30 days complete

I am thankful for this wonderful life. It may not always be perfect, but we are so blessed. We have great family, stable jobs, a great group of friends, the most adorable daughter. The things in my life that I am so thankful for are not measured by money, which makes them even better. They are priceless. :o)

I am thankful for the 11 months I have been able to produce breast milk for our precious Katie Bug! She is doing so well and growing up so quickly! :o)

Kaitlyn: Month Eleven

Kaitlyn Marie,

Kaitlyn witht Pigtails

I cannot believe that today marks your eleventh month, and neither can anyone else. As your first birthday approaches, I have received a lot of comments about how quickly time has passed. It seems to most that I was just pregnant with you and anticipating your arrival. At the same time, our life before you were here seems SO far away, it is hard to remember what it was like without you. You are such a blessing to our family, and we are so thankful to God to have you as our daughter.

Going to SeaWorld with Mom, Grandma and Gam Gam

You are becoming such a little toddler. You walk almost everywhere, and when you can't walk fast enough, you fall down trying to run and crawl at top speed. You seem to be off the charts with your motor skills while holding back on your speech (who would have thought that of my child….hahaha). You are so curious about the world around you and love to learn about everything.

"Look what I can do!"

You are quite the studious little girl; you have such a serious face while you taking in everything around you. You love to laugh and play, especially hide and seek with daddy! You could play for 30 minutes at least walking to the bedroom to find daddy and then running away squealing when he comes after you. You have even started to dance. About a week ago, we took you to Mass and you were bouncing on the pew to the music. Grandma and Grandpa said this past weekend you have started to do more than just bounce and you are even able to keep up with the rhythm. I hope that you love and enjoy music as much as we do as you get older.

Being Silly with Aunt Tara

You had your First Halloween and First Thanksgiving this month. For Thanksgiving, we spent the morning with your dad's side of the family and had lunch. You were finally able to meet the rest of your great uncles and cousins, and had a good time playing with Cynthia, Sophia, Zoe and Derek. We took a quick break mid-afternoon to put up the Christmas Tree and Decorations and then we had dinner with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Jon. You had a plate of home-made sweet potatoes, Turkey/Cranberry/Apple baby food, lots of puffs, a strawberry Popsicle, and an incredibly small taste of pumpkin pie. I think that is the most that you have ever eaten in one sitting!!

Kaitlyn and Mommy for Thanksgiving 2010

More Eleven Month News:

Sleeping: Your sleep has begun to vary depending on who is around.  You love to wake up in the middle of the night for extra snuggles from your daddy. I keep warning him that will back-fire on him later, but he loves getting the extra time with you, and who can blame him. Otherwise, you have been sleeping about 9-10 hours straight and then falling asleep for an hour or two after having a morning bottle. You take about two naps for an hour or so throughout the day.
Clothing: 6-12 month or 9-12 month, size three and a half shoes (although, they are getting snug), medium diapers.
Mealtime: 16oz of milk in four and 2-3 jars of 4.5oz baby food, although you have seemed to be more resistant to the baby food and reach more for "regular" food this month. You still love your puffs, yogurt melts and fiddlesticks!

Daddy loves to be silly!

Developments:
-Waves "hi" and "bye" (when you want to…)
-Says "ma-ma" (Nov 19) and "da-da" (Nov 15) but not specific
-Learned how to give "High Five"
-Plays Peek-a-Boo
-Puts one object on top of other or into a container
-Stoops from standing position while not holding on
-Imitates wants with gestures
-Pushes toys while walking (your activity table is a favorite)

Dog Pile on Daddy

We love you very much Katie Bug and we are so proud to call your ours. Happy Eleven Month Birthday!

Love Always,
Mommy

I am thankful for the talented co-workers that I work alongside. They make the day go by smoother and we have a lot of laughs. It is nice to be on a good team.

I am so thankful the day is over. I am so tired!!

I am thankful for sleepovers with grandparents ao that I can sleep in an extra 45 min! (I am beginning to see a theme of thankfulness for sleep. Hey, I take it when I can get it!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is the "Mac Daddy" of Thankfulness.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I have so very much to be grateful for, as y'all have been reading along with me. I am so thankful today for wonderful childhood memories. Every year, Jon and I would run down the back alley to Grandma's house bright and early. All of our cousins would come over, and we would spend all day playing, stuffing ourselves and trying to eat just one more dessert. I was surrounded by family, my wonderful mom and dad, my cool aunts and uncles and the world's best grandparents.

Grandma always made such a wonderful Thanksgiving spread, and she still does! I wish that I were there to spend the day with everyone. To gather around the table with my 14 cousins, and their 20 children. I miss being able to see my whole family at one time; we are a big bunch. Now that we are older and have families and in-laws of our own, we aren't always together at the same time, but we always have that sense of family togetherness.

So today, I am so very thankful for the good roots that my mom and dad gave me and for the experiences, such as this one, that molded me into the woman I am today. And a special Thanksgiving to all the Murray clan. I wish we were there with you today. Love y'all.

I am thankful for family dinners. They are my favorite part of the day.

I am thankful for time spent together as a family.

Is thankful to have lost three pounds!! 22 more to loose.

I am thankful that we are able to give back to others. Got our "angel" from the Angel Tree today.

I am thankful for the ten months and 21 days I was able to pump milk for our Boo Bear.

I am thankful for the opportunity to spend quality time with good friends this weekend!

I am thankful for friends who are available to chat late at night when I need someone to talk to.

I am thankful for my mommie's generosity and excited for Katie's first birthday! It's going to be amazing!

"Me Time"

I am thankful for some free time to get away. With it being dark at 6pm and having worked more weekends this month than last, I am starting to feel secluded. Wake, pump, work, and sleep. Tonight, I managed to sneak away for a quick pedicure (first since July)! It felt good to just relax for an hour and not have to do anything.

I am thankful for the chances I get to take relaxing bubble baths.

I am thankful for weekend lunches with Katie (and sometimes Paul, usually my parents). I love getting to see her during my work day. It always brings a smile to my face and lights up my afternoon.

I am so thankful for my wonderful parents (and Katie is thankful for her amazing grandparents.) I could not have asked for a more loving and special mom and dad. They would (and have) do anything for myself, my brother, my husband, my baby girl, my friends...I love that they enjoy Kaitlyn as much as they do; it brings such joy to Paul and I to see them with her. Every weekend when my dad comes home, he is so excited to see Katie, and she inevitably ends up sleeping over sometime each week! :o) Mom has made it a point to see Katie Bug every single day since she has arrived (only missing two or three days), even if Katie is already asleep and she just comes over to hold her or smile at her. She is such a lucky and blessed baby girl, just like her mama and daddy. I am so thankful that our family has found peace and togetherness.

I am so thankful for good days at work! It has been a long time coming. The floor has been very rough lately.

I am so thankful for the freedoms that I am able to enjoy. Thank you to all the service men and woman who have fought and continue to fight for our freedoms and to protect this great county.

Happy 8th Anniversary

Today, I am so thankful for my loving husband. Over the past eight years, we have been through so much together and have really changed and grown as a couple. He is my better half, my rock and such a blessing to me. Honestly, I don't know what I did to deserve someone so good to me; he spoils me rotten and loves me unconditionally.

Last week, he came home from work and I hadn't showered yet (I had been with our attention monster! :o) ) He offered to watch Katie so I could shower, but I told him to go first because I wanted to take a bath and I knew he wanted to change. When I went into the bathroom, he had drawn a bubble bath, dimmed all the lights and lit candles "so you can relax." I love that he does these types of things for me to show me how much he cares.

At Bandera Bowl, 9.24.04

First Trip to Vegas, 10.22.04

Bahamas, 5.11.05



At Paul's Mom's House in Hondo, 11.6.05

 

July 15, 2006



SeaWorld Lazy River, 07.6.06



Paul's First Trip to Oklahoma, Christmas 2006



Luau in Maui, March 2007



Graduation Party for BSN, May 2007



Our First Home, 07.19.07

Happy New Year 2008

Our First Anniversary, 3.10.08

Christmas Eve 2008

February 7, 2009

April 2009

Christmas 2009

At the Hospital to have our first child, 12.29.09

February 2010

Easter 2010

July 2010

Happy Anniversary, Love....To Many More

I am thankful for the sound of Kaitlyn playing. She is such a precious daughter and a wonderful blessing to our family.

I am thankful for naps. I worked too hard over the weekend and all Katie and I have done today is lay low.

I am thankful for the extra hour of sleep that I got last night. I am hoping that it is the extra "oofphm" I need to get me through this long 12 hour day of work.

I am thankful for the occasional "short" day at work. Today I only had to work 8 hours and it was such a blessing. I was tired, my head hurt and i just wanted to go home and take a nap. Since I've been home, I've spent time with family, rested and snuggled with my Boo Bear. It's been a great day! :o)

I am thankful today for having a warm bed to snuggle into. It was so chilly this morning and this evening and I was able to snuggle up in the covers with my honey. I am so grateful that we were able to find our little house and turn it into a loving home.

The Return of Aunt Flo

Todays thanksgiving is for the 18 months and 26 days of freedom I had from monthly "lady business."

Plenty of friends have been tossing back hater-aide for this extended break, but I'm glad I had such a long stretch. This would probably explain how crummy I've been feeling and the more recent decline (almost non-existence) of milk I've been producing.

Walking

Up until now, Kaitlyn has only been taking a couple steps here and there. She loves to walk all around the house while holding on to someones hands. Occasionally, she has been turning loose of the furniture to venture out on her own, but the most she has walked at one time  has been four steps this past weekend.

This evening, Paul and I were both busy washing dishes and getting dinner ready while Mom was entertaining Katie. All of a sudden, she was calling for us, and Kaitlyn was walking halfway across the kitchen. I didn't get a count the first time, but the second, she did a total of TWELVE steps before sitting back down!!! Our baby is growing up right in front of our eyes......

We are so very thankful for our wonderful families and friends that are as close as family. We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives, and we are grateful that they are so willing to help us when in a pinch.

I am not feeling so well today. But I am thankful for indoor plumbing, and four walls around my bathroom. :o) And the ability to use sick leave if I need it. (But not using today!)

Happy Halloween 2010

We kept Halloween pretty low key at our house this year. Growing up, Halloween was never that big of a celebration, and I have kinda kept that with me as an adult. However, I did want to take Katie out to do a few things, like visiting the pumpkin patch and trick o' treating at families houses.

We headed out about 2:30pm for an early start. We wanted to be home by the time all the other kids were out so we could help mom pass out candy. Our first stop was Aunt TT's house.

Candy!!

Katie, Tamara and Me

We didn't get to take any pictures with Katie's best friend, Carmen, because she was taking a nap. She dressed up as a ladybug for Halloween.  Our next few stops were kind of a bust. We didn't tell anyone that we were stopping by because we wanted it to be a surprise, but that also meant we missed a few people. We tried Paul's sister's house, his aunt's and his cousins, but no one was home.  We headed on over towards Paul's dad's house and surprised him for some trick o' treatin'!

Trick or Treat Grandpa!!! OOOHHHH SUCKERS!

Paulie, Katie, Paul and his girlfriend, Amy

 A couple of Katie's aunts live in the same area, so we headed on over to Aunt D's to see Katie's cousins.

Katie and her Daddy

Sisters, Cousins

Aubree (she dressed as a ladybug, too), Andrew, Anthony and Katie

 Of course, we had to stop by and see Aunt Nomi and Isabella!

Hi Aunt Nomi!!

Bestest Friends

 Our last stop was the Grand Finale....GRANDMA'S HOUSE!!!!

"Stand right here Boo Bear, I'll ring the doorbell."

Popparazzi!!!

Grandma, Grandpa, Katie, Mom and Jon

Reading Katie's Halloween Cards

 And of course, my mother, who never let me go trick or treating.....had a bunch of Halloween loot for Katie. (Way to make me a liar, mom. I told Katie Grandma didn't "do" Halloween. Just Kidding. :o) Love you!!)She got lots of yummy puffs, a Halloween teddy bear, a light saber, a rattle, BUBBLES! and a special gift from Uncle Jon....



These are good!!!

HOME-MADE STRAWBERRY POPSICLES!!! YUMMY!

Our Family

Happy Halloween!!!

30 Days of Thankfulness

I am so grateful for my little family. For my amazing husband, Paul, and our beautiful daughter, Kaitlyn.