Christmas Letter 2010

December 2010

Merry Christmas Family and Friends!!

We have had such a wonderful year full of memories. Our year was off to a great start with the birth of Claire Elizabeth. She was born in the middle of January and has brought us so much joy throughout the year. Claire currently spends her days crawling around the house with Jacob and pulling herself to a standing position. She is going to be walking before we know it. Claire also loves to clap. She is known for clapping at the end of every prayer. With mobility, come extra clean floors and Christmas trees with no ornaments near the bottom.

Jacob started preschool this year. He attends for three hours, three days a week. He loves going to school. He has never shed a tear when Stacee has dropped him off. Stacee loves that Claire gets a great (quiet nap) while he is in school and that Jacob gets to get out and play with his peers, especially during these rainy winter months. Of course, he is also learning some important facts. He can even recite the pledge of allegiance. Jacob is also learning how to spell. One day, while in the car, he said, “J-a-c-o-b spells Jacob. J-e-e-p spells car (we used to own a Jeep).” Jacob is growing up so fast. Lastly, I wouldn’t adequately inform you about Jacob without discussing his ongoing obsession with the movie “Cars”. He loves to sing what he has titled, “the lightning song” (the opening song in the movie, by Sheryl Crow). It is no exaggeration to say that he hums the tune at least 20 times a day. He often wakes up humming the song. He also likes to hum it to impress other children. Sometimes we think he is humming it just by habit. We have resorted to only watching the movie during long car trips.

Stacee stays busy being a “stay-at-home” mom. She is finally finished painting the rooms that will get carpet, and the new carpet will be installed near the end of the month. Owning a home is great, but it sure can bring a lot of work as well! Stacee also continues to teach piano and serve at church. When Jonathan isn’t working, he spends time with his family and also gives of his time at church. I wish I could reflect on every exciting event we have experienced such as – Claire’s birth, a weekend in San Francisco, potty training, summer days at the water park, family reunions, Jacob’s third birthday, pear picking in August, trips to the coast, Shakespeare plays in Ashland, ice skating in Lithia park, cutting down our Christmas tree, and so much more.

Thanks

to all of you who have helped to make this year another good one for the Wrights. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Love,

Jonathan, Stacee, Jacob, and Claire

P is for Preschool!

Jacob's pumpkin of choice from his pumpkin patch field trip.

Jacob shows off some of his prized art work at school.

Jonathan and I at "Henry IV, Part I" in the Elizabethan Theatre in Ashland. (Yes, it rained on us, but it was still fun).

Todd, Claire, Jonathan, Me, Jacob, my mom, Grandma Louie, and Turner inside the butterfly exhibit at Turtle Bay in Redding.

Jacob riding a horse near Trinity Lake.

Jacob and Claire are as cute as ever (although I am not too sure about Jacob's pose).

Our train ride by Trinity Lake. The train and tracks were built by some friends of my mom and Turner's.

Jacob thoroughly enjoyed the train ride.

One of Jacob's favorite activities is going to the park.

Claire is just starting to really enjoy the park as well.

I am starting to realize (again) that Jacob is growing up too fast. When Jacob was a baby, he was growing up too fast as well. Then, he hit about age 2 and I was OK with the rate of growth. It is not that I was rushing it; it is just that cleaning up overflowing toilets and whole boxes of cereal that have been dumped on the floor is not super fun....even when Jacob said the cutest things at that age. Now, he is growing up too fast again.

Jacob started preschool this fall. Not only that, but he is at a fun age where he says the greatest things. I love to sit at the table and each lunch with him when he gets home from school (which is only 3 days a week, for 3 hours each). Yesterday, I said, "Jacob, how was school today?" He answered with, "Miss Dolores says, 'Jacob, stop picking your nose!'" (I hope that picking his nose is a normal stage that he will outgrow...soon. It is a constant battle around here).

We can have a real conversations at this age. We talk about letters learned, songs sung, and friends played with. He loves to say, "actually"; and "this is de-licious!" while eating. I love that he will just come up to me and give me a hug and tell me that he loves me. And he is starting to finally realize how ridiculous it is to scream and throw a tantrum. He is starting to grow up too fast all over again. Side note: As I was typing this, Jacob got into my makeup and got bronzer all over himself.

Claire is also growing up too fast. She is super cute, easy, and fun. I love it when people come up to me and tell me they got her to smile at them. I usually don't tell them that she smiles at everyone. She is crawling, has teeth now, and she acts like she can talk to you (you know...real English language words). Even when she wakes up at 6:30 AM, she is so excited to see Jonathan and I that I can't help but sincerely smile back at her. I also love taking Claire with me to the store. I am enjoying it while it lasts. I love that I meet a dozen strangers at the grocery store when I take Claire with me. Jonathan and I feel incredibly blessed to be able to have each other and our two beautiful children.

July 19th, 2010

Jacob really is a great kid, but he is still 3. Today I had the joy of chasing after him in the library while carrying 20 pounds of baby and car seat in one hand and 20 pounds of diaper bag over my shoulder (any mother knows what I am talking about). Of course, this evening, I couldn't hold back the smile as Jacob prayed before bed. "We are grateful for spitting out toothpaste, and Mater, and the Book of Mormon..." Right now he is stressed because he can't find his bouncy ball (even though he should really be sleeping).

I watched a great video this evening. A friend of mine posted a link to the video on her blog and I just had to do the same on ours as well. After a day like today, this video meant even more. Enjoy the video. (click here)

June 4th, 2010

Time passes quickly with two little ones at home. Like the mission - "the days are like weeks and the weeks are like days". Although I enjoy my days, I still look forward to each night's rest. Then, another week has passed in the blink of an eye.

Claire is 4 1/2 months now. She is as cute as ever. She loves to talk ("coo"), move around on the floor, jump in her jumperoo, and smile. She is becoming less and less afraid of her brother. I even find that Jacob is able to get her to laugh every now and then. Although she still is waking up about 3 times a night, she is such a joy.

Jacob will be 3 on the 27th. Right now we are trying to master potty training. Yes, I say "we" because it involves my full attention (and ability to sterilize the bathroom, wash dirty clothes, etc...). We haven't left the house since Tuesday morning. Yes, we have had some accidents, but Jacob is catching on. Sometimes it takes him a while. I have moved our portable DVD player into the bathroom and "Elmo's Potty Time" entertains while Jacob waits for it.

Jacob still loves Disney's Cars more than ever. His cars come with him to the bathroom, bath, bed, store...and so on. He is also really catching the "Toy Story" bug. We may even take him to the theater to watch the third one.

Jonathan is staying busy with his new calling in the young men's. He absolutely loves it too. I love to watch him in this new position.

I posted some pictures from the Saturday before Mother's Day and a couple of trips to the ocean. For Mother's Day I wanted to spend time in Ashland shopping (by myself), having a picnic with my family, and just hanging out with them at Lithia Park. It was wonderful. Of course, not too far into my shopping, Jonathan called to inform me that Jacob fell into the pond. I cut my shopping trip short to buy Jacob the cute green outfit he is wearing in the pictures. It was still a fun trip.

Claire loves Jacob

Congrats Todd!

Jacob loved the natural ice cream shop in Arcata

He even ran the cash register for a while

Yep, I licked a sea anemone at Ocean World

Isn't she cute?!

Jacob likes to fall in the water

Fun with daddy

This is when Jacob pooped, put his finger in his diaper, and wiped it on the floor...

This is when Jacob decided to clean off the poop from his fingers by himself

More fun at the ocean

Jacob's head kept falling forward. Parents can sure get creative in a time of need (by the way - he could breathe just fine)

Daddy and Jacob

Claire Elizabeth Wright

Finally there is an update on our blog! There is big news to report. Claire Elizabeth Wright was born at 12:18 P.M. on January 13th. She weighed 8 lb.s and 1 oz. and was 19 inches long. Labor was much easier than it was with Jacob. With Jacob, I had a good 7 hours of excruciating pain before the epidural (drugs are heaven sent) and then I had to do some major pushing to get him out. With Claire, I went into the hospital at four cm. (and hadn't felt anything) and my water was broken 3 hours later to get things moving. After an hour of killer contractions (yes, only an hour...but a long one, as anyone who has had a baby knows), I received the epidural. After another hour, Claire was so ready to enter the world that I had to breathe through contractions so I wouldn't push, while Doctor Binette ran over to the hospital. As soon as he was there and gave me the go ahead, she came right out. 2 hours and 20 minutes of labor and a couple of easy pushes.....Claire is a good baby. :)

She is now almost a month old and she is still a great baby. Of course she still wakes up every two to three hours to eat, but what do you expect.

Jacob is doing well with it all. He is such a good big brother. He loves to kiss her and share his toys with her.

Jacob has become a nonstop talker and quite the entertainer. He loves to sing, especially the alphabet song. He LOVES letters and numbers. He points them out ALL day long. He also gets really excited about things. On Sunday, I asked him how nursery was. He usually replies by telling us what toys he played with and sometimes the songs he sang. This last Sunday he said, "I saw big boogers on friends!!!". I love the things he says at this age.

Having two kids now is quite the change. It takes a good hour just to go anywhere. I will get Jacob dressed and his diaper changed. Then I change Claire and get her diaper changed. Then I feed her. While feeding her, Jacob will poop in his diaper. While changing him, Claire will have an explosion and I have to change her whole outfit. By the time we are buckled in and ready to go, I only have an hour (including the ten minutes of getting them in and out of the car) to do whatever it is that I need to do before we have to head home so I can feed Claire again. OK, so that is not exactly how it always goes....but it is pretty close.

Well, I know why you are really here - to see some pictures. The blessing dress was made by my Aunt Sue. Isn't it beautiful?! I also included a picture from our trip to the Dominican Republic. We had a wonderful time there back in October. Yes, I was pregnant and hot (not the good looking kind of hot). We booked our plane tickets back in April. It was still enjoyable though. We loved seeing friends and sights from Jonathan's mission. It was also nice to spend a little bit of time in paradise. :) Enjoy!