Diario di Mamma Jenn

I'm a little behind in posting Izzie's 2nd birthday, only 3 days late, not bad. We haven't yet celebrated her birthday since we are waiting for my Mom to arrive from the States. Apparently we won't have many attendees because everyone is heading off to the beach and vacation during this time, which I don't blame them. The heat is ferocious and if I could, I myself would be floating in the ocean. Problem is, at this point I might be confused with a whale! :)

My poor Izzie celebrated her 2nd birthday at the birthing clinic where she was born, I am having CTG monitoring done more often now that I'm getting closer to Sophie's EDD. I'm just glad Izzie still doesn't understand birthdays, but I know she's going to enjoy her party. Below is a picture of Izzie while at lunch on her birthday and then at a summer party we attended the day after. Of course I'll be posting pics of her birthday party. Until then...take care!
-Mamma Jenn
Enjoying some yummy pasta!

Playing in the sand!

So today I am at the 37 week mark and I really cannot wait any longer for Sophie to be born. Today I went to the birthing clinic to have fetal monitoring done and I have to return on Friday. I have no idea how many monitoring sessions I will have done this time around, I'm just glad I paid for a package where you can have as many fetal monitorings as needed all in one price. I was told that Sophie is already head down and she's quite low, but that doesn't mean anything. In the end babies come when they think it's right, not when we hope they come. This week and the coming week are busy weeks. Tomorrow is Izzie's 2 year check-up and then on Friday, which is Izzie's birthday, unfortunately we'll be in the birthing clinic. Next week Mom arrives and I'm so excited about that, I can't wait to have her here!! Well, I'm just rambling now and I bet I'm not even making sense, I'm quite tired right now, so I'm off to bed and try to sleep. Nowadays it's kinda hard to sleep with a huge whale belly and just the fact that Sophie moves a lot too.
Good nite and I'll write more next time...who knows, maybe the next time I write it'll be after Sophie is born.
-Mamma Jenn

Each of my girls are 23 months and 33 weeks today. I cannot believe that in one month exactly my baby will be 2 years and that in 7 weeks I should be giving birth to our new baby girl. My baby Izzie will no longer be my baby, well, she always will be, but now she's going to be my little girl. We are already planning her 2nd birthday as my Mom will be bringing all the party supplies from abroad. I know Izzie is going to love this birthday party. We have chosen Elmo as the theme since that is her favorite character and I'm pretty sure next year she'll be choosing her own theme. As for our other baby, I have 7 weeks left!! I began my countdown at 10 weeks, but for some odd reason I couldn't remember today how many weeks I had left and when I realized it was only 7, I started freaking out! I am a huge pregnant whale, this pregnancy is definitely different from the past one. I wonder how different the two girls will be. I don't know if I ever posted that we have finally chosen a name for this baby, her name will be Sophie Elize. We were having the hardest time with the middle name, but I finally found it and my husband agreed to it.
Yesterday morning I started thinking about how odd it will be to have another baby sleeping in the crib that is still in our bedroom. Izzie hardly slept in her crib, she hated it. I being the softie that I am, gave in and had her sleep with us and boy have I learned my lesson. Sophie will be sleeping in her crib like it or not. I think I started spoiling Izzie when we were still in the hospital, she would cry and cry and I would do everything to calm her down but nothing would work. Finally I put her to sleep with me on my bed and she would sleep. I know Doctors claim that babies do not know at that young age what it means to be spoiled, but I think they do. Babies are far more intelligent than what they are given credit for; they know what feels good and tastes good, so I'm sure that Izzie knew exactly what she was given when I had her sleep next to me--comfort. I must admit that although Izzie slept between us for almost 2 years, the transition of sending her off to her own bedroom and bed wasn't bad at all. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that her bed is as big as ours and when we prepared her room for her, she immediately jumped onto her bed and pretended she was sleeping there. She likes her room a lot and she sleeps well there too. She does wake up once or twice during the night, but that is something she was doing while sleeping with us so it's nothing new. I feel bad for her Daddy because it is her Daddy that puts her to sleep and comforts her when she wakes up in the middle of the night. Every once in a while she will request for Mommy, but it's mainly Daddy that she wants. She's really becoming a Daddy's little girl and whenever I see how loving she is with her Daddy, I really miss mine. Well, that's all for this time...here's a pic of her that I took after she "brightened" herself, maybe she was celebrating her own 23 months. :)

-Mamma Jenn

Okay, so I know it's been a while since I last blogged. Last time I blogged I was 20 weeks pregnant, in 2 days I'll be 28 weeks pregnant-- 3rd trimester! 7 months pregnant!! Time is flying by, but in a way I feel like it isn't at all. Only when I think about the time left for our baby girl to be born or when I think of when my Mom is supposed to get here then do I freak out. We're looking at 12 weeks for Sophie to be born and 10 weeks for Mom to get here. I do have many things to do before Mom gets here and most importantly before Sophie gets here, not to mention that Izzie is no help at times. At the time being she has an ugly cold, lots of congestion that makes her sleep bad because she coughes so much at night. Hopefully this cold will go away soon and she won't pass it on to either Roberto or myself. We've been on this crazy cycle where each one of us has gotten sick with a cold or flu, this is Izzie's 2nd time, although I am beginning to think that maybe she just never got over her flu to begin with.

On a different note, I'd like to write about this weekend. It was a weekend full of many BREAKING NEWS as many online news sites post. The one I least care about is that on Friday 29th, Prince William and Kate Middleton got married and it seems like the world went crazy watching this wedding. I wasn't invited to the wedding, but I wish them the best. They may not be your everyday common people, but they are people with hearts and sentiments, so I wish their marriage the best. Nothing happened on Saturday April 30th, other than us going grocery shopping and Izzie having fun at some play gym we like to take her to. On Sunday May 1st, we celebrated the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II, now this was an event I really cared for. It was an awesome feeling knowing that 30 kilometers away from my house there were more than 1.5 million people celebrating in unison this beatification. If you're not a Catholic you probably could care less, but as a Catholic, this was an important event. I can imagine the feelings of joy that the Poles felt, it's such an honor for one of theirs to be beatified! Unfortunately I wasn't able to watch the entire celebratory mass because I was preparing lunch, I was making lasagna, but I was able to listen to the entire mass since I had the volume to the TV up and loud. Then the news that I found out about this Monday morning, May 2nd is that yesterday May 1st, Osama bin Laden was killed by US military force. President Obama announced the news at midnight Eastern time, so that was 6am Rome time. I have very mixed feelings about this event. Yes, I am glad that there is one less terrorist to worry about, but seriously I don't know that this makes the terrorist war any better. I mean, so Osama was killed, but then there is his #2 man, was he also killed? And let's say #2 gets killed, then there's #3, in other words, it never ends. I don't want to be negative, but it's scary. I see this as a time where the entire world needs to be super alert and a time for prayer. I wouldn't call Osama's death justice, but rather just something that had to be done. I feel that the more people call it justice the more that terrorist group will be upset and want to retaliate. Prayer, prayer, lots of prayer!!!
Well, that was my rambling for this time...I have a sick child that is calling out for Mommy.
Until next time,
Mamma Jenn

Today baby #2 is 20 weeks and yesterday Izzie turned 20 months, it's rather odd that both turned "20" but one weeks and the other months. My poor Izzie celebrated her 20 months with a horrible stomach flu which she still hasn't gotten over. She woke up around 5.15am throwing up and it's the first time ever that she's thrown up, so I know she was scared and after the 7th time really tired. Thank God she didn't get a fever that was very high. She did get a fever, but not one to worry about a lot. Another thing is her diarrhea, she still has that going on. Bless her heart, I feel so bad for her because in her 20 months this is the 1st time that she gets really sick. Previous to this she had a runny nose and a fever that lasted 1.5 days each time, so 3 days total but for small insignificant things. Today she woke up asking for water and then some yogurt, so it was a good sign for me. She still doesn't have a huge appetite, but she's eaten a few crackers, some bread, half a yogurt, oh and some cheese. I don't care what she eats right now as long as she puts something in her stomach and retains it. Not too long ago, it's 10.30pm here, she started playing with her toys, VERY good sign. Yesterday she spent all day long in our bedroom on the bed. She would even come to the bed by herself and just go to sleep. She's the only one sick in the household, BUT I am starting to feel my throat a little sore and my bones have been aching all day long. :( I refuse to get sick, I don't want to get sick anymore.
On to nicer things...last Friday we had our Anatomy Ultrasound and it was awesome!! Our little Principessa, yes, we're having another girl!! She's doing really well, my OB/Gyn said all we need to do now is wait for her to grow more and deliver her--how exciting!! Of course I still have some analysis to do, and the one I hate is next, the Glucose Tolerance Test. I have faith that my test will go well and my results will be good, I know that thru Him all is possible and I will be gestational diabetes free! I will continue to pray for this.
Well Izzie is asking for something to eat now, so until next time!
-Mamma Jenn

Today we are at 18 weeks!! Two more weeks to go and we will be halfway through. Next week I am scheduled to have the BIG ultrasound, basically the anatomy ultrasound. I hope that the baby cooperates and allows her/him self to be seen, we'd like to find out the gender. We still have to decide on a male name, we've already chosen a female name...boys names are so difficult!

On a different topic, this past weekend we were invited to a baptism. It was Izzie's first time going to mass since her own baptism and we were only able to stay the first 5 minutes of the mass because she wanted to dance around on the pews. I felt so embarrassed, but isn't expected for a 19 month old to want to dance around? She probably felt joy, maybe that was her way of praising God!! Yeah, that's it!! Ok, who am I kidding, right? I tell my husband that I hope that we can baptize our baby #2 at the Vatican because I've heard that the ceremonies there are quick and short, at least that way whomever would have to deal with Izzie wouldn't go super crazy. Even though we didn't get to attend the baptismal mass, we did enjoy the reception afterwards, it was a 4 hour lunch! That is how the Italians party. . . have a LONG lunch! Here are some pics of my hubby and Izzie, myself and again Izzie.

Well, that's all I have for now. . . until next time!
-Mamma Jenn

Today my little teddy bear, that's baby #2, turns 16 weeks...time is still going by too slow for me. However, since I am no longer feeling horrible with nausea I don't mind that time is going by slow. My next appointment won't be until another 2 weeks, I wonder if this time the baby will cooperate and let us see her/his gender. Yesterday my little Princess turned 19 months!! She has been growing up so fast!! Sometimes when I see a baby I cannot believe that Izzie was once tiny. I tell my hubby that I don't remember Izzie being little. She is still as active as ever if not even more...she talks more, although we don't understand what she's saying all the time and thanks be to God she's still a very healthy toddler. Tomorrow she has a check-up with her Pediatrician...poor Izzie, she hates him! Well, he's not the best looking doctor I must admit, but he is very nice to her which makes me feel awful since she always always always cries during her check-ups. Well that's all for now, the pics below are samples of her getting into even the smallest things :)

Okay, so I don't want this blog to become my place to complaint, but today I'm not feeling well. Lately I've had more energy and I have even cooked some during lunch and that's a big step from not being able to step into my kitchen at all! Today for some odd reason I am just not myself. I am having some weird tummy pain and I've been feeling it all day long. At least I know it's not contractions because this pain is at the mouth of my tummy. I'm sure it's just one of those weird days, at least I pray it is. Well, here's to a better day tomorrow.

This is a must blog situation so that I will never forget it. I was outside putting in a load into the washer when I saw the postman and he needed a signature so I buzzed him in. After I finished doing what I had to do outside I came back inside to find Izzie with the house phone up to her ear and she was saying "Papa." So I grabbed the phone away from her and saw that the line was on so I just said "hello" and I was greeted by someone that said was from 118, which is like 911!! I apologized profusely for Izzie's big OOPS while thinking "oh my goodness we're going to get fined for such a thing!" The man on the other end of the line said, "no problem, have a good day." I questioned that "no problem" and immediately called my husband and told him the situation and asked him if you get fined here like you can in the US for a phoney 911 call and he said no. I was very relieved and only then could I laugh at what Izzie did. I cannot believe she called 118!!! Now the phone is way out of her reach. I know she loves the phone and when it rings, she'll grab it for you, but she's never dialed any numbers. I think she's figured out that her non-working real phone is just for play and she will not get anyone on the other end of the line. :-(

Two years ago, Jan 2009, I was sick and pregnant and I hated it. At first I had a cold then it turned into a flu and then a persisting cough that only God remembers how long I had it. Was I able to take any medicine? NO! January 2011, I am sick and pregnant and I still hate it. This past Saturday I totally lost my voice, in fact on Sunday I couldn't even communicate with my family. My voice has made a comeback, but I am still sick and I've been thinking about going to the doctor, but I'm almost 100% sure that she'll tell me, "You're pregnant, you can't take any medicine." So, I think I might as well stay at home and stay warm and let it pass. I hate it. Cough, cough.

Ok, so I haven't posted in what seems like an eternity, but I have a good reason! Hahaha don't we always have a good reason? Here's my reason, actually thinking about it, I have 2 reasons!! First, I am pregnant, today at 13 weeks and believe it or not I have a computer aversion, crazy, right? I really believe that this baby will not like technology as much as Izzie does. In fact, my 2nd reason for not blogging or even getting near my computer is because at the sight of the computer, Izzie immediately wants to watch Elmo videos and sometimes I just hate it. It almost seems like an addiction! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but since I can't stand the sight of my or any computer at the moment, it seems like an addiction to me. This pregnancy is sooooo different from my first one. With Izzie I felt nothing, it was a perfect pregnancy, whereas with this pregnancy I have nausea and horrible insomnia and I get tired as soon as I wake up!! It's just a different pregnancy. We've been telling Izzie that Mommy has a baby inside and she's sweet, she will kiss my tummy. She wants to see my "What to Expect when you're Expecting" book everyday and requests to see the baby. All of the sudden she sees babies everywhere. This coming Friday I go for a check up, we'll see if maybe we can see the baby's gender...

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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??

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

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.

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 candle