What's in a Decade?

I really can't believe that we've begun a new decade. My life changed so much this past decade. Here's a recap:

2000- I rang in the New Year with someone I thought was the love of my life (turns out I was right!). I was in my junior year at Baylor, and Travis was in his first year of dental school. I had fun living with my sorority sisters and spending time with Travis on the weekends. I decided to graduate early and postpone law school until the following fall. I graduated from Baylor in December on the same day that the Sonora Broncos took home the state championship in football. The game just happened to be in Waco, so we all braved the cold and watched the big win!

2001- In January, I moved to Houston to work temporarily, but mostly to be with Travis before I started law school. We had fun living close to each other and began a food tour around Houston. We also experienced a record-setting flood that summer when Tropical Storm Allison made her way through the city. I'll never forget sitting on Trav's balcony and watching the water rise over the cars parked on the street. In August, I moved back to Waco and started law school. Just two weeks later, I was watching the Today Show as I was getting ready for class, and I saw the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I remember crying on the phone with my daddy that afternoon about how awful it was.

2002- My mom's mom, Grandma Boisse, died at the beginning of the year, and Grandpa Boisse followed her in August. I think about them all the time and wonder what they'd think of my babies. I finished my first year of law school, and that summer, I argued before the Texas Supreme Court in my first moot court competition. Travis and I spent many hours on the phone and on Highway 6, traveling from Waco to Houston and vice versa. Our long distance love was working! Travis started his final year of dental school in the fall, and I began my second year of law school.

2003- On January 19, 2003, Travis ran the Houston Marathon and proposed to me later that evening during a celebration dinner at The Rainbow Lodge. It was perfect with "Will You Marry Me?" spelled out in chocolate and the most perfect engagement ring that he paid for with the money he earned while working the previous summer and during Christmas break. I began wedding planning, even though we'd set a date for the following May. Trav earned his D.D.S. in May and officially became Dr. Spillman after he passed his boards that summer. All his hard work paid off, and he moved to Dallas to begin working shortly thereafter. I also moved to Dallas for the summer for my clerkships. I had a blast living with Aunt Becca and Alexandra and getting to see Travis every day. In the fall, I started my grueling final year of law school and learned all the reasons why Baylor's practice court program is notoriously miserable. It's still the hardest thing I've ever done.

2004- I finished practice court in the spring and worked on the final wedding details. I graduated on May 1, and Travis and I were married two weeks later on May 15. Our wedding was a dream come true, as was our honeymoon in Maui. I started studying for the bar exam the day after we returned. I started the bar exam on July 27 and finished two days later. On my way back to Dallas, I learned for the first time that Ryan had been in a terrible car accident on my first day of the bar. No one told me because they wanted me to finish the exam. Travis and I left for San Angelo the next day and were relieved and thankful to see Ryan. His long (really long) road to recovery had just begun. Travis and I began house hunting, and I started my new job. We quickly found and bought our first home and felt like grown ups for the first time. In November, I learned that I passed the bar and officially became a lawyer. In December, Trav and I adopted our first baby, a darling Golden Retriever puppy named Baylor.

2005- In February, we found out we were expecting and we were thrilled! We had so much fun decorating and furnishing our house that spring. In May, we traveled to La Jolla for our first anniversary. Travis decided to go surfing (a skill we'd learned in Maui), and after he got tackled by his surf board, we spent our anniversary in the emergency room in Santa Monica. Our fancy anniversary dinner took place at a Taco Bell-type restaurant. Oh, the memories. In June, we found out that Baby Spillman was a girl, and the pink party began! I loved being pregnant, and we couldn't wait to meet our daughter. In November, God blessed us with the most perfect gift. We named her Grace- God's unmerited favor. She changed our lives immeasurably. In December, we spent our last Christmas in Sonora. The day Grace was born, my parents learned that they would be moving to OKC, and it was bittersweet--they had to leave the place they'd spent the last 25 years, but they'd be much closer to us in Dallas.

2006- I loved being on maternity leave through the holidays, and I was heartbroken to return to work in February. Grace was a wonderful baby and didn't seem to mind that Travis and I had no clue about what we were doing. I got the hang of being a working mom, and Travis loved having Fridays off for GLAD days- "Gracie Lula and Dad" days. The two of them went everywhere together! In April, we bought a new house five blocks from our first one, and we're still enjoying it. Genny graduated from A&M in May and moved in with us for three months. When she moved out in August, Ryan moved in. Hotel Spillman was in business! Travis and I took our first baby-free vacation to Mexico in August. Grace turned 1 with a huge birthday bash in November. It was a magical year!

2007- I spent the first part of the year touring chicken plants in the South as part of my glamorous job as a big city lawyer (giggle, giggle). As a result, we began eating only free-range organic chicken. We also switched to mostly organic produce and eliminated high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils from our pantry. It's been a great change. Travis turned 30 in January, and then, guess what? Pregnant again! In March, we learned that Grace was going to be a big sister. We were thrilled again that our "plan" had worked and that the babies would be two years apart. Grace continued to be the light of our lives. We had so much fun with music lessons, Little Gym and swimming lessons. That summer, Travis faced an unexpected job change and decided to open his own practice. We found the perfect space just 1/2 mile from our home. He and Grace spend their GLAD days meeting with contractors, realtors and lawyers getting all the details worked out. Grace was excited about the new baby, and so were we. Grace turned 2 and exactly 12 days later, Ella Claire arrived. Another perfect gift. Instead of finding out the baby's gender this time around, we decided to keep it a surprise. Grace, I and everyone except Travis predicted a boy. I was shocked when I heard Dr. B say, "It's a girl!" We celebrated our first holidays as a family of four, and it was more special that I ever could have imagined.

2008- It was nice to be on maternity leave again during the holidays. On January 28, Gabby started as our nanny. She's been a Godsend in so many ways. She made my return to work much easier, as did the fact that Travis was so much closer to home. Grace adjusted well to being a big sister, and we started to get the hang of this parenting thing. I started blogging in the spring, and it's been a wonderful way to keep up with our memories. Ella was a bit of a colicky baby at first, but her fussy stage passed at around 4 months. She was such a little doll and loved being active and trying to keep up with her sister. In April, we experienced our first parenting emergency when Grace broke her leg. She spent six very long weeks in a body cast, and my mom stayed with us to help care for her. It took her a little while after the cast was finally off to regain her strength and balance, but swimming lessons helped. Ella also enjoyed swimming lessons and wasn't nearly as afraid of the water as her sister had been at that age. In July, Travis and I took our second baby-free vacation (back to Mexico) and while we were there, we celebrated our first year as small business owners. Then, guess what? Pregnant again! A bit of a surprise this time, but we were still excited. In November, the girls turned 1 and 3, and we celebrated with big parties again. Christmas was so much fun because Grace understood the concepts of Santa and baby Jesus. Ella didn't, but she loved playing a more active role than she had the year before. We found out right before Christmas that baby #3 was a boy, and we revealed our big secret on Christmas morning--yea, Baby Brother was on his way!

2009- I turned 30 in January, and Ella turned 15 months in February. She also started sleeping in a toddler bed that month (which seems totally crazy) in preparation for Baby Brother's arrival and the fact that I refused to purchase a second crib. Grace thrived in preschool, loving her teacher, classmates and learning! In April, we moved Ella into Grace's room, and it's been bliss (mostly) ever since. My grandmother, Murse, turned 80 and our dear friend Marcia visited from Florida. Grace still talks about it and calls Marcia her "other grandma." On May 13, Ella turned 18 months. On May 14, we welcomed Sutton James into the world. On May 15, Travis and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Whew! Three babies in 3 and 1/2 years. I'm still in awe of God's goodness. Sutton totally completed our family and has been an absolute dream baby. Summer maternity leave was awesome and included lots of playing outside, swimming, popsicles and watermelon. I made a huge career decision in August and instead of returning to my big firm, I joined a smaller one and have been thrilled with the change. God definitely answered my prayers. The girls started preschool at a new school near our house, and we couldn't be happier about it. Ella went through an adjustment period and we heard "I no like 'cool" a lot; things are better now. Grace has learned so much so quickly. She's super smart and loves school. The girls turned 4 and 2 in November and celebrated with a double party fit for two princesses. Sutton turned 6 months old the day after Ella's birthday. The holiday season came and went too quickly, and here we are- 2010!!

I count my blessings every day and look forward to living out God's plan for my life this decade (and hopefully several more)!