Christmas Letter

I don't have the Christmas cards I bought the day after Christmas last year... so I'm sending a Christmas email and doing a Christmas Letter blog update. For you faithful blog readers this will be somewhat repetitive since it's a recap of the year and what's new with us.

Joseph got laid off his job October 6th and started applying for new jobs. He got several leads fairly quickly and we decided to take the job at Spirit Aerosystems. What I liked most about this job was the relocation package. It certainly made packing up a few things and leaving our house behind much easier. We flew out here on December 3rd so Joseph could start work on the 5th. It was a long day, but the kids did great with all the traveling. Isabel was especially thrilled to fly on an airplane. We have been staying at some temporary housing and will move into a duplex rental on January 1st. We had some local help finding a cheap rental in a pretty good neighborhood. We will wait for our house to sell in Provo before we get a house out here. I'm suprised at how cold I am here in Wichita. We always had a lot of snow in Utah, but the temperatures here are just a lot lower. I've been getting more familiar with the city and where things are located and I LOVE that there are 5 major interstates stratigically placed throughout the city. I've also been impressed at the difference between Utah drivers and Kansas drivers. They are much more courteous and law abiding here in KS.

Joseph is still transitioning in his new job. He has to actively find things to keep him busy at work, but it looks like it will be a good fit for him. We just had our third child, Lincoln Tanner Ashby on November 18th, 11:15pm. It was a wonderful experience. Since it would be a little bit cheaper and not real different to have our baby at home instead of at the birthing center we had planned on, we decided to have Lincoln at home. Labor happened extremely quickly: one hour and 45 mins. (It wasn't until 30 mins into labor that I came to the realization that this was real labor.) Joseph did an amazing job. He was pushing on my back during almost every contraction and in between contractions he was running around the house hooking up the hose to the shower to fill up the birth tub, comforting a crying Ansel back to sleep, boiling water to warm up the birth tub, calling our midwife, giving directions to our lost back up midwife, etc. Obviously having the baby was pretty hard work, but Joseph worked hard too. I could tell that the baby was about ready to come so I got into the birth tub and in about 5 pushes he was born. Joseph delivered the baby and then we were on the phone with the midwife talking us through things until she arrived. (She came straight from another birth, it was her third one for the day!) I don't know many husbands who can remain so calm, reassuring, intelligent and helpful in a situation like that. I definately am a lucky girl.

We are so glad that my mother was able to come out after Lincoln was born and help with everything. My dad also came out to spend Thanksgiving with us and bless Lincoln. It was great to be able to see him before we moved out of driving distance. Even though we are sad to leave Utah and move away from 2 siblings, we are excited to be only 5 hours away from Joseph's parents and 6 of his siblings. And of course we are thrilled to live in the SAME city as my sister Cindy who will be moving to Wichita from Japan in a few months. Isabel loves being a big sister again. She has made Lincoln stop crying several times, she loves to feed him and hold him. I can't wait until she'll be able to change his diapers. Although today I asked her to throw away a dirty diaper for me and she said, " Yuk, I'm not going to touch that gross stinky diaper." So...I guess we'll just have to bribe her. Ansel has grown up so much in the last month. He is talking SO much. He can be a little trouble-maker and do things to irritate Isabel on purpose. But he is better behaved for strangers, maybe because he can be a little shy. When we took him to the doctors office the nurses and doctors commented on how well behaved he is and how good of a talker he is.

Through many uncertain changes in our lives this year, one thing has remained constant: we are so blessed. No one wants to loose a job with a pregnant wife, but if you are going to have it happen, you couldn't have it happen more smoothly and perfectly than it happened for us. We stopped worrying about details because we knew that the Lord was looking after us and taking care of our family. May we all remember the birth of our Savior and the meaning He brings to our lives.

Merry Christmas from Kristin, Joseph, Isabel, Ansel and Lincoln!!

the nativity

Every night this week we did a little family activity relating to the true meaning of Christmas. Tonight after much anticipation (really just from Isabel) we acted out the nativity. Ansel got to be Joseph, Isabel was Mary, and Lincoln was the star: baby Jesus. Joseph really wanted to be baby Jesus, but Isabel would not let him. Ansel was a little camera shy, but not Isabel. She was beaming like most "new mothers" are.

sinus infection

So, it turns out that Ansel had a sinus infection. He has kinda been sick off and on for over a month. I found a pediatrician out here and she prescribed omoxicillian and after 5 days of being on it. I noticed Ansel got some spots on his chest/stomach area. I wondered if he was allergic, but we also had new bath and laundry soap so I just wasn't sure. The next morning the spots were much brighter red and they had spread over his entire body: arms, legs, back, neck, face.....yikes. So, we went into the doctor again and she said we had better take him off it. So, Ansel is allergic to penicillian. Ansel looks great today, the spots have faded so much I don't think anyone would notice who didn't know they were there.

On a side note... Ansel said, "oh my goodness, that's crazy." (He said it very clearly and I just thought it was such a funny to say.)

what are the odds?!

So... My sister Cindy who lives in Japan has been waiting for their new assignment because they will be moving in April/May. Well, she just called me to tell me that they will be stationed in Wichita, KS!! KS was not even one of their 5 choices. I guess there was a shortage of people at this base and everyone they knew were getting assignments here. So, I just can't believe that we are both ending up here in Wichita. We were thrilled to finally live only one hour away from my sister Tamra and sad to have to move. So, now we can be excited to live in the SAME city as Cindy. And with two of us here I'm thinking we can attract more people/family to make the long trek out here to visit us. Yayayay!!

it's 3:30am

So, here I am in Wichita, KS and it's about 4am now. We made it here yesturday and the kids did great at the airport. It was a little tricky at the airport with our 5 huge checked bags (which I strategically packed all weighing in between 45 and 48 pounds), 3 car seats (Lincoln was inside his most of the time at the airport), 4 carryons (Isabel and Ansel each had their own little dora and cars suitcase which they LOVED [thanks grandma!] but Ansel would not pull his because he said it was too heavy), 2 "personal" carryons, 4 jackets (it was too hot to wear them and we didn't have room to pack them), and three kids. We loved being able to fly instead of driving the 17 hours to get here, but I think it may have been just as painful getting through security. Everyone had to take their shoes off and we had to unpack the baby, laptop, phone and dvd player and make sure the kids didn't touch things they were not supposed to and didn't run away and get stolen. Anyway, Isabel had to go to the bathroom at very convient times and I did have my husband there...I don't know how my sister has traveled with her kids alone! Lincoln slept through both flights and Isabel was just enthralled with the novelty of flying. She was SO excited about everything and very cute. Ansel just kept asking to go home, but did well on the flights also.

On a separate subject....since it's the middle of the night and I'm up with Licoln because Joseph starts his first day back at work tomorrow (YAYAYAY) I figure it's a great time to catch up a little with the website. So, I don't know how Lincoln does it, but he has peed all over me three times (the last time was about 30 mins ago) AND he has spit up on me 4 times. I'm not counting little spit ups, I mean I've had to change my clothes because it has gotten ALL OVER ME. Now, you might wonder how many times has he done these things to Joseph? none, zero, never. Why do babies do stuff like that?

Well, I guess that's about all I have on my mind for now. Good night!