Christmas 2008 Letter

Here it is - the Christmas Letter for 2008. If you're on my card list, cover your eyes and pretend to not see this!

WOW, what a year 2008 has been for the Egg family! I know I say it every year – and I truly mean it every year, too. Just when I think “we can’t top that” we do!

First of all, allow me to introduce you to the new man in our lives: Thomas Harrison Egg (we call him Harrison). He was born via repeat c-section at 10:02a.m. on February 15 and he has spent this year growing like a weed! He is crawling everywhere, cruising, and trying to stand on his own. His favorite place to be is in Mommy’s arms with his second favorite place being his sisters’ room. He thinks his Daddy is pretty cool, he adores his sisters but ultimately, he’s all about Mommy. He is such a sweet baby guy – we all love him dearly and think he is THE perfect addition to our family. (get it? THE perfect addition…his initials are T.H.E….bwhahahaha…we are so silly)

Elizabeth Jane is very much the firstborn big sister. She loves being a helper; frequently during Harrison’s early months she would hold him while I prepared everyone’s lunches. He would snuggle his face into her neck and sleep very soundly. She loved that! At the beginning of this year, we celebrated E’s fifth birthday with a turtle-themed party. As we entered 2008, Brad and I knew we needed to make a decision about school. As we evaluated everything and prayed about it, we became convinced that homeschooling was the correct choice for our family. Elizabeth now attends “Egg Academy” (a friend of mine calls it Egghead Academy). She is learning to read and doing wonderfully; though she’d rather do math (math lessons are a reward for completing reading – how funny is that?!). She also loves her handwriting lessons. We go to the library several days a week while Katherine is at preschool – Elizabeth loves to check out books, especially books about sea turtles. She is in Sparks in AWANA at church and is learning many verses! She is a Daisy Scout and enjoys that, too. If she’s outside, her Volleyball Lite is either in her arms or in the air because she’s just hit it. She is our thoughtful, servant-hearted child and is a great joy to us!

Katherine Martin (NinNin) is the one who makes us giggle and is our entertainer. Harrison’s first laugh was reserved for Katherine – and let me tell you, she made him cackle! She also loves to “read” to him and her favorite ones to “read” are her Fancy Nancy books. She chose a sunshine theme for her fourth birthday party – perfect for her. Nin is in preschool again this year and just like last, she loves it. She’s learning so much. She is such a smart cookie and has already learned addition and subtraction facts thanks to “auditing” Elizabeth’s math lessons. She is in four-year-old Cubbies in AWANA and doing wonderfully there as well. Nin is the one you’ll hear singing songs from any one of the three HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL movies, usually at the top of her lungs – full of gusto. She never does anything half-hearted. One of my favorite Nin stories of this year was when she saw a “Hello, Kitty” shirt hanging in my bedroom. She said, “This is my favorite shirt in the history of shirts!” In the history of shirts, hmmm? “Yes, Mommy, in the whole history of shirts. It’s very Hello,Kitty-ish.” You don’t say… Ah, NinNin – our lives would be so incredibly boring without her! She is such a fun little girl - our ray of sunshine - and we are blessed to be her parents!

Anne Lancaster (Annie) is about to turn three and her adorable personality is truly beginning to shine. She is full of energy and she is so cute! She greets the Wal-Mart greeter…and every customer in the store. I’m not sure she’s ever met a stranger. She always has a smile on her face and a hug ready to give. Her vocabulary has exploded; she’s fully potty-trained (Hallelujah! Only one child in diapers!!!) and she moved into her sisters’ room this year. She is such a big girl! Just ask her. She’s precious with Harrison. She’s usually the one who greets him each morning with “Good morning, Baby Guuu-uuuy!” then they hug and kiss one another, giggling all the while. Annie thinks she needs to do everything Elizabeth does AND everything Katherine does. This keeps her rather busy, as you can imagine. She loves to be the one to “pick a movie” at night. As a result of our “movie calendar,” she has learned to recognize her name and each of her sisters’ names. Dora, Peter Pan and Ariel (The Little Mermaid) movies are her favorites and she’s asked for an Ariel-Tinkerbell-Dora birthday party this year. She is the one who will bestow a beaming smile on me, throw her arms around me and say, “I love you, Mommy Tinkerbell!” Speaking of Tink, Annie was an adorable Tink when we went trick-or-treating this year. She is our sweet little sprite who blossoms more and more every day and we love watching her grow.

Brad continues to work for [where he works]. He’s also in his 24th year with UALR Basketball – which meant that in March of this year he got to work “The Big Dance.” The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held rounds one and two in North Little Rock at ALLTEL Arena and UALR was the host school. Brad was the official scorer for all the games – he sat courtside, center-court wearing black and white stripes. He was the envy of several friends and family members – especially since ALLTEL had #1 ranked (and #1 seed) Memphis along with #2 seed, Texas. I really think this was THE highlight of his year. Yes, I know he also had a son this year but…hey…this was THE BIG DANCE!

Gina – where do I start? I have four kids, I homeschool, I have gone back to work full-time (most of it from home, which is a blessing), and I’m usually asleep before my head hits the pillow. Life couldn’t be better. Sure, it could be a little less insane sometimes, but it certainly couldn’t be better.

Yes, 2008 was an exciting and eventful year – to say the least! We hope that 2009 will find you happy and healthy.

And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans – and all that lives and moves upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit, and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused – and to save us from our own foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself.

~~Sigrid Undset

Photo: Elizabeth Jane as Hannah Montana; Harrison as Squirt (from Finding Nemo); Annie as Tinkerbell and Katherine as Fancy Nancy (from the books by the same name) – October 31, 2008