Mother Stories
At Home With Maryland Mama Of 2 Sy’Vone Murphy & Lovevery
Written by Katie Hintz-Zambrano
Photography by Photographed by Erika Layne
Nov 19, 2021
Today’s mama might be juggling two kiddos who are 2-years-old and under—but you won’t hear any complaints from her about the so-called terrible twos. “I hate the phrase ‘terrible twos!'” says Sy’Vone Murphy. “If working through your emotions and figuring out the person that we are is ‘terrible,’ then we are all going through our terrible twos.” Point taken!
Charting her own emotional evolution—and personal style—has become a passion for Sy’Vone, right alongside raising her two adorable daughters, Arielle and Zyla, who will turn 3 and 1 (respectively) in January. She showcases all of the above on her refreshing Instagram feed, as well as her journey as a Marine Corps spouse and new Maryland resident (the family just moved from North Carolina less than a month ago).
To find out more about the stylish, candid mother behind the neutral-toned grid, we recently visited Sy’Vone’s new home—with some Lovevery Play Kits for babies and toddlers in hand—to talk about her upbringing, motherhood, what play time looks like in her house, and her enduring love for her two rainbow babies.
Thinking about getting one of Lovevery’s Play Kits for the holidays? The Montessori-inspired brand just launched an iOS app that’s available to subscribers of the 0-12 months Play Kits. Download it here!
This post is brought to you by Mother + Lovevery.
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Sy'Vone and her eldest daughter, Arielle, play with their new Lovevery Play Kits—designed for specific stages of toddlerhood—while baby sister Zyla naps.
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"Playtime with my girls has been so unstructured lately. Before this large transition, we set aside time after breakfast and before lunch to have some constructive playtime, whether that’s building a new skill, going to play outside, or learning something new. Because our new home is still in a state of transition, play time is a lot more sporadic and I try and take my time to play with the kids individually when the other naps."
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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Arielle digs into The Free Spirit Play Kit, designed for kids ages 34, 35, and 36 months old.
The Play Kit includes books, puzzles, stacking boulders, a matching card game, wooden counting box, and an adorable mini-camper with locking doors (a shiny key and tiny wooden characters with sleeping bags, included!).
The Free Spirit Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"I honestly hate looking at large bulky plastic toys that serve no meaning to my children’s development. I definitely have an aesthetic and would prefer beautiful wooden toys that will last for years, but I also understand how unconventional that can be. I am perfectly fine with the plastic singing toys as long as they are serving my child and appealing to their development. We have found so many toys that our children enjoy that don’t necessarily fit the 'aesthetic' and that is perfectly fine. Above all, our children’s happiness comes first."
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"With Lovevery, it’s so hard to go wrong. They check all the boxes for the type of play we want to see our kids get into. Lovevery does such a great job of making functional and fun toys that help develop your children’s fine motor skills and learning. They also fit our aesthetic. They’re able to be colorful, but also simplistic in looks and in nature. I think my favorite thing about Lovevery is that they make toys that help create a lifestyle, that foster the creativity that we love so much, all while helping our kids learn how to master everyday skills. Lovevery is playing with a purpose."
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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Arielle get creative with the Liquid Lab toy within the The Investigator Play Kit.
The early STEM toy allows kids to compare amounts of liquid, observe liquids changing shape, and practice their fine motor skills, like pouring.
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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All of Lovevery's Play Kits are made of wood, and other natural, safe, and Earth-friendly materials. The beautiful color palette of the toys seamlessly blends into any space, while adding a cheerful burst of modern hues.
Alongside its toys, all of Lovevery's board books feature real photos of a diverse range of kids and adults doing things—a research-backed method for helping children discover and better understand the world around them.
Lovevery Play Kits, $80 to $120 per box, Lovevery.
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"When we got our new Play Kits, I was so excited to share them with the girls. The first thing that I noticed for Ari that I knew she would love was the Match and Tap Hammer Box in The Investigator Play Kit. There are so many different skills that can be picked up and learned through this toy. Ari is such a hands-on kid, I knew it would be a perfect fit. She loves the idea of fixing things, hammering and nailing, using a screwdriver, etc. She’s also big on finding patterns and being able to match up colors, so as you can imagine we have a ton of fun with this one in particular. She also has a large fascination with water, so The Liquid Lab toy from The Free Spirit Play Kit was also a winner."
The Free Spirit Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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Another fun toy in The Free Spirit Play Kit is the Wooden Counting Box.
The counting toy invites kids to count the pegs while they place them in the small holes in the top of the box. Once the pegs are all in place, children can pull the handle to hear them all fall down!
Each of the ten cards that slide into the top of the box feature numbers written out, numerically, and visually—helping preschoolers master their 1-10's.
The Free Spirit Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"When it comes to the toys that my children play with and the activities that they do, my husband and I prefer activities and toys that foster creative learning. We want the toys that our kids play with to have meaning and give strength to motor, social, and everyday skills. We want our kids to be free and individual thinkers, and creativity is a large part of our lifestyle."
The Free Spirit Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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- Baby Zyla is awake and ready to join play time!
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- But first, some sweet after-nap snuggles.
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"Zyla is still discovering lots of things. She is a very adventurous 9-month-old and is extremely excited about the world around her. I was really happy to see the Sliding Top Box in The Thinker Play Kit. For me, this was a hit for the purposes of motor skills and outside thinking. She also loves anything that’s soft that she can munch on right now, because she’s still in that teething phase. Honestly, it’s so hard to pick favorites with either of the girls because there’s so many toys that they love and enjoy."
The Thinker Play Kit, $80, Lovevery.
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Another toddler favorite from The Free Spirit Play Kit is the Wooden Camper with Locking Doors, coupled with its Wooden Friends inhabitants.
All four Wooden Friends feature different skintones, as well as differently colored and patterned sleeping bags to tuck them into.
The Wooden Camper, on the other hand, features a flip-up hatch on top, wheels that roll, and doors that can be locked with a pair of keys.
The Free Spirit Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"The one thing that I hope they take away from the teachings of my husband and I are strength and independence. I am so excited to raise strong and independent women. There’s so much stigma behind having beautiful girls and strong boys. I want to blur those lines a bit. My girls can be strong and brave and independent and smart and kind and also beautiful."
"I believe there’s so much joy in having kids, no matter the sex. If we were to ever have a boy I would want to teach the same things, that he should be brave and strong and independent and smart and kind, but I would also want our little boy to know that he could have emotions and be vulnerable the same as our girls."
The Free Spirit Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"Growing up was very different for me and my siblings. We never were the family with lots of toys and interesting things to play with, but we always tried to be the most imaginative and creative. We didn’t have a lot growing up, so we spent most of our time outside. I remember my sister and I creating insect hospitals and making our own makeup from random rocks and dirt and flowers that we found in the front yard. In the colder months, we would build forts all around the house and create obstacle courses for our younger brother."
"A lot of the things that I did even as a child were for the betterment of my family (my brother and my sister). I had to be like a second mom in many ways because my mom had to work multiple jobs. I knew that we didn’t have much and that we struggled, but I always wanted my siblings to have fun and learn skills that they would need later on in life, like cooking. So many times we would play games that pertained to real life."
The Free Spirit Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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Baby Zyla tries out the Clear Tube with Stacking Rings toy from The Explorer Play Kit, aimed at ages 9-10 months.
The toy can be disassembled and reassembled over and over again, teaching hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and concepts like containment and ring stacking.
The Explorer Play Kit, $80, Lovevery.
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"Even though we didn’t live the most conventional life, I do like to bring the more realistic elements of playtime and skill learning that I had to learn as a kid to my children. Sometimes playtime doesn’t look like playing with toys. Sometimes playtime can be helping mom prepare breakfast or helping me load and unload the dishwasher. For young kids these things can be a lot of fun because they are things that children are not traditionally allowed to do. We make messes, learn new skills, laugh, and we also learn how to clean up."
"Not all things from my childhood are things that I bring to my kids now. There are a lot of differences between my upbringing and their upbringing and I am very thankful for that. My girls are very blessed to have a stable home and toys to play with. I love being able to drag out our Lovevery toys and let them play together. It’s so much fun to watch their faces light up when they figure out how to complete a puzzle or learn a new skill."
The Explorer Play Kit, $80, Lovevery.
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Another toy from The Explorer Play Kit is the Stainless Steel Tip & Turn, which allows babies to practice bilateral coordination with two-handed play.
The Explorer Play Kit, $80, Lovevery.
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Meanwhile, The Thinker Play Kit comes with an adorable Organic Cotton Baby Doll.
When purchasing this Play Kit, customers are asked to select from one of three skin tones.
The Thinker Play Kit, $80, Lovevery.
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"As I mentioned, I was like a second mom to my brother and my sister. Being able to be there for them brought me so much joy and from that I knew that I wanted to be a mom. I wanted that joy in my everyday life for years to come."
"Being a mom is such a blessing and being able to parent with such an amazing partner is even more of a blessing. As soon as I met my husband, I knew that he was going to be my partner for life and the father of my children. We were extremely excited to get married and start a family. We knew very quickly what our life was supposed to look like and we knew that that life involved children."
"We were only married for around five months before we decided that we wanted to try for our first baby. We got pregnant soon after making that decision and sadly lost that baby to miscarriage. We were so uncertain what we should do next."
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"We were scared and hurt. It took some time and lots of prayer, but he knew that God had a plan for us and shortly after we found out that we were pregnant with Arielle! What a beautiful pregnancy, what an absolutely amazing child we were able to bring into this world."
"After Ari, we waited a while and to our surprise found out that we were pregnant again. At first we were a bit scared of what life with two babies would look like, but within a week of finding out that we were pregnant, we were so excited and so ready to welcome another beautiful baby into our family. We loved this baby so much and began to tell our families about this angel that we were bringing into the world…and then we lost her as well. That one broke me."
"All I can remember was screaming on the toilet in my bathroom with uncontrollable tears rolling down my face wondering what it was that I did wrong. As a military spouse at the time, my husband was away but God was definitely looking out for us and he was able to answer the phone and come home."
"Again, after lots of prayer and healing, we got pregnant with Zyla! She is the picture of joy that this family needed. She is so sweet and lovely and such a perfect addition."
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"Our sweet loves bring us joy every day and I don’t think there is one specific thing that excites me about being their mom, but motherhood as a whole. Everyday is something new. A new challenge, a new skill, and new story."
"I fall more and more in love with motherhood as each day passes. I am excited for the women they will become. I love seeing our teachings be used in everyday life. I love watching them grow into little people."
"With all of this excitement also comes nervousness. Will they hate me one day? Will they understand why I do things or will they resent me for loving them uncontrollably? I struggle with the unknown and honestly that is the most nerve-racking thing about having children, the unknown!"
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"I remember when the weight of having two children hit me. It was delivery day for Zyla and I had no idea what to expect. I was so extremely excited to meet this new baby, but what did that mean for me and my firstborn?"
"I remember the first week that Zyla was home, I hated being away from Ari. I didn’t want her to forget me or the relationship that we had. It was the worst feeling encompassed by the best feeling in the world. I saw how Ari loved her sister and by the second week I had forgotten about all of those fears. Everything was the way it was supposed to be and our life with two kids was filled with more love than I could’ve ever imagined."
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"To anyone who is scared about the jump from 1 to 2 kids, I just want to leave you with this: ‘They’ say you will find the love to love your second kid just as much as the first, and even though it seems impossible, there is nothing more truthful. ‘They’ say that it’s hard, but so was the first kid, at least you know what to do now. ‘They’ say you’ll give yourself away, that there will be no more of ‘you’ left, and maybe some days that’s the truth but some days you’ve never felt more yourself than you do being their mom and these feelings won’t last forever."
"Some days may not be your vision of a perfect day (heck, none of my days are!) and the TV may have to babysit for a couple of days until you get your strength back to be an attentive mom. You are doing the dang thang mama and that’s all that matters at the end of the day."
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"Pandemic parenting has taught me a lot. It has made me realize that I am so comfortable in the chaos, meaning when my schedule is full, I’m so much more likely to be active and get things done."
"Throughout the pandemic, I found myself becoming lazy and lackadaisical about my parenting. It was so hard to pick myself up and get dressed and actually do things with Ari, given I was pregnant and my husband was deployed."
"Since the beginning of this pandemic, I have definitely found my groove and I’m not so fearful of going out. I know my kids need to get out of the house and we definitely have more of a schedule at home as well. I have enjoyed being able to have more time with my girls and having a closeness that we may not have if the pandemic didn’t happen."
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"I’m just going to throw this out there: I hate the phrase 'terrible twos!' In that case, we have the terrible 20s, the terrible 30s, the terrible 70s. If working through your emotions and figuring out the person that we are is 'terrible,' then we are all going through our terrible twos."
"This definitely doesn’t excuse the fact that my toddler has her days of defiance and strong willed-ness, but I believe that on days where her personality is strong, those are learning opportunities for both her and I. Those are opportunities to grow and teach her how to deal with her feelings."
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"I am a Marine Corps spouse, that is, until mid month. We are currently transitioning into the civilian life and it is wild. While my husband was active, he was gone more than half of our marriage. He had trainings and work-ups and appointments and schooling. It was all very crazy. It wasn’t until we had kids that our time apart started to get emotional."
"There’s something about watching your kids go through life without their dad right there with you, but wanting more than anything to be there. We got through all of those hard times because I knew he was never doing any of this to spite us. He wanted to be home, he wanted to be with us, he just had prior obligations to provide for our family."
"I won’t lie—it was tough, it was tough being away from family, it was tough not having my partner, it was tough solo parenting. I got through it because I had to, I had to get through it for my girls, for myself, and for the betterment of our family."
The Investigator Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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- "If any other mom is going through a spouse in the military or a spouse who just works a lot, just remember that you always have to be honest with yourself and with your significant other. Hiding things and trying to be strong and push through will never solve any problems. More times than not, they will understand and hopefully can validate the things that you’re feeling. And that validation can be what gets you through that tough time. Remember you guys are a team and you are living through this together."
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- "I have always been an athlete, so when I really want to do something good for myself or relieve tension I normally go and work out. For me, the best self-care comes when I can actually go to a gym and drop the kids off for a second. I used to feel so bad about leaving the kids in childcare while I worked out, I used to fill my head with negative thoughts of them getting sick and wanting me and crying as soon as I left. But as soon as I realized that they actually loved the child care that our gym provided and that I came out a better mom, that became my daily self-care."
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"Motherhood has been teaching me a lot about myself. I have also struggled with finding who I am through motherhood. I used to know exactly who I was—a pre-med student with dreams of becoming a heart surgeon, an athlete with dreams of going to the Olympics in triple jump, a poet who had the capacity to sit down and pour her heart out on empty pieces of paper. I used to think that those things were such core aspects to my character, that those specific things made me who I was."
"I’ve come to realize now that those things are not what made me the person I am. My new life has taught me that I have such a creative and spontaneous mind. I love making things beautiful whether that be taking pictures (which has been my newfound love outside of motherhood) or being creative with my words, or creating a space in my home—it all makes me feel whole. Honestly, anything that has to do with creating."
"My passion is definitely in motherhood and in being in the greatest partnership, but also in giving myself room to make beautiful things. When I was able to realize the things that actually bring me joy and purpose, I was able to create a happiness through photography, marketing, and content creating with Toki Mats and other brands that I absolutely adore."
The Free Spirit Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"Instagram has become such a creative outlet for me and my family. It is giving words to thoughts that I’ve had and pictures to joyous moments that I’ve been able to live. With my Instagram, I just want to spark joy in others, I want moms to know that they’re not alone, I want people to feel at peace and supported and loved and joy through my feed."
"Maybe I don’t do the greatest job at being an 'influencer,' but honestly my feed is first for my joy and then for the enjoyment of whoever wants to walk alongside my growth as a person and a mother!"
The Free Spirit Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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"With my husband getting out of the military came a very large move. At first we were scared, who wouldn’t be? But now we are seeing that this has been an extreme blessing and kind of like a new start."
"With this move from North Carolina to Maryland, I really want to focus more on my photography and growth of my new brand. I am so blessed to have a husband who wants to help me focus on my future and what I want as a creator. We believe that this move has so much potential for our family and we cannot wait to see how it all unfolds. We are feeling extremely positive and very blessed!"
The Free Spirit Play Kit, $120, Lovevery.
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For more on Sy'Vone and her beautiful family, please follow her on Instagram @justgotmurphyd.
To experience Lovevery's new Montessori Playshelf and Play Kits for yourself, head over to Lovevery.com.
Plus, if you are a subscriber of the 0-12 Play Kits, be sure to download Lovevery's brand-new app for parents!
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