Our Christmas Letter

This year, in lieu of sending our Christmas letter out to all of our friends and family who belong to the blogger world, we decided to post it here. This way, people can read it faster and it saves us on postage and printer cartridges. :-) Merry Christmas to all of you and here is to hoping you have a very happy New Year!

Dear Family and Friends,

Another year has come and gone, leaving more new changes for us than any other. Here are just a few of the things that have happened in our lives. First and foremost, our family went from two to three on November 20, 2009 when Jackson Dallin Koecher was born. He was born at 7:59 in the morning weighing 8 lb 2 oz and 20.5 inches long. He has a lot of dark hair and is the most adorable little boy we have ever seen. We are now working on adjusting to taking a diaper bag with us everywhere we go, getting back out of bed ten minutes after you put Jackson to bed because he decided he really didn’t want Mom and Dad to sleep, being “responsible” parents, and learning to always have another diaper ready during diaper changes to avoid having to change our own clothes too. He is a great little boy and we couldn’t be happier. We love him so much!

This summer, Dallin graduated cum laude from Utah State University with a degree in public relations and minored in marketing. He is still working at the Spectrum (temporarily) and has decided to take up doing sudokus and watching the TV series “24” to fill his former homework time. He is currently the first chair bassist in the Cache Chamber Orchestra. He enjoys the group and has a good time keeping up his music skills. They are a lot of fun to listen to. He is also busy studying for the GRE. We’re not sure what the future holds, but he is leaning towards a Master’s degree in Public Administration from either the University of Utah or Brigham Young University next fall. You’ll have to wait until next year’s letter to find out where we end up.

I also celebrated a graduation this summer. I graduated from the University of Utah with my Master’s degree in social work. I’m glad to have my degree and not to have to drive to Salt Lake through the canyon every week this winter. I’m currently working at a daycare in a women’s shelter here in Logan (also temporarily). My main focus is being Jackson’s mom. I’m waiting until we decide where we will end up before hopefully finding my dream social work job.

We were also lucky enough to go on some wonderful trips this year. In June, Dallin and I went to Hawaii on a graduation present/belated honeymoon/one year anniversary/hurry-and-go-somewhere fun-before-the-baby-is-born trip. We spent a week in Oahu and had a great time hiking, seeing the sights, swimming in a waterfall and getting sunburned on the beach. We also went on the annual Naegle family trip to Moon Lake, camping several times, four wheeling and hiking in Mesquite, to some fun rodeos and demolition derbies, and a lot of fun family parties and get togethers. We love getting together with our family. We are so grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

Right now, we love living in Logan and the friends we have made. Overall, as this year comes to a close, we are grateful for where we are in our lives. Surrounded by friends and family, we are never short of people who love and support us. We are so grateful for everyone’s help and support as we get used to being parents and make even more big decisions. Thank you all for everything you do for us. We love you and look forward to another great year!

Love,
Dallin, Amber & Jackson Koecher

Some videos of our little guy.

This is a video of me playing with Jackson when we were in the hospital. Tickling him with my hair is one of the few ways that will usually wake him up.

This is Jackson doing some tummy time to strengthen his neck and back muscles. He was really funny. It looked like he was trying to crawl but couldn't quite get it because he was so top heavy. He sure tried though. I can tell he's going to keep my hands full tryig to keep up with him. It's a good thing they don't come home from the hospital already crawling or walking, it would probably be too much for me. :-)

My wonderful family :-)

As most of you already know, my family has grown in the last little bit. On Friday, November 20th (two weeks ago today), Jackson Dallin Koecher joined our family. He was born at 7:59 in the morning and was 8 lb 2 oz and 20.5 inches long. He was having a hard time breathing at first, so they had to put him on oxygen for about an hour and keep him in the NICU for about 5 hours to keep an eye on him. I'm happy to report that everything is going well and we have a healthy and happy (mostly) baby boy. It's amazing how having a child changes your life. He's a great addition to our family and we sure love him. It's still strange for me to think that I'm a mom and Dallin is a dad. We sure love it though. We love our perfecct little baby boy. Welcome to our family Jackson :-) Here are a bunch of pictures. I just couldn't narrow them down.

Jackson and his daddy.
Me and my adorable little boy

The new and improved Amber and Dallin Koecher family

This is Jackson with his mom, Great Grandpa, and Great great Grandma. It would be 5 generations if my mom had been there.

Jackson loves having his hands by his face. He did this pose on his own.

Jackson's first night at home in his crib

Going home from the hospital

Jackson and Mom

Dad giving Jackson his first bath. I love the way Dallin is looking at him. You can tell how much he loves this little guy.

The proud new daddy :-)

Our first family picture. We're actually in the NICU. They wheeled my whole bed in there after recovery so I could see my little boy. It's a good thing too...they wouldn't have wanted an upset new mom on their hands.

This is one of Jackson's first pictures. He looks like a real chunk in this picture. I just love his face and hands.

The first time I got to really see him and hold him (kind of)

A week before he was born, the ultrasound tech measured Jackson at 8 lb 12 oz. They were concerned he would be too big, which is part of the reason they did a C-section. We were very happy with 8 lb 2 oz. I wanted to tell the doctor, "I told you so!"

This is what happens when you have a nervous dad to be at the hospital with a hair net at 5:30 in the morning.

My first pic with Jackson. This was before his bath and we thought his hair was really curly. No more curls for now, there will be plenty of time for that though.

Our precious baby Jackson :-) We love him so much and are so grateful to have him in our home!