One Week Old!

Yesterday marked one week for Kate! It's amazing how much she's changed and developed just in one short week! Life has been so great with her in it. Kyle and I are still getting adjusted to having a baby in our lives but it's been an amazingly fun journey so far!!! Over the last week, we've learned a lot about our Kate. Here's just a short list of things she loves!

Kate loves...

To eat (and has been taking down lots of food without any problems)

The sleep sheep - a shower gift we received that I highly recommend - I'd like to sleep with one myself. It's very soothing!

Listening to her mom humming (not necessarily singing but humming pretty much anything)

Calf massages - yep, that's right...she'll stretch her little skinny legs out on her own and hold them out if you'll rub her calves

Late afternoons when she's fully awake and gets lots of attention

Cooper dog (and Cooper dog loves her)

To be tickled (or maybe it's torture but we can usually get a smile out of her)

To make an Elvis face that then turns into a smile

To dream...and she coos and makes lots of sounds as if she wants to talk to us already

Sleeping with her arms in a touchdown position

Having her picture taken ; ) (she had her first photo shoot today and I CANNOT WAIT to post what the photographer captured - stay tuned!)

To play dress up. She pretty much lets mom dress her in any attire but dad insists on her wearing something comfy.

Bath time believe it or not...she doesn't cry and loves to be wrapped up in her warm little robe and loved on afterwards!

Her little lamb swing (but she just looks so small sitting in it that we have to closely monitor and don't let her hang out in it as much as she might like ; )

Her daddy lots and lots.


I'm sure this next week will bring even more exciting developments that we'll have to share. We love her so much and are so grateful to have her in our lives!

First Father's Day!

Today was such a wonderful day for Kyle and Kate is hands down the best gift ever! We celebrated our first Father's Day by just maxing and relaxing with our new baby girl! Kate and I also gave Kyle two incredibly cute photos of her for his office so that he'll always have on hand pictures of the two most important girls in his life who love him more than anything! The hardest part was narrowing down which pictures to frame for him - we already have tons and I think they are all equally cute! Kate doesn't take a bad picture - not in my opinion ; )

We also baked brownies today with Mimi and will indulge in Kyle's favorite dessert - a brownie sundae, with whip cream and a cherry on top! We had our first long night with Kate last night but today she was in the best mood and actually spent quite a bit of time awake and alert! Last night was a test for us and not sure how we fared. Kyle and I both haven't caught up on sleep and so we were wiped, so it made it difficult to figure out exactly what might have been bothering Kate. We think she might have had an upset stomach or something...? All has been well today though, so we're crossing our fingers for a somewhat more restful night tonight.

Here are a few recent pics! I love this little green and white polka dot dress on Kate! We had a big white bow in one of the shots that I love as well but dad isn't sold on the idea of bows yet. He's only sold on the idea of comfort and pretty much thinks bows are useless I think! We're going to have to work on him! Oh...and there's one shot of Kate's teensy tiny legs. They are so skinny but long...same deal with her arms. Perhaps that's a Murphy trait!

Our Precious Kate is Here!!!

We are so excited to announce that our precious little Kate is finally here! She decided to make her debut on Wednesday, June 16 at 6:39 pm. She weighs 7 pounds 5 ounces and is 21 inches long. She's so beautiful and perfect in every way! Life cannot get any sweeter than it is right now!

We haven't shared the story behind the jump-started labor so I'll try to give the short version here. Basically, I awoke around 4 am on Wednesday morning and was pretty certain that my water broke but wasn't entirely sure...after all, I've never been through this before. I made my way to the bathroom before awakening Kyle and Kyle's sleepy response was something to the effect of "are you sure?" "I think you'd know if your water broke". So, I questioned myself but couldn't fall back asleep and continued to ponder whether or not I was actually in labor. I wasn't experiencing any contractions or pain, and I was super tired, so I just wasn't sure what exactly was going on. It only took me about ten minutes to quickly figure out that I couldn't stand, much less walk, without releasing more fluid. That's when I awoke Kyle and said, "ok, I really do think this might be the real deal...I'm going to call the hospital." Kyle really awoke this time and listened as a phoned the hospital. They asked me a couple of questions and then said, you're in labor and need to get to the hospital. That's when Kyle really kicked it in gear. It was hysterical how he was scrambling around the house, packing up the car, going through our list of items to make sure we bring to the hospital, etc. I, on the other hand, in a state of disbelief, really just wanted to take a shower, make myself look more presentable for this whole experience (ha!) and ease on in. Kyle quickly convinced me that I was being insane and forced me to get in the car.

Upon arrival, I was still not really feeling any serious signs of labor or pain, so I wasn't panicked or anything. They ran a couple of preliminary tests to confirm that my water had broken and then admitted me to have precious Kate. Surprises...there were lots!

First, I almost passed out (and I've never done that before) when they were trying to put the IV in. I do have a fear of needles but was really calm and typically, if I don't look at the needle, then I don't experience any problems. Well, my body must have been tense because I immediately broke into a hot sweat, Kyle said I turned as pale as he's ever seen me, and my lips turned blue. This happened all of three times (in various degrees) before they were finally able to insert the IV and get things moving along. So, once upstairs, when they asked me if I would like some Stadol to take some of the "edge" off as I went through this process, I agreed. That was a good decision and I immediately began to relax. Since my last check-up, I had progressed a great deal - I was dilated to a 4 and was 70% effaced. They administered some pitocin and I continuously progressed to where I needed to be over time (over many hours actually, it was a slow process). I got an epidural fairly early, so I never really felt much pain.

The biggest surprise of all was how long I labored once I was fully dilated and ready to push. Kate was turned face up and the doctor said he simply wouldn't deliver her vaginally in such position, so we spent a good hour trying to get her turned as I pushed and pushed and pushed. Then, once we got her turned, she took her time in the birth canal and with every push, she advanced but then digressed some too. So, all in all, I pushed for over two hours before Kate was born. And when I say push, I mean I pushed continuously with very little breaks and pushed with all of my might. The doctor said that less than 10% of his patients have to push for so long and so hard but I was determined at this point to get her out. I also had already spoken to the doctor about not wanting him to use forceps or a vacuum if it could be avoided and he honored that request and we got her out without having to go that route! I can't say enough wonderful things about my doctor. It was Doctor Goff and he was encouraging, realistic, optimistic and just kept me at ease throughout the entire process. Besides the test of my endurance with all the pushing, the labor was not bad at all.

It's truly a miracle as I sit here and look at her! I can't believe she is our little girl! What a wonderful gift from God!!!

A Special Shower Just For Grandma!

Last week, my mom was surprised by some of her friends with a very special grandmother's shower just for her and little Kate! What a clever idea, huh?! Mom was totally caught off guard by the whole deal. She thought they were just out for one of their regular lunch outings until she noticed a very special seat at the head of the table that was surrounded by precious gifts! It was an awesome surprise and she was so excited about all of the fun items she received. I'm a little jealous at some of her loot -- it's all super cute and personalized and you gotta love the doggy puppet -- just adorable!

The sign "every time a child is born, so is a grandmother" is certainly true and in my mind, all first time grandma's are deserving of a shower all their own! Mom certainly doesn't look like a grandma in my mind! Mom (or should I start calling her grandma or mimi or well...we haven't decided on her official title and more than likely Kate will be the one to decide that anyway) is very excited for Kate to arrive! She and dad will be heading this way very, very soon!

John's Birthday

[John unwrapping his gifts]


[Kyle and his big sister, Carrie (John's wife)]


[Gotta love the Victoria Secret wrapping]


[From L to R: Carrie, Kay and Alli enjoying some pool time]


[Alli and her daddy - she's a daddy's girl!]


Last weekend, we celebrated John's, our brother-in-law's birthday. I won't disclose how old he's getting ; ) - but he's older than us! Ha! Kyle's fam got together for a little birthday celebration, complete with John's favorite meal -- fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and a brownie/chocolate/whip cream dessert deal that is to die for! The meal hit the spot with me. The home cookin' was delicious and I think Kate really liked it too!

We always have to play around with birthdays and so we wrapped John's gift in a girly, Victoria Secret bag with lots of pink tissue! Inside, however, was exactly what he wanted -- a bunch of boy stuff like ammunition for a gun, a holster and hmmm...there might have been something else along those lines. I honestly don't recall!

Afterwards, we sat around by the pool and enjoyed the day! I think I took a big long nap shortly after lunch as well. I was stuffed like on Thanksgiving!

Maternity Pictures

I might have waited beyond what's standard to have some maternity pictures done and honestly, I kept debating whether or not I even wanted to be photographed being pregnant. Despite my hesitations, I'm so glad I went through with it and would recommend it to anyone. The ideal time is probably 6-7 months, however, as opposed to waiting until the countdown of days during your final month! Plus, it's just much easier to move around ; )

These amazing pics were captured by the super talented Brandi Traina with Traina Portraits! She's one unbelievably talented photographer and what's even better is that she's so laid back and easy to work with and makes you feel so at ease and natural. I can't rave enough about her and she's worth every penny of the investment! Brandi will also be photographing Kate once she enters the world and we seriously can't wait to see what she will capture!

I love all of the pics of Kyle and I and in a couple, you'll see Cooper. It was hard wrangling a dog at the shoot but we didn't want to leave him out of them. I can't believe how big my belly is in lots of these shots! Seriously - can I get any bigger??!!

Kate will be here in just under 20 days - oh my!!!