Colonoscopies and good laughs with friends!

I struggled briefly on whether to share these details about my private life....but then I thought what the heck!
OK so tomorrow I am having a colonoscopy.
As a GI nurse I must get on my soap box about how EVERYONE at the age of 50 should get one....and if you missed it at age 50 its still not to late. Colon cancer is a silent killer. Most times by the time there is symptoms it is too late. And lets face it no one wants to volunteer to have that test....although i did volunteer my hubby Peter for one three years ago. The end result of his was "the test was not that bad" and the doctor did find a very small precancerous polyp that 10 years from then at age 50 might have been a huge mass of cancer requiring surgery, chemo or worse yet had it spread. I often like to tease him that I saved his life. Anyways he is scheduled for a follow up colonoscopy in October. OK so off my soap box and onto my colonoscopy.
So today I called a friend. To avoid any identifying information since I do not have permission to share her story...I will just say we have known each other almost FOREVER! and I really mean FOREVER. Anyways, we talk small talk. Hows the kids? Hows our husbands? Hows our siblings" Hows my mom? Hows her parents? Then on to how we are are. We begin to talk about her personal health issues she is having, and aches and pains and doctor appointments. We then go into my issues and that I am having a colonoscopy tomorrow. By the end of our conversation we were both in hysterics on how our conversations have turned into old people conversations. Her and I must get together soon and do some fun young stuff after today's conversation. TOO funny!
Anyways, so for those that are over due for a colonoscopy PLEASE GET ONE!

A Week Of Firsts

Evidently PJ likes to accomplish things on vacation. SO far this week at the beach he has FINALLY said "Mama", walked holding onto the stroller, clapped and played in and ate sand. My baby boy is growing way way way too fast. He is such a beautiful gift from God and amazes me every day.

OH NO!!!!

I would like to post a crosswalk light for PJ with the big red hand meaning "DONT WALK!"

Well last night while the girls were playing a bit of beach volleyball (and not so bad considering mary is 5 and galina is 10 and their cousin is 8....but then again it was three of them against anya)....anyways and Peter and I were just sitting and relaxing in the lobby of our time share and Peter put PJ down on the floor. As we were talking I looked to my right and PJ is walking his stroller acorss the lobby. OK um when did he start walking? He hasn't even walked holding onto still furniture but he is going to go acorss the room holding onto the stroller? Sigh. Slow down baby boy, mommy is not ready for you to grow so fast.

A week at the Beach!

The beautiful view from our room.

PJ and Daddy hanging out by the pool. PJ loves swimming and loves it even more if he sees a ball to chase after.

After a day at the pool we went to walk along the ocean to see the sunset (you can see Flat Stanley in some as he is visiting our family this month).


The girls and I made Peter a birthday cake for his birthday (OK disclaimer here....it actually looked better in real life...and we were away from home and they didnt have cake pans so we had to make do with what the condo provided).
Brave mommy took three of the kids to the beach while Peter went to work and Anya went to school. A few days later we did the same time only this time brought my 8 year old niece Danielle. We went for a walk I took the kids to the beach and we dragged a wagon to carry booogie boards, lunch, towels, beach towel and umbrellas. We get to the beach set up blankets and towels and my chair....put the boogie boards on the sand and then go for about a 3 or 4 mile walk to look for shells. I had an uneasy feeling on our walk like maybe I shouldn't have left all the stuff (the wagon was a nice one, the boogie boards just not stuff i have money to replace right now). Towrads the end of the walk I am getting antsy knowing something is wrong.....somebody is getting into my stuff....AND I WAS RIGHT!!!! THEY got into our lunch! As I was getting closer to our stuff I saw a squirell on the sand standing up leaning on my wagon...I yell at him to shoo and he does....as I walk even closer I see another one and he runs....and another...and another....when i stand over the wagon there is TWO more in my lunch bag eating our sandwhiches and refusing to leave as I am yelling at them waving my fists!......one stopped and actually gave me the STINK EYE....like "COME ON MAMMA, TRY AND STOP ME I WILL TAke YOU DOWN!!!!!!" FInally my niece claps her hands and they went runniing away. They chewed through two plastic bags one to get to the lunch the other to get to the sandwhiches...so we had to throw the sandwhiches away. I had an alomst full bag of chips and when i opened that it was full of sand (meaning they got my chips)....ok they are so lucky i wasnt PMSing and they didnt have choclate to get into or we would have had squirell burgers for didnner....Anyways out of the kids lunch the did not touch granola bars or their juice....so the girls sat down to eat the granola bars and juice when mary starts screaming we turn around and two squirels are ON MY BLANKET STARING AT ME.....i yell for them to shoo and wave my hands and they both give me the stink eye again like "C'MON mamma try to take us on!"...again my niece claped and they ran off and stood on the rocks staring at me giving me looks and talking behind my back...how horrible is it i was actually afraid of these squirrels? I We eneded up moving our stuff further doown the beach away from the cliff and rocks....i was sure i was going to have squirerl nightmares of them taking me down and beating me up and stealing my house. Wish i had my camera b/c although it is a true story it is hilarious...especially seeing 5 squirells in my wagon, the only non funny part is that they are distgusting (although cute) and were in our lunch.

PJ after a day at the beach.

Mary roasting marshmellows for smores.

All the kids pose for a picture around the fire pit after eating smores.

Silence

Anya and Mary are at school. PJ is napping and my brother in law took Galina to the beach. I have almost forgotten what silence is. Peace and quiet and its light outside. Its been years. Funny I recall the 13.5 years of painfully quietness of not having children. We prayed for the sound of pattering feet through the house and childrens giggles. That is what God has blessed us with only instead of the pattering we have galloping :). And mixed with the giggles is an occassional cry or sounds of fighting. A family that we had prayed for. I love quiet moments to remind me of how blessed I am. A little quiet time with God to give thanks for those 13 and 1/2 years of infertilty to give us a better appreciation for each of our miracles. OK well the silence is over I hear one of my miracles crying. He evidently is up from his nap and letting me know it. Well the 15 minutes was nice while it lasted. Thank you God for each one of my miracles, BIG and small :)

Three sisters =s blackmail for a brother's teenage years!

Well when you are incredibly blessed with three older sisters....they are bound to dress you up and take pictures. Pictures that as a teenager you would rather not existed. Well there is time, time for daddy to delete them from the computer before PJ becomes older. But meanwhile Mommy thinks they are funny and will share with you all.

0, 5,10, 15.....40

Those are the ages of 5 out of 6 of us are now that Galina turned 10 yesterday. She had a wonderful party at Libby Lu with her friends and cousins. They all got makeovers, shopped and danced.

The girls picked out matching costumes to get their makeovers in.

After Libby Lu the girls headed out for lunch, cupcakes and presents.

What a busy day! Galina's 10th birthday and Mary's first day of kindergarten and Anya's first day of her sophmore year in high school. Mary did great....mommy got a little sad but did ok. Here is some pictures from the day.

Handprints at Nightlight Christian Adoption Agency

Nightlight has a room that they have the children that have been adopted through their programs put their hand prints on the wall. For years, while waiting with painfully empty arms we would go to Nightlight for different occassions and see the wall. I always dreamed of having my child's prints up on the wall. Oh how we have been blessed. We went last week and were pleased to see thatafter three years they still had room next to the girls prints for PJ's.
Galina, Anya and Mary's handprint with Peter's foot print.

Mary, Anya, PJ and Galina in front of their prints.

A Visit with Flat Stanley

Ok so some girlfriends of mine with their kids and mine are doing a flat stanley and he is here visiting our family right now. SO far Stanley got me out of a ticket (I accidently went thru a VERY NEW stop sign in the middle of nowhere on a back street), went to work with Peter, hung out with Mary and Galina in the pool, ate lunch with the kids. Our Stanley began in Texas and so far has been to Prague, New Zeland, Australia, Japan, Maryland, Indiana and now with us in Southern California (I hope i did not miss any stops). From our family he will head to Ohio.

Here are some pictures of the kids with Stan.

The First 1/2 of 2008 Update!

OK whew, so now that I have transfered all my information from my update to this blog I guess it is time to update on 2008. I will be cancelling my website most likely in December to save money as well as blogging is much easier to post.
PJ is now 9 and 1/2 months old. He is crawling, pulling himself up and standing next to furniture. He is an absolute joy and the whole family is in absolute love with this boy. It is so sweet and makes me get teary when I hear Peter talking to him and calling him "son." PJ has6 teeth so far. 2 on the bottom and 4 on the top. He loves to eat. It is funny how God blessed me with two children that ABSOLUTELY loves to eat......Anya and PJ. Then I have two children that do not like to eat, Galina and Mary. PJ will eat waffles, cheese, ham, eggs, pancakes, cheerios, ANYTHING. He is a very happy baby and started saying dada in July.
Mary had her fifth birthday in June (how can that be?). She has had such big changes this past year. Such a big girl. She started riding a two wheel bike in April and though she learned how to swim last year (more like learned how to not sink) this year she has really strengthened her swimming skills so she is confident in the deep end of pools. She is very goal orientated wanting to become an astronaut and fly the space shuttle when she grows up. I cant believe she starts the first day of kindergarten in one week from today. She is very excited. I am a little sad.
Galina finished her first year at the catholic school in the area and it was such an incredible blessing to have her go there. I was actually shocked how much more programs they offered her at this school vs the public school she went to the first 2 years in America. She also learned how to ride a bicycle this year (in February). She has been in Karate since February and earned her yellow belt. She is learning her new role as big sister. While Anya and Peter were gone for 2 weeks she was a wonderful mothers helper with Mary and PJ. She has grown so much.
Anya will be 16 in December. She finished her first year of high school and just Monday we registered her for her sophomore year of high school. Time with my teenage girl is going much too fast. I wish it would slow down with her because in just three short years she will be in college. I want to just stop time with her and teach her everything she needs to know. She sure does like the boys which gives mommy a bit of a stroke. She played water Polo during the winter and loved it and swam during the spring and loved that as well. I am so proud of her , she got a 4.0 at the end of this last semester. She is a very smart girl. Last month she packed her bag (all 25 lbs of it) and headed to World Youth Day in Australia with her Daddy for two weeks. The first two weeks they stayed in Melbourne for Days in the Diocese. The second week they stayed in Sydney. They had a wonderful time and had the opportunity to see the Pope on three occasions. For a special vigil mass they hiked a little over 6 miles and got the opportunity to hike over the Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of the pilgrimage. After getting to their destination they set up camp for over night and slept outside with about 500,000 other Catholic Youth. Over the two weeks In Australia they attended catacethis, watched live stations of the cross, and much much more. The stories they share are amazing especially trading trinkets and religious items with people from all over the world. What an amazing journey these two made and shared with each other. A journey all the more special because it was shared between a daddy and his oldest teenage daughter.
Peter is doing great (heck he should be he just got back from Australia hee hee). Still working as a CPA for the local firm. He was diagnosed this year with three slipped discs to his back. This diagnoses only came after walking like an old man for 10 years with out hardly ever complaining about pain. I finally said enough is enough you need to get checked out. He still has not gone for any treatment as we are still trying to determine what kind of treatment to do. He did participate a little with Galinas karate but with his back he had to keep that to a minimum.
I started back at work after having almost a year off earlier this year. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately with changes in my department and new hires I have been getting called off work a lot. I have been hired on to work extra hours at the two local hospitals. Still waiting to orientate to these hospitals. The kids keep Peter and I incredibly busy with homework and sports but we would not have it any other way. Earlier this year we went to the dark side and purchased a SUV. It was out of necessity because my sister with four children and I (with four children) baby sit share and needed a nine seats to carpool 8 kids plus me to drive. It was a very sad day to get rid of our Toyota Seinna, but I have adjusted. Other than that we are doing great. Busy but great! I am hoping now that I have this blog I will be able to do more updates and typos :).

2007 Murray Clan Update!

A Review of 2007

Wow, what a year. Most of the year can be reviewed under Snowflake 2 Page. We began our year with a successful frozen embryo transfer. After a very rough start and months of bed rest we were blessed beyond measure with a beautiful son we named Peter Joseph.

October 16 the before going to hospital for PJ's delivery.

Peter bonding with his son right after he was born

The name Peter after well obviously after Peter, Joseph after Suzanne's wonderful and dearly missed father. We have nicknamed him PJ. PJ is a busy 2 month old who is busy eating, messing diapers, having late night parties and being just darn adorable.

PJ on Halloween at 2 weeks of age.

PJ 2 1/2 months old at the end of December

Mary turned four this year. Her one birthday wish was to receive a purple guitar, she got a pink one instead. She is thrilled beyond words to be a big sister. She has really been a prayer warrior this year reminding everyone to pray for certain requests. She learned how to swim at the beginning of the summer Hooray for no floaties! She will be starting preschool in January, and kindergarten in August.

Mary poses as a four year old!

Mary trying on her new fairey out fit and boots playing her guitar!

Galina, turned 9 in August. She participated in Nightlight's Russian ensemble choir over the summer, singing in both Russian and English. She had fun performing at various venues such as multiple churches, the Nightlight summer reunion, and the Orange County fair. She also kept busy all summer participating in various activities such as VBS, art, math and music summer camps. Galina started the 3rd grade at a new Catholic school nearby. She enjoys going sharing a class with one cousin and playing with 3 others at lunch that all attend the same school. She played and enjoyed her first year of volleyball, receiving a medal at the end of the season. WE hope to start her in Karate in the beginning of next year.

Galina her first day of school 8/07

Galina on her 9th Birthday.

Anya turned 15 in December. She had a very busy year making all her sacraments at the Easter Vigil mass, graduating from 8th grade, playing her last season of volleyball, participating in water polo camp during the summer, starting high school and now playing high school league water polo. She is saving money to travel to Australia in July 2008 with her Daddy for World Youth Day. Having a child in high school does keep a mommy busy.

Galina and Anya Mary and Anya, when Anya tried on her dress for Winter Formal Mary ran and got her Cindrella dress so she could look like her big sister.

As for us, we are incredibly busy parents blessed beyond measure with four wonderful children. Yes there are many of days we are so very overwhelmed but yet in awe how God has entrusted us with the great kids. Peter is still at the same CPA firm. Suzanne has been off from work since early pregnancy complications in February of this year. She has been busy these past few months being a mom to four children driving kids to sporting events and school. Life is never dull in the Murray household and we praise God for that!


Peter poses for a picture with his son.















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Our Second Embryo Adoption PJ's Story

SNOWFLAKES TAKE TWO

Most people do not know it but we had decided to grow our family yet again when the girls were home a little less than three month. It happened on September day 2005 when Suzanne had a feeling that our family was not complete and that maybe God wanted us to pursue Embryo Adoption again. With that thought was the thought of reason that she must be totally out her mind to have such thoughts during such and overwhelming time of her short parenting career. Suzanne thought it was best to keep these thoughts to herself and pray about them. Well that night Peter came home and out of the blue asks Suzanne what she thought about pursuing Embryo Adoption again. After a brief conversation about how totally insane these thoughts were while adjusting to our two newly adopted children from Russia that we should pray about it and make a decision closer to our one year anniversary of our "Gotcha Date" with the girls. Well on May 24th 2006 Suzanne drove to Fullerton, California and picked up an application for the Snowflake Program. In the first week of June we dropped our application off and are now waiting to be matched with and chosen by a genetic family.This is yet another exciting time to see what God has planned for growing our family.Well late in 2006 we found out we were chosen by a placing family. Early 2007 embryos were shipped to our clinic and February 2, 2007 three embryos were placed in my uterus. Six days later i took an home pregnancy test that came out positive. Four days later at 10 days after transfer by beta blood test came back at 373!!!! A big possibilities for multiples. On February 22, 2007 in the afternoon I began hemorrhaging. Convinced I had lost my baby(ies) Peter and I went to the doctors and had an ultrasound and to our surprise we saw TWO beautiful heart beats!! We couldn't be happier to have twins but were very concerned about them because I was bleeding so heavily. Bed rest would start. Everyday I would bleed heavily and every week we would return to the doctors and to our surprise see our precious babies heart beats. Until three weeks after we first learned we were having twins we found out we lost one baby. The night before that doctors appointment, God laid the name "Sarah" heavily on my heart. I kept asking God "who is Sarah?" The next morning with the name Sarah on my heart I kept wondering who she was. It was at my doctors appointment, during the ultrasound that the doctor kept looking for baby B' heart beat, that I could see the perfect baby, with a perfect face with eyes, a nose, a mouth......that I realized this was "Sarah." Peter and I will always love our little our baby Sarah. She will be remembered and greatly missed, till we see her in heaven. It was bittersweet and relief to see the heart beat of Baby "A." I was continuing on bed rest and still bleeding at 9 weeks. At 12 weeks I was sent to a specialist because there was a cyst seen on the umbilical cord(very rare and occurs in only 3% of pregnancies). The specialist suggested that towards the end of my pregnancy they do occasional ultrasound's to check babies growth and make sure the cyst is not impeding on babies growth. At about 13 weeks the bleeding finally stopped Praise the Lord, I was taken off bed rest!! At 14 weeks I began bleeding again, and was diagnosed with placenta previa (placenta low and covering cervix) and put back on bed rest. At 18 weeks we found out ITS A BOY!!!!!!! We have named him Peter Joseph. Peter after his daddy and Joseph after my daddy. The names of my two favorite men of my whole life! We also learned that the placenta had moved up to where it should be and no more bed rest PTL! At 24 weeks we had another ultrasound to check for babies growth and baby measured 2 weeks ahead of schedule and there was no sign of a cyst. We finally have great relief that this baby is OK and hopefully can have somewhat of a normal pregnancy. Our three girls are please as can be that they have a baby brother on the way.

Here is an ultrasound profile picture from May 22nd the day we found out our baby was a boy.


This is an ultrasound of Peter Joseph's face taken at 31 weeks.

He measured about 75 percentile for height and weight. They estimate his weight to be about 4.5 lbs. We have a scheduled birthdate for October 16th at noon.

October 16, 2007
The entry below was a note written to some friends of mine.Well Its about 14 hours until my sweet PJ's bday...my last 14 hours of pregnancy....and I am getting melancholy thinking of no longer being pregnant. Though this has been the longest pregnancy of all time (so i feel and hear from others) and I couldn't wait for his arrival..part of me is sad that this will indeed be my last pregnancy. We are pretty sure if God has more children in our lives planned, embryo adoption will not be part of the plan. This past week I have been reflecting about this journey....our journey to our fourth child. Probably the fastest journey to any of our children. Mary we were married 13 and 1/2 years before holding her. We were part of the snowflake program/family over 3 years before achieving pregnancy, almost 4 again to give birth. Our Russian Adoption was 1.5 year journey. And now this precious boy, took only 7 months to achieve pregnancy from application time and only 16 months to holding baby....hmmmm maybe if we go for another we can hold baby in less than a year...hee hee. Anyways it feels like just yesterday i threw out a prayer request for our embryos to ship safely and in a timely manner because there was a snowstorm, as we attempted to track them on fed ex. Seems like yesterday i was updating everyone on everything including my silly socks that i purchased for my exams with the doctor..and feeling the strength in those socks that "hey if your gonna be naked form the waist down you might as well have some cool silly socks to distract the doctor." And then the special socks I chose for transfer day. Heart socks for a Feb 2nd transfer. Feb 2nd ended up being a heart theme day. One of our embies looked like a heart (I think its PJ), and my beta was to be on Feb 14th....well little did we know i could not wait for the 14 th and took my first blood test 6 days after transfer and got a positive...OH HOW I WAS FREAKING OUT!!! ...Then getting my first beta blood levels. And one week later starting to hemorrhage so badly I was sure I lost my baby(ies). You all were there for me every step of the way. Praying for me and peter and my baby(ies). You celebrated with me and gave praise to the only one that deserved praise OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST every week as we saw two precious heart beats. you mourned and prayed for me the day late in March when we found out that we would never hold PJ's twin "Sarah" on this side of earth. I could not have gotten through this with out each one of you and your special kind words and prayers. Then as bed rest was over and i was feeling bigger than a house and each one of my 40 years..you guys were here....encouraging me on and laughing at my attempts to make some humor. Love each one of you and I am so honored to be part of an amazing group of women....each in different places in our journies.


Peter and Suzanne Before heading to the hospital to deliver Peter Joseph.


Peter Joseph arrived 10/16/07 at 12:44 pm weighing 8 lbs 14 oz 19 inches long
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2006 Murray Family Update!

2006 Murray Family Update

Wow another busy year! Hard to believe 2006 is over and 2007 is beginning.We have been a family of 5 for one and half years now and it feels like we have our we have always been. Mary is now 3.5 years old (going on 20). She is busy playing with her sister and cousins. She absolutely loves all babies. IF we go to a park or anything she will gravitate towards the babies and ask to hold them and tries to kiss them. She got the opportunity to meet the president for a second time in July. She also fell in love with a young girl named Karina that we hosted from Russia. All year Mary was asking when she could see Karina again. We call Mary our "wannabe Russian" because she tends to gravitate towards them. She loves Russian people, the language, music and dance. Galina turned 8 this year and started the 2nd grade in August. She was baptized in the Catholic church in February of this year. She learned how to swim like a fish and could spend every day in the pool if we would let her. She loves hanging out with her cousins and like anything her big sister likes.Anya turned 14 in December and started the 8th grade. She loves High School Musical and the actors in it. She is really getting into music and clothes. She made honor roll again and we are very proud of her. Peter and Suzanne just celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary (OK that sounds old). We signed up for another embryo adoption over the summer and are happy to announce we have been matched and selected my a placing family and hope to transfer early in 2007. We have started a web page to keep everyone up to date on that progress. We feel very blessed with our family as we try to "fake" this parenting (LOL). Sadly Peter's Dad Donal Murray died at the end of this year. He will be deeply missed.

June, 2006 one vacation in Carlsbad and one our one year anniversary "gotcha date!"

Halloween 2006 Our Hula Girls!!

First Day of Second and Eighth Grade August 2006!

Christmas 2006!!!