Then there were three

He was my first born, my only baby. I look back and can't help but laugh at how "easy" it was. He never had to cry hard because with a simple squawk we were at his side and I could spend as much time as I wanted snuggling with him. He was the perfect baby and made us think we were rockstar parents doing everything right. I got a shower every day and going grocery shopping was still a breeze. The two years we spent as a family of three hold some of my fondest memories. But then...

# 2 arrived and life got a little more interesting. I still had a hand for each child to hold and when all together we could still go one on one. She quickly humbled us in regards to our parenting ability and taught us what it was like to have a real baby. Finding a good time to shower was trickier, but still happened most of the time. Getting out of the house was an ordeal and we were rarely on time. And now...

There are 3 and we have moved to zone defense where we are always outnumbered. The baby has to cry a lot louder to be heard and everyone has to wait their turn for mommy's attention...including dad. Sometimes the only snuggling time I get with my baby is when I'm up in the night with him. Showering is a rare luxury now and I don't even dare to attempt grocery shopping with the kids in tow. It takes me until noon to get us all ready for the day and being on time seems impossible. The days fly by so fast I often wonder why Scott's home early only to look at the clock and realize it's 5:30. As crazy as it seems right now, I know we'll find our groove. For now I'm more than happy to have my cup of life so full of wonderful things it's overflowing.

Miles Big Day

On Sunday we were finally able to bless Miles. We are so grateful to all of our family members that were able to be there for his big day and apologize to those, including my Grandma and Grandpa, who wanted so badly to be there but had conflicts with the day we chose.

As you can see Miles was a happy and sweet boy all day. He was awake and smiley as can be beforehand, but was passed out asleep for his blessing. Scott gave him a wonderful blessing. Mason has been asking when Miles was going to blessed pretty much since December. It was so sweet how excited he was for this special day. Mason was especially excited that Miles wore the same blessing outfit he did. Unlike Mason, though, Miles was able to fit into Scott's old baby booties. Mason and Brynn wanted to look their very best for Miles' blessing day so we broke out their new Easter clothes a month early. I love how each of our children have their own look. They are all absolutely beautiful to me.

We were so glad Scott's sisters Jennifer and Becky could be here. Grandpa Mike, Grandma Linda, Scott, Miles, Jennifer, and Becky.

All the Murray kiddos that were there.

Kaden, Austin, Camden (behind Austin's head), Karissa, Tanner, Dallin, Mason, TayLynn, Kenzi,

Miles, Lyndee, Keyana, Brynn

Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Val. A less than perfect picture of the Utah Hale cousins.

I guess that's what we get for waiting until the end of the day for a picture.

Kennedy, Mason, Miles, Cannon, Chase, and Brynn.

Miles has been such a good baby. He seems to have replaced his occasional fussiness with unlimited smiles, coos, and giggles for us. He is such a happy boy!

We have been hogging all of Miles' cuteness to ourselves this winter as we've kept him tucked away at home. We are now starting to get out more and as people are meeting Miles for the first time they are shocked at how big he is (14 pounds). The comments we most often get are on his chubbiness, especially his cheeks; how he doesn't look like Brynn or Mason; his full lips; and his reddish hair. We think he's absolutely perfect and are so grateful he is part of our family.

The Rounds

Every night before bed we make the rounds to check on the kiddos. We find all the papers and little toys Mason took to bed and move them onto his dresser so they don't get lost or wrinkled. We put the blankets back on Brynn that she has always kicked off. We watch Miles peacefully sleep with his mouth hanging open. As I do this I forget all the challenges we had during the day because my heart is overflowing with love for my sleeping babies. Then I go say my prayers and thank Heavenly Father for all he has given me. Good night, sleep tight. I know I will ( until Miles wakes up at 2am that is).

My Man

I'll conclude my family spotlights with a post about my man. Scott had his 29th birthday on February 11. He spent the day helping his parents move, because that's just the way he is, always putting family first. After a long day of work he came home to find that we had had a very hard day at home. Without missing a beat he was playing with the kids and making them happy while I took care of our fussy baby (whoever said fussiness peaks at 6-8 weeks was not kidding). Luckily Scott and I had been able to enjoy a wonderful date night, courtesy of my parents, the night before. I am so grateful to have Scott as my partner in life and especially in this crazy journey of parenthood. Happy Birthday Scott! Don't mind the dated picture of Scott and I in our first year of marriage. I just really like this picture of me and my man.

Speaking of birthdays. Scott almost got to share his with our newest niece

Isla Claire Murray

(pronounced I-la)

who was born February 10 at 8:15 pm. She weighed a perfect 7 lbs 2 oz and was 21 inches long. Isn't she beautiful!!

We are so excited for Steve, Jenna, and of course Weston, too.

April just can't come fast enough so we can meet her in person.

My Boy

Whether I like it or not my oldest child is growing up before my eyes. This has brought with it some good things and some challenging things, but isn't that true of all phases our children go through? The last two months I have relied heavily on Mason's help. When I'm tied down feeding Miles and Brynn needs something, Mason will usually step up and get her a drink of water or get down the toy she wants, or just help entertain her while I'm busy. Through all of this, he has become very independent. Unfortunately, with this increased independence he sometimes takes the liberty to do things that I would rather he not. He has a hard time understanding that just because he is capable of doing something on his own doesn't mean he no longer needs permission to do it. This has created quite a few power struggles between us. Mason is an amazing older brother. He is so good to Brynn and includes her in everything he does. She truly is his little sidekick. I'm not sure who loves it more, Brynn or Mason. The other day Mason was mad at me and decided he was going to go live at his friend, Tanner's, house. He disappeared into his room for a while then emerged with not just his backpack, but Brynn's backpack all packed for her because he was taking her with him. I thought it was pretty sweet that he couldn't leave her behind. In case you were wondering he didn't even make it upstairs before he was in my arms telling me he wanted to stay in our family. Phew. Mason is interested in many different things right now, but his reoccuring favorites are crocodiles, star wars legos, octonauts, Cars 2, and Hot Wheels. He seems to wake up each morning thinking about one of these things and his whole day's activities and projects are centered around it. His favorite activity is to print out coloring pictures off the computer of whatever he's focused on that day and color them. He is a coloring maniac. He is very meticulous in his coloring and likes to color things the "right way." We gave him a trapper keeper for Christmas to keep all his pictures in, because he wants to keep them all. We're talking over a hundred pictures, easy. When his trapper keeper is full we help him thin them out, which is a hard and emotional process for our little hoarder. He forms such strong attachments with things. I'm a little bit worried that these tendencies are going to land us on Hoarders, but we're working on it with him. Friends have become a very big part of Mason's life. He has some good friends at preschool and in our neighborhood. When these 4-5 year old boys get together their silliness is often more annoying than cute, but I think we better get used to it because Mason loves to be a silly boy. It's hard for me to no longer have complete control over what Mason is exposed to as he spends more and more time surrounded by peers. He has learned, and I'm sure taught, both good and not so good things from these peers. But he's a good boy and I know that he is capable of making good choices. One thing he has been introduced to is video games. I personally hate video games, but have had to find a small place for them in our life. In my dream world Mason would rather read books than play video games, but right now that is not the case. He is still doing great with his reading and is currently reading on a first grade reading level so I guess I shouldn't worry too much about it. Once again I guess this is all just part of him growing up and gaining independence. Mason's coordination and interest in sports has tripled since playing soccer last fall. We have had Mason in a couple sessions of swim lessons this winter. It has been so good for Mason to have something that gets him out of the house and lets him expend some energy. I think Mason may have found his nitch with swimming. Not only does he love it, but he's pretty good at it too. He has learned how to do the basic front crawl with side breathing and back stroke along with several tricks like doing back flips under the water. He is already asking when he can be on the swim team. Unfortunately he's not quite old enough yet, but I'm excited for that to be a part of his life in the near future. We think Mason is a pretty neat kid and are glad he's a part of our family.

My Big Girl

I was originally going to title this post "My Little Girl" but I immediately heard Brynn's little voice correcting me by saying firmly, "No, I a BIG girl!" as she often does. The last 2 months I feel like I really have watched Brynn go from my little girl to my big girl. In all honesty, she has handled the transition to 3 kids better than any other person in our family. She has taken all the changes in stride and it has brought out the best in her. Since this post is a spotlight on Brynn I'm going to gush about her a bit, okay, a lot. Brynn is such a smart girl. She has already mastered all her upper and lower case letter recognition along with all their sounds. She knows all of her numbers and I don't even know how high she can count. She is always mirroring Mason and pretends like she knows how to read and write. In actuality she is well on her way to writing her name, doing a great B and r, and also can write several other letters. After listening to a book once or twice she wants to read it to you and will recite it back amazingly well. I have realized the secret behind her intelligence is A: she has an incredible memory. She hears something once and it sticks. B: she wants to be just like Mason and he likes teaching her things. I got her registered for preschool next year and she asks me daily if she gets to go yet. Brynn has never been obsessive about things like Mason is, but I would say the thing she likes the most right now is animals. She fills her bed up each night with so many stuffed animals there is hardly enough room for her to squeeze in with them. Her favorite animals are kitties, tigers, doggies, and piggies. She loves going to the Bean Museum and so I can't wait to see her at the zoo with live animals, but she'll have to wait for it to warm up a little.

It's nothing new that Brynn is extremely coordinated. Scott loves her enthusiam for sports and is working on making her a sports fanatic. She loves to play catch but even more to play basketball. She can dribble, shoot, and catch really well. She begs to go to BYU and UVU basketball games and will sit and watch the entire game inserting a little, "Almost" or "Shoot!" at appropriate times. She definitely has a little tom boy in her. On the same note, at times she can be a total girly girl. She loves to have her finger and toe nails painted, but loves to paint mine even more. She has been getting more excited about dress ups, purses, shoes, babies, and princesses as she is playing with friends more, but when it's just her and Mason she will always follow his lead and go for the star wars and transformers. Which brings me to her relationship with Mason. She completely idolizes Mason. She is his little shadow and is always two steps behind him. The best part of my day is watching those two play together. But she's not just a great little sister anymore, she has really grown into her role as a big sister, too. When Miles was first born she didn't mind him, but didn't really give him a whole lot of attention either. The last few weeks she has become much more engaged with Miles. It's like she realized he's here to stay so she better get to know him. She is so sweet with him and gets so excited when he smiles at her or touches her with his flailing arms. Basically what I'm trying to say with all of this is Brynn has turned into the sweetest little girl in the world. There are no terrible twos happening here. One of my biggest concerns right now is making sure Brynn gets enough special attention. I try so hard to take advantage of when Mason is at preschool and Miles is sleeping. Even though it often means giving up my shower that day, I know the time I spend building a snowman with only Brynn is way more worth it. I'll leave you with Brynn's typical goodbye saying, "I love you later, I love you the most!"

My Baby

I am so in love with this little boy that most days I feel like I'm going to burst as my senses take in all the sweetness that is Miles. Seeing his deep blue eyes starring up at me. Hearing the little sqeaks and grunts he makes. Feeling his tiny body curled up asleep on my chest. Smelling that perfect heavenly baby smell. Kissing those chubby cheeks of his. Watching a big grin spread across his face in response to my voice. It makes all the sacrafices motherhood requires completely worth it. A few things about Miles at 7 weeks.
* He has definitely overcome his small start to life and has some serious chunk going on and has almost doubled his birth weight.
*He still wakes up to eat every three hours around the clock. Never more. It's time for some sleep training.
*Gives out all of his smiles when he first wakes in the morning and then keeps a pretty straight face for the rest of the day.
*His tummy doesn't seem to tolerate lactose very well, so Mommy is now on a dairy free diet and not enjoying it at all.
*Has mixed feelings about tummy time, but when he's not happy about it he becomes like the hulk and his strength increases with his rage . He has even managed to flipped himself over onto his back.
*Has bits and pieces of different family members, but overall seems to have his own look.

*He has a definite fussy time in the late afternoon/early evening. It's totally barable, but often times prevents dinner from being on the table on time. Thank goodness for an understanding husband and kids.

Games, Games, Games

To be a Murray, you must like playing games. The love for games started with Scott's grandpa, G-pop, who actually made his own board games that could have been patented, manufactured, and sold had he wanted to. G-pop passed his love of games onto Scott's dad who is now the Game Master of the Murray family. You can guarantee the majority of time at any Murray get together will be spent playing games. With that being said, Mason and Brynn are Murrays through and through. These two can't get enough of playing board games these days. Granted their games are more of the Milton Bradley sort than the complex strategy games that are typical Murray favorites, but you've got to start somewhere, right? It's been fun to watch Mason as he learns and understands the strategy of games as we play. I am always impressed with Brynn's attention span as she sits and waits for her turn and follows the rules of the game. It has also helped a lot with her number recognition and counting. Masons favorite games include Battleship, Operation (he wanted this game for months leading up to Christmas and was thrilled when he got it for Christmas from his cousin Cannon), kids letter and animal sequence, Uno Attack, and Star Wars Trouble. Brynn's favorites include Sorry, kids letter and animal sequence, chutes and ladders, candyland, and memory. I absolutely love when my kids ask me to play games with them. It has been a great activity for us as we stay home with a new baby this winter.

I Heart Birthdays

I love making a big deal out of birthdays. I love having a day dedicated to celebrating someone and making them feel extra special all day. I have many great memories from my birthdays over the years. I can remember all of the awesome birthday cakes my mom made for me over the years, my favorite being my Little Mermaid cake for my 6th birthday. I remember my dad checking me out of school on my birthday each year and taking me to lunch. I remember my 17th birthday when I had High Performance Volleyball tryouts in Salt Lake over my birthday weekend so my mom got a hotel room for some of my friends to come up and celebrate with me after tryouts one night. I remember answering the phone at the cardiology office I worked at on my 19th birthday to my mom's entire 6th grade class singing Happy Birthday to me. I have always felt so special and loved when January 25 rolled around thanks to my mom. I try to make just as big of a deal about my kids birthdays. Let's be honest though, when you become a mother, you stop expecting a big hoopla for your own birthday. I was fine having my birthday be like any other Wednesday, but Mason had something else in mind. He planned an entire Heart Themed birthday party for me. On the way to preschool that morning he told my mom all of the big plans he had, so she took him and Brynn to the party store and let them pick out all the things for my party. When she asked him why he thought it should be a Heart party he answered, "Because we all love her." Thanks to Mason's planning and my mom and Scott's help executing his plan, I had the most wonderful birthday party ever. He had the party completely decorated with hearts. Scott even incorporated the hearts into the wonderful hamburgers he made for dinner.

What's a party without games to go along with the theme? Mason planned some heart activities for us like decorating the windows with heart decals (now perfect Valentines decorations) and playing pictionary with heart shaped notepads and heart pens. The party ended with Heart shaped ring pops as the party favors for everyone. The party was a complete success, but the best part was spending it with the people I love most. Brynn helped make the whole day special by saying, "Happy Birthday, Mom!!" every time I walked in the room, and randomly serenading me with the Happy Birthday song. Miles started off my day in the best way possible by giving me lots of sweet smiles.
Scott showered me with love and did thoughtful things for me all day. We took this family picture using the timer on our camera, and the result was the best family picture we have had taken in a long time. It must have been a birthday miracle!

I am pretty happy with everything the last 27 years have given me. Each year gets better and better, so keep em' coming.

Picture Messages

Scott has been out of town on back to back business trips for the last two weeks and we have missed him like crazy while he's been gone. Time zone differences and 14 hour work days make it hard to find a time he can call and talk to the kiddos, so we came up with a fun way for him to keep in touch with them while he's gone by sending picture and text messages back and forth to each other. Some of the messages consisted of Mason taking my phone and just sounding out random words and then sending them to Scott. Most were Mason and Brynn's messages I transcribed for them. It has been fun including Scott in the random and silly things that have happened throughout our day. It has really made it feel like he's not so disconnected and far away from us. Here are some of my favorite messages that we shared.

Mason: Dad, I am riding my scooter with my BYU sunglasses on. Cool, right? Mason: Look, Miles is doing the pledge!! Scott: Look who I met by the pool today.

(*author's note* Mason and Brynn love the old school Chip and Dale cartoons)

Mason: "Cool, Dad is with Alvin and the Chipmunks!"

(Mason is on a big Alvin and the Chipmunks kick, thank you McDonalds)

Brynn: That's Chip and Daddy, where's Dale?

Rachel: Look who fits in his 3 month clothes. Rachel: Just found Brynn asleep on the fireplace. Apparently she did need a nap today. Scott: Mason- Here's a picture of an alligator I saw at the hotel. They have a pond and river with lots of turtles and alligators.

Mason: I love crocodiles and alligators! Stay far away because it might bite you. Scott: Here is a picture of lots of gators and turtles laying on a rock. The other picture is a gator swimming in the water.

Mason: "They are in a cage because alligators eat humans. Turtles eat plants, so they aren't dangerous, but they are in a cage so they don't hit our heads with their shells."

Brynn: Go BYU! Grandpa gave me a BYU basketball and BYU shirt.

Rachel: How do you like my haircut. I cut off 4+ inches but still left it long.

Brynn: Appletore...Baltimore...Whose your friend...Dad!! Ptew!

(Brynn loves to play this game she learned from Chip N Dale)

Miles: Look, Dad, I'm doing pilates! Feel the burn!!!

(Miles was really not happy to be doing tummy time and almost flipped himself over he was so mad)

Mason: Optimus Prime and Rapunzel balloons at Provo Beach Resort on a date with Grandma and Grandpa.

It's been fun, but we can't wait to have Scott home on Monday.