This little man is now 18 months old.
Where has the time gone???

He keeps us laughing! He's such a funny little boy--lately he has been making a grumpy face then a quick smile, followed by throwing his head back and fake-laughing. He thinks that he is soooo funny.

He has but several words:
STOP!
Truck
Baba (bottle)
Dada
Mama
Nate (which sounds exactly the same as stop...go figure...)

He is a man of few words but he surely gets his point across.

He loves to be outside, looooooves cars (or anything with wheels), hates the vacuum.

He's all boy. We wouldn't trade him for anything in the world, even a docile little girl :)

Justice?

I know, I know...I'm seriously due for a blog post...one that doesn't involve a link to something else...but oh well. I'm gonna post this anyway.
My almost-friends-in-real-life friend Amy posted this and it made me simultaneously furious AND made the hair on the back of my neck stand up:
http://granolasdodallas.blogspot.com/2009/04/amy-gets-opinionated.html

An Easter Message...Murdock Style

For any of you wondering the correlation between the Resurrection of our Savior and the Easter Bunny, well, I believe my six-year-old has figured it out! Last night, as he was getting into bed, we had this conversation:

"Mom, why do we even have that holiday (Easter) anyway?"
"Do you remember what we talked about last week? About how we are celebrating--well, not celebrating, but thinking about--Christ's death and celebrating his Resurrection? Do you remember what 'resurrected' means?"
"Um....no, I forgot."
"Resurrection is when our bodies that were dead and our spirits come back together again. Jesus was the first of Heavenly Father's children to be resurrected."
"Oh yeah! He lived again after he was dead."
"Right."
(He was thinking for a second, although I thought the conversation was over, but he wasn't done!)
"So maybe people throw the candy and hide the eggs to celebrate that day that Jesus was alive again."

I'm not sure about the throwing candy part (just for the record, this is not a Murdock tradition) but I think he's got it reconciled in his mind. I'm still waiting for the question of what a bunny has to do with such a sacred holiday, but for now, it's settled...the candy is part of the celebration. And sugary goodies as part of a celebration is definitely a tradition of mine!!!

Nate described his nightmare from last night:

This was a bad one. It was raining so much. And there was one puddle. And it got really deep-y. And then my brother walked and then he drained.

We had a great day at the Heard Museum today. There are many trails to walk and the weather was perfect. Plus, we had some amazing company, so it was such a fun adventure!

We went with my friend Julie and her three fun boys. Nate and Julie's oldest (Zach) have been friends since the womb. Well, since Nate was in the womb, anyway. One of Nate's first pictures is of an 8-month-old Zach holding him the week he came home from the hospital.

I don't know how to explain what great friends the Hansons are to us. We have a long history, and, if my luck continues, we'll have a long future as well.

Julie and two of her three boys

And can I just tell you how much this little guy wears me out? He is a stubborn little thing, and yet is so darn cute. I had to take the stroller back to the car after I realized that these were true walking/hiking trails and not stroller-friendly. And boy, did that make things interesting. He needs a leash. Seriously. He is his own man, and he makes his own path.

Hopefully Nate didn't think that his Spring Break was too bad, even though we really didn't do much. At least he's too young to know that Spring Break is supposed to be more than trips to the park, the gym, and McDonald's playplace. :)

PS Julie, I'll send you these photos and a few more that I got. But I'm gonna hold 'em hostage until you send me the picture of Zach holding Nate.
just kidding.

A Public Apology

PLEASE READ.

Recently there has been an event in my life that has caused a lot of reflection on my part, and I feel the need to publicly apologize to anyone who has seen my photography website or my photography blog in the past few months.

I received an email from a client (who is now also a friend) asking me to remove the images of their children from my photography galleries because of some questionable images that were also presented. Understandably, they did not want their children to be presented in the same venue as an "implied nude" image of a pregnant woman.

I want to issue an apology to them, and to anyone who has seen and been offended by the images from that session. I have temporarily discontinued my photography blog (I'm in the middle of switching to a new one, anyway) and have removed the questionable images from my photography website as well.

Because they may have offended some of you (and definitely offended these sweet clients), I do not want to seem as though I am justifying the use of those images as part of my portfolio, but I would like to explain them. Those images were part of a maternity session that I did for someone who requested both traditional and contemporary images for their session. The beautiful woman who appears in those images chose that particular wardrobe selection, and I was asked (and paid) to present her in the most beautiful and artistic way I was able. After a couple hours of shooting this particular session, I subsequently spent hours looking at the images while I edited them. I became somewhat numb to them, and have used them in an arguably flippant manner, not once thinking of anyone else's perception of them. I deeply regret this.

I sincerely apologize and hope that you will continue to support my dream of becoming a great photographer, knowing that I commit to all of my clients, future clients, and dear friends that there will never again be any image posted on my website or blog which will be offensive. You can now view them with confidence that you can keep your virtue about you as you do so.

Thanks.

Wanna hear a story?

If you have a phobia about stories that involve a lack of home-cleanliness, this story is not for you. I'm sure that cjane has something good to say, you might want to just click over to her blog. I think she had a guest post today.

Anyway.

So a couple weeks ago, I busted my rear-end to be sure that my home was clean from room to room to room. It involved staying up all night before Nate's birthday party. This may sound ridiculous to you, but it makes sense to me. I am only successful at cleaning house when these two are asleep:
I'm not being dramatic when I tell you about this. For one, I DO NOT enjoy cleaning the floor and picking up toys at 3 a.m. nor do I enjoy finding the eighteen spoons that have been removed from the utensil drawer by my 18-month-old, scattered all over the house. And so when I say that I cannot clean house until they are asleep, I am not being dramatic. I am also not exaggerating when I tell you that I could spend my entire day following Aidan around the house, cleaning up after him. He is busy. Constantly moving. And constantly pulling random things out of drawers, cabinets, and closets and then carrying them to another room. He does this all day long! And I'd love to spend my day following him around the house, placing items back where they belong. But the problem is that I actually have other things that need to be done, like laundry and dishes and work and you know, stuff. Really important stuff.

So the real problem is that when I do try to tidy up when he's awake, he literally (and again, I'm not being dramatic!) follows me around and undoes whatever I do. Whatever I put away, he pulls back out. Just this morning I picked up the DVDs that he'd scattered around the floor, then went to put a load of wash in the dryer. By the time I came back, the DVDs were all over the floor again.

Okay, so that is just background to the fact that I started to notice that not a single one of the men (or little men) living in this home were cleaning up after themselves. Not even the head Man, who has been taking his meals at the computer desk (DO NOT even get me started on this, it's a whole other issue) and then leaving the dishes there.

So, two weeks ago, I went on strike.

I've been sure that everyone is fed and clothed, but beyond that, I've hardly lifted a finger.**

Um, that was a dumb thing to do.

Mostly because no one noticed until it got really bad. And then they were all like, Hmmm, where did that worker-lady go? I can hardly walk here. Really, WHERE is that worker-lady? The one who usually cleans this stuff up? Did she quit? When will she be back? I'm not sure what to do with all this stuff. Is there some sort of machine to clean all this up?

And then I was all like, Ha! See! If I don't do the work, no one will! Gotcha! Now you all appreciate me! Right? RIGHT???

Silence.

So, now I've got two problems: I made my point and no one cared, AND it's going to take ME another two weeks to dig myself out of this mess. Bummer.




PS If you have any real-world ideas on how to help me with my "helper" problem (aka Aidan undoing all my doings) please comment. I'm at my wit's end here. The way I see it, I have two options. (1) Tie him to a pole in the backyard and let him run circles around it all day or (2) Completely clear out my house so that there is nothing IN the cabinets, drawers and closets to make a mess with. Any other ideas?

PPS Just in case you feel that I've totally failed in the way of raising my children, I have to mention that Nate's room has been spotless for the past two weeks. I have taught him to be clean--He is adamant about keeping his own space clean. Just not the shared space, I guess.

**EDIT: I did do the dishes several times in the last two weeks, so I guess I did lift a finger or two.

Blogger's Block

A little blog post about What The Murdocks Have Been Doing Lately.
Beware: This is a totally random post of lots of pictures thrown together. You have been warned!!!

Swinging At The Park
(obviously, not getting a haircut. It's certainly time, but I just can't bring myself to do it yet. Maybe this week...)

Bowling
(Which is a whole other blog post. When did bowling get to be so expensive? There were three of us, we bowled 2 games and rented shoes...the total was $40! Who can afford that? Well, not us! We won't be bowling again any time soon!)

Lovin' on adorable babies. This is one of my favorite things to do!

(Photo Courtesy of Nate Murdock, future photographer!)

Taking terrible self-portraits.

Playing out-of-doors whilst looking like an orphan child.

Notice the trend? I can really only get pictures of him RUNNING AWAY from the camera lately.

This CRACKS me up.

Ha, ha.

Someone has been digging in the trash for discarded cups-of-ice. (Trust me, all beverages have been sucked dry by someone else)
And where are the orphan's clothes? Pathetic!



FLYING OUR NEW KITE:

I love this one (above) because of the wide angle--if you look closely you can see both Adam and Nate at the bottom of the picture. Nate loved flying the kite, and Adam really took on the challenge to keep 'er in the sky.

Seriously, Aidan could have held on tight and ridden it like a paraglider. It was that big.

Too bad he weighs like 400 pounds and never could have made it more than two feet above the ground.

These brothers play so well together! However, I'm afraid that soon Aidan will outweigh Nate. He's already way more aggressive and loves to tackle his big brother.
His big brother who is, mind you, four-and-one-half years older than him!!!



I made it to the gym FOUR TIMES this week. I just had to throw that in. (no pictures, but maybe in a couple months I'll post the "after" pictures. haha)

Aidan's nickname lately is The Tornado. Look out! He's very destructive. You never know when he'll hit, where he'll hit, or what he's going to do. And he's dang FAST!

Wrapping up the weekend in true Murdock style (well, lately, anyway...this is at least our fifth round of illness this Cold&Flu season).

Sick on the couch with a high fever.
And still begging to play the Wii.

Heaven help me!

Nate, Numero Uno

Well, we made an attempt to get some photos yesterday, but I am not very excited about them. We'll have to try again this weekend. Nate makes the funniest faces and weird (fake) smiles. It was cracking me up to go through the images because not a single one really looked like him. Oh well. I suppose I have to get used to the idea that he's getting to the awkward stage of a boy's life (starts at six and ends at....42?)
But I love him dearly. He really is a sweet little guy and is the light of my life.

PS I'm going through some sort of "identity crisis" with my image editing. I'm trying some new things with these, so they don't totally "flow" because they're all edited differently. I'm trying out some new Photoshop actions on them.

Crazy Weekend!

(I took out the personal information... but this is Nate's birthday invitation)

My weekend was innnnnsaaaaaaane. (insane. insane. insane.) It was full of wonderful things, not-so-wonderful things, and a really great thing: my first-born turned 6. Can someone explain to me when exactly I became an old lady? I mean, when Nate turned 5, I was all like "Yes, my oldest is 5, but that just means I'm well-seasoned...more mature...more experienced." But this year, my only thought is: "Holy macaroni, I am so flippin' old." It doesn't feel good, people. Life is moving too fast, and I feel as though I ought to be comparing and contrasting retirement plans, adult diapers, and timeshares in Boca, you know, for the not-too-distant future.

Okay, where was I before I launched into that narcissistic diatribe?
*see, even my memory is slipping away*

Oh, yes, Nate's birthday.

What a sweetheart. I took very few pictures of my own family this weekend, but hundreds of other people's families. You'll just have to use your imagination as I recount the festivities. Friday was Nate's actual birthday. He woke up in the morning to a bedroom full of blue balloons (his favorite color for the moment) and a breakfast of favorites (pancakes and bacon). I even made the pancakes in the shape of a number 6. How domestic!I joined him at school for lunch and we passed out Birthday Cookies to his classmates. The school has a policy that nothing home-made can be distributed at school (no home-made goodies) so I had to settle for what Albertson's had readily available. And they had M&M cookies by the dozens, so that was what we did. For the record, I would have preferred to hand out home-made cupcakes, my absolute favorite. But anyway.

The next day was Nate's birthday party. We had a boys-only party, a Wii party, in which we did no actual playing of the Wii. Instead, we played games about the Wii, including Wii Fit challenge, to see who could hold the yoga pose the longest. The boys lasted for exactly one round and then became uninterested. Next game was Hot Potato with the Wii Remote, which became a weapon as they threw it to each other. They lasted for two rounds of that one. After that, we played our own version of Mario Kart with those Shake and Go cars. I'd put butcher paper down and drawn a "start" and "finish" line to make a track. We raced in heats, until there was a three-way final race. It was a fun idea, but in real life was less exciting than I'd hoped.

I learned one thing from that party. Well, really, I learned many things, but one most important thing: Trying to have a well-mannered, boys only party in my home is ridiculous. Next year I have two options: Host the party somewhere else, or host a less-organized party with the preferred games of 'Wrestling' and 'Throwing Objects at Each Other.' Stay tuned to find out which option I choose.

And here are some pics from the party. Like I said, there aren't many, just a couple. I forgot the ice cream, so the boys are having popsicles instead. They didn't seem to mind. :)

I mis-spoke, they did play the Wii at the end of the party as we were waiting for some of the parents to arrive. Nate really wanted to show his friends his mad skills at the Wii. His current favorite game is Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Sounds wholesome, huh?!


We are planning to take Nate's Six Birthday Portraits this week sometime, so stay on pins and needles for those. (ha) My lack of good pictures lately is a whole other blog post, I'm just feeling so uninspired right now. I'm working on it, though! I could go on and on, but I'll spare you...for now.

Whew!

The other day, I purchased a used, double jogging stroller with the intention of picking up Nate from school a few times a week without having to use the car. Today was a beautiful 65 degrees, sunshine, and seemed like the perfect day for her maiden voyage. Well, I learned a lot, and I thought I'd share the life lessons learned on the road.

Life Lessons Learned On The Road
a.k.a. Don't Make Stupid Mistakes

*Four miles seems a lot shorter when you're driving a vehicle.
*It's best to take a maiden voyage with your double jogging stroller when you don't have to actually be somewhere at a certain time.
*It's also best to make sure that the alignment of said double jogging stroller is, well, aligned. And not leaning severely to the right, causing you to spend your energy continually straightening her out. (hello...why was she for sale, do ya think?)
*If you are going to be walking while pushing a jogging stroller, you might want to map out your planned route, and make sure that the busiest roads have sidewalks, not ravines.
*Check the tire pressure of your jogging stroller's three tires, to be sure they are not low, very low, or riding entirely on the ground.

But the boys loved it! Especially for the 15 seconds where I ran, pushing them into the wind. Nate said over and over, "This is the funnest ride home from school ever."

PS I won't do it again, at least not the same way. Half way between our home and the school is where the sidewalks begin, so I'll likely park the car there, and then start and end there. Knowledge brings power, no?

Guess Who

...lost his first tooth at school today??? I'll give you a hint.....

...and he couldn't be more excited about it!!!

Just For Fun

This little guy cracks me up. He figured out that if he made a face on the glass, it made his face feel funny (and made his mom and his brother laugh) so he kept doing it all afternoon.

Why?

Why Not?
Look at this face!
Someday soon, I'll post about what a little stinker he's being lately. But dang it, I can't get upset when he is so cute. Like when he climbs on top of the kitchen table, stands up, and laughs triumphantly.
And he's only fifteen months old, people. I see prematurely graying hair in my future....

Nate and I took some pictures today, for his Valentine's day cards. I am thinking about doing some pictures of him with a little Valentine's greeting, rather than buying those dumb character Valentine's Day cards. Does that make me a bad mom, that I'm not letting him pick out his own? Maybe we should do both...?

Also, he's figured out what he wants to do for his birthday party (other than take all his friends to Disneyland). It's going to seriously rock, and it's an idea that I'm actually excited about, and can be done relatively inexpensively. Thank heavens.

Anyway, I just love this little man. Every day, he is growing up more and more, and slipping away, a tiny piece at a time. Well, okay, that is a little dramatic. But I do know how quickly time passes, and before we know it, he will be all grown up. He tells me all the time that he doesn't want to grow up and get married "because I want to live with you forever." It melts my heart, and I tell him that he is welcome to live with us as long as he wants. But then I quickly tell him that someday, he'll meet someone special that he will want to marry, and he'll want to start a family and live with his own wife and children. The first time I told him this, he got a worried look and asked "Can I never see you again if I get married?" We talked about my parents, and Adam's parents, and how we can see them whenever we want to. We just visit. He seemed to be calmed by that. I also said that, if we're super lucky, we can live in the same city and see each other all the time. Nate really does have a tender side to him, and I walk that line of nurturing it and squashing it. It's a delicate balance, because I know the end-result of doing one or the other too much. I want to maintain a balance of letting him have a compassionate, sensitive side (his wife will thank me later, I hope) and a manly, independent side, too (she'll thank me for that, too). Do any of you other Boy Mommas understand what I'm talking about? Anyway, it's something that is on my mind constantly. I guess I'm a little over the top, huh!

He's got his first wiggly tooth. It's not yet "hanging on by a thread," but it doesn't bother him and it doesn't bother me that it's been loose for awhile now. I don't think it will be able to hang on too much longer, but we'll see.....

(In this picture you can also see his bling, which cost just about the same as the down payment we placed on our first home. Thank heavens for modern dentistry....blech)

Dr. Murd

Can I just brag for a minute?

Adam recently took the Board Exam for Family Medicine Residents. He always rocks on these kinds of tests, but this one was head-and-shoulders-above-the-rest-good.

He scored in the 93rd percentile nationally among the residents who took the test.

Paging Doctor Murd, there is a message for you.
YOU ARE AWESOME AND WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!

P.S. It is likely that he will be accepting patients in a private practice in less than 18 months. Since he is going to be the best doctor ever, I would advise you to get on the waiting list, pronto. :) To be added to the list, send a check for $10,000 and/or a gift card to Anthropologie.

Well, Here I Am. Nice to Meet You.

Adam worked on Saturday, and the boys and I had a rather good Saturday: in the early AM we cleaned the church building, and then headed to McDonald's with some friends to play in the Playplace. We came home at about lunchtime, had a group nap, and then had a couple hours of doing absolutely nothing productive. I had a shower in the late afternoon, and then Adam called to see if we wanted to join him for dinner somewhere. Well, actually, the conversation went like this:

Adam: "Hey, I'll be home in about an hour. What's for dinner?"
Me: "I am not cooking tonight. So whatever you choose to fix for us, is what's for dinner."
Adam: "Isn't there a Chili's near our house?"

And so Chili's it was. We met Adam in the parking lot, and as he was getting the kids out of the car, I said, "Hang on just a minute, I want to put on some makeup." Adam was all like, "You look fine. We're at Chili's. It's not like we're going to see anyone we know."

So I got out of the car with my fresh-from-the-shower face.

Then I heard Nate exclaim with great glee: "AILYNN!!"
Turns out his friend and her family had just finished dinner and were leaving. So I had a little conversation with them, thinking, Yeah, right, Adam. We'll see no one we know.

After a little polite conversation with them (we don't know them well, but I wish I did! They are super nice), I heard Adam audibly gasp. (I guess that for me to hear it, it had to be audible. But whatever)
And then he said:

"Dr. Tingle! What a coincidence!"

Dr. Tingle, as in his boss. Dr. Tingle, as in his boss that I have never met. Oh, and his darling family as well; his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby. Whom I have never met.
So tonight would be the night I could meet them. With no make-up on. Which isn't a big deal, I guess, but I'm not as cute without makeup as most people. You all know me, and you know this. I look a little worn-down and tired without it. So, I may be making too big of a deal about it, but I had to laugh and say to Adam: "Yeah, babe, we won't see anyone we know."

Sunday's Piece of Heaven

A beautiful day and time outside with my sweethearts.
Aidan's kissable cheeks.

Soft, cuddly fleece outfits from Carter's.

New Photoshop Actions from The Pioneer Woman.

It's been a good day.