Six Days

Six days have passed and I'm feeling incredibly in LOVE. Samuel sleeps, eats and cryes only when he's feeling cold after a bath. He's adorable !! At the moment he seems to be much calmer character than his potential big sister who's showing some signs of jealousy by now. I'm going to be writing a bit less for the following weeks, because one : I need a rest and second : I want to dedicate  time for the kids now. I just wanted to let you know that everything is going well here.

Until the next time, xxx

Another Man In My Life

Finally he was born, my son Samuel. It's true at least in my case that everything was easier and faster with the second child yet as amazing and wonderful than with my first one. Tomorrow arrives my mom and we're going home from the hospital.  We're ready to start the new life with our baby. Welcome Samuel. We're about to start a long path together.

What You Do With What You Have

Here's my advice for anyone feeling down right now. I know we all have bad days and it's so easy to want something we can't have. But what we really should be doing is looking around, 

right now and realize that 

this is it. 

This is my life.

Only you can decide if you want to enjoy life as it is, or if you'll always look away wanting more...

I mean dreams are great and important. I think it's dreaming that drives us forward in life, but it doesn't mean life isn't good as it is. 

Well here's a little something I was thinking about the other day after reading a post on a blog that talks about well being and happiness.

I wish you all a wonderful day, xxx.

Nutrient Rich Food For Kids

Here's how to make easily a basic Italian dish more healthy and more nutrient rich for children. In Bari children eat lots and lots of pasta, often with only the basic tomato sauce. They add some parmesan cheese which is very rich in calcium and some vitamins but that's about it. My pasta for my kid includes whole wheat pasta ( which causes shivering for the majority of South Italians) instead of the white one.

For the sauce I've used fresh tomatoes, zucchini and garlic. After cooking I add the best quality olive oil (produced in Bitonto 15 km from our home), chia and sesame seeds and some fresh basilica. 

Chia seeds contain calcium, iron, magnesium, omega 3 fatty acids, 

phosphorus and manganese. 

They're also good sources of protein and dietary fiber.

Sesame seeds instead are an excellent source of copper and a very good source of manganese, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, molybdenum, selenium and dietary fiber.

I've taken some time to study a bit about good sources of calcium because my daughter won't drink a drop of cow's milk. She never did after breast feeding.  

She just doesn't like the taste. This is interesting because my stomach doesn't tolerate cow's milk and so I haven't used it for years. Could it be that my eating habits are transferred to my kid ?

She gets her calcium from natural yoghurt that she often eats with a drop of honey in the morning. Other calcium sources are various cheeses, tofu and seeds.

So far these "extra ingredients" go only to my daughter's plate (and my own of course), 

I still need to convince my stubborn M.  

Summer Outfits and Relaxing Times

This week I've taken time to relax, to have slow short walks by the sea and in the centre and to start a tiny little project. I'm making a little green dress out of some left over fabrics for Luna and a matching necklace. It's her first necklace so I have no idea how long the necklace will be worn, or if she will wear it at all, but I have an inspiration and I need to finish what I have in mind.

I will post a photo when the dress is done, xxx

Seasonal Goods

Delicious Figs and Mulberries, the summer season is on ! 

As I have mentioned in some of my earlier posts, one of the best things of living in South Italy is to be able to enjoy the seasonal food not only in the summer but all around the year. I personally have been very interested on healthy diets for more than ten years now but there have been periods in my life when I've given less thought about it. Now as a mum of a two years old and soon a new born baby I want to introduce the best eating habits and diets for my family. Now this is not the easiest task in Italy (I'll talk about this another time) but I'm not going to give up. Eating well as a mum has proven to be vital for my energy levels and for me it's the best way of simply feeling good about my self.

Mulberries are rich in Vitamin C and they also contain small amounts of Iron, Magnesium and Calcium.

Where as Figs are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B6, copper, potassium, manganese, 

and acid. 

Colours For The Summer

These photos you may have already seen on my Instagram or FB profile, but I try to write a bit of something about ALL my creative projects in my blog. 

To be honest I'm quite lazy to use any jewellery these days, because they're not very practical to use with small kids. They get easily caught with the clothes and make scratches, but when ever I have a moment for my self like this day I love to wear them. This bracelet is made of red coral beads and some turquoise stone mass beads.