Our Life in the Yellow Brick House

Back in August, we learned the Polar Express was coming to Stillwater! I immediately thought of my nieces and nephews. Greg and Stacie were up for it, so we purchased our tickets and waited for Dec. 13 to get here. They wanted it to be a surprise for the kids, so they waited until we pulled up to the train station to tell them what we were doing. It was pretty cold that night, so the wait seemed long, but eventually, we got to board the Polar Express! Henry and Ella weren't sure what to think at first, but it was fun to watch their excitement build each step of the way. They had a fabulous time. I knew they would. What surprised me about that night was how much fun Kyle had. He was in rare form that night, but it was great to see him having such a good time with the kids and entertaining us all. It was so nice to have something fun like this right here in Stillwater. If it continues, I have a feeling we might be doing this a time or two next year. :)   At dinner, Henr...

My favorite thing about the holidays is getting to see everyone I love and celebrate with them. This year has been even better thanks to the impending arrival of our little one. In total now, we have had four baby showers! I'm not entirely sure how that happened, but between friends and family and coworkers, I have been completely blown away by all the love and support we have in our lives. I don't take any of it for granted. These people are our community and together they have supported us in good times and in bad. I've heard that it takes a village to raise a child. If that's the case, we are already set up for success! I only have photos from my Hennessey shower, so I'll share those here. Each one was unique and had it's own special touches thanks to the thoughtful, talented people who threw them for us. Our little guy isn't even here yet, but he's already so spoiled!  We are loving all of the fox-themed gifts! Who knew foxes would be so popul...

Even though I am back to blogging, I'm still not into a steady rhythm just yet. Ideally, I would post once a week, but I haven't been doing that, so I have a bit of catch-up to do. Here are some highlights from the last few months that I haven't had the time to share.  We continued or Homecoming Walkaround tradition with the Lesters and the Mortons this year.   We invited the O'Rears to join in on the fun! We weren't able to convert these OU grads, but we did have a great time. And Caroline did so well!   We were excited to get our nursery furniture in, thanks to the generosity of our parents. We put the crib together right away, before cleaning out that room. When you could barely walk in there, we decided to take a few weekends to get the nursery in order. Oliver wasn't quite sure about our plans.  Out for a walk on a beautiful fall day.   The Murphy House crew on Halloween. It was a Hawaiian theme for most of us....