We made it! With the birth of T2, yet another move, demanding work schedules, and the Thunderous Threes all happening in the same year we are breathing a big sigh of relief as we think about 2014. We are still in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I’m drafting this letter from a different home address yet again. (I’m keeping my fingers crossed that 2014 will be the year with no moving.) We loved our East Palo Alto house, but made the decision back in June to move to a new rental in Fremont. A big thank you to my parents for hosting us for 6 weeks while we waited for our new place to become available (and watching our kids so we could have an adults-only weekend getaway in Portland!).

We like our new neighborhood much more and are using all sorts of methods to meet our neighbors (the most out-there attempt involved nailing an introduction letter to the tree outside our front door). The population in this area is very diverse and it’s been fun to explore the multitude of Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, and Mexican restaurants in the area. Turns out T1 is not a fan of the bubbles in bubble tea but he loves Chinese donuts.

TH and I are busier than ever, juggling two young children along with work. It’s a lot harder than we thought it would be. Thank goodness for babysitters and preschool! TH travels for work Monday-Thursday. While he’s gone I care for the kids and work on a growing number of projects - www.jennacole.com, www.pinterestfail.com, and www.thatwifeblog.com.

T1 is thriving in his fantastic preschool, attending full days every weekday. He loves making friends, starting every sentence with “Ma”, and exploring his ability to exercise his independence. Between the passionate outbursts his tender side shines through - when we caught a bug and looked at it under a microscope he begged me to set it free so it could go back to its mommy.

T2 has started digging through my kitchen cabinets and walking along the furniture. She’s a resilient little girl who survives being sat on and dragged around (literally) by her brother on a daily basis. When I say “It’s time to go get brother from preschool” she flaps her arms and waves excitedly. He is her very best friend and I love to listen to them babble and interact on the drive home from school every day.

This year we are particularly grateful for technology and the ways it keeps us connected. Social media that fosters connections with friends who live far away from us, video chats with family as we’re making dinner, Skype with family in Poland (who we, sadly, didn’t get to visit this year), screen time that gets us through the littles witching hour in the evenings, and phone calls between husband and wife as we live apart each week.

Thanks to all of you who make our life better in some way being being in it.

Christmas cards past: 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012

These are a mixture of photos by my mom and Kristin of Dezember Photography. Dezember is based on Utah, but Kristin travels out to the Bay Area on a regular basis if you’d like to work with her as well. I’m so glad we did these with my parents here, because getting myself ready, as well as a 3-week-old and an almost-3-year-old without the extra help would have left me sweating right after I got my makeup on.

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In March my parents came down for a weekend (my dad hadn’t had the privilege of seeing T2 in person yet) and we packed those few days as full as they could get. We decided to celebrate T1′s birthday a month early, took family pictures, and gave T2 her blessing.

One of the presents my parents gave T1 was a kite. We took it over near Google’s main campus to fly it. Note: You are not supposed to fly kites here. We did not know this when we started.


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I have only a handful of images of me with my mom growing up. She says she tried, but no one ever wanted to take over the camera. I’m trying to make sure this doesn’t happen with me and my own kids, but I’ve realized that the same thing is happening once again with my own kids! There really aren’t that many photos of T1 with his grandma, and I want to make sure that doesn’t become the status quo for us.

So four days after T2 was born we cleared out a corner of my bedroom and did a quick photo session with T1, T2, and Nana. I was tired, sweating, and exhausted afterward but these pictures are so worth it. My parents are coming back in early March and I might try and convince them to do one more quick session with the kids while both Nana and Papa are here so they have nice pictures with grandpa as well. Next time we visit Poland I want to do the same thing with That Husband’s family as well!

When I launched Jenna Cole, my mom told me “No matter what kind of success you find with your business, you’ll be so glad you have this equipment and these skills when you have kids.” She was so right.

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Consider this a recap of everything Christmas/Holiday related from 2012.

We kicked things off with a visit to the Los Altos Festival of Lights. We arrived right when it started and found decent seats (bring your own chairs!), didn’t have to park too far away, and found the length to be just perfect for T1′s age and attention span.

I pushed for a real tree, but we decided to get a fake one in the end. This one has a bit of a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree vibe, but it was inexpensive and pre-lit with LED and the perfect tree for us at this point in our life. I hope That Husband knows that eventually I want to go down to Santa Cruz and cut a real one down and bring it home!

T1 spent most of his time managing our efforts.
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