christmas news letter

Season's greetings to all our friends and family.  Much thought (probably too much thought) went into the narrations style of this letter.  After much deliberation i settled on an awkward combination of first and third person. Ultimately the decision came down to allowing the letter to be from all of us equally, but sounding like it was written by one of us (as opposed to an omniscient narrator. so from now on, i will be referring to myself as "Jess."  Now that that's settled, on with the news.

This was a very big year for this branch of the Brammer/Owens family. To hit the highlights we moved, Jess got a new job, Reid made a career change, Henry was born, and we bought a house (which will also lead to moving again very early in 2012). Which ever brand of crazy led us to do this must be genetic since Jess' cousin Samantha is doing the same thing.

In April, Jess accepted a new job in Danville, VA.  At the time she was almost 6 months pregnant and the job front in Wilmington was looking pretty bleak.  Jess and Reid moved in June with an amazing amount of the help from their parents and friends (shout out to Bob, Katey, and Steve). The move allowed Reid to make a career move to a stay-at-home-dad.  Jess absolutely loves her new job.  We miss Wilmington, particularly our friends/co-workers, bag of toys concerts, and oysters.

In August, Henry was born. He arrived three weeks early, unfortunately he wasn't quite ready to born.  He hadn't dropped yet and when he finally did, he came down on an angle.  As a result the fluid was not squeezed out of his lungs and he was born with transient tachypnea. Henry required oxygen for about 32 hours, after that he was right as rain.  We had a little hiccup with acid reflux. As a result Jess made some dietary changes, we use special formula at night, he takes baby zantac, and he sleeps on an incline. With this combination he is rarely bothered by his tummy.  He is now almost four months old and weighs about 16 pounds. On a good night he sleeps between six and seven hours straight!  He has quite the little personality, with curiosity being at the forefront.

Reid transitioned to being a stay-at-home-dad after Jess's six week maternity leave. He thought he would like it, but it turns out he loves it (except for the poopy diapers).  According to statistics in our parenting magazine 25% of stay-at-home parents are now dad's.  It is honestly probably the best situation, Reid's personality is better suited for staying at home, especially since Jess gets stir crazy so easily.  He has near infinite patience with Henry and thoroughly enjoys most days.  Reid also became addicted to  started playing the Magic card game this year.  It gives him something to work on during the week and gets him out of the house every Friday.

As for being parents, we both enjoy it.  Henry becomes more fun nearly every day. Some things are expected, and others are unexpected.  Jess never thought she'd measure success and failure by the terms she currently finds herself using. Very small things become insanely important. Life is different, but all around great. We mostly miss sleeping well and watching an entire tv show in one, uninterrupted sitting.

We put an offer on a house in early November. We looked at 18 houses and finally found the right one. We are scheduled to close on December 21st. Hopefully nothing will go wrong that will prevent us from buying it.  It is a Cape Cod with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Penny will be oh so excited to have a backyard again. The cats will hopefully get over the trauma of moving yet again when they get to stay for (with any luck) the rest of their lives.  We plan on moving in after we do a little bit of work (painting and a few projects) in early January.  2012 will likely be full of fun home improvement projects.

So that is our news from 2011!  We would love to hear your news.  We hope your holidays are merry and bright and filled with fun, family, and great food. Keep in touch and come visit us!


Jess, Reid, and Henry