Tag: Familia

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Making Waves at Two: Our Under the Sea Celebration – Happy Birthday Valeria!

Posted on by Mama

First off I want to say a very BIG

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABY GIRL VALERIA!

How the time has flown by, you are two already and it has been such a wonderful and blessed ride with you thus far. Watching you learning, growing and discovering who you are and that incredible little personality forming, I can’t tell you what a proud mama I am. You have brought me so much love and light, even in the darkest of times. I love you baby girl and wishing you all the joy and happiness this year and beyond!!

Now please indulge me as I go over her wonderful birthday party that was held this weekend in the company of our family. We unfortunately couldn’t celebrate with my husband’s side, so she will be getting another party this weekend coming to celebrate with them, which we are very excited about.

Nevertheless, she had a wonderful time, adored the decorations/food and got to be the center of attention all day long (even though she didn’t really want to be). It was wonderful to see the smile on her face as she ate cake and opened her gifts, truly remarkable!

The theme was Under the Sea/Mermaid and when I plan, I go all out. It’s just who I am, plus I want these to be memories she will always remember. So weeks of planning, prepping and crafting all lead up to this….

Personalized Banner from Grandma
I made this on Friday night, decorated my mom’s place on Saturday night, cute right?!
Waaaaaaaaay too much food….not my idea just FYI, but all delicious! My husband the BBQ Master that day
I just thought that was funny…Made the signs in Canva
Jellyfish pull apart cheese bread made with puff pastry, a ton of cheese and herb butter….woke up early to make that one!
Fish bone pull apart Nutella bread made with puff pastry and Nutella….another one I woke up early to do that day
Sand dollar sugar cookies and sugar cookies in the shape of sea creatures (those were frosted later)…I’m not a baker, don’t judge my burnt cookies….okay judge a little..
Valeria helping mama unsafely cut the first piece of her birthday cake….yup birthday girl has to cut the first piece, tradition for us.
Her candle – since you couldn’t see it
The design on her cake, which you couldn’t see in the photo. I designed this with AI and then tweaked it to what I wanted. It turned out great!
Her dress and gifts!
She is obsessed with this tea set! I had to stop taking pictures because she needed help with opening gifts, but she got a lot. Everyone was very generous. Thank you to everyone!!! ♥
Anthony and I created a book specifically for Valeria. YEEEES….I used AI to help with the idea, but again I tweaked it to make it our own. A gift for her birthday
We used AI for the images….I’m artistic, but I ain’t THAT artistic. We had it printed through Canva as a hardcover book.

So there you have it folks! An absolutely incredible day for little Miss Valeria! I’m glad you could come on this photo journey with me….apologies for all the little captions. She was a lucky little girl and spoiled rotten to say the least, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Showered with love and gifts….not to mention A TON of food.

Hopefully one day, I’ll show her all the photos from the day and hopefully it makes her smile.

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

Ciao from a very blessed mama!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

A Chill Friday in Mom Mode

Posted on by Mama

I can’t sleep, my mind is racing and I thought the current novel I’m reading would put me to sleep (reading this late makes me sleepy) unfortunately did nothing to curb my brain being in high gear. So now I’m going to indulge and write freely and I’m truly not sure what is going to come out of my mouth at this hour of the night.

We had a wonderful day today, I got my nails done in the morning and when we got home, Valeria wanted to snack and watch a little television. We started to try movies with her, though she doesn’t watch them all at once, we give her a movie in intervals. I guess that’s weird, but it helps us control her screen time and frankly she gets bored of television fast in general. Half the time she’s playing or colouring while the t.v. is playing in the background. So needless to say, I’m not worried about Valeria being addicted to screens. Anyway, she had a really good morning and so this was her reward. As for the snacks, I really don’t know where she puts it, my baby can eat! It’s impressive and I truly don’t know where she puts it in that tiny body of hers. I know she burns it off because I can’t get her to sit still for a moment, she is constantly running and jumping around.

Whoever said little girls were calm and chill has not met my fearless daughter! I swear she gives me a mild panic attack at least once a day.

She went down for a nap around noon and I read for a bit before heading to my lair (c’mon that just sounds way cooler than saying my boring basement….JUST SAYIN!) to work on some of my wood burning I have on the go. I was currently working on some mug coasters that are spooky themed. I’ve now got three out of the four completed. Once they are all completed, I’ll seal them and they will be done. Woo-hoo!

This one is the one I was working on today, Valeria slept long enough for me to complete.

Once she was up, the afternoon flew by with playing, chasing her and daddy as I try to catch/scare them (a game she finds HILARIOUS), a little food/snacks, more running around, and then she got ready to head over to Grandma’s house. She was so excited to be spending the evening over there. Thankfully my mom watches her as I attend therapy, and Anthony kindly drives me the 45 minutes to my therapist’s office. But I digress, Valeria was thrilled and so were my parents and brother.

She immediately saw my mom and goes “Grandma!” and practically jumps from Anthony’s arms. Then she plays shy with my brother Marco for only a moment this time before she grabs him by the hand, shows him the bag of toys/books we brought for her and pulls out her building blocks. Clearly indicating she wanted to build with him. He kept her occupied as my mom finished cooking dinner and we sneaked out of the house.

The drive was good, traffic getting out of the city as always and therapy was really good. Touched on a heavy hitting subject for me. I may or may not post about that because I’m on the fence about divulging my personal stuff from therapy. Therapy is probably what’s keeping me up for the most part.

The drive home was good, peaceful. On these drives, Anthony and I actually get to speak freely without a toddler yelling at us. A quick stop at the store, then picked up Valeria and headed home.

Our night ended pretty relaxed and quiet. We started to teach Valeria how to pray before bed. My sister-in-law Cristina and her husband bought her a prayer book with a praying bunny stuffed animal, so we’ve been using that. She is too adorable trying to do the sign of the cross; she gets a little mixed up when she tries to do it and look at us as a reference – we participate with her. She’s talking more and more each day and she’s very curious about all the religious items we have in the house. I also gave her one of my rosary for her bed, she’s very curious about them.

Once she was asleep, Anthony and I watched a movie and then we parted ways to do our own things. I wanted to read and he wanted to get some work done on his special project. But that was pretty much the day in a nutshell.

Writing has made me a bit sleepy, so I’m going to call it here ladies and gents. I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Long Weekend Magic: Simple Fun, Sweet Memories

Posted on by Mama

Now before you all come for me, I knooooow that Summer is still in swing until September 22nd. But I’ll be real with you, once September hits, it’s Autumn for me. Plus, it’s also Labour Day weekend and the last weekend before kids return to school here in Canada. So why not embrace the last bit of summer freedom with some family fun?!

Friday was the start of our long weekend, with a quiet day spent at home for the most part. Only a few errands to run. We were suppose to head over to my parents for dinner, but we opted to push it over to Saturday so Valeria could spend more time with them.

Saturday morning was fairly mellow with our usual routine at play; breakfast, colouring, reading, a little Romanian kids music, general play and a nap to follow. In the afternoon we went over to my parents place around 3 PM. My middle brother, Marco, lives with them now and took over our old haunting grounds – the basement. Valeria was very excited to hang out down there, explore her Zio’s room and watch Bluey on his massive television.

We went for a walk around the block after we had dinner (mom cooked – YAY I didn’t have to!) and it was really nice. My stomach sadly didn’t like the food (damn teriyaki sauce!), but hey it was delicious going down. The walk helped though….and the peppermint tea. After that it was basically all of us hanging out and Valeria playing with everyone. It was nice, she didn’t want to leave. However it was WAY passed her bedtime and she was beginning to sputter cry. We knew right then and there that we only had minimal time to get her home.

Why is it that kids are like little volcanoes – quiet one moment, then erupting the next?

Regardless, we got her home in time and off to bed quickly. The rest of the evening was pretty much relaxing for the most part. I worked on a bit of my wood burning and watched some movies. Anthony was working on some things too, a passion project if you will. I’ll keep it under wraps for now, but keep an eye out in a future post! I definitely did the exaggerated wink at the end of that sentence when I typed it by the way.

Sunday was a jumbled mess….

I had to roast up 2 bushels of Sheppard Peppers, which my mom purchased at the beginning of the week and decided to give me too late. They were starting to rot AND I had also mentioned that they would be an all day process. We had to go for a picnic with the whole family that afternoon. Needless to say, the peppers ended up in the trash and I (and Anthony)….wasted a lot of time roasting them. I’m extremely annoyed but in the end they were unsafe to eat. That is the end of that story, onto the picnic.

The family picnic was great! We ended up going to a park called Pinafore Park and it was beautiful. There was so many different covered picnic areas, a splash pad, multiple playgrounds and a little amphitheater. My whole family arrived before we did, Valeria was tired and had a long nap that day. But they found this little covered picnic area behind the amphitheater and it had a little open area by the treeline for the kids to run around. Not to mention a trail entry into the forest – which just walked you either in a straight line or a circle back to the entrance. We had a wonderful picnic all together, each of us bringing something. I opted to bring my own food for fear of my darn stomach. After we all ate, we blew up a giant beach ball, we all kicked it around and were playing with it. Valeria had an absolute blast chasing that ball from one person to another. Picking it up, kicking and throwing it. I got some incredible photos of everyone. The boys were playing catch and they even got in a game of Bocce.

If you don’t know what Bocce is I’ll explain it. It’s an Italian lawn bowling game in the most simple form. Basically two teams roll larger coloured balls as close as possible to a small white target ball (it’s called a pallino) to score points. The more balls you have closest to the pallino for your team than the more points you accumulate. So you need to be strategic and try to knock the other opponents balls away from the pallino. It’s also underhand rolling or throwing. Really, reeeeally fun and if your in my family, can get competitive. Absolutely love it!

When Valeria started to get a bit restless, we opted to all pack up and walk over to the playground and swings. She was so excited and she spent the whole time pretty much just swinging away. Her favourite thing to do at the playground to be honest. Not surprising though, I was like that too as a kid. She crashed pretty fast though and by 6:30 PM, we were heading home. We had a bit of a drive, but again made it home just in time before a full on meltdown happened due to exhaustion. Let’s just say, she slept pretty good, which some tossing an turning from being exhausted.

Now for today, well that one was pretty easy. Valeria came RACING into our bedroom with daddy in toe, all while she yelled ‘Mommy, Mommy” over and over again. My eyes were closed, but I heard her making noise in her room as she played. As she stood at the side of my bed, I popped my eyes open and said “Morning baby!” She jumps up and down excited with a smile on her face and says “Morning baby.” I leaned over and picked her up, putting her in bed for morning cuddles. She was snacky this morning, but she ate a good amount for breakfast before we got her ready to head to the park and splash pad by our house.

We were there for at least 45 minutes to an hour. She played on the slide, banged on some drums and then once a swing was free….LOOK OUT. She ran to that swing so fast and stayed there for a while. A little boy was being pushed on the swing next to her and he was singing – Oh Mister Sun (which she DOES NOT like at all) and she kept saying “No….Noooo…” as Anthony and I just looked at each other and laughed. At one point, someone pressed the button in the splash pad which got her attention and she says “Apă…” and well the swing was over.

We took her over to the splash pad and she was having a ball as she watched the water at a safe distance and put her hands in only when she felt it was necessary. Then a little boy came and they started to play together, he wanted her to go and run through the water with him (which she skirted the edge of the water instead), but she kept telling the little boy “Boy….in.” It was pretty funny to be honest, but his attention span turned to his bike and the playground we had just left. We played a little longer, running along the edge of the water with Valeria before it was time to head home for a nap.

Once her nap was done, my mom called and asked if we wanted to head over to hang out and spend some time. I made dinner for everyone and we hung around playing with Valeria. The time passed quickly though because before we knew it, it was time to head home. She did not want to leave grandma’s house, but she was super exhausted when we got home.

She fell asleep fast. However, it seems like she is having a bit of a rough sleep, so I’m going to call it here. Next wake-up will be mine.

I hope you had a wonderful long week (if you had one that is) and have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Hamilton Happenings: Birthdays, Family, and a Scoop (or Two) of Gelato

Posted on by Mama

This happened the weekend of August 8th and though I would generally would have tried to get this out the following week, that obviously didn’t happen. So indulge me while I try my best to recount everything that happened that weekend.

August 8th is one of our nephews’ birthday, so we always make the effort to attend and hopefully make it special for them. He was turning three, the second oldest on my husband’s side of the family. Since he is one of two summer babies in the family, we had a pool party!

My husband’s brother and wife had rented out someone’s backyard with the pool and I can honestly say, it looked like paradise! It was a salt water pool (my favorite to be honest), not too big but the perfect size and depth and Valeria was SO excited to just jump in as soon as she laid eyes on it. Thankfully, I had her bathing suit on under her dress, so all she needed was her floaties. It didn’t take us long before the three of us were in the water, which we would remain 95% of the entire party/day. They had the pool from 11 AM – 6 PM, so a whole day swimming, lounging and having fun.

When I say that Valeria is a fish out of water, it’s no exaggeration. She had no desire to come out of the water and she got comfortable almost immediately. Obviously we didn’t leave her alone, so don’t come after me, but my husband and I want to instill the fact that she doesn’t need to be scared of being in water and not to panic. She would float around and kick her legs, eventually she was quick dipping her face in the water as well. It was fantastic.

The pool party was fun for the kids, lots of food, delicious cake (from what I smelled, it seemed it however I did not partake in the cake) from what I heard, incredible gifts for him and just an all around good time. Just a few minor hiccups, but do you expect anything less with kiddos?! Grumpy Valeria from a lack of a nap (which we managed to peel her away long enough to get her a 45 minute nap on our picnic blanket) and the newest addition getting a bit overheated from the hot weather that day (poor little guy *sad face*). All in all though, great time with the family.

Saturday we were going to attend the Niagara Falls Peach Festival with my mother-in-law, but we opted not to attend. Why? Well, we figured because it was Saturday it would be overcrowded and overpriced as it started the day before. Plus, I don’t do well in large crowds on a good day and I didn’t want the potential of Valeria getting sick from the massive crowd that was probably going to attend that day. So we decided to stick close to home; doing some errands (my husband needed some documents to apply for his Romanian citizenship and I needed to run to the craft store), then we went to a gelato shop and Italian Bakery. I found the bakery two years ago, which is called Castelli Mercato, which is to DIE for. But now they also have a gelato shop next to it called Capri Gelato. I didn’t have any, but man I wanted to! My mother-in-law got hazelnut and pomegranate gelato and Anthony and Valeria got Pistachio. All of the gelato is made in house which is incredible. Valeria was a BIG fan and she kept trying to take from her Buni’s gelato, which she was successful. We went into the bakery afterward and picked up some things and a sweet treat for my husband’s sister and husband.

Once we were done at the bakery we headed over to my sister-in-law’s house to go for a bit of a walk with them and the baby. He is 2 months already and man time is flying! He’s such a cutie and growing like a weed. He took a walk to the park, which was perfect because it had a splash pad and playground with swings for Valeria. We had to keep an eye on the people walking their dogs without leashes, which I don’t agree with when it comes to public areas with young children. But that’s just me! We stayed for a bit so Valeria could play in the water and sit on the swing the remainder of the time while we sat around chatting. It was really nice to spend time with them.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet, we went back to the apartment and had some dinner, ran to the grocery store quickly, played with Valeria and then it was bedtime for her and Buni. My mother-in-law had work early the next day, so she headed to bed early as well.

Sunday, my husband helped his brother to move things from his place to the apartment. They were going to be moving into my mother-in-law’s apartment for a while. I stayed back with Valeria, which worked out because she had to nap at around 11:30 AM-12 PM. She slept quite a bit and the guys got back to the apartment to move everything in about 15 minutes after she woke up. Can we say good timing or what?!

Once they finished, we were heading back home. I made sure everything was packed up and ready to go, which meant just bringing everything to the car, gas up and hit the road. The drive home was quiet, not much traffic and we made it back quickly. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing and thankfully Anthony picked up a salad and store made rotisserie chicken, so I didn’t have to cook that night. Yay!

All in all a very busy weekend, but a good one! Though I will admit it will be nice to have a few weekends at home.

But I hope you enjoyed and I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Lions, Lyrics & Lakeshore Laughs: Part Two

Posted on by Mama

Welcome back ladies and gents to the sequel!

Saturday was a long day though it was filled with lots of fun and laughter. We woke up fairly early to have breakfast and get ready for the zoo. Yes, you read that right, the zoo! My cousin found a small zoo called Elmvale Zoo and wasn’t too far away. Valeria loves animals so it was the perfect outing to go on for the day.

Breakfast consumed, diaper bag packed, snacks a go, only to be dressed and out the door we went for our adventure to begin. The car ride was quick, though within the first five minutes of Valeria being in the car she squeaked out “All done..” as she proceeded to eat her digestive cookie and closing her eyes. She was food drunk from breakfast and the car ride lulled her to a sleep/wake state of mind.

The parking lot was fairly empty when we arrived, parking away from most of the cars already in there. We made hast to get into the zoo so Valeria could start exploring and expend some energy. She ran to the first exhibit which was reptiles and she squealed with excitement. She knew exactly where she was now and you couldn’t stop her from wanting to see everything after that. They had no bears sadly, but they had all kinds of animals including lions and tigers. Which she kept asking us in her teeny voice “IN!” which we responded “Nope it’s dangerous baby, we can’t go in.” She would get upset for a moment before she moved onto the next thing. Oh toddlers! My daughter is going to be an adrenaline junkie/daredevil I can feel it.

We wandered around, and when we reached the goats, a lovely older couple kindly offered Valeria some of their feed so she could give it to the animals. It was such a thoughtful gesture, and we made sure to thank them sincerely. They were genuinely sweet (something I don’t often encounter these days) and we were truly grateful. Valeria happily petted and fed the goats before making her way over to the llamas.

The whole zoo trip was a few hours spent walking around and admiring the animals and honestly it was great. Valeria had a blast the whole time and it’s so incredible to watch how much she loves animals. It was also wonderful how much time she got to spend with her Zia (auntie).

We stopped in at the gift shop, which was hard to bypass as it was literally the exit point of the zoo. But I did end up picking up a cute tiger magnet for the fridge. I think that’s going to be a thing I do from now on as a souvenir of our adventures. But magnet in hand, off we went to the car to head back to my cousins’ place.

Valeria was incredibly tired and went straight to bed for her nap. My cousin and I made some lunch and then sat around chatting. Once Valeria and Anthony awoke, they had a bit of lunch and we just kind of hung out. When dinner came rolling around, we cooked ate and then decided to head to the local “car show” that happens every Saturday night. Which is really just a bunch of people who bring their classic cars to a parking lot for people to admire while they do a raffle and play music. It was fun nonetheless and I got to see my dream car (however not the year I like), the Chevy Impala. I’m making big dreamy, googly eyes just thinking about it!

My zio wanted to go grab ice cream, but we said no because it was so late and we didn’t want Valeria hopped up on sugar before she went to bed. But he and Valeria did have an impromptu dance party in the parking lot where the car show was being held. Doesn’t surprise me that she likes oldies like mama and daddy.

We headed home and off to bed she went, while the rest of the evening was quiet and we all passed out pretty early.

Sunday was a beach day, more like beach morning since Valeria for whatever reason got tired a bit earlier then anticipated. But she did go in the water with Anthony, I however was not going into the ice cold lake water! She is incredibly fearless, it’s amazing. We obviously had floaties on her, but after she was done in the water, she played in the sand and walked around. Thank goodness I brought snacks because she devoured them before the nap monster showed up. It was time to go and frankly I was over it because it started to get VERY crowded on the beach come 12 PM. We packed up and went home.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet to be honest; nap, lunch, playing, went to another farmers market, dinner, walk and bed shortly after. I couldn’t pack that night but it wouldn’t take long in the morning anyway. Again, we all passed out pretty early.

On Monday, it was time to head back home. We woke up, enjoyed breakfast, and got ready for the day before I packed everything up. Once the car was loaded, we shared our thank-yous and said our goodbyes. Parting from my cousin was difficult, but I’m hopeful it won’t be another seven months before we see each other again. The trip was relaxing, fun and much needed for all of us.

But that’s it for this one, I hope you enjoyed and I will chat with you next time.

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

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Happy Day

Posted on by Mama

Last night went better then expected. My mom was a massive help; between playing with her and then assisting me with putting her to sleep, it was amazing. She was a bit fussy as I tried to put her down for the night but once she was out, oh it was bliss. It was the first time in a while that she actually got more than two hours of straight sleep, 10:30 PM to 2:40 AM.

My mother had offered to sleep on the couch so that I wasn’t alone and we could share the nightly duties, but her dog had other plans. Yappy little thing is attached to her at the hip. That’s perfectly okay though, I had insisted she go to sleep in her own bed and be comfortable.

Valeria only woke up twice the entire night. First was at 2:40 AM – she ate a little, than wanted to “play” which meant touching my face, smiling and then flinging her arm back and forth. She ate a little more and then rolled over and passed out. She was out cold by 3:15 AM. The second time was at 6:30 AM, which was a quick little feed and rolled over back to bed.

To say I got lucky is an understatement!

She woke up close to 9 AM after that last feeding and she was happy as a clam. She had a pretty good day, lots of play time and she went down for her naps easily. It was all in all a great day with her.

Unfortunately, since my husband got home, she has been overly excited and now doesn’t want to sleep. He is currently exhausted from all the driving and being at the office, so he is in bed. I’m trying to deal with an excited five month old, who just wants to play with dad….at 11:30 at night. We had her asleep by 9….she woke up at 9:15.

Can someone please explain baby logic to me?!

I must dash and try to sleep my happy little one.

Ciao!!

Posted in Holiday and Traditions

Easter Fun!

Posted on by Mama

This weekend was crazy busy for us with the traveling and spending time with family.

We arrived at my mother-in-law’s late Friday night, spending some time with her and than off to bed for all of us.

Saturday we spent most the day with my mother-in-law, which was great because she got to spend some quality time with Valeria. Later in the evening, my husband’s brother, wife and the two boys came over to hang out for a bit. The kids played while Buni (grandma) held Valeria. Valeria had lots of naps and even went down super easy for bedtime.

Then came Sunday, Easter Day and it was beautiful and sunny. A gorgeous spring day with just a little bit of a crisp fresh air to cool you down. We even thought about taking Valeria for a walk, but than got distracted by other things.

My mother-in-law cooked up a feast; lamb, appetizers of all varieties, roasted potatoes, roasted mushrooms, salad, cozonac (Romanian sweet bread), and a Romanian style cheesecake. And oh my goodness was it ALL DELICIOUS!

Cozonac

His sister also made Varza (which is a Romanian Cabbage dish) and his sister-in-law made a carrot cake, both dishes equally delicious! Though I have to admit, I didn’t have room on Sunday for the carrot cake, but you bet your ass that I had some today!

Varza

Valeria fell asleep in the early evening, so I stayed with her in the bedroom until she woke up, though I wasn’t feeling too great after eating. My tummy hasn’t been in the best shape. I feel like a number of things are contributing to my tummy issues, some good and some bad. Quitting smoking is definitely one factor for sure.

I stayed in the room for a bit and rested, but it sounded like everyone was having a great time out there. The kids played a board game, even Valeria got in on the action with the assistance of my husband’s brother. Lots of videos and pictures taken and just a lot of laughter. Eventually I felt well enough to rejoin the festivities. We played this card game, which I can not remember the name of, it could possibly be called Worst Case Scenarios. Don’t quote me on that though.

Valeria started to get sleepy and a little bit cranky while we were playing the game, she was ready for her bedtime, so my husband was nice enough to put her to bed. Shortly after everyone was getting ready to leave and bringing the evening to a close. Valeria started to fuss as his sister was about to go, so I went in to stay with her while my husband went to say goodbye.

I was ready for bed as well, and trust me once I hit that air mattress I was out shortly after. My husband slept in the little bed with our daughter, I can’t sleep in that bed….so uncomfortable for me. My husband woke up to drive his mom to work for 6:30, well I was up when he got home. He went back to bed for a bit while I got things ready for us when we needed to leave.

We left early this morning to head back home, which when we got home we had a relaxing rest of the day.

So that’s it, that was Easter.

Buona Pasqua (Happy Easter), I hope you all had a wonderful day with friends and family!!

Ciao!!!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Mickey and Minnie Mouse Inspired

Posted on by Mama
This is why Valeria became obsessed with Mickey Mouse lol

We’ve been staying with my mother-in-law for the weekend, we always stay here whenever we are in my husband’s home town. And she has had this Mickey Mouse since Christmas I believe.

Valeria has been obsessed ever since she could see it. She has since added Minnie Mouse to the crew, on a much smaller scale.

But Valeria now stares at them and just laughs, tries to bite his nose (cause everything needs to be “eaten”) and just loves to topple into him. It’s quite funny to watch how excited she gets about playing with the stuffed toys.

So, I’ve made the very VERY early decision to theme her first birthday as a Vintage Mickey and Minnie Mouse theme. I’ve already started my search for decorations, it’s gonna be tough to find the vintage looking stuff. But I’m up for the challenge and so excited! May even attempt to make some of my own decorations…maybe.

Inspiration can be found anywhere, just have to notice the signs!

Ciao Tutti!!

Posted in Holiday and Traditions, Travel/Vacations

Good Friday

Posted on by Mama

I apologize for not answering to comments this weekend, unfortunately it’s going to be a bit hectic with the traveling and family time, but I promise I will get to them on previous posts!

Today all of my family members had off from work, they get Good Friday instead of Monday for Easter. We had already had plans with my husband’s side to spend the weekend, but we missed spending time with my family last weekend for….personal issues which I will get into at a later date.

Thankfully my mother and oldest brother decided we would have a get together today. Initially it was going to be dinner, but because we were to leave for my mother-in-law’s, I asked if we could have like a lunch instead. They happily obliged.

I wasn’t suppose to be the one to cook, but somehow I’m always delegated as the chef for all family functions these days. I really need to stop being a good cook, I could use a break occasionally. I personally would have made a much simpler spread, but my mother bought it all, so I cooked what she thought everyone would like.

Our tradition since we were kids was to eat fish on Good Friday. My Nonni (which is grandparents in Italian) were very religious and that what stemmed this tradition. I think I was the only one to follow this today in the family. I made the chicken chow mein dish (something I would have never made for today if it were me). Some salmon with cream cheese on bread, cod, all sorts of shrimp preparations, calamari, asparagus, vegetable pancakes, pita with hummus, rice and then later on dessert.

Photo courtesy of my husband

Now, I was happy to do all this and it was delicious, but I will admit my menu would have been a bit different. But everyone seemed to enjoy everything and it was an amazing time together. The kids got spoiled with chocolate and gifts, Valeria gifts and not so much chocolate. Though she did get a small package of Hershey Eggies which I ninja’d. My husband doesn’t know yet, but wait until he reads this!

I always forget to take pictures when I’m busy cooking and running around like a mad woman trying to make sure things are done and people are fed. I really need to start just snapping more photos and carrying my camera with me everywhere. Damn it! Speaking of that, I forgot to bring my camera to my mother-in-law’s. D’oh!

By around 6 PM, people were getting ready to leave and we really needed to hit the road before it got too late. Especially for Valeria. We left the city around 7 PM, making a quick pit stop for grumpy pants not wanting to be in her car seat. Quick diaper check (Niente), but man was she hungry. She wanted to be fed by my husband being held. Let’s just say it was a bit chilly for all that nonsense, though we did it anyway, enough for her to calm down and get back into her car seat. Then off we went. We saw quite a few cops along the way, but the drive on the highway was smooth. It was good and we made it in great time too. I love car rides and traveling, but man I could have napped the whole way! I didn’t sadly.

We made it safe and sound, my mother-in-law got to spend some good quality time with Valeria tonight. They were having a grand old time, laughing and playing together. It was really nice to see. Plus, my mother-in-law bought her a nice little summer outfit. I’ll take a picture when I can of it. It’s too cute!

Anyway the day was amazing and lots of good quality family time. I’m going to call it here because I’m utterly exhausted.

What did you do for Good Friday? Any weekend plans?

Ciao!!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Saturday Family Fun

Posted on by Mama

Today we travelled to see Nonna A, my dad’s mother, and my cousin and her husband. It was the first time my cousin and her husband were going to meet Valeria. We had asked them to be Valeria’s Godparents, so baptism to come in the very near future.

My husband got up early for a personal training session for Muay Thai with a friend of his at the gym, he has an amateur fight coming up in April. He’s getting all the training in that he can before it happens. I stayed with baby and got her things ready for the day: Bottles, onesies, diapers, burp cloth, toys, etc. She slept until about 8:15 AM, so it wasn’t too bad. I showered as she played with her mat (Thank goodness for play mats!), it was a quick one. My husband came home, showered and got ready for the day. We had a long day ahead of us, including a two hour drive to and from. Four hours of driving in total; I felt bad for my husband having to drive all that, thankfully he doesn’t mind.

We left a bit later than anticipated, but my parents were going as well, so they let my nonna know. Unfortunately, we had to take separate cars, car seats take up room. The drive wasn’t bad though, we took our time and no traffic jams, which was great. We have a toll highway, the 407, which we were able to take part way. That thing is heavenly and not many people are on it because of the toll. It was smooth sailing and we got there in exactly two hours.

We went up to her apartment, Valeria had just woken up a second time from her mini car naps, and was wide awake when they opened the door. Well, they were super excited to see; congratulating us and telling us how cute she is. My parents showed up shortly after we did.

Lunch was absolutely deeeeelicious as usual, Nonna A is the best cook. We had fettuccine with homemade sauce, along with the meat that was in the sauce and that was just to start. Then the second course consisted of chicken cutlets, peas and mushrooms sauteed, zucchini fritters and salad. We’re Italian, we love to eat! My husband and I got the left-overs, no one wanted them so nonna decided for us. Espresso, fruit and nonna’s famous pistachio cake was served as dessert.

We sat around talking and laughing all day, I took some photos for memories. It was really nice and I really needed that as a recharge. I’m always so happy after I spend time with my close family. The day passed too quickly sadly and it was 8 PM before we knew it.

We left at that point, Valeria was getting tired and a little cranky so we knew it was time to go. She passed out immediately in the car. Unfortunately, she woke up wailing like a banshee halfway through the drive and we had to make a pit stop. Once she calmed down and settled back in her seat, we were back on the highway, making it home by 10:20 PM. Now….she doesn’t want to sleep, she is so excited to be out of the car and home.

The day was wonderful, we got to spend a lot of quality time with my nonna, cousin and her husband. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. I can’t wait to see them again in a few weeks for Easter. My cousin and I are very close (born on the same day, just different years!) and we are trying to make more of an effort to see each other more. Plus our husbands get along so well, so they bro it up whenever they are together. Joking and laughing the whole time. We are also making more of an effort to see my nonna as well.

Family is important and my everything, I am Italian after all!

Ciao!!