The face of a child who just pooped in the potty chair!

Home one year!

This little snowstorm we had yesterday is a remembrance of a snowstorm on December 2, 2007 in Newark, NJ! At this time last year Mom, Murphy, and I had been up since about 3:30 to fly from Newark to MSP and were waiting for our flight from Minneapolis to Aberdeen. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about bringing Murphy home! What a day!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Eric, Sara, and Nils at www.ericsara.wordpress.com. They have a new little girl! For some reason it isn't letting me link it so you have to go there yourself. We'll be following every day (probably several times a day) so post often!

Congratulations Jeff, Cara, and Matthew! They are bringing Matthew's brothers home from the Ukraine! Jeff and Matthew are home already and Cara, Jack, and Alexander will be home soon. Love you!

New updates!

I updated August, September, and October. You have to scroll down because I put them in the right order. Or you can just click on the words above and it will take you right there.

October update

October was like every other month for us...busy!

Thursday the 9th, we went to Aberdeen to get Rob's hair cut and see if we could find something to wear for church pictures. I didn't find anything but did get some other good deals. Herbergers had some really good sales.

On Friday the 10th, Murphy threw up at daycare so I went home to get her. She didn't seem quite right but she didn't throw up again. She slept alot that weekend. Saturday my mom and a friend came and we went to a speaker at our church. Her name is Roxanne Henke and she is a write from North Dakota. Great books. I'd read the first two. They are such easy reading. My mom bought another one so I've read that now, too. Rob stayed home with Murphy and he said she didn't seem quite right either. She got a tooth that night. Number eight, and the fourth one on the bottom. So we weren't sure if everything was the flu or the tooth. Monday she was fine, but I was sick, so we're thinking she had a combination of both. I went to work to do month end. When I was done, I went home. I knew I wouldn't be able to take a nap because we had our pictures that afternoon and I couldn't lay on my hair. Such a dilemma, eh? Anyway, we all got ready and were at the church by 4:20. Our pictures were at 4:30 and we were only in a 15 minute slot. I didn't take anything to drink or diapers or anything. I thought "we'll only be there a few minutes". Yeah, right. He was 45 minutes behind schedule. During that time, Murphy had diarrhea. Rob ran home to get the diaper bag and wipes. I took her in the bathroom and found it had leaked through her pants. So he had to run home again and get a new pair. We finally got in and surprisingly the pictures turned out really well. I don't have them back yet or I'd show you. By the time we got home, it was about 6:00. I slept until 7:30, threw up, and went back to bed around 9:00. I was hoping I could lose a few pounds out of the deal but I woke up on Tuesday morning to a growling stomach. So I knew I was over it.

On the 15th, we found another tooth. I thought teeth came in one next to the other. I guess they don't. This one is on the bottom but back a few spots. In keeping with this theme, she also got the same one on the top on Halloween. She she now has ten teeth and the same teeth on the right side are coming in soon. Good thing she doesn't really have any side effects. They just show up.

Rob went to Rapid City for school on Sunday the 19th. Murphy's nose started to run on the 20th. Rob came home on the 21st. I took Murphy to the doctor on the 22nd. She did not have RSV but the PA told me to keep her out of daycare so she could get over it. I stayed home with her that day. My mom came on Thursday. Rob's dad watched her late in the afternoon on Thursday. By this time, I had a runny nose. Friday morning Rob left for Rapid again for guards. Murphy went to Ila Mae's house, a retired daycare provider. Ila Mae and her husband love Murphy and she loves all the attention. That night we went to my brother and sister-in-law's house for Thanksgiving supper. My niece and her husband had the baby there, plus another niece was home from Portland. She just got engaged in August and is planning an August wedding in 2009. Since they were all home we had Thanksgiving. Murphy did not like me holding Gavin. She was fine with everyone else holding him. I tried not to get too close to anyone since we were both a little sick. I figured Murphy was about over hers and mine was just really in my sinuses. Little sick. Remember that. Saturday morning we had a baby shower for Gavin at my mom and dad's church. I still didn't feel too bad. By the end of the shower, I didn't feel good at all. It's a good thing I was at my parents' house so Mom could help me with Murphy. Murphy and I took a three hour nap that afternoon. My whole head hurt. I was so stuffed up, I couldn't breath out of either side. I would choke when I swallowed because I couldn't breath. I don't ever remember having a cold so bad. Sunday morning was Gavin's baptism. Murphy and I just came home instead. I had taken Riley with us and she had every opportunity to run free on the farm. She didn't even want to. She came back to the garage every time we let her out. In town we have to keep her on her leash or she runs around the neighborhood. Rob got home from guards Sunday afternoon and was in charge of the baby and the dog after that. A week later, I'm still sick. I can at least breath again but I still don't feel great. It never left my head. If Murphy felt like I did, I feel bad for her because it was all packed inside her tiny little body. Now my mom has it. Hopefully the baby doesn't get it.

Thursday the 30th, we finally made it to Dairy Queen to celebrate Murphy's Gotcha Day. She snarfed down her hotdog faster than we could cut it apart. Friday was Halloween. I left work at noon to come home and do yard work. Rob cut down a tree and I cut back all the bushes in preparation for winter. Riley played with the leaves in her kennel and Murphy played with the leaves in the pen we have for her. Around 4:30 I started getting her ready and we left to trick or treat around 5:30. We didn't think we'd be gone too long as we were only going to a few houses. Two and a half hours later... she was hungry, tired, and we'd missed all the kids that came to our house. So now I'm stuck with a whole bunch of candy. I'm taking it to work. I know I'm biased but she really was a cute kitty. I had to take the candy out of the bucket after every house because she wanted to play with it instead of going to the next house. Our longest stop was at Jill's house, the girl I work with. We had a beer while Murphy tormented the dog. It's good for her though, because Jill is pregnant and the dog will have to get used to it.

So now it's November and we've had the nicest weather we've had in over a month. It was beautiful today. Riley is a social dog and won't be left outside without us. She won't pee without us standing there watching her, either. So I tried to put her in the kennel today and she just barks and barks. I don't want anyone to call the cops on us so I brought her back in.

I will try to be much better about updating. I know people check to see what's new. I even check every once in a while to see if Rob has somehow figured out how to log in and post. Obviously that hasn't happened.

Have a good November!

October pictures

Do you think she was ready for a nap?

Playing with Christy's camera.

Somewhere she isn't supposed to be.

I can't even come up with a good comment on this one.

Great toys, eh? Balloons (from Rob's birthday in April ) and cookie racks.

She likes spaghetti!

What more do you need when you have a cold? A pillow, a stuffed animal, your blanket, your dog, and laying on the couch watching TV.

Gotcha Day #1! Opening her present.

A turtle!

Two of us were sick, the other loves having his picture taken. Gotcha Day #1.

Trying to figure out why this turtle keeps chasing me!

Eating grapes at Grandmas.

She thought the footstool of the barber chair was a great place to sit.

Poor Louie. He just didn't know enough to run away when he had the chance.

Too tired to stay awake!

She's part of the clean plate club. Even when she's sleeping.

Is this the cutest kitty you've ever seen!?!?

Where's the candy?

Heidi checking out what's in the bucket.

She loves Heidi.

Can you tell?
Good thing Heidi isn't a hyper as Riley!

One Year!

One year ago today...at 10:37 a.m....we receive the best gift ever!! At times it seems like it was just yesterday and then other times it seems so long ago. Murphy has been sick this week. She has a cold and has been home from daycare two days. The doctor didn't want it to get any worse. So I stayed with her yesterday and my mom today. Rob's dad came over mid afternoon and took over for my mom so she could head home. I'm sure she got lots of attention today!

We bought her a gift to celebrate her Gotcha Day. It is a pull toy, a turtle that was hand made in Colombia. I think she'll really like it. I also have a feeling that Riley will freak out and bark at it. We're also going to get ice cream tonight, although Rob is probably the only one who cares for ice cream right now. Murphy is sick and I'm not an ice cream lover. Maybe supper...we'll see.

A few weeks ago I was really homesick for Colombia. I don't know if it was the thought that what has transpired over the past year or the life we had there, or the fact that we got to spend all of our time with her. I just really missed it. Maybe not the spinach and cheese I got all the time or throwing my toilet paper in the garbage. But the overall picture. I miss going to the market. I miss Luz Mery saying every morning "Hola Maria Jose" while Murphy and I sat in the dining room alone because everyone else could sleep past 6:00. Megan, Juel, Maria, Benji: we miss you. (Rob and Carmen, too, but you left too soon for us to really get to know you!) Murphy is the same age that Carmen was at this time last year. I often wonder how you were able to be away from her for so long. I remember the day we got sentencia and you said "I just miss Carmen so much". I didn't know what it felt like then. But now, I can't imagine it.

I know I have lots to catch up on. My life has finally calmed down since the end of August. Everything that I've done has gone well, and I really feel a sense of accomplishment. But I'm also tired and ready for some lazy days. I'm not sure when those will happen! One piece of exciting news, the dragon was slewn. I think that's how you spell it. Now if only his sidekicks would get the ax, we'd be even happier!

Rob and Murphy are taking a nap. If you don't know Rob, you might be surprised to find that he's very sentimental. One year for our anniversary, he sent me flowers at work. I was working in Sioux City at the time. We went out to Applebees for dinner. He kept telling me "I'm sorry they didn't have irises". I had no idea why he was sorry so I finally had to ask. He said "Isn't that what was in your wedding bouquet?". I said "that was very thoughtful, but no, they were lilies". So anyway, he is wearing the same outfit he did a year ago. Not me. I wear jeans to work. Not skirts. So when they wake up, we'll take a family picture, eat our ice cream and whatever else we decide to eat, and I'll try to post the picture tonight. And then I'll get caught up soon.

Murphy, we LOVE YOU. You are a blessing to all of us. Our lives are wonderful because we have you. We thank God for your birthparents. We hope they know that you are loved and cared for. We thank Him for the wonderful care you received at Los Pisingos and at your foster mother's home. We thank him for year number one and look forward to all the rest.

September update

Now that school has started, we're busy but it's mostly stuff in town. Which is fine. That way we aren't always driving. I don't mind drives there. It's the drive home that always takes forever.

On September 5, we went to Aberdeen to get Rob's hair cut. The barber has one of those dolls that dances if you push it's hand. It taught Murphy to dance. Now she dances to any music or at the mention of "dance". Ironically, the 5th was also the day she learned to say Riley, no no, puppy, and ball. No no Riley and no no puppy are heard a lot at our house. They usually go along with ball as in "No no, Riley. That's Murphy's ball".


We did get a big trip in though. My boss used to live in Denver and he has season tickets to the Broncos. We got his tickets and went to the Charger's game with Rob's sister and her boyfriend. The trip didn't start out well, though. I took Murphy to Aberdeen and met my mom. She spent the weekend with my parents. I think they all had a good time. I didn't have trouble leaving her. I had trouble leaving Riley. I dropped her off at a kennel near Aberdeen and it was terrible. Terrible, terrible. I don't know what I expected but it sure wasn't that. When I pulled up to the place, there was a sign that said "Animal Control Shelter". Hmm...you mean "place pets go before they're put to sleep"? It's not starting well. Then, there were two buildings. One with small dogs (which Riley is) and one for big dogs (which Riley is not). Guess which one she went to? The big dog building. So we walked through and there were concrete pens with poop and pee everywhere. The dogs were laying in it. And then when the pens were cleaned out, everything got shoveled to the center, where I was walking. The huge dogs there were barking and barking. Poor Riley was shaking in her paws. She would have been shaking in her boots if she had them. Maybe she should have had some to stay out of everything we were walking in. So the man had me put here in a cage and leave her. I said "should I leave her kennel or her food or bowls or toys?" He said "no, she won't need any of that". Not feeling good here. And Riley was crying. And howling. I have tears in my eyes at this point. I leaned down and told her I loved her and left. I went outside and called her name and looked through the little hole in the wall. I could see her standing up against the cage barking. She finally came out and telepathically begged me to take her out of there. I bawled and bawled. As I drove into Aberdeen todrop off Murphy, I called Rob and he didn't answer. So I called Jill, a girl I work with that has a dog and I knew would understand. She said "go get her and bring her to me. I'll watch her." That's not why I was calling but I sure took her up on it. So I dropped off Murphy and went back and got Riley. 45 minutes cost me $8. Like I said, I don't know what I expected but it sure wasn't that.

So we headed out of town and met Christy and Rob (yes another Rob) and started driving to Denver. We made it as far as Thedford, Nebraska where we spent the night. We drove the rest of the way into Denver on Saturday. We found our motel and decided we'd go to the Rockies game since we were there. It was really fun until it started to pour. They played the Dodgers so we got to see Manny play. He got booed every time he came up to bat. There were some drunk guys behind us and one was from Minneapolis and hunted every year about an hour from us. So it was kind of fun. The people next to us were originally from South Dakota as well. Sunday morning we all got dressed up in Charger gear except Rob who was a Charger fan for the day but really a Packer fan. He did wear blue, though. My Rob made up for it as you can see in the picture. We had one very obnoxious lady behind us and one obnoxious Rod Smith jersey wearing jerk in front of us. Otherwise everyone was pretty peaceful. Not like the St Louis fans. They were very nice. Also not like the Minnesota fans. They were not nice. So the Denver fans were somewhat in the middle. The game didn't start off well. The Chargers did terrible. And if you follow football at all, this was the game that Ed Hochuli made a very, very bad call that was discussed on ESPN for days after. The Chargers came back but still lost. It was still really fun, though. The drive home...not so fun. We got home around 6:30 Monday morning. We slept for a few hours then went to work. I went to Aberdeen after work to pick up Murphy. She was well rested. Riley had quite a weekend, too. She chased Jill's dog (tormented Jill's dog) and even got to go to a friend's house. I think Baby (the dog) was ready for Riley to go home.

While at my mom's Murphy learned about kitties. How to say the word and how to love them. Poor Louie. He just wants to be pet. So he thought he had it made when Murphy showed him her affection. He soon got tired of it and hid from her. Her word for kitty is "K". And she says it all the time.

The 15th, the day we got home from Denver, was also the anniversary of the day we got our phone call from Luann telling us we had a baby girl. It's hard to believe it's been a year.

On the 19th, Murphy got a new cousin! My niece had her baby, a boy named Gavin, that night. I don't think she knows yet that she won't always be the center of attention.

That next week was really busy for me. (And Rob, too I guess.) It was homecoming week. Tuesday was coronation. Rob's cousin, Morghan, was the queen from last year so we went to watch. Another cousin, Meghan, Morghan's sister, put lip gloss on Murphy and loved it! She was the entertainment of the night. For us at least. Wednesday I volunteered (or did someone volunteer me?) to help with the community clean up. I helped the senior class paint the spill way. I really did enjoy it but didn't exactly have the time to do it. Friday was the parade. The theme was "Olympics". Friday morning we came up with our float: The newest Olympic sport: Corn Husking. We had two of the guys husking corn in the back of a pickup while three of us girls handed up candy and stickers. We got done with that and moved on to the chili cookoff. The recipe for this was also decided on last minute. And then was changed by the time we got there. We didn't dress up or having corn in our recipe but we did get third place out of 15 teams. Next year I put it on my calendar to start planning earlier so we can win!

Murphy got tooth number seven on the 26th. She has four on top and three on the bottom.

Tuesday the 30th our school played in a special volleyball game. It was called Volley for a Cure and we all wore pink t-shirts in support of breast cancer. For those of you don't know, both my mom and her sister were diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. My mom tested negative for the breast cancer gene but I know it's in my future.

Riley is still doing well. Calming down a little. Still peeing on the floor every once in a while. She can make it all night though now that she sleeps with us. She's only allowed under the comforter though otherwise her cold nose ends up touching us. She is quite the bed hog as she likes to sleep right next to you. For me it's not that big of deal. She keeps me warm. For Rob who is warm blooded, she makes him sweat. When Murphy wakes up the first thing she wants is a kiss from Riley. No one else wants one so she might as well get as many as she can.

September pictures

She got pretty far in and couldn't get herself back out.

This is what happens when Riley is left alone to entertain herself.

Carrying her new purse and kitty.

This was pretty funny...she was carrying my work keys around her neck. She also loves to play with fake necklaces (anything that she can wear around her neck.) She got them caught together and handcuffed herself behind her back.

Yes, I am that mother that takes a picture before she tells her child to get out of the box.

Murphy and Riley playing in the Hoosier cupboard in the front entry.

We have no idea what she's doing. Maybe she's going to be a bronc rider.

She loves to sweep.

The back of the skirt.

The front of the shirt.

Christy and Rob (#2, Jayne, Tinklebell) at the Charger/Bronco game. (The infamous Ed Hochuli game)

It's shocking that we only had two obnoxious fans bothering us after seeing who we were sitting with.

At the Rockies game with Christy.

Coors Field

She loves to kiss the baby in the mirror.

Everybody wants to sit with Daddy and cheer for the Chargers!

Murphy riding the school bus.

She did look like a girl earlier in the day. Notice the green socks that matched her outfit at church.

August pictures

Grandma Karen's protege. Murphy loves licorice. Lucky for her that her Uncle Wayne gave her some because her Mommy won't.

Looking stylish on my four wheeler with my beads around my neck, licorice on my face, holding my toothbrush and shampoo.

The cyclops on Murphy's head after being stung by an unknown assailant.

Murphy and Haley at her first football game.

Grandma and Murphy playing with wrapping paper. She didn't want Grandma to wear the hat but she really didn't want to wear it herself.

Murphy's first pony ride at the fair!

She loves to play in the sheers.

Riley loves to play in anything she can chew.

Murphy loves to play with Daddy and Riley loves to play with Murphy.

Mommy got a new dishwasher and Murphy and Riley got a new box.

Don't touch my blanket!

Murphy loves to play the piano and Landon loves to get out of lessons.

Keely, Maria, Murphy, and Kalla.

Mommy, you're taking too long in the dressing room.

Three of the world's best babysitters!

I love corn!

Pickles, too.

Did I mention watermelon?

Murphy does not like being kept out of places.

See what I mean?

The dreaded flamingos. Although they did keep Murphy entertained for a day.