Ventura Familia

Christmas was awesome this year!! (Awesome other than a little mishap on Christmas Eve) Lauren was so much fun with the presents and loved seeing Christmas lights and decorations! She even learned how to sing a little of Rudolph and Jingle Bells
We went to a Christmas party at the Portuguese club and she had a blast!! She painted a mug, ate tons of junk, and got to see Santa!! All the other kids were sitting patiently as he walked in the room but not Lauren….when she saw him, she ran right up to him and said hi!! It was so funny! And when it was her turn, she sat on his lap!! I couldn’t believe it! Must have been because he gave her a present!
We were supposed to go to Tommy and Tanya’s for the annual Heal Christmas Eve party but unfortunately, Lauren woke up that morning sick My poor baby was throwing up all day on Christmas Eve. There’s nothing worse than seeing your child sick and not being able to do anything about it. I still don’t really know what happened….she never had a fever. I don’t think it was something she ate because she threw up so many times and if it was a stomach bug, no one else in the house got it. She’s never thrown up from teething before but a molar did break through her gums a few days later, though I don’t think that’s the reason either. Who knows! She threw up for the last time at 1pm and was feeling much much better soon after, thank goodness!!
The next morning we woke up and Santa had come!! Lauren must have been a very good girl this year because Santa brought a lot of presents! Her most favorite was her big gift, a kitchen set! She loves to pretend she’s cooking!! Then of course we got the big news!!! It’s a BOY!! Mike, Jenny and kids and Danny, Veronica and kids came over for breakfast with us and Connie and Joe and to exchange gifts around 11 then it was time for a nap! After that, Grammy and Pop, Julie, Eric and kids and Tommy, Tanya and kids came over for presents and my birthday celebration! Connie cooked us a delicious turkey and ham with all the fixings! I’m so blessed to have her as a mother in law
It really was a great holiday and it’s not even over yet! Tonight we are going to the New Year’s Eve party at the Portuguese club and next weekend we’re heading to Greg and Michelle’s for the annual Pimental Christmas get together! Should be tons of fun and I’m sure I’ll post more pictures from both events!
Happy Holidays!!!

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So last year I didn’t make any resolutions, just a list of things I wanted to accomplish in the new year. I decided to go back and see if I had reached any of my goals and I don’t think I did all that bad! There are a few that weren’t reached that I’d still really like to have happen….hopefully in 2012. This year my resolution/goal is to be happy and healthy and more patient with Lauren (and Justin, too!). That’s it. Simple and hopefully not too hard Here is my list from last year and the updates on how it went….

1. I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions but I have one this year: to grow my hair long enough to donate it to Locks of Love. I would then like to continue doing it, grow, cut, donate, again and again, but I’m going to do it at least once.
This was not accomplished but it wasn’t my fault Locks of Love changed their guidelines so that they no longer accepted highlighted hair. I was very upset when I found this out, I had been growing my hair out for almost a whole year and really wanted to donate! But I made a financial contribution instead and do plan on doing that every year.

2. Get Lauren to sleep, all night, in her crib, and to do so by falling asleep on her own. I’m ashamed to say it but as of right now, I am rocking her to sleep, putting her in her crib once she is already asleep, then she wakes up, sometimes a few hours and sometimes only a half hour later, and I take her to bed with me and that is where she spends the rest of the night. And for naps, I rock her to sleep in her bouncy chair, which she is WAY too big for. I know it is going to be really tough. Habits are really hard to break but this one needs to be stopped! We are going to start the day after Christmas because the in-laws will be off to Florida so we don’t have to worry about anyone downstairs being affected by the screams. Maybe this one will be checked off before 2011….fingers crossed!
This was accomplished and it was before 2011!! She still isn’t a great sleeper but she does fall asleep on her own and sleep in her crib all night. She has inherited her fathers horrible sleeping habits which is no fun for me. She’ll be getting a big girl bed for her birthday so the crib can go in Justin’s room and I’m not really looking forward to that. Hopefully it goes easier than I’m expecting it to.

3. Organize the office. It is a mess!! Everything from the move that didn’t have a “home” ended up in that room. The desk, floor, shelves, everything, is covered with clutter and crap. I need a good hour or two to myself to get in there and organize!
This was done, several times, but no matter what, all the clutter and crap end up in that room.

4. Hang pictures. We have a ton of Lauren and the family, most of which are already framed, they just need to be hung.
Done!!

5. Cook more often. Ive been making some things for Lauren to eat, pasta, raviolis, vegetables…..easy stuff. But I still don’t make dinner, except for the occasional crock pot meal, and I’d really like to. It’s not fair that Victor has to work all day and then come home to make dinner.
Also done!! Though it only started very recently, but better late than never! This is our system…we (mostly just me) figure out the weeks menu on Saturday, I go grocery shopping on Sunday, and I make dinner every night except Friday, that’s when we order pizza! Nothing has been incredibly delicious but I feel good about cooking dinner and Victor is not one to complain (thank goodness!) He’s just happy he doesn’t have to cook

6. Be outside with Lauren when it is nice out. I need to let my fear of the sun subside a little. As long as we have sunscreen on, we will be ok. We need to get some fresh air and Lauren needs to run around. I see a lot of trips to the park in our future this spring!
We were outside this past year A LOT more often than we were the year before. Lauren loves to play outside and we had a lot of fun checking out some parks in the area. This coming up year may be a little tough with a newborn but we will make it work!

7. I want to get involved with a melanoma foundation of some sort. If my story can help just 1 person, I’ll be happy. I’d really like to go to middle and high schools and educate these kids about skin cancer.
This didn’t happen but IT WILL! I need to do this, it is so very important to me. It may not seem like it is since it didn’t get done, but it is. I’m thinking after the baby is born I will look into what I can do to help.

8. Spend more time with people!! I’m a stay at home Mom and I know a ton of other stay at home Mom’s but somehow, I never see them! Lauren needs the social skills, and so do I! I just found out that Stoughton has a Mom’s club that is for stay at home Mom’s and their kids and they do play dates and lots of activities. I’m pretty sure we’re joining and I’m excited! But I’d also like to see a lot more of my friends and family as well!
This was sort of accomplished. I did see some people a little more often but not as much as I’d like to. I also did join the Stoughton Mom’s club and we did a few activities but it wasn’t really for me. I still am in need of more adult interaction in my day!!

9. Get closer to Victor. We have a really good relationship and we love each other but sometimes, with a baby, its really hard to stay close. Before Lauren was born, I had this vision of us putting Lauren down in her crib for the night and then we would cuddle on the couch and watch movies. That does not EVER happen. By the end of the day, I’m tired, and once Lauren is asleep, I want to go to sleep, and I do. Hopefully, once she is falling asleep on her own (it will happen!!) and bedtime is not taking me an hour or more, I will be able to stay up with Victor for a little while. Then I’ll just have to get him to shut off the PS3…..
We are able to spend some time together after Lauren goes to bed now which is nice. It’s not too much since I can’t stay awake much later than 10pm but it’s more than before!

10. Get pregnant!! My plan is to get pregnant in July or August so we have the baby in April or May. That would be ideal! But no matter what, I want to have another baby and I want the kids to be close in age so, getting pregnant in 2011 is what needs to happen!!
This obviously happened! The date for my scheduled c-section is May 4th!! I’m such a good planner So exciting!!!

I can not believe it!!! First of all, I can not believe we were able to wait till Christmas morning to open the envelope!! It wasn’t even the first thing we did! Lauren opened all her gifts, we cleaned up a little bit and then we opened it! And to our surprise, we found out it’s a BOY!!! I think we still are in shock! We really were expecting it to say girl!! We are super, crazy excited!!! Now I’m on the hunt for the most perfectly adorable little brother and big sister shirts

Emme Grace has arrived!! Tommy, Tanya, Lucy and Jack completed their family of 5 on December 13th at 7:25pm. The little bundle of joy weighed in at 6lbs 12oz and 19 1/2 inches! She is truly perfect!! Soooo cute! She looks just like Jack in some pictures and in others, just like Lucy. Both are enjoying their new little sister! The whole family is doing very well!!

We got to visit very briefly while they were in the hospital and Lauren and I stopped by for a more proper visit yesterday morning. I absolutely love holding her…and so does Lauren! All she wants to do is hold Baby Emme but she is so so sweet with her <3 She holds her very gently, gives her kisses, rubs her face, strokes her hair, and the whole time she has this look of love and amazement on her face. It's really magical. Of course it will be a little different when the baby is ours, here full time, and getting most of Mommy's attention, but I hope it's a sign of the awesome big sister she will be

Here's a great moment Tanya captured on film of Lauren holding Emme at the hospital. It's seriously so precious!!

I’m almost half way there!! I can not believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by!!! We went to Brockton Hospital yesterday to have a level 2 ultrasound and see the high risk doctor. Everything is going very well The baby is measuring just right, 8oz, which is the 58% percentile. Really can’t get any more perfect, especially for a diabetic Mom! The little peanut was very active and we could see him/her yawn a few times!! So cute! The tech could see, easily actually, what the sex was and she sealed it up in an envelope for us. It’s waiting patiently on the Christmas tree….only 16 days till we open it and find out!! The heart rate was 135. Even though I know that’s just an old wives tale, it has me thinking twice about it being a girl. But who knows!! I seriously can not wait until Christmas morning!!!