Now Which McMurdie Are You.....

Grant Michael

2012-02-14T16:46:00.003-06:00

We are so excited to have another addition to our family. Grant Michael McMurdie. We already love having him in our family!

We can't believe how big he was, 9lbs. 6oz. and 22inches long. We figured he was going to be big, but not that big!

Latest Happenings

2011-12-26T14:57:00.003-06:00

Sorry it has been awhile since we last posted. I think being pregnant and keeping up with two kids and doing other projects can be the reason.

Mark is enjoying being a nurse and we are enjoying being in our own home. We love our house but I still find things to be done to it. Here is a picture of our latest project.

After Upper cabinets done!

Before

We still have the lower cabinets to do, hoping we can get it done before our baby comes!

Christmas

2011-12-26T14:50:00.003-06:00

Love this picture of Connor looking at a picture of Mark's family given to us from his parents!

We had a great Christmas! I think everyone enjoyed the gifts they got. It's was fun to see Connor really into unwrapping his presents this year. Poor kid was sick but still had fun playing with his new toys!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T14:26:00.004-06:00

The kids had fun making a ginger bread house cookie! We had some of my family over for Christmas Eve and had a great dinner together. The kids also opened a gift which is always p.j.'s.

Then before bed the kids sprinkled raindeer food out in the backyard lawn.

December Events

2011-12-26T14:11:00.002-06:00

I decided to make the kids christmas shirts this year, they seemed to like them.

As a family we went to the Gaylord Hotel to look at all the christmas decorations. Tava and Mark ended up tubing in their indoor snow tubing area, thanks to a couple that gave us their left over tickets! We love going out there and have kind of made it a family tradation to go every year.

Halloween

2011-12-26T13:59:00.005-06:00

Tava and Connor were both pirates this year for Halloween. Connor wasn't to thrilled with being in his costume that I made him, but he wore it to a couple of Halloween events that we had.

They really loved painting pumpkins!

Mark's Internship Pinning

2011-10-04T13:49:00.004-05:00

Mark is now working as a Nurse on his own. The hospital that he is working for had a pinning for all the new interns. I was happy they had one since I missed his offical graduation from nursing school. We are so happy in his accomplishment!

McMurdie Reunion

2011-10-04T13:42:00.003-05:00

We went to Nauvoo for Mark's family Reunion. It was extremely hot when we where there, but we enjoyed being with the family. Mark was unable to join us because of starting a new job. I didn't get many pictures maybe because I didn't have Mark around or because I would forget to pull the camara out.

Connor with Uncle Kevin

Tava with cousin Mikayla

Look at all those Grandkids!

Summer Events

2011-10-04T13:28:00.007-05:00

So I have been meaning to update our blog. Here are a few things we have done over the past several months.

We first went on a little trip with Eric and Sheena with the kids to a cabin in Oklahoma for a couple of days. We had fun just hanging out and exploring the area.

#3

2011-08-08T08:34:00.004-05:00

So, I wanted to post this with a sonogram picture but I thought we should at least make the annoucement. We will be having baby #3 in February. We are all excited!

New House!

2011-05-20T13:20:00.003-05:00

For those that haven't heard this is the house that we are buying and are going to close on it at the end of June. We are so excited!

Walt Disney World Part II

2011-05-20T13:04:00.005-05:00

This is going to be Tava's Halloween outfit!

Tava had a blast with Goofy!

Lilo

Hawaiin Girl

Should we be scared!

Can't go to Walt Disney World with out eating a sucker!

Little Einstein Charater

Pochantas

Bunnies from Bambi

Minnie Mouse

Walt Disney World

2011-05-20T12:56:00.003-05:00

So happy seeing her favorite Princess

She hadn't seen the princess's yet and this is the face we got!

Lunch with the Princess's. Can a little girl ask for more!

Epcot

Loved her cotton candy!

Tava in front of Magic Kingdom

Tava loved Walt Disney World! Now that we are back home she keeps asking if we can go to Walt Disney World tomorrow.

M&M shirts

2011-04-14T20:15:00.003-05:00

Tava and I leave for Walt Disney World in a couple of weeks and I decided to make her and her nephew a shirt to wear while there. I think they turned out pretty cute just don't look to closely as they are not perfect.

Finally!

2011-04-02T09:50:00.003-05:00

For those of you that haven't heard, Mark passed his Nursing Boards!! It's great for him to be done and now we can move forward. Just keep us in your prayers that he will get a job offer soon. I know heavenly father has been watching over us!

Arboretum

2011-03-27T09:33:00.005-05:00

Tava took my camara and this is one of the pictures she took of the beautiful flowers we saw.

Me with my two neices Mikayla and Kiera and Tava

I thought this was a great picture of Connor and Hannah. Connor's already eyeing the girls!

Tava trying to pull this out of the ground

Connor wanted to join the rabbit

Combing the goat

We had a great time at the Dallas Arborteum, we had great weather when we went. All the flowers were beautiful and the kids enjoyed running around and having fun.

Silly Kids

2011-02-27T07:18:00.003-06:00

The snow pictures are from the first of February when it snowed and we all were stuck in the house for almost a week it seemed.

I have realized that I haven't taken that many pictures of Connor, so here a few that I took last night. Connor is walking now and is all over the place. We knew he would start walking on his own time. Tava as always is our happy little girl that loves to play with her cousins, started taking ballet class, and is in preschool with me.

Our little guy is 1!

2011-01-26T15:51:00.002-06:00

Connor turned one on January 15th. We celebrated with friends and family with some cupcakes and ice cream. Connor had no problem digging into his cupcake and eating it, I guess it helps that it wasn't his first time having cake!
We love our little boy! He is taking a few steps, but still would rather crawl everywhere. He is usually always happy. He loves pulling his sister's hair to get her attention. Overall we couldn't ask for a better little boy!

Christmas Day

2010-12-30T19:25:00.003-06:00

I think Santa did a great job with his gift's this year. Both kids loved their scooters! I think Connor is just excited that he actually has some boy toys to play with.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-30T18:54:00.003-06:00

Christmas Eve! Tava decorated a ginger bread house, she loved eating the candy more than I think actually decorating it. We had a great Christmas program with Mark's family. Tava was so thrilled that she got to play one of the angel's in Christ's birth.

Six Flags

2010-12-30T18:45:00.005-06:00

We had so much fun at Six Flags with out kids. Tava had a smile the whole time we where there. She loved every ride she went on and even Connor got to ride a couple of rides. It was fun to go on the train and sing Christmas carols with Ms. Claus. We will have to go again sometime. Thanks to Mark's work for free tickets!

It's Official

2010-12-08T09:06:00.002-06:00

For those that haven't heard Mark has officially passed Nursing School!! He has been hired as a nurse at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas in the ER where he has been working. We are so excited, he just has the boards to pass in January and then we can call him a nurse.
Thanks for all your prayers and support for the past three years!

Thanksgiving and More

2010-12-02T15:19:00.004-06:00

For the month of November we celebrated my B-day, Mark's B-day, and Thanksgiving. Tava really loved helping this year making B-day cake's for each of us. Connor as well loved eating cake! I made Tava's Thanksgiving outfit, and I had to do a lot of convincing to make her wear it. She is definitely our drama queen, but we love her!

We decided to make a Christmas Card!

2010-12-02T15:15:00.004-06:00

Snowflake Elegance Noir Christmas

Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

We Did It!!

2010-11-07T20:35:00.002-06:00

My sister and I ran a half marathon. Can you believe I actually ran 13.1 miles!! It wasn't easy, but I'm glad to say I did it and I wasn't the last person. I will wait awhile to do another one. I hope to do one at Walt Disney World in 2012.

Halloween Fun

2010-11-07T20:20:00.004-06:00

This year for Halloween Tava chose to be Ariel from Little Mermaid. She had a choice to be Bell from Beauty and the Beast or Ariel and she decided on Ariel. She loves dressing up and most days she puts on the mermaid dress. Connor was Mickey Mouse and he didn't seem to mind.

We took the kids to our ward Trunk or Treat and a couple nights before I took Tava with some of her cousins to downtown Wylie for trick or treating. I don't think I will go to downtown Wylie again it was way to crowded and it took about 5 mins to get one piece of candy and then we wait again to go to the next shop to get another piece. Poor Tava half way through asked if she could go home.

Connor loves going to Music Makers!

All the kids at Music Makers in their costums

State Fair

2010-10-22T16:03:00.003-05:00

We went to the State Fair last week. Tava was not to excited about the fair at first, but after she won a pink bear and watched the pig race she was happy. I think next year Mark and I will have to go without the kids.

Owen's Farm

2010-10-22T15:46:00.004-05:00

I couldn't get the kids to look at me, Tava really had to go to the bathroom and so I had only chance at taking a picture.

Love's grass

Tava loved playing with the girl scarecrow I think it became her friend.

Tava loved picking up the pumpkins she finally decided on which one she wanted.

Connor loved touching the goats

Tava didn't want to go near the goats, so she just dumped the food on them.

Hay Ride

We had fun at the farm! We went to Owen's Springcreek Farm that is close by. They had a hay ride, animal feeding area, and everyone got to pick a pumpkin. I think the kids enjoyed it.

Connor at 9 months

2010-10-06T19:40:00.003-05:00

We have been waiting to get Mandie our sister-in-law to take pictures of Connor for us. We wanted newborn pictures, but decided not to because he had ear molds placed on his ears. Glad we waited!! Connor has been so sick lately and has not been his typical happy easy going self. But when we got him outside he loved smiling for us and Mandie got some great shots.
Thanks Mandie for taking awesome pictures of Connor.

Our little guy!

2010-09-02T21:20:00.002-05:00

We love our little Connor. He is such a great happy baby! He loves to laugh and smile at his big sister. He is crawling on his knees and moves around pretty good especially if he see's something he wants. I love the age that he is at I don't want him to grow up.

Don't you just love those blue eyes, I'm glad he got them from me!

Sea World

2010-08-11T15:52:00.002-05:00

We had a last minute vacation in San Antonio. I(michelle) spent some time in Arizona visiting my grandma in the hospital. I came back home with my brothers and they dropped me off in San Antonio and Mark meet me there with the kids. So, we decided to take the kids to Sea World before we drove back home. I think next time we go we will wait tell they are a little older, we had fun and Tava loved the water park area.

Rascal Flatts

2010-08-11T15:43:00.002-05:00

My sister-in-laws and me had a great time at the Rascal Flatts concert. They did an amazing job I'm glad I was able to go. Just wish it was indoors, Texas is too Hot for an outside concert.

Butterfly Exhibit

2010-08-11T15:39:00.002-05:00

Tava had fun with some friends from church at the Butterfly Exhibit at Fair Park.

Happy 5th Anniversary !

2010-07-08T21:04:00.003-05:00

This is the very first picture that we took together 5 1/2 years ago. Look how young we looked!

Mark and I celebrated our 5th anniversary at the Rangers game. Mark had to work on the actual day of our anniversary, so we went out Monday night to celebrate. I ate my first turkey leg, can you believe after all these years of going to Canton Trade Days and Fairs that I haven't had one tell then!
I'm grateful to have found a wonderful husband and can't wait to celebrate more anniversary's with him.

July 3rd Celebrations

2010-07-08T20:55:00.003-05:00

We had fun celebrating the fourth July on Saturday. We spent the morning at the lake and then watched some fireworks at night. Tava loved being with all of her cousins. She was really excited about putting on her heart flag on her check. I think she enjoyed staying up late and playing with her cousins more than actually watching the fireworks.

Love Free Events

2010-07-01T19:19:00.004-05:00

We went to one of the malls in the area and they had a guy named David Chicken perform. The kids loved singing and dancing with him. They got some free plow up guitars that they really loved. It so nice to find free events going on that's not to far away.

Corpus Christi

2010-07-01T19:08:00.005-05:00

We had a great time visiting my brother down in Corpus Christi. Tava loved the beach and the water. Tava had a hard time leaving, to bad we don't live closer to the ocean. Hopefully we can go back another time.

Summer Fun

2010-06-19T21:41:00.004-05:00

Tava really loved running around the water fountain park in Fairview. I think we need to take her there more often.

We are having a good summer so far. Tava loves the water and spends almost everyday in the pool. We also started a cousins curriculum day which is great for the kids.

Once again Hawaii

2010-06-19T21:21:00.003-05:00

Thanks Mom and Dad for a wonderful trip to Hawaii, we loved every minute of it. Can't wait for the next trip.

Didn't Mark do a good job looking like the statue

Eating at Bubba Gumps

Snorkel Boat, I actually snorkeled and got to swim with the turtles.

Playing a good game of volleyball

More Hawaii

2010-06-19T21:06:00.004-05:00

Seven Pools

Black sand beach my favorite

Volcanic rock

Mark

The girls

Liked the lighting

Can't get any better than that

Mark and Eric hanging

Hawaii Con't

2010-06-19T20:59:00.003-05:00

Our footprints in the white sand beach.

Mark and Eric

Shenna and Michelle

The view from our condo.

Hawaii

2010-06-06T21:28:00.001-05:00

Just got back from Hawaii. We loved every minute of it! More pictures to come.

I'm impressed!

2010-05-23T17:51:00.003-05:00

So we bought Tava a chalk board a couple of months ago, and today I found her making this. We have never showed her how to make people so to us this is pretty neat. She said the pink person is Maryn her cousin and the other one is herself. Now we just have to get her writing her letters.

Four Months

2010-05-17T13:09:00.003-05:00

Our little guy is now 4 months old. Time goes by so fast. We love him so much and so luckily that he is such a great boy.

Here are his stats: Height 25 1/4 (60%)
Weight 16.11 (90%)
Head 42 (50%)

First Cake

2010-05-06T18:47:00.002-05:00

I actually decided to make a cake on my own. Tava is really into Barbies right now, and she said she wanted a Barbie party, so this is the cake I made for her. The bottom turned out great, but I realized after I put the Barbie in the middle of the cake that the skirt needed to be taller. It tasted great and luckily Tava doesn't look at the details like I do.

Three

2010-05-06T18:35:00.003-05:00

Our little girl is now 3!! She is so fun, full of life, and we just love that she is part of our family.

Family Picture

2010-04-15T19:34:00.002-05:00

Thanks Mandie for taking our family picture with the Bluebonnets.

Easter with the McMurdies

2010-04-15T19:18:00.004-05:00

Easter Sunday was spent with all the McMurdie's. It is so nice to have family close by and great for Tava because she was able to hunt for eggs again.

All the kids waiting to go outside.

All the cousins, except for Tava who had enough and was taking a nap.

Easter in Canton

2010-04-15T18:58:00.003-05:00

We had a good time out in Canton celebrating Easter. Tava had the hang of getting Easter eggs all by herself this year. Tava liked dying eggs especially turning her hands blue.

Tava dying eggs with her cousins

Riding my moms old horse that she gave to a girl next door from her. Every time we would go out to my parents and the horse came by Tava would be to scared to ride it, but as you can see she's not anymore.

Connor just chillin!

Poor girl was ready to get her eggs

Looking at a rabbit.

American Airlines Center

2010-04-02T19:32:00.003-05:00

We had a good time going to the Mavericks game with Mark's brother and wife. I was shocked that Connor slept threw most of the game, I think it helped that I had my hand covering his ears the whole time. I forgot how loud fans can be at sporting events, especially my own husband!

I was able to take Tava to see Disney on Ice with some of her other cousins. She loved it, she was really happy to see Minnie Mouse and when Minnie left the ice she was so concerned about where she went. I think this might be a new tradition of going every year, or at least until she outgrows it.

Connor

2010-04-02T19:16:00.003-05:00

Here is our happy little boy with his ears almost back to normal. We are so excited that he has his ear molds off!! Finally time to take more pictures. Now we just need to get a good family picture.

Connor's blessing

2010-03-25T19:41:00.004-05:00

We blessed Connor at the first of the month. Thank you everyone that was able to make it out. We are so blessed to have this little guy in our family. He is a great baby, very content and happy. He is two months old now and he measure's almost the exact same as Tava at this age. His weight was 13.1(90%), height 23in.(55%), and head 39 (30%).

As you can see you don't see Tava in our family picture because she decided she didn't want to be with us. Instead she decided to hide as you can see in the above picture that my mom took.

FYI Connor finally got his ear molds off and right now he just has some tape over his right ear with a clay mold in it to make sure it continues to form right.

Our Trip

2010-03-25T19:33:00.002-05:00

I(michelle) took a trip out to Arizona with Tava and Connor to visit my grandparents. We had fun going to the Zoo, a train park, and just spending time with my grandparents. I don't know if I would do another trip without Mark, I don't know how the single moms make it on their own.

Love this picture in my grandparents courtyard. We need to put her in a dance class when she gets a little older.

We love Snow!!

2010-02-11T20:05:00.005-06:00

Can you believe how much snow we received! We had a record 12 and 1/2 in of snow here in Texas. It was fun to go out and enjoy it before it leaves. Tava really enjoyed playing, making snowballs, a snowman, and eating the snow. We also had to get Connor out for his first snow.

Great Place

2010-02-11T19:49:00.003-06:00

We had a great time at this pottery studio in Frisco called Color Me Mine. You get to pick out what you want to paint and how you want to decorate it and then a week later you get the finished product. Tava loved getting her feet painted and she also had a fun time painting the princess wand that she picked out. We also painted Connor's feet that we put on a plate. We will post the finished kiln product when we get them back.

What a great sport, good thing he already forgot what was done to him.

Next time we go will probably be without the kids.

Recent Happenings

2010-02-09T12:29:00.003-06:00

I got a much needed haircut.

Connor at 3 weeks old

Tava just being Tava

and after 2+ years of searching for some new bedding we finally decided on a new set that we both like.

Some Firsts

2010-01-24T11:11:00.004-06:00

Connor's First Sponge Bath(As you see he didn't enjoy it)

Tava being a big helper with her brother.

Mark took Tava to get her first haircut. If anyone has a little girl we recommend taking them to Sweet and Sassy for a haircut, they do a great job and it doesn't cost that much.

They put glitter on Tava's face and hair. What more can a girl ask for!!

Lastly Connor had to get ear molds to help correct his ears. He was born with no flap around the top of his ears and his ears were protruding. These molds should hopefully fix everything. He has to keep them on for 6-8weeks. We call him our little Spock!

Hospital Time

2010-01-22T14:15:00.003-06:00

We had a very good time at the hospital with a lot of friends and family coming down to visit us there. Thank you all for everything that you do and helping us out when and where you have helped. We are very appreciative of everything. We came home Monday the 18th and everybody is happy and healthy.

Connor Mark McMurdie

2010-01-15T17:02:00.004-06:00

Without and introduction and for your veiwing pleasure.........

We would like to introduce Connor Mark McMurdie. He was born on 1-15-2010 at 8:42 in the morning weighing in at 8lbs 7oz and measuring 19 and 3/4 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great. We are very excited to welcome him into our lives and finally enjoy his presence.

Happenings as of now in January - 2010

2010-01-14T13:50:00.002-06:00

No pics this post but we wanted to let everyone know what we are up to since we haven't posted in a long time. I (Mark) have started my 3rd semester in school on the 4th of Jan. Hopefully things will go fine and we won't have a repeat of what has happened in the past. We will keep you updated. As for Michelle, she stopped working for a month on Wednesday the 13th because on Friday the 15th at 8:30 in the morning we will be having a NEW BABY!!!! Yes, you heard right, Michelle is having a C-section on this Friday and we could not be more excited to have a new addition to our family. Michelle is ready to be done with this pregnancy and to get on being a Mom (and in my opinion, a great one at that). We will post pics as soon as we can. Tava is doing as good as a 2 1/2 year old child can be doing. Getting into everything, making lots of noises, messes, and being as cute as possible at all times.

That is all for now but stay tuned for new pics as soon as we can post them.

December Happings

2009-12-20T20:34:00.005-06:00

We have had some fun this December with all of the holiday activities. It's been fun to see Tava get excited this year about Christmas.

Tava's Christmas Dress. I wanted to get a better picture with her in front of the Christmas tree but she wasn't going to have it.

We went to the Dallas Children's Museum and the kids loved it! (I think Mark enjoyed it too.)

Tava can't miss the chance to dress up!

One night we went with some friends to Frisco to see the lights and participate in some of the other activities.

Tava and Theo, love the glasses

Tava loved riding the pony and cried when she had to get off.

We also went out to North park mall with playgroup to see the trains and listen to Santa tell stories.

Tava having a hard time waiting for Santa to come!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-27T20:22:00.004-06:00

We had a great Thanksgiving with the McMurdie's. It is always fun to get the family together and celebrate the Holidays.

Kids playing games together

Thanksgiving Program

Tava made a great Pilgrim!!

The day before Thanksgiving we took Tava to an indoor water-park. She absolutely loved it and didn't want to leave.

One of the malls in Dallas area opened a new play area and we went and enjoyed the grand opening. Tava loved getting a flower balloon and her face painted.

Surprising she sat still for her face painting!

80's Party

2009-11-15T15:48:00.003-06:00

Thanks Del and Tina for hosting a fun 80's Party!! It was a great ending to my B-Day!!

It was great to see everyone dressed up and remember the 80's.

Halloween!

2009-11-05T19:34:00.004-06:00

We had a great Halloween with all of Mark's Family. We carved pumpkins, had two pinata's, decorated cookies and ate lots of candy!! Tava really enjoyed Halloween this year!

Family Pictures

2009-10-22T18:39:00.003-05:00

Thanks Mandie for taking some family pictures for us.

Fall Time!!

2009-10-22T18:27:00.004-05:00

We had a great time at the Dallas Arboretum. The weather was perfect and it was fun to see all the pumpkins.

This is a picture of Tava with the skirt I made her.

Coming Soon!

2009-10-15T19:39:00.002-05:00

We scheduled my C-section today, and we will have our baby boy on January 15th at 8:30 in the morning. Hopefully he won't decide to come sooner!

Dallas Zoo

2009-09-27T20:31:00.004-05:00

Tava and me(Michelle) had a great time at the Dallas Zoo on Friday. We went with my sister, her husband, son, and some of the girls she watches. It was a perfect day and we had a great time!

Tava pretending to feed the alligator

I love this gorilla at the Zoo he is always coming up to the window to see who is coming to visit him. Tava was a little scared to get close to the window.

The girls looking at the peguins

Me trying to get Tava to take a picture with me.

The kids looking at the elephant

Tava sliding down the slide at the kids zone.

Tumble Class!!

2009-09-27T20:12:00.003-05:00

Tava had her first day of tumble class last week and absolutely loved it. She was all smiles the whole time!!

Fun Activities!!

2009-09-20T15:05:00.004-05:00

We went to Grapefest with some friends and had a great time!

Tava feeding some of the petting ground animals.

Tava on the little train. She was really happy at first and then was ready at the end to get off!

Carousel Ride

We also went to the Rainforest Cafe after the festival since we were close by. Tava really liked the restaurant and was talking about all the gorillas she saw the next day. (Not a great picture of me pregnant)

Sachse Story time with the Firefighters!

Lastly Tava with some of her cousins playing in soap water while Mark was washing our SUV.They thought it was great but Mark didn't have the same feelings!!

It's A ......................

2009-08-27T18:19:00.004-05:00

So we had our 18 Week Sono today and we decided to find out what we were having. Everything about the baby looked great. It had a great heartbeat, and had no signs of deformities. It had all 10 fingers and all 10 toes from what we saw and we are really excited to announce that we are having a ...... (insert Drum Roll)

If you could not see in the pictures, he is very well endowed. Yes, that is right, we are having a boy. We could not be more excited. We are due on the 22nd of January and can't wait.

The Sad and Final Day of My Explorer

2009-08-24T12:16:00.004-05:00

Well, Michelle and I got to talking and figuring out things with her starting her new job and our up and coming baby and we realized that none of our cars would be able to hold 4 children. So much to the little fight that I put up, we broke down and on Saturday, we went and bought a new SUV to replace the Explorer.

It was a bitter sweet day for me because I have had that car for 7+ years now and it has been through just about everything (being backed into by two different cars, a cement wall, even a barb-wired fense, etc...).

We are very excited though about this new addition to our family. It will last us for a long time. It is a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder with very low miles, seats 7, and we could not be happier for our decision.

This officially makes us a Nissan Family. As stated in a previous post, we had to buy a new car to replace Michelle's Neon and so we bought a Versa. Both of these cars are great cars and we could not be more thrilled.

Last Week at Primrose

2009-08-15T19:35:00.002-05:00

I (Michelle) just accepted a job offer today to be a part time nanny for two young children. I am so excited for this opportunity and that Tava gets to come with me. I will start on the 24th of August and work from 8am-1pm M-F. I will finally be able to go to play groups again and do many other things that I miss!!

Teaching at Primrose as a Pre-Kindergarten Teacher has taught me a lot and I am sure I will miss the kids, but there are many other things that I won't miss. Hopefully this last week at Primrose will go good and that I can leave happily.

200000

2009-07-28T14:32:00.004-05:00

So I (this is Mark) have had my car since I got off my mission in 2002 and it had just under 100000 miles on it. I did not think that I would have it for 7+ years nor did I think that I would make it to this mileage but I did and it is still going strong. Who'd have thunk it with a Ford.

Family Reunions

2009-07-26T19:30:00.005-05:00

Sorry we have not posted anything for a while. We have been busy with school, work, and a couple of family reunions. Our first family reunion was here in Dallas in June with Mark's immediate family. We get together for a reunion every 2 years where we spend all day for about a week with each other. It is a lot of fun. We were supposed to go to Oklahoma but weather flooded us out of going there so Mark's brothers buckled down and planned something local really quick and they did a great job. There is Mark and his 4 brothers, 3 sisters, 7 inlaws, and 21 grandchildren now. That is a lot of people to get together. The first day we went to the Dallas Aquarium.

We had so much fun with Tava showing her some of the different animals that live in the water. She was so excited more to be with all of her cousins but also to see all of the different animals. After spending a couple of hours there, we went to the Great Wolf Lodge. If you have never been there, you need to go. It is the best family adventure you could go to for a local trip. It has an indoor and outdoor waterpark comfortable rooms great food and you name it. Tava loved the childrens waterpark with its jet ski's slides and parks that it had.

We stayed there for a night then went back to Mark's parents for games and activities for the rest of the weekend. It was so much fun and we can't wait to have the next one. We are in charge with Mark's sister in planning the trip. We are excited to plan it and already have some good ideas , we just need to decide what we want to do.

Then in July we went to Utah to have a family reunion for all Mark's extended family on both sides. We were in SLC for the 1st 2 days where we got together with Mark's Dad's side of the family. There we went to a park and played games, did a little humanitarian service project, learned about some of the McMurdie family history and just caught up with all of the family that we have not seen in a while.

Then we went to Heber to get together with Mark's mom's side of the family for a dinner and games to get reaquainted with them as well.

We had a blast at both trips and can't wait to do it all over again.

#2

2009-06-22T21:17:00.003-05:00

Yes, Tava is going to be a Big Sister!! We went today for our first sonogram of our second child! We are really excited to add another addition to our family. I am 9 weeks along and am due January 22nd, 2010. I am feeling good for the most part, sickness hits me before dinner until I go to sleep for the night so most nights you can find me lying in bed. I can't wait for the first trimester to end.

Sorry

2009-06-10T00:17:00.002-05:00

We have not posted in a long time, sorry. Things are going well for us right now. Michelle is still working at Primrose and just trying to survive each day. She has had some struggles with some of the kids and recently with some decisions of some of the teachers. We are getting through it though. Most of her problem children have been either kicked out or moved to a different class so she is starting to like it again. Now we are dealing with a kid in Tava's class that has had multiple problems in class and the teacher has not reported the incidents properly. Especially now that one of the incidents happened to Tava (the kid bit Tava on the cheek). We are a "little" pissed off. Michelle restrained me from driving up there when I heard about it so now we are finding out that there are a few other issues that are being ironed out and things are going to hopefully get better. We will keep you updated.

As far as me, things are fine. I have to redo 2nd semester of nursing which is not cool but I will get through it and hopefully be through with school in December 2010. We are still waiting on official word from the school that I am going to be readmitted so keep me in your prayers. Other than that, I am still working in the hospital in the Emergency room having a great time saving lives, literally some times, and other times we ask ourselves why this patient is actually coming to the ER but whatever.

We will post some new pictures soon.

Now 2 !!

2009-05-10T20:07:00.003-05:00

We are a little late on posting this. Tava turned 2 on April 23, we took her to Chuck'e'Cheese on her actual B-day and then had cake, ice cream, and presents with the family the next day. We love our little girl!!

Bluebonnet feilds

2009-04-19T15:19:00.004-05:00

We went last week to a huge field of bluebonnets in Richardson. We had never seen so many bluebonnets before!! Tava wasn't to sure about going into the field of bluebonnets, but once her cousins arrived and saw them going out into the flowers she followed behind.

Easter Morning

2009-04-12T16:37:00.000-05:00

Easter in Canton

2009-04-12T16:12:00.004-05:00

Tava loved the fake bunnies, but as you see she didn't like the real one

Tava had fun decorating eggs at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Easter at School

2009-04-12T16:02:00.003-05:00

Tava went Easter egg hunting with her class at Primrose. Every time she picked up an egg she would shake it to make sure there was something in it. After a while she stopped to open an egg and just sat eating her candy. She sure got the hang of Easter this year.

Trip to Arizona to celebrate Grandparents 60th Anniversary

2009-04-12T15:21:00.002-05:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We had a great time at my(michelle) grandparents 6oth Anniversary. We went hiking, visited with family and just had a good time celebrating with my grandparents. Tava was sick most of the time we where there, but luckily on the drive home she felt better and we took two days to come home instead of only one day on the way to Arizona.

My Poor Baby

2009-03-19T19:03:00.002-05:00

So this week we have traveled out to AZ for the 60th wedding anniversary of Michelle's Grandparents and we have been real excited about it. The only problem that we thought we were going to have is driving for such a long time (17 hours) with Tava. Well, the drive was not too bad except for the fact that Tava did not go back to sleep after being woken up at 4 am and only took about 3, 1/2 hour naps during the whole trip. We also noticed that her eye started to drain a little bit and so we were a little concerned about that. She was happy all of the trip until the last 2 hours when we stopped for gas and started to drive again. Then it was almost a straight cry the rest of the way. We broke the law and had her out of the car seat the last part of the trip and kept switching her sitting with mommy or daddy. We also tried to watch her favorite movies and nothing worked. Then as a last minute effort Daddy decided to sing the wheels on the bus and sang it for about 20 mins and that for some reason worked. (Yes, I had to make up some verses to keep the song going for that long.) Then this morning, we took her to a Minute Clinic at CVS Pharmacy and found out she has another ear infection and has the beginings of Pink Eye. AHHHHHHHHHHHH. Yes this is just what we wanted for our vacation. So now we have her on two antibiotics and hopefully she will be back to herself soon. We will keep you updated. This is starting out to be a great trip can't you tell.

Isn't she cute

2009-02-23T12:45:00.004-06:00

We have been working a lot with Tava's speech and recognizing sounds of different animals and different parts of her body. She can also almost count to ten. We tried it with her in the video but she won't do it for us. When she does do it, she will skip four. It is so funny. I love watching her learn to talk. Sometimes you just have to laugh. It is so much fun to watch her grow and develop into the little girl that she is.

This is Tava doing "Popcorn popping on an Apricot Tree"

It has been a while since we have posted any pictures of Tava and so we wanted to post some new ones of her so that people can know what she looks like now at 22 months. This is her just hangin out on her chair that she got for Christmas watching a movie.

more success

2009-02-12T14:28:00.002-06:00

So we went to the doctor the other day to get another blood draw and to talk about our options concerning Michelle. We were going in planning for the worst only because 2 weeks prior she had a blood draw and her levels had dropped from 111,000 to 76,000. Neither of them normal. So we were prepared for him to say that her platelet counts had dropped some more and that Michelle would have to have surgery. When he came in he asked her how she felt and then told us that her platelet count was completely normal at 135,000. He said that it was probably a delayed reaction from one of the infusion drugs that she was receiving. Either way we feel that we have been blessed from the news. She still has to get some more blood draws to make sure that her levels stay up but so far we are out of the clear. That is great news because we did not need another stress on our lives right now.

New Addition to our Family

2009-01-27T14:00:00.002-06:00

So as you know, I (Mark) totaled the Neon. This past Saturday, we went out to look for a car and found a new car. We don't have real pictures of it yet but if you want to see what we got click here. We got the 2009 Nissan Versa for a good deal and are extremely excited about it. We will post pictures of it when the weather begins to cooperate with us and we can clean it up to make it look nice. Until then, look at the link to get an idea.

We can NEVER get AHEAD

2009-01-21T14:13:00.004-06:00

So Michelle and I have been living at some friends of ours house for about 7 to 8 months now trying to pay off some debts and get "ahead" so that we can maybe buy a house soon. At least that is the plan, until a certain somebody (not going to name any names but he was driving her car) decided to accidentally fall asleep behind the wheel while driving home from work after a 12 hour shift at the hospital and this is what happened...

I owe Michelle a new car now. We just heard from the insurance people that the car is not repairable and they are going to have to total the car. Yes we were going to replace the car sooner or later but it was running fine and would have lasted us a few more years. It was just the driver that was not running fine. For those that are wondering, I am fine and no one was hurt. The other car was a Jeep Wrangler and my car went under the car. This is not a good way to start the new year. Let's hope that this is not a sign of things to come.

Sucess??

2009-01-18T14:58:00.002-06:00

For those readers wandering, I had my levels checked on Wednesday and my platelets are back up to 101,000. Normal is 130,000+, so I think I am done with the treatments and we are hopeful that my levels will stay up and life can go as usual. I go in on Friday to have my levels checked again and then see the doctor the following week. Hopefully nothing changes and I won't get ITP again.

New Treatment

2009-01-09T19:41:00.002-06:00

From previous posts we mentioned that I (michelle) have been getting treatments of Rituxan to help raise my blood platelets, but as it turns out it is not working. My levels never went above 23,000 and on Tuesday my platelets dropped again to 11,000. The doctor then said that he wanted to try a new treatment called IVIG ( Intravenous immunoglobulin). The treatment by definintion is given as a plasma protein replacement therapy (IgG) for immune deficient patients which have decreased or abolished antibody production capabilities.

I started the treatment on Wednesday and just had another treatment today. They checked my platelets today and it seems to be doing a much better job then the rituxan I finally went up to 54,000 platelets. I will get my levels checked again next week and then see what happens.

The Doctor also mentioned that I might have to have my spleen removed if the new treatment doesn't work. He told me about the process of the spleen being removed and said it would be an easy surgery that they could do laparoscopically.

So, once again I am in wait mode and have to see what my levels are at on this coming Wednesday to see what is the next step. I'm getting to know the people that draw my blood real well. Anyways once again we will keep everyone posted as to what happens.

Tava

2009-01-04T15:59:00.002-06:00

Here a just a few fun pictures of Tava. We have had a couple of nice days here in Texas and we captured a few pictures of Tava outside just chillin.

Christmas

2009-01-04T15:43:00.003-06:00

Tava loved all of her presents this year. We got her a chair just her size that she can recline in, a tent and the best of all a new baby. We made sure she opened the baby last, knowing that she probably wouldn't open anything else after that. My mom also got her a very cute backpack that she had on while opening all of her presents. What fun it is to be young!!

Christmas Eve!

2009-01-04T15:22:00.004-06:00

We spent Christmas Eve with all the McMurdie family that was in town. We had dinner together and then all the grandkids got dressed up to role play the story of Christ's birth. I don't know if they knew what they where doing, but they didn't seem to mind getting dressed up. Tava was a Shepard, but looked more liked a pirate we thought. Fun times!!
Santa brought a gift for each of the grandkids and we also had Tava open up a pair of p.j.'s to wear to bed Christmas Eve. It was fun seeing her open up her gifts this year.

Update on Michelle

2008-12-25T16:11:00.004-06:00

Just to let you know how Michelle is doing, we took her in on Tuesday to start the new drug that we talked about on the one of the previous posts, Rituxan. They drew her blood work first to see where she was at and it showed that her platelets went down a little bit lower than the previous time. So we started the infusion and things went fine. She had a little allergic reaction to the medication so they had to stop the infusion and give her some benedryl and solu-medrol to calm the reaction. They then restarted the infusion without any other problems. This is looking like it is going to take a little longer than we were hoping but we are praying and hoping for the best. Our spirits are high and we are just leaving it all in the Lord's hands. Michelle is a little tired all day long but other than that she is great. Just keep her in your prayers.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2008-12-25T10:18:00.002-06:00

We will post more later but we wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Up-Date!!

2008-12-19T20:49:00.004-06:00

I(Michelle) went to the doctors again to check my blood platelets and it turns out that they are not at the level that the doctor would like them to be at, so I get to go one day a week for four weeks for an IV infusion(injection) of a drug called Rituxan. It's basically a drug they give to cancer patients, but I don't have cancer and they told me that I won't loose any of my hair or things like that. I'm a little nervous, but I will be monitored the whole time I'm getting the infusion and Mark will be with me through it all.
The hope is it that I will get a month of treatment and be back to normal. Crazy what things can happen in your life. I have something I have never even heard about before, but I am hopeful everything will go as it should and it will all go away.

Read On!!

2008-12-14T21:11:00.000-06:00

WE HAVE NEW POSTS, SO READ ON!!

Breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa

2008-12-14T20:47:00.004-06:00

New tradition with Grandma and Grandpa McMurdie. Mark's parents are starting a new tradition of having breakfast with all their grandkids that can come. They had breakfast, crafts and decorating sugar cookies. I think this will really be neat once the grandkids really start getting older. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!

Melissa Fire Department

2008-12-14T20:37:00.003-06:00

Fire Truck

Tava with Santa

Jacob and Santa

My brother-in-law is a volunteer firefighter for his city and while I was at my sister's house the fire department came by her neighborhood with Santa. Tava seemed o.k. with the loud sirens and was happy to see her Uncle in the fire truck. I think she was a little scared of Santa though.

Now the Scary!!

2008-12-14T19:52:00.002-06:00

On Monday night I(Michelle) noticed a growth in my mouth. It appeared on the inside of my check and on my tongue. It was nothing I had ever seen before and I showed Mark and he said it looked like some kind of blood blister. I went to sleep that night thinking it would go away, but to my surprise they got bigger. I knew right then that something was not right and that I needed to go see a doctor. I went to work and Mark scheduled me an appt. for later on that day. Along with the growths I also noticed that I had a lot more bruises appearing on my body and some pretty big black ones.
When I went to the doctors office I was checked out by a nurse practitioner that of course had never seen what I had before. She had a Doctor come and check me out and he of course hadn't seen what I had before either. He just said it looked like I had some how traumatized my mouth and blood blister where forming. They decided to do some blood work and said they would call me the next day with the results.
I knew deep down their was something wrong with me, but didn't know what it was. Before we went to dinner on Wednesday night to celebrate Mark passing his first semester of nursing school I received a call from the nurse practitioner saying that my blood platelets where at 6,000 and they are suppose to be at 130,000. She said she would call me back after she talked to the doctor and let me know what we needed to do. So as we are eating dinner she calls back and tells me that I need to go to the hospital because I could be internally bleeding somewhere. Panic hits and Mark and I drop Tava off at Mark's parents house and head to the Hospital.
The doctor at the Hosptial does some more blood work and we wait for the results and finally he comes back saying that my blood platelets are less than 1,000 and that I have what is called ITP. Which is when a virus decides to attack all of your blood platelets. They said I would be staying at the hospital for at least one to two days. Later on a specialist comes and talks to me more about ITP and says that I probably got it from the stomach bug that I had two weeks before. I was put on steriods right away and tired to get some sleep to see what was in store for the next day. Luckily on Thursday morning my platelets went up to 3,000 and the doctor said I could go home. I am now taking steriods everyday to get my platelets to go back up, but I think it might be a slow process. I had some blood work done on Friday and I only was at 4,000 platelets. Hopefully when I go in tomorrow they will have gone up a little more.
Crazy I know!! This is a rare virus and I'm the one that caught it. I now have to be aware of my surroundings so that I don't get any more bruises and I can not use any knifes or anything that might cause me to bleed. I also get to deal with the effects the steriods might do to me. I hoping that my body gets back to normal and faster the better.

If you are curious about what ITP is just cleck here.