Halloween 2009

We were happy that Murphy was able to join us for the Halloween festivities in Charlestown. Every year all the Charlestown Trick-or-Treaters (and their friends from outside C-town) gather around the Bunker Hill Monument at 5pm and parade around Monument Square to trick or treat together. It's amazing how many kids live in our square mile of city!

Welcome to the world Murphy Jane!

Wednesday night, the activities began! Starting around 9pm I began to experience irregular and low-intensity contractions. Eric was at a business dinner, so Lauren came down to keep me company. Eric got home shortly after 10 o'clock and we waited for CC to arrive from the Cape. By 11 o'clock the contractions began to intensify and by 1 o'clock CC had arrived and we were on the road. We stopped for gas and I called my doctor and he told me to come on in. When we arrived at Brigham and Women's Hospital, I was further along that we had anticipated and Murphy Jane was born shortly thereafter at 204am!

Marin, just 1 hour before Murphy was born!

Murphy Jane Knight

We are excited to announce the arrival of our healthy daughter, Murphy Jane Knight. Murphy was born at 2:04 AM on October 22 and is 9lbs even and 20" long.

Both mom and baby are healthy. More to come!

Baby Predictions!

10/16 Update: Had a little bit of a scare over the weekend. We were rear-ended and though the damage to our (new) car was pretty unsubstantial, the impact was hard enough to dislodge Hampton's car seat and send he and Marin to the hospital in an ambulance for precautionary reasons. Hampton was checked out and is fine, but Marin had to be monitored for 24 hours and was having contractions that were as close at 2minutes apart. Though they were considered "minor" contractions, they were worried that the impact could cause the placenta to become detached from the uterus. The good news is that everything looks great! The baby is healthy and we're still waiting!!!
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We did this for Hampton and had a great level of participation. Are you ready to guess the gender, arrival date and weight for Baby #2?!

The winner will be the person who selected the right gender and then closest to the date and, for tie breakers, the weight. Papa Knight (Ron) is providing the prize. No telling what that will be. Aunt Lauren won last time!

Here is what we can tell you.

• Marin's due date is 10/23
• We were at the doctor's office on 9/30 and there was "no progress"
• At 26 weeks the doctor did some measurements and told Marin that our child was in the 100th percentile (about 3 lbs)

Interesting facts about Hampton. Hampton was 10 days late and weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces.

Guesses so far are:

Team Boy

• Great Aunt Jo: BOY, born 10/20, 8lbs
• Alexis Reilly: BOY, born 10/21, 9lbs 3oz
• Aunt Nanny (Great Aunt Debbie): BOY, born 10/22, 9lbs 2oz
• Carter Family: BOY, born 10/24, 9lbs 1oz
• Karol Zikas: BOY, born 10/24, 9lbs
• PAPA (Grandpa Knight): BOY, born 10/25, 9lbs 4oz
• Brett Gilmore: BOY, born 10/26, 8lbs 2oz
• Mike Evans: BOY, born 10/26, 8lbs 30z
• Kate & Ian O'Connell: BOY, born 10/26, 8lbs 110z
• Karolyn Evans: BOY, born 10/26, 8lbs 15oz
• Aunt Lauren: BOY, born 10/26, 9lbs
• CC (Grandma Knight): BOY, born 10/27, 9lbs 8 oz
• Mommy (Marin): BOY, born 10/29, 8lbs 9oz
• Uncle Frank: BOY, born 10/30, 8lbs 3oz

Team Girl

• Bill Reilly: GIRL, born 10/18, 7lbs 8oz
• Andrea Carson: GIRL, born 10/20, 7lbs 6oz
• Dennis Carson: GIRL, born 10/22, 8lbs 4oz
• Christine Davis: GIRL, born 10/22, 8lbs 60z
• Bonnie Palsa: GIRL, born 10/23, 8lbs 4oz
• Kathy Kane: GIRL, born 10/23, 9lbs 3oz
• Aunt Murphy: GIRL, born 10/25, 8lbs 3oz
• Great Aunt Lu: GIRL, born 10/25, 8lbs 6oz
• GiGi (Grandma Shaughnessy): GIRL, born 10/25, 8lbs 14oz
• Kelly Mason: GIRL, born 10/26, 8lbs 15oz
• Morgan Corbett: GIRL, born 10/26, 9lbs
• Daddy (Eric): GIRL, born 10/27, 7lbs 15oz
• Melissa Gilmore: GIRL, born 10/29, 7lbs 20zA
• Aunt Kim Crandall: GIRL, born 10/30, 9lbs 1oz
• Kerri Lorincz: GIRL, born 10/31, 8lbs 5oz
• Patrick Donegan: GIRL, born 10/31, 8lbs 8oz

Red font indicates elimination.

5 Years Later!

5-year Anniversary (August 28, 2009)

Eric, Hampton, Marin and Baby 2 - 8 months pregnant!

This past weekend was Eric and I's 5 year anniversary! It is amazing how quickly time flies...full of wonderful memories and adventures. We were so fortunate to have Collin, Greg and Abby come to town. It was an awesome long weekend. We made our way to Fenway Park for a tour (Hampton referred to it as "Wally's House"...Abby proceeded to give a heartfelt farewell to Wally at the Red Sox Team Store). We also made it to the Children's Museum where the kids played in the grocery, construction zone, kitchen and airplane to name a few hotspots. And, we also had a chance to take a long walk along the harbor and take a ride on the carasoul. We had the best weekend with them. Hampton and Abby played so well together - nothing like watching cousins interact...and share toys together. Too bad the weekend flew by. I needed more Murphy-time and hopefully we'll get more in 2010!



Hampton and Abby reunite!!

Mr. Ant

Yesterday at the Knight's pool, Hampton practiced his swimming skills - kicking, blowing bubbles, riding the "Whale" and sailing his blue boat (okay, it's just a blue raft but that's what he calls it). And, we also witnessed his impeccable manners. As Hampton stood on the stairs in the pool, he noticed an ant marching by. So, Hampton says "Hello, Mr. Ant!". Daddy and I chuckled. Then, he proceeded to say "Have a nice weekend!" Lucky for that ant, I didn't squash it given Hampton's sweet demeanor.

Before and After

The renovations are very near complete. The only things left to do are a few minor paint touch ups, install the knobs and pulls for the kitchen, replace some of the defective cabinet doors, install the glass surround in the master bathroom and install the kickboard in the kitchen.

Below I put together some "Before and Afters" for this particular renovation. I wish I could find some pictures of the house when we first moved in....the "Befores" in these shots are after some minor face-lifts. If I ever find the pictures of these rooms with all the wood pannelling, etc...I'll post them.

It's good to be back home! Hampton is very happy and Deacon is now back with us as well....though I think he misses Cody. We're done with renovations for a while....if not forever.

Before and after of the view when you walk in the front door of the home

Before and after of our kitchen. No more bathroom in the middle of the kitchen. It's amazing how much space it created just knocking out that bathroom and the chimney.

Before and after of where the fireplace is now. Behind that wall in the picture above is a covered up fireplace. It's been that way for a LONG time. We had to get creative with how we could continue to use that same chimney.

This is just a before and after of the view from the front of the house to the back on the first floor.

This entire wallis actually about 12" out from where it used to be, but we salvaged the old built in, installed a wine fridge below and made it into a bar.

The old bathroom and the (almost) finished new bathroom. There was a chimney behind that tub wall that we had to remove.

The door on the right down the hallway wasn't there before. It was actually inthe dining room that you see to the right and it was for a closet. We moved the door to the other side and made the closet into a half bath (below) so that we still had a bathroom on the first floor.

Happy 2nd Birthday Hampton!

July 26, 2009...Hampton turns 2! He woke up first thing on his birthday ready to party. And, we did so in style with a pool party and his favorite friends. He was absolutely adorable - acted a bit bashful when we brought out the cake but was far from bashful swimming in the pool.

Ask Hampton how old he is? He responds with 2...3,4,5,6,7,8,9 (and so forth). He also is in LOVE with his firetruck and other forms of transportation - helicopters, ambulence, trains, cars, motorcyles ("morcicals"), backhoe loaders, excavators (you get my drift). Fortunately, he stacked up on all of the above on his big day!

The second best part about the day was returning to our home in Charlestown. We officially spent our first night in our own beds.

Mid Week 10

Mid week, but we've got a lot of paint done, so I thought I'd post these. 3 days until we move back in.

Week 9

Well, according to our contractor, Todd, we're one week away and should be able to move in on Friday July 24. Right now there is a lot of little stuff being completed. Molding is being placed where it needs to be, the built in's are being rebuilt, the plumbing and electrical fixtures are being installed, etc. Our painters did start to prime certain areas and get things ready, so they should be done during week 10. Granite was installed in the kitchen. Floors will be done over the weekend of the 18th and 19th. Not much has changed in the bathroom. We are just waiting on some grout, paint and custome glass shower enclusure.

The fireplace was built. Todd did a great job with framing it out. The TV will go in the recessed box and the center spearker will go in that box just above the fireplace. The speakers on the cieling need to be re-centered.

Todd put crown molding everywhere there wasn't. Here it is in our master bedroom

Week 8

Almost there. Todd thinks they'll be completely finished with everything by mid next week. Only thing left is to grout the tile in the bathroom and refnish the built-ins/build the mantel for the new fireplace and finish up some of the crown moldings and baseboard. Our granite will go in the kitchen early next week and the floors guys will be in on Thursday to finish the floors. After that, it's about a week or so of painting and then we're done.

Todd's right....this video might make you dizzy/sick

Our Rangetop went in this week, minus Marin's favorite red knobs

We need to talk about that medicine cabinet on the right.

Looks like Todd didn't have his V8 today...




These are the original pine floors exposed on the second floor. They are actually in better shape than the originals on the third floor.