Welcome 2013!

My birthday is January 1st so the start of a new year always ushers in a new age and phase for me.  Lucky for me, this year's new age (26!) came with Caribbean sunshine as Michael and I were on the Oasis of the Seas in the Eastern Caribbean.  Ironically enough, we snorkeled on my birthday. 

This may sound silly to you but I am deathly afraid of fish (specifically being touched by them).  And when I say deathly, I mean DEATHLY.  We're talking panic attacks in the middle of the ocean.  Snorkeling and haunted houses actually hold hands at the top of my 'things I never want to participate in' list.  In the past, I have thought it was a good idea to try and conquer fears.  And I still think that conquering can be beneficial in regards to things like public speaking, needles (which I have recently worked hard to move from my 'fear' list to my 'hate, but can handle it' list), hair cuts or other things that will benefit you in the long run.  Fish, though?  Why get over fish?  That's like feeling the need to get over not liking liver or something; it's always a personal choice to jump in a large body of water.

Nonetheless, the whole family wanted to go snorkeling in St. Thomas.  The boat was scheduled to stop twice.  The first time to see turtles and the second to see sting rays.  I am not sure who reads 'swim with STING rays' and thinks Steve Irwin was probably just kidding but that adventure was not even a second thought on my radar.  Turtles though?  Turtles are so sweet and beautiful and... SLOW!!  When we got to the turtle bay I waited for everyone to leave, then I put on a mask.  I'm sure the view was great as I tried to stick my face in the water off the back of the boat without having to get all the way in.  I stayed back there for a good 5 minutes and somehow didn't see a single fish!  When Michael saw me testing the waters he came back and stood by as I jumped in and swam a lap around the boat.  In the process we saw a beautiful giant sea turtle!!  I watched it grazing on the ocean floor for a minute then followed it as it came up for air.  It was so magical!  We swam a little further from the boat and saw a few more turtles before our time was up and the captain called us back to the boat.  As we neared the boat I saw my first school of fish, almost drowned my husband, then pushed a seven year old boy off the step ladder to get back in the boat.  His dad gave me a dirty look but I flashed him one of those beautiful runny-maskara/I-think-I-might-die smiles and I think he forgave me.

What have I learned from this experience? 
A. I am ok with being afraid of fish for the rest of my life if I can still swim with the turtles every once in a while.  Jacques Cousteau and I can always talk about the art of frying an egg or something in the afterlife...

B. There will be no fish in my 2013 resolutions!  I love resolutions.  They are like goals that nobody expects you to accomplish.  Last year I read an article that said that a person is least likely to reach a goal if it is made in the month of January.  Either way, I love making them and I often times do accomplish them (cheers to those of us that accomplished all that we set out to do in 2012!!)!  Here is what I have resolved to do this year:

1. Pay off my car.  We bought my cute Honda CRV in June of 2012 and paying it off will make us debt free.
2. Have FUN with Cannon.  In my opinion, motherhood is an awesome excuse/reason to do fun things every single day.  As much as I enjoyed working, it is AWESOME to spend my days swimming at the pool, taking pictures, going on walks, dancing, going to the library, playing with my baby, going to the park or dog park, etc.  It's great that all I have to do is change stinky diapers, do laundry, clean the house and cook to pay for my extravagant lifestyle!  I have actually gotten to a place where I really like most of those things!  I want to make sure I take advantage of all of the FUN that we can.
3. Restrict my baby voice back to only using it with the baby.  As much as my 28-year-old husband wants me to pretend to be Elmo as we talk about our mortgage...
4. Be an awesome co-captain.  Believe it or not, sometimes Michael and I have different opinions.  I want to work on taking more of a team approach than siding...  Team Murdock always takes the cake anyway ;-)

31 Weeks - An Update on Life

29 weeks

The lull here on M+B has been long... and necessary! On December 15th I had my last day working at Sunrise Home Health and Hospice which was SO sad (I LOVED that job) and Michael took his last final. That gave us about 72 hours to do the rest of our packing, load the cubes (luckily we didn't have to make the cross-country drive), be thrown an absolutely ADORABLE baby shower (more on this very soon), and skip town! Leaving American Fork was a sad event. We love our friends and family in the area and are going to miss all of you DEARLY! That being said, driving away from that house was one of the most relieving feelings in the WORLD! I started packing on October 17th and hadn't stopped since then.

Our first stop was in the fabulous Las Vegas where we were generously hosted by my Assistant Mama, Joyce! We got in super late on Tuesday night and were warmly welcomed with hugs and a place to sleep. The next morning my mom arrived from California to spend the next couple of days with us doing a lot of laughing, a lot of eating, and a lot of relaxing - all of which were much needed!! We saw the lights at the race track, went to the cactus garden, celebrated Christmas early, ate Golden Spoon frozen yogurt, painted each others' toe nails, and took the dogs to the park. I just adore Joyce so being able to go and spend time with her in her home was nothing short of a dream.

On Friday morning we woke up early and jumped back in the car to head to spend Christmas with Michael's parents in Irvine, CA. Michael and I are in complete agreement that we will one day retire in Irvine. It has everything you could ever want... including sun 365 days a year. Aaaahhhh... While in Irvine we played hard and ate well. Highlights included a day at Disneyland, a day at Universal Studios, lots of Christmas excitement, taking maternity pictures, Christmas dinner at a seafood place that served animals with eyeballs, and an amazing Chinese lunch. The best part, though, was the company. I love spending time with Chad and Rachel. Their energy is happy and refreshing and they are always genuinely interested in Michael and I while we are with them. They love to do things that they know we'll like (hence the seafood place that serves animals with eyeballs) and they are always interested in what we have going on and what is going on in the world around them. I also LOVED being able to spend time with Stephie (my sister in law) and her two kids Zach and Zoye (I'm an aunt and I love it!). She can make me laugh so hard and is always doing her best to make me as pretty as possible (with cute clothes and doing my hair and makeup). I feel a really strong connection with Stephie and I know that we are in each others' lives for a very specific reason. I love that I can talk to Stephie every couple of months and never skip a beat - it is so refreshing!

The day after Christmas we packed our bags and dogs and headed for the airport. Chad and Rachel offered to travel with us to our new home in Connecticut and I am so glad they did. There was something restless about that plane ride... It could have been my ULTRA swollen pregnant elephant feet... but I think it was the anticipation of the situation. Flying across the country to see your new home for the first time is a little bit unnerving to say the least!!

To Be Continued...

Christmas Dilemma

My husband thinks I'm crazy but I think 6 months on 6 months off is the perfect way to tackle Christmas. December 26th = relaxing while my sweet honey takes down the Christmas lights; July 1 = the beginning of Christmas shopping. If this overwhelms you, don't let it. Basically I make a list on July 1st of all of my little gift receivers and chip away at it/change it a little at a time. This being said I had all of my parents, and inlaws (10 people in total) done in September... That being said, this plan is not flawless. If you get someone something you think they'll really like there is a pretty good chance that they will think of it themselves in those 6 months and then... hopefully you saved the receipt! The bottom line - I have no idea what to do for my mom. We are having a heartfelt Christmas this year (so you have to make them something) and my mom's gift was overthrown in these last 6 months. I don't want to say what it was just in case she stumbles upon this post... though I'm pretty sure she won't, you can't chance that kind of stuff. Ideas? What can you make for a mom that really shows her that you love her? I promise that she won't know how to check the comments on this post so go for it.

Twelve Drummers Drumming/Three Drummers Drumming + Nine

Merry Christmas!! Today was such a sweet day. The whole family fell asleep last night watching a Christmas movie then dispersed one by one to really odd places to sleep. Michael and I, in our delirium, went into his Mom's craft room and slept together on her twin trundle bed that I am pretty sure is now just for looks... but it was comfortable! When we woke up we jumped on the other kids and everyone lined up in the bathroom youngest to oldest, waiting for the parents to usher us into the living room to see what Santa had brought. The gifts were all so lovely and considerate. Part of Michael's gift to me was Day 12 - a picture frame containing 6x8 black and white pictures of the following: My dad at age 28(ish) playing the drums with his band The Fray; Nicholas playing my dad's same old drum set in his basement bedroom in Vegas; Michael playing for a music video with his band Chatham's Dormat; and one of me sitting on Michael's lap behind his drumset when Chatham's Dormat played outside on their front patio last spring. It was the sweetest, most thoughtful gift I could have possibly have asked for. Those three men mean everything to me and I am so grateful that Michael would have done that for me. His 'plus nine promise' was that if we end up having nine boys (WHICH WE WON'T) that he would teach them all to play the drums and include their pictures in the frame. Merry twelve days of Christmas everyone! This is definitely a Christmas I will never forget.