Oh how I love this little girl....

Oh my Brynlee my Brynlee....how I love this little girl!! These are some pictures that my friend Nemiha did when she did some maternity ones of me a month or so ago....I can't believe my baby is already 2!! She is such a funny, spunky, sassy, stubborn, sweet, happy girl and I just love her to pieces!! She has been SO awesome with her new little sister and has been a HUGE help to me!! I seriously cannot believe how "grown up" she seems now. Everyone told me I would be so surprised how grown up they become with a newborn around...they were right!! She has changed leaps and bounds since the arrival of Brooklyn. She doesn't even seem like a typical 2 year old with crazy tantrums...she is the proud big sister and mommy's little helper! I seriously cannot beleive how awesome she has been through all this and I am so lucky!! She is SO full of personality and I LOVE it!! She keeps me sane most days by makingme laugh and I just can't get enough of her smile!! These pictures totally show who my little Brynlee really is!! Thanks Nemiha for capturing them!!

Sisters

I have this picture that has this saying on it "I loved you too much to just be your friend...so God let me be your Sister." It is my favorite and I hope my girls feel this way about each other one day....so far Brynlee is so in love with "her" baby. She has been the best little helper and is SO concerned about where Brookey is and that she is okay. If Brooklyn is upset Brynlee gets upset, and she pats her head or her stomach and says "it's okay baby...you are okay!" It melts my heart how sweet she is to her! We have had a few tantrums and moments that Brynlee is mad at ME becuase I am busy and cannot give her what she wants right that moment. At least she gets mad at me and not Brooklyn. The other day I was changing Brooklyn and turned away for a second to get something and this is what I saw.....

Brynlee's Smothering Hug haha

Awww....so cute!!


Kisses for sister


Also had to post a couple other cute ones we've taken recently...how she is changing every day!! Oh I wish they didn't grow so fast!!!


Look at that dark hair...I freaking love it!!!

First smiles!! She even laughs in her sleep...it is so cute!

She loves her hands by her face and oh how I love those Murphy cheeks!! :)

Brooklyn is Here!!!

Brooklyn Deon Murphy
(Middle name after Grandma Murphy and Aunt Emily Murphy)
7lb. 14 oz. 19 Inches Long
Born Aug. 6, 2010 at 6:45pm

Well I wasn't really planning on being able to post this until next week because I was sure she wasn't coming until Thursday the 12th when I was scheduled to be induced. Surprise Surprise!! This sweet baby decided to be extra helpful and make her appearance early!

The Delivery Story: (Everyone always wants to know... :) Since Joe only goes to school every 6 weeks it is crucial that he doesn't miss when has school otherwise he will have to make it up and that means he has to miss work, which also means no money is made and we would suffer because of the loss. It just so happened that Joe's school was this week and that is the week I was going to be scheduled to be induced. How inconvenient. We weren't sure how it was going to work but knew that everything would be fine! Thursday Aug. 5th I had a doctors appt. in the morning and I had dialed and effaced more and the doctor asked if I wanted to be "stripped." Such a lovely word to describe such a lovely process. I was hesitant for a second...all these thoughts running through my head...I still need to clean my house, I need to pack a bag, do laundry, take Brynlee to the pool one more time, go grocery shopping, etc etc etc.... My mom then pipes in through my hesitation and says are you crazy of course she does!!! He does the deed and I then ask...don't women usually go into labor soon after this? He says "Generally if your body is ready it can be anywhere from 24-36 hours. Then I think to myself...."Well I am sure it's not going to work, I still have time....I can do half my list today and the other half tomorrow and I will be good!" After the appt and going to the hospital for a non stress test my mom and I stopped by the grocery store I frantically grabbed things for Joe and Brynlee to survive on in case I went into labor. Not more than a few minutes into the store I started to feel weird. Contractions slowly started and man oh man was I uncomfortable after having the ugly deed. "Not to worry I told myself, you still have time...it's not like you will have the baby tonight." So long story short I run around like a crazy person, start cleaning toilets and bathrooms and getting bags packed and camera's charged just in case. I had made plans to do my friend/co-workers hair that night since she has recently did mine and we trade with each other so I hurry with all the craziness before I go to do her hair. I do her hair, and towards the very end start to feel some strong contractions. By this time it is like 930pm. I then decide to stop at Wal Mart on my way home to buy some much needed cleaning supplies so I can finish all the cleaning the next day. Walking through Wal Mart at 10 at night my contractions are starting to hurt. Hmmm....no way I am having her tonight! That doesn't happen right?? I try to finish up a few things are get to bed because I am SO tired after such a long day. By midnight I am only contracting every 8-10 minutes but they are a little painful. I tell myself I will just take a bath and go to sleep and they will go away! By 1 o'clock Joe is snoring and I am timing my contraction which are now 5-6 minutes a part and I feel like I am dieing. I cannot sleep and I'm pretty sure this is it!! I wake Joe up at 130 and tell him we need to go to the hospital. We call his sister to have her come stay with Brynlee and she lives about 30 minutes away....so I am slightly worried. I distract myself with last minute things to add to my bag, taking out garbage's, my husband thinks I have lost my mind. I now cannot talk through my contractions and the whole way to the hospital they are coming about every 4 minutes. (funny side note: Emily Joe's sister got pulled over on the way to our house for speeding. Luckily the cop didn't give her a ticket because of the situation. It may have also been the fact that she didn't have a bra on!! haha jk!!) We get to the hospital and I haven't dilated more than what I was at my appt. Hmmm....weird! My contractions were every 3-4 minutes and lasting 1-2 minutes. I seriously thought I was going to die!! We played the "let's keep you and hour and see if you are progressing game" for almost 3 hours!! Yes that is right 3 BLOODY HOURS!!!! Walking the halls etc....Seriously I don't know how anyone has natural childbirth because I certainly never could!! I finally progressed slowly and I mean VERY slowly to a 4 and they officially admitted me to the hospital at 5 in the morning. I got an epidural and knew we would be having a baby that day!! Hooray!! Well...my water broke on it's own at 8 and I figured I would progress pretty fast from that point on. Oh no, I stayed at a 4 until late that afternoon!!! I will forever hate the number four. It's the worst number in the whole world! After being on pitossin as high as it could go and even higher when my doctor was in the building (apparently it's against the code to have it that high unless a doctor is there because it is dangerous. Oh thanks!) I dilated to a 6. At this point they were starting to get worried because it was taking so long...Brooklyn was doing fine though throughall the craziness and pit so we just kept being patient. This was hard for me since I had just a couple hours of sleep in the past 24 hours and I was done waiting!! Come to find out they figured out that my water hadn't broke. What broke was a bubble on the bottom of the amniotic sack and Brooklyn was still in the unbroken amniotic sack. NO WONDER I WOULDN'T DIALATE!!!! Who knew this even happened. Of course being my luck it is a very rare thing! Go figure! My doctor came and broke that and in a matter of 10 minutes I felt like I needed to push! I went from a 6 to a 10 and needing to push so fast! It was crazy!! I was so happy with this epidural I could feel pressure and no pain. I could move my feet and had some control of my legs. It was great!! I was COMPLETELY numb with Brynlee and liked this time around so much better! Good thing I did too or my baby would have slipped out on her own! They HURRIED to get the room ready and the doctor ran in. I pushed 6 times and she was born! Hearing her cry was the best sound I have ever heard in my life. I was so worried something would go wrong and she wouldn't cry like Brynlee. She was perfect! Perfect round head (thanks to the water she was in for so long), 10 fingers, 10 toes, dark hair, and gorgeous dark blue eyes! I love this moment in life more than anything. Looking and holding your baby for the first time is something that cannot be described. It is unforgettable!

(I don't know why my fonts are being weird! Sorry for the huge lettering I have tried to change it like 10 times!!)

Recovery: I am shocked at how much easier this pregnancy recovery has been and am SO glad to be feeling as good as I do! I don't know if it like this for everyone but it seems like my body knows what to do and is doing it very well! Nursing is going great and I could not be happier. Other than the normal lack of sleep and walking around like a Zombie most days it is just much easier this time around!! Is a second time mom thing or what?? I was also pleased to get on the scale and only see I have 13 pounds to lose to get to pre-pregnancy weight!! Woo Hoo!! That certainly didn't happen with Brynlee...jeeze I looked pregnant for a few months after having her! So grateful to have a healthy body, a healthy family, and a healthy beautiful baby!! Life just doesn't get any better than this!!!
Special Thanks: Just wanted to thank everyone for their love and support throughout this pregnancy and delivery. A special thanks to Aunt Emily who stayed with Brynlee and took time off work to do so while we were in the hospital. I couldn't have had anyone but her be with Bryn. I never worried about Brynlee once!! Em you are awesome!! A special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Murphy for being at the hospital with us. And a special thanks to my parents who have been help beyond measures. Words cannot express how much I appreciate everything you have done and all the help you have so willingly offered. I really could not have done it without you! Especially you Mom! You are amazing and I love you so much!

Proud Big Sister

Going Home (Yes my 2 year old is throwing a tantrum!! lol)

Gosh you forget how little they are until you put them in the car seat and it eats them up! :)

Abby the beagle must approve...and she has! Doesn't even phase her this time!

More Sneak Peek Maternity Pics!!

So I have two awesome friends who do amazing photography...both of them wanted to use me as models for maternity pics. In this shoot we had fun shooting some headband/flowers for another project she is working on and we got some cute ones of Brynlee too. I am lucky to have such great friends with such great talents!!

Go to this link to see more!!

http://thatsmephoto.com/blog/?p=93

Motherhood and Stretch Marks!

The inevitable finally happened! After months of lotions, oils, vitamin E and so on....3 little stretch marks just popped out this week! This is rather dumb to blog about...but for me it was devastating!! I didn't get any stretch marks with Brynlee and tried really hard to prevent them with this pregnancy but with no avail I am now reminded everyday of one of the sacrifices of being a Mother. I have finally come to terms with the new little friends on my belly. To me they represent the love I have for my little girls. Even though Brooklyn isn't born yet I love her more than I ever thought possible. It is amazing to me how much you can love someone, and I worried for just a minute I wouldn't have enough love for 2 kids. But that is such a silly notion. I love them both so much! Brynlee has been my world for the past 2 years and I am so glad she came to our family and that I get to be here Mom! She reminds me everyday how lucky I am even in the worst moments it is all worth it!! I cannot wait for our little baby to arrive! I find myself more impatient everyday!! All of the pregnancy hardships will all be wiped away and forgotten the minute I see her and those dumb little stretch marks will never matter!! All that matters is that I am blessed enough to have the opportunity to have children, for them to be healthy, and that I get to love them with all my heart!! Thank you stretch marks for reminding me everyday of how blessed I really am!!

Sneak Peek at the Maternity Pictures my awesome friend did. They are so sweet and I can't wait to see the rest!!

St. George Vacation

We went on our annual Murphy Family vacation to St. George for a week. We don't always go to St. George, but since I am pretty pregnant and it is only 4 hours away it seemed like the best option. We actually ended up going to the same house as last year becuase the backyard and pool are so awesome! I personally LOVE St. George and could definitely live there, if I had a pool in my backyard!! lol We had alot of fun and the weather could not have been more perfect!! We spent 90% of the time in the backyard and in the pool and it was great!! We did get to see some movies, the boys golfed, and the girls got pedicures. But all in all it was a lazy week of nothing but sun!! To me, the PERFECT vacation!! I did realize how OCD I am living in a house with so many people. Joe and I decided I SERIOUSLY have problems...and they are probably worse since I am pregnant! lol My goal since I have been back is to TRY and take a chill pill on some of the OCD tendanceis I have. I have been mostly successful and am going to try really hard to let go of the stupid small things that make me crazy!!!! All in all it was just what Joe and I both needed and I especially LOVED getting tan!! It always makes me feel better to have some color, especially when you feel so frumpy being pregnant! Who knew tanning the back of your legs would be so hard though when prego??!! ;) Beware, I posted TONS of pictures below!

Dancing With Dad

The Boys played lots of Basketball

We did bring Brynlee's little pool to play in and it was a big hit for her and Aaron (her cousin)

Joe's face is hilarious here!

Lots of Splashing!!

My little baby is growing up SO fast!!