Our week

This past week had a rough start.. it all started with a sleepless sunday night followed by a visit to the doctors monday morning to find out Beth had croup, that she had gotten 3 more teeth over the weekend which brings the total to 7! The week got better as it went on and it ended with a nice visit with Santa :)

 The volunteer fire department's women's auxiliary hosts a children's christmas party every year and the girls loved it! Madison got to spend some time with her friends and we got to visit with some other parents. Beth slept for most of it but woke up just in time to get her gift from Santa!

 There were NO tears with Santa :)

 We decorated our christmas tree, Madison was so happy and proud to put her ornaments on the tree! Beth slept through this as well!

After we decorated the tree Santa showed up to the house with some of the guy from the local fire department, daddy was Santa's helper for the day. Beth didn't like when Santa held her .. I haven't heard her scream that much in a long time! 

Sunday I completed my 5th race of the year.. the Dobbs Ferry Holiday Hustle 5k. In May when I ran my first 5k I struggled, I walked more then I had planned, my time was slower then I had hoped BUT I finished it and I was in the love with the feeling that came with completing a race! My time was 38:50, since then I ran 3 more 5ks and one 10k. My race today went amazingly.. I ran almost all of the race and crossed the line in 32:32!!!! I had knocked over 6 min off my time. 

I am so in love with running and can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for me!

As you may already know I am running in the Glass Slipper Challenge at the Princess Half Marathon weekend at Disney World in February.. I am running for an amazing charity and am still looking for donations. 

Please take a moment and make a donation

by clicking HERE

Xo's 

9 months

Elizabeth 

Weight: 14lbs 15oz 

Length: 25 2/4inches

Milestone: she has gone from army crawling to full on crawling and pulling herself up on EVERYTHING!!! She has also both of her top front teeth!

Sleep: Great. We had some tough nights while she was battling a nasty cold but we are back to 730-630 with only waking up once to get a bottle, which she doesn't even finish she just uses it to soother herself and she's back asleep in minutes 

Eating: Almost everything! She hates mangoes! We introduced "puffs" to her last week and she was a little confused but likes them! This weekend she will be trying pancakes and waffles for the first time!

Diapers: 2's, this won't be changing for a very long time!

Clothing: 6 months.. With a few 9 month pieces (vests) and onesies (because her 6 month ones were looking pretty ragged)

Mood: She has had a cold for the past week so she has been a little moody but other then that she's a normal happy baby!

Loves:

• Pulling her sisters hair 
• Opening drawers
• Clapping 
• Her daddy

Hates:

• Sitting still 
• Getting dressed because it means she has to sit still
• Nap time 

Cake batter cookies

How many of you have a box of cake batter sitting around your house but don't want to make cupcakes or a cake right now??

Well... Make these!

Simple cake batter chocolate chip cookies!

1 box of cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup of oil

Bake at 400 for 10-12 min!

Super easy, kid friendly and endless possibilities- strawberry, lemon, vanilla, you can add peanut butter .. Make whatever you like!

This time I used Golden Butter (Pillsbury), next time I plan to use devils food and added chocolate chunks!!

Happy Monday!

11.11

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

-Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

DIY Photo Coasters

If you follow me on Instagram (kimmurray36) or are my friend on Facebook chances are you saw this photo of the DIY Photo Coasters I made on Sunday night. 

I've had some people ask how I made them so I thought I would so a quick tutorial!

1. Modge Podge- matte

2. Scotch - self stick felt pads

3. Modge Podge- dimensional magic 

4. Glossy White 4 1/2in x 4 1/2in tile (can be any color you want)

Step One

Cut the photo to the size you want.

Step Two

Cover the back of the photo in a thin layer of Modge Podge. You can use a brush or sponge. I used a sponge because I didn't want pieces of the brush to come off. 

Step Three

Put your photo on the tile where you want it. Using the same brush or sponge cover the tile and photo in Modge Podge in an even layer.

Step Four

Once the Modge Podge has dried apply a thin even layer of the dimensional magic on top. This a very shiny product that I think finishes the coaster off nicely, because of the shine you should make sure you have nice even brush strokes. Let dry for 3+ hours.

Apply the felt pads to each corner on the back and voila! It's finished and you have a perfect personal gift! 

(Finished product is from the first set I made- the one used in this post is still drying :))

Good luck!

If you have a chance to create these beautiful coasters tag me in a pic! I would love to see!

8 months

Weight: 13.7oz (she has lost a little since she started crawling!)

Length: 24 1/4in (updated 9/11/14)

Milestone: we now have a mover! Beth gets around fast now and it will only get faster. She doesn't quite crawl .. It's an army crawl with one knee! She now has 4 teeth and 4 more are coming in! Clapping!! Beth has started to clap when you ask her to, AND she will growl back at you! She sat in a grocery cart for te first time! She was always kept in her car seat ... That's done with unless she's sleeping!!

Sleep: We are in a messy spot with the sleep again thanks to the time change! Night time is a mess because of teeth, she is waking up around 2 or 3 and goes back to sleep after we go back in and turn her sound machine on. Naps are great she will take small 20min cat naps in the car and 1 really good 2-3hr nap!!

Eating: Everything! She even had penne vodka and some of her sisters french fries the other day thanks to Aunt Lala (Beth's godmother Lindsay who has been our saving grace with Beth's feeding issues). We introduced yogurt this weekend and she loves it, just like her big sister. 

Diapers: 2's, this won't be changing for a very long time!

Clothing: 6 months.. 9 months is way to big on her!

Mood: She is a happy baby.. Even with 4 teeth coming in she always smiles!

Loves:

• Food
• Crawling
• Clapping 
• Going for walks when the weather is nice!

Hates:

• Teeth!!!!
• Being hungry!
• When she can't reach something

The Doc is in...

Last Halloween I was pregnant with Elizabeth and was already thinking about the fun sibling Halloween costumes that would soon be in our future. I thought about Alice in wonderland and the rabbit, or Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter, a chef and a lobster, firefighter and a Dalmatian ... The ideas were endless! I started to get nervous in August that Madison would NOT want any part of it! She was going to fight whatever costume I picked and my sibling costumes would be gone.

To my surprise when I asked her what she wanted be she said Doc McStuffins and Beth should be Lambie! For those of you that don't know who Doc and Lambie are they are a new disney show that came out about 2 years ago, it's about a little girl who's mom is a pediatrician and had given Doc all of her old tools, so Doc uses these tools to fix stuffed animals and toys! They come to life with the help of docs magic stethoscope! There is always a coordinating "people problem" to go with the toys problem!  Lambie is Doc's favorite stuffed animal and sidekick.

My plan for sibling costumes was a success and it was all thanks to Madison's suggestion of Doc and Lambie :). Finding a doc costume was easy, finding Lambie however was not. I was not going to pay $50 for a lamb costume that I didn't even know if Beth would wear, and I was not having one made for her(for the same reason), we actually got super lucky and found a white and pink lamb costume in her size for $10 at Party City!!! All I needed to do was remove the bow from the neck and add a pink tutu which cost us $5.99 at Target!   Here was the final product:

Everyone thought it was the cutest! I am biased BUT I think it was the cutest costume of the year ;)

This Halloween was also Beth's first!!

Xo's