Month: June 2024

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Very Proud!

Posted on by Mama

Today was a pretty big day for my husband, well at least I thought it was and is! I just took my G driving test back in May, which in Canada, is the time driving test before you get a full license. Now today, it was my husband’s turn. Yup, we love to procrastinate, not even going to lie about it! AND….he passed! Which I knew he would and we will be celebrating tomorrow.

This morning was all about Mommy/daughter time as my husband went off to do his driving test. He opted for us to stay home, Valeria isn’t loving long car ride recently, and I think he needed some alone time to focus. We played, had some breakfast, went for a pretty long walk and than nap time by Noon. She was such a good girl all morning, and she even stood on her own without holding anything for 5 seconds, which is incredible! She has been slowly growing more courageous and attempting that more and more recently. She is zooming around, crawling everywhere and anywhere she can. We even borrowed a little walker from my mother-in-law for her to learn on.

By the time my husband got back, Valeria was awake from her nap and we were having some lunch. He sweetly brought me a coffee and he finished feeding Valeria her lunch. He missed us a lot, his words not mine!

The afternoon was kind of blah though since we had a thunderstorm roll in and knocked our power out for the second day in a row (we aren’t having nice weather here right now) and there isn’t much to do inside. Plus, we don’t want to be inside, it’s summer!! I digress, but we managed to keep her busy with toys and made up games. Eventually she went down for her second nap. I opted to go over to my Nonna’s house to clean up the basement a little from the party we had; clean up recycling, fold table cloths, etc. Nothing major, but needed to be done. Don’t be too concerned, I waited until the weather calmed down and we no longer had a Tornado watch….wait did I mention we had a Tornado watch?

Cleaned, soccer talk with my brother and back home for dinner. We decided to head for a walk since it was sunny out after dinner. Weather is so weird. Valeria decided she wanted to stand on her harness base instead of sitting, which than turned into harness zoomies. She was laughing and having a blast; she watched the cars, people and even the nature that was around her. She is such a brilliant, silly kid and I love it!

Once the walk was done, it was time to wind down for the night and the even routine ensued. Clothing change, little play time, bottles ready, sound machine on, bed prepared and a bed time story read by yours truly. She was a sleepy bean (that’s what I call her) and she went down pretty easy.

It was a good day and I honestly don’t know where the time went. But now it’s time to relax a little until tomorrow. Banana bread and catching up on blogs.

Hope you had a wonderful day, wherever you are in the world.

Ciao!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Travelling Home and A Little Bit of Soccer

Posted on by Mama

I’ll jump right to it, we have had a long day in general with an equally long drive home from my husband’s home town. I will be honest, I am absolutely beat and I think my husband may have fell asleep with the baby tonight. Oh nope….there he is!

My husband drove his mother to work this morning bright and early at 6:15 AM and I stayed with the baby at the apartment. She was sounds asleep….that is until my husband left. Than she whimpered and cried a little, I rushed to grab a bottle from the fridge, came back and attempted to feed her back to sleep to no avail. She was up and tumbling around in the bed. With a yawn, I began to play with her until my husband got home and than he took over. Let’s just say my husband had her down within a half hour. Why can’t I do that? It’s like he’s a freakin’ magician!

We all got some more rest before waking for the day at around 9:45 AM. Yup, that’s a first in a long time, we got to sleep in! Wooooo!!! Once we rolled out of bed; it was our regular morning routine, more play time, packing up, nap and than off we went on the road.

In true Valeria fashion, she decided as we got on the highway that it was time to poop. Sigh….yup an immediate pit-stop for us to change the little one. She was not a happy camper and I don’t blame her after what we witnessed in her diaper. We threw away the diaper in the trash (sorry to whoever has to change that garbage) and went on our way. Between the construction and traffic, the drive was a bit annoying but we made it back home.

Italy was facing Croatia today in Euro Cup, so I texted my brother to see if we could go over to watch and he said yes. So straight from the highway we went to his place. The game started at 3 PM, but right when we got to the house, Valeria had other plans. She was very sleepy and wanted a nap, so my magician of a husband, AGAIN, put her down for a nap almost immediately. Seriously….I don’t understand how he does it!

I was fortunate to watch from kick-off all the way to the stunning last minute goal by Italy. The game was intense, and Italy was battling hard against the Croatian team. Croatia scored the first goal in the second half at the 55 minute mark, but that seemed to only put a fire in the belly of the Italian team. Though Italy had possession most of the remainder of the match, we couldn’t quite get the perfect opportunity to score on Croatia. Which to be fair, Croatia had pretty skilled defenders and goalie on their end, who seemed to keep shutting Italy out. It was beginning to look pretty grim for the boys in blue as the time was running out. And yes, I was screaming in anger at the T.V.

Valeria woke up as the stoppage time began, which was a nail biter and I have to say she is my little lucky charm! If you don’t know what stoppage time is, here is a brief explanation: it’s the period of time that is added to the end of the game because plays were stopped during the game due to injuries, etc. We had eight minutes of stoppage time…..8….minutes. In my humble opinion, Chiesa was brought into the game far too late and really should have started, along with Zaccagni. I highly questioned the various decisions the coach made and why certain players were not pulled off, but that is neither here nor there. But the incredible play that tied the game was by one of our strikers, Mattia Zaccagni, who was set up perfectly by Riccardo Calafiori for a top corner goal. It was a devastating blow for Croatia who was knocked out, but I will be honest….My brother, husband, myself and even Valeria started to bounce due to our excitement! We were cheering happily for our boys in blue!!

Forza Italia!

After the game, we spent a little time with my brother, allowing Valeria to roam about and play with Zio Marco before heading home. Grandma was thrilled to see her and when grandpa got home, he was even more excited. Toots (what he calls head bumps for her) is her favourite with grandpa. Dinner was quickly prepared by yours truly, playtime with grandma and grandpa, dishes done and than the yawns, rubbing of the eyes and light hair pulling began. Baby girl was getting tired! We said good night to grandma and grandpa and off we went to her mats. Daddy had already prepared bottles that were cooling down in the fridge, and we let her crawl around to get any excess energy out. I read her a book and than the cranky sounds began and it was time. She went down without a fight, she was exhausted.

And now I sit here writing my cheesy soccer review and tidbits about the day. But it was ultimately a great day, long and tiring, but great.

I hope you all had a lovely Monday, wherever you are in the world! And let me know in the comments if any of you are watching Euro Cup and who you are rooting for!

Ciao from a very Proud Italian Fan!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Runnin’ Around

Posted on by Mama

Not much to report today, I was planning a different post, but thought this was a little more appropriate for the day. The day started fairly early for my husband since Valeria decided on an early morning today

The morning went by too quickly; breakfast, nap, walk, laundry folded, lunch and than out the door to run some necessary errands. We needed to pick up a gift for my sister-in-law and a card, return a package from Amazon and pick up some grocery items. When we got home, Valeria played a bit on her mat and than off for another nap, but it wasn’t very long. I took full advantage and started making homemade pizza. My husband started grilling up a steak for Valeria and I.

A few weeks ago we went to the farmers market to pick up some things and they had a sourdough vendor there. He was advertising all sorts of breads and than in the corner of his booth there was a tiny sign that said “Sourdough pizza dough – 3 for $10”. Well you know I had to try that! So that’s what I used tonight for the pizza, though not sure I did it quite right. I stretched out the dough, topped it with the roasted tomato and garlic sauce I made the day before (really easy if anyone would like the recipe…maybe I’ll just do a post!) and than toppings. I left it in the oven for about an hour, but the dough didn’t seem like it was cooking. After an hour and 20 minutes I took it out. My husband said it was delicious, my mother said the dough was still raw and I was like “Crap, I think I did this wrong….maybe don’t eat it…” With concern plastered on my face that I might give them food poisoning. If anyone has made sourdough pizza dough before and has tips, please let me a comment. Any help is appreciated. All in all though, for my first attempt, I was pretty happy with the results!

We were planning to leave for my mother-in-law’s today, but the day just got away from us so we opted for tomorrow morning instead. Just finishing off some laundry and getting some things ready for our family beach day tomorrow near my husband’s hometown and we’re all set! We’ll leave after Valeria has breakfast and hopefully she will be a happy camper in the car. She has not enjoyed long car rides recently, which is a new little phase she is going through. But I’m hoping it won’t last long too long.

Otherwise, that’s all for today; busy but boring and honestly just how I like it. I hope you had a wonderful day wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in WP Prompt

Bonus – Word Press Prompt – Spirited

Posted on by Mama

How important is spirituality in your life?

I feel like Word Press has had this question before and I’m pretty sure I’ve answered it, but here we go again.

Yes, spirituality is very important to me and my husband as well. We just Baptized our daughter on June 16th, and we hope that it will mean just as much to her as she gets older.

My journey with spirituality hasn’t always been straight forward, but those crooks and bumps in the road ultimately led me back to God. Reconnecting to my spirituality has had such a positive impact on my life; it brought me my husband, which led to our daughter and the joy of being a stay at home mom. I pray every night and often seek guidance when I’m unsure of the path God has already planned for me and my family.

Spirituality is personal and meaningful in different ways for everyone, for me it means so much that I can’t imagine not having a relationship with God.

Long story short, yes spirituality means a lot to me.

Ciao!!

Posted in Religion

Beautiful Day – Valeria’s Baptism

Posted on by Mama

Yesterday was Valeria’s big day! It had been a bit to prepare for everything; coordinating everything with the church, sending invites, ordering catering, finding and creating decorations, cleaning and decorating my Nonna’s basement and than the big day finally has come!

We knew that the day was going to be nice and long, however her nap schedule was a little all over the place. Though I have to say, she was only cranky near the end of church and later in the afternoon. Though she had A LOT of stimulation in the afternoon/evening.

The day started pretty early, I got ready for the day, doing my hair and make-up and to just get it out of the way. Valeria woke up early as well, not ideal, I was hoping she would sleep more. My husband also quickly got ready as well, we were taking turns keeping Valeria entertained.

Family started arriving by about 10 AM, slowly trickling as the morning turned into early afternoon. By 1 pm, everyone from out of town was here (there was about 20 people in total from in town and out of town) and we needed to get Valeria ready for her big day.

Her God Mother helped to dress her, which was a beautiful experience and I wish I had got photos of it. It was myself, my husband, my cousin and her husband and my other cousin who were there as Valeria was being dressed. Unfortunately, my cousin’s husband couldn’t officially stand up there with Valeria, but we consider him her God Father anyway. My cousin and her husband will be a wonderful support system and guiding hand in her life in all aspects.

We got to the church a bit early and met with the Sacramental Coordinator, she informed us of how the Mass will go, showed us our seating and our reserved seating for our families. We all sat down fairly early and Valeria was just looking in every direction she could. She was so curious and as soon as the music started, she went completely quiet and bounced in my husband’s arms excited. The Mass was beautiful to be honest and there was another family also Baptizing their little girl. It was a very joyous occasion for both our families.

Valeria even made the whole congregation laugh, as my husband tipped her back so the Priest could Baptize her, she reached for the pitcher (she loves water) and tried to grab it from him. He made some funny commentary and proceeded. Than when we were waiting for the candle to be lit, she was biting on the towel and making sounds, attempting to get the “last word” in every time the Priest spoke. Than the applause came and she was over the moon! The biggest smile on her face. It was too cute!

I have to say though, she was so well behaved the entire Mass, up until the end when she started to get really tired. When Mass was finished, she instantly fell asleep in my husband’s arms. We weren’t able to do photos at the church, but that’s okay, I wasn’t going to try to force her to stay awake. We went out in the parking lot, spoke to family briefly and than in the car. That was a bit of a task with Valeria already asleep. She did not like being put in the car seat and having her sleep disrupted (I don’t blame her, I don’t like my sleep disrupted either), but with some quick moves and a little bit of her bottle, she fell back asleep pretty fast.

We arrived at my Nonna’s house within 20 minutes of leaving the church and thankfully the catering was already there, nice and piping hot. Chit chat and food, everyone was extremely happy enjoying a dinner together. I did one long table so that we all felt together and connected. My husband’s mom was very kind and held her while we ate dinner and than my cousin held her as I fed Valeria and than she started to get cranky, so my husband and I brought her upstairs for a bit of quiet. Much needed since her nap was fairly short from the church and the car. She was VERY stimulated from all the people (it was her first really large family gathering) and it was very loud. Eventually my husband and I were able to finish dinner and than again, put her for a nap. Sadly, the nap was cut short.

We attempted taking pictures, but she just wasn’t having it and had to settle for a big group photo. We attempted again to do photos with individual families before people had to leave for the night, but she was too cranky. All in all, people were taking so many photos and my brother was kind enough to take some with my camera, which I still need to go through, so we have an abundance to look through from everyone. I’m grateful our families did that, but I really wanted photos of each individual family. Can’t be helped though!

The day was wonderful and joyous nonetheless and I’m so happy for our daughter. She will have beautiful memories of this day to look back on when she is older and all these wonderful people who came to support her will always be in her life. There were be endless memories to come for sure.

So just a few photos to share, but it’s a little something!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

New Schedule

Posted on by Mama

As you can tell things have been a bit hectic here and I haven’t been able to put in the time and effort I was before the summer started. I was contemplating today, as I sat in the chair at the hair salon, if I should continue to do a half-assed job, or cut down the blog posts and create better content for myself and my fellow readers.

Ultimately, I started this blog thinking no one would ever read it and it was really for myself. But you guys have been so kind and supportive of my writing, our family and my life, that I can’t continue to write scatter brained posts. Though the chaos is interesting and funny, don’t you think?!

So, I’ve decided for the summer that I will be posting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. At least one post for those days and if I can produce more posts throughout the week, I will gladly write! But the summer is crazy busy already and frankly, I don’t see it easing up until the fall.

I promise I will catch up on missed posts from you guys that I follow and I hope you guys stick around with me!

Enjoy your summer and see you Monday!!

Ciao!!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Exhausted…

Posted on by Mama

It seems that I missed posting yesterday, which is a first for me, but I fell asleep cuddling my husband.

Today was a busy day for us since it was actually hot out and not just sunny and cold. My husband cleaned out Valeria’s pool and set it up with fresh new water. We got her little swimmer diapers for when she starts her swimming lessons (did I mention that yet?) And they went in the pool as I pulled weeds in the garden. I’ll need to pick more of my chamomile flowers tomorrow, hopefully it’s nice out.

Than Valeria had some lunch, organs and rice, and than it was bath time. After bath time she played around on her mats until it was time for her second nap. She has been extra sleepy lately, her second top tooth is coming in and the corner has finally poked through the gum. She had a decent afternoon nap, but her morning naps is when she sleeps the longest.

After nap time we got her ready and headed to Nonna’s to work on more of the basement for her party. It is coming along nicely, just small tedious things to do now. We’re Italian,  we like to go all out, especially my mom and I. I promise photos!

We stayed there for a few hours before we called it quits. Valeria was getting cranky, but my husband and my brother kept her as busy as they could. Zio (uncle in Italian) loves to play with her, especially now that she is crawling around. She tends to chase after the ball he rolls to her.

We got home and she just rolled around and played for 20 minutes before getting her dressed and off to bed. No fuss tonight, I think the sun, pool and tooth tired her out tonight.

My week has been hectic and my husband has seriously be so incredible as I decorate and finalizing things for Valeria’s Baptism. I hope everything goes well, the day is beautiful and everyone has a wonderful time.

Bit I’ve been nonstop all week and I’m just crashing in exhaustion by the end of the day. I’m even forgetting my phone at home half the time, my mind is everywhere and thinking of all the things needing to be done. I don’t mind the “chaos”, I thrive on it honestly. I just forget that I crash a little easier and harder now that I’m a mom.

But I’ll catch up on sleep tonight, and speaking of I am going to call it here ladies and gents. My daughter is in bed and I am going to relax with my husband.

Have a wonderful night or day wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Extra Tidbits

Happy Birthday Mom!

Posted on by Mama

Celebrated my mom’s birthday. She never wants to celebrate, but I always try to make it even a little special. We got her a bird feeder stand she wanted for the yard, some flowers and a lemon cake. My brother Marco bought her dinner, she wanted pizza. My brother Anthony and his family got her a balloon, card and a neat house plant. It was sweet, simple and I hope it made her feel a little special.

We love you Mom and Happy Birthday!

Ciao!