2012 Christmas Letter: The Year of Fit

Fit (verb): To be adaptable to or suitable for

Fit (noun): An onset, spell or period of emotion

Fit (adjective): To be in good physical condition

No matter how you define it, 2012 was the “Year of Fit” for the Barrows family.

When we last left you, Eldyn Lewis (a.k.a. e-Lew) was 1.5 weeks old, sleepy and a little jaundice. Man, he’s come a long way since then. Learning how Eldyn fits in with the rest of our family has been one of the greatest joys of the year.

Eldyn loves to be funny, wiggle and eat only carbs. He also takes great pride in keeping up with the rest of us and used the “heads down turbo crawl” as a means to this end for much of the year. After realizing the only real pitfall of this transport method (plowing head-long into walls, furniture, etc.) he took to walking, too. Although he still turbo crawls when the situation calls for speed.

Hiram took “fit” to a whole new level as he entered and (thankfully) exited the development phase that corresponds with becoming three. Now that he’s back to his old self, I find myself losing track of the hours we spend coloring, playing sports and imagining together.

Hiram also loves to talk so there are no secrets at our house anymore. On Thanksgiving, Hiram was witness to Brad flooding our kitchen with 5 gallons of raw turkey brine and immediately ran to find me. “Mommy!” he exclaimed, “Do you want to see Daddy’s big mess?”

With a bunch of baby (and sympathy) weight to shed, Brad and I redoubled our efforts to get fit in 2012. We’ve completed three of the four races in the Mora Classic (canoe paddle, half-marathon and bike tour) and are planning to complete the cross-country ski race in February. We are also doing P90x and have fun flexing our “huge” muscles for each other during the video workouts.

Brad got a new job working as a Finance IT guy for Univita Health and likes the work-life balance and challenge of learning a new set of skills. I’m still a part-time Targeteer and part-time entrepreneur doing publicity, speechwriting and communications. A professional highlight this year was Commemorate the Date’s coverage in the 2012 Star Tribune Holiday Gift Guide. If you know anyone who needs communications or publicity help, send them my way!

We hope this letter finds you all happy, healthy and optimistic about 2013. We love you and Merry Christmas.

Hadley, Brad, Hiram (3) and Eldyn (1)

 

Christmas Letter Archives

2011 – The Year of Small Stuff

2010 – The Year of DIY