Suggested Christmas Newsletters

I was sitting and working on our Christmas cards tonight and pondered the idea of the "Christmas Newsletter." Since we had Jeffrey, I have been pretty good about sending out Christmas cards. I have never written a newsletter. Last year, I had dreams of sending out a last-minute card with a picture of our new baby sleeping peacefully in the cradle under the tree with his three adoring brothers peeking over the edge.




HHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - wait, really, I need to get off the floor from laughing so hard at my naieve idea!

Ok, so that didn't happen. Instead, we got the fun news of Andrew's diagnosis (yes, that is a tad of sarcasm), he spent a few days in the hospital, and we limped through the holidays holding onto God's grace and the hope that the holidays would soon be over.

Welcome, 2005.

And, thus, with that jolly mindset, here is the Christmas newsletter that I probably shouldn't send...

Dear Family & Friends,

It is with great joy that we kiss 2005 good-bye. We have thought seriously about drinking the new year's eve away, but will probably decide to just go to bed early - sleep is and will always be a priority.

2005 was an interesting year for us. We met lots and lots of new friends. They were doctors and nurses and specialists since we spent almost 20 days in hospitals and outpatient surgery wards. We are considering going back to medical school since we now know and use terms like larynogomalica, strabismus and frenulum in our everyday conversations. We have become experts in physical and speech therapy and early childhood development. Are you impressed with our educational expertise?

As for the children, we are just too tired for Jeffrey to be in any extracurricular activities. Blake, happy Blake, must sleep in a crib tent or he crawls out of bed. Brantley has learned one color - red, and Andrew has learned to pull his brother's hair.

We can't go on vaction because no one wants to watch the kids. We're on our third nanny. I wonder if there is a problem???

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I crack myself up.

I think I would like to get a letter like this one - probably much closer to the truth, and I would enjoy the chuckle.

I really am not sure how to chronicle a year like we have had in one letter. It is probably why I blog. You get to see the good and the bad which is a whole lot closer to reality. This year has had tremendous highs and tremendous lows. The good news is, we survived. I thought about putting THAT on the inside of our card - simply those two words - WE SURVIVED. We're still married (heard an alarmingly scary statistic on couples with special needs kids getting divorced recently), we still love each other (actually more than last year), we adore our kids (are majorly sappy on this one), and are excited about our future.

So, see ya later, 2005, you were one for the history books. Oh, and please still send me your newsletters. I love reading them, and promise I won't post them on the blog! :)