Walnut Grove: January 2010

Happy New Year!

We hope you had a festive Christmas and are looking forward to a bright future in 2010. When we last left you (at the end of our 2008 Christmas Letter), we were getting ready to head to Washington D.C. for the Inauguration. Turns out that the event was not only a milestone for the nation, but for our family as well—for nine months later on November 4, we welcomed Thomas Jefferson Klosterman to our lives. Though neither feathered, beaked nor hooved (like the other denizens of Walnut Grove), he nevertheless joined the world “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” and ready to steal our hearts. What was supposed to be a “Little House on the Prairie”-style homebirth, though, turned into a 36-hour drug-induced labor ending in C-section—all because Thomas’s head wouldn’t drop into the birth canal. Having been miserably sick for 42+ weeks, I thought this was a bit of a mean trick, but here’s hoping he spent the extra time growing a big brain and brewing up revolutionary ideals (perhaps drafting a Declaration of Independence from Foreign Oil?).

With me spending most of the year hovering over the toilet or sprawled out on the couch and Lance constantly coaching me to keep hanging on, we had little time or energy for recreational activities. In May, though, we spent a week with Lance’s family, and in August, we visited Monticello. Unfortunately, with temperatures near 100, the pilgrimage to Thomas Jefferson’s home turned into quite a puke-fest. We did, however, take lots of pictures —so Thomas can say he was there in utero.

Needless to say, with Thomas consuming most of our time now, the animals aren’t receiving quite the level of attention they’re used to. Our little black cat, Ollie, seems to be taking it the hardest. Every morning, he jumps up in the kitchen window, presses his nose against the glass, and glares at me, no doubt pining for the long rubs he used to get throughout the day. The horses, chickens, and goats seem fairly content to take care of themselves, though, as long as there are green pastures to graze, manure piles to scratch, and Christmas trees to munch (the latter being the goats’ annual holiday treat).

And for those of you wondering about the house restoration, a subject which has, until this year, dominated most of our holiday letters, here’s the scoop: After four years of constant construction, Mike is scheduled to leave Walnut Grove Farm at the end of January. Though certainly marking the end of a (very long) era, Mike’s departure does not signal that the project is done. We have learned the hard lesson that “done” is not a word in old house owners’ vocabulary. The sounds of first words and first steps will be a pleasant replacement for the banging of hammers and buzzing of saws, however—at least for a little while.

Lastly, a word about our son’s name. Indeed, he was partially named after the enigmatic Founding Father whose life has many lessons to teach—both about greatness and shortcoming. (We hope, for instance, that our Thomas has a bit more financial responsibility than the “Sage of Monticello” who died a slave-holding debtor.) But our Thomas was also named after his maternal great-grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Lockhart, a man who raised nineteen children during the Great Depression, all the while growing his own food and making his own medicines. So whether he becomes a farmer or politician (or both), we hope our son will make a positive influence in the world. He’s already done so in our lives. (Those of you rooting for politician may have the advantage, by the way, for Thomas was conceived during Inauguration week and born during Election week.)

May 2010 be full of promise and blessing for you all.