new york (summer vacation part 2)

After Raleigh, we made the looooong trip up to New York, with a brief stopover in Wilmington. We had a fantastic time with Mike's family, highlighted by a birthday party for all of the July/August birthdays in the family - which I hesitate to list for fear of missing one! This was the first of three birthday celebrations for Daniel, and to say he enjoyed it would be putting it mildly.

"Mmmm, sugar!"

Meanwhile, Mike pretended to be taller than John...
... Joanne, Nana, and Grandpa enjoyed some cake too...
... Benjamin got some love from Aunt Cathy...
... and Daniel convinced Aunt Joanne to give him more dessert.
One of the most fun things about this trip was seeing how much fun Daniel had with his cousins. He absolutely idolized them, and just couldn't get enough time with them. This is one of my favorite pictures of Daniel with his cousins - he just loved being one of the big guys!
And of course we had to get a photo of all of the boys together: Richie, Joey (holding Benjamin), Andy and Daniel.

And Benjamin had a great time hanging out with Aunt Betty while Daniel played with the guys!
Trips like this make me realize how much I miss being closer to family. Can't wait for our next visit!

murphy (summer vacation part 1)

We took a marathon three-week trip up the east coast this July-August, covering over 2900 miles, so we could take the boys to visit all of their grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Obviously this trip will take several posts to detail, so stay tuned for more! We made two important purchases before we left, this being one of them:
The second was a portable DVD player. Believe me, a steady stream of Curious George and Little Einsteins is a good antidote to looks like this (which are often accompanied by pleas of "OUT!")
Benjamin, fortunately, slept during a large portion of the driving, although only occasionally did he fall asleep with his fingers in the rings hanging from his carseat. Mike and I both became pros at reaching behind us to blindly replace the pacifier in his mouth. Really, though, they were both great travelers.
We began with a stop to visit our friends Holly and David and their adorable boys Matthew and Ethan in Winston-Salem. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take any pictures during our overnight stay! We did have a great time visiting with them, and Benjamin had probably his best night of sleep to date while borrowing Ethan's pack-n-play (I threatened to move in).

From there, we moved on to Raleigh where Mike was attending a conference. Not too many pictures from that part of the trip, but I did capture one of this notable first in Daniel's life - in our hotel in Raleigh, he got to sleep in a Murphy bed! Really, how many 2-year-olds can say they've done that?

rock 'n' roll

We have a roller!

Tonight I was getting Benjamin ready for bed, and left him on his tummy in the crib for a minute while I went to wash my hands. When I returned, he was on his back! We've been expecting him to roll over any day now, and when he finally decided to do it, no one was there to see it!

I flipped him over again and he proudly gave us a repeat performance, earning a round of applause from Mom, Dad, and big brother.

Also, it seems that we officially have a thumb-sucker. He still likes the pacifier too, but has found that his thumb works pretty well when he can manage it.

i'm back!

Finally back, after a long blogging hiatus while we adjusted to being a family of four, attempted to get some sleep, and took a 2900-mile trip up the east coast. I really intended to blog sooner - I told Mike at least once a week that I was going to do it. But sleep always was the priority, and before we knew it, three months had gone by and here we are. I do plan to go back and catch up, but for now I'll just do a quick update!

Benjamin is now a chubby, blue-eyed three-month-old, still with a head full of dark hair - most of it on top, giving him kind of a mohawk effect. He is a great napper, and his nighttime sleep has definitely improved (knock on wood) - it was rough going for awhile there! He is such a content, smiley baby - all you have to do is look at him and say hello, and he just smiles and giggles and coos.

Daniel turned two about a week ago - my baby definitely isn't a baby anymore! Now, he is a wonderful big brother, always making sure Benjamin has a pacifier and is covered with a blanket. He has handled the transition better than I ever could have expected. He can definitely be stubborn (wonder where he gets that) and challenging like any other two-year-old, but he is also full of joy and personality, has the best laugh in the world, and gives fantastic hugs.