A Very Merry Christmas

Christmas through a 2 year old's eyes is something magical. This year the Christmas Season seemed to be more purposeful for us as a family. We took the time to explain the nativity scene, read Taylor the story of Jesus' birth, and watched simple cartoons describing the miracle of Christmas. It will also be our last year as just the three of us. Next year we will have another member of our little Lile family to join us and we can't wait to meet the little one!

It was such a blessing to have Kirsten's family in town to celebrate Christmas together. We had a great time watching movies, playing games, eating, and laughing.

Family and friends have become more treasured to us as we are 2,000 miles away from those we love most.We are so thankful for each person in our life and we miss you all during this Christmas season.

Taylor was abundantly showered with Christmas gifts this year. Thank you to everyone who sent a package to her. She loved opening each one. In fact, I think she liked opening the boxes and wrapping more than seeing what the gift was.

Below Taylor is working hard like daddy...except on her Elmo cell phone and Lap Top.

Here is the Christmas dinner that Kelly, Chris, and I made for our family.
This was the first year I hosted Christmas!

And last but not least, our favorite picture from Christmas. Taylor received a Disney Princess coach from her Nana & Papa...along with just a few Dora dolls. So we thought we would show how many babies, Dora's, and other "friends" she has =) She loves each one so much you would think she had just one!

Save The Date! July 14, 2009

Cousin Maddy and Taylor on Thanksgiving at Grandpa & Grandma's House

We have had some exciting and new things happen with our family in the past month! First, we found out in October that we are having our second baby July 14, 2009! We are so excited and Taylor is slowly understanding that she can't jump on mommy's tummy anymore because there is a baby inside.
I am feeling much better now that the first trimester is almost over. Taylor has been a trooper, watching more Dora and Mickey Mouse than I ever thought I would let her...I think she is loving me being pregnant!

We also went to Seattle for Thanksgiving and had so much fun seeing our friends and family. It was a busy weekend but we loved every minute of it! The highlight was telling everyone about the pregnancy and seeing Taylor with all her little friends that she has missed so much!

Melanie and Me at U Village

We have also had lots of fun getting ready for Christmas. This is the first year that Taylor truly understands why we have decorations in our house and loves to play with the nativity scene and advent calendar. The highlight for me as a mom this season was decorating the tree with Taylor and seeing her face light up as she looked at all the ornaments. It is a special time of year and I love that we can celebrate as a family.

Fall in Texas

The highlight of Tay's month!
We went to Safety Town in Frisco where kids
get to explore a little city and learn about safety.
Her favorite part was getting to play on the fire truck!

Taylor's new favorite baby - she goes with her everywhere. She changes her diaper, feeds her, burps her, and of course cuddles with her!

Taylor loves being picked up in Aunt Kelly's grocery bag...yes, Taylor enjoys
the simple things in life...and so does Auntie!

Tay and Adam watching our first lightning and thunder storm in Texas!

Besides her baby, Taylor's next favorite thing is Play Doh. She will play with it for hours!

We found an amazing park, similar to Greenlake in Seattle...it's just a lot bigger...9 miles around! We had a great Saturday morning walking and soaking in the fall sun!

After six weeks in Texas, we are definitely starting to feel settled in our new home. I'm involved in a nearby MOPs Group and Adam is loving his job. Taylor has met quite a few new friends her age and loves exploring new parks. We are so excited to come to Seattle next week for Thanksgiving and see our friends and family!

Silliest Chick in Texas

This year Taylor was a chick for Halloween. She really hated wearing the full costume with the feet, head, and body, so she ended up just wearing the body part. We started off the festivities at a party for all of the kids at Adam's office. It was a lot of fun and Tay even won the "Silliest Costume" award! We are so proud of our little chick - it's the first award she's ever won!
Anyway, she got lots of treats and ate skittles, lollipops, and mints. Mints are better than candy to Taylor so we just act like they are a very special treat. She must think Adam's office is the coolest place and will never buy that Daddy is working in the office that has a "lollipop lake" and candy everywhere =)
After the party she trick-or-treated at Uncle Chris and Aunt Kelly's house and got some special treats there. Then it was off to the Webb's for a fun adult Halloween party!

One Little Monkey...

Well, the inevitable finally happened...last night after we put Taylor down for bed we heard her cry and then a scratching at her door and then turning of the knob on her bedroom door. To our horror she had climbed out of her crib!!! We put her back in her crib and shut the door again. A few seconds later we heard a thud and then the same scratching at the door. Our little girl has turned into a little monkey!
We had no idea what to do since we do not have a bed for her to sleep on so we figured we would be up all night with her. After about 20 minutes of trying to come up with a plan I decided to put her in her crib and leave the door open. For whatever reason, that worked and she didn't want to get out of her crib. Our house was finally quiet at 10 PM last night - Thank God!!!
Today I am going to research big girl beds because I know our stubborn little girl and last night will not be the last night of her acrobatic stunts. If you have any advice with kids getting out of their cribs let us know...the sooner the better!

Friday Night Lights

Taylor LOVED the football game!

Our fam with great friends Dave & Kellis

Tonight we went to our very first Texas High School Football game.  Our wonderful friends who live in McKinney, TX took us to the game for Dave's High School team where he is a teacher, Centennial High School.

 It was great watching football in 65 degree weather. Taylor had so much fun watching the cheerleaders, listening to the band, and cheering on both teams =)  Dave gave Taylor a football just her size and that was a hit.  Looks like we will be going to a lot more games!

Corny Dogs, Big Tex, and a Ferris Wheel

Big Tex

Looking at all of the rides

Yesterday we took Taylor to the Texas State Fair. It was a beautiful 80 degree fall day in Dallas to go eat a lot of food and go on rides. We saw the Cotton Bowl, rode the Ferris Wheel, and met Big Tex - Taylor's new best friend. She says "Tex" all day long and looks at his picture online as much as we will let her. She also had her first Corny Dog. We saw zebras, a giraffe, and her favorite animal as of yesterday, pigs! It was so fun to see her experience all the sounds and sights of the biggest fair in America. We passed on the fried jelly beans, fried cheesecake, and chicken fried bacon...maybe next year.

Pictures

We will post all of our pictures to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/adamlile

We're in Texas!

We have been in Texas now for one week! Adam loves his new job at Behringer Harvard and I am trying to get settled into our apartment and get Taylor used to central time.

A few things I love about Texas already...a given is the weather. It's been about 80 degrees every day so far. I love Blue Bell Ice Cream. It is the best ice cream I have ever had. I love that my favorite salsa is less than $2 at Target - in Seattle I paid close to $5 for it!
A few things I am going to have to get used to - the way Texans drive, the weird bugs and big Walmarts. I've also spent countless hours trying to find places and end up finding something else instead.

Taylor is doing great and becoming quite the little talker. She learns new words every day. Her favorite word right now is "football" and "Chris" since her Uncle is staying with us until their apartment and things are ready. She LOVES Dora the Explorer and can't get enough of it. So that's been an incentive for her to listen to her parents =)

Overall our first week has been great in Dallas and we are excited to meet new friends and find a church. We miss all of our family and friends in Seattle tremendously!!!