The Murphy 2013 Holiday Card

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Kaiya's 8 Month Photo Shoot

I swear I'm more in love with each photo shoot! As she gets older, and her personality continues to emerge, I can't help but be grateful that we have these beautiful pictures documenting her growth. I have to give props, once again, to the talented Melissa from Melissa Barrick Photography.

Kaiya- 8 Months!

Yep, that's right. I posted exactly one post during Kaiya's 7th month, and what's worse, is that it was a pretty happening month! Kaiya is continuing to grow like a little weed, but a big change happened for me this month too!

John and I did lunch on one of my days between jobs.

After over 4.5 years with Chef Geoff's, I left my position as Executive Director of Profitability to become the Financial and Administrative Officer for PNAS, a part of the NAS. Essentially I turned in my for-profit hat for the non-profit lifestyle. Not only is it something new to put on my resume, but the quality of life is far superior to that which I had in the restaurant industry. I'm home every day by 5pm and I get about 10 hours more a week with Kaiya. That's 520 hours a year! Add to that the fact I get 9 paid holidays (compared to my 1 paid holiday at my last job) and I get a full 30 days a year more at home. That's an entire month more with my baby every year! Even if I had had to take a pay-cut (which I thankfully didn't) it would have been worth every penny. I fully recognize how truly blessed I am that God presented me with this opportunity and gave me the courage to make the leap.

So what have I done with all this new time? I've honestly done nothing but enjoy my baby girl. I told myself I'd be going to the gym every day and being super productive in the rest of my life, but with John in school full time, I'm on baby-duty most of the time and she's at an age where she needs full-time supervision. I'm not worried though, I can get back to the gym and pick up some of my hobbies again when she gets a little older. In the meantime, I'm just soaking in every second I have with Kaiya because I know that each moment is a moment I can't get back.

The Bath time moments...

The morning sneak-attacks on daddy...

The upside-down kisses...

The car-time conversations..

Watching her discovery of the little things...

Firsts, such as her first Thanksgiving...

Awesome Thanksgiving dinner prepared by John

Special coffee time with Ahpa

Her sweet little meltdowns...

Oh the irony.

Her ability to nap in ANY position...

Her willingness to take pictures with her parents...

And even just the treat of waking up in the wee hours of the morning to watch her sweet, peaceful face.

Kaiya- 7 months!

Month 6 just FLEW by! As she's growing she's developing a lovely amount of independence, which gives mommy and daddy just that much more time to not only get things done, but also to sit and watch her play, which is all sorts of entertaining and awesome. She babbles, studies her toys with intenseness, and follows Cooper around trying to steal his toys (because they're clearly better than any of her toys).

She's not quite "crawling" in any formal way, but she sure gets around! She does this worm like thing where her butt goes in the air, pulling her knees under her and then she slides forward with her arms, thus inching herself in a forward direction. It's pretty effective, if not pretty:)

She's learned to clap:

She started riding in her stroller like a BIG girl!

She went to her first Indian Restaurant (and even tried a mango lassi!)

Mommy made her some new headbands to fit her giant head ;)

She learned to wave, though she only really waves at herself (in the mirror)

She got her first toothbrush!

She got a big girl's high chair:

She finally snuck up on Luna quiet enough to inspect her feet:

She welcomed her new baby cousin, Madeline Maryanne Murphy:

She got her 6 month shots :'(

She learned that being IN her toy box is even better than digging through it!

She watched ALOT of football with Daddy:

She got to spend some time with her much loved Godparents:

She learned to drive. (Thankfully that's not true)

We tried to introduce finger foods:

And she was a chef like her Daddy for Halloween!

Our Trip to Philadelphia- The Mlynek and Wark Wedding

This has been an amazing year for weddings. Our "baby" brother Bo and Leah got married in Tennessee, Our great friends Kevin and Naina were married in Cincinnati and another set of amazing friends, Alan and Emily, were married this month in Philadelphia! I love weddings, but there's is something super special about watching loved ones get married. It's such an honor to be a part of such a special and momentous moment in a relationship!

John and I love Philly, but we didn't do much sightseeing this trip. We spent the entirety of our time hanging with friends, which is exactly the type of weekend we wanted:)

The wedding was simply perfect. It had all the parts you want to see in a wedding: great food, amazing friends, music you can dance to, and just enough tradition to hit on everyone's favorite parts but not so much that it seemed you were attending the same ol' wedding. There was a lot of love in the important details of the wedding, and all the frivolous stuff was left out. Simply put, it was perfect and the love between Alan and Emily radiated in every detail.

I could go on to describe all the moments of our weekend, or I could just show you, so I'll do that. I hope you enjoy my creative use of google+'s new editing functions; I certainly did ;)

Our ride to Philly went like this

Selfies in the hotel

can we say built in play-yard?

Godmommy love

The glowing bride and her parents!

I love this picture of Kaiya and John. <3

Husband and Wife!!

Besties.