She's Here!

Here are some pictures of my brand new niece- Emma Claire Murray (called Claire). She was born this morning at 9:49 am. She weighed 7lbs. 11oz. and was 21.5 inches long. Claire is as sweet as she can be, and she looks just like her daddy. Both she and Hannah are doing well, and Ava is very excited to be a big sister!

If at first you don't succeed...

I know that it has been a while since I last updated the blog. It seems that all I do these days is go to work, come home to cook/clean, and work on my college assignments. It's easy to forget that while I'm busy with my day-to-day chores, a lot is actually going on around me. Take Olivia's eating habits, for example. For about two months now she has been refusing to let anyone feed her. I guess she thinks that she is a big girl and can feed herself. During this time, she has gotten MUCH better at feeding herself. The first picture was taken when she was just beginning to feed herself. Notice the lack of shirt- she is not wearing one because it is covered with food.

This second picture was actually taken last week. What an improvement- her shirt is on, she is relatively clean, and she is using a spoon (even though she does have the wrong end in her mouth). It is amazing that she is changing so fast, yet so much goes by without my recognizing it. She's actually becoming quite helpful (which is good- maybe she'll be ready to help with her brother when he gets here in March).

Happy Halloween

Here are a few pictures from Halloween this year. Olivia dressed up as a panda bear. Fortunately, we had better luck with the costume this year than we had last year. She actually seemed to like wearing it. As a matter of fact, when she first saw herself in the mirror she smiled and then growled at her reflection. Never once did she try to pull the hood off of her costume, which was good- I was expecting a battle to keep it on. I don't have a picture of Remy, but he dressed up in his tiger costume again this year and assumed his ususal role of barking at every trick-or-treater that dare disturb our house.

Ava dressed up as a lady bug, and seemed just as happy to be wearing a costume as Olivia was. What a cute pair these two made!

The girls couldn't eat any candy, so we didn't go from house-to-house trick-or-treating. Instead, we rode them around Granny Buie's neighborhood in golf carts. They liked seeing other kids dressed up and being out in the middle of the "action". There were actually a lot of people out on Halloween night in golf carts and on hay wagons. I never thought that I would be stuck in a golf-cart traffic jam between my house and Granny's house- but I was.

Ava spent a large part of her evening transferring candy from Granny's candy distribution basket into Olivia's plastic pumpkin. Notice how full Olivia's pumpkin is in this picture. Once the pumpkin started overflowing, Ava began moving the candy back into the basket. Ava was also very helpful at passing out candy to trick-or-treaters- at least until a big kid in a skeleton costume came up and scared her.

Even though Olivia didn't get to eat any candy, Brian and I probably gained five pounds off of all the chocolate that we ate. It was a very fun (and fattening) night.

Girls trip to Disney

This past weekend Anna, Krystial, and I made a short trip to Disney. Since we will all be turning 30 in the next few months, we thought that this might be a good way to celebrate our youth (while we still can). We stayed inside Disney at the Pop Century Resort- which was a lot of fun and very convenient to the parks. Because of my pregnancy, I had to forgo riding many of the rides. My physical limitations allowed me to approach the theme parks in a totally new way. As you may know, Brian and I are theme-park junkies. When we hit the parks, we hit them hard. This trip allowed me to sit back and take things slow. It was actually very relaxing (even though I did miss feeling the adrenaline rush of the thrill rides).

On Friday, we visited Disney's Animal Kingdom. I was very excited to go here because I had never been before. I was surprised by the size of this park. It was enormous. Good thing that I wore comfortable shoes! The highlight of this park for me was the safari ride. Our jeep got so close to a rhino that I could almost touch it.

After leaving the park, we had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. This was loads of fun. I was blown away by the decor of this restaurant- lots of detail. To finish off the night, we attended a performance of Cirque du Soleil "La Nouba". I had been wanting to see this show for years, and I was glad to finally have the opportunity to see it. The show itself was outstanding and totally surpassed my all of my expectations (which were high to begin with).

On Saturday, we visited Epcot. Our visit coincided with the annual food and wine festival. The interesting thing about this festival is that we were able to sample food dishes from all around the world. I wish I could say that I ate my way around the World Showcase portion of Epcot, but that is not so. I tried one dish in the "Mexico" section, nearly gagged, and gave up on the whole "sampling" process altogether. Instead, I saved my appetite for a delicious (and familiar) meal at Planet Hollywood.

I think that Disney is fun anytime for anyone. Although I have been many times, I discover something new with each visit. This was the first time that I had seen Disney through a parent's eyes. I am really excited about taking Olivia and new baby (who is known as "butterbean" at this point) to Disney when they are older.

First Birthday Party

I can't believe that Olivia is nearly one year old! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. My, how time flies! We had a small birthday party for her this past Saturday to celebrate the big "1".

When I ordered Olivia's cake, we received a free mini-cake just for her. This was really the first time that Olivia had had the opportunity to eat anything sweet, and she did not waste a moment. She began by gently sticking her finger into the icing and checking it out. I guess that she liked what she tasted because she was soon grabbing the cake by the handful and cramming it into her mouth. Cake got all over her face, clothes, and even found its way into her hair. She made such a mess that I had to sponge her off and change her clothes before she could open her presents.

Olivia received a lot of nice gifts for her birthday. It took her a little while to catch on to the whole "opening presents" thing, but she eventually got it and started helping me open them.

Brian and I had decided to get her a wagon for her birthday. The wagon was a big hit. After opening gifts, we put Ava and Olivia in the wagon and rode them up and down the driveway. They had a ball! I think that they would have stayed in the wagon all evening if they could have.

I think that Olivia's first birthday party was a success. It was a lot of fun, and I think that everyone had a good time.

Our Brick

After church last Sunday, Olivia and I went to look at our family brick that had just been installed at the courthouse. The bricks were sold by the county last year as part of a fundraising effort for a fountain at the courthouse. Our brick was located at the very top of the walkway near the courthouse itself. Some of the bricks of other family members were a bit harder to find. It was fun to see the names of people I know or have known immortalized on a brick. What a great opportunity to be a part of our county's history!

Go Dawgs!

I know that it has been a while since my last post. Since starting back to work and college, I have found myself with less and less free time. A lot of changes have been made in my school system this year, and all of the teachers in Ware County are really stressed out. The month of August has seemed to drag on forever. The one glimmer of light at the end of the dark tunnel has been September 1st and the start of college football season. Both Brian and I have been eagerly anticipating opening day. Brian even set his alarm clock on his day off (Saturday) so that he would be sure not to miss College Game Day on ESPN.



Saturday was not disappointing. My team (and Olivia's team)- the UGA dawgs won 35-14. Olivia wore her pink UGA cheerleader outfit to show her support for the greatest football team in the land. Brian likes the FSU Seminoles, but they don't play until tonight. I hope they win, too (or I'll have to hear about it for a week). I always look forward to football season, and I am so glad that it has begun! GO DAWGS!