Coleman Russell Murphy is Here!!!

My baby is finally here! Coleman was born on 8/21. He weighed 7 lbs and was 20 inches long. He is completely bald and has the cutest little nose and lips that I've ever seen.

Saturday the 21st started out as any other Saturday. I cleaned the house that morning, and then I went to Sams to get a couple of last minute groceries, diapers, etc. (I was scheduled to be induced the following Monday). Russ had taken Cade to the splash pad, and when I got home from the store, he was asleep for his nap. Russ and I started to watch a movie while Cade was sleeping, and I started to have contractions around 3 pm. I didn't want to get worked up or excited about it, because I had a false labor a few days before, and didn't want to be disappointed again... so I tried to watch the movie but I was mostly watching the clock :) By about 4:30, the contractions were starting to REALLY hurt, so I told Russ that I thought I was in labor, and we needed to get things ready to go. Thank goodness for awesome neighbors who said they could keep Cade until my parents would be able to get here from Idaho Falls. We finished packing our bags and getting Cade's things together, and dropped Cade off at the neighbor's house at about 5:45. By this time my contractions were about 2 minutes apart and were really hurting. I was so nervous that I wouldn't get to the hospital in time for an epidural. Russ was nervous and watching me barely able to breath/cry, so I think that we made it to IMC in about 15 minutes (we went 90+ the whole time we were on the interstate) :)

We made it to the hospital and got checked in at about 6, and I was now having contractions every minute... but was only dialated to a 4! I was dying of pain (baby was posterior and back labor is a killer), and the nurse told me that they typically would just monitor me for an hour to make sure that I was progressing before giving an epidural. THANK GOODNESS that my doctor happened to be filling in for the on-call guy for a couple of hours, so he had pitty on me and we got an epidural right away...................... and then I was happy and everything was easy. Cole was born at 10:15 pm. We are so thankful that he is healthy and that everything went well. We are so blessed to have two beautiful little boys.

My family brought Cade to the hospital the next morning. Cade ran into the room and was so excited to see Russ and I (we've never been away from him overnight before), and then we introduced him to his little brother. He started signing "baby" (he still isn't talking much, but signs EVERYTHING) and was laughing and patting Cole's blankets. It was so sweet -- Cade was holding Cole when my dad asked Cade if he could hold him. Cade started shaking his head "no" and said "mine!" over and over. Cade is always so concerned about the baby... whenever he doesn't know where Cole is, he runs all over the house signing "baby" until he finds him. He loves to kiss Cole and give him hugs, but he is having a hard time understanding why Cole can't wrestle with him.... and tries to start a wrestling match at every opportunity he can.

Cole is the best baby. I can count on one hand the number of times that he has cried in the past week. He grimices and squeaks when he is hungry, but that's about it. He is so sweet and we love him so much.

One last pregger pic... taken about a week before Cole was born:

Weighin' in at 7 lbs (6 lbs 15.8 oz to be exact) :)....

Holding my beautiful baby right after he was born....

Proud daddy. I love him so much.

Our family of FOUR :)

Cade loves "his baby"...

We ♥ ASL

We started signing with Cade after he turned two, since he was only speaking a few words, and was throwing terrible tantrums as a means of communication. I had seen other toddlers and babies using signs before, but I always thought that it would just delay speech, since they could use a sign to get what they wanted instead of a word. I was so wrong!!! I have talked with several speech therapists who have explained to me that using ASL helps improve a childs attention span and eye contact, which are both necessary prerequisites for speaking. Cade is now using about 30 signs, and has picked up about 20 words... and is SO much happier now that he can tell us what he's thinking. It's so much fun to watch how excited he gets when he gives me a sign and I understand what he is telling me. I'm a firm believer in signing with babies now and am totally going to do it with all of my kids.

Pregnant People Have Feelings Too

Top three comments I've gotten during my ninth month of this pregnancy... not even from strangers... from friends who are usually tactful, considerate people...

1. "Your belly is SO BIG!!" (I love this next part as she realizes what she just said and tries to back pedal her way out of it..) "... well I think it's just that the rest of your body is little, so it just makes your belly look SO MUCH bigger."
2. "Wow! Did you get this big with Cade? I mean, does your doctor say that this is normal?"
3. "Dude... you're huge."

I guess people don't know that I already know that I'm huge?!?! Do they really think that this fact needs to be brought to my attention?

Boys Will Be Boys

I came into the kitchen the other day to find Cade's drink dumped out all over the table, he was lapping it up like a puppy, and saying "Ahhhh!!!"

4th of July

For the 4th, my Uncle Tim hosted their annual BBQ/Fireworks show in Provo. They live close to the stadium, so everyone can see the fireworks and kindof hear the concert. Cade was a mess... he just wanted to run up and down the street and play with every kid that he could find. He found his way into the middle of several frisbee and football games... and explored a few of the neighbor's yards. He LOVED my cousin's firework show in the street though. He sat crouched down at the edge of the sidewalk and soaked in every minute. It was funny that all of the boys were there in a line watching/loving the fireworks, and the girls were all scared sitting in their mom's laps. He was a wreck by about 9:00 though, so we headed home to put him in bed and skipped the big firework show (along with all of the traffic). It was a really fun night.

How's Michelle?

So I started a blog for anyone interested in how Michelle is doing... I'll post all of her "to everyone" letters on there incase you want to follow along in her weekly missionary happenings.
Michelle's Missionary Blog

Summer Fun

More fun at the farm with friends...

And a few pool parties...

Thanksgiving Point Farm

We went on a picnic to the Thanksgiving Point farm today. Cade loves animals, and REALLY loves tractors, so I think he had a pretty good time. His favorite part though was playing chase with some other kids in and out of the little wild west village. My favorite part was coming home to a popsicle and air conditioning... these 90 degree days and my humongous preggo belly are taking their toll on me!!

Look Out NYC

My sister Michelle went into the MTC on Wednesday. She's going to be serving in the New York City South mission. I am so excited for her, but sad for me that she will be gone for 18 months. Michelle has been at BYU for the last little while, and it has been a blast having her so close. I am going to miss her like crazy, but she really is going to be an awesome missionary.

Of course Michelle, who thinks of and is prepared for everything, got Cade his Christmas present before she left... a "Cars" hammock... that he loves to pieces. What a cute aunt.

Splash Pad

One of the things that we love about living in Utah is that there is some sort of free, kid-friendly activity around every corner. There are about 5 different splash parks within just a few minutes of our house, so today we took Cade to one of them for the first time. I really don't think that he has ever had so much fun. As soon as we got him out of his carseat and he saw what was going on, he started laughing... then he started crying hysterically... I think he thought that we weren't going to let him play. He was really timid around the water at first.. that lasted for about 30 seconds. He watched the other kids running and playing in it, and then he of course wanted to be a part of the action. He was laughing, ssquealing, and running the whole time that we were there. I thought that getting him to leave would be a huge fight, but he was so tired (and probably border-line hypothermic) he left without one tear, and then took a 3 1/2 hour nap when we got home.

Weighin' In...

Cade had his 2 yr. checkup yesterday. He weighed in at 29.4 lbs (70th percentile) and measured 33.5 inches (30th percentile). Other things that he has been up to...

- Loves to run, throw, kick, climb, wrestle, sword fight... and every other physical activity.
- His favorite place to be is outside.
- Pickiest eater on the planet... lives off of grilled cheese, corn dogs, bread, pb&j, instant breakfast (because he throws up the vitamins), and baby food fruits/veggies (the only way they stay down).
- Loves kids... tries to make friends with every little boy or girl we pass in Walmart, and gets mad if they don't pay any attention to him. He is a very friendly little boy. Whenever someone knocks on the door, he runs to it laughing and excited to see who came to visit. Whenever we are going on a walk or in the front yard, he runs up to whatever front door he can find and starts knocking on it.
- Is a man of very few words.. mama, ball, and "DAT!!!". We can occasionally also get him to say daddy, keys, cheese, and truck.
- Knows all of his letters (can't say them, but he can point to them when asked), and is pretty good at his colors, numbers, and shapes.
- Loves to be the loudest kid in Sacrament Meeting.

Cade-o is 2!!

This year for Cade's birthday, we decided to just have a fun day with the three of us. I went to the grocery store early that morning, and picked up some doughnuts (Cade's favorite food) and a Lightning McQueen balloon bouquet (Cade's other favorite things). I put the balloons in the living room, and when he woke up and found them, he just started laughing. He wouldn't put the balloons down all day... even during his bath. I don't think that Cade knows what a birthday is yet, but he definitely knew that something was different, and that it was fun and exciting! He was bouncing off of the walls all day long. When it came time for his nap, I put him down, and he just ran around his room squealing and laughing for almost 45 minutes by the time I gave up and just let him come out and play.

Russ was able to take 1/2 of the day off, so when he came home, we all went to the zoo. It was Cade's first time. He was interested in the monkeys, but didn't really care for the rest of the animals. He LOVED the carousel though. He was really mad at us that we didn't let him ride it all day.

I thought that Cade would love his cake, but he really didn't care. He looked at it interested for a second, and then wanted to move on to the next thing. I thought it turned out pretty cute though.

I tried to teach Cade how to blow out his birthday candles, but it didn't really work out... he would take a big breath in, like we told him, but then he didn't know what to do from there and would hold his breath...

Cade had a lot of fun opening his presents. He was upset at first when we would take one toy away from him so that he could open the next... but he got the hang of it pretty quick.

Cade was really excited about this tool set... he stuck his little tongue out of the corner of his mouth and grinned just like this while Russ took it out of the package.

Then he was back to holding the balloons...

After presents, we cut the cake and tried to get Cade to eat some of it. Of course being the picky eater that he is, he gagged and pushed it out of the way. He never did take one bite. He did like poking the candles in the cake though. He also kept taking big breaths in like he was going to blow them out again... even though they weren't lit.

We had such a fun day. Cade is quite the character... we love this little guy so much. He keeps us laughing... running and laughing.

The Best Part of My Mother's Day...

... is that I'm their mom.

Aunt "Ort-Eee"

A few weeks ago, Courtney and my dad came over to visit my grandma while she was sick at the University Hospital. They got here late one night, after Cade was already in bed. Court just camped out on an air mattress in the living room. The next morning, Cade got out of bed and saw Courtney asleep in the living room. He went up to her really quietly, moved her hair out of her face and saw who it was, and then he started laughing and cuddled up next to her. He laid next to her while she slept for almost an hour... I was amazed... he never holds still let alone CUDDLES with someone for an hour. He LOVES his Aunt Court.

Hurricane Cade

This is what happens if I leave Cade alone in a clean room for 5 minutes...

The Big Guy Turns the Big 50

Happy Birthday (yesterday) dad!! I'd say it's time to start acting your age!! No more bare-foot skiing... and maybe you should try to keep all wheels on the ground when driving motorized vehicles... oh ya, and no more drag racing snowmobiles across lakes that are NOT frozen.

I really look up to you dad. Thanks for being such an awesome dad/grandpa. Love ya.