Well, seriously it is almost the end of 2010 and it has been filled with a lot of ups and a lot of downs. Maybe not ‘downs’ in the sense of tragedy, more like a few not so fun days mixed in there. I think the theme of the year was ‘exhaustion’.
Last January 
we kicked off the new year by adding Abigail to our family. I spent the first part of January trying to make her come out, but the little bugger stayed in there until the 18th and wanted to come out at 3:45 am during one of the worst and first storm of the year. My family almost didn’t come to see me in the hospital because the storm was so bad, whatever! I just pushed a kid out of my &$@# you better get your booty down here to see her! LOL. I kid, no really I do. If you want to read Abigail’s birth story and my rant about pain medication during labor you can go here – http://dawncullo.com/from-cheerio-to-soda-can-with-no-epidural-but-not-by-choice/
The first few months of the year were a complete blur. I was trying to do it all, run my business, deal with a newborn and help Lily with her transition of being a big sister. I felt bad for Lily, she really didn’t know what to expect. We tried to prepare her as best we could about what to expect with a new baby in the house but I know at times she felt out of place and that makes my heart hurt a little bit for her. We included her as much as we could in the care for Abigail such as her helping us get a diaper or choosing Abigail’s outfits for the day. But the funny thing is that most times she just wanted to go play.
Once Abigail finally reached about 3 months things started to get better. The weather was better and we could go for walks in her stroller and go play at the park with Lily. As the months rolled on we started to do new things with Abigail such as solid foods and she started to scoot and crawl and her Baptism at St. Ignatius. Soon it was time for Lily to say goodbye to her Preschool life and venture on to the world of Summer Camp.
The summer time opened up a whole new world for all of us and it came in the form of a Taxi. I got a glimpse into what Kindergarten would hold for me, the Taxi. You can read more about this experience here - http://dawncullo.com/taxi/
During the summer I also made a business mistake and disappointed a few people. They know who they are so I don’t really care to mention specifics in my blog but I still feel terrible about what happened but I needed to do what was best for my family and I made a tough decision. At the end of the summer I made a huge leap in my business and opened up a multi-VA firm. At the time I did this I felt like I couldn’t breath, I was so busy with clients that I felt like I was juggling so much responsibility. I am still working on growing the team and figuring it all out but having a great time knowing that I have a solid team of people working with me, I am not alone.
The fall brought us into the world of Kindergarten. At first is was a fun new experience, now 4 months later I am ready for 1st grade to start. I am so ‘over’ Kindergarten at this point. The 1/2 day schedule is killing me and the crazy lack of communication from the school is driving my Type A personality to drink. Yes, I’ve had a Rum and Diet Coke recently and it tasted awesome. =) You can read more about Lily’s 1st day at Kindergarten here – http://dawncullo.com/chapter/ and you can read more about my coming to terms with my past behavior in school here – http://dawncullo.com/as-the-world-turns/
We also finally had the opportunity to upgrade our cell phones and just in time too because both of our Crackberry phones broke as our contract ended. We upgraded to Android phones and just love all the things we can do with our phones.
Finally we have arrived at the end of the year and Abigail has started walking now, she pretty much walks instead of crawls. It is so cute to see a little 2 foot person walking around your house. You can see a video here of her 1st steps – http://dawncullo.com/abigial-walking/
3 new Cullo grandkids (Abigial, Karina & Charlotte) have been added to the mix to bring the total of grandkids to 8, holy cow. We had a everyone over at our house this past week for a few hours and I was pretty sure that they were all going to come rolling down the stairs or crashing through the ceiling. Look at them…aren’t they so cute and innocent looking? Needless to say but Abigail’s 1st birthday party will be off site this year at The Little Gym. =)
My goals for 2011 include starting a Virtual Assistant Coaching program, adding more products to my company such as Ebooks and Audio programs for sale. I also want to loose weight and eat better but everyone says that too and that is boring so maybe I will gain 5 pounds and eat some cake. =)
Happy New Year to you.
By the way, the picture that is the thumbnail to this post is of me and Louis at the infamous NYE “Party Like It’s 1999″ party at George & Claudia’s house.
