Oh Tidings of Great Joy! Our Christmas Letter 2018

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With the arrival of our baby Adam in May of this year, 2018 has been a year of incredible highs and lows for our family. The year began cold and wintry, as it always does here in Seattle, but it was especially uncomfortable as Kaitlin was in the throes of her pregnancy, and her belly had just outgrown her winter coat. There were times when Kaitlin couldn't help but think, "This must be what the beached whale in Whale Rider felt like." Work, eating, commuting, and just about everything in between was difficult for Kaitlin during her pregnancy, but soon after Adam was born, life seemed to blossom for us. It was as if, once Adam was here, life could truly begin.
Shaun has often said that he had no idea he would enjoy being a dad as much as he does to Adam. Of course, it's not so easy to say that at 2:00 am and the baby has woken up twice already! But the rest of the time, it's very easy to say :-)
The late spring and summer here in Seattle, when we didn’t have to work and could dedicate our effort and attention fully to each other and to the baby, were wonderful. We have many fond memories of taking long walks with the baby in the stroller to various parks, the beach, or a café.  

The pictures in this blog post, by the way, were taken at Lincoln Park, the largest and closest park to our house. These were taken just after Adam turned 5 months old. For the life of us, we simply couldn't get that boy to smile! He usually won't stop smiling, but he was just too fascinated by the cameras to hardly let slip a smile. Check out the rest of the photos here!


In the fall, Shaun and then Kaitlin went back to work, and we have been adjusting to life with the baby in daycare. He is a resilient little fellow, and adjusted quickly to daycare full-time. Kaitlin drops him off each morning, and Shaun gets to pick him up in the afternoons. The baby is usually smiling and is his happy self each day.





We have been praying for God’s guidance and direction for the coming year. Shaun would like to find a teaching job at a high school nearer to our house, so that he does not have to commute as far. Kaitlin is still working hard at Getty Images and hopes to be promoted to the SEO Team Manager in the near future, which would mean she would be leading the Search Engine Optimization team at the company. We are also hoping that we will be able to save enough so that one of us can stop working – at least for a year or so – to stay home with the baby. While we are grateful that we were both able to take generous parental leave, these precious early days go by fast and we would like to be able to enjoy them more.

Now that we're parents, we've been discussing what traditions we want to form or adapt as a family with Adam. One of those is that we care strongly about caring for others in need. We chose to  sponsor a girl in Guatemala, who was born on the same day as Adam, through World Vision. We hope that as Adam grows up along with this girl Brisnely, he will be able to learn from a young age that our actions matter, even little actions such as donating to a child in Latin America. 

We were blessed by so many "little actions" from friends and family who pitched in to help us through the transition to parenthood. Through donated meals, gifts, baby showers, hand-me-downs, advice, housework, and so much more, we have so many tools with which to be better parents and take better care of Adam. He is a smiling, happy boy in part because we have you in our lives.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love, 
Kaitlin, Shaun, and Adam

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