The Servant

So, it's been tough to find time to blog. You see I'm just trying to keep my kids and myself alive! Things are going okay around here in spite of my sleep deprivation and Maia's comment about wanting to trade her baby brother in for a quieter one. The good thing is that since Malakai is such a loud cry baby, he seems not to mind noise and will sleep through high volumes (even the cleaning lady vacuuming under his bassinet while he is in it)!

Anyways, I have been learning a lot about what it means to serve the way Jesus served in this transition to 3 kids. I've also been learning that I have some issues with entitlement (Ew)! While I was pregnant with baby #3, I prayed for a mellow, easy going, good sleeper. Instead I got a non-sleeping cry baby who wants to be held all the time. I found myself waking up in the middle of the night with him, being angry at God. Ummm, helloooo God?! Did you make a mistake? This is not what I asked for. I think I deserve an easy baby because that is what I prayed for. Sheesh!

In hindsight, I realize that what I deserved was to be struck down with lightening! Who do I think I am talking to God like that? After a few weeks of wrestling with God and acting like an entitled brat, I see now that God is teaching me what it means to be a true servant. In my quiet time the other day I was reading in Matthew 13 how Jesus served, served, served, was tired and needed a rest, but had compassion on the people and served some more. He didn't do it solely out of obedience to God, He didn't do it for what He would get out of it, He didn't do it and keep a tally so that He could come back later and tell all the people He healed,what they owed Him. Jesus did it purely out of LOVE expecting nothing in return. What's even more amazing is that Jesus served these people knowing that these were the same people who would beat, mock, and kill Him!

This completely changed my perspective from seeing this cry baby of mine and my two needy toddlers as a non-answered prayer to seeing them as a blessing and an opportunity to be like Jesus. I am called to serve them and expect NOTHING in return simply out of love for God and love for them. Even when I am exhausted, I am to continue serving with zero sense of entitlement. I am owed nothing for doing what I am commanded to do. Sheesh! Talk about being humbled...

Seeing things from this point of view has begun to make this adjustment to 3 kids a lot easier. When my cry baby refuses to go back to sleep at 3 a.m and I can barely keep my eyes open, I find myself praising God that I get to serve Him by loving on this baby. It is a constant battle for me to take my thoughts captive when I start thinking that "I deserve to sleep," or "I deserve a break," etc. but, it's a battle that's worth fighting because I want to love like Jesus loved. I owe Him everything and He owes me nothing. It's been a good mommy lesson for me...one that I will be learning for a long time!

Life with 3

So life with 3 little ones is proving to be quite challenging and I have not even started "real life" (going back to work) yet! Although, I feel completely blessed by my quiver full of children, it is no walk in the park, especially when the littlest one refuses to sleep at night. Functioning on 4 to 5 hours of interrupted sleep is definitely not my forte. Here are a few of the challenges I've faced.

It's funny how my toddlers have figured out that mommy is immobile while nursing and they choose those moments to push each other's buttons and fight like cats and dogs. I find myself screaming threats of what I will do when I am done nursing and looking for something close enough to throw at them to make them pay attention to me.

Maia's personality is a strong one that takes pleasure in defying authority and doing whatever it is she is told NOT to do. Her favorite thing to do is to stick her fingers in Malakai's mouth. I constantly have to watch her when she is near him. She will touch his face and mouth and sometimes his eyeballs just because I ask her not to. Poor kid.

Speaking of touching, I find myself wanting to scream by the end of the day when someone touches me. All day long someone is touching me, whether it is the littlest drinking milk, or a toddler hanging on my leg, or a little one grabbing onto my shirt because my hands are full as we cross a parking lot. By the end of the day my skin is crawling and I desire to be alone in silence with no one touching me!

Finally, I've decided that I seriously need to learn some sort of breathing technique or Jedi mind trick to keep myself sane and calm when all three decide to whine/ scream/ cry at the same time. This is a daily occurrence and I go crazy every time. It usually happens while in the car with no escape. I usually end up joining them.

Needless to say, adjusting to 3 is taking some time. But, I am determined to get the hang of this thing soon! Pray for me!


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Memories..."What The Heck is The Hafamuh Virus?"

I decided to repost this because Ricky and are were reminiscing back to when we first brought Maia home from the hospital and Noah puked all over the hospital room and how stressful that time was. But, it also came with some good laughs!

A couple of weeks ago, my son Noah had a really high fever and was really sick. Ricky came home from taking Noah to see the doctor and let me know that Noah had the "Hafamuh Virus." I had never heard of such a thing so I kept asking questions. Ricky's response to all my questions was "I don't know." I looked up the virus online and found nothing. In my mind I was thinking is this virus so rare and awful that they don't have any information on it? I began to think the worst.

Me: "Why don't you know anything about this virus?" Why didn't you ask?"

Ricky: "I did ask but the doctor was Asian and had a really thick accent."

Ding, Ding, Ding! My husband cannot decipher English with an accent if his life depended on it. I, on the other hand, love accents and pride myself on imitating them and understanding English spoken in any accent.

Me: What does this "Hafamuh Virus" do?

Ricky: Well she kept pointing to his hands and feet and she checked out his throat and said something about blisters.

Hmmm...blisters on his hands, feet, and mouth; "Hafamuh Virus;" and Asian accent. I pictured my friend's mother who is Chinese pronouncing these words..."han, foo, and mou."

Me: "Oooooohhh, it's the Hand, Foot, and Mouth Virus!"

Ricky: "Oh yeah...I guess that is what she said. It sounded like 'Haa- Fa -Muh' to me and she kept saying it really fast."

Sheesh, that is the last time I send Ricky to the doctor.

Blessed By Pam Booher

So, I am one lucky girl! I've been reading a book by Ann Voskamp titled One Thousand Gifts and I highly recommend it. It is life changing. But, because of the book, I have been focusing so much more on being thankful for all the gifts in my life and in doing so, my heart is so full I feel as though I am always about to burst with joyfulness! This photo shoot is one of those things I am thankful for. I am thankful that I get to call Pam Booher my family. She is one of the most amazing women I know and one of the perks of being a part of Pam Booher's family is her awesome photography skills! Here are some of the pictures she captured of our newborn and our growing family.

Malakai Kade Murray

Malakai Kade Murray born at 11:11 p.m. on 4/1/2011 weighing 7 lbs 6 oz and measuring 20 3/4 inches long. He is as sweet as can be and has brought so much joy to our lives. You can often find Ricky and I staring at our little guy taking in all of his little features and willing him to stay little forever or you will find us sniffing his face and his head, savoring that sweeter than honey baby smell!

He definitely made for an interesting labor and delivery process though! I had consistent contractions for about a week and a half and had one false alarm. On Tuesday evening the doctor informed me that I would not be delivering this baby any time this week as I was not dilated at all. On Thursday morning, at my regular doctor's appt. my doctor checked me and said that I was 3 to 4 cm dilated! From that point on my contractions were 10 to 15 minutes apart and got progressively stronger but never closer together. I was determined not to have another false alarm so I just took the pain and waited for them to get to 5 minutes apart. By Friday afternoon, I was exhausted having only gotten sleep in 10 minute increments the night before. But, contractions were still 10 to 15 minutes apart. I received a phone call from my friend who is a L&D Nurse who said that I needed to go to the hospital NOW if I did not want to have the baby at home. I listened because all I wanted at that point was an epidural! Here is how the night went.

7:15 sitting in traffic having contractions 11 minutes apart. Totally thinking they are going to send me home!

7:45 check in and get hooked up to monitors. Contractions still 11 minutes apart. Nurse says they will probably make me walk before they admit me.

9:00 doc comes in checks me and I am at a 5. She says it will probably be awhile. They admit me and ask if I want an epidural. I say yes! Contractions still 11 minutes a part.

10:05 epidural in.

10:15 contractions look like they are picking up a bit. Ricky goes out to the car to get my stuff and the camera. Calls his mom tells her it will be a long night.

10:20- super strong contractions only half my body is numb, my water breaks! Poor Ricky gets a text from me and tries to run back up to my room as fast as he can with camera in hand! When he gets there the whole scene has changed, I am screaming in pain and the nurse is cleaning up my bed and the anesthesiologist is trying to figure out what the heck to do to numb the other side of my body!

10:45 nurse checks me. I am complete and ready to push.

11:00 doc comes in

11:11 Malakai is here!!!

I love my precious baby boy!