Where does the time go?

We've had a busy month and I'm glad it's over. Wrestling is done now so that should free some of our time. A little bit of mine and a lot of Rob's. He's been home at decent times every night lately. It's nice to be able to spend some time with him. We had eight kids qualify for state and ended up with two champions, a second, and an eighth and the team placed fifth. Murphy was a very good baby. She didn't nap much but wasn't overly cranky. She slept all the way home, though and much of the next few days. I think she's finally recovered.

At work we finished our tax return and audit in February and also had our annual meeting which took a lot of time and brain cells.

Murphy was baptized on February 17. She wore my dress, my grandfather's dress from 1896. It was a little tight. OK, maybe more than a little. We didn't button all the buttons. I should have taken a picture of the rubber bands holding the dress together but the day was pretty hectic. Her godparents are Rob's sister, Christy, my brother, Dustin, my brother David, and my sister-in-law, Carmen. Murphy was chatty during church. She is used to me playing the piano at home and she sings along. So when the organist for the day was actually the pianist, Murphy felt right at home. She also sat closer to the front than she ever has so she was probably a little out of her element. After church, we took family pictures. It's a good thing she's a happy baby because pictures took two hours. We had a lot of pictures to take. My family is bigger so our portion took about an hour and 45 minutes. Rob's side took about fifteen. Murphy did really well until the very end during my entire family's picture. She conked out. I held her up thinking you might not be able to tell, but you can. Oh well. She deserved a little nap. After we took baptismal pictures, I changed her into the pink and white dress that I bought for her a year ago. I have to say, it was pretty cute. I'm not biased at all. We ate at the church and spent a little time at my house before I took my niece home. We ended up with a little blizzard on the way home.

We found out some exciting news that day! My niece and her husband are going to have a baby! I'm so excited! Murphy will have a playmate! She's due in September so they will be about a year apart. Some of my nieces and nephews have built in friends...Collin is 23, Katie & Kara are 22, Brianna is 21, and Corey is 20. They used to come to the farm during the summer and were inseperable. Even at home they lived a few blocks apart so spent lots of time together. As adults they still gravitate toward each other. We haven't had a baby in our family for a long time so now we'll have more than one! I can't wait!

Murphy didn't get over the ear infection with the first round of medicine so I had to take her back. The second round worked, though. She really didn't act any different, just kept pulling on her ears. I took her in for her second flu shot on the 19th. I was expecting a very unhappy baby but she didn't even cry. She's tough like her mama.

We're going to have to work on her rolling over skills. She knows how to do it. She just doesn't want to! PLUS she's been sleeping on her side at night. Sometimes she gets too far over and then ends up on her stomach. She wakes up and I think it startles her that she's on her stomach so she starts crying. We just have to go up there and roll her back on her side and she goes right to sleep! So the other day after work we practiced rolling over in her crib. She didn't do it last night so maybe she's catching on!

She still has no desire to be on her stomach. Santa Claus brought her a toy for Christmas that she can play with sitting down or push it as she gets older. She held onto the handle and I walked along with her.

She really enjoys her baths. Lately they've been about a half an hour before I get tired of reading a magazine. She plays and plays. Then I finally wash her and get her out and her feet and hands are usually wrinkly.

She's been eating more foods. Yogurt, pudding, ice cream, juice, potatoes (which she loves!), applesauce, macaroni and cheese and peas...to name a few. I think she's getting taller so she's slimming down a little. It's fun to look back at pictures and she how little she was. She also really likes water. If she's had plenty of formula during the day, we'll just give her water and she drinks it like there's formula in there.

On the 21st we went to SF for the wrestling tournament and had our post placement visit with Erin at Johnny Carino's. I had a tough time deciding where I wanted to eat. So many choices! Murphy sat in the high chair and checked out everything. She isn't very big yet so I had to wrap the blanket around her so she didn't fall over.

We got home from state wrestling on Sunday the 24th and my grandma died that night. She'd been really sick the past few months (plus she was almost 93) so we know she is healthy again. But we miss her. The week went by quickly as I took off on Thursday and Friday. We met some of my mom's family at the funeral home on Thursday. Friday I practiced at the church in the morning then got ready and went to the funeral home for the visitation and prayer service on Friday afternoon and evening. After the prayer service my entire family went to my brother and sister-in-law's house for supper. We have a fun family so everyone really enjoyed the time together. Saturday I had to be at the church to practice with the vocalists early so Mom and I went to town and then my dad, Murphy, and Rob came in later. She was buried in Houghton and then we drove back to Hecla for dinner. We all went to my aunt and uncle's house then for the day. We drove home that night and all of us went straight to bed. It was a tiring week.

And now it's March. I'm ready for spring. And pushing Murphy in the stroller around town. Now that she's wearing a hat, I haven't been covering up her face when we go out and she just loves it. She really enjoyed the stroller rides while we were in Colombia so I'm excited to get her outside this spring.

So now we're getting caught up on laundry and stuff around the house. I'm doing some taxes from home and haven't had a chance to even look at them. Plus I'm working on a project for someone in town and that's been pushed to the side during all of this hecticness.

Happy Birthday, Christy! It was yesterday and it sounds like you had a relaxing day! Maybe I'll have to do the same!