Lots to be Thankful for!

Hard to believe that it is almost December. November has flown by. We were able to go visit our friends, Jennifer and Jason in Bloomington and go to Taylorville to celebrate Justin's grandparent's birthdays two weekends ago. We have also been working on some more projects around the house like cleaning the basement and taking down shelving that was in our spare bedrooms. I feel like the living areas are about done and now we just have to focus on the bathrooms and bedrooms.

I have been feeling great and am in my 15th week. We have another doctors appointment next Friday so I always look forward to that. The next ultrasound will be two weeks after that. They should really look like two little people by then!

Thanksgiving was spent in Galesburg with my folks, sister and grandparents. It was a wonderful time and went way too fast. Mom and dad even treated me to Happy Joes, who knew that would be one of the things I miss most from Galesburg! Ellie and Keely are slowly but surly warming up to each other and Keely is understanding that Ellie just wants to be left alone sometimes. It was nice to catch up with some friends while we were home too.

Our house should look like Christmas by the end of the week. Now that I have lots more energy I am on a roll to get stuff done. I got the Christmas cards written, now they just have to go out in the mail! We are going to get the tree on Thursday and have it decorated before Justin's mom and sister come down to go shopping Saturday. (Will be interesting to see what Keely thinks of the tree) I will get some pics up once I have decorated.

What a Difference a Month Makes!

WOW, that seems to be the new Murphy slogan. I think my mom alone said it 50 times when we called to tell them the big news. We have known for the last 5 or 6 weeks that we were pregnant, but about two weeks ago we got the news of a lifetime. We are having TWINS! Yes, Anna that is possible. :) We could not be happier. we are due May 23, although there is a good chance the big day could be earlier in May. Everyone has been so great and of course I am getting tons of advise, which I am sure will continue.

Justin and I were able to enjoy a nice and relaxing weekend in Galena for our Anniversary. Megan and Matt were so great and got us a package with free dinner. We did a lot of sleeping in and got to visit the Territory and the church we were married in. It seems like it was just yesterday! Keely was excited to have her first big sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa in Galesburg. She was lucky, Ellie didn't even kick her out after the first night.

Keely, our first little girl had a very exciting weekend. She was shown by Jeff (Her breeder) at her first dog show, the Purina Farms Dog Show here in Missouri. She won 4 medals and beat other puppies to be best in breed and best in group in both shows she was entered. Best of all she got to play with her mom, cousin Addie, Bailey a Harrier puppy, and Guinness a full grown Harrier. She had so much fun and was such a good girl. Justin and I had a great time getting together with Jeff and Nikki (Keely's breeder), Carol and Ken (Addie's parents that live close here to St. Louis) and Sharon (Lilly's breeder). I have to say, I think I would have been doing the dog shows a lot sooner if I new tailgating was involved!

Well, Keely is tired and has to cuddle with mom, which means she is hitting all the buttons on my computer. We hope everyone has a great week. We will keep you all updated on our expanding family and my expanding belly!

Here are some pics from this weekend and one from our anniversary.

Justin and I at the Irish Cottage, the bartender let us go behind the bar for a photo op.

Keely in the ring

Keely and her mom Lilly

Low Key Weekend

What a great weekend! We have been on the go so much and will be again next weekend, so it was nice to be able to have a weekend at home. We all needed to get some rest and I had a million things around the house that had been neglected. Of course we were able to watch the Illini beat #5 ranked Wisconsin!! GO ILLINI!! Most importantly I wanted to get some pics of Keely up. Justin took this first one. He was pretty proud of her pointing, even if it was at a dandelion!

Keely has also discovered the gum balls that fall out of the tree in the front. They provide for hours of entertainment. She loves to flip them around with her paws and throw them in the air with her mouth. Thanks to our new camera, I can catch these action shots.

There is a park just down the road from us and we have been there almost everyday. Keely likes to play fetch with the baseballs that the kids leave near the baseball field.

Hope everyone has a nice Sunday and a good week!!!

What happened to September???

Time flies when you are running around like crazy people! :) I have been reminded by Justin, that WE (haha) haven't posted anything since September 17 and I am sitting here wondering if I was unconscious for the last two weeks! Work has been busy but good for both of us. We have been on the birthday circuit the last two weekends, Justin's mom turned 50 on the 22nd and then my sister's b-day was the 28th. We were in Champaign this weekend to celebrate and then also were able to go to the Illinois vs. Penn State football game. Wow, what a game. I don't think I have been that excited at a game, since my Junior year when we played Michigan on a Saturday night game and got hosed (no I have not let that go yet). I just hope they can keep it up next weekend against Wisconsin.

Keely is growing by the moment and as a proud parent I must say she has done a fabulous job at potty training. She was a happy traveler also going to Taylorville and Champaign with us! We discovered she loves corncobs while we where at Justin's parent's farm. Other exciting news, Keely's mom Lilly got her Junior Hunter Title this weekend. Justin is still practicing with the stuffed duck, I think in hopes that Keely is going to be a tracking prodigy.

I know that most of you get on to see pics of Keely, so I will get some up tonight or tomorrow! Have a good week!

Keely and Her New Buddy!

This is a classic picture of the two of them. Ellie is wondering why Keely is on the couch when usually that is her spot. I think Keely is just glad to be taller than someone even if she is cheating.

For some reason, Keely really liked standing over Ellie's head. Not sure what that was about, but it was pretty funny. Ellie would tolerate it as long as Keely wasn't touching her.

There were some very cute moments of sharing, of course that lasted about 2 minutes until Keely decided she wanted to play tug of war.

WOW, What a Week

Well, I think the pic of Keely and I says it all. We had a wild, fun and exhausting last week and weekend. My trip to Mexico for work turned out to be a marathon. We were supposed to get into Mexico on Monday at 12:30pm, and because of bad weather in Dallas we didn’t get there till 7pm. We went the next morning, saw the plant and then we were at the airport again at 10:30am to head home. I guess less than 24 hours in Mexico is a good thing. Justin and Keely had fun while I was gone; although I am sure Keely missed me!! We were finally able to get most of the house painted on Thursday and I love the colors. The house is really coming together. Keely went for her first vet visit on Thursday. She loves her vet and is already 21 pounds. Her vet said she had good genes and that she was beautiful. Thanks Lilly and Atlas!!!!!

My family came down this weekend to visit and to meet Keely. Of course they did way too much work! They helped us organize the garage, and mom did some wonderful landscaping. Keely loved Anna a lot and cuddled as much as she could. Ellie and Keely had some fun playing and Ellie was pretty patient with her new very rambunctious friend. Keely got lots of presents from everyone too! More pics to come, including some of Keely and Ellie.