More smiles from Stryder-man.

Twinners.

Gramma Jo and her Seattle girls gave them these cute matching shirts. They are a picture of Pike Place Market, and they are awesome!

Adorable.

Ava and her little boyfriend, Cyrus went for a morning walk holding hands. They went a few blocks 'til she got stuck in some vines and started crying. It was good while it lasted.

Baby wearing.

This is pretty much my day here. Trying to make sure Stryder gets some kind of a nap during the day, I have resorted to carrying him almost all of the time. It can get pretty crazy trying to do things with Ava around the house, like lifting her into her crib. Someday we will get both of these kids to sleep "normal". Maybe then Shawn and I will go on a sleep vacation.

Gramma Jo has the magic touch.

How does she do it? It seems that we've got another sleep-less baby on our hands. But for some reason he can just pass right out when Jo gets a hold of him.

First photo of his big smile.

Yep. We make cute kids, alright.

Loving the rain.

Sweet big sister, Ava.

My guys.

It's fun to see Shawn as a new Daddy all over again. He's so loving and sweet. Wanna kiss 'em both right now!

New baby Stryder.

Just a couple of days old here and still a puffy little pudgey guy.

Here's our boy!

Stryder T. Murphy was born on July 12th, 2008. Our little family is more complete and our hearts are fuller, a whopping 9 pounds and 14 ounces fuller! We labored with him for about a day and a half (half the labor of Ava's), and greeted him into our arms at 10:39 pm. He was born posterior (sunny-side up), in the water with no complications. We were able to see his sweet little face as he was coming out! We were only at the Birthing Center for 2 hours before he was born. He pretty much screamed like this the second he came out until we left for home 5 hours later. I was so pleased that Shawn was at my side for every minute and was pretty much my doula. He kept me very focused and relaxed resulting in a stress-free and virtually pain-free labor. My sister Kendra was there to act as my doula, but was left without someone to watch her little Sky-boy. She was still able to be a very loving and welcome support and also our photographer. All the thanks in the world to Gramma Jo for watching our little Ava during the labor and while we were away. An all around perfect and sweet experience.

Four weeks ago...

Shawn took this picture of me just an hour and a half before giving birth to our second child. We've been pretty busy with 2 little ones, so I finally have a good reason for my lack of posting.