White Christmas

Lot of white stuff in Utah today, just glad to be hunkered in and enjoying the day with family. Murphy of course had the biggest haul of goods, which no one was suprised. Merry Christmas everyone!!

family night at zoolights

We went to see the light display tonight at the zoo. Pretty chilly, so our visit was short but M was actually really happy the whole time in the bjorn. I'm just anxious for him to discover all the cool things life has to offer. Our next visit to the zoo will be in the summer with sunshine.

the puffy suit made it's debut- thanks Amy!

i love this pic. check out the mountains in the background.

Nanc is a regular with the Dunn family outings.

santa attempt #1

For those of you wondering where our santa picture is, well, we're still trying. Our first attempt last week was thwarted by extremely long lines of adults wearing matching nascar jackets (i'm not kidding) and murphy being asleep. Of which, the first being more of the reason to try again another day. And i have to say that the Santa at the Fashion Place mall is not near as legit as our friend Sofia's in Boston. Terri- super cute pic and that was real deal Santa she met with- I'm sure all her wishes will come true:)

Big M and little M

I had a very busy post-work schedule last week, so Big M and little M had a lot of good quality time together. Luckily little M still recognizes his dad with a beard. This is Matt's version of a new "hairstyle"- I think that's what men with no hair do for a style change- you know, when women need a new hair do, it's usually a new highlight color or a little shorter, etc. But with men, it's all in the facial hair.

i love my bumboi am done with my bumbo

m and h staredown. Harris still wonders who he is and when is he leaving?

am I a "J" or "D"

What? I have slipped to new level of forgetfulness. Saturday night at my company Christmas party after the entertainment wrapped up I made my way to the back of the room to collect my gift- lines were organized alphabetically and I was waiting in line when Tennille looked at me and asked what I was doing...seemed obvious, "I'm waiting in line to get my gift", all the while making eye contact with the "I-L" sign in front of me. I felt I was in the right line to collect my gift. She looked at me again and said "D" Dunn...it's been 3 years since being a Dunn, but for one brief moment Saturday night I stood patiently in the "I-L" line to collect my gift for Johnson that did not exist. Luckily, my friend Tennille who just had twins managed to find herself in the correct line and point me in the right direction.

by raise of hand

who loves mom... i do.

the gang's all here

What is it with the Johnson girls? Nothing can ever be "just planned" but instead we feel the need for surprises. And this Thanksgiving was no different:). Em, Amy and Nancy told mom they were coming to Waco for Thanksgiving and when Matt and I found out Ma and Pa Dunn had to be in Spain for a University assignment (since it was our holiday to be with them), we decided to make it a Texas Thanksgiving. Murphy and I flew in with Nancy, Matt joined us the following day. My mom was certainly surprised to see us in the Waco airport, we've promised no surprises for 2009. We had a great weekend - despite a Beaver and Baylor loss, there were delicious meals, golf, family photos (always a favorite) and Murphy was blessed on Sunday which was very nice- what a wonderful weekend and I'm glad we all spent it together.

Murphy was a rockstar traveler as usual- he has visited 6 states and is only 4 months old. What an awesome kid. The Dunn family has much to be thankful for, especially our wonderful families, good health, jobs and one another.

Dunn family photo, Matt is really starting to love photos. That may be a stretch, but there is less complaining, not no complaining, just less. I love you.

Allison with baby Murphy- the girls loved him.

Melanie and M

M had a blowout in the Baylor bookstore, hence the t-shirt purchased on the fly and put on in a fitting room. Only a 4 month old can get away with stinking up a fitting room.
Matt intense during the Beaver game, Murph and I are making the most of it!

things I love!

From Murphy's perspective. I love...

My woobie, thanks aunt Kerry.

And my tough guy look with my hood.

And my Aunt Nancy who watches me often!And carefully watching my first baby einsteins video.
And just being here with my mom and dad.

To my family members, I know I'm a terrible blogger, and that blogs should be done more frequently then my standard. So instead of viewing this as a traditional blog, I'd like you to think of it as a photo gallery for M. And if something interesting should happen to Matt or I then i'll write about it, until then, enjoy the new pics! He is so great!

1st Halloween

It was a great day! Murphy went to work with me in the morning and then we went to Matt's work in the afternoon. A lot of showing off to strangers with big smiles and babble. I've decided Halloween is a nothing more than a day for adults to act silly and for moms to play dress up with their kids:) M did awesome while at the office with me, he was there for about 3 hours and when I wasn't showing him off, he was just lying on the floor in my office, not making a peep- the entire time. I thought...we could do this every Friday. I wish.

A geisha in my grandma's Kimono she bought during some of her travels. And M a tiger!

What? This is fun. Being popular is pretty exhausting!

Best day ever being at work!

Baby bjorn

Murphy finally made a positive break through with the baby bjorn...

But not for very long...:)

I do like my boppy!

Catch up

I've been a bit out of the loop on the blog but all is well the Dunn family. I was in Denver 2 weekends ago to visit my dear friend Tiffany who is having a baby in 5 weeks. It's a girl and we are excited for Murphy's "girlfriend" to arrive safe and sound! We love Dan and Tiffany and can't wait until November 24th (her scheduled arrival date). Murphy was once again an excellent traveler, though we had a blowout at the security line and were on outfit number 3 by noon (a bit out of character for him).

This is my final week of stay at home mom. As most of you know this has been a very difficult decision, but I finally feel the most at peace about it as the days wind down to Monday, Oct. 27. There is a lady in our neighborhood who will be watching Murphy and Matt and I have made a few adjustments to our work schedules that will have him with the sitter, the least amount of time possible:) I'm finishing a project at work for the next 6 months and after that we'll reevaluate my next move. I'm sure time will fly by just as it has the last 3 months. I can't believe it has been 3 months since Murphy has been with us. He is such a great kid, I just love him to pieces and his smiles are more frequent and his recongition to Matt and I is consistent. It's the small things that make you giggle inside and to one another.

And my final thought...if anyone knows who he looks like do let us know- it's still up for debate!

Fall in the UC

My favorite time of year in Utah is fall- the cool temperatures, the smell in the air, the beautiful mountains with changing colors, holidays drawing near, etc. Monday night we went up American Fork canyon to look at the fall foliage. Our outing was brief because it was chilly already at 4:45 but none-the less enjoyable. The canyon is 15 minutes from our house which is just another reason to love Utah. You'll see in the photos we had to take the stupid stroller because Murphy still won't be happy in the baby bjorn carrier, I hope that changes soon.

And on a side note, M went for his 2 month check up and was a very brave boy getting his shots today. I did not like that. He weighs 11.6 and is 23 inches long and is just perfect for us, right in the middle of the pack at the 50% percentile.

baby-snatcher

There is no photo to accompany this entry, nor did we lose Murphy to a baby-snatcher, but this weekend we came face to face with the likes of one:).

Since it was super rainy all weekend, we found ourselves at the mall on Saturday with the rest of the rif-raf of the city. M needed his diaper changed and what better place to do this, than the women's lounge at the Nordstrom. I was changing his diaper when this nice lady asked if I'd like her to hold M while I use the restroom. I was not dancing up and down giving the impression that I needed to use the restroom, so I politely declined her offer. She cooed at how cute M was and wanted to know how old he was etc. I finished up and met Matt at the cafe and recounted the story to him. I asked him what his answer would be if someone offered to hold Murphy while he used the restroom. "Heaven's no (I don't think heaven's was used) I wouldn't give him to a stranger and you, definitely not. That women wanted you to get in a stall, behind closed doors, with your pants down and then take off with the baby. Can't run very fast with your pants down, can you?!" Lucky to know that Matt will not be handing off our baby to strangers, nor will I. And truth be told the lady at Nordy's was probably just a really nice person but unfortunately too many other weirdos have ruined the idea that some people just are genuinely nice.

Lots of family time

We love family time- going on long walks with mom, a good book with dad and a big brother dog who wants to get as close as possible!

Walks outside are getting cooler as fall in Utah sets in

M is an advanced reader at 2 monthsCan I get a smile? Nancy was taking photos and M was giving her lots to smile about.

Remember me, I'm Harris and I was here first? Who is this guy?

Family time at it's finest!

OSU vs Utah

"One of the worst nights to be an OSU fan" quoted by my dear husband as the final seconds trickled away at the Utah vs. OSU football game on Thursday night. What looked to be a promising evening and a possible victory for the Beavers took a turn for the worse with 1:30 on the clock. Utah scored a TD, converted a 2 point play and won the game with 1 second on the clock. That's because UTAH had a kicker that can make plays. If OSU had a kicker that showed up that night, there would have been an W in the column for the Beavs. From the first missed PAT in the first quarter, Matt turned to me and said that miss will probably haunt us in the end, and indeed it did. It was a quiet ride back to Lehi.

Murphy at home with his lucky Beaver socks on. Thanks Aunt Nancy for watching M while Matt and I had a night out (the first time we were both away from M).

I'm 8 weeks

Murphy having a casual Monday afternoon..."if you need me, I'll be in my room, in my mom's recliner."

M is now 8 weeks old and weighs 10+ pounds and is 22 inches.