Ok, enough with all that sappy stuff Here are some pictures from her birthday! Unfortunately, my camera battery died 1/2 way through the party so I didn’t get nearly as many pictures as I wanted to. I’m so mad I didn’t check it before we left the house! But she had a blast at her party and got some really cool presents!!

Training was tough, it was 3 looong days, but it actually went by faster than I thought it would and I think the time away from home and away from each other was good for both Lauren and I! Training was last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9am to 5pm plus driving time, I was gone from 8am to 6pm…those are really long days for someone who hasn’t worked in 2 years!! But it was good, I learned a lot and had some fun! And I ate really well….Care.com likes to feed their employees

And Lauren made it through the days pretty well, too. Poor Tanya had the worst of it. She watched her the first day, which also happened to be her birthday, and it was kind of rough. Lauren screamed for the first hour and was fussy for the last hour but was okay for the time between. But she had 4 poops (that’s unheard of!!) so that, plus Jack and Emme….Tanya has never changed so many diapers in 1 day in her life!!! I seriously can’t thank Tanya enough for watching her, on the first day, along with her 3 children, on her birthday…she is a rock star!!!

As much as I don’t want to admit it to Tanya, Lauren did really well the next 2 days! Jenny watched her on Thursday and she said there were no tears. She went to Early Intervention group with Ari and had a blast! They want Lauren to go back to be a model student!! Then Mom watched her here on Friday, which I was nervous about because I thought she’d associate home with me and be upset all day but again, there were no tears! A little upset for a few minutes after I left but no tantrums or meltdowns! I’m so proud of her for being such a big girl!!

So I’m liking the job a lot! The company is really great and I’m glad I got the chance to go to the office. It’s very modern and high tech but still very causal and they are very accommodating and generous to their employees. A seriously huge transition from the last place I worked. Pretty much exact opposites. I think they value their employees and want to keep them happy and comfortable, which results in people excelling at their job and a lot less turnover, which is a really good thing. I’m so happy to be a part of Care.com….and I can’t wait to bring home a paycheck!!

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!!!

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!!

1. She loves to count things. But she refuses to say 1. This is how she counts, “3, 2, 3, 2, 3, 2″
2. We’re starting to teach her colors. She points to everything and says, “What color is that?” Her answer is almost always, “Blue.” Sometimes she says, “Pink.” Either way, she’s pretty much always wrong. But it’s a start!!
3. I think she thinks my belly button is the baby. I’m sure it’s all very confusing for her. When we’re sitting on the couch, she’ll ask me, “Where’d the baby go?” Then she’ll lift up my shirt, pull down my maternity pants, and kiss my belly button. Then she’ll point at my belly button and ask, “What is that?” I’ll tell her it’s my belly button and she says, “Baby.”
4. About a month ago, she was playing with all her Toy Story toys. She said, “Where’s Bullseye?” (She doesn’t have a Bullseye toy but she’ll be getting one) I said, “You don’t have a Bullseye. Maybe Santa will bring you one for Christmas.” So now every time I say or anyone says, “What is Santa going to bring you for Christmas?” Even though she knows how to say presents and she knows that’s what Santa brings, she says, “Bullseye!!” I wish that was all we had to get her! Lol!!
5. At Halloween time, she loved looking out the window of the car and seeing all the pumpkins! She’d yell out, “Spooky pumpkins!” Now when we’re at the store and she sees Christmas lights on display, she says, “Oooooh…pretty!” So I can not wait to drive around with her once Christmas lights are up on houses!
6. She loves the Bruins! Every time she sees a Bruins emblem she says, “Bruins!!” When we’re watching a Bruins game, she yells out “Goal!” and “Yay Bruins!” Makes her Daddy proud
7. When she does something not so nice and she knows I’m upset, she’ll look at me and say, “Sorry, Mama.” It melts my heart every time.
8. On that note, she calls me “Mama” and Victor “Daddy.” Not Mommy and Daddy or Mama and Dada but Mama and Daddy. I think that’s funny.
9. Last night at dinner, Victor was eating pepperoncinis. Lauren wanted one so Victor gave her a little piece, making sure there were no seeds. She put it in her mouth, took a bite, took it out, and said, “Spicy!” It was so cute!!
10. She can now look at pictures of all her cousins and say their names! Ryan, Josh, Ari, Brittany, Zachary, Lucy, Jack, Brandan, and Chloe!! Also Grammy and Pop!! That makes me really proud! Now we’re working on Aunts and Uncles names