Dearest Friends and Family –
Happy Holidays! We hope you all had a fantastic year filled
with fond memories, lots of laughter and constant reminders that it really is
about the little things in life to keep us all going. We have come to learn that so many of you
enjoy reading our annual letter for many reasons and can’t wait to see what our
word of the year is all about. I have to
admit, it was a tough one this year, but we finally landed on the perfect
word: TOOLS. Tools you
say!?!? Trust me, you’ll see why. And if any of you know our son Clive, he was
the main source of my inspiration.
1.
One of the greatest tools to help enjoy our second
pregnancy (I was afterall pregnant for ½ of this year) was yoga. It continues to be my source of energy,
balance and escape from the crazy life of work and family. Baby Natalie enjoyed it as much as Clive and
hope that she will become a little yogi too.
One of Clive’s favorite school activities is yoga! It warms our heart to see him truly enjoy it
and will often randomly do a down-dog or some other adorable animal pose. I
look forward to getting on my mat more this next year. It will keep us ALL centered and balanced.
2.
Little sister, Natalie Teruko
Newman, joined the Newman crew on 6/29.
Like big brother Clive, she arrived on her own terms (10 days late), but
came with great speed and ease. Whew
(for me!). One of my most helpful tools in welcoming Natalie was
CLIVE! He has been an AMAZING big
brother. He has a natural sweetness and
continues to hug, kiss and want to help her and Mommy in any way he can. Of course we shall see what happens when she
starts taking HIS toys. For now, we will
enjoy watching the amazing bond of these siblings grow. We continue to try to make Natalie laugh
(with no success), but when Clive comes over and gives her a giggle, she cracks
up. SO AWESOME.
She resembles Clive quite a bit at this age: her hair is growing in the same way, those
adorable chubby cheeks and a big smile.
At the same time, she is developing her own look. She has more delicate features, has sprouted
at least one dimple and tilts her head when she smiles at you. She is very easy-going and as long as she can
make eye contact with the world around her, she is happy!
3.
One of the greatest beauty tools (according to us at least) is LIVING
PROOF. Josh is still enjoying his
start-up company and many of US enjoy using their amazing products. One of the most exciting things that happened
to his company is Jennifer Aniston (yes the girl that inspired “The Rachel”
hair-do) is now co-owner and spokesperson of Living Proof. We are excited about this partnership and
look forward to watching the company really blossom. So if you have a hair challenge, call Josh. Yes, Josh not me! Well, you can call me too if you want. He will send you the right hair tool for your beauty challenge!
4.
As Josh likes to say, “I solve
life’s beauty problems.” Well, now I too
will enter the beauty industry to help make the world a more beautiful place! I just ended more than 5 years with Rockport
and have accepted a new position with Crabtree & Evelyn. I am excited for the new change and one of
the best things is my office is in Waltham.
We live in Waltham! Wahoo! I have never had the chance to live and work
in the same town and this will be such a great set up for our family. So, you can check in with me when you need
the latest soap, lotion or lip gloss.
I’ve got beauty tools and
tips for you too!
5.
One of the most critical tools in having two children is
HELP. We are getting better about asking
for help and extending our support system.
We have an amazing babysitter that is my best-kept tool. And no, we will not
share her! Not to mention, she has
really become a part of our family. We
couldn’t have survived pregnancy, juggling two kids, vacation and going back to
work without her help. Kailene is our
family survival tool. We love our Kailene!
6.
Next to having the help of Kailene,
we also send Clive and Natalie to daycare.
We were so very sad to leave our daycare that was located at my old office,
but we look forward to sending them to a new daycare in Waltham. They will be closer to home (2.2 miles to be
exact) and both of us can help share pick up/drop off duties. It will nice to only be a few miles from
home! If you ask Clive where his new
school is, he will say very excitedly, “Next to Costco!”
7.
I have earned a new badge of
honor: I’m an AUNT!!! My two younger sisters had beautiful little
girls this year (Danica and Jasmine).
Our family just grew by 3 baby girls this year! Who would have thought that us three girls
would have three girls in the same year!?!
Did we use some crazy pregnancy tool
or a secret family fertility drink ?
Nope, it was just plain coincidence!
We are so lucky our kids now have cousins and that we are able to share
motherhood together. It has been a great
experience and the only thing we want is to live closer together so the cousins
can see each other more. In the
meantime, they are frequent skypers and Clive reminds everyone that they are
HIS COUSINS.
8.
We live in a digital world and
the best tool to ever be invented so
far is GOOGLE. With a child that needs
to know “WHY” for just about everything, sometimes I just have to say, “Mommy
needs to google it.” He is fascinated
with things from Russia, different types of lawnmowers, construction vehicles
and music instruments. Clive challenges
us like most two-year olds do. He simply
amazes us with this creativity, inquisitiveness and humor. He is our first born and we love what he
brings to our family. We can’t wait to
see Natalie’s personality blossom and tell you all about it next year!
As one of my former managers used to always
tell me, “Use your tools.” Boy was she
right and we are! We are also learning that
you can always add new tools to your toolbox to make life a little easier and
more enjoyable. Please share with us any
tools you have added to your toolbox this year and we hope to share more fun
stories about our Newman crew with you next year. We think of each of you and hope that we can
see you all in 2013.
Much love,
Josh, Christina, Clive & Natalie
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