and we're off

Well, not quite, but we soon will be. We packed up the rest of the house yesterday with my mom's help. My BIL stopped by last night to say bye because he won't be back before we leave. It feels like it's been a long time in coming but yet it's so surreal. Bill heads out this week and the rest of us next. We were talking yesterday about how much we'll miss everything here. It's been a good life here. I've been in Utah since 2001. Bill and I have been married since 2009. All our experiences together are here. It will hold a special place in our hearts as the place everything began.  So here's to a lovely last Christmas here and then onto a brand new adventure.

The tablet

We don't have a TV in our house.  We can find pretty much anything we want to watch online on Netflix, and we just would rather avoid some of the hard decisions that could come if we had a TV.  Don't be fooled though.  We're a very tech savvy family.  We have a number of computers, phones, and other devices and thoroughly enjoy them.  But I've been very happy so far with how Spencer has developed his playing skills without a TV around.

However, our newest techy device acquisition is a pair of Android tablets that we picked up at Costco a month or so ago.  I didn't think I wanted one.  Yeah, I was wrong.  Both Bill and I love them.  And guess who else loves them? Spencer!  He is completely certain both tablets are his personal property and he can play his games on them whenever he chooses.  It's quite the exciting transition. I can't say I'm completely happy about it, yet it's incredibly helpful at times to be able to give it to him and have him captivated for long periods of time.  The kid has learned so fast how to navigate to where he wants to go.  It's mind boggling to see what a not even two-year old can do on it. I'm very happy that I will have mine around for the long, long plane rides to Atlanta in three weeks, as it really does keep his attention for a long time, but I sometimes wonder if playing on the tablet is a small bit of what I wanted to avoid having a TV around.  But they're not going anywhere, so we'll just have to figure out the limits on them as time goes by.  I definitely don't regret the purchase, so I guess I get what I paid for on all accounts. :)

All the details are coming together

Since I can't think of much else besides this huge change in our lives coming up very, very soon, here's another blog post about moving to South Carolina. :)  This week we got Bill's official offer letter for his assistantship at Clemson.  In other words, they finally told us how much they are willing to pay him, how much tuition will cost, etc.  It was pretty much everything we've been hoping for and so he accepted it.  What a relief!  While we've been planning this move to happen for months, there was always this question in our minds because we didn't have that information.  It is so nice to have that piece fallen into place. Now we're free to move forward getting an apartment, finalizing our move, etc.

Bill is taking his last final of his undergrad degree as I type this.  Then we'll have the rest of the month off and doesn't start school until the 9th of January.  Well, he has the rest of the month off. I still have to work, but that's a good thing since money is helpful with everything we'll be spending on this move. :)  And I'll have a big chunk of time off too during the actual Christmas and New Year's weeks. Anyway, all the stress of making the decision is gone and now we just have to get ourselves there.  I can handle that part.  It feels so good to be getting this much closer to taking this big step forward in our lives.

And in the rest of our life news, here's some cute pictures of the kids from this week.

3 Months and my favorite Spencerism this week

This little lady is three months old.

She is just a doll.  She's smiling like crazy these days and just such a delightful baby.  She will laugh when we sing to her, which is so endearing.  She's a serious chunk.  She already weighs at least 14 pounds and is growing like a weed.  She loves these little lovey blanket toys.  She has three. :) She'll suck on them for hours.

She's quite patient with her brother's desire to hug and kiss, i.e. body slam, her 100 times a day.  We're working on that one. :)

Speaking of her brother, Spencer has started doing two very amusing things.  First he brings his little pillow out into the living room with a book and wants me to read to him while he lays on the couch.  I can never say no to that.  Two, he likes the ABC song but he calls it the ABW song.  We'll ask him what song he wants us to sing and he yells ABW!  The day Genevieve was born everyone came to the hospital to see her. My niece Lily started teaching Spencer his letters from the letter magnets we got him as a gift from Genevieve that day.  He latched onto the letter 'w' and it's been his favorite ever since.  He wanders around the house saying all the letters of the alphabet and now counting and also going through different colors he knows. He's learned all of these since Genevieve was born. It's pretty impressive.  Every time he says "eweven" it just makes me laugh.  Such a cute kid.  Now if we can just help him understand that Genevieve is more than a life-sized toy to be prodded and poked and hit.  He's a bit hardheaded about that particular subject.  He loves on her a bit too much at present.