15 December 2006

2006 Christmas letter

We want to send out our wishes of health and happiness to everyone. We hope that our letter finds you and your family in the best of spirits this holiday season.

It’s been tradition to start out our letter with our news of family growth. Last year we brought home an adorable 8 week old puppy named Phoebe. Previously, we announced the pending births of our daughters. This year is no different. Once again, we’ll be adding to our family. However, unlike last year, it’ll be human. We’re expecting a third child the 4th of July. We’ll find out in another three weeks or so whether it’s a girl or boy (we like to be surprised — until the ultrasound technician tells us). Joel is happy either way. Laura wishes to have more beautiful girls. Abigail has expressed interest in a brother. Regardless, we’ll be happy if the newborn is healthy and happy.

Abigail, now three years old, attends preschool twice a week and loves every second of it. Every few weeks, Laura works in the classroom and sees Abigail's development first hand. Abigail can now draw a pretty decent self portrait and insists on wearing the “dress-up” clothes for the entire class period. She’s focused on princess stuff, dancing, and (to her parents chagrin) boys. All that and she’s really taking on the part of big sister, watching out for Collette.

Collette turns two in May. She’s not much of a talker, but has been trying hard recently. She’s athletic and will climb (or attempt to climb) most anything. She can’t sit still (sometimes making long car trips difficult) and loves to tap dance (in princess shoes, no less) and march around the room. She’s also taken to crawling on top of Phoebe and trying to ride the dog like a horse.

Finally, this time last year we were just getting settled in the Bay Area with Joel working at Google. In fact, we mentioned that we were in the Bay Area for good! Now, Google is offering our family the opportunity to move to Boulder, Colorado for the next couple of years, and we’re going to try it out. We’ll miss family and friends in the Bay Area, but are excited to try something new. And, as with all Laura’s pregnancies, it seems we just can’t manage to have a baby near family! We’re excited about being moved, not quite excited about packing and moving. Please keep in touch as we move yet again!

01 January 2006

2005 "Christmas" letter

Happy New Year!

I figure I have to start out with that instead of a traditional “Christmas” card. However, in lieu of our current situation, I am excusing myself being timely. Now that I’ve started with apologies, I have great wishes that this finds everyone doing well and thriving in the New Year. We hope that your holidays were filled with joy, purpose, and mostly fun!!

As with last year’s letter, I thought I would start out by telling you all that we are, once again, going to be adding to the Headley family. I know, it may seem crazy to add another one but we just love little ones around our house. On January 14th we pick up our new puppy. She’ll be 8 weeks old and ready to come home. She’s a golden retriever/standard poodle mix. The hope is to have a great family dog with no shedding. Abigail’s so excited. She adores animals like no other.

This past year has been exciting in many ways. Our second daughter Collette Marie Headley was born on the 20th of May—all 9 pounds and 4 ounces. She’s a wonderful treasure. What a breath of happiness and joy she brings to everyone around her. I could probably count on one hand—okay, maybe two hands, the number of times she has cried in her 7 months of life. She adores her big sister and has the biggest laughs with her. She’s trying hard to learn to crawl, and it looks as though it may come soon, along with her first teeth.

Abigail turned two the day after Thanksgiving. She’s far beyond 2, however. She’s smart beyond belief—a blessing and a curse. She’s been speaking in sentences for sometime now, and they’re only getting more and more complex. Joel and I love carrying on a full conversation with her, but we also love the silence of baby Collette. Abigail truly enjoys having a little sister around and is very good to her. She moved into a bunk bed when Collette was born and is already excited for the day Collette gets to join her.

Since leaving the graduate program at the U of A, Joel’s been substitute teaching while looking for a “real” job. Late in October, just for fun, he applied for a job at Google. As it went, he interviewed with them and then was asked to start the next day. Since then life has been crazy. We’ve been back and forth between the Bay Area and Tucson quite a bit but finally are back in the Bay Area for good — or so it seems. Google is a wonderful company to work for, and Joel loves his job.

I quit working after I had Collette and now stay at home full-time with the girls. I love being at home and find that it’s often busier and more stressful than a day at elementary school. But there’s a lot more love for my kids :0) The move has been crazy, but I’m really glad that Joel’s found something he enjoys doing. Overall, our holidays were great. I hope that all of yours were just as wonderful.