Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas! In the spirit of keeping things succinct, I’m foregoing a clever introduction to the Watson family holiday greeting. Bottom line: we like you, you probably like us (or at least that is our assumption since we sent you one of these letters). True to the commonly accepted holiday letter format, an individual summary of each Watson family member is included below so as to enable readers to easily skip over those of us you don’t particularly care for and/or re-read the sections on those of us you adore.

Bailey joined our clan in May. There are a lot of ugly babies out there, but we are happy to announce that Bailey is not one of them. We have had her cuteness confirmed by comments from total strangers who approached us in a sober state saying, “Wow, what a beautiful baby.” [Note to readers: If you have not had your kids’ cuteness confirmed by unsolicited strangers, you may want to consider re-evaluating your procreation strategy.] Of all our children, Bailey has proven to be blessed with the largest thighs. Her thighs are comparable in width to a small Christmas ham. Overall, Bailey is an awesome baby—cries very little, smiles a lot and keeps messy diapers to a minimum (except for the infamous explosion of October 2009 heard around the globe that took place on the changing table in the men’s bathroom during church—there were no survivors).

Drew is now three years old. He has latched on to superheroes and Star Wars over the past few months and frequently runs around the house with a wooden-spoon light saber and a pillowcase cape tucked into the back of his shirt. He needs somewhat frequent reminders that he cannot really fly; many reminders are unspoken—provided by our stairs or the hard floor. When he ‘fights’ dad, Drew prefers to be the bad guy; we will be keeping a close eye on his emotional and psychological development for any additional warning signs of intergalactic terrorism. On the opposite end of the good vs. evil spectrum, Drew loves to pull mom and dad’s heads next to his and give hugs. Oh—he also has an unhealthy obsession with sour cream. He eats it by the spoonful when the parents aren’t looking; there is no way to make that sound cute—it is just gross. He also refuses to sleep on pillows that are covered by a pillowcase, claiming the pillows are softer without. Funny kid.

Emma is five and has officially graduated from toddler to little girl status. She started kindergarten, lost two teeth (which the Tooth Fairy paid her well for per Emma’s clearly articulated compensation requirements), and says—with the sassy attitude of a teenager—“Are you serious?!” after every statement. She also started gymnastics and can perform a perfect cartwheel, both kinds of splits and can do more “real” push-ups than mom (who is no wimpy cupcake herself). Emma also won first place in the Reflections contest for her age group in literature; her story about a princess who decided to share her money moved on to the next “level.” We have started drafting her Pulitzer Prize acceptance speech in anticipation of great things to come.

Kelsey is running a mile a minute as usual. Between running the kids to school and activities, working with the young women in our church, singing in the choir and creating videos and digital scrapbooks using Adobe software products, she spends her “free” time reading and hiding candy bars from Andy and Drew. Recently, Kelsey set up an online store selling baby hats she crochets. Unfortunately, despite repeated requests, she has not yet sewn adult-size footy pajamas for her husband. She and Andy also have late-night ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ video game competitions on the Wii after the kids go to bed. While she wins on occasion, Andy is the reigning champion due to his inherent rhythm and at-oneness with the music; you can’t teach that.

Andy continues to work at Omniture which is now part of the Adobe software company. The company has been good for the family despite one of Andy’s trips to San Francisco where he had to sit between two large people on a plane—couldn’t even get the armrest down to claim his seat real estate. It was a hot, sweaty and awkward flight for all involved (there was a peanut M&Ms incident that won’t be described at this time). Outside of work, he enjoys eating cheeseburgers topped with a fried egg (soft yoke), applying lotion to a stubborn patch of dry skin on his right forefinger and singing along to the radio during his morning commute—consequently getting ‘caught’ by his boss while passionately belting out a poignant part of ‘Party in the USA’ by Miley Cyrus. He also finished his MBA degree in July.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. May 2010 bring you happiness, health and quality television programming.

Love,
The Watsons