The Shitty Weekend: A Recap

Hey there, everyone!

How was your Easter? Mine was actually pretty shitty.

We traveled to my husband’s hometown on Friday morning to go spend Easter with my in-laws and it rained the whole weekend. It was freezing and rainy and windy and I didn’t even manage to go for a walk while there.

Dalila was in a funk for two days, throwing major tantrums and being generally grumpy, clingy and moody. We are not sure why, but we think it might have been the daylight saving time change, a different bed and a change in routine. She didn’t want to eat anything, wouldn’t go to sleep and was just super upset for two whole days. She then just snapped back to being her normal, happy self at lunchtime on Monday. I thought she might be teething but I’m pretty sure she has all of her teeth by now and she definitely has the vocabulary to say something if her teeth were hurting. Besides, she wasn’t crying in pain, just generally moody.

Olívia wasn’t super happy either, having a huge crying fit on Saturday. She gets very tired when she’s not on her typical routine and only takes catnaps throughout the day, which makes her exhausted. I think teething might be starting for her too (she’s 4 months old today) because she keeps attempting to chew on everything and nibbling on her hands. To make it even worse, she has been a bit colicky and was clearly in pain at some point.

On the drive home yesterday, we literally had to stop about 4 or 5 times (it’s a 2-hour drive) to soothe Olívia, put her pacifier back on, give Dalila her own pacifier back because it had fallen or she had thrown it (I wonder who she gets her temper from) provide snacks, etc. Honestly, my husband and I would just look at each other, not knowing if we should laugh or cry, wondering if we could maybe just run away together, leave the country and have the grandparents raise the kids but ultimately decided to keep them for now (mostly for the tax benefits) and somehow we made it home and through another day.

Because I wasn’t having a crappy enough few days, my period decided to make an appearance yesterday (right on time, after always being late for the best part of 20 years) giving me a massive headache. Finally, both kids were asleep by 11ish and I made it to bed early (and by early I mean midnight) and slept in this morning because my husband is wonderful and took both girls so I could rest a little.

Anyways, I’m off now. Olívia had her 4-month shots today and I want to go cuddle her.

I hope you have a nice week!

Love,

Cheila

Photo by Pexels

Extra Post: Bloganuary Day 23 – What I Do For Fun

List five things you do for fun.

Is it weird I had a hard time answering this question? What does fun even mean? Something thrilling? Something that makes you laugh? Something that gives you pleasure or makes you happy? All of the above, most likely.

So what do I actually do for fun? It’s not like I go dancing or bungee jumping so I had to think long and hard about this one. This is what I came up with:

1. Playing with my daughters. I mean Dalila, obviously, as my two month old doesn’t play much yet. Who knew I might have fun sorting out colorful dinosaurs or playing with Lego.

2. Going out to dinner or hosting friends at home for a meal. I always have fun when sharing food with friends.

3. Shopping. I wish I was less shallow and that I liked more wholesome pursuits but this is who I am. I don’t shop as much as I once did but I still have fun by going out to look at shops.

4. Texting back and forth with my group of best girlfriends. I love coming up with unexpected questions, gossiping and laughing with them.

5. Guilty pleasure here: watching reality tv with my husband. We’re avid Married at First Sight fans and have a lot of fun together watching other people be ridiculous on camera.

So there you have it, this is how I have fun.

Love,

Cheila

20 Random Facts About Me (Blog Post #16 of 365)

Hey there!

My post for today is something I really love to read about other people. Here’s 20 random facts about myself.

1. My favorite movie genre is catastrophe/disaster movies. There aren’t many I haven’t seen.

2. I always sleep hugging a pillow.

3. I hate the color orange. Unfortunately, it’s my husband’s favorite color. I’m not fond of yellow either.

4. I could eat cereal for every meal, it’s my absolute favorite food.

5. I was raised catholic, had a church wedding and then later realized I’m actually an atheist.

6. The first movie I saw at the cinema was Mulan. The first grown up movie was The Last Samurai.

7. I’m allergic to cantaloupe. I thought everyone’s throat burned after eating cantaloupe, turns out I’m both allergic and an idiot.

8. I hate the sound of whistling. It drives me mad.

9. I’ve never broken a bone and never had surgery besides my two C-sections.

10. I’m deadly afraid of motorcycles. You’d never get me to ride one, not even if you paid me good money.

11. I don’t drink alcohol.

12. I don’t believe in ghosts, horoscopes, life after death or anything that hasn’t been proven by science.

13. My favorite number is 23.

14. I hate all kinds of games. Video games, board games, phone games bore me to death.

15. I don’t like room temperature water. I’ll drink ice water even in the dead of winter.

16. If I can’t see the bottom, I’m not swimming in it.

17. My favorite pizza toppings are bell peppers, olives and sweet corn. No, pineapple does not belong on pizza.

18. My useless talent is being really good at coming up with funny poems, jingles, slogans and everything that involves playing with words.

19. I love chocolate but don’t like chocolate ice cream or chocolate cake.

20. I have this recurring nightmare where I’m still in high school and won’t be able to graduate because I’m failing math. I didn’t even take math in high school.

What about you? What’s a random fact about you?

See you tomorrow.

Love,

Cheila

Extra Post: Bloganuary Day 21 – About My Name and My Daughter’s Names

Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.

As you know by now, my first name is Cheila (pronounced Shay-luh). My mom wanted to name me Sheila but, back in 1991, the name was not part of the list of permitted names in Portugal (we have one, thank God), because the spelling SH is not used in our language. The option was to change it to a more Portuguese spelling, CH, and so that’s what my mother did. She stills spells it Sheila to this day. The SH spelling was actually approved just a few years later so I’ve met a few Sheilas that are just a couple of years younger than me.

I’ve spent most of my childhood and teenage years hating my name for being so unusual. Until a few years ago, I had never met someone else named Cheila. In a world of girls named Ana, Joana and Catarina, I stood out and was made fun of. Bullying got much worse when kids learned my second name is Belinda, which is even more uncommon.

Even though I’m still not a fan of the combination Cheila Belinda, I’m now fond of both names and feel proud of having been named something special and somewhat unique. As an adult, I can appreciate not having been named the same as every other girl in the nineties.

Now, what does my name mean?

According to Wikipedia

Sheila (alternatively spelled Shelagh and Sheelagh) is a common feminine given name, derived from the Irish name Síle, which is believed to be a Gaelic form of the Latin name Caelia, the feminine form of the Roman clan name Caelius, meaning ‘heavenly’.

Apparently, Sheila (pronounced Shee-luh) happens to be the Irish version of the name Cecilia, which I find very beautiful. I don’t think my mother was aware of this nor did she pay any attention to the meaning. She simply saw it in a magazine (the combination of both names) and immediately loved it. My father wanted to name me Vera but my mother vetoed the name.

When the time came to name my own daughters, I stayed clear from “strange” names and chose something more common.

I really wanted them to have beautiful, feminine and old fashioned names that were not so common that they’d have to share their names with 5 other classmates in a few years. Dalila is a common Portuguese name, but it hasn’t been popular in a very long time. I don’t know any Dalila that’s under 30 years old. Her second name is Mariana, honoring my husband’s grandmother, the most pure and beautiful person I’ve ever met.

As for Olívia, I wanted to name her Ofélia but my husband thought it was too weird which I can agree. I still absolutely love the name and am sorry we didn’t used it, though. We were then between Olívia and Eunice, but decided against that one too because it’s a bit too heavy for a baby. We definitely like old lady names. As for her second name, to match her sister’s we wanted it to start with an M and to be a longer name, so we decided on Margarida. Most people hate the combination but we absolutely do not care.

If we had had a boy, he would have been named Elias, the only boy name I actually like.

There you go, an impromptu post about names.

How do you feel about your own name?

What was your criteria for naming your children? Would love to know.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Love,

Cheila

Coffee Chat on a Rainy Sunday (Blog Post #8 of 365)

My idea of the perfect rainy day is to spend it in bed with a book. Apparently, my husband’s idea of the perfect rainy day is to run a half marathon, which is what he’s doing this morning. Why do such different people always marry each other?

Anyways, today you and I are having coffee and talking about random things. I have no idea who first came with the “coffee chat” post idea, as I’ve seen it on many different blogs so I can’t really give credit, unfortunately. Still, it’s one of my favorite things to post because I can just unload a bunch of nonsense that’s going around in my head and call it a day. So, if we were having coffee…

I’d probably be holding a baby which is how I spend most of my time these days (I’m in fact holding a baby right now) so that is how you should picture me.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you that my husband is going back to work tomorrow after a 6-week paternity leave, so it will be my first full day alone with the girls. I’ve spent a couple of hours alone with them here and there but tomorrow is my first full day as a stay at home mom of two. I’ll let you know how I’m doing with keeping the toddler entertained all day long while taking care of a 1-month old and keeping the house in order and myself fed and watered.

If we’re having coffee I’d tell you I have been living in pajamas since giving birth. My pre-pregnancy clothes do actually fit, as I’ve lost 8 kg (around 16 pounds, I think) since Olívia was born, but I choose to be as comfortable as possible. I wear my pajamas all day long then shower in the evening and put on a fresh pair every day. And yes, I do own about 10 different pairs of winter pjs. When I’m not wearing pajamas, my mom uniform consists on leggings or sweatpants, a gym bra (for someone who doesn’t even work out, I have a bunch of them) and a sweater, which was also what I wore to work from home before becoming a mom. Where do you stand on the whole “make sure you get dressed every single day” discussion? Do you get dressed in actual going outside clothes if you’re working from home?

If we were having coffee I’d mention that I desperately need to color my hair and get my eyebrows done. I have been coloring my hair at home for the past year or so (on and off, sometimes going to the hairdresser), trying to be more frugal and because the salon I go to is about 45 minutes away, and I have to confess that I kind of like the color better when I do it myself (thank God my hairdresser doesn’t read my blog). Unfortunately, I can’t do my own eyebrows because I get them threaded.

If we were having coffee I’d share that I have a newish hobby that I picked up back in September: embroidery. I’m not very good at it and I’m still learning how to do most stitches but I enjoy it very much. Sadly, I haven’t had a lot of time to dedicate to it lately but am looking forward to picking up the needle as soon as I have a spare moment.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you that there are ew movies I’d love to go see. Mean Girls, Poor Things, Ferrari, Anyone But You. It’s hard finding the time to go anywhere where I can’t take the girls so I might only get to go see one of them as a treat. My husband can obviously handle being alone with the girls, I just don’t like leaving him to deal with all the chaos by himself unless I have to. Things are much easier when there’s an extra pair of hands.

That’s today’s post.

I’ll see you back here tomorrow with my plans for the week.

Love,

Cheila