Where to begin?...at the beginning and when I come to the end STOP! bahaha feeling a little silly today. Maia will appreciate that opening ;) I figured it was time to write so that I don't have to lump Christmas in with everything else that has happened since my last post. So much has happened to our little family I can see why I have a hard time finding time and energy to write.
We had a wonderful summer! Spent lots of time outside, especially in the water. We love grandma's pool because it has a kiddie part with water falls and a "beach" where she can walk. We also took a trip to Schlitterbahn, which was awesome. Lila didn't think the life vest was very cool, but she did like the kiddie park. She also liked when Aunt Maia and mommy took her in the lazy river/wave pool without her vest on in a kid inter tube. This kid just LOVES the water. I felt like our summer was pretty uneventful until the very end. Technically it was fall by then but here in South Texas it still felt a lot like summer. At the end of September we took a road trip to Nashville to see Spencer's brother and family. It was so nice to get to introduce Lila to cousins and a uncle and aunt she had never met before. The three of us sure enjoyed our visit. Nashville is very beautiful and I really enjoyed downtown. It will be nice to go again with older kids to enjoy more of the music scene. I know Lila had SO much fun playing with her cousins. She loves to play with other kids. She has become very social. She must get that from her dad because I know its not from me. hahaha. As much as we enjoyed our visit Spencer and I have decided we are putting road trips on the back burner for quite some time. Lila did magnificent on the 14 hour drive (one way), but mom and dad got a little stir crazy. Dad ended up driving the whole way there and back so I could keep Lila Bean happy in the back plus I wasn't feeling all to hot most of the trip. More to come on that later. Plus on our way out there we had a really bad rainstorm follow us the entire way. This made our 14 hour trip sooooooooooooooooooo much longer seeing as how we had to drive 50 mph just to see the road. I never knew what a rain/thunderstorm was until I moved out here. I mean buckets and buckets. None of this sprinkle, gloom stuff from CA. Any who our trip was well worth it, but we were very happy to be out of the car and home again.
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| The Girls |
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| All my family pictures from Nashville are blurry :( I needed my photographer with me. |
We got back from our trip on Thursday and that following Saturday we were moving. Spencer and I had decided we've had enough of apartment living and it was time for us to rent our own little house. We found a super cute little 3 bedroom/2 bath 1180 sq. ft. garden home in the medical center. It is only about 5 minute drive (with traffic) to Spencer's work. It's a gated community about a 15 minute drive from downtown. We are really enjoying our new house. We have so much more space and it was super fun decorating for the holidays; even Spencer got into it with me this year. He especially loves his little house. He had lots of fun getting the backyard rearranged for Lila. He took all the rocks out, planted all of our veggies and other foliage then planted grass. He added a bunch of planter boxes and even fenced in the HVAC unit so Lila wouldn't get any bright ideas. Then Rissa gave Lila here "Olive Garden" aka playhouse and viola Lila has a beautiful backyard that she just can't get enough of. We go out there every day the weather is nice to play in the house and blow bubbles. Spencer also has his garage again with all of his tools in it. He's been dreaming up projects and having a blast. Right now he's sanding a dining room table and constructing some new chairs for it. You could say Spencer is a happy man now. :)
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| Our new house |
Shortly after we moved into our house I gave my notice at work!!!!! I still go into the office about 10 hours a month to do bookkeeping and data entry, but I get to go in whenever it is convenient for me, which is usually when Spencer can keep little Lila. I LOVE being a full time stay at home mom. I was a little nervous at first to quit because I have worked since I was 16, but I love love love being at home with my baby. Shortly after I quit and was staying with Lila all day she started talking like crazy. I don't know if it is coincidence or not. She says just about anything you ask her to. She can communicate really well. I can pretty much make out anything she is asking me for. If not I ask her to show me and off we go. I would say she easily says 30+ words maybe even more. Although just this month (Dec.) she has really started to change to where I notice she's not so little any more. She used to only call animals by the sounds they make, but now she actually says their name. Well, at least most of them; the ones she can say. She can't say elephant if you know what I mean. Her and I go out and do something every day to keep us from getting cabin fever. One of Lila's favorite things to do is to play with her cousin, Janie. They are the best of friends and constantly ask to see each other. I'm glad they are such good friends because us mommies get along really well too. Jalayne has been a wonderful part of our lives. She has really helped us out when we've needed it and I really enjoy her company.
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| Shopping with Janie |
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| Playing with Janie |
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| Our morning walks before the park |
So, the big reason I was able to quit my job was because Spencer got an incredible job teaching para-medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center. It is so nice to have him on a normal 8 to 5, M-F schedule and off the ambulance so I'm not constantly worrying about what is happening to him. So far he has been challenged with this new job, but he of course is excelling. The school has a military contract training the army men and women in para-medicine, so most of the teaching he's done is to the military. He has also undertaken a lot of their tech stuff. They have him setting up online classes and programming SIMS (training mannequins). He says he is enjoying it, but it keeps him very busy preparing for lectures and figuring out techy stuff so I know he is concerned about his study time. The goal as of now is for him to take the MCAT either February or March and then submit his applications for Med School. We are getting very close!
We had a fun Halloween. Lila dressed up as a kitty cat and we took her trick-or-treating twice. Once at my parents ward Halloween party and then again on Halloween around our new neighborhood. She had so much fun getting candy. He favorite part though was taking all the candy out of the bucket then putting it back in. It was a while before she discovered the wrappers come off and there is yummy stuff inside hahaha. It is so fun watching her grown and discover new things. Her and I laugh a lot. She has a great sense of humor already. Grandma and Poppy came over on Halloween to carve pumpkins (thanks dad!), trick-or-treat, pass out candy and eat dinner in a pumpkin with us. We had a lot of fun and I'm glad they spent the evening with us.
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| playing with our Halloween candy |
Thanksgiving was fun too. We ate over at Grandma's house with all the Boring's. Poppy had to work though and he was greatly missed. I baked pies again this year and tried a new one, Dutch/French Apple per Grandma's request. I think it was my favorite out of the ones I made this year. I also made stuffing from scratch and I have to admit it was pretty darn tasty. We had a nice day and a yummy dinner as usual. We deep fried our turkey this year and I have to admit I think it is my very favorite way to cook it. It had SO much flavor. The day after Thanksgiving Papa and Granny came for a visit. As usual we had a blast. Lila took to both of them right away and learned both their names quickly. Lila was spoiled while they were here. Granny came with lots of present in her purse then bought Lila a baby doll and stroller for an early Christmas present and her dress for Christmas/18 month pictures. We also got to have some nice adult time while they were here. The four of us got to catch a movie. My pick and I have to say I did a good job. hehehe....Brent. ;) We sure love Papa and Granny's visits. Wish that we could spend more time with them, but I guess that makes the visits we do get that much sweeter.
Well us Scott's are ready for Christmas. We got all of our Christmas shopping done last Saturday thanks to my family for watching Lila for us. I never realized how hard it is to shop for toys with a toddler in tow. hahaha. While we were out we were able to get a little date time in too. Got some yummy lunch and a movie in. I can't wait for Lila to open her presents. I'm also very excited to host Christmas Eve. I love baking Christmas/Santa cookies. It's a tradition I don't plan on giving up any time soon. So, no one better try to stop me ;)
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| Christmas Jammies |
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| Enjoying our tree |
I guess that's it for now. I'm sure I could keep babbling, but my baby is about to wake up from her nap. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our friends and family. We had a wonderful 2013 and I have a very good feeling 2014 will be just as blessed.
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| Watching Sesame Street |
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| Watching Sesame Street |
