Our Annual Update...

Well, I realize I've fallen off the wagon with blogging.  What's my excuse?
I'm a mom.
I work.
Reading chews up a lot of time.
So does watching "How I Met Your Mother".
Facebook sucks all blogging time.
Facebook is just plain time suckage.
And then I suppose I should be cleaning my house whenever I have some spare time. 
In fact, I think I hear a toilet calling my name.
How glamorous.

Anyhoo, I will actually do a real post soon, but until then, here's our annual Christmas letter that I didn't put up.....



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Happy belated Christmas wishes, and Happy New Year!

2010 was a great year, but a year of lots of activity in the Jacobsen household. At the beginning of the year, I was on maternity leave, and enjoying my time with Zoe and baby Cole. Those months are a little bit of a blur though, in fact, I don't even really remember the summer months at all. Must have been because Cole liked to nurse every 2 hours around the clock. He sure did sleep a lot as a baby, but just not for long stretches! Our days were filled with mother's group, swimming lessons, going to Rhyme Time, that kind of thing.

In April, we took our first family trip of 4 overseas, and Cole (8 months at the time) was not a great world traveler. He and I were pretty much awake and crying for the first 5 nights. We went to Las Vegas (and were met by my brother, sister-in-law, and niece, and RJ's mom and RJ's brother!!) then to Calgary to introduce all the rellies to Cole, and then back to Las Vegas. There's always so much to do in Vegas, it really is an easy family vacation!! And, I got to play poker with my brother in Vegas. Cross that off the bucket list (playing with Gus Hansen on the WPT is still on the list though, he he he).

In August, I was made redundant from BHP (volunteered redundancy) and then landed safely at Chevron, where I've been ever since. RJ and I did the stay-at-home-swap and now I’m the paycheque and RJ's at home with the kids. Their days revolve around playgroup, parks and the beach, and your general this-and-that. The kids are in daycare on Fridays, so RJ and I have a "date day" (I'm only working Mon - Thurs). However, most of the time it turns out to be a to-do day.

Zoe (now 3.5) insists on reminding us daily that she's a big girl. She's talking our ears off, and despite her horrible singing voice, she sings our ears off too. My favourite conversation with her this year was:

Zoe:  I have a bum.
Mommy: Yes, you do.
Zoe: You have a big bum.
Mommy: Oh. Well, you're short.
Mommy to Daddy: RJ, you better say something really really nice to me RIGHT NOW.

Cole (now 1.5) is my little action man. He likes to climb. He likes to get into trouble. He doesn't listen. He laughs laughs laughs all the time. He likes cars. And chewing on shoes. And chewing on furniture. We think he may be part dog.

Both my kids are great sleepers (still napping once per day and sleeping 12 hours at night) and for this we will always consider ourselves lucky.

RJ (now 43.5) is enjoying being the stay at home dad. He is a natural -- very calm and patient, and always comes up with fun outings for the kids. The only downside is that he'll sometimes stick my kids in ghastly outfits. Blue, green, pink, and grey do NOT go together at once.

In December, the 4 of us went to the big island Hawaii for Christmas. This was a most fun and memorable vacation. My family from Calgary (brother and family, sister and family, and my parents) all met us there and had a great time. The snorkeling was fabulous, the beaches were beautiful, the erupting volcano was a sight, the botanical gardens were grand, I swam with dolphins, and seeing the cousins together was… well… the highlight.

What will 2011 bring? Not much excitement planned at all. Zoe will start a 3 year old program at school -- 2 mornings a week. Cole and RJ will dive into some swimming lessons. I'm hoping the Chevron gig is still intact (Zoe calls it Fevvyron), and we don't have any trips on the calendar. Yet.

We sincerely hope your 2011 sees you in great spirits, health, and prosperity. All the best from us to you….
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