Well I showed Marin and Piper our blog and they have asked to start it up again!  I hope with them helping to post it will keep the Murray Family motivated to keep this up!  Because we had a lot of laughs reading past posts and it is a great way to capture life.

Happenings.......

This pretty much sums it up with Piper.  She is always on the go and thinks she can do everything that Marin does.  (The blue is from a popscicle, she loves them.)  She has a temper and is now at the stage where she arches her back and throws herself down if she does not like what you have to say.  

Earlier today, Marin, Piper, and I were playing in the basement.  We have shelves on the floor that have toys on them.  Piper is a climber and decided it was time that they were climbed.  She pushed tools off of them and then walked as if she was on a balance beam.  When I took herto get down there was a fit and then she went back to climb up again.  I told her not to climb and she smiled at me and laughed and then climbed right back up.  I guess I am not in charge and just think I am.
The Murray family camping trip.  We had hot dogs, camp fire, smores, and a roomy tent.  All in my parent's backyard.  When Marin asked to go camping, Ed and I were overjoyed (we are not campers).  This was a great alternative and we had a blast!
Marin is into bumper cars lately.  She likes to play with Piper.  They both are on a bike and Marin runs into Piper.  I do not like the game, but Marin and Piper just laugh.  Here is a cute little Marin story..I was watering the flowers today and got water on her new tennis shoes and socks.  She looks at me and says "oh crap".  I said where did you hear that from.  She told me that her Gran says that sometimes.  She has been informed that she needs to be 13 before she can say that and that she can say "oh rats" or 'oh no" since she is only 3 1/2.  I just laughed and thought that she used it very well, I just can't let her know that though.
Piper moved into a twin size bed the last weekend in June.  Her crib and changing table was packed up to go to Uncle Aaron & Aunt Nancy's and we are awaiting the arrival of there little boy any day now.  

Ed was a wreck moving Piper to a big girl bed.  The bed is taller than her and when she went into her room the first time after it was up, she was very excited and just wanted in it.  Then she started jumping.  She loves her bed, stays in it and lets us know when she is awake and we go and get her.  I hope that this lasts for awhile.  Ed has relaxed now that it has gone so well.  At times I am sad that Piper is growing up so quickly, but yet amazed by her accomplishments.  I tried putting her in a pack n play over the weekend at Ed's sisters and she wanted nothing to do with it.  I guess that is her way of letting me know she is a big girl.
Our two chicks at the zoo.  The farm animals are Marin's favorite and Piper just likes to watch them all.  Piper is good at quacking these days though when asked to be a duck.

A little time off from Blogging.....

I want to get back at this over the summer. I am in Edmonton for work and Ed is in Wisconsin at his mom's with the girls. I figure this was just as good of a time as any to start this up again. I will post pictures soon.

Piper is started walking exactly 1 week before her first birthday. She has eight teeth and pretty much eats anything we eat. She is a big pointer and grunter. I just laugh.........so far it has been an effective way of communication for her. She has for words in her vocabulay.......mama, dada, ball, and backpack. It is funny because backpack was Marin's first word too. Piper is still in the 90 percentile for length and weighs 22 lbs. She loves being outside and wants to swing, walk around, or push her bike around.

Solids & School

We started Piper on solids at 4 months old. She loves them and is a chow hound. She has eaten everything that we have given her. If you do not shovel the food in fast enough she grunts at you until her mouth is full.
Messy eater!

Marin started pre-school the day after Labor Day. She made nothing of her first day when I dropped her off. I would not have even gotten a hug or a kiss if I had not asked for one. Her teacher is Miss Stephanie.
The first day of school picture.

Marin's classroom......she goes Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:45am-12:30pm. They have a kid potty at school and that is the only one that she likes to go on. She is learning Spanish words, songs, practicing letters, and numbers, and many more things.

The State Fair

Marin loved the animals at the fair. We watched a calf birth, somehow it was harder to watch that then have my own children!

Piper got tired and decided to sleep and never saw the horse named Piper.

The other Piper!

We love Marin with pigtails, but she screams when we put them in.

Back to Work In Chicago

I forgot to post this picture yesterday of Marin and Piper and ALL their cousins. Marin just squeals with delight when she gets to spend time with her cousins. They are all a very important part of her life.

I went back to work the last week in July and my first couple of days of work were in Chicago. I told Ed that I was not going without him and the girls. So Ed's mom came with us and they had a blast while I worked! Marin and Piper in the Pack N Play.

There was no time for naps in the hotel so poor Piper just feel asleep in the carrier. Her arms and feet bounced up and down as Ed walked. If only we all could just fall aleep anywhere.

A ferris wheel ride at Navy Pier.

Marin made Teddy the Bear at Build A Bear on the trip. She is pink and had to have Superman pajamas, a princess dress, and shorts and a T-shirt. She kept on refering to the bear as he, but insisted that Teddy was a girl. They also went to the Shedd Aquarium, we all ate at the Rain Forest Cafe. The pretend animals and thunder storms scared Marin to the point that we had to leave in the middle of dinner. I am hoping the next summer we can go on a real vacation where I don't have to work. Marin had a blast and took in all the new experieces and was very excited to tell me about all of her adventures when I returned to the hotel room

Summer Fun

Marin went to her first movie in a theater. We were not sure how it was going to go, but she did very well. We saw Ratatouille and after we say were were asked many times why the lady was shooting at the rats.

Must always wear a life jacket while picking up cones!

Marin's first canoe ride with Uncle Brain and her cousins. Marin lasted about 5 minutes and the canoe came back to drop her off.

A rare photo with my girls.

Marin in her gymnastics leotard. Marin loved gymnasts this summer and she had her final lesson last week. Each of the kids received a ribbon at the last class. At the end of every other class the kids got stamps on their hands and feet. When I told Marin she would not be getting the stamps and only the ribbon. She told me she wanted to turn her ribbon back in so she could get her stamps. She got over it when we went to McDonald's to celebrate the end of gymnastics with Gram and Pa.

The Power and Laughter of Bodily Functions!

We are now 2 weeks into the Potty Training process with Marin and she's doing very well. We still have about 1 accident a day in her Pull-up, and pooping is still a major challenge, but we are making very good progress. Marin is getting better at telling us when she needs to go, and she wakes up from her night sleep and naps dry everytime.

This is Daddy reading the book and Marin sucking the lollipop that she got for pooping on the toilet (Finally)!

These are the potty charts that Marin uses to track her progress. The top one was a sticker just for going on the potty, and resulted in the acquisition of some Polly Pockets. The bottom one is for tougher skills like pooping, no accidents from wake-up to nap or night sleep, and telling mom and dad when we need to go. The pictures are for rewards along the way.

Things we've learned while potty training Marin... 1. Our method makes us poor. 2. Our method rots Marin's teeth. 3. Sometimes we feel worse about accidents than she does. 4. We think an end might be in sight! Wish us luck. 5. With all the talk about bodily functions around our house...funny stories are bound to pop up...

Each night we have a bedtime routine that includes a show, books, and songs. One of the songs that we sing to Marin is the MILK cheer. For those of you who don't know... it goes like this.

Give me an M....(Marin yells "M!") Give me an I...(Marin yells "I!"...you get the picture) Give me an L....L! Give me a K....K! What's that spell?....MILK! Don't give me no Pop, no Pop! Don't give me no tea, no tea! Just give me that Milk... Moo Moo Moo Moo... Wisconsin Milk... Moo Moo Moo Moo.

During the Moo Moo Moo Moo part, we put up our thumbs like udder teats and Marin milks them. There are more verses, but I'll spare you.

Anyway, last night we finish the cheer and Marin decides she's going to be silly and starts calling out her own cheer and we play along....

Give me and F...(We yell "F!") Give me an A...(We yell "A!" and start to think about the pronunciation of the made up word she is spelling.) Give me an R...(We yell "R!" and think well, this should be easy to pronounce...but what if she picks...hmm) Give me a T...(We yell "T!" and begin cracking up....She's deadpan, so we're pretty sure that she had no idea what she had just spelled) What's that spell? (We yell "FART!" and the whole family laughs A LOT for about 5 minutes and answers a bunch of questions about how to spell it.)

So, Marin now knows how to spell "fart". She already spelled it again this morning.

Happy Farting, Pooping, and Tinkling!

SISTERS!

People have been asking a lot lately if Marin and Piper look alike. Well, here are two sets of pictures both taken at about 2 months for your to judge for yourself.

Piper

Marin



Piper

Marin

In other ways, the sisters are not alike.

Marin never slept more than 4 hours at a crack at night until 4 months. Piper sleeps 5-8 hour stretches nearly every night.

Marin would scream the moment her back hit her crib...leading to some "interesting" ways to put her to sleep. Piper has no problem with her crib and naps there at least once a day.

Marin never cracked the 10th percentile in weight until she was 18 months. Piper was in the 50th percentile at her 2 month appt. and a whopping 83rd percentile in height. Too bad her parents genetics will reverse that trend later in life.

Both of them loved to smile and look at cool colorful drawings, though. 2 (nearly) perfect girls!

4th of July

For the past 3 years, we spend the 4th of July with our friends the Stoddens in Cannon Falls. We go to the parade, collect lots of candy, and then spend the afternoon with Steve, Stephanie, Saundra, Ellie, and Gavin. Stephanie makes a great lunch which I always eat too much of, and then the kids play. This gives us a very late nap, which is perfect because it helped Marin stay up for the Fireworks which we watch from a neighbors deck here in Apple Valley. Marin did not like the noisy fireworks this year and took a lot of convincing to stay...with the help of some earplugs!

Lounging at the Parade!
Gavin and Marin getting ready for some candy grabbing action!
Piper slept most of the parade.

Summer Fun... by Marin

Hi, Marin Here. As you may know, Mom and Dad have been off of work since Piper was born. That has made for one FUN summer! Here's a sampler of what we've been doing:

On Wednesday's I go to gymnastics. My favorite is jumping on the trampoline, and I am getting good at my "high-low-over you go" somersault!

When it's going to be hot for a few days, we get out the backyard pool and fill 'er up. Daddy also puts the hose down my swingset slide and makes it a water slide!

I'm starting to like dressing up more and more.

While I don't like the sound of the electric beaters, I do love helping mom bake cookies and brownies, especially the clean-up part.

When we're not playing, sometimes Mom and dad take Piper and I for walks in our Burley. It's usually a little loud for the first few minutes until Piper stops SCREAMING!

We've also gone on trips to see friends like Julia and Katie, Zach and Luke, Sam and Emily, and my Wisconsin cousins.

Sometimes friends come to visit us, too. Ellie, Saundra, and Gavin came to play, so did Isabelle, and my new friends down the street, Zach and Katie!

I also spend a lot of time playing with my good friend, Ella. Yesterday, she and I went to Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater. It was so much fun, we even got sand in our diapers. I've been to many parks this summer...Mermaid Park, Big Blue Park, Sand Park, Big Slide Park, and Teddy Bear Park....not to mention the WATER PARK!

It's been fun. We quite a bit of summer left to go, though. I'll give you another update later!