I absolutely HATE spiders! They freak me out beyond belief and for some reason it’s like they can sense my fear of them because they constantly find a way to intrude on my space.
Well, tonight was no exception, this big black monster….okay it seemed like a monster to me anyway, it was just chillin’ on our bathroom wall by the window where the shower was. It was absolutely disgusting, black and the size of a quarter, I swear! I was freaking out with my slipper in hand ready to attempt smacking it and thought better when it scurried across the wall. Plus, the smack probably would have woken up Valeria.
Thankfully, I heard my husband and immediately opened the bathroom door and called for him in a panic. He came waltzing in, said “where is it?” I pointed frantically and he heroically killed the thing for me.
My hero…I could now go to the bathroom in peace!
He got a kiss for that one.
What are you scared of? Let me know in the comments below.
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.
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!
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!
We tried everything to put her down her usual way, gentle, patient, but nothing worked. Having to let her cry in her crib was horrible. This photo doesn’t do the feelings you go through justice.
As the title describes, it was a very busy Saturday right from when I awake this morning.
I woke up around 9:15 this morning, Valeria had woken up a little bit earlier than that and my husband started the day with her. I got up and got ready for the day while Valeria was having breakfast with daddy and grandma.
My mom had asked me to go along with her and my sister-in-law to a tour of a nursing home for my Nonna. Her dementia is very advanced and she needs to be taken care of 24/7. My mom is managing on her own, but my Nonna is now on the critical list, so she is being proactive and looking at the homes on her list. Hence the tour! The bonus of this nursing home we toured today, my sister-in-law actually worked as a nurse there and even still knows a lot of the staff. The home was amazing and felt more like a retirement community with nurses. The activities were numerous, it was clean, the staff seemed friendly, the rooms spacious and the amenities for the residence and their families were incredible. My mom was sold, she absolutely loved it over the others and she is dead set on her coming to this home. Plus it’s down the street from our house, so if she was needed in the middle of the night, she could easily drive over. Perfect!
After the tour, mom and I ran to the dollar store to see about decorations for the Baptism….in which there were NONE. Sigh. I am having one heck of a time finding any decorations for the celebration at the house once Mass is over. I’m essentially making my own, I might grab a sign online from Amazon though. After that, quick stop to Tim Horton’s (chain coffee shop in Canada) and back home.
Thankfully we arrived just in time, Valeria had just woke up from her and we had plans to go to a local farmers market that is actually housed in town. Not the best part of town, but we thought, hey why not! It is actually housed in an old factory building, which makes it a great stop during rain or shine.
We got Valeria ready to go with her diaper bag, snacks, water, milk, little pigtails in her hair (it’s getting so long!) and little shorts/t-shirt. She was very happy, even had a little snack before we left. So my mom drove, I was navigating in the passenger seat, my husband in the back with the baby and Valeria has the best timing. She decided to poop in the car and thankfully the market wasn’t too far. We parked and immediately changed her in the car and tossed the diaper in a reusable grocery bag and in the trash. Sorry to whomever possibly opens that!
The market was amazing! It was incredibly busy, the vendors were friendly and the food….WOW! Valeria was looking it as she sat in the sling watching all the people walking and working, the products, colours and smells. My brother suggested a vendor there for catering that he knew, so that was another reason we went to the market. We met with him and he was so friendly, reasonably priced, talented and honest. He had multiple little shops and he took us over to his pasta shop and OH MAN! He makes everything from scratch and we even got to try a sample of pasta. Valeria devoured it! It was a tortellini pasta with chicken in a marinara sauce. She wanted more, they even gave us a sample of their Mac n’ Cheese, she loved that too. She truly is an Italian/Romanian baby! Loves her carbs….mama is proud! The guy even sold us some meat (he is a butcher by trade) and pointed us in the direction of some amazing vendors to check out. We ended up getting an assortment of pasta and foods to try, sausages, peameal bacon, mozzarella/mushroom burgers, schnitzel, hand churned butter, cream cheese, a Boston cream donut, sourdough bread and sourdough pizza dough. We got quite the haul!
Valeria was very stimulated there, you can always tell because her head just darts back and forth, she makes her happy sound, her legs are kicking happily and generally she babbles quite a bit. We headed out after about an hour, we went a bit late and the market closes at 3 PM. When we were home, she got very tired after playing with us for a bit, so my husband put her for a nap and he went to go get a hair cut.
After her nap, we spent some time outside in the backyard enjoying the sunshine; she played on a blanket with my husband and I pulled weeds from the garden beds. Which were a pain and mostly coming from the neighbours yard…..that’s a topic for another day. But the rest of the day was spend enjoying our time together outside and playing with her. We went for a nice walk with her and ended the day with me reading to her as we put her to sleep.
Valeria has been out of sorts the past few days and even though we have been able to manage it, today was a difficult day, especially for my husband.
She woke up in a very bad mood and not quite sure why since she slept through the night. But she woke up screaming and crying, and my husband couldn’t soothe her at all. We couldn’t figure out why; we checked her teeth, checked her diaper, tried feeding her and nothing. I swooped in and held her, rocking from side to side until she calmed down. I laid her in bed with us, allowing her to crawl and play for a while until she was ready to go back to bed. Mind you this was happening at 6 AM. She woke up again around 9, again not a happy camper. My husband tried playing with her on her mat, than attempting to feed her finally woke me and I jumped out of bed.
Another moment to calm her and give my husband a break. Eventually we took her to the couch and let her play a bit, my husband and I chatted a bit. We decided to try feeding her on the couch, which we have never done before, but this was a special circumstance. She ate most of her breakfast with my husband holding her and I was spoon feeding.
I really don’t know where the morning went, but she went down for a late morning nap. She again woke up cranky, but she played on her mat and shortly after we went over to see my mom and brother. We were discussing the table set-up for the Baptism party. There was much more to do than we had initially anticipated, so we will have to go back during the week to clean up the basement at my Nonna’s house.
Again, I don’t know where the time went, because we headed home and she napped pretty much right away. Our idea to go to a country market fell through, so we will try again next week though. While Valeria napped, my husband napped with her.
Now you are probably wondering how it was a hard day for him. I believe they feed off of eachothers’ emotions. When Valeria is not having a good day, than he gets into the protector/I need to soothe her mood; however when it doesn’t work, she just gets more fussy. Both Libras, one more stubborn than the next and I’m suppose to be the fire sign (Sagittarius)! I’m the calm one in our little trio! She would cry every time he would hold her, attempt to soothe her, or do absolutely anything with her.
I was the only one who could soothe her at all, and I know the feeling my husband was going through. Feeling hopeless, useless and like I was failing. It’s difficult to go through a day like that and not wonder what you are doing wrong.
As a parent, you go through ups and downs, wonder if you are raising your child right, wanting what is best for them, and so on and so forth. But the days, like today, where everything just seems to be against you, like your child wants nothing to do with you, well it’s really hard emotionally. I know for myself that when I go through days like that with her, I eventually breakdown and cry. I’m sure any parent can attest to that. You pour your heart and soul into raising a good little human, and to have a tough day, it hurts.
I knew that my husband needed me; to soothe her, to feed her, to give him a breather, and not just be there for her but also for him. Sometimes, all you need as a parent is a hug and some reassurance from your partner that you are doing good. Sometimes we forget that and put all our energy on our little ones.
Eventually later that evening, their emotions calmed down and they became their normal happy selves. Playing and laughing together, tumbling around and just hanging out as they normally do. The rest of the evening went well.
I love my husband and will always be there for him. Sometimes, we just need a reminder from our partner that we’re alright.
The weather yesterday was cold and raining, for pretty much most of the day, until we saw a glimmering beam of hope from the sun around 3 PM. We were trying to figure out what to do, and I just suggested on a whim, the Garden Center about five minutes away from us. I figured Valeria might like all the different kinds of plants.
Boy was I right!
We spent an hour there looking around, both inside and out, and let her touch all the different plants. We were careful not to damage anything and we really couldn’t keep her from reaching and wanting to feel everything! You will see her little hand in a few photos, but her head was on a swivel looking at all the colours, textures and types.
Now don’t ask me everything we saw, there were probably over a 100 different plants; between fruit, floral, herb, shrubs, cacti, and trees.
She really didn’t want to leave, but it was getting late and she was getting sleepy. Enjoy some of my favourites plants and I apologize for the quality, they were taken with my phone.
Have a wonderful day wherever you are in the world!
We’ve decided to find a local butcher shop for better quality meat instead of buying the packaged stuff in the stores. I’m not shaming anyone for buying meat from the supermarket, goodness I’ve done it for years. However, with having Valeria and my little health scare, I think it’s high time I start eating better and locally sourced when I can.
My husband did extensive research before finding this shop. We went in last week out of curiosity, and we spoke to the owner himself. He was European and immigrated to Canada, opening up his butcher shop to keep at his trade. He was shocked when he asked for organs, informing us that’s not a request he gets very often, but asked us why? We informed him it was for our little one and he immediately had options. He made a Highland sausage (he rarely makes it, but it can be requested) and he gave it to us for free to try. We also bought a bunch of burgers, oh man were they freakin’ tasty!
Today we decided to make another trip, and luckily he was there again. We bought a porter house steak, and Hungarian sausage (for Valeria), ground beef, some bacon burgers and we asked if he carries seasoning for Mici, it’s a Romanian dish and sooooooo good. He laughed and informed us he was making a batch now, apparently we are not the only ones who have been asking about it.
We also got on the topic of his meat source, what he puts in his sausages, mici, etc. He was straight forward, informed us he gets his meat locally from three different farms, letting us know the generic locations and he could name everything he put in everything he made in house; from the Hungarian sausage all the way to every kind of burger. He was more than happy to indulge us and let us know that he likes to make his meat products as clean as possibly.
I think he knew we were concerned about Valeria and what she was eating. A very kind man and reasonably priced. We have definitely made him our butcher for the foreseeable future.
My husband was thrilled to grill tonight and honestly, I’m so glad he enjoys it because it’s one less thing I have to do cooking wise. I love to cook, but barbequing is a whole other beast. We had a wonderful dinner of marinated chicken thighs (my own marinade….if you are interested let me know and I will post it!), mici, Italian potato salad (Another recipe I’d be happy to share if anyone is interested) and my dad wanted Hotdogs. Really tasty dinner to be honest and Valeria got to try Mici for the first time. So good!
We enjoyed the beautiful day otherwise with walks and little trips to the store, the day tired her out. She has been fast asleep for a while now.
I’m going to end it here though and go enjoy some time with my husband. I hope you had a wonderful day wherever you are in the world!
It was the long weekend here in Canada and I have to say the weather has been extremely hot and a little bit humid. Hasn’t stopped us from enjoying the beautiful weather though.
We have gone for plenty of walks, grandma bought Valeria a little blow up pool (which of course my husband inflated and filled), an iced coffee or two from McDonald’s was enjoyed, BBQ’ing and even a little bit of a thunderstorm today.
Valeria has experienced all sorts this past weekend; she touched grass with her feet for the first time (completely unfazed by the sensation by the way), she got to splash around in her little pool and also got scared when her face fell in a bit, she tried organ meat for the first time (yes, we are feeding our child organs, it is full of iron and nutrients and we want her to have a good palate for different foods), she tried watermelon (yes, I tried it too….again) and she got to witness a big rain storm this afternoon. So a very big weekend for her!
She was mesmerized by the rain storm, it was funny to watch her little eyes go super wide watching the down pour from the porch. She didn’t hear the thunder until we were in the house and she never saw the lightning. But it was her first time seeing it, and I have a feeling she is very much like me and loves thunderstorms. They are just so soothing. I was able to snap a few photos, but not sure it really does it justice. I was really hoping to capture a lightning shot, but no dice. One day!
We went on three walks today, and the third was just to get some much needed energy out before she went down for the night. It was nice because it was after the rain fall, the sun had come back out and everything smelled refreshing. She cuddled up with daddy for a bit as he held her walking, than she was getting a bit fussy so daddy played the over the shoulder and run away from mommy game. Mommy….does not run! I would pretend and wave to her and she would laugh and daddy would run back and I’d kiss her. It was only around the block, so it was a very short game, but by the time we got back to the house she was sleepy and wanted to go down for the night.
Bottles at the ready, my husband put her to sleep, her little eyes shut almost immediately. Hopefully the day tired her out enough that she sleeps most the night.
I have my highway driving test tomorrow and I have to admit I’m a bit nervous. I’m a good driver and I’m doing it on country roads, so it should be perfectly fine. But please wish me luck, send me good vibes and keep me in your prayers. I really want to pass this and not have to worry any more. I’ll explain our licensing process in tomorrows post, along with either good news or bad in regards to my test.
I’m going to end it here, I’m pretty exhausted from the day and needs some rest. Hope you had a beautiful Monday wherever you are in the world!
Mama on the Move 
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