My two favorite little people

Nate and Aubrey are a lot of fun.  They crack me up.  I'll update you on their new things and then I'll post probably close to 1,000 pictures :)

Nate:

• He'll be TWO in 9 days!
• This kid is quite the chatterbox!  Some of my favorite phrases are "One more!"  He says it about 5 times while shaking his finger at me.  
• He's got some major hops.  He can jump higher than me I think
• He loves the park and wants to go several times a day
• He's obsessed with breakfast
• He's been really into Word World lately.  It's a silly show, but he likes it
• He's starting to recognize some letters, shapes, and colors
• He still loves animals and their sounds

Aubrey:

• 6 months old
• She's crawling!
• She's pulling herself up to stand next to furniture, at the wall, in her crib.  She's more determined than any child I've ever met.
• She is still smiley smiley and giggles at everything
• She loves balls.  I foresee a soccer player!
• She loves eating her pureed food :)
• She somehow always finds my phone and gets this look of victory on her face every time
• ADORES her big brother!

Now for a picture overload :)  Some of these are from a while back.

Nate LOVES his daddy.

This was an accident...but it made me laugh out loud

I'm betting she can beat him up

My FAVORITE PICTURE EVER!!!!!

With her buddy, Bennet

My little helper.  He loves her.

I'm so sad this is blurry because this is the classic Aubrey face.

She loves licking this window...?

DON'T EAT PETE!

Love living close to these two cousins!

Nate loves the new balcony

This happens when naps are neglected

Don't judge me for having them on the counter.... 

We put seeds out there to attract birds and this is what we got.

There you have it....a little snippet of The Merrill Way of Life :)

Our first real job

This is old news for some of you, but Steve has accepted a job for after graduation!  It was ridiculously difficult making a decision.  Steve was offered a spot at both the firm in AZ and the firm he worked for this summer here in DC.  

Decision making is, for some reason, REALLY hard for us.  Both of these firms were great choices for us and it was hard feeling good about just one because we wanted BOTH experiences!  Sometimes I wish Heavenly Father would just say, "Do this..." and I'd say with enthusiasm, "Alrighty!" and go and be obedient!  Easy cheesy.  Well, I know that I don't really want it to be like that.  I am grateful the Lord allows us to choose.  I don't think we'd ever learn anything if we didn't learn from our own experiences. I know the Lord guides us and sometimes He does it more strongly than others.  But I also thinks that he will support our decisions if he knows that our hearts are in the right place.  If the Lord knows that we are trying our best to serve him and do his will, he won't let us feel good about a wrong choice!  And we feel really good about the choice we've made, which is stay here in Virginia and work here.  I never thought that I'd come out east and then want to STAY here!  But we love it and we're excited to spend a little while longer here.  

So now that you all know we'll be here for at least a few more years, feel free to add a trip to DC to your calendars.  Our place is always open!  Oh, and the government is no longer shutdown so there's cool free things to do again!