Our Virtual Holiday Letter: 2011 Edition

It's been a year of anticipation and change and adjustment for our household. Let's look back at some of the highlights of our year, but first, we'll start with the ending:

Clara's first visit with Santa. Thankfully, her big sister could show her the ropes.

Clara seems resigned to the hat here...

Lucy (second row from the top, in the middle) singing with the kindergarteners at her first big public school holiday program.
Now that you see how it nicely 2011 wrapped up, let's go back to the beginning.

We started out the year with a family trip to Disney World, meeting Grandma Sue and Grandpa Al for 5 days of great weather and fun. It was hard for all of us to go home, even Nathan.
In April, when we showed Lucy this picture to break the news, she first thought it was a rabbit, then a raccoon or a guinea pig. Luckily, she was even more excited to find that it was a baby, and that this baby was growing in mama's tummy. It was very fun for Sheri and Nathan to finally share with Lucy the news they'd been keeping a secret for a few months. No more talking in code!!

Also in April, Sheri and Lucy took a solo roadtrip to Cheyenne to meet up with Angel and cousin Gavin. What a fun time we had!

Lucy graduated from preschool in May. We are so very grateful for the wonderful teachers and the natural love of learning that was nurtured in her five years of Montessori education. We really wish that Omaha Public Schools had a Montessori option, but we are happy that she has such a strong foundation to build on as she transitions to a new educational system.

Cousin Lauren from Alabama is a traveling nurse, and lived with us this summer as she worked an 8 week assignment at Children's Hospital. We had a lot of fun with her!

Lucy turned 5 this summer, here she is at her family birthday in Minnesota with the lovely cake Grandma Sue made. We were quite proud that at her birthday party with friends (where they splashed in the fountains at a local park), Lucy asked for donations for Children's Hospital instead of presents. She raised nearly $500 for the PICU!!

We traveled to Alabama in July to visit Nathan's family and some dear friends. We also got to go to the beach and attend church at UPC, where Nathan and Sheri met and were married.
And, of course, Lucy started Kindergarten in August. Though she's had some adjusting to do in moving from a Montessori classroom to a more traditional school setting, we are pretty pleased with her teacher and the school. Lucy's reading has progressed quickly this fall and she's able to sound out most words and read "easy reader" books on her own.

We traveled to Minnesota to meet our new niece, Allison, and also to be present as Godparents at her baptism.

It was very sad to say goodbye to our dog, Sojo. She was over 15 years old and had a good life, 14 of which were with Sheri. We still miss her a lot.

Then we waited, and waited, and waited.


Sheri and Nathan were okay with all this waiting (especially since Sheri was hoping to make it to a good stopping point in the semester). And even though we were all excited to welcome Clara, it was nice to relish those last days of being a family of three. But once we hit Clara's official due date, Lucy began getting quite impatient. Every morning, she'd jump out of bed with excitement and then her face would fall when she'd see Sheri in the living room, still pregnant. And every afternoon when Sheri would be the one to pick her up from school, she was very disappointed. Finally, on Clara's 8th tardy day, Sheri woke up at 3:30am and determined that today was the day. At 8:30, we dropped Lucy off at Chris and Matt and Ruby's house and arrived at the hospital by 8:45. After a blissfully short time spent in the jacuzzi and trying out the different things they learned at childbirth class over 5 years earlier, Clara was born at 11:42!



So far, she's happy and healthy and a great nurser. After a typically sleep deprived first couple of months, Clara's parents are happy to report that she's sleeping through the nights most of the time now at 10 weeks. Lucy is a very devoted big sister (she refers to herself as "sissy,") and she enjoys snuggling and holding Clara as much as we'll let her. "There's nothing better than snuggling a baby," she has declared on several occasions. She also really enjoys wearing matching outfits. : )

Clara's cooing and smiling and we think she's getting close to giving us some giggles. And she still looks a whole heck of a lot like her sissy. Some days I'm looking down at Clara and I think I see Lucy!! Next thing to tackle will be getting some semblance of a nap schedule established. We've worked out a schedule so that Clara can stay home with one of us or a part time nanny in the spring and summer, which we're excited about.

So, this has been our year. We are ending 2011 with gratitude for our many blessings and looking forward to seeing how the next year will unfold. We hope that your holidays are happy and that the coming year is your best yet.