Bad Things

I've never understood why bad things happen to good people, and it's even more difficult when you're that person.

My Grams was a good person who had a lot of bad things happen to her. Her husband was unfaithful, and she suffered in her last years of life. But, more important than these bad things, is the fact that she was strong and resilient throughout her life.

Eventhough something bad has happened to me, I will remain strong. I've always had a good head on my shoulders, and I'm not afraid to work for what I want in my life. The unfortunate thing is that I have no control over the way others negatively impact my life.

Now that I have Harper, I have an even stronger drive to pursue the good things in life.

Waiting for Harper

Chris and I only have a couple more weeks before our little girl makes her debut! It's so crazy to think about, because a part of me never thought this day would come. We've been through sooo much, and Harper is our miracle baby! I can't wait to meet her :)

I'm feeling very tired, especially now that I'm sick with a head cold :/ Grr... Chris and I have a lot to do around the house, and sometimes it feels like we'll never get everything done. But, I'm not that worried about it, which is pretty unnatural for me. I'm comforted by the fact that Harper will have all of her needs met by Chris and me, and it doesn't matter if the house is spotless or not for our parents.

We completed our three classes at the hospital. I think I learned the most at the breastfeeding class. I'm really excited to put everything we've learned into action!

My sub will be shadowing me next week, so she's comfortable teaching my class while I'm on maternity leave. So, the secretary told me not to go into labor until after next week ;) We'll see...

Words really can't explain how excited I am to meet our little creation!!!

2010 Highlights

In 2010...

We bought our Dream House!

We realized our dream of becoming pregnant and survived a miscarriage.

We turned 28 :)

We finished yet another school year. Mine at Cesar Chavez Elementary School teaching 4th grade and Chris's at Arizona Western College as an Athletic Trainer.

Chris traveled -- Lake Powell and across the country and into Canada!

We became pregnant again and are joyfully awaiting the birth of our daughter, Harper Rae!!!

We spent a few days in Flagstaff :)

I started and stopped my second master's degree. It's funny how a baby changes everything!

I did dance stuff -- AWC Dance Team, taught Basic Ballet for Adults at Yuma Ballet Academy, participated in Ballet Yuma's production of "The Nutcracker."

We bought Brownie, a used suburban :)

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner.

Chris went to TX with AWC football!!!

We celebrated Christmas in Tucson :)

Feeling Like Myself Again

When you're pregnant, there's a period of time that you don't feel like yourself. You're sick, tired, crabby, lathargic, etc. Well, I'm finally leaving most of those things behind! The funny thing is that as soon as I started feeling like myself again, I started looking different - BELLY! It's the strangest thing.

The Beauty of Sharing

Harper is already a very fortunate little girl, because we have so many friends and family members who've been excited to share there baby stuff with us. Glenn was the first person to give Harper a present - the softest baby blanket ever and a few books. Then, JoJo gave us sparkly, pink tennis shoes that make me wish I wore a sie two - they're sooo cute :)

But, what I'm most thankful for are the people who are loaning us stuff that they no longer use, or at least don't need right now. Cathy is giving us a crib, cradle, and clothes for Harper and me. Since those are some of the necessities, I'm really happy to have them. Also, Jeff and Laura gave us a bathtub, bouncer, Bumbo seat, and a bunch of bottles and sippy cups. Wow! We're lucky :)

We've also had two people volunteer to be on-call babysitters, which is amazing (especially when you don't have family in town).

All in all, I feel like things are starting to come together. It thrills me that so many people already love and support Harper at 21 weeks of life! We're sooo fortunate :)

April 6, 2011

Ok, so since I found out I was pregnant on July 31st, all I can think about is my baby who is due for arrival on April 6, 2011. Pregnancy is the most consuming experience I've ever had in my life! Chris and I have experienced some of our greatest joys and greatest sorrows because of pregnancy - it's truly amazing!

Just so you know, we're planning to find out our baby's sex on November 4th, which is right around the corner! I'll keep you posted :)

Chris and I are going camping this weekend, and I'm planning on him taking a picture of my ever expanding belly pooch, so I'll post that too.

We've already picked out names too. If it's a boy, his name will be Adam Wayne. Wayne is Chris's dad's middle name. If it's a girl, her name will be Harper Rae. Rae is short for Rachael, which is my mom's middle name. For obvious reasons I didn't want to go with Rachel or Rachael again ;)

I've already been informed that the Murphy grandparents are going to be traveling to Yuma once a month when the baby comes. We've also had people volunteer to babysit for us! In general, the support we've received from our family and friends has been incredible.

I'm so content now. I only wish I could've known this would be my reality back when I was struggling with infertility and the miscarriage.

This baby is proof that everything in life happens for a reason. I always knew that, but now I believe it.

Rekindling Old Interests

Sometimes I feel old, because I don't do any of the things I used to. Like playing my flute, dancing, creating things, like art and stuff, writing notes, decorating photo albums etc. I think I've stopped doing most of this stuff because of a lack of time and energy. It's kinda sad in a way. Almost like losing a part of yourself. It makes me think of my favorite movie of all time, The Notebook, when Noah gets Allie to paint again.

I'm trying to make a few lifestyle changes that will enable me to do some of the things I used to do. Well, for one I'm going back to college. *sigh* I'm getting in better physical shape, so hopefully I can take a couple of ballet classes a week. And, I just might pick up my flute again. It definitely needs some TLC before I do anything too serious! I think I'll get back into the art stuff once we have a child in the house, because I think it's the perfect entertainment for a kid :)