babe= Ricky)

11:45 A.M. We are finally at the beach and guess what Noah is doing...that's right, he is WHINING because he is afraid of the water and doesn't like the sand that is sticking to his hands. Maia is eating the sand for lunch.

1:30 P.M. I am ready to pull my hair out because Noah will not stop whining. I give him a pacifier and tell him that if he goes to sleep he won't have to deal with the sand anymore. I put Maia down in the wagon and pat her back until she falls asleep.

1:50 P.M. I shoot death stares at the two ladies next to us who are laughing way too loudly. I mumble to myself, if they wake up my kids, I will drop my kids off on their laps and leave! Let them be tortured by the incessant whining.

1:55 P.M. I remember that I didn't change Maia out of her wet swim diaper before I put her down...oh shoot...but there is no way I am waking her up. I need at least one hour of NO WHINING and nobody needing anything from me.

3:00 P.M. Maia wakes up screaming. This is not like her. I know that she probably has poop in her wet swim diaper...yup, I was right. She now has a bloody, raw, awful, diaper rash. I pray that all of the beach goers near us suddenly become deaf so that they don't hear her pained screams as I pour bottled water on her bottom and try to get all the sand and poop cleaned up. P.S. Noah is whining because he is worried about Maia.

3:15 P.M. Maia is crying because it hurts to sit in her car seat. I feel like a horrible mother.

4:00 P.M. Noah has asked about 1,141 times to drive (because we let him "drive" while Ricky was changing the tire earlier). I say no for the 1,141st time. He whines for the 3 millionth time today. I make good on my threat, pull him out of his carseat and spank his little butt...(don't bother calling CPS, I am sure they've already been notified by the people in the car next to us). It works. He stops whining until we get to my parents' house.

4:30 P.M. We get to my parents' house and the whining starts all over again. Noah decides to let the entire neighborhood know that he is in his Terrible Twos. I am sure my parents are wishing we'd just go home and take our loud, whiny, bratty child with us. They would have kept the "diaper rashed" one because they felt so bad for her. We put Noah in the pack and play until he decides to stop whining.

6:00 P.M. All is calm. Noah decided that it didn't pay to whine afterall and stopped whining. He joined the family for dinner and became everyone's entertainment. We take Maia's diaper off and let her roam naked for awhile to air out her diaper rash.

7:15 P.M. I put the kids to bed, serve myself some whiskey and drink myself to sleep...okay JUST KIDDING...I pack their bag for the next day, do some laundry, read my Bible, and beg God to spare me from Noah's whining tomorrow. I let him know that He will find me in a mental ward rocking back and forth in a dark corner humming to myself if I hear whining ever again.

Picture Post

I was looking through my recent pictures and found quite a few that were too cute to keep to myself so I am going to post them here to share with you! Most of them are from last Monday's trip to Puddingstone Lake for some jet ski riding!

Finally Something Worth Blogging About

I have been in a blog funk this past week and have not really had anything worth writing about but today I knew I needed some blogging material lest I lose my faithful 33 readers so I took my 2 babies out by myself to Target and then to lunch at Panera Bread. I know many of you may not understand the gravity of what I just said but if I were to read that on someone else's blog I would have gasped in shock!!! What woman in her right mind takes an 11 month old and a 2 year old by herself out shopping and then to a restaurant right before nap time? I do, only when in need of blogging material.
Of course as soon as we park at Target (as far away from the store as possible because I am still afraid to park Big Mama next to cars), I smell a nasty diaper. Sure enough, Maia pooped. I change her in the front seat while Noah screams to get out of his car seat. Once I am done with this task, I grab a cart, put Maia in the front and let Noah stand in the back of the cart. We get to the shoes section and as I am browsing for shoes, Noah is selecting styles that he thinks I should try on and Maia is grabbing any shoes within her reach and throwing them on the floor. By the time we left the women's show section after only being there 3 1/2 minutes, it looked like a tornado hit it.
We went to the kids shoe section and I had Noah try on a few pairs of shoes. By the third pair he was super whiny and the more he whined the more I told him that if he would just be quiet and stay still I could get the shoe on his foot and it could be over and done with. He screamed louder and then broke out into a pained cry. I told him he was being dramatic and that the shoe did not hurt that bad. Then in between sobs he showed me his hand and I noticed 2 deep teeth marks on his finger. He had been holding on for balance to the back of the seat part of the cart where Maia was sitting while I was putting the shoe on him. I hadn't noticed that she had spotted his hand there and didn't quite like that his hand was so close to her. Unfortunately her solution to removing anything she doesn't like is to bite it. So we had a melt down right there in the shoe aisle; Noah crying out of pain and Maia crying because she got in trouble. I attempted to shush them because I was gathering a crowd. It wasn't working. I quickly ran the cart over to the toy section and thank God they stopped crying. However as soon as we left the toy section they were both screaming once again. I ran to Starbucks in the store and asked for a cup of water because for some reason giving Maia a cup with a straw shuts her up. It worked. We checked out and got back in the car and headed over to lunch at Panera Bread.
Once there, I placed a very wet Maia (she spilled the entire cup of water on herself) and a tired Noah in their high chairs and began the lunch battle. Oh yeah, update on Noah: Every meal time is a battle with the kid. He all of a sudden doesn't like to eat and needs to be begged or threatened to open his mouth for every bite. I set Maia up with her turkey and peas and tried to enjoy my own lunch in between begging Noah to eat his lunch. In the middle of lunch Maia decides to stink up the place once again. Her little face turns bright red and unpleasant noises and smells ooze from her bottom. Right as I am thinking about how embarrassed I am, Noah starts whining and grunting at the same time. I quickly shove what's left on my plate in my mouth, throw Maia in the stroller, pick up Noah and our stuff and run off before anyone realizes that both of my kids are spoiling their appetites. We make it into the bookstore bathroom and as I place Maia on the changing table I realize that I had left the wipes in the car from the earlier diaper change. Needless to say, Maia got a less than satisfactory diaper change and toilet paper is pretty useless when cleaning a baby's poop. Noah ran around unsupervised in the bathroom and I am sure picked up numerous diseases from all the toilet seats he touched. The one good thing was that Noah's grunting was a false alarm, so I didn't have to unsatisfactorily clean his diaper as well.
By the time we got home, I didn't even bother changing Maia's diaper again to clean up the leftovers. I was too exhausted. I put them both down for their naps and went straight to my computer. Sheesh...the things I put myself through for blogging material...

Whining...My Worst Enemy

My children are in a whiny phase at the same time and I feel like sticking needles in my ears all the time. It's kind of like listening to nails on a chalk board...ooh I just got the chills, yuck! Anyways, that is how I feel about whining and yet I can't get away from it. My son whines when he wakes up, when he goes to sleep, when he has to eat, when he has to move, when he has to share, when he has to take a bath etc. My daughter whines whenever she doesn't get her way which is always. Picture listening to nails on a chalk board right next to your ear all day long and you will get a glimpse into my world. I need an instant remedy NOW, you know like hot sauce on the thumb of a thumb sucker, or soap on the tongue of a potty mouth? I need a creative solution to remedy this horrible noise coming from my offspring. Any suggestions?

I Am Not Good at Being Schizophrenic

There is nothing like a good nap to re-energize me and give me the inspiration to write. After waking up at 5:00...okay 5:20 after the snooze button got beat a couple of times...I needed a nap this afternoon upon returning from church. Now, on to my inspired writing...
This week I realized another weakness of mine when it comes to being a mommy. I didn't know that when I got pregnant I also signed up to be Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. My precious neighbor Megan lost a tooth this past week and informed me that along with leaving the tooth under her pillow, she left a note for Ms. Fairy letting her know that she would like a toy of her choice instead a good ol' fashioned dollar. WHAT? It's going to be tough enough for me to remember to be the Tooth Fairy, now I gotta take special requets?
Then, my husband reminded me that we had to go shopping for the kids' Easter baskets...again I say WHAT? Why do they get presents on Easter from an Easter bunny? What does he have to do with Easter and what is his motivation for bringing gifts? He does me no good at all because I can't threathen my kids if they're naughty, there are no songs about him watching them to see if they're being nice.
Despite my kicking and screaming, we got Easter baskets for the kids and filled them with some cheap toys. But, I made sure that I got the credit for buying those toys, not the Easter Bunny. Until he puts his money out for those baskets, he doesn't get the credit...(I know you're thinking I'm a bit crazy and that I am hindering my kids' imagination but I just can't get myself to give credit to a bunny who does nothing for me as far as making my kids behave.)

A Glimpse of My Thoughts This Week

Would it be really noticeable if I didn't bathe my daughter until she grew out of this "throwing a tantrum in the bath tub stage?"

I think it is about time I potty train my 2 year old, I am sick of changing "man poop."

I feel so guilty watching The Gauntlet II on MTV right now. I am a mother of 2, I am too old for this!

Why didn't anyone tell me I had a big black thing in between my teeth all day?

I am going to throw away all of these dang toys right this second!

How dare that little neighbor girl order my son to get her shoes and pump gas into her power wheels! This is the last time we come outside while she is out here.

Maybe no one will notice that I haven't washed my hair in awhile.

Is that gap in my daughter's teeth permanent?

Oh shoot! I hope Maia doesn't get sick off of the moldy cheese she just ate off the floor.

I need to blog about this!

Odors of the Murray Household

Before you read, please beware that this post may cause you to gag and may change your view of me completely...

I just had to open every window in the house so as to give myself a break from the nasty odors swirling around in my house. Allow me to give you a smelly tour...

In our dining room, we have the unpleasant odor of vomit thanks to Noah's new Cars lounge chair (sorry Auntie Connie and Uncle Brett) which is sitting on our dining room table out of our kids' reach. Yesterday my son fell and hit his head really hard on the garage floor (a whole other post) which resulted in him throwing up in our living room while sitting on the afore mentioned chair. Since I have not yet gotten around to taking the cover off the chair, it needs to stay out of the kids' reach and on the table venting the vomit smell throughout the dining area. Yum! 

Next, I'll invite your noses over to our living room where you'll pick up on a familiar scent. Do you smell it? Yup, it's vomit again but this time you'll notice that it's mixed with the strong odor of carpet cleaner. Noah's vomiting incident spilled off the chair and onto the living room carpet (we all know how I feel about carpet) which I attempted to clean with powerful carpet cleaner to no avail. The two smells mixed together is enough to upset all your senses leaving you with a migraine headache. But, I urge you to fight through the pain because the tour is not yet through. 

Moving right along to the kitchen, your nostrils will be quite offended by the smell of sour milk in the sink. You see I do not get around to doing the dishes as often as I should and in this heat left over milk in sippy cups and formula in bottles tends to curdle while sitting in the sink for over a day. I just ignore the smell and add more and more half empty bottles and sippy cups to the pile adding to the horrific odor. 

Next you'll be slapped in the face by a nasty aroma when entering the kids' room. That is the smell of dirty diapers sitting in the diaper Genie, you know the one that is supposed to hide the smell? Well, it turns out that once my kids stopped pooping breast milk poop, the diaper Genie stopped doing it's job. 

As if your senses could take more I am going to now take you into my sacred place, my bedroom. What does it smell like in there? Like dirty laundry. As if you can't see the culprit for yourself: the heaping pile of dirty clothes nearly blocks the entry way. When you work, care for two babies and a husband, make sure everyone is fed and bathed, and make sure the bills are paid, you rarely have time to worry about your own laundry. You usually do everyone else's first and are too tired by the time you get to your own so you just keep adding to the mountain of clothes and before you know it, you are used to the smell and blind to the overflowing mountain. 

 So there you have it, a smelly tour of my house! Here are my solutions: a new chair, hardwood floors, water only policy- no more milk or formula, potty training, and shopping for a whole new wardrobe!!!! 

Lord, Is This Pay Back???

Have you ever seen those kids who throw tantrums in public places and completely humiliate their parents, you know the ones who bite and pinch in day care or Sunday School, the ones who tell their parent's "NO" right to their faces and are just plain bratty? Well, that was me. Yup, when I was little, I could be described as Satan incarnate. I almost got kicked out of pre-school on my first day when I was 2 years old because I had kicked, bit, and pinched someone and I had thrown a tantrum. Eventually my parent's "beat" the evil out of me with daily spankings but they will tell you that it was a chore to break my will. Thus, as any parent would, I prayed and begged for God not to pay me back with a devil child of my own when I found out I was pregnant with a girl (for some reason I was not worried about having a boy devil child).

I think God is choosing to give me a taste of what I put my poor parents through when I was two. My sweet beautiful daughter who is only 10 and a half months old is showing signs of being quite un-angelic. She thrusts her head back in a hissy fit every time she does not get her way and she is a biting machine. We all have to constantly be on our guard and not be deceived by her precious little smile lest we feel sharp pain on an unsuspecting limb or body part. Poor "Bup" went in to kiss my sweet little imp the other day and came away with an injured lip. That's right, my little muchkin bit "Bup" right on the lip for no reason at all. I also have to be careful whenever I hold her, if someone doesn't give her what she wants or does something to make her mad she will arch her back and throw her head back nearly falling out of my arms. I have had quite a few "close calls."

I dread her Terrible Twos ...I don't think I'll make it out alive...Oh Lord help us all!!!

A Day at the Beach

This weekend was a busy one! But, oh so much fun! I am extremely blessed to have Pam Booher in my life. She has become such a vital part of our family and we love her so very much. One of the awesome things about her is her phenomenal talent to take beautiful pictures.

She set up this photo shoot for me to take pictures in my wedding dress at the beach and we thought it would be fun to dress the kids up and make them part of the photo shoot as well. (It was kind of funny watching peoples' reaction to us. There I was in this beautiful wedding gown getting it wet and dirty and nearly killing myself climbing on the rocks while my "groom" was in jeans and my kids were getting their nice clothes all wet and sandy as well. One couple congratulated me on my wedding and I didn't have the energy to explain that I'd been married 4 years and was just taking these pictures for fun, so I just said "thanks!")

The beach that Pam wanted to take the pictures on required a permit and she was determined to get it. She ran into a huge road block while attempting to get the permit and enlisted the help of a couple of close friends to make it happen. We got our permit right at the time we were supposed to leave for the shoot. We were all so excited and hoped that while taking pictures a cop would come and ask to see our permit so that all of that trouble would have been worth it. It happened. So it was worth it! Here are a few of the shots that Pam got.

P.S. Ashley Horne took quite a few gorgeous photos of my kids as well, but I didn't ask to use her pics yet so I'll post some of those later!

Sometimes I Wonder What People Think of Me...

This is what happens when you leave your husband alone with the kids for a few hours. Your 2 year old and 11 month old have tattoos all over their bodies and they go outside to play shirtless in order to show off their body art.