Family

My last living grandparent, my Grandpa Richard Vivian, passed away at age 86, less than a week before Giada was born. Yesterday was his funeral. Since I was not able to be there, I wanted to take a minute to say goodbye to my grandpa, to share what he meant to me, and what he taught me.

Have you gotten your dad’s or husband’s father’s day gifts yet? You still have a couple of weeks to find the perfect gift. I’ve mentioned before how many cool and unique gifts you can get on Etsy (for moms). I love that these items have a handmade quality and many of them can be personalized for your dad or husband. Here are eight neat father’s day gift ideas I found on Etsy.

This Sunday is my last, first Mother’s day and I’m already nostalgic. This is my first Mother’s day having a daughter, and my last, first mother’s day, since we don’t plan to have any more children. As I reflect on what Mother’s day means to me this year, it dawned on me that there are now three generations of women in my family. Now that I have a daughter, Mother’s day feels different somehow–when daughters become mothers to daughters.

I wanted to share these wonderful Cinco De Mayo margarita recipes because, during my coming of age in Green Bay, this wonderful holiday passed us by, which is a darn shame.

Peeps easter candy is are freaking adorable. There is no denying their cuteness, but who actually eats them? The giant chocolate bunny was always the star, while the Peeps ended up stale at the bottom of my Easter basket. So what other creative uses for Peeps could I try?

I recently met a new baby bib designer on Instagram. We got to talking about her new business and Etsy shop. After learning about her fledgling business, I started poking around on Etsy. I quickly learned there are tons of really talented designers, creators and crafters on Etsy.

Making traditional Italian food is one way I celebrate the holidays and my Italian heritage. I’ve made traditional Italian Christmas cookies before, now I wanted to try Italian Easter cookies.

I’m not one of those women who loved being pregnant. My body was taken over by someone else, literally. I didn’t like the extra attention from strangers asking me when I was due, or telling me how pregnancy suited me. I counted down the days until I reached forty weeks. Maybe both of my babies and my body sensed how much I wasn’t into this pregnancy thing, since both babies came early.

Have you ever wanted to give your child the best and couldn’t? What if the best was something that 99% percent of mothers could give but you couldn’t? For me, this happened very early on in motherhood: I couldn’t produce enough milk to feed my first child, my son Rocco. Only 16 months after my son Rocco was born, the breastfeeding anxiety has returned with the birth of my daughter Giada last month.