Our House... Our Home...Our Future Plan

So, I never posted about our new place. We moved out of our apartment about six months ago and a friend found us a house to rent on an acre of land. Now... the lot is huge, the house is huge, but the garages take most of the space. It's a 6 car garage house. I think the garage is bigger than the actual living space, but it's perfect for us. The house has some strange features I would say... weird cupboards, 1970's carpet, random little nooks, shower heads that touch my shoulder, elevated toilet tanks (you have to pull a string to flush the toilet), bath tubs you step down into... you get the picture. The house maybe a little weird, but we love it. It has given us the opportunity to host game nights, pumpkin carving night, and just gatherings with family and friends. Adam and I love sitting outside with our fire pit and a glass of wine. We have the freedom to do whatever we want here. It is definitely a place we are planning on living in for another year or two.

We have big plans for our future, and it has really taught us to live within our means. Adam is an amazing finance guy. He's so smart! When we got married, we decided to go big. We have large families, and friends all over the place. There was no way we could cut people from our list. So 291 people and over $35,000 in credit card debt later, we decided it was time to change our ways. Not only do we have wedding debt, but our school loans too. We sold my Acura and live on a budget! A pretty strict budget. We have paid over $28, 000 in debt in two years. We're almost there, and we told ourselves we would not buy any new furniture nor a house until we're completely OUT of debt! So you see, our strange, funny looking house is now our home... and we love it!

There's not much we can change, but we asked our landlord if we could take out these UGLY rocks and add some plants. So here's our new project...

We haven't planted the flowers yet. Addison having fun in the sun.

9 months

This is her new face she makes.

Our little girl is nine months! People always tell me how fast kids grow and now I believe it. I can't believe our little pun'kin is crawling all over the house... and she's quick too. She watches everything we do and puts it in her little memory bank. She has started to point at things to let us know what she wants and sometimes she points just to point. It's pretty funny. When we warm up her food, she points to the microwave when it's finished and gets all excited to eat. She also found her monitor on the side of her crib. She would wake up, stand in her crib, and reach for the monitor to play with it. In our room, we would hear the loud, staticy sound while she played with it in her crib. It was cute the first few times and then we realized it's probably not the safest thing to have in the crib with her. We have now moved it out of her reach.

Growing up so fast

Addison is growing up so fast! I feel as if every time I look at her, she is doing something new. She brings big smiles to our faces everytime she tries learning new things. Addison is definitely our little risk taker. Our little girl follows us into every room, and stands up wherever she gets a chance to pull herself up. She also just learned how to sit down from a standing position. This exploring stage is so exciting and entertaining to watch.

This month she has been busy playing. I love watching her interact with other kids. Here are some pics of her with family and friends this past month ...

8 months

This is what we woke up to... a teething baby and the first time standing up in her crib.

January was a busy month for us. Addison began to crawl right when she hit 7 months and now she's pulling herself up and shuffling along the table. A couple weeks ago, she got her first stomach flu... which was horrible, but only lasted about 48 hours. Right after the flu, she started teething. She now has her two bottom teeth poking through. Adam and I did not get much sleep for two weeks. Poor baby was waking up every other hour. Fortunately, she's now back to her regular schedule and sleeping her 10-12 hours a night. Addi is definitely keeping us on our toes lately and I'm enjoying every minute of it. I love how her little personality is starting to come alive. The more she talks and laughs, the more and more she brightens my day!

Three years ago today...

Three years ago today, I made the best decision a girl could make. I said "YES!" Adam proposed in Nicaragua and it was such an amazing experience. My parents were already in Nicaragua for the holidays at the same time, Adam and I had a 3 day trip planned to Park City, Utah to see Julie...so I thought. With the help of our parents, Jenna, Kelly Karen, Jocelyn, and my principal, Adam planned a week long vacation to Nicaragua. When we got to LAX, with our bags filled with snow gear, he handed me our plane tickets with the destination to Managua, Nicaragua! I was overwhelmed with emotions and completely surprised.

When we got there, my parents set us up for 4 days at an all inclusive resort in Montelimar. It was absolutely beautiful! On the third night there Adam wanted to go on a little hike, and took me to the most beautiful cliff over the ocean where he proposed. Adam spent so much time, hard work and thought towards this special day! Thank you babe!

My parents' property in Ticuantepe. It's a beautiful house on a huge lot. We picked pineapples from their backyard.

7 Months

Addi is seven months and boy has she grown so much! In the last month, Addi has learned so many new things. At six months Addi began to...

- sit up and throw her body forward onto all fours, then followed by the rocking back and forth, side to side. So cute.

- wave "bye, bye" with her palm facing her.

-eat more veggies and fruits twice a day.

-allow people to hold her without freaking out. There were a couple weeks where she would not let anyone hold her. Glad that was just a little phase.

-and play with her toys. It's adorable watching her play with dolls and her play phone.

A Christmas to Remember

Every Christmas we spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family and Christmas day with Adam's family. It works out perfect for us. This year we decided to spend Christmas with Julie and Brandon up in Springville, Utah. Julie is 35 weeks pregnant and looks amazing! We had a good time playing games every night and enjoying each others' company. It was such a memorable trip!

Addi's first Christmas with family was so much fun. She had a blast pulling out tissue paper and tearing up wrapping paper. Grammie & Grampie and Abuelito & Abuelita spoiled our little girl. We had so much joy watching her play with her presents and entertain our family.