Catch Up Feb 10th- Feb 20th

Well shoot, I missed a week but we're catching up!  Over the past week and a half we celebrated Valentine's Day, the kids got double ear infections and I got an Orangetheory pass! So many notable milestones ;).  We also put in an offer on a house- and it got accepted!  Woot! And I went to the temple with my Dad which was awesome.  Typically my inner dialogue during temple sessions go a lot like this; "wow this is pretty, oh what a neat decoration, wait what is going on?, ok that was weird, wow this room is beautiful, man I hope my kids are being good for their sitter!" And then we enter the celestial room and I feel so content and at peace.  I just always feel an overwhelming love for the Savior and feel so loved by my Heavenly Father.  My Dad and I got to sit and just chat and it was really special.  I'm not one that gets a lot of big answers in the temple but I always feel such peace! 

These two lazy loafs love to snuggle.  This was the start of the ear infections.  Luckily they are both at an age where they can tell me what hurts so there's not a lot of guess work!  Quinn really loves Tally and started calling him, "my Tally" this week.  He's been going on little dates with Grammy and Nona and every time he leaves she cries for "My Tally! My Tally!" 

Liv is doing better with solids!  Still gags if it's anything thicker than puree but she's loving green beans! She's also getting VERY busy.  The girl can army crawl and she's pretty darn FAST.  She's also sitting up well and will basically be a big girl by the time we see Braedon (in two weeks lol).  

Looks comfortable.  Tally can fall asleep anywhere.  

This is how I knew this girl was sick!  She fell asleep in the car at 6:30pm and slept straight through until 9am the next morning.  

Tally and Quinn are loving all of the cousin time they are getting.  In the mornings Quinn asks for "Tay-doe and Tan-ah".  Tanner is so sweet to Liv and loves to hold her and make her giggle.  Here we have Tally and Caden doing "homework".  Tally asks me everyday now to give him "homework" so he can be like Caden.  I just love listening to their little conversations.  In this photo Caden was talking to Tally about kindergarten and how one day they got to try allll different kinds of apples. "A slice of a red apple, and a slice of a green apple, and a slice of a yellow apple!"  His little voice is the cutest.  They are two peas in a pod and the night before they left Tally said to me, "tomorrow is the worst day ever!" haha. He is always looking forward to playing with Caden.  

Two little sick kids snuggling on the couch!

Snapped this pic of Tally while we waited for antibiotics.  He colored Valentines for Grammy and Quinn.  He picked out a Winnie The Pooh coloring page just for Quinny and a hello kitty one for Grammy.  Just look at that focus haha.  

Happy mom and happy babe!  Grammy watched the girls while Tally and I were at the instacare and she took a three hour nap!  It was the best cause I had time to go for a three mile run while Grammy was watching the kids.  I love the Utah sun! 

Braedon sent me and the kids Swig for Valentines day.  He knows us well!  His note said, "Flowers are nice but so is caffeine and sugar!" haha

Quinn and her "duckers!" She can sniff out candy from a mile away.  She is definitely my hardest kid right now with her intense mood swings.  But it's also probably why I take so many pictures of her.  I have to remember her sweet moments so that the sour ones aren't so hard.  

Here she is insisting that she go outside with "My Tally" even though she is a wimp in the cold.  As you can see, she required Lambie to be zipped up in her coat as well.  

Pleased that we did her hair in "Minnie Ears" today.  Minnie Mouse is one of Quinn's beloved obsessions.  

Probably the highlight of my week so far was taking Tally on a little date.  Sara offered to stay with my girls so during their nap we took off!  We went to "Squig" (swig) and the mall.  He held my hand the whole time we walked through the mall and had lots of suggestions for things I could buy for our new house and workout clothes.  "We could get this mom- should we get it?" We skipped and ran through the mall and did our best not to step on any cracks so as to not break my back.  Our last stop was the lego store and I let Tally pick out an early birthday present.  He is obsessed with Lego's right now and he has always loved all things Halloween/spooky so he went with a "scary tarey" lego set.  He will sit and build Lego sets for HOURS.  In the car we both cracked up because out of the blue Tally said, "Mom if I was a giraffe then my head would crash through the ceiling of the car! I never wanna be a giraffe".  haha. When we left to go home he told me, "Mom that was a perfect date!" 

This weekend we get to go to California and I'm so exciting because I get to surprise him with LEGO land!  He doesn't even know a place like that exists so I just can't even wait to see the look on his face.  So glad we get to do that at the peak of his LEGO obsessed thus far and what a fun birthday surprise.  It's insane that he turns FIVE next week.  Where does the time go?  We are both already sad about kindergarten and I don't know how I'll survive full day!  I may actually see if I can "homeschool" him one day a week.  I can't stand the thought of him being gone 8 hrs a day 5 days a week.  

Other notable moments of the week- Quinn sneaking into the medicine cabinet and opening child proof medicine bottles, refusing to wear clothes and terrorizing the house stark naked.  Tally- being the nicest big brother and "doing EVERYTHING for my sisters.  UGH".  He is so good to Liv and said to me, "Mom, you don't have to worry about Liv crying because I can make her happy".  And it's true!  Liv- just continuing to be a happy baby and kicking her arms and legs in excitement when anyone gives her attention!  Until next week!

February 9th Recap

We had a busy week over here in the Murdock household!  Grammy and Sara came to visit us in DC and help with the house hunt.  We kept them busy and Sara helped with my kids a ton so that grammy and I could see lots of houses.  Tally's only request for a house is that is has a backyard.  And maybe a basement.  I think after years of apartment living this little boy is ready for some space to run and explore!  We are getting pretty excited about that possibility.  We also flew back with my mom and Sara to Utah!  We get to spend a big chunk of time here so that I can be at Morgan's birth.  She's been preparing for an unmedicated delivery and I'm pretty excited for her and very honored that she asked me to be a part of it.  Plus, she is delivering at St. Mark's so I feel all sorts of nostalgia about it being my old workplace and where I also delivered Tally.  Gosh I just love birth! 

We do really miss Braedon though.  Tally was super sad when he realized that he couldn't come and would miss his birthday.  He's pretty fixated on having a birthday party and said, "but Dad is invited to my party!"  They got to FaceTime last night and it was the cutest thing watching them talk.  He is turning into a little person.  They decided on having "two birthday's" and doing a "Daddy day" when we get back to celebrate.  Tally is especially excited about playing Zelda with Braedon when we get home.  Nerds!  

We've officially entered the terrible two stage with miss Quinny.  She is all things mischievous.  However, she balances it out pretty well with her darling voice and sweetness.  Oh boy can she flip the switch though!  As you can see below, we can't leave her unattended for too long....

And here we have a Pure Luck event.  I tried to carry all of my groceries up to our apartment in one trip....and well... I tripped.  My bags went flying and I took quite a tumble.  A face plant and a scraped knee later, I wasn't discouraged enough to try again.  But at this point, my bags had suffered from skidding across the floor and couldn't handle the pressure!  One by one my groceries started dropping out of the bags....

Quinn's new thing- "I take picture!"  I have lots of these gems saved...

Tally remains the snuggliest kid around.  This is a typical "quiet time" for us.  Quinn naps in her crib, I nap or read a book while snuggling Liv and if Tally is really tired he'll sneak in to cuddle us after he's spent some time building legos or creating something.  

Livvy!  Look at that gummy grin!  That outfit used to be Quinn's and I just love seeing my favorite outfits get recycled.  

Tally in his happy place.  He would die of happiness if we let him have a pet lizard!  This was at the aquarium.  We spent our Saturday with grandpa- the aquarium and chik-fil-a make for a perfect date!

The smiliest bean around.  Liv is tall and skinny and just so happy.  Doesn't take much to get her to beam up at you.  

These two are pretty tired after a busy week.  Quinn was requesting to snuggle with Tally and it just melted my heart.  

Tally got to tag along to the Utah basketball game with grandpa!  He came home so happy and couldn't stop chatting my ear off about it.  Before he left he asked if Quinn could come and said, "I was just trying to be nice.  She would have so much fun.  That's what brother's do!"  Quinn kept asking where Tally was while he was gone.  They really are best buds.  I let Tally go give Quinn a goodnight hug and he climbed right into her crib to snuggle her, give her a kiss and tell her that the Utes WON!  Then they asked if they could sleep in the same room, and I just couldn't say no!  I was regretting my decision when they woke each other up at 5:30 in the morning.  Yikes.  The fun ended there and I separated them and told them it was THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! haha.  Luckily they both went back to sleep, but I can tell they are both worn out from our many adventures and need a catch up day.  

Other than really really missing Braedon, we are doing well!  Until next week! 

Weekly Recap

Trying to get caught up on all things Murdock family would take some time, so I'll do my best to do a quick recap of this year so far!  First and foremost- Braedon matched!  What a wild ride this medical school journey has been.  While we're definitely sad that we aren't headed back to Utah to be around our family, we are happy to be staying here in D.C. where we have so many wonderful friends who love us as well!  It's pretty crazy to think that we will be experts in all things D.C. by the end of this road.  And really, who knows where we will end up??  

We celebrated match day by going to Zatinya for restaurant week!  It was our first time participating in restaurant week and we will definitely make it a regular thing from here on out!  Twice a year a huge handful of restaurants pick a fixed menu/ discounted pricing so that you get to try LOTS of food for a decent price.  We've already got Filomena on our list for August.  Match-day felt like a dream.  We truly didn't sleep much the night before and then the shock of it all wore off by dinnertime.  We were exhausted!  We spent some time driving around Arlington to decide if we'd like to move there and were heartbroken when Tally asked if we could find a house closer to Utah.  His love for his family runs deep!  

Overall though, we do feel like we just must be meant to be here in Virginia.  Although we might not see the reasons right away, and we can speculate all we want, we just have to trust that we're not always the ones in charge ;).  

And now, for a photo dump of the last month or so! 

Capturing a rare moment of Quinn falling asleep on me.  She usually reserves this for Dad!

The girls at their well check-ups.  Both of them are in the 90th percentile for height!  

Tally truly is the sweetest big brother.  He loves to take care of Livvy by getting her the binky, singing to her, holding her, and feeding her.  He plays so well with Quinn the majority of the time, and talks to her so sweetly!  He is always happy to hold her hand in the busy halls at church, or in the parking lot/ crossing the street.  Or even just randomly when we are out and about!  I caught an unprompted moment of him marching around the Jefferson Memorial like a soldier while holding her little hand!  She was so proud to be paraded around by him.  

"Is this a good hair day, or a bad hair day?"

Llama Llama and Fancy Nancy books are Quinn's absolute favorite!  

BEST BUDS

This was taken after walking the 3.5 miles from Gravelly Point to the Jefferson memorial with Laura Webb and all three of her kids.  We were amazed at how well the boys did on their scooters!  Tally pooped out at the end though and hitched a ride.  

Teething has begun!  Liv is my first real binky baby.  She loves that thing!

More of us snuggling on the couch.  I see a theme for January.  Or maybe just a general theme for us haha. 

This picture cracks me up.  Just another day in paradise!  Tally had my phone and snapped about 100 pictures of me hanging up laundry while holding a clingy Liv.  

After church one Sunday Tally piled all of the "stuffies" on top of Quinn.  She happily obliged and felt special the entire time.  

We haven't seen much of Braedon these days because he's working some crazy hours.  We sure miss him though and the kids love to leave him voicemails.  

Ending on a sad note here with Quinn's first ear infection.  But- another hilarious story goes with it.  I had agreed to host the missionary zone conference (about 100 missionaries) with my friend who also has three young kids.  She quickly jumped in when she found out Quinn had an ear infection and  picked up Tally from preschool so I could head to the instacare with the girls.  While I was sitting waiting to see the doctor it dawned on me at 5:30 pm that the zone conference luncheon was THE NEXT DAY and we hadn't made any plans!!!  I sent her a text and we got to work.  We ended up feeding the missionaries pizza and salad and made it as simple as possible.  Honestly, neither of us felt any guilt that we didn't put on a beautiful lunch complete with homemade food and decorations.  We did our best with the stage of life we are in!  And the boys (Tally and Dylan) thought it was so cool that they got to see all the missionaries and eat pizza with them.  Definitely a win!  What I loved most was that the mission president's wife noticed we were far outnumbered with our kids with us while we were getting the lunch ready.  She made sure to have the missionaries set up and take down so that we could get in and out of there as quick as possible.  We all worked together to make it happen!  And guess what? Everyone got fed!  

Until next week!