November 2011

Are you ready for another month in our busy life? Buckle up!

November started off with a lot of excitement about what our future would hold; Devin was invited to travel to Las Vegas to interview with Kimley-Horn & Associates, and also to Omaha for the Union Pacific Railroad. A firm in DC, Kittelson & Associates, also scheduled a phone interview.  Devin also really put his nose to the grindstone with his thesis and started going early and staying late.  He had his thesis proposal defense, which went very well.  

Adding to the drama, I started to wonder if I was pregnant; a couple factors, plus (and I think mainly because of ) my sister announcing her pregnancy led to this.  We were relieved/a little sad to find that I was not, as we had agreed it would probably be wise to wait for our new insurance with the new job, but Becca is just such a good, cute baby that it's hard not to think we could have double the fun with another one! 

Becca got her 8th tooth in.  Maybe this kick of grapefruit juice squeezed it out:

We were invited over for dinner and games by our friends from church, the Taylor's.  The dinner was scrumptious, and they are a really hilarious couple.  We played the Cities and Knights version of Settlers of Catan (our first time), and they kept cracking us up with their dry humor; "Hey Hun, just raided ya - it was lots of fun."

Our little family then embarked upon another babysitting adventure with the Dahl family - this time for only five days.  We had the routine down from last time, but there always has to be little things to throw you off - like little boys cracking their heads open on trampolines or Becca peeing everywhere (this is her getting a sink bath afterwards):

Becca turned 10 months old while we were there.  She had a ball again with the kids, of course.

 

Devin was gone a lot more this time, since he was working harder on his thesis.  This gave me time to read a book, and I loved it!  (These Is My Words, if you're interested)  Also of note (ha ha), we watched "The Sing Off" for Family Home Evening with the kids - with mixed reviews. They didn't quite appreciate Devin's attempts afterwards to expound upon morals learned and gospel principles revealed from the show.

Because I can't say no to anyone (now that I've publicly revealed this, please don't take advantage of my weakness), we went straight from that babysitting job to another one for four more days- also a family with five kids.  More learning experiences, for sure.  Becca learned how to play the piano, anyway:

She also discovered a passion for blueberries. Pancakes were already her favorite, but add some blueberries and wow! She ate four. Big ones. 

While we were babysitting the second family, Devin got to see his friend's temple sealing in Houston. I got to go to Jack and Pam's reception in College Station. We're very happy for them!

The day after we returned home from babysitting, Devin left to Las Vegas for his interviews at Kimley-Horn.  He was gone a couple days, and they gave him a job offer a few days later.  He was very impressed and really liked it there, but still had three more interviews with other companies, so he held off on replying to Kimley-Horn.

Vocal Point was voted off "The Sing Off" ("heinously", as Devin put it), and so we boycotted the rest of the season.  It was ridiculous, really. But I won't even go there.

We had our friend, Brad, over for dinner - as his wife (also one of my running partners!) was gone for a couple weeks.  We want to take them with us wherever we move to.

I renewed my driver's license - I know I'll have to do it again when we move, but it wasn't so bad at the DMV with Becca charming everyone in sight.

One bummer from babysitting was that Becca picked up shrieking/screaming.  Yikes.  I'm very happy to say she forgot about it by the end of the month, however. This is kind of a toned down version of it, as she can't contain her excitement with the new trick Dad taught her.  I'm just grateful it's the cold water on the right side, and not the hot:

The Friday before my birthday, Devin couldn't stand keeping his secret any longer.  He had found a pirate's map for buried treasure and so he sent me on an adventure.  I dug up several good finds, and the big treasure at the end was all 8 Harry Potter movies!  Hooray!  I still hadn't seen the last one, so we enjoyed it that night. 

The next night was Stake Conference, which was really uplifting.  We had to take Becca, but Devin got her to sleep so I could pay attention.  We also ran into an old college friend of his.  After Conference, we stopped at H-E-B to pick up some birthday fun for me:  ice cream, Simply Lemonade with Raspberries (to die for!), and egg nog. Because it's in season now. We watched some more of a hugely long, but mostly interesting documentary on the Civil War that we've been chipping away at.

More Stake Conference on Sunday (my actual birthday), after crepes (with four kinds of berries!) for breakfast.  Becca gave me her birthday present, which was a 2 1/2 hour nap on her part, so Devin and I could take a 2 hour nap. Whoopee! We played a new game, Quirkle, and Devin surprised me with my Christmas present, because he couldn't stand not giving me something on my birthday.  Can you tell what my present was?

Well, if you couldn't tell from the better quality pictures or the random shots, I got a new digital camera! Thank you, Devin!  I also got a cake made from a beautiful tower of chocolate chip cookies, topped precariously by an outrageous amount of candles. Yum.

For Family Home Evening the following night, we had Devin's long lost college friend over, "Gentile Ben".  As in, not "Jew Ben".  Because...well, I won't explain.  In any case, we had a great time with "Gentile Ben".

And here I am, having fun with my new camera and adorable baby who loves her shoes.

Thanksgiving Eve, Devin and I stayed up late to shell pomegranates while watching more of the Civil War documentary.

Here's Becca, enjoying her pre-Thanksgiving dinner feast of spaghetti - it's my favorite thing to watch her eat!

And here's Devin and I, alternately making our Thanksgiving assignments (plus pomegranate salad, which I cannot live without having on Thanksgiving!) and messing around with the new camera:

Here we are, taking off in our trusty Mazda for Uncle Kevin and Aunt Kathy's in Houston, where we would join some of the Moore family for Thanksgiving dinner:

Every time we pass this sign (a few miles outside of College Station), I always think I should get a picture of it, so this time I did. Westward Ho!, Texas.  Yeehaw! Zion or Bust.

We purposely arrived two hours late, and yet still too early.  Mom Moore, Ryan and Flynn got there an hour after we did, and dinner wasn't ready for another two hours.  Such are family gatherings with much food, I suppose.  Becca loved their cats and tiny puppies, and we played a couple fun games while waiting to chow down.

Devin and I had to leave the party early to get Becca in bed (we went to Devin's parents' house), but Mom, Ryan and Flynn soon joined us for more food and "Some Like It Hot" - I laughed so hard!  A good way to digest your Thanksgiving meal.

The next morning we all trooped off to a tree farm to pick a Christmas tree - it was really fun!  The only thing that could've made it better was snow, but that's hard to come by in Texas:

To continue my birthday celebration, Mom took Devin and Becca and I to Tradicao Steakhouse, a Brazilian churrascaria.  Oh heaven! Becca is addicted to their lime drink now.

We went back home for their birthday present tradition of "Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head", and then played the LIFE card game Flynn got me, followed by dessert.

Devin and I got to go to the temple early the next morning, which is always a welcome peaceful time. Back at the Moore house, I found some fairy wings for Becca, but she wasn't enthralled.

Becca and I took Devin to the Houston airport and then drove home through a torrential downpour.  I only got lost once (I usually never drive in Houston; I don't know my way around still!).  Devin was gone for four days, interviewing in Washington DC and Omaha.  We missed him terribly; I tried to stay busy by doing such things as unearthing the four metal rods in our backyard...I quit after the first one took me 45 minutes.  Random story, I know, but these are the kinds of things I amuse myself with when Devin is gone. Becca started standing on her own, which was probably a more productive pursuit. On other developmental fronts, she still is saying only "Ba ba ba" and "Woof" - despite our repeated pushing for "Dada" and "Mama".  She likes sign language though - milk, more, please, thank you, food, drink. And, I finally got desperate enough to let Becca cry it out at night. She hasn't eaten during the night for a long time, but most nights likes a little cuddle time with Mom around 3 or 4 am.  I took advantage of Devin being gone so her crying wouldn't disturb him, and she did pretty well.  Here she is in a new Sunday outfit (not standing on her own yet).

I also stayed busy by making a video tour of our College Station home, since I knew we'd be leaving it soon and wanted to capture part of our life there:

Devin had a four and a half hour flight delay from DC to Omaha, and got sick to boot, but all things considered it was a successful trip.  We were so glad to get him back! The day after he got home was the last day in November, and we went shopping for our own Christmas tree and put it up.  Although we knew we wouldn't be around for much longer, I couldn't stand to not have a little Christmas spirit, especially since it's Becca's first Christmas!

So November ended, with us enjoying the start of the holiday season, and very much anticipating our decision about Devin's career and our future home.