Thanksgiving 2009

....finally, here it is. We spent this Thanksgiving in Maryland with Bammie and Pa. We left Wednesday morning after traveling to Long Beach Tuesday night. We thought an early start in the car on Wednesday would help us beat the holiday traffic, but alas, no such luck. Part of the problem was that we kind of got lost. I'm embarrased to admit that because we've done the drive a million times and the directions are as easy as possible...basically one road the entire time. But we managed to do it and lost about 45 minutes. To add insult to injury, it was 45 minutes of Lyla sleeping, which meant 45 additional waking minutes in the car. But, after a long drive, we arrived to two eager grandparents and a pot full of meatballs (a nice light meal before Thanksgiving, right?) Lyla was thrilled to be out of the confines of the car and just wanted to cruise all over the place. She loved hanging out on the counter with Bammie and Pa. We ate lots of meatballs and celebrated Pa's birthday. On Thanksgiving morning, Lyla was keeping herself busy waiting for all her cousins and aunts and uncles to arrive. She hung out with Pa, played with her new toys, visited the Spectors and passed out just before the guests arrived. I think this is such a goofy picture if her but I love it. "Resting her eyes" just before everyone arrives. Luckily (in this particular circumstance), she doesn't nap long and didn't miss much of the festivities. She loved seeing Laurie, Sean, Julia, Kelly, John, Nikki, Ari and Leah. Lyla and Aunt Nikki Up in the air with Uncle Sean Lyla and her big cousins. She had a staring contest with Sean. Loving all her new toys! She really loved her horsie. The bird. It weighed about 4 pounds more than Lyla. Bammie showing Jules how to baste the turkey And supervising. Good job Jules :) John made tasty and pretty cocktails. I couldn't resist having one (although i don't think I actually finished it...) Dinner was amazing, as usual. Thanks, Bammie... And before you knew it, it was clean up time. Is that a smudge on that glass?? After dinner, we took some nice family portraits.

Swinging

A couple of weeks ago, we had a beautiful, crisp, late fall day and Lyla and I took a detour from our Christmas shopping for a trip to the swings.

A Little Behind...

So we are a little behind on our blogging. I've been a little crazy at work, and then it was Thanksgiving, and now its almost Christmas, and the blog is way behind! I'm hoping to catch up this weekend, but here is a quick snapshot of what we've been up to. We have been wearing silly hats. We have been practicing being a ballerina. We have been climbing on EVERYTHING. We have been trying to steal Daddy's wine. We have been bundling up for the cold. And we have been hogging Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Lyla Loves Disco

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

And Speaking of Ohio . . . GO BROWNS

So, the Browns are kind of crappy this season. But they are on Monday Night Football tonight! We felt the occasion warranted busting out Lyla's Brownies cheerleading outfit. She got a kick out of it!

Trip to Ohio

Last weekend we went to Ohio so Lyla could meet her Great Grandma Ann, and many great aunts and uncles and great-great aunts and uncles. Needless to say, the weekend was great ;) (sorry, I couldn't resist). It was Lyla's first time on a plane so I was a little worried about how she would react. She is crawling all over the place now so I wasn't sure she was going to be thrilled to sit on my lap for two hours. I was also worried I would forget something (because there are no stores in Ohio, right?). I typically pack at least a week in advance, but I've been working like crazy so I only had one day to pack and no time to make a pre-packing "to do" list. Eeek! That, and the whole newness of the situation had me a little stressed. Well, Lyla did great and, yes, we had a lot of stuff. It was a well-coordinated dance to get me, Mark, Lyla, her stroller, and her liquids through security without accidentally sending Lyla through the x-ray machine. Don't laugh, but there is a specific instruction on the TSA website that says you should NOT put your child on the x-ray belt. Thanks, TSA! Anyway, the plane ride went off without a hitch, Lyla slept the whole way and we landed safely in Cleveland. Once we got off the plane, each of us had to make a pit stop. While me and Lyla were waiting for Mark, I took a mental inventory of all our stuff and gave myself a proverbial pat on the back for managing to stay organized. At that very moment, I hear an announcement "Passenger Murphy please return to gate 8C." How coincidental, I think, as I return to praising myself as the best packer of the year (and with only one day notice!). A split second later, I realize, "holy $&!#, I forgot my purse." I ran back to the gate and there was my pretty purple Louis Vuitton bag waiting for me. The only hitch? The gate agent asked for photo id! Hello, my photo id is in the bag. I guess I looked frazzled enough that he just gave it to me and sent me on my way. So, we finally got to Youngstown with little time to spare to get ready for lunch with the Pannunzio side of the family. Lyla loved the big hotel bed. Bammie and Pa met us when we got to the hotel and had some new toys for Lyla. She loves her toy cell phone, but still prefers my blackberry. At lunch, Lyla got to meet her great-great Aunt Angie, great-great Aunt Dee and Uncle Cal, great-great Aunt Rose and Uncle Bill and great-great Uncle John and Rachel. It was so much fun to watch her get passed along the table. All the excitement tired her out eventually, so Pa whisked her away for some shut eye. After lunch, we headed over to Grandma Ann's house so she and all the Murphys could meet Lyla. We got to see Tom and Pat, Mel and Rene, and Eileen. Lyla loved her great-grandma so much. She also loved her Great Aunt Rene's eyeglasses, but she wasn't too sure what to make of her Great Uncle Mel's beard :) Grandma and Mark Mark was a good sport. See him trying to watch the Notre Dame game amidst all the excitement. Lyla and her Great Grandma Lyla and her Great Aunt Rene (thanks Rene for letting her destroy your glasses...she's a little rough, as you may have guessed) It was a fun weekend. Mark has such great memories of growing up surrounded by family. We are so happy Lyla finally got to meet everyone.

Partners in Crime

Here are the latest antics from Lyla and Dahlia. They have such a good time together. It makes me so jealous!

Lyla's First Halloween

Lyla's first halloween came and went without too much fanfare. She had already dressed up as a cute ladybug and snuggly bunny rabbit so I didn't feel really compelled to dress her up, which, let's be honest, is actually more fun for me than for her. I also ended up having to work most of the day and Lyla is still feeling kind of yucky and Mark would never complain about watching football all day, so we just hung around the house and greeted some of our neighbors who came by to trick or treat. My sick little chickie spent most of her day doing this. It reminded us of her early days when we would just let her sleep on us all day long (well, that certainly came back to bite us in the butt, didn't it, miss no napper?) Mark didn't mind one bit. We did eventually manage to get her into a cute little pumpkin outfit Bammie gave her. And she managed to crawl over to the bucket of snickers bars waiting for trick or treaters. Don't you love the possessed look on her face as she's thinking "MUST GET CANDY!"

24

No, not the television show. 24 is about the amount of hours I billed while working this weekend, so apologies in advance for being behind on my blogging, cause this week ain't getting any easier. My sick little Lyla Bell loved sitting next to me doing her own "work" while I typed away all weekend. On the bright side, being stuck inside all weekend with two briefs to write and a literally snot-nosed little kid to take care of was a good opportunity to try out this new liquid keratin stuff I had. I had to leave it on for 48 hours without wetting my hair. Boy, am I ready for a shower...