38.5 weeks = FULL term. Are we ready, or what?!

LOL...we're sooooooo EXCITED, we've taken to pretending!!!! haha...

Christmas week rundown!

Whew! We've had a whirlwind of a Christmas vacation...lots of play, work and fun!

Here's the quick recap:

First up, the annual brunch with my girlfriends from childhood:

(Allison's (left) adorable niece dropped by to visit!)

Then, in TRUE McMurray fashion, Steve couldn't resist blessing me with a little (much longed for) home improvement!! What a GREAT Christmas/Anniversary gift!

Our master bath, before:After:

(This is my ONE shabby-chic room...I couldn't resist)
Up next, bathroom #2, before:
During:

And...After! Wow!

On to Christmas with Ya-Ya! What fun we had!
Lots of great presents!!
Then the sleigh delivered us a special package in the form of our friends from DC, the Hardin's!
John and Steve jammed all night...
Jessica and I visited, sang along...but mostly we just relished the chatty girl time!! ;)

Then off to hang with Grandpa's clan:
Steve, Uncle Sam, Aunt Miriam and Gramps himself!
Why are we sitting outside in the middle of December? Hmmm...a clue into NC weather.
Then off to Raleigh to visit our friends Lauren & Paul who were visiting from France. Remember her being invisibly pregnant last Christmas? Well...here is the result of THAT!
Eleanor Effie Alice Roys!! Whatta cutie!!

What a great Christmas week!!

Oh, and our anniversary celebration? That consisted of doing absolutely nothing and staying in our PJ's all day due to utter exhaustion from all the above pictured events. Just the two of us hanging out at home...a perfect anniversary and ending to a great week!

Next up...Mini-Mac!!

Three years of bliss and counting...

Today, December 29, 2007, marks three incredible years of marriage!

Below are some memories from our wedding ceremony at the Great Oak Manor in Chestertown, MD, where our families gathered to celebrate this joyous occassion with us. We thank God for His amazing faithfulness in granting us three wonderful, rich years of marriage steeped in learning and growing in love, and trust that there will be many, many more.

The pronouncement of Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Mark McMurray!

Our departure to the honeymoon...lots of bubbles and laughter!
Happy Anniversary to us! ;)

1 Closet + A little creativity = A very cute nursery!

Okay, so we're biased because we put so much effort into it...but still, from clothes hanging to baby sleeping quarters, it worked out pretty well, if we do say so ourselves!

The semi-original state of the closet:

(just ignore that mold problem in the back...it's all fixed!)

Emptying everything out and prepping to paint:
Okay, so I really wanted to help, but quickly got booted out:
Steve finished up and it looks great!
Alas, in the weeks leading up to this transformation, our apartment was a WRECK...

Everything B-A-B-Y lived in our living room until Mini-Mac's room was finished: Daddy putting together all the furniture:
Me getting creative with cans and boxes (SEE BELOW)
Yay for cardboard boxes and the cans pictured above!

Cover both with a little fabric and cute trim = perfectly matched storage!

Hanging the "window" and the curtain

(A mirror will open up a small space tremendously! We got one that looked like a faux window!):

Yay!!! Mini-Mac has a bedroom!!



A little small, but everything fit ~ we think it's perfect for our little man!! ;)

UPDATE, JUNE 2009

For those visiting from MSM, please visit out baby girl closet too!

http://life-with-the-mcmurrays.blogspot.com/2009/06/evolution-of-another-closetyes-weve.html

Our new look for Christmas!!

Yay for Steve, again!

Trivia: Does anyone know (or want to guess!) the significance of the origin of our header photo??

It is very special.... ;)

Happy birthday John Hardin, Jr.!!

So we celebrated with our friends, the Hardins, and several other couples John turning O-L-D; what a fun time! Happy 32nd birthday, John!

Birthday boy John with Steve:

John's wife Jessica (left), cooking up a master feast with the help of new mommy Melissa:

Jessica with Melissa's new baby boy, Silas. How cuuute is he??

Lots of laughter!
LOTS of eating!
And, of course, lots of birthday cake!!

And what kind of party would it be without the latest video games?! The boys LUV this part!

The wives!

Me & Jessica:

You may remember her from here, or here ...she is truly the hostess with the mostess!

Oh, and per the email requests, here is me

Four weeks from our due date!!Thirty days to go!!

Let it snow!!

Though our blog doesn't yet reflect it, Christmas is in the air!! It snowed here in DC yesterday and it was beautiful!

Outside our apt. door:

There is something about snow that makes me crave certain things...I guess this is from childhood fun ;) I picked Steve up from work yesterday and we had to have first things first: hot chocolate and popcorn in front of our little Christmas tree!! ;)

One last hurrah for fall!

So, being the dork that I am, I had to make one last fall themed dessert tray before the season passed with the arrival of December 1st and Christmas decorations today. So, for dinner with our friends last night, I finally got to use my pumpkin cupcake pan for mini-pumpkin spice cakes, and my fall shaped mini-cookie cutters to make baby brownie bites!

Ready to bake:

Frosting the pumpkin spice cakes:

Farewell to the fall!!

(Except I'm kind of attached to this blog look...not sure how soon I'm willing to change that...hmmm...)

Thanksgiving recap

Part 1: Tennessee = Sophie

Sophie is the McMurray's new dog. Thanksgiving consisted of: playing with Sophie, laughing at Sophie, talking about Sophie, playing with Sophie some more, and trying to avoid stepping on Sophie. Very fun ;) (For more on what Thanksgiving is normally like in Tennessee, sans Sophie, check here). She is indeed very, very cute, and we all decided that we too want a Sophie.

One of Steve's sisters, Stacy, with Sophie:

Part 2: The U-Haul.

Yup. 8 months pregnant, and we're movin' furniture!! Ha! Fortunately, we had super-helpers on either end (thanks Papa John and Adam!). Steve's family graciously gave us some furniture that they've been storing for many years, and the time finally came to haul it out. Actually, it ended up being no big deal at all...whew!

Part 3: A quick stop-and-drop at our house in NC...

...just long enough to unload and return the U-haul, then for me to feel depressed by the white walls, remember that it doesn't matter because we don't live there anyway, then cheer myself by setting up a little Christmas tree!

And of course long enough for Steve and Adam to play lots of music all night long!

(Below pictured is the "new studio" in the basement apartment)
Steve takes a break from his usual station at the piano to play on the drums...
Steve's normal spot when their drummer is around is here:
Back to mixin' it up!
As Thanksgivings go, ours was pretty low-key, I'd say....yet just how we like it.
So much to be thankful for! ;)