30 apr 2013

pregnancy menu ideas

i've already talked about toxoplasmosis here but i'm so obsessed with food lately that i want to share some other menu ideas (toxo-free).






as you can see i'm obsessed with salad and tomatoes! actually... from all that it's red: tomatoes, strawberries... i'm waiting for watermelon and peaches! another reason for eating healthy salad is that i already gained 8 kg (!!!) and i want to stay under control as much as possible (also because i really can't say no to chocolate). I bought a fitball and i'm using my cyclette (yes guys... here it's always raining!!) to start moving my muscles... i'd prefer a long walk into the nature but since it rains...
i hope to be persevering in my exercise program (i always start with enthusiasm but i quit very soon)

28 apr 2013

17/52




 "a portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Zoe Tiare: my sleeping angel! today we had the first mummy-baby swimming lesson and you loved it! 

Me & my belly: 26 weeks. trying to guess if it will be a baby girl or a baby boy with a pendulum. do you know how it works? you take a ring (i used my wedding ring) and a necklace (or a cord) and you move it right above your belly: if it turns round it will be a girl and if it goes back and forth it's a boy.
the result? guess!

Giulio spent the week away for work so i lived as a single mom... i didn't have enough time to see a lot of the others 52 project portraits but i still found some pictures i love: another peaceful sleeping boy from my curly boy and the joy of this little girl playing with leaves.

taking part in jodi's project

25 apr 2013

a day at the zoo Cappeller

waiting for the kangaroo jumps

with granny





look daddy...i've found a buddy! but i'm the one who drives!


today is a national holiday in italy: liberation's day (to remember the liberation from the fascist party). giulio is in dubai for work (daddy we miss you so much!!) so we spent the day with granny at the zoo, Parco Faunistico Cappeller. it's very close from where i live and so nice! zoeti had a lot of fun (and we too)! we had the chance to see exotical animals such as camels and kangaroos, several types of monkeys, pinguins, a great variety of birds, some ostrichs (they are very big!) and reptiles. i had already seen some of that animals in our trips to australia, south america or south africa, so it was both fun and weird seeing them here. i think that zoeti is still too little to understand what's this and that but she enjoyed the animals calls and their movements. the park is a must for families: not only to see animals but also to have picnics or enjoying the playgrounds. 



and we spent the evening at my parent's house, between the swing and some cherry blossoms...

23 apr 2013

mini shopaholic!


yes... still a little bit big, but here we have rainy spring and rainy autumn!

recently i've been into this store with a huge sale for closing and i fell in love with powell craft! i bought this raincoat and some other cute things for our next baby, our nephew and friend's kids! zoeti keeps asking me to wear it even when it's not raining!! this english brand is a family-owned business that houses victoria-inspired clothes for kids (and a selection of nightdresses and blankets). now that the shop where i bought these fabulous raincoat is closed i'm looking for other ways to find this super cute stuff! like any busy moms i love shopping online and i found this shop, dolly rose, with a great choice of powell craft products (i don't know why but seems to be impossible to shop directly from pc website)

that's what's in my wishlist:

21 apr 2013

16/52




"a portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Zoe Tiare: playing with a colorful umbrella, during this rainy weekend
Me & my belly:  25 weeks - enjoying the only 5 minutes of sun in the whole day... in a yellow sea! spring is here after all! you keep moving and kicking so hard... sometimes i'm talking to somebody and i have a wince when you move! 

Joining in with Che and Fidel project

my favorite shots of the past week are: sea and salt self portrait (so dreamy), a bedtime story from still moving swiftly, naptime from life, love and syntax



18 apr 2013

5# book review

one of my resolution for this year was to read one book per month (see  my resolutions here)  well... i'm doing it and i still can not believe it! i always loved reading but with a child it's not so easy... with two i think i can forget it for at least one year!
this month i read Limonov by Emmanuel Carrère. it's a biography on a russian men, Eduard Limonov; who was writer and politician, a bit fictional.

his life was nothing less that pure adventure: first in ukraine, then in russia, where he met his first wife. after he moved to new york and paris, where he felt the real degradation and he wrote his first romance.

it's hard to believe that what's writing is actually true (even with some literary fiction!)

i don't know if you can find this book in english, but in french for sure!







now i'm reading all baby and pregnancy related book, and something about siblings... if you have any suggestion about this last theme please tell me! as i said i'm only child so seeing relationship between brothers and sisters is brand new to me!

16 apr 2013

baby's playlist


and finally the spring arrived...! i'm so happy when i open the windows in the morning and a warm sun is waiting for us! yesterday i got out for a walk... actually my first "baby bump walk". i used to walk so much when i was pregnant with zoeti and during our ride i told her if we met a cat or a dog, if there were particular flowers along the way and we used to listen a lot of music. i created a playlist just for her and we fell in love so much with doris day singing che sera sera that is still one of her favorite song and the only one that can calm her down when she's restless. so during this first walk just me and my belly i started thinking about a new playlist! music is important for me and i want that my children love music as much as their parents do. i googled "baby's dedicated song list" and i found out some very nice lullabies and a lot of country songs. i'm still listening some of them, trying to find out the perfect mix for this new baby. so far her/his playlist includes: over the rainbow - judy garland
la cura - franco battiato (one of my favorite song ever and very famous here in italy)
a famous cuban song that i'm not going to tell you because the title is the name we chose for a baby girl (and it's still to secret for relatives and friends! - sorry)

i'm still browsing between the suggestions i've found on internet: martina mcbride and tim mcgrow (if it's a girl), celine dion, carole king and billy joel...
any suggestion? have you ever create a playlist for your child?

14 apr 2013

15/52

 

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"a portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Zoe Tiare: she asked “again, again” every time this little carousel horse stopped! she loves horses and  playing so much!

Me & my belly: 24 weeks! and finally spring is here!!

joining Jodi’s 52 project

this week was kind of hectic so i didn’t had time to see all the others 52 project’s picture… i’m sorry! i’ll post my favorites next week!

11 apr 2013

my first skirt!

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finally i ended my first project with the sewing class: a skirt! it’s not perfect but … hey i made it all by myself! i’m completely proud of it!! being pregnant means to remain on clothes that easily adapt to a growing belly and that’s perfect! it was chilly outside this morning (spring, where are you?!?) but i so wanted to show you my first creation! i left some textile so i’m doing something for zoeti… pictures coming soon!
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now i’m only looking for some sun and hot days!
PS: thank you, Dany for taking pictures while your little precious man was crying! ;)

9 apr 2013

a room for a big sister!

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during the past month we made some changes in zoeti’s room. i’ve already post about her bedroom here, but after reading some montessori’s book i decided to create something more suitable for her.

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i’m proud of her room! there’s plenty of space to play, run, read and … receive friends! and it’s a great mix of vintage and new stuff, with an ikea touch here and there!  

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the bookshelf was originally an ikea spice racks! it’s an interesting way to display books and i notice that zoeti “reads” a lot more since when we put her books like that. every night she runs to chose a book between the ones exposed. i rotate them every week. our favorite right now is I’m a big sister. i keep the italian books in one box and english books in another.

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giulio found that wonderful blue hanger in an antique market and zoeti can now hang her coat by herself (as montessori said). we also a table (ikea) and a bookshelf for toys, for keeping them in order and in a specific place.

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her closet is always the same and i love it so much! zoeti will share it with her brother or sister: a door for each! kids clothes are so beautiful that i love being able to see them through the closet!
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when we chose this crib (ikea) we know that  the bed sides were fixed, but it was so romantic that we bought it anyway. now zoeti is a big girl and my growing belly makes everything more difficult so in order to improve her autonomy (and help mommy’s back!) giulio did this bed side so she can easily go in and out. in a month her new bed will arrive and we put this away… waiting to use it again…

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her music box and a creative corner, with colours, chalks and modeling clay. she loves painting (inside and outside the paper!)

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and that’s a little corner for the new brother or sister… to give shoes as good luck is a tradition here and you can see also one of my last purchases: a super cute baby onesie! i’ll share something more of our last shopping days soon! 

7 apr 2013

14/52




"a portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Zoe Tiare: a sunday morning ritual: you wake up around 7.30 and daddy brings you in our bed, where you fall asleep again...
Me & my belly: 23 weeks - body painting!

my favorite shots last week were a smiling Oliver , a wonderful b/w shot of Emily Jane and Eliot, cleaning up his spillage, who made me laughing a lot!

enjoying Jodi's 52 project

4 apr 2013

the library



last week zoeti was still sick but not so much to stay stuck in the house... with the pregnancy, houseworks etc i was thinking about what we can do, easy for me and funny for her. i have to admit that where i live (but i suspect to be so throughout italy) a baby until 6 years old has nothing to do! if there's any activities is for school age guys, for example kitchen course or music. there's a place where they make plays for children between 1 and 3 but it's open one morning per week!! i was exausted to stay at home, and zoeti was asking for peppa pig more than i wanted so we decided to go to the public library! it was a blast!! we're actually visiting every library around here trying to find the right one. i think it's a mom's duty to give some advices to libraries to make that place more confortable and that's what i'm doing right now! the library where i grow up has, for example, a couple of flaws: there was few english books and no changing table. these are two of my obsessions... i mean an ikea changing table is very cheap so no a big  deal for public places or restaurants! this should be a rule: if you want to open a place to the public you have to have a changing table. unfortunately here it's not so common (except for regions like trentino alto adige where is a must). it's something i never notice before being a mom (why should i?) but after had to become a contortionist for changing a diaper, you start to notice everything!
english is another obsession for me. linguists and educators agree that the sooner you start with a new language the better! well, i love my language; it's the language of art, of dante, of the great rome... but let's face it: it's unuseful. my children must speak english to do almost anything so why don't start to teach it from an early age? and again there are english courses or activities if you're over 6. 
on friday i'll have a dinner with other moms with children between 1 and 3 and i'm going to testing the waters... if this english issue is shared i want to try to resolve the situation! because i think that being a mom is a responsability not only towards your children but the whole comunity!



we played a lot!

2 apr 2013

stills… easter time

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breaking a chocolate egg (is it a tradition in your country too?) // i love my mother-in-law’s set of dishes // pretending it’s her birthday // walking with daddy // being silly with mommy // every mirror is good for family pictures!