The Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday!

It's been a few weeks, but with Alessia's party and birthday, there just wasn't any time for blogging. But the party has ended, everyone has gone home (a week ago), and now we have a one year old.

Despite a winter storm being in the forecast, everyone made it to the party safely and celebrated in style with Alessia. Our "Very Hungry Caterpillar" theme came across in both the decorations and the food. We dined on everything the caterpillar ate (for the most part) and had an amazing caterpillar banner (courtesy of Alessia's Godmother, Stephanie).

Our food table with labels.  Labels were downloaded for free from Polkadots and Puppies.

This cake was AMAZING and didn't last long. And a plus was it was all organic! The recipe can be found by clicking here. You won't be disappointed.

For our meal I made had Italian beef and balsamic beef. It was my first time making the balsamic beef, but it was really good. In case you are interested in trying it out, the recipe is here.

I am in love with the banner. 

Alessia had a blast and got some amazing gifts. I cannot wait for her to wear all her super cute clothes and she is already busy playing with her toys and books. Then once the weather gets warm, we can break out her water table and swing. 

The birthday girl!

You think she is excited?

Alessia loves cards. We are still reading her cards to her everyday...numerous times.

Mommy made a wish that Alessia would figure out her nap schedule. 

Our chalkboard with Alessia's stats.

Gluten free carrot cake cupcakes.  Alessia loved them even though I forgot to put the heavy cream in the icing.  The recipe can be found here.

Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us and sent birthday wishes and gifts!

Figure It Out Weather!

Yesterday it was GORGEOUS!  And to top that off, Kevin got home early. Woohoo for being home by 4 o'clock!  Since we needed to take advantage of these two things, we took a nice family walk, hung up some pictures, and actually ate dinner at a decent time. 

Today, Mother Nature is being a complete spaze!  We have had snow, a thundersnow, a thunderstorm, rain, and now sleet.  I'm sure the roads are going to be a lovely disaster by the day's end.  I wanted to do some running around tonight to pick up stuff for Alessia's birthday party, but I might be postponing that until tomorrow or this weekend.

The party is fast approaching. I definitely don't want to go overboard, but you only get one first birthday.  Obviously, I'm not planning for Alessia's sake...it's all for the guests. Plus, I can't expect to win the "Mom of the Year" award if I don't throw an amazing birthday party.  Besides planning the party, I decided to FINALLY start putting together Alessia's first year scrapbook a few weeks ago.  I have spent every free minute I get putting the book together.  When she naps, when she goes to bed, when Kevin in home, I am scrapping.  And when she gets older, she better appreciate it! 

So, with that said, I cut this short because the scrapbook is not finished and the party is in 9 days.  Ciao for now!

Check out our super cute invite I purchased through etsy!

What Should I Be Doing?

In a perfect world, I should be drinking a beer and eating pizza.  But, it just so happens, that I don't have any pizza and it's too late to make any and the beer that we have in our fridge expired in December (that just shows you how often we drink).

What I actually should be doing is planning Alessia's first birthday party, doing her one year scrapbook, cleaning something, unloading the dishwasher, or starting our taxes.  And that's just the beginning. I am exhausted though.  Kevin's been in Russia for a week now so it's been just Alessia and myself. Luckily, she has been an AMAZING sleeper lately (but I probably just jinxed myself).  We've gone down to one nap, but she's been sleeping 11-12 hours straight every night.  Most nights, I'm not too far behind her either.  I can barely keep my eyes open past nine-o'clock

Tonight, instead of doing what I should be doing, I'm going to just sit on the couch with my cup of tea, watch DVRed episodes of Chopped, and then go to bed early. The other stuff can wait.

Bathing Suits and Dessert...Not a Good Combo

The countdown is on! We have less than four months until sun, sand, alcoholic beverages...and bathing suits.  The first three I can handle; the last one, I'm not too confident about. 

In preparation for our trip, Kevin and I have made it a priority to start getting fit.  The food part is easy because we really don't eat unhealthy.  We don't eat out, we use mostly organic ingredients, we don't eat prepackaged foods, and we eat a very balanced diet.  The only problem we have is that we LOVE dessert. 

I was never a sweets person until we lived in Europe.  In England, we always had our "pudding" (shout out to the Delany's who usually supplied us with this) and it was usually ice cream or a crumble.  And nine times out of ten it was covered in custard.  In Italy, we usually had dessert twice a day...once in the afternoon with our tea and coffee and then again after dinner.  Unfortunately, we brought this bad habit back to the States with us.

Now after dinner, I immediately look for something sweet...chocolate, ice cream, cookies.  This is something I know I can't do if I want to be in a bikini in May.  So since the first of the year, I haven't bought any sweets.  But I still find myself looking for some after dinner like they are magically going to appear out of nowhere.  At the grocery store, I always look at the sweets, but I don't buy.  I know if I get them, there will be no turning back.

For now and for the next four months, I will just dream of cakes, gelato, pie, and cookies.  And look at pictures...

Trip For Two

When I found out my best friend was getting married in Cancun, I was so excited.  I knew, without a doubt, that we would be going.  Then the realization that I was going to have to leave my girl set in and I started freaking out.  Kevin travels away from home a lot so he is used to being away from her. I, on the other hand, have never been away from her for longer than 12 hours...and that was only once. And when I do step out for a few hours, I check in to make sure she is okay because I obviously feel like she can't live without me. It would be safe to say that Alessia and I have some attachment issues. 

Well, we booked our trip to Cancun this week...6 days/5 nights without our girl.  I know this will be ten times harder on me than it will be on her.  Luckily for us, my amazing parents are coming to stay with Alessia at our place while we are away.  And I know that they will follow my crazy rules.  I don't jive with the whole "eat what you want and do what you want with the grandparents." Plus, Paula P will probably clean my house better than I ever do and my dad will take Alessia on more walks than she can count.

For now, I will mentally prepare myself for the separation. And look forward to a trip for two.  

Mommy's Night Out

Back in college, my Friday nights were spent trying on numerous outfits until I found the perfect one, finding someone to put eyeliner on me (since I still can't do it correctly), pre-gaming, and then hitting the party scene at 10-11pm.  My hockey Friday's were spent trying on numerous outfits until I found the one that was both warm and stylish, sharing pitchers of Coors Light with my ladies, and devouring Applebee's appetizers at 11pm. My how the times have changed.

This Friday, I ventured out...by myself...to Target.  And to top it off, I even put on jeans.  Because, let's be honest, I spend 99% of my time now in either sweatpants or yoga pants. I walked down the aisles, actually looking at things that weren't on my list. I didn't have to worry about whether or not my child was about to have a mental breakdown or not. And the best part...I didn't have to shop with an extra 17 pounds hanging onto me (because my child gets tired of sitting in a cart quickly).

But that was all the excitement I could handle for one night. After an hour and a half of filling my cart with items I really didn't need, I went home so I could put Alessia to bed and make dinner (which I burnt). Note to self: setting a timer only works if you actually check the item after the timer goes off.

With all that said, I could definitely use a night out on the town. The last time I had more than one serving of alcohol in a night was in June 2012...sad, I know.  But, for now, I will pass because feeling like hell while having to care for another living person isn't something I want to do. Instead, I will savor my late night solo trips to Target.

I'm Back!

I've been going back and forth recently as to whether or not to keep the blog going.  When I started, it was a way for me to keep all our family and friends posted on our happenings.  I used it to document our travels and life in the hockey world.  Since getting pregnant and with the birth of Alessia, it has turned into a log of motherhood.  While I love my life, I can only write so much about making baby food, chasing around a crawling fool, and sleep deprivation.

But with all of that said, I really want to get back to the number one reason why I blog.  It is an outlet for me...it was in Italy and should still be now.  I want to keep it up and I don't want it to be stale and boring. Maybe we won't be packing up and moving as often as we used to, but that isn't to say we aren't packing. In fact, Kevin is more of a suitcase now than he ever was. And while we aren't living the hockey life that we used to, I'm still the same hockey wife that I've always been.

So, the blog is back up...and it will be running. 2014 is going to be an AMAZING year and we have so much to look forward to...Alessia's first birthday, a trip to Cancun for my best friend's wedding, a family trip to Las Vegas to catch up with friends, and lots of home improvement. Stay tuned.