martedì 28 dicembre 2010
Happy belated Christmas! I thought I would have been able to write on Christmas day but we went to my Father-in-Law's brother's house and then to our neighbour's house all day long. We actually walked into our bedroom at 11.45pm only because Izzie was extremely tired. I haven't been feeling so great these days, but I have faith I'll feel better soon.
So, I'm only blogging because Izzie was so sweet today, well, she always is, but this morning was special for she said "help me!" Lately, anything and everything she wants to do by herself she will scream out "me, me, me!!" and every time she needs help, I tell her it's "help me." She really surprised me today when she said "help me!" I know it may seem like no big deal and maybe she should have learned how to say that by now, but I need to remind myself all the time that Izzie is growing up learning two languages as her main languages: English and Italian and she is also learning a third language, which is more of a secondary: Spanish. She definitely understands English and Italian really well and I believe she already knows how to translate, obviously not in words, but she knows how to. I hope that when she starts going to school that she continues to speak English to me. I've been told by several non-Italian parents that their children refuse to speak the language taught at home after they start going to school. It's mainly because they don't want to feel different or odd, but in my opinion it's up to the parent to show their children that they aren't different or odd, but rather that they know something very valuable in life. At least that is what I was always told.
Ok, that was my two cents for today... :) more next time...oh and if I don't get to write before New Year's Day, Happy 2011 to everyone!! May all your resolutions be kept and all your wishes and dreams come true! I wish everyone lots of good health, lots of love and lots of work in this upcoming year!
-Mamma Jenn
sabato 18 dicembre 2010
It's exactly one week until Christmas and it's pretty exciting because Izzie will be able to enjoy this holiday more than she did last year. Last year she was only 5 months, this time around she'll be 17 months with a mind of a 3 year old! We set up our Christmas tree a week ago and the only thing different is that the decorations are set only on the upper half of the tree, we wanted to avoid struggling with her or having to repeat ourselves constantly "Izzie, don't touch the decorations." It worked because she hasn't touched the tree, she did the day we set it up, but she hasn't since then. Yesterday it snowed, it was soooo beautiful, I wish it had been Christmas yesterday that way we could have had a "white Christmas." Who knows if the temperatures will fall below 0 anytime soon. Today it was cold, but definitely not as cold as yesterday, the snow stuck through the night, but morning time it was gone. I was sad. Well, not much to post lately. I hope I have more to say or post before Christmas.
hugs,
Mamma Jenn
martedì 23 novembre 2010
I know I have said it many times that I would start weaning Izzie and was never able to do it. Well, a week ago Thursday, I decided to give her a bottle before bedtime and she took it, no questions asked! I was so thrilled!! She's been taking her bottle in the morning and before bedtime and she's nursed for her afternoon nap. I am so thrilled today because it's been over 24 hours that Izzie has not nursed, she's been strictly taking her bottle! She's picky however; she only wants her pink Tommee Tippee bottles with the pretty flower stickers, but I find it sweet that she herself asks for the bottle. We've been weaning her slowly for a week now, this Thursday, Thanksgiving day, it'll be 2 weeks!! I am very proud of her because despite the fact that Mommy is not giving her her "gnum gnum" and it must be hard on her, she's being a real trooper. It takes 3 weeks to get used to doing something, 1 more week to go and hopefully she'll be "gnum gnum"-free. I enjoyed nursing her for 16 months and probably would have nursed her longer, but we're TTC and I don't think it's happening because of me nursing. I don't want to have baby #2 when I'm 40, so I decided it was better to start weaning her slowly and it's working. My main concern was for her not to suffer too much, I'm not one for doing things drastically, while it works for some babies, it definitely doesn't work for Izzie. Slowly but surely is working for us better.
On a different note, this past weekend we had our annual Olive Harvest and it was Izzie's second harvest. She was so cute helping out, I hope that she grows up loving to do this harvest as much as I love it. Of course it'll be different for her since she will have known to do this from the time she was 4 months old whereas I learned to harvest olives when I was 33 years old, big difference!
On the second day of the harvest, she helped outside while I cooked lunch. The part I love the most of the harvest is lunchtime on Sunday. Whomever helps us out is invited to have lunch with the family and we get to chit chat, relax and enjoy each other's company while not working. Bless Izzie's heart, she "worked" all morning long on Sunday and by the time lunch came around, she ate and fell asleep on her high chair, not even the chatting going on woke her up, she was definitely tired!
Until next time!
-Mamma Jenn
martedì 16 novembre 2010
Not everything fits in a perfect square, or box in our case. My life has changed dramatically since Izzie's birth, I keep saying that I know. It is only now that I feel more complete, I feel like a real wife, like a real mom and more than anything like a woman!! I'm sure every woman goes through the feelings of inadequacy after giving birth, the good Lord knows I did. I have made changes in my life that have made a big difference for me. These changes may be insignificant for many, because it's small things like taking over my kitchen and cooking all meals again or being able to wash at least one load of clothes a day, that have made a difference in my life. I love the fact that I cook for my husband and Izzie and they truly enjoy their meal, I love that I accept the fact that my house won't always be clean as long as Izzie is adventurous and continues to grow. I'm learning to take one day at a time, something I never did before. I used to live my life around a specific future goal, I used to live inside a perfect 4-sided square. Today, I accept the fact that you cannot live your life inside a perfect square...I am flexible to change.
-Mamma Jenn
venerdì 5 novembre 2010
Yesterday we had a Huge Oil Spill at our house, thank goodness it was only Olive Oil and Izzie didn't hurt herself. While we were watching TV, Izzie was running around, playing and doing only Lord knows what because all of the sudden we hear glass breaking! Immediately Roberto ran to Izzie to see that she had her Isabella placemat in hand and she was standing on broken glass and olive oil. I took her to the bathroom and undressed her, darn it, she had just taken a bath!! No blood anywhere on her-good, just her pj's and her shoes full of olive oil-tomorrow's laundry. My father in law is a very superstitious person, he believes spilling olive oil brings you bad luck. We've decided not to let him in on Izzie's Oil disaster; the last thing we need is Nonno warning us of bad luck. I can already hear him say "Oh Mamma mia, is Nonno's love ok?" Now we are left with olive oil re emerging from our tiles...I didn't know this but since the tiles are very porous the oil will sit to then come back to surface. This is not cool! It'll be a never ending battle with the oil then!
Izzie is becoming more and more curious. On Monday we were outside and I found her squatting down and poking at something, when I reached her, she was munching on a snail's home! The snail was still inside what was left of the home, and she was spitting. It was funny to see her making a "yuck" face...in my opinion she's too little to want to eat escargot, but when she's 18, I'll be able to tell her of her early escargot experience. On Tuesday morning, she was playing outside and she found a dead mosquito, I'm glad I was at arm's reach because she was about to taste that as well. Yuck!! Seeing her almost put the mosquito in her mouth really made my stomach churn, it made me think about my brother Josh. My Mom told us that when he was little she found him one day with a lizard inside his mouth, the only thing hanging outside his mouth was the lizard's tail. Double yuck!! It amazes me how little minds work and the extent of their curiosity! They may get into danger, at least what we parents consider danger, and they may hurt themselves, but as long as they are curious, we have to remember they are only exploring their own world. I am very blessed to have a healthy and very curious little girl...she's my little genius.
- Mamma Jenn
giovedì 21 ottobre 2010
I don't have much to write about, just one small complaint. Does every 15 month old refuse red meat or is it just mine? For whatever crazy reason Izzie is refusing red meat. She loves chicken and fish, she even likes pork (as well as prosciutto), but don't give her red meat because it will end up on the floor right beneath her high chair. Any suggestions on how to make red meat inviting to her tiny palate??
-Mamma Jenn
venerdì 8 ottobre 2010
Today is the day...D-Day for Izzie. We have decided to start weaning her today, such a horrible mother I am to give her this as a 15 month gift, but it has to be done. A part of me wants to continue nursing her just to avoid the tantrums she'll throw when I refuse to nurse her. Another part of me lives in a magical world where Izzie will self-wean very soon and I won't have to worry about her crying and fussing. And another part of me lives in the real word and wants to own my entire body again, boobs included. Fifteen months is a HUGE accomplishment, I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would nurse her this long. I figured that if I could make it to a year I was already some kind of Super Mom, but 15 Months!! Let me clarify something before I am hated by non-nursing moms. I am not one whom believes that if you didn't nurse your child that you're not a real mom or such things, I believe each mother-child is different and everyone has different needs. Anyway, going back to my drama here...I know I've stated in different occasions that I really wanted to wean her and start teaching her to sleep in her own crib and I am aware that I didn't do it. I didn't even begin or even come close to beginning, but this time I will try. I've been told to offer a bottle instead of nursing her and since she will be crying like a maniac, in the end I will nurse her, but this is ONLY daytime. Night time it'll be bottle or nothing. Poor baby! Well, she should be waking up pretty soon, so I guess I'll start preparing her bottle...wish me luck!!
-Mamma Jenn
-Mamma Jenn
martedì 5 ottobre 2010
October 5th 2010, I like this date to start writing again, hopefully I can add this post since my modem is dying. It's been a while since I last wrote, I seriously thought I would blog while on vacation at my parents' house--yeah right!! The month and a half we were in Texas flew by so quick but we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. Izzie had her American First Birthday party out there, thanks to my parents and to my brother and sister-in-law. The party was a total success, they invited some of my friends which happen to have babies! I loved the fact that there were lots of babies there. Izzie grew up so much during our vacation, it was unbelievable the things she learned and how quick she learned them. She started saying many more words, all in English, so I guess now we know which language she started speaking first. As of now, her Italian word is "Nonno", Grandpa and "can" which she is trying to say "cane," dog. She is in love with dogs, but she doesn't like the dogs to get close to her...she tries her best to go up to them, but the moment they go towards her, she runs the opposite direction. Not so long ago we took her to a Dog Show and she had a blast! After the Dog Show, any 4-legged animal that resembles a dog is now a dog, even if it has curly hair, for instance a sheep, it's still a dog. Of course how would she know the difference between a dog and sheep when there were all kinds of breeds there, right? Another thing she really loves is being outdoors, thank God the weather is still nice enough to have her outside. It is getting kinda chilly, but I figure jeans and a jacket will keep her warm enough to have her play outside. Here is a picture I took of her while she was playing outside, it's one of my favorite pics and with this I end today's post. I know, probably not too exciting, but it's dinner time and I really am hoping the modem won't go crazy while I upload the picture and post this entry.
-Mamma Jenn
martedì 13 luglio 2010
Izzie the morning after the party
Izzie before the party wearing her new outfit
Birthday cake Daddy baked and Mommy decorated
Friends and Family group photo
Daddy helping Izzie blow the candleThis post will only have pictures of Izzie's party here in Italy. We had a blast along with family and friends, the weather although hot was actually tolerable, meaning there was a nice breeze!! The next time I blog it will be from Texas for tomorrow we will be travelling!! Please keep my family and myself in your prayers as we will be on a 14 hr flight to Texas!!
-Mamma Jenn
giovedì 8 luglio 2010
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This picture was taken at birth right after she was cleansed listening to a cell phone ring
In this picture Izzie is 1 day old and she's already so wide-eyed!
Finally Izzie is 1 year old, 12 months, 52 weeks or 365 days young, call it what you want, she's officially 1! It's so exciting to be a Mommy of a 1 year old. Unfortunately for my Izziebear today she had a vaccine shot, not the best way to start off her birthday, but you have to do what you have to do. I prefer her to suffer a little today than to suffer on the day of her birthday party which is on Saturday. Yesterday her Nonno Ugo gave her a birthday gift, her favorite bear Winnie-the-Pooh. And the picture of her smiling in her car seat, that is before the vaccine. She did cry when she got her shot, but not too much, she was brave!! In the afternoon we went to have some gelato and she had her own cone, strawberry flavored gelato. Yum!!
Well we had an awesome calm day, now it's off to bed...happy birthday to my Izziebear.
love,
Mamma Jenn
martedì 6 luglio 2010
Remember when you were a little kid and you would connect the dots to see what image you would get once you connected every dot or number?? Well, if you did that right now, you would get a picture of my body. I have been biten almost everywhere!! I am in serious pain and it's no fair that neither my husband nor Izzie have been biten even once. Not that I wish that they get biten, it's just that I'm in pain and I hurt. Here are 2 pics of my arms, in the first one you can only see the biggest bite, but believe me there are a total of 5 bites that run along my arm and in the other picture only the 2 biggest bites show. I won't even post pictures of my legs because those are really bad! I don't know what I ever did to those stupid mosquitoes, but I'm seriously thinking about declaring war on them, I just don't know how. I can't even spray mosquito repellent because of Izzie, what do I do? Any suggestions?
-Mamma Jenn
lunedì 5 luglio 2010
Here's a pic of my little July baby celebrating her 1st Fourth of July. Our countdown until her birthday is down to 3 days!! I have decided not to continue baking more cupcakes nor trying to make a perfect frosting. There isn't any time; I really have to start packing. I want to be able to enjoy Izzie's party without having "luggage" in the back of my mind. Yesterday we finished buying the little things we needed, so now all I really have to do is pack. No excuses, just put it in the luggage. Oh wait!! I do have one excuse, I have to decide which suitcases we're taking. We decided to take 3 plus Izzie's suitcase. It really stinks that now one is only allowed 1 suitcase per person instead of 2. Since we know that we'll want to bring half of Texas in our suitcases, we decided we are going to pay for the 3rd. It's impossible travelling with only 2 suitcases, well, of course that is my opinion. ;)
Yesterday we went to Alice's first birthday party. Her birthday was actually on the 28th of June, but since it was on a Monday they decided to celebrate the following Sunday. Italians don't believe in celebrating a birthday ahead of time, even if it is just one day before, it brings bad luck they say. Here is a picture of both Alice and Izzie...we had a hard time getting Izzie to sit still, Alice on the other hand wouldn't look at the camera...babies!!
Ok, I better start planning my packing process, or better yet, start deciding which suitcases we will be taking.
-Mamma Jenn
venerdì 2 luglio 2010
I haven't posted in the past few days due to lack of time. Right now I am multi-tasking, folding clean clothes, blogging and most importantly preventing Izzie from getting into any trouble. :) I had promised to post pics of the cupcakes with frosting, so here they are, pretty aren't they? In reality it's not a frosting, but a glaze and I made it in two different consistencies. The cupcakes with the candy pearls are more of a glaze and the ones without candy is more of a frosting. I didn't make this glaze from scratch, it was store bought and it's pretty cool because it's a powder that looks like confectioner's sugar and you just add a few tablespoons of water and it's done! The taste is good, it has an orange-y taste. I still want to try the vanilla frosting from scratch and if I have time today, I will bake another batch of 12 and this time with the vanilla frosting. I tell Roberto that making cupcakes is so much fun!! I have found so many yummy cupcake recipes that I want to try when we head back home to Texas, for example, the pina colada cupcake, and yes it does include real rum!! I am going cupcake crazy (in a good way) just trying to perfect the cupcake itself, imagine what will become of me when I try to perfect the frosting!
The other night, Roberto and I watched the movie Julie & Julia or Julia & Julie, I forgot the order of the names. Anyway, the movie reminded me of me because of the Blog and although I am no longer cooking, I am baking cupcakes. I loved the part where Julie is blogging and asks herself "someone is reading this, right? Somebody?" I feel the same exact way! Sometimes I feel like I am only blogging and no one in this crazy overpopulated cyberworld reads my blog. So when I am told by my family or friends that they read my blog, I feel so happy. I used to keep a real diary for the longest time, actually until a few months before Izzie was born. I had planned on starting a new diary once Izzie was born, but yeah, that was only a dream because it sure didn't happen. I had no idea what Motherhood was really like back then, now almost a year later, I have decided that blogging is like keeping a diary anyway, so I am content with my accomplishment. If you read my blog, every now and then can you leave me a comment? It would make me feel even more happy. :)
Izzie's birthday countdown is at 6 days, us leaving to Houston countdown is at 12 days!!
-Mamma Jenn
martedì 29 giugno 2010
9 days 'til the big ONE...here is my second batch of cupcakes with a new recipe, I gave Martha's recipe a kick out the door and found this recipe in a blog from a lady in northern England. To be honest I found many vanilla cupcake recipes, but this one in particular inspired me the most and here is the result. ta-da!! They are beautiful and delicious, I am happier with this recipe than with Martha's. Tomorrow I want to try the vanilla frosting and see what comes of it.
-Mamma Jenn
sabato 26 giugno 2010
...because Mamma Jenn is also making delicious vanilla cupcakes!!
After deciding that I wanted cupcakes for Izzie's first birthday party, I started my search for a good recipe and yes, I have decided to borrow Martha's recipe. Since I have never made cupcakes from scratch here in Italy, I figured I had to try them out at least once before the party...I didn't want to bake my experimental batch the night before. So, I made them praying that the "baking angels" would be by my side while I baked my first batch ever. They turned out delicious!! There is however one or two things that I am going to change to the recipe, just because I'm too much of a perfectionist and although they were good, they weren't perfect. Now I just need to try out a good frosting and I will be done. I will make sure to post pics of the party cupcakes.
On to a different topic...today we went shopping for gifts that we're planning on taking to my nieces and nephew back in Houston and let me tell you that it was exhausting!! My hubby ran out of energy running around afterIzzie everywhere in the mall. She even scared a poor little dog!! At all costs she wanted to pet the dog and the dog was afraid of Izzie. While grocery shopping she would climb on shelves and jump. She has way too much energy!! The only problem is that when she gets tired and wants to be nursed and sleep, she will scream her lungs out loud!!! At that point one has to stop everything and do what she wants or she will continue to sob and scream until she gets what she wants. Daddy may have run out of energy literally running after her, but my arms fell from the weight I carried around while nursing her and she fell asleep. After a long time and my arm almost falling off, I woke her up by placing her on her stroller, she woke up immediately. I was so glad she had woken up, otherwise she would have been woken up by the rain and hail that was falling on the way home. Yes, I did say hail. As I mentioned on my previous post, summer solsistice what? I don't think it's supposed to hail during the summer, or is it?
Right now Izzie is screaming and sobbing, it's time to sleep. Good nite...
-Mamma Jenn
lunedì 21 giugno 2010
June 21st, so, today is supposed to be the first day of Summer-- the celebration of Summer Solstice, but there is no celebrating going on in this part of Italy. Here it has been windy, gray and super chilly! Max daytime temps have been in the low 70s and night time has been in the 50s, now that sure doesn't feel like summer! I have a love-hate relationship with the Summer. It's my favorite season because I am a summer baby (I was born in August in Texas!!) and I love more light during the day, but I hate it because it's too darn hot and air conditioners are more of a luxury item in Italian households. They are slowly becoming more and more popular, but we still haven't joined the "elite Aircondition Owners group." I guess I shouldn't complain that we are not yet feeling the horrendous summer heat because in 22 days whether we like it or not we will be feeling and regretting the Texas Summer Fire!! Ok, now I'm going to enjoy the next few non-summer days ahead of me...until next time!
-Mamma Jenn
-Mamma Jenn
domenica 20 giugno 2010
Happy Father's Day to my wonderful Father!! I love you Daddy!! Thank you for everything you have taught me, for all your love, for your support, and most of all for being the best Daddy ever. I thank God for choosing you as my Daddy, He couldn't have done a better job and I pray He always blesses you with the best of everything.
Today is not only Father's day, but it's also my Father-in-Law's special day. Today my Father-in-Law turns 73 years young...Happy Birthday Ugo!!
Today has been a good day...
-Mamma Jenn
sabato 12 giugno 2010
Today is a special "I must blog this" kinda day. My hubby and I decided to start planning Izzie's 1st birthday party. It's not a very easy task for several reasons. One being that Italians definitely do not go party crazy like us Americans that like to have everything that belongs to a theme. Their cartoon character party items are very limited to Mickey Mouse, Cars, Hello Kitty, Winx, Tweety and Winnie-the-Pooh. There isn't a Martha Stewart lady that can guide you on having the "perfect, beautiful AND fun 1st birthday party," so what happens when in a family one of you is American and the other is Italian? You wing it and create your own type of party. We went to THE one party store that exists in a town not so far away from ours and I must say I was impressed with their wide variety. They have a lot of baking supplies which was like heaven for my husband since he will be making Izzie's cake, smash cake and all desserts. One thing I am borrowing from Martha Stewart is her cupcake recipe...I want cupcakes at this party. From all the cartoon characters Izzie likes Pooh bear, so we have opted for the honey-loving bear. We already have the date/time, invite list and menu, so we accomplished a lot today!
Another reason for today being special is because Izzie started "jumpimg" today!! She is sooo adorable!! For the past few days she gets into a tumble position which I joke with her and ask her if she's doing the downward facing dog position. Since she insists in doing that I decided to help her flip. Because I am afraid of hurting her, I lift her body completely and flip her-- boy does she love it! She quickly gets ready for another flip and another one. We only do this on top of our bed and she's aware of that because even if she gets into the tumble position in the living room, she doesn't ask to be flipped. Today besides tumbling she started jumping, well, according to her she is jumping. :) She crouches and then springs her body up and then she turns to look at you with such an excited expression like saying "did you see?" Several times her feet did actually come off the floor a few centimeters, so technically she did Jump! Anyone that sees her walking alone will immediately ask how old she is, they think she's older, instead she's only 11 months but she seems like a year and a half. I am so proud of my baby girl!!
-Mamma Jenn
martedì 8 giugno 2010
Today Izzie turns 11 months!! Yay for Izzie!! She is growing before my eyes and everyday we face a new adventure together. Last night wasn't the kind of adventure I had been looking forward to, but even that disaster we shared. Yesterday before going to bed she had wayyy too much energy and started playing on our bed. To make a long story short, she fell off of our bed. This time she didn't roll off our bed, she literally ran off the bed!! I felt so horrible and scared. Horrible because I didn't get to her on time, and it's obvious as to why I was scared. She cried for about 10-15 minutes straight, nothing could console her, not even Mommy's hugs. After we checked that she had not hurt herself (no bleeding, scratches, or bumps), we could breathe. She soon after fell asleep. I question, does it take for her to fall off of our bed to put her to sleep?? She's incredible, a handful is to say the least, you can't stay upset at her because she smiles at you and she makes you melt. She has so much love to offer and the more love you give her, the more love she shares. She is incredible.
Her Nonno Ugo gave her a surprise 11-month gift, it is a toy cash register that teaches numbers, colors, shapes and sounds both in Italian and English, when she saw it, she immediately smiled, she loved it! Of course like every baby, she immediately started scattering the smaller pieces here and there and Mommy had to go hunting for them. Her Abuelita Lulù on the other hand gave her a baby doll that cries for her bottle. Izzie will have to wait to get her monthly gifts from Abuelita, but time is creeping on us and before you know it we'll be out there! Which reminds me, my hubby was kind enough to remind me that we should start thinking about Izzie's 1st birthday party. I didn't think there was much to think about, we invite the usual people, we just have to set the time, send the invites and he cooks and bakes. I don't think there will be a particular theme or anything, or maybe I should have a flower theme. Izzie loves flowers and a flower cake and/or cupcakes should be easy to make, right?
Besides this birthday party, I need to start a plan on how to move Izzie from our bed to her crib. I am TIRED of her sleeping with us. I acknowledge it was MY fault to begin with, but I HAVE LEARNED MY LESSON!!! Before Izzie was born, I used to say that babies belong in their crib and not in bed with the parents. I am still a firm believer in it, I just happened to not do it, this time. Come to think about it, I actually put her in bed with me at the hospital!! She would cry so much that I would put her to sleep next to me and only then would she sleep. At least she slept then because I sure didn't, I was afraid I would roll over her! I didn't start her off in our bed immediately, she would sleep in her crib, but she hated it. At about 5 or 6 months I slowly started sneaking her in our bed, it was soooo much easier for me since I nurse her. Oh and by the way, I feel so proud of me, 11 months and I'm still nursing her!! I'm also getting a little tired of that, but I know I am giving her an awesome gift for she has yet to get sick. Knock on wood, on metal or whatever!! Anyway, there came a time when I started to put her in her crib and let her cry it out, yes the infamous Ferber method that a lot of moms criticize. It was the ONLY way she would go to sleep, luckily for me the most she ever did cry for was 30 minutes and then the following day it went to 15 min then 5 min. Why didn't I continue??!! She started to teeth and at this time, both my hubby and I thought: "Poor baby, she's hurting" and back to our bed she went. Now she completely takes over our bed and she leaves my hubby in one little edge and myself on the opposite little edge of the bed. How can a little body take over and entire bed?!?! She moves a lot too!! Well, I know whom she takes after and her sleeping positions? Yeah, just like her Mommy .jpg)
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These pics are of us in the hospital, sleeping during the daytime when MY Mommy and hubby were there to take care of us. My sweet Mommy knew I needed to sleep some since I wasn't sleeping at night. Now Izzie is big and it's she whom rolls over us!! I need a plan and quick!!.jpg)
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. -Mamma Jenn
martedì 1 giugno 2010
In exactly 44 days we will be going home...well, my old home, my hometown that is. I am so excited!! There is only one thing I am not so excited about and that is a super long trip with a one year old. This will be Izzie's first long distance trip on a plane!! I am just so glad that my husband's son is coming along, so it'll be 3 of us taking turns walking along the aisles with Izzie. I know it's kinda silly to start a countdown at this point in time, but I cannot wait-- I want Mom's homemade meals! I will be spoiled with Mom's cooking for a month and a half and she already started taking note of what I am craving. I wonder whether Izzie will like Mexican and American food? I hope so! Every time we have gone back home I request a special 1st meal...we usually get there for lunchtime and this time it will not be any different. Last time, as crazy as this may seem, I was craving a cheeseburger from Jack in the Box, of all places!! But that is what I was craving, well, I was also pregnant the last time we went home. :) I have 43 days to decide on our 1st meal.
Besides my crazy countdown for Houston, I have another countdown going on, it's on a smaller scale, 7 days. It's 7 days until Izzie turns 11 months!! I can't believe my baby is going on 11 months!! Have I mentioned that she has 2 new teethers? She now has a total of 6! I wonder if she'll be growing 2 each month? If it is that way, she'll be having 10 teethers by the time she turns 1!! Today she successfully put her shapes in her Tupperware shape sphere thingy, I am such a proud Mommy as you can imagine. Finally another toy to keep her busy for more than 5 minutes, yay!!
Well I don't have much this time around, so I will post again in a few days...
-Mamma Jenn
lunedì 24 maggio 2010
This weekend was horrible. I've promised my husband that I would vent about it this last time, then I would let it go. Maybe after I write I can let it go. :)
So this horrible weekend began on Friday evening, dinnertime. We decided to go eat some pizza at this awesome restaurant that brews their own beer, in fact, it was the beer that my hubby was craving, not really the pizza. The last time we ate at this place, our pizza was good, it was perfect, this time my pizza was YUCKY!! It was full of grease and had no taste. I seriously wanted to take it back to the waiter and ask him "would you eat this if you were fed this?" Instead I decided to keep my mouth shut, blot the pizza and eat what I could, it was nasty. That was the omen of a bad weekend, I should have seen it coming.
On Saturday we went to have our hair cut, both my hubby and I go to the same hairdresser, he's actually pretty good. My mom loved the way Roberto (hairdresser's name) cut her hair when she was here, she even said she can't wait to come back and have her hair done by him again. I was ready for a change, I wanted something different with my hair. I was tired of having my hair pulled back in a ponytail, I even considered having a bodywave or yikes! perm done, but that idea was quickly shot down, too risky. When Roberto (again, hairdresser) asked me what I had in mind for my cut, I told him I didn't know, but I knew I wanted a change. I did mention that I didn't want my hair short and I wanted something that wouldn't make my face looker rounder. He started doing his magic and snip snip here, snip snip there and I'm beginning to worry because I am seeing my mid-length hair become shorter. Snip snip here and snip snip there again and then I start remembering that I saw him take a drink out of a beer bottle before he washed my hair. I hope he was drinking water! The final result was horrible!! Was he drunk?! I haven't had this haircut since I was in middle school?!?! My face looks rounder than a full moon!! It's hair and it'll grow, right? I hope so!! I wonder if it'll grow before we go to Houston? We leave in July!! Something inside of me was telling me to only have a trim, but I didn't listen to that something, instead I WANTED change. I've decided that the next time I want change, I better eat an entire chocolate bar and then decide whether I really want change or I just want the chocolate. My hubby says that I just needed to calm down before I walked in to the salon and now that the damage is done, to just calm down. How can I calm down when my hair is short and ugly?! I can't even pull my hair back into a ponytail!! I now realize how much I used to love my ponytail. Sniff sniff. We had already planned on going to have ice cream after our hair cuts, this should have made me feel better, after all it's something sweet and yummy. Well why is it that the lady that served me decided by herself that I should have some panna on my ice cream? Panna is a heavy cream that I cannot have on my ice cream, does she not remember I am lactose intolerant? Boy am I getting upset with this lady and her simple mistake of putting panna on my ice cream because I have a horrible haircut!! AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!
Ok, so the last day of horrible weekend, yesterday. We went to visit the only uncle and aunt from my hubby's dad's side. We love to go visit them because they live in a small, tiny town where it's quiet and you can relax and breathe nice clean air. There Izzie has 2 cousins, both males and both older than her. The oldest one is 13 and the youngest one is 3.5 years old. Nicolò, the younger one is like a mini-Bam Bam from the Flintstones, he's a rough kiddo. Luckily for Izzie he wasn't interested in playing with her, otherwise she probably would have been on the floor crying. Bless her heart, she did get her first knee-scrapes, but that didn't stop her from playing. So what was so bad about yesterday? The fact that a neighbor of the family asked me if I had gained weight because I looked a little heavier than the last time she had seen me. I just said "you think so? I probably have." Sniff sniff, I have not gained a pound since she last saw me, it's my darn haircut!! I told you I look rounder than a full moon!! I hate this haircut, so now not only do I look horrible, but I look FAT! So the next time I go get my hair cut, which will probably be next year, I will go in after I ate an entire chocolate bar and with a picture of the hairstyle that I want in hand. I will no longer walk in wanting change without being prepared.
Ok, I think I feel better now. Today is the beginning of a new week, new ugly haircut, so be it. :)
So this horrible weekend began on Friday evening, dinnertime. We decided to go eat some pizza at this awesome restaurant that brews their own beer, in fact, it was the beer that my hubby was craving, not really the pizza. The last time we ate at this place, our pizza was good, it was perfect, this time my pizza was YUCKY!! It was full of grease and had no taste. I seriously wanted to take it back to the waiter and ask him "would you eat this if you were fed this?" Instead I decided to keep my mouth shut, blot the pizza and eat what I could, it was nasty. That was the omen of a bad weekend, I should have seen it coming.
On Saturday we went to have our hair cut, both my hubby and I go to the same hairdresser, he's actually pretty good. My mom loved the way Roberto (hairdresser's name) cut her hair when she was here, she even said she can't wait to come back and have her hair done by him again. I was ready for a change, I wanted something different with my hair. I was tired of having my hair pulled back in a ponytail, I even considered having a bodywave or yikes! perm done, but that idea was quickly shot down, too risky. When Roberto (again, hairdresser) asked me what I had in mind for my cut, I told him I didn't know, but I knew I wanted a change. I did mention that I didn't want my hair short and I wanted something that wouldn't make my face looker rounder. He started doing his magic and snip snip here, snip snip there and I'm beginning to worry because I am seeing my mid-length hair become shorter. Snip snip here and snip snip there again and then I start remembering that I saw him take a drink out of a beer bottle before he washed my hair. I hope he was drinking water! The final result was horrible!! Was he drunk?! I haven't had this haircut since I was in middle school?!?! My face looks rounder than a full moon!! It's hair and it'll grow, right? I hope so!! I wonder if it'll grow before we go to Houston? We leave in July!! Something inside of me was telling me to only have a trim, but I didn't listen to that something, instead I WANTED change. I've decided that the next time I want change, I better eat an entire chocolate bar and then decide whether I really want change or I just want the chocolate. My hubby says that I just needed to calm down before I walked in to the salon and now that the damage is done, to just calm down. How can I calm down when my hair is short and ugly?! I can't even pull my hair back into a ponytail!! I now realize how much I used to love my ponytail. Sniff sniff. We had already planned on going to have ice cream after our hair cuts, this should have made me feel better, after all it's something sweet and yummy. Well why is it that the lady that served me decided by herself that I should have some panna on my ice cream? Panna is a heavy cream that I cannot have on my ice cream, does she not remember I am lactose intolerant? Boy am I getting upset with this lady and her simple mistake of putting panna on my ice cream because I have a horrible haircut!! AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!
Ok, so the last day of horrible weekend, yesterday. We went to visit the only uncle and aunt from my hubby's dad's side. We love to go visit them because they live in a small, tiny town where it's quiet and you can relax and breathe nice clean air. There Izzie has 2 cousins, both males and both older than her. The oldest one is 13 and the youngest one is 3.5 years old. Nicolò, the younger one is like a mini-Bam Bam from the Flintstones, he's a rough kiddo. Luckily for Izzie he wasn't interested in playing with her, otherwise she probably would have been on the floor crying. Bless her heart, she did get her first knee-scrapes, but that didn't stop her from playing. So what was so bad about yesterday? The fact that a neighbor of the family asked me if I had gained weight because I looked a little heavier than the last time she had seen me. I just said "you think so? I probably have." Sniff sniff, I have not gained a pound since she last saw me, it's my darn haircut!! I told you I look rounder than a full moon!! I hate this haircut, so now not only do I look horrible, but I look FAT! So the next time I go get my hair cut, which will probably be next year, I will go in after I ate an entire chocolate bar and with a picture of the hairstyle that I want in hand. I will no longer walk in wanting change without being prepared.
Ok, I think I feel better now. Today is the beginning of a new week, new ugly haircut, so be it. :)
-Mamma Jenn
sabato 22 maggio 2010
I meant to write on either the last day of April or the 1st of May, but that didn't happen as always when I plan things. I'm learning that being spontaneous is the best way to lead one's life because not everything can be planned. Izzie is now 10.5 months, I am in total awe at how fast time has flown!! I probably say that everytime I write, but it's just that I find it totally amazing how my little baby is growing! Milestones galore! Izzie had already been walking around the couch and in her playpen while holding on to the edges, well on the 18th of April she started walking by her self. At first she would take some steps, like 10 and then she would stop, but then she just decided to continue, she kept walking... now she's practically running! She also now has 4 chompers, two on the bottom and two on the top, they're adorable! She now eats pizza really well, in fact, bread and pizza are two of her favorites. I wonder what babies around the world like at this age? I remember the babies my Mom babysat and I don't recall them eating bread or pizza, but they did eat tortillas! I wonder now that they're are grown, do they still like tortillas? I am sure that Izzie will be loving pizza for a VERY long time. ;) One other thing Izzie really enjoys is strawberry gelato. I know, I know, I probably should not be giving her gelato at all, but it doesn't contain milk so it won't harm her and yes, it does have sugar, but doesn't Gerber's baby food also contain sugar? On the 8th of May, the day she turned 10 months I decided to give her her very first gelato cone, she ate it all!! Everyone that saw her eating her gelato was impressed to see such a little girl eating a cone by herself...impressive? Nah! Just very cute!! I promised her I would give her ice cream by her 1st birthday, but I love ice cream too much and I gave in and gave her some to try...she's an ice cream/gelato lover just like her Mommy. :)
Last weekend we went to Bologna, it was Izzie's 1st car trip and she did well considering it was her 1st time, thank goodness the trip was only 3.5 hours. When we did stop for a lunch break, Izzie was very happy to be able to walk on solid ground. If she only knew that she has to prepare herself for a 14 hour plane trip come July. Yikes!! Bologna was fun and very pretty...oh and the cuisine was delicious!! I even had some real bologna, yes, Mr. Oscar Mayer couldn't use bologna's real name because it's one of those exclusive names and I'm sure because it's harder to remember, Mortadella.
Well, I won't promise to blog more or blog sooner, like I said, it's better to be spontaneous, so I'll see you all next time!
-Mamma Jenn
giovedì 25 febbraio 2010
February is coming to an end within 2 days! There was a Monday in which I thought, the week was going to be so long, but before you know it, we're at the end of February. It has been a special month for several reasons. Besides the fact that it's the month of Love and Friendship, it has been the month in which Isabella has started standing for like 10-25 seconds on her own! Sure she does it inside her play-pen, but it's obvious she would do it there for she feels safe in there. One other thing she has surprised me with is that when I am dressing her and put her shoes by her side, she will take one and put it over her foot. I never really taught her that shoes go on her feet, but this shows me that she really pays attention to what we do everyday. Her other milestone started almost a week ago...she finally started cutting in her teeth!! We have been waiting for this day for quite some time for she's been very fussy at night and we always assumed it was her teeth, now it really is. I first noticed it while we were out shopping at the Mall and I was making her laugh out loud, well, I noticed her bottom gum was finally cut, I almost cried there for I was so excited! I am proud of this moment, although since I still nurse her I'm also a little afraid. Every once in while I feel her little tips and they're sharp! Besides being a little afraid of her biting into me, there is one thing I don't like at all. When I give her water to drink out of her glass cup, she likes to bite into it making a shrieking noice that sounds like nails scratching a chalkboard. Just the thought of it gives me shivers! Last night I gave her her water in a plastic cup, much better, the sound is not as bad. She's so funny because the one thing she does not do is suck on her fingers, now you see her with one finger in her mouth and we figured it was her playing with her growing teeth. I guess she's curious about that "something new" that is growing in her mouth. One other new thing we did last night was instead of bathing her in her bathtub, I decided to shower with her. I felt up to it, I felt brave, so I decided why not? It was an experience, she hugged me so tight I couldn't lather her well! :) As she's growing one thing we have noticed is that she doesn't like water on her face and so washing her hair is a little difficult, but this time it was faster since it was under the shower. I showed her how Mommy's face was to go under the shower and she just looked not convinced. Needless to say the shower was much faster than us trying to bathe her in her bathtub and she DIDN'T cry!! She didn't like it, but at least she didn't cry. Ok, this will be the last thing I'll write about her doing new, she did it for the first time last night, she started clapping on her own! Everyone knows how cute it is to see a baby clap, and she's too cute!! So many little milestones this month, I wonder what she has in store for us next month?
Tra 2 giorni questo mese di febbraio finisce, c'era un lunedì in cui pensavo che la settimana non finiva mai, adesso il mese sta per finire! Quanto vola il tempo!! Questo mese è stato molto speciale, oltre al fatto che è il mese dell'Amore e l'Amicizia, è il mese in cui Isabella ha cominciato a stare in piedi per 10-25 secondi da sola! Certo lo fa nel suo box, però è ovvio che lo fa dentro il suo box che lì si sente sicura. Un'altra cosa molto carina che fa è che quando la vesto, metto le sue scarpine vicino a lei, lei ne prende una e la mette sopra il piede! Io non le ho mai insegnato dove vanno le scarpe, ma questo mi fa capire che lei guarda con attenzione a tutto quello che facciamo ogni giorno. La settimana scorsa ho scoperto la cosa più bella in lei...finalmente le stanno spuntando i dentini!! Questi dentini li stavamo aspettando da molto tempo! Siccome lei è molto frignona di notte pensavamo che erano i dentini che le facevano male, adesso sappiamo che si sono i dentini. Sono molto orgogliosa di questi dentini, anche se ho un pò di paura perchè ancora l'allatto e anche se non si vedono ancora, si sentono e sono molto affilati! C'è una cosa che non mi piace adesso quando le dò da bere nel suo bicchierino di vetro...morde il bicchiere e il rumore che fa con questi dentini sul vetro mi fa venire i brividi! Sembrano unghie su una lavagna! Lei non è una che si ciuccia il dito, anzi nessun dito, però adesso è molto carina con un dito in bocca perchè gioca con "quello nuovo" che le sta crescendo in bocca. Non vedo l'ora di vederla con i suoi 2 dentini, sarà carinissima! Ieri sera ho deciso di fare una doccia insieme a lei invece di lavarla nella sua vaschetta. Ormai è molto difficile lavarla nella sua vaschetta, lei vuole uscire e stare in piedi, e siccome io mi sentivo sicura ieri sera, ho deciso, proviamoci, perchè no? E' stata un'esperienza molto diversa per lei, non le piace l'acqua sul viso e quindi è stato un pò difficile lavarle i capelli, però almeno più veloce. La poverina si avvinghiava a me per paura, però almeno non ha pianto per niente. Ok, l'ultima cosa che ha fatto di nuovo ieri sera è applaudire da sola! Certo non applaude come un adulto, però tutti sappiamo che vedere un bambino di meno di un'anno che fa questo è molto carino, e lei è TROPPO carina. Tante cose nuove ha fatto questo mese, chissà che farà il mese prossimo!! Alla prossima!
--Mamma Jenn
sabato 13 febbraio 2010
It's the 13th of February, a day before Valentine's Day and I'm sick like a dog!! I started getting sick mid-week and I had hoped it would go away before Valentine's day, but on the contrary, I'm just getting worse. My husband says it takes 7 days to get rid of a cold, that is if you do or don't take any medicine. Since Isabella still nurses, I cannot take any medicine, that REALLY sucks!! I am the kind of person that believes in the power of medicine, I don't like to feel pain, why should one have to go through it if there are pain killers available? Don't take me wrong, I also don't overdo it with medicine, but unlike my husband, I do take Tylenol when I have a headache. Ok, enough about me and my sickness.
I know I'm not so great at keeping up with this blog, I really do try my best, ok, maybe not my best, but I do try! Being a full time Mommy is an awesome job, there is only one thing I wasn't warned about: babies like to be with you 24/7. My role as a mother has totally taken over my life!! I don't even feel like myself anymore. My husband asked me the other day, "how are you doing?" and I answered, "fine, Izzie ate all her lunch." Not only that, but I've noticed that while I'm brushing my teeth or taking a shower, I am singing in my head the opening song to a cartoon that Izzie likes to watch! I love that Izzie needs me, but I would also love to be myself sometimes, be my husband's wife sometimes, be the housewife sometimes and not just Mommy literally 24/7. Maybe Izzie just needs to grow a little more before she starts being a little more independent? Well, we've decided to help her out a little with that, we placed her play-pen in the living room with her toys in it and positioned to where she can watch her favorite cartoons. She loves it! I love to watch her play and the way she's exercising her legs for she walks from one end of the play-pen to the other, of course hanging on to the siderails, but she's so good! Before we know it she'll be walking. That's one thing I've noticed about Izzie, she is making SO much progress from month to month. At 5 months, she said "mama" and "mom." She was already starting to crawl at that time too. At 6 months, she said "papa" and she crawls with such speed, it's amazing! She sits so perfectly straight and she stands on whatever she can, obviously hanging on to something, but she's more on her legs than on all 4s. She likes to play pretend, when someone coughs, she "coughs" to get your attention too!
Ok, I didn't get to post this on time, so I'll post it even though the month is about to end and it's well past Valentine's day...by the way, it took well over 7 days to get over my cold-flu.
--Mamma Jenn
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About Me
- Jenn R.S.
- Roma, Italy
- Loving and living life to the fullest for God has blessed me with the most wonderful gifts ever: my husband Roberto, my little girl Isabella Nadine, my 2nd baby whose debut we are waiting for,my family and friends.
