This kinda blows my mind:

This was me and my big belly on November 26th, Thanksgiving:

Then, a little more than 3 days later, on November 30th we got to meet Jack, our beautiful baby boy.

I mean seriously, the fact that he was inside my belly is hard to believe. All those kicks, jabs, and hiccups came from him. Amazing. Babies are miracles.

Introducing...

Jack Charles Murphy!

We are so incredibly grateful for this huge blessing! He came into our lives November 30th at 3:09 am, weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces and measuring 22 inches long.

It certainly wasn't easy getting him here, but definitely worth every second of the 32 hours I was in labor. One day soon I'll sit down and write out the details before it slips from my sleep-deprived mind.

Hope you enjoy these photos as much as we're enjoying him!

Fashionably Late

Like most first babies, our little guy has decided to wait a bit longer than his due date to make his grand entrance into our lives. Since I am now 40 weeks and 1 day pregnant, we have officially started the waiting game. But, even as I say "officially," I know it's not actually official. Over the course of the first half of my pregnancy, I was given three different due dates, ranging from November 13th to November 26th, so I could be only 39 weeks pregnant at this point.

My midwives are going by the 19th due date, but have told me that if the 26th comes and goes, and the baby and I both look healthy, they won't be in any big hurry to induce. Which I am very thankful for. I'm of the opinion that the baby will arrive when he knows it's time, and who am I to rush him along just because I'm ready to meet him? Of course, if it looks like the baby is running out of amniotic fluid, my placenta is breaking down, he's not getting the nutrients he needs, or any other issues are going on that are threatening either of our health, then of course, an induction would be necessary and favorable.

I found out at my last appointment that the chemicals that start the labor process are released from my babies brain; not the female parts of my body, but from my baby. He's the one we're waiting on to tell us when the time is right. I think that's a pretty cool process that was designed by our Creator. Doctors and scientists have attempted to duplicate these chemicals but, thankfully, have been unsuccessful. Babies and the birth process are mysterious miracles and we as humans have messed up many aspects of it, hopefully this is one aspect we won't be able to duplicate.

Until we meet our little guy, I'll be attempting to enjoy every second of freedom that comes with not caring for every need another human. While I am so excited to meet him, I realize that our lives are going to be turned upside down, in lots of great ways, but they will never be the same. So I'm going to take long showers, spend too much time on the internet, take a nap when I feel like it, get an almost full night of sleep (minus all the obligatory trips to the bathroom), and lots of other things that won't be as easy with a newborn.

Another thing I'll be doing is trying not to let sarcastic responses slip out when I'm faced with all the, "You're still pregnant?!" and, "You haven't had that baby yet?!" comments that come from people I'm speaking with face-to-face. One of the things I've realized over the last 10 months is, if you're not sure what to say to a pregnant lady, know that, even if you don't mean it this way, many things could come across as hurtful and frustrating. A sincere, "How are you feeling?" or "You look great," are always a safe bet. Even if the latter isn't completely true, she enjoys hearing it because she most likely doesn't actually believe it herself. Coming down off my soap box now.

Stay tuned, we'll keep you posted as things progress!

Déjà Vu

These last few days of rain, wind, and gray skies have transported me back to Scotland.

Typically, this long of a stretch of weather like we've had this week would have quite the depressing effect on my demeanor, but this time it has a slightly comforting appeal to it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not wishing for weather like this to continue and I definitely am not preferring it over blue sunny skies, but now that we've had the chance to step away from constant dreary weather of Scotland, and have been exposed to a (somewhat) hot Virginia summer and a beautiful fall, I can appreciate it a bit more and not get so annoyed with it.

I think behind my contentment is the knowledge of a stretch of sunny skies and warmer weather that is right around the corner, a luxury we didn't have in Scotland.

I could get deeper about how this is a reflection of my attitude toward life and how if I could learn to appreciate the gray skies as much as the blue skies, and keep the perspective that there are always blue skies around the corner, I might just learn more from the rainy days and see the joy in all the seasons of my life, no matter how gray the sky is or how long the rain sticks around.

But instead, I'll soak in this gray, rainy day and reminisce about the great times we had in Scotland, and more importantly about all the incredible people we met who love us like their own family and who we miss terribly.

38 Weeks, and a Realization

About a week ago, a funny thing happened. I saw my profile in a mirror and realized that for the first time, my big belly seemed normal to me. Up until then, I would see my reflection and be surprised or just shake my head in disbelief that this ever expanding belly is actually a part of my body.

It only took 9 months to get to that point, but I'm finally here. Having a child grow inside my body is such a bizarre, and incredible, experience, I can't even begin to explain it; and I never would've been able to understand what it's like without experiencing it.

So here we are, 38 weeks pregnant and two weeks to go until D-day. But of course, a due date, as everyone knows, is merely a suggestion, especially for first babies. Our little guy could decide to arrive any day, or it could be another four weeks from now. My hope is he'll arrive on the day that is best for him, he can take as long as he needs to grow and develop...as long as it happens during the month of November.

In the last week, I've been dealing with some pain in the hip/pelvic area. From what I've been told, ligaments are loosening up down there to prepare for this little man's arrival, which is one of the reasons for pain. Another issue I've been having is sciatica; apparently he's camped out on a nerve which is causing random shooting pains through my hip and leg and pain whenever I take a step. But I've talked to ladies who've had this kind of pain for 2/3rds of their pregnancy, so if it's only the last 3-4 weeks that I'm having to deal with this, I'd say that's pretty good and I'm super grateful.

I'm off to pack my hospital bag. I'm a horrible procrastinator when it comes to packing for a trip, I usually do it after midnight the night before a trip. That obviously won't work this time since I imagine the last thing I'll feel like doing in the midst of labor pains is packing a bag with all the necessities.

Here's where I could use your help: any suggestions from you mothers (or fathers) of items I definitely will want or items you took and definitely didn't need?

Almost 37 Weeks, and a Few Random Tidbits

Even as I type the title, I have trouble believing it. As each day passes, I'm getting more and more excited about meeting our son. And surprisingly, I'm also getting more and more excited about the process I'll have to go through to meet our son. Maybe it's a case of ignorance being bliss, but it might also be that I'm reading a book that is helping me look more at the positive aspects of labor and delivery and not dwell as much on the aspects of it I've been focusing on up until now (those are mainly thoughts that have to do with the size of a baby and the size of my body. yikes!).

Lately he's been jumping around in my belly like he's trying to break out. It's funny because it seems as though the more squished he gets in there, the more he's moving around like a maniac; you'd think he would calm it down a bit.

It is a relief to be so close to 37 weeks, since that's when a baby is considered full term. But I'm definitely not wishing for his little guy to be born now. I'm much more comfortable with the idea of him coming around my due date (November 19th). I want him to have as much time as he needs to fatten up and be fully ready to face this world. Plus I need a bit more time to get organized. But I have this sneaking suspicion that even if I had another 9 months, I'd never be as organized as I'd like to be.

Two of my lovely sisters-in-law (Jenna & Leah) headed up the effort to throw us an incredible baby shower yesterday. Although it was more like a torrential downpour than a shower: the ladies who came to celebrate with me were all incredibly generous, I think I opened gifts for 90 minutes straight!

Last Wednesday, James and I took what was probably our last overnight trip for quite some time. James's sister's former boss gave her an incredible gift of two tickets to the final game of the NLCS. She then generously passed the tickets on to us. James's favorite team, the Philadelphia Phillies were playing the Dodgers in Philly. It was so much fun. One day, little Murph (as nicknamed by Val & Ross) will be excited to see evidence of his first, and surely not last, Phillies game:



That's all for now because sitting upright for too long causes some intense back pain. An inconvenience I'll gladly deal with since it means getting to soon meet Baby Boy Murphy!

The Latest

I've been hesitant to post anything lately about what life has been like since we moved back, and it could be for one of the following reasons, but I'm going to go with the idea that it's probably a combination of all of them

-I'm 29 weeks pregnant and that seems to consume most of my brain power on most days. Funny how using one's body to grow another person and then the prospect of bringing that person into this world, to then be responsible (thankfully, in conjunction with my husband) for said person, can really sap one's energy.

-Add a sinus infection that's been going strong for a week to the mix and subtract all the medications non-pregnant people can take, you've got one miserable week.

-Then there's the chaos of moving back from living in Scotland, finding a place to live, a job for my husband, health insurance, transportation, and re-connecting with people we've been away from for two years, all while living with my parents and some with my sister and brother-in-law (thank the Lord for their hospitality and generosity because without them our lives would be even more ridiculously chaotic).

-Throw in some traveling around the East Coast and Mid-West. To be exact, 31 days of traveling spread over the space of 63 days.

-Figuring out how to transition back to living in America, after being in the UK for two years, when our future seems so unclear.

Yeah, I'm gonna go with the idea that all of these things together cause me to not even know where to start when it comes to processing and writing out how I'm feeling about all this stuff.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a list of complaints, (ok, well maybe the one about the sinus infection is a complaint, but can you blame me?) these are all wonderful (and when it comes to the baby, miraculous) experiences, exciting adventures, and fabulous times with people we love. But, I'm realizing, especially now after writing it out, that it's a lot to handle all at once, and that realization is helping me do something that my husband has been pleading with me to do for months: cut myself some slack, stop trying to do so much stuff, and ask for/accept help from people.

So as we figure out how to navigate this new form of our lives, I'm hoping to keep everyone updated, but can't make any guarantees to the updates having any sort of consistency.

For now, I'm going to relax and enjoy feeling our little guy start his nightly kick-boxing routine in my belly. He's a feisty fella, and I love it!

Mark the Calendar

I received my first, "you look like you're ready to pop" comment from a total stranger today. I knew the tactless, random comments from strangers were inevitable, I just didn't expect it quite yet.

Maybe it was the surprised look on my face, or the fact that I obviously had no idea how to reply, that made the lady follow up with, "oh it's just that you're so petite, that's why you look like you're ready to pop."

Goodness, I've still got 11 weeks left, and this baby has lots more to grow; what will they be saying when I'm really and truly ready to pop?

Funny Signs

I laughed all the way through reading Stacy and Kyle's report on the Funny Signs Exhibition in Edinburgh, Scotland. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

At the Beach

I've had the chance to relearn what the word "relax" means.

We're halfway through our week-long family beach vacation (my first instinct was to write beach holiday, UK English is still prominent in my mind sometimes) and I've realized I haven't truly relaxed, for an extended period of time, in the past two years. Maybe I've had short times of physical relaxation or mental relaxation, but never at the same time. This week I truly feel like my whole being is decompressing.

I really needed it and it feels great, so I'm going to stop writing about it and go relax some more.

The Mystery Solved

Though it's been less than a month since we've returned to Richmond from our two years in Scotland, it feels like we've crammed 8 weeks of life into the last three.

The most exciting event thus far has to be finding out that we're having a BOY!!! AND, that our little boy looks as though he is perfectly healthy and growing right on schedule.

I'm somewhere between 25 and 27 weeks along, I've been given three different due dates, so this baby will most likely make his appearance somewhere between the middle and end of November. I'm liking the ambiguity though, that way I (hopefully) won't be so anxious if the baby decides to hang out for a bit longer than my original due date of mid-November.

We even got to see our little guy in 4D! We weren't expecting it at all; all of the sudden, the technician flips a switch, and SURPRISE, there's an image on the screen of our baby that makes it seem like we're looking at him face-to-face. Technology blows my mind.






Life's pretty crazy for us for the next couple of months; this whole transitioning thing is harder than expected, and we haven't even officially begun transitioning yet since we're hopping all over the east coast until October. But overall, life is great. We're loving being back in Richmond, though we're missing Dornoch and all our friends there more than words can express. We're already making plans to for our first visit back to Scotland!

And the Ultrasound Results are...We're Having a....

Sorry for the let down, but we still don't know. Our little one just didn't feel like spreading his legs for us to get a good view of his nether regions. (I know, I know, it's probably confusing that I'm still writing "he," even though we don't know which pronoun we will be using permanently, but I'm sticking with the pronoun I chose in the beginning to make things easier. I'm not into writing "he/she" or "it" for 4 more months so until we know more, "he" it is.)

But really, the opportunity of finding out our baby's sex was the least important bit of information we could've received on Wednesday. I am so incredibly grateful for all the great news we got. During the ultrasound, the technician looked at the baby in even greater detail than she would have at a typical 20 week ultrasound. I take a medication to control epilepsy and with it comes some risk of birth defects, so they wanted to make doubly sure that everything looks ok with our baby, specifically with his heart. She didn't see any cause for alarm, and every measurement showed his growth as being right on, or even a little bit ahead of, schedule.



Still, everyday, I'm struck with how amazing it is that a baby is able to grow inside of me. What a miracle.

Year of the Visitor: Part 11, The Final Chapter

In keeping with my recent life tendencies, this post is overdue, but I'm getting it done nonetheless.

Six days ago we said goodbye to our last set of visitors (unless of course, we have some surprise visitors sometime in the next 16 days, which we are open to!) in Scotland: my parents and my 11 year old nephew Noah. We had an awesome time with them and got to do some sightseeing things we hadn't done yet.

It was pretty easy to say goodbye since we knew we'd see them in three weeks.

I hadn't spent that much non-stop time with my nephew in years and it was such a blast to see how he's grown and changed. He's developing quite the sense of humor and is very witty. He's also incredibly thoughtful and generous for a boy his age. He kept us laughing which made the entire trip (and especially the car rides to far-away sightseeing places) much more fun!

Pictures soon to come, for now it's back to packing.

Here it comes...

The end. It's scarily close. I still can't believe we'll be moving away from Dornoch in merely a month and four days. I feel like we were just preparing for goodbyes and taking care of all the details of moving to Scotland a couple of months ago, not the couple of years ago that it was.

We talk about the logistics of moving all the time: the stuff we need to get rid of, what needs to be packed, our schedule once we get home (which is already super busy for the first 2.5 months of being there. oh yeah, and then 1 month after that we'll have a baby, so that will be a bit busy as well. a great kind of busy though!), the growing to-do list, etc. But I don't think it's hit me that we're actually, seriously, really, physically, leaving. I take that back, it started to hit me tonight.

We just got home from being treated to an awesome dinner (at Luigi's, our favorite restaurant in Dornoch which we will miss immensely) with some wonderful friends. Two couples we have had the joy and privilege of meeting and getting to know over the past two years: Valerie & Alister and Fin & Margo. They have been such an encouragement to us, more so than I think they'll ever know or than I could accurately express. Their lives are incredible testaments to God's faithfulness, they reflect his love in such vivid ways.

They showered us with beautiful gifts, handmade gifts that are both very unique and will be great reminders of our time in Dornoch. I tried to express our gratitude for the gifts as well as for their friendship, but of course the words seemed to come out in a blubbering mess that didn't amount to anything close to what I was trying to say. And it was then that I realized a few things: 1. there were some tears looming precariously on the horizon, 2. the hope is that we will visit Dornoch and see all of our friends again, but who knows what the future holds, there will probably be people we might never ever see again in this lifetime, and 3. this whole leaving business is tough work.

All things that I've known previously, but the reality of situations usually hits us slowly; a fact which I am eternally grateful for since it dramatically decreases my rate of freaking out and being overwhelmed by various events.

We are different people than when we were two years ago. Different in a good way. We've had to experience things we never would've wanted to experience, and we've also experienced things we never dreamed we'd be able to experience. We feel like we've grown as a result of those things, which makes each one of them worthwhile.

I'm rambling, but at least it's an accurate reflection of what my brain is like at the moment: a jumbled mess.

Summary: I'm so grateful, for all the people who have graciously and lovingly welcomed us to into their lives. You will all forever hold a place in our hearts.

ps. Alister and Fin are incredibly talented artists. You should definitely see some of their work: Al is a graphic design artist, and Fin is a photographer.

a few pregnancy related items

*We heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time yesterday! It was even more amazing than I expected.

*We're finding out the sex of the baby on July 1st. I'd like to say I could keep it a secret, but as I've learned in the past, I'm not very good at keeping my own secrets. (I am good at keeping other people's secrets, so fear not, if you've told me a secret, it's locked up safe in the vault.)

*I can't remember the last time I had a pimple. My face is loving pregnancy

*The bouts of nausea are almost completely gone.

*The exhaustion is lessening.

*My love of fruits and vegetables has grown exponentially in the last 16 weeks. I could eat them constantly. Here is a list of fruits and vegetables I ate today: banana on my cereal; a chicken sandwich with yellow pepper, cucumber, tomato, and avacado; broccoli; a salad with romaine, spinach, yellow pepper, tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries. And I'd love a kiwi right now.

*There's definitely a bit of a belly, but so far it just looks like a pudgy belly, not a pregnant belly.

*It's still kinda weird to look down and see that belly.

*Since I've realized how incredibly expensive baby things are, I'm becoming an even bigger fan of gently used items. Got anything you want to sell?

*I've decided to see a nurse-midwife instead of my Ob-Gyn when we get home and I'm really excited about it. If you had asked me two years ago to make this switch I would've said "absolutely not, no way, no how."

*I've heard now is the time some people start feeling their babies kick, so I'm paying very close attention. Nothing yet.

*Though it's a ways off, I'm stoked about the idea of going jogging with our baby. Well, I guess I already do go jogging with our baby.

*Sometimes I wonder if the baby hates it when I go jogging. Must be a bumpy ride for him

*If I didn't have such an awesome husband who makes me rest and stops me from doing too much, I'd be way more exhausted than I am.

*I'm experiencing a miracle, right inside my own body.

*OK, so that was more than just a few items, but oh well.

A Newfound Skill

Yawning.

While James's mom was taking a photo of this lovely bridge, I was caught in the act doing something I seem to spend a lot of time doing lately.

I've heard lots of ladies describe the exhaustion they feel while pregnant, so it was a symptom I expected to experience. But what I didn't realize is that pregnancy exhaustion is an animal unlike any other kind of exhaustion. One thought that continues to pop up in my mind every so often is, "what must it be like to be pregnant and have other kids to take care of?!?" My respect for you ladies has grown exponentially!

Though the last two weeks have seen a marked decrease in my rate of yawn's per day, quite a few still escape each day. But please know, I'm not complaining; I am totally embracing this, and every other pregnancy symptom I've had and will have in the future because it means a miracle is taking place...inside my body of all places!

Catching Up: Holiday Bible Club 2009

I'm going back in time a bit to review some of the events of the past few months. We've been so busy with said events that I haven't had the chance to share the details with you. So here goes!

The Dornoch Free Church hosted their second annual Holiday Bible Club (known in America as Vacation Bible School) during the school's Easter Holidays from April 6th-10th. A group from our home church in Richmond returned again this year to help us in putting on the event. We made some changes to this years club mainly in the teaching department.

Since we're preparing for our departure, our current focus is on guiding people into positions of leadership to take over for us when we leave. We hope to be able to come back for future Bible Club's, but there's no guarantee we'll be able to, so the plan was to train people from the Dornoch church to take on new roles as teachers and leaders. Bill & Kathy's visit was the integral part of that training.

Here you can read a quick summary of how many came from Stony Point as well as a link to 100's of photos from the week. If you don't feel like sifting through all those photos, here are a bunch to sum up the week. First are photos from the Club itself, second are photos of some of the sightseeing we did with the team from Stony Point.

































It was an amazing week!

Today's Photo Shoot

Mostly I loathe the National Health System in the UK (and I'm not looking forward to the day when there might be one in America. Seriously people it won't work in America. Don't believe me? Live here for a while.) but today I'm okay with it because we got to have another ultrasound and see our beautiful baby again!

Everything's coming along very nicely, he or she (who will be called "he" until we find out the sex in July because I'm not saying "it" or "he/she" for the next six weeks) is developing and growing beautifully. The detail we could see and the amount he's grown in the last two weeks were both astounding. The technician pointed out all sorts of cool things: kidney's, the incredibly straight spinal cord, the cerebellum, all the bones in his legs, the diaphragm, the four chambers of the heart, the umbilical cord; it was incredible! All that and more visible at only 14 weeks! Technology blows my mind sometimes. But what's more mind-blowing are the Hands that created this little miracle!

The funniest part of the appointment was when the nurse kept referring to the baby as "Tootsie." I couldn't get the image of Dustin Hoffman dressed up as a woman out of my head. No worries, Tootsie definitely won't be an option when we start thinking about names.

Year of the Visitor: Part 10

With all the excitement of the last few days, I've neglected to inform you of our most recent visitors. James's parents, Paul and Janet, have joined us in Dornoch for an exciting two weeks. We picked them up from the airport in Edinburgh on Wednesday morning and drove back to Dornoch, taking the rest of the day easy since that flight is a difficult one to recover from. Thursday we took them on a hike to our favorite local waterfall spot: Big Burn.

We're looking forward to doing some fun sightseeing things, and also including them in our work with the kids. Should be fun times!

Guess what guy's'...

A Baby!!! Our Baby!!!


Excitement, joy, relief, and overwhelming gratefulness don't even begin to express what we're feeling.

Since we lost our first baby to miscarriage, we were a bit apprehensive this time around. Well, alright, more than a bit. I couldn't let myself think about actually meeting this baby in this life. Planning for the future was out of the question. I almost expected to get the same results as last time.

But on Tuesday, that all changed. We had our first ultrasound and the fears of the last 12 weeks melted away when we got to see that adorable, healthy baby, jumping around. Seeing that heart beating like crazy was so incredible.

What a gift to be entrusted with the life of another human. We are so grateful God has allowed us to see these pictures of the child he has blessed us with. What an amazing miracle.