Checking Herself Out

Lyla decided to wear her Tinker Bell costume last weekend. She thinks she looks pretty darn cute in it. You can catch her checking herself out and sometimes kissing herself in the mirror. Can you blame her?

Twin Talk

Another baby video making the rounds this week. These twins are so darn cute. Lyla really loves this one. I think we watched it 25 times today. "Babies again, pweeeeese."

Bounce House Fun

My mom bought a bounce house for the kids.  Good idea?  The jury is out but the kids are having a blast.

One Year Later

These pictures were taken less than a year apart in the same spot in Dina's backyard.  Her hair looks dark, no?

This year:


Last year:

Green With Cuteness

A picture I never posted from St. Patrick's day -- my favorite babies.

Spring in NYC

Spring is not behaving.  It is teasing us with weather near 70 one day and snow showers a couple of days later.  We've been trying to get out and explore the city even when the forecast is marginally Spring-like.  A couple of weeks ago, we made our first outing to Central Park.   Apparently, we are not the only ones that are anxious for Spring's arrival.  The park was crowded with antsy New Yorkers, ready to come out of hibernation.  This is actually one of the best times of year in the city.  There is a great energy around as people shed their winter coats and embrace the sunny skies.  Central Park is a great place to experience Spring in the city.


We found some out of the way trails and let Lyla run around.  She loved the Central Park "wildlife" (i.e. ducks and squirrels...luckily we didn't see any "city squirrels") and just being free.










After we hit a few hilly paths, Lyla asked to "carry you", which, of course, means carry her. That was fine with me because it meant lots of "huggies" from my girl.






We ended up at the famous Alice in Wonderland statue.  It was crawling with kids and I think Lyla was a little freaked out by it.  After some exploring, she warmed up to the rabbit and found a gator she was crazy about.












Of course, every outing of ours ends with food.  We tried to go to J.G. Melons for burgers, but the wait was nearly an hour for lunch.  We were on borrowed time -- Lyla was asleep -- so we passed and found another lunch spot.

I love this city.  I can't wait for the real Spring weather to arrive.  We have a long list of adventures planned for this year.

March Madness

A couple of weeks ago -- before everyone's brackets got completely crushed -- we stumbled upon giant screen TVs showing the tournament in the Winter Garden. We all needed to get out of the house and were headed to the park when we saw signs announcing March Madness in the Winter Garden. We grabbed lunch to go at Pick A Bagel in Battery Park and headed over to see what it was about. There were tons of comfy couches and huge TVs. Other than the totally 80s retro furniture (hello, mirrored and formica coffee tables), it was the perfect setup for everyone in the Murphy family. Mark got to watch college basketball, Lyla got to run around like a maniac and I didn't have to clean up after anyone :)

Lyla only climbed up on the stage in front of the TV once or twice.


Admiring herself in the furniture




Lyla didn't like this commercial one bit.


Just relaxing


Happy Daddy

The First Position is Tricky!

I know I haven't posted in awhile and I have lots to catch up on (hopefully tonight!) ...but I just couldn't resist this cute little video that is making the rounds. Lyla starts ballet this summer -- here is just one of the challenges she will face :)

A Sneak Peak at Lyla's Two Year Photoshoot

A few of Lyla's photos are on the 2 Girl Phototique blog.  You can check them out here:

http://2girlphototique.bigfolioblog.com/

Highlights from LB Visit

Lyla and I spent Thursday and Friday in Long Beach. Here is a quick view of our trip in iPhone pictures:

Suburban grocery carts are awesome


Matching cars


Squished in the car


Shopping for new curtains


And, finally, some mysterious vandalism on the corner of Neptune and Park.



More "real" pictures from our fun in the bounce house to follow.

More From My Birthday

Here are a few pictures from the joint birthday party Eileen and I had a couple of weeks ago.  Eileen always tells the story that she begged my mom to have me on the 6th, but my mom tried to explain to her that that is not how having a baby works. Lo and behold, I was born on the 6th... Eileen always jokes that I was her birthday present.

We had a nice night at Patsy's with family.





























Birthday girls


Thank goodness for technology...




Except for when the technology is taken away...


Nothing that Dylan can't fix


Tickling her papa