Dawn’s Blog | Dawn Cullo's Blog

The Little Gym

April 11, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Lily swinging on the bars at The Little Gym

Lily and I started classes at The Little Gym right before her 2nd Birthday in 2007 and we had a great time because it was a “Mommy & Me” type of deal and we had fun together. Later she wanted to try a cheer-leading class and that didn’t go very well because it was a class she had to do on her own. I honestly don’t recall what happened after that but we didn’t enroll for the next session and we just stopped going for a few years.

Then a few weeks ago Lily found her red award ribbon from The Little Gym and ran over to me and shouted “I want to go back to The Little Gym”. I was in shock, really? We haven’t been there in almost 2 years. I guess those red reward ribbons are great marketing tools on their part. =)

We went back to our local The Little Gym in Folsom, CA and she tried out a class, this time she was old enough to do a class on her own and quite frankly I didn’t think she would go through with it.

Well, I wrong because she did great. Abby and I sat outside the room with all of the other parents and watched. Lily amazed me because she took so many risks that day and succeeded.

Lily swinging on the rings at The Little Gym

I don’t only mean the type of risks such as the balance beam but she wasn’t familiar with any of the kids, teachers or activities and she just jumped right in there and participated. I would have expected her to come out to the waiting room some time during the class and ask to go home, but she didn’t. I could see the joy on her face after she accomplished a task on a piece of gym equipment. She completed the entire class and at the end came running over to me and said “I really liked it and I want to sign up”. The day we went back to The Little Gym was fantastic because I could see her confidence in herself soar.

I recall when we first went to The Little Gym in 2007 and seeing all the Thank You cards on the walls from parents about how their child’s confidence had risen or how their child was doing better in school or at home because of The Little Gym. I clearly remember thinking, “ah poohy, that is silly, gymnastics can’t make that much of a difference” Guess I was wrong and now I am one of those parents thanking The Little Gym for helping my daughter’s confidence too. Not only do the programs at The Little Gym make a difference but it is the owners and the teachers too. The owners of The Little Gym Folsom are fantastic and they really do care about the kids and their families. When we went back to The Little Gym it had been almost 2 years, but the owner Cindy still remembered Lily.

Lily really looks forward to her time at The Little Gym and she can’t wait for their Summer Camp as well. Her birthday is in September and she has already made plans to have it there. We will also be signing Abby up for her first class during their Summer session, I can’t wait for her to have a great time there too.

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn, Lily, The Little Gym

Easter Madness

April 4, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Abbity Rabbity

Ok, well it wasn’t really madness but I thought that it was going to be. Now having two young kids makes everything take longer and just seem like more of a pain in the booty. Don’t get me wrong, I love my girls but holy cow now we have even more crap to lug around, especially on a Holiday visit to the in-laws.

However, this Easter I was pleasantly surprised, it went very smooth….omg did I say that? I could not believe how awesome my Easter was.

Lily was so well behaved and I was so proud of her as she didn’t gather ALL of the Easter eggs during the hunt at Grandma’s, she left some for her younger cousins. Abby was the best baby EVER! She cried when she wanted to be fed, took naps when she was tired and even did some socializing. I just couldn’t believe how un-stressed I was….it was a very nice feeling.

However, the days before Easter were a bit stressful for me. You see, I am a very organized gal…ok I used to be before I had the girls. Normally, I would have had all of my Easter stuff done at least the weekend if not a few days before. This time, I didn’t start until Friday and I was still putting things together on Saturday night, which drove me a bit batty. The whole time I was putting Lily’s Easter basket together I was so sure she was going to come bounding down the stair and ruin the surprise, but she didn’t and I stressed for no reason. She slept through the night, unlike me though. I was up every two hours with Abby and then up at 6:30 when Lily woke up to see what the Easter Bunny brought. *sigh* So we started our day pretty early and I had a headache the entire day, but it was still a good day.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Celebration, Dawn, Easter, Family, Holiday, Lily, Louis

The Home Depot Kids Workshop

April 4, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Are you looking for something F.R.E.E. to do with your kids on a Saturday? If so, you might want to head on over to your local Home Depot and check out the Kids Workshops.

Louis and Lily happened to be at The Home Depot a few weeks ago and found out that they have F.R.E.E. Kids workshops on the first Saturday of every month from 9-Noon. You don’t have to stay for the entire 3 hours, you can just come and work on the project between those hours.

Your kid will get an Apron and a special pin to put on it for each project that they complete and a certificate. The projects come in a kit that you put together and they provide the decorative elements such as stickers, paint and markers.

Lily had a great time working with Louis to put together the house, she even “bammed” in some of the nails. Of course her favorite part was the decorating. Lily thought that the whole thing was pretty darn cool and is looking forward to the next one in May.

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Family, Lily, Louis, The Home Depot

Kindergarten Bound

March 21, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Lily had her Kindergarten assessment with St. Mary School in Sacramento and did great. As we left the appointment she said “That was fun”. A few days later we received the good news that she was accepted. We were a little worried that she may not get in because this is one of the best catholic schools in Sacramento and we are not exactly fully participating in all things Catholic at the moment, but we will be from now on. I know that by having Lily at this school it will really help our family. We are excited to be part of a community of people with the same values as we do.

She will actually start this summer in their Kinder Camp program. For Lily this will be a way for her to get used to the Kindergarten surroundings and make some new friends before the school year starts.

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Kindergarten, Lily, School, St. Marys

Wordless Wednesday – Happy Go Lucky

March 17, 2010 By Dawn Cullo 1 Comment

These shirts describe them to a "T"

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Holiday, St. Patricks Day, Wordless Wednesday

Mabel’s Labels BlogHer Contest

March 14, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I was told by my friend Mabel that electrical storms are going to wipe out the Internet (perhaps forever). I only have one day left to write about my passion of photography. Time can’t be controlled, it continues to tick away every second and there is no way to stop time except when taking a photograph. I use my camera as tool to freeze time, capture memories, capture emotions and see the changes in those around us.

The photograph doesn’t need to be technologically perfect to convey the emotion of the moment. I don’t have a photography degree, I don’t’ have a fancy studio or use fancy equipment. I just use my trusty point & shoot digital camera. At family gatherings I will take some posed shots but my favorite kind of photographs to take are the candid types. Candid photographs really tell the best story and can convey great emotions.

I enjoy taking photographs of my family and friends but I also enjoy taking photographs of landscapes. The seasons change our landscapes throughout the year and I find this interesting how just one mountain range or field of grass can change so much through the seasons and I enjoy being able to capture those changes.

I would like to travel around the world to take landscape photographs. I have been to San Francisco and my heart was pumping faster when I was taking photographs of the Golden Gate Bridge. I really enjoyed taking those photographs and want to do more of it.

Being able to freeze time and capture the changes of landscapes and people is a powerful tool to have and I am grateful that I am able to use this power to make people smile, remember and appreciate the things around them.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn, Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ‘10 Contest

Wordless Wednesday – Old Navy Style

March 9, 2010 By Dawn Cullo 3 Comments

Lily at Old Navy Poses with the SuperModelQuins

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Lily, Old Navy, Wordless Wednesday

Super Bowl Family

February 14, 2010 By Dawn Cullo 2 Comments

We celebrated Super Bowl Sunday by putting on our Raider gear and making some yummy snack foods. We really like Franks Red Hot sauce so Louis made his “Hot Nuggets”. It is simple to make, just dice up some chicken and bread it then fry it up in a pan. In another pan melt butter and add Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and mix well. When the chicken is done place it in a serving bowl and pour the sauce over the chicken and turn to coat. Serve with blue cheese dressing or buttermilk dressing.

Abigail in her Raider gear

Our first family portrait

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Family, Lily, Louis, Superbowl

Sisters Art

January 29, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Before Abigail was born Lily drew many pictures with baby Abigail in them, as well as drawings with our whole family. She even wrote “Abby” many times on her drawings, it was almost like she was obsessed with her. Once I got home from the hospital with Abigail I noticed something different about Lily, she had changed. The change wasn’t necessarily bad, it was just that she was acting different. She was almost over acting her enthusiasm for Abigail and acting somewhat ‘spazy’. Her normal actions were louder and bigger and just plain ol’ goofy. She also didn’t create any artwork with Abigail in it.

I think she was almost uncomfortable having Abigail around. We had to help Lily understand how to interact with a baby by teaching her things such as using your ‘indoor voice’ and using a gentle touch when playing with her. Perhaps all these new instructions made her feel a bit out of place in her own home and I can see why many children become jealous of the new baby in the house. Louis has taken some time off of work so that he can spend time with Lily and Abigail and we have made it a point to do special things with Lily as well. We also make sure that she is involved and helps us with the baby by getting a diaper, picking out her clothes or helping to feed her. Lily’s new behavior has tapered off and she is settling back into her own skin. I know that she is feeling better about having Abigail around because when she came home from Preschool on Wednesday she gave me a new piece of artwork.

Lily & Abigail holding hands – 01/27/10

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From Cheerio to Soda Can with No Epidural, But Not By Choice

January 28, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Update: 05/22/10
Since first writing this article on January 28, 2010 I have seen that my blog post has been getting a lot of views. My guess is that you have landed here because you have done a Google search about Epidurals or are curious about pain during labor. The original blog post was mainly about my entire labor experience, not just the pain involved. Therefore I will give you my candid (of course) view on labor pain as I recall doing the same internet research when I was pregnant with my first daughter in 2005.

The pain is so intense you will not be able to stand it, seriously. When you don’t have the epidural each contraction is like torture, and it doesn’t stop. It is like you have been involved in a car accident and have been seriously injured and there is no one there to help you. TV shows and movies, well most of them anyway, do not…and I repeat DO NOT depict labor and the pain involved correctly. There is not one ‘breathing’ technique or song that will keep your mind off of the pain, that is a load of bullshit! The pain is like someone is cutting you with a knife, do you think that you can sing a verse of “She’ll be coming round the mountain” if someone was slicing you up with a knife? Didn’t think so. The worst pain will be in your vagina when the head starts to crown, there is no pain medication for that part. The best thing to do is to push as hard as you can to get your baby out so that it ends quicker, that is the only way to get the pain to stop.

With that in mind, (this is just my opinion but) get the Epidural, don’t make this process harder on yourself than it really needs. I passed out twice during labor while I waiting for the epidural and it was horrible. The only thing I could do was attempt to breathe through it and pray, yes I prayed during labor. Nobody is going to think you are less of a woman because you asked for the pain medication and nobody is going to give you a gold medal for doing it without the pain medication. In the end, all you will have is your baby and being a parent is hard enough and can be shitty at times. The only medication for that is alcohol but you can’t drink that until you stop nursing. =)

Below is the original blog posting from January 28, 2010

During my pregnancy with Abigail I have always been concerned with the care for Lily (my 4 year old) during labor and I really hoped that my labor would be quick. Now I know to be careful what you wish for.

We had lined up various family members to take care of her depending upon the time of day I went into labor, the one time I didn’t want to go into labor was in the middle of the night. However, my body had other ideas. I woke up at 3:15 am on Monday morning January 18th with a really bad Braxton Hicks, turns out this was the real thing and I had lost my mucus plug. I woke up Louis and said, make some coffee and get ready because we are going to the hospital! I timed my contractions and they were not consistent, some were 4 minutes apart and others were 10 minutes apart. Most of them I could walk around through them but there were a few where I could not walk or talk during them. We called Labor and Delivery and they said to come in when they are 3-5 minutes apart.

My mom was the one who was going to watch Lilly should I go into labor in the middle of the night, so I gave her a call and woke her up at 4:45 and asked her to come over by 6:30. But the contractions kept coming harder and faster so I called her back a few minutes later and asked her to come over ASAP! We woke up Lily and took off for the hospital.

It was a holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr day) so freeway traffic was pretty light, however Louis felt the need to get in the #3 lane and drive the speed limit as I am screaming through each contraction. I yelled at him, get in the Fast Lane and gun it or we are having this kid in the car. I could feel that something was not right, these contractions were coming too fast and hurt more with each one. When we finally arrived at UC Davis Medical Center we had to walk while I was having contractions through the entire hospital and into the next wing, yes I said walk to Labor and Delivery and it was the longest walk ever!

I got into the triage section where they evaluate your situation and decide if they are going to admit you to a room, it didn’t take them too long to decide to admit me and start me on antibiotics as I have Group B Strep and need to have 4 hours of antibiotics prior to delivery. They checked my cervix and I was at 3 centimeters, I had gone from zero to three centimeters on my own in 3 hours. They also ordered the epidural as I walked (yet again) to my labor room.

They gave me some wussy pain medication while I waited for the epidural but it didn’t really help, these contractions were getting worse and coming every 2 minutes. It was the worst pain I have ever felt in mt life, this must be what torture was like. For the next 2 hours I screamed, prayed and begged for my epidural and wondered why this was happening to me, why was I waiting so long for the epidural? Remember, it was a holiday and there was ONE epidural fairy wandering labor and delivery and I was 3rd in line for an epidural. WHAT?? By 9am my labor nurse told me that I might have to give birth without an epidural, and that put me even more over the edge, I flipped out. At one point I even passed out from the intense pain and Louis and the nurses had to wake me up and even keep from from passing out another three times.

When the anesthesiologist finally arrived a bit after 9 AM I had to fill out paperwork (are you kidding me!) and she had to review the risks of having an epidural, PLEASE just give it to me already. I was having contractions every two minutes and during the epidural process I had to remain perfectly still, that was the worst part of labor. I vividly recall staring at a piece of lint on Louis’ shirt and gritting my teeth while I held his hands and cried from the pain. The attending Anesthesiologist and my labor nurse Kimmi each held me up and I started to pass out again from the pain and they held me up while the resident anesthesiologist administered the epidural.

Finally, I could feel relief with the epidural and now I could make it through the contractions while just doing my breathing exercises, which up to this point were pretty useless. The nurse checked my cervix and I was dilated to 8 centimeters, this had done all with out the epidural. The bad news is I have to wait another 2 hours to give birth because the antibiotics have to be in my system for 4 hours prior to giving birth and they were only in my system for 2 hours now. During the next to hours I could not push and try to remain calm as to not go into labor. If I were to go into labor the effects of the Group B Strep could be life threatening to Abigail. We realized that the camera was still in the car so Louis ran to get it, all the way back through the hospital and out to the car.

11:00 AM finally came and my nurse checked my cervix, I was now at 9 centimeters and since I had the antibiotics in my system for 4 hours they could now break my water. As soon as they broke my water I could feel Abigail slip down into the birth canal and I knew that I was ready to push my little Abigail out. The nurse called in the delivery team and I went to work pushing through the contractions. In my previous pregnancy with Lily I pushed for over 2 hours so I assumed this time would be the same, wrong. I pushed for maybe 30 minutes and about 10 times when she was born. The cord was wrapped around her neck and she was purple, but she was doing fine once they got her untangled and checked her out. I sneezed and then my placenta poped out and it took them longer to repair my 2nd degree tear than to give birth.

All in all it was a quick delivery and could have been quicker if it wasn’t for the Group B Strep. I was in labor for a total of 7 hours and pushed for 30 minutes.

I can’t really blame anyone for the lack of getting my epidural sooner, if I hadn’t progressed so quickly I would have been ok waiting for the epidural, of course maybe having more than one anesthesiologist on staff would have been nice, but oh well.

I feel that I can now do anything, after getting though this labor process I feel like a stronger woman and my recovery has also been awesome too! I am a bit sleep deprived but what would life with a newborn be like if you got sleep?

For more information about the stages of labor you can check out this link - http://www.prohealthcare.org/services/BirthingProHealthyBaby/birthing-binder/chapter-three/labor-guide.aspx

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Labor, Pregnancy

Life With Abigail

January 25, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

It has been a week since Abigail joined our happy little family and life has been good. She is a great eater, sleeper and Lily loves to help out by getting a diaper or picking out her clothes. We actually went out to dinner at Jacks Urban Eats for a celebratory Steak Salad and some Urban Fries and she did great. We look forward to having many fun adventures with her and will share them on our Blog.

This is a photo of Lily and Abigail, the first time Lily got to hold her.

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Baby Abigail Has Arrived

January 25, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Abigail Grace Cullo
7lbs, 5oz
19 inches
Born January 18, 2010
11:46 am

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Baby Abigail’s New Due Date

January 13, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

We had our 40 week appointment today and looks like we will have to wait until next week for her to be born. My doctor said that my body is ‘closed up tight’ and I am not a candidate for induction and the due date could just be wrong. He said that he will not let me go beyond 41 1/2 weeks which is next weekend, which gives us a new due date of around January 23rd.

So we wait….and have sex because he said that could help soft the cervix and start labor sooner. Also, I was hoping that he would at least strip my membranes today however, I learned that because I am Group B positive it could become a problem and cause an infection. I am having Braxton Hicks contractions so hopefully these will turn into more productive contractions this week.

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Braxton Hicks, Pregnancy

Due Date, Smooe Date

January 13, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

When I found out I was pregnant in May I headed figured out my due date based upon my LMP and came up with a due date of January 21st. However, once I visited the doctor he told me that it was going to be January 7th, what? Well, according to them all women are apparently on the same 28 day cycle…yeah right! My cycles are 41 days people and I can totally prove it!! But, he would not listen as we all know how ‘godly’ some doctors can be. So we moved along in the pregnancy and have been given 3 different due dates during the ultrasounds that we have had. All three were more towards the end of January, but my doctor always just stuck with January 14th. Guess what? Today is January 13th and I am still pregnant.

I know that due dates are just an estimate but darn it, I thought I would of had this little angel by now. I have prepared myself and my family so much for this day. My house is cleaned, laundry done, Lily’s child care for the event (somewhat) planned and now we need to wait another week.

I was hoping that he would at least strip my membranes today however, I learned that because I am Group B positive it could become a problem and cause an infection.

I am still having Braxton Hicks contractions and totally uncomfortable but things could be worse, right? Today was my 40 week appointment and after my exam the doctor indicated that I was not going to be induced today and I was pretty darn bummed. However, he did send me over to Labor & Delivery to have them check my amniotic fluid levels. With my first pregnancy 4 years ago at 40 weeks my fluid was 25% low and so I was induced. However, this time everything check out fine. I was hooked up to a fetal monitor and Baby Abigail did great through the two contractions that I had. The Nurse Practitioner did the ultrasound and found that my amniotic fluid levels were just fine and she even printed a picture of Abigail so we got to see her sweet face today. The nurse even ordered lunch for me (I didn’t have to ask for it) so I got a free meal and I found out that there is Free WiFi at the hospital, cool.

So, yes it is annoying that I am still pregnant but at least we know that everything is ok and according to me my due date is January 21st. I’ve also always said that I wanted her birthday to be as far away from Christmas as possible, really who wants their birthday right after Christmas anyway.

The one piece of advice that we did get from my doctor and the Nurse Practitioner was to have sex. They said that semen contains prostaglandins which can stimulate contractions. So, guess what we will be doing for the next week?

And by the way, my hospital bag has been in my car for over a week now! Guess it is safe to take it out now.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Pregnancy

Waiting To Get This Party Started

January 9, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I had my doctor’s appointment last week and found that my ‘baby door’ is shut tight! I am not due until January 14th so really there isn’t too much of a rush except that my doctor seems to think that Abigail is going to be a big baby and he would like for things to get moving. I feel though that if she is doing well in my tummy (no stress to her) then that is where she can stay until the due date. Lily was only a few days over due and she was 7 pounds, no biggie right? So, I declined my doctors offer to have my membranes stripped and we left the office hoping to get things started on our own. On the way home I had numerous erratic contractions known as Braxton Hicks contractions and this gave me hope that with our own methods I would be in labor in no time.

That was a few days ago and here I sit, in my office writing this blog and still no baby. Louis is right….the doctor is the professional and I should have listen to him and had my membranes stripped in the office. We have endured hours and miles of walking, foot massaging and even more walking. Prior to my doctors appointment I was walking at Walmart, Target, Costco etc and having a really hard time getting through it because there was so much pressure in my cervix. So after leaving the doctor’s office I was confident that Louis and I would need to just give it ‘one good walk’ around the mall a few times and wham things would naturally progress. I was so confident in fact that Louis is already taken time off of work because we thought we would be in labor and have Abigail by now. Wrong.

We strapped on our tennis shoes on Thursday night and walked at the Arden Fair Mall. We walked that darn thing 6 times which resulted in 3 miles and all I got was a blister and a swollen right foot. We managed to sneak in some spicy Thai food and a piece or two of See’s candy (dark chocolate vanilla butter cream and a picked up a small gift for Lily from the Hello Kitty store to give to her when she visits me and Abigail in the hospital. I had 1 Braxton Hicks contraction the entire time.

Ok, so next day we try the walking thing again, but this time it is complicated by the fact that Lily has decided that she is doesn’t want to go to preschool and takes normal than longer to get her booty into gear and we are late for school. I couldn’t walk at the mall as we had planned so we just walked around Target and after about 10 laps we ended up doing some grocery shopping. I even fired up my Wii and did some Yoga with my Wii Fit and some dancing on EA Active Sports.

Later that evening we ended up at the Roseville Galleria for some more walking but by this point I was so sore from walking I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. We walked a little bit, but not as much as we should have. It was rather difficult to do this with a 4 year old so we just gave up and at dinner and did some shopping. I did however get some great deals on bath products from Lush and Lily scored on some soap from there too. We came home and I took a nice warm bath with my new bath products and just relaxed.

Now, here is it Saturday and I have a sore throat, blisters, shin splints and I am exhausted. I’ve had a few more Braxton Hicks, but nothing major. This really wasn’t the ‘end game’ I had in mind. By now, I had hoped to have Abigail in my arms and possibly even home by now. But, I know that she will be here soon and I just need to enjoy the time we have together and relax because soon this house is going to be a loud crazy mad house and I will be longing for these quite lazy days.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Braxton Hicks, Dawn, Labor, Pregnancy

Happy New Years

January 4, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

We spent New Years at Daria’s house and Lily really wanted to wear something with sparkles and a poofy skirt. She had fun hanging out with cousin Kenny and Wyatt.

Lou’s brought over Guitar Hero and Rock Band AC/DC so we could rock out.

Josh and Michel playing the game.

Josh and Louis playing the game.

I was hoping to find some photos from the infamous New Years Eve 1999 party, but not very many of them were ‘post-able’ in the family blog..LOL. This was the only one I could find and I have NO idea what we were doing here, but it looks like we are having a good time. This was about 11 months before we were married.

New Years Eve 1999

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Packing For The Hospital, Who Needs Tennis Balls?

January 3, 2010 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

When I was packing for the hospital for my labor with Lily I took an actual suitcase full of crap and basically used 1% of the items. I swear, sometimes Baby Preparation guide books should be burned! They are useless and I think that only your friends have the best advice. I have no idea where the list that I followed 4 years ago was from but holy cow it was a joke. It suggested that I pack massage oil, tennis balls and a massager. Jesus Christ, once those contractions hit all I wanted to do was crush those tennis balls and throw them across the room, not massage my back with them….useless advice unless I was supposed to crush them. The only thing that really came in handy were the snacks, I was famished after going through labor, it was like running a marathon that I did not train for.

Here is a picture of my bag from last time with Lily

Hospital Bag from 4 Years Ago

Now, I have gotten a wee bit smarter and I am taking notes from other mommies and lists that I find online. These online lists are more up-to-date and realistic. The one site that I like the best is Baby Center and here is a link to their Hospital Packing list. I am also not taking my super big suitcase, just a carry on for me.

Here is a list of the things that I will be taking:

Electronics – pocket camera, Flip video camera, cell phone charger, MP3 Player with headphones
Personal Care Items – shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm, pads, hair ties, brush, lotion,
Clothing – nightgown, undies, going home outfit for Mommy, socks with grippers
Journal Items – either notepad & pen or my Baby Journal
Baby Abigail Items – going home outfit, blanket, pacifier, socks

Any other things you can think of? Just leave your comment below.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn, Hospital, Pregnancy

Maternity Leave and Making Money as an Entrepreneur

January 3, 2010 By Dawn Cullo 1 Comment

My “maternity leave” (and I use that term very loosely) is coming up. As I write this post I am about 11 days away from baby Abigail’s due date but if you are a mommy already you know how that date is really not as accurate as one would like and this unknowing about the due date can be stressful. As an entrepreneur I don’t get the traditional paid Maternity Leave, if I don’t work I don’t get any money. Which is a scary thought for me.

Since I have been working from home I have pretty much been in charge the money flow for my business depending upon how many clients I assist. I’ve made sure that I work enough hours to pay for food, a few basic necessities (like Diet Coke hee hee) and Lily’s preschool which these days can wipe out that paycheck pretty quickly. So what will I do now that I will be out of commission for a few days while in the hospital giving birth? Well, I plan on automating my business of course!

The Social Media world that I currently work in has opened my eyes to many passive income opportunities and team delegating. Now, I am not talking about any type of ‘get rich quick’ kind of deals but more along the idea of affiliate marketing, scheduled promotions, automated blog posts, article marketing and ebooks which can result in passive income. These activities take a little bit of time to set up but once they are done you can relax and enjoy the passive income. You can read more about how to set up passive income techniques on my company website at Sunrise Virtual Services and specifically this post about Affiliate Marketing

Another thing that I will be doing is delegating some tasks to another virtual assistant to help out with some of my clients activities. How will I make money this way if I give the work away? Simple, we will divide up the money. For example, if I charge the client $35.00 for Article Marketing I will pay my ‘helper’ $20.00 to post the articles and I will pocket the $15.00. While I am not making the full $35.00 I am still pulling in some money.

I will also be enlisting the help of my husband, he is a super savvy guy and really does understand my business. He will be doing some of the tasks that I do on a daily basis for my clients and thus we are still pulling in money for the company. Since my work can really be done 24/7 I plan on jumping on the computer and doing about an hour of work a day. I also receive my email on my Blackberry so I really don’t need to be in front of my computer to get some of my work done or to delegate it out to someone else.

So, while I have been busy getting ready for Baby Abigial I have also been getting my business ready to make some money while I take care of our newest Cullo.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn, Sunrise Virtual Services, Virtual Assisting, Working

Cullo Christmas

December 27, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

We had a great time at Christmas spending the Eve with my family and the day with Lou’s family.

The highlight from Christmas Eve was visiting with BizNona as she now lives in a care home but my mom was able to ‘check her out’ for a few hours and bring her home.

Lily & BizNona

Dancing Dora from BizNona

The highlight from Christmas Morning is always watching Lily open her gifts.

Christmas Morning - Lily's Baby Doll Accessories

The highlight from Christmas Day was watching Baby Wyatt’s reaction to getting Chicken Dance Elmo and seeing him take a few steps…Wyatt, not Elmo.

Wyatt & Chicken Dance Elmo

Lily & Julia with their automated Kitty Cats - meow, purr

Cullo Stockings

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Celebration, Christmas, Family, Holiday, Lily

Gingerbread House, NOT!

December 20, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Last year I reluctantly made a gingerbread house with Lily and it came out ok, but it was a very frustrating process and partly because I didn’t totally read through ALL of the directions. This year Lily would NOT stop asking about making another one so I finally gave in and picked one up at Michael’s Craft store and this year Louis was going to help with this madness.

I made sure that Louis read through the directions so that I wouldn’t screw it up this year. He even made the icing, but that actually turned out to be a hard task and we should have just stopped there. Louis started to assemble the house and when he was putting on the roof the whole thing just fell apart and we said ‘ forget it ‘ and we each took pieces of the house and decorated them and at them. I think Lily liked this better than having to wait for the whole house to be finished.

So, next year when I say “no, let’s not get a gingerbread house” I think that there will be no arguing and we will just decorate Gingerbread Men cookies instead.

Lily Decorated

Daddy's

Daddy's

Lily's

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Christmas, Dawn, Family, Lily, Louis

Mini Office

December 20, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

In anticipation of baby Abigail’s arrival we have decided to move some of my office upstairs into our bedroom. I know what you are thinking, mistake! But as an Entrepreneur the one thing that I will not be getting with this new baby is any paid maternity leave. Of course, I could have set some money aside for this time and taken some time off, but I just couldn’t squeeze anything else out of my checks so here I am needing to work with a new baby. However, I am not discouraged at all, I know that I can make this work. At least this time with a new baby my expectations about having a baby are more realistic this time. My plan is to work a few hours a week, and I can certainly do that with my office upstairs as that is where I am going to spend the majority of my time.

When we brought Lily home from the hospital I was in shock at how hard taking care of a new baby would be. Before Lily’s arrival I read just about every baby book out there, was on Baby Center everyday reading about new babies. However, I had no idea how much my life would change with a new baby, I basically felt like my life was over, at least the life I used to know was over. I recall within the first few days of bringing Lily home Louis and I crawled into bed for the night at 7:30pm, we were so tired and overwhelmed at how hard raising a new baby was. At this point I just wanted to pull the covers over my head and start over and I wanted to burn every baby book I had read because I felt that they really didn’t prepare me for much.

Now, fast forward 4 years and we are more prepared and realistic about raising a new baby. We know that it is going to be hard at first, she is going to cry a lot at first until we can get her all figured out and get settled into a routine. For now, I can work at least an hour a day and slowing increase my client load as Abigail gets older. I know it is going to be tough, but I know I can do it!

The other reason for moving part of my office upstairs is so that Lily keeps her flippin mess upstairs in the playroom. Often, when I working downstairs she drags a ton of her toys and stuffed animals downstairs so she can play and be near me while I work. I love her dearly, but she can really make a mess and that drives me bonkers. In the past I have used our older laptop upstairs and logged into LogMeIn to control my work computer downstairs but Holy Cow sitting at Lily’s playdough table and trying to work was just not cutting it for me! So, in my defense I did try to make it work without another desk upstairs. So, we headed out to Ikea to find a desk that would work in a small area but not look funky in a bedroom and we found this great combo of a desk with drawers and it looks like a dresser when it is closed up.

Here is a picture of the desk when it is open

Office

Here is a picture of the desk when it is closed

OfficeDesk

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Dawn, Sunrise Virtual Services, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assisting, Working

Abigail’s Nursery & Shower

December 16, 2009 By Dawn Cullo 2 Comments

We have finished with Abigails room, now we just need her in it! A few more weeks and she will be popping out! We used some of Lily’s nursery items such as her crib, dresser and some of her decorations. We kept the Bunny theme that we used in Lily’s nursery as well.

nursery1

nursery2

nursery3

My mom threw me a Baby shower on December 5th and I had a great time with all my friends and family. Lily even got some great things from some of the guests. She got a big sister shirt, and a cute little black & white stuffed kitty and one that she can give to Abigial.

Dawn & Lily

The Cake

Dawn & Kathy

"Big Sister" Lily

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Baby Shower, Pregnancy

Happy Holidays From The Cullo’s

December 14, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Happy Holidays !! We are glad you found us. We are currently working on a new and improved Cullo Family Blog, so until it is finished you can read all about our family on Dawn’s personal blog site.

Abby
We are currently working on getting ready for the newest Cullo to join the family and she is due to arrive mid January, we have decided to call her Abigail Grace.

Lily is very excited to become a big sister and really jazzed to be able to teach her fun things like how to play with all her toys, the kitties and baby signs. We are so blessed to be able to grow our family and can’t wait until she arrives.

You can read more about Baby Abigail Cullo 2010 updates on her blog.

Lily turned 4 in September and is in Preschool, she just loves it. Each day that she comes home she is full of all kinds of stories about what she did at school and you can tell that she really enjoys it.

When she is at home she loves to play with her kitties Sassy and Roxy as well as read books with Mommy and Daddy and she loves to draw.

It seems that her new favorite thing is to play with my Flip video camera and take all sorts of Videos. You can see her videos by visiting our video page on this site or on our YouTube Channel.

Louis is still working for Delta Dental in Rancho Cordova as a workforce analyst and still enjoys helping Lily with her math questions, teaching her card games and playing guitar with her.

He is also busy around the house getting things ready for Abigail’s arrival by putting furniture together and rearranging things around the house.

If you would like to connect with Louis you can do so on Facebook or email at zzlou@comcast.net.

Dawn is a Virtual Assistant and sells Avon. Having these home businesses allows her the freedom to work at home during wacky hours and be home for Lily and the future Miss Abigail.

Dawn owns a Virtual Assisting business helping small business owners with their Social Networking strategies. She currently has several clients but happy to assist more, you can visit her company site at http://www.SunriseVirtualServices.com

If you would like to connect with Dawn you can do so via Facebook or email at DawnCullo@comcast.net.

We hope that you all have a wonderful Holiday Season and a fantastic 2010!

Louis, Dawn and Lily Cullo

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Celebration, Dawn, Family, Holiday, Lily, Louis

Nesting

December 14, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I can’t belive that I am doing it again, I am nesting. I don’t realize that I am doing it until I am well into scrubbing the bathroom tile with a toothbrush. It is amazing how much you can get done when you are 8 months pregnant! I keep crossing things off my list and I am looking for more things to do. My house certianly isn’t perfect at the moment and in fact I am looking at way too much dust sitting on my computer monitor….guess I need to do some swiffering in my office today. =)

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Pregnancy

Snow In Rancho…kind of

December 10, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

So it was really cold in Rancho Cordova and in the wee hours of the morning it snowed. There really wasn’t much snow, but it was still fun to see the snow stick to our roof and Lily’s toys in the backyard.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog, Photography Tagged With: Dawn, Photography, Rancho Cordova

St. Mary’s School Here We Come

October 17, 2009 By Dawn Cullo 1 Comment

We took the school tour for St. Mary’s School and will be submitting our application for Lily in a few weeks. We were really impressed with all that the school has to offer. They have a separate building with rooms for Music, a Science lab (which rivaled the one I had in high school), Chapel, Art, Computer Lab and a Library. When I went there we sat in one classroom for an entire day, and the Library was in a mobile classroom. They also have a tutoring program, which would have come in handy during my 8th grade math experience. But the tutor isn’t just for kids who need help with a subject, they are there to help kids who excel in their subjects and need more challenging assignments.

On this day we did not get to see the Kindergartners as they were out on a field trip to the pumpkin patch, which was a little disappointing but at least we got to see their classroom. I didn’t really like the classroom too much because it seemed small and cluttered but they are moving the classroom next year to the 8th grade classroom which is a lot bigger so that problem is solved.

We were told that they will only be admitting 40 children into Kindergarten next year and 10 of the spots are already spoken for due to siblings already enrolled at the school and they get first priority. The priority scale after that gets a little tricky and we wind up some where in the middle, probably with the majority of the applicants. There were about 25 families there for tour, so who knows! Of course if you are a participating member of the school parish you have a better chance of getting in so guess what I am doing this weekend? That’s right, headed back to Church with my offertory envelope in hand and I have contacted someone at the church to volunteer my time.

They also do a placement test for the kids in March and I know that Lily will do well on the test, it is just the getting her to do it alone. She can be a little shy and I don’t want her to freak out that she has to go into the classroom without us and talk to the teacher. So we are also going to attend as many functions as we can to get her used to the environment at the school. The next event we will be attending is the Fine Art and Craft Show on November 14th.

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Lily, School, St. Marys

Gestational Diabetes

October 17, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I had to take the 1 hour glucose screen to see if I might have Gestational Diabetes and failed! I was in shock because when I was pregnant with Lily I passed it with flying colors. So I called to make the 3 hour test appointment and had to wait a few weeks for an opening. When the time came for my appointment I did the appropriate fasting (12 hours) and geared up with my laptop, two movies, a few books and made sure my phone was fully charged. When I got there she took my blood for a fasting reading, then had me drink a horrible tasting drink that was like really bad punch a a 3 year olds birthday party. I had to wait 1 hour and she took my blood again, wait another other and take my blood and then another hour. I finished the test at 11:05 and promptly bolted across the street for a well deserved diet coke and spicy thai chicken soup in a bread bowl from LaBou, it was raining and so soup sounded great.

The next day I was so anxious for my results so I called my doctor and was so releived to find out that I did great and had nothing to worry about, at first I thougth did she read me the wrong results? =)

So, now I can move past this and go back to concentrating on Abigail’s nursery decorating.

Filed Under: Blog, Dawn's Blog

25 Week Ultrasound

September 29, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

I had to go back for a follow-up ultra sound a few days ago because at the 20 week ultrasound they were unable to get good image of her heart. This time, there was no problem as they were able to get the images right away. The tech was able to spend some extra time with me and sent me home with some great shots.

Face

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Profile

profile092809

Leg & Foot

This is what keeps me up at night…the kicking!

leg092809

Foot

foot092809

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Abigail, Dawn, Pregnancy

Thunderbirds, Birthday Party, Nascar & Football

September 16, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Wow, what a weekend I just had. The California Capital Airshow was in town and the Thunderbirds put on quite a show. We live very near the Mather Airport so it is easy for us to drive down the street to check out the planes. We are also able to view the practice sessions that they have on Thursday & Friday prior to the airshow. Here is my favorite picture from the Thunderbirds practice which took place on September 11, 2009. You can see more on my Flickr Account

TB0911_4

Then on Saturday we went to the airshow and spent about 2 hours there and then headed back to our secret viewing spot to view the Thunderbirds show later in the afternoon. LilyThunderbirds That night there was a Nascar Night race, which is my favorite kind of racing. Then on Sunday Lily we had Lily’s family birthday party (4th Birthday) along with opening weekend for Football AND DirecTV had their NFL Season Ticket for free that day so the whole family (ok, just the guys) were playing with that. All of my favoriate things were rolled up into one weekend – Thunderbirds, Nascar, Family and Football. I am still tired from it all.

Filed Under: Blog, Cullo Family News, Dawn's Blog Tagged With: Airshow, Birthday, Celebration, Family, Lily, Nascar, Thunderbirds

Oh Vay, Braxton Hicks

September 16, 2009 By Dawn Cullo Leave a Comment

Any pregnant lady will tell you that they have experienced Braxton Hicks contractions during their pregnancy. These are basically felt anytime after the 1st Trimester and I am approaching 6 months pregnant which is my 2nd Trimester. They are your bodies way of getting ready for labor, it is like warming up for the event. They are not painful, just annoying. When I was pregnant with Lily I didn’t really feel these until much later in the pregnancy and even then at times I thought it was her kicking me. Now, I can tell the difference between Abigail kicking me and a Braxton Hicks contraction.

The Braxton Hicks that I am feeling happen pretty much all day long, and are seriously starting to annoy me, but I know that this is part of pregnancy. They basically feel like a muscle spasm in a specific spot for about 2 minutes. Then they move onto another spot and continue all day long. Sometimes they can go every 8 minutes, sometimes only once an hour. When I feel Abigail move it is more of a kick or punch one time in the lower belly and that is it.

They do become annoying because I sit at my desk and work and they can become uncomfortable and make it hard to concentrate on work. It is like having someone come up and kick you in your stomach or ‘down there’ and then you feel the muscle spasm for a few minutes. Oh well, only 17 more weeks of this and then I will be in intense pain which will result in the birth of a baby.