Bring it on Kentucky!

Today was a very full day!  After Church, we headed to the Guyton's for lunch and ended up spending most of the afternoon there.  Then we met them at a park and we ended the night at Papas and Beer.  We pushed our luck a little with the restaurant because it was the kiddo's bedtime, but all of the girls did really well, although by the time we were leaving, they were all four falling apart at the seams.

It's pretty sad when a child openly admits that they are tired.  Rosie looked at me and said, "Mommy, I really want to go to sleep in my big girl bed.  I real sleepy."  I was planning on giving her a bath because she was filthy, but she started sobbing when I told her.  She said, "Please, let's have bath in the morning.  I just so tired."  We ended up giving her a "sponge bath" with wipes in her bed.  She seemed okay with that.  Kiki got a real bath and I fed her.  When I went to put her down, she grabbed her blanket and rolled right over.  I think she was asleep before I got out of the room.  Two tired little ladies.  We are so blessed.

Right now I am watching my husband totally losing his mind as he's watching the KU game.  I mean he is literally going nuts.  He's mumbling, sighing, huffing, puffing, raking his hands through his hair, pacing, crawling around, texting people, calling people, yelling, laughing, making weird noises that I don't know how to describe, there may even be some tears.  Right now he is laying on the coffee table.  There are 9.6 seconds left in the game.  We have the ball.  This is a big moment in our household.  Life will be pretty hard around here if we lose.  Prayers needed.

Okay, he just ripped his pants off.  Just ripped them right off.  He's freaking out.  They won and he is so happy.  Pure joy over here.  Thanks for the prayers:)  To the Championship we go!!!

A Tale of Two Doors

So, I'm going to be real honest here.  What I'm about to disclose to you may make you wonder about Mark and I (if you didn't already).  I'm going to rat Mark out first.  He came clean to me this week that on Sunday when he took Rosie to the store he didn't realize he forgot to shut Rosie's door on the van before heading to a little sandwich shop.  So Rosie was just sitting there, with full view to the cars around her as they drove along.  The thought of it is pretty hilarious! Yes, it was dangerous, but luckily it was only for about a minute.  Still, I wonder what the other drivers were thinking.  I wonder what Rosie was thinking!  I've joked with Mark about his forgetfulness ever since.

So anyway, today I took the girls to the post office and to the store.   When we pulled into our driveway after our two hour trip, Monroe said, "Hey Mommy, the door is open!"  I didn't realize what she meant until I saw the front door was in fact open.  I remember I intended to go back and shut it after I got the girls in the van, but apparently I didn't get around to it.  That means our home was wide open to everyone for two hours! What's wrong with us?!!! Old age isn't treating us very well.  What's even worse is Mark has something on me now.

Today was kind of a rough day.  Last night I suffered from an awful case of insomnia.  I rarely can't sleep and I hate it when I can't.  I decided to use my time wisely and in those wee hours of the morning I concocted a plan to rid Rosie of her binkies, once and for all.  We had already limited them to naps and bedtime and she did great with that transition, until just recently.  I've been finding them in her mouth while she's playing and she'll frequently tell me that she's "sleepy" and needs to take a nap, so she can have the binkie.  I knew it needed to end and so I told her in exchange for her binkies we would go to the store and get her a toy she has been wanting REALLY badly.  She agreed and we gathered all her binkies, put them in a basket and decided to give them to other little babies that didn't have any binkies.  Things were going great...until her nap.  That's when things got real to her and she realized the binkie  wasn't coming back.  She cried, but handled it better than I thought she would.  I left her room feeling pretty great.

I came back a few minutes later to check on her and found her still awake.  Usually she's out cold in no time at all.  Well, 2.5 hours later she finally fell asleep...for thirty minutes.  Ugh!  Throughout the two and a half hours, I endured tears, whining, yelling...and you should have heard Rosie.  Just kidding:)  Mark put Rosie to bed tonight and it took her a good hour to fall alseep.  I know it could be a rough few days and nights, but I also know it will be worth it when we can finally feel completely binkie free!  Pray for us.

I'm getting pretty excited...my parents are coming next week!  It seems like forever since we've seen them.  I don't think they'll recognize Keek's.  She's grown so much and is all over the place.  She been doing some regular crawling today.  Not for very long, but she's starting to really get the hang of it.  She's been so funny.  She wants to be just like her sissy.  They were both laying on my bed today and I was tickling them.  They were both laughing so hard.  Kiki kept looking at Rosie and if Rosie was laughing, she would laugh.  Then if Rosie turned on her side, Kiki would turn on her side.  She was copying her every move.  It was so sweet and so cute.  I've never seen her do anything like that and it just made my day.

I'm really hoping for a great sleep tonight.  I can't believe tomorrow is Friday!  This week has flown by.  I'm definitely ready for the weekend though!

Happy Birthday, Charlotte!

Another one of my beautiful friends gave birth yesterday and I couldn't be happier.  Nicole had her sweet little Charlotte and let me tell you, she is adorable.  I wish so much that I could be there in Chicago to help welcome her and celebrate her arrival, but I'm so thankful for the internet.  It lets me play like I'm there.  I stole a picture from facebook and I really hope she doesn't mind that I'm posting it, but it's the most amazing picture and I just had to.

Am I right?!   It's just beautiful.  Welcome to the world, Charlotte Michelle Meharry.  I love you already! 

I am a horrible friend and haven't sent her gift yet.  For the record, it's going in the mail tomorrow.  I promise.  I've been working on some little headbands to include in the package.  I'll post some pictures of them soon.  

I took Kiki to the doctor today because I was just sure she had an ear infection.  She kept tugging at her ear and seemed a bit under the weather.  Well, apparently I haven't been blessed with the mother's intuition, because she didn't have an ear infection and the doctor thinks it's just teething.  Oh, well.  I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.

Rosie is definitely starting to feel better.  She's not 100%, but we're getting close.  She's been cracking me up lately.  She came in my room yesterday wearing her red cowboy boots.  She looked at me in all seriousness, and stated, "I don't want to wear shoes anymore, only these boots."  Cracked me up!  

Zumba was pretty irritating this evening.  Our class has gotten pretty big and they are working on creating a new classroom for us, but until then, they put us on the stage in the gym.  The Fletcher Academy kids have their intramurals at the same time.  No, it's never been my dream to have a large group of teenage boys watch me exercise.  Nope, never.  Apart from that, this little teenage girl came for the first time on Monday and stood right beside me.  I mean RIGHT beside me.  Like an inch away.  It was so hard to do any of the moves with her so close.  Maria and I kept giggling because it was almost comical--like a Saturday Night Live sketch or something.  She stuck to me like glue and because she was new she didn't know any of the moves and we kept running into each other.  Tonight I was hoping that she wouldn't stand by me.  Well I got my wish, she didn't stand beside me...she stood about an inch behind me.  This was even worse!!!  I could actually feel her breathing!  I moved eight times and every time, she would find her way over to me.  The worst part is that she kept tooting.  Both nights!  Zumba is hard enough.  I can't handle having these extra obstacles to worry about:)  

Going Green

What a great weekend!  We took our time getting up and around on Saturday morning and had the girls nap early so that we could go to the Biltmore in the afternoon.  We packed a huge picnic lunch and headed that direction.  We drove around the property for awhile and finally settled on a little spot by the lake to enjoy our lunch.  It was so relaxing and after Rosie realized that picnics were not something to be scared of (she's scared of everything right now) it was thoroughly enjoyable.  Well, apart from the little scavenger baby that tried to eat everything we brought.  If you look in the pictures below you can see in the first one that she's spotted Mark's sandwich and in the second she's making a beeline for it.  

 She finally settled on a stick she found.

Rosie and Daddy had a great time throwing rocks and sticks into the lake.
Here she is giving daddy a high (low) five after and extra far throw.

I love all of the bamboo!  It's so neat and fun to walk through.

Here's a few pictures of the Biltmore house that we took from our picnic spot.  Beautiful!

After our picnic and another little drive, we decided to visit the gardens.  They are really at
their peak right now.  The tulips were incredible!

 Rosie enjoyed getting up close and personal with almost every flower/plant in the joint.  
I took a trillion pics of her smelling flowers.  

You probably wonder why I don't fix Rosie's hair, but I can assure you that I try.  

After just a few minutes she's either pulled it out or it's fallen.  

 She got really into the tulips and ended up with black marks all over her face from the pollen.  

We tried to get some pictures of the girls together beside the tulips, but they didn't really turn out.  It's sure hard getting both ladies to cooperate.  Here are a few attempts...

 Kiki LOVES to pull our hair.  We don't love it.  

The girls were pretty pooped after our day outside, but we came home and they were uninterested in resting.  I, on the other hand, thought resting sounded very lovely.  I took a little nap and Mark took the girls for a walk.  We stayed in for the night and watched a movie.  Mark worked on the computers (with the help of Stephen he's been updating both the MacBook Pro and the IMac) and I worked on some crafting projects.

Sunday included lots of cleaning and laundry, otherwise it was pretty low key.  We must have been craving green stuff because our lunch consisted of avocado sandwiches, sauteed spinach, salad and green smoothies.  I wanted to share the sandwich recipe I found on a blog I read.  It was a Chickpea and Avocado Salad Sandwich.  It was so good and healthy. I will definitely be making it again.

Last night, I went with a group of friends to see "The Hunger Games".  It stuck pretty close to the book, but there were a few differences.  It was a fun night.  Also, KU won, so life is good in the Murrill home.  

In some extremely exciting news (at least in my world), Kiki slept from 8 pm to 7:30 am!!!  I may have mentioned, but I'm up feeding that little girl at least once, sometimes twice in the night.  For the last few nights, she's been sleeping for longer stretches.  And last night...last night was incredible.  I haven't had a full night's sleep in almost 8 months!  I have to admit, I was worried about her, so I didn't sleep very soundly, but hopefully we are headed in the right direction.  Praise the Lord! 

Well, I better get to getting.  Hope you had a great weekend and a wonderful Monday!  

Gone So Soon?

We are so sad that Stephen and Michelle left yesterday.  It was a great, low key visit and we had a blast just spending time with them.  They were really needing some R&R and I hope that we were able to provide it.  The girls absolutely adored them both.  

I really didn't take any pictures until the last few hours before they left.  I'm a schmuck like that.  I always regret it after, but at least I got a few.  

Stephen and Michelle surprised me with this beautiful quilt they found at a little shop in downtown Hendersonville. 

 I just LOVE it!  

Michelle brought her shellac and UV light and did my nails while she was here.  I always do clear (I'm boring), but I just love the way the clear shellac looks and it stays for so long! 

She also taught me how to make bread from scratch.  We made two loaves.  This is all that remains of our handiwork. 

I didn't have many skills to share, but I did show her something I'm pretty good at after doing it since I was a young girl...heat-rolling hair!  I taught her my technique for roller placement.  

By the looks of those curls, she's got the hang of it!  Kiki and Michelle were buds.  

Family

Loving Uncle Stephen

My "little" brother and me 

Yesterday afternoon, we made the drive to the Airport in South Carolina to drop them off.  It was sad saying goodbye, but hopefully we will see them again soon.  We are planning a trip to Tulsa and Kansas City this summer, so that's not too far away.  On the drive to the airport and back, I was reminded of why I love living in this area.  It was beautiful.  I can't believe I live in such a gorgeous place.  The trees and the mountains are amazing.  I'm so grateful that I get to raise my little family here.  

Yesterday evening after Mark got home, we decided to check out a park we hadn't been to in Hendersonville.  It ended up being pretty nice and we had a good walk with the girls.  We will definitely have to revisit there soon.

To counteract all of the benefits of the walk, Mark brought home something one of his bosses gave him...

What you are looking at is one of the biggest chocolate covered peanut butter eggs ever.  It was seriously the size of a large man's fist.  I didn't eat all of that, don't worry.  Just a few bites, but it was pretty yummy.  

Poor Rosie started not being herself during Stephen and Michelle's visit.  We couldn't figure out what was up.  She was super whiney and clingy and one morning she woke up with gunky in her eye.  I thought maybe a cold had settled there, because it didn't look pink, just a bit swollen.  This morning, I finally decided to take her to the doctor and lo and behold she had pink eye and an ear infection.  She's now on a pretty aggressive antibiotic, so hopefully she's on the road to recovery.

Her eye got really pink this morning...Poor little lady. 

Getting ready to head to the doctor this morning.  I can assure you, that happy attitude didn't last long.  She HATES going to the doctor, although she was pretty pleased with her "Punzel" (Rapunzel) sticker they gave her.

Keekster, ready for the doctor trip. 

Growing up way too fast.

Kiki seems to have fought off the sickness so far.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that she won't get pink-eye which will be a small miracle with the way that Monroe can't keep her hands of Kiki.  All she wants to do is kiss, hug, lick, smell, sit on, etc. her.  

Our biggest challenge right now, is keeping Kiki reigned in.  That kid is on the move.  If you are holding her, she tries to launch off of your lap onto the ground.  When she's on the ground she's into one dangerous thing after another.  I never really had to baby-proof too hard with Rosie, but I already know that with Kiki it's going to be a different story.  

Today, I literally put her down for two seconds to warm something in the microwave and I looked over and she had crawled all the way across the room and was under Rosie's table trying to eat stray cheerios off of the ground.  What am I going to do with this kid?!

Who needs a vacuum, when you've got this girl?

Caught in the act

We got some sad news this week, one of my parent's dogs, Minnie Pearl, was killed by a car.  I know, what a bummer!!!  She was the sweetest little golden retriever and she will be missed.  My parents couldn't stand to be without (although they still have Mikey) and this afternoon they went and got another little guy.  They are still working on a name (my money's on Miles) but we can't wait to meet him.  Stephen and Michelle joined them to help pick out their new puppy and I guess, couldn't leave without one of their own!  Here's the pic Stephen sent of their new little guy...

I have to admit, that little sweet face made me kind of want a puppy again...just a little.  

We've decided not to go to church tomorrow, because of Rosie's pink eye.  We don't want to risk getting any other kiddos sick.  Instead we are headed to the Biltmore.  We bought season passes this week and we are eager to start using them.  It's so beautiful.  I really hope to get some great pictures tomorrow.  Have a great night!  Until next time...

Army Crawler

Stephen and Michelle arrived safely last night and we are so glad they are here.  The girls didn't give them a break after arriving at such a late hour.  Nope, they woke up bright and early and were excited to see their auntie and uncle.

Kiki was so excited to see them that she decided to learn and show off a new skill.  She's been hinting at it for a long time, but it wasn't until yesterday at Sabbath School that it seemed she was really close to army crawling.  She saw a toy and started dragging herself over to it.  It wasn't very far, but it was pretty impressive all the same.  Then, this morning, she just went nuts.  She crawled all the way across the room.  You can tell she finds her new freedom very liberating.  She's also been getting up on all fours, so she's toying with regular crawling.  I'm not used to this kind of mobility so early!  She's one determined little lady, though, so I should have expected nothing less from her.

This morning we went on a wild goose chase for some breakfast.  We originally wanted to take them to the best bakery in town, McFarland's.  To our chagrin, it is closed on Sundays and Mondays...boo!  Then we headed to Flat Rock to another little bakery...same thing.  Then we decided to go to this cute little dinner called Pop's.  You guessed it...closed.  We ended up at Cracker Barrel, which was kind of a let down.  It was fun, though.  I really think that every restaurant should have a built in store, but that's just my humble opinion.

After breakfast, we came home, took showers and took it easy for a few hours.  Then we decided to go to the Dupont State Forest to show them the waterfalls.  We had just finished the hike to the falls when the torrential rains started.  This wouldn't have been too horrible if we didn't have a hungry toddler and an infant along.  That complicated the situation, but we decided to sit it out under a covered picnic area.  It was still quite a majestic view in spite of the rain.  After it calmed down, we hiked back and took them to our all time favorite Mexican Restaurant, Papas and Beer.  It was sooo good and they both really liked it.

The evening has been pretty low key.  Just watching the Kansas game.  Mark is currently a few inches from the t.v. and doesn't seem to notice that anyone else is in the room.  March Madness is always a very tense time in the Murrill house.

Well, I better go.  I'm working on the hair accessories I told you I was needing to finish up.  I'll put up pictures when I get them all done.  I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Trip to the Biltmore

Friday's weather ended up being kind of crazy.  It was nice enough in the early afternoon for us to head to Fletcher Park with a big group of moms and kids.  We had a picnic and then let the kiddos play for awhile. Soon after the weather got pretty crazy and it rained HARD.  It was the perfect afternoon for a nap, and nap we did.  We finished up the night with taco night at some friends' house...a great Friday.

This morning we woke up to much better weather.  It was truly beautiful.  You aren't going to believe this, but somehow we made it to Sabbath School on time!  We are usually quite tardy.  I used to hate being late...actually I still do, but since having Kiki, I've had to just deal with the fact that we are really slow. Hopefully, our timing will start to improve.  After church, we ate and yet again, took naps.  Then we went with the Nudd's to the Biltmore for the afternoon.  We had a great time. 

Here are a few pics we took today...

I'm headed to bed.  Mark went to Greenville/Spartanburg Airport to pick Stephen and Michelle up!  They are spending the week with us and we are super excited.  Have a great night!