Seasons Greetings from The Hamlings. I never would have guessed at this time last year that I would be starting off my 2010 Christmas letter announcing that we are having our fourth child in June. My due date is one day before the last day of school! Perfect timing, right? Four kids all summer sounds thrilling to me!!! Thank God for dear friends that will sit in the shade with me at the pool! The kids are thrilled about the idea of a new sibling and Scott and I are excited as well.
Anna is eight and in third grade. The craziness of her year is that she has had two broken arms since this time last year. Yes... that makes five in five years!! Her first one came the last week of school when she fell at soccer. She was in a cast most of the summer and kept me company on the side of the pool. Shortly into the school year, I got a call from the nurse that she had fallen off the monkey bars!! I knew immediately what that meant and off we went for another cast. This time, however, she was able to get a “watercast” and was able to still compete with her swim team which made her very excited. She continues to be the second mother at home to Emily and Jake and looks forward to helping with the baby this summer. She’s a great older sister!
Emily is six and in first grade. She started swim team this summer and really enjoyed it. She joined Anna’s swim club this winter and is turning into quite the little fish. It has been amazing to watch her grow over the last year. She is not “into” anything that requires running... so we are pleased that she is enjoying swimming so much. She loves school and has made some really nice friends at our new school this year. She is the best helper to her mommy, and I know she will love taking care of the new baby this summer. She is the first to play with all the “little” kids in the neighborhood; and when we asked the kids who wanted to share a room with the baby, she was the first to raise her hand. She was sad to find out we were kidding, and she would be sharing a room with her big sister instead!
Jacob is five and in PreK. I can’t believe he will be in Kindergarten next year. Just when my life was going to get easy... God gave us another bundle of joy! Jacob loves school and can’t wait to tell me all about his day when he gets in the car. His true love at home are his Legos and Wii. He will sit and build Legos for hours! Anna loves helping him, and they have quite a city growing in the basement. Jake’s biggest concern when we told him we were going to have a baby was that the baby would ruin his Legos. I think he thinks the baby is going to pop out and be two years old. This summer Jake became quite the little swimmer and was able to jump off the diving board all alone which will be great this coming summer. I won’t have to worry about the older three as I feed a newborn at the pool. Jake is still our best “cuddler” and loves giving mom and dad hugs.
Scott and I are great. We can’t believe how fast the kids are growing up. I’m promising myself that I will enjoy every day with this new baby because before I know it, the baby will be headed off to school, too. Our family enjoyed the summer at the lakes with Scott’s parents. The kids loved fishing and riding the tube. Scott even threw Emily off the tube one time which did not make Emily happy. The girls each tried skiing and I think this summer they will be able to do it. In October my parents treated us to a trip to California. We went with my parents and my sister’s family. We spent the first few days visiting my grandparents by the ocean and then headed to Disneyland. We had a BLAST. The kids keep asking when we can go back. They all enjoyed the big roller coasters while I sat pregnant with my nephew Jimmy who also couldn’t ride the big rides.
It’s amazing all the things that can happen in a year. Scott and I are truly blessed to have such amazing kids, loving parents, and awesome friends!!!
We wish you all a joyous holiday season and a Happy New Year.
Our family blog: www.thehamlings.blogspot.com
The Hamlings
Scott, Allison, Anna, Emily and Jacob
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