One Step...Two Step...

He has done it! Duncan was standing on his own this afternoon and took one small step with each chubby little foot, before taking a rest. Today's accomplishment even trumped last Sunday's milestones: the first good-bye wave to the ladies in the CCC nursery and the first glee filled clapping of the hands at suppertime. Duncan loves to be on his feet now and he and Liam have been enjoying a chase episode up and down Liam's bed right before it is time for them to say goodnight. The giggling is ridiculous! This evening when giving his brother a last kiss and hug, Liam said, "I want Duncan to sleep in my room." "That day will come soon enough," was my reply.

After Liam and I had a trip to the Village Pointe Farmer's Market on Saturday, we spent the evening in the back yard planting. Duncan enjoyed the large shovel...


...with an ever present grin...


...while Liam preferred the smaller, hand held shovel. The better to dig with, I would say. He is helping me pull up some weeds below.


Earlier in the day, we pulled out the favorite toy of the summer of 2008...the kiddy pool! Liam took no time at all getting reaquainted.


At first, Duncan was more interested in the broom that I was using to wash off the deck...


...but soon enough he joined his brother.


Someone has the "smile for the camera face" down.


One another note, Liam has been enjoying a batch of play dough that the Margie of CharlotteMargieJoe made for him. When I say enjoying, I mean it literally. He eats it! When told that play dough is not to eat, Liam gives the same response that he does when eating dirt, sand, rocks, chalk, etc....
"Mommy, it tastes so good. I love eating play dough!!"

More of a Gardener

Mimi Alice and Papa Trent came to visit the Murphy family in April. And as is the case for anyone coming from out of town, the standard trip to the Henry Doorly zoo ensued. Such fun it is with a 2 1/2 year old and a 10 month old and the weather was kind to us even if it was not a warm day. Actually, which is one of Liam new words, we went to the Saturday evening service at Christ Community Church Old Mill, so we had no crowd at the zoo on Easter Sunday morning!!!! It was our very own sunrise celebration!


Duncan enjoyed looking at the sun bears and feeling quite burly himself, as he stood by the fence.


Picnics are a favorite pastime.


One highlight of the visit was that Papa Trent and Liam built shelves in the garage. What a treat for us all!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Trent! As much as Liam enjoyed helping with this project, he was often found sidetracked by the flower beds, with his shovel. And as he is not used to a hammer, he managed to give himself a battle scar on the right cheek....he is more of a dirt digging and eating gardener.




Liam was always ready for the saw. He would run out of the garage and up the stairs everytime Papa Trent announced its use. Thanks to Joe Hearn for letting us borrow the power saw.

"It's A Secret!"

A new phrase has been added in the last month that has given both smiles and frowns to Robert and I. Usually when Liam is mad about something, he has learned to say "I'm upset." Then we ask him why and talk about how he is feeling. This is all very good....enter the new phrase. Lately when we ask why he is upset, he will say "It's a secret." This came about because of a book he has that uses those three words. He has also been saying it when he gets hurt and we ask him what happened....Ahhh!




We had some fun after supper one night with some whipped cream from a can.



Duncan has a new past time. He loves to pull books off of the self in his room. One book in particular is a favorite. The title is CAT and it is by the same author as the book TAILS, for those kids book aficionados out there. It has the fuzzy fur to touch, flaps to open, tabs to push and pull to make the tails move, etc. If the book is placed back on the shelf, he immediately crawls to the shelf to take it down again. This sweet little man sure can get around fast, and he provides a sound track with his mobility. Lots of babbling.




Duncan had his first sit in the snow in the month of March. Robert piled the snow from the driveway in the grass and he and Liam were jumping around in it. Duncan didn't really know what to do, it seemed. But he was also bundled up so tight that he probably couldn't have moved if he wanted to.

Five Years Later

This past weekend was spent on our old stomping grounds, the wild foothills of Elm Springs, Arkansas. Five years ago, Robert and I spent the first two weeks of March in different states, as I was looking for work and a place to live in Omaha and he was wrapping things up in Arkansas. Now with two kids and more life under our belts, we weathered the beautiful weekend, introducing our kiddos to the people we love in Wal-Martland.

Liam spent a good deal of time chasing after Allison, Oren and Cari's little girl who just turned five on March 1st. She even let him carry around her new baby doll, but had to help him when he tried to put the diaper on. Liam did manage to find all of the balls, bats, gloves, cars and trains in the house. Duncan smiled, cooed, crawled and giggled the whole time. He and little Oren, who is one month his elder, enjoyed playing beside each other. The even fussed a bit a few times when they were taken away from each other. Duncan did succeed in being larger then his new buddy though, which is not a surprise. I failed to take any pictures while in AR, so here are some others to give a glimpse of us.

Duncan has discovered the dishwasher.

Liam and I played the "Toot and Puddle" board game for the first time. He even won!

Little puppy dog.

On Valentine's Day this year, Liam had his first cup of hot chocolate. We played the appropriate song from "The Polar Express" soundtrack, which is one of his favorites. Duncan shared in the fun by having his first taste of a family favorite.....Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!!!

Couldn't resist the closeup of blue vs. hazel.

Teeth, Thomas and Touchdowns

The new year has brought some changes in our home. It is always a good and healthy sign when the kids are growing and learning and the parents are also growing and learn. None of us should be off the hook in those to categories. The boys are making sure that we meet our challenge quotas.

Duncan's 4th tooth has popped through recently and it appeared tonight that he was trying to chew his dinner. He is becoming an accomplished rocker....on hands and knees with tummy high up in the air. He tries to move forward in that position, but usually ends up back on his tummy, attempting to scoot or pull himself. He is definitely moving, just not very far or fast. Such a happy baby, always ready to giggle and smile and give you the heart-wrentching "gooo" of endearment. Can't kiss those cheeks enough.

The last few weeks have seen a lot of success with sleeping as well. Duncan slept until 8:15 two mornings in a row last week! His normal wake time has been between 6:00-7:00, but Liam, on the other hand, has been a bit more unpredictable of late. Liam's excellent sleeping habits have been compromised since the addition of his little brother and he will wake for the day anytime after 5:00am. He often wakes crying in the night and calls for us. Don't want to start a habit, but it is hard to hear a cry at 1:00am and not go comfort him. Tonight he got out of bed four times, even turning his light on and getting a book to read. "Amuls Mommy!" (aka animals)

Liam has been enjoying the adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine. He received sets, tracks and trains from a few sources for Christmas and it is fascinating to watch him create and play. His vocabulary is rapidly growing. He talks of our friends 'Charlotte-Margie-Joe-Blueberries' almost every time he is asked what he would like to do or who he would like to pray for. He tells a story of going to the mailbox with daddy, scrapping his finger on the sidewalk and having daddy carry him back home. He is constantly entertaining Duncan and trying to tackle him....usually succeeding against the 7 month old. Liam has also started saying "40, 30, 20, 10, Touchdown!" after which he throws the football and falls to the floor.

We had a evening picnic in the basement on Sunday, because of the football games. Liam ran and tackled as Duncan rolled and seemed to get ahold of many things that were purposefully placed out of his reach. Fun evenings!

Six and Twenty-Four

At Duncan's 6 month well visit with Dr. Pat, he checked in at a solid and smiley 20 lbs. 2 oz. at 85% and 27 1/2" at 79%. He has his big brother beat as Liam was 18 lbs. 4 oz. and 27" at his 6 month check. All else looks great and he is a health little guy. His homework is sitting(check), crawling(no check) and slowly starting solids(check). It is surprising to me that he is growing at the rate that he is because he has never been one to spend a lot of time eating. He does not appear to care for solids much at all, either.

At Liam's 24 month (ok....2 year) found him to be 31 lbs. 5 oz. at 84% and 35 1/4" at 70%. He is happy and healthy as well. He even managed to give our pediatrician a hug, which Dr. Pat said he hardly ever gets with 2-year-olds. However, Liam was reffered to an orthopedic doctor due to his in toeing being a bit worse then Dr. Pat sees in kids at 2. He had the appointment and x-rays and structurally he looks great. This is a relief, but we are to keep an eye on things in case there is any change, as he will not have another appointment until a year from now when he turns 3!

Winter Wonderland

It is Thursday evening and the boys are snug in bed as Robert and I drink homemade salted caramel hot chocolate and anticipating a grueling game of SET. There is sleet and snow falling outside and I am certain that Liam will be asking to go venture out and play with Frosty when he sees the white.

Liam, the recently turned two year old, is full of energy, songs, words, spirit, anything that has to do with daddy and delight in every kind of ball created. If there is a circular object, it is a ball. If an object isn't circular, it is a football. If there is a long object, it is a baseball bat. If you can put an object over your hands, it is a baseball 'glub.' If it goes on your feet, it is a baseball sock or shoe. And if it goes on your head, it is obviously a baseball hat. He is a joy to be around, always helping us and watching out for his little brother.

Duncan is 6 1/2 months and has been sitting on his own now for about a week. Two teeth have popped through and though he has not been given a steak to chew on yet, he has had egg yolks, spinach, bananas, carrots and yogurt. He doesn't seem to like solids much at all, but water in the sippy cup was a fast favorite. Considering that Liam was such a happy baby, I didn't think it possible to have a happier baby. I was wrong. Duncan grins, giggles and goos at everyone and everything, especially Mommy and Liam. Surely Daddy's time will come. He is Liam's favorite now.

The month of November was a full one for our family: Robert took off on Liam's second birthday and we celebrated at the Omaha Children'ts Museum. He was excited to get a baseball and bat from us, as well as a cheesecake that had raseberries strategically arranged to look like a baseball. We spent a weekend with the Patchen's in Kansas and ten days in Ohio visiting my family. The days that we were home, though it was half of the month, it seemed to fly by. We are glad that the travel is over and that the rest of the year will be spent in our home, watching the snow, enjoying each other's company, and listening to the songs of the season...such as " I wanna get snowed in with you."