Diario di Mamma Jenn

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

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!
Izzie with the Winnie-the-Pooh her Nonno Ugo gave her for her birthday

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!!

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?

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

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