I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and give you an update on the Bailey family. This has been a good year for our family. We have adjusted to resident life and have settled in to the routine... or lack thereof pretty well. This year the highlights have been a trip to Hawaii, and a year full of Disneyland with our passes. We have also been able to spend a lot of time with Caleb and my family. We are so grateful to be living out West again so we can see everyone more often.
Caleb has a better schedule this year than last year. For the most part he gets to work in the Emergency Room. Although there are a few months in different ICUs. The ER months are pretty good the ICU months are gruelling with 30 hour days every 4 days, and long hours on the days in-between. We just don't see him much those months, and often spend some time visiting in Santa Barbara. Despite some hard hours he loves what he does and is very happy working at Loma Linda. He is by far happiest on the months he gets to work the ER. When he is off he loves to play with the kids and use our Disneyland passes. He also loves to work in our yard, especially on his lawn, and loves to experiment with artisan and sourdough bread making. He has become an amazing baker. He has also been swimming and running quite a bit to offset all the hours inside the hospital. We are so proud of him and grateful for all his hard work. He does an amazing job balancing his family life and crazy schedule. With his hours all over the place we have our family meal at all different times. We are actually more rarely together for dinner or weekends. I am a big believer in gathering together at the table once a day for a meal so we have learned to be very flexible on which meal. I have learned that I need to just do my routine and expect to do most things on my own. Then we are ready and available to spend time with Caleb when he is off. Those are always our favorite days.
I have been doing all my normal stuff with the kids. I love being a mom and could not imagine doing anything else. The kids can be crazy, and drive me crazy sometimes. But for the most part I just enjoy being with them and watching them learn and grow. I am constantly surprised by them and what they notice and know. I know that they have taught me ten times as many things as I have taught them. I love them so much and am so grateful to have them. 
I am still running everyday and in the beginning of November ran a half marathon with my sister. We ran the whole time and came in at 2:05. The race was fun, but I actually enjoyed the training most. I have ran almost everyday since high school but had never done a race of any kind before. So I liked having something to work for and push myself with. I basically added miles every week up to the race and once a week would take Abigail in the single jogger while Joshua was in preschool and go for a really long run. The other days I would do sprints with the double jogger or more moderate 5 -6 mile runs. I felt great, and really energized pushing myself like that. I am still running just not training.
I am also second counselor in the Relief society Presidency. I love the calling and stay fairly busy with it. It has been a challenge with Caleb's schedule and my meetings and activities, but somehow everything always works out. I love the women I work with. I have learned so much from their examples and have so many more friends in the ward because of my calling.
Joshua is 4 1/2 and has grown up a ton this year. He is not my little baby boy at all anymore, he is a total little kid. He is silly, smart, and mischievous, like most little boys. He goes to preschool twice a week and loves it. I think he would go everyday if I would let him. He is starting to write and recognize his letters. He loves to draw and practice writing, and is very serious about doing his homework. He asks me a million questions everyday. I am glad he is so curious but by the end of the day I am usually ready for the questions to stop. His favorite things to play with right now are legos. He will sit and build things for hours. He loves to be with people, and is the friendliest least inhibited little boy I have ever seen. He will talk to anyone. When the UPS man comes he goes right out on the porch and starts asking him questions, and then asks him to come inside and look at his neat toys he is playing with. He is very sweet and loving. He can be very silly, but is also extremely serious and contemplative. He also loves Sunbeams, and singing. He sings or hums all day while he plays, it is usually some modified version of a primary song. He brings such a wonderful sweet joyful spirit to our family, we all love him so much. 
He is a very sweet big brother. He is always trying to help Abigail, and she is always getting mad at him for helping her! He loves to give her hugs and snuggle up and read her books. They get along pretty well but still hit heads. Usually because Joshua is overly helpful and Abigail is overly independent. Then there are the typical squabbles over toys and such, which usually results in the toy in question being put on a high shelf where neither of them can play with it. No sharing no playing that is my rule.
Abigail is 2 and has finally started to talk. She took a long time to start using real words, but once she started she has really taken off. She pretty much will say anything you ask her to. She has really rapidly started to form sentences. She is always walking to the beat of her own drum, and does not like anyone to mess with her rhythm. She is also recently potty trained, again something she decided to do. She had a lot of accidents at first but now is really good. It is great to not have to buy diapers for a bit! She is a mama's girl and does not like anyone else. You have to be very special to get into her circle of trust, and can be kicked out very quickly. We are still working on getting her into nursery, we are hoping she will stay by the time she goes into Sunbeams a year from now. :) She is really funny and sweet. She is super affectionate to those she trusts, and will give you lots of kisses, and hugs. She knows her colors really well and loves the color pink. Her favorite ride at Disneyland is the pink tea cups, her favorite shoes are her pink boots, her favorite skirt is her fluffy pink one. She also loves stuffed animals and is usually dragging something around with her wherever she goes. Her hair is getting curlier everyday and I am so excited to have a girl with curly hair. I just hope she will like it too. For the most part she is just really funny and silly. We all get a kick out of her and her spunky cheerful personality. We all love her so much. 
