Christmas letter

Christmas 2009

Hello to our friends and family! We're hoping this letter is finding you all happy and enjoying the holiday season.

This year, like all our letters in the past, brings the news of an arrival to the family - our fourth child and second son Gabriel Dean Headley. Gabriel was born on June 25th and came into this world our biggest baby weighing in at 9 lbs 5 oz. He beat Collette by one ounce. Gabriel is a joy to have in our home. He is happy and loves is sisters and brother. The siblings have all adjusted quickly and very well. Especially Collette, who is my number one baby watcher and helper.

Abigail (6) is half way through first grade and is doing amazing. She is reading to her brothers and sister, enjoying math and doing well at it, and she loves art draws and doodles when there's a free moment. Abigail also keeps notebooks, writing down her thoughts and notes to her parents. She has now come home with two citizenship awards at school which means she is respecting others, helping peers, and following school rules - what more could a parent ask for?! She continues to grow and shows signs that it won't take long before she's taller than her mother. She continues to be such a helper around the house and loves to fix breakfast for her siblings so Mom and Dad can sleep in a bit.

Collette (4.5) is loving her preschool class. She mostly spends her day trying help me out by taking care of Gabriel but when he's sleeping she loves playing with her animals and princesses. Collette is great at being able to entertain herself for a long period of time. When Abigail has to do her homework at night Collette will often ask for her "homework" too (it's a pre-kindergarten workbook that we bought at the store). She continues to make us laugh and also has quite the knack for making Gabriel crack up. Joel will reprimand Collette for tossing Gabriel around on the bed. Collette will respond with, "but he loves it, Dad" and sure enough, Joel looks down and Gabe is smiling away.

Benjamin (2.5) has had a busy past few months. After discovering that Ben had sleep apnea and wasn't getting good sleep at night he had surgery for removing his tonsils and adenoids. Benjamin up to this point has continued to stay very small. What we discovered is that the human growth hormone is released during deep sleep. Ben wasn't getting to deep sleep because his body was always waking him up to breathe. In just the one month since Ben has had the surgery he has gained 3 pounds!! This is HUGE and we're very excited to see just how much Ben will grow in the next year to come.

Laura has nothing to do. She is often found laying around on the couch for hours at a time. Ahhh, how I wish that were true! We often talk about implementing a sarcasm font, so everyone gets comments like these. Life has been non-stop lately. In April, with only about 8 weeks left to go with the pregnancy Laura was called to be the Primary President at church. That means being in charge of all the children ages 1.5-11 years old at church for two hours every Sunday. Luckily, I have great people who help me out. There's a lot on Laura's plate but she's enjoying it, and it's great to learn about and get to know all the kids. Keeping up with all the different schedules at home is also a bit tough. Laura dreams about getting to the gym and back into those 'skinny' jeans. But really, who has the time? She's determined to buy new clothes.

Joel is as busy as ever. The move back to California has given Joel a chance to work even more! At least he's usually working in the same state now. Though these past few months have given Joel a chance to travel to New York, Ireland, and Mexico. Too bad he doesn't get to site see while he's in all these fun places. Also, he enjoys his church assignment - teaching once a month and supporting Laura in primary (someone has got to keep the kids in line).

We certainly hope your enjoying the end of your year, and the holidays while remembering the reason for the season. We're grateful for the birth of our Savior and love that our children have asked, "Did they sing Jesus the Happy Birthday song on Christmas?" We love each of our kids - really can't get enough of them. Visit our blog if you want to get a weekly dose of Headley family fun.