Sunday, December 15, 2013

2013 Creath Family Holiday Letter: Temporary One

I usually have this post written by Thanksgiving weekend, but we've been traveling two weekends in a row which is highly unusual for our homebody family.

December is shaping up to be a challenging month for us. We pulled T out of her preschool due to safety issues and mismanagement, which breaks my heart because the teachers and program are excellent. But having active construction while the kids are in session, and putting kids in a building that failed inspection just a week ago are no bueno in our book.

We also decided to "camp out" in our living room at night so that we can all be together rather than sleeping in separate houses while our house is being remodeled. It's actually working pretty well but we now have to coordinate logistics between what we bring to our house and what we are leaving at my parents' place, and when we're spending time at each. BabyM still continues to wake several times at night but we'll tackle that issue later.

And if that weren't enough, Spike has been diagnosed with kidney failure and a tumor in his bladder. He's 13, so we're lucky to have had so much time with him. We're keeping our fingers crossed and loving on him as much as we can.

Well, that's a depressing beginning for a holiday letter, isn't it? 

Now on to the good stuff - we are 2 months into a HUGE construction project to turn our house into our perfect *forever* home. There's something for everyone - BabyM finally gets her own room, the girls get a playroom conveniently across from my new ENORMOUS craft room, TJ gets his own office with a door, and the dogs get their own half of the yard separate from the kids.

T turned 4 in September and some of her favorite things are: 
  • Vancouver, Canada (we took a mama-daughter trip there last weekend)
  • Her new Kindle (early Christmas present)
  • Playing pretend, usually involving food preparation of some sort
  • Vienna Teng's new CD AIMS (yes, I am heavily influencing her choice of music)
  • The all-Christmas music radio station
M turned 1 in October and she currently likes:
  • Walking! (This is new, and she still crawls about 50% of the time)
  • Stacking cups of all kinds
  • Tackling her big sister, then hugging her
  • Lint and dust bunnies
  • Her toddler group 
Peanut is 11 and doing pretty well considering his age and size.

TJ started his new job at ESPN in February and likes it a lot. In April, I decided NOT to go back to work at Microsoft after my maternity leave with M. It's been fun and challenging to be home with the girls, but I love the more easygoing pace of our days.

I also continue to make handcrafted stamped metal items and jewelry in my Etsy shop, Anandi's Laboratory. In August, I started a new venture, making custom handcrafted scrapbooks and photobooks at The Papercraft Lab.  I'm pleased to say that I got some nice publicity, and have exceeded my initial sales goals.  (Wouldn't be a holiday letter without some bragging, right?)

My parents spent June through October at their place nearby in Redmond, which was great. We just returned last week from visiting TJ's family in Tucson, AZ, and were able to schedule a quick family photo shoot there so we can finally update the photos on our mantel!

If you're still reading this far, thank you for indulging me :) Best wishes to you and yours for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014!

(c) Kristi Lloyd Photography, 2013

7 comments:

  1. Like! And again, as usual, M has a unique expression in the photo.

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  2. It's funny, I read your blog regularly but still really loved hearing this summary of your year and where you're all at right now. It's a great idea - I may steal it!

    Hope the reno is going smoothly and you're not displaced for very long. Have a happy holiday!

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  3. Hi, happy holidays! I love seeing your blog pop up in my reading list! :) I'm so glad that things are going well, and that you've yet to cry over this awesome remodeling project. Wishing you tons of happiness and love in your fantastic new home this coming year!

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    Replies
    1. Oh, there was almost crying last week, when I finally realized that it was just too hard to sleep in separate places. I'm sure there will be some - we're just about to enter the drywall phase of the project.

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  4. I love that you included "lint and dust bunnies" in baby M's likes.

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    Replies
    1. I know - so 1 year old. I loved that too! What won't they stick in their mouths??
      Congrats on the launch of Papercraft Lab - so glad that sales are exceeding the initial goals!

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  5. I'm so proud of you and all you accomplished this year. You are such an inspiration!

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