Merry Christmas!

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas! We hope this season finds you well. 2011 was definitely a busy year for our family! January began the year as we adjusted to our new life as a family of four. Reese Elizabeth was born in December of 2010 and has brought so much joy to our lives.

I think 2011 can be summed up as the year of job changes. I (Laura) was laid off from my job during maternity leave in January, a situation quite familiar to us. :) We took it in stride and were thankful for the extra time I would have to stay at home with the girls. I had several months of freedom and in July I finally got a job with Partner Engineering and Science doing environmental consulting. The job kept me busy and traveling frequently. In October it was Jeff's turn. He got an amazing new job as a Senior Compensation Analyst with Flowserve. It was an answer to prayer in that my job was no longer necessary, so as soon as he had signed his offer letter, I put in my two week notice to quit my job and become a stay-at-home mom. Long story short, they convinced me to not quit all together, and offered me a very unique situation that I am very grateful for. I basically work when I want to, and don't work when I don't want to. :) It's a great arrangement and I couldn't be happier being at home with the girls, yet still keeping my career relevant and bringing in some shopping money. (I may or may not have a slight problem with an addiction to buying clothes for Kate and Reese.)

Kate is now 3 1/2 years old and is such a sweet heart. One highlight of her year is that she was featured on the November cover of "Suburban Parent" magazine here in Dallas. We are so proud of our little girl!



She enjoys taking ballet and tap classes and we are so excited that she will have her first recital this coming spring! She is a wonderful big sister to her "Baby Reese" and loves to be a helper for mommy. She has also started Preschool this year and is absolutely flourishing. She loves to go to school.



Reese just turned 1 year old! How is that possible? We thought Kate's first year went by quickly - that was nothing compared to Reese! It has been so fun to experience having a baby again and re-live all of the fun (and not so fun) milestones you get to witness.



Reese is on the verge of walking and her vocabulary is just beginning to expand. She loves animals, especially our dog, Bailey, who she calls "Bah." She looks for Bah every morning and crawls over to her and pets her in bed. Her other favorite past-time involves pulling out anything I attempt to put in her hair. She loves her big sister and my favorite part of Kate's school day is the first glimpse Reese catches of her when school is done. She lights up, lets out a squeal of joy, and kicks her legs as hard as she can in the excitement of seeing her sissy. We are so blessed and thankful for our two little girls.



We hope 2012 brings a little more stability into our lives, although we are currently trying to sell our house in order to move a little closer to Jeff's new job. We trust it will happen in God's timing, though we are admittedly a bit impatient to move on. We love receiving all of your Christmas cards and enjoy catching up with your families.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

The Blairs
Jeff, Laura, Kate, and Reese